Sony - Subliminal Advertisement

I know this isnt really "blog" material but felt his was the most appropriate place to share it. This was a random beer i'd picked up in shopping market and there's something quite familiar about those symbols on the label, pretty nifty bit of Sony subliminal advertisement....or not.

Brink Abilities Trailer

This is the Brink trailer I've been waiting for just because I want to see some of the abilities and unlockables for the classes. Like I've told 3N3MY, I'm a sucker for team-based shooters so I'm pretty excited about May 17th. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcAbkoPndC4

Game Changers

I posted on facebook something about Portal 2, and some pretty funny comments came out of it, some from folks on this blog.  I don't mind - Valve does have it's days, and I think most Valve fans are willing to turn a blind eye to some of the issues in their games, because of the positive things they receive when they play them.  That leads me to my question - what's your game changing game?

For me, I'm gonna point to Half- Life 2.  I'm not about to praise HL2 any more than people already could figure out, but HL2 changed the way that I approached everything else I play.  The main element that blew me away in HL2 was the narrative structure and how it fit into their game and level design - The way this effected me when I played it... well, I've been changed.

The game doesn't even have to be a good one, or maybe one that you even finished.  Maybe something was so horrifically off that you realized what makes the stuff you like fun.  Maybe one game caused you to look at life differently.  I know I made most of the the friends I have through Halo... it's hard not to walk away from that feeling ungrateful.

What came before the NES for you?

I understand and appreciate the fact that the NES basically saved games from total annihilation and that it single handedly created about a billion gaming fans, but what did you play (if anything) before the NES?

I don't mean what you played at a friends house or played once or twice, but what was a system you played a lot and loved? What did you go back to again and again well before the NES was a blip on Nintendo's radar?

As a kid we had an Atari 2600 that I played, but it was a stellar gift from my uncle that gave me and my brother the Coleco.

I played the hell out of that thing and still own it to this day. My favorite game on it by far was Space Fury which played like a Geometry Wars, but with no walls so you could fly thru one side and pop up on the other side of the screen. There were all kinds of power ups for your space ship and the best part was the alien dude that would great you before battle and would rate you as a "worthy opponent" or told you that you basically suck. The ship moved with inertia which was a neat gameplay element.

All in all this was the very first game I ever loved and the theme song when the alien talks with you never ever ever ever gets old to me and still perks up my ears when I hear it. I true classic to this blogger and a game I owe pretty much everything to.

Here's a video that's actually a review some guy did of the game. He's entirely unfunny, but please watch the game for a couple minutes....at least the music and alien greeting part.

Space Fury

Gotta catch 'em all...

... almost out of obligation.  A more appropriate title for this post should read "why a grown man can still play pokemon with minimal shame".  This review is going to go through the simplistic review of Pokemon Black and White, as well as explaining a little bit of my justification.  For the sake of time, I'm going to try and avoid talking about pokemon gameplay, but if anyone's confused, I'll break it down later for you.

Pokemon Black/White (BW) is the fifth generation of pokemon, and it's a good one.  It's well rounded, well paced, and delves into the issues of what makes pokemon what it is, and it does so in gameplay as well as the narrative.

Liked:

Solid Start - This game kicks off at a decent pace that the other pokemon games kinda lack... usually it's a bunch of crap.  Run an errand for this guy, randomly get a pokemon for your own, learn how to fight in the tall grass... This one has those elements, but it doesn't beat around the bush - the game knows it's about those things and kicks straight into it.  No waiting, no pretense - here's your pokemon, now go kick ass.

Smart Trainers - Pokemon's gameplay is basically a big complicated game of rock, paper, scissors.  Certain pokemon are good against others ("It's super effective!") and some are not (It's not very effective..."), and this simple concept is where the strategy is built.  I'm about 2/3 through the main story and have run across some fairly intelligent cpu trainers.  I've always wondered in past games, "why doesn't this guy use a potion, he's just about dead...", and this game addresses concepts like that.  In game trainers will uses items and abilities like you do, adding to the gameplay as well as the challenge.

Super What? - My first pokemon game, I didn't have the internet, strategy guide, or even a friend to help me through.  I found a gameboy color and a copy of Yellow in the middle of a big park with no one around.  Not once during the gameplay did the game explain anything about type compatibility.  I thought when things were "super effective" that it was just luck.  This game takes a great step in that direction by educating the player about what works well against what.  It's unavoidable, and written into the storyline - this makes BW a great choice for any first time pokemon players.

Visuals/Sound - This is a minor one, considering the DS's graphical limitations, but they've really kicked it up as best they can.  More 3D (not 3DS) interactive areas, cooler animation for pokemon attacks, and a world that changes appearance with the seasons. (Although I am curious why it says it's Autumn in my game when my DS's date is correct... Maybe its Fall in Japan?)  The soundtrack is also good.  Same basic pokemon melodies redone with new flair.

Pokethical Questioning - For all practical purposes, pokemon are basically animals. They help us, serve us, love us, fight us, scare us, etc.  But the ethics of capturing wild pokemon and battling them against others who have done the same thing has never really been addressed.  One way to train captured pokemon is to go to a gym (one in every city!) and fight them all day long! There's even a sanction league and government to support this.  In BW, the main antagonists are basically the PETA of the pokemon world. Later in the game the payer finds out that their motives aren't as pure as they seem, but it's still pretty ballsy to bring up the ethical dilemmas that basically create the gameplay.

