The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Title: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Director: Peter Jackson
Written by: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Luke Evans

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Peter Jackson released The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first part of a trilogy meant to tell the modest tale of J.R.R. Tolkien's homebody-cum-burglar, to less than stellar reviews. Critics (rightfully) skewered Jackson for the movie's long running time, its over-reliance on digital effects, and its inclusion of superfluous characters and events. Now, a year later, Jackson unveils the inevitable sequel, The Desolation of Smaug, a movie that shares all of the issues that haunted the first Hobbit production yet manages to be surprisingly good. The movie is long, only eight minutes shorter than its predecessor, yet it leaves one wanting more, whereas An Unexpected Journey couldn't end soon enough. The movie is packed, bloated even, with expensive digital effects, yet they are used more wisely on several thrilling set-pieces and to bring the true star of the movie, Smaug, to life. The movie introduces several new characters and storylines absent from Tolkien's original book, yet these characters, especially newcomer Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), and storylines serve to bind the story together and tie it to Jackson's larger mythology. In short, everything that went wrong in An Unexpected Journey goes right in The Desolation of Smaug.

After a brief flashback, which sets the stage and tone for the 160 minutes to follow, The Desolation of Smaug picks up where the previous movie ended. The reluctant burglar Bilbo Baggins, a company of dwarves, and one sagely wizard flee from pursuing orcs on a quest to reclaim the dwarves' homeland, a mountain kingdom far to the east. The movie gets off to a somewhat slow and shaky start, but by the time the party reaches the poisoned forest Mirkwood, things become more interesting, more lively, and more evenly paced.

In Mirkwood the movie gains momentum, a sense of purpose, and a conscience, the latter thanks to Tauriel, a wood elf who sympathizes with the dwarves and is able to look beyond the borders of the woodland realm to see darkness creeping over the lands of Middle Earth. Both Tauriel and her companion Legolas (Orlando Bloom), one of the stars of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, do not belong in The Hobbit as written by Tolkien, but they belong here in Peter Jackson's version of the story. Bloom's reprisal as Legolas could be easily dismissed as cynical stunt casting, but his character plays an important part in the narrative. He represents the isolationism and xenophobia of the wood elves contrasted against Tauriel's growing sense of duty. The success of this elven twosome, neither of whom are important (or even present) in the original book, is representative of the entire movie, which diverges smartly and successfully from the source material. Where An Unexpected Journey demonstrated a rigid, unimaginative loyalty to Tolkien's words, The Desolation of Smaug wisely forges its own path, discarding and reinventing characters and events to create a more fluid, coherent, and watchable story.

In addition to better storytelling, The Desolation of Smaug features much-improved action set-pieces, including a scary and shocking encounter with giant spiders in Mirkwood forest and a waterlogged barrel-bound escape sequence as fun, creative, and spectacular as anything in The Lord of the Rings movies.

However, nothing in the movie is quite as spectacular as its eponymous villain, Smaug. The digital effects magicians at Weta Digital have created in Smaug perhaps the finest movie dragon of all time, a towering inferno of razor-sharp claws and scaly armor. Voiced in Benedict Cumberbatch's deep baritone, Smaug emerges as a conceited, greedy, intelligent, deeply paranoid character. His one-on-one psychological showdown with Bilbo is perhaps the highlight of the movie, just as Bilbo's riddle contest with Gollum was the highlight of An Unexpected Journey.

The success of The Desolation of Smaug goes a long way toward submerging the memory of the failed first chapter of the trilogy and raises new hopes for the third and final installment. Jackson and company seem to have finally recaptured some of the humor, majesty, and creative energy that defined his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Hopefully this latest trilogy will end on a similarly high note.

Plants vs. Zombies

Game: Plants vs. Zombies
System: Vita (also PC, Mac, Xbox 360, PS3, DS)
Genre: Tower defense
Developer: PopCap Games
Release date: February 22, 2012


Pros: Great sense of humor, appropriate difficulty curve, good variety
Cons: Game can sometimes "play itself," repetitive at times


Plants vs. Zombies has been around since 2009, but it wasn't ported to Vita until 2012. And while it might not be different enough on Vita to warrant a purchase for current owners, those who have never played the game might want to invest in the portable version on Vita. It doesn't have some of the exclusive content featured on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, but the touchscreen controls and "Zombatar" make it an attractive proposition. No matter which version you get, however, you're guaranteed to have a great time.

Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense game, meaning that the gameplay revolves around setting up defensive installments to halt waves of enemy forces. Sounds serious and complicated, right? Not with this game. PopCap created in Plants vs. Zombies a consumer-friendly product that looks, feels, and plays smoothly and intuitively. The art direction, with bouncy plants and absent-minded zombies, is playful and fun, and the gradual and forgiving difficulty curve makes the title accessible for players of all ages.

Players select and place each plant with touchscreen controls.

The goal of each level in Plants vs. Zombies is to grow and distribute plants to fend off a zombie invasion of the player's house. Sunshine serves as the energy source to grow plants, which range from peashooters and sunflowers, the latter of which generates additional sun energy, to explosive cherry bombs and some fungi that only appear at night. It's up to each player to determine where and when to place each plant so that the zombie horde is kept away from the brains (and the people attached to them) inside the house.

