Review: Samurai Shodown Sen (360)

This isn’t the first time that SNK have gone down the 2D into 3D fighting game route. They have done the very same thing numerous times before, once in the mid nineties with the launch of their Hyper Neo Geo 64 arcade board, and a second time a few years back with King Of Fighters Maximum Impact for the PS2 and later on for the 360. Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury both made an appearance on the Hyper Neo Geo 64 in Japanese arcades, and whilst maintaining the very familiar gameplay of the 2D instalments, neither series in 3D reached anywhere near the quality or popularity of the original Neo Geo games.

Samurai Shodown Sen (or just Sen) is the latest folly in the new SNK’s revitalised plans for their hit franchises, a spin off which not only adds another dimension to the proceedings, but also a different style of gameplay as well. It’s hard not to cast down an early judgement against Sen for doing such a thing, considering the less than stellar quality of SNK’s other 3D versions of popular titles. But sadly, my initial gut feeling was utterly correct. Samurai Shodown Sen isn’t a particularly good game at all. In fact it is decided average in most respects, and poor in others, being playable, just about, but at the same time completely forgettable in every way.

First impressions are rather poor. Graphically the game looks very much like a last-gen title briefly polished over in order to justify a 360 release. The conversion is perfect from the game’s original Taito Type X2 arcade release, though that isn’t exactly saying much, considering Sen is awash with low resolution textures, basic lighting, smooth but almost blocky looking characters, and an absolute minimum of visual effects required to be considered a next-gen (or should that be current gen?) title.


Animations are stiff, and various body parts are rather disproportionate, even for a series on which things were always a little far-out in terms of reality. A good example would be the comparison between the reasonable, and quite nice artwork, and the actual in-game models themselves. They just don’t match up at all, which is jarring to say the least.

SNK Playmore however, have seen fit to include a few 3D renditions old classic backgrounds from the original 2D games released on the Neo Geo platform; including the flagship ‘beach stage’ from the first two games, which features some wooden temple beams scaling off into the sea, whilst the waves gently stray upon the rocks; along with the ‘fields of long grass’ from Samurai Shodown II. It’s a pretty cool touch, especially for long-time fans such as myself, although their implementation is technically basic at best. Visually they look blocky like the characters, and come across as rather empty and stale, instead of lively and vibrant like in the original games.


The presentation fares a little better, and does retain some of the ‘that’ Samurai Shodown feel through authentic looking artwork, and cool old-style on-screen counters and life bars. It’s not perfect, and sometimes a little rushed, but feels at the same time, a whole lot more polished than the game’s meagre graphics offering. To be honest, this part of the game shines the brightest, feeling like a true Samurai Shodown title, music included.

In terms of characters, Sen features a total of 24, 13 of which are taken from previous games, and 11 of which are brand new creations for this latest instalment. Each one of the game’s characters fall under a Power, Skill, Speed or Tricky style of play - with Power being given to characters who favour slow, hard-hitting individual attacks; Skill for ones which favour the tactical approach to combat; Speed for quick nimble types, and Tricky for those that don’t come under any of the other play-styles on offer.

It’s nice to see so many old favourites on show, including cover star Haohmaru, the evil looking Genjuro, and French swordswoman Charlotte, all of which look a little too bulky, move rather stiffly and lack most of their trademark special moves from past games. They are still, along with the rest of the original crew, the best of the bunch, as the 11 new characters are as generic as they are bland, not holding a candle stylistically to the traditional roster.


There are four buttons to use in Sen, a horizontal slash, vertical slash, kick and one button reserved for special attacks. Pressing two of these buttons together unleashes a strong attack, much like in the first two games on the Neo Geo, whilst pressing three performs an unblockable move, which although slow to come out, is deadly if it connects. Sadly I found it to be of not much use, relying on specials, combos and Super moves in order to battle my way through the game.

So far it doesn’t sound too dissimilar from the likes of Soul Calibur or Toshinden, and the similarities don’t end there. This latest Samurai Shodown game, doesn’t actually play anything like the 2D fighters of old. In fact it plays very much like a cross between Toshinden and Dynasty Warriors on Psone, mainly being based around short three to four hit combo-strings, and a few one off powerful special attacks. Most of your time is spend juggling together a combination of vertical and horizontal attacks ending in a special for added damage.

These special attacks for the most part, also look and feel completely different to the Street Fighter style gameplay which featured in the old games. Some characters do have some of their old moves, which react very similarly to how you’d expect them to, but also have a command-list of completely new Soul Calibur-esque dial a combo style sequences. Overall, the game is much more about stringing together different normal and ‘special’ moves (if you can call them that) in the same way as you do in pretty much all modern 3D fighting games, than being a modern reference in the way of a 3D visuals, 2D fighting game.

Unfortunately it really isn’t very good in that respect, with combat being rather stiff and pretty basic at all times. Certainly, this isn’t anywhere near the polished level of Soul Calbur, in which its likely to be judged. And furthermore feels largely rushed and slightly unfinished as a result.


