Spring Gaming

Hey, I have pre-ordered Homefront and Brink, for PC on Steam, so I will be playing those on day one. Homefront is out the 15th, I think, and Brink comes out sometime in May. Just to let anyone know who is keeping an eye on those games, I'll try and post up some quick reviews when they come out... If they are awesome, you can buy them, or if they suck, only one of us has to waste out money. :D

I'm buying Homefront for the story and SP but I'll probably give the MP a try as well. And Brink I'm getting for the team-oriented MP and customization.

And I'll be getting Lego Star Wars III on the 22nd, of course, since I'm a Lego fan... the demo was fun times... :P

And I Thought PC Gaming Was Expensive

Thought this was an interesting article, since I spent so much on my Alienware... sometimes you don't realize all the hidden costs of the "extra" items. I read this and started calculating all the additional items for my gaming, on PC and 360. It adds up... :P

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/02/24/hidden-costs-of-gaming.aspx

Steam

I've been a gamer as long as I can remember. The earliest system I remember playing a lot was Coleco. I actually had an Atari 2600 before that and remember playing it, but it wasn't till Coleco that I remember consciously going back and playing again and again cause I loved it.

My parents never bought me a Nintendo anything until the 64 and Turbo Grafx 16 was a gamer's paradise until they all started epic failing and the company went broke.

After that it was Sega Genesis and then PC gaming.

I spent a good portion of my young life playing games on the PC. Star Wars: Rebel Assault was a good one, but it was MDK and MechWarrior 2 that showed me what gaming could be and The Neverhood that proved games can be funny, touching, silly and serious.

After my parents PC couldn't play new games anymore it was on to the 64 and then GameCube and then the XBOX and then 360 and then PS3 and now with the revelation (late to the party and a revelation to me at least) of Steam I'm back to PC gaming.

I've recently come into the possession of a brand new decently powerful 17 inch laptop that runs pretty new games well.

Left 4 Dead is a game that I would love to come over to the PS3, but since there seems to be no signs of that ever happening I realized that maybe my new laptop could do it. I looked up the minimum specs and everything was in place. Everything required my computer had in spades....except for the graphics card. It's some junk no brand name internal thing and I was worried that it might not run.

With some comfort from Juniper I took the plunge and downloaded L4D and it works awesome! I now have access to literally hundreds and hundreds of extra maps at no charge! The game was just given legs way past what Microsoft or Sony would ever allow!

Needless to say I've been having a blast playing on the PC again and I wish you guys would jump in too....at least for the shit ton of L4D user created boards.

Since I had some birthday money left over I purchased Mass Effect 1 and 2 off of Steam for 40 bucks total! A used copy for the PS3 would run 50 bucks and I'd still have to pay the 15 buck activation for the DLC because I got a used copy.

Bottom line is that I'm really looking forward to diving headfirst into some more serious games over the next several months and with the revelation of how great, easy to use and customer friendly Steam is I'm seriously considering plunking down the cash (if all goes well with my new work that is) to get a respectable gaming desktop.

Juniper has been right all along about Steam and thanks to his nonstop talking about how great PC gaming and Steam is I'm glad to say he had a large part in me at least giving it a shot again.

Steam is very awesome and honestly it works a lot like the 360 and PS3 Dashboards except a lot more versatile.

That is all.

or is it?!

P.S. I'm shocked at how much better L4D looks on a PC. I mean it's common sense that the PC games look better than the consoles, but seriously there are many games that look better on the 360 than the PC version of L4D. You can actually see your legs on PC.

P.P.S. Something that's always bugged me about console games is that there can be a startling amount of "jaggies." I wasn't looking for them, but it just stands out to me how much less of a problem it is on the PC.

P.P.P.S. This is not meant to start a flame war. I'm just excited to have a machine that has the ability to do these things.

That is finally all.

Zelda is 25!

In honor of The Legend of Zelda's 25th Anniversary, I feel that I am required to share this video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAsHknWPwts&feature=player_embedded

I'm back.

That is all.

Current/Upcoming Games and 3D

Just FYI, Hard Corps: Uprising hit the XBLA today. It is Contra in everything but name. Same music, same run-and-gun 2 player coop, weapon power-ups, etc. I was going to wait and get this game on the PSN due to the Dualshock having a better d-pad, but after playing the demo this morning on Live, I have no problem with the stick. I don't want to wait, since I still haven't heard a release date for PSN, plus I've been sitting on 2400 points for a while waiting for something to buy.

