GT LIVE December Magazine

LIVE DECEMBER 2019

Go to page 44 for more details on JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL and how you could win some double passes (Australia Only)

From the Editor Hello and welcome to the December edition of Gametraders Live!

We have a longer edition in store for you this time to make up for missing the September issue! It’s filled with great reviews from the wonderful people at VGChartz; including a look at The Outer Worlds, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King and many more.

We also have some excellent interviews, courtesy of our incredible writer Paul Monopoli. He went down to Avcon and Supanova for us and chatted with Julie Benz, DC Douglas, Katie Griffin, Linda Ballantyne and Paul St Peter. The interviews delve into their lives as voice actors and the many roles they have played.

We hope you enjoy the magazine and as always if you are interested in writing for us please email live@gametraders.com.au

Emily Langford Emily Langford, EDITOR

What’s inside

JUMANJI: THE VIDEO GAME REVIEW

pg. 56

LUIGI’S MANSION 3

INTERVIEWS: JULIE BENZ & DC DOUGLAS + MANY MORE!

pg. 8 &

pg. 14

pg. 68

THE LIVE TEAM EDITOR & DESIGNER: Emily Langford

WRITERS: Paul Monopoli, Interviews / Retro Editor Taneli Palola, Evan Norris, Paul Broussard, Kelsy Polnik, Jacob James & Chinh Tran VGChartz

THE OUTER WORLDS

STAR WARS JEDI: FALLEN ORDER

Pg. 92

Pg. 82

JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL GIVEAWAY Pg. 44

MUST-HAVE

BOARD GAMES! ORDER IN-STORE TODAY!

MOVIES JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL

INTERVIEWS

ANIME

,tv&

Paul Monopoli

INTERVIEW:

JULIE BENZ Julie Benz has been consistently active in

amassed a huge fan base who religiously

90s, making her way on to some of our

I had the pleasure of spending some time

the entertainment scene since the early

most beloved TV shows. From the vampiric Darla in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to the sweet Rita Bennett in Dexter, Julie has

follow her to any convention she attends.

with Julie at the Adelaide Supanova event,

where she explains that this life of film and cinema nearly didn’t happen:

“I was a competitive figure skater from the

Though Julie had guest starred in several

injured at 13 and had to take a year off,

with Children and Boy Meets World, her

age of 3 until I officially retired at 16. I got and that’s when I started acting, and then

I went back to skating and realised I really loved acting, and that I had maybe more of a future acting than skating.”

Though she was less likely to face an

injury, this new career change came with

its own set of challenges. The first of which

high profile shows, such as Married

journey into the world of cult television viewing was provided by Joss Whedon.

Darla played a key role in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the

latter spin off series Angel, although Julie explains that not everyone was on board with the character.

came from her acting teacher:

“You know, it was really a gift that Tim

“I had an acting teacher… it was a voice

and the writers gave me, because back

teacher at a free college summer program for acting that told me that I had the

worst voice ever… and she said I was never going to make it as an actress cos I had a

horrible voice and it actually made me go ‘I’m going to prove you wrong!’ I believe as a teacher you should never tell a 16

year old that they’re never gonna make it.

She was a bad teacher, and I knew that at the time.”

Minear and Joss and David Greenwalt

then they had the message boards and

everybody on the message boards hated

Darla, which meant they hated me. And I’m sensitive and I would get really upset, but

then in those last moments, all of a sudden everybody loved Darla, so it was a really

wonderful way for the character to grow

and change, and to make the audience feel for her.”

Though she ended up landing a key role

Sadly, Darla would not be the only

forward for the title role:

off. Her character, Rita Morgan, would be

in the series, she had actually put herself

“I was one of a thousand actresses who

auditioned for Buffy. That just happened to be how I met Joss, and I was too old to play Buffy, but he liked the choices I

made, so then he asked me if I would play ‘Vampire Girl number 1’. That was who Darla was originally.”

character Julie played who would be killed found by her serial killer husband, Dexter, in a bath tub full of blood. Unfortunately, being slain by the Trinity Killer was not a move Julie saw coming.

“It was awful. I cried. I was devastated. I

didn’t know it was coming. I was told at

“I was one of a thousand actresses who auditioned for Buffy.”

Julie cannot remember how Darla

received her name, though there was a bit of back and forth about the character’s origins:

“Some of the ideas of where she came

from was maybe she was one of the Vestal Virgins, like way back in Roman days, but then he was like ‘no, you’re not that old’.

I was like ‘well I was too old to play Buffy

so maybe I am that old. I don’t know!’ But then he came up with the fact that I was

a prostitute in colonial Virginia, and that was when I was turned into a vampire.”

the last minute. It is the nature of the way our contracts work, and it’s the nature

of show business, and it’s the nature of

storytelling, and I have no ownership over the way a story is being told as an actor.

So a lot of times it happens to so many

actors in so many different shows where

you get killed off and you’re not prepared.

So yeah, my first reaction when they

told me was ‘Oh my God, I just bought a

house’ and my second reaction was ‘well, whose gonna raise the baby?’”

Gamers may recognise Julie as the voice

“Voice acting’s great! You don’t have to

Halo 2, though it was a role she only had

whatever you want, and you just have fun

of Miranda Keyes in the incredibly popular the pleasure of playing once. Julie has a

short answer for why she was not asked to reprise the role for the sequel:

put any make up on. You can show up in

and use your imagination with the script.

So it was a lot of fun. I loved it. I would like to do some more of it.”

“Different production company and money

Thought she has yet to receive a call

the character an accent… I dunno. It’s what

be returning to our TV screens in ‘On

is what I was told. And I think they gave I heard.”

Julie only has a couple of voice acting roles to her name, though she would happily

step back behind a microphone if asked.

for more voice acting gigs, Julie will Becoming a God in Central Florida’.

The show will premiere in Australia in

November and can be found on SBS and SBS on Demand.

By Paul Monopoli

Paul Monopoli

INTERVIEW:

DC DOUGLAS

DC Douglas is a man who has appeared on our television screens more times

than most are even aware of. This is true

for many voice actors, but the live action portfolio Douglas has accumulated puts

even many Hollywood stars to shame. As I

mouth were instinctive, and were spoken without thinking:

“You’re much taller than I thought you were going to be!”

sat, patiently waiting, I saw a very tall man

I cannot remember what the response

I immediately recognised Douglas’ face

breaker. Douglas sat opposite me, meeting

wearing an earthen jacket and a flat cap. from my research, watching clips of his

live action work. The first words out of my

was, but every conversation needs an ice

my eye level, and we began our discussion on a career that has spanned 4 decades.

We opened by discussing Titanic 2, a

people can’t stand and some people find

Captain of the ship.

on people looking for a particular movie

little known film that featured DC as the

“Yeah, it’s quite a forgettable film… Titanic 2, not a sequel! It’s just literally the ship was called ‘Titanic 2’.”

This film comes courtesy of the team

behind the Sharknado franchise, with

hilarious… so on the shelf they counted that was coming out, and then seeing

their movie, and then just renting it by

accident. It’s like, ‘well listen, if you’re not really going to look at the cover and you

don’t know who’s starring in it then that’s on you.”

whom Douglas has worked several

Once the renter gets that movie home

strategy behind the film a work of genius.

end up in stitches, both over their mistake

projects. He considers the marketing

“They have a business model that some

Douglas assumes they would most likely and the film itself.

Titanic 2 featured the grand children of

Another Hollywood legend with whom

in an episode of ‘Diagnosis Murder’. While

White. While filming an episode of ‘Hot in

Dick Van Dyke, with whom Douglas starred filming the episode he told Van Dyke how much the ‘Dick Van Dyke’ show meant to him as a youngster, and how it became

his de-facto babysitter. Dick appreciated

DC Douglas has shared the stage is Betty Cleveland’ he witnessed the well earned

reputation that Betty has earned over the years.

the kind words and told Douglas he would

“She is amazing! The episode I did, they

future. When asked whether he was given

were on the show. And most of the

be back on the show at some point in the a second guest role Douglas smirked and bluntly replied: “No, he lied!”

reunited her with Ed Asner, so they both episode took place on one set, so it was like doing a play. We had like, 5 scenes

on this one set. I had a smaller role, but it was still an enjoyable one. I was playing a snooty guy who was dating one of the

leads. But I got to sit and watch her work

I’ve worked three times since… but back

going to her ‘Do you want a chair?’ ‘Would

was 20, so it was a weird combination, but

and she literally… they were constantly

you like this?’ And she was fine. She stood the entire time, [with a] live audience and all of that, doing her stuff, and she was amazing.”

While Ed Asner appeared to be struggling with his lines, Betty was sharp and on the

then I had this voice and I looked like I

I was not nerdy enough to play the nerd, and I was not attractive enough to play

the attractive person, and if you look back at the 80s, most of the 80s stuff there was only two slots you could fit in. There was no in between.”

ball. At the end of filming the episode

Anime fans may not be aware that it

much she meant to him in his younger

the transition to voice over. Before that

Douglas also mentioned to her how

days. Unlike Van Dyke, Betty made no promises about Douglas returning to

the show, though he claims that ‘Hot in

Cleveland’ ended shortly after the episode has finished filming, so it was never to be anyway.

Many voice actors have, at some point in their career, featured in an episode

of ‘Walker Texas Ranger’. DC Douglas is not one of those actors, though he did audition at some point:

“I auditioned for the show back then. I

was a weird kinda… it’s funny. I gave up

pursuing on camera about a year ago, and

took DC Douglas over 20 years to make he spent much of his time working on

the stage, on TV or the silver screen. His

introduction to voice work came quite by

accident, back in 1985. Douglas auditioned to train at ‘Performing Arts’, which he

believed would be an acting school. His teacher, Barbara Gill, taught voice over

work, a fact he would not find out until after he auditioned with her.

