Posts Tagged ‘Xbox’

This year has seen the current generation of consoles starting to reach their peak. Companies are finally getting to grips with what the current systems can do with an install base which makes it a safer to invest and development. For no system is this truer than the 360. The oldest of the current generation of consoles, Microsoft’s machine is now really showing what it’s capable of.

It is sad therefore that this year the number of 360 exclusives have been the most forgettable. Gears of War 2 was a phenomenal ride and one of the most solid game experiences of the year, but didn’t stay with me. Too Human (which I enjoyed) performed relatively well at retail due to a well timed release but was paned by critics and attacked on message boards. Ninja Gaiden 2 also suffered from problems, a broken camera made combat cumbersome and the steep difficulty curve made it too hard for many.

Xbox’s game of the year therefore falls to Fable 2. Indeed of all the 360 exclusives this year there is only one experience that I am eager to jump back into. I want to experience the game from the other side. I want try growing horns and helping villains, I want to be evil.

Fable’s world of Albion feels like a Terry Pratchett book bought to life. From urban city to green meadows everything feels consistent. It is flawed, but all of the blemishes are easily forgiven when you are in whimsical world that developer Lionhead managed to create. An experience which draws you in and manages to foster a relationship with characters and story in a way rarely achieved in this medium.

It may not deliver on all of designer Peter Molyneux’s promises but when you aim as high as he consistently does you are guaranteed to fall a little short. Or maybe it was a design choice, cutting back on complexity and scope in order to make it accessible and keep the appeal as broad as possible, a theme of many games this year. While Fable was a harder choice than games on the other consoles the epic journey it takes you on makes it a worthy 360 game of 2008.

I’ve just watched the end credits role on Lionhead’s latest morality themed game. It’s hard to critique without using words like charming and immersive. I felt connected to the world. And my dog.

Perhaps Microsoft was rushing it out for Christmas, but Fable is loaded with technical problems. For the most part these minor niggles are understandable when you consider the scope of the game. Intermittently though my understanding was strained. For instance on one occasion I became stuck behind a door and had to reload a previous save.

I was sucked in though, despite the flaws. The British humor and vibrant color palette made a nice change from the majority of this generation’s more somber titles. Lionhead seem to have achieved what they set out to do. To create an entertaining world of heroes that makes you think and care about your actions. Or more importantly your action’s consequences.

It hasn’t escaped anyone’s attention that over the last five weeks in Japan the 360 has been outselling PS3. After failure to penetrate Japan since the Xbox launched in 2002 suddenly they are gaining momentum.

Three factors are allowing Microsoft to continue to ride this perfect storm. First the Xbox is now half the price of PS3. Add to this the recent Square-Enix releases and we see a machine that allows Japanese gamers to enjoy the games they want at a bargain price.

The final factor has enabled Xbox to hold on to this lead, Japanese gamers are waiting. On the 30th of October a new PS3 bundle will be released here. This will package the new 80 GB PS3 a game and an extra controller for roughly the same price as a current 40 GB.

So come the 30th Xbox’s moment in the sun will be at an end.

As informed gamers perspective is a problem. Bar the occasional oversight based on hype or license we don’t buy bad games. Bare this in mind as I complain about 2007s game of the year.

Call of Duty 4’s polish is undeniable but it left me cold. The basic plot device is that you Quantum Leap around various characters to see the world through their eyes. Unfortunately I never felt attached to any of them (bar the handle-bar mustached SAS commander you ‘occupy’). I suspect this was due to the fact that my sole interaction with NPCs was barked orders. This, coupled with the fact I spent most of my time running blindly after squad superiors, hoping they would achieve the goals for me, left me feeling like a useless grunt. A little bit too realistic.

A good interpretation of war, certainly, but not glamorous and not what I call fun.

Buy it for – £12.50

Originally posted – July 10th 2008