I just started Fallout 3 last night, for the first time. I had high expectations, but despite that, the game still impressed.
Even from the opening video, you know its going to be a sweet game. The camera pans out from a destroyed bus, the music wailing "I don't wanna set the world on fire" as we see the nuked ruins of Washington DC. Then we see one of the ironclad Brotherhood of Steel, looking ominously out at the wreckage. And then, after a brief background delivery, we hear those chilling-but-awesome words: "War. War never changes." Fallout 3 has begun.Then I entered the introduction section of the game, which was a clever chain of events that enabled me to design my character, set his stats and abilities and choose some of my items, all without breaking the immersion of the game. Which isn't easy to do in such a stat & option filled adventure. But soon my rustic vault-dweller was ready, and events in Vault-101 started to spiral out of control. I won't spoil it here, but the plot is engaging and complex already, and I'm only 2 hours into the game.
The games charms & multiple-decisions are also starting to impress me. The dialogue tree system lets me choose between a number of things I would actually say in real life, instead of stiff, manufactured responses. Should I be understanding about the person's problem, be sarcastic, or just end the conversation and get on with the game? There's no right or wrong choice, but yet your choices seem to matter. And the dialogue and reactions of the characters themselves are quite funny at times, or quite saddening or enraging when applicable. The game does a great job pulling you in.
And then it sets you loose. Through a couple of surprise events, you end up leaving Vault-101, and as your cave-dweller eyes adjust to the real sunlight, you're met with a fantastic vista of destruction. It's here that Fallout 3 shows one of its best cards: phenomenal graphics and a world more detailed than our own.
But now you're on your own, exploring the Capitol Wasteland, trying to search for clues to understand the events that just happened. You'll encounter your first raiders, and learn how important it is to let the VATs targeting system help you at close range. And you'll walk through water, learning that you better watch your radiation levels out here. And as you don some new armor and weapons, you'll see that everything has its cost here, whether that be the weight of the items you're picking up, or the used-condition of the revolver you just stole from a corpse.
But the game will give you some hints, and sooner or later you'll end up at a town called Megaton, searching for answers. I'd seen the town in screenshots before, but they don't do it justice. The town is a beauty, even in its decay, and the level design is top-notch, creating an interesting mess of a town that pulls you to explore its hidden nooks and crannies.
But after running around the city for a while, marvelling at the still-active nuke in its center, I had to save & head to bed. But that sure was enough to wet my appetite.
The latest installment in the Dead or Alive franchise attempts to uphold the “hardcore” label of its developer, Team Ninja. But after playing through this game, I have to say that I’m disappointed: hardcore game design should mean something better.
The concept for the game was good. Take one of the coolest, most badass (and most revealing) fighters and update it for the new generation. Team Ninja did this by adding full online features, more complex fighting mechanics, new fighters and levels (including a Spartan!), and of course a fresh paint job.
But somewhere along the way, the developers let their notion of “hardcore” ruin the game, bringing what could have been a fantastic game down into the realm of average. The big offender here is the rage-inducing difficulty. Rather than craft a game that challenges the player, Team Ninja made a game that knees you in the nuts, repeatedly, and then slams your dick in a door.
I consider myself a hardcore gamer, and I love a challenging game—the original Fire Emblem for GameBoy is one of my favorite handheld titles ever, despite its difficulty. But there is a difference between a well-designed challenge, and a totally-cheap chore of frustration. Dead or Alive 4 is the lattter.
Enemy characters can block anything you do, they can (and do) perform counters whenever they feel like it, and they can chain throws together to deplete your entire life gauge without you having a chance to retaliate. In Story mode, your attacks seem to do less damage than usual, while your opponents are unnaturally fast and st rong. And the final boss is the worst piece of f#%$@ cheapness I’ve ever seen in a game, with the ability to teleport at will, leap across the level in a single bound, and slam you endlessly into the damage-dealing walls and floors. Unfortunately, these are the modes you have to beat to unlock new characters and costumes. But once you’ve unlocked everything, you can leave the travesties behind and move onto better parts of the game.
The online modes are a mix of good and bad. Having the ability to battle your friends or the general public online adds greatly to the replay value, and means that more devoted players have a way to hone their skills. But the game’s depth, rapid pace, and abundance of air juggling and combos mean that casual players will quickly get pummeled. Which feels more frustrating when you have to wait your turn to even play a match, because the online mode simmulates an arcade by putting a number of players together in a room, the winner taking on the waiting players one by one. A faster matchmaking system, and one that takes player skill into account, would have been appreciated.
The game also features an extensive lobby and avatar system, with reward points and unlockable costumes for the avatar. But the entire setup seemed pointless, and only made the process of going online more confusing and time-consuming. The cutesy look of the lobbies & avatars also seemed inconsistent with the hardcore image of the game.
The best way to play the game, by far, is against a friend. Whether on the couch or over the net, this is where the game can finally be balanced, and you can finally appreciate all of the good things that the game has to offer. Which is quite a bit, despite the afore-mentioned problems.
The game features 22 playable characters, and while a couple of them are boring or look cloned (Ein & Hayate aren’t twins?), the majority of players are unique, interesting, and fun to play. New characters Elliot and La Mariposa were two of my favorites, alongside series veterans like Ryu and Hayate. And one of the game’s best selling points comes only after you’ve beaten it: a playable Spartan soldier. If the Halo fans aren’t already drooling, they should be: the female Spartan kicks major ass, and is my favorite character by far.
