For less than a week now LA Noire has owned my thoughts and free time.
Little bits had been slowly dripping out about Noire before it released and I was in a rabid froth to try out my detective chops by Monday night at midnight (yes, I'm one of those people...but unlike the others I bathe on more than a bi-monthly basis).
Being a Rockstar product I was expecting certain overlap from Grand Theft Auto 4. The kind of clunky character movement, the insane amount detail on an actual cities worth of people, cars and buildings, and of course an interesting story.
I was hoping Noire wouldn't be bogged down by the "real life activities" that plagued GTA 4. Every ten seconds some jerk was calling you wanting to hang out or go bowling. Luckily it isn't, because cell phones weren't around in the 40s-50s (really kids...they weren't). So people would often go whole days without letting friends, let alone the world, know where they were eating lunch or what they thought about the latest movie...as they were still sitting there watching it.
In Noire there isn't much personal time of the protagonist. There is a story element, but nothing you get to play.
A bit of that would have made it more immersive. One simple thing I think would have been cool to feature is something I as a journalist, who grew up around cops, have experienced and witnessed on a number of occasions.
The 2 a.m. call.
Jobs like police, fire, EMS, and yes...journalists, require the sacrifice of having to run out your front door at an insane time of day to respond to a tragic event. These jobs demand that kind of dedication. Even if they had just been a cutscene or two where you have sit down to a nice dinner and then BAM, phone rings and you have to leave while shoving bread into your face on your way out the door. Or just get home to spend time with the family and your wife is standing with the phone in her hand, looking pretty fed up, because your boss is calling to tell you another body has been found.
One more piece, and this again is one of experience, "gearing up" to go to work can be an exciting experience. I don't know if it would translate in a video game, but for a beat cop (photographer) to put on all that gear before heading out the door makes it seem like more than a job. Especially since the main character in Noire was a WWII soldier, the juxtaposition would have been an interesting story piece early on in the game.
Just some thoughts, now on to actual stuff.
This game is the progress of the video game industry not only growing up with a large percentage of its client base, but also getting closer to a game I dreamed up while I was still in high school. There are elements here that I never could have imagined, like the face recording technology that is a key feature of this game, but a game where you work as a cop and rise through the ranks...totally my idea. I probably still have the notebook with my notes about it from forever ago. Way to catch up, Rockstar. :D
The Cases that you work through are all different, but the formula is much the same. Procedural, as it were. But that doesn't stop them from being interesting and making me want to catch the deviant bastard out there killing people in my town!
Collecting evidence is fun for me. I don't think everyone will like it, but I do. It is a slow process, that often requires thought and attention to detail. So hardcore blow em up shooter fans would probably be wise to steer clear. Because you can pick up all sorts of things that obviously aren't clues, but some crime scenes have a bunch of stuff that you can investigate and then end up not using. The thing that seems like it should be a vital piece might not come into play until way down the line.
The interrogation sequences are much the same. You have to think and observe. Putting all the pieces together. Reading the faces of the suspects is easy sometimes but can be very difficult at other times because, like real people, some of them are good liars and some aren't. You have to figure out which is which AND have the evidence to back it up if you accuse them of lying.
I wish I was strong enough to just let the game happen, like a real story. But sometimes I get suckered by these lyin' sumbitches and my interview goes to hell...so I quit and start over from a checkpoint. Most of the time it's because the evidence I picked to prove them wrong isn't the right evidence for some reason. "Oh, the bloody socket wrench doesn't prove anything...really?"
A preview of what line of questioning Phelps is going to use when accusing them of a lie would help a lot. Because a few times I was sure that whatever evidence proved they were lying, but my character's line ended up referencing some other thing that I didn't have.
If they had a "hardcore mode" where you couldn't quit and come back from a checkpoint I probably would have played it, but since the option is there I want to see what the hell I did wrong.
Because it is really a lot of pressure.
Jesus, I almost wrote "I had a case where...", see it's immersive.
There was a case where you have two suspects, each pointing a finger at the other, evidence is pretty close to the middle and I sat there just staring at the screen after I had interviewed them trying to figure out which one had done it. It weighed on me and now I know I picked the wrong one...but you will too if you play, I guarantee it. But I don't want to give anything away. If you make it that far on the homicide desk you should already have a gut feeling something sinister is lurking.
The interview/interrogations could use a few other options. When a suspect/witness makes a statement there are three options. Truth, Doubt and Lie. I would like a "threaten" option, which kind of happens with doubt sometimes...but not like I want. "Tell me the truth or I'm going to pound your head into this table, you shit!"
And then of course if they still lie, WHAM!
Though I like to stick to the straight and narrow in games like this, I would like to try beating a confession out of a suspect...for realism to the time period. Or to subdue a perp with a sap.
