Reviews

Back in the early 90’s, chances are that if you were a gamer you would want to have either a SNES or a Mega Drive (or Genesis if you were in the states), two consoles that, even now, are still fondly-remembered and revisited by retro gamers. At the same time, there were many gamers like myself whose parents weren’t too thrilled about buying their kids a game console, seeing zero educational value, and instead opted for the Amiga believing that it would be used for school work. Of course anyone I know whose parents went the Amiga route never used it for school work anyway and instead enjoyed the surprisingly huge amount of fantastic games that it supported. Unquestionably one of its standout titles, and one that made the console gamers envious, was Moonstone: A Hard Days Night.

Playing as one of four colour-coded knights, your mission is to return the mystical moonstone to the druids of Stonehenge, a quest that sees you visiting tombs scattered across the world map to find the four keys that will grant you access to the Valley of the Gods were the Moonstone is being held by the Guardian. Of course, along the way you will have to battle various monsters, rival knights and a dragon all determined to hamper your quest as it seems that everything in this land is determined to kill you. Blending multiple genres, this could in many ways be seen as one of the earliest examples of sandbox game as you can basically go anywhere you want on the map, visiting the various tombs in whichever order you want. Of course if that doesn’t grab you, you could always head to one of the towns to buy new equipment or gamble in the local tavern, visit Math the Wizard for help (and hopefully not get turned into a frog) or you could also just annoy your friends by challenging them to duels. The choice of how you approach the quest is really down to you.

 At its heart, this is a turn-based game with real-time combat elements with each turn usually consisting of the player moving to a location on the map, and depending on the location, engage in a combat sequence with one of the various enemies that inhabit these lands. Its simple style of gameplay makes it easy to pick up while also maximising the action of the game as most turns end with the player battling a monster or creature. With four knights to choose from, the game also gives you the choice to quest alongside three of your friends, the game even allowing you to change the name of your knight which honestly back in those more simple times for gamers was pretty mind-blowing. Any knights not picked become black knights who basically just spend the game stalking your knights and generally being a pain in the ass.

The map is divided into four distinctive territories, broken up into swamps, forest, mountains and plains with each area coming with their own distinctive foes to battle, be it the ogre-like balrogs of the mountains, the wolves of the forest or just the jump scare swamp monsters who are just as daunting to face now as they were back then, especially when they appear with a screech of a midi organ. Defeat the monsters inhabiting an area of the map and you’re rewarded with gold, equipment and if you’re lucky one of the four keys you’re looking for. While the controls might feel by today’s standards more clunky than they should, the attack wheel open to players is actually quite advanced for the time, with a wide variety of strikes available, no doubt inspired by Barbarian only thankfully giving us gameplay deeper than two identical warriors battling each other over and over again. The combat elements meanwhile are only further complemented by the satisfying sound design as swords clang, enemies cry out in pain as well as dying satisfying squelchy deaths, which work perfectly against the already cartoonish violence.

One of the biggest draws of the game though is unquestionably just how violent it is and even by today’s gaming standards still remains an extremely bloody experience as bodies of your fallen foes litter the battle screen. At the same time, using different strikes would also produce different deaths. For example, beating an opponent using broad sword strokes would see your foe being cut in half, while using forward thrusts would cause your fallen foe to collapse on the ground while a fountain of blood gushes out of them. Needless to say, all of this was much to the enjoyment of young gamers up and down the land, especially as this was a time well before video games started being subjected to censorship ratings. Of course while there was certainly plenty of ways to dispatch your foes, there was equally plenty of horrible ways to meet your demise from impalement, beheading, crushed or just eaten. It’s safe to say that being a knight in these lands is far from the safest occupation. Either way, death really is a lot of fun in this game and it finds new and ever more inventive ways for someone to meet their demise in much the same way we would rejoice over the violence of Mortal Kombat memorably brought to video games only one year later. And much like Mortal Kombat, the violence of Moonstone is not about realism but about creating Monty Python-style violence that’s fun and generally laugh-out-loud amusing to watch.

Unquestionably, one of the key titles for the Amiga, it’s still one worth discovering though due to being banned in some countries it has resulted in copies of the game being quite hard to come by with a complete boxed copy of the game being well known as one of the more expensive games to purchase (darn traders). But when you do get your hands on a copy you will know that it will have been all the hassle.