The levels of the game are also one of its strong-points, despite a few complaints. All the levels are interactive, featuring multiple-tiers or floors, breakable objects, and danger spots like electrical fences. The graphical detail of the levels is impressive, with sweeping backdrops, cheering fans, and many vibrant locales like a nighttime casino and a sunny street market. Unfortunately, these settings often have nothing to do with one another, or with any of the characters or plot. Levels like the dinosaur-filled jungle and the wild African savannah seem so out of place and random that they sometimes distract from the fighting.
Which is only part of an overarching problem in the game: its lack of cohesion and immersion. The game’s attempt at a plot is lame and confusing, and when combined with the randomness and frustrating moments you won’t play for very long stretches. The lack of any character progression or motivation prevents you from investing in the characters, and the cluttered and clumsy menus don’t help.
Another problem area for DoA 4 is its sound design. All of the characters speak in Japanese only, so if you want to understand what’s going on you will need to use subtitles. Although, you might want to turn them back off, as the poor translations result in clumsy and cliched dialogue. The untillegible rantings of your characters can get annoying. I see only two possible reasons for this omission: the developers were too lazy or they thought that leaving the audio in Japanese made it more “hardcore.” I’m not sure which reason is worse, laziness or stupidity. The music in the game is alright, but its too uninspired and generic to make up for the voice work. The sound effects are the best part of the audio, with ambient level noise and crisp combat sounds.
The graphics, of course, are fantastic. Those who know the game’s reputation may be surprised that I did not mention these yet, or that I neglected to mention the abundance of CG breasts. Yes, the game is chock-full of busty women, most of whom dress like they are auditioning for a Victoria’s Secret commercial, not competing in a fighting tournament. But its not just the ladies that look great, the attention to detail in all of the character models and levels is impressive. The Spartan’s shiny armor looks as good as Master Chief’s in Halo 3, and the gorgeous environments look ahead of their time for a 2005 game.
It’s a shame that all of these great components are balanced by problems, because the issues seem so easy to fix. With better balance, a ranked matchmaking system and English voice-overs, I probably would have given the game as high as a 90. If you can tough it out through the single player, and don’t mind the Japanese, there’s a fun game in here. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Last time I posted, I was getting pretty frustrated with Dead or Alive 4. And I ended the post by saying that the game had better do something to redeem itself, or I'd be selling it back.
Trust Halo to save the day: I think I'm keeping the game now.
I finally finished the Story mode with all of the standard characters (which got supremely frustrating at times) but the reward is pretty awesome: a playable Spartan soldier. It looks just like Master Chief, but they say its a female soldier named "Nicole." It looks pretty badass, with its shiny Mjolnir armor, and it plays just as well.The Spartan is huge, towering over the other characters, and its punishing punches and kicks befit the size. It's also fairly fast, and has a combination of attacks that worked pretty well on that uber-cheap final boss (which was a huge relief for me). Check out the pic of her in her red armor beating the snot out of some chick.
But one cool character wouldn't be enough to redeem the game, if the rest of the game was as frustrating as the story mode. But I also tried out the offline multiplayer with my brother, and found the game can be a ton of fun when its balanced. We played vs. mode for quite a while, trying out the various characters against one another. One of our favorites was the new girl for DoA 4, La Mariposa. She's a masked wrestler, a very sexy masked wrestler.
Then we tried out doubles vs mode, which was even better. Pick your favorite two guys, and switch one out when its hurt so it can slowly heal while the other guy fights. It adds a fun balancing and planning aspect to the matches.
I also started playing Survivor mode, mostly doubles, which seems far less cheap than the Story mode. Using the doubles mode you can rest up one character while the other gets a couple of kills, then switch back. It's a nice strategy, and I managed to do pretty well in it.
So the game is saved from the chopping block, thanks to Spartans, Survivor Mode, and balanced & entertaining multiplayer. A full review will be coming shortly.
I started playing Dead or Alive 4 yesterday, and I've been pretty disappointed so far. For a game that is so well known and got positive reviews, I am shocked at how frustratingly difficult and poorly designed it is.
Most of you probably know Team Ninja's reputation as a "hardcore" game developer. Their leader, Itagaki, is famous for his arrogance and his skill at designing games. He and his team make it quite clear that they think their products are the best, and that their games are not meant for kids or "casual" gamers. But since when did being a "hardcore" game mean that the game had to suck?
The first thing I noticed, and the first thing I tried to change, is that their is no English dialogue in the game. At all. The characters all speak in Japanese, and their is no other language choice or option to turn off the voices. I have nothing against Japan, but when you're playing a game all day and all you hear is some gibberish that you don't understand, it gets annoying. Is this part of their hardcore plan, that they refuse to translate the game from its original language?
Because if so, its a stupid plan. The translations on the subtitles are awful, which only makes it worse, as everything is either confusing or painfully cliched.Then there is the gameplay itself. The fighting started out pretty smooth, and coupled with the excellent graphics I was enjoying myself. Until I got about halfway through the story mode (which is a series of 8 opponents), and I reached the incredibly cheap and frustrating enemy AI. The game purposely takes it easy on you for the first few matches, but after that, its all over.
The AI enemies can counter anything you do, making it impossible to pull of long combos. They can also interupt any of your attacks with throws, which they can then chain together. They can also spin around you while attacking, something I don't think human players can do. They also do far more damage in Story Mode than they otherwise would, while you do less damage than you should. Which all makes for a completely unfair experience, that is ridiculously frustrating. I almost threw my controller through our 4-foot HD TV. And I love that TV.