However, Sen isn’t a total loss. There is almost some fun to be gained from the game’s somewhat stale combat system, mostly from discovering the combinations or moves which work in delivering the greatest amount of damage, or in which can counter certain moves in certain situations. Despite this, though, the game feels old and clunky, a far removed experienced from the vastly polished fighting games of the last ten years or so. You could say that Sen would be an alright PSone launch title, but for the 360, and up against Street Fighter IV, Soul Calibur and Tekken, it just doesn’t cut it.

Fans may be pleased to see the return of the ‘POW gauge, which when filled right up allows you to power up your chosen character by pressing all four buttons, saturating them in a red glow and allowing you to pull off a character specific Super move. These like in most games of this type are a series of flashy moves stringed together into an extended combination attack, although here they are pretty uninspired, and wholly devoid of any uniqueness the series is known for.

It’s also possible to pull off a series trademark ‘finishing move’ which depending on what weapon-based move you use for a well-timed heavy blow, can result in either chopping off any one of the opponent’s limbs, decapitation, or even slicing them in half. Having these included in the game helps it feel at least like it’s trying to be a Samurai Shodown title, and does add something extra to the otherwise bland experience on offer.


More importantly SNKP have added a range of modes to keep you busy, including Story, Versus, Practice, Survival, and lastly, Online. However it is only the Story and Survival modes which are likely to hold your attention (for a short while), as there is hardly anyone playing this game online. When actually getting a match, the connection is solid enough with minimal lag (on my 1meg connection, something of a running joke here at IQGamer), to have an enjoyably serious standoff, or just a few casual matches. Finding a match however, is a problem, as there is few people online playing this game.

There’s not much to recommend about Samurai Shodown Sen. It’s not the fact that they’ve changed the way the game plays to match modern fighters like Soul Calibur or Tekken, but rather, how they’ve managed to balls it all up with a lazy, under-developed rush job of a game. I imagine that SNK was simply keen to have another famous franchise out there that wasn’t King Of Fighters or Metal Slug – both of which have been overused these past few years – and thought that a wholly different, quick release version of a fan favourite was the way to go. Sadly that isn’t the case at all, and I would rather have them spend a few extra months creating a proper 2D sequel to the franchise, or perhaps look at revisiting The Last Blade instead.


Samurai Shodown Sen isn’t a completely terrible game overall, but a decided average one instead, with poor gameplay being the main spoiling factor. It’s also the most important one too. In every regard SNKP’s latest fails to excel in one area over another, being the perfect example of a playable (barely) piece of mediocrity. The basic combo system and move set, stiff animations, and blocky graphics make Sen utterly forgettable, and a resounding disappointment to all concerned. Long time fans won’t be pleased with what they find, and everyone else is far better off with the usual alternatives.

With Super Street Fighter IV finally available, it’s pretty obvious which one you’re gonna choose. Capcom have shown just how to revitalise a dead 2D franchise, using up to date 3D visuals and a refined faithful return of 2D hit-box based gameplay. All in all, making Samurai Shodown Sen completely redundant and a laughing stock of a game.

VERDICT: 4/10

Editorial: No Instructions Included?

Late last week Ubisoft announced that it was ditching the use of printed instruction booklets for all of its upcoming games released later this year, starting with Shaun White Skateboarding, and following through with every new title thereafter. Their recent decision will effect all future PS3, 360 and PC titles in a scheme that the company says will not only save them a considerable amount of money, but that will also be responsible for a more environmentally friendly approach to producing videogames - they have already commissioned the use of the eco-box for its PC games, packaging which uses less overall plastic than regular boxes used for DVDs and games.

Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America stated that "Eco-friendly initiatives are important to the global community and introducing in-game digital manuals on Xbox 360 and PS3 is just the latest example of Ubisoft's ongoing commitment to being a more environmentally conscious company".

The company also claimed that the removal of instruction booklets would be beneficial to gamers, as more work would be put into creating a “more robust” digital manual held on the game disc, which would provide “easier and more intuitive access” to game information on the fly, when they say gamers need it the most.

Of course, Ubisoft’s statements uttering the fact that in this day and age that the ‘instruction booklet’ as we know it is largely redundant, is a viewpoint also held by a vast majority of mainstream gamers, evident by the lack of complaints, or even comments surrounding the increasingly paper thin booklets given with most new releases these days. One only has to look at the recent Call Of Duty outings (especially Modern Warfare 2) along with Need For Speed, and Ubi’s own Assassins Creed, to determine that by and large, in their current form, these booklets are pretty pointless. Almost to the point it seems, of being there just to fulfil a tradition started with single-coloured square pixel type games of the late seventies and the early eighties, a time in which videogame graphics were far too basic to effectively house an in-game tutorial.

Looking at these modern instruction booklets, the vast majority these days for the yearly franchise titles, and for the big annual heavy hitter sequels (COD, NFS etc), seem mainly to contain a brief handful of pages, filled with black and white text describing the controls, and maybe providing a single in-game screenshot showing off the HUD. In which case their inclusion is pretty pointless at worst, and complimentary at best, being ignored I imagine by the vast majority of gamers who pick up those titles.

