Video Game of the Week /‘Peggle Nights’
A childlike wonder permeates ‘Peggle’
‘Peggle Nights’ PopCap; PC; $19.95 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) ★★★★z out of 5
A follow-up to “Peggle,” possibly the most addictive puzzle game of all time except for (maybe) “Tetris,” PopCaps’ new “Peggle Nights” does almost nothing to the deceptively simple and thoroughly winning formula of its antecedent — which is as it should be, because Peggle wasn’t broke, as the saying goes.
Like its predecessor, “Peggle Nights” is a simple puzzle game that has you launching a ball from a pivoting cannon atop the screen and trying to take out as many color-coded pegs, bricks and other obstacles as the ball falls ever downward, but ricocheting like crazy along the way.
There’s a certain childlike wondrousness to the ping-clang-boinkboink-boink of it all while the serious addictiveness lies in trying to clear a screen by not striking the required orange pegs until the very last — but before you run out of balls. So you’re aiming just so, trying to string long shots and multi-bounces together, striking bonus pegs maybe and landing a dunk in a roving free-ball basket at the bottom, ultimately culminating in a rousing chorus of “Ode to Joy.”
There are some 60 levels for “Peggle Nights,” all of them new, all sporting nighttime settings — basically dusky-palette backgrounds and an inconsequential premise of nocturnal “dreamtime” adventure with different “guides” that each offer a unique, temporary assist in the form of a shot special or free ball.
‘Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’
LucasArts; Xbox 360; $59.99
ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (violence) ★★★½out of 5
Expanding on the saga told in three really bad “Star Wars” movies, “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” is remarkable on two fronts. One, its story was clearly written by someone other than George Lucas, because it’s rather deep, engaging, disquieting at times and thoroughly grown-up in nature; not the Happy Meal commercial you’d (reluctantly) expect from Mr. Far, Far Away Lucas.
Secondly, both the graphics and gameplay of “The Force Unleashed” on Xbox 360 are similarly rich and heavy-handed; the Clone Wars are over (y’all know how that turned out) and you as Darth Vader’s apprentice, Galen “Starkiller” Malek, are a Jedicidal maniac heck bent on wiping out the good guys. Life is Dark and you are evil . . . Woohoo!
Unfortunately, for all its weighty, morality-play sensibilities in superbly rendered scenery, “The Force Unleashed” nonetheless suffers some time-honored third-person action/ adventure issues that shouldn’t be issues at all considering the sophistication of it all. Nonetheless, clunky viewing angles aplenty while tetchy targeting makes it hard to hit/shove/grab/eviscerate one thing in particular instead of the nearest object that happens to think you meant to hit/shove/grab/eviscerate it.
Executing certain moves or solving little puzzles while the clock’s ticking can be frustrating, not for their complexity (well, that too, but that’s cool) but for the luckless vista provided. Nor is it pleasant to have Galen hung up in some set dressing while some oversized thug is busy upstaging you by hogging most of that wonk-angle camera.
But that’s really only a bother in the levels of tight confines. “The Force Unleashed” goes on to shine as a technically complex and brilliantly delivered tour de The Force (ha ha) in wide-open areas where you really have some room to throw your weight around (or someone else’s weight, rather) and strut your Dark Side stuff (i. e., the lightning, the telekinetic shoving, the downside-up school of lightsaber wielding).
Alas, to enjoy the particularly excellent bits, you must also endure a great many mediocre moments. It’s definitely the kind of game you rent for the weekend, while waiting with confident surety for the sequel that’s bound to be better, if not excellent all the way through instead of just parts of the way through.
‘Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’ LucasArts; Wii; $49.99
ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (violence) ★★½ out of 5
Though it’s essentially the same partially excellent, partially woeful game as “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” for Xbox 360, the Wii version sports yet a couple more warts, tipping the scales to lean more toward the disappointing side of the Force.
First off — and as you’d expect — the game’s hi-fi, hi-def splendor has been rammed through a sieve, reduced to the standard-definition denominator of Wii. Oh well.
Worse, however, is that darn Wii Remote (Wii-mote) waggle that pretends at representing the hilt of a lightsaber but comes off as merely a free-floating, spasm-activated lever to make ’saber go shzwoom. It’s fun for a bit, but boring thereafter.
“Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” is as ripe for a sequel as any other version, but maybe more so when you consider that the new WiiMotion Plus appendage should be out by then, which could make lightsaberschzwooming much more directly and more accurately depicted.
‘Bejeweled’ franchise hits 25-million mark
In one of the better “Little Engine that Could” stories in the video-game industry, PopCap Games recently hit the 25-million-in-sales mark for its flagship franchise, “Bejeweled,” making it the most popular casual video game of the 21st century.
Based on data from distribution partners across the internet, mobile-games space, retail, in-flight and other channels, “Bejeweled” and “Bejeweled 2” have collectively sold more than 25 million units across all platforms since the game first appeared in late 2000.
Even more remarkable, “Bejeweled” was almost a non-starter. The game’s designer, Jason Kapalka, was rejected by every game-publishing giant despite asking a scant $60,000 for a game — originally titled “Diamond Mine” — that would go on to become the “Bejeweled” franchise those same publishers can only hope to emulate.
“I vividly recall prospective buyers telling us, ‘It’s not even a game,’ while showing us the door,” Kapalka said. Kapalka is the co-founder and chief creative officer of PopCap Games, the leading provider of multiplatform casual games. “Bejeweled” was the company’s first title and the first of several runaway hits.
Tip of the week
Here are some playing secrets to help you master your favorite games:
From the Options menu of “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed,” enter “LIGHTSABER” as a code for amplified damage. Enter “KATARN” for maximum Force powers.
