If you have a 360, you owe it to yourself to download the demo for Limbo. I'm not so naive to believe that this game is gonna hit everyone the right way, but I do believe that things like this deserve to be played.
3N3MY asked me recently why I like stuff in this artsy genre so much, specifically Limbo and Braid. Was it the aesthetic, or the music, or the puzzles, etc... It's hard to put my finger on. Puzzle platformers have been around forever, and it's always cool to see something new come out. The genre has a sense of timelessness about it, and it's always fun to be a part of it.
Limbo is a very physical puzzle game. The solutions to everything are all about timing, momentum, speed and gravity. The only surreal puzzle aspect in Limbo is the gravity, changing the direction that it pulls. It's nothing too original, but it works well enough for the game. The puzzles have a nice steady difficulty progression, keeping things fresh and interesting.
The thing that really sets Limbo apart from others is it's muted silhouette aesthetic. Everything is shades of black and white. They use an out of focus/in focus camera to draw attention to important things. At first, it's a little bit disorienting to be a part of the world... Since everything is so similar, it's hard to intuitively pick up on what can be moved, touched, interacted with, etc, but the games difficulty curve helps make the learning a little easier.
The imagery is absolutely powerful. Silhouette's have a way of communicating importance, and the posture, stance, and animation of the young male protagonist really drive it home. The main character is a black silhouette, as is the environment. Although most of the time this is a practical solution to making the black and white visuals work, it also compliments the deliberately vague storyline. Stuck in Limbo, looking for a lost sister, the boy often disappears in the background, blending in with the environment. Multiple moments in the games had my characters presence on screen only being represented by his haunting, white, little eyes. (which slowly fade out if you happen to die, which you will... a lot) There was only one moment in the game that I got stuck for a substantial period of time, and it was a silly error on my part.
Story in Limbo is... there. It's not a strong narrative, but that's part of the game. Everything seems deliberately ambiguous, anonymous, and similar. There are only a few landmarks in the game that come back again, making the player curious to their significance, but in the end, the depth of the story is almost related to the depth you let yourself be absorbed into the world. Something that helped me was turning up my volume. There is no music in Limbo, only ambiance and noise, but it works well and helps the user create their own creepy experience.
I really enjoyed the time I spent with Limbo, and for me, well worth the download if for no other reason than to support the developer and maybe get some more stuff like this in the market. At times, Limbo seems artsy for artsy's sake, but I think it's a great direction to be headed. Sure, the same puzzles and challenges could have been made using 8-bit tech, but the charm of the world is the draw here, not because we've never seen kinetic timing puzzles before. Play Limbo for the experience.
(I've decided to write about Braid another day, mostly for length.)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
inFamous
This is not a review, but more of an impressions piece for those that have asked me about this game in the recent past.
I have over 6 hours in the game and I think it's fair to say that I have a pretty good idea of what the rest of the game will offer.
Like:
Story-A non GTA sandbox game with a decent story? Is it true? Yes, it absolutely is! You're a bike messenger carrying a package that you think is just a package, but it's actually some type of terrorist bomb (still not super sure on what this is fully because I'm still mid game). Basically the bomb absolutely devestates the city and you're surprisingly alive and badly wounded. Days later in the hospital you realize you've been granted powers from the bomb. You can control and manipulate electricity in many different ways. It truly feels like living in the shoes of a superhero at his very beginning.
Morality-This is something that has been done a lot in recent years with games, but it still works pretty good in the game. Basically as a superhero deciding who he is ultimately you can save and help people, many times at the cost of yourself in some ways, or you can exploit them and help yourself. These citizens already think that you're a terrorist in the beginning of the game because you were carrying the bomb, but it's been a blast to see the citizens react to me differently as I continue to help the city and they realize I'm a good guy. They run up to me and call me "buddy" or "pal" and ask me to help their friends.
They're totally f$*#ing me over!-During the game I've found myself frustrated with the situations in the game and I mean this in a great way! Basically I'm doing all of these great things to help the city and I'll find news reports all over saying that the government has stepped in and helped the citizens of Empire City again! Those bastards left the city to die and will not help at all. They're doing a PR blitz to not look like the fall guys! It's totally awesome to make me, as the player, feel emotions of anger and resentment in a fake world where I feel I'm working for the greater good. There's also some fear mongering dude that keeps trying to tell the city that I'm the cause of all the problems and that I need to be killed.
Controls-Surprisingly tight for a sandbox game. Normally with open world games I've found that some part of the controls are wonky. Either they're needlessly complex (GTA) or aiming is all over the place (I love you Saboteur), but they work great here.
Comics-During bigger plot points you are told the story through a comic book style of cutscene and they're very awesome.
Electricity-Running low on power? Go up to any of a million electrical devices from cars to street lights and drain the electricity from it to power up again! It's a lot of fun.
Shards-Like in Crackdown there are a ton of power shards to find all over the world. These level up your power meter to make you more deadly in combat.
Annoying:
Climbing-It works pretty well overall and while it's nice to have your character be as "sticky" as he is when you're trying to do some difficult jumps it's also a huge pain because you tend to grab on to crap you never intended to. Reminds me of the "roadie run" in Gears.
Powers-While they're a ton of fun to use the main power feels more like a gun than a power. You basically just shoot electricity in semi auto fire from your hands.
Enemies-This game throws almost too many opponents at you. Many of them are snipers and they're all over the damn place. You'll be fighting 4 or 5 guys on the ground and be sniped from 5 different rooftops. Not that it ruins the fun, but it can get annoying.
Final Thoughts:
I didn't cover everything that I wanted to because this is too long already, but the game is a lot of fun. It feels like Crackdown in a lot of ways, but with a WAY more focused story.
I def recommend this game to basically any sandbox or action game fan because of it's good story and excellent game mechanics and controls. I've read that many people sink around 30 hours into one playthrough so I have a lot more city to save!
I have over 6 hours in the game and I think it's fair to say that I have a pretty good idea of what the rest of the game will offer.
