Reviewed on XBLA. Also on Nintendo 64. Developed by Rare (360 version by 4J). Published by Microsoft (360), Rare (N64)
Once apon a time, Rare was one of the top five developers in the world. It’s slate of hit titles for the Nintendo 64 eclipsed Nintendo’s own output. They were also prolific, Their last unequivocal and bona fide big selling classic was 2000′s Perfect Dark. The follow-up to the system selling Goldeneye, but without the expensive James Bond licence, PD introduced the world to Joanna Dark, some choice bad Sean Connery impersonations and a Yoda-sound alike Grey named after a Cheeseburger fetishist.
So it was Goldeneye without Bond or a framerate. It sold well back in the day, enough for Joanna to get a prequel for Xbox 360′s launch, the abominable Perfect Dark Zero, so named because that’s the Metacritic the team was aiming for judging by the released game.
Nearly 10 years after the original release on N64, Perfect Dark is back, ported to the Xbox 360 at 60 frames per second with upgraded texture and sound work (somewhat upgraded anyway), Xbox live support and lofty expectations.
It’s like stepping back in time, but no more so that Duke Nukem 3D. So in a good way.
You play as a Joanna Dark, an agent for the Connery Carrington Institute. Through a number of missions, starting off as simple spy antics, but eventually moving towards more overt science fiction trappings towards the end. You can shoot guns as per any shooter, of course, but you also have a few gadgets thrown in to help with some missions, none of which make a huge difference as they are for very specific locations from a time before context-sensitive actions became commonplace (which, funnily enough turned up in Rare’s next and final N64 games, Conker’s Bad Fur Day).
As a port, it retains the weird AI, the dodgy animation (to modern eyes but not obviously the eyes of Rare circa 2005), the dated level layout, lack of hints and /or feedback, no checkpoints, etc. But also, it has retained the greatness and gained a steady framerate along with its slightly updated texture work.
Multiplayer is much the same with two important additions. It finally runs at a framerate faster than a Power Point presentation and has online play. I can’t vouch for the online portion but I did play a few rounds of split screen with some friends- mainly to kill a certain cab-stealing Englishman. It’s fun in a retro sort of way. But that IS the point.
So it’s silly to complain about the limitations of a game made for the N64. The upgrades have only helped the game but it has to be played in context of what it is, not compared against a modern game like a MW2 or Crysis. The 4J crew have done a nice job in breathing life into something Rare killed in 2005. The reanimated corpse of Joanna Dark is alive and she’s pissed.
Controller1.com Rating 2/3
This week we play Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. Do we end up opening up the DS half way through? Only by listening to this podcast will you find out.
Reviewed on Xbox 360. Developed by Rare. Published by Microsoft
Banjo Kazooie is one of Rare’s original megahits from the late 90′s when they could do no wrong. Now, not so much, but at the time, even a tech demo slapped onto a cart sold millions. Banjo Kazzoie and its sequel, Banjo Tooie where some of the finest 3D platformers of the 32/64 bit era. A decade later a sequel has been released to a wave of indifference and is a typical Rare product of this decade. Let’s have a squizz.
Nuts and Bolts is a game about vehicles as much of what you need to accomplish is done so with vehicles that you can build and modify at any time though the game. You collect new parts and blueprints as you progress. You might need a vehicle that is fast in one level, strong in another, one with a large carrying capacity at times, or one with passenger seats. There are races, timetrials, collection, demolition derby fetch quests etc. There’s a lot of breadth and range in what you can do in the game.
The graphics are very colourful and pretty though the framerate seems to occasionally have its mind on other things. There are lots of loading times that can be a little excessive, though installing the game to disc DRAMATICALLY cuts the length of theses down to ‘not an issue.’ Sound is typical Banjo, gibberish vocalisations rather than voices and overuse of the Hanna Barberra sound effects library. And it has fantastic music. New orchestrations of classic Banjo music abound, so good in fact that I’d love a soundtrack album.
But while its ambitious, technically impressive and has a lot of things to do, it has a problem. Its overly complex for what the target market is. Its the 360 equivalent of hooking up your PSP version of Resistance to your PS3 version of Resistance. It sounds impressive until you try and find a use for it. The visuals are overly busy to the point where its all a jumble of colour. The game is basically a mess and stops being fun very quickly, as in “this is shit,” is audible to anyone living nearby as you hurriedly eject the disc and put it back in its case while you scramble to recall where you left the receipt.
It should have been a lot of fun. Rare used to be able to make fun games but now they just make games for no audience. It looks like a game kids (or kids in their mid-30′s) would like but it plays like a game that no one can find any fun in.
Controller1.com rating 0/3 (I wanted to love this game so much. I am heartbroken)
Now that Fallout’s done, itrs time to try and finish the remainder of the 2008 games that I never got around to. I was a huge Banjo Kazooie fan back in the day. I found the first game to be more fun than Mario 64 (I was LTTP with both games). I was not a fan of the first Resistance game. It defined blinkered fanboy over appreciation of launch titles and smelt nearly as bad as Perfect Dark Zero (which I found unplayable).
We’ll start with Banjo Kazooie. What the fuck is going on here? This game is busier than a brothel across the street from Blizzcon (First time caller, long time watcher). When you first boot thing game up it offers such a visual assault on your senses that you need some aspirin to continue. It does settle down after a bit though anytime you move five steps you get a stonking great “SAVING- DO NOT SWITCH OFF” message. But Rare, you use to make games you could just switch on and play. Why do you insist on making kid-friendly games so complicated? You’d think this was trying to use your PSP to do something weird and esoteric with your PS3. Viva Pinata and Kameo are both in the same boat. When the 360 launched I tried to play cameo with some colleagues and we spent ages wondering what the hell we were meant to be doing before giving up and playing Perfect Dark Zero, which we then gave up on because it was so atrocious. Oh Rare! I am slowly coming to grips with getting some fun out of the game. The building of the cars is quite interesting- so long as your vehicle design is quantized. But I still for the life of me can’t work out how to access my made up car outside of the garage. I kinda wished this was just Banjo 3 with 700 types of collectibles. Oh wait.
Resistance 2 is a hard one to describe. I didn’t like the first one at all. This one is both good and bad as far as I’m concerned. The gameplay is ok, if rather by the numbers but its not a spectacularly good looking game, merely good. Nor is the sound that great compared to say Metal Gear or Uncharted. But the single player has been growing on me somewhat and I’m determined to give it a good stab, if not completing it before Killzone 2 turns up in a week or two. The multiplayer is interesting. I played a one 40-player map and did quite well considering I didn’t really know what to do (apart from shoot the guys with a red arrow over their heads). But the giant map meant half the time I was wandering around trying to find something to shoot at. Big maps with lots of people don’t really work, especially if there are no vehicles. That’s why Team Deathmatch doesn’t work in a Battlefield game, you need focal points otherwise the game’s a mess.
The Fallout 3 DLC Operation Anchorage is now getting a spin. Its the first time I’ve bought SP-only DLC (unless you count Guitar Hero songs). It definitely is more action oriented but I’m having a hard time making up my mind whether I like it or not. I will see it through a bit more but it definitely doesn’t feel as great as the rest of the game. It also feels more scripted. We will be recording a focus test soon covering this DLC. Clint has just started the game on PC so the theory was this would be a good way to do the game without spoiling it for Clint. I’m not so sure its indicative of the rest of the game.