While it might not seem like it but the Xbox 360 is now Twelve years old and while most gamers have all but moved onto the next generation, there are still a large number of overlooked titles on both the 360 and the PS3 which make them still a lot of fun to hunt down. Titles like Stranglehold, much like Enslaved: Journey to the West, is one of those games that were greeted with much enthusiasm on its release only to drop under the radar shortly afterwards. Stranglehold One of the early titles for the console, Stranglehold was for a period considered a key game to pick up, especially with its Max Payne inspired gameplay, let alone its connection to Hong Kong action cinema fans and John Woo’s classic film Hard Boiled, for which it provided a sequel to. Here the film’s hero is police Inspector Tequila and voiced by Chow Yun Fat, this time taking on the triad gang “Dragon Claw”, lead by Jimmy Wong. Anyone familiar with the original film will no doubt lap this game up just on that connection, let alone the fact it plays like pure fan service with players not only getting to take control of Tequila but also getting numerous opportunities to recreate many classic John Woo moments as Tequila dual welds pistols, slides down banisters and generally reduces any environment he enters to rubble as the player is constantly thrust into explosive shoot outs.

Despite being directed by Brian Eddy who is probably better known for his work on Midway Pinball machines than video games, a department he was moved to when Midway decided to close their Pinball team. That being said, John Woo’s fingerprints are all over this game including a surprise cameo in the menu screen which rewards the player with an easy achievement point upon discovery. Unsurprisingly, with Woo’s involvement the plotting of this game, much like his films, is convoluted while at the same time dripping in his usual brand of melodrama, which really is laid on heavy during the cut scenes. The game play is undeniably similar to Max Payne, which might raise grumbles from some players as to this game trying to pass itself off as some kind of imitator, despite the fact that the Max Payne games original drew this style from John Woo’s movies in the first place, so it’s kind of fitting to see it all come full circle here. That being said, the game still brings its own twist to things as the focus is clearly on trying to give the player the John Woo experience as Tequila is armed with a pair of handguns as his primary weapon and in typical Woo style never have to be reloaded because reloading, unless it can be done with flair or artistry, only slows down the action. Seemingly this theory applies to the video game world as well.

Once more, Bullet-time makes a return here, rebranded as “Tequila Time” which kicks in only when you have an enemy in your target sights. At the same time, environments are fully interactive as they are destructible, meaning you can slide down banisters, slide over tables and even roll around on a handcart with all these moves playing out in slow-motion, enabling you with ease to blast away at enemies in only the most stylised and ludicrous ways possible. Equally as fun are the environmental elements which can be used to even out the odds from neon signs which can be dropped on your enemies through to the usual exploding barrels there is an unquestionable sense of fun which can be found in basically blasting everything in sight to bits and more so when the player is rewarded for such actions as they are for pulling off stylish moves and filling a meter which gives you access to “Tequila Bombs”. These “Tequila Bombs” can be used to replenish health through to performing a room clearing spin (complete with Woo’s trademark doves) and generally serve to add to the action and often help to level the playing field especially when the game likes to make sure that Tequila is constantly outnumbered at all times.

While the gameplay is hardly the most complex as it consists of working through each level blasting waves of enemies and trying to ensure that you cause maximum carnage possible as subtly is very much an afterthought here. That being said it still manages to keep things constantly fresh as Tequila can pair up a variety of weapons from assault rifles and shotguns through to heavy machine guns and grenades each coming with their usual strengths and weaknesses though the player is leaned towards whatever is the most powerful.

The plot also takes Tequila through a variety of interesting environments from the opening marketplace and docks through to a casino and museum which help to ease any sense of repetition that the game could easily have been hampered down by. There is an option for multiplayer but good luck at this point finding anyone to play it with as this was one aspect of the game which sadly never took off. This however is a minor inconvenience to what is otherwise a highly enjoyable game though at the same it’s largely linear structure means that it leaves little to explore other than trying to track down those last few paper cranes and making replays an unlikely prospect unless your just looking for some mindless fun in which case this game truly delivers in spades.

Since being founded in 1975, Games Workshop has held a strong foothold on the tabletop gaming market. No doubt best known for “Warhammer” and its futuristic counterpart “Warhammer 40,000,” over the years, they’ve produced a number of smaller skirmish-style games, which varied greatly in quality from the great (Necromunda, Gorkamorka, Space Hulk) and the not so great, such as Inquisitor, with its oversized models, which of course didn’t work with the masses of terrain you made for your other games, and the “Lord of the Rings” tie in games, which essentially required you to remortgage your house so you could re-enact the Battle of Helms Deep on your kitchen table. Surprisingly, one of the most enduring of these small titles is “Blood Bowl,” which since its original release back in 1986 has managed to continually attract a dedicated fanbase with the game currently receiving a fifth edition.

For those not familiar with the game, it is essentially American football set within the fantasy world of Warhammer as teams representing the various races from the game such as Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs and Skaven do battle on the pitch where players can regularly die as violence is not only allowed but actively encouraged, especially when the ref can be bribed and teams can even hire their own wizards to try and gain the winning edge over their opponents. This of course isn’t the first time that American Football has been given a hyper-violent / fantastical overhaul as we previously had both “Brutal Sports Football” on the Amiga as well as “Mutant League Football” on the Genesis. Even this game had a release as an MS-Dos game back in 1995 prior to the first attempt by the French developers “Cyanide Studios” for the Xbox 360. Now with this sequel, they clearly are attempting to build on what they established with the first game while at the same time providing the player with an almost identical experience to playing the table top game.