Dislikes

The Pokemon - They really need to hire some more creative artists at Game Freak.  The pokemon of this generation are far and away my least favorite, with a few exceptions.  I feel like they just sat around one day looking at things around them and turned them all into pokemon.  I love Ghost type, and usually make it a focus on my team, but they're all stupid.  One is a pokemon named Chandelure... which looks like a freakin' chandelier - zero points for creativity.

No older Pokemon - This generation of pokemon are all new creatures.  In the previous games, at least a few of the older gen games pokemon would show up, but these are all new.  I have a special attachment to the older guys, and not having them in the game is a little frustrating.  After beating the main game, I can transfer my old ones in, but the main fun of the game is over by then.

Defense

I enjoy pokemon a great deal.  Part/most of it is nostalgia from my younger days of gaming, but part of it is how it breaks up my gaming life.  It's something I can play in short stints on breaks, or something to wind down a day with.  RPGs have always been a bit of an uphill climb but the casual nature of pokemon - save anywhere and keep going at will - makes it possible to put down at any moment.   I also enjoy the large level of customization.  There are literally hundreds of pokemon to choose from when making a team, and each of those pokemon can learn a variety of moves to give your team a sense of balance.  The large level of customization gives the player a sense of pride and uniqueness that can only be said of their select team.  I've been proud of my character before, but bragging about my individual Commander Shepard really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.  My pokemon are uniquely my own, and even have registration to prove it.

I also think pokemon is a healthy game to be playing. Each generation is released as two sister games, encouraging players to interact and trade with one another to complete their games.  The portable systems are usually out and about anyways, so working with other people who play to complete your game is a cool feeling.  It's almost a sense of fellowship, or mutual dorkiness that happens.  It's great!

My only real regret is how much the game is marketed to kids.  The gameplay and strategy is fairly complicated (some moves can only be taught by breeding pokemon together!), and this story in particular is fairly nuanced (I don't think many kids are being effected by the discussions of pokemon ethics in game).  It almost feels like a waste to add it in since the marketing really only draws in kids under 12.  The player plays as a child in the game as well, so it makes it even tougher to justify.

I actually want to play a pokemon game where I get to play as the antagonist, harassing other trainers and trying to take over the world with my pokemon.  It would all revolve around the same gameplay, but would be a new unique twist on the story. It would be dark, and awesome.

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Credit to Penny Arcade. I couldn't get the link to work, so I uploaded the downloaded image.

Sorry for the length here, I hope you read it all.  Sorry I've been so absent from the blog lately.  I've been out of town on vacation and busy the weeks prior.  I did comment on most of the older threads so if your curious as to my thoughts feel free to check up.  Cheers!

Wii - What happens next?

We all know I'm not the biggest Nintendo fan and while I think they do some things great they bomb on others.

Amateria and I were just texting back and forth about the 3DS and it hit me. What will Nintendo do for Wii 2?

The 3DS is a neat machine for sure, but isn't on my radar. I love my PSP and, so far, Nintendo isn't showing any system movers for me yet. To me it's just another DS.

I guess with the 3DS I feel that Nintendo is playing it safe and sticking to their strengths, but I'm wondering how long they can do that.

With the Wii Nintendo has made a fortune and they've really spread gaming around to a much larger audience than MS and Sony ever could and I commend that.

But what will they do next? People are already upset that the Wii doesn't even do HD. It's a large graphical difference between the PS3 and the 360 and when the next systems ship (in 3-5 years from now) what will their game plan be?

I can only imagine that the graphical differences between a Wii 2 and a PS4 or XBOX 720 will only be magnified compared to what it is today.

Will Nintendo still be able to push motion controls onto the same people that bought a Wii again? The same people that only ever got a Wii for bowling and a health trainer aren't going to buy a Wii 2. They don't see a benefit like a more "core" gamer might in a new Sony or MS product.

I wonder if Nintendo feels the same way? Maybe they'll rush out a Wii 2 in another year or two to try and grab up as much market as they can before MS and Sony ever get out of the gate, but it will only buy them time.

I imagine if they did that they'd be making their own path and wouldn't necessarily play by the rules of console releases anymore, but still.....I just don't see it going well with them.

With the advent of smart phones and cell phone gaming really taking off it makes Nintendo and Sony's handhelds that much harder to sell. My cousin's dad just retired and he put over 30 hours into Angry Birds.....30 hours in a week!

I applaud the fact that Sony is trying to make a real powerhouse with the NGP and it does seem stellar, but holy crap that thing is pricey and I can't see it doing well either.

I realize that this is all speculation, but given Nintendo's track record of doing their own thing do you really think they'll even attempt to make something like a PS4 or a XBOX 720? No way. They're too Japanese for that and that's what's going to kill them. It's why the Wii was such a departure from normal gaming. They had to come up with a new idea after they lost so much market share with the Cube.

What say you? Does Nintendo have a good chance for the Wii 2? Will Mario and Zelda ALWAYS be able to move systems? Will the Japanese ever stop buying every new iteration of anything Nintendo?

L.A. Noire - Tribeca Film Festival

Found this interesting. Games as art getting official recognition? Does this matter? Will the success of the game affect anything? L.A. Noire An Official Selection At Tribeca Film Festival http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/03/29/l-a-noire-an-official-selection-at-tribeca-film-festival.aspx

360 Discs Get 1GB Bigger

Here's the link.