Like:
Story-A non GTA sandbox game with a decent story? Is it true? Yes, it absolutely is! You're a bike messenger carrying a package that you think is just a package, but it's actually some type of terrorist bomb (still not super sure on what this is fully because I'm still mid game). Basically the bomb absolutely devestates the city and you're surprisingly alive and badly wounded. Days later in the hospital you realize you've been granted powers from the bomb. You can control and manipulate electricity in many different ways. It truly feels like living in the shoes of a superhero at his very beginning.
Morality-This is something that has been done a lot in recent years with games, but it still works pretty good in the game. Basically as a superhero deciding who he is ultimately you can save and help people, many times at the cost of yourself in some ways, or you can exploit them and help yourself. These citizens already think that you're a terrorist in the beginning of the game because you were carrying the bomb, but it's been a blast to see the citizens react to me differently as I continue to help the city and they realize I'm a good guy. They run up to me and call me "buddy" or "pal" and ask me to help their friends.
They're totally f$*#ing me over!-During the game I've found myself frustrated with the situations in the game and I mean this in a great way! Basically I'm doing all of these great things to help the city and I'll find news reports all over saying that the government has stepped in and helped the citizens of Empire City again! Those bastards left the city to die and will not help at all. They're doing a PR blitz to not look like the fall guys! It's totally awesome to make me, as the player, feel emotions of anger and resentment in a fake world where I feel I'm working for the greater good. There's also some fear mongering dude that keeps trying to tell the city that I'm the cause of all the problems and that I need to be killed.
Controls-Surprisingly tight for a sandbox game. Normally with open world games I've found that some part of the controls are wonky. Either they're needlessly complex (GTA) or aiming is all over the place (I love you Saboteur), but they work great here.
Comics-During bigger plot points you are told the story through a comic book style of cutscene and they're very awesome.
Electricity-Running low on power? Go up to any of a million electrical devices from cars to street lights and drain the electricity from it to power up again! It's a lot of fun.
Shards-Like in Crackdown there are a ton of power shards to find all over the world. These level up your power meter to make you more deadly in combat.
Annoying:
Climbing-It works pretty well overall and while it's nice to have your character be as "sticky" as he is when you're trying to do some difficult jumps it's also a huge pain because you tend to grab on to crap you never intended to. Reminds me of the "roadie run" in Gears.
Powers-While they're a ton of fun to use the main power feels more like a gun than a power. You basically just shoot electricity in semi auto fire from your hands.
Enemies-This game throws almost too many opponents at you. Many of them are snipers and they're all over the damn place. You'll be fighting 4 or 5 guys on the ground and be sniped from 5 different rooftops. Not that it ruins the fun, but it can get annoying.
Final Thoughts:
I didn't cover everything that I wanted to because this is too long already, but the game is a lot of fun. It feels like Crackdown in a lot of ways, but with a WAY more focused story.
I def recommend this game to basically any sandbox or action game fan because of it's good story and excellent game mechanics and controls. I've read that many people sink around 30 hours into one playthrough so I have a lot more city to save!
See You in a Couple Months
Starcraft II is out and it's fantastic, beyond fantastic, so I'll see you in a couple months. :D But seriously, I took a half-day yesterday and I've already sunk a good 13 hours into the SP campaign since Tuesday afternoon and it's just fantastic. I won't post up a long review since I'm probably the only PC player here.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Game Review(s)
Firstly i'd like to apologies for lack of contribution on here recently..hopefully be on more and thought i'd start with some quick reviews/thoguhts on some games i've been playing recently, i've been busy.
Red Dead Redemption
Mixed feelings on this game...initially i love it, got so far in the game i think Mexico then just went off the boil, combination of other distractions and lack of motivation to play it.
Liked
The massive open world, loads to do
Random events/natural set pieces occurring
Story was pretty strong and well enough told as per usual with Rockstar
Free Roam mode very creative approach to MP lobby - shame it's littered with bullying dicks
Favourite moment
When first getting to Mexico and mounting a horse to start riding along side the water and this awesome tune starts playing softly in the background, very fitting and one of those mini goosebump moments.
Disliked
Repetitive gameplay
Too much grinding if you want to unlock stuff
Ending totally sucked imo
Star Wars Force Unleashed
Took a gamble with this one after playing the demo a while back and after watching the trailer for the sequal which looks excellent, picked it up in the bargain bucket and have to have quite pleasantly surprised.
Liked
Feeling like a bad ass Jedi
Plenty of depth to the combat system, rewards for being creative during combat.
Great storyline
Great variety of environments
Favourite moment
Jedi duals, one in particular against a character during the game, wont say who as it'll spoil it.
Disliked
Camera could do with a little work especially during multiple enemy battles
Tough as nails in some parts even on medium difficulty, I mean I like a challenge but it really tested my patience at times.
Bioshock 2
Long overdue pick up of this game as i loved the first and watched all the trailers and in the build up to the release but just missed the boat on it's release for whatever reason.
Liked
Good old Rapture, love the setting sucks you in, great atmosphere
Storyline excellent
Great FPS combat mechanics, even if identical to Bio1, if it aint broke, dont fix it
Disliked
Although a great storyline, felt it was sometimes like... actually why am i doing wat i'm doing right now
Heavy Rain
Been wanting to play this one for a while and took the opportunity when a friend offered it as a loan.
Liked
Story - Well told, plenty of twists and turns.
Gameplay although limited in terms of variety i really enjoyed it, very engrossing everything you do or don't do in some instances had an effect on the story
Graphics top notch, lifelike great voice work.
Disliked
Not a lot to dislike on this one, you take it for wat it is, it's an interactive movie and does exactly wat is says on the tin very well.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Gears 2 XP Extravaganza
"Not too long ago, Gamer Syndrome reported on an up-coming Gears of War 2 Multiplayer event which was being decided via Twitter by none other than the Gears Viking himself, Rod Fergusson.
If you remember, Rod Fergusson stated that the amount of extra experience points earned would be the amount of his followers divided by 500. For example, 4000 followers on Twitter would equal 8x the normal amount of XP.
Well, Rod Fergusson was blown away when his followers list broke the 10,000 mark in a couple of days and decided to stop it at 20x XP.
That was all we had heard of the event.. until today. Rod Fergusson has today revealed the duration of the event via a Tweet on Twitter:
“So 20x XP SDCC Event is going to run exactly SDCC hours – July 22nd, 12:30 PM EDT till July 25th, 8 PM EDT. Get your wings!”