“So when I went to audition with her, I

found out after my first monologue, she

was like ‘you know, I do voice over, not on camera’, and I was like ‘oh!’ But she was

like ‘you have an amazing voice and you

should think about doing voice over.’ So I

went to her and I studied for six months

when video game studios started to

accents and stuff like that. I’m not the best

started to get call backs from developers

and learned about word colour and

with accents, but it opened my eyes to this whole other career I could have. And I was like ‘eh!’ So I didn’t really pursue it.”

Douglas found himself working at places

like ‘Dennys’ while continuing to do work where possible. Eventually he was given

some advertising work, promoting 1900 premium call lines. This led to movie trailers and some other smaller jobs,

though Douglas was beginning to see the potential benefits a career in voice over can offer.

“That’s when I realised, ‘oh, I can make

some money doing this as a side gig’. But

I never really pursued it. I think one time I

incorporate more voice over work. Douglas he had worked with in the past, which

caused him to seek out another agent.

“At that point I’d been an editor. As a

survival job I edited acting demo reels.

And I thought ‘I need to get a voice over reel done again. Where am I gonna go

to get it edited?’ And I’m like ‘I just don’t

want to do it’… while I’m sitting there in an EDIT BAY, looking at my editing software,

and in that moment I’m like ‘Oh, duh DC!

You just edit audio here, just don’t do the video. What was I thinking?’ For like, 10 years I was an editor and it didn’t even

occur to me that I could do my own audio demo reels.”

went looking for an agent and I got turned

Douglas cut his own reel and shopped it

and maybe we’ll consider you in the future.

booked him a commercial within the first

down. They said ‘go to a voice over class

But I was like… I don’t really care as much.

It was on camera that I loved. I love acting

with my eyes, is really what it comes down to, where you have to be fully present.”

This all changed around the year 2000

around, landing with a major agency who week. The extra money allowed him to set up his own recording studio. At this point

he decided to take a leap of faith and leave his editing job. He started to promote his new studio and the work rolled in. Since

2002 Douglas has always managed to pay

his rent and living expenses with his voice

too uncommon element in voice acting.

him to this day.

voice without ever seeing the character

over work, an achievement which amazes

At this point I referred Douglas back to his comment on accents. Is it appropriate to

perform accents in this politically correct climate?

“Everyone’s got their own kind of school

of thought about this. Here’s my thinking about it: The only way you can start

opening up doors to other people, is by

opening up doors to other people. By like, stepping aside when you want. So there’s a lot of white people in voice over. Now there’s more people of colour in voice

over. Like, 10 years ago there wasn’t. There were hardly any. And so yes, anybody.

When it’s voice over it doesn’t matter what your skin colour is, you can be anything

with a voice. That’s kind of amazing, but that wasn’t the point of it.”

One of the standout moments that led

Douglas to this ‘school of thought’ was when he voiced Raven in the Tekken

series. At the time he had no idea the

character he was voicing was black, a not

Many artists will be called in to record a they are supposed to embody. It is not

until the finished product is out and in the hands of the public that the actor gets to see the fruits of their labour.

“Later on I found out ‘Oh, he was African American and he’s Wesley Snipes!’ So

my first thought was ‘what a crappy job I did acting it’, because I would have done

more of a Wesley Snipes kind of voice for

him. But secondly it was kind of like, I was stating to feel, because we’re becoming more aware of this, right?

Douglas was the only voice actor to

The point being was, he was just starting

very fast. He completed 10 episodes and

of projects with him, and that’s when

audition for the role, and the process was in his words ‘I made my monthly rent’.

However, after this he started to become more aware of the characters he was

voicing. When he was asked to voice an

‘African American God’ type of character he played his part in helping to make

the world of voice over just that bit more diverse.

“I was like, ‘OK, not only am I going to

pass. I’m going to give them the name of an African American voice actor I know,

who’s brilliant and can do this voice, and have him audition for that. I don’t think

they worked with him on that movie, but they did work with him on other stuff.

new in the business. I’d done a couple

you want to open the door up to other people… When it comes to people of

colour it’s the opening of the doors so that it becomes a bigger circle of people that

are working in the industry, and that’s how it changes. And then it becomes more like second nature. When the casting director is thinking ‘I need an African American

God’, they think of who they know, and if the only people they know are white

people, those are the only people who are going to get the audition. Now they’ve

been introduced to more people of colour then they start to think of them as well, and I think that’s what it’s about right now.”

Douglas explains that location plays a

We finish by discussing the political satire

get. Anime voice over work is the lowest

Recently he has found difficulty finding an

big part in the type of work an actor can paying voice over gig in the industry, so in

a place like Texas, the home of Funimation, many actors struggle to get commercial work. Those who are having difficulty

finding gigs are given more voice over

work to help make ends meet. Monica Rial is discussed as one such actor who can be continually heard in the world of anime.

Her voice has become synonymous with genre, to which DC replies:

videos Douglas has created over the years. audience as the marketplace has become saturated with Trump related comedy

sketches. There has been a slight lull in the

output of these videos, though with Trump recently unblocking Douglas on Twitter he

feels that the time is right to start creating them again. Heading to www.dcdouglas. com and searching for ‘Breaking News

Tweaked Nipple’ will reveal the playlist of Trump videos.

“Well, you could say anime because we

While Douglas’ voice over portfolio is not

commercial and all of a sudden she’s a

previous issue of Gametraders Magazine)

know it in anime. You could put it in a

stay puft, type of character. You could put

her in regular cartoons, who knows? That’s why the conventions are so important to them, to augment their income without

having to do a ‘survival gig’ or that kind of stuff.”

as large as someone like Josh Grelle (See

he is continuing to find steady work with animation. His quirky sense of humour

may upset some people, but that is all part of his charm. DC Douglas is controversial,

yes. However, one can argue that he is just as equally entertaining.

By Paul Monopoli

Paul Monopoli

INTERVIEW:

PAUL ST PETER Paul St Peter is a man who most children

profession, and I’m ‘Paul St Peter’ by birth.”

with. His legacy extends over 35 years,

Against Humanity with Jon St John at a

of the 80s would have some familiarity

and he played a large part in Robotech, one of anime’s greatest space operas.

After making Paul feel old by expressing admiration for his part in the sci-fi epic as Zor Prime, the question arose as to whether Jon St John stole his naming convention.

Paul has fond memories of playing Card convention, and the two men got along

well. It is at this point that the conversation turns to Paul’s humble beginnings. How

did one get into voice acting back in the

80s? There was no social media, so getting your voice out there was a much tricker affair.

“I’m ‘Paul St Peter’ by birth” “No. That’s an interesting thing you have

Paul made the decision to study as

you join the union and someone else has

instructors as possible. He continued

to do as union members in the states. If

your name you have to create something different. You either have to use your

middle name, but the most popular thing to do is to change your last name to ‘St

John’. So he’s ‘Jon St John’ because of his

much as he could, with as many notable this trend as he moved to Los Angeles,

eventually becoming a teacher himself.

Despite the extensive study, his big break

came from merely being in the right place at the right time.

“Someone asked me to come in and read

“He would caution us, for instance, ‘you

party were producers, writers and actors

behave sort of strangely toward you. I

a story at a Christmas party. And at that

from Robotech… Carl Macek (the creator

of the series) was there. That was a party

thrown by (voice actor) Cam Clarke. So all of these people who were on Robotech heard me and came up afterwards and

asked me questions and wanted to know things, and invited me to audition.”

Paul has kept in touch with many of the

Robotech alum, including prominent voice over artists such as Richard Epcar and

Steve Kramer. For many actors it is difficult to tell when a project you are working

will be getting some fans who might

jokingly said ‘Of course, and there will be a lot of Zor Prime groupies, right? Ha ha ha’,

he said ‘yes’ and he was dead serious. ‘Oh, OK’… And sure enough at the autograph table we would get people walking up

to us, and they would have this strange

look in their eyes and ask you questions

about the character and that sort of thing.

I thought: ‘thank you Carl. I’m ready.’ I was so prepared because he did that, even though I thought he was joking in the beginning.”

on will become a big success. Often they

Carl Macek was a perfectionist who was

booth for something that will never see

worked on. He would even take the time to

will find themselves recording lines in the the light of day. Thankfully Robotech did

not suffer this fate, and it has gone on to influence, inspire and entertain people

from all over the world. Paul often hears

stories about how the series changed lives and even set some people on the right

path. As Paul recounts, Carl Macek knew

the reach this series would have very early on:

involved in all aspects of the shows he

speak to the actors, asking them how they were going and how they were feeling.

Paul claims that Carl maintained the

balance of being

hands on without micro managing.

Today voice actors use the ‘beep’ process

as Pro Tools certainly help the engineer

achieve this the actor stands in the studio,

well trained actor who can meet their

to know when they need to talk. To

behind the microphone with headphones

on. They hear 3 consecutive beeps in their ear to help establish timing, and on what

would be the 4th beep they say their lines.

As Paul explains, back in the 1980s the dubbing process was very different:

to manipulate the vocal track, having a cues makes life a lot easier. There are

downsides to the process, such as having actors stand around while the engineer manages the audio sample, but for the most part it gets the job done a lot quicker.

“When we began in Robotech we had

A look at Paul St Peter’s online profile will

the episode was on the third minute

of Robotech and the start of the anime

to look up on the time code, and if

for instance, OK, it would say 03:21,

21 seconds, and then 1/17 frames. It’s 30 frames per second, we would be

looking at that and I had never done

show a 10+ year gap between the end

boom during the late 90s. During this time he continued to work in the industry, but in different areas:

this before. My very first session I was

“After Robotech it was fairly slow for me.

per hour. Even today that’s considered

criss crossing and I can’t even talk to you

already averaging more than twenty cues acceptable or good, depending on the project.”

