The interwebs are screaming that this is a hint at the announcement of the PS4. Given that it is in less than a month and that details are incredibly scarce I highly doubt its true. If it is, they have ran an incredibly tight ship over there at Sony with almost no leaks. Regardless, seeing this and reading about the potential next Xbox, I have to say... I'm not ready for this. I am more than happy with this generation. It is still constantly improving and has not yet grown stale. For once in my wife I'm saying "slow down technology".
Thursday, January 31, 2013
99% sure this isn't true, but...
The interwebs are screaming that this is a hint at the announcement of the PS4. Given that it is in less than a month and that details are incredibly scarce I highly doubt its true. If it is, they have ran an incredibly tight ship over there at Sony with almost no leaks. Regardless, seeing this and reading about the potential next Xbox, I have to say... I'm not ready for this. I am more than happy with this generation. It is still constantly improving and has not yet grown stale. For once in my wife I'm saying "slow down technology".
Dead Island Review
I recently picked up Dead Island for pretty cheap to play with some friends from work. Most of them are Call of Duty loyalists but one night we decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to give Dead Island the old college try. I was apprehensive, and a little bias going into it - Dead Island came out when I still worked video game retail and I remember all the disappointing personal reviews I heard, how many traded-in/returned copies we had, and frankly, I already had an amazing zombie game in my life, Left 4 Dead. Could anything really replace L4D in my heart? (Spoiler Alert - it doesn't). Admittedly, I'm not finished with the game, as we're playing in a group through the story, but I have dumped about 15 hours into it over the last week and gotten a pretty good view of where things are going.
Dead Island really separates itself from Left 4 Dead with it's "realism". I put that in quotes because it still takes creative liberties with gameplay, but it is more grounded: Zombies will physically restrain you, you have a stamina meter that needs to be recharged after doing just about anything, and your flashlight depletes energy, causing you to need to pick and choose your "dark" moments. Weapons will degrade the more you use them, so repairing and upgrading them is a constant thought in the back of your head. The realistic side of things didn't click with me at first, but it's more a learning curve than anything.
Visuals aren't bad. Not great, but not bad. The zombie lose limbs and skin, show visible fire damage, etc. As a result of this "layered" damage system, the regular humans look weird. Its not intentional, but it reminds me of stop-motion animation where you can actually see the fingerprints of the animator on the puppets. It's almost like they were made out of clay by a really talented giant. Fortunately this really isn't noticeable in the combat because of all the profuse blood flow. Also, I have yet to see it get dark outside... inside combat gets creepy, but it's always sunny on the beach.
The combat is clearly where the developers put all their eggs. Taking place on a resort island, they had the decency to realize that it wouldn't make much sense to put a weapon room and stockpiles of ammunition in every closet. Weapons are found - rakes, poles, baseball bats... morning stars (see what I mean about creative liberties?) These can be improved with items found throughout the world at workbenches, located in the safehouse areas. The combat is tactile and fairly real. First person melee combat always makes me feel weird, but Dead Island overcomes it fairly well. Hit detection seems solid. The better your character, the more accurate they become with targeting. Not unlike aiming in a FPS, you need to "aim" your swing and the cross hairs represent that. A solid crack with your flaming baseball bat can sometimes create a very satisfying headshot. (I have heard that later in the game firearms get more common. I'm interested to see how the story develops to justify this, but one of the characters is a firearms expert, so I hope the guns show up soon.)
Speaking of the story, don't bother. It's only a means to drive the gameplay. The characters are half thought through. The writers attempt to add feeling and emotion to the scenario to compliment the more "realistic" side of a zombie apocalypse, but it's all overdone and laughable. In order for true emotion to occur, the player needs to "be" their character, and to me, my character is only a list of stats. The player is the classic silent protagonist, so even simple conversations are weird. It doesn't matter though... you'll skip through all the dialogue to get to the quest info screen and decide if it's worth your time to retrieve someone's necklace from a hut for $500 and a car battery. Did I mention that the reason you get do do all these mundane chores for everyone is because you have an immunity to the zombie virus? How convenient.