Also, Rod announced that just like last times XP event, Horde mode will receive a modification during the event. But Epic Games hasn’t decided what will be changed as of yet:
“Yes, we’re going to change Horde too, just haven’t decided how yet.”
As soon as Rod Fergusson announces the alterations with Horde, we’ll be sure to update you all so stay tuned."
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Best Achievement Ever..
In Lego Harry Potter, there is an achievement called Solid Snape where, once you've unlocked him, you must run around with Professor Snape and hide in a barrel, LOL! I thought the MGS reference was pretty funny and I got a kick out of earning this one (even though it was super easy).
 | Solid Snape | 15  |
| Hide in a barrel as Snape | ||
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Deathspank Review
I was watching this game for a while and even though the title is absolutely ridiculous, the game was pretty fun. I think it was 1200 pnts but it was worth it as I sunk a good 10+ hours into it last week before beating it. Definitely a great acton RPG well worth the money spent on it.
PROS
+Graphics - the art style is great and every building and chest and tree is flat so it's 2d in a 3d world which is pretty cool. And the landscape scrolls towards you over the horizon, similar to the small globe worlds in several Ratchet & Clank games.
+Humor - some may find this childish but there were some pretty funny parts but I am one to still laugh at toilet humor.
+Combat - the combat is fast and definitely fun though it can be hard at parts. Enemies take a lot of kiting with your crossbow.
+Inventory - there are some smart little ways to combine items for quests or drop items so a creature eats off the wood or something funny like that though I believe this wasn't utilized enough.
+Justice Meter - there is a meter you fill up as you attack enemies and take damage and once it's full, you can unleash some cool moves from your different weapons. Some big maces will knock enemies into the ground so they can't move which was pretty funny and another sword does this long whirlwind manuever that just devestates everything.
CONS
-Limited Potions - Not sure who's idea this was but limiting potions in an action RPG is just a stupid idea. You can still complete the game. I kept several different sizes of health potions and mapped several of them to the directional pad, so I'd have 5 potions that healed 700hp and another 5 that healed 400hp.
-Pirate Ship - In a preview demo for this game in a video I watched online, I saw this pirate town you could visit and then jump in a ship and roam around the sea. Unless I blatantly missed a whole area of the game, I could not find this ANYWHERE. Not sure if this will be in some DLC but to show off a part of a game, get everybody excited, and then not even conclude that in the final product. A little irritating.
-Difficulty - the game can be hard at times, though you can always pursue another quest or try and go level up and then come back to that area. Combine the difficult with limited potions and it almost ruined the game for me.
-Inventory - I felt the great idea of allowing you to combine items and mess with your inventory was not used nearly enough.
This was quick and brief but it was a great arcade purchase so I thought I would let everybody know.
PROS
+Graphics - the art style is great and every building and chest and tree is flat so it's 2d in a 3d world which is pretty cool. And the landscape scrolls towards you over the horizon, similar to the small globe worlds in several Ratchet & Clank games.
+Humor - some may find this childish but there were some pretty funny parts but I am one to still laugh at toilet humor.
+Combat - the combat is fast and definitely fun though it can be hard at parts. Enemies take a lot of kiting with your crossbow.
+Inventory - there are some smart little ways to combine items for quests or drop items so a creature eats off the wood or something funny like that though I believe this wasn't utilized enough.
+Justice Meter - there is a meter you fill up as you attack enemies and take damage and once it's full, you can unleash some cool moves from your different weapons. Some big maces will knock enemies into the ground so they can't move which was pretty funny and another sword does this long whirlwind manuever that just devestates everything.
CONS
-Limited Potions - Not sure who's idea this was but limiting potions in an action RPG is just a stupid idea. You can still complete the game. I kept several different sizes of health potions and mapped several of them to the directional pad, so I'd have 5 potions that healed 700hp and another 5 that healed 400hp.
-Pirate Ship - In a preview demo for this game in a video I watched online, I saw this pirate town you could visit and then jump in a ship and roam around the sea. Unless I blatantly missed a whole area of the game, I could not find this ANYWHERE. Not sure if this will be in some DLC but to show off a part of a game, get everybody excited, and then not even conclude that in the final product. A little irritating.
-Difficulty - the game can be hard at times, though you can always pursue another quest or try and go level up and then come back to that area. Combine the difficult with limited potions and it almost ruined the game for me.
-Inventory - I felt the great idea of allowing you to combine items and mess with your inventory was not used nearly enough.
This was quick and brief but it was a great arcade purchase so I thought I would let everybody know.
Friday, July 16, 2010
My Preciousssssss... PC Gaming
On this lovely Friday and during my lunch between reports this morning and reports this afternoon, I thought I would write a little article on why I am, at my core, a PC gamer. Some of the reasons may surprise you and while I don't consider myself a "fan boy" (I recently hit 20,000 points on my XBOX profile, thank you, thank you), I'm still in love with PC gaming.
Control
Since the days of Wolfenstein, Doom, and Marathon (for the MAC), I have been a big fan of the FPS genre. Dues Ex 1 & 2, Doom 3, Half-Life 1 & 2, Unreal, and the list goes on and on. What keeps me on the PC is the controls. Nothing feels so right to me as the mouse in the right hand and WASD in the left. I remembering mastering (I say that lightly) the controls for Syphon Filter on the PSONE and pulling off headshots like nothing. Since I started on the consoles with SNES in high school and PSONE in early college, I'm not quite sure what pulled me into PC gaming but I definitely know the fine-tuning of aiming with the mouse and the plethora of controls and commands on the keyboard have kept me focused on PC gaming, primarily due to FPS games as well as the smattering of RTS titles I play. This is in no way bashing the 360 or PS3 controllers (I'll leave the Wii out of this article entirely since it's a whole other argument) but I'm sticking with what I know and what I'm good. Last week, I went 57 and 17 (or something close to that) in a round of Bad Company 2. I was just rolling through noobs left and right on Port Valdez and unfortunately my team couldn't destroy that last A objective. I know for a fact that I could never pull something like that off with the 360 controller unless I really wanted to shift my whole focus and put months of practice into it. I'm lucky to pull off an even K/D ratio if I ever dare to step online in a 360 FPS title.