It's difficult to find fault with a smart, funny, great-looking title like Plants vs. Zombies. The only issues that arise during the game are some levels and missions that feel repetitive and the fact that once a strategy has been conceived and set in motion, the game sometimes goes into an autopilot of sorts. But, apart from those minor issues, the game is solid as a rock, or wall-nut (pictured below guarding the plants). When the main story mode is over, players can experiment with a host of mini-games and challenges, grow plants in a greenhouse, and create custom zombie creations in the "Zombatar" area.

Some plants only appear at nighttime.

Plants vs. Zombies isn't a great game, but it's a solidly-built title with an engaging sense of humor, some excellent art direction (which shines on the Vita's OLED screen), and a long list of challenging and rewarding levels, both in adventure mode and in the mini-game menu. Video game fans of different ages and skill levels should enjoy it, at home or on the go.

Xbox One Arrives in Stores

The Xbox One launch event in London

The Xbox One, Microsoft's newest entry in the video game market, launched yesterday.

Xbox One retails for $499, one hundred dollars more than the PS4, which launched last week, and $200 more than Wii U, Nintendo's eighth generation home console. In its pitch to consumers, Microsoft has emphasized the non-gaming applications of Xbox One -- improved Kinect motion-tracking, integration with cable providers and fantasy football, and Skype functionality, to name a few -- to justify the increased price point. The centerpiece of the Xbox One system is an integrated and upgraded version of Kinect, Microsoft's motion-tracking device. Whereas the original Kinect failed to live up the promise of seamless motion and voice control, Kinect 2.0, with its new technology, may be able to deliver on that promise. It can read users' muscles and heart rates, and receive voice commands.

Xbox One launched with 22 games, many of them multiplatform games available on PS4, PS3, and Xbox 360. The best-reviewed exclusive X1 games include Forza 5, Dead Rising 3, and Killer Instinct.
 

PS4 Launches in North America

The PlayStation 4 debuts today in North America, seven years after the Playstation 3 hit the market. For one week, PS4 will have the spotlight to itself. Next week, on November 22, Microsoft will release its own next-gen console, Xbox One. Nintendo's own 8th generation device, Wii U, launched a year ago this month.

Here’s some info on Sony's new console, for those interested in some holiday shopping. The PS4 retails for $399.99. That's $100 more than Wii U, and $100 less than Xbox One. No matter the competition, $400 is a lot more palatable than the $600 price tag on the 60GB PS3 model in 2006.

PS4 launches with 26 titles, including big-budget exclusives Killzone: Shadow Fall and Knack, and a host of seventh-gen ports (e.g., Assassin's Creed IV and Battlefield 4) and downloadable titles (e.g., Trine 2 and Resogun).

Sony expects 3 million PS4 units sold by the end of 2013.

Top 10 Scariest Video Games

In honor of Halloween, the scariest day of the year, Don't Blame the Controller brings you the top ten spookiest video games of all time. In an industry increasingly dominated by fast-paced action titles and shooters starring overpowered commandos, horror games represent a breath of fresh air. The odds are stacked overwhelmingly against the hero or heroine, weapons and health are in short supply, and the enemies (real or imaginary) are truly deadly. It's that feeling of intense vulnerability, of helplessness that makes horror games so compelling. All of the games on this list, from top to bottom, embrace these standards. Whether action-adventure, shooter, or survival-horror, each is capable of terrifying its players, either through drop-the-controller scares or, in the case of games like Silent Hill, a pervasive sense of dread. 

These games are best enjoyed in the dark, late at night, all alone...

#10

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Set in an abandoned, spooky mansion in Rhode Island, Eternal Darkness oozes a foreboding, sinister, mysterious mood. It follows several characters backward and forward through time, all of whom are pursued by dark and deadly creatures. What sets Eternal Darkness apart from the pack, however, is its "sanity meter" which depletes when characters are spotted by an enemy. As the meter empties, players are subjected to some disturbing happenings: skewed camera angles; whispers, cries, and creepy noises; walls and ceilings bleeding, etc. 

#9

Condemned: Criminal Origins

Clearly inspired by the movie Seven, Condemned follows Ethan, a crime scene investigator for the FBI's Serial Crime Unit. Framed for a murder he didn't commit, Ethan must hide from the authorities while simultaneously tracking a serial killer who leaves behind elaborately staged crime scenes. One of the more challenging and scary features of Condemned is its combat system. Firearms are rare in the game, so Ethan must relay on melee weapons like lead pipes and wooden planks. Thus the combat in the game is brutal, visceral, and personal. It doesn't help that the citizens of Ethan's city have been driven to psychotic madness by some unknown force.

#8

Resident Evil 4

Capcom's greatest achievement and the finest title in the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil 4 is a true masterpiece. It's also scary as hell. Players control Leon S. Kennedy as he searches for the missing daughter of the US President in a remote European town. The enemies and creatures in the game, including a masked man wielding a chainsaw, are disturbing, violent, and unpredictable. The settings, deserted and dilapidated, only add to the tension and horror of the game. Resident Evil 4 might be more action-oriented than earlier games in the series, but it still delivers the shocks and scares to which fans have become accustomed.