Really the only thing that surprised my about Dead Island so far, is how much of an RPG it is at the base levels. The leveling up is done through skill trees, rules for critical hits and elemental damage apply to combat, and the meaningless quest grinding is pushing JRPG levels here. It implements all these elements well, and does a fairly decent job of burying them amidst gameplay, but its still there, rearing its ugly head at unwanted times - my weapons aren't strong enough, but as soon as I find new ones, repair them, level them up, add some fire and nails, I've leveled up again! The game scales up the baddie difficulty and my weapons are back to being subpar.
Theres this thing about RPGs that I've never understood. If everything scales to my level, why not just keep me at one level? What's the point of making everything cost more if the game is just going to give me more money after every battle. Proportionally, everything costs the same, its just bigger numbers. (My level 1 weapon does 1 damage to a level 1 zombie rewarding me with $1 = My level 10 weapon does 10 damage to a level 10 zombie rewarding me $10) Is this just a really misguided math lesson? The game doesn't event try to find a happy middle ground when two different leveled characters are in the same game - a level 5 zombie will look and play like a level 15 zombie to a level 15 character.
At the end of the day I like Dead Island, but it doesn't do anything any better than the games where it stole its main concepts from. Borderlands (which came out 2 years prior) nailed the looting system. Left 4 Dead captured the cooperative aspect better. I'd like to say the weapon construction is unique, but that is only a functional gameplay aspect if you are good at looting the gear you need to do it. I don't actually get to design any of the weapons - they're just made out of things I find. My desire to play the game really only comes from seeing what new weapons the game designers thought of... that and the blood lust of smashing zombie heads open.
I'll enjoy my time with it, then see if I can't my work buddies to cave and pick up Left 4 Dead.
Dead Island really separates itself from Left 4 Dead with it's "realism". I put that in quotes because it still takes creative liberties with gameplay, but it is more grounded: Zombies will physically restrain you, you have a stamina meter that needs to be recharged after doing just about anything, and your flashlight depletes energy, causing you to need to pick and choose your "dark" moments. Weapons will degrade the more you use them, so repairing and upgrading them is a constant thought in the back of your head. The realistic side of things didn't click with me at first, but it's more a learning curve than anything.
Visuals aren't bad. Not great, but not bad. The zombie lose limbs and skin, show visible fire damage, etc. As a result of this "layered" damage system, the regular humans look weird. Its not intentional, but it reminds me of stop-motion animation where you can actually see the fingerprints of the animator on the puppets. It's almost like they were made out of clay by a really talented giant. Fortunately this really isn't noticeable in the combat because of all the profuse blood flow. Also, I have yet to see it get dark outside... inside combat gets creepy, but it's always sunny on the beach.
The combat is clearly where the developers put all their eggs. Taking place on a resort island, they had the decency to realize that it wouldn't make much sense to put a weapon room and stockpiles of ammunition in every closet. Weapons are found - rakes, poles, baseball bats... morning stars (see what I mean about creative liberties?) These can be improved with items found throughout the world at workbenches, located in the safehouse areas. The combat is tactile and fairly real. First person melee combat always makes me feel weird, but Dead Island overcomes it fairly well. Hit detection seems solid. The better your character, the more accurate they become with targeting. Not unlike aiming in a FPS, you need to "aim" your swing and the cross hairs represent that. A solid crack with your flaming baseball bat can sometimes create a very satisfying headshot. (I have heard that later in the game firearms get more common. I'm interested to see how the story develops to justify this, but one of the characters is a firearms expert, so I hope the guns show up soon.)
