The story moralizes on the subject of murder with a heavy hand and yet its main character cuts through each nameless person on screen without raising any valid questions in the process.
The equipment and currency systems are skin-deep for the six-to-eight-hour one-player campaign, but truly boost forward in the immersive online portions of SSX.
Monolith tried to create a full-bodied shooter experience with their limited budget they were given, but titles such as Bulletstorm and TimeSplitters truly experimented with slapstick within the FPS genre.
The new Guard system uses half of your Critical Gauge and the timing is more relaxed, and since you can’t spam it over and over, “turtling” won’t be an option.
The missions in the final game are action-packed, and if you played Jak II you’ll instantly fall in love with the pacing and deep melee options.
The gameplay for all of these games is still tight and responsive after all these years. Characters such as Raiden, Big Boss, Otacon, and Snake are just as engaging as well.
You’ll marvel at the dust-particle animations in the tank levels, the ocean swelling around an aircraft carrier, and an earthquake toppling an Iraqi building.
Bits of dialogue about a DNA chronal device, “quantum causality,” and “chronal energy polarity” are bandied about by Parker and O’Hara like they’re simple concepts to grasp.
The 12-hour co-op mission has a few technical flaws, but fans wanting to extend their Ratchet & Clank experience will squeeze some fun out of the game.