#7

Doom 3

The Doom series has always been gory, bloody, and threatening, but it was only in 2004, with the release of Doom 3, that the series became seriously terrifying. Although the hero of the game is a well-trained and well-armed space marine, he quickly becomes outnumbered and overpowered when hell literally breaks loose in a research facility on Mars. What makes Doom 3 so scary is the fact that the hero of the game can use either a firearm or a flashlight, never both. This makes navigating dark passages and room filled with nasty creatures extremely difficult and nerve-racking.

#6

F.E.A.R.

Mechanically, F.E.A.R. is an excellent first-person shooter. The firefights are thrilling, the enemies are smart and strategic, and the levels are well designed. But that's not why F.E.A.R. earned this spot on the list. It won that honor because of its horror theme, which relies heavily on the tropes and aesthetic of Japanese horror movies. Although F.E.A.R. has a few "jump out" moments, it mostly relies on a dreadful atmosphere that allows each player to be his or her own worst enemy. The developers at Monolith Productions were smart enough to know that a player's imagination can dream up the scariest nightmares.

#5

Resident Evil 2

Set shortly after the events of the first Resident Evil, RE2 follows rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy and civilian Claire Redfield, both of whom become trapped in a city overrun by the living dead. Enemies are plentiful and ammo scarce in Resident Evil 2, so players beware. Adding to the tension are fixed camera angles that hide enemies and "tank" controls that require players to manually turn the main character. Sound, music, level design, character design, and cinematic cut-scenes all come together in Resident Evil 2 to make one of the best survival-horror games ever made.

#4

Penumbra: Overture

Penumbra: Overture is the story of Philip, a thirty-year-old scientist who travels to a remote part of Greenland after discovering his deceased father's notes. To escape from freezing temperatures, Philip descends into an abandoned mine. There he uncovers clues related to the dark history of the mine, hides from the creatures that inhabit it, and solves puzzles that bring him closer and closer to the truth. Like all good survival-horror games, Overture ensures that Philip and, by extension, the player, is underequipped and underpowered. Armed with only a flashlight, a glowstick, and whatever he can find discarded in the mine, Philip must use stealth to avoid enemies.

#3

Resident Evil (2002)

The Nintendo Gamecube may have sold poorly compared to PS2, but as a beacon for Resident Evil fans, it couldn't be beat. Apart from supporting Resident Evil Zero, the best version of Resident Evil 4, and ports of Nemesis and Code: Veronica, Gamecube hosted a brilliant remake of the original Resident Evil. It's a huge improvement over the premiere game, with a new script, new voice acting, and improved character models, shadows, and particle effects. Best of all, it's scarier than the original, with new monsters and back stories that tell the gruesome tale of a biological experiment gone horribly wrong.

#2

Dead Space

Set on a derelict deep-space mining ship infested with terrifying, twisted creatures, Dead Space is the stuff of nightmares. Players control Isaac Clarke, a ship systems engineer who must survive the horrible creatures and environmental hazards on the starship Ishimura. The developers at EA Redwood, who designed the game, took inspiration from several horror movies, and it shows. Part Alien, part The Thing, Dead Space is suspenseful, scary, and disturbingly gruesome. It manages to keeps its players in a state of constant anticipation and apprehension, from the opening credits to the haunting final frames.

#1

Silent Hill

Konami's response to Resident Evil, Silent Hill embraces all of the elements of survival-horror games: a shortage of weapons, ammunition, and health packs; disturbing monsters; puzzle-solving; and plenty of blood and gore. Unlike Resident Evil, however, Silent Hill provides its scares not through visceral action and shocking moments, but through a steady, unbearably suspensful atmosphere of dread. The music and sound effects in Silent Hill only add to this pervasive feeling on the part of the player that something terrible is about to happen. Of all the titles on this list, Silent Hill is by far the scariest, most emotionally exhausting game.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure -- Co-op Review

Game: Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
System: Wii (also on Mac, PC, PS3, X360, 3DS, Wii U)
Genre: RPG
Developer: Toys for Bob
Release date: October 16, 2011

Skylanders has been growing in popularity over the past two years, but it wasn't until last month that Beth and I tried it out. Built around the brilliant, if somewhat cynical, concept of merging video games with physical toys, Skylanders has quickly sold over $500 million in games and figures in the United States alone. The latest game in the series, Swap Force, went on sale last week.

Beth and I played the first game, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, co-operatively. What follows is our review. Please enjoy.

***

1) Did you have any experience with Spyro the Dragon before playing Skylanders?

Beth: No, I didn't even realize he was an independent character!

Evan: I've only ever played the first Spyro game, which was a solid platformer for the original Playstation. Unfortunately Spyro's legacy isn't a big part of Skylanders. He's really more of a Trojan horse, a familiar entry point to a brand new intellectual property.


2) What was your first impression of the game?

Beth: I liked the art direction. The base camp area is beautiful and I like that it changes lighting as the game progresses. I also thought that the co-op mode was great- no split screen or anything. I thought that the bounce back between characters when they get too far apart was a nice way of keeping the players together. I also thought the portal mechanism was unique and fun.