Speaking of the story, don't bother. It's only a means to drive the gameplay. The characters are half thought through. The writers attempt to add feeling and emotion to the scenario to compliment the more "realistic" side of a zombie apocalypse, but it's all overdone and laughable. In order for true emotion to occur, the player needs to "be" their character, and to me, my character is only a list of stats. The player is the classic silent protagonist, so even simple conversations are weird. It doesn't matter though... you'll skip through all the dialogue to get to the quest info screen and decide if it's worth your time to retrieve someone's necklace from a hut for $500 and a car battery. Did I mention that the reason you get do do all these mundane chores for everyone is because you have an immunity to the zombie virus? How convenient.
Really the only thing that surprised my about Dead Island so far, is how much of an RPG it is at the base levels. The leveling up is done through skill trees, rules for critical hits and elemental damage apply to combat, and the meaningless quest grinding is pushing JRPG levels here. It implements all these elements well, and does a fairly decent job of burying them amidst gameplay, but its still there, rearing its ugly head at unwanted times - my weapons aren't strong enough, but as soon as I find new ones, repair them, level them up, add some fire and nails, I've leveled up again! The game scales up the baddie difficulty and my weapons are back to being subpar.
Theres this thing about RPGs that I've never understood. If everything scales to my level, why not just keep me at one level? What's the point of making everything cost more if the game is just going to give me more money after every battle. Proportionally, everything costs the same, its just bigger numbers. (My level 1 weapon does 1 damage to a level 1 zombie rewarding me with $1 = My level 10 weapon does 10 damage to a level 10 zombie rewarding me $10) Is this just a really misguided math lesson? The game doesn't event try to find a happy middle ground when two different leveled characters are in the same game - a level 5 zombie will look and play like a level 15 zombie to a level 15 character.
At the end of the day I like Dead Island, but it doesn't do anything any better than the games where it stole its main concepts from. Borderlands (which came out 2 years prior) nailed the looting system. Left 4 Dead captured the cooperative aspect better. I'd like to say the weapon construction is unique, but that is only a functional gameplay aspect if you are good at looting the gear you need to do it. I don't actually get to design any of the weapons - they're just made out of things I find. My desire to play the game really only comes from seeing what new weapons the game designers thought of... that and the blood lust of smashing zombie heads open.
I'll enjoy my time with it, then see if I can't my work buddies to cave and pick up Left 4 Dead.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Hitman HD Trilogy
It's finally been released.
It's a series that is celebrated for many reasons from the great character in Agent 47, to it's amazing attention to detail, tough difficulty and to it's huge amount of possible kills.
To me this game is extra special because my recently passed brother got me into it when he got Hitman 2: Silent Assassin on his PS2.
Please enjoy the videos below. The first is the HD release trailer and the second was my favorite game trailer for many years. I still love the way the trumpets crescendo when 47 pulls the Silver Ballers out of their case.
Fucking outstanding.
It's a series that is celebrated for many reasons from the great character in Agent 47, to it's amazing attention to detail, tough difficulty and to it's huge amount of possible kills.
To me this game is extra special because my recently passed brother got me into it when he got Hitman 2: Silent Assassin on his PS2.
Please enjoy the videos below. The first is the HD release trailer and the second was my favorite game trailer for many years. I still love the way the trumpets crescendo when 47 pulls the Silver Ballers out of their case.
Fucking outstanding.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Fez
Fez is awesome.
I picked this game up during the XBL Christmas sales. I had never even heard of it until I read many different websites' "Top 10 Games of the Year" lists, and sure enough, Fez was on almost every one of them, commonly claiming a spot in the Top 5.
Fez is a puzzle-platformer in the same category as other downloadable hits like Braid and Limbo. It lacks Braid's time-altering mechanics (and pretentiousness) and Limbo's grit and grime, but makes up for it with a vibrant style and the ability to rotate the entire world. This is a 2-D world, but with 4 different sides, if that makes any sense. By pulling the Left and Right triggers, you rotate the entire world one-quarter turn. Stages are very vertically-oriented, involving a lot of climbing and rotating the world so that different platforms "change" position on the screen, further allowing your ascent. This made for some really fun and challenging gameplay. Sometimes you will also have to turn platforms, raise and lower water levels, line up ladders, etc. Later stages had some "timed" wall climbing, where you only have a certain amount of time to climb and rotate before panels begin flipping and you lose your grip. There are also some bomb sections where you'll have to rotate the world in snyc with the explosion to keep it going. Here is the launch trailer with some gameplay footage to kind of give you a visual of what I'm trying to explain.