I managed to get to the last fight, the final boss, through a combination of some skill, a lot of luck, and the unbeatable AI getting bored of beating me. I wish I hadn't reached the boss though: the frustration got worse, way worse. The boss can teleport at will, while running, attacking or defending, making it nearly impossible to even hit it. It ALWAYS teleports away when it is near a wall, so you can never hit it into something to do extra damage. It can also leap across the arena in a single bound to tackle you into a wall, killing you. A single throw takes away half of your HP, or more if you hit a wall. Suffice it to say, I have NEVER fought a boss as difficult, cheap, or frustrating as Alpha-152.
So... the game is looking pretty bad so far. I also looked up some of the achievements, and saw that this is one of the hardest games on all of 360 to get achievements for, which is just fantastic. Something in this game better redeem the Story Mode, or this will be the 1st Xbox 360 game I trade away.
I just read a news brief over at GameInformer.com, that said that Activision "might have to stop supporting Sony." Nothing has been decided as of now, and they won't pull support for games coming out this year, but its not good news for the Playstation crew.
Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick was the source of the comments. With the words coming from the highest echelons of the company, you know these rumors are serious. He said that the PS3 is very costly to develop for, and that they just aren't getting a big enough return on their investments. The 360 and Wii, he said, make for much higher profits, and it sounds like they are easier to develop for.
This is certainly not the start of problems for Sony, and it won't be the end either. The PS3 has consistently sold worse than XBox 360 and Wii since its launch, so the installed base of PS3 users is far smaller than for the other systems. Which in turn means that fewer copies of software are sold for the system, the problem for Kotick and Activision.
If Activision does pull out, Sony will be losing some big franchises and some top developers. The biggest losses will no doubt be the Call of Duty franchise and the Guitar Hero franchise, both of which sell millions of copies every year. But PS3 will also lose the Tony Hawk series, the James Bond games from Treyarch, and the talents of Raven Software (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Wolfenstein, Singularity) and Radical Entertainment (Prototype) among others. As a 360 owner, I have to say I have mixed feelings about this news. When I hear bad news about PS3, it always makes me feel somewhat validated, that I made the right choice when buying my console. But I also feel bad for all those PS3 owners that wouldn't be getting the quality games they love. As a fan of gaming in general, I think it'd be bad to lose out on these versions.
But I'm skeptical that this split will every actually happen. Activision may not get as high a return on PS3 versions, but they do still get a return on their big franchises, like Call of Duty. At the most, I think they might not do Sony releases for the smaller, lesser-known titles.
And there's the possibility that PS3 will start selling better, so they won't need to worry about failing Activision. With God of War 3 coming out this year, I expect sales will see another spike. I doubt they will ever catch up to 360, but Kratos will help.
Either way, PS3 needs to pick up the pace. The "10-year cycle" only works if developers keep supporting the systems.
I'm not a huge fan when it comes to racing games. I own a couple racers for all of my systems, but the type of racing games I have aren't typical. I'm the guy who plays F-Zero, Mario Kart, Podracing, that kind of thing. The old arcade racing games didn't keep my interest.
The last racing game that I owned that featured plain old cars was Cruisin USA for 64, and I have to say I found it boring. So I passed up most of the racing games during the GameCube generation, and hadn't played any yet on the new-gen systems. But I just finished the career mode on Need for Speed Carbon, and having finally played an updated racer, I feel like a changed man. I won't say that NFS Carbon is perfect, it has its share of problems. But I was expecting a halfway decent game that would hold my attention for maybe 2-3 hours. I bought it for the multiplayer. But after spending about 40-50 hours with the game, most of that in single player, I have to admit that Carbon is a great game.
I'll post a review soon with the full run-down, but these are the new features that impressed me most. First of all, the career. The game actually featured a "Fast and Furious" style story, and though it won't win any awards for best video game story, it was enough that I always wanted to keep playing, to uncover the next bit of story.
The gameplay centered around winning races in specific areas of the city, so that I could "steal control" of those areas away from the local racing gangs. It was a nice approach, in that I knew how much I still had to do, I had a logical reason for having all of these races, and I had the conquering mentality to keep me motivated. It'd be late at night, but I'd always want to beat just 1 more race, to take over 1 more territory. And to give some freedom to the game, I was allowed to conquer most of the races in whatever order I wanted (within an area at least). If I didn't feel like drifting that night, I could just do all of the circuit races, and drift later.
That's another great aspect of the game: the many types of racing it offers. There are the standard circuit races, sprints, and checkpoints, like any racing game. But I had never tried drifting before, so that was a blast (after I figured out the rules & stopped embarrassing myself). It also featured a Speedtrap mode, where your score was based on your speed at certain checkpoints. And it featured the Canyon Duels, which were the most frustrating or the most entertaining, depending on the race (more on those later). The Free Roam mode also surprised me. I hadn't expected the game to be an open-world sandbox, and while you couldn't get out of the car, you could drive all over the entire city, cause trouble, and start huge crazy cop chases. It felt a little like GTA-lite, and I mean that as a compliment. Too bad the achievements for the cop chases are so hard to get.
And finally, I was wowed by the massive range of options for customizing my cars. I know I'm behind the curve on this one, and I knew that all racing games nowdays featured customization, but I never dreamed of how much. I've unlocked about a dozen styles of paint, which come in thousands of colors and shades, for hundreds of aftermarket modifcations, and a limitless combination of vinyls and designs. The performance tuning is probably more realistic in simulation racers, like Gran Turismo, but the visual-tweaking in this game kept me giddily happy, and made me very attached to my little tuners and exotics.