Evan: The first thing I noticed about Skylanders was the guilty pleasure of placing a toy on the "portal of power" and seeing it come to life, so to speak, in the game world. It became immediately apparent why the Skylanders formula is such a cash cow for Activision: this was every kid's fantasy.

Toys placed on the "portal of power" appear in the game.

3. How well did co-op work in the game?

Beth: I thought it worked well. There is enough for both characters to do, and if you have the right selection of characters, you compliment each other well. Also, the levels are clearly designed for co-op play, with ample money and goods to pick up. Further, for boss modes it's important to have a good mix of elemental characters (e.g., Sonic Boom and Prism Break make a daunting team).

Evan: Playing Skylanders with a friend is the best way to play the game. The puzzles and enemies are more manageable when tackled co-operatively, and it's fun to share (or horde) the loot scattered around each level. There's also less swapping required and less character management with a friend in the mix. The workload is halved.


4. Who was you favorite character(s) and why?

Sonic Boom

Beth: My favorite was probably Sonic Boom. He had great moves, including a roar that could inflict powerful damage, and he could hatch eggs that turned into babies who would fight for you. He was a character capable of flight as well, which I definitely preferred. I also liked Cynder, who was an undead character. She was edgy and had some powerful lightening roars and a dash move.

Evan: I was hoping that Spyro would be my favorite, but he was surprisingly underpowered. Instead I relied mostly on Trigger Happy, a tech Skylander, and Prism Break, an earth Skylander. Trigger Happy has powerful projectile attacks and Prism Break has strong defensive moves. In more than one level, Prism carried the entire team with some devastating area attacks.


5. What did you like most about the game? What did you like least?

Beth: I really enjoyed collecting and developing my skylanders. The ability to choose a specific path for them (for their special moves) made it feel as though you were really developing the characters. I can see why people find the game addicting, and why the skylanders merchandise has been such a success. I thought it could have benefited from a more cohesive story line. Each level feels very partitioned. An open world with more challenging puzzles and creative levels would have improved gameplay. I would have liked to see some more difficulty in the game, as well as maybe more unique interactions between the characters' specific elements and their ability to access certain levels or find certain bonus items.

Evan: One of the best things about the game was collecting different Skylanders. The figures themselves are surprisingly sturdy and detailed, and worthy of display. Leveling up and customizing characters in-game was also a blast. Each character has a specific upgrade path, and, to paraphrase Yoda, once you start down the path, forever will it dominate your destiny. There's no changing upgrades after a certain point, unless players choose to reset each character entirely.

What I didn't like about Skylanders was its level design, which is too linear, its game world, which feels too segmented, and the story, which isn't especially interesting.

Spyro attacks a group of enemies.

6. Would you considering playing more games in the series?

Beth: Absolutely. I would like to see more difficulty and more creativity built into the levels, but I am eager to start another skylanders soon.

Evan: Definitely. Although this first game was a little underdeveloped and episodic, I have high hopes for the series going forward. Plus other Skylanders games are backward compatible with figures, so Beth and I can take our favorites into the next game, already fully upgraded since statistics are saved to the toys themselves.


7. What score would you give Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure?

Beth: Three stars. It might have a few flaws, but I had fun playing through the game, and I'm very interested to see more of the franchise. That says a lot.



Evan: Although Skylanders was mostly enjoyable and inoffensive, its linear levels, uninspired story, and its episodic content keeps it from earning a positive score. Two-and-a-half stars for me.

 

Nintendo Announces New Wii U Bundles

In an effort to increase hardware sales of its struggling Wii U console, Nintendo announced two new bundles last week. The first bundle, which replaces the original Nintendo Land bundle, includes a black 32GB Wii U Deluxe console with New Super Mario Bros. U and its standalone expansion New Super Luigi U. The Mario-themed set arrives in stores on November 1, priced at $299.

The second bundle, launching November 15 for $299, combines a white 8GB Wii U Basic system, a Skylanders Swap Force Starter Pack, and a copy of Nintendo Land. The Swap Force Starter Pack includes the game, a Portal of Power, and three Skylanders figures, one of which is an exclusive "color shift" Washbuckler.

The Wii U version of Skylanders Swap Force supports off-screen play, which allows consumers to play the entire game on the Wii U GamePad.

007 Legends

Game: 007 Legends
System: Wii U (also X360, PS3, and PC)
Genre: Shooter
Developer: Eurocom
Release date: December 11, 2012


Pros: Good multiplayer options
Cons: Unresponsive controls, awkward stealth sections, poor enemy AI, mockery of James Bond

In December 2012, game studio Eurocom laid off its staff and closed shop forever. Its final title was 007 Legends, a game with an interesting premise: a single-player campaign that includes episodes from the careers of all six James Bonds. That's Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig, for all you Bond neophytes. The problem is the game stinks. Instead of being a celebration of all things Bond, it becomes a mockery of some of the most beloved and important moments in the history of Ian Fleming's super spy. All that would be forgivable if the game itself played well, but it's a complete train wreck, especially on Wii U, where the controls are unresponsive and clunky. The artificial intelligence is poor, the graphics are outdated, the "boss battles" -- if they can even be called that -- are boring and repetitive, and the entire game plays like a dumbed-down Call of Duty clone. Only the local multiplayer saves the game from being a complete disaster.