Pride
Before you jump all over this one, this isn't pride in being part of the "elite" or as many of my clanmates would refer to themselves as "hardcore" while considering all console gamers as casual. This is pride in owning a part of my machine, of having sunk blood, sweat, and tears into putting it together. Ok, that's way overdramatic but I did put my machine together and took several hours, with some serious assistance from my friend, Delrey. Errr, ok, he did most of the work but whatever. I still learned a lot and can change out RAM, graphics cards, hardrives, DVD drives, and maybe a power supply or a processor myself. There is a pride in knowing I've learned a lot, expanded my knowledge, and given another build or two, I might be able to do one myself, from mountaing the motherboard to updating the bios and installing Windows and running my first game. Now that would rock. So it's not so much pride in being a PC gamer but pride in knowing that I put it together from spare parts bought off of Newegg. It can definitely be at time sink but hey, that's what a hobby is for!
Troubleshooting & Crashes
This was definitely an argument for gaming on a console before this current generation. I can't remember if my PS2 ever crashed at all. And to this day, I can swear that I will have more crashes on my PC than my 360. But give it a generation or two and the console will be just as finicky as a PC, if not more so. My PC won't RROD on me, that's for sure. Yeah, I've had problems but then I can figure it out myself and fix it. I was recently having some serious issues until I figured out my 1TB harddrive as taking a crap on me. Thank God I had two so I just installed Windows 7 on my 320GB and was good to go. This is in no way bragging about the PC but again, I felt pride in figuring the problem out and learned something along the way. When my first 360 RRODd, I could do nothing but go into the store and replace it. I just feel like I have many more troubleshooting options with my PC. Harddrive fails. Ok, I have a backup and if I didn't, I could just order one, pop in, and I'm up and running again. GPU going out. No biggie. It was time for an upgrade anyways. With a console, these options are extremely limited and you have to replace the whole console.
Mods
I've never been into mods very much buuuuut... this is a huge way that one single game can be expanded well past its life by the vast and diverse PC gaming community that will create it's own content for a game. Just the mods available for WoW are so awesome and really expand the gaming experience and make it much more enjoyable. I've played some Battlefield 2 mods that were set it Vietnam or even one where you were pirates versus skeletons, turning the game into a whole new one. Those were fun times.
Etc.
One can argue that the best graphics will always be seen on the PC, which I believe is true, if you have the latest and greatest technology. But the way technology advances, you can't keep up unless you are rich. I'm more about the gameplay. You can give me dated graphics from 2001 and if the gameplay is awesome, I'll get into the game...
And last, there are definitely some PC only titles, like Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, that will keep me gaming on the PC even if they add a mouse and keyboard to a console.
The Other Side of the Coin...
On the other side, I still enjoy the smoothness of the console experience. They are way cheaper so if you need to replace one and you aren't covered by a plan of some kind, it's only a couple hundred. Whereas if my motherboard were to go out, they probably don't even sell one like it anymore so I would have to upgrade virtually everything in my PC if that were to happen (at least it's an EVGA...).
Some games just play better with the controller so if you are a little lazy like me and don't want to hook up a 360 controller to your PC, you just get the game for the console. From Mass Effect to Red Dead to any of the numerous Lego titles; I prefer to play those on the console.
And definitely the lack of upgrades is nice. As long as it doesn't give you the RROD, you can shell out a couple hundred and use it for years and years whereas your PC you have to upgrade quite frequently in comparison if you want to keep up with the latest games. I mean, I upgrades my GPU and my processor and still can only play Bad Company 2 on medium settings on my PC. I actually keep it on low settings to get a higher frame rate, thus allowing me to own more prevalently.
In the end, they are all just mediums for accomplishing the same goal, which is to play a game and have fun. I am not a hardcore fan of any one system and don't see why people swear on their lives that the 360 pwns the PS3 or the PS3 pwns the 360 or "PCs are for fags" or the other crap you'll read on any number of forums or message boards.
So keep gaming and keep having fun, even if you still own the original pong with the dial controls...
Control
Since the days of Wolfenstein, Doom, and Marathon (for the MAC), I have been a big fan of the FPS genre. Dues Ex 1 & 2, Doom 3, Half-Life 1 & 2, Unreal, and the list goes on and on. What keeps me on the PC is the controls. Nothing feels so right to me as the mouse in the right hand and WASD in the left. I remembering mastering (I say that lightly) the controls for Syphon Filter on the PSONE and pulling off headshots like nothing. Since I started on the consoles with SNES in high school and PSONE in early college, I'm not quite sure what pulled me into PC gaming but I definitely know the fine-tuning of aiming with the mouse and the plethora of controls and commands on the keyboard have kept me focused on PC gaming, primarily due to FPS games as well as the smattering of RTS titles I play. This is in no way bashing the 360 or PS3 controllers (I'll leave the Wii out of this article entirely since it's a whole other argument) but I'm sticking with what I know and what I'm good. Last week, I went 57 and 17 (or something close to that) in a round of Bad Company 2. I was just rolling through noobs left and right on Port Valdez and unfortunately my team couldn't destroy that last A objective. I know for a fact that I could never pull something like that off with the 360 controller unless I really wanted to shift my whole focus and put months of practice into it. I'm lucky to pull off an even K/D ratio if I ever dare to step online in a 360 FPS title.
Pride
Before you jump all over this one, this isn't pride in being part of the "elite" or as many of my clanmates would refer to themselves as "hardcore" while considering all console gamers as casual. This is pride in owning a part of my machine, of having sunk blood, sweat, and tears into putting it together. Ok, that's way overdramatic but I did put my machine together and took several hours, with some serious assistance from my friend, Delrey. Errr, ok, he did most of the work but whatever. I still learned a lot and can change out RAM, graphics cards, hardrives, DVD drives, and maybe a power supply or a processor myself. There is a pride in knowing I've learned a lot, expanded my knowledge, and given another build or two, I might be able to do one myself, from mountaing the motherboard to updating the bios and installing Windows and running my first game. Now that would rock. So it's not so much pride in being a PC gamer but pride in knowing that I put it together from spare parts bought off of Newegg. It can definitely be at time sink but hey, that's what a hobby is for!