I first read this story yesterday, but kept reading that it was going to be primarily for piracy issues, but it turns out the 360 is finally doing something about disc size limitations.

This is not a fanboy rant so please understand I just want a discussion, but this is a subject that brjahu and I especially have talked about again and again and again.

When the 360 first launched the DVD discs were big enough, but as of late they're running into more and more problems.

Castlevania, Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy 13 and potentially the upcoming Rage were on or will be on multiple discs. Normally I don't have a problem with multi disc games especially if it's a linear game like Lost Odyssey or FF, but when a disc limits the potential for a more open ended game I do have a problem with that.

I guess over the past couple years (I think for Gears of War 2 on) I've been worried about space problems and whether or not DLC is less about making money on the back end than it is they literally didn't have space on the disc for all the originally planned release material.

After installing some of Microsoft's blockbuster games onto my hard drive I see just how truly full these games are (6.8gb is the max I think because around another 1gb has to be used for MS mandated things like achievements) compared to the disc and wonder if the developer wanted to include more, but couldn't.

It's not such a huge deal, but it does hurt other games that are obviously going to be ported on PS3 or PC. Since the 360 has the largest customer base it's obviously catered to the most, but I guess it just doesn't feel fair.

Rage is an excellent example. I remember a couple years ago when the Godfather of games and graphics, John Carmack, was speaking very candidly about space limitations on the 360. They want Rage to be an open world concept, but said that they'd have to use 2-3 discs to fit it all in on 360. He further went on to explain the extra cost associated to themselves and Bethesda in manufacturing a game with that many discs, but he was confident that they could "make the game fit." Which of course started all kinds of accusations of id having to chop it's own game to bits to work on 360. (Links to supported material here and here and here.)

I remember reading the tons of flame bait, but I think that the concern is genuine. Why should PC and PS3 players get less of a game because of Microsofts (growing more and more) dated tech?

I guess it's just a little more annoying because those who bought the original 360 at launch missed out on a little something called an "HDMI" port because MS said that it wasn't an industry standard at the time. My TV had an input for one.....good thing my 360 broke so I could purchase my 3rd one that did have a proper HD port.

Also, will 1gb of extra space help that much? ME2 was 12gb and I'm sure most of the others I listed still wouldn't fit on this new tech.

Again this isn't meant as flame bait, but to generate a discussion. With the share of gamers MS controls it's fair to say they control the market and the fact that they are even doing this just proves that they're aware of their limitations and that just maybe.....Kinect won't make the 360 a 10 year system like they think it will.

Crysis 2 Review

How do you like your shooters?

Do you like to think about strategy in battle? Do you like to have a lot of options? Do you want your characters to move with weight? Do you like having the ability to hide and play with your enemies?

Or would you rather just kill everything and move on?

Crysis 2 is a game with options. Play how you want. It's one of the few non-rpg games I can think of that gives back how much you put in.

Some of the greatest games I've ever played are shooters (see my never ending love affair with The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay or Singularity) and while Crysis 2 is an excellent game I did have some problems with it.

Like:

Graphics: Just get this one out of the way early. It looks amazing. Not the best looking console game ever, but it's definitely up there. It's a very impressive engine that runs amazing lighting and large environments with almost no drop in framerate. I can't ever recall slow down.

Maps: The levels are still pretty much Point A to Point B, but Crytek did a great job with making you feel like you were in a larger world than you are. There are many many areas where you just look out and see all the enemies and realize how many options you have. It's a breath of fresh air for this gamer that's grown tired of corridor shooters (Doom 3, Prey and Quake 4 get passes because I love them). CoD and Dead Space 2 are some examples of how to make a straight forward game.

Weapons: There are lots of them and they all can be customized to fit a style. Since you can only carry two weapons I primarily only used a handful of guns that I felt really comfortable with that were good in varying situations. Customization is pretty awesome at how "on-the-fly" it is. Hold down the "Select" button and your character will hold the gun in such a way that you can see the whole thing. Hitting certain buttons will add a silencer or a different scope or a different part such as a shotgun or grenade launcher. It takes a little time to learn to do it quick, but once you do it really opens up that many more options for "play time" with the enemy.

Suit Design: You don't really get to see the suit much (besides your arms), but holy hell that thing looks awesome. It looks organic and mean and futuristic yet "this could be the future" all at once.

Suit: I wish I could do this thing justice in this review. It's an absolute blast and because of this suit Crysis 2 is the ONLY game I've ever played, that featured a super suit, that actually made me feel...well...super! In Halo you feel like you're just another grunt, but with better armor. In Crysis the suit makes you into a temporary Superman.

In one section of the game you get a diagnostics done to yourself and the suit and you see just how badly damaged and near dead you are in the game (broken back and ribs, ruptured organs...you know....kid stuff), but the suit is keeping you alive. It's literally growing into your wounds to keep you alive. It creates an almost silent attachment to the suit because without it you can't beat these enemies and still without it with no enemies you'd probably just die.

They never really point that out in the game, but it's something I noticed and appreciated.

Suit Voice: It's awesome. It has the sound you hope it would. It's definitely robotic and "man" and it alerts you of all the right things at the right times.

Powers: They aren't tacked on and must be used to survive and win. There are 3 powers: Cloak, Armor and Power. Cloak and armor are turned on or off with the L2 and R2 buttons while power is activated anytime you run, use power jump, grab ledges or rip turrets off of their bases.