007 Legends covers the life of James Bond from Goldfinger to Skyfall, with several episodes in between. Players control a single Bond, Daniel Craig, throughout the entire game. It's mighty strange to see the likeness of Daniel Craig canoodle with Teresa di Vicenzo or grapple with Gustav Graves, but it's hardly a deal-breaker. The bigger issue is that Eurocom totally misses the point of so many of the Bond movies it references.

Whereas earlier Bond games like GoldenEye, Everything or Nothing, and even Eurocom's own Nightfire were smarter than the average bear, 007 Legends is decidedly dumb. It plays like a poor man's Call of Duty, without the big budget, superior production values, tight mechanics, and capable artificial intelligence. Bond no longer feels like a spy; he seems more like an action hero. Eurocom tries to diversify with stealth and driving sections, but these are either joyless or broken, or both. Occasionally Bond can use gadgets to interact with surveillance equipment and pick up fingerprints, but these feel forced and contrived. Bond isn't sleuthing, he's going through the motions.

The Wii U version of 007 Legends ends up being the worst version, in large part because the controls on the GamePad are unresponsive and inaccurate. The game features a dead zone the size of Rhode Island, so that the aiming reticle moves wildly across the screen once the analog stick is manipulated with any force. If it wasn't for a generous aiming assist feature, it would be nearly impossible to shoot enemies with any accuracy. If you're still considering 007 Legends after this negative review, avoid the Wii U version and go for the Xbox 360 or PS3 version.

It's strange that Eurocom bombed so hard with 007 Legends. Over the past 15 years, the British developer has made some of the better Bond games, including Nightfire and the GoldenEye remake in 2010. Perhaps Activision, the publisher of Legends, pressed Eurocom to cater to the lowest common denominator, or perhaps the talent at Eurocom went elsewhere. Whatever the case, 007 Legends now stands as the worst Bond game of all time.

Darksiders

Game: Darksiders
System: PS3 (also X360 and PC)
Genre: Action-adventure
Developer: Vigil Games
Release date: January 5, 2010


Pros: Coherent game world, good storytelling, accessible combat system
Cons: Derivative, slow start, some screen tearing and slow down


It's difficult to judge a title like Darksiders. Technically the game is superior, but there's hardly any original ideas or mechanics at play. Almost everything in Darksiders is borrowed from other series, most notably from God of War and The Legend of Zelda, but also from franchises like Prince of Persia, Gears of War, and, yes, even Portal. The game plays like a greatest hits album from the previous two generations of video games. 

And yet, surprisingly, it's great. The developers at Vigil Games managed to turn Darksiders into something greater than its component parts, a game that excels on both the technical and mechanical levels.

War swings a scythe at a demonic enemy.

Like God of War, Darksiders is interested in mythology, in the cataclysmic battles between the forces of Heaven and Hell. Players take on the role of War, one of four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who finds himself hunted by both demonic and angelic enemies in the war-torn ruins of Earth. The art directors and graphic artists at Vigil Games did an excellent job of bringing apocalyptic Earth to life in Darksiders. The game's several environments come together to form a cohesive and coherent game world, across which War will travel back and forth, a la Zelda, to uncover power-ups and hidden items.

Unlike Zelda, however, Darksiders is dark and gloomy, violent and gory. Some critics described it as "Zelda grown up," which totally misses the point, but at least from a cosmetic point of view it holds true. Also unlike Zelda, the protagonist in Darksiders speaks, early and often. His gravelly voice and strong, unwavering sense of duty and honor make the character War an instant classic, a rare anti-hero who, unlike Kratos from God of War, is actually likable.

War in Chaos form.

The gameplay in Darksiders, as mentioned earlier, is equal parts God of War and Zelda. Players will spend half their time chaining together combos against demons and angels, and the other half exploring dungeons and solving puzzles. The combat system is not nearly as complicated or as satisfying as those in games like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but it's still fun, and, more importantly, accessible and customizable. Players can purchase weapons, "wrath abilities," and special moves from an otherworldly shopkeeper throughout the game to customize their move set.

So Darksiders is derivative. It borrows liberally from older games, and doesn't make much of an effort to cover its tracks. Yet it manages to escape the fate of other, lesser games that borrow ideas wholesale without any attention to detail. What Vigil Games accomplished with Darksiders is quite the opposite: the careful selection of what works, and the dismissal of what doesn't. The result is a smooth, often wild ride though the apocalypse, standing on the shoulders of giants but with a spirit and mythology all its own.

Top 10 First-Person Shooters

In response to IGN's comprehensive but poorly ranked top 100 shooters list, I've decided to make my own. This list won't be 100 games long, however. It will feature the best of the best of the best: the ten greatest first-person shooters ever made. These ten shooters come to you from several different development teams and originate in several different generations, but they all share a few things in common: excellent mechanics, addictive gameplay, top-notch level design, and, often, some terrific multiplayer modes.

