New LEGO Harry Potter trailer and impressions

Two things.

Thing #1 is there’s a great write-up of some early impressions for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 over at Wired’s GameLife. Though it brings to the horizon the same ol’ notion that the LEGO videogames are really just for kids, and that the gameplay mechanics are not adhered to adults at all. Naturally, I disagree. Sure, a kid could play through some levels in LEGO Batman, but several puzzles might prove too challenging. I like to think of the LEGO games as the best of both worlds: fun (though not always funny) cutscenes, colorful characters and locations, easy-yet-addictive gameplay, and a perfect reason for offline co-op.

Thing #2 is a new trailer, which runs for one minute and thirty-nine seconds, of which seven seconds shows actual gameplay in the Potterverse. You can check it out below:

LEGO Harry Potter looks charming

As you can see from the Achievements Ahoy! sidebar, I love the LEGO videogames. At the moment, they are the only two retail games I’ve played full and fully, unlocking every silly and frustratingly challenging achievement. Truth be told, the games are fun and engaging, easy to pick up, as well as highly addicting. I rank them, currently, in this order of affection: LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, and then LEGO Indiana Jones. I’m fairly sure that list is going to change the day LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 comes out.

Why? Because I’m in Ravenclaw.

The above video offers a first look at the next LEGO game, which covers Harry’s first four years at Hogwarts. It’s the same ol’, same ol’, with the character designs cute and spot-on, and the background details surprisingly vivid. I can only suspect that, after a few tutorial levels, the castle-school itself will act as the hub world for the game, with moving paintings leading to other levels and such. I just hope that each “year” gets a good amount of attention, and that Hagrid’s special attack involves a butt-stomp.

It’s scheduled for release sometime during 2010, and I for one am wishing for a Time-Turner for Christmas so we can speed things up a bit.

IMPRESSIONS: Left 4 Dead 2 demo

I try not to judge a book by its cover. Similarly, I try not to judge a videogame by its…heck, they are different beasts than books and by the time a game is released the public has already been spoon-fed screenshots, trailers, previews, demos, and a landfill of hype. So a videogame’s retail cover means nothing in actuality, but what I’m trying to say is that I normally shy away from the crazy, fast-paced shooters of this generation because I feel like they are just not my kind of game. I’m talking about the Halos, the Gears of Wars, the Call of Dutys, and the Left 4 Deads. Last night, I put that theory to the test.

Left 4 Dead 2 comes out on November 17, and a demo for the zombie shootathon went up on Xbox Live at the end of October. Y’know, to gets folks excited. However, being a lowly wielder of the Silver account, I had to wait until yesterday to download it. Oh, lowly me.

The demo offers up two modes of play–single player and online campaign–within one of the game’s five episodes, The Parish, with the first two sections of that episode available for exploring. There’s no story introduction, and you’re dropped off a boat next to, magically, a table of weapons. Grab your gear and go. Go where? Forward. Then the zombies swarm (or maybe not, thanks to the clever and always thinking AI director), and here’s where the problems started…for me, at least.

One, nervous and unsure of how to play, I hung back and allowed my three other teammates to dole out punishment. A single zombie did not get through so basically I just stood in a corner watching. This is equivalent to watching an in-game cinema. I did nothing.

Second, when I finally did decide to shoot some zombies I ended up hitting my teammates more often. They scolded me, and I retreated to hiding in a corner, popping off a shot only when it was clear who what I was aiming at. This only worked in the open areas, like the park and streets. Inside buildings was a no-trigger zone. Was there a button for zoom? I couldn’t figure it out.

Anyways, you’ll travel down streets, through a dark kitchen, across a shrub-heavy park, all while shooting a variety of zombies. They are fast zombies, too, some jumping on your head and others spitting Ecto Cooler at you. The graphics are colorful and strong, and the physicality of everything is pretty impressive, especially how zombies fall differently under gunfire versus melee weapons. In dark areas, the light from your flashlight makes for eerie gunfights. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing with some of the items I found, and I just moved from place to place when it go too quiet until eventually the demo came to an end.