Troubleshooting & Crashes
This was definitely an argument for gaming on a console before this current generation. I can't remember if my PS2 ever crashed at all. And to this day, I can swear that I will have more crashes on my PC than my 360. But give it a generation or two and the console will be just as finicky as a PC, if not more so. My PC won't RROD on me, that's for sure. Yeah, I've had problems but then I can figure it out myself and fix it. I was recently having some serious issues until I figured out my 1TB harddrive as taking a crap on me. Thank God I had two so I just installed Windows 7 on my 320GB and was good to go. This is in no way bragging about the PC but again, I felt pride in figuring the problem out and learned something along the way. When my first 360 RRODd, I could do nothing but go into the store and replace it. I just feel like I have many more troubleshooting options with my PC. Harddrive fails. Ok, I have a backup and if I didn't, I could just order one, pop in, and I'm up and running again. GPU going out. No biggie. It was time for an upgrade anyways. With a console, these options are extremely limited and you have to replace the whole console.
Mods
I've never been into mods very much buuuuut... this is a huge way that one single game can be expanded well past its life by the vast and diverse PC gaming community that will create it's own content for a game. Just the mods available for WoW are so awesome and really expand the gaming experience and make it much more enjoyable. I've played some Battlefield 2 mods that were set it Vietnam or even one where you were pirates versus skeletons, turning the game into a whole new one. Those were fun times.
Etc.
One can argue that the best graphics will always be seen on the PC, which I believe is true, if you have the latest and greatest technology. But the way technology advances, you can't keep up unless you are rich. I'm more about the gameplay. You can give me dated graphics from 2001 and if the gameplay is awesome, I'll get into the game...
And last, there are definitely some PC only titles, like Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, that will keep me gaming on the PC even if they add a mouse and keyboard to a console.
The Other Side of the Coin...
On the other side, I still enjoy the smoothness of the console experience. They are way cheaper so if you need to replace one and you aren't covered by a plan of some kind, it's only a couple hundred. Whereas if my motherboard were to go out, they probably don't even sell one like it anymore so I would have to upgrade virtually everything in my PC if that were to happen (at least it's an EVGA...).
Some games just play better with the controller so if you are a little lazy like me and don't want to hook up a 360 controller to your PC, you just get the game for the console. From Mass Effect to Red Dead to any of the numerous Lego titles; I prefer to play those on the console.
And definitely the lack of upgrades is nice. As long as it doesn't give you the RROD, you can shell out a couple hundred and use it for years and years whereas your PC you have to upgrade quite frequently in comparison if you want to keep up with the latest games. I mean, I upgrades my GPU and my processor and still can only play Bad Company 2 on medium settings on my PC. I actually keep it on low settings to get a higher frame rate, thus allowing me to own more prevalently.
In the end, they are all just mediums for accomplishing the same goal, which is to play a game and have fun. I am not a hardcore fan of any one system and don't see why people swear on their lives that the 360 pwns the PS3 or the PS3 pwns the 360 or "PCs are for fags" or the other crap you'll read on any number of forums or message boards.
So keep gaming and keep having fun, even if you still own the original pong with the dial controls...
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Achievements and Trophies
I know that I always come back to this and that I'm the constant bun of all the achievement/trophy jokes, but I can't help it. I just love getting them. Not so much as a competitive thing against friends or strangers, but I just love seeing that according the developers, I've really played the hell out of their game. I've used all the weapons, found the secret areas, beaten all the difficulties, carried specific objects through the whole game, only used one weapon and on and on and on.
What's frustrating is that it does feel more like a compulsion, at times, than anything else. Just the other day I was frustrated with myself because I have so many new games to play and old ones to replay and I'm dumping so much time into each one, going for trophies, when I could just move on to the next game.
Every time I tell myself I'm through with them and I'm just gonna play for fun I always come back to them. Does this limit my fun? Sometimes I think it absolutely does, but for the most part a lot of the fun is getting them.
At times it feels like me stating to all that see the trophies that I really love that game. Dead Space and Oblivion are great examples of that....Jumper is not.
Does anyone else feel the compulsion as I do? That it's not so much about the score as it is seeing the completion bar on a game fill up? That you feel like you're never really done with the game until you're done with the achievements? That you have unfinished business with the game?
Or am I just that much of a loser?
What's frustrating is that it does feel more like a compulsion, at times, than anything else. Just the other day I was frustrated with myself because I have so many new games to play and old ones to replay and I'm dumping so much time into each one, going for trophies, when I could just move on to the next game.
Every time I tell myself I'm through with them and I'm just gonna play for fun I always come back to them. Does this limit my fun? Sometimes I think it absolutely does, but for the most part a lot of the fun is getting them.
At times it feels like me stating to all that see the trophies that I really love that game. Dead Space and Oblivion are great examples of that....Jumper is not.
Does anyone else feel the compulsion as I do? That it's not so much about the score as it is seeing the completion bar on a game fill up? That you feel like you're never really done with the game until you're done with the achievements? That you have unfinished business with the game?
Or am I just that much of a loser?
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Crackdown 2
I've been spending my last few evenings (and early mornings) with Crackdown 2. At the end of the night, I definitely can say that I had an absolute blast, but I still agree with some of the impressions that other reviewers have gotten from it as well. I also feel like some of these comments are missing the point.
Liking:
- New Stuff/New System
There are a few more new toys, vehicles, and general environmental stuff to play with. I'm sure I'll be discovering a few more as the game goes on, and find even more that I like to mess around with, but even the ones I've unlocked so far are a riot. The magnetic grenades are probably my new favorite tool, allowing the player to connect objects together, allowing for some physics defying results. My long term goal with these is to make a giant slingshot, but we'll see how that goes. Getting the new things are also unlocked by leveling up your character, not by finding them off gang bodies and surviving the trip back to a supply point. A little less stressful, but still effective.
- The Narrator
A huge fan favorite from the first game, the perverse overlooking narrator of the game is back, encouraging you to basically be awesome. Same voice actor (or one very, very close), same weird sense of humor, and same borderline morality.