While the newer process certainly makes life easier for voice actors, Paul credits

training in the old ways as helping him be even more accurate under this new method of recording. While apps such

I mean, now I have so many projects

about them because of my non disclosure agreements, but there was a long period

of time when I was looping films, so I was away from anime for a while but I was

looping and dubbing, and so I was still

working in voice over but it wasn’t what

anyone would find as familiar on IMDB for instance, or Wikipedia, that sort of thing.”

Paul’s face lights up as he remembers one

industry. Just as with most other careers,

did not see the light of day:

connections, giving you the opportunity to

particular project that he was fond of that

“There was one really terrific one, it was

called The Adventures of Zoe and Charlie.

it is always advantageous to make

help other people or call on them when you need help.

Somebody told me it must have played

“You need to make sure that at all times you

project was Wendee Lee, and I talked to her

creates a network. Now if you specifically

somewhere because the director of the

one time, we were in the middle of another session, and I said something about Zoe

and Charlie and she said ‘can you believe it? 20 years ago, oh my God!’ And I said

it’s never played anywhere. She said ‘it has

because one person asked me about it. One fan. So it must have played some place.”

Paul was the narrator, known as ‘The Sage’ in each episode. He was proud of his work

maintain good relations with people. That go out to say ‘I’m going to create my

network’ and you’re going to make phone calls and start documenting things like

email addresses and social media and stuff

like that, that is a way to go but the manual part of what should happen by being a

professional and being available, being easy to work with, and then you naturally get a network out of that.”

on the project as he claims the quality of

Paul never really considered the voice acting

product were very well done. He calls the

recently. They were just always a part of his

the output, from the scripts to the final

loss of the show ‘heartbreaking’, but there is little that can be done about it. A search on the internet brings up nothing

After that slightly depressing topic the

conversation turns to networking in the

group he works with to be a network until

life and his work, and he would continue to receive calls from them for various roles, as they know he is a professional who is easy

to work with. For those interested in getting into the voice over industry Paul runs a

panel about networking at conventions all

over the world. If you ever find yourself at

“Even when I’m doing my panels, and they

voice actors should definitely check out that

you begin, what was your first job’ and I say

the same convention as Paul then potential panel.

When considering favourite characters Paul

does not even need to ponder the question.

Right away he responds with:

“It’s actually a tie. These are two characters who are apples and oranges. Punch from

Cowboy Bebop, because it was the weirdest, oddest, most alien thing I’d ever done, and Wormmon in Digimon. Poor Wormmon

ask me the inevitable question, ‘where did it was Robotech back in 19 (intentionally

muffled voice) and most of the audience (is nonplussed) but once in a while somebody

out there will go ‘YES’ and it might be quite a young person, or the parents loved it so

much they turned their kids on to it. So we have now third generation people coming to cons and talking to us at our panels

who learned from their parents, and even grandparents, about Robotech.”

was the sweetest, cutest, most pathetic,

And with the recent license extension

him because he was so abused, and he had

Productions, future generations will

loveable… You want to pick him up and love those huge soulful eyes… It really was a

sweet role. Again, good writing. One of the things about Digimon, particularly in the

first two seasons I worked, was the writing was wonderful.”

To finish Paul thanks me for asking him

questions about Robotech. I assumed it would have been a topic he was sick of

discussing, though this is apparently not the case

granted to Harmony Gold by Tatsunoko continue to be exposed to the science fiction saga for years to come.

By Paul Monopoli

Paul Monopoli

INTERVIEW:

linda ballantyne

Linda Ballantyne has featured on our

Guardians. It is a role that Linda continues

the dawn of the century. Though she has

work on the iconic series. Sitting at her

screens in many different forms since

appeared in some well known franchises, such as Care Bears and Thomas the Tank Engine, she will be forever associated with Sailor Moon, leader of the Sailor

to embrace, 19 years after she completed

signing table, surrounded by images of the future queen of the Moon Kingdom, Linda explains what led to her taking on the iconic role.

“I went to theatre school, and when you

This first role was in the high profile

kinds of classes you take. So there’s dance,

as Wasp, and was a regular throughout

go to theatre school they have all different there’s movement, there’s Shakespeare,

and all that kind of stuff, and one of them was microphone technique. As soon as I got in front of the microphone and put

the headphones on I just went ‘I love this!

I want to do this. This is what I should be

Avengers animated series. Linda featured the series. This was a big deal to her

brother, who lectured Linda about the

character and Marvel lore. Though the

show was successful, it was not picked up for a second season.

doing!’”

After the show ended, Linda continued

Linda excitedly explains that she felt an

her being cast in the continuation of

immediate connection to voice acting.

There was a certain ease she found

behind the microphone, and everything felt like it had clicked into place for her.

After graduating from theatre school she approached her agent and asked to be put forward for voice acting roles. The

agent started to put Linda’s name forward for roles, though she did not have to wait very long to be cast in a role.

“The first thing I went out for, I got. So she immediately believed in me, and once you have somebody believing in you, you can do anything.”

getting voice over work, leading to the highly successful Sailor Moon.

The Japanese anime had initially been

dubbed by DiC entertainment, though they stopped after the second series.

Cloverway picked up the following 2 seasons, Sailor Moon S and Super S.

As a reasonable amount of time had

passed, some of the original cast found

themselves unable to return to the show.

This included Terri Hawkes, the voice actor for Sailor Moon. Linda ended up taking

over the role, initially emulating Terri, but eventually making the role her own.

“They said ‘we want to do a voice match’,

going through the process of making the

really bad cold, which worked in my favour

and Linda started to feel more comfortable

and so when I auditioned for it I had a

because I had a much more nasal sound

which was kinda Terri’s sound, in a way. It was much more in your nose. And then,

when I didn’t have the cold anymore it was like ‘Oh wow… now what?’”

As a result Linda is not a fan of the earlier episodes she appeared in. Being directed to constantly to scream and squeal in a high pitch drove her crazy. It was after

role her own that turned things around, and develop an appreciation for the character of Sailor Moon.

When Viz Entertainment decided to re-dub the show from start to finish, and release it in an uncensored form, the original

cast were not asked to reprise their roles.

Linda’s role went to Stephanie Sheh, who became the new Usagi Tsukino.

“The thing is, we’re from Canada, and we

“It was frustrating because there was still

different unions. One in the States and one

didn’t even realise at the time that there

dubbed this in Canada. So there’s two

in Canada, and never the two shall meet…

it seems to be. So I just think they wanted to go for a younger crowd, and they were Americans that were doing it, so it was

like ‘OK, so we gotta go use the American talent, we’re not using Canadians.”

Despite the fact it had been over a decade since Linda had performed the role, there was still a feeling of loss when Sheh was cast in the role.

one season that we hadn’t done, and we was another season, and then slowly the

fans were saying ‘when are you gonna do Stars?’ And we’re like ‘Stars? What is this

Stars of which you speak?’ So the thought of getting to do that was like ‘Yes, that

would be great!’ But so much time had

already passed and they had already made their decision.”

When asked if she has seen the new dub, Linda replies:

“Not a lot of it. A little bit, and it’s

Susan Roman, aka Sailor Jupiter, lives

different… um… that’s about all I’m gonna

see each other when Linda is out walking

definitely different. The voices are very say.”

Even with a new Sailor Moon voice cast,

Linda finds that many fans really just want to dose of that early 2000s nostalgia.

“They’re true to the original for sure. Not a question. The strange part about it is

Viz, who was doing it, seems to have taken away all of the original now, and sort of

put it all off to the side. It’s really hard to get the original now because they want the new one to be bought up and they

around the corner from Linda. They often her dog. Toby Proctor, who played Tuxedo

Mask, is also a good friend. As the cast still lives in Toronto they often find themselves running into each other.

Today Linda is still very active in the voice over scene, and can be found in shows such as ‘Top Wing’ and the upcoming

‘Book Hungry Bears’. Australian fans can see her try an Aussie accent as Pippa

Chockers in the series, ‘Let’s Go Luna!’ (No, not THAT Luna)…

want those voices to be the ones that

people know, but the fans are certainly in a bit of an uproar about it, because they

order a box set and it’s not the voice that they know, and they’re going ‘what is this?’”

Linda continues to keep in touch with many of the former Sailor Guardians,

including Sailor Mars, Katie Griffin, who

was seated next to Linda while we spoke.

By Paul Monopoli

Paul Monopoli

INTERVIEW:

Katie griffin Katie Griffin is an accomplished voice

She claims it was an early time in her

much of her time behind a microphone,

parts which did not give her much to do.

actor and musician. As she spends

she is quite knowledgeable on brands

and types. Upon sitting down with me she immediately took a look at my

condenser mic, suggesting that I might

want to look at something a bit smaller.

career where she was working on bit

I asked about another guest spot she

had on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, appearing with the legendary David Carradine.

Usually when I conduct these interviews

“He was kinda quiet when I was on

my Blue Yeti Pro microphone and my

nice guy. He seemed nice enough and

I bring along my 15” MacBook Pro,

camera. This leaves me a little weighed

down, so Katie’s suggestion of a smaller microphone was a welcome one.

With the ice broken, we start to enthuse

over Katie’s appearance in Robocop. She explains that her cameo took place in

the TV series, and not the feature film.

set and he kept to himself. He was a pleasant. He was very professional,

but he wasn’t a big social guy, and I

was super young so I was a ‘Nervous

Nellie’. I wasn’t running up to everyone, introducing myself or anything.”

Many actors begin their careers on stage,

behind the microphone working on a

performance. Initially Katie was also

as Sailor Moon, was eventually broadcast

treading the boards and delivering live

setting out to get her big start in theatre, but fate intervened.

“I was gonna go to theatre school. I went there for eight hours and I was offered a film, and it was a ‘Movie of the Week’ with Christine Lahti, and I was

gonna make a lot of money, and

so I went to the people at the theatre school on the first day and said

‘OK, well, I’m gonna be out filming, I think it was only five or six days,

on this film, so it’s really not much’, but they gave me an ultimatum, and they said

‘nope, you can’t do it. You

stay here.’ So at that time it was way too much money for a

nineteen year old… so I said goodbye to theatre school and I never looked back.”

