Journey - Review

Salad and I have a long running joke about Journey.  Well, really it's just spitting hatred and eye rolling at it whenever the occasion arises, which is pretty often.  Honestly, I think most of our annoyance of the game is less from the game and more from gaming journalists that won't shut up about it.

It's common to see in reviews that many people that play the game just "won't get it".  It seems so pompous and holier than tho that it pretty much got catapulted to the top of my shit list. 

Add in the fact of the glowing reviews for Flow and Flower, 2 games that suck massive amounts of ass as they are both just the game "Snake" with really pretty packaging, and you can see why I'd be very unlikely to be kind to another game from THATGAMECOMPANY.

With the holiday season literally on top of us I told Salad that if Journey went on sale I'd buy it and play it.  That day came yesterday.  Below is my review:

I was wrong.  I was wrong and I'm sorry.

For those that don't know, Journey is a very simple game.  You're what appears to be some sort of nomadic desert person that is going from Point A to B.  Always in the background is your destination, a large mountain with a bright beam of light shooting out of it.

You can jump/fly with one button and "chirp" (I don't really know a good way to describe it) with another.  Holding down this chirp long enough releases a louder and different in tone chirp that will activate certain things. 

The game is beautiful.  I don't know what else to say, but that.  There's several moments where the sun reflects off of the sand in the most amazing way and the sand moves in a manner that makes it look like an ocean more than anything else.  It sounds lame I know, but I was quite blown away a good number of times.  The game also lacks any HUD whatsoever so it's stripped down to just the game.

The music is stunning and fitting.  It is subtle and beautiful and puts the correct mood and ambiance in the situation.

The real meat and potatoes of this game came from somewhere I didn't expect it to.  Co-op.  What?!

I'm a purist.  I prefer (except GOW, Borderlands and RE5) to play all my games solo the first time, but I knew that I wouldn't have the option to here.  So I just decided to see what happens.

I'd gone into the game with some knowledge that you'll play with others.  You won't know when or where or who.  You won't have the option to not play with them.  You won't even be able to talk to them.  They'll just....be there.  Nameless.  Damn near voiceless.  This is where the subtlety of the rather genius gameplay came into focus.

I was in a rather large area when all of a sudden I noticed the right edge of my screen had a white glow on it.  I turn to see another person running towards me chirping.  2 things struck me here.  In game body language was going to be huge and proper chirping will be key and also that his chirp was different than mine.  It sounded different and it even looked different.  This was so simple, but really drove home that we're all individuals!

We walked around picking up some things to pick up.  When we ran next to each other we glowed very bright and when we did large chirps next to each other it would power up the other person's jump power.  Co-reliance is set in my mind now. 

I could tell this person was new to the game like me.  They didn't seem to know precisely what to do at every moment either.  We found ourselves waiting for each other and chirping to get attention to look at certain things.  It was....awesome.  Here's a guy that may call my mom every horrible name in the book in CoD, but in this game I felt like a kindred spirit with this person.  As we patiently work through puzzles and chirp to power up. 

Later in the game it shows co-dependence.  It's a freezing section as we near the summit and we have to walk almost on top of each other to burn bright and not freeze to death!  It was beautiful having these moments. 

No talking. Just the common struggle of climbing and relying on each other to get there.

I beat the game in 1 sitting after a little under 2 hours.  I'm telling you right now that I'm glad the game was so short.  It wouldn't work if it couldn't be done it one sitting.  Jumping in and out would not only ruin the journey (sorry), but it would also break this connection I had with my partner.  We were in this together.

I'm an emotional person and enjoy a strong bond and this game really drives that home.

After I beat the game it showed me that I had actually played with 4 different people!  They are:

gambelQ
XKillerMexicanoX
HYMATARY
DarKest_Dragon

I don't know if they felt the same way I did or how many times they've all played the game, but I felt connected to each one of them even though I didn't know who they were or that there were actually 4 different people.

What game can make you say that?

Bottom line.  The game deserves to be played.  With the holiday sale on PSN now you need to get the game and play it tonight.  It's its own thing and something that even a jaded gamer needs every now and again.

The Walking Dead: Episode 1 - Review

Holy fuck. 

So I've been waiting to play these until all 5 episodes launched because I'm not a patient person.  If a really interesting story is happening that I'm really into the last thing I want to do is wait a month to figure out what happens next.

Episode 5 just dropped this week so it was time to dig into Episodes 1 and 2 that were "free" gifts from PSPlus a long time ago.

In case you don't already know it takes place around Atlanta, just like the show and comic, and it starts at outbreak.  The game is basically a point-and-click adventure in a 3d world.  It's a heavily story driven (but NOT heavy handed) game that does an astounding job of sucking you into it's world.  

Never in my gaming life have I ever felt the stresses that came with this game and I mean that as very high praise.  The game has some incredibly tense moments where I found myself moving to the front of my seat with my skin crawling and actually yelling, "Fucking move!"

Decisions.  Decisions.  Decisions.  Before this game the hardest decisional moments I've ever seen in games were in Mass Effect 1 when I had to pick who to let live and who to die and in Heavy Rain there were some difficult moments, but seeing as to how most all decision were based on doing something terrible to save my child they weren't tough. 

This game has some very hard decisions.  The astounding thing is that they flesh out the characters really well....astoundingly equally well and then shit hits the fan and you've got to choose.  The tension gets racked up to 96 because you have about 5 seconds of time to choose.  In Mass Effect I remember taking around 10 minutes to weigh every option and decide what I wanted.  Here it was just 2 very bad options with less time to decide than it takes to get a quick sip of your drink.

The dialog is also surprisingly strong.  You have multiple options and ways to respond to any dialogue and I've been very happy with the options.  I've been projecting myself onto the protagonist and playing how I'd react in real life.  The result is powerful, shocking and jaw dropping.

Several times I made split second decisions that felt right in the moment, but then I had instant regrets.

The best part is there isn't a good checkpoint system to reload if you change your mind.  It's keeping my playing honest and true.  I fucking love it.

I beat Episode 1 in around 2 and a half hours and there wasn't a moment that felt wasted or useless.  Every exchange added something of value to the story. 

At the end you're rewarded with a trailer for Episode 2 and holy balls....I can't wait to play it. 

The most impressive thing about this so far is that I can already see the huge ripple effect that my decisions could be possibly making.  Who I sided with in an argument.  Who I helped save and how that person was related to someone else and how it helps or strains that relationship.  The game carries each and every horrible choice you've made into the next episode and I can see already that I'll pay dearly for one of them.

Honestly, I couldn't recommend this game any higher.  Even if you're not a Walking Dead fan get it.  It's an amazing story told in a convincing and moving way.  The point-and-click works really well on a console controller.

If you're into the show or comics you'll be rewarded with seeing some of the cast from the show in the game. 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but just get the fucking game.  Go to your gaming rig of choice and pay 5 dollars and play it.  Now.