- Co-op party time
Inclusion of 4 player co-op play is a much welcomed addition, something that lacked in Crackdown 1. It runs smoothly as far as I've experienced, and it really makes the sandbox game feel more like a playground. It's fun to mess around with all these new tools and weapons, but it's more fun in a group, using magnets to get stuff together, hunting for orbs and fighting off the hordes.
Disliking:
- "Well that's a huge achievement..."
As much as I love being encouraged by the Narrator to rock out, I don't appreciate him breaking the fourth wall whenever an achievement is earned. Every time one is unlocked he has some cheesy line that revolves around the word "achievement". It wouldn't have been so intrusive had it only happened once or twice, almost like a joke, but it happens a lot. It's almost become fun trying to guess what he'll say based off of what achievement I earned... almost.
- What's all this... story?
I liked Crackdown 1's narrative because it was basically there to drive the gameplay, and nothing more. No social message (save the end of the game), no real cut scenes... just guidance on who to kill next. Although the story content on Crackdown 2 is a bit of a joke, it is much more present, and you'll inadvertently get pieces of it collecting audio logs, background from the narrator while attacking some base or stronghold, or any other random time. Who cares? I'm not here for engaging dialogue, I want to blow stuff up, or throw a car... sheesh. (On a similar note, I didn't like being made aware of the narrator's role in the world as the agency director. Although it's implied fairly strong in the last game, it's made obvious in this one, and it makes it less fun guessing why he's so nurturing to your destructive tendencies. Apparently he's got a job to do too...)
-Body /Juggled
I think this one will get more fair when I get better guns, but I've been body juggled a few times by enemy AI, and it just doesn't feel fair. I guess I can just jump away to some safe point, but they've let a ton of rockets go in my direction, it's a little paralyzing just laying there while my body gets tossed around by explosions.
Still on the Fence:
- Zombies
Sometimes I really like the zombies. Quick way to get some driving skill points, maybe some melee points... good stuff. Sometimes they just seem to get in the way. They only come out in force at night, which is good. It diversifies the world, making it a fun action based time any time of day, not just when gangs are out and about. There's also some uber-zombies that can climb, jump around like me, and spit acid all over the place. It's good to have an enemy that I can't just avoid by climbing the nearest sky-scraper, but it's a tad annoying if I just need a break to recollect myself and heal up. I think I'll arrive at a solid point on this one soon, but the zombies/freaks in the game haven't ruined the experience like I first thought they would.
Conclusion
I definitely can't recommend Crackdown 2 for everyone. If you loved the first game and want another trip back to Pacific City (it's the same city, by the way), then by all means, pick it up. If you're more of a GTA open-world type player though, the lack of focus and story might throw you off your game for a while. There's a lot of fun to be had, but it doesn't do as good of a job as the first game leading you to it, and sometimes you just need to make the fun yourself, but I think that's the point. Ruffian followed up Crackdown 1 with a fun world, with fun tools, to have fun with... go get em' Agent!
Liking:
- New Stuff/New System
There are a few more new toys, vehicles, and general environmental stuff to play with. I'm sure I'll be discovering a few more as the game goes on, and find even more that I like to mess around with, but even the ones I've unlocked so far are a riot. The magnetic grenades are probably my new favorite tool, allowing the player to connect objects together, allowing for some physics defying results. My long term goal with these is to make a giant slingshot, but we'll see how that goes. Getting the new things are also unlocked by leveling up your character, not by finding them off gang bodies and surviving the trip back to a supply point. A little less stressful, but still effective.
- The Narrator
A huge fan favorite from the first game, the perverse overlooking narrator of the game is back, encouraging you to basically be awesome. Same voice actor (or one very, very close), same weird sense of humor, and same borderline morality.
- Co-op party time
Inclusion of 4 player co-op play is a much welcomed addition, something that lacked in Crackdown 1. It runs smoothly as far as I've experienced, and it really makes the sandbox game feel more like a playground. It's fun to mess around with all these new tools and weapons, but it's more fun in a group, using magnets to get stuff together, hunting for orbs and fighting off the hordes.
Disliking:
- "Well that's a huge achievement..."
As much as I love being encouraged by the Narrator to rock out, I don't appreciate him breaking the fourth wall whenever an achievement is earned. Every time one is unlocked he has some cheesy line that revolves around the word "achievement". It wouldn't have been so intrusive had it only happened once or twice, almost like a joke, but it happens a lot. It's almost become fun trying to guess what he'll say based off of what achievement I earned... almost.
- What's all this... story?
I liked Crackdown 1's narrative because it was basically there to drive the gameplay, and nothing more. No social message (save the end of the game), no real cut scenes... just guidance on who to kill next. Although the story content on Crackdown 2 is a bit of a joke, it is much more present, and you'll inadvertently get pieces of it collecting audio logs, background from the narrator while attacking some base or stronghold, or any other random time. Who cares? I'm not here for engaging dialogue, I want to blow stuff up, or throw a car... sheesh. (On a similar note, I didn't like being made aware of the narrator's role in the world as the agency director. Although it's implied fairly strong in the last game, it's made obvious in this one, and it makes it less fun guessing why he's so nurturing to your destructive tendencies. Apparently he's got a job to do too...)
-Body /Juggled
I think this one will get more fair when I get better guns, but I've been body juggled a few times by enemy AI, and it just doesn't feel fair. I guess I can just jump away to some safe point, but they've let a ton of rockets go in my direction, it's a little paralyzing just laying there while my body gets tossed around by explosions.
Still on the Fence:
- Zombies
Sometimes I really like the zombies. Quick way to get some driving skill points, maybe some melee points... good stuff. Sometimes they just seem to get in the way. They only come out in force at night, which is good. It diversifies the world, making it a fun action based time any time of day, not just when gangs are out and about. There's also some uber-zombies that can climb, jump around like me, and spit acid all over the place. It's good to have an enemy that I can't just avoid by climbing the nearest sky-scraper, but it's a tad annoying if I just need a break to recollect myself and heal up. I think I'll arrive at a solid point on this one soon, but the zombies/freaks in the game haven't ruined the experience like I first thought they would.