My suggestion for Rockstar would be to make a modern day version of the game. Some people would probably think it was a cheap way to make more money, but if it is a good game, who cares? I'm thinking LA Noire meets The Shield. Interrogations, Vic Mackey style! Where's my phonebook?
There is a lot of action in this thinking man's game. Tons of suspects flee; either on foot or by car. In foot they always seem to climb up stuff. Why? Where the hell are you going to go on a roof except DOWN?
Part of the fleeing is my fault. "Me" as in the character in the game. He yells "LAPD!" from like a quarter mile away. It's a rookie move. You're in a suit, walk up and latch on to the guy first! Jeez. But those action sequences can even be skipped, if that isn't your thing.
The cars handle like tanks, which is period correct, and the citizens are on the downward slide after the war, which is why this time period was chosen for LA Noire. It was some of the most violent times in the city's history.
Overall it is a masterpiece of a game. At first I was worried about the game being on three discs. I was more excited about the amount of game, but a little annoyed that I might have to insert disc 1 every time I started playing, but not so. Each disc starts the game. I assume it is the massive amount of dialogue and cutscenes that take up all the space and the actual "game" can be shoe horned into the remaining space.
I'm a visual guy and the visuals are stunning, the audio is done very nicely and the detail on the faces will hopefully set a new standard for the medium. Back when they first announced the game, years ago, I had heard a rumor it was going to be presented in black and white. That would have been awesome. But I know most people would have complained.
The depth of the game is where I really get absorbed. There is just so much stuff, when I heard they had worked for seven years on this game I was surprised, but after a half hour playing it I completely understood. You are ripping through town so often that most of the buildings are just a blur, but when you slow it down and really look you see a town. A whole town. It's insane.
I could just keep going, but I'd rather get this finished and play some more.
About Evon
- Ryan Evon
- I am a photographer, a sometimes writer, a gamer, a driver and more. I graduated from Central Michigan University with a double major in Journalism(Photo) and English(Creative Writing). Any Photos are copyright Ryan Evon, The Facts or the Morning Sun 2010/2011/2012. All words by, representing and claimed by Ryan Evon & only him, unless in quotation marks & specified otherwise.
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
GAMES: Come out swinging! Fight Night Champion
I've had some Xbox 360 issues lately...so that might account for some of the minor issues I bring up about Fight Night Champion. Just FYI
BOXING!
It's my first day with the new Fight Night game and I am excited. I wish I didn't have to work or that I would have been smart and rented it earlier...or later. Whichever, because it's sitting at my house right now, calling for me to pound some faces.
First off you start right in on a prison fight...one where you have been headbutted to near unconsciousness by a skin head. It's a little of a trial-by-fire, because it's a franchise game that has had it's control scheme adjusted for this edition. So that's an uneasy place to throw your gamer. I like it.
By just chucking the player into the story mode it grabs hold of those people (like me) who weren't a 100% sure about EA's ability to tell stories anymore. So far, it's a good one.
The punches seems to have real weight, when thrown and especially when landed. The camera rocks a little when you land shots. It adds a little excitement and drama.
The blood effects are also much improved. It drips everywhere and stains your trunks, his trunks and the canvas. Good times.
In one of the first couple pro fights as the story character I was facing down what can only be described as "one big mofo" and I cleaned that bastard's clock!
You are tipped that the guy will try to get you with a left hook, because he thinks you are weak on that side...but if you bide your time, the counter will present itself and BAM! One-tep, two-tep. You done.
That is the greatness of FN:Champion. One punch knockouts! In FN: 4 it felt ridiculous to be Ali or Tyson trying to chase some "dazed" opponent around that always seems to duck out of the way of your freight train power shot to the dome. In Champion, you can tell when they are dazed a little (weak knees, slack jaw or covering a lot) but a shot that is flush and unseen will skip all that crap and send him face down to the canvas.
Movement in Champion does seem a little slow. You can do quick flicks that move you fast, which I haven't got completely used to yet. And there are these little weaves that require the
The camera movement seems to be weighted more on your opponent than you, which seems odd to me. It may be more realistic, but early on it is throwing me off my rhythm.
And I have already screamed about a billion times for the ref to get out of the god damned way!!!
I like the added realism of having him in the ring, but never would a boxer's vision be blocked by a ref. Well...maybe, but he'd get knocked the hell out in the process.
It is very annoying and I have to adjust my gameplay because of it. But if you change the camera style to "Close" instead of "Champion" it seems to help quite a bit.
During the story you have goals and challenges to overcome. Which are cool, but one is setup very, very poorly. In boxing when you get cut, it can be a big deal and protecting a cut while maintaining your offense is a delicate balance. Well, in one fight you get cut on the first punch of the damned fight. Even if you have your guard up. Come on. Did the guy have a damn knife in his glove? That is some weak crap.