Then I played the demo a second time, and the entire scenario was different, which was nice. Very nice, and I slowly improved on shooting zombies. So I’ll pass on the full retail game, as I don’t have anyone to play with (and I’m assuming this is a great game for friends and such) and just replay the demo when I get a hankering for a zombie massacre.

At least now I can say with total authority that Left 4 Dead 2 is not my kind of videogame experience.

IMPRESSIONS: WET demo

WET is, from what I can tell, an homage to a number of things: Quentin Tarantino flicks, Max Payne/Matrix bullet time, and the 70s. Highly stylized, the demo covers three aspects of gameplay, and has us in control of Rubi, a gun-toting, sword-slashing assassion on a mission that is not really explained. Also, she drinks Jack D for health boosts.

All right, the first section seems to be a run-of-the-mill action scenario. You’re in a room with bad dudes, and you must eviscerate them all to continue on. The difference? Shooting them sufficiently is only gained by entering “slow-mo,” which happens when you slide, jump, or run against walls, allowing for better precision and multiple targeting. It takes a bit getting used to the fact that you can never just jump normally, that every jump is like pushing off from the bottom a swimming pool, but eventually all Generic Bad Guys crumple to the ground and you’re ready to move on to the next part of the demo.

Rage mode is next. Or maybe it is better dubbed Red mode. That’s what you’ll see most of: red, with some white splashes of blood. Neat look, but it’s just a hectic run from one end to the other, slashing with your sword (don’t bother trying to shoot anyone at this part as it is just unfeasible). The music, however, totally rocked, and for that Red Rage mode was worth it.

Lastly, the car-hopping stage. Quick Time Events are never my favorite thing because I generally have to fail five or six times before I can figure out what is needed. Do I hit the X button once or continue to mash it in? Rubi is riding along car tops, shooting bad guys and avoiding exploding trucks. Visually, it’s amazing. Gameplay-wise, it leaves very little in your control. I’d have liked it more to be the one doing the jumping from car to car rather than pushing a button, but one can’t get everything.

That said, WET isn’t really my sort of game. Too much mindless action, not enough open-ness. And if it’s all just run-and-stab, well, that is something that quickly becomes boring, even if there’s a rockin’ soundtrack to back it up. Oh wells.

IMPRESSIONS: Mini Ninjas demo

I knew very little about Mini Ninjas before I downloaded the demo for Xbox 360, and that’s okay. There didn’t seem to be much that I needed to know. Only this: I am a ninja, and I will probably do ninja-like things. And in that respect, the demo delivered fully.

You start out in a forest, meandering down a linear path until you come to a small village being assaulted by local samurai warriors. Taking control of either three ninjas (Hiro, Suzume, or Futo), you’re tasked with taking out the bad guys and exploring the local landscape.

Hiro is your Average Joe of ninjas, with a special attack move of dashing in and hitting multiple enemies. Suzume is a master of the flute and can use her musical gift to get samurais a-dancing like “Kung-Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas just came on the radio. Lastly, Futo is all muscle, swinging his mallet without speed, but with all his might. I played the majority of the demo as Hiro.

Along the way, you’ll free animals from locked cages, discover ingredients, and search of for hidden Jizo statues. Mini Ninjas seems to balance the collectathon and action/platform parts fairly well. I’ve seen folks on the forums saying you can possess animals, too…but I must’ve missed that during my playthrough.

While the graphics are mediocre (you’d think this was a first generation Wii title), the art style is simply wonderful. The ninjas all have a distinctive look and are cutesy, and the forest level is lush with greens and blues and bouncing animals. Voice acting worked well for those that did some talking. I don’t remember there being much music, but the thump and thwack of your weapon against the skin of your enemies is always a nice sound no matter how it is recorded.

So, fun, colorful, and varied bits of gameplay. The Xbox 360 is severely lacking in great platformers (I’m thinking about the Jak series, the Ratchet and Clank series, and the Sly Cooper series here), but Mini Ninjas might just be what it needs to stand out. Hopefully, it won’t retail for $60, but anything around $30 would be worth picking up.