So racers have definitely matured since I last gave them a shot. Even though I'm playing a 3-year old game, I am thoroughly impressed by it. I guess I found a new genre to get sucked into. Now if only the new games would still feature offline multiplayer...
This is the official launch date of my new blog, Grende Games.
But while it might be the first day for the new blog, this is the sequel of sorts to my old blog, Game-Lady, which I will no longer be updating. The name was meant to be clever, and was inspired by a nickname from one of my gamer friends, but the title no longer seems as relevant.
I would also like to aspire to some higher production qualities with this new blog, including finer-tuned graphics, more frequent updates, and some nice side features and updates.
So check back here soon as I update the site with all of the old content from Game-Lady.
NOTE: I will be re-publishing most of my old posts from Game-Lady on here, under their original posting date. So if it seems strange that there are dozens of posts BEFORE the launch post, that is why.
When I first heard about Brutal Legend, I thought it was pretty interesting. The game looked unique if nothing else. But in the months since I first heard about it, it just kept coming up. Everywhere I looked, it was being hyped up, and I started to get sick of hearing about it. When it got cut from the Activision portfolio during the Activision & Vivendi merger, things only got worse as people started freaking out. But the worry was irrational. With the game so far along in development, and with such big names behind it, publishers were more than happy to pick it up. But throughout the whole ordeal, the press time devoted to Brutal Legend skyrocketed.
So its understandable that I've had enough at this point. Which is why it made it on my "I don't care anymore" list a few weeks ago.
But press releases hit up the wires again today, to announce that Brutal Legend finally has a firm release date (October 13th). And as I checked out the story, following the links the game's official site, I actually got interested again. It was the screenshots that pulled me in again, which is why I'm including a bunch with this post. The one from the top of the mountain got me in particular, the landscape below reminds me of some of my favorite areas in Guild Wars. So I took a closer look at the screens, and realized that a lot of the world looks crazy: I think I would enjoy just wandering around looking at stuff, if nothing else.
And as the screens pulled me in, I started thinking about the other draws. Jack Black's unique voice can't help but make me smile, so it might be cool hearing it all through a game. And if the game is as funny as its rumored to be, it'll be a good time. As long as they don't overdo the heavy metal stuff, because I'm really not into it, I'd be interested in the game. But I'll wait until I hear some hands-on previews or reviews, to hear whether the gameplay and the action hold the cool art, humor and voice acting together.
So I may not be sold on Brutal Legend, but it's back on my radar.
Downloadable Content has become one of the biggest crazes of this generation of consoles, so I think its time I weigh in on the trend as well. I recently combed the Live Marketplace, hunting down the games that I own and recording what DLC was available for them.
Then I decided to compare their value to the retail games.
When I buy a game for anywhere from $20 to $60, I want to get my money’s worth. One way I measure a game is the hour-per-dollar method: how many hours did I spend enjoying the game, compared to how much did it cost? Great games tend to be over the hour-per-dollar mark. I put about 75 hours into Gears of War 2 so far, so it's more than worth it. Halo 3 fared even better, with about an hour and a half per dollar. Grand Theft Auto IV is the best-value retail game I have for this generation, with about 125-150 hours thus far, or more than 2 hours per dollar spent. But in an interesting twist, the best game overall this generation was not a retail one. I recently bought Worms from Live Arcade for 5 bucks, and the 20 hours I’ve played so far (in only 2 months) make it more than worth the cash.
But does DLC have the same high value?
Most of the downloadable missions for retail games are quite short. The JediTemple mission for Force Unleashed, according to reviews, can be easily beaten within an hour. The Epilogue for Prince of Persia and Bring Down the Sky for Mass Effect both take about 2 hours to complete.
Operation Anchorage for Fallout 3 is only slightly longer, somewhere between 2-3 hours, but the new Fallout DLC, The Pitt, is said to last anywhere from 5-8 hours.
The JediTemple, the Prince’s Epilogue, and Operation Anchorage cost $10 each, making them a far cry from the hour-per-dollar mark. Bring Down the Sky is cheaper, at least, costing only $5 for the 2 hours of content. The Pitt is the only pack that comes close to the hour-per-dollar mark, since it is also priced at $10.
But the best DLC by far, according to this value system, is the Lost and the Damned for GTA IV. The new missions are supposed to take between 10-15 hours to beat, and feature a brand new character and plotline along the way. Fifteen hours is longer than many full retail games last. Plus, the pack also includes a wealth of new radio stations, vehicles, guns and multiplayer options. By the time you play through the missions once or twice, screw around with the new bikes and guns, and go online for a while, you’ll have spent far more than 20 hours. So while this pack costs $20 bucks, it still wins the best-value DLC crown.
In addition to having the best value, The Lost and the Damned also received the highest reviews, garnering an impressive 90/100 on Metacritic. So the 15-20 hours won’t be a boring slog-fest, nor will they be repetitive. With a new character, new style of gameplay, and tons of improvements and add-ons, it’ll be a kick-ass time.
And it comes with 250 more achievement points. But that’s a topic for another day...
A few weeks ago I listed Demigod as one of my most anticipated new games of 2009. The game has just released, but oh boy is there drama surrounding this one.