A few fights earlier you are presented with the challenge of having hurt your hand during a fight. But it starts play in the fifth round, and that is what they should have done for the cut. It just puts a fake feeling on the whole fight, to start off injured right away. It's not like you are fighting Muhammad Tyson-Frasier-RazorBladeMan-Ali.
The presentation style of the last three Fight Night games have all been different, but all been good. Round 3 was kind of edgy/grainy with classic boxing colors and lettering. Round 4 was a bit more flashy and clean. Glamorous, even. Champion seems to be a mix of both. During the story before the fights there are these dramatically lit, grainy shots from the locker room before the fight. It's just a halt, to keep you from being thrown into the fight when you are actually in the kitchen grabbing a Dew, but it's a really nice touch instead of big text on screen saying "FIGHT? Yes/No"
One move I don't like is the mixing of video game footage with actual video. There are these ESPN cut scenes, which are important to selling the story of a real boxing contender, but render the stuff. It would make it feel like all part of the same art medium. Not a mix-mash of parts. But that is a little thing.
Right from the first fight in the story you have a stamina bar to tell how tired you are. It's not the most realistic, but its important to know and you can't easily tell any other way.
If you were boxing you wouldn't have to guess whether you were tired or not, you would know. You do not get one for your opponent, which is awesome. That you should have to figure out on your own.
A problem I always have in Fight Night when I use the stick to punch is, usually I don't throw what I wanted and even though I swear I only pushed it once he always punches a couple times. Maybe I'm just spastic during the fights, but it's really annoying. Especially when your opponent is backing up all the time.
One issue that might be related to just my Xbox is some weirdness with the sound. Between rounds your corner man gives you some tasty bits of info and his audio is so quiet I can't hear it. Most of the time its mostly because the stupid announcers are yammering on about something they've said 800 times already, but even when they aren't I can't hear him well.
LEGACY MODE:
My first go-round of creating a more fit, boxing version of myself for Legacy Mode has gone poorly. If you aren't part of EA's special whatever you don't get to customize your face. You just get to pick a template and go with it. As I'm currently offline, Xbox-wise, I had no choice but to pick a generic Anglo face.
One thing they've improved upon are the tattoos. It seems like every boxer that steps into the ring nowadays has some super awesome tats. Rounds 3 & 4 gave a pathetic offering of body art to customize your boxer.
Champion gives a lot more choices, but you don't get to choose the size or specific placement. Which would be cool. Maybe someday.
The training is still lame, but not as lame as Round 4 and not quite as easy as Round 3.
Stamina is a huge deal in FN:Champion, both in the ring and in the gym. If you over work yourself during training you will go into the ring underpowered.
You can train in different gyms to gain an edge in certain skills, like speed, but a lot of the training games are still frustrating as hell. This time there is no "auto train" for 50% option. But it doesn't seem real clear what kind of points you get from the training anyway. There is a bar for your stats, and they go up a little. That's the best I got.
I'm still working through it, may amend this a little. But so far, I like it.
EA has been champ for awhile for boxing games, but with Fight Night Champion's addition of a story and some drastic realism they have moved up in class.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
GAMES: Assassins and Spies: Double B, Double Review! AC:Brotherhood and 007 Bloodstone
Not going to apply numbers to this anymore. It just isn't working for me, sorry numbers. It's not you, it's me.
Just for time and because I've been trying to make these things shorter, for your sake, I'm going to combine these two games.
I think, in fact, if I could combine these two games it might be the greatest game of the sneaky/assassin/kill-tons-of-people game ever.
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood is great. I like the series, the first two were awesome. A bit frustrating with the free running every so often, especially in the rooftop foot chases of thieves or messengers.
The bitch of it is, I don't have to chase them. It's completely extra. But I WANT to chase them. 1. Because it is often quick fun and 2. (more importantly) it is VERY gratifying, after losing a couple chases because of a stupid mis-step that sent you flying off a roof into the river, to barrel down on that bastard and tackle him to the ground. I feel like a lion chasing some stupid zebra that tried to steal my wallet. "Yeah, that was a mistake and now you are MINE!" If he happens to get thrown off the roof...well, accidents happen.
AC: B isn't a sequel, it's basically a continuation of AC:2, picking up exactly where 2 left off. It grows the story line and grows the core of the game. I wouldn't be surprised if it started out as DLC, but they just kept adding stuff until they realized it would take forever to download.
The big things it adds, mechanically and story-wise, is the title referenced Brotherhood. Instead of Ezio being the lone wolf BA killer McGee, he is now in charge of a growing band of hooded, wrist-blade wielding acrobats. You have to liberate Rome from control of the Borgia by killing the bosses of several towers and then burning the tower to the ground. Getting the bosses is fun and can be very challenging/impossible if you want to do a clean one body assassination. Burning the towers is just like climbing for the lookout points, but with a fiery explosion!
