Roundguard Review – Roguish Charm

Publisher: Wonderbelly Games, The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild

Developer: Wonderbelly Games

Rating: Everyone 10+

Reviewed on: Xbox One

Also on: PlayStation 4, Switch, PC, Mac, iOS

Upon starting my first game of Roundguard, I couldn’t escape a sense of surprise that this hasn’t been done before. At first glance, Roundguard looks like a copy of the hugely popular Peggle, but with a fantasy theme. That might have been enough to propel Wonderbelly’s debut to success, but it’s the integration of roguelike elements that propels this new project into its own orbit, transforming what could have been a shameless knock-off into a simple but rewarding game with an identity all its own.

Players control a rotund warrior, rogue, or wizard as they descend into the dungeons beneath a castle. On each turn, you launch your intrepid adventurer into a field of monsters, gold pots, and potions, then watch as your character bounces and rebounds from one end of the stage to the other. Along the way, you deploy spells and skills that alter trajectory, damage baddies, and boost your gains. Thanks to the varied skills of each class, a healthy balance emerges between the unpredictable careening of your character and when you choose to activate abilities. Like in Peggle, there’s something deeply satisfying about the Pachinko-style descent through a stage, watching with anticipation to chart a path to the bottom.

I enjoy all three classes; Wonderbelly has done a good job emulating classic RPG archetypes, from the wizard’s screen-nuking lightning bolts to the rogue’s versatile double jump. I spent most of my playtime going back and forth on my favorite, which is a sign of strong balance. Three classes at launch feels good but not great; without a broader selection of heroes, it’s easy for the choice to grow stale. As it is, I felt like I’d seen much of what each option had to offer after a few hours of play.

Thankfully, roguelike elements lend additional replayability. The layout of stages and the interconnected map between them changes each time, so you’re rarely left with the sense that you’ve witnessed the exact same playthrough before. On each run, you also collect and equip various weapons and armor pieces that accentuate a given playstyle. That’s a fun addition, but it is sometimes disheartening when random equipment drops hold you back from success because they don’t jive well with your abilities. Without broader flexibility to collect and keep items to equip at my leisure, it’s hard to reach an optimized build. Being forced to toss an item early in a run (only to wish for it back three stages later) sometimes left me frustrated.

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Stackable trinkets have no limit, which is a fun way of building power over the course of a playthrough. You’re assigned a random trinket at the start of a run, which you acquired at the end of your last. That’s a smart incentive for continued play, but without any choice for that trinket, it sometimes feels like a meaningless gesture, with a bonus that doesn’t help your preferred playstyle.

Meanwhile, relics offer a longer form of engagement for dedicated players. Acquired for completing a full run, you can only master them by completing a second run with the relic equipped. The often challenging modifications provided by these relics can be mixed and matched for any given run, changing the flow for experienced players, and further extending the life of the game. I had a lot of fun trying to eke out a win with challenging relic combos in effect.

Roundguard is charming and engaging, both in extended sit-down plays and in shorter intermittent play sessions. Silly characters and nemeses draw heavily on established fantasy tropes, and strike the right tone for the light nature of play. Peggle veterans who have longed for a sequel should definitely play this clear homage. But even newcomers to this style of bouncy-ball fun will find a lot to smile about in this friendly dungeon descent. 

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Score: 8

Summary: Wonderbelly riffs off Peggle and rogue-like dungeon crawlers, and manages to find some of the most addictive elements of both.

Concept: Borrow liberally from Peggle and roguelike dungeon crawlers to create a whimsical hybrid

Graphics: Cartoonish heroes and monsters keep the tone affable and light

Sound: Jaunty and inoffensive tunes seem to directly reference the instrumentation and style of Peggle

Playability: With a healthy balance between luck and smart shot placement, the controls are immediately accessible and fun to learn

Entertainment: Cutesy and clever, this repeatable adventure captures many of the addictive qualities that made its inspirations into phenomena

Replay: Moderately High

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Half-Life: Alyx Review – An Amazing Return To City 17

Publisher: Valve Software

Developer: Valve Software

Reviewed on: PC

The Half-Life series possesses a combination of historical significance and fan enthusiasm that few other franchises can match. With that kind of tradition and audience, Valve releasing its long-awaited continuation as a VR exclusive is controversial. However, the moment Half-Life: Alyx’s intro text faded and I opened my eyes to a Combine-infested Earth, I was convinced. The phenomenal atmosphere of City 17 is apparent from the moment you see a towering three-legged Strider knock debris loose as it ascends a building, and that feeling of awe continues all the way to the game's jaw-dropping finish. Centered on Alyx Vance, a main character from the series made playable for the first time, Half-Life: Alyx is an unforgettable adventure that undeniably pushes VR forward.