Rut of a Lifetime

I've been gaming since I was very little.  My first gaming system was an Atari 2600 followed shortly by my amazing and still loved Coleco.  I've owned consoles from every generation since.  There's not really a genre I wouldn't play (unless you count SimCity as a genre which in that case you can just go fuck yourself).  I love RPG, shooters, puzzles, horror, adventure and plenty of smaller download games like Limbo and Castle Crashers.  Bottom line is that I love games.

I'm also in the rut of a lifetime as far as gaming goes.  I've gone through spurts where I'm overly "blah" about most all games I own.  Tons to play and no desire to play them, but this is worse.  In most rut times I will play just for the sake of playing.  I may hop between 3 games within an hour to try and find something that I'm not bored with, but now I just feel no desire to play.

The other night I hoped onto 360 looking to shake things up and even though it was fun to play with the guys I was bored with the game within minutes and ready for something new.

I have at least a dozen games I haven't even touched yet and for a while all I could play was Mass Effect 3 and now I don't even want to play that anymore.

I need a wake up call.  A game to bitch slap me back to what I love about games.  Maybe it's the new, and apparently awesome, Dishonored.  Maybe it's a replay of an old game I loved that's been rereleased with a ton of new content and has a new coat of paint with the updated Rage Engine in Doom 3 BFG or maybe it's going back to Pandora in Borderlands 2.  Possibly it's donning the suit and tie as the greatest and scariest game character of all time in the new Hitman as Agent 47.

I miss the excitement that games used to bring.  Or maybe I'm just getting old.

Welcome back to Pandora

Borderlands 2 is out and the reviews in general have been more than favorable.  In fact, the only truly negative review I read (forwarded by a friend) basically says "BL2 would be better if it were COD..."  I'm not going to spend a lot of time reviewing the same things most reviewers tackle, but I will talk about what I enjoy about it and for those who have played a decent amount of the first game, what changed.

As I've described to so many people, the original Borderlands scratched an itch that I didn't even know I had.  I've always had a slight aversion to RPGs, but Borderlands showed me that it wasn't the strict elements of RPGs that turned me off, but the combat.  Genre blending is a bit of a newer trend in the game industry and the folks at Gearbox really struck a wonderful chord creating a game that throws together shooters and RPGs.  Games like Bioshock, and even Mass Effect were great, but I don't think the marriage of the two genres was complete in those.  Those games were awesome in their own right, but they tended to lean on one side more than the other.

That simple yet in depth formula continues in BL2.  Part first person shooter, part MMO style RPG, part Diablo loot hunting... BL2 delivers on all the familiar fronts from the first game.  The cartoonish cel-shaded style returns which is an appropriate fit for over the top, psychotic world. It feels like a bit of a cop-out, but it's easy to say that if you liked the first game, BL2 is a safe bet.

Things that have changed:

- Character customization has gotten better than just simple color selection, but I'm still a little surprised that there isn't more specific customization.  Basically you get to choose between a head and a body type (which also dictates the color scheme), all revolving around the general theme of your class.  With the crazy amount of guns in the game all with unique stats and characteristics, I would have expected individual clothing pieces to be swapped, changed, etc., but it seems that Gearbox doesn't want to hand that over to players for some reason.

- In general, I've found more loot on the ground than I have in chests, which is a switch from the first game.  Very rarely in the first game would I find anything of value from downed baddies, but now, all the good stuff seems to be coming from them... The game drops rarer loot when you play with friends and have more people in your party, so that might be contributing to this trend.  I really liked finding chests, waiting for it to open, then being surprised by what was inside... this still happens, but definitely not as frequently as before.

- The naming system for weapons has varied somewhat, which is confusing.  Every gun in the first game was randomly generated, given a unique name (usually including numbers and characters) based on what the gun did.  A modder could create his own weapon and it would have a unique name due to the specific attributes contributed to it.  Now the naming system is all a word based system and you need to read the specific stats or descriptions to discover the subtle (and sometimes important)  differences.  For example, relatively early in the game a character gives you a special weapon called the Teapot.  Everyone in our party received the same weapon, with the same name, but all of the stats were slightly different.  One did more damage, one had deeper mags, and one fired 2 shots per round at a cost of accuracy.  I don't mind the new naming system, but by the end of my run with the first game I was able to identify some of my favorite weapons just by their description and if looting for weapons, I could tell just by the name if the gun was worth looking into.  

- The new quest organization system is really elegant.  Similar to the first game, active/completed quests are prompted in their own menu, but now quick travel screen will let you know if an area you are considering travelling to has any active quests.  "While you're there..." will let you know what else you could do in an area if you're just passing through.  Not groundbreaking stuff, but definitely more streamlined than before.

- I'm only about halfway through my level cap, but the story so far is better.  Many of the jokes and character interactions do hinge on having previous knowledge of the first games characters (including DLC) but it is still fun regardless.  Without spoilers, it's just a better story that is told in a more cohesive fashion than previously.  It doesn't make sense at times, but let's face it...  Borderlands isn't the type of game you play for engrossing narrative.  It helps drive the gameplay, but the gameplay is so intrinsically addictive you could play with the story off and still have a good time.

- The jump in / jump out has been drastically improved.  From the home menu you can see all of your friends who are playing, what class they are playing as, and their level. (very similar interface as Halo Reach) Scrolling over them will let you know how close of a match you would be if you joined in with them.  XP is then rewarded appropriately, but I don't know if it adjusts based off of rank or not.  As best I can tell, everyone gets the same XP, but it appears to be scaled back for someone who is ranked significantly higher than the game's host.  This makes it fair for other players who aren't as far in the game, or for players who want to help their buddies catch up but don't want to be super overpowered.   Whatever they did, it works.

- Badass Rank is new, replacing the gun proficiencies from the first game.  Instead of using weapons frequently and becoming more proficient with them (reload speed, recoil, etc), in game "badass challenges" will award you Badass Rank and Badass tokens to redeem for skill bumps.  Want more health, or get more recoil reduction? Apply the tokens appropriately.  Badass challenges happen all the time, totally unprompted, so you get many tokens to spend.  I get the idea that Badass Rank will get very high due to many play throughs... AND Badass Rank follows your console profile, not the character, so once you get Badass, you stay that way with all of your characters.

- On a similar note, Claptrap now offers a special safe where you can share weapons and items found between your profiles.  Found a gun that would be great for another character/class you have? Save it there, then pick it up later.  Cool idea.

This post ran a little longer than I thought it would, like many things I write... congrats if you made it this far.  I'm obviously a big fan of the game and could recommend it to just about anyone, especially if you enjoyed the first game.

XBL Rewards

Just in case anyone is interested:

http://rewards.xbox.com/

You get some pretty miniscule discounts and gifts on birthdays (I'm guessing avatar stuff) but it's free to sign up. Might as well.