One thing I love about all these different aspects of the game is how none it is really spelled out for you. The game will tell you how to rotate a platform or that you can pick up a bomb and either throw it or drop it, but that's about it. It doesn't hold your hand at all and I really appreciate that.
Puzzles in this game can get straight-up baffling at times, which I also really like. Half the time, I'll leave a room without even realizing there was a puzzle in that room. The only reason I DID know was because of the map. The map has a key that will tell you what's in each room: bits, cubes, treasure chests, key-doors or puzzles. A great example of what I'm talking about is a very simple room with what appears to be a throne in it. I got the bit sitting on the throne, then left and looked at my map. There was (and still is) a ? on my map next to that room, meaning I can do SOMETHING in there. I have no idea what, and I love it.
There is also some type of "code" in this game that I haven't figured out yet. Hell, there are probably multiple codes that I need to decipher. I feel like I'm close to one because I've found a room with a panel that lights up in different "shapes" when I perform different actions. If I jump, a square shape lights up on the panel. If I look right, a certain shape shows up. If I rotate the world left, different shape. And it's always consistent. There are signs in the world sometimes with these shapes on them, but my problem now is that I can't form some of the shapes with my available actions. I don't know how to make those other shapes, but when I find out it's going to be epic.
There is not really a "story" to speak of. There is a giant cube (the hexahedron) that shatters into bits, and you must collect the pieces to put it back together. You find out eventually that the hexahedron consisted of 32 Cubes and 32 Anti-Cubes. You can find entire cubes all at once, or tiny bits. 8 bits=1 cube.Gathering any combination of 32 Cubes or Anti-Cubes will allow you to finish the game, but getting all 64 will most likely unlock the full, true ending. At least that's what I'm guessing. The simple story doesn't bother me in the slightest, because the gameplay and challenge are so solid and satisfying.
I think it took me about 8 hours to find the minimum 32 cubes to "finish" the game. I'm guessing at least double that to get actually get everything. A stellar game for $15. An absolute steal for me since I picked it up at 50% off. This game is excellent and I highly recommend it. Look out for it on sale again. Or don't.
I picked this game up during the XBL Christmas sales. I had never even heard of it until I read many different websites' "Top 10 Games of the Year" lists, and sure enough, Fez was on almost every one of them, commonly claiming a spot in the Top 5.
Fez is a puzzle-platformer in the same category as other downloadable hits like Braid and Limbo. It lacks Braid's time-altering mechanics (and pretentiousness) and Limbo's grit and grime, but makes up for it with a vibrant style and the ability to rotate the entire world. This is a 2-D world, but with 4 different sides, if that makes any sense. By pulling the Left and Right triggers, you rotate the entire world one-quarter turn. Stages are very vertically-oriented, involving a lot of climbing and rotating the world so that different platforms "change" position on the screen, further allowing your ascent. This made for some really fun and challenging gameplay. Sometimes you will also have to turn platforms, raise and lower water levels, line up ladders, etc. Later stages had some "timed" wall climbing, where you only have a certain amount of time to climb and rotate before panels begin flipping and you lose your grip. There are also some bomb sections where you'll have to rotate the world in snyc with the explosion to keep it going. Here is the launch trailer with some gameplay footage to kind of give you a visual of what I'm trying to explain.
One thing I love about all these different aspects of the game is how none it is really spelled out for you. The game will tell you how to rotate a platform or that you can pick up a bomb and either throw it or drop it, but that's about it. It doesn't hold your hand at all and I really appreciate that.