Also, I traded out Black Ops this week and put my trade-in credit towards Bulletstorm on the 360. Crazy, over-the-top FPS with skill kills and an interesting scoring system. I loved the demo and the game has a 4-player coop mode. I've tried to convince some of you to get it, but nobody seems to be sold. Maybe it's just because you didn't like it, or maybe it's for financial reasons, which is fine. I'm just putting it out there that I'll have it so if anyone wants to join me, that would be sweet. It releases on the 22nd, but I won't be able to pick it up until the 25th because I'll be out of town on a work trip.

And finally, 3D in games. I read some articles a few months back about how 3D in Call of Duty: Black Ops wasn't all that terrible. I tried it out in that game, but since it was on the 360 it wasn't really a "true" 3D, so I withheld judgment. However, I have now tried out the 3D in the Killzone 3 beta, and I have to say that I'm not really a fan. I don't know the ins and outs of 3D that well, but it just seems that when I flip on the 3D feature, the game instantly loses resolution and the colors become muted somehow, losing their vibrancy. I haven't played enough to see how long I can go before I get a headache. It seems inevitable, though, since it does seem to put a weird strain on your vision. You get a little bit more of a sense of depth, but it just really does not seem to be worth all the hoopla. I don't see it catching on.

Updating... Please Wait...

Although I'm sure I could google a quick solution to this quandary, I also want to vent.  Why, tell me why, does my PS3 update every single time I do something with it.  I know I don't game on it as much as some people, but I feel like every time I play, watch, try, move, download something, my PS3 needs to restart and update.  And I know it's not just me - I was playing with 3N3MY the other night, and we decided to hop into the Killzone 3 Beta, and it updated on us.  Not a quick install, not a loading screen for the menu (both of those were there too, rest assured) but a full blown, let me sit there, don't you dare shut me off while I'm thinking, update.

I can't help but notice that my 360 does this maybe once or twice a year. I'm not using this as flame bait, but as a comparable example.  I know the PS3 infrastructure is very different from the 360, but could it possibly be that different?  My mac doesn't even get updates this frequently, and I feel like there is a new version of itunes every week.  Gah.

When playing feels like work...

Alright, so the title of this post is probably a little misleading, because in truth, I'm talking about actual work... like a job or vocation.  There are games that feel like work, and some games require a great deal of effort to get through, but I'm talking very specifically here.

Working at a game store, I get privileges to check out used copies of games to try out.  This not only allows me to expand my tastes, but also inadvertently makes me more knowledgeable to what else is out there, so I am able to speak/sell confidently about products that I may not have purchased myself, otherwise.  I used to love to take advantage of this, but lately (and by lately I mean, the better part of 18 months) I've just felt so burned. I spend all my energy at work talking about games, getting excited about upcoming titles so that customers will share in my excitement, that when I get home, I don't feel like playing... nothing new, anyways.  I always have my constants I go back to, but I go because they are familiar, and don't require any effort on my part. Halo, Pokemon, Zelda, Mario, Call of Duty, even... fun titles to be sure, but in reality, these are the games I trust.

In short, anyone know where I can get a new job, if for nothing else so I can enjoy gaming for gaming's sake again?  Ir is it all like this no matter the career? I have plenty of friends who game almost exclusively in multiplayer on COD, and their careers have nothing to do with games.  And when I talk to them about why/how they play what they do, it all seems laced with similar undertones like my own.  After a long day, something familiar and comfortable is a more natural choice than something new and unknown, as beneficial as the unknown may be....  Food for thought.

Side note: I've started reading the new Halo novel, Halo: Cryptum, which is the first part of a three book series surrounding the forerunners.  As lost as I am in this world (seriously, not much makes sense yet) I am enjoying it, aside from one detail I don't ever expect to have worked out - why would the forerunners call themselves that? The story (so far) has been written in the first person perspective of one of the forerunners interacting with some humans, but he refers to himself and his species as forerunners... I haven't read all the Halo novels before this one, but am I missing something?

What the hell will Kotick whore out now?

Apparently Activision head dude, Bobby Kotick, realized he's driven the plastic instrument genre into the ground and is firing pretty much all the Guitar Hero staff.

I truly feel for those guys that are about the join the unemployment lines, but what really stings is the new that the newest True Crime game got canned too! Bummer cause I was really looking forward to it and there were already some neat trailers out that showed like the game was far along in developement.