Other games, like with Epic’s Gears Of War Series, Capcom’s Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter IV, or Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy, all have well thought out and carefully crafted booklets, which not only show players how to control the game, what the items are, and weapons available, but also provide a gamers with a back story for it’s characters, unseen artwork, hints and tips, or even just a nice read through about the world you’ll be entering as soon as the disc enters your chosen gaming machine.

Mario Galaxy for example, has detailed artwork showcasing the various moves the character has in the game, along with the various power ups he can pick up, and how they change his abilities and interactions with his environment. All of which are represented with numerous images and notes, and are a pleasure to read as well as to lovingly gaze at. Nintendo it seems understands the value of such an inclusion, not necessarily because casual gamers need to have such a thing, because most are just as likely to ignore it, but because largely, it is something that not only fans will appreciate, but also because it is a tried and tested tradition of out industry, to have a cool and colourful set of printed materials with every new purchase. It makes an item of its kind feel complete.

Likewise, the inclusion of a printed booklet in Epic’s Gears Of War serves to highlight the rich back-story surrounding the characters and locations in which the game is set, describing ‘emergence day’ and the early conflict with the Locust forces long before Marcus Fenix was imprisoned for treason. Filled with a muddy, reddish brown hue throughout, and containing intricately hand drawn artwork complementing the words about the weapons and conflict surrounding the game’s universe. It is far more than just a quick guide to how the game will, control, acting as more of a reference to a bigger world than what the actual game provides.

The same thing can be seen in most of the old 16 and 8bit titles, with games like Sonic The Hedgehog featuring descriptions and drawings of most of the enemies in the game, along with the stages that you’ll be playing through, minus the secretive last few stages, and most importantly, the actual game story itself. All this also applies to the likes of Mario, James Pond, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Shinobi and pretty much every single title released in that era worth its salt.

Looking at instruction booklets in this way, you can see why there is still some value left to be had including one in your latest blockbuster hit, not just for completion sake, but perhaps to add a little more to the experience than just the digital content stored on the disc. I for one, like the ability when unsealing the game for the first time, to take a few moments to look over what’s included, maybe have a whiff of the box and manual when it first opens, before flicking through the pages in anticipation of what the game has in store for me.

Most, I suspect won’t care about this ‘feature’, and with the likes of Call Of Duty and Assassins Creed, I completely agree. The inclusion of the three or four page booklet with a brief controls description and photo of the game’s HUD, along with the obligatory warranty details is utterly pointless, and in my opinion a waste of time for all involved. In that case, it’s a perfect example of a series (or a game) which would benefit in not having a booklet included at all, especially when in both aforementioned titles, a definitive and easy to access controls refresher is available from the in-game pause menu.

Of course, maybe companies like Ubisoft should perhaps be looking at this from another angle entirely. Most games today are designed around strong narrative progression and focused character driven gameplay, so it would make a lot of sense in keeping the fat down with regards to background in-game cinematics, with a brief look on such a thing in the game’s instruction booklet instead. Combined with fresh, unseen artwork, introductions to all the lead characters, along with all the usual stuff, it could well be something to consider investing in. Maybe, and I would hate this to happen myself, is that the instruction booklet we know could become some checkbox feature on some collectors edition, doling out content that would have been commonplace in games just a decade or so ago, with the standard edition completely barren of such wares.

Overall, this debate on whether or not we ‘need’ or require an instruction booklet to go along with our games, is something which will definitely rear its head again. I imagine that in the near future we will have some developers that absolutely value what the inclusion of printed materials does for a product, whilst some all too keen to cut back costs and provide a perhaps more customisable digital alternative to suit the 21st century gamer. Either way, I can still see a road in which the loved, hated, instruction book can continue.

For better or worse times are changing, as are the people that play games and make games, in which it is inevitable that certain things will change in order to find the right balance between necessity and nostalgia.

Personally, I won’t be shedding any tears for lack of printed materials in any of Ubisoft’s, Activision’s, or EA’s offerings, but if the day comes when developers who put so much efforts into crafting a finely designed traditional instruction booklet comes to an end, then I suspect that I won’t be in the least bit pleased, and decidedly saddened by the whole affair. Maybe it’s time that more gamers stood up and actually started to care about what comes inside their much loved videogame packages, rather than trying to get everything for as little as possible, or maybe, we should except that the market and its audience as changed so much, that the ‘gamer’ and ‘videogaming’ as us old timers know it, is well and truly a thing of the past.

Review: After Burner Climax (PSN & XBLA)

Before wanting to be a videogames journalist, or before that a palaeontologist, I have always wanted to become a fighter pilot, shooting down those pesky Migs just like in the 1986 movie hit Top Gun. No rules, no regulations, or training required, just some awesomely cool dog fighting action. As it so happens, I got my first taste of this first-hand in one of my local seaside arcades when I was about five or six years old. I had encountered Sega’s mid-eighties spectacular After Burner, a jet fighting, rip-roaring, aerial action game complete with a really, really, cool moving cabinet.


