The Video Game Revue

Geometry Wars 2, Braid

We're currently in the middle of an awesome gaming rush, especially for Nintendo DS owners who are RPG fans: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2, Final Fantasy IV DS, Izuna 2, Etrian Odyssey 2, and Trauma Center 2 are among the recently released NDS titles for gamers who are into that sort of thing. I haven't even been trying to keep up on that front, mostly because Xbox Live Arcade has seen new releases such as Geometry Wars 2, Braid, 1942: Joint Strike, and Soul Calibur. There's also this little Soul Calibur IV thing going around--maybe you've heard of it. :)

If you haven't already done so, you should pick up Geometry Wars 2 and Braid as soon as possible. This may require buying an Xbox 360 if you don't already have one, as well as connecting it to the internet and registering for an Xbox Live account (a silver account, which is free, is sufficient for purchasing XBLA games). GW2 and Braid are probably not enough on their own to justify the purchase of an Xbox 360, but they do help to strengthen the case that the 360 is extremely worthwhile.

Geometry Wars 2 is one of those games the stretches the boundaries of perfection, like Portal or World of WarCraft before it. GW2 is not for everyone; some gamers find shoot-em-ups boring, I presume. But as a shoot-em-up, GW2 approaches the level of Ikaruga in terms of quality, and it is as noteworthy of an entry in the genre as Gradius, Galaga, or Space Invaders. I have been in love with this game ever since first playing it, and I'm confident that my admiration for it will stand the test of time.

Braid is similarly good and has the fearlessly gutsy appeal that Shadow of the Colossus and Psychonauts have. Braid is a puzzle game resembling a cross between Mario vs. Donkey Kong and a 2-D version of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (I refer primarily to the time-bending mechanics). There is a heavy platformer element to it, and it even parodies the original Super Mario Bros. in obvious places, but this format is somewhat deceptive in that Braid is thoroughly a puzzle game--perhaps even a quest game.

One thing to be aware of is that Braid is not for the faint of heart. The puzzles in this game are very hard, bordering on brutal; it is the kind of game where you convince yourself that collecting a certain puzzle piece is logically impossible, and have to sleep on the problem before stumbling across a solution. Of course, one could simply read the answers on the internet, but to do so is to utterly defeat the purpose of the game. Braid is meant to be suffered through, and I think that anyone who has the stomach for it will find it to be an amazing experience.

As for Soul Calibur IV, it certainly is pretty, but I need more time with it to tell if I will grow to like it as much as I like Soul Calibur and Soul Calibur 2. Absurdly enough, Braid and GW2 have kept me from sinking a lot of time into it.

I haven't been enjoying 1942: Joint Strike as much as I expected to, probably because it has been overshadowed so badly by GW2. 1942:JS is similar in quality to Commandos 3: Wolf of the Battlefield, which is to say that it is certainly worthwhile and will have a strong appeal for fans of both shoot-em-ups and Capcom, but it does struggle to compete for precious time on my gaming schedule at present.

As a quick, final note, I've been fairly addicted to Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. I expected to tire of it quickly, but for whatever reason this has not transpired. It's possible that I've reached some kind of critical mass in my enjoyment of motorsports games that has allowed me to truly appreciate a Gran Turismo game, or perhaps it's just that I find the limited scope of GT5: Prologue liberating in that I'm no longer overwhelmed by track and car choices. Whatever the reason, I've found myself returning to GT5: Prologue repeatedly.

posted by Parappa @ 11:12 AM