You are able to use the brotherhood at anytime, after a short "recharge" from previous use. It's a simple target and single button death signal. It can make the game too easy, if you let it. Because, strangely, your brothers can swoop in (actually accompanied by an eagle screech) and eliminate guards in your path and then vanish without a trace most times. It's nice they draw no attention to you, and can actually act as a diversion allowing you to sneak somewhere you might have had to work hard to get too otherwise.
It's a neat mechanic. You also send them on separate missions around the world to get them to level up. But if you send them all and get in a pinch you are on your own. You can whistle all you want, Rocco probably won't be able to make it back from Moscow in time to help you with those guards.
I really, really want to try the multiplayer...but don't have the internet at my house yet. So I only had the story and the many side quests to entertain me, darn. That's just a drag. :D
As usual, tons of exploration goodies to find.
A little tip for you, if you are a treasure hunter like I am. DON'T SELL the stupid stuff you find. Keep all the ivory and shrunken heads or whatever else. Because later you get shop quests for fancy items and that is the crap you need to find. I sold a bunch of crap then got the quests and it took forever to find it because I'd already found so many of the treasures.
Good fun though.
One thing I think Assassins Creed needs to embrace is the use of cover systems. I know it's the popular thing to do, but for a profession that dwells in the shadows it is a must. So many times tailing a subject or sneaking into a place and I walked up to a corner to observe, only to be beyond the corner and they spotted me. Super annoying.
007 Bloodstone, sadly, didn't get the same amount of time in my console tray. But I feel confident I experienced what the game had to offer. I just have a threshold that sometimes sees games come to an early end.
I liked it though, for what is and tries to be. It is a sort of fun game, it tries to be another piece of the James Bond pie of entertainment fiction. The last movie was kind of..."meh" in comparison to Casino Royale and the game story is kind of "meh" in comparison to a lot.
It is a completely original story, voiced by Daniel Craig and Judy Dench (whose character model looks AWFUL in the cut scenes, she looks like Leatherface), but only Dench's work sounds like the movies. Craig's work seems like he phone it in, maybe it was the script but I swear there was a "scene" where someone was talking to him for awhile and he said "yes" or some other one word response...and that was it. Come on, give me something.
The Game here is very movie like, there are lots of cool spots where you see really awesome stuff, explosions and all that. There are several parts where Bond is trying to escape or catch up from/to something/someone and the use of music and effects makes the urgency seem quite real.
One such chase/escape (you are chasing someone on a train and escaping a helicopter at the same time) has Bond in the beautiful Astin Martin driving on a mostly frozen river. It is quite fun, but by the sixth time I was a little annoyed. This may be my crappy Low Definition TV but I don't think so. The ice and open water parts of the river are very similar colors, so it makes high speed navigation more likely to end with wet socks.
On the flip side one of the times you swing the ass end of the car out and it starts to go into the water but you continue the slide and escape will make you feel like a bad ass.
There were several WOW moments in the game, most, if not all, were in said chase/escape moments. But they were fun and the basic mechanics of the game are entertaining for awhile, but repeat themselves quickly.
The movement is...less than fluid. 007 runs like he has to pee, but you get used to it.
The cover and fight systems both work well. I would have liked to see a little more involvement in the hand to hand combat. Since it is listed as "BRUTAL" on the back of the box. It's a single button and you watch the awesome thing. I want to be part of the awesomeness.
Even a three button mash timer, because Bond doesn't dominate all his fights. That's what I loved about Casino Royale, he got all messed up.
Now, if I were a magician or game Czar of the world, I would take the cover system from Bloodstone and put it in Brotherhood. It would be awesome to have your back to a wall on a corner waiting for a target to come by and you just pounce. Kind of like when hidden in a haystack or on a bench, but much more realistic. Plus it would make tailing people a lot easier. As long as they don't make a common mistake, like in Gears of War, where the cover button is a shared button. Don't do that.
I really think Bloodstone could use some more of AC's free running; there is a little, but nothing of your own choosing, Bond is basically Super Mario. You walk to a ledge and are actually prompted to jump. Free running was also featured nicely in Casino Royale, but not over done, which was good.
AC could definitely use 007's "restart from checkpoint" menu option. Especially since AC added qualifying actions to missions to reach full synchronization. Stuff like don't get noticed or only kill your target. Those are fun things to try but if you mess up once, even if you die (which takes a lot sometimes), it remembers that you made a mistake. Which really sucks if you were two feet past a checkpoint.
AC: Brotherhood is worth a lot of time, likely purchase if you liked either of the others. I've heard nothing but good stuff about the multiplayer, and its something I said the first one should have had. Co-op would probably make my head explode.
It's doubly good if you like the storyline. Because this one continues it and has a hell of an ending.