I only had one go. That was all I was allowed. But it would be an experience I would never forget, a rush of excitement and exhilaration that few games today have delivered in such a concentrated dose. And despite never making it past the first stage, I yearned for more, not ever having the chance to properly sample delights of such similarity again… until now.

In 2006, Sega unleashed upon a dying arcade world the little known After Burner Climax, one of their first next-generation arcade outings. Running on their newly formed Lindbergh arcade board, it brought to the screen fast-paced aerial action and a hint of 1980’s excitement, all at the pre-requisite sixty frames per-second with a slew of smoke and particle effects. Finally my chance to sample once again my childhood delights had arrived, except for the fact that a scarce one or two go’s would be my only chance of salvation. As per usual, Sega had decided it seemed, to completely overlook such a title for an early next-gen console launch, instead relegating it to the ranks of forgotten arcade gems.

Today, all that has changed, and Sega, in combination with Sumo Digital (their usual porting house) have seen fit to release this nearly forgotten arcade non-hit to both PSN and XBLA. Get Ready to re-enter the danger zone, Kenny Loggings style!


Graphically the game is pretty much arcade perfect on both platforms running at the expected 60fps, featuring basic but fairly detailed texture work, with bump-mapped and shiny (specular and diffuse effects) surfaces, and plenty of smoke and particle effects expected for a 2006 game. As with Virtua Fighter 5 on PS3 and Lindbergh, no AA is present on the PS3 version although at least 2xMSAA is used on the 360, but then again, the game does render in 720p on both formats.

The 360 version however, seems to feature slightly better lighting than the PS3 one, matching the arcade version like for like, whereas on PS3 the lighting is ever so slightly less intense. It’s not even an issue for me, and despite with myself being just a little bit of a graphics whore, decided to make my final purchase of the game for my PS3, to go along with OutRun Online arcade and Tekken Dark Resurrection (amongst others) in my growing collection.


The premise of the game is the same as in the 1986 original; flying around at varying speeds above and below the clouds, you are tasked with blasting enemy planes and ground vehicles into obliteration, whilst relying on just a few well-aimed missiles and an unlimited use of a paltry machinegun to get the job done. Along with your limited assortment of weapons, you also have the ability to out-manoeuvre enemy craft using the series trademark ‘barrel roll’, mixing it up between all out shooting, and cleverly skilled avoidance of the impending doom heading your way.

Did, we also mention, blue skies, bright white clouds, and a variety of different environments, each making little sense in the grand scheme of things when it comes to aerial combat. But they sure as hell look really cool, an infusion of colour in an increasingly drab modern videogaming world, just what we need to see a lot more often.

The dossier on the game reads something like this: three selectable aircraft, check; skilful but simplistic gameplay; check; cheesy 80’s rocking arcade soundtrack, check. And so on. It’s After Burner through and through, and one of the last truly decent games created by Sega geniuses at Sega-AM2, minus Virtua Fighter 5 of course.


Staring off by selecting one of three planes, the F/A-18E, F14D Super Tomcat and the F-15E, and then choosing the colour, the game has you flying through a multitude of different, beautifully colourful environments, barrel-rolling and blasting your way through hordes of enemy aircraft and resistant ground forces. Twice along the way the game’s stages branch off to create two separate routes to take, each with new stages and a different second set of routes to take. Should you meet hidden objectives set out for you by the game, you might also encounter a secret stage or two, usually absent from your somewhat short progression to the end.

The experience as a whole is pretty short and really very linear, much like Star Fox 64 or any on-rails shooter worth it’s salt. There’s not much more to do once you’ve completed all the routes available and seen the end credits a handful of times, not even all that much in the way of added depth, or hidden skill to master outside the basic ‘roll and shoot’ and ‘Climax Mode’ mechanics.

However, mastering the basics (is there anything beyond?) isn’t quite as easy or straightforward as it might seem, though lacking the depth of say, OutRun or Sega Rally, but having more to do than the likes of Virtua Cop, or Ghost Squad.


Your basic machine gun fires off rapid shots used to take down most close range enemy aircraft, whilst your missiles are used primarily to initiate an early strike against forces yet to reach your position. Missiles have to be locked-on, much like in the movie Top Gun, and you can target up to a handful at any given time. For each one to be launched you have to push down on the fire button, rather than hold, hit, and fire, which simply will leave you firing off a single missile against one target instead of the group you’ve just locked-on to. This, along with the game’s titular ‘Climax Mode’ brings some much-needed depth to the experience, regardless of how light it actually is, making you learn and remember enemy attack patterns, before blasting them down seamlessly for that barely obtainable ‘100% rating’.

Movement, as with most on-rail shooters, is restricted to flying around between all for corners of the screen, flying into the screen and the oncoming environments and enemies. It’s possible to perform a ‘barrel roll’ using a quick flick of the analogue stick in the opposite direction to which you are moving, whilst the camera automatically pushes you down a fixed course.