In the mid 90s, while

continuing to pursue live action work, Katie found herself

Japanese cartoon. When this show, known it became a phenomenon. Katie played the role of Rei Hino, otherwise known

as Sailor Mars. The license holder, DiC,

appeared to have little faith in the show, cancelling it part way through the

second season, Sailor Moon R.

Legend has it that fans lobbied to

get the show back on air,

and as aresult DiC

completed the second series.

They had no

interest beyond this, though

after several

successful syndicated

runs the show was picked up

by Cloverway a few years

later. Katie was one of

who returned to

the few voice actors

her role.

“The reality is the money was really

Though she was in the role from the first

really good if it’s an original series,

there was a short period of time where

bad… Voice acting in general is really, but dubbing… when you’re dubbing

Japanese to English those rates are very

poor. So back in the day we worked very, very hard. Anything anime, any kind of

dubbing, you work twice as hard as you would on an original series and make a

series, right up to Sailor Moon Super S, Katie was working on another project,

causing her to be temporarily replaced

by Emilie-Claire Barlow. Katie tried to get the production staff to put a hold on her

parts while she was away, but to no avail.

tenth of what you would make… So that’s

“I did say ‘if you wait for me I’m just

on to do other things. They got offered

and they couldn’t wait for me because it

what happened. Essentially people went different projects and… I mean… you’re

gonna go with the money really… and we didn’t know at the time that Sailor Moon was going to be what it is.”

going for a month’, or whatever it was,

was all fast and furious. So I think I was

slightly disappointed, but I didn’t know the gravity of Sailor Moon at the time,

and I was doing a lot of on camera stuff

(and) I just said ‘there’s nothing I can do

about it’, and that was the bottom line. It

album’. But I haven’t done (another) actual

back they offered it to me again and Emilie

shows because I have a lot of animated

was disappointing and then when I came

became Sailor Venus… She’s a good friend

of mine so it was good that she wasn’t just booted because I came back.”

With the new dub of Sailor Moon, Katie

has found herself replaced with Shantae,

the half genie hero voice actress, Christina Vee.

“I have met her and she seemed really

album, or I haven’t gone and played any

shows and series that I’m working on, and it’s too hard for my voice to be honest.

And I have kids now, so to work up to do the shows, it would just take me away

from them and I’d lose my voice so it just terrifies me. I still write music and sing

amongst my family. I sing jingles and I sing (for commercials and promos).”

nice. We met her right when they were

Katie explains that the album was

(dub)… but I don’t really know too much

‘James’. They were best known the song

promoting that they were doing the new about it. I’m super busy… The whole cast seem really nice… There would never be

(any awkwardness) because we did this 25

produced by Michael Kulas, from the band ‘Laid’, which featured on the American Pie soundtrack. Katie follows up with:

years ago.”

“And then I married him. What a cliche!”

Since her time protecting the Moon

Today Katie Griffin can still be heard on

music. The result was the 2003 album, ‘Kiss

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and

Kingdom, Katie has explored an interest in Me Chaos’. Hard core fans have managed

to find it and the feedback has been good.

“I don’t even know if my album is still out there. I think it is in the abyss because people contact me saying ‘I love your

many different animated series, including the recent “Inspector Gadget” sequel.

If you want to follow what she is up to

she can be found on Twitter under the username @kissmechaos.

By Paul Monopoli

DOUBLE PASS GIVE AWAY

In Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as they expect. The players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game.

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Danny Glover and Danny DeVito and directed by Jake Kasdan

#JUMANJI

IN CINEMAS BOXING DAY

WIN A DOUBLE PASS! Thanks to Sony Pictures and Gametraders you could win a double pass to see the new Jumanji: The Next Level!

All you have to do is go to the Gametraders Facebook page and like the competition post, tag who you’re going to take and comment why you want to see Jumanji: The Next Level.

©2019 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Taneli Palola

LIVE SERVICES, BRO

, ROADMAPS AND ROKEN PROMISES

When did it become acceptable to release incomplete video games and make some

vague promises of future content to be added at a later date? Content that isn’t actually

going to add new and interesting stuff to the game, but is rather meant to complete the

experience. Oftentimes months or even years after it was launched and was supposed to already be a complete product.

Many of you have probably noticed the

Games like this are launched effectively

describe the post-launch content for many

promise of content to be added later down

use of the term roadmap by companies to

of their big live service titles, with features, game modes, quests, and other content

being promised years in advance. Fallout

76, Anthem, No Man’s Sky and The Division 2 all got their own content roadmaps,

detailing future additions and changes that would be coming to those games after

launch. Basically, publishers are telling their

customers why they should pay money now for a game lacking in content in order to

potentially have a decent complete game later.

unfinished and sold to customers with the

the line, but there’s never a guarantee that said content will actually materialize. The fulfilment of those promises is entirely

dependent on a number of factors like the initial success of the game and the size of the playerbase, and when the game fails

to live up to the publisher’s expectations

you can expect to see them cut back on the content that was promised.

A lot of AAA games are starting to use

Anthem for its part just recently abandoned

content in the future as a justification for

”core issues”. In effect, this means that

these ‘roadmaps’ and the promise of

launching games in a subpar state. Fallout 76 was released in a deplorable condition

and barely even resembled an actual Fallout game. Bethesda is now, finally, after a

massive fan backlash, adding actual NPCs

and proper questlines to the game, almost a

year after its launch. It’s a desperate attempt to try and make the title more attractive for potential customers, although at least the content is being added.

its entire roadmap in order to focus on the content players who have already

bought the game were promised is either indefinitely delayed or not arriving at all, while BioWare tries to salvage the game

into something even remotely interesting

and, for the company’s own sake, successful.

It’s probably the only thing BioWare could

have done at this point, but the remaining

Anthem fans are going to be disappointed when things they were promised never arrive.

Then there’s No Man’s Sky and Sea of

every year are launching in such miserable

by promising huge interconnected worlds

realized that it’s fine for them to release

Thieves, which built up hype before launch with near limitless amounts of content for players to interact with. Yet, when they

were released, it turned out that they were

pretty much just massive, bland, and empty sandboxes that ran out of interesting things to do about four hours in.

Of course, both Sea of Thieves and No

Man’s Sky did eventually end up getting a lot of new content post-launch, and in the latter case almost the entire

game was practically overhauled, but

fulfilling promises months or even years after launch isn’t something that I find particularly praiseworthy. As far as I’m

concerned it’s the absolute minimum we should expect from developers, rather

than something to be commended and applauded.

Far too often developers and publishers get away with making false guarantees

states. Video game companies have

titles that lack content or are filled with repetitive, pointless busywork because

they’ve managed to convince customers

that it’s just the reality of the industry these days.

It is nice that some of these developers

don’t simply abandon their games if their

early reception is poor, and will actually try and improve on them even after release.

However, that still doesn’t excuse making false promises or releasing incomplete

games. The more we praise companies for fixing the messes they created in the first

place the more we are going to see games like this being released. This is especially true in the live service market, where

games are essentially designed around the idea that people will keep playing them for years as new content is, supposedly, released on a consistent basis.

because people start praising them for

In the end, these content roadmaps and

games into something halfway decent.

a license for video game companies to

eventually turning incomplete or broken That is exactly why more and more games

live service ecosystems have just become release games in whatever mangled state

they’ve managed to get them to by launch

ground in hopes of making a quick profit,

Customers are simply expected to accept

It happened with MMOs after World of

date because of their rushed schedules.

the fact that the game they just paid for

isn’t going to have the content they were promised until at least several months

later. This is neither a feasible long-term

model for the companies themselves (as it will keep building distrust towards them), nor is it even good in the short term as it

forces them to spend massive amounts of resources to try and salvage their games.

The video game industry has a history of taking a concept and running it into the

and this current situation is no different.

Warcraft exploded in popularity, with

modern military shooters after Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare took off in a big way, and most recently to battle royal games, which are already trending downwards

after everyone tried to copy the formula following PUBG’s success. Once the

industry is done with one trend it’ll just

move on to the next and bleed that one dry as well. History repeats itself and somehow nobody ever seems to learn from this.

Live service video games are just the latest

in a long line of market trends that have

products in exchange for their investment,

heading towards oversaturation just like

with their customers as a result of releasing

dominated the industry and it’s quickly

the others I’ve mentioned above. The idea

being presented by video game companies is that video games don’t need to be

complete at launch anymore because

developers keep working on them well

beyond release date, but that is nothing

but a flimsy crutch used to rationalize and

justify fundamentally flawed design choices and philosophies.

In short, nobody comes out of this as a winner. Customers get underwhelming

while companies lose both money and trust games with missing features and content.

The unfortunate part is that there’s nothing inherently wrong in the live service model or the use of roadmaps as guidelines for

future content for games using the model.

Unfortunately, both are being abused and

twisted in ways that will most likely lead to the deaths of most live service games in

the near future, and these companies can really only blame themselves when that happens.

By Taneli Palola

Evan Norris

REVIEW xbox one:

Jumanji: The Video Game For the longest time, Street Fighter: The

It is an electronic ouroboros, consuming

based on a video game, seemed to be

the weakest titles of the year—a tired,

Movie, a video game based on a movie

the ultimate representation of intellectual property run amok. Now, that title might go to Jumanji: The Video Game, a video game based on a video game within a

movie, itself a sequel to an earlier movie.

and giving birth to itself. It’s also one of

repetitive, strangely disjointed third-person action game saved from total failure only

by decent shooting mechanics and support for four-player splitscreen.