WiiU Announcement Thoughts

This is just kind of a general rambling and disjointed thoughts piece, but what are your feelings on the WiiU since they finally unveiled price and release date?

I think the damn thing is too expensive.

I think the gamepad will be a huge battery sucker.  Sure the processing is actually being done by the WiiU, but the size of the controller along with the large screen and other components for movement have to be a killer on the battery.  My Vita gets around 4hrs max on a charge and that gamepad can't be too much more than that, but I could be wrong.

One thing that 360 and PS3 controllers have in common is face button placement.  The buttons are located above the right stick.  The buttons on the gamepad and gamepad pro are below?!  What the fuck?  Nice big fuck you to muscle memory and is another fine example of Nintendo ignoring game norms and it's hard to think that they would have chosen this accidentally.

32GB internal memory?  Who the hell thought that was a good idea?  Salad and I were talking about the 20GB 360 and laughed at how impossibly small that is by today's standards.  It just further shows Nintendo's complete lack of belief in online play, dlc and the future of digital only games.

Bayonetta 2 as an exclusive is a big deal and was a huge surprise to me.  I think it's about as dumb a move that could've happened for a game with such a niche market, but oh well...maybe some people like to not earn more money.

Will I be getting one?  Ever?  No.  There's no need to.  Besides the built in screen on the controller there's nothing this thing will do that my PS3 or 360 can't do already and more than likely do better.  My Vita lets me remote play outside of my home or on my couch so in that regard it's already beaten the WiiU before it's launched.

Do I think the system will sell?  Absofuckinglutely it will.  It's Nintendo.  If Nintendo puts it out people will buy it.  It's the equivalent of Apple for video games.  No matter what they do their products sell.

Do I think the system will be left in the dust in another year?  Totally.  The WiiU will be just as antiquated as the Wii when the next PS and XBOX roll out.

I guess all in all I just don't get the point of this system.  It seems like a catchup game on Nintendo's part that is bound to just keep them further out of the loop of gaming beyond Nintendo first party titles.

Truthfully, I hope this thing bombs.  If for no other reason than to show Sony and Microsoft that doing what Nintendo has done will make you lose in the end.

Rant done.

Halo 4 thoughts

This came to the front of my mind as 3N3MY and I were messaging back and forth a couple of days ago. He told me he saw screenshots of some of the new enemies in the game, and that they looked like "shit." While I respectfully disagree, that's not the point. The point is, the hype machine is kicking into top gear now as we're less than two months away from the next chapter in what is undoubtedly Microsoft's biggest franchise.

This video was released about a week ago by 343i, the developers of the game. Give it a look and make sure to bump the video quality up to HD and listen with some good speakers or headphones.

The game screams, "I'm really polished!!!" As it should. A new composer has been hired and from what I've heard, is giving Halo a brand new sound. Sound effects have been completely overhauled. MoCap and facial recognition have been implemented. In the video at the 5:10 mark, note the improvement in the faces and how they no longer look like they're carved out of silly putty or a potato sack. Seemingly, 343i will overlook nothing, as they've even left off the little armor plates on Chief's trigger fingers for increased "tactile sense." I just thought that was a cool little touch. They also talk quite a lot about deepening the relationship between Chief and Cortana and making Chief more relatable. I sincerely HOPE that they can accomplish it but I will only believe it when I see it for myself.

Anyway, all of this is to say.....what is it we frequently complain about in certain other games? Thoughts like "the engine is exactly the same" and "there's no improvement in any area over x or y." This game just looks to be leaps and bounds ahead of any of the prior games in the series (and most other games) just from a production standpoint. I haven't even gone into the gameplay aspect. It's just a feeling that I NEVER got from watching anything that Bungie did on any of the other games. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they just didn't publicize it as much. We frequently joke that Bungie basically screwed around for about two and a half years and then started working on their next game for release six months later. I don't get that feeling at all with this one, and I hope it turns out to be as awesome as it looks.

This will be my first/last/only post on Halo 4 as I'm going to attempt to "go dark" on it in the next two months, not watching any more videos or any of the hype. I want to go into it knowing no more than I do at this time. Peace out.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Review

I am going to start this review by admitting that i am a HUGE fan of the Tony Hawk series ever since its release in 1999. Whether it was seeing how many goals i could achieve in the 2 minute time frame or playing split screen games of horse with my friends i have put many hours into the series and because it all started with thps 1 the game holds a special place in my list of all time favorite games. 

Over the past 13 years the series seems to have hit an all time low and the newer games never really  lived up to the first 4 games in the series. Sure the graphics were updated but the newer games failed to capture the same magic of the first 4 games in the series... That is until now... 

Tony hawk pro skater hd was just released last week and it marks the return to a time before slow-motion focus meters, million point combos, and terrible over the top storylines... Tony hawk pro skater hd is basically a remake of the first and second games in the series with little done to change the gameplay. There are only 7 levels in the game (3 borrowed from thps1 and 4 borrowed from thps2 with more from thps 3 &4 hinted at as dlc) but the levels have received a huge graphical overhall making this game easily the best looking thps experience to date. Its nice because the levels feel fresh enough to warrant a return but also feel familiar enough that ull be right at home playing them.

The gameplay is exactly like the first 4 games in the series which means in each level u will be given a 2 minute time limit and a list of goals to complete before the timer runs out. These goals range from landing specific tricks in specific spots and earning certain scores to finding hidden objects scattered throughout the level. You can also customize your skaters stats with money received for completing each goal and purchase new skateboards and special tricks. 

The sound track for the game is pretty decent sporting 14 songs total (7 from thps1 &2 and 7 new ones) i was a little disappointed to find that there is only 1 song  though...

I played a couple online matches and it seemed pretty solid over all. 

While i would say the game is worth every penny of the $15 cover price i do have a few issues with the game. My first gripe is the omission of split screen multiplayer... All the other games in the series had it so why cant this?! I loved playing the older ones on split screen and honestly how hard could it be to add it in there? Also there is no "HORSE" mode... I was shocked that they didnt add it in there since it is easily the best mode out of the entire series multiplayer. 

The game itself is extremely fun to play and does a great job of capturing the essence of the first tony hawk games. Throughout my time spent with the ps3 version i only noticed a few frame rate issues and a few instances where my commands weren't recognized by the game but these instances were few and far between. Whether you are a huge fan of the series looking for a ride down memory lane or a total noob to the series tony hawks pro skater hd is a great game and i would have no problem recommending it to anyone.

Remote Play

I know I sent a text to most of you last night with a pic of my Vita "running" Shadow of the Colossus.  Sony has released patches for Ico, SoTC and God of War 1 and 2 to do this. 

What came as the biggest revelation to me was that this remote play won't only just work while you're directly connected to the PS3 locally, but it actually allows you to play your PS3 from anywhere that has a decent wifi with no lag.  This is revolutionary.