Conclusion
I definitely can't recommend Crackdown 2 for everyone. If you loved the first game and want another trip back to Pacific City (it's the same city, by the way), then by all means, pick it up. If you're more of a GTA open-world type player though, the lack of focus and story might throw you off your game for a while. There's a lot of fun to be had, but it doesn't do as good of a job as the first game leading you to it, and sometimes you just need to make the fun yourself, but I think that's the point. Ruffian followed up Crackdown 1 with a fun world, with fun tools, to have fun with... go get em' Agent!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The games industry likes to hurt itself.
I know we've gotten away from story posting, but this article was a well written piece about the dangers of another "next gen console" and blockbuster games.
I remember reading another article about how all these "hardcore" gamers that play nothing, but blockbuster video games like CoD, HALO, Mass Effect and the like are no better than the soccer moms buying garbage mainstream games for the Wii.
Juniper's article below got me thinking about this btw.
I remember reading another article about how all these "hardcore" gamers that play nothing, but blockbuster video games like CoD, HALO, Mass Effect and the like are no better than the soccer moms buying garbage mainstream games for the Wii.
Juniper's article below got me thinking about this btw.
More Kotick Shenanigans
Not a very controversial article... however, I enjoy his statements regarding how Activision is not involved in the income stream of Live. I put the sentences in bold. Just kind of irritates me that he's annoyed that another company is making money and Activision is not a part of that...
Activision CEO wants to break console 'walled garden'
By Randolph Ramsay, GameSpot AU
Posted Jul 5, 2010 5:48 pm PT
Publisher head laments lack of income from online console games such as Modern Warfare 2; will strongly support new PC-based hardware designed to connect straight to TVs.
Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick is certainly not afraid to speak his mind. Last year, the executive made blunt threats to drop support for the PlayStation 3 and the PSP unless Sony made cuts to the hardware's price. He also earned the ire of many gamers after stating at a conference in 2009 that he wanted to "take all the fun out of making video games." Kotick also predicted a future independent of game consoles, a statement he reiterated over the weekend in an interview with business news organisation The Financial Times.
Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick.
In the FT interview, Kotick lamented the fact that despite the strong sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the publisher saw no additional revenue from the game's continuing popularity on console online environments like Xbox Live. "We've heard that 60 percent of [Microsoft's] subscribers are principally on Live because of Call of Duty," Kotick told FT. "We don't really participate financially in that income stream. We would really like to be able to provide much more value to those millions of players playing on Live, but it's not our network."
The Activision CEO said the company would "very aggressively" support new gaming hardware being planned by the likes of HP and Dell to better integrate PCs with TVs, saying this would break the Xbox 360 and PS3's "walled gardens with new gamer-friendly PCs, designed to be plugged into the television. PCs have long been used for online play, but PC gaming remains niche when the games industry needs to widen its appeal."
"We have always been platform agnostic," Kotick said. "[Consoles] do a very good job of supporting the gamer. If we are going to broaden our audiences, we are going to need to have other devices."
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6268257.html?tag=recent_news%3Btitle%3B1
Activision CEO wants to break console 'walled garden'
By Randolph Ramsay, GameSpot AU
Posted Jul 5, 2010 5:48 pm PT
Publisher head laments lack of income from online console games such as Modern Warfare 2; will strongly support new PC-based hardware designed to connect straight to TVs.
Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick is certainly not afraid to speak his mind. Last year, the executive made blunt threats to drop support for the PlayStation 3 and the PSP unless Sony made cuts to the hardware's price. He also earned the ire of many gamers after stating at a conference in 2009 that he wanted to "take all the fun out of making video games." Kotick also predicted a future independent of game consoles, a statement he reiterated over the weekend in an interview with business news organisation The Financial Times.
Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick.
In the FT interview, Kotick lamented the fact that despite the strong sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the publisher saw no additional revenue from the game's continuing popularity on console online environments like Xbox Live. "We've heard that 60 percent of [Microsoft's] subscribers are principally on Live because of Call of Duty," Kotick told FT. "We don't really participate financially in that income stream. We would really like to be able to provide much more value to those millions of players playing on Live, but it's not our network."
The Activision CEO said the company would "very aggressively" support new gaming hardware being planned by the likes of HP and Dell to better integrate PCs with TVs, saying this would break the Xbox 360 and PS3's "walled gardens with new gamer-friendly PCs, designed to be plugged into the television. PCs have long been used for online play, but PC gaming remains niche when the games industry needs to widen its appeal."
"We have always been platform agnostic," Kotick said. "[Consoles] do a very good job of supporting the gamer. If we are going to broaden our audiences, we are going to need to have other devices."
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6268257.html?tag=recent_news%3Btitle%3B1
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Big egos in gaming
Totally opinionated piece below.
Something that gets on my nerves every once in a while is a small game company that comes from a grass roots background and makes some great games and then they turn into assholes.
Enter Valve, Bungie, Epic and Jonathan Blow.
I know it's a personal opinion thing, but if I see one more review or story spouting the genius of Valve or Bungie I'm going to blow something up. Watching interview videos with developers is painful to me because it seems to be less about the game and more about theirs egos of making "the greatest game everz!"
Valve is a studio that has fallen greatly in my mind. They've made some awesome games and somewhere between Half Life 2 and L4D2 they just became turds. L4D was amazing and while rushing out a sequel for quick cash they forgot to keep the fun in L4D2. Portal was a lot of fun, but has ZERO replayability and isn't the greatest thing of all time like some seem to think it is. It was originally some college kids game project that Valve picked up.
As far as Portal 2 goes didn't Gabe Newell spend the last 2 years bashing the hell out of the PS3 and now out of E3 I'm reading that the best version of Portal 2 will be on the PS3 because of Steam and Sony not holding their online community upside down by their balls and letting them get stuff every once in a while.
Where the hell is Episode 3 of Half Life? Wasn't the point of episodic content to get games to the players faster? I did hear an unconfirmed rumor that every fat joke made about Gabe Newell pushes back Episode 3 another two weeks.
Bungie struck gold with HALO: CE and every game since has been considerably worse than the last. I can't wait till they stop with the HALO crap altogether. This probably has me loving my PS3 more than anything else lately.
