By
Matthew Scott Hunter
 ‘Sniper
Elite V2’
(M)
***
505 Games
Xbox 360
If you love third-person shooters in which
you brazenly circle strafe towards your enemies,
gleefully expending ammunition as though you
were being paid by the bullet, then this is
NOT the game for you. “Sniper Elite V2” is all
about caution, strategy, patience and conservation
of ammo. It’s also about that gratifying moment
when you’ve successfully landed the perfect
headshot — a moment which the game is happy
to present in a gratuitously gory, slow-mo,
x-ray animation of a Nazi skull splintering
around your bullet. Taking place in the final
days of World War II, the game casts you as
a soldier with an unusually fragile health bar
compared to most WWII avatars. Consequently,
you’ll want to stay out of harm’s way, and your
handy sniper rifle is the perfect tool with
which to accomplish that.
For the most part, “Sniper Elite V2” is a nicely
detailed stealth sim. You’ll have to lead your
targets with your crosshairs, accounting for
wind speed and their distance from you, and
even press a button to hold your breath before
firing (for that extra bit of accuracy). On
the down side, your adversaries exhibit some
unrealistic and frustratingly inconsistent A.I.
At times, enemy sentries will seem downright
clairvoyant in their ability to discover a sniper
in their midst, and then the next moment, they’ll
seem to have forgotten about you altogether,
stubbornly refusing to seek cover and thus reducing
the game to a simple shooting gallery. Despite
these occasional annoyances, “Sniper Elite V2”
offers a serviceable alternative to the frenetic
running and gunning and “twitch” gameplay of
most WWII shooters. So if you prefer to find
a nice, comfy perch and methodically take out
your targets one by one, then this is the shooter
for you.
‘Fable Heroes’
(E10+)
**
Microsoft Game Studios
Xbox Live Arcade
Cashing in on the popular “Fable” brand (sort
of) is the simplistic brawler, “Fable Heroes.”
Basically, you and three friends traipse around
a cartoonish reimagining of the land of Albion,
attacking adorable versions of Hobbes and Balverines
with excessive use of the X button. With sluggish
controls, repetitive combat and a board game
hub world that is dangerously reminiscent of
“Mario Party,” this spin-off will only appeal
to the most die-hard “Fable” fans, and even
they may object to the cutesy neutering of their
beloved fantasy series.
‘The Walking Dead: Episode 1— A New
Day’
(M)
****
Telltale Games
Xbox Live Arcade
Most zombie games are about scoring as many
headshots as possible, but the first episode
of this adventure game adaptation of Robert
Kirkman’s comic book series is mostly about
conversation. And it’s riveting. Forced to quickly
choose your dialogue from a tree of options,
you’ll forge interesting relationships with
your fellow apocalypse survivors that take the
story in surprising new directions. It’s nice
to see a zombie game that puts more emphasis
on narrative and character development than
grisly encounters with the undead. Although,
if you’re a fan of the latter, it has that too. |