Preparation: This is where the game shines. When you enter a new area the suit will tell you that you have some tactical options. This is where I would activate cloak and turn on my scan visor. In the visor mode you can see all enemies (up to a certain distance) and I highlight them all. Next I look for enemy vehicles. Then I look for ammo drops and crates. I look for flanking areas and spots where I can climb for a height advantage.

After I've viewed all I can see and look at my options for amount of enemies and their locations and the size of the map. Then I weigh all my options and I decide to attack either head on, avoid them completely or take them out one by one in stealth.

I personally am a huge OLD SCHOOL Splinter Cell fan and Riddick worked well with stealth so I almost always went stealth. Cloak and use a silenced weapon. With a silenced gun you can get away with one or two shots and stay cloaked.

Ironically some of the most fun I had was when I screwed up my own plan. If I was seen by someone and my cover was blown and had to improvise.

It's a frigging blast to drop from a very high point and activate armor at the last second to absorb the impact so you don't get hurt and head shot a guy on a turret in a vehicle. Jump into the back of the vehicle and rip out the turret and rain hell on the enemy.

On Normal difficulty the game had some challenging areas, but I'm really looking forward to playing it again on Supersoldier where I'll be forced to use the suit well....or fail epically.

Energy: The way the game keeps you from totally crushing the enemy is by allowing your powers to work only as long as your energy bar will allow.

Half Life 2 has a similar setup. Your suit allows you to power your flashlight and sprint, but only as long as the power holds out. In Crysis 2 your suit recharges quickly, but it will run out on you in some of the worst times.

It's implemented well too because it drains faster in accordance with how you're using it. In cloak it drains very slowly if you're holding still or crouched and walking, but if you sprint that thing is going to drain fast. With armor on there is a constant drain as well, but as long as you aren't being shot it'll last a lot longer.

Running and Jumping and Ledge Grabbing, OH MY!: What the hell?! A super jump that feels like you have weight?! Bungie must marvel at the design! There are two jumps. A simple non-suit powered jump and the uber jump that you accomplish by holding down the jump button for a little longer (it uses energy). It is awesome! You move with gravity and never feel floaty.

Add sprinting and jumping and you'll be flying across the map! The game even sports a very novel idea in a shooter where you can actually grab and heave yourself up onto a ledge. This allows for much more freedom of movement around the environment.

Dislike:

Silent Hero: When the hell is this going to stop? I'm so tired of a voiceless main character! I'm looking at you Gordon Freeman and the Doom guy! What's wrong with a little voice or character with my character? Tommy from Prey was made much enjoyable to play when I realized he had struggles and problems and a *gasp* personality! Sev from Killzone 2 has a voice and while that's not a character driven game it lets me care about him some as opposed to not at all.

Voice Acting: I think that the guys that made the game are from Sweden, but the voice actors they got for the English version suck. With a game with as big a budget as this had and with as big a market as the US is you'd think they'd hire some decent talent. Hargreave is the only character that doesn't suck.

A.I.: I still think that the original FEAR had some of the best AI I've ever seen with an enemy. They'd use everything they could to kill you and they did it non-scripted and believably. These guys are retards and more than once I saw them continually running into a wall.....just waiting to die.

Seemingly Random Energy Depletion: I swear sometimes my guy would take a freaking beating in armor mode and I would be good for a while and a bunch of other times I'd be at 100% and activate armor and then it would be at 0% and flashing red! I still can't tell you if that's because of a special enemy gun or something that kills shields instantly or what, but frequently I'd be puzzled as to why my energy was gone.

When your energy is gone you can't run because running requires power so you're forced to "walk" to cover. It's a good and bad thing in the game and will def make you bite your nails more than once.

No Inherent Powers in the Suit: This became more of an annoyance than anything, but I'm sorry. I have a super badass 1 Billion Dollar Super Suit and apparently it can't do jack unless it's eating up my energy. It can't even power my thermal visor (which you depend on heavily in some areas) without eating energy. It's not a huge deal, but to always have to deactivate and activate powers so that you can recharge just gets annoying.

I also thought that the weapon swap between weapons and reloads were way too slow. They were at normal dumb soldier speed. Why shouldn't I have some advantages inherent to the suit? Like a faster reload or a faster weapon swap?

The suit is stellar, but flawed that it offers no advantages without eating power.

Story: What story? I guess there's something there, but it's so poorly explained that you don't really know what's going on.

There's a virus killing people in New York City and you're fighting humans and aliens and somehow your suit is building an antidote to it all. It's dumb.

Aliens: I thought that fighting the aliens would be fun, but in the mid-section of the game you stop fighting humans and fight almost only aliens. They aren't as fun to fight as humans because they just run around like crazy people, but they do create a lot more of the "holy crap I'm getting owned moments" of the game.

Bottom Line:

This game owns. I loved it. I did have some frustrating moments fighting The Pingers at times with randomly depleting energy, but seeing as to how they are the biggest and baddest guys in the game I assume they have special weapons. I just wish the game would've let me know.

Running around the maps and using running, jumping and grabbing opens up the maps in ways no other shooter has.

It's a game that lets you play how you want and rewards careful planning and optimizing the proper use of the suit. It's one of the few shooters I've played that lets you be creative in your play style and I commend it for doing such a great job.