Jumanji: The Video Game is based on

with a beginning, middle, and end; it’s

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, although

20 minutes long, which follow identical

the video game parts of the 2017 film

it doesn’t follow that movie’s story arc,

or any arc really. Where you’d expect an

action-adventure experience focused on

the narrative beats of the movie, you’ll find instead four unassociated levels, each with the same mission—deliver a green gem

to a statue and save the land of Jumanji.

This is perhaps the game’s weirdest design decision. It’s not a traditional story mode

four self-contained campaigns, each about gameplay patterns only in different locales.

It ends up a counter-productive choice for

developer Funsolve, because in the absence of any connective storyline or character

progression the game relies almost strictly on its level designs, artificial intelligence,

and momentary gameplay, all of which are deficient in some way.

While thematically diverse—Bizarre Bazaar

forgettable, although elevated slightly by

Mountain Fortress a snowy mountain

Jumanji: The Video Game has a host of

is a dusty marketplace, for example, and

village—each level conforms to the same flat, uninspired template. There are very

few changes in elevation or layout. Worse,

smooth and snappy third-person shooting. imperfections, yes, but gunplay is at least serviceable.

each level follows an identical flow with

Far less serviceable is the game’s clunky

exploration. The game first deposits

teammates. When played with fewer than

straightforward objectives and minimal

players in a maze-like entry area, where

they must find four hardly-hidden Jumanji

game pieces. Those pieces unlock the next stage, an open area where players power

up an obelisk while fending off attackers.

Once charged, the obelisk grants entry to

a linear underground area filled with traps.

Every level repeats this a few times until at last a path to the statue is revealed.

This all makes for four repetitive,

uninteresting, structurally-indistinguishable levels, every one with a lot of recycled

fixtures and ideas. The combat scenarios therein are equally repetitive and

melee combat and its AI enemies and

four real-life players, the game will pair

you with computer-controlled teammates (unless you disable this feature), who are on the dim side, running at rampaging rhinos or lingering far behind the

crowd. These CPU colleagues look like

neurosurgeons, however, compared to

the cannon fodder enemies who appear

limited to only a handful of AI scripts, the most common being “run in a straight

line at your target”. In general the game provides only three enemy types, apart from the odd rhino, hippo, or bear: a

melee berserker type, a cover-hugging

marksman, and a lumbering heavy soldier.

While Jumanji: The Video Game is

extremely brief—on normal difficulty you could plow through all four

stages in about 80 minutes—it does

enjoy a small amount of replay value.

Each of the four main characters, based on the heroes of the film, has four unlockable outfits and

four weapon skins apiece, earned by reaching certain experience

levels. You can also track in your

Profile several statistics, including

time played per character, highest score, and takedown streak. The

game clearly wants you to play its

four levels again and again, for high

scores and cosmetic prizes, but with such tepid gameplay and tedious level layouts it’s hard to imagine anyone lingering long enough

to reach level 30, the final unlock threshold.

One positive is its suite of multiplayer options.

performances, in the absence of actors

other players from around the world, joining

Kevin Hart, unimpressive. Rhys Darby, who

You can save Jumanji online with up to three random rooms or creating your own lobby,

or play with a total of four in a single space via splitscreen co-op—a rarity in today’s

gaming landscape. Another positive: a hot

potato mechanic whereby the gem used to power obelisks and ultimately activate the

final statue must be shared among all four heroes. While carried, the game will super

charge a character’s weapon. Hold it too long, however, and the game will zap you and drain

Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, and plays Nigel in the Jumanji movie, is the only actor who reprises his role; unsurprisingly

his lines are the game’s best. One especially

annoying thing about voice acting is the rate at which one-liners are recycled. In a single campaign you might hear the same Shelly

Oberon line half a dozen times. It’s here where the game really does channel those PS2-era licensed games.

some health. It’s a tad underdeveloped, but

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is not a great

doesn’t contribute anything new to its genre.

to coast along based on the charisma and

a notable wrinkle in a game that in general

Visually, Jumanji: The Video Game is far from

impressive. It doesn’t look like a PS2 game, as

many commentators have insisted, but it’s not

that far off. It looks closer to an early Xbox 360 or PS3 game, with stiff animations and simple textures. With its neon hues, beefy character models, and cartoonish graphics, it actually

bears a resemblance to Fortnite, although it’s not nearly as charming.

On the audio side, it’s a similar story. Music

and sound design are forgettable and voice

movie, or even a good movie, but it is able

chemistry of Johnson, Black, Gillan, and Hart.

Jumanji: The Video Game has no such safety net. In the absence of its talented stars, and

weighed down by monotonous levels, tedious gameplay, simplistic AI, and outdated assets, it struggles to justify its existence, outside of a cynical attempt to capitalize on the launch of Jumanji: The Next Level in December. Its

movement and shooting mechanics are decent enough and it supports four players both

online and offline, but those are minor wins in a jungle of glaring flaws.

By Evan Norris

Evan Norris

REVIEW NS:

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 The sense of camaraderie and international

produce its roster of playable characters.

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is infectious.

sports, to SEGA, and to Nintendo,

sportsmanship in Mario & Sonic at the By the time the credits roll on its story

mode, you’ll be in front of your computer looking up plane ticket prices to Japan to

catch a glimpse of the real Olympic games

It’s a love letter to Tokyo, to competitive buttressed with a clever time-traveling campaign, over 30 events, and several

different control and multiplayer options.

next summer. The game oozes reverence

So often in a sports game, a single-player

them in 2020 and previously in 1964—the

Story Mode in Mario & Sonic Tokyo 2020

for the Olympics, pride in Tokyo for hosting Japanese capital is one of only five cities to have hosted twice—and nostalgia for the Super Mario and Sonic properties, which

campaign can be an afterthought. While isn’t incredible, it does provide several

hours of enjoyment with lots of fan service and a neat plotline that leverages a large

roster of beloved mascots and Tokyo’s

When Bowser Jr. sees his dad featured

Olympic Summer Games, the story finds

realizing the gravity of the situation—he

Olympic history. Set during the XXXII

villains Bowser and Dr. Eggman hatching a scheme to trap their respective enemies—

Mario and Sonic—in a custom video game console, the Tokyo ‘64. Something goes

in a non-licensed video game—without

yells “It’s rights infringement! He’s gonna get Koopa Troop Legal and bring the thunder!”

wrong, and the system sucks in all four

Perhaps the best part of story mode

themselves confined in a pixelated version

unconnected to any Olympic exercise.

characters (plus Toad). They soon find

of Tokyo during the 1964 Olympics. As

Mario and Sonic endeavor to escape back to reality, Luigi and Tails work in 2020 to rescue them.

With this narrative in the background,

players will participate in sporting events in both 1964 and 2020. Story mode can

be contrived at times—the game thinks of every excuse for Luigi and Tails to

is a collection of 10 unique events

These include Tower Climb, where Tails scales the facade of Tokyo Tower, and Bullet Train Blast, where 16-bit Sonic

chases Dr. Eggman’s train in a side-scrolling jaunt that’s more Sonic the Hedgehog than Olympics. Once beaten each event goes

into the Game Room, accessible from “My

Data”, where you can play it as many times as you wish.

participate in games while their friends are

You’ll need to play these special events

is perfunctory at best, but overall there’s

you boot up Mario & Sonic Tokyo

in mortal danger—and its map exploration enough connective tissue to make it more than a loose collection of mini-games

strung together. There are several guest characters, lots of collectible trivia, and

some funny interactions between old rivals.

to unlock them, but from the first time 2020 you’ll have access to the game’s

34 Olympic events: 10 retro-styled 2D

events; 21 3D events; and three “Dream” events, which are fantastical versions of

traditional Olympic contests. It’s a robust,

mechanically-diverse assortment of games

Dream Racing combines skateboarding

Standouts include surfing, gymnastics, and

the bunch—is like a discount Splatoon,

that should keep players busy for a while. archery in 2020 and 10m platform and

marathon in 1964. Marathon in particular

is interesting because it’s a long, strategic experience in a sea of short reflex-based events.

The Dream events deserve special mention here. These are three fun, out-there

versions of racing, shooting, and karate.

and F-Zero, dream shooting—the best of and Dream Karate is more WWE than IOCsanctioned sport.

Not only does Mario and Sonic Tokyo

2020 provide many sporting events, it also allows you to experience them in

several different ways. You can participate in a quick match solo or with up to four

players, connect with other Switch consoles via wireless communication, or take your

skills online and play with people from

optimism. The 8- and 16-bit graphics

ranked matches, friends-only rooms, and

are also successful and hit all the right

around the world. Online play allows for online leader boards.

The game also provides several different control schemes. After you select your

event, you’ll typically have three available play styles: dual controllers, solo remote,

featured in the 1964 alternate universe nostalgic notes. Along with synthesized

chiptune music and a muffled announcer,

you’d think the old-school events were torn from 1988 or 1990—armed with modern conveniences of course.

and buttons only. Dual controllers and

In the end, it’s via those connections—to

motion controls while buttons only is a

gaming—that Mario and Sonic Tokyo

solo remote take advantage of Joy-Con more straightforward analog experience.

Motion controls don’t appear to add much

to the package—this game won’t make you forget Wii Sports Resort—but it’s nice to have options.

Speaking of options, it would have been nice to see more settings for individual

events, particularly team-based games like rugby sevens and football. As of now, you only have limited CPU difficulty and time options.

Mario and Sonic Tokyo 2020 isn’t going to

light the world on fire visually, but its crisp,

clean, and bright graphics work ideally with a game about teamwork and international

Tokyo in 1964 and to 80s and 90s era

2020 earns its keep. What could have

been your standard sports mini-game collection is elevated by a nostalgic

storyline and unique events that riff on the 2D platforming origins of Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. Story mode could have been deeper and more interactive

and individual games could use a few more customization options, but in general this is a lively, sentimental, and inspirational way to experience the Olympic Games

without buying that plane ticket to Tokyo.

