Review: Bastion (XBLA)

Who wants to kill some scumbags? No, you read that right.  I'm not even talking about Nazis or terrorists either.  Scumbags, Squirts, and Windbags, to name a few.  They all can be battled in Xbox Summer Arcade's first offering, Bastion.  Bastion is a 2D action RPG with hand-painted artwork, that is the product of Supergiant Games (their first game, but have some former Infinity Ward and EA's Command and Conquer vets on the team) and published by Warner Bros. (who appropriately tailored their logo to fit the art style of the game---a good sign that they were supporting this game).  

The game begins with the game's protagonist, The Kid, rolling out of bed and finding that something called The Calamity, has thrown his and the whole world into disarray.  This is ascertained through the raspy utterances of The Stranger, whose narration follows The Kid's actions.  If you start destroying things looking for hidden items, he'll tell you if you're wasting your time or not.  You fall or lose a life, he'll have some sardonic comment about your plight.  I kept waiting for the comments to start becoming repetitive, but surprisingly, they didn't.  At least not through my first playthrough, which is understandable, as Supergiant claims to have recorded around 3,000 lines of narration for Bastion.

Every hero needs a quest, and The Kid's is to rebuild the destroyed Bastion and return it to it's glory days.  This is accomplished through visiting different places, defeating enemies and collecting bits of shards and cores, which are then placed on The Monument, which leads to the reconstruction of the Bastion.  When this occurs, buildings can be placed and later upgraded, to aid in the quest for total rebuilding and progressing more easily through the story.  The story is purposely vague at the outset, and each level or area, adds a bit more to the legend.  Is the art style complemented with solid gameplay or is it just style or substance?

Gameplay

If you've heard the phrase 'may the road rise up to meet you,' you'll get a sense of how navigating through the levels works in Bastion.  The majority of the gameplay takes place on floating pockets of land, but when The Kid starts walking the correct route, the terrain magically appears out of thin air.  If no ground appears, that's not the way to go to get to shard and to the end of the level.  I did find that it wasn't always perfectly clear where I could and couldn't go, as I would see an enemy and try to melee them, only to find out that it wasn't accessible because of my tumbling death.

Armed with his trusty shield and a two weapons, our white-haired hero sets off to right what has been wronged.  I liked that there were only two weapons available at a time, as it added some strategy.  Sometimes, I really didn't have the best weapons for that particular level, so I either had to head back to The Bastion or see if I could find an in-level Armory.  Additionally, one special skill could be equipped that would give a weapon some special potency.  Weapons also varied from swords and staffs, for a more close combat effect, or ranged weapons such as guns and bows.  Since The Kid cannot run, rolling needs to be used effectively, in order to survive many situations.

Initially, I thought I would just be fighting the same enemies over and over until  had collected all I needed to collect,  but there is quite a bit of variety of enemy types, as well as in the environments traveled, covering all of the archetypes: flying, poison-spewing, charging, etc..  Just heading in to a herd of enemies and button mashing, usually lead to a quick loss of health, or even death.  Your shield could also be used to deflect unwanted advances, but only did damage to your opponent if you timed it just right.  I also preferred that the enemy's health was not shown in the prototypical bar above their heads, but a more modern wheel, around the creatures that would lose pieces when damaged.  Weapons, of course, could be upgraded (up to five times) for maximum effect, when certain items were found or challenges met on the Proving Grounds.

There are a couple of specific areas that are added in, to give you more exposure with certain weapons, as well as practice with different weapon combinations.  The Proving Grounds are areas specific to one weapon.  You can only use that weapon noted, although you can use any upgrades you've purchased.  If certain conditions are met (time-specific or number of enemies conquered), you earn a special token, depending on whether you earned third, second, or first prize, that is useful later on.  Initially, I thought that just getting third place was sufficient, but finding out the specific tactic that earns you first prize, is usually beneficial in the game levels.  There is also a place called Who Knows Where, in which wave after wave of differing combinations of enemies you've met come after you.  Not only do you earn experience points to help you level up, and some of the game's currency, but you also get a good sense of which weapon loadout works best for your style, and the types of enemies you'll be facing.

Graphics

Bastion is a graphically enriched game.  The colors are vibrant and lush, yet still manage to remain appropriate for this wasteland of a world.  Jen Zee deserves any accolades she earns by bringing the team's vision of Bastion to life.  There were many times I wished the characters were larger so I could see them better in more detail.  The variety of creatures and the details in areas are amazing.  I would see that it was time to stop playing, but would want to see what kind of creatures I would come across, if I experienced just 'one more level,'

Sound

As was previously mentioned, the narrator's Tom Waits/Clint Eastwood voice, coupled with his instinctive comments, really add to the game.  When he's not giving a play by play of your actions (I would still chuckle, even when I had played over 5 hours into the game), the snippets of the backstory he's divulging are a nice touch.  Typically I tend to block out a lot of the extraneous chatter from game announcers/narrators, but you really do have to pay attention to what he's saying while you're playing.  The narrator pushes Bastion over the edge from your basic RPG.

Replay Value

The main game most likely will take somewhere between 8-10 hours of your time, which seems reasonable for a game with this price.  I rarely had it feel tedious, but I didn't sit for long periods and play.  it was more like an hour here and an hour there.  Once the main game is finished, there is a new game + mode, if you're interested in continuing your adventure with The Kid.

