Saturday, November 22, 2008

Revolving Reviews -- Saturday, November 22, 2008

I went on a renting spree, so here are the games I'm playing and my thoughts and revolving opinions so far:

Sonic Unleashed (Wii) - OK, someone tell me what happened to "this will bring the classic Sonic gameplay from the Genesis that everyone loved." You know, how this game is going to be only in 2D and will just be that classic gameplay? If any of you find it, let me know.

What is there is something more akin to The Secret Rings, only you have direct control of Sonic through the Nunchuk. This becomes a problem when Sonic goes...well, fast. The control is too constrictive, making Sonic really fast but incredibly hard to control.

When it hits the 2D areas, the controls are better because you're only jumping and moving right. However, for some reason, when you do a long jump in the game it triggers a Quick Time Event during the jump, which seems to have no bearing on anything in the game.

Then, there is the Werehog levels. Not only are the controls horrible and completely go against what makes Sonic...well, Sonic...it aims to frustrate further with terrible level design and a completely unresponsive waggle and shaking to attack or attach to ledges with your stretchy arms.

And finally, there's the unskippable story cut scenes featuring "Chip", the flying ferret that looks and sounds like a cross between Truman Capote and Daxter in the Jak series. These scenes, which last around a minute - 3 minutes long, are excruciatingly bad with terrible dialogue and completely hokey storylines.

You also have to talk to random people on a map for whatever reason it may be, which also completely feels like a waste of time.

There is a reason why Sonic has gone completely downhill in the past few generations and it's because of games like this. Sega, PLEASE just make a brand new 2D Sonic. No story, no werehog, just running to the right and jumping.

And you might as well make it downloadable because no one in their right mind will buy this game on a disc again.: (Revolving) 34%

Left 4 Dead (X360) - Never have I played a game that had this good of A.I., not just by your enemies but also your teammates. I've played mostly single player thus far and I have to say that this game has some intense and frightening moments.

And this isn't just a situation everyone goes through. Thanks to the A.I. Director, every time you play a level, it's markedly different every time you load it up. So, when you die in an area and say to yourself "Hey, remember where the shotgun was", don't bother it won't be there. The level will be different.

With that, however, this game is quite short for a single player game and is made to be for multiplayer. So, as of right now, just playing single player, it's a solid 80%. I will try co-op and competitive though, so hold your breath for the update.: (Revolving) 80%

Need For Speed Undercover (X360) - Will someone please tell EA to just can the whole FMV thing? Unless you're doing it for tongue-in-cheek hilarity (Red Alert 3), it really has no business in any game...let alone a racing one.

With that out of the way, I'm enjoying Undercover more than I had anticipated. Still in the beginning races, but the Highway Battles are a lot of fun to play. Giving it a decent rating for now, but check in again to see how it goes after the beginning areas.: (Revolving) 75%

Next one will have Tomb Raider: Underworld and Luminous Arc 2.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Thoughts of the last few weeks

Some quick thoughts of the past few weeks/last month in gaming:

- I can't say that the quality in games have dwindled...but it hasn't improved either. Maybe I'm just looking at things in a different light when it comes to actual "criticism", but I seem to be less interested in the main details of the game (i.e., graphics, sound, control) and more interested in how the game feels overall.

Say, for example, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. I can concede that the game itself is basically the newer MK's with a slightly sillier tone and with a very gimmicky crossover aspect. But you know what, I'm having more fun playing this game on the PS3 than I have had playing Soul Calibur IV. Yes, Soul Calibur IV has the better engine, as well as the better graphics and (in some aspects) a much tighter control scheme, but I've been playing MKvsDC for the past few days now and, more and more, I'm enjoying the fighting mechanics and the absolute craziness that it provides. The game is tons more interactive with its environment and it actually faithfully represents each character in the game, which is highly surprising.

With that and Bleach: Dark Souls creeping up my fighting game time, I think Soul Calibur IV has more competition for Best Fighting Game than I initially thought. Gonna be an interesting race.

- Wow, did Gears of War 2 die on me quick! Me and the Flembot (Ruff3dgz) beat GoW2 last weekend...and I haven't touched it since then. Nor do I think I will for a while, unless someone wants to play Horde mode. Why is that?

Well, in honesty, as stated on the 12th episode on our podcast, I wasn't a fan of the competitive multiplayer. And after playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, it's more than easy to see why: There's no incentive to do so. There's no bragging rights, no feeling of "I'm better than you," no "Hey, mine is bigger than yours!" feeling I get from the game.

That's not the only reason either: The maps for online multiplayer aren't that great. Just like the first one, too many choke-points to get mowed down, most deaths feel too cheap and the levels just aren't that interesting. For me, too many matches end in specific areas that make the game feel too predictable in multiplayer.

I still stand on the single-player/co-op opinion however: Co-op is excellent in campaign mode. The areas in the game give the feeling of freedom, while keeping the level design compact and tense. The situations that happen in this game only flourish in co-op. And Horde mode is by far the best mode in this game. This is also helped by some outstanding A.I. that keeps situations tense and exciting.