You may notice that some "classic" first-person shooters haven't made this list. While I applaud old-school shooters like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom for blazing a trail for modern shooters, I don't think they belong on this list. They are among the most influential games ever made, but not among the best.

Please enjoy!

#10

Quake III Arena

Although the first Quake game is rightly hailed as one of the more influential games of all time, it was only in 1999, with the release of Quake III, that the series finally reached greatness. Eschewing a plot-based single-player campaign, the developers at id Software instead focused on multiplayer mayhem. The result is a whirlwind of violence, with bodies and bullets literally flying all over the place. While its contemporary Unreal Tournament might have the better maps and more interesting weapons, Quake III looks better, plays better, and just FEELS better. It's multiplayer "twitch" shooting at its finest.

#9

Halo 3

One of the more interesting phenomena of the original Halo trilogy is that as the series unfolded its single-player mode declined while its multiplayer options improved. That's certainly the case with Halo 3, which features a solo campaign inferior to its predecessors and multiplayer modes second-to-none. Apart from the standard death match and capture the flag modes prevalent in first-person shooters, Halo 3 introduced a few novel modes, like VIP and Infection. All are played through a much improved matchmaking system that allows players to veto certain maps and modes, and even team up with online players from the match before. Also available in Halo 3 is "Forge," a multiplayer map editor that allows players to customize existing maps with weapons and vehicles.

#8

Half-Life

Often described as "the thinking man's shooter," Half-Life frequently finds itself on the top of lists such as this one. Spoiler alert: it placed number one on the most recent IGN list. And it's easy to see why. Half-Life changed the rules for first-person shooters. Along with games like GoldenEye 007, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and Unreal, Half-Life moved the genre away from the standard corridor shooter formula -- shoot first, ask questions later -- toward a more thoughtful formula centered around exploration, storytelling, and, yes, even puzzle-solving. Notably, Half-Life was the first shooter to use scripted sequences, predetermined in-game scenes activated by the hero's proximity to a place or person.

#7 

Far Cry Instincts

A remake of the PC hit, Far Cry Instincts is less open-ended and more linear than the original Far Cry, but adds several innovations that distinguish it as a unique experience. Set on a remote archipelago, Far Cry covers some seriously large real estate: rainforests, jungles, canyons, rivers, mines, and volcanic wastelands, to name a few. Traversing the game world is one of the many joys of Far Cry, whether it's hang gliding over a valley or jet-skiing around enemy forces in a bay. It's not all running and gunning in Far Cry, however. The hero, or, more accurately, antihero, is equipped with trap-making skills and, later in the game, "feral abilities," unique to the console version of the game.

#6

Halo 2

After the critical and commercial success of Halo: Combat Evolved, hopes were high for the inevitable sequel. Well, Bungie delivered on all fronts, developing a game with a stellar single-player campaign, an enthralling (if somewhat anticlimactic) storyline, and, most notably, much-improved multiplayer options. Whereas Combat Evolved launched before the introduction of Xbox Live, Halo 2 arrived in its prime, and quickly became its most popular application. For two years, Halo 2 was the most played game over Xbox Live, finally losing the top spot to Gears of War in 2006.

#5

GoldenEye 007

GoldenEye 007 ranks among games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake as one of the more important shooter ever made. Upon its arrival on N64 in 1997, GoldenEye proved two important things: one, that first-person shooters could survive, even thrive, on home consoles, and two, that they need not all be corridor shooters where players run from point A to point B, blasting everything in sight. In GoldenEye, stealth and strategy matter. Apart from its incredible and challenging single-player mode, which has tons of replay value, GoldenEye features a legendary split-screen multiplayer mode with customizable weapon sets and expertly-designed maps.

#4 

BioShock

A spiritual successor to the System Shock games, BioShock honors its predecessors by cleverly merging multiple genres into an amazing game experience. While it's predominantly a first-person shooter, BioShock features elements of adventure games, role-playing games, and even horror games. It's a masterpiece of game design, and it deserves its place on this list. It's difficult to elaborate on BioShock without giving away its many secrets, but suffice it to say that Irrational Games, who developed the game, created in BioShock one of the most unique and mesmerizing game settings of all time. From the very first moments of the game to its final frames, BioShock will steal you away to another world.

#3

Perfect Dark

Another spiritual sequel? This time it's Perfect Dark, Rare's follow-up to the massively successful GoldenEye 007. It seemed unlikely that Rare could create a worthy successor to one of the most critically acclaimed and popular games of all time, but that's exactly what happened. In fact, Perfect Dark surpasses its spiritual predecessor on all fronts: graphics, sound, presentation, and game modes. In single-player mode, heroine Joanna Dark fights across over a dozen levels to uncover a massive conspiracy. In co-operative or counter-operative mode, two players can take on mission objectives together, or try to sabotage one another. And in multiplayer mode, up to four players and eight computer-controlled bots, or "simulants" as they're called in Perfect Dark, can fight for bragging rights.