007 Bloodstone is probably worth a rent, especially if you have a game pass (yeah!) because you can take it back as soon as you get tired of the grind.
Just for time and because I've been trying to make these things shorter, for your sake, I'm going to combine these two games.
I think, in fact, if I could combine these two games it might be the greatest game of the sneaky/assassin/kill-tons-of-people game ever.
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood is great. I like the series, the first two were awesome. A bit frustrating with the free running every so often, especially in the rooftop foot chases of thieves or messengers.
The bitch of it is, I don't have to chase them. It's completely extra. But I WANT to chase them. 1. Because it is often quick fun and 2. (more importantly) it is VERY gratifying, after losing a couple chases because of a stupid mis-step that sent you flying off a roof into the river, to barrel down on that bastard and tackle him to the ground. I feel like a lion chasing some stupid zebra that tried to steal my wallet. "Yeah, that was a mistake and now you are MINE!" If he happens to get thrown off the roof...well, accidents happen.
AC: B isn't a sequel, it's basically a continuation of AC:2, picking up exactly where 2 left off. It grows the story line and grows the core of the game. I wouldn't be surprised if it started out as DLC, but they just kept adding stuff until they realized it would take forever to download.
The big things it adds, mechanically and story-wise, is the title referenced Brotherhood. Instead of Ezio being the lone wolf BA killer McGee, he is now in charge of a growing band of hooded, wrist-blade wielding acrobats. You have to liberate Rome from control of the Borgia by killing the bosses of several towers and then burning the tower to the ground. Getting the bosses is fun and can be very challenging/impossible if you want to do a clean one body assassination. Burning the towers is just like climbing for the lookout points, but with a fiery explosion!
You are able to use the brotherhood at anytime, after a short "recharge" from previous use. It's a simple target and single button death signal. It can make the game too easy, if you let it. Because, strangely, your brothers can swoop in (actually accompanied by an eagle screech) and eliminate guards in your path and then vanish without a trace most times. It's nice they draw no attention to you, and can actually act as a diversion allowing you to sneak somewhere you might have had to work hard to get too otherwise.
It's a neat mechanic. You also send them on separate missions around the world to get them to level up. But if you send them all and get in a pinch you are on your own. You can whistle all you want, Rocco probably won't be able to make it back from Moscow in time to help you with those guards.
I really, really want to try the multiplayer...but don't have the internet at my house yet. So I only had the story and the many side quests to entertain me, darn. That's just a drag. :D
As usual, tons of exploration goodies to find.
A little tip for you, if you are a treasure hunter like I am. DON'T SELL the stupid stuff you find. Keep all the ivory and shrunken heads or whatever else. Because later you get shop quests for fancy items and that is the crap you need to find. I sold a bunch of crap then got the quests and it took forever to find it because I'd already found so many of the treasures.
Good fun though.
One thing I think Assassins Creed needs to embrace is the use of cover systems. I know it's the popular thing to do, but for a profession that dwells in the shadows it is a must. So many times tailing a subject or sneaking into a place and I walked up to a corner to observe, only to be beyond the corner and they spotted me. Super annoying.
007 Bloodstone, sadly, didn't get the same amount of time in my console tray. But I feel confident I experienced what the game had to offer. I just have a threshold that sometimes sees games come to an early end.
I liked it though, for what is and tries to be. It is a sort of fun game, it tries to be another piece of the James Bond pie of entertainment fiction. The last movie was kind of..."meh" in comparison to Casino Royale and the game story is kind of "meh" in comparison to a lot.
It is a completely original story, voiced by Daniel Craig and Judy Dench (whose character model looks AWFUL in the cut scenes, she looks like Leatherface), but only Dench's work sounds like the movies. Craig's work seems like he phone it in, maybe it was the script but I swear there was a "scene" where someone was talking to him for awhile and he said "yes" or some other one word response...and that was it. Come on, give me something.
The Game here is very movie like, there are lots of cool spots where you see really awesome stuff, explosions and all that. There are several parts where Bond is trying to escape or catch up from/to something/someone and the use of music and effects makes the urgency seem quite real.
One such chase/escape (you are chasing someone on a train and escaping a helicopter at the same time) has Bond in the beautiful Astin Martin driving on a mostly frozen river. It is quite fun, but by the sixth time I was a little annoyed. This may be my crappy Low Definition TV but I don't think so. The ice and open water parts of the river are very similar colors, so it makes high speed navigation more likely to end with wet socks.
On the flip side one of the times you swing the ass end of the car out and it starts to go into the water but you continue the slide and escape will make you feel like a bad ass.
There were several WOW moments in the game, most, if not all, were in said chase/escape moments. But they were fun and the basic mechanics of the game are entertaining for awhile, but repeat themselves quickly.
The movement is...less than fluid. 007 runs like he has to pee, but you get used to it.