First off, the score so far. I looked it up on Metacritic, and its 4 scores are drastically different: 86, 75, 65, and 50. I read through the individual reviews, to get a sense for why the reviews are so different. Apparently, the online multiplayer didn't work at all when the game first went on sale, and in the week or so since it has only begun to be fixed.
And in some games, this might not be a big deal. But all of the reviews I read said that the game basically does not have a story mode or campaign, meaning it is entirely multiplayer focused. And while they had only good things to say about the gameplay and the visuals, a multiplayer game with a broken multiplayer is a big problem.
So what's the deal?
The rumor is that GameStop broke the street date, which caused many of the problems. Stardock and Gas Powered Games, the publisher and developer, respectively, have to ship copies of the game to GameStop and other retailers early, so the stores have time to ready the game and set up for the opening day. But these retailers are given a "street date," the day they are allowed to start selling the game. These deals are not always followed; sometimes retailers start selling a game early for some reason.
So if GameStop got anxious, they may well have started selling the game early. And if the game went on sale a few days early, Gas Powered Games might not have had the multiplayer servers ready. Supposedly the only problems are in their servers and network, so the problems could/should be fixed soon, but this seriously hindered their launch. So the different reviews come from the publications' differing approaches to a broken launch.
IGN chose to review the game as it is, but took into account the great potential of the game, giving it a 7.5 out of 10. They may re-review the game once issues are addressed. Cheat Code Central had basically assumed in their review that the network would be patched, and gave it a nice 4.3/5.
Both of these reviews praised the game for its unique premise and its tight gameplay. The player chooses one of 8 Demigods, and fights with opposing Demigods for the right to be the next full God in the pantheon. The gameplay is tactical, focusing on your specific avatar, instead of on grand sweeping armies. Your Demigod is treated like an RPG character. It gains experience as it fights, it can receive new armor and items, and you can upgrade skill trees and give it better abilities as it grows. Standard fare for the RPG genre, but this is pretty sweet customization for an RTS. It gives players a reason to get invested in their unit.
They also praised the game for its action-focus. There is no base-building, no resource management, no troop creation. There is just pure action: strategic and tactical combat that the Cheat Code Central reviewer likened to an intensified real-time version of chess. The reviews of the gameplay and the combat sound extremely enticing, and I am hoping that my PC can handle the game when I get a chance to pick it up. But in case the launch drama wasn't enough for you, 1UP.com gave the game a paltry C (which is translated to a 50/100 on Metacritic, bringing the game's average way down). I read through the 1Up review, to find their fault with the game. They not only factored in the problematic launch, but lambasted the developers for the event, fully blaming them.
And the most frustrating part is the 1Up reviewer's opening line: "I've never been huge on real-time strategy games." If you don't like RTS games, why are you reviewing this!?!? Of course you won't like it!
So... take the reviews with a grain of salt. Stardock will most likely fix the network, and the game will be back on track, despite the potential early leak. Listen to the bountiful praise of IGN and Cheat Code Central, and ignore the RTS-hating reviewer. Demigod looks amazing, and nothing I've heard or seen yet has changed my mind.
The following 10 games have received a ton of hype, and have extremely high expectations. But despite all the hype and the early praise, I could really care less about them. Some are simply because I have no hope of getting them (sorry PS3, you're still too over-priced for me), others have received attention for pleasing hardcore fanbases.
But by Top 10, I mean these are going to be the Top 10 BEST games of 2009 that I don't care about. Meaning, I am sure they will be awesome for some people, I just am not those people.
Some of you may try to disagree with me. You might even be thinking to yourself right now, "I disagree with you," or if you are man of strong convictions, "I strongly disagree with you." But you know what? You can't. Because I didn't say these were the worst games, I just said I don't care about them. And you can't know better than me what I care about. Unless your psychic. In which case we should meet.
Anyway, these are my Top 10. Enjoy!
1. Brutal Legend OMG! Tim Schafer is making this game?!?! LOL I have to get it FTW!
Let's be clear, I expect this game will be good. It will probably be very good. For fans of the kind of classic rock/metal that it pays homage to, this game will probably be nirvana. But I am not one such fan. A game about classic rock legends has me as excited as a game about classic Korean myths. No, I do not know any classic Korean myths. They are probably cool, but I have no prior connection. That's the point.
Some people are stoked for the game simply because Schafer is involved. While I am sure the man has talent, one man does not produce an entire game, and the only game to his company's name right now is Psychonauts. I haven't played Psychonauts either, I hear it is good, but having not played it, you can't expect me to be excited.
So yeah, people will probably have fun driving around in the crazy cars, and swinging their axes. But I'm sick of hearing about this game as if its the second coming of Christ. Get over it guys, its just a game (it hurt me to say that).
2. Starcraft 2 Here's another one that will get me some hate mail.
I am sure, as I was with Brutal Legend, that this game will be good. It will probably be exceptional. People will probably play it for the next 10-12 years, as they did with the first. But I don't have to like that fact.
No matter how balanced or creative the original Starcraft was, its old now. And Starcraft 2 doesn't look to be doing much besides adding a new paintjob. So excuse me if I am not excited, but another 10 years on what is basically the same game just sounds repetitive to me. There are so many other games out there, waiting to be tried and explored, that it just doesn't make sense to stick to this one for so long.
Oh yeah, they are also ripping fans off by splitting the game into 3 parts, each of which must be bought separately, for full price. 3 games, 1 campaign each. Thanks Blizzard. You know how to lighten our wallets.
3. The Sims 3 Does the Sims even count as a real game? You guide little digital people around a town, and make them do things that real people do, only digitally. Sounds kind of boring. It's like "The Real Life: The Video Game."