#2

Half-Life 2

Boasting an incredible physics system, in which objects and people obey the laws of gravity, friction and buoyancy, remarkably sophisticated artificial intelligence, and superior graphics, Half-Life 2 is, at least technically, a masterwork. Putting aside its technical marvels, however, it's easy to see the the prodigy behind the polygons, the talent behind the textures. In Half-Life 2, Valve created an incredible, extraordinary piece of software, one that in many instances transcends the limits of video game and becomes something more like an experience. This phenomenon is due largely to the narrative structure of Half-Life 2, which never removes the player from his or her character, Gordan Freeman. Exposition is communicated via in-game events, never cutscenes, so the player always experiences the game through Gordon.

#1 

Halo: Combat Evolved

There are only so many truly revolutionary titles in the history of video games, games like The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario 64, and Grand Theft Auto III. Then there's Halo: Combat Evolved, which achieved great things for Bungie, Microsoft, and the gaming industry in general. By providing the nascent Xbox with a "killer app," it secured Microsoft's spot in the gaming world. It also introduced features, control schemes, and themes that have, for better or for worse, infiltrated almost every mainstream first-person shooter since. And, lastly, it shifted first-person shooters away from computers and onto home consoles, finishing the work GoldenEye started four years earlier. So it's a hugely influential title, but it's also an amazingly great game, with superior graphics, a standout soundtrack, a well-written story, outstanding level design, and perfect gameplay.

Hiroshi Yamauchi Dies at 85

Hiroshi Yamauchi

There are only a few real visionaries in the video game industry, men and women who saw an opportunity, unseen by others, and seized upon it. One such man was former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi, who died this morning at age 85. The cause, according to Nintendo, was complications from pneumonia.

Yamauchi is rightly credited for transforming his grandfather's playing-card company into a video game juggernaut, and, in the process, delighting millions of fans, young and old.

Named President in 1949, at the age of 22, Yamauchi steered the company first toward board games, toy guns, and pitching machines before he turned his attention toward electronic games. In 1977, he hired a young apprentice named Shigeru Miyamoto, who would go on to create some of Nintendo's most beloved characters: Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, and Zelda. Thanks in part to Miyamoto's creations, and in part to smart marketing and quality control, Nintendo's premier system, the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan), went on to sell 60 million units, pushing quickly past its competitors.

The last Nintendo system overseen by Yamauchi was the Gamecube, which launched in 2001. He retired a year later, succeeded by current Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.

In one of his last interviews, conducted in 2003, Yamauchi spoke some wise words about Nintendo's place in the video game market:

"That’s absolutely wrong; the gaming wars, they will never end. That’s just not how this business works. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring."

Yamauchi's survivors include a son, Katsuhito.

Wii Fit U Nintendo Direct

In an unannounced Nintendo Direct today, Satoru Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aime, and Wii Fit Trainer introduced some new features of Wii Fit U, the latest installment of Nintendo's fitness franchise. Wii Fit U will be available as a free download through the Wii U console beginning November 1. For one month, consumers will have complete access to the product, which uses the Wii Balance Board accessory, free of charge. During the free trial period, consumers can sync the new "Fit Meter" with the digital download and keep the game forever. The Fit Meter retails for $20 and will also be available November 1. Don't have a Balance Board and don't want a digital copy? Wii Fit U will be available at retail in two bundles beginning December 13.

Also announced during this Nintendo Direct was Wii Sports Club, an HD overhaul of the original Wii Sports with online multiplayer and Wii Motion Plus support. Although Wii Sports Club features the original five sporting events from the 2006 game, purchases in Club will be made a la carte. Each sport will cost $9.99 as a digital download. Alternatively, consumers can purchase a day pass for all five sports for $1.99. Tennis and bowling will be the first two sports available on November 7.

Sony Announces Vita Slim, Vita TV

At a gaming conference early yesterday, Sony unveiled a new model of the PlayStation Vita which will be released in Japan on October 10 for 18,980 yen ($190). It will be available in six colors. The system is 20% thinner than the existing model and is 15% lighter. It includes 1GB of internal memory, which will save consumers some money on proprietary memory cards. One disadvantage of the new model is its LCD screen, which offers lower image quality than an OLED screen, which currently ships with all standard Vita models. According to Sony, however, the difference isn't an issue: "Thanks to the rapid progress of LCD technology in recent years, the new display provides users with the highest-level image quality, perfect for deep and immersive gaming experience that is at the core of PS Vita." No announcements have been made of a Vita Slim launch outside of Japan.

Sony also announced Vita TV, a set-top box that plays Vita, PSP, and PS1 games on a TV. However, not all Vita games will work on the console. The system is compatible with a DualShock 3 controller, which is not included in the console's $100 price. A separate bundle, with controller and 8GB memory card, retails for about $150. Vita TV is due out November 14 in Japan.

Pokemon X & Y Update

Representatives from Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokemon Company broadcast new information about two upcoming Pokemon games for 3DS this morning. Please enjoy:

Among other things, Nintendo announced that players will be able to transfer monsters from Black & White and Black & White 2 into the upcoming games. Using a feature called "Poke Transporter," players can upload captured monsters to a personal Pokemon Bank, which can store up to 3,000 monsters. The Bank requires a premium app and annual fee.