The cover and fight systems both work well. I would have liked to see a little more involvement in the hand to hand combat. Since it is listed as "BRUTAL" on the back of the box. It's a single button and you watch the awesome thing. I want to be part of the awesomeness.
Even a three button mash timer, because Bond doesn't dominate all his fights. That's what I loved about Casino Royale, he got all messed up.
Now, if I were a magician or game Czar of the world, I would take the cover system from Bloodstone and put it in Brotherhood. It would be awesome to have your back to a wall on a corner waiting for a target to come by and you just pounce. Kind of like when hidden in a haystack or on a bench, but much more realistic. Plus it would make tailing people a lot easier. As long as they don't make a common mistake, like in Gears of War, where the cover button is a shared button. Don't do that.
I really think Bloodstone could use some more of AC's free running; there is a little, but nothing of your own choosing, Bond is basically Super Mario. You walk to a ledge and are actually prompted to jump. Free running was also featured nicely in Casino Royale, but not over done, which was good.
AC could definitely use 007's "restart from checkpoint" menu option. Especially since AC added qualifying actions to missions to reach full synchronization. Stuff like don't get noticed or only kill your target. Those are fun things to try but if you mess up once, even if you die (which takes a lot sometimes), it remembers that you made a mistake. Which really sucks if you were two feet past a checkpoint.
AC: Brotherhood is worth a lot of time, likely purchase if you liked either of the others. I've heard nothing but good stuff about the multiplayer, and its something I said the first one should have had. Co-op would probably make my head explode.
It's doubly good if you like the storyline. Because this one continues it and has a hell of an ending.
007 Bloodstone is probably worth a rent, especially if you have a game pass (yeah!) because you can take it back as soon as you get tired of the grind.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
GAMES: A kind, noble ruler...who married a whore. FABLE 3 : Xbox 360
As I previously mentioned in my Fallout : New Vegas post, I try to be an upstanding person in the realm of pixels and polygons. More often than not, it is because I feel I should but also because it is my belief that the good half of the game got more attention than the bad half. So it is in my best interest as a player to go after the best piece of game.
In Fable 3 I once again marched down the path of nobility with my prince's chiseled chin held high.
The game picks up where 2 left off, just one generation later. You are your son. From 2, that guy, you're his son. Your son. Whatever.
The Molyneux promise I heard early on for 3 was that your actions would have direct effect on the look of your kingdom. That I didn't really see. When you finally ascend to the throne (I'm trying not to give anything away, but you should have figured that out) you are asked whether you want your castle decorated in good or evil. While I'm curious what evil would have looked like, I went with good and saw no change.
I was kind, I was immensely giving, I slaved over a firey hand and steel blade for hours to give these people freedom and what thanks did I get?
Near the end everyone hated me anyway, even though I was virtuous and kind. But, just because I bought every store and most houses in the kingdom, people hated me.
I had a few loves out there, ya know a Prince has got certain needs. My first marriage ended in shambles, childless with a drunken wife.
So the second time around I married Stacey the Whore. Partially, okay, MOSTLY because I thought it was funny as hell. Every time I come home I am greeted by "Stacey the Whore."
But, in addition to my laughter I got 3 STDs and a black daughter. So perhaps the laughing wasn't worth it.
Fable 3 has some graphic issues, but more and more I'm curious whether the graphic popping that I'm continually seeing are poorly made games or my suffering 360, which I'm betting will die in the very near future.
Regardless, the graphic pops didn't matter to me, I had fun.
Combat was fun, frustrating to come up against a pack of balvarines without any health potion, but still fun.
New weapons all have different modifications you earn by performing certain tasks, that give certain perks. Like kill 200 hallow men and earn +30 to damage against hallow men.
The addition of the Sanctuary made weapon/spell/clothing switches a breeze. Start magically pulls you into this lobby where your butler stands ready and multiple rooms lead you to whatever you want to change. Clothing is purely aesthetic but, like I said, different weapons can have different perks, so changing them up can help in battle.
You can also combine spells, like fire and ice, to make icy fire balls. Or something.
Now, there is an inventory, but I never knew how to get to it. That is stupid. Nothing ever told me how to get it, potions and food will pop up when you are injured, but other than that you have to do some LT + RT magic and dance around in a circle or something.
How about this Pete? Back button. It didn't really do anything anyway.
Also a map button would have been nice, not that the maps (available through the Sanctuary) were overly helpful anyway. It barely matched the actual world.
The quest list is accessed in a similar fashion, which was also annoying.
The BIGGEST issue is the complete lack of control for interactions. What a mess!
Interactions with people is a huge part of Fable. You have to gain followers, friends, enemies or all. You do this almost entirely through interactions like Hug, Scare, Hero Pose, etc.
