Each wee little level contains just a few parameters, perfect for playing in 90-second bursts and therefore well adapted for the subway, elevator, and bathroom enhancer that is the Nintendo DS.
Along with the technical problems, the game also makes design decisions that badly compromise the player’s sense of agency.
Yourcharacter’s phrasebank is so small that you’ll already be sick of his one-liners within the first hour.
The erratic aiming assist and too-close camera makes many of the levels harder than they should be.
The game is a pretty basic 2-D shooter, but with each level confined to a single room rather than sprawling through a side-scrolling level.
Hydrophobia works hard at making water move like water—surging forward, leveling out gradually, and moving back and forth based on the velocity with which it emerged.
Where Disney Guilty Party shines is in the mystery elements—not so much the actual assembling of clues, which is fairly automatic, but the style with which the mystery is presented.
From that simple control scheme, the designers generate one clever puzzle after another.
Shooting has actually gotten worse, with an auto-aim preternaturally consistent about never, ever targeting the thing you’re looking at and no way to snap between targets.
Maps are confusing and over-embellished, making it hard to figure out where objectives are or when you’ve gotten turned around.
HD resolution makes it a lot more playable than the last couple of PS2 games, but the single-set world does the designers no favors in terms of providing any prospect of visual surprise.
There’s a terrific mythos behind the game’s universe, with its androgynous masters and mad anarchist prophets, and the latter provide lots of memorable moments reminiscent of the trippier Marvel comics of the ’70s.
The faceless dog-thing that cackles like a clown every time you shoot it will be in my nightmares for a long time to come.
The two downloadable chapters for Resident Evil 5 are pretty much perfect gaming experiences.
Visceral Games has produced an experience that feels like riding through the best carny spook show of all time.