Nintendo Page: Centipede Infestation
Atari Page: http://www.atari.com/buy-games/action/centipede-infestation
Source: Youtube Channel atari
Developer: WayForward Technologies
Publisher: Atari
Platforms: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Genre: Arena Shooter
Pros:
-Great soundtrack (trailer doesn't use the in-game music)
-Straightforward gameplay; not complex
-Interesting boss battles
-The 3D looks pretty cool for the game
Cons:
-Non-emotional or odd situational voice-acting
-Cut-scenes were cool, but they played at 1-3 frames per second
-Boss battles were fun, but the rest of the game was pretty boring
-Without the 3D, the graphics were pretty outdated and ugly
As a fan of the original Arcade Centipede, I was curious seeing this title on the shelves for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo 3DS. I didn't pick it up until very recently when I bought my new 3DS XL and decided to give the game a try. Hearing almost nothing about the game and purchasing it used for $10 kind of gave me the impression that I shouldn't expect too much out of it. The game starts off kind of boring and eventually picks up as the difficulty rises, but ends up being a very standard Arena Shooter where the player avoids contact with any enemies and kills everything on site until the level is over. Honestly, what allowed me the patience to get through the rest of the game was the somewhat interesting story, amazing soundtrack, and challenging boss battles. The rest of the game was a repetitious cycle of running around in circles and shooting enemies with bad voice acting and mediocre graphics. Unless you'd want to buy the Wii version for really cheap (say $5-$10) to play a 2-player co-op game to pass the time, I can't really recommend this game to anyone else.
Aesthetics
My first impressions when seeing the title screen and the cut-scenes with the 3D enticed my attention as it was my 2nd game for the 3DS XL and I thought it looked pretty nice. But once the actual game started, I quickly realized how ugly the graphics were. The environments were darker and muddy in color compared to the Wii version which really made it a problem when the enemies were tiny and dark in color as well. The explosion effects were dark and cloudy which hid enemies from view. The weapon projectiles weren't very flashy and didn't feel visceral which would've helped with the gameplay as combat would've felt more satisfying (if you have a mechanic that's seemingly repetitive, make it so that players would enjoy it). The models were really blocky and the cel-shaded art style made it even more prominent. The major redeeming factor for the graphics was that the 3D effects were nice. It added depth to background and form to environmental objects. There were quite a few times where some of the flying enemies really felt like they flew out of the screen at right at me. So without that 3D effect, I imagine that the Wii version had considerably bad graphics as well, though enemies do look more visible from the trailer above than they did in the 3DS. The cut-scenes were another thing that was a bit disappointing. The art is done in the style of Saturday morning cartoons; however, the animations weren't smooth and had 2-3 frames between each movement. They should have went all the way with the idea of cut-scenes, they were pretty interesting.
Audio has a bit of mixed feelings as well. The sound effects weren't that bad. All the weaponry and enemies were believable in the context of its art style. I think the killing sound effects mixed with better graphic animations for the weapons would have made combat feel a lot more satisfying as the fighting felt a lot like shooting nerf guns at blocks until they exploded. It would have made the game better overall, but it sadly didn't feel that way. The voice acting was pretty bad. In a lot of the cut-scenes and cinematics, the characters voice tone and emotion don't match up to the situation and expressions on their faces. There was actually some progress through the game as the voice acting got a little better in the last half of the game. There could be some blame to how this part of development was handled and not the voice actors in general. Sometimes, voice actors don't get to see the game, or the graphics to which lines they're recording (sometimes to avoid leaking assets to the public) so the voice actors have to guess what the situation is like when speaking. There's also some blame to the writing as a lot of the lines were cheesy or groan worthy. What impressed me more than anything in the game was the soundtrack. There's an obvious influence of the new wave of electronic music, dubstep, drum 'n bass and such in the music. The style of music was very familiar to me and I had an idea of who wrote it. I looked it up and sure enough the music was composed and produced by Jake Kaufman who has worked with WayForward Technologies in the past. The music is enjoyable to listen to. But more than that, it created an atmosphere to the game that was both dark/daunting and energetic that really melded well with the action and waves of enemies that runs toward the player. It's also the fact that it's so unique for music in a videogame that really impressed me.
