KyleMcTallerson

I recently purchased Nimble Strong: Bartender in Training for the iPhone, after reading a review of it on Joystiq last week. The thought of a game that teaches me how to make drinks while I play, was intriguing. After all, how many games actually teach you something that you can use in real life? And for the $4.99 price tag, it’s well worth a shot. Nimble Strong serves up 1 0z. of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney with 2 oz. Cooking Mama, both in a perfect blend.

You play as Nimble Strong, a rookie bartender. You’re hired on at the Cocktarian, by a man named Muskrat, after your former friend Alex and wife Eva screw you over to manage the Magnum, a rival bar. A rival bar that YOU planned to co-manage with Alex. Can you think of a better reason to drink away your sorrows?

Gameplay is simple but addictive. You’ll learn how to concoct each drink from a  cast of unique characters visiting the bar, all providing you with some constructive criticism along the way. Drink orders begin with a lesson from your customer or coworker, and then you are presented with an empty glass and the necessary mixers and tools to complete each order.

Timing is everything. The timer ticks away as you use your recipe guide to help you through each order. You may need to rely on it from time to time, because orders become much more complex and time is limited as you progress.

The motions you do on screen are simple and responsive. For example, if you need to shake a martini, you’ll just shake the iPhone. Or To pour 2 oz. of vodka you’ll hold your finger on screen for two seconds. The better you get at mixing, and the quicker you are, gets you higher tips from your customers which can later be used to unlock over 70 recipes outside of story mode.

I definitely enjoyed my time with Nimble Strong. It’s simple, fun, and at the end of it all, I do feel as though I learned some things about bar-tending. I even have the game’s printable graduation diploma to prove it. Story mode may only take you a few hours to complete (there are only 4 acts), but the real fun is going back and memorizing and using the recipes you unlock. I highly suggest picking up the lite version of the game to try it out.

Now go! And impress your friends at those late night parties you never get invited to!  

It’s a challenge to review Heavy Rain as a game, since it hardly has any of the mechanics that most games are critiqued on. Instead it plays more like an interactive movie where you control the actors and how the story progresses. This idea of allowing players to make decisions, that in turn affect the story is nothing new. After all, this is the follow up to Indigo Prophecy, a game with much similar presentation. However, Heavy Rain takes this idea to a new level.

The story revolves around four central characters, all affected in some way by the mystery of the Origami Killer. You take the role of these characters throughout each chapter, giving you a much better perspective on the overall goal of catching said killer. Each chapter has different ways of playing out, depending of course, on the choices you make. These decisions cannot be taken back once they are made. Because of that, you’ll consider whether or not you made the right choices, well after the ending credits roll.

Heavy Rain does a great job of placing you in intense situations, and giving you choices that are neither “right” or “wrong.” Scenes in the game play out based on your reactions to the quick time events thrown your way. Thankfully, the game leaves enough room for error, playing through the scene anyway if you make a mistake here or there. The motion capabilities of the SIXAXIS are used in some sequences along with movements of the analog stick. Each motion prompt that pops up on screen seems to fit naturally with what you are trying to accomplish at the time.

The world of Heavy Rain draws you in with some of the most impressive character models and environments seen to date. Quantic Dream obviously wanted to portray realism, and make us feel like we are really a part of the atmosphere. And the amount of detail in each environment accomplishes just that. And though some of the voice acting performances do fall flat at times, it was only a mild distraction at most. I couldn’t help but laugh, even during some of the games more “dramatic” moments. There are also other issues like plot holes, or just instances that don’t make sense, including a tacked on love story between Ethan and Madison. But these situations can be avoided if you choose to do so.

For all of the ambition Heavy Rain achieves, it was easy for me to forgive the game’s shortcomings. It succeeded in telling a great whodunit mystery, and most importantly making me genuinely care about the life or death of my polygonal actors. This is one experience I would recommend to any PS3 owner out there who is looking for something out of the norm.