But you get three buttons when the interaction menu comes up. A, Y and X
A is good, Y is middle, and X is bad. But the action that comes up is, well, I was going to say random, but its not. It's chosen by the game.
So Dance came up on A almost all the time for me. I know it's a game and I'm not stressing about this, but I'm not big on me (or my videogame equivalent) dancing with dudes.
Because it's not like a little kicks, let's joke around dance. It's a fricking slow dance, with a kiss on the hand at the end. Come on!
The halves of the game, well it's more like the first 3/4 and the last 1/4 are different, you battle for the first part and the last bit you are the king and have to make kingly decisions.
That was a cool thing. Because you can promise all you want throughout the election, but once you get to the throne you have the grim realities of running the country. So you as the bastion of Hope may wear away quite quickly.
Because as a ruler it is the end game you have to keep in mind. So hearing the proposals for using a small swamp town as a place to dump all your kingdom's waste might sound cruel, but the economic gain is tempting.
FABLE 3
4 of 5 as a game
3.5 of 5 as a sequel
Beat it in one rental, considered going back through on evil, but figured the main quests wouldn't change and they wouldn't be as fun a second time.
In Fable 3 I once again marched down the path of nobility with my prince's chiseled chin held high.
The game picks up where 2 left off, just one generation later. You are your son. From 2, that guy, you're his son. Your son. Whatever.
The Molyneux promise I heard early on for 3 was that your actions would have direct effect on the look of your kingdom. That I didn't really see. When you finally ascend to the throne (I'm trying not to give anything away, but you should have figured that out) you are asked whether you want your castle decorated in good or evil. While I'm curious what evil would have looked like, I went with good and saw no change.
I was kind, I was immensely giving, I slaved over a firey hand and steel blade for hours to give these people freedom and what thanks did I get?
Near the end everyone hated me anyway, even though I was virtuous and kind. But, just because I bought every store and most houses in the kingdom, people hated me.
I had a few loves out there, ya know a Prince has got certain needs. My first marriage ended in shambles, childless with a drunken wife.
So the second time around I married Stacey the Whore. Partially, okay, MOSTLY because I thought it was funny as hell. Every time I come home I am greeted by "Stacey the Whore."
But, in addition to my laughter I got 3 STDs and a black daughter. So perhaps the laughing wasn't worth it.
Fable 3 has some graphic issues, but more and more I'm curious whether the graphic popping that I'm continually seeing are poorly made games or my suffering 360, which I'm betting will die in the very near future.
Regardless, the graphic pops didn't matter to me, I had fun.
Combat was fun, frustrating to come up against a pack of balvarines without any health potion, but still fun.
New weapons all have different modifications you earn by performing certain tasks, that give certain perks. Like kill 200 hallow men and earn +30 to damage against hallow men.
The addition of the Sanctuary made weapon/spell/clothing switches a breeze. Start magically pulls you into this lobby where your butler stands ready and multiple rooms lead you to whatever you want to change. Clothing is purely aesthetic but, like I said, different weapons can have different perks, so changing them up can help in battle.
You can also combine spells, like fire and ice, to make icy fire balls. Or something.
Now, there is an inventory, but I never knew how to get to it. That is stupid. Nothing ever told me how to get it, potions and food will pop up when you are injured, but other than that you have to do some LT + RT magic and dance around in a circle or something.
How about this Pete? Back button. It didn't really do anything anyway.
Also a map button would have been nice, not that the maps (available through the Sanctuary) were overly helpful anyway. It barely matched the actual world.
The quest list is accessed in a similar fashion, which was also annoying.
The BIGGEST issue is the complete lack of control for interactions. What a mess!
Interactions with people is a huge part of Fable. You have to gain followers, friends, enemies or all. You do this almost entirely through interactions like Hug, Scare, Hero Pose, etc.
But you get three buttons when the interaction menu comes up. A, Y and X
A is good, Y is middle, and X is bad. But the action that comes up is, well, I was going to say random, but its not. It's chosen by the game.
So Dance came up on A almost all the time for me. I know it's a game and I'm not stressing about this, but I'm not big on me (or my videogame equivalent) dancing with dudes.
Because it's not like a little kicks, let's joke around dance. It's a fricking slow dance, with a kiss on the hand at the end. Come on!
The halves of the game, well it's more like the first 3/4 and the last 1/4 are different, you battle for the first part and the last bit you are the king and have to make kingly decisions.
That was a cool thing. Because you can promise all you want throughout the election, but once you get to the throne you have the grim realities of running the country. So you as the bastion of Hope may wear away quite quickly.
Because as a ruler it is the end game you have to keep in mind. So hearing the proposals for using a small swamp town as a place to dump all your kingdom's waste might sound cruel, but the economic gain is tempting.