In addition, Game Freak's Junichi Masuda announced that the three new starter Pokemon -- Chespin, Froakie, and Fennekin -- will be joined by the three original starter Pokemon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. These three original monsters now have a final Mega Evolution that can be unlocked.

 Pokemon X & Y will release worldwide on October 12.

Wii U price drops by $50, Wind Waker bundle announced

Starting on September 20, the Wii U will retail for $299 instead of $349. The price drop comes at a time when Wii U hardware and software sales are far below anticipated figures. After the price drop the Wii U will be $100 cheaper than PS4 and $200 cheaper than Xbox One, both of which launch later this year.

Nintendo has also announced a limited edition Wind Waker HD bundle that comes with a custom GamePad, a digital copy of Wind Waker HD, and a code for the digital version of Hyrule Historia. The bundle will cost $299.

Finally, Nintendo announced a new version of the 3DS called 2DS, which removes the 3D slider and clamshell design of the original 3DS. The system launches October 12 for $130.

The Best of Both Worlds: A Case for Action-Adventure Games

Like books, stage productions, and movies before them, video games can be classified under several distinct genres and sub-genres. While it might be more challenging to compartmentalize video games -- in the last few generations video games have synthesized and transcended many genres -- it's still possible to determine which genre a game represents. But not all genres are created equal. Some produce a far more impressive amount of great games than others. And the one genre that has produced the greatest number of all-time great video game titles is also, maybe naturally, the most amorphous: action-adventure.

The genre itself is almost as old as the video game industry. Most game historians point to Adventure (1979) for Atari 2600 as the first game to blend action and adventure elements into a coherent whole, but it wasn't until The Legend of Zelda (1986) that the genre became part of the collective imagination of video game players. More on that later.

First, some definitions. Every publication, blogger, and historian has his or her own definition of action adventure. What follows is the the definition according to Don't Blame the Controller. An action-adventure game is, unsurprisingly, a game that features a roughly equal combination of action and adventure elements, i.e., a game with elements borrowed from adventure games -- story, dialogue, inventory management, exploration, and puzzle-solving -- and elements borrowed from action games, including physical challenges like running, swimming, climbing, fighting, and fleeing, all of which occur in real time.

It's a very general designation, and it encapsulates many different games from many different eras. But not every title that shares some action-adventure components qualifies as an action-adventure game. Take Halo, for example. Rich in story, plot, and dialogue and heavy with action set-pieces, Halo could possible fall into the action-adventure genre. But the game is primarily oriented around action. Players in Halo are tasked with running, driving, shooting, and flying, but almost never asked to backtrack, explore, or solve puzzles. So it's an action game, or, more specifically, a shooter. Now for another example, Metroid Prime, which shares many qualities with Halo, including a first-person perspective and an epic science fiction storyline. Unlike Halo, however, Metroid Prime is split evenly between fast-paced real-time action -- shooting, rolling, grappling, etc. -- and more slower-paced exploration, data collection, puzzle-solving, and item retrieval. In Metroid Prime, players travel forward and backward across the game world, defeating enemies, locating power-ups, scouring ruins, and unlocking doors. In Halo, conversely, players move more or less in a straight line, blasting anything that moves. Therefore, Metroid Prime is an action adventure game; Halo is an action game.

Halo revolutionized the shooter genre.

These examples are not meant to devalue action games in general or Halo in particular -- Halo, after all, is ranked higher than Metroid Prime and 99 percent of all other action-adventure games on this site -- but rather included simply to articulate the difference between action and action-adventure.

So why is action-adventure so good? What is it about the sub-genre that produces such excellent video game experiences? Put simply, it's the combination of mental, emotional, and physical challenges. In action-adventure games, players, and, by extension, their avatars, must study their surroundings, participate in a story, solve brain-teasers, communicate with non-playable characters (all hallmarks of adventure games), and they must also complete timed challenges, fight enemies in real time, and survive all sorts of environmental hazards and obstacles (hallmarks of action games). It requires brainpower, and logic, and swift reflexes, and strong hand-eye coordination. In other words, it's the best of both worlds.

The original Legend of Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda, which in many ways invented the modern non-linear action-adventure game, is the best example of this perfect union of mental and physical challenges, all wrapped up in a captivating narrative. Although every Zelda game features different items and places, and includes a unique hook, e.g., a 72-hour timeline, the basic formula has remained consistent since the 1986 original. In the Zelda series, focused around a hero and a damsel in distress, players explore a vast land of dungeons, forests, mountains, lakes, and cities, solving puzzles, besting enemies, collecting equipment, money, and trinkets along the way. The details -- the sword and sorcery story, the dungeons, the rupees -- are immaterial. What's important are the pillars of the series: a story to make you care; interesting places and people to make you involved; inaccessible places to make you curious; items to make you organize; puzzles to make you think; physical challenges to make you sweat. These are what makes the series great; these are what make the action-adventure genre great.

As with all genres, it takes a dedicated and talented development team to make an action-adventure game great. Simply writing into a game the basic elements of action-adventure games will not, obviously, make it worth playing. But there is something about action-adventure, something especially interesting, challenging, and, ultimately, rewarding about the sub-genre. Something that satisfies the imagination, the intellect, and the animal instinct in all of us.