Level256

The Monkey Island series is considered a classic by pretty much anyone who was old enough to play video games in the 90s. I remember playing it when I was 12 and again on a drunken night in 1996. I fact I’ve probably played through this game half a dozen times since it was first released. I was thrilled to hear it was getting a revamp for the Xbox 360 and enjoyed this latest play through every bit as much as I enjoyed it the very first time.

For those of you who haven’t sampled the delights of LucasArts’ classic point and click adventure, it revolves around the young Guybrush Threepwood; a wannabe pirate trying to earn the respect of the denizens of Mêlée Island. The somewhat clueless Guybrush is set three challenges to prove his pirate credentials – Sword Fighting, Thievery and Treasure Hunting. Along the way he falls for the beautiful governor of Mêlée Island, meets the dread ghost pirate Le Chuck and hangs out with lowlifes, cannibals and Monkeys.The story is lighthearted and presented with genuine humour, the characters are genuinely funny and the scripting flirts with comedic genius. Memorable moments include insult sword fighting, the directions to Monkey Island and any interaction with the proprietor of Stan’s Previously Owned Vessels.

The Special Edition allows you to play through the game in two ways; either using the classic sound, graphics and interface or with a host of new features. You can switch between both views seamlessly at any point, either to relive your youth or to laugh at what people like myself once considered to be amazing graphics. So,how have the new look, sound and voice over changed the game?

Visuals

The backgrounds have been improved considerably, offering more atmospheric environments and highlighting some of the more obscure hidden jokes in the original (although I’m yet to find the Sam and Max reference as the one I was aware of has been changed to Day of the Tentacle). The characters have had varying levels of redesign with varying levels of success, switching between the two modes will allow you to choose your favourite. Guybrush and Elaine go from soft likable features to being gaunt and unattractive caricatures, while Stan the used boat salesman is hilariously rendered, maintaining his flailing movements and the static pattern on his jacket. In fact the movements have been retained from the original throughout which can be hilarious or distracting in equal measures. Though some may prefer the new character designs, I personally didn’t like some of the faces, especially when coupled with the retention of the original mouth movements.

Sound

The music is a vast improvement, sections of the original which were silent are now rich with music and background sounds. The voice acting is good but doesn’t manage to consistently interpret the original script to its full comedic potential. The comic timing sometimes misses the mark and the jokes which were designed for a text based game sometimes fall flat. It is telling that one of the funniest sequences in the game is an entirely text based battle which takes place behind a wall. Also, as sections like insult sword fighting require repitive sections of dialog, the voice acting can occasionally prove somewhat annoying. With speech that is slow to enable the player to switch between classic and SE mode without missing out, some scenes feel unnatural and are best viewed in their original form.

Controls

The control system is pretty hit and miss. It’s easy enough to navigate around the environments and complete basic tasks but when it comes to combining items or some of the more fiddly puzzles, the new interactions will often hinder you. There seems to be too much opening and closing of menus to helop the player to complete some of the more obscure actions. At several points I was forced to play the game in classic mode in order to progress. The developers have added a handy Hint button for those who are struggling so there will be no more chance of players getting horribly stuck and giving up as they may have done in the past. The hint system gently guides the player in the right direction at first but if used several times on the same puzzle will essentially bludgeon you with the answer. As a veteran of point and click I can say a little bludgeoning is occasionally what is required.

Overall

Secret of Monkey Island is a classic. It’s genuinely funny and the characters are relatable and well designed. At only 800 MS Points this is definitely worth a play. The Special Edition offers a new look at a great game and is definitely worth a download for those wanting to relive their youth or discover the Secret of Monkey Island for the first time. Some of the changes are hit and miss but this is largely an improvement on the original game.

Battlefield 1943 has finally overcome most of its earlier issues and has proved worth the wait.

This is FPS presented in its purest form. Very simple to pick up even for someone like myself whose experience in this genre is limited to weekly games of Left 4 Dead, some Counter Strike “Back in the Day” and the testing of Battlefield 1942: Road to Rome back in my EA days. Within a few rounds I was holding my own near the top of the leader boards and I’m even managing to get a few kills in before my kamikaze runs to the flag inevitably fail.