What I thought I would have in the beginning was a WiiU type device.  I could play my PS3 games on my couch while my wife watched her shows.  I had no idea that this would actually open the opportunity to literally play my PS3 from almost anywhere.

The Vita's forward thinking design with the back panel allows it to be broken into 4 quadrants so you still have L2, L3, R2 and R3 and it works surprisingly well.  I'll admit that getting used to holding the Vita in such a way that you're not hitting them accidentally will take some getting used to, but still it's an amazing technical feat.

Not only can I now play the 9 different great Vita only games I have, but I'm (especially down the road when this is made available to more and more games) able to play, potentially, any game in my PS3 library. 

This blurs the line between handheld and console all the more.  Sure the Vita isn't technically playing the game as it's just receiving the streaming info from the PS3, but it's a leap toward the future that gaming is most certainly headed.  The Vita and PS3 are just the first powerhouses to make it happen with legit games that aren't Bejeweled or Snood or fucking Peggle.


I realize that this post probably wreaks to high heaven of fanboyism, but seriously....this is awesome stuff and is a glimpse to the future of where games can go.

Counter Strike: A Read for the Uninitiated

I know some people shit their pants when we link to other sites on this one, but this quick read on the appeal of Counter Strike is both funny and spot on.

Best quote:  "Shooting that sniper’s prone corpse, I was basically cutting off his dick so I could keep it in a jar of vinegar, along with all the others, like that Assyrian king way back when."

Get this game and a keyboard and mouse.  Let us play as men.  Or at least as manly as guys pretending to play war can be.

George Lucas hates you.

George Lucas has ruined Star Wars.  This is sort of a common accept fact at this point.  There are so many things that we could submit as evidence here. There are plenty of hilarious songs and honest (albeit, weird) commentaries that all illustrate the point well enough.  Why are there so many kids in the prequel movies? Why did Lucas feel it necessary to have Greedo shoot first/at all?

I would like to talk about a very specific grievance - The Force.

As a kid who grew up on a healthy does of the original trilogy, the Force was always an interesting concept.  I, like many of you, probably spent more than a healthy amount of time staring at a fixed object, concentrating on it, hoping to make it levitate.  It wouldn't be as impressive as lifting an X-Wing from a swamp, but I believed that if I could focus hard enough, or understand the Force well enough, then maybe, just maybe I could do it.

The Force is a mystical power, something to be both understood and felt. Let me support this with some quotes.

"The Jedi are extinct, their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion."

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."

"... I've never seen anything to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything.  'Cause no mystical energy field controls my destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense."

"The Force be with you, always."

For all practical purposes, the Force was like a god, or a spirit that was everywhere.  It was something that couldn't be proven or seen, something that couldn't be quantified by any other standard... It was truly something special.

This all changed with the prequels.  In Episode 1, we get to see a glimpse of a young boy who would someday rule the galaxy with a cruel fist - Anakin Skywalker.  The force is so present in this small child that immediately the Jedi nearby can feel it's presence... So they decide to go and measure it.

Wait. What? They measure it? How is that possible? Midi-chlorians, you say? That's what the Force is made of?  As I sat there in the theatre, I felt crushed and a little bit disappointed.  How could something like the Force be explained as easily as a micro-organism in the blood stream? Yoda didn't really have anything special to be able to lift Luke's ship from the depths of Degobah... he just had really awesome blood stats!

Stepping outside of this, and giving myself more than a few years to be upset and confused, I finally began to see what and why this sort of happened.  As crazy as it sounds, I think it has a lot to do with the secularization of our culture.  Religion isn't as common in people's lives as it was 30 years ago, and apparently this has had an influence on Star Wars.  I'm personally kinda sad about this.  Star Wars was different from other things out there... the Force was something bigger than myself, something that I desperately wanted to be a part of.  Knowing how the Force works makes it... accessible - I just wasn't born with the right blood.  I mean, I could be a Jedi, but really, I'm not genetically fit to make it happen.

(Side note: to see this trend continue, look at the differences between the original Indiana Jones movies and the new one)

Lucas just keeps trying to cover all of his tracks on this too.  It isn't just the quantification of the Force, but also how it works out.  I'm thinking of a horrifying scene in Episode 2 where Count Dooku and Yoda are going at it with force lighting and energy balls... awesome stuff. Then...

"It is obvious that this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force... but by our skills with a lightsaber."

WHAT?! The skills with a lightsaber are more important than the knowledge of the Force!? You've gotta be kidding me. The whole original trilogy is about the Force, and the way it is the most powerful... well, force in the galaxy.  Lightsabers were a weapon of the Jedi, but the Force is what gives a Jedi his power! (That's actually almost a direct Obi-wan quote, listed above!)

It just makes me so... like this. 

My only real question for George Lucas in this, is why?  It's not like Star Wars wasn't popular or making money.  I was halfway grown when I started watching them, and Return of the Jedi came out long before that.  And it's not like releasing the originals, in their original formatting (dialogue, effects, sound, etc.) wouldn't make money - heck, it would make them billions.  I'd even let them borrow my original VHS copies to enhance them off of, just so there wouldn't be any accidental additions.

Leave them alone, George... just leave them alone.

(Credit for this blog post title to 3N3MY's classy comic-con t-shirt)

Counter Strike: Global Offensive

Counter Strike is a game I've always been very interested in really sinking my teeth into.  It's a game that's long been held as the greatest competitive FPS of all time.  Right up there with the ranks of Quake 3 and Unreal 2004.

With a minimalistic approach in regards to map count, game modes, weapons and loadouts it puts all the emphasis on practice and patience.

I got Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS) for the PS3 this past Tuesday when it released.  I got it because, as stated, I've always wanted to get into CS, but also, on the PS3, you can play with a mouse and keyboard. Something else I've always wanted to do with a competitive shooter.

So I got the game and I'll admit it takes some getting used to.  What team does what objective and how the maps work as well as what weapons to purchase as well as what gear to focus on.  It's a bit of a steep learning curve at first and in my first 3 matches of playing online I was struggling.  I could tell that there's a really good game in here, but needed to work to get good at it.  It's obviously not a hop and and rock the shit out of it type game.  It's very old school.

I went to Target and bought the cheapest mouse and keyboard I could.  I plugged them into my 2 usb ports on my PS3 and was astounded at how instantly and well they worked.  I can manipulate all in game menus with the mouse and keyboard.  It literally feels just like a pc game.

I spent the next couple hours playing with bots to familiarize myself with the game modes and maps as well as get back into the mouse and keyboard groove.

TJ and I played for a good 2 hours online last night and I must say that the game is simply awesome.