Lastly, there was the story. The story seemed rather cheesy and something to be overlooked in the beginning, but it actually got pretty interesting as the game progressed. Despite the bad voice acting, the story had a cohesive tie with the gameplay which explains why the main protagonist is fighting these bugs, where the gardens were coming from, why flowers turned into turrets, and gave a bit of personality to the characters. It got to a point where I actually started caring about the story and the characters. The problem is that the story sets up a lot of plots, but never develops it. They didn't go all the way with it so it fell short of at least becoming a memorable story. I don't want to get into details as it might spoil the story for those who haven't played it who's willing to give it a try like I did. The aesthetics could've helped the gameplay tremendously, but I suppose it's too late for that now. Aesthetics: 5/10
Buttons
The controls for an arena shooter such as this one is okay considering the 3DS has an analog stick to move around compared to how the DS only had a digital pad to move around for its release of similar games such as Geometry Wars. Shooting is what makes it a bit more tricky as the face buttons represent a direction to shoot at. Generally, these types of games are played on dual analog sticks, but as far as I know Centipede Infestation is not compatible with the 2nd analog circle pad attachment for the 3DS. At least the player can choose a direction to shoot at as opposed to the Wii's wiimote and nunchuck combo. Weapons are switched on the bottom touch screen as the player picks them up. The player can also use the should button to stomp the ground to push away enemies or kill them if their hp is low enough. The controls were quite responsive and easy to grasp, but I think innovation could've been a bit more involved for this type of game. Buttons: 8/10
Concept & Content
The original Centipede was an Arcade shooter where the player had a limited space on the bottom of the screen to fire at incoming enemies with each wave progressively stronger and faster. Unfortunately, retail games now can't get away with game designs like that if they plan on charging $30-$40 (I think it was $50 on Wii) for the game. So the game isn't really a remake of the original but rather a game tied to its legacy. There will be at least 1 Centipede for the player to fight each stage, but the attention doesn't seem to be so much on them as much as it is on the other bugs attacking the player. The basic concept of the game is that the player goes from one stage to another with different looking environments and slightly different level designs to kill off all the bugs there, fulfill a task, or reach the exit. The whole point of the game is to kill bugs. There's actually nothing wrong with that had it been done better. In terms of aesthetics, the combat didn't feel very satisfying and harder difficulties just made it a chore as it takes significantly longer to kill the enemies. Everything in-between the basic concept should be designed to make killing the bugs fun. A variety of weapons should be one of them; however, the weapons available have little differences between them as most of them just do extra damage, vary in range and have a different animation effect (with the exception of the frost gun which slows enemies down a little). This made some of the weapons pretty useless (such as the shock gun) which rules out one of the factors that should have made the game fun. Another aspect implemented was having different challenges such as the different tasks the player had to fulfill besides kill the bugs such as protecting another character or activating a power source. These were good attempts, but it didn't change the gameplay very much as the player still ran around in circles a lot to avoid contact with the bugs while shooting them. Then there's the bugs themselves. Each bug had a different strength that made them more difficult to kill than the others. Some moved fast, some charge at you and some exploded. This at least challenges the player to approach each enemy differently. The problem is that they all have the same programmed AI: run towards the player. With that in mind, the player just runs in circles a lot to get the enemies to fall in line so that a good amount of them will fall under weapon fire. One of the better design choices in the games was the boss battles. Bosses didn't just stand there to take damage. The player actually had to move around and not just in circles. The player would have to learn the enemy's pattern and avoid waves of projectiles. Sadly, there were only about 5 bosses total in the whole game. The game has about 45 stages total, a fair amount since I was expecting 16 or lower. Other than the core game, there's 2-player cooperative play, unlockable characters and outfits, accomplishments (achievements essentially), some extras such as the jukebox (which I ended up using to rip the entire soundtrack since I liked it so much), concept art, and streetpass mode. To sum it all up, the game had a lot of potential and I could see it being a lot more fun if developed further. Concept & Content: 6/10
Duration
The game took me around 7 hours to complete according to my activity record on the 3DS. The length in general isn't too bad for a retail game, but the game did feel rather dragged out. The pacing felt very slow throughout the game with the exception of certain stages and boss battles. The replay value relies solely on its campaign with all the aspects with it: difficulty level, 2-player cooperative, accomplishments, and unlockables. Had the combat been developed with more depth, an endless mode or boss rush mode would have been nice. It's not a game I really feel compelled to play again (which is why it's one of the extremely few games I have ever returned; I bought it used). Duration: 6/10
Fun
I got bored of the game extremely quickly after the first 3 stages. What eventually compelled me to continue playing the game was the story and the music. I can't say I didn't have any fun with the game as some stages did feel a bit entertaining destroying waves of enemies with missiles. When I completed the game, I felt empty. There was no satisfaction in completing the game and no lingering interest in playing it again. It was much more of a study game than anything else, to learn what could have made a game such as this better. Fun: 5/10
Overall
Centipede Infestation wasn't a bad game, it was just a boring one. The game is certainly playable and isn't riddled with game breaking bugs (though enemies do get stuck now and then due to their very simple AI script), but it wasn't very engaging or entertaining. The only reason why I'd tell anyone to give this game a try is so that they can play a 2-player co-op game with a friend, listen to the music, and/or experience a bit of the story. This could've actually been a really fun game, but as it stands there are better Arena Shooters out there. Overall: 6/10
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