The reason this is such a fun title comes down to the simplicity. There are only three maps to choose from (excluding the Air Superiority map – more on which later) and each one uses the capture the flag mechanic. With three character classes available as either the Marine Corps or Japanese Imperial Army it is possible to change your tactics at each respawn. The Rifleman is good for mid range combat and melee, Infantry works best at close range and against tanks and the Scout is the resident sniper. I found it best to switch between all three, depending on how the round was going – favouring the Rifleman for attacking and the Scout for defence. The weapons in the game have unlimited ammunition so the player can concentrate on their next move without scrabbling around for bullets, although it is possible to expand your range of weaponry by picking up items dropped by fallen enemies to change your class.

There are several vehicles in the game, most of which will allow multiple players to travel – our favourite tactic was to have one person driving a jeep while the others caused chaos and destruction with mounted weaponry or by throwing grenades from the passenger seat. In fact our Doom Buggy runs were not only hilarious but also effective. There are also tanks, boats and planes. For some reason I’ve read in several places that vehicles can’t reverse – this is wrong. Vehicles can reverse just fine by pressing the Left Bumper. I would recommend playing the tutorial to anyone who needs a hand getting to grips with the controls.

After the player base reached the 43 million kill mark – they were rewarded with the Coral Sea map, an Air Superiority map featuring only airborne combat. Due to my inability to control planes I had to give this mode a miss.

At only 1200 MS Points and a download of under 600MB, Battlefield 1943 is a fantastic online multiplayer experience. It is graphically impressive for an Arcade game although it occasionally suffers from graphical glitches. The controls and game modes make it very accessible but I imagine that the limited number of maps available may put off some of the more hardcore players.

I awoke on my day off on June 16th geared up to grab myself some more Left 4 Dead achievements. As I stared at the strangely blank menus of my dashboard it hit me…Xbox LIVE is down….DOWN….TODAY…ON MY DAY OFF! Why was this happening to me? What do people do if they aren’t playing online? WHAT HAPPENS?? Gaaaaah!

I tried to will the 360 to connect for a little while but accepting that I cannot force servers to be online using the power of my mind, I flicked through the arcade games on my machine. I decided it was at last time to give in and try Peggle, a game I had endured friends and colleagues raving about for months.

Oh Peggle. Where to start…

The point of the game is to fulfill the crazy, peg related desires of a bunch of generically cute (yet strangely charming) cartoon animals. Okay, that may not be the actual point but these little critters are sure interested in what I’m doing. So much so that each will lend me the use of their unique ’special’ powers in order to help me clear the game board of orange pegs and blocks using balls fired from a cannon at the top of the screen. I feel a picture is in order to demonstrate:

Using a limited number of balls – hit as many pegs as you can! Blue pegs provide moderate points, purple boost your score and green unlock those coveted special powers. The aim of each board is to get as many points as possible whilst clearing all the orange pegs and blocks. Each peg the ball makes contact with lights up and eventually disappears. Points are awarded for each peg cleared and these points increase as you clear orange targets and fill your Fevermeter. Once you hit that final orange peg the screen fills with rainbows and fireworks and Beethoven’s Ode To Joy blasts out from your sound system. I occasionally rose from my chair cheering when this occurred!

Beyond a basic understanding of how angles work this game is mostly luck. There is something very satisfying about watching that little ball bouncing its way madly from peg to peg though. I started out thinking each shot through carefully but eventually took the same approach I do with bowling – throw it in what looks to be the right direction, then sit back and enjoy the outcome knowing I had little influence. I found myself willing the ball to bounce favorably and screeching in delight when I was awarded ’skill’ points for flukey shots.

The only thing that lets Peggle down is its lacklustre multiplayer modes. The best way to play this multiplayer is the old school ‘pass the controller when you die’ method, thus ensuring fun for all.

Peggle is a delightfully simple game which somehow ate my entire afternoon, as such I’d highly recommend it to anyone who just wants to kill some time and play something that won’t infuriate them. It’s instant gratification and silly enough to have you smiling throughout. Buy it. Buy it now!