It's 5v5 with only 5 or 6 maps and 4 game modes.  I can honestly say that out of all the maps there's not one I don't like.  It's pretty interesting and a testament to the games staying power with how well the maps work. They truly appear to be perfectly balanced.  How many shooters nowadays ship with 10-15 maps and you end up hating half of them?  I know I do.  In this game....they just....work.

In this game you earn money to purchase guns and equipment to use in the next rounds.  If you die in the following round you're dead until the following round.  If you live through the round you start the next round with all your equipment intact.  If you die....you have to purchase everything over if you have enough money. It's a really neat mechanic that makes your choices matter and really makes you want to play well because when you die you lose more than just a man.  Also, there's no auto aim or aim assist.  If you miss it's your fault.

My only real gripe with this game is that headshots are super king in it.  And I mean super king.  Many times you'll be unloading into a guy and your aim is spot on and then you'll get dropped in an instant.  Even when crouching and firing and small bursts it can still seem hit or miss.  I don't think it's a fault of the game, but just another way that it really makes you work for your kills.  There do seem to be "stand out" guys in most games so it's not like the game is broke.  It just truly rewards skill.

This hasn't really been a review, but more of an urging for you guys to consider getting this on PS3 and possibly get the mouse and keyboard.  The game plays really well with a dualshock, but it just feels in a whole other league with a mouse.

It's a game TJ and I area already putting a lot of time into.

P.S.  This was written very rushed so forgive if it's disjointed and not organized coherently.

Shadow of the Colossus Review

Retro review? Does a game from the previous generation of consoles count?

I have really mixed feelings on this one.

Short review: cool bosses, great music, terrible story, awful controls, busted camera, a boring world, and a sucky hero. I'll just take these one at a time to flesh this thing out.

-There are sixteen colossi to defeat in this game. They vary in size, shape and difficulty. They have different weak spots all over their bodies. You must climb all over them hitting the spots, all while being swatted and holding on for dear life. There's a nice variation. Some have clubs, some fly, some are heavily armored, some require you to use your horse just to keep up, some require you to get creative with the environment. Each colossi almost seems like a gigantic, moving puzzle that you must defeat to move on. Bringing down one of the bosses is extremely gratifying once you accomplish it. Sometimes these battles will last as long as thirty minutes as you try to figure exactly what to do next........or frustratingly get thrown off and plummet back to the ground.

-The world is oddly silent until you come across one of the colossi. The music stirs to life along with each creature, ramping up significantly when you finally manage to climb onto the beast. The tunes vary from one boss to the next, but each theme is very heroic and fitting, considering the task at hand.

-Story? What story? You ride your horse into a massive temple, set your dead girlfriend on an altar and speak to a disembodied voice. You plead with it to bring your woman's soul back from the dead. In order for this to happen, you must roam the land, find and defeat sixteen colossi.

-This is a big one. The controls in this game are monumentally awful. I had to make various adjustments in the menu before I could even begin to play. I had to change look sensitivity, invert the x AND y axis. You run extremely slowly, almost like you have a broken ankle. You seem to have no agility, which is a huge detriment considering you have to climb all over these hulking, squirming colossi to succeed. The jump is really floaty yet difficult to control. Jumping away from a platform while hanging onto it proves to be quite a chore. Also, it took an average of three attempts to simply just get onto the horse. "Jump" and "get on horse" are both the same button, so I would typically set myself up in the proper position, hit the button and instead of getting on the horse....I would jump past it like an A-hole. I didn't discover until about three-quarters of the way into the game that I could hold R1 ("Grab") to assist in getting onto the horse. A little in-game tip might have been useful there. And while I'm talking about the horse, IT has awful controls also. The "steering" on it is terrible and good luck if the camera forces you into a corner (more on that later). While it's certainly faster than going on foot, I never got the sensation of traveling really fast. It's more like a contented trot than a purposeful gallop.

-I HATE the camera on this game. In the thick of combat, it insists on staying right on you. It rarely pulls back to give you a great perspective. It will also "wander" on its own, which proved to be the most frustrating for the flying colossi in the desert. I'm riding the horse trying to fight with the camera so I can actually SEE the beast on the right side of the horse, instead of rotating around to look at NOTHING on the left. Also, when you're riding through the barren land, the camera is always positioned almost at ground level, making it very difficult to see where you're going. This means that you cannot see if a cliff or any sort of drop in terrain is upcoming. Really, really annoying and frustrating.

-The world in this game is a "forbidden land." It definitely creates a sense of isolation, but also a sense of boredom. There is NOTHING to do in this huge world except fight the colossi. I discovered later that there are some collectibles in the game, which actually kinda frustrated me. There are tiny lizards you can shoot to upgrade your "Grip" meter (how long you can hold onto the colossi) and fruit to extend your health bar. I had no idea these even existed. I don't like when games hold your hand for everything, but maybe a little tip to just let me know these things existed would have been pretty nice.

-This game gives me no reason to care about what this character is going through. We see none of his history with this woman. Why should I even care what he's trying to do? Why do I want to bring this person back? I feel like I'm just going through the motions here. Going through the motions with terrible controls. This brings up kind of a sticky point, though. How often do we really even care about what we're doing in games? I mean, this plot is quite similar to every "Mario" game in existence (save the Princess!) but....but....I like playing Mario games! I didn't like playing this, and I hate to boil it down to something so simple, but it really comes down to the controls. I like playing games with great controls. I can forgive sloppy storytelling or butthole characters or boring worlds if I get clean, fun gameplay, and Shadow of the Colossus just doesn't have it.

This game is.....colossally overrated. Zing!

Music in Games: Revisited

The topic of video game music has been covered many times on this blog however after a recent Comic Con trip when I was introduced to the score to Dues Ex, I started to really think about what soundtracks and themes really stand out. I wrote 3N3MY a couple of days later telling him that until now, I had never wanted to play a game solely because of the music. Dues Ex: Human Revolution changed that.  The song Icarus (as I have it) blew me away and really drew me into a game that I knew nothing about, let alone even seen!  This got me thinking about some of my favorite games and how a large percentage of them have phenomenal music scores, much like my favorite movies. A good game has good game-play and and a good story.  A great game as both of these, great sound effects and a musical score that act as the glue that bring it all together.  They make a game feel complete.  A couple of games that really jump out when thinking about this are The Elder Scrolls games and Mirror's Edge. Yes, a game like Mirror's Edge with a score written by some composer unbeknownst to me is grouped in with Jeremy Soule (he has done more games than most of you know).

And why not, lets throw in a list of a few of my favorite songs/themes found in games.  For the sake of this, I'm leaving out classics like the Zelda theme and keeping it short.

In no particular order...

Solar Fields - Introduction (Mirror's Edge)
Martin O'Donnell - Never Forget (Halo 3)
Jeremy Soule - Sons of Skyrim
Lorne Balfe - Assassins Creed Theme (Revelations)
Greg Edmonson - Nate's Theme (Uncharted)

Honorable Mention: BogusRed - Into Golden Sunset (fan remake from A Link to the Past)

And for the heck of it, some of my favorite Movie/TV scores...