Kotick is a retard because he's cutting good games without giving them a chance while not empowering new ideas or IPs. This type of management can only run for so long until it collapses because all he really has left is CoD and honestly I'm CoD'ied out and I think the general public is getting there, too. I got rid of Black Ops and have zero desire to buy or play another one.

Playstation Plus

Alright I'm going to say it and I expect to get some heat for it, but oh well.

I'm a Playstation Plus guy. I know I've shouted from the rooftops about how crappy the XBOX Live Gold Membership is, but Playstation Plus actually seemed like a good deal and honestly....it's a phenomenal deal.

I got it after I read that article I posted a while back that got me called a "fanboy." In it the writer said that Playstation Plus is a lot like Costco or Sam's Club. It's a subscription based service where you get a ton of stuff discounted or totally free. If you're not aware it's $50 bucks a year.

Already I've gotten over $100 dollars worth of stuff for free and I've had it a month.

Below is a list of what I can remember/find on my PS3 that I've gotten for free. Keep in mind that this isn't a total list of free items. They are always taking stuff out and putting new stuff in.

All 5 Sam and Max episodes = $35 bucks/This is a series I've always wanted to try.

Lead and Gold = $15 bucks/I wanted this game since it launched. It's like a 3rd person Team Fortress

Digger HD $10 bucks

Mini Games: Karimogi, Hero of Sparta, Fieldrunners, Pipe Madness and A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks! $10-$15 bucks and all are playable on my PSP as well.

PSOne Games that are all playable on my PSP: Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2, CTR: Crash Team Racing $21 bucks

Possibly my favorite download just happened.....Stacked, the new Tim Schafer game. $15 bucks.

Add in over 10 themes that are $2-$3 bucks a pop and I've more than earned my money back.

The thing that bothers me is that I didn't sign up sooner. Originally, the Wipeout HD game was free so I can only imagine what else I've missed cause that game is $20 bucks.

True you have to keep Playstation Plus year after year to always keep the games, but this is just the tip of the iceberg and it's already huge savings. Now a lot of the games I'm too busy for right now and not to mention the stuff I haven't got cause I'm not interested or cause the games suck, but this is the type of yearly based subscription I can get behind. A "club" with a low cost compared to what you get....especially when it's something I'm interested in, I'm looking at you Live Music player on LIVE or 1vs100 or ESPN Redzone.

I also just read that Sony is in the works of allowing Playstation Plus members to back up their harddrive saves to their servers in a "cloud" based system. This is good news cause if my drive ever fails I'll be covered.

This post is an absolute mess so sorry for the poor format and errors and all, but I only had a couple minutes to squeeze this out cause just seeing that Stacking was on there for free just gave me a big hard one.

P.S. There's always half priced deals on here too that aren't available to everyone else.

The Darkness 2!

Will suck!

I love the first Darkness game. It's gritty and epic and twisted and amazingly well crafted. It's another game that takes the standard brainless FPS formula and turns it on it's head. The reason it rocks so hard is because the amazingly badass Starbreeze studios developed it. Unfortunately that studio is no longer around, but from what I've read it's pretty much still intact with all the talent it's just under another studio name that I can't remember at the moment.

Anyways, I just read that The Darkness 2 is coming out, but I was sad to see that Digital Extremes is making it. DE sucks....big time. They've yet to make a shooter that was anything above boring or "I guess it's okay" status. The only game that they really have a claim to was the original Unreal, but that was a long time ago and Epic helped.

So I was excited for a moment and then my dreams were dashed. Oh well...I'll just keep replaying the original.

Game Informer, Skyrim, and BF3

Since Game Informer was getting first dibs on Battlefield 3 information, I decided to stop by (get it???) my local Gamestop and purchase it. Turns out it's the March issue but I saw the Skyrim issue and picked that up with my subscription. $6 per magazine as opposed to $16 for the subscription? Of course I want the subscription...

Anyways, the Skyrim info was amazing. I know some of you won't want to hear it this far ahead of time but the game sounds amazing... and the screenshots looked incredible.

(DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT INFO) I like the idea of the skills you use leveling you up, no matter which ones you use. You can really craft your own class. Plus they are adding perks (similar to Fallout) which is a part of leveling that I definitely enjoy. Lack of HUD, fighting dragons, reorganized inventory and menu system, skill specific quests, and the list goes on to make this an incredible game.