It's in the name, though: Simulator. This is a Simulator game that is supposed to represent something in the real world. Sales have shown that the Sims sells well to girls, which makes sense. You're essentially playing digital Barbie, or digital house, or even digital divorce (what, your little sister didn't play that one?). So.... I'll leave this one to the ladies.
4. Alan Wake I've been hearing about this one for like 3 years now. It apparently had some really amazing trailer at one of the conferences a while back, and it blew away all the reporters and reviewers, so that they were drooling for more info on the game. But the more info never came. We really know next to nothing about this game, yet everyone acts like its going to be the best thing ever. Call my cynical, but I'm going to wait on this one.
5. Street Fighter IV Go ahead, say it. You despise me. But you know what? I love you anyway.
I know the game is good, I won't argue that. If it wasn't good, it wouldn't be on this list. But I just really don't care. I never owned any of the originals (though of course I played them), so the whole "nostalgia" thing just isn't there. The "retro" graphics look good, yes, but they haven't filled any gaping holes in my heart with their childhood-completing greatness. Have fun with it, all of you fanboys-from-the-past who have been fulfilled, I won't ruin your fun. Just don't expect us all to be as excited as you are.
6. Rage I love you id, I really really do. I promise. I played the crap out of Commander Keen back in the day, and I said my prayers to Wolfenstein and Doom like every other good boy.
But this is another one like Alan Wake: there isn't enough info yet to be getting excited. Id hasn't revealed much concrete info on their new shooter, in fact, they revealed so little that many thought it was a racing game. I like the idea that you're adding in cars, it'll be good to see id expanding to conquer new genres. But you haven't told us much beyond this. We don't even know if its coming out this year for sure.
When final screenshots and reliable info start coming out about this game, I will grab my pre-order and set up my tent in the mall. But right now, I'm feeling nothing. It's too premature.
7. Gran Turismo 5 Sure the game will look gorgeous. Sure the controls will be tight. But that doesn't make it fun.
If I am going to be playing pretend racing games, I want the fantasy to be worth it. I want dramatic cop chases (like GTA IV!), or credit for bigger crashes (thanks Burnout!), or even just a slick night-racer look, like the Need for Speed games inspired by Fast and the Furious.
If you want a racer worth looking forward to, look up Split Second. It's going to be a ground-breaking racer (quite literally), with a huge taste for the theatrical.
8. InFamous This is the PS3 exclusive knock-off of Prototype. As proof, let me retell the conversation that took place when Sony green-lit the game.
-"Hey, some developer wants to make a game about an anti-hero with awesome powers."
-"Kind of like Prototype?"
-"Exactly like Prototype."
-"Go on. I'm listening." -"Well this guy has all sorts of superhero powers, like lightning and badassery, that make him fun to play."
-"Are the powers more badass than in Prototype? Because badass sells."
-"Oh yeah, it's over 9000 times more badass. He shoots lightning! Like a Sith Lord! And Sith Lords, as everyone here knows, are the pinnacle of badass."
-"So he's extremely badass. Good. But what does he destroy?"
-"Everything."
-"Everything? Is that even possible?"
-"We're not sure, but we're putting it on the back of the box."
-"Good."
-"No, not good. Bad. Extremely bad. That's the point."
-"I see. What about the features? I'm told that Prototype has 'free-roaming,' whatever that means. Can our character do this 'free-roaming' move?"
-"He can not only free-roam, he can roam free, if you know what I mean."
-"...."
-"If you know what I mean."
-"..........."
-"Yes, he can free-roam."
-"Good, that's what I like to hear. Match the competitor, feature for feature. Then add 1 more."
-"That's the whole design philosophy behind InFamous, sir. Prototype has helicopters that you can hijack. And people that you can consume. In InFamous, you can consume helicopter people."
-"Helicopter people?"
-"Yes sir, helicopter people. They have rotors on their head."
-"That doesn't make any sense."
-"But Prototype might do it."
-"Then get them in the game. Now. I won't be caught with my trousers down."
-"They are down, sir."
-"Not if you get helicopter people in the game asap."
-"No sir, I mean they literally are not fully on right now."
-"Oh. My mistake.... what about these memories? I hear they are important for Prototype."
-"I am glad you asked. Not only will InFamous have memories, it will also include a free social networking site, where you can upload or write your memories, whether they are photos or just words. This ensures that our users can consume all of each other's memories as well."
-"Consuming other people's memories?"
-"Yes. It adds replay value."
-"Replay is good. A good buzzword."
-"It's already on the back of the box, sir."
-"But this consumption business. Sounds a bit canabalistic."
-"It is sir. We had problems in testing. But they are worked out now."
-"Excellent. Let's start production right away. It's time for us to be a start."
-"You mean, B A Start. As in, up up, down down, left right, left right, b a start?"
-"Exactly."
9. Killzone 2 Halo 3 on the PS3? I think so. The game has badass armored dudes who have to go to other planets to stop aliens from wiping out humans, with a focus on a co-op campaign and a ton of multiplayer options. And Killzone 2 has the same stuff! Even the character's armor looks similar. I guess I can't blame you, PS3 owners, you're missing quite a treat with Halo 3.
Just last night, for example, a kid sang me a song about pancakes for helping him win a match. Sure it sounded garbly over the Live headset, but how do you think I sounded with a mouthful of pancakes? He even answered my questions about his mom. You don't find co-operative underlings like that on the PS3.