John Murphy - Adagio in D Minor
Ramin Djawadi - Main Title (Game of Thrones)
John Williams - Theme from Schindler's List (reprise)
Michael Kamen - Main Theme (Band of Brothers)
Hanz Zimmer - Honor (The Pacific)
Jeremy Goldsmith - Main Title/Locutus (Star Trek: First Contact)

Coins, Coins, Coins...

Try not to judge too much on this one, but I picked up New Super Mario Brothers 2.  At this point, they really should just drop the numerical pretenses and just go with something like "The Next One You Know You're Gonna Buy", but I suppose with all the money Mario has made over the years, Nintendo isn't going to go about changing what works.  Unsurprisingly, not much has changed here.  As with other Mario games, the classic run and jump man sticks to what is tried and true.

Surprisingly though, Nintendo has revitalized one of the most ignored and antiquated game design elements that, I thought, had gone by the wayside - points.  Yes, points matter, or at the very least, are supposed to matter.  The first Mario game on the NES had a point system, but it wasn't paid attention to very highly.  The high score would always reset whenever the console was turned off, and frankly, the only reason they were there in the first place was a shadow of the "high score" mentality from the arcade days.  Arcade games used points as a means to drive competition/sales. It's my theory that when home consoles hit the market, the consumer stopped caring about points, because, well... who's there to beat? Your family? Your friends who come over? Having your initials immortalized in a public arcade box was one thing, but on your own tv? Not nearly as impressive.

Coins are a huge element in this game, but it's hard to explain why...  Coins have always been a means of rewarding free lives (which I'll talk about later) but collecting them was always a consequence of the level completion, not the game's main focus for the player.  Each individual level has a high score of coins collected, which contribute to a cumulative total for total play time.  In an afternoon of owning this game, I've collected approximately 14,000 coins.  There is something... primal about gaming for the sake of seeing numbers rise.  It's almost the same sort of "addictive" quality about prestiging in the COD games... something of a bragging right, even if no one around you truly cares.

"This actually happens in the game... I wish I was lying to you."

Something that creates the drive to make that number rise, is how your personal cumulative total contributes to a global/regional total.  Players from around the world are collecting coins with you, creating a pool that Scrooge McDuck would love to dive headfirst into.  Nintendo has been somewhat quiet about the overall purpose of collecting all these coins... maybe free DLC? Unlockables for all involved... who knows.  I do know that it puts a slight sense of purpose behind playing this game.  It sure isn't the narrative structure that keeps bringing me back to Mario, and it's kinda cool to see Nintendo acknowledge that.

The big N hasn't only changed it's focus, but it's almost gotten sort of post-modern about itself.  Everyone knows that sometime around Super Mario World, lives / 1ups in a Mario games have felt sort of unnecessary.  Most players know multiple tricks to make the number of lives they have so high, the number itself becomes meaningless.  Similarly to the coins, lives work the same way.  I think I have 86 lives at the point of writing this, but the counter has spots for three digits... giving Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, that means they are anticipating me to wrack up lives somewhere in the hundreds.

Talk about sending a message... "Oh what's that? Our lives are meaningless? I guess we'll roll with that... here's 30 free ones on us."  It's almost like they are deliberately making fun of themselves.  Or they are finally catching on to what people need. I don't mean need as far as in the difficulty of the game, but need as in desire of gameplay.  We like to see big numbers, and be impressed with ourselves.  Does it make the game easier? Of course! But that's part of the charm, the allure, the... Mario-ness.

It's a fun game, but you all new that.  It's rare these days that Mario gets a game all about him that doesn't fit the bill.  I don't anticipate anyone here playing this one (I'm almost certain I'm the only one with a 3DS), but I found this new twist intriguing.  I thought the coins would be distracting, and frivolous, but instead I found that it supports a design strategy that Nintendo has been using for a while, it just ups the ante a little, and a new sort of attention to one of the most tried and true Mario elements - getting them coins.

Old News

I'm sure this is old news for a lot of people by now, but man, am I sick of Call of Duty.  At one time it was a surface level frustration, similar to being sick of eating pizza everyday for lunch - eventually you're gonna come back and eat pizza again.  This is deeper though... it gets at me in a deep spot, a place that I feel abused and controlled.

I even enjoy playing it (most of the time).  I can easily say that the only reason I still actively play it is because of who I'm playing with.  The group of guys I play online with (who I do know in real life) are amazing company, but this is the only game they play.  Some play other single player games now and then, some at one time play other first-person shooters, but really, COD is it.

Here is the tricky thing about it all... no one I play with can really articulate anymore, what makes COD better or different than other FPS out there.  I remember when COD4:Modern Warfare came out... it was so easy to see what set Duty apart from the rest of the pack.  Incredibly smooth gameplay, customizable weapons, fast instant multiplayer action.  What FPS doesn't have that stuff now? It's become so routine that no one really remembers what set COD above the competition in the first place... it's just always been that way.  It's Call of Duty, that's why...

I think what makes me so mad at this whole thing is how unashamed Activision is in changed almost nothing on a game by game basis.  I would love to be corrected on this, but aren't all of the current COD games using the exact same gameplay engine that COD4:MW did?  That came out in 2007 - That's 5 years of using the same tech, same gameplay design, same texturing...  How lazy.  Could we add something new please?! If it isn't going to be in gameplay (different style perks, bigger maps, vehicles, etc) could it at least be in the tech (destructible environments, changing levels, better animation reconciliation, less clipping)

On of my good COD buddies came to it's aid here... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Fair enough.  But the truthfulness of that statement in this situation depends solely on your definition of success.  Activision sees the dollar sign as a success.  Because so many people buy it, it must be a solid product.   All those people who buy it, see all the other millions buying it, so they believe it must be a solid product.  This is all an elaborate ruse.  It's a house of cards, just waiting to fall.  Activision knows that as soon as they change anything, it's going to ruin their money printing machine.  As soon as a large enough chunk of the population gets tired of it, they are going to jump ship.

I'm jumping ship.  Bobby Kotick is going to have to come to my house and show me his business model to fix my complaints about COD.  I'd like to say that I won't even play it, but I know myself better than that to make that promise.  I can make the promise not to buy it - my money will not be going to Activision. 

-------

As an additional reminder, here is the quote from Kotick in response to why Activision dropped Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend from their line-up after their merge with Blizzard:


“[They] don’t have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises. … I think, generally, our strategy has been to focus… on the products that have those attributes and characteristics, the products that we know [that] if we release them today, we’ll be working on them 10 years from now.”

Kinda speaks for itself...