The gameplay is equal parts shooter and puzzler, encouraging immersive exploration of the beautifully realized environments. These components are enhanced by the VR control scheme, which feels tight throughout and only becomes more natural as you play. The story (which is set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2) finds Alyx on a journey to rescue her father from Combine captivity; you don’t need to be a fan of the series to appreciate the narrative, but diehard fans have their patience rewarded. 

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Half-Life’s stark world has never felt so alive as it does here. Whether you’re marveling at the disgustingly realistic viscera on corpses in the sewers or counting the teeth on the ceiling Barnacles waiting to suck up passersby, the gorgeous setting is immersive. I watched for nearly a minute as a headcrab scrambled over a pile of luggage to get at me, pulling bags down and falling on its back in an unscripted display of the game's impressive physics. Intricately detailed faces follow you through conversations, and gorgeous vistas take your breath away. Seeing Half-Life staples rendered with modern technology, explorable in virtual reality, is truly stunning. Experiencing it with this level of closeness and interactivity gives me a new appreciation for the series' specific brand of dystopian future.

Controlling Alyx feels great thanks to the gravity gloves that help you manipulate the debris in your environment. If you see a chunk of Resin (the currency used for weapon upgrades), you simply reach out and flick your wrist back. This sends it flying toward you, and then you grip to catch it when it reaches you. This never stops feeling satisfying, and using it in conjunction with other actions, like storing ammo over my shoulder and managing more complicated weapon reloads, feels instantly intuitive and fun to master. By the end, I was using my hands independently like a pro, unless any enemy got the jump on me and my panicked movements had me pulling the trigger on an empty gun and scrambling back for some breathing room.

The gravity gloves are technically called R.U.S.S.E.L.S. – named for Resistance techie Russel, a lighthearted voice in your ear who guides you through City 17 in pursuit of Alyx’s father. Every time he chimed in on my earpiece was a welcome relief from the oppressive surroundings. I especially depended on him for levity in some of the more horrifying sequences, including a nightmarish encounter with a creature called Jeff. Despite its status as a prequel, the campaign ventures into new territory for the franchise and pushes it forward in compelling ways. From a story perspective, Half-Life: Alyx is an enjoyable and essential entry in the series.

Combat isn't the highlight, but it still produces exciting moments. You find only three weapons, all of which can be outfitted with game-changing upgrades like a grenade launcher or laser sight. Combine soldiers soak up headshots on the higher difficulties, making careful use of cover a necessity. I learned to make smart grenade throws, move around my environment carefully, and loot bodies mid-fight, the latter of which was enhanced by lifting corpses with my hands to access ammo and health hidden in back pockets. It is as satisfying as it is morbid. Firing, reloading, and switching weapons all feels great in VR thanks to responsive controls and smartly designed guns that subtly highlight the action required. For example, a red underglow on the pistol slide you forgot to pull back helps negate a lot of frustration of not knowing why your gun won’t fire. Ducking behind cover feels natural and fair, and listening for enemy reloads before popping out is satisfying.

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The freedom of room-scale VR sometimes clashes with the linearity of Half-Life: Alyx’s design. Zombies won't be pushed back if you wield a chair like a lion tamer, and in one puzzle I attempted to pull a large crate under a garage door to stop it from closing and watched as the door pushed the crate down under the map and closed unfettered. But if you play by the rules, you are rewarded. Physics puzzles are fun to solve, and shooting for enemy weak points like Combine gas canisters result in beautifully grim death animations as you wave goodbye with your in-game hand.

Puzzles litter the world, with some that are necessary for progression and others that unlock optional caches of extra ammo or health. One puzzle type requires you to guide electricity from circuit to circuit by pointing your multitool around a room to illuminate the maze, which is a fun way to explore the environment. However, other puzzle types quickly wear out their welcome, including guiding one point to another along a globe while avoiding Tron-like red lines, or remembering pairs of colors and matching them after they disappear. Some of these are repeated so often that I would sometimes skip the optional loot just to avoid going through the motions yet again. 

I experimented with every movement mode on offer, which includes blinking for those prone to motion sickness and full thumbstick locomotion. I eventually settled on sliding, a middle ground option where you select your target destination and move quickly to it with full physics presence. This felt the most natural and helped me avoid even the slightest motion sickness through the whole campaign, which is never a guarantee for me in VR. Other options like view-based subtitles and choosing a dominant hand for weapons are implemented well.

Half Life: Alyx is a must-play game worthy of the series' legacy. Despite some puzzles and encounters that feel like filler, the overall experience is strong. The stunning setpieces, beautiful world, and smart writing stand out no matter the medium, and mark a return to form for Valve. If you were waiting for a killer app before you made the investment into virtual reality, this is it.
 