Unfortunately, I found it all too easy to accidentally initiate the ‘barrel roll’ whilst attempting to quickly move and target enemies on the opposite side of the screen, rather than change direction and shoot em’ down with some missiles. Maybe it would have been better to have a ‘button and stick movement’ system to activate such a move, thus avoiding the issue from ever coming up. Saying that, the current control set up does make the game feel more like you are flying an unwieldy fighter jet at a fast and frenetic pace, for better or worse.


Moving on, the titular ‘Climax Mode’, activated when the ‘Climax Gauge’ fills up to its maximum position, basically slows down time Matrix stylie, allowing you target and takedown a multitude of enemies far more easily than at high speed. A small counter also appears telling you the amount of enemies that are on screen, which if you manage to destroy all at the same time, you’ll receive an added increase in your score outside that given for simply taking down enemies.

It’s all as simplistic as it gets, with most of the depth and replay value coming from trying to get a perfect ‘takedown’ rating, or by achieving the highest score on the leaderboards - the game’s only online option. It’s also pretty hard, and very chaotic at times, sending a screen load of adversaries at you at any one time, repeating the process over and over until the game ends. Certainly you can tell, that like the 1980’s original, this next-gen sequel was also designed specifically to keep you pumping 50p pieces into the machine.

Challenging, and sometimes unfair, especially later on, is how I would describe After Burner Climax, though never to the point where the wild ride on offer becomes just another bag of stress rolled up and ready to be thrown across the room. Authentic, yes, but expected all the same. After all it’s in the series heritage to be this way.


If you are finding the whole experience a little to hard for your liking, then the game features what can only be described as a ‘dip switch’ style ‘EX Options’ mode, in which you can customise everything from the amount of continues on offer, to powering up your weaponry and allowing an auto lock-on function. It is also possible to change the parameters for how the game’s scoring system works making it easier to gain higher bonuses and other such extras. These ‘Ex Options’ only work in the game’s ‘Arcade Mode’, leaving ‘Score Attack’ free of any unwanted tampering for competitive online play, or rather rankings, as there is no multiplayer on offer.

After Burner Climax is a rather short but reasonably sweet dose of vintage arcade gaming, delivering the quick thrills and spills of such great 1980’s hits like OutRun, Space Harrier and After Burner long since forgotten by the general gaming public. It is also extremely short and pretty repetitive compared to the likes of OutRun 2, in which mastering your drift, and replaying every route in the game can become an obsession. Still Climax offers you a similar feeling, just in smaller doses and with unrelenting fury, without the substance inducing style addictiveness to be found in Sega’s 2004 drifting arcade smash.

Sadly, it also seems like part of the experience is missing without ‘that’ trademark hydraulic cabinet so firmly ingrained in our minds from twenty years ago. Surround sound we may have, and that works brilliantly, but really, having the full-on moving cabinet throwing you all around was part and parcel of the enjoyment behind the game.


For anyone looking for a slice of childhood gaming goodness, or those who perhaps spent too many hours playing through Panzer Dragoon, OutRun or even Star Fox on the N64, will find a highly enjoyable albeit short slice of aerial action, let down by its lack of additional modes, and its strict devotion to its late 80’s roots. For me, and I suspect a few others at least, After Burner Climax could be one of the most played PSN or XBLA releases this year, drenched in blue skies, beautiful artistically designed environments, and quick-fix shooty action.

This game is probably the last solid arcade title to come out of Sega’s dwindling development studios since OutRun 2, and the continuing instalments of the Virtua Fighter series. It’s not perfect by any means, being a little too short for its own good, and rather chaotic, but worth picking up for fans, and perhaps people longing for some more arcade action.

VERDICT: 7/10

Sony Revises Slim PS3 Internals

Over the last two months or so there has been a growing worldwide shortage of PlayStation 3 consoles. Most people that I have spoken to seemed to have believed that this was due to the increasing demand for the machine whilst Sony struggled to make enough to go around, especially in lieu of their hard hitting ad campaigns for both Heavy Rain and God Of War 3.

However, like with most hardware shortages there is something else at work behind the scenes. In this case an internal revision of the insides found in both the 120GB and 250GB model slim PS3’s. First discovered at a site called PocketNews, we lay out the info for you right here at IQGamer.


The latest revision of the console, which should come with the CECH-2100A model number, features a new 45nm size RSX GPU shrunk down from its existing 65nm production node, and keeps the existing 45nm version of the CELL CPU from a previous process reduction. With this also comes a smaller cooling solution, and a lighter power supply unit, which naturally draws less electricity to match the reduced power in put required by the internals.

In addition to these changes, the system’s traditional use of four separate 64MB XDR RAM modules has been replaced with two 128MB versions instead. Again keeping overall costs and complexity down. The motherboard has also seen a reworking in order to accommodate these new components, being simpler to construct, and cheaper as a result.

With all the changes at hand inside the machine, it makes this latest revision of the slim PS3 the cheapest, coolest running, and most power efficient version of the console yet. This should translate into an increase in revenue made on each console, maybe even allowing a route to another price drop further down the line. Seeing as both Natal and PlayStation Move being launched in fall of this year, Sony are clearly positioning themselves to allow a better degree of flexibility on both machine pricing and maximising their revenue stream, with an eye, no doubt, into closing the ever smaller gap between both PS3 and 360 consoles.