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review

Last night I had decided it was time to finish Deus Ex: Human Revolution (DE).  Around 5 months ago I hit the 30 hr mark in the game and had a plethora of new games to play so it got temporarily shelved.  The way the game had been progressing I figured I had at least another 12 hours to go, but as it turns out I only had 3.

You play as Adam Jensen.  A normal human cop/security officer that gets almost completely destroyed in the opening section of the game.  You're pieced back together (RoboCop anyone?) without given the opportunity to choose to die or take the augmentations to save your life.  So some months later you're back in the field still working for one of the biggest augmentation companies in the world, Sarif Industries, and in search of the people that not only almost killed you, but that kidnapped several high ranking scientists from Sarif.

DE was an amazingly refreshing and excellent game.  The experimental gameplay coupled with excellent level design (complete with "hero sized vents"), the best soundtrack I've ever heard in any game and some pretty stellar graphics all created one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in any game this generation.

It controls very well and rewards patience.  In case you weren't aware the game lets you play in a myriad of ways, but doesn't necessarily make any of them easy because ammo is limited.  I played it stealth...or at least as stealthy as I could manage with the tools at my disposal.

Flipping open your map you can see yourself and your objective.  The  interesting aspect comes in when you realize that the building you're in might have 5 floors and there could literally be dozens of different paths to take.  Along the way you'll come across guards, locked doors, security cameras, turrets, laser alarms and, of course, the occasional boss fight.

The main cities gave me a huge boner because of how they were conveyed.  It's rare that a game so realistically builds a world that it feels like it could actually exist.  That even if I weren't in it at that moment that it could be out there somewhere.  Tons of attention to detail and an amazing aesthetic really go far and this game does it with the best of them.  Only other games to give me this vibe were Half Life 2, Resistance 3, The Darkness and The Chronicles of Riddick.

I was really happy with the story as I thought it was going to pull the obvious double cross with one of the main guys, but instead it went with the larger ideology of the game in the end.  Is evolving the human race through technology a good or bad idea?  I also really dug Adam's borderline resentment towards those that saved him.  He's not a fan of augmentations and has literally been saved by them and made to be more than man from them.  He's grumpy yet compassionate all at once and I felt like I related to the character.  It is worthy of note that the voice actor not only isn't Nolan North, but did an excellent job.  In fact all the cast did.  Some would argue that Adam's voice is too gravelly, but I really liked it a lot.  Take that Gordon Freeman you voiceless shit!

The game also features a heavy rpg element in that you earn xp and can use Praxis Kits to further augment your abilities.  Want heavier armor?  How about running silently or going completely invisible?  Do you want to jump higher or take no fall damage?  Would you like the ability to hack higher rated locks?  Shoot explosive shells out of your arms?  See through walls?  The list literally goes on and on.  It was awesome to see just how customized I could build my Adam to fit the play of my style.  Since I was stealth I invested heavily in stealth augmentations, but was wise in knowing that the boss fights would own me if I didn't upgrade my armor.

Some gripes are that while the graphics really do shine the facial animations on non-story specific characters can be pretty damn awful and ugly.  The enemy AI can be pretty dumb and the boss fights are bananas bad at times.

I'd say I put in just over 30 hrs into the campaign and that includes quite a few, but not all, sidequests.  For a fps in today's market that number is literally unheard of and I can happily say that the game didn't overstay it's welcome.

I also want to pat myself on the back for challenging myself to play the game without killing anyone and earning "The Pacifist" trophy.  You're only allowed to kill the bosses.  Everyone else has to be knocked out or left alone.  One death to any enemy or npc and it's all over.  Spreading that out over 30 hours on my first playthrough of the game on medium difficulty was a good challenge.  I didn't want to "learn" the game and then go back for it.  I wanted to get it on my first game and I did.  There is only 1 gun in the game that will 100% knock someone out without any chance of killing them and that's the stun gun.  The worst part was is that was the only ammo never for sale.  You only had what you picked up in the game off of enemies or out of lockers.  All in all I would easily bet I had less than 30 shots for that gun in the whole game and I ended the game with 19 in my inventory.  Patience and timing were everything.

Should you get and play DE?  Absofuckinglutely you should!  It's everything that great games are made up of and is a reminder of why games can be so amazing.  A game that bucks convention and goes old school and passes this reviewer's expectations with flying colors.

It's an amazing game that shouldn't be missed by anyone unless....you know....you just like CoD, New Super Mario and Madden.  Which in that case you should just go kill yourself.

Score: 9 out of 10

Unit 13 - Vita - Funny Story

So TJ was talking up the tactical shooter "Unit 13" (from the makers of the SOCOM series) for the Vita and since I enjoyed the demo I picked it up yesterday. 

We were excited to have a fun coop shooter on a handheld and I'll just say that the game is surprisingly fun, controls very well and demands you pay attention while playing because, in SOCOM fashion, it can be pretty difficult with quick deaths if you aren't careful.

The funny story was that TJ and I were unaware of a built in feature of the Vita we'd never used because we didn't know it existed.  In game headset-less chat.

Now we knew that there was a party system and in game chat, but we figured it was all with bluetooth headsets.  Basically for about 40 minutes we messed around with Vita settings and in game settings and party settings, but we weren't getting good results.  We were hearing ALL audio in the headsets and sometimes we could hear each other and other times not. 

Finally, after a while I said, "we'll figure this out later, lets just disconnect the headsets and play a round or two."  As soon as we disconnected the headsets we could hear each other perfectly through the systems mic and speakers.  The audio quality was quite shocking and is easily on par with the 360 chat and normal phone conversation. 

We just kicked ourselves for a minute at what noobs we were and then continued to pwn the AI in numerous scenarios and mission types.

My takeaway lesson is that you shouldn't overcomplicate things.  Sometimes....shit just works all it's own.

Best Worst Game You've Ever Played and Finished

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - 360
This was one of those "I'll get it if you do" type purchasers between me and Salad.  It has, arguably, the worst story ever with a ghettotastic soundtrack and yet it's tons of fun. 

Amazingly fun online coop was a blast and the controls and action were almost always tight!  Played like Gears of War, but with gangbangers instead of comic book characters. 

My favorite moment was when a helicopter was dropping off some bad guys and Salad shot a rocket perfectly into the door of the chopper and killed everyone inside before they could bail.  It was just one of those rare moments that you don't hardly ever see.  Especially when considering it was done very fast and on our one and only playthrough.

Best 3 Handheld Games

It seems that the most action this blog gets is for lists so here goes:

Tetris - GameBoy
Arguably the best game ever.  Tetris for the GameBoy was given hundreds of hours of my time.  My family would spend every vacation passing the system around trying to one up each others highest line count.  Add in an amazing soundtrack and the super huge battery life of the original 4 AA GameBoy and you've got a bitchin' game!

Super Mario 64 DS - DS
This is a port (go figure with Nintendo) of one of the best 64 games ever.  It's also the game that singlehandedly got me through all of my chapels at school senior year.  The camera system was balls, but the overall experience was preserved well with this title.

