3D Dot Game Heroes Wednesday, May 19 2010

http://sfx-360.com/index.php?idReview=468

There is a saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I personally think that there is a point that we have to stop and question the motives of a person/thing that wants to be exactly like another. Individuality sets us apart from one another and establishes greatness as more than a superficial visage of people who have preceded; it becomes a mirror of one’s self. This is my main gripe with 3D Dot Game Heroes.

3D Dot Heroes is probably the single most unoriginal game I have ever played, by no means am I saying that it’s bad, but at the same time this game is clearly impersonating Zelda: A Link to the Past. From the story told before gameplay, to the premise, to enemies, and even the overworld; everything chimes with the feeling of the Legend of Zelda. It cannot be disputed that A Link to the Past is probably one of the greatest games ever made, but to completely mock its existence by making a clone by another name, is in a way not showing the game the respect it deserves. Over the course of the game it becomes evident that 3D Dot Game Heroes may actually be some sort of parody of the Legend of Zelda action style but again, its blatant rip of the franchise is a little extreme.

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Lost Planet 2 Wednesday, May 19 2010

http://sfx-360.com/index.php?idReview=469

Loneliness has been such a prevailing element in so many games to incite that sense of fear and desperation in players. Perhaps the misconception that this idea brings about is that loneliness is reserved for the survival horror genre, but that’s not necessarily the case. In the original Lost Planet the player controlled Wayne, a young snow pirate who, after being attacked by an enormous alien creature known as an Akrid, is frozen solid in a block of ice for 30 years. When he is thawed by another band of snow pirates they realize that Wayne has no memory of his past except for a few jarring memories of his father, his name, and the Akrid that caused the destruction of his last team, the Green Eye. The most notable part about Lost Planet was its overbearing sense of loneliness. Though Wayne made contact with others over the course of the game, the enormous levels took him through massive snow covered terrains filled with enemies and little else to lighten the atmosphere. This made the players sympathize with Wayne; he had witnessed a horribly traumatic experience that wiped out his only family and he didn’t even have the memory to consolidate that fact. It was a lonely road he traveled on. This sense of fear and desperation is made ever the more potent by the fact that everyone that Wayne crossed was an enemy as well as the fact that some of Wayne’s adversaries measured stories high and could, in the most literal since, swallow him whole. But the fight continued.

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