Nintendo 3DS Launch Titles Roundup – Volume Two

There is no doubt that the Nintendo 3DS is a jaw-dropping piece of kit that has quite rightly wowed those who have had a look at it, GodisaGeek included. But as with many a UK console launch, the first wave of games for the platform has been somewhat underwhelming. As you can see from our earlier round up, there are some gems in the mix, but sadly the early batch of software is distinctly lacking in A-grade titles. What is apparent however, is that Ubisoft are backing the hardware to the hilt, with several of their titles appearing on the shelves for your perusal. Are these French developed games any good though?

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (Ubisoft)

Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars comes to you from the mind of retro turn-based strategy king Julian Gollop, he of Chaos, Laser Squad and X-COM fame. You control a small squad of the usual military stereotypes and move around a grid, picking off your enemies using the various attributes associated with each character. Progression rewards you with experience points which you can use to upgrade your equipment and dish out additional “special moves” to members of your six-strong crew.

Like all good games of this ilk, there is a steady learning curve and new abilities and scenarios are introduced slowly and effectively so you are not overwhelmed. The game is a decent old length with a meaty mission-based single player experience and a selection of skirmish modes which can be unlocked as you work through the campaign.

The first bone of contention however, comes with the lack of any wireless or online modes. This would have been a hoot with your mates in wireless multiplayer, or across the internet with other Tom Clancy’d up bods. But instead you are forced to play multiplayer using the same console, taking it in turns.

The problems don’t stop there. The 3D abilities of the console are used reasonably well, creating a sense of depth to the playing field, but this is utterly pointless really, and adds nothing to the experience. The actual graphics themselves are poor, with muddy colours, poor character sprites and some weak-ass explosions, something that you would have thought Ubisoft could have taken a bit of time over. Add to this the plot; dull as dishwater Clancy vs Russia tripe with all of the characterisation of a wet sock, and you have a far from appealing aesthetic beast.

A top-down turn-based military strategy game seems a rather odd choice of launch title for a console as technically wonderful as the Nintendo 3DS. It is head scratchingly difficult to comprehend why they chose to fashion it with this new hardware, when it could have quite clearly worked on its DS predecessor. That said, it is far from a terrible game. The turn based strategy is excellently implemented with good controls and interface and rewarding solo campaign. If anything, it offers the greatest longevity of the entire initial clutch of 3DS titles, albeit with cruddy graphics and a lack of online capabilities. Your move, Advance Wars.

Rayman 3D (Ubisoft)

In more underwhelming 3DS launch action, Ubisoft have chosen to grace the console with a stereoscopic 3D remake of a game originally released for Sega’s ill-fated Dreamcast. Yes, Rayman 3D is essentially just Rayman 2: the Great Escape with some whizzy new effects, and boy does it show.

Rayman has always been a b-list platforming celebrity, his limbless French body always a poor relation to the likes of Mario. The passage of time has made this even more apparent. This dull, overly linear adventure was played out a few years after it was released back in the day, and feels even more so now. You hop around the 3D platform landscape, collecting shiny orbs as you go, and defeat enemies, usually by just hammering a single, solitary button. Occasionally you will face an into-the-screen racing level, but overall this is the same old Rayman that may have seemed colourfully impressive what now seems like aeons ago in gaming terms.

There is far too much wrong with this title for us to recommend that you shell out your hard earned scrilla to play it. There are ridiculous loading times, and clunky breaks in the gameplay disguised as save points. The framerate is far jerkier than you would expect given the power available to the developers, and the whole thing has the feel of a turn-of-the century release.

On the plus side, the stereoscopic effects look nice as butterflies flutter around your avatar and foliage is given an incredible new depth. The controls, and how the camera is operated are also impressive, and possibly the only area that actually genuinely improves on the original. The music is very nicely done, too. Your first experiences of bouncing the Gallic dude through the lush jungle are enhanced by the winsome ditty playing throughout.

Unless you are a fan of Rayman and like the idea of a 3D enhanced portable version of 1999, we would advise you to hold fire on picking this up until something better comes along. That said, we would fathom this would be a pretty good bet for younger players, that is, younger players who are old enough to behold Nintendo’s evil eye-boggling trickery.

Splinter Cell 3D (Ubisoft)

Last and most definitely least is Splinter Cell 3D, yet another port from Ubisoft, this time a new version of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, which as you may or may not be aware has already been released for the Nintendo DS. And whilst a fine game on the grown up consoles, Splinter Cell does not work on any handheld that it has been tried on, and this is no exception.

For starters, the controls are a complete pain in the arse, particularly for a game that requires precision and finesse in its stealth sneakery. It shows that the 3DS is lacking in the analogue stick department, as movement is mapped to the sole stick, and the camera side of things is assigned to the face buttons, something you will find uncomfortable very quickly. Ubisoft have pretty much wasted the entire touch screen by using it only for selecting weapons and equipment, and made sure that you cannot reconfigure the controls yourself. Nice one.

The graphics are poor. Sometimes the environments are so dark and murky you cannot see what in the blue hell you are doing. Apart from some nice pre-rendered cutscenes, there is nothing likeable about the visual side of things, with the 3D effects being pretty much unnoticeable to the point of irrelevance.

The moody graphics, jittery frame rate and mental control scheme all conspire to make this one of Sam’s least entertaining outings to date, and did we mention that Ubisoft have actually removed some of the better features from their previous Nintendo DS port of the game? Oh yes. Gone now is the ability to save anywhere (now you have to reach predetermined checkpoints), a major crime for a handheld game, in our book. Gone too are all traces of multiplayer. That is right, nothing at all in terms of online or wi-fi functionality here, folks.

If I had to say something positive about the whole sorry affair then I would probably mention how it is quite cool being able to operate Sam’s optic cable using the 3DS gyroscope, but that is a meagre reward for having to endure such a lazy, shoddy looking re-release. Avoid.

VERDICT: Ubisoft are hardly setting the world alight with their opening salvo of DS games. Rayman aside, which has some tasty looking 3D gubbins, the three titles on show here are not exactly stretching the deceptively powerful 3DS to the limit. If I had to recommend a purchase from this trio of average fare, then it would be the playable Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, easily the best of the bunch. Youngsters may be enamoured with Rayman too, however they would be best advised saving their pocket money until the inevitable slew of much better platform games start trickling through to us.