10. God of War 3 Yes it will be awesome. It will improve on everything from past installments and become an instant classic. But I can't get it. So stop rubbing it in :(
*VAGUELY IMPORTANT NOTE ON PHOTOS:
You may notice that all of these pictures are tiny, while the pictures for the Top 10 of 2009 are large. That is because I care less about these games. You may also notice that the picture for Starcraft 2 is from the original Starcraft. You didn't notice? Then you prove my point. Finally, you may notice that I put more pictures on the InFamous article. That's in case you get bored, because not everyone shares my sense of humor. We can't all be perfect.
News lately has been full of previews, and rather than just restate what I'm reading, I'm going to offer my predictions/expectations for the year.
Top 10 New Franchises
1. Prototype Release: June Developer : Radical Entertainment Platforms: 360/PS3/PC
This game is full of so much awesomeness, that I don't think my 360 will even be able to contain it. You play as one of the most badass gaming characters ever as he rampages across a disaster-struck NYC, killing or destroying everything in his path. His mutant abilities to transform body parts into weapons, like huge claws, massive spikes, or thick armored plates, make him nearly impossible to kill. And you can consume other people to take on their appearance, or to learn their skills or watch their memory. Consuming memories is how you learn the backstory to the game, which is a sweet idea for narrative work.
2. Borderlands Release: June Developer: Gearbox Platforms: 360/PS3/PC
This is another game that has me psyched for its sheer coolness. The game takes place on an alien world with a wild-west feel. With no government in sight, the raiders and explorers roam free through the desserts, driving sweet combat buggies as they fight off rivals and dangerous beasts. But though the game has a lot of driving and shooting, its an RPG/shooter hybrid, and the RPG side shows strongly with the loot. The game supposedly has over 650,000 unique guns already, due to a weapon creation system in the game that generates more guns than any dev team could possibly hard code. Seriously, over half a million different guns, do you need anything else?
3. Champions Online Release: June Developer: Crpytic Studios Platforms: 360/PC
The newest MMORPG from Cryptic Studios, the makers of City of Heroes and City of Villains. This one is going to have a very in-depth character creation system, where you design your own superhero, from his appearance to his powers to weaknesses. The screens and info so far look great, so this is definitely the next MMO on my list.
The developer on this one should say it all. As the newest RPG from the developer of Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Jade Empire & Baldur's Gate, there is no way that Dragon Age can't be good. It's a huge fantasy world, with tons of our favorite fantasy creatures, but with the excellent game design of BioWare. And each character class has a unique begin to the game, going through a lengthy origin sequence, which adds a lot to replay value.
5. Darksiders Release: August Developer: Vigil Games Platform: 360/PS3
This is another one with a pretty badass premise. Armageddon has just begone, and the earth is now a battleground between angels and demons, battling over the last remnants of humanity. You play as one of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse, War. And its your job to annhialate all the other bastards that are roaming the wasteland that was once our world. Did I mention you get a giant sword, a warrior horse, and gattling guns?
From the famed developer Pandemic (Battlefront series among others), this looks to be a highly unique stealth game. Set in WWII behind enemy lines (I believe its Paris), the character takes on the role of a partisan fighter who is attempting to sabotage Nazi plans and help bring them down from the inside. The game has a unique art style for many of the sequences (I believe its the un-saved areas), where everything is shades of grey except for the red Nazi flags & symbols, kind of like Pleasantville. It looks to be a very original and action-packed title.
This is another title from a well-known developer. Raven is releasing a trio of heavy-hitters this year, including the newWolfenstein, and the new X-Men game, but Singularity may be the most unique of the three. The story puts the player on a strange island where an accident manipulated the time continuum. The island will go through periodic shifts, where everything around you changes from its broken-down contemporary form to its brand-new Cold War version. The game also lets you manipulate time yourself, like the ability to send objects forward or backwards in time to collapse/rebuild them, freezing objects by pausing time, and decaying your enemies into dust. The puzzle opportunities sound as intruiging as Braid's, but in 3D.
8. Demigod Release: April Developer: Gas Powered Games Platform: PC
This game is set to combine all of the best elements of RTS and RPG into one. Players choose their race/team and then select a Demigod, choosing either an Assassin or a General unit. The Generals play much more like RTS, commanding all of your little minions around the battlefield to take out the enemies. Assassin units are highly powerful on their own, so rather than micromanage your troops, you let them fight on their own while you hunt down key opposition to kill yourself. The size of the battles is impressive, the scaling looks spot-on, and there are some awesome creature/unit designs, like the impossibly huge Castle Demigod.
9. Halo Wars Release: March Developer: Ensemble Studios Platforms: 360
This one is already out, but its from 09, so it deserves a spot on the list. Take the most popular console FPS and turn it into a console RTS- sounds kind of crazy right? But Halo was originally conceived as an RTS by Bungie, and it still kicks ass after returning to its roots. I''ve only gotten to play the demo so far, but I'm hoping to get the full version for my birthday later this month. The game uses a built-for-360 control scheme, which makes it one of the best (if not THE best) RTS games on consoles. It's action-packed, it includes all of our favorite units (like Warthogs and Scorpion tanks) and keeps the feel & integrity of the Halo universe. Ensemble was shut down after finishing the game, but that only makes it more alluring.