With the release of Skyrim, potentially Diablo III, and Battlefield 3 this fall, there goes my life. Those 3 combined can easily eat up hundreds of hours...

Considering I put 845 hours into Battlefield 2 and 605 into Battlefield 2142, Battlefield 3 could potentially destroy my life...

Confessions of a Halo Fanboy

A while back many of us were having a discussion during a game of Call of Duty (I can't remember which one, which will further my point later in this post) about why we were enjoying COD over Halo.  COD had stolen our hearts away, showed us the light, and gave us killstreaks.  It's like they tapped into the part of my brain that loves to cause destruction and they put it in a playable format.  At the time, the phrase "my first shooter" was used to describe Halo's gameplay, design, and overall look.  Looking back, and openly admitting that I loved my time in any of the multiplayer experiences I had with friends, I couldn't have been more wrong when I agreed with that comment.  (For the sake of discussion, this article will be referring to Call of Duty Black Ops, and Halo Reach unless otherwise noted).

Reasons why I love Halo

1. Sense of Team - I think Halo does team gameplay better than any other shooter on the market to date.  There are a number of reasons this could be, but at the end of the day, I've never felt more on a team in Halo games.  Even the original one.  Free-for-fall games and team slayer games felt intrinsically different.  The COD series all feel so jumbled and busy. That's not always a bad thing, but when everyplayer is fighting for their own selfish kills, so they can get their own selfish killstreaks, the "team" that wins is the team who had the best players, not the team that worked together.  We usually played objective based games in the older Halo's anyways, but even the most chaotic fight out there still had a sense of cooperation for me.

2. Objectives - I'll openly admit that I haven't given the objective playlists in COD a fair shake like I have with Halo, but my experience with them has been miserable.  It seems like all the objective stuff in COD has to do with bringing something someplace AND killing the other team.  It's that big AND that frustrates me.  The objective isn't the only goal, which distracts from the point of an objective gametype.  Domination, if it can be called an objective gametype, is probably the closest fit out there, but I think it's because everything happens so fast and close together, the objective is barely noticeable.
       Halo, on the other hand, rewards players with a strong focus on the objective.  A player is rewarded with communication and teamwork.  Counter to COD, killing isn't always the best option.  Letting the enemy attack your base for a while could allow some sneaky guys to get in and get the flag unopposed.  I'm sure that COD could be played with that level of coordination, but the general feeling and aesthetic aren't nearly as conducive to it.

3. Films/Photos -  Hey, look what COD took from Halo! Obviously, both games now have a film and and photo mode, but I'm gonna go on a fanboy limb and say that Halo's is overall better (and if any of my reasons are wrong, do correct me).  Halo's has a vertical navigation that makes capturing that perfect angle easier than ever before.  Halo automatically tags photos of you that are connected to your gamertag, which makes it fun (and sometimes humiliating) to take photos and post them online.  Bungie.net support allows the players to come in and download high res versions of their photos for personal use.  The only thing COD has is the ability to string clips together with a crude editing system, a function that is cool in and of itself, but frustrating as all get out to use with their other tools.

4. Map/Game Editor -  This one might not be the biggest selling point for some, but the level of control Bungie has released to the player in their map editor is disturbing.  They've blessed the player with a fantastic selection of items to use, reached out to the fans of older halo games and included full set pieces to recreate favored structures and maps, and given the game editing tools to change how gametypes work on the players own terms.  I sometimes wish I was more deeply involved in the custom game community due to all the possibilities.  I'll post photos of my own map, and maybe videos of it in gameplay sometime.
      The map editor also allows bungie to rexamine their game all the time, and not have to release full patches of the game - removing or moving items and weapons, changing gametype set-ups, and anything else they need to do, is all updated through the playlists, not the software (in other words, due to it being integrated into the game, no one needs to download additional elements or information since it's already there!) This leads to my next point...

5. Post Launch Support - I can't think of a game studio who gives more post launch support than Bungie.  Additional maps (both free and of value), new gametypes, new playlists, an array of challenges to always be looking for.  Maybe Epic Studios, but do all those updates and game fixes really count?

6. Character Creation - Another one that probably isn't the biggest deal, but as a dabbler of game philosophy, I really appreciate it.  I think it's amazing how people can interact in a digital world.  Lead Salad's facebook has recently posted photos of me - well, it's Halo me, but anyone who plays with me knows that there is no difference - that is me, avatar or not.  When he and I or anyone else interact in this virtual world, it's us.   (Even without the pretentious reasons, it's really fun to customize your guy and make him cool to your own liking).


