Can’t wait until next year’s Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters to get your viridian video game fix? Well, then why not give Green Lantern: Emerald Adventures a try?
Emerald Adventures is a free 3D online game that you can play in your browser after installing the Unity Web Player plugin. (Lots of other browser-based 3D games use Unity, so you might already have it.) You take on the role of Hal Jordan as he chases after Despero to save the kidnapped Princess of Gravitron.
Now, this is a kids’ game, and I’m going to review it as such. I’m not going to hold it to any ridiculously lofty adult standards, but the usual stuff such as graphics, sound, and controls will still be examined.
So let’s begin! There’s three different missions, plus a bonus mission. Only the first one is available from the start, of course, but the others open up as you progress. Each mission is divided into two parts: a spaceborne rail shooter, and a ground-based action game. In both mission types, your goal is to defeat enemies and pick up colored orbs. These provide experience points (we’ll get to those later) and map coordinates, which are used to get to the next area. Simple enough, right?
For the space missions, you blast asteroids and other items with your ring, dodging larger rocks all the way. The controls here are a little floaty, which may result in Hal flying into obstacles rather than avoiding them. The space missions are short, and all three look relatively alike. You’ll keep flying in a long loop until you acquire enough map coordinates to proceed, and then the real meat of the game is found once Hal touches down on a planet.
Here, you’ll explore and fight various goons while hunting for experience points and map coordinates. You’ve got more options when it comes to ring constructs, and you can also find secondary items that last for a limited time, like shields and speed boots.
The controls on the ground are better than those in space, though the combat needs some work. Even with varying constructs, it boils down to the basic beat-’em-up formula: keep button-mashing until your enemy dies. The other downside is that you may find yourself going in circles and getting lost while trying to track down new enemies.
There’s a lot of ground to cover, with secret routes galore, but falling off the edge means instant death and a respawn at the most recent checkpoint. Your inability to fly when on a planet is cleverly explained: Despero is forcing the captive princess to use her gravity powers against you.
Checkpoints not only save your progress, but they also allow you to link up with Oa. Now you can use the experience points you’ve accumulated to buy new power ring constructs or enhance your abilities, like recharge speed. (If you’re running low in experience points between missions, you can hit up the bonus mission to earn more.) Some constructs are ranged weapons like plasma blasts, but others are more suited to melee combat, including the ever-popular giant baseball bat. The more powerful the construct, however, the longer it’ll take to recharge.
To break up the action, ground missions also have random puzzle sequences, wherein completing one will open up new areas. The sequence shown above is a slide puzzle with a set amount of time to solve it.
There’s also a second type of puzzle, in which you must bounce the Green Lantern symbol around and avoid tripping an alarm. If you fail to solve the puzzles, there’s no real penalty; you can just keep attempting them until you succeed. The rewards are worth it, as the new areas found beyond the puzzles often contain lots of experience points and other items.
Let’s take a quick look at the rest of the game. The second mission begins in space, as usual, but then deposits you on a jungle planet. There’s a lot more opportunities to fall here, and platforms move a lot faster. Stronger enemies start showing up, too, but at this point you’ll likely have bought more powerful constructs to deal with them.
The third and final mission takes you right to Despero’s citadel, where extremely powerful enemies and cheap-ass laser beams are there to make Hal’s life hell. Since you don’t need to acquire map coordinates in this level, you just need to fight your way to the top. After you make it through the citadel, you get to square off against Despero.
Of course, in true villain fashion, he sends his lackeys after you first. Dispatching them is a piece of cake, but then you get to fight Despero himself.
The villain’s easy at first, but once he starts floating and using his telekinesis to throw objects at you, that can sap your health bar very quickly. Still, keep up the assault, kick Despero’s ass, and earn yourself a lackluster victory screen.
The graphics in Emerald Adventures are on par with most PlayStation 2 and Wii games, which is pretty impressive for a free browser-based game. You don’t need a superfast gaming computer to play it, though that certainly helps. You can even play the game in “true” 3D if you have a pair of red-and-cyan glasses lying around! This looks rather cheesy, and it may hurt your eyes after a while. You’re probably better off playing without them.