10. Batman: Arkham Asylum Release: June Developer: Rocksteady Platforms: 360/PS3/PC
This may be based on one of the oldest IP's in action fiction, but the game itself is a new franchise. It isn't based on any movie or tv series, so the developers were free to do as they'd like. The game's premise is that Batman was following a recently-captured Joker into Arkham Asylum, when the madman breaks out and takes over the joint. The place is massive, including tons of underground and secret areas, so the whole game takes place in the huge madhouse. The action and stealth seem integrated well, and are a blast from what I've read so far. This game may finally redeem the Batman name in video games, and even may him a hit again, like Dark Knight did with movies.
The genre of MMO's got a pretty sweet announcement this week: not 1, but 2 Marvel MMO's are in development.
Gazillion Entertainment (a new game company) announced that they had reached a deal to use the Marvel Universe and its characters in their upcoming projects. But rather than just make a single game, Gazillion is going to get its money worth.
They will be making a "casual" MMO called Marvel Super Hero Squad and a hardcore, more traditional version called Marvel Universe. The casual game is being developed by Amazing Society, and the hardcore version by Gargantuan, both wholly-owned studios of Gazillion. How an MMO is going to be casual is anyone's guess, but its cool to see them trying new things.
This sounds like excellent news for any Marvel fan, especially since DC Universe Online is coming out later this year for PC & PS3. But this isn't the first time we've been promised a Marvel MMO.
Cryptic Studios, known for its well-liked City of Heroes MMO, was originally making a Marvel MMO. But the deal to use Marvel content fell through, even though the game was already well underway. Cryptic had to change their plans, and instead is using the Champions role-playing game license (which is far less known). Champions Online is set to come out this summer, and looks like its going to be fantastic.
Champions Online has a very slick superhero look, and early reports say the gameplay is great, but this may not be enough now. With an actual Marvel MMO coming out, how many players would rather get the Marvel-knockoff MMO? Most comic fans and online players are already fans of either DC or Marvel, and with both lines coming out with a game the competition for Cryptic is going to get fierce. This new announcement may have just cut the legs out from under Cryptic, a sad fate for the original superhero MMO developer. But with more games and options on the market, players will definitely be the ones to benefit. Gazillion also announced they are working on 2 other MMO's, 1 based on LEGOs and one based on an original IP.
Here's a list of some of the big MMO's currently in the works:
Champions Online - Cryptic - Summer 2009
Aion: Tower of Eternity - NCsoft - Fall 2009
DC Universe Online - Sony Online Austin - 2009
Dragon Ball Online - Namco - 2009
Guild Wars 2 - ArenaNet/NCsoft - 2010
Fallout Online - Bethesda* - 2011
Star Wars: The Old Republic - BioWare - TBA
Star Trek Online - Cryptic - TBA
Marvel Universe - Gargantuan - TBA
Marvel Super Hero Squad - Amazing Society - TBA
So finish beating Warhammer, Conan and WoW, because there's a lot coming!
I'm sure most of you heard of Army of Two when it came out last year. It sold quite well, over 2.5 million copies. But while sales were great, reviews were only average (Metacritic score for 360 is 72). So with only mediocre reviews, and a lot of more lauded material on the market, I passed on the game.
But details and screens are coming out now about the sequel, called Army of Two: The 40th Day. It looks great, and it sounds better.
The developer, EA Montreal, has promised to address a lot of the problems of the first game, and the changes and results seem very promising. This time the game is set in Shanghai, which looks like a perfect choice for a shooter. The locale is exotic, colorful, and diverse, all of which should result in stunning-looking and fun-to-explore levels. Just hearing the location alone had my interest piqued, then I found out that Shanghai is also in the middle of a major disaster. I'm imagining a wartorn city, a lawless populace and a lot of tasty chaos.
The story that goes along with the location also sounds interesting, with competing mercenary forces and the ability to work for various factions and employers. The game also is going to include a lot of civilian NPC's, creating some moral choices you can make, whether its taking hostages and killing ruthlessly or saving the poor saps. The game will also have a good bit of humor worked into the characters and dialogue (which the team promises will be more engaging, less annoying, than last time).
Gameplay also seems to be receiving an upgrade. The co-op campaign is going to be more organic, so that the co-op parts don't feel obviously orchestrated or stiff, which should make it a blast to play with friends. And if you don't have friends, the team-ate AI has reportedly seen a vast improvement, including greater player control over that NPC teamate. Add in an updated cover mechanic, and destructible environments that allow you to blast through walls and cover to hit enemies, and the game has a lot of potential.
The EA Montreal team also said that they are putting a bigger focus on their multiplayer component, which is good news: good frag fests always add to the replay value.
So maybe none of this sounds ground-breaking, but does it need to? With great graphics, a cool story and humor, an awesome setting, improved tighter gameplay, and plenty of co-op and competitive multiplayer modes, what else do you need?
- Scott
(Screenshots & info are from Game Informer and IGN)
Then I entered the introduction section of the game, which was a clever chain of events that enabled me to design my character, set his stats and abilities and choose some of my items, all without breaking the immersion of the game. Which isn't easy to do in such a stat & option filled adventure. But soon my rustic vault-dweller was ready, and events in Vault-101 started to spiral out of control. I won't spoil it here, but the plot is engaging and complex already, and I'm only 2 hours into the game.
dweller eyes adjust to the real sunlight, you're met with a fantastic vista of destruction. It's here that Fallout 3 shows one of its best cards: phenomenal graphics and a world more detailed than our own.
, but they don't do it justice. The town is a beauty, even in its decay, and the level design is top-notch, creating an interesting mess of a town that pulls you to explore its hidden nooks and crannies.