I'm restarting the game on the hardest difficulty to see if I've mastered the suit.

Do what you know in your heart to be right.....buy this game.

Help Wanted

I've already shared this story with 3N3MY and Lead Salad, but figured I would toss it on here to see if anyone else has had this issue or knows the cause/fix. I have already hit up the inter-webs and found quite a few people with this or similar issues but nothing has been helpful.

Situation: Uncharted 2 has issues of freezing, audio dropouts, and system resets. It started last night when it required an update to 1.o9. It froze on the 'please wait' screen and eventually my system beeped and reset. My quick fix was to delete the game data file (not saved game), and fully power off my system. It reloaded and took the update. Received one additional error when trying to load 'live sync' for MP but just tried again and it updated. Enter this afternoon. I decided I wanted to play through the game again. After a little while all the sudden the dialogue dropped and the music was skipping leaving me with just sound effects. Come to find out, it didn't fully load the maps and I was able to walk through doors and outside the map. From that point, I tried to exit the game and it froze, beeped, and reset the system. I then proceeded to repeat the above steps. After 25min of re-updating my game, it froze on me again while re-updating MP. This final time, I powered off my system, made sure my disc was clean, and pressed and held down my power button, which I believe does some sort of reset. Loaded the game, loaded MP and played a round with no issues. I loaded a couple of cut-scenes and they played fine. Called it a day.

I have tried out a couple of other games since and haven't had an issue. Any ideas? Everything I've done is what the people on forums said to do. The other is that it could be a laser diode issue, but I have NO problems reading BDs and that is a constant read, unlike games. I think it's just a faulty, sub-par, over-priced system ;)

My system:

- PS3 Fat 20gb

- upgraded to 160gb HDD

- system fan does run a lot due to upgraded HDD (my old laptop drive that ran HOT)

- system is a remanufactured purchase from eBay 2 years ago.

Crysis 2 Video

I know that we aren't supposed to just link to videos and I can't wait to finish the game and post my review, but this is a neat video that actually shows things that happen in game and it sports Hans Zimmer's stellar theme!

This is the opening cinematic to the game and it shows the uses of the suit and practical ways to approach situations. I just like the video so much because it is a good representation of the powers at your disposal and the size of the areas you do battle in.

I'm hoping to have a review up next week.

Crysis 2 - Graphics Only and Discussion

Finally started and played Crysis 2 for over and hour and a half last night and all I'll say about the game before my official review is that it's awesome!

I'm posting to talk about the graphics of this game. I have no problem believing that on a powerful PC this is probably the best looking game of all time, but on consoles I don't understand where people get off saying it's the greatest looking console game ever. I've read that statement at many different sites and even on the box for the game it says, "Best looking console game ever."

Sidenote about me is that the first game that blew my brains against the wall (graphically speaking) was Riddick for the old box. That game needs to be mandatory playing (like mandatory reading at school) for any gamer. It's just that awesome.

In a very unbiased non-PS3 Fanboy statement I can easily come up with 3 games that all look better on a console than Crysis 2: Killzone 2 (haven't played 3 yet), God of War 3 and Uncharted 2. Don't get me wrong the game is gorgeous and definitely looks best in outdoor environments and it looks better than any 360 game I've seen.

Maybe reviewers forgot about those PS3 exclusives?

Also, the game sports a lot of light and a ton of color in much larger environments than any modern shooter I can even think of. No doubt the engine has to work a lot harder than in Killzone, CoD or Gear of War 2.

Talking with Salad yesterday before I had even played the game I was shocked to see that IGN had called the game the best looking console game they'd ever seen and still only rated the graphics a 9.5.

Let me put this in perspective and run down some other blockbuster game graphics ratings from IGN:

Gears of War 2: 9.5

Halo Reach: 9.5

God of War 3: 9.5

Modern Warfare 2: 10

Uncharted 2: 10

It just seems contradictory to say that a game is the best looking game on any console and not give it a 10.

Salad and I agree that it shows a flaw in the number ranking system and think that the "Like" "Dislike" is the superior method.

The only problem with that is that a quick glance at a number rating does give the reader a good impression of what the reviewer thought of the game without having to read the whole review.

What say you? Numbers good? Numbers bad? Maybe we should implement a sticker program with golden stars or smiley faces? Maybe we should take the games code and mark the hell out of it with a red felt tip marker like our teachers did to us in school?

I guess I just got annoyed that the game promised to blow my mind visually (and the reviewers were calling it the best looking game ever and perpetuating the problem!) and while many times I find myself saying "wow" and slowly gaze around at the destruction of New York I can't help but be a little let down.

This Generation Only - Worst Games

Keeping this list thing alive what's the worst game you've played and completed? We've all played some bad ones, but who stuck it out till the end? Who really saw the game suck to the final credits?

Brjahu's post was excellent where it was a "disappointed" list where the game could still be good, but you were let down in some way.

This list just sucks. Let's see if you can even do two.

Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard - Hey it's Will Arnett and Neil Patrick Harris in a game! There's no way this won't be awesome!

Boy was I wrong. It had some very clever moments in it, but holy crap this game was a battle for me after the 1st hour and I swear it was like 50 hours long. Terrible AI and crazy repitition almost put me in a coma.

I finished it because I wanted the easy achievements.....I bear my shame like a scarlet "Achievement Unlocked" notification.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 - Thankfully this game was mercifully short, but it really only sucked so bad because I enjoyed the 1st one so much.