Puzzles in this game can get straight-up baffling at times, which I also really like. Half the time, I'll leave a room without even realizing there was a puzzle in that room. The only reason I DID know was because of the map. The map has a key that will tell you what's in each room: bits, cubes, treasure chests, key-doors or puzzles. A great example of what I'm talking about is a very simple room with what appears to be a throne in it. I got the bit sitting on the throne, then left and looked at my map. There was (and still is) a ? on my map next to that room, meaning I can do SOMETHING in there. I have no idea what, and I love it.
There is also some type of "code" in this game that I haven't figured out yet. Hell, there are probably multiple codes that I need to decipher. I feel like I'm close to one because I've found a room with a panel that lights up in different "shapes" when I perform different actions. If I jump, a square shape lights up on the panel. If I look right, a certain shape shows up. If I rotate the world left, different shape. And it's always consistent. There are signs in the world sometimes with these shapes on them, but my problem now is that I can't form some of the shapes with my available actions. I don't know how to make those other shapes, but when I find out it's going to be epic.
There is not really a "story" to speak of. There is a giant cube (the hexahedron) that shatters into bits, and you must collect the pieces to put it back together. You find out eventually that the hexahedron consisted of 32 Cubes and 32 Anti-Cubes. You can find entire cubes all at once, or tiny bits. 8 bits=1 cube.Gathering any combination of 32 Cubes or Anti-Cubes will allow you to finish the game, but getting all 64 will most likely unlock the full, true ending. At least that's what I'm guessing. The simple story doesn't bother me in the slightest, because the gameplay and challenge are so solid and satisfying.
I think it took me about 8 hours to find the minimum 32 cubes to "finish" the game. I'm guessing at least double that to get actually get everything. A stellar game for $15. An absolute steal for me since I picked it up at 50% off. This game is excellent and I highly recommend it. Look out for it on sale again. Or don't.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Max Payne 3 - Brief Review
I've never been so torn on any game in my life. It's astoundingly excellent and amazing while making me want to take an x-acto knife to my wrists.
Great action with fucked up controls courtesy of Rockstar. Sometimes the controls would break: roll wouldn't work, get trapped in cover, crouching was spotty and one time I wasn't able to shoot my fucking gun.
Somewhat messy story with lots of acronyms that left me confused.
Lots of cinematics that hide loads that I actually enjoyed. They were really well done.
Lots of visual stuff going on with effects. It worked and didn't annoy me like I expected it to.
Seemingly endless run of baddies that left me wondering if I'd killed the world yet.
Great voice acting with an awesome yet absolutely flawed character.
I loved that Max, after using pain pills in the previous 2 games to heal, is now addicted to them. Every time you pick them up in the game he'll always mumble some kind of justification to use them. Awesome.
The attention to detail in enemies, levels, guns and Max was second to none.
The last 6 years of gaming have trained me that almost all shooters take place in hot, barren shit holes. Max Payne was always a WONDERFUL treat because you fought in nitty gritty shit hole New York. In Max Payne 3 you leave New York and a large chunk of character of the game went with it. Some of the best levels in the game are flashbacks that take place in New York. I'm sorry, but this game needs to be kept in the city.
Arguably the greatest soundtrack of any game I've ever heard.
All in all I'm really glad I got this game for 20 bucks as opposed to 60. It was amazing and frustrating all at once.
I just wish that Rockstar didn't get their grubby mitts all over it and muck it up.
8/10
Great action with fucked up controls courtesy of Rockstar. Sometimes the controls would break: roll wouldn't work, get trapped in cover, crouching was spotty and one time I wasn't able to shoot my fucking gun.
Somewhat messy story with lots of acronyms that left me confused.
Lots of cinematics that hide loads that I actually enjoyed. They were really well done.
Lots of visual stuff going on with effects. It worked and didn't annoy me like I expected it to.
Seemingly endless run of baddies that left me wondering if I'd killed the world yet.
Great voice acting with an awesome yet absolutely flawed character.
I loved that Max, after using pain pills in the previous 2 games to heal, is now addicted to them. Every time you pick them up in the game he'll always mumble some kind of justification to use them. Awesome.