Now that these new PS3 slims are rolling off the production line and into stores, there should be an end in sight for the shortage that has hampered PS3 sales recently. I expect there to be an abundance of shiny new consoles at your local retail outlet in the next couple of weeks. If not, then shortly thereafter.

Update: It has since been confirmed by Sony that the process node used for the new RSX inside these latest slim consoles is in fact a 40nm one, and not at 45nm as originally thought. This is rather surprising news, seeing as nobody thought that Sony would be using its 40nm fabrication process for its PS3 GPU. It was original going to be used for memory components only.

Review: Splinter Cell Conviction (360)

Sam Fisher’s latest exploit is a very different beast to past Splinter Cell titles, and after five years of waiting many fans of the series trademark gameplay may not be happy with what they get, especially compared to what they might have expected. ‘Conviction’ in many ways seems more driven by its personal narrative and characterisation than by providing players with a wholly realistic setting and story in which to sneak their way through. It is however, a much more exciting game as a result.

Instead of a highly polished and mostly grounded title, in which extreme stealth and careful planning are required, what we have here is a something which has been turned into more of a 24 style blockbuster, in which cleaver use of stealth and cunning are blended into a more action-based approach to the series traditional gameplay values. Call it ‘heightened cinematic realism’ if you will, rather than the previously cold, harsh and somewhat sedate style inspired by the Tom Clancy novels.

The same thing can be said about the forthcoming ‘Ghost Recon Future Solider’, a title which although keeps its squad-based gameplay mechanics intact, also brings to the table a faster paced, more action oriented adventure, dependant on thrills rather than the familiar steady and tense action most people associate with the franchise. At the same time this more accessible nature allows the developers to widen their games audience along with providing a more interesting story outside of the ‘provide target and execute’ nature cemented in previous games.


‘Splinter Cell Conviction’ starts much like previous games, in slightly confined and larger partially lit areas, having Sam Fisher sneaking around avoiding all enemy sentries whilst looking to accumulate his intended target. Even in these opening moments ‘Conviction’ familiarises players with its fresh approach to the series trademark gameplay, seeing them take a greater role in engaging the enemy, silently if not aggressively at the same time. It’s no longer a case of waiting around endlessly for patrols to clear giving a window of opportunity to move freely around, or killing them and dragging their bodies away. Instead, the aim here, as in many places through the game, is to use a combination of invisibility and distraction to your advantage.

At first the game’s use of light and darkness, along with stealth and silent aggression works rather well, and is not too dissimilar from other titles in this series. However ‘Conviction’ isn’t a game that you can play in the same way as say ‘Chaos Theory’ or even ‘Double Agent’, instead it requires you to be a lot more proactive in your choices and abilities in taking down the various guards set around the course of the levels. The game always keeps you moving towards your next intended target, driving along the story and Sam’s thirst for revenge. In many ways, despite still being driven by stealth, the game is no longer solely held back by it, with the way you approach certain obstacles being very different, and sometimes much louder and more brash.


The way the new stealth system works is a good example of this. No longer are you waiting around looking at on-screen cues to determine your status as hidden from your enemies. Instead the entire screen turns progressively more black and white as you become more and more camouflaged from potential foes. It’s an idea that works so much better than the meters used before in previous games. You can know instantly, and subtly tell exactly how hidden you are, and move/adapt accordingly on the fly almost instantly to your situation. This real-time feedback makes sneaking around and being avoided a faster paced affair, allowing you to move through guard-infested areas much more naturally if you have the skills to do so.

Another area of the game which also aids in this ‘quick stealth’ ideology is the game’s all new cover system, which it has to be said is the most intuitive and useful cover mechanic that has been implemented in any game so far. It’s surprisingly simple. Holding down a single button is all that is required, the ‘left trigger’, which sees Sam Fisher immediately squeezed up against a wall still able to move freely around. Pressing the ‘left trigger’ when your near an object, and you’ll take cover behind it, whilst releasing it frees you from your cover point instantly, after which Sam will instead crouch down whilst traversing around his environment.


When approaching an enemy silently and unseen, the game provides you with the option of making ‘hand kill’, a mostly quick and instant kill manoeuvre which when timed correctly is one of the games most useful tools in dispatching of your foes. Be a little too impatient however, and Sam may not be quite as successful, with his attempt at quickly executing a guard becoming a small but noisy scuffle, ousting your presence and forcing you to take alternative action. It’s this element in particular which feels most like a traditional Splinter Cell game, having you carefully approaching targets with a well thought out plan; who you’re going to deal with first, how to get around any potential obstacles that stand in your way, and at what point do you finally execute all you’ve been planning for.

Of course all this takes place in a matter of seconds, requiring quick thinking on the fly, along with a constant change or adaptation of tactics as the scenario plays out. This is what ‘Conviction’ is really all about, especially when you cam combine these tactics with the game’s new ‘mark and execute’ system.