It took everything great about the first game and said "bugger off" and ruined it! Top of a short game with very few varying locations, terrible enemies, a way overpowered main character and one of the worst final boss battles of all time and you've officially made my "worst" list.

This Generation Only - Most Disappointing

3N3MY - I'm not trying to steal your thunder with this post, but I felt a perfect follow-up to the Top 3 Games of This Generation would be to list the Top 3 Most Disappointing Games of This Generation. I have a feeling that several of you will list the same game or two but I'm interested to hear what your thoughts are.

Plus, lists are always a good time! So, here we go...

Resident Evil 5 - The follow-up to possibly the best game of the previous generation unfortunately had huge shoes to fill. This game was announced very early in the 360's life, and if I remember right, might have even been one of the reasons I got one in the first place (well, besides playing COD2 in HD for the first time). I might need some correcting here, but I specifically remember this game took a couple of years and several delays before it finally launched. I'm not saying the game was bad, it just wasn't RE4 . I wasn't a fan of the control scheme, and the story just wasn't up to par.

On a side note: The co-op was very welcome, but since 3N3MY, Lead, and Skatch were already paired up I had the unfortunate experience of playing with Capt. Unreliable aka Amateria. No offence to him, but having to wait days in between plays killed the experience.

Halo 3 - I might receive some flack for this but come on... it just wasn't that good of a game. The campaign was lacking (and kind of dumb), and being the first Halo on this generation, it had HUGE expectations. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but I lost interest in the MP very quickly. I honestly blame the Beta. I got into it on day one via a download code (as opposed to Crackdown), and loved it immediately. Then, when the game finally launched the multi experience was completely different. I wish I could be more specific on this, and maybe Skatch can help me out, but all I can say is that they experienced a bit of the Gears of War Syndrome where they changed the game so much that it wasn't the same game anymore. To their credit, they only changed it once, and not every 2 weeks.

Call of Duty 3 / Gears of War 2 - I know this is cheating but it's hard for me to separate these two because they are both follow up games to, what I feel, are two of the most important games of this generation.

COD3 - Trey Arch, you really botched this one up. The campaign sucked, and it just felt like a terrible copy of COD2 which many might consider to not even qualify as a game of this generation. It's only saving grace was that the MP could be fun at times if you had a group of friends to play with. And to think, I purchased this game instead of Gears of War 1... yeah, a terrible mistake.

GOW2 - Boy... how can anyone completely eff up a MP experience more than Epic did with this game. If you played the game the day it came out, put it away for 3 years, and tried playing again, you wouldn't even recognize it. Everything from the way the shotgun fires, to the smoke grenades with an identity crisis, to the simple concept of the chainsaw... everything is different. Despite all of this, I played the hell out of this game. I think it's because I knew what it was, and felt that they were just one update away from making this game perfect. Man, was I wrong. Luckily, they campaign and horde make this still a game to pick back up.

This Generation Only - Best Games

This is not a best of all time list, but a list of the best games you've played this console generation and PC during the same timeline. Half Life 2 is not an option so don't try it because it was originally on PC and then ported to XBOX so it's too old.

I have a ton, but limit it to 3 and explain why you picked them.

1. Dead Space - Very few games give me the thrills like Dead Space. The atmosphere and back story are excellent, but the game also sports excellent controls and action. As good as Dead Space 2 was it's still not as good as the original.

2. Mirror's Edge - Probably the most excited I'd been for a new IP in I can't remember how long. The game was not perfect by any means, but making a first person running and platforming game work on that level is amazing to me. Couple it with a great soundtrack and an awesome aesthetic and you've got a stunner in my book.

3. Condemned - Monolith is one of my favorite developers and it was the first true "next gen" game I had ever played that really blew me away. Still the most visceral combat I've ever seen in a game and "Bart's Superstore" is the most memorable level I think I've ever played in any game....ever.

I'm looking forward to reading your lists!

Homefront

First of all, let me just scream when will people stop comparing EVERY SINGLE FPS to CoD!? Now that that thought is out of my system, I can proceed with my review... full of comparisons to Call of Duty.