By Evan Norris

PAUL BROUSSARD

REVIEW NS:

LUIGI’S MANSION 3 Luigi certainly has come a long way. From

Luigi’s Mansion 3 sees Mario, Peach, Luigi,

Mario, to having an entire year dedicated

Toads being invited to stay at a random

a simple green colored palette swap of to him, and now carrying Nintendo’s

holiday releases along with Pokemon.

After spending years in Mario’s shadow, Luigi makes his return to the spotlight

in Luigi’s Mansion 3. How does his latest ghostbusting adventure fare?

and an assortment of randomly colored

hotel. Unsurprisingly, the invitation turns out to be a trap, and everyone but Luigi is captured and turned into a painting.

Luigi then has to team up with Professor Egad to ascend the various floors of the

hotel and rescue his friends along the way.

The set-up is a little too similar to the first

like it’s giving up on the atmosphere

pretty much any non RPG Mario has never

Gamecube title and helped elevate it

game’s for my liking. While the story in

been particularly important, the original game was afforded an air of creepiness

and almost mystique by its atmosphere

component that really boosted the

as a whole past some of its gameplay limitations.

and having Mario, the person usually

For what it’s worth, this is a gorgeous

be bailed out himself. Essentially repeating

visit to the Mushroom Kingdom (if that’s

responsible for the rescuing, needing to the first game’s set-up, but with more

characters and a bigger building, feels

looking game, and by far the prettiest even where this takes place) to-date.

Some of the different floors in the hotel

are really visually appealing, and there’s

the player to make use of interactable

put into making this an aesthetically

These types of puzzles were present in

no doubt that considerable effort was

pleasing experience. The soundtrack is pretty solid too, with tracks that fit the themes of the individual floors quite

well. That being said, I do feel that both the art direction and the soundtrack

might have drifted towards being a bit

parts of the environment to proceed.

the original two titles to some extent,

but they’re vastly more common place

here, to the point that I would consider puzzle solving as central a mechanic to the game as the actual ghost catching.

too cartoonish. The Luigi’s Mansion

Some of the puzzles are quite clever

atmosphere has always been at least a

the minority compared to the ones

games have never been scary, but the

little (and sometimes much more than

that) unnerving from time to time, while Luigi’s Mansion 3 doesn’t seem to make any attempt to be remotely off putting

in that respect up until the very last floor of the hotel.

Perhaps the biggest departure from

the original Luigi’s Mansion - and Dark

Moon to a slightly lesser extent - is that Luigi Mansion 3 has a much greater

emphasis on puzzles. Each of the various floors that Luigi must travel through is

filled with various challenges requiring

and well thought out, but they’re in

that basically require the player to just suck, light up, and shoot a plunger

at everything in the room until they find the one thing that allows them to progress. In fairness to 3, the

Luigi’s Mansion games have always

incorporated this method of interacting with the environment to progress, but

it’s far more prevalent in this game and just feels like it’s grinding the pace to a halt every few steps. Perhaps that’s due to the sheer amount of tools at

your disposal now; between returning

options like the poltergust, the flashlight,

the darklight, and the plunger, and new

I suspect that the greater emphasis on

and Gooigi (more on him later), there

make the game longer, as past Luigi’s

abilities such as a shockwave/jump move are far more options to run down for any given area.

puzzle solving comes from a desire to Mansion titles have generally been

relatively short. And, to be fair, Luigi’s

Mansion 3 will likely have the longest first

playthrough in the series for most players

steps and prevent them from proceeding

ten hours). But there are no points to be

room, or, at least, enough of the room

(with my first run clocking in at around

awarded for that if the game’s method of

extending its run time is to basically throw a barrier in front of the player every few

until they’ve scoured every portion of the until the game decides to tell the player the solution.

The game does this with more than just

access, although there are a few enemies

creative ways to make playtimes longer. At

of multiple Luigis. It’s not a bad mechanic

puzzles, often finding other, less than

one point, the player is just about to make use of a newly acquired item necessary

to proceed to the next floor, only to have it stolen by a ghost cat that runs away

to a previously visited floor. The player

then has to trek back through that older

floor and fight that cat three times over in battles that don’t change at all from one

to the next before getting the button back and being able to proceed as they were

originally going to. This is just pure filler, and so of course the game repeats the

exact same thing later on, because if it was annoying once then just maybe repeating it will somehow cause it to come around and suddenly be fun.

The biggest addition to the gameplay

is Gooigi, which essentially functions as

an additional controllable Luigi, with the added bonus of being able to squeeze

through tight spaces and ignore damage

from spikes. As you can probably guess by this point, his function is mostly used for puzzle solving, being used to pull levers or blow switches that regular Luigi can’t

and even bosses that require making use by any stretch of the imagination, but I came away from Luigi’s Mansion 3 not

really feeling like it had elevated the game in any way; rather it just mostly gave the devs an excuse to block off some areas

from normal Luigi so Gooigi has to be used to progress. For what it’s worth, Gooigi is

plenty charming, and he certainly doesn’t hurt the gameplay, but he rarely gets to

shine. There’s an extremely well done boss fight close to the end of the game that

forces the player to switch back and forth

between Luigi and Gooigi consistently, and it’s a shame he’s never really utilized quite that well anywhere else.

Thankfully, the ghost catching is actually still fun, for the most part. Many of the

individual fights have more creativity put into their designs, and using the various tools at your disposal to disarm a ghost

and then suck it up feels great. Slamming ghosts into the ground, or other ghosts, also feels really good as well. And after

Dark Moon and the original game’s remake on the 3DS, it’s extremely nice to have a

second joystick for aiming, rather than

something. This isn’t too big of a deal

3DS’s nub.

the myriad of boss battles that require you

relying purely on gyro aiming or the New

Having said that, there are some frankly

normally, but it can be frustrating during to quickly aim and target an enemy.

bizarre design choices that make this

Despite the harsh reaction, I don’t hate

any first party published game should be.

disappointing. The spark and creativity

game far more annoying to control than

Like previous titles in the series, the game operates with fixed camera angles, which would generally be fine, but the turning

controls are now locked to Luigi’s position,

meaning that, if Luigi is facing forward and

you want to turn left, you move the stick to

the left, but if Luigi is facing backwards and you want to turn him to your left, you turn the stick to the right (thankfully there are

some customizable control scheme options for once, so this can be changed with

some fiddling in the menu). It’s also weird, for instance, that the gyro can be used to aim up and down, but not side to side,

and equally weird that there’s no way to

change that. And finally, the reticule used for aiming disappears when you’re not

currently aiming at something you can hit,

meaning that if you’re not currently aiming over a target, you just have to guess how

far you need to move your cursor to target

Luigi’s Mansion 3, but it is massively that made the original Gamecube

title something of a cult classic is here somewhere, but it has been buried

underneath an increasingly large pile of gameplay annoyances and mechanics

that add options without depth. What was

original and interesting has stopped being engaging, while the annoyances of the

series have only made themselves more

and more prevalent as Nintendo refuses

to address them. If this series continues, I

really hope Nintendo takes the time to iron out some of the rougher spots, rather than finding another flashlight or something to throw in Luigi’s arsenal.

By Paul Broussard

KELSY POLNIK

REVIEW NS:

Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King As someone who adores video games from

these kinds of releases might not be a high

the latest and greatest concurrently with

some are average, and others are best left

all generations and is typically playing

some pixelated relic, I never find it hard to purchase retro games. I’m the target

market for a collection such as this, but for the standard consumer just looking for a

fun time with a great game I could see how

priority. Some hold up extraordinarily well,

to extreme fans. This particular Aladdin and The Lion King collection highlights all three groups, but despite that I still believe it’s a package worth your time and money.

Digital Eclipse has made it its mission to

new features that I didn’t know I wanted, but

that other, more established mediums treat

know if I can live without their inclusion in

treat video games with the same respect their histories. We’ve seen the company produce some already fantastic retro

now that I’ve been exposed to them I don’t future retro compilations.

collections, such as the Street Fighter 30th

Included in this collection are the North

Collection, and the more recent SNK 40th

versions of Aladdin; the SEGA Genesis and

Anniversary Collection, Mega Man Legacy

Anniversary Collection. With each of those

releases Digital Eclipse has introduced new ideas to the overall package, adding more

value to your purchase with each respective collection. Aladdin and The Lion King

continues this trend and introduces some

American and Japanese SEGA Genesis

Super Nintendo versions of The Lion King, with the Japanese SNES version thrown

in for good measure; and the Game Boy releases of Aladdin and The Lion King

that can be played in both their original monochromatic glory or colorized.

Each version of these games is represented

Eclipse releases it does feel weird that

looks and plays exactly as intended. If you

present - most notably the SNES version

with the highest quality of emulation and

grew up playing these games they will feel

and look just like you remember them as a kid.

If you don’t remember them then just know that Aladdin and The Lion King were both important 16bit releases. In the cluttered action platforming arena of the time

they stood out as prime examples of the genre, thanks to their fluid and beautiful

some key releases from the same era aren’t of Aladdin, which is an entirely different game from the Genesis one. And given

that the company has decided to dabble in handheld territory I would have loved more examples of Aladdin and The Lion

King from the Game Gear, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. This is the biggest area that feels like a step backwards from previous Digital Eclipse releases.

animations, euphonious soundtracks, and

Perhaps to make up for what is missing

their licenses. Each game made special

feature with this bundle, and these are what

most importantly of all the great uses of efforts to make you feel like you were

controlling the characters from the movies, in environments that appeared in those same movies. The Game Boy releases,

on the other hand, are great examples of what a typical licensed game would look

like in that era; sloppy controls, messy hit

detection, confusing level design, and more besides.

It’s a great list of games for the price, but

coming off the highs of the last few Digital

the company has introduced some new

excite me the most about the collection

and Digital Eclipse’s future releases. Firstly, there’s an early demo version of Aladdin

that was presented at a 1993 trade show.

