Downloadable Games Round-Up: May 11th Edition

• by Xav de Matos
• May 11, 2010 14:03 PM PT

While the reports of physical media's demise have been greatly exaggerated, digital distribution continues to grow as a viable means of delivering content to gamers. But determining which games are worth your precious virtual points and which are best left untouched can be a daunting task. Every week we take a look at the latest batch of games to release to the Xbox Live Marketplace, the PlayStation Network, and the WiiWare service to sort the good from the bad and help you spend your points wisely.

• WiiWare

Kung Fu Funk has a fantastic style, pulling from the craziness found in '70s era kung-fu action movies; however, none of the fun found in its art has translated into its gameplay. Like WarioWare, Kung Fu Funk is comprised of several quickly digestible mini-games across multiple modes. While we could lambaste developer Stickmen Studios for releasing nothing more than yet another Wii mini-game collection, it's the game's terrible recognition of controller movements that one-inch punched our enjoyment into oblivion.

Kung Fu Funk only tends to respond to controller movements half the time, while the other half only registers when colossal wags of the Wii Remote are executed. The game simply fails to calculate smaller, subtler movements, making the experience -- which only spans about a half-dozen mini-games -- a grueling test of trial and error. If it's the style that draws you into Kung Fu Funk: Everybody is Kung Fu Fighting!, we recommend spending your hard earned cash on renting some classic martial arts movies instead; there just isn't any quality gameplay to be found here.

Zombie Panic in Wonderland is a fantasy-themed third-person shooter set in the midst of a full-scale undead infestation. However, unlike other, similar zombie outbreak scenarios, the menace in Wonderland isn't out to eat brains; here, the zombies are out to hug everyone to death.

In the game's story mode, players take control of young hero Momotaro, who must dodge enemies from left to right and take aim at the enamored enemies with the Wii Remote. With infinite-ammo powered machine gun in hand, players must destroy hordes of cartoon baddies, clearing out each timed level until areas max out at 100% completion. As fun as the gameplay starts out as, it doesn't change or evolve in any meaningful way throughout the game. It might be a great quick distraction and a fun world to visit -- complete with cameos from Snow White and Dorothy from Oz -- but Zombie Panic in Wonderland wears out its welcome quickly, even when played with a friend. Best administered in small doses, don't expect to spend a lot of quality time with Zombie Panic in one sitting.

• Xbox Live Arcade

Zeno Clash is one of the strangest video game settings I've ever seen featured in a console-based release. In the surreal world of Zenozoik, society is structured into two main pillars of civilization: Those ostensibly born from the hermaphroditic creature known as Father-Mother, and a maniacal, single-minded class known as the Corwid of the Free. Players take control of Ghat, who, after triggering a large explosion and killing Father-Mother, wakes to find his angry siblings -- a mix of human and animal-looking creatures -- in hot pursuit, looking to kill him for his crime. During the course of the game, Ghat recalls fragments of the reason behind Father-Mother's murder to his ally, Deadra, who flees alongside him.

Gameplay is largely focused on first-person melee fighting, and it works exceptionally well. As each of Ghat's memories leak out to form a larger image of the truth, multiple enemies confront him in new areas throughout the strange land. The game isn't a fighting game per se, but it does a good job of presenting most battles as one consecutive conflict, complete with "versus screens" and health bars for enemies. Zeno Clash attempts to vary the gameplay with other mechanics, like using odd-looking ranged weapons, but the fisticuffs combat is the better experience. Although the story is built up nicely throughout the game, the ending is anti-climactic and even comes off as heavy-handed. There's new content to be found for fans of the original PC version, including leaderboard and co-operative challenges, but it isn't enough to warrant a second purchase. Zeno Clash features a world with exponential promise, great melee combat, and a completely unique setting; for players unfamiliar with Zenozoik's outlandish scenery, it's an easy recommendation.

• PlayStation Network

As an online-only shooter, Lead and Gold doesn't offer any of the stat tracking you might have come to expect in similar titles cut from the same cloth. Following any of the game's modes -- which are little more than variations on Capture the Flag, King of the Hill and Team Deathmatch -- you're given a list of statistics you'd see in any other shooter, but as quickly as it appears... it vanishes without a trace. Unless, that is, you're ranked among the Top 1000 players in the game -- otherwise, Lead and Gold doesn't bother listing your online progress. It's a gaping hole in the game's feature list.

That said, Lead and Gold is so unashamedly fun to play that you might be tempted to overlook its many issues, lack of stat tracking included. Taking control of one of four different character classes -- each uniquely decked-out in classic "Wild-West" garb -- up to ten players (five per side) battle across six maps ranging from saloon-riddled ghost towns to mine shafts.

Sadly, I experienced a host of balancing issues while playing Lead and Gold. Each class is equipped with a primary weapon and secondary pistol -- save for the Gunslinger who only uses a pistol, but is treated to faster reload times -- and a unique class-specific secondary ability. Most of the abilities are isolated and don't threaten the game's overall balance: Gunslingers can fan six quick shots into an adversary; Deputies can tag enemies on the map, which places a "tracking" icon on them and increases damage; and Trappers can place bear traps throughout the map. Miners, on the other hand, have the ability to toss dynamite with a large area of affect that -- unlike the Trapper's traps -- can harm allies as well. Lead and Gold also suffers from some stability issues, crashing my console on more than one occasion during map loading lock-ups.

It won't replace scheduled sessions with Team Fortess 2 -- nor is it as good -- but Lead and Gold is extremely fun and has an exceptional amount of potential if Fatshark is willing to fix some of its more glaring issues.

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