Likes
• A new IP - it's not a repeat of the same game released last year on March 15th and this automatically made me like it a bit more. You may disagree but this earns points for me. Maybe I've played certain IPs too much and am burned out them.
• Setting - from Red Dawn to Freedom Fighters, I love the idea of America being invaded by a foreign country, in a "real" way, not some pop-arcade arnold movie. Even though this game out later than MW2, I feel that CoD ripped this game off. If that makes sense...
• Shock - this game will really shock you. Without spoiling anything, there was one part that really got to me, tugged at the heartstrings in only a way that a movie or book has before. Certains instances feel more "real", more a part of war than some effort to make you go "woh" and remember a scene from the latest pop-action flik. One scene in particular reminded me of Behind Enemy Lines.
• Graphics - people are complaining that they are outdated while they sink hundreds of hours into the same IP that has produced the same graphics since 2007 (right year)? The way the graphics were done and pictures placed over objects (I have no idea what technique or drawing method this is) reminded me of HL2 and Max Payne 2. A little dated but worked great for me since I enjoy that style.
• Vibe - I really got a HL2 vibe while playing the game (maybe it was the graphics) but this drew me in too. On the run from an evil empire...
• MP - the multiplayer is surprisingly good and very smooth! No lag, low pings, hits register. The MP is fast and furious and you die QUICK, which some people may not like. I enjoy it because it doesn't take an entire magazine to kill an enemy. And compared to other large IPs, this game has an amazingly smooth release. While you play, you level up and earn different unlocks, including the ability to add perks to vehicles. You can customize your kits with some pretty familiar perks. There is a point system for the kits so some may have 2 perks, others may have 3 (not sure if you can have more than 3). You earn Battle Points as you play which can use in game to unlock two abilities that you have or vehicles upon respawning. There is a personal UAV scan for 400 BPs that is pretty effective. RPGs are 250BPs so if a tank rolls up, bust that out and take out the tank. The vehicles can be annoying but there seems to be easy counters for all of them, except the chopper. The one time I bought the chopper I was taken out quick so I think I just need to figure out which launcher to use. :P It's a great blend between the two big IP franchise FPSs.
• History - the fictional future history of the world is done AMAZINGLY well. To the point where you honestly begin to believe that NK could invade the US someday. As unlikely as that sounds, the events put together in the story (and easter egg newspapers you find) really fleshes out the world. I've heard people bash the mere thought of NK invading the US. I assume these people read biographies and nonfiction books about Obama's childhood. I enjoy science-FICTION and fantasy and other FICTION so I'm in full support of a FICTIONAL story.

Now, the dislikes...
• Length - It's true, the campaign is super short. I think I completed it on Normal in 3 1/2 to 4 hours and it just... ends. Almost like they planned more missions but stopped. I really enjoyed the missions and the progression leading up to a big finale but then... it's done. Even 6 hours would have been acceptable but 4, or less than 4, is pushing it. Maybe it was a budget issue or whatever but they need to work on this for the second game. For an excellent length of an FPS, see HL2.
• Disconnected - as much as I loved the story and the atmosphere and fighting NK soldiers in neighborhoods and department stores, I still felt disconnected. I didn't connect with the characters or anybody I met along the way. Honestly, with some longer "down" time and drawn out scenes, maybe they could've built up some character development. You could have added an hour to the game easily by padding it with character back story.
• Too late - this game falls short because it's released AFTER another large IP that set the (very low and poor) standards for FPS shooters these days.
• Filling the wrong shoes - Though it isn't quite as bad as Medal of Honor, it still attempts at times to fit the shoes of other IPs. Game developers should consider coming up with their own ideas instead of attempting to copy (crappy) ideas from other developers. Homefront isn't too bad in this area but there is one part where you jump in a chopper and some oldy sounding music starts playing and it just irritates me cuz it's been done so many times. Freaking pick another song and I'll be okay with it. Play some melodic Enya or something, just for a break from "Hey, I'm in a chopper going to war so we must, Must, MUST listen to CCR." (I don't think that was the song but it was pretty much the same).
• Bugs - SP had some bugs and frame rate drops. However, I believe this was mostly due to me running Fraps as I recorded me playing through the SP campaign. I did the first two missions again (achievement hunting on Steam) and it ran smoother. Still some bugs though.

All in all, I'm not sorry I spent my money on this game. The SP fell a little short of what I expected but was still enjoyable and I'm still eager to finish a second, possibly third, playthrough. The MP is good, much better than expected, and this will fill in the tiny gap where the SP fell short. Good new IP and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do with a second game. Not sure how long the MP will last me but it's a great break from the complete lack of MP shooters I've not been playing lately... since I'm burnt out on CoD.

Also, all the reviews are a little harsh on this game, and it's honestly because it doesn't have CoD in the title. Once people can get past that, it's a good game.

Rockstar Games

I know that we beat them up from time to time and Juniper loves them (not a poke at you, Juniper, or your gaming loves, but the truth), but why can't I finish 1 of their games?

Truly they revolutionized the game industry with GTA 3. An open world where you were free to do anything you wanted. I think we'd all agree that if we played it we probably spent more time running amok in the city than doing missions. It's a blast to have that freedom. See how long you can survive when the cops are out in full force. Use cheats codes and arm yourself to the teeth and cause mayhem! It was a blast!

I've played GTA, GTA3, GTA: Vice City, GTA4 and Red Dead and I haven't finished one of them. I acknowledge the level of detail in them all and the fully realized worlds and the emphasis on freedom, but my goodness.....they get so boring.

I'm writing because I never finished Red Dead on 360 and I picked it up again for PS3 over a month ago. I got to Mexico (my quitting point on 360) and did 1 mission and haven't played again.

I just find the missions boring and the fact that the game has an ENDLESS amount of tutorial help! For example there's a mission where a barn is burning and you have to save the horses inside. Understand that you're already anywhere from 5-15 hours into the game and you know how to play, but the game insists on telling you what ladder to climb to get in. To crouch walk to be careful not to fall. What window to go in. What ladder to climb down. How to smack the horse to make them run out. How to mount the horse. How to jump the fire while on the horse to escape.

I feel that almost every mission is like this. Why the hell won't they let me do some trial and error or exploration and find out for myself? GTA4 did the same thing.

I guess I'm ultimately frustrated at the crazy amounts of ass kissing game journalists do to Rockstar. With LA Noire around the corner it's already in full swing again at how amazing the world is. How lifelike the facial animations are. How story driven it is. How it's 25-30 hours long.

But is it exciting? Is it fun to play? Will I actually finish it?