The attention to detail in enemies, levels, guns and Max was second to none.
The last 6 years of gaming have trained me that almost all shooters take place in hot, barren shit holes. Max Payne was always a WONDERFUL treat because you fought in nitty gritty shit hole New York. In Max Payne 3 you leave New York and a large chunk of character of the game went with it. Some of the best levels in the game are flashbacks that take place in New York. I'm sorry, but this game needs to be kept in the city.
Arguably the greatest soundtrack of any game I've ever heard.
All in all I'm really glad I got this game for 20 bucks as opposed to 60. It was amazing and frustrating all at once.
I just wish that Rockstar didn't get their grubby mitts all over it and muck it up.
8/10
Monday, January 21, 2013
Winter Gaming
I'm not sure who is buying what this Winter, but Microsoft has this deal going. You'll get 1600MSP/$20 for each game you pre-order. This is definitely where I will be making my Gears: Judgment purchase.....FACT!
Friday, January 11, 2013
SUPER DUPER TRIPLE REVIEW: Sleeping Dogs, Spec Ops: The Line, Binary Domain
This past week has been good to me as I've finished 3 excellent games. Below are very brief reviews of each.
Sleeping Dogs
Hands down my favorite sandbox game of all time. Ever. Great story that tears you between loyalty to friends and the job. Some truly cringe worthy moments in here of brutality.
A sandbox game that doesn't compromise in almost anyway. Great shooting and melee combat that's fun and rewarding. Good physics and great driving.
It does pull from every great sandbox game ever made, but it does everything that they do, but does it better. This game is everything a sandbox game should be.
One of the select few games that gave me a tinge of sadness to see it end. That the journey was over and the story complete. I really hope they make a sequel to this game.
9/10
Spec Ops: The Line
Holy fuck. A modern 3rd person military shooter that has an amazing and convuluted narrative where you never really know if you're the good guy or not.
Throw in some moments that make you feel like a fucking monster and some excellent voice acting and a couple squad mates that mentally breakdown with and you've got the most compelling shooter I've ever played. Period.
2012 GOTY to me.
9/10
Binary Domain
A random game, I know, but it was a lot of fun. Over the top action with fun bad guys, tons of robots!!!!
Great action and some memorable characters. The enemies were a ton of fun because they blow apart in interesting and very visual/reactionary ways.
It does fall apart on a handful of boss fights that were just dumb as fuck. Instant knock downs with slow recovery time make the fights a bit of a chore at times.
Creepy humanoid/robotic moments and interactions in here.
Great game that you should be able to pick up for cheap.
8/10
Sleeping Dogs
Hands down my favorite sandbox game of all time. Ever. Great story that tears you between loyalty to friends and the job. Some truly cringe worthy moments in here of brutality.
A sandbox game that doesn't compromise in almost anyway. Great shooting and melee combat that's fun and rewarding. Good physics and great driving.
It does pull from every great sandbox game ever made, but it does everything that they do, but does it better. This game is everything a sandbox game should be.
One of the select few games that gave me a tinge of sadness to see it end. That the journey was over and the story complete. I really hope they make a sequel to this game.
9/10
Spec Ops: The Line
Holy fuck. A modern 3rd person military shooter that has an amazing and convuluted narrative where you never really know if you're the good guy or not.
Throw in some moments that make you feel like a fucking monster and some excellent voice acting and a couple squad mates that mentally breakdown with and you've got the most compelling shooter I've ever played. Period.
2012 GOTY to me.
9/10
Binary Domain
A random game, I know, but it was a lot of fun. Over the top action with fun bad guys, tons of robots!!!!
Great action and some memorable characters. The enemies were a ton of fun because they blow apart in interesting and very visual/reactionary ways.
It does fall apart on a handful of boss fights that were just dumb as fuck. Instant knock downs with slow recovery time make the fights a bit of a chore at times.
Creepy humanoid/robotic moments and interactions in here.
Great game that you should be able to pick up for cheap.
8/10
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