The use of the new ‘mark and execute’ system is perhaps the series freshest addition since removing the trial and error nature of missions found in the first two games. This sees you mark a handful of targets for a quick and lethal attack, which if successful, won’t get you noticed by surrounding guards in the area. Failure to pull it off smoothly however, and the ruckus this will cause can immediately backfire on you, sending a squad of angry guards your way. If you do run out of attempts to ‘mark and execute’ you simply have to perform a few manual stealth kills in order to bring them back up again. It’s a system which keeps you from getting too trigger happy, and allows the game to force back some of that old Splinter Cell gameplay back into the mix.


Also playing out the always active approach taken by the game, the ‘last known position’ mechanic essentially finds you initiating contact with the enemy, through either noisy distractions or mostly, if you’re anything like me, via the ‘mark and execute’ system, in which after getting their attention you have to run away and find a good cover spot or position in which you are completely hidden. Whilst running away or reassessing your cover, the game presents you with a white icon on screen dictating your ‘last known position’, and it’s from here that enemies will start actively searching for you.

After this happens you can use their change of position to your advantage, by either being able to sneak past using a route once heavily guarded, or by gaining a better position to take out a few of the primary guards which properly hinder your progression.

Sadly, on numerous occasions, I found myself resorting to cheap Metal Gear style tactics in which I would take cover whilst pot-shooting at the enemies, moving around into other dark areas before repeating the process once more. It’s in this regard that many long time fans will be pretty disappointed, that you can, when familiar with your surroundings, get away with this when all else fails. Thankfully, upping the difficulty setting makes tactics like these impossible, and the reward for clearing heavily guarded areas that much more desirable. You have to, in essence, play the game like a Splinter Cell title, and not like a duck-and-cover shooter.


In addition, the game has also been overly simplified compared to previous instalments, lacking the ability to pick up and move downed enemies, or creating a distraction by whistling, knocking on objects etc. This in particular makes the whole experience a little by the numbers at times, with on many occasions the game making you do exactly what it wants you to do, and how it wants you to do it. This does in essence help create a more exciting game as a result, being geared towards specific action scenes and story-based segments.

However, in the same respect, people like myself who have never quite gelled with the series stubbornly harsh gameplay ideals will enjoy the fact the having the odd, or regular shootout makes the game feel far more exciting, as well as being more manageable than the previous games. At the same time, the game requires you to be stealthy in your actions, as you can only get shot three of four times continuously before falling dead on the ground. It’s this mix of quick pacing, forward-moving action, and a heavy hand of stealth, that makes ‘Conviction’ such a refreshing game to play, whilst also reworking the series for next-gen audiences. The game also never descends into Metal Gear arcade style action in the stealth sections, instead providing a wholly more grounded approach to such scenarios.

Later on in the game however, you’ll be confronted with sections which amount to being nothing more than a pot-shot cover shooting gallery, in which you lure your enemies into a position where you can easily take them out one at a time. These sections are filled with trial and error gameplay, in which one mistake will see you failing, or at other times dying quickly until you get the gist of how the game wants you to handle the situation. A far cry from the cleverly thought out level design, and thought provoking tactics so strongly featured in the series standout ‘Chaos Theory’ instalment, and a blemish on the solid stealth sections that make up the bulk of the game.


Visually, a lot has already been said about the game elsewhere on this site. Our tech analysis of the demo revealed the slightly disappointing 576 sub-HD nature of the game, and the issues that prevails as a result. The final game however, in many places, doesn’t seem to suffer as much as the demo did, with those ‘issues’ being mainly scenario based. Mostly, the game has a clean and smooth look throughout, with detailed texturing (though sometimes low resolution), and some really nice dynamic lighting and shadowing. Occasionally the upscaling leads to shimmering edges and jaggies being visible on objects far away from the screen, but it really isn’t that much of a problem. However, one thing that is always noticeable, it that the colours are somewhat less vibrant due to the upscaling (looking washed out), and the game also never looks pin-sharp as a result of its sub-HD resolution, with small details sometimes looking fuzzy.

However, Tom Clancy’s latest is perhaps the best looking 576p game so far compared to others released on either the 360 or the PS3. In many ways, the 360’s superb internal scaler makes the game almost indistinguishable from some native 720p rendering games, especially when viewed on a softer looking Plasma display screen. Whereas uber sharp LCD screens and CRT PC monitors tend to show up the sub-HD nature of the game far more frequently. Either way, the fact that the game isn’t native 720p is far less of an issue for most of the final game than our initial tech analysis made it out to be in the demo. So it still holds up pretty well, and looks pretty good overall, though not particularly impressive.


‘Splinter Cell Conviction’ isn’t quite the defining game in the series I hoped it would be. In fact, whilst the game on many levels works to create the most intuitive stealth and espionage experience yet, it’s also let down by its own admission into becoming more of a blockbuster thrill ride centred on action and pseudo-sneaking rather than the hard-edged real deal the Tom Clancy franchise is known for. In one way, it’s a better game for it, allowing the title to have an intriguing edge of your seat style storyline in places, whilst also providing the player with some of the most accomplished gameplay mechanics seen in this type of game so far.