Thus far, I still stand by my score: 85% - 90%, probably just an 86%.

- Which actually brings me to another point: Reviews. I think the concept of Final Reviews are horridly misleading. When me and Bryan started this podcast, we made sure not to call out opinions of games "Reviews" because they are in no way final (because, in honesty, we're still going through the game to give one). But, if you think about it long and hard, does a 9.5 from 2 years ago really stay a 9.5? Honestly, I don't think so.

Take for example a game that was released in 2005 that recieved amazing reviews: Call of Duty 2. Now, play this game. You would not say it's a 9.5 or a 9 today, would you? Absolutely not: Maybe an 8 or a 7.5. But some unwitting person is going to look at a review from that far ago and go "Hey, why would I get Game X that is $60 and came out this year, when this game got a 9.5 3 years ago?!" and not realize that the review is outdated.

I think Final Review scores shouldn't be used in the first 3 months of a games release. I think it should have a revolving score. For example: Fable II came out in the 3rd week of October. Upon playing the game, a player gave it a 9.0 for the experience. However, a week later, Fallout 3 comes out. He starts playing that and seeing the improvements the game has and gave that a 9.0. He then goes back to Fable II a month later, recalling the thoughts he has from the initial playthrough:

Does this game hold up?
How does it stack to the other RPG's that have been released?
Do I see myself playing this game in another 3 months?

If you say yes to the 3rd question, the review continues to revolve until the person decides there's nothing really more to say about the game. Then, you do the "post-op review," which is the score you'll give the game until something else is released that could challenge the game for that score (if it recieves a high one).

This not only helps games that have a long shelf-life, but also games that have been given an initial bad review is given a second lease in life because a reviewer was either distracted by another game or otherwise.

This is actually how I do game "reviews" and such; Hopefully we can implement that in future shows or blogs. Or maybe I'll just do it on this blog.

- So, in the spirit of things, here are my revolving mini-reviews of a few games:

Call of Duty: World at War: The game feels like CoD4, acts like CoD4...even tastes like it at times. But the lack of cool weapons and the fact that artillery strikes and dogs come up as more annoying than exciting and tactical really dampens the multiplayer. I haven't touched single player, but with so much coming out right now I don't see myself getting to it until the next year. So, this score is indicitive only of the multiplayer: 70% (Revolving)

Fallout 3: Initially, I gave the game an 80% - 85%. I liked the game for its humor, art design and its sprawling landscape to travel in the game. The story didn't grab me at all during that time, however, and I felt the combat was on the frustrating side. For example: What I like to call "Cross-Eyed Aiming". I got annoyed by the fact that I'd line my shots perfectly, but for some reason they would still miss my opponent. On top of that, I felt V.A.T.S. was too easy to exploit, leading to me being frustrated by combat in all of its entirety (except, which shocked me, melee combat).

So...for my second run-down of revolving reviews, I have to state something: I am actually growing on the combat. Sure, it took me 12 hours of gameplay, being at Level 6 AND bumping my stats up high enough in Big Guns and Small Guns, but I'm starting to enjoy combat and the actual helpfulness of V.A.T.S. Also, the surprisingly visceral combat is satisfying when you're on your last limb and you use a combat shotgun to blow your opponents head clean off.

But with that, comes more frustration: The map is not detailed enough for my liking, so I get lost getting to certain areas in the game. The perks thus far doesn't do anything for me at all either: they almost seem...negligable, which is completely unlike the other Fallouts which makes your experience much different depending on your perks.

The only thing that hasn't changed is my feeling of the story: Still kinda stinks in my opinion. But, for the time being, my revolving score stays at 80% - 85%: 83% (Revolving)

Mirror's Edge: I'm about 40% finished with Mirror's Edge...and it's freaking frustrating as all hell. Not the game itself, however: The setting is somewhat soothing and unnerving at the same time, which gives a strange sense of dread and zen that few games seem to insue (or at least try to). The platforming is spot-on and the running segments are really exciting.

Emphasis on RUNNING segments. Combat really stinks in this game, which makes me feel like it should have been taken out entirely. Combat, in honesty, doesn't work in this game at all.

From what I can see, Mirror's Edge is a concept that can actually have some ground. This may be one of those pillar games that may either improve on the second part or get someone with a very novel idea to really hit a homer on the game. However, as it stands, it's a great concept in need of a great game: 77% (revolving)

Resistance 2: So, I have to be honest: I'm never going to go into the single player aspect of this game. I'm sorry, it's far too boring and rudimentary for me to slog through...especially since there are games that are far more deserving of my time.

What I will say is that the co-op is nothing short of brilliant. After a few rounds of co-op, I was instantly hooked on its action-RPG like trappings. I strongly...and I mean STRONGLY..suggest that any and every first person shooter with co-op adopt this type of gameplay immediately for now on. Can you imagine if Gears of War 2 had a similar dungeon-hack, level up aspect to it?