7. Well-rounded - I won't bother listing everything here, but Halo is really well-rounded too.  You could have that game for a few weeks, and besides everything being shooting based gameplay, you could play a different style of game, with a different goal and objective every day.  Where's the coop campaign Black Ops?

Things I don't like so much (to be fair)...

- Grenades work like stink bombs, causing not much more of an irritation to the enemy.

- Armor lock - I won't even bother... actually, most of the armor abilities big me, but that's just a big one. Hopelessly broken...

- No ranking system for matchmaking - The leveling up system has nothing to do with player skill or ability, so sometimes the matchups online feel unfair.  Fortunately the times it feels unfair are generally balanced out with times it feels unfair in your favor.  (and anyone playing a sysmetrical CTF games against my brother and me will always feel like they got robbed!)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Feel free to respond... or just read it... or don't. I felt like writing something and this one's been on my mind due to a conversation I had with a buddy from my church.  Heck, I still play COD - Black Ops is (statistically speaking) the COD game I've been the best at so far.  And nothing is as smooth as COD on the consoles control wise.  That still won't keep me from loving Halo.  Peace, brothers.

Dead Space 2

Has THE coolest unlock ever when you beat it's unbelievably old school taunt of "Hard Core" mode. Hard core mode is the hardest difficulty where if you die you don't restart at a checkpoint you restart at your last save....not a big deal right? Oh wait....they only give you 3 saves for the whole game.

If you do manage to beat it though you do unlock the greatest unlock I think I've ever seen. I foam finger and when you pull the trigger Isaac says "BANG" and "PEW"! Apparently it's incredibly powerful. My resolve to win on Hard Core is strengthened.

Dead Space 2 Review

The first Dead Space is in my personal top tier of games. The atmospheric and moody game breathed new life into a struggling survival horror genre that has been fighting to stay relevant in todays game market. It's HUDless game structure mixed with astounding audio design, great controls, amazing mood lighting, cramped corridors, believable game world, mysterious story and the awesome "Cut off their limbs" shooting strategy all mixed together perfectly and was polished to perfection.

I love Dead Space.

Dead Space 2 was the game I was most looking forward to in all of 2011. Even over Elder Scrolls V and Mass Effect 3 I wanted to take up the mantle of Isaac Clarke again and cut up some bitches! Below is my official review.

Liked:

Isaac Clarke: I love this guy. In today's gaming world it's very common to have a faceless and voiceless protagonist that comes off lazy and half assed to me. In the first game Isaac wasn't faceless, but he was voiceless. He does come off as a 3 dimensional character in the first game though when you come to realize why he is where he is and especially at the end of the game. In DS2 Isaac has a voice. He talks a lot and I'm happy to say he has a normal man's voice. He's not super gruff or super anything. He's a normal guy. In DS1 he seemed like an engineer just doing anything he can to stay alive, but in DS2 he's a veteran. He knows what he's up against and he's the most likely to survive. You still never feel overly badass, but you do feel competent.

Audio: It's still top notch.

Weapons: One of the most interesting things about Isaac is that he IS NOT a soldier. He's an engineer and most all of his guns are tools for mining. This leads to some interesting weapons with some really interesting alternate firing modes. There were actually almost too many new weapons in DS2, but they're still awesome.

Enemies: Necromorphs are some of the coolest bad guys in any game ever.....period. They're scary and tough and fearless. In DS2 they're are numerous additions to their ranks and they're some of the harder ones in the series....damn you Stalkers and Spitters....damn you.

Difficulty: The first DS wasn't very tough. It would run you through your paces at times, but never really threw more at you than you could handle. I've beat Impossible mode 2 times and as long as you know what you're doing and keep yourself backed against a wall you could handle just about anything. That's not the case in DS2. This game will rail you every which way from Tuesday if you aren't on your toes. Even my tried and true strategies were worthless when the game threw the amount and variation of enemies all at once.

Set pieces: There wasn't a lot of amazing stuff in the game, but the train sequence and the mirror sections were really neat. Always seeing Jupiter on the horizon was pretty good looking as well.