Gravity Rush - Vita
Can't remember ever being more impressed with any handheld game, ever.  A console sized game on a handheld that doesn't sacrifice on anything.  Great controls and fun combat.  My reigning champ of handheld game to beat. 

L4D on Vita

Just like modders doing more with Kinect than Microsoft ever will it appears that, so far, the Vita is doomed to the same fate.

Somebody has got remote play running through a PC to his Vita and he's playing Left 4 Dead on it.



Holy balls.  This is something that I'm dying for Sony to do officially as they've stated many times in the past that they plan to, but let's face it....the speed at which Sony works we'll be on the VitaGO before it happens.

I just love the idea of playing my PS3 games on my Vita.  Not that it allows for a huge benefit in any huge way, but it's just neat that this tech is already out there and working with non-Sony products.

I'd love to play Mass Effect 3 from my bed.  Just sayin....

Halo Wars general thoughts/semi-Review

I’ve owned this game for almost 2 years, but just finally got around to playing it. I can’t really say what took so long. I remember playing the Tutorial and the first stage right when I got it, and enjoying it, but then it just got pushed back as newer games poured in.

For anyone who may not know, it’s a Real Time Strategy game on the 360. It was made by Ensemble Studios, who promptly shut down after completing this game. I’m not sure of the circumstances there. Ensemble also made the ‘Age of Empires’ games for PC, so they were no slouches when it came to the RTS genre.

The game takes place about 20 years before the events of the original ‘Halo: Combat Evolved.’ It follows the exploits of the UNSC ship Spirit of Fire, led by Captain Cutter, Sgt. John Forge (voiced by Nolan North!), a woman scientist named Anders and the AI Serina. The long and the short of the plot involves the Covenant digging up an artifact that ultimately leads them to a fleet of powerful Forerunner ships, with the Spirit of Fire on their tail the whole time trying to prevent them from accessing said ships. If you’re interested, here’s a more detailed plot summary, along with some commentary on the role the women characters play. It also shows off the cut-scenes in the game, which I found to be really enjoyable and impressive, honestly. I recommend watching it.

The game has a few different modes. There is a 15 mission campaign that I quite enjoyed playing. Each mission takes between 20 and 40 minutes on average, with incentives to go back and play on different difficulties and collect skulls, black boxes (unlock “Timeline events” to see some additional Halo backstory). The missions have great variety, with different objectives for each one. You’ll escort civilians to escape ships, build a huge army to take down a Super Scarab, clear out multiple bases, etc. Each mission also has a par time. You earn Tin, Bronze, Silver, or Gold medals for each mission depending on how quickly you go, how many bonus objectives you complete, etc. Corresponding achievements apply for those inclined. Skirmish mode is the standard “Versus” mode where you can play up to 3 v 3. I haven’t gotten to do that, but it sounds interesting.

Moving on to the gameplay, I found it to be a refreshing change from any RTS I had played on a computer. In the past whenever I’ve played a RTS game, I feel pretty weighed down with options. I think Ensemble did a great job paring down for the game to work well with the limited control options on a console. There are bases with 7 spots for additional attached buildings to help build your army. Each building can generally be upgraded a few times to unlock unit upgrades, faster build times, or more supplies. Again, I appreciate that there are a limited number of units. Selecting units is fairly simple. The LB button selects all units, RB selects local units, double-tapping A selects all of the unit type that you have selected. All fairly simple and it works well. My biggest frustration comes from my units not prioritizing their targets very well. What I mean is when I’m attacking an enemy position I have to basically just select every unit on the screen and have them attack the same target instead of “dividing and conquering” or having certain units attack the turrets and some attack Building X and some attack Building Y. I think that sort of thing is much easier to divvy up on a PC game but like I said, this game pulls things off pretty well.

 

I’m about out of stuff to say here. I’ll just close in saying I had a really good time with Halo Wars. It was a nice change of pace from my standard gaming experience. I recommend it to anyone looking to change it up a little bit, or just anyone who loves Halo and the Halo universe. 

SEGA

Did I ever mention that I actually got SEGA to engage in a debate with me on twitter?  I know I told Lead Salad about it, but I actually wrote a twitter to them and they responded and what followed was amazing.  I kind of won the debate.  More on that in a minute, but let me just say I hate SEGA in many ways.

They used to be great.  They made great games and systems, but now they just make terrible Sonic games over and over and horrible Marvel movie games.  They're a shell of their former self and that's why they need to be put out of their misery to the resounding clapping of my hands.

This post was spurred on by an article TJ sent me yesterday.  I read the article without a bit of surprise.  Bottom line is that SEGA is restructuring and trying to streamline their business to cut losses.  My only comment to the heads of SEGA is that if you quit making shit games or made something the fans actually want you'd be a profitable corporation again.  Also, have any of you actually played video games?

What follows is my Twitter debate which will actually show more of what I've briefly described above:

NOTE:  Since it will take me days to get back to SEGA's October 2011 tweets I'll just paraprase what was said by them.

Nathan Pratt ‏@HaikusAreEvil

@Sega please do all gamers a favor and bury Sonic. I know he's all you've got, but seriously....let him go. #sonic #sega #cashin

SEGA:  We have many games besides Sonic coming out in the near future. Check the website. Get informed.

Lizi Almendarez ‏@PkmnTrainerLizi

@SEGA You are at complete liberty to disregard everything @HaikusAreEvil says.

Nathan Pratt ‏@HaikusAreEvil

@DizzyMissLizi @SEGA I'd just like to see something new from them 1st party is all. Just wantin a return to form. Not Super Monkey Ball 32.

SEGA:  Play Bayonetta.

Nathan Pratt ‏@HaikusAreEvil

@DylanCrespo @SEGA Bayonetta was astounding, but was developed by Platinum Games. Condemned is also excellent, but was dev by Monolith.

To which there was no reply.  There was another guy that hopped in, but his account is locked and I can't access his tweets.  

Basically, the best game SEGA had to throw back at me that wasn't Sonic or Super Monkey Ball was Bayonetta.  Which wasn't even developed by them.

What's funny is that the new Sonic game that is of old-school 2D design hasn't even been that well received.  In fact, the fan made Sonic 2 HD remake not only looked better graphically than SEGA's Sonic 4, but was generally perceived as a superior game.  Until SEGA made the fans that made the game take it down.

Yet another example of SEGA sucking at life is the HD rerelease of one of the greatest Dreamcast games ever, Crazy Taxi.  They ran into issues with the licensing of music (still not sure if it was money they didn't want to pay or something else) so the game was released without it's best element.  The amazing soundtrack.

The game I'm most excited about SEGA putting out is the HD rerelease of Jet Set Radio.  I just can't wait to get it for Vita and see how they've fucked it up.