On top of that, competitive multiplayer also shines with an excellent experience system and some of the most intense firefights you can come across. Simplicity definitely helps in multiplayer for this game...I just wish it wasn't so simple in single-player: 81% (Revolving)

And Finally...

Animal Crossing: City Folk: It's Animal Crossing. On Wii.

And after 2 days of playing the game, that's really all I can come up with. It's still great...in fact I prefer Animal Crossing on a console than I did on the DS (after 1 month, I was done with Wild World). I can see myself playing this for more than that amount.

So...yeah, it's Animal Crossing. And odds are, if you know you like it, you already bought it and enjoying it.

By the way: Name: Wiz, Town: Forked, Code: 1676-7189-7595

And I got some pears, so if you want what I have, be sure to bring some of your fruit so we can do trade: 70% (Revolving, First Look)

And with that...back to work.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Midnight Madness: Gears of War 2

Remember, remember the 7th of November when countless people started lining up in front of their favorite video game retail store to be one of the first to buy their Gears of War 2 for the 360. Now this wasn't a Halo 2 or 3 kind of release but a midnight release is one of those things you should probably do if you really enjoy the game series or want to just have right at 12:00am.

My decision to pre-order the game didn't happen until that night actually as I was driving back from work. I drove past my house to towards the closest Gamespot store to just ask if it was to late to get a pre-ordered game. To my surprise, I was able to place my pre-order down at the store and come back at 10:00pm to get a number for the pick fiasco started at 12:00am. It was 6:30pm when I did this so I drove back home to wait.

Around 9:20pm, I decided to drive down to the Gamestop close to me and see if any line was forming. I got there and only two people were waiting. Actually, two kids that were under the age of 18 but I couldn't say anything because the parents were around and they seemed to understand what the game entailed (they were talking about how they play the game with their children. It's better then playing dumb and blaming everyone else for the violence children see). I went right behind the two children as the third in line. This was around 9:30pm. The line started to grow to around 20 or so by the time 10:00pm hit and others started to trickle in after 10:00pm.

I was number 3. I think it really says something about your character when you are willing to wait for a game and be in the top ten recipients to get it first. Or it just says you are such a big nerd you are willing to wait for this game. Either way, it tells you something about yourself.

I went back home and started to play more of James Bond: Quantum of Solace. Time flew as it became 11:40pm in a blink of an eye (at least it seemed that way playing as Bond; James Bond). Time again to drive over to Gamespot to get in my 3rd place in line.

A bigger line was formed this time around then at around 10:00pm but I did take my place as third in line without any problems or rants from the spectators behind me. 12:00am hit and I got my nice, new Gears of War 2 game with some goodies I wasn't really expecting. The drive home was a sweet one, like taking a test and knowing you aced it as you walked out the room.

I got home and noticed all the nice things you got from this pre-order extravaganza which included:

  • A free Gears of War Comic (nice but nothing crazy)

  • 48 hour Gold membership to Xbox Live

  • 7 additional maps

  • A gold plated hammerburst rifle

  • Exclusive dashboard theme optimized for the New Xbox Experience (I like this one)

Not bad for just paying full price for a game.

I popped in the game and it felt like riding a bike again with wide eyes and a glazed happy look on my face. The game is really good and I'm happy to be a part of this midnight madness.

Monday, November 3, 2008

My "Left 4 Dead" Movie

If you watched the teaser Valve posted on October 31, 2008 for Left 4 Dead, you might have been impressed with the CGI production of this game so far (like I was).

When watching it, I was thinking that this game could be the next "Resident Evil" or "Max Payne" game turned to movie. If I had to choose the actors/actresses that would portray the survivors, here are the four that I think would be a wonderful fit for Louis, Francis, Zoey and Bill.

Louis

Actor's Name: Arlen Escarpeta
Reason: I saw this character in We Are Marshall and stumbled upon him while looking to create this blog entry. The facial features match up really nicely with the game trailer and he looks young enough to play Louis. Other notable actors I thought would be good for this role were: Will Smith, Jeffrey D. Sams

Francis

Actor's Name: Collin Farrell
Reason: The guy looks like he was made to be a 'bad ass' so adding some tattoos and a beard will fit his style. He is the 'big name' actor I have for this selection process but I think it can still work with who is left. Other notable actors I thought would be good for this role were: Ty Olsson

Zoey

Actresses' Name: Megan Fox
Reason: After seeing her in the movie "Transformers", I knew she would be back and what better movie then Left 4 Dead. The characteristics are there and I think Megan would look really nice holding a shotgun. Other notable actors I thought would be good for this role were: SofĂ­a Vergara

Bill

Actor's Name: Burt Reynolds
Reason: I know you are probably laughing at me with this choice but when looking at him and Bill from the game, it's kind of scary how simular they look (not their voices, Bill has a cooler voice then Burt). Also, their first names start with 'B' so it's hard to not like this choice. Other notable actors I thought would be good for this role were: Ed Harris

This is my cast for "Left 4 Dead: The Movie", Who would you pick for your cast?