However, the sometimes overly action-based nature, and increased simplicity, of the game derails the experience, especially in sections designed solely for the purpose of providing players with elaborate shoot outs, and tension through trial and error mechanics, which we haven’t seen since ‘Pandora Tomorrow’ on the original Xbox. Other sections also find you instead taking the aggressive route to finding a solution, flushing out guards and silently disposing of them, rather than attempting to seamlessly move past, without so much of a trace left behind. This was of course the intention of the development team all along though, and they have (mostly) nailed it, minus a few stages in the second half of the game, which turn into an all out shooter.


Despite a few criticisms, ‘Conviction’ does a lot right, bringing the franchise up to modern day standards with regards to the controls and intuitive gameplay mechanics so taken for granted by other titles. In this aspect the game almost never fails to captivate, providing a fresh look at the stealth genre, and a much-needed change of pace, making whole game flow a lot more smoothly. The hard-edged gripping realism of past games is gone, as is the use of show-stopping generation defining visuals. But their absence doesn't harm the game quite as much as you might think, instead only alienating the most ardent of Tom Clancy videogame fans.

So in the end, what we have here is a pretty successful re-envisioning of a classic franchise, lacking in visual clout, and some of the important depth found in previous instalments, but not without plenty of excitement along the way. Old fans may be disappointed, but everyone else should find Sam Fisher’s latest exploits more engrossing than before, despite being a little more flawed in its execution.

VERDICT: 7/10

Sony Outlines 3D Plans

Today at the 3D Gaming Summit in Los Angeles, Sony’s David Coombes (Platform Research Manager) discussed plans for the upcoming 3D enabling PS3 firmware update, talking about how it will affect the machine’s performance in actual game scenarios, whilst also detailing ways to curtail certain issues using a game’s existing engine, and code base. Specifically he mentioned using an existing split-screen game engine as the base for rendering the two separate images required for 3D to be displayed, as the extra work has in theory been mostly carried out already. But more on that later.

Coombes specified that the firmware responsible for delivering 3D content via the PlayStation 3, would be released in two separate waves. The first allowing the option of playing 3D enabled games on the system; and the second, to allow the playback of 3D Blu-Ray movies, which should arrive soon after the initial update. Part of the plan is to have the PS3 at the forefront of the 3D home revolution, or so they hope, along with their flagship range of Bravia 3D ready LCD TVs coincided for release at around the same time as the firmware update.

In terms of game development in 3D, Coombes confirmed that for a game to be playable in 3D it would have to have been coded and designed for the medium in order for it to work. Meaning that unless a game is specifically written to take advantage of the 3D technology, it won’t be displayed in 3D. Sony will not be providing any kind of post-process 3D conversion software into the firmware update, stating that whilst it would be possible, they are leaving that for other TV manufacturers to do.

Instead Coombes proposed a series of solutions in order to help ease the performance burden of having to develop with 3D in mind. For example rendering a scene in 3D takes roughly twice the computational power than that of rendering in traditional 2D, with each frame having to be drawn twice. However not all aspects of the scene need to be handled this way. Coombes gave the example of shadows, which are generally flat, and could easily be shared between left and right frames used to make up the 3D image as a way of rendering certain objects only once for each frame. These objects, or graphical effects, would have to be made up of ones which have no-3D information, or rather, no depth buffer, in order for the process to work. The savings however, can lead to a performance boost or could be used to leverage the remaining GPU power for other optimisations.


Some games though, are already ripe for an easier 3D conversion process. Coombes highlighted titles which featured a split-screen two player option as having most of the graphical optimisations already needed for a quicker route into rendering in true 3D. Essentially 3D works by rendering two individual frames, one for each eye, and uses shutter glasses to alternate each image to for form a single frame displayed to the user. With split-screen rendering the engine is basically drawing everything on screen twice, requiring very few optimisations in order to work in the context of creating a 3D image. Using this as a starting point, it could allow developers to better optimise their titles, keeping higher framerates and more detail that otherwise might have been lost.

PS3 3D games, and 3D Blu-Ray movies will be compatible with all 3D enabled HDTVs that meet the HDMI 1.4 standard. The ‘3D Ready’ official standard in the UK also means that TVs displaying the slogan will be compatible with all PS3 games and Blu-Rays that are available in this format. Also, in terms of scaling, it was reaffirmed that the PS3 would scale the 3D output to whatever resolution was supported by the users HDTV (720p, 1080i and 1080p), depending on which check boxes have been ticked in the ‘Display Settings’ menu in the XMB.


Lastly, Sony revealed that final 3D software development kits have been in developer’s hands since January this year, and announced that they would be showing off a whole host of 3D enabled titles at E3 later on this year. Along with this, Sony reiterated the list of known compatible titles including PAIN, Wipeout HD, and Motorstorm Pacific Rift.

With 3D being the buzzword of the moment, and with gaming potentially leading the way on early uptake of this latest display technology, we at IQGamer will be following its development very closely.