Zero G: DS1 was the first game I'd ever played that made no gravity not only fun, but scary and disorientating. DS2 actually gives you the ability to fly around in Zero G and it was always really fun to me just how badly disoriented you could get. I don't think it's a fault of the game, but more of an acknowledgement of how hard it is to keep your bearings when you can float or move in any which way you want. Where the hell is the ground?! Luckily they put in a button to reorient yourself to the ground.

Story: I love the story in this game. I love that it's kind of X Files in the way that they give you enough meat to chew on, but never reveal the wizard behind the curtain.

Tension: The game isn't a very scary one, but I'd be lying if it didn't keep you on the edge of your seat.

The Ishimura Level: My love for DS1 is huge and when I realized that I'd be getting to go back onto the Ishimura (the giant ship the first game takes place in) 3 years after the first game I almost shit my pants. It was all there. Seeing everything a little more run down and broken was really neat. Also, getting to see where the tram would drop you off in the 1st game in the 2nd was really neat.

No Loading: In DS1 after every level you would go to a loading screen and they did a good job of explaining the load because it was you traveling by tram to another part of the ship for another level, but here the game was seamless. The only loads that happened were when you started your game from the main menu.

The Controls: I'm actually glad they made them more "action game" friendly because you get your ass handed to you at times.

The Intro: It was awesome. Who doesn't love running away from Necromorphs totally helpless wearing a straight jacket?

Disliked:

The levels: Apparently a lot of people bitched about the level design of the first game. That you did too much backtracking and that you were just an errand boy. I never had that problem and I really loved getting to know each level intimately. You would revisit the medical area 2 different times and there were new things. New evidence that people were there trying to impede your progress or other people just trying to survive. It's nothing that the game even pointed out, but something you gathered from observation. I loved that the more you played the more the levels opened up for you. It had a very Metroid/Castlevania feel to it. Locked off areas that you could access later once you had taken the proper steps. That's simply not the case in DS2 at all. It's all just keep moving forward and it really hurt the progression of the game as well as totally cheapened the atmosphere. While the levels did look good they felt a lot more static and cheap than DS1.

Pacing: I think this goes back to level design, but DS1 just really had it together better here. You always knew what you were working for and what your next task was. In DS2 I didn't really know what was going on a lot of the time....I was just...ya know....walking forwards still.

Puzzles: Or lack of them. The first game didn't really have a lot of puzzles, but it did have some puzzle elements that helped break up the action and tension.

Too much shooting: I love shooting games and I love DS1 and even DS2, but this was too much at times. Especially towards the end when you walk into a room and wait to get attacked by about 15 guys. You knew it was coming because that's what the whole game was like. DS1 did a better job mixing it up and keeping you guessing, but here you knew you'd always be fighting. Also, you would get your ass handed to you at times because you would just get overrun with the sheer amount of enemies. That's not a bad thing and I'm not saying I couldn't handle it, but it is slightly annoying to trying and fight off 6 guys from 3 directions when you handle how you do. Not that the controls are bad at all because honestly I don't think they could be any better, but Isaac is not fit to fight well in some of those circumstances.

Length: Salad and I talked about this a bit, but it wasn't as long as the first. I had under 10 hours into it and in DS1 my first playthrough was 14 hours.

Suits: Don't get me wrong the outfits in this game are great, but I really loved the organic feel of the 1st game's suits and leveling it up one bit at a time. It was a lot more cohesive.

Overall:

I really liked DS2, but it doesn't beat DS1. DS1 was the complete package and while it wasn't a perfect game I think that they changed the formula a little too much and hurt the overall experience. It's a great game and one I'll enjoy playing again and again, but DS1 is still king.

Bottom line is if you love all that is great about video games then you should be playing this series. Def play the original first and then give this one a spin.

Dead Space series is king.

Altman be praised.

Dead Space 2 Impressions

Since I'm the uberfan on the blog I wanted to write something first.

Like

-The game throws a ton more at you than ever before.

-Same good old Dead Space feel.

-Updated controls weren't necessary IMO, but make the game more manageable when the crap hits the fan.

-Telekenisis is much much more powerful and is a welcomed change.

-Isaac talks this time around an his voice acting is normal and it's nice. Not over done and cheesey.

-Isaac is even more effed up this game than the last. Is what he's seeing really happening or is it in his head?

-Isaac feels like a crafty veteran in this scenario as opposed to a rag tag guy just trying to live.

Dislike

-The game is linear. The original was as well, but had many many more "locked" areas that would unlock later. This is much more A to B and that's it. It makes the game world feel much less like a real world and much less interactive.