As for audio, the sound design is nothing special, but it’s certainly not horrible. Effects are general science fiction fare; in fact, Green Lantern’s default power ring blast sounds like a classic raygun. Background music is decent, but not memorable, especially since it’s the same thing looped over and over. Besides, you can switch the audio to effects only, or off entirely, if you wish. This lets the player focus on the action, as well they should.
If you’re expecting deep thematic stories and mindblowing high-definition visual effects, you might want to go elsewhere. However, if a diversion featuring your favorite emerald hero is what you’re looking for, then Emerald Adventures will be right up your alley. It’s certainly not perfect, but for a free game, there’s not a whole lot to complain about. (At the very least, your kids oughta love it!)
Posted by liquidcross 
Mayfairstivus: Green Lantern Corps
December 2, 2010In the tradition of Read This Too, it’s time for a multi-blog crossover once again! Welcome…to Mayfairstivus!
In case the title wasn’t a giveaway, the spotlight today shines on Mayfair Games’ DC Heroes role-playing game from the late 1980s and early 1990s. I never played this RPG myself (I was a Dungeons & Dragons guy, as that’s what my friends played), but you can obviously see the appeal. Who wouldn’t want to play as their favorite superhero?
The Green Lantern comic series wasn’t even in print by the end of the 1980s; Green Lantern Corps was cancelled in 1988, and Hal Jordan’s adventures were relegated to backup stories in Action Comics Weekly. Since the Corps is an integral part of the DC mythos, however, a few of our favorite characters were still represented in the RPG. These character cards all come from the second edition of DC Heroes published in 1989. Clicking any of the images will bring up the back of the card, which displays the character’s vital statistics. (These scans were graciously provided by Tom Hartley, and many thanks go out to Frank Lee Delano for suggesting the idea of Mayfairstivus in the first place.)
Uhh…what the hell’s going on with Hal’s pose here? Was “exotic dancer” one of his many side jobs? Weird. Anyway, as the most popular Green Lantern, Hal has the best stats out of the bunch, though he’s not as rich as Guy Gardner or John Stewart. Speaking of whom…
Curiously, John Stewart appears here in a standard Green Lantern Corps uniform, not the unique variation that he and his wife Katma Tui adopted. As far as stats are concerned, he’s nearly on par with Hal, but what’s strange is that his power ring is slightly less powerful. This makes no sense, as power rings are supposed to be the same across the Corps. (More on Mayfair’s reasoning in a bit.)
I may not be Guy Gardner’s biggest fan, but I do think it’s a bit of short shrift that he is listed primarily as “Guy Gardner” on the back of his card rather than “Green Lantern,” as Hal and John are. Technically, all four of the cards we’re viewing today should be listed that way, but life goes on. As with John, his power ring is weaker than Hal’s, but more so. I’m assuming Mayfair did this as a way to demonstrate the different Lanterns’ experience levels, but it’s still at serious odds with the comic book source material. Note that Guy’s drawback is “serious rage.” They finally put that to some good use last year when Guy became a Red Lantern, didn’t they?
Let’s get one thing straight: I fucking hate G’nort. I’ve found him incredibly annoying since his inception, and his “grim ‘n’ gritty” character change in the godawful Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage miniseries was even worse (aside from the fact that it made absolutely no sense). Still, he was a member of the Corps and got his own card, so he deserves mentioning. G’nort’s stats aren’t so hot, especially those of his power ring. As the most recent Corps recruit, I suppose this makes sense. The real highlight of G’nort’s stats, however, is his drawback: “Serious irrational attraction to stupidity.” If that doesn’t perfectly sum up G’nort’s character, then I don’t know what does. (Oh wait, yes I do: “worthless.”)
So for fans wanting to play as a Green Lantern in DC Heroes, they’ve certainly got the bases covered. Though I think someone like Kilowog or Arisia would’ve made for a better choice than a loser like G’nort, perhaps Mayfair just needed a token “weak” character for bad guys to slap around until the heavy hitters showed up. Even though it’s been out of print for well over a decade, DC Heroes maintains a strong fan following. If you’ve got a lot of RPG-friendly geeks in your area…why not give the game a try?
This wouldn’t be a crossover if there weren’t other blogs participating. Mayfairstivus continues over the next week, and all of the contributors are linked below. Some folks wrote only a single post (like myself), but others have posted many more! Make sure to visit them on a daily basis! I’ll be sure to update these links with permalinks as their posts go up.