This version includes enemies and objects that didn’t make the final retail release

and a drastically different take on the level inside the genie’s lamp. It’s a fascinating

look at what parts of the game the original

developers felt were working even early on and which parts needed to be overhauled before the final release.

Even better than a demo version of Aladdin

single sword slash, leap of faith, or toss of

interpretation has bug fixes, an improved

where you intend; that’s a taste of what the

is the Final Cut version of the game. This

camera, and other small refinements that the team which compiled this collection felt the original team might have made

had they the extra time prior to its original retail release. That game - Aladdin for

the SEGA Genesis - is a great title. It still

feels wonderful, it still looks and sounds

gorgeous to this day, and is an immensely

playable and enjoyable game. But imagine

that wonderful package remarkably running even more smoothly than before and every

an apple feeling perfect and always landing Final Cut Aladdin feels like to play. I cannot overstate how incredibly this version of

the game plays for a long-time fan of the

original. It’s a pretty incredible journey to be able to play through the early demo to the standard release to the Final Cut version.

As a player it gave me more insight into

the mind of the developers and different

aspects of game design than perhaps any other game, and all while just enjoying a great game in its various forms.

The rewind and watch features introduced

experiences building these classic games.

are present and accounted for as well.

including copious amounts of art work,

in the last couple of Digital Eclipse releases Rewind allows players to reverse the

game by around 30 seconds, in order to

retry a failed jump or avoided taking too much combat damage, allowing you to

essentially have a flawless run by piecing together your best moments and editing

out mistakes. Watch mode takes this idea even further and permits you to watch a

There’s also a variety of other media,

color tests, playable soundtracks, and

even a 30 minutes video of the CES reveal of The Lion King game, which boasted a

real lion(!) and zebra dancers. It’s a really

fun watch for those who are interested in

what gaming trade shows and video game reveals were like in the 90s.

near flawless CPU controlled run of any

Despite missing a few key titles from each

watching you can take back control of the

collection is overflowing with content to

of the included games. At any point while

main character and play out the rest of the game, making it ideal for those who feel

that some of these retro releases are too

challenging and unforgiving - a category that The Lion King certainly falls into at

times. These tools allow people of all skill levels to enjoy these classic games.

If you’re like me and enjoy learning more about the games you love then there’s also a feature length movie’s worth of

video content to enjoy as well. There are tons of interviews with developers and Disney animators, both historical and

modern ones where they reflect on their

of their corresponding franchises, this both play and consume in a variety of

ways. You can experience Aladdin from its

roughest Game Boy incarnation all the way through to its Final Cut precision, or use

the rewind and watch features to assist you

through the African countryside on Simba’s journey to adulthood. However you choose to experience these classics, you’ll be glad you did, and you may even gain some insight into why they are so revered.

By Kelsy Polnik

JACOB JAMES

Star wars Je

REVIEW PS4:

edi: Fallen Order

It’s been nearly a decade since we were

Wars experience that eventually died.

Star Wars game with the second Force

hope for ever having a brand new quality,

last given a single player story-driven

Unleased game, which may be why so

many of us were all chomping at the bit for

When it did, so too did Star Wars fans’ story-driven Star Wars game to play.

Fallen Order. That and we’ve been tempted

While wielding a lightsaber is immediately

likes of Star Wars 1313, only to have it

the rest of the experience is hot and cold.

before with Star Wars greatness with the cancelled and ripped away. Then there

was the Amy Hennig project; the famed Uncharted creator was brought on by

Visceral Games to work on their Star Wars game... only for the developer to be shut down in October of 2017. Each canned

entry promised a unique and riveting Star

gratifying on a base level in Fallen Order, The gameplay suffers from an identity crisis as the bland Cal Kestis leads the cast through a mostly uninteresting

story. Plastered with a coat of Star Wars

paint, this Souls-like mixes overly familiar elements from Uncharted, God of War,

Titanfall, and Dark Souls, leaving no room

for a soul of its own. Despite the pedigree

of crafting a winner. What we ultimately

Jedi: Fallen Order is not the chosen one.

game that never really excels at anything.

the moniker innately implies, Star Wars

Enter Stig Asmussen, known for his work on the God of War series. Stig joined

end up with, though, is a hodgepodge

Not its inspiration, or its Star Wars source material.

Respawn Entertainment as the studio’s

You play as Cal Kestis, your run of the

Order and it’s in the context of this move

Jedi Padawan who has gone into hiding

game director for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen that it quickly becomes clear as to how

Fallen Order became the Star Wars game

with no identity to call its own. Building on

what Amy Hennig (Uncharted) started, Stig (God of War) and Respawn (Titanfall) go

the much beloved Souls-route in the hopes

mill, underwhelming, plain as vanilla after the execution of Order 66 (the

extermination of all Jedi, for those that

don’t know). An accident on the job makes Cal use his Force powers to save his friend

Prauf from falling to his death. Having now exposed himself, though, he has to go on

the run to evade the Inquisitors, who are

act like bonfires, allowing you to save and

attempting to flee, he is rescued by former

Falling to an enemy means you have to

trained to track down and kill Jedi. While Jedi Cere Junda and a four-armed pilot,

Greez Dritus. Aboard your spaceship, The Stinger Mantis, you three make up the

team that is set to try and rebuild the Jedi Order.

Traveling to the starter planet Bogano, you meet BD-1, your personal multi-tool droid,

good for all manner of lockbox looting and door unlocking. It’s on Bogano that you

spend ability points on different skills. retrace your steps and attack that foe

again to acquire your lost Life/Force/EXP. The difference here is that meditation

circles are everywhere. Where Souls games make bonfires a long-lost refuge, difficult

to reach and few to come by, Fallen Order practically has you tripping over them

every few steps, cheapening the victory of making it to safety.

learn of a hidden Jedi holocron containing

Likewise, in an effort to remain true to the

Cere believes could be the starting point

weighty and challenging, but usually ends

a list of “Force-sensitive” children, which to restore the Jedi Order and crush the Empire’s rule.

The gameplay of Fallen Order, which can be fun at times, is lifted and pieced together from several different games to make up its core mechanics, most of which fail to

live up to their inspiration. Let’s start with the most obvious direction: Dark Souls. It seems everyone these days is overlaying

the Dark Souls template onto their games to bring their ideas to life. Well, Star Wars is sadly no different. Meditation circles

Souls series, the combat is meant to be up being anything but. When fighting

enemies one on one, it can be a satisfying experience. Circling your opponent,

squaring off with parries and special ability overhead lightsaber strikes is enjoyable.

Toss in a few force pushes and you’ve

got yourself the basics of a Star Wars/ Soulsborne hybrid. The system breaks

down, though, when the game constantly throws groups of 4-6 enemies at you at once. It no longer feels like challenging

precise combat, but more akin to the hackn-slash God of War variety. Which would

be fine, if waves of enemies broke across

my enjoyment of the combat portion of

of War on your axe. But when everyone

it just doesn’t satisfy like it would if it had

my lightsaber like they tend to do in God blocks incessantly, and you’re managing

your Force gauge (which is always depleted at the most inopportune time) mid battle,

and dealing with stamina depletion, it feels like a broken balance of the two source

the game. It’s not that the combat is bad, more focus by leaning more toward the

precise one-on-one combat of the Souls series or plowing through enemies a-la

God of War, but not both simultaneously.

games.

It’s this lack of individuality that ruins Star

Something else is off about the combat

cobbled together from several other great

too. Attacks have this really slow and labored wind-up to them, seemingly

a second or two longer than all other

enemy attacks, even the little runt mobs.

The lightsaber itself should be fairly light, and easy to maneuver with, but instead

it handles more like a heavy two-handed hammer. Unless you wait to perform a

parry you’ll usually be caught mid slice and knocked down like a chump. Two-thirds of the way through the game I realized

that the combat system was “middling” so badly between Souls/GoW that the

only way I was going to have any fun was to turn the difficulty down to story mode and help the game artificially find some

direction. Playing hack-n-Slash God of War style with a lightsaber definitely bolstered

Wars Jedi for me, as the entire game is

games that came before it, masquerading as something exclusive using the Star

Wars name. Cliff hanging, climbing, and jumping are lifted from Uncharted. The

larger enemies are defeated in grandiose GoW fashion, but with less panache and much more quickly. Wall runs are pulled directly from Titanfall, all novel at first,

but they get old quick, especially since

we’ve seen and played it all before in those games. The worst part is, the ideas are

never repeated or reused in new ways. You never wall run over opponents and land

behind them, striking swiftly from behind

with your lightsaber. That would have been cool! No, instead, its mundane routine

inclusion as terrain traversal is the limit of that gimmick. These criticisms are not to

say you can’t take inspiration from other

the game are meant to be exciting and

that enhances your own uniqueness, not

them over and over to move on, the wow

places, but use them sparingly or in a way sacrifices it.

And don’t get me started on sliding down mud/ice covered terrain and jumping to low hanging ropes. I can’t tell you how

many times I cursed at the screen as I slid off the edge and was sent back to start again. Or missed the rope on my jump

because it passed to my left instead of

hitting me straight on. These portions of

pace-quickening. When you have to replay factor of the moment is lost. Controlling

your downhill slide should be smooth and

effortless, similarly with grabbing the rope to swing on. If you’re in the vicinity of the rope, your on-screen character should

grab it, feel like a bad-ass, and move on.

Not so in Fallen Order. I ran into many

other instances where landing a jump on a

nearby pipe should have been magnetically assured from a game-design perspective.

Instead, I fell to my death needlessly. Star

play a game where exploration is at the

these kinds of sloppy technical issues; in

really hurts the experience. There is an

Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is riddled with combat, platforming, and graphics.