-I have such a love for the original and I miss the darker smaller areas and rooms, but that's just a preference more than a complaint.

That's it for now! So far it looks as if EA made another great game, but only time will tell if it's better than the 1st.

YouTube Channel

Hey, guys, I'm going to be posting up gaming videos on youtube. Maybe doing some commentating or what not so I'd appreciate the views and whatever support you can offer. Doing some Black Ops, Bad Company 2, and maybe some other shooters when they come out. Brink, maybe Homefront if that gets good reviews.

Thanks... :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/juniperred12?feature=mhum

God of War Trilogy/Not Review

Salad already did a wonderful review on God of War 3 a ways back so I won't go beating that again, but I did just beat GoW3 last night on Titan/Hard mode and it was the best action game I've played since Ninja Gaiden Black IMHO.

I recently played through the first two hd remakes on the PS3 as well and they were astounding games. Especially the 2nd which very amazingly displays some huge vistas. I just kept wondering to myself how on earth could the PS2 pull this stuff off. From the giant 4 horses that were a gift to the Sisters of Fate to walking around and jumping on Atlas's back the game was huge.

GoW 3 was only bigger and better. The graphics are hands down some of the best I've ever seen. I think that Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 are some of the best looking games out today, but pale in comparison to this game. I do agree with Salad that where the game doesn't look as good it really shows because of the super resolution of Kratos and the maps.

It was nice to see GoW 3 really nail down the best magic/weapon system as well. It was nice to finally have a weapon like the Nemean Gauntlets that weren't an afterthought to the Blades of Exile.

A couple of complaints are the "quick weapon change" which is done by using L1 and X. L1 is block and I spam the hell out of that button and a lot of times when I'm trying to do a spin attack and bolt the hell out of there I would accidentally change weapons! It happened at the worst times with bosses and when severely outnumbered. I wish I could say it wasn't the cause of a good many deaths, but it was.

Also, by the time I was to Zeus I didn't feel like fighting him 14 different times like GoW1 and GoW2. I understand that it's the end of the game and all, but man...it would just be nice to get to the end of a GoW game and only have to fight a boss once or twice. I think the fight with BIG Ares in GoW1 is by far my least favorite battle.

Finally, why the hell do the gods in the game keep gloating at me and saying I'm stupid and retarded and won't succeed when I keep killing them all? That got annoying. I kept saying to myself, "I've killed everyone and have half killed you and you're still mocking me?!"

I talked to Salad a few days ago about the absolute brutality of the game that was shockingly portrayed at times. I found myself cringing more than once. Manly the first time I gutted a centaur, beat Poseidon to a bloody mess and especially when I cut off Hermes legs. About Hermes I was shocked to see GoW 3, of all the games I've ever played, actually make me feel pity for someone. After you cut off his first leg he's crawling away and he yells, "Please leave me alone!" I don't know what it was about the way he said it, but I felt immense pity for this asshole that was just mocking me 10 minutes earlier. I was like...maybe he's suffered enough....but not for Kratos. Even though the game was very brutal it never made me roll my eyes. It never seemed forced like some games *cough* Splinter Cell swearing and Black Ops everything *cough*. It always seemed totally in line with the character of Kratos. He's going to kill everything and he's going to do it in style.

In the end I guess I was surprised how much I ended up caring for Kratos. For the first 4 hours of the first game I hated the guy. He's just an asshole with a chip on his shoulder the size of South Africa, but that's just not the case. After the first game and the beginning of the 2nd I really came to want to kill the gods as well. They lied to him in the first game and then screwed him over in the 2nd (he was being a douche, but they still screwed him big time). The gods had it coming in my mind. Sure Kratos may have destroyed the world in the process, but they still had it coming.....so did the titans.

Bottom line was this series owned my face and GoW 3 is my new standard for action. It wasn't just fluff, smoke and mirrors it was a great game that really gave me a run for my money on Titan mode and I haven't been that pissed at a game since the fight with Alma 1 in NGB on Master Ninja difficulty.

Sorry if this was a mess. I just woke up.

Demos

Thought I would make a post about demos, since many do not offer a good representation of the game as a whole.

The Dead Space demo seemed really cool with creepy atmosphere, scary aliens, and a survival/fight-for-your-life feeling. However, it throws you right into the middle of a horde of Necromorphs. I had no idea what was going on. I found out later I should have been blowing off limbs instead of shooting torsos. I tend to aim dead center and doing that in Dead Space definitely does not help you out at all.

