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The War of the Worlds
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Graphics & Sound:
I really wanted to love this game. The War of the Worlds was one of my favorite books growing up, the drama surrounding Orson Welles reading over radio still makes for a great historical footnote to H.G. Wells' novel, and the Spielberg movie in 2005 wasn't half bad. The visual effects created for The War of the Worlds the game are impressive and artsy. They're tinged with more than a hint of Limbo, everyone cast as silhouettes against dark, shadowy backgrounds. Unlike the simplicity in design that Limbo sported, The War of the Worlds goes big, with all kinds of action and mayhem crowding the screen. This game also has to portray Victorian London, and does a fine job giving a sense of running, crawling, and climbing through a bombed out English city. Those silhouettes mentioned earlier save us from witnessing literal horrors, but the tragedy of the alien invasion is obvious. Layered on top of these cool graphics, Patrick Stewart delivers the story as you play the game. Patrick frickin' Stewart! There's no doubt that this is a trend we'll see more often. After the success of a game like Bastion, storytelling is hip in games, and studios will be after top-notch vocal talent. Stewart is amazing. It's a shame the game itself stutters in many areas, because we loved having the voice of Captain Picard guiding us through The War of the Worlds. There's a substantial amount of voice acting in the game, and the only thing we found strange was the way segments end up being repeated as you retry areas that confounded you. It might be less of an issue if there weren't so many retries forced on you during the game, but more on that in a bit...
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Gameplay:
The comparison to Limbo holds up for much of the gameplay, actually. Side-scrolling action is the focus and the graphics are very artsy, as mentioned above. Imagining the moments immediately after the alien invasion, The War of the Worlds twists a familiar genre in service to retelling H.G. Wells' classic tale. Exploring the bombed out London while aliens tromp around in the distance is enough to make for a platforming adventure, but there's a lot more to The War of the Worlds in the form of puzzles. Each alien type has a unique attack or exploit, that you'll need to master if you hope to be reunited with your family. True to the original narrative, our hero isn't all about action. In fact, he mostly is just running for his life. This keeps The War of the Worlds true to any action/platforming game you've played recently from a control standpoint, but there's never the sense that you can attack the aliens. If you can manage to defeat them by using your wits, you've accomplished the game's main goal, which seems to be mashing up puzzle gameplay with spirited jumping, climbing, ducking, rolling action. We found the combination held up well enough at first, but unlike a mashup that transcends the original material it combined, The War of the Worlds reminded us why action or puzzle gameplay in its pure form still works best. Trying to combine the two created, in places, sequences that never achieved their full potential as puzzles because of the repetitive action required. There were also segments where the action came to the fore, and puzzle elements were only moderately challenging. The final impression is a game that aimed for the sun and reached the moon, especially when we consider the difficulty.
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Difficulty:
Not to beat around the bush, The War of the Worlds was hugely frustrating to play through some sections. Rather than describing a smooth incline where things get progressively harder, some of the hardest material is within a level or two of the opening credits. It's at this point, less than an hour into the experience, that less experienced twitch gamers are going to give up. Sequences that require perfect execution are one thing, but there are also areas later in the game where things just seem buggy. One example is a crate you're expected to push off a cliff, so you can jump on it and use it to avoid a fiery death. After much experimentation, we walked away to a different part of the level and returned to find the crate repositioned, perfectly placed for our jump. After some experimentation we found the crate landed in a good spot most, but not all the time. This kind of discrepancy that makes the difference between continuing on and returning to a checkpoint works fine as long as your checkpoints are generously spaced. The War of the Worlds seems to feel that a level only needs two or three checkpoints, forcing players to redo scene after scene when timing or strategy fail. Poor Patrick Stewart is forced to repeat his narration again and again and again, not a big deal for him as a recording, but very annoying for us. The War of the Worlds seems enamored with "smart" A.I. in its aliens, so creatures don't run scheduled patterns. They respond to your movements, which is all fine and well, but it makes for some damned hard paths. There's no alternative, so if you intend to see the final credits roll you'll have to buck up and get your twitch gaming on. If you aren't ready to perfectly time some jumps, climbs, and rolls, you need not apply.
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Game Mechanics:
Understanding The War of the Worlds as a twitch game masquerading as a quirky puzzle/platforming title, you'll be relieved to know that the controls are actually good. It's not like your character is an action hero, so don't expect pinpoint control and super-duper flying skills, but you can pull off a number of moves that help you stay alive. Walking and running, as well as a quick forward roll, help you stay clear of angry aliens. Ladders and other devices can be managed, either by using the analog sticks or pushing a face button when prompted. The War of the Worlds keeps it simply by not encumbering your hero with inventory or a weapon. You'll need to learn to use elements in the landscape against your enemies, which sometimes means pitting one alien type against another. Perhaps the controls are intentionally a bit muddy, in keeping with the amateur nature of your hero, but there's always the possibility that things just need to be tuned up. The least one can say about The War of the Worlds is that it balances simplicity of control with some seriously hard platforming obstacles. We only wish the developers devoted more time to teaching the controls through gameplay, rather than assuming if players die enough, they'll get it.
Trial and error makes for some good learning, and endless practice makes for perfect gameplay, but we wanted about 20% less challenge in The War of the Worlds. Don't chalk it up to user error, because I've knocked down my share of action/platforming, like Shadow Complex as well as action/puzzle classics like Limbo in past years. The War of the Worlds wants to be some perfect combination of wit, will, and great reflexes, but the stress on perfect reflexes is tiresome. With enough commitment, there's no doubt you'll finish the game, but it won't always be as fun as the developers probably intended. Everything else about The War of the Worlds shows enormous creative energy, and there's a fan-base for the game, as long as players understand what they're getting into. |
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-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock |
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