Cliffy B is just a turd. He's a small man with small penis syndrome and that's why all of his games are busting at the seems with "MEN!" and even more "MANLY MEN!" that have chainsaws on guns! I honestly respect his game making abilities cause the GoW game campaigns are tons of fun, but he just needs to chill out.
Jonathan Blow....read anything that guy has written or talked about and you'll see he's clearly an asshole and full of himself.
Phenomenal game makers that I respect that are still just making great games without all the hype or drama inbetween games? 2K Marin, Bioware, id, Bethesda and as of late Guerilla Games, Insomniac and especially Naughty Dog.
Something that gets on my nerves every once in a while is a small game company that comes from a grass roots background and makes some great games and then they turn into assholes.
Enter Valve, Bungie, Epic and Jonathan Blow.
I know it's a personal opinion thing, but if I see one more review or story spouting the genius of Valve or Bungie I'm going to blow something up. Watching interview videos with developers is painful to me because it seems to be less about the game and more about theirs egos of making "the greatest game everz!"
Valve is a studio that has fallen greatly in my mind. They've made some awesome games and somewhere between Half Life 2 and L4D2 they just became turds. L4D was amazing and while rushing out a sequel for quick cash they forgot to keep the fun in L4D2. Portal was a lot of fun, but has ZERO replayability and isn't the greatest thing of all time like some seem to think it is. It was originally some college kids game project that Valve picked up.
As far as Portal 2 goes didn't Gabe Newell spend the last 2 years bashing the hell out of the PS3 and now out of E3 I'm reading that the best version of Portal 2 will be on the PS3 because of Steam and Sony not holding their online community upside down by their balls and letting them get stuff every once in a while.
Where the hell is Episode 3 of Half Life? Wasn't the point of episodic content to get games to the players faster? I did hear an unconfirmed rumor that every fat joke made about Gabe Newell pushes back Episode 3 another two weeks.
Bungie struck gold with HALO: CE and every game since has been considerably worse than the last. I can't wait till they stop with the HALO crap altogether. This probably has me loving my PS3 more than anything else lately.
Cliffy B is just a turd. He's a small man with small penis syndrome and that's why all of his games are busting at the seems with "MEN!" and even more "MANLY MEN!" that have chainsaws on guns! I honestly respect his game making abilities cause the GoW game campaigns are tons of fun, but he just needs to chill out.
Jonathan Blow....read anything that guy has written or talked about and you'll see he's clearly an asshole and full of himself.
Phenomenal game makers that I respect that are still just making great games without all the hype or drama inbetween games? 2K Marin, Bioware, id, Bethesda and as of late Guerilla Games, Insomniac and especially Naughty Dog.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
1080p - New TV
Hey, I just got a new TV yesterday. An awesome 47" Vizio that goes up to 1080p. I know the stock cables on the XBOX 360 block the HDMI plug. I know I need an HDMI cable but do I really need to fork out the $40 for the 360 converter kit? Is that all I need to run it in 1080p?
Any help or advice would be appreciated. My brother believes the 360 can run in 1080p but I'm not sure how to do it...
Thanks ahead of time.
Any help or advice would be appreciated. My brother believes the 360 can run in 1080p but I'm not sure how to do it...
Thanks ahead of time.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Blizzard
Many of you may not be too familiar with this company though I'm sure you've heard of them or one of their famous products, World of Warcraft. I just wanted to take a quick minute to bring some praise to my favorite video game company.
(They primarily work with PC games and no, that is not why I love them)
They have a "we'll release it when it's done" philosophy on game design which has ended up creating high quality products that many people love and play for years and years. Starcraft players are treated like celebrities in South Korea where the game is still played extensively after 12 years. Many claim that Starcraft revolutionized the strategy game genre. Not quite sure if it revolutionized the genre but it definitely pushed it foward. 3 races with 3 different build orders and tech trees was a pretty new concept back then. This philosophy also allows them to release a beta version of a game that plays smoother than a majority of games from other companies on their initial release. Having put a lot of hours into the Starcraft 2 beta, I was pretty impressed at how smooth and bug free it was. They also continue to support their games after release with patches and updates and expansion packs.
Their whole design philosophy appears to revolve around what will be fun and enjoyable for the player. They don't hesitate to make major changes with a game several years after it's been in development to make sure their product is awesome. Diablo III has been in the works for five years now and they recently announced a major change and did away with the skill trees for the different classes!
One can only look to the success of World of Warcraft to see how well the company as done. They pretty much own the MMORPG market and with the release of the Cataclysm expansion pack, don't appear to be letting go of this anytime soon.
This may fall on deaf ears but if many other companies adopted their game design philosophy, there would be a lot more high quality, enjoyable games out there. I can only hope that their merger with Activision will not taint their products, which it doesn't seem to have done yet.
(They primarily work with PC games and no, that is not why I love them)
They have a "we'll release it when it's done" philosophy on game design which has ended up creating high quality products that many people love and play for years and years. Starcraft players are treated like celebrities in South Korea where the game is still played extensively after 12 years. Many claim that Starcraft revolutionized the strategy game genre. Not quite sure if it revolutionized the genre but it definitely pushed it foward. 3 races with 3 different build orders and tech trees was a pretty new concept back then. This philosophy also allows them to release a beta version of a game that plays smoother than a majority of games from other companies on their initial release. Having put a lot of hours into the Starcraft 2 beta, I was pretty impressed at how smooth and bug free it was. They also continue to support their games after release with patches and updates and expansion packs.
Their whole design philosophy appears to revolve around what will be fun and enjoyable for the player. They don't hesitate to make major changes with a game several years after it's been in development to make sure their product is awesome. Diablo III has been in the works for five years now and they recently announced a major change and did away with the skill trees for the different classes!
One can only look to the success of World of Warcraft to see how well the company as done. They pretty much own the MMORPG market and with the release of the Cataclysm expansion pack, don't appear to be letting go of this anytime soon.
This may fall on deaf ears but if many other companies adopted their game design philosophy, there would be a lot more high quality, enjoyable games out there. I can only hope that their merger with Activision will not taint their products, which it doesn't seem to have done yet.
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