Features// SPOnG's Review of the Year 2010: October

As Criterion was also working on a new Hot Pursuit game, we asked creative director Craig Sullivan if his studio was being put on the ‘Death March.’ He said that the idea for a Need For Speed remake actually came from Criterion, not EA and that this project doesn’t spell the end of Burnout (Criterion: Need for Speed is No Shotgun Wedding, 1st October).

Sadly, this month saw the closure of Australian developer Krome Studios. Based in Brisbane, the outfit had previously been known for such games as Blade Kitten, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger and versions of the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed franchise. It was perhaps the recent killing of the latter franchise by new LucasArts president Paul Meegan in August that forced Krome’s hand. Krome was formed in 1999, and closed its doors to staff on the 15th October (Krome Studios closes, 18th October).

SPOnG reviewed a lot of games. The blockbuster titles start launching with an aim to claim Christmas sales, so we suitably had a lot on our plate to playtest. And it’s a good job we did, because from niche titles to big franchises we had an overall mixed judgement on the month’s releases.

I took on Fable III and loved it, only stopping to say its majesty was “stunted by Lionhead’s inability to flesh elements out post-story” (92%). Mark reviewed Vanquish and called it “a tight, slick package with ridiculous amounts of robot-immolating goodness” (91%).

Despite not being much of a Naruto fan, I found the latest Ultimate Ninja Storm game “a thoroughly enjoyable brawler with a huge amount of depth” (89%). I am, however, a massive Sonic the Hedgehog fan and so was pleased to discover that Sonic 4’s first episode was “an exciting blast from the past” with “some modern-day hangups that might deter the fussiest Sonic fans” (86%).

Then we had the big names with plenty of hype, but failed to deliver on their promises. Paul reviewed Medal of Honor and felt that the gameplay had taken something of a step back in the face of competition from Call of Duty (77%), while I whipped my way through Castlevania: The Lords of Shadow and gave it 69%, owing to the sheer frustration and unhelpful nature of the level design.

At the bottom of the reviews food chain came - surprisingly - two Final Fantasy titles. Michael said that Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light was “a decent enough adventure, though far from earth shattering” at 65%. Daniel really hated Final Fantasy XIV though, calling the MMO “underdeveloped, unfinished and barely playable.” It got 20%. Ouch.

Other things we got excited about included Red Dead Redemption’s Undead Nightmare expansion pack (both the single-player storyline and the new multiplayer modes), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) complete with wonky Kinect impressions, Minecraft (“it kind of mirrors life,” David writes in an almost brainwashed fashion) and Fallout: New Vegas. I had a great chat with the art director for Deus Ex: Human Revolution as well - that’s one to watch out for in 2011, for sure.

Finally...

Now, call us crazy but we just didn’t see the point in this. Following the hacking advances made by George Hotz and the PS Jailbreak application on the PlayStation 3, some bright spark decided to spend his time working on a modification that can let players unlock Trophies for games without even playing them (PS3 Trophy Hacking Application in Development, 5th October). Erm, okay. You shine on, kid. Shine on.