Batman: Arkahm Asylum was another demo that was similar. I died a couple times but still felt awesome playing Batman so I gave the actual game a try. And of course, once you start from the beginning, just like Dead Space, you have a completely different experience since by the time you actually encounter the level the demo takes place on, you know button combos, how to shoot limbs off, curbstomp heads, swoop down from the sky, which weapon works against which enemy, etc., etc...

This seems to be a trend in many demos. I'm not quite sure when this came about or who thought it was a good idea. Personally, I think it sucks. Demos can definitely give you a good taste of what is going on in a game but for some *cough* Dead Space *cough* it can mislead you into thinking the game is unusually difficult in some way. Many games pit you against very weak opponents in the beginning or one enemy, then two enemies, and by the time you are swarmed with Necromorphs or Nazis or Joker goons, you can handle it since you've "mastered" the controls.

I think the Just Cause 2 demo got a taste of how to do it right. They let you play a good chunk of the open world but limit your time to an hour. An hour seems a bit short but I like the idea of being able to play a whole game with limited time. And that hour was too short since I didn't get hooked on it. When I played the actual game and the first two missions were awesome, it made my wonder why the demo didn't just consist of those two missions...

I'm also a big fan of playing the first level or two and leaving it at a cliff-hanger, making you want more so you go out and purchase the full game. Maybe developers believe you'll be turned off by playing the first (tutorial) level. Some games offer you 14 day trials, such as World of Warcraft. Blizzard can do this since the game is extremely long and a 2 week trial period will only give you a brief glimpse of what the game has to offer, but a good enough glimpse to "sell" the game during the trial period.

Their purpose seems to be to sell more games yet demos can turn many people off when they are thrust into situations and environments they aren't prepared for since the "tutorial" in the demo consists of three brief screens making a horrible attempt at showing you how to play.

I say developers focus on trial periods of full games or at least give you earlier levels in the game. Demos can sell games if they are done right... all three demos I named are really great games but two of the demos turned me off to the game. Aside from the awful PC version, Dead Space was fantastic but I wouldn't have played it again on the 360 due to the bad demo. And I would never have played Just Cause 2 after the demo except a friend bought it for me (I bought black Ops for him since he's helped me so much with PC issues). Now I have 18+ hours into the game and it's fun times. And the Batman demo sucked buuuuut it was Batman so I gave the full game a try...

Apology

Well, I tried Dead Space for the 3rd time and I still stand by my statement that the PC controls SUCKED!

On the other hand, the controls on the 360 or amazing. With cross-platform games like Borderlands, every CoD, Bad Company 2, Hitman, etc., etc. that all have tight, crisp controls and movement on the PC as well as consoles, it makes me wonder how the developers could have screwed up so badly with Dead Space.

My first attempt with the game was the 360 demo which turned me off because you are immediately swarmed with Necromorphs and you have no idea what you are doing (I think that demo section is in the 3rd Chapter where you fire up the engines... that huge room with tons of Necromorphs). I thought the game could be cool but maybe I would fare better on the PC since I tend to play that way with any game requiring aiming.

And then I tried it on PC... I noticed this slight, fraction of a second camera lag on the 360 that adds to the feeling of movement and reminds you that you are playing as some engineer regular type guy and not a superhero. It's done really well on the 360 but I think they attempted to transition that feeling to the PC and all it did was throw your aim off and make the whole controls lag. Areas that I struggle through or died a horrible death at on the PC were a breeze on the 360. Typically, it's the other way around. It's just what controls I'm familiar with and best at (I'm not saying PC is better).

Anyways, I am taking my foot out of my mouth and admitting I was way off on this game. The 360 controls are just as awesome and tight as ME2. The atmosphere is creepy without making you feel panicked the whole time (i.e. F.E.A.R.). I enjoy leveling up the RIG and guns too. (I'm trying to play through with only the Plasma Cutter). Has anybody else made multiple runs into certain areas as you horde all the ammo and health packs??? My storage at the store has a ton of stuff in it...

So with great controls and now knowing what I'm doing as I played from the start (that demo sucked, btw), I'm well into Chapter 3... and I'm kind of addicted. My money is limited this year but I may have to pick up the 2nd one on release day...

So thanks, fellow gamers, for giving me another game I have to buy...