Developed for the more powerful Xbox One and Playstation 4 as well as PC, here, the game has been given a visual overhaul, removing the flat overhead view of the previous game. There is a real stadium feel to games as during the cut scenes you can now take in the amassed crowds as well as the satirical brand slogans such as Bloodweiser, Orcidas and McMurty’s. At the same time the teams are all distinctive in their appearance from the brutish Orcs and diseased Nurgle through to the clean cut High Elves and Beer swilling Dwarfs (who actually play welding their tankards) as each team comes with its own distinctive character making it easy for you to find one of two teams to appeal visually.

For those who’ve never played either the previous game or its table top counterpart, here the game does a fantastic job of providing an introduction to the game via its campaign mode which see’s the player trying to turn around the fortunes of the disgraced human team the Reikland Reavers. Here the player works their way through a series of modified games which slowly introduce them to the rules which while complex on first appearance when presented this way makes them easy to pick up. Once you have the rules down the game provides a number of options as the player can compete with a variety of leagues, cups and tournaments either against AI opponents or against human opponents either offline or online. The online aspect of the game is especially well supported with a number of online ladders / tournaments for players to join and its kind of refreshing to see a game providing so many options for play, rather than simply sticking to the popular model of being online exclusive. The downside however comes with the lack of a timeout option, leaving you committed to playing a game once you’ve started and with games usually taking around an hour and a half to play it does mean that you have to block out your gaming time to avoid forfeiting games due to real-life intruding on your fun.

For those not familiar with the game, it can, when first starting, seem overly strict and brutal, especially when one failed move can mean the end of your turn. However, this is a game where once you learn the rules, it gets a lot better, more so when you begin to learn the intricacies of the game and what tactics work best for which teams. For example, the Orcs are great at bashing their opponents but slow on speed, meaning that the player is best hitting their opponent first and hard while the Skaven are a fragile team in combat but at the same time one of the quickest making them ideal for the player who enjoys running rings around their opponents defences. Needless to say, you might find yourself spending a worrying amount of time reading up on tactics and plays for the various races, though the game does provide a handy summary of each teams strengths and weaknesses on the team selection page.

Team creation in the game is very much a double-edged sword with eight races available with the game and a further four available as DLC there is plenty of choice of who to play as, though chances are you will end up creating a team for each of the races depending on how loyal you are to any particular race. The customisation options however are more limited with a small number of changeable heads available which can lead to some player duplication and while there is a large selection of team colours including a lovely yellow polka dot (handy for anyone wanting to field a Dusty Rhodes tribute team) though there are no in depth options available for changing these colours. On the up side, you can individually name each player if you don’t want to stick with any of the generic names which is also great for themed teams. When it comes to creating your team you begin with 1 million gold pieces in which you can purchase players aswell as perks such as Cheerleaders / Extra team training / Apothecaries and extra dice rolls and with each race coming with its own selection of player types from Big guys (Ogres, Treemen, Mummies) to hard hitters (Black Orcs, Witch Elves, Troll Slayers) and the trick is figuring out the best way to spend your gold to produce a balanced team. Of course, if the stats are overwhelming, there is the option available to just have the computer put together a team for you.

With each game your team plays they earn gold with the amount varying depending on if they win or loose and which can be spent on improving the team via perks, purchasing additional players or hiring one of the numerous star players willing to offer their service to teams which can afford them. At the same time players level up as they gain experience points earned by killing opponents and scoring touchdowns which opens skills to improve your players performance on the pitch. It should equally be noted that “Blood Bowl” is a game is not about winning every match but about slowly growing your team into an unstoppable force over a series of games, with a good result often coming from not having players killed or injured to severely than winning every game and there is a real pleasure in seeing your team grow from a bunch of underdogs to powerful team of skilled players. While the pace of this game might be more strategic than your usual sports simulation with its turn based movement, the colourful and amusing commentary as well as cut scenes of players performing their attacks on rival players or just celebrating touchdowns keeps it from getting stale, much like the more fantastical abilities such as having your troll throw your Goblin halfway across the pitch.

Yes the game can be frustrating at times, especially to the newcomer and with one mistake leading to the end of your turn, it can feel at time like a steep learning curve. However, once you have played a few games you soon learn when to make the more risky moves as well as how to best priorities your moves to cover for the potentially fatal dice roll. For the established fans of the game this is an almost perfect adaptation of the table top game, while for those drawn in by the idea of a fantasy version of American Football this game certainly doesn’t disappoint either especially for those willing to stick with the learning curve. For those who prefer their games a little more fast paced they might be best looking elsewhere.

Author note: Review is for the standard edition of the game. A full review of the changes added by the Legendary edition can be found here - http://www.thatmomentin.com/blood-bowl-2-legendary-edition/