Score: 9

Summary: Valve ups the ante for virtual reality with a rich campaign and clever controls

Concept: Deepen the world of Half-Life with an astonishingly detailed VR shooter set between the first and second games

Graphics: Gorgeous environments and eerily detailed enemies litter your journey through City 17

Sound: Everything from tiny water drips to massive set-piece moments are realistic and inescapable with rich audio

Playability: Intuitive weapons and gadgets set a new benchmark for VR controls

Entertainment: The dense campaign never lets up with surprising reveals, new enemies, and witty dialogue to carry you through the exciting journey

Replay: Moderately Low

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MLB The Show 20 Review – Solid Contact

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developer: SIE San Diego Studio

Rating: Everyone

Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

Baseball in real life is often criticized for its slow pace, but I like its flow in MLB 20. It’s different from most other sports in that the moment-to-moment experience isn’t continuous, but I enjoy the built-in tension before, during, and after crucial plays in MLB The Show 20. The action goes from 0 to 60 with seemingly routine throws, pitches, and at-bats because the gameplay is demanding but tight. Every inning has these pressure-cooker moments that culminate in triumph or defeat.

Everyone likes a blistering home run, but one of the achievements of The Show is how it makes hits of all kinds satisfying because the outcomes are believable. Swinging the bat at pitches around and outside the strike zone with different timing and bat coverage (as indicated by the improved, customizable PCI hitting reticle based on the player) produces a range of realistic outcomes. It sucks grounding into a double play, but at least you know why it happened by the way you hit the ball.

Conversely, getting the new perfect/perfect feedback for the perfect swing timing and contact result with your bat makes you feel like you belong in the big leagues because you know you really got ahold of the ball. A perfect/perfect doesn’t actually guarantee a hit, which is good. It prevents those hits from being overpowered, but still rewards a good at-bat almost all of the time.

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Similar to the hitting, fielding is a demanding-but-rewarding experience. They don’t call it a “routine throw to first” for nothing, but even the defensive plays you’re supposed to make can go south with an errant throw if you’re not careful. The tweaked zones of the throwing meter don’t drastically change the timing from last year, but these and the increased reliance on your skill and the player’s attributes, magnify the stakes and excitement whenever the ball is put into play.

Getting an error because I miss the timing on a throw doesn’t bother me compared to the continued intermittent fielding errors. Players are sometimes immobile right before a fly ball drops, they dive or jump for a ball without a true awareness of where it actually is, and they can fail to detect balls on the ground. Players also respond sluggishly to baserunning commands, which has led to some frustrating outs.

The otherwise sturdy gameplay can also be tested in the new Showdown objectives in Diamond Dynasty mode. Here you draft players to complete a series of scenarios on the way to a face off against mini and final bosses. It replaces Moments as a source of Program stars, and I like that it’s another way for solo players to play the multiplayer-focused mode.

Showdowns can be challenging in a good way, but they also strain hit variety. Hits that would otherwise fall into a gap or go out of the park in the mode (and at times during in the Road to the Show mode) are being caught. The CPU can also deploy strong catch-up A.I. that doesn’t always feel fair. It’s hard to judge these perceptions when dealing with intrinsically overpowered Diamond Dynasty players or situations, for instance, but I hope future gameplay tweaking can smooth out these annoyances.

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In general, MLB The Show 20’s modes are strong, if not radically upgraded. Custom online leagues have been added, March to October now includes managerial trade decisions, teams can be relocated and rebranded in Franchise mode, and Road to the Show gives gameplay bonuses for teammates who work well together.

Out of the modes, Road to the Show and Franchise need to be refreshed. The former needs new situations for your player career (I don’t want to change positions again!) and more interesting interactions between players beyond just progress toward perks. Meanwhile, the latter is a little dry and could use improved CPU roster management so star players don’t inexplicably leave.

Of the modes, March to October is my favorite because of the way it truncates a full MLB season while still conveying a sense of what’s at stake, and I like Diamond Dynasty for the variety of ways you can progress in it.

MLB The Show 20 mainly nails its core gameplay, and its many modes deliver compelling experiences. It’s not the best the series could be, but it makes you hold your breath in that moment before a crucial pitch or swing of the bat – a moment I love living in.

Score: 8.75

Summary: Another good outing for the series, complete with additions across the board and gameplay that emphasizes skill.

Concept: Sustain the series’ good name through thoughtful additions and changes

Graphics: The stadiums – and the lighting that makes them come alive – look fabulous

Sound: I enjoyed most of the commentary and loved the sound made by good contact with the bat. Important instructions from your third-base coach in Road to the Show mode frustratingly aren’t always delivered

Playability: The timing meter for defensive throws is exacting but exciting. Errors caused by wonky player movements, however, are less amusing

Entertainment: MLB The Show 20 has something for everyone, which isn’t low-key praise. It’s an acknowledgement of the breadth of good work done by the developers

Replay: Moderately High

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