Rating

8.75

I'm not a fan of the trend of more and more Xbox Arcade games breaking the 800 MSP barrier, but Bastion is treading that fine line.  While it's most likely worthy of my $15, I think my score would have been a bit higher, if it had stayed at that 800 MSP line.  Overall, though, a fun adventure with outstanding art direction, and an innovation narration system, which is certainly worthy of your time, kind of like if The Legend of Zelda games had stayed 2D

Bastion for Xbox 360 Arcade is priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) and is available now.

Review: Outland (PSN/XBLA)

I typically don't purchase downloadable games during their first week of release, I must like to physically hold the game box or wait for the eventual sale, but something about Outland made me buy it on Day 1.  For some reason the character art reminded me of Cole, from Infamous.  Anyway, I added funds to my Playstation wallet and got started.

Outland comes from Housemarque studios (Dead Nation, Super Stardust HD) and Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia) and is a unique 2D action platformer.  It borrows, but also gives nods to games like Castlevania, Metroid, and Super Mario Brothers, but still manages to seem fresh and innovative.

Our Hero is having some bad dreams and does the smart thing by visiting a Shaman, who begins telling of a Great Wheel and two sisters who lived ages ago.  They created the world, then strove to destroy it, but were imprisoned before their plans were complete.  Now, the sisters have escaped and the original hero who battled them has perished, and it seems like the Hero has some link to him via the nightmares.  Thus the quest begins with a trusty sword, to right the wrongs and save the world.

Gameplay

Outland starts off quite basic, as you are eased into your role as the Hero.  Typical moves such as jump, slash, and slide are introduced, and as you progress variations similar to wall jump and ground pound become available.  There are bombs you can hit to open areas or destroy enemies and spikes scattered throughout, and the requisite levitating platforms are also existent.

You begin the game as the Hero with a yellow energy (the third primary color, along with blue and red, representing dark and light, which become quite important later) and can be damaged by any color enemy, as well as a standard health meter.  Navigating the maze of each level is made easier with a map that can be called upon at any time.  Old-schoolers will definitely try to navigate without it.  On the map, a "spirit guide" shows you where you need to get to to progress further.  Sometimes that involves hitting a switch which opens a door that was previously locked, usually involving backtracking, or other times marks the passageway to another area.  There are a few save points strategically placed in each area, which make dying a lot less painful.  

Once the Hero gets the hang of his powers for a couple of levels, light and dark energies are introduced.  This marks the turning point and the basis for the whole game and amplifies what was just an average platformer.  With the press of a button, our Hero can change from light energy to dark energy at will, and it's this polarity feature that makes the game so ingenious.  To inflict damage, you need to be the opposite color of the enemy.  So, if you select red energy you can damage blue enemies but you can still take damage from both.  Another instance this crops up is with platforms.  You are only able to ride platforms mirroring the energy that you are using (the opposite appears transparent).  Many times you need to jump from one color platform to the next, which is a different color.  Switching energies mid-jump can be confusing at first, as you are almost pushing two buttons at once, but after a few attempts, feels more natural.

The moments where the game really wows, is when red and blue streams or dots litter the screen and your objective is on the other side.  The first time I encountered that screen I was mesmerized by the hypnotic patterns, but at the same time ready to shut off my console.  The developers seemed to be smart (or evil, depending on your point of view) enough to not allow just racing through.  It almost always leads to death.  Luckily, if you just watch the pattern for a bit, things generally become clearer and the solution opens up.  Executing it in a timely fashion, on the other hand...

The world of Outland is split up into 5 main areas: Jungle, Underworld, City, Sky, and Eternity.  There are subtle differences between the settings, but nothing major.  Each areas has five or six "levels" to it and culminate with a Boss battle.  The Bosses are really well done.  Difficult at first, but ultimately fair.  The Boss battles also get longer and more complex the deeper you delve into the game. They are all different and their entrances are intimidating and somewhat reminiscent, at least to me, of Shadow of the Colossus.  After defeating 4 Bosses, you need to battle the aforementioned sisters, and complete your quest.  There are some collectibles to collect, if you're into that completionist (or trophy/achievement) thing

Graphics

The screenshots and trailers really drew me into the game, so it's no surprise that the graphical style is frequently mentioned.  Think a mixture of Greek and Mayan mythology, with a fusion of TRON.  The creatures, while somewhat varied, were pretty average (except for the Bosses), but I thought that the human-looking foes were admirably done.  If you jumped over one or hid, they would momentarily look around for you, before resuming their patrol.  If you vanquished one, their "soul" would drift away from their body.  The Hero, with his loincloth flapping, also moves fluidly and responsively, which is a plus in this type of game.  Yes, there are creatures that very much resemble Metroids

Sound

Didn't really stand out for me at first, but it didn't have to.  I was so enthralled with the graphics that I wasn't looking for the next great symphony.  There are the appropriate tribal beats, but also some trance-like melodies, which do really put you in the proper dream state.

Replay Value

Teleport.  An online co-op mode is available, where 2 players can battle through a challenge room, but only one of the players is able to change the light/dark polarity.  Additionally, there are Arcade chapters, in which a whole world needs to be cleared (5-6 levels, plus the Boss) in a certain time limit.

Rating

8

Outland is available from PSN and XBLA for $9.99 or 800 MS points.  I played the PSN version for a little over 8 hours, not quite defeating the 4th Boss (The Winged Serpent).....yet.