The visual fidelity of Star Wars Jedi

succumbs to the same shortcomings as the rest of the game. Sometimes

I’m blown away by how good an area

forefront, not being able to see anything enjoyable mechanic of holding your

lightsaber up to illuminate the way, but that only works in really tight, close

spaces, and it slows your walking pace to a crawl.

looks, other times I’m stunned by just

A plethora of other non-game-breaking

washed out an area looks. Personally, I

beats of greatness as a Jedi, stuttering

how soft and fuzzy the faces are, or how felt that using darkness to evoke mood

was overdone. While darkness can lend

mystery and intrigue to an area, it works

best in the movies. When you’re trying to

issues plague the Fallen Order. In-between character animations, frame-rate drops,

lengthy load times on death, and texture pop-in prevail throughout. These issues were noticeable from start to finish and

detracted from the big budget Star Wars

the game is frustratingly mediocre due

mind minor technical issues like these, but

There are little pockets of brilliance here

experience I was promised. I don’t usually when coupled with the rest of the game’s flaws, it really began to add up, making

them harder to forgive by the end of the game.

One area I had zero discrepancy with was, surprisingly, the audio. Who would have

thought that the newest Star Wars game would see me praising the sound design above all else? Soundtracks and effects all strongly evoke the mood of the Star

Wars universe. Simple melodies piqued

to Respawn never nailing down its focus. and there, like how flashbacks are handled in the opening hours, or the story section about Cal’s master, Jaro Tapal, after

learning that Order 66 had been initiated.

But these moments are stretched too thin, and occur too infrequently to carry the tone throughout the game. During the

final hours, though, I actually said aloud, “why couldn’t the story, combat, and

visual flair have been this good the whole time?”

my interests during exploration, and the

With the story component faltering and

swinging through the air is utter

of other titles robbing it of rarity, I didn’t

unmistakable sound of your lightsaber

perfection. Blaster shots being deflected are spot on and BD-1 fills the roll of R2-

D2 with beeps and boops nicely. Too bad

the rest of the game isn’t as strong as the audio.

I really wanted to love Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The first few hours were good. The last few hours were great!

However, the entire middle portion of

the cut-and-paste gameplay elements

enjoy my time with Fallen Order as much as I hoped I would. While I would have liked to have seen Respawn introduce fresh new gameplay elements of their

own, at least there are redeeming qualities

to this galactic tale that really shine. Here’s hoping the next installment refines these issues, and that it isn’t too far, far away…

By Jacob James

Chinh Tran

REVIEW PC:

The Outer Worlds

For years Obsidian

stepping out of the shadows

behind shadows of giants

experiences entirely of their

Entertainment worked

like BioWare and Bethesda, developing sequels and spin-offs to established

properties like Neverwinter Nights and Fallout. More

recently, though, original

titles like Pillars of Eternity prove they’re capable of

to craft strong role playing own. Obsidian’s The Outer

Worlds continues this upward trend in many ways and

comfortably sits near the top of Obsidian’s output,

but some setbacks in certain areas blemish the overall package.

Early on The Outer Worlds is fantastic. At

the start of the game you’re awoken from

a frozen slumber by an enigmatic scientist

with their strong consequences, that make The Other Worlds shine.

named Phineas Welles. After a somewhat

Players will face several key decisions

sent to a planet called Terra 2 in the

crux of which involve either siding with

straightforward character creator, you’re Halcyon Cluster where - after a brief

tutorial - you’re tasked with becoming

the new captain of a grounded spaceship; the aptly named The Unreliable. To repair your ship, you need to make a difficult

decision: reroute power to either the town

of Edgewater or to an offshoot settlement.

Going in one direction results in the end

of one settlement and the continuation of the other. It’s decisions like these, along

throughout a single playthrough, the the Halcyon Company - a corporate

entity that controls most of the Halcyon star system - or with Phineas Welles

- the aforementioned scientist whose goal involves bringing about the end

of Halcyon’s hegemony of the Colony through a revolution. Thanks to the

amount of choice and player freedom,

every playthrough can be very different,

providing a good amount of replayability.

The story is pretty standard science fiction with a critique of capitalism, but the

writing, dialogue choices, and characters

to part ways. While they accompany you,

each give unique bonuses to various skills.

elevate it.

Characters are well written, particularly Phineas Welles and your prospective

party members. A standout is Parvarti,

an engineer who you meet early on. Her

Skills in The Outer Worlds are initially

her courage to ask someone out on a

increase together. For instance, placing

companion quest involves building up

date. It also tasks you with finding special delicacies on different planets which

she’ll present to her date. Vicar Max is

another interesting party member whose companion quest leads him on a path of truth and redemption. The companions

are all memorable, believable, and stand out.

There are six companions in total and

you can have up to two accompanying

you at a time. Each can be equipped with weapons and armour as well and are

given perks for you to choose from when they level up. Your decisions affect the

outcome of their relationship to you too.

Piss them off too much and they’re willing

bundled into different groups and

one point into the Ranged group increases the skill of Handguns, Long Guns, and

Heavy Weapons at the same time. When

one of those skills in a group reaches 50,

it can no longer be leveled up as a group, but rather independently, forcing you

to spend points on each of those skills

individually. Every level gives you 10 skill points to spend, along with a perk point

that lets you choose a variety of bonuses.

Equipment and party members can

increase points as well. While this does

give you a large degree of freedom and

customization, the amount of points you

get is too generous and, consequently, the game becomes easier the further you get; even too easy at times.

Veterans of the Fallout games will want

Another reason why The Outer Worlds

Normal is just too much of a cake walk

While initially exciting and full of options,

to increase the difficulty to at least Hard. outside of the early parts. Supernova difficulty is an option as well, but it introduces survival mechanics that

aren’t found in the other modes. In it you have to eat, drink, and sleep to

maintain optimal efficiency, and sleeping can only be done on The Unreliable. If

companions die in Supernova mode, it’s

permanent. These extra challenges can be interesting initially but become tedious

later on. Regardless, if you’re looking for a challenge, Normal just won’t be enough.

By the end of my Normal playthrough I

had never eaten any food, never ran out of bullets, and had almost 100 Adreno Syringes (used for healing).

becomes unchallenging is the combat.

it’s too easy to become unstoppable after a while. Enemies usually fight in groups

but even the largest alien creatures prove unworthy opponents. I had the same gun

for most of my first playthrough and, once I’d modified it with a scope and N-ray

bullets, enemies could barely get close

enough to me to be a threat. Your allies

make it even easier. Each of them has an ability you can get them to use which assists in combat, but I rarely needed

them on the default difficulty setting. I

actually just used companions as meat

shields and for the skill boosts more than anything else.

There are a lot of options to tackle

melee attacks, and increase your sneak

Although I focused on Long Guns, I always

a shame combat rarely requires you to do

enemies and all of them are viable.

made sure I had a sidearm and melee

weapon equipped just in case. There’s

a wide assortment of weapons ranging

attack damage. With all these options it’s more than just shoot enemies from afar before they can even get close to you.

from rifles, pistols, shotguns, plasma guns,

Another noteworthy mechanic of

that, weapons can be modified to suit

is essentially The Outer Worlds’ version

and different melee weapons. On top of

your playstyle. Scopes make your weapon more suited for long range attacks, or

magazines can be equipped with more

ammo or elemental bullets like lightning.

Increasing different skills opens up even more options. You can learn to be more

agile with extra jumps, do more powerful

combat is Tactical Time Dilation, which of Fallout’s VATS system, allowing you

to lineup shots more easily and expose

enemy weaknesses. Moving around and

firing your weapon drains the meter more quickly. It’s certainly a useful skill to have and watching your enemies crumple in slow motion is oddly satisfying.

Enemies themselves come with a lot of

are mostly small, each planet looks unique.

humanoids, mechanical guards, and alien

other games but rather filled with unique

variety. You’ll deal with different types of creatures through your journey across the Halcyon Colonies. Humanoids are

generally pretty straightforward and range from close quarter combatants to snipers.

Mechanical enemies come in the form of combat drones, a variety of sentries, and large scrap mechanicals who can launch

themselves in the air and slam the ground around you. By far the most interesting types of enemies are the different alien

Alien landscapes don’t look empty like in flora and fauna. Lush forests, desolate

badlands, and sweltering swamps are only some of the environments you’ll visit.

I was particularly impressed by simply looking up at the sky in certain maps.

Gargantuan planets can sometimes appear when you’re on the moon, which further enhances the experience of being in another universe.

creatures. You’ll fight giant gorilla-like

Not everything is strong on the

Raptidons, and giant insects such as the

occurred for me frequently at the start of

creatures in the Primals, dinosaur-inspired Mantisaurs who would be right at home in Starship Troopers. On top of that, many of

these enemies have variant versions which force you to deal with different sets of resistances and armours.

The enemies, like most of The Outer

Worlds, come to life thanks to impressive graphics. The drab post-apocalypse of

Fallout: New Vegas is gone, replaced by bright and vibrant graphics. Characters

animate pretty well but the standout is the environments. Although the actual maps

presentation front though. Stuttering

a loaded map. This goes away eventually but is still worth noting. Audio design is

solid overall but nothing really stood out.

The voice acting is sufficient, with major characters and companions leading the

way. Weapon sounds are also good, with a few unique ones mixed in. Outside of the main theme, though, the music is

not very memorable. These deficiencies

don’t detract from the overall experience, especially if it’s not something you pay much attention to.

Although not without some drawbacks,

universe. As a result of all this, Obsidian

better efforts. The strong dedication to

IP on its hands and a stronger sequel may

The Outer Worlds is one of Obsidian’s

player agency, impressive replayability, multitude of variety, and masterful

implementation of RPG mechanics results in a title sci-fi RPG fans should not miss.

Sure, the lack of challenge later on in

Normal mode can be a let down, but it is at least somewhat mitigated by optional higher difficulty levels. Even though the

audio design leaves a lot to be desired, the presentation, aside from some stuttering, results in a strong feeling of a different

Entertainment has a very promising new

very well help them to not only step out of the shadows, but rather into the spotlight.

By Chinh Tran

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