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The War of the Worlds (Xbox 360) artwork

The War of the Worlds (Xbox 360) review


"WotW isn't exactly unplayable; the tense narrative and bleak, nearly monochromatic presentation does much to convey the hopelessness of the human plight in London in the face of merciless invaders. "



War of the Worlds is something of an institution in aliens take over the world lore. You’ve likely read the seminal H.G. Wells book, or viewed the original movie, or at least watched the Tom Cruise-vehicle-cum-remake. No? To all three? What’s wrong with you?

I can happily check all three boxes, and so I was well on board for the Xbox Live game once it was announced. That the game is an old-school sidescroller in the vein of classics like the original Prince of Persia, Out of this World, and Flashback made this an absolute must play for me. Patrick Stewart's lovely and authoritative voice behind the narrative was simply the icing on the cake.

Sadly, what plays out is another tragic story of a project rife with promise which went south and very quickly, in the execution. Three intimately linked faults conspired to sink WotW: the game is unevenly difficult, its controls are horribly inconsistent and counterintuitive, and checkpoints are set too far apart.

The result is a tribute to Wells, Mechner, Chahi and Cuisset (the developers actually named a level after the latter three), gone very wrong. WotW isn't exactly unplayable; the tense narrative and bleak, nearly monochromatic presentation does much to convey the hopelessness of the human plight in London in the face of merciless invaders. The alien conquest is quick and all-consuming, and the game does well to make us feel insignificant: Our "Arthur Clark" is a cockroach skittering breathlessly along seeking lost fiance and brother, among marauding steel giants who would crush him underfoot.

Comically, that's often not even necessary. Sometimes, we'll just trip over our own feet. And die. I'd be remiss not to let one particularly trying sequence serve as cautionary microcosm of the experience. Imagine it: you've escaped the madness on the streets, and sought refuge in some ruined apartments. There, a pseudo-sentient black fog belches forth from the ventilation shafts and threatens to suffocate you. You've got to stay ahead of it, use crates (in the middle of hallways?) to prevent it from flowing out when you have the chance, and find a gas mask (left by some fortuitous turn, on the ground?).

It’s more than likely that you'll send Arthur running up to the first crate and hit jump and he’ll simply come to a stop. Arthur may watch the crate for awhile as the smoke starts to catch up from behind. Arthur may then – wait for it – do a barrel roll into the crate and end up dead as if the crate had fallen on him, even though it was quite stationary and flush to the ground the entire time.

This is the stuff of broken games. Dying over and over in this fashion makes you want to kill Patrick Stewart for his maddening soliloquies which punctuate each and every restart, makes you loathe the drab backdrops, makes you seethe at being placed so far back. Amazing potential or not, well-intentioned tribute or not, palpable atmosphere or not – this is the stuff of broken games, and you should not be party.



Masters's avatar
Staff review by Marc Golding (November 23, 2011)

There was a bio here once. It's gone now.

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honestgamer posted November 23, 2011:

Your closing paragraph really ties this together and explains how the stuff maligned up to that point (which doesn't sound terrible on the surface of things) can result in a miserable experience. I especially liked your initial admiration for Patrick Stewart and the way you made it so easy to imagine growing to hate what you once loved. Sweet review of a game that I will definitely avoid.
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Masters posted November 23, 2011:

Thanks, Jason. The review is rather short, but I said just what it was I wanted to say. I was just remarking to Emp; this is something us writers often fail at, strangely enough.
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wolfqueen001 posted November 27, 2011:

This is a good review, though I'm curious to know if the uneven difficulty has mostly to do with the fact that the controls are so bad or if there are other elements that make it worse. I got the impression that the hazards, such as the robots and the black smoke, make it so, but are there any enemies you actually have to fight or is it all just dodging things?

Anyway, I did enjoy this, and I'm quite disappointed that the game turned out so poorly.
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Masters posted November 27, 2011:

Mostly dodging things, and everything is a one-hit kill, which is unforgiving as hell ESPECIALLY when the controls are shite.
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fleinn posted November 27, 2011:

..Another World was, I remember, lambasted by some people for the exact same things when that came out. The controls were broken, the set pieces didn't hang together, the action was tacked on (etc, etc.).

I'm kind of wondering why you didn't mention the way the animation works as well. Or how you walk and have some degree of feeling that the guy is walking on the floor, that kind of thing..

If it's closer to Flashback (with the arm-waving as you run to an edge and stop, and the "delayed trigger" moves to string together the right animation, etc. Or if it's more like a Mario game where you hunt the edges of boxes to land on, and your momentum is more abstract and outside the game's physics and objects in a sense..

I... guess I'm wondering if you review the game as an arcade platformer, when it's really a narrative-driven puzzle/adventure.
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Masters posted November 28, 2011:

Another World was, I remember, lambasted by some people for the exact same things when that came out.

Really? 'Round these parts, Out of This World was widely praised for being awesome, but difficult.

I'm kind of wondering why you didn't mention the way the animation works as well.

Because it's irrelevant.

I... guess I'm wondering if you review the game as an arcade platformer, when it's really a narrative-driven puzzle/adventure.

It's like the games I compared it to.

Only it sucks.
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fleinn posted November 28, 2011:

Because it's irrelevant.

..it's probably not irrelevant when you insist that the way the movement works is broken. And since it's a 2d platformer - the animation and how it relates to movement seems important.

But if it's not, then I wonder how you manage to combine "it's broken" with "it's irrelevant".

I mean, I haven't played the game yet, so I can't say if it "sucks" - but I don't understand where you're going with the review. In all fairness, if you wrote something like that for Another World, or any game, I'd be wondering the same thing.
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Masters posted November 28, 2011:

..it's probably not irrelevant when you insist that the way the movement works is broken. And since it's a 2d platformer - the animation and how it relates to movement seems important.

Leaping logic with a single bound.

But if it's not, then I wonder how you manage to combine "it's broken" with "it's irrelevant".

Did I do that? Whoops.

...but I don't understand where you're going with the review.

That's a shame. Perhaps it's best to leave it at that.
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Suskie posted November 28, 2011:

This game actually looks really cool, so thanks for unveiling the cold, hard truth. You've definitely saved me some money.
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Masters posted November 29, 2011:

Glad to hear it, Mike. I think you may have returned the favour with that Dark Souls game!
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fleinn posted November 29, 2011:

That's a shame. Perhaps it's best to leave it at that.

..ok. Sorry for stepping on your privates.

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