Given the track record with me I'm gonna guess no and I'll gladly pass on it all while waiting for the Game of the Year awards to roll around and see it win again and again.

Again let me say that Rockstar is very talented, but I guess I just don't get it.

Feel free to pick the hell out of this and leave your own feedback.

Dead Nation

Lead Salad and I were looking for a new coop game. Something specifically coop that we would both love.

After accidentally running across gameplay footage of Dead Nation for PSN I knew that we had our game. After looking at it....Salad agreed.

Dead Nation has been out for several months and largely went ignored by me because I figured it was yet another quick cash in to the zombie genre, but boy was I wrong.

It's a top down dual joystick shooter....and it's absolutely punishing at times.

Take Left 4 Dead, but throw in a ton more zombies with a darker setting and much more difficult odds with a birds eye view and you have Dead Nation.

Like:

Difficulty: We are playing on "Normal" and it's running us through the paces. There are still 2 difficulties above this and I can only imagine how bad those are. It's pretty astounding just how fast things can go bad. We try to run in a pack and it takes literally about 2 seconds to be torn apart and fighting for ourselves.

Tons of Zombies: Seriously, this games throws easily over 50 zombies at you at a time and it keeps you on the edge of your seat....at all times.

Constant Action and Tension: There's very very little down time. In Left 4 Dead (which I love and am not bashing) there's many areas that are barely zombie filled at all, but in Dead Nation you're almost always fighting.

Environments and Zombies: As a top down shooter you wouldn't expect much from the graphics department, but they really did a good job making the game look really good for what it is.

Zombie Variation: There are a lot of different types of zombies and almost all different variations have their own set of animations and moves. Up against the way overused skins of Left 4 Dead it's pretty impressive.

Weapons: I like that the game pretty much forces you to buy the fancy guns to survive. You can use the standard rifle, smg and shotgun, but there's no way you're gonna survive the later levels. Salad and I have split responsibilities of weapons. I use the SMG and Bladezooka (you read that right) and Salad uses the Shotgun and Grenade Launcher. Also, all the weapons are upgradeable which gives the game an RPG feel that I dig. Again, you have to upgrade these weapons to succeed.

Length: There are 10 chapters and we have only finished 5 so far so and each mission takes around 30 minutes give or take a few minutes. There's a lot of meat on this game and the replayability on harder difficulties will be high.

Dislike:

Too Dark: Many times you'll get hit by zombies you couldn't even see because the environments can be too dark.

Controls: While they do work really well with R3 doing reload so you don't have to take your thumbs off of the stick they suck at the worst times. Mainly because you rely so heavily on your big guns when the shit hits the fan, but you get overwhelmed so fast (which is very often) you can't take your left thumb off the stick to switch to a better weapon with the D-Pad because you'll get destroyed.

Bottom Line:

I really enjoy this game and I know Salad does too. It absolutely boils down coop to it's most essential elements of dedication to each other and having to work together to survive.

It has a high level of polish and great design and something that any zombie fan should buy immediately.

Bad Company 2

I haven't had a strong MP FPS game to play for some time. I keep thinking I'll pick up Killzone 3 or Brink or Homefront, but I just kept thinking.....Bad Company 2 is more than likely still better and going to be better than all of those.

So I got it from Goozex on my PS3 and played it a lot this weekend. I feel very comfortable in saying that Bad Company 2 is THE MP FPS game to beat....period. It's sense of balance, map layout and destruction as well as class based warfare is unmatched. If you're team is getting crushed it's because you're not working together and not some fault of the game.

It was neat too because it seems that a lot of the people that played it like CoD, when it first launched, are gone. The people that are left are the ones that really love the game.

I was able to get right back into the swing of things and started rocking out big scores during my 2nd match.

I even got the Vietnam DLC and while so far I'm not a huge fan of the maps (probably more likely a direct reflection of the retards on my team than the maps) it's clear that a lot of love was put into the DLC.

When CoD releases maps it's 3-4 maps for 15 bucks. This has 5 maps, 2 new armies, 6 new vehicles and 15 new weapons.

All hail the king of FPS...DICE!

Sony can kiss my ass...

Two years ago I bought a PS3. I bought that PS3 because I had finally given up on my fanboy-rage over HDDVD's demise and I was able to snag one for the same cost as a BD player (at the time). Side note: I had put a ban on all movie purchases till then too... yeah, I'm a freak.

ANYWAY, the first BD movie I bought was Sunshine. For those who haven't seen it, you obviously hate America. It is, a phenomenal movie and has a demo-worthy audio track. Getting to my point... my wife is gone, and had some time to kill so I threw it in. As the movie starts the PIP featurette pops up and I cannot get the damned thing to go away. Finally, I hit the forums and discovered that Sony, those bastards, blocked some JAVA coding in the PS3 and other Sony BD players as a "security fix". Because of this, Sunshine, which uses JAVA for it's BD features, bugs out and it is impossible to watch it without the PIP. Sony has acknowledged the issue but since October when the issue first showed up, there is yet to be a fix. The only solution I have found is to contact Fox and see if they will issue a replacement disc.

I just got off the phone in an attempt to contact Fox, but of course, they are unavailable until Monday. Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed off. I'm already in a pissed-off mood and not being able to watch on of my favorite movies just pisses me off more.

So, from the deepest depths of my heart and with all sincerity... Sony, your products are shit and you can kiss my ass.

*this post was written with love from a Sony Vaio*