FABLE 3
4 of 5 as a game
3.5 of 5 as a sequel
Beat it in one rental, considered going back through on evil, but figured the main quests wouldn't change and they wouldn't be as fun a second time.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
GAMES: Gamble on Gunfire! Fallout: New Vegas for XBOX 360
I'm a little slow on this one. I moved across the country and don't have the internet either. Jeez. But Texas is warm, so I'm dealing with it. :D
The big plus, videogame-wise, is I'm in a town where I don't know anyone, so I work and go home and play video games. It's sad, I know.
Anyway. Fallout New Vegas.
I've loved Fallout since the very first one. I'd kind of like to see the world where everyone is forced to abandon their technological dependencies and return to a simpler way of life. The strong few trying to salvage a living off the decaying husk of the world that once sheltered the masses of the weak.
Maybe not if that world is full of giant mutants that try to crush my head with a chunk of cement at the end of rods of rebar...but who knows.
If you played Fallout 3 then New Vegas isn't going to surprise you a lot, from what I've seen so far.
The biggest change is there are more possibilities for crafting in this one. Which fits well in a post-apocalyptic scavenger paradise.
You would be constantly trying to keep what you had working and making new things to survive the harsh brutality of the world around you.
The Reload Bench has been added, usually near the Work Bench (which has also received some changes).
The Reload Bench allows you to create or breakdown ammo. So those that have a favorite weapon that has rare ammo, can now breakdown all the worthless 9mm bullets and get the powder and lead to make .357 rounds. Provided you have all the other pieces to make that ammo.
For the Work Bench there are many, many more recipes in New Vegas. Pieces of plants can be picked to be combined to make healing balms, snacks and a foliage ferris wheel. Not really on the ferris wheel.
And now your wanderer can also utilize Campfires as tools to create food and items for your continued survival.
You can kill a dog and eat the meat raw, sure...any savage bastard can do that. It's the sophisticated bastard that waits and cooks the meat before jamming it down his gullet.
These changes now give you a TON more stuff to carry.
In standard play, ammo doesn't have any weight but in the new HARDCORE mode it does. HARDCORE must be capitalized, cause that's how HARDCORE it is.
If you want to know how you would behave after a global pandemic or nuclear war situation, play on HARDCORE.
Instead of just monitoring your health and equipment condition you also have to deal with your character's water and food intake, as well as the amount of sleep you get.
It's not for the faint of heart.
I try to be a morally upstanding character in the vast confusion and chaos presented in the Fallout scenario.
Yes, I will help the old couple with their livestock being killed every night.
But you better be damn sure I'm going to rob their house of anything I need at the very first moment they turn their backs on me. I'm playing to LIVE, dammit!
Basically, the game is similar to F:3, with some good tweaks.
Which is in no way a bad thing. It's more awesome story, but set in an entirely new location. So you get to play the good story AND explore the new land.
Fallout: New Vegas
Rented once, likely will buy as soon as I get money.
5 out of 5 as a sequel. Improves on the original, but leaves the good stuff alone.
5 out of 5 as a game. Just plain awesome.
The big plus, videogame-wise, is I'm in a town where I don't know anyone, so I work and go home and play video games. It's sad, I know.
Anyway. Fallout New Vegas.
I've loved Fallout since the very first one. I'd kind of like to see the world where everyone is forced to abandon their technological dependencies and return to a simpler way of life. The strong few trying to salvage a living off the decaying husk of the world that once sheltered the masses of the weak.
Maybe not if that world is full of giant mutants that try to crush my head with a chunk of cement at the end of rods of rebar...but who knows.
If you played Fallout 3 then New Vegas isn't going to surprise you a lot, from what I've seen so far.
The biggest change is there are more possibilities for crafting in this one. Which fits well in a post-apocalyptic scavenger paradise.
You would be constantly trying to keep what you had working and making new things to survive the harsh brutality of the world around you.
The Reload Bench has been added, usually near the Work Bench (which has also received some changes).
The Reload Bench allows you to create or breakdown ammo. So those that have a favorite weapon that has rare ammo, can now breakdown all the worthless 9mm bullets and get the powder and lead to make .357 rounds. Provided you have all the other pieces to make that ammo.
For the Work Bench there are many, many more recipes in New Vegas. Pieces of plants can be picked to be combined to make healing balms, snacks and a foliage ferris wheel. Not really on the ferris wheel.
And now your wanderer can also utilize Campfires as tools to create food and items for your continued survival.
You can kill a dog and eat the meat raw, sure...any savage bastard can do that. It's the sophisticated bastard that waits and cooks the meat before jamming it down his gullet.
These changes now give you a TON more stuff to carry.
In standard play, ammo doesn't have any weight but in the new HARDCORE mode it does. HARDCORE must be capitalized, cause that's how HARDCORE it is.
If you want to know how you would behave after a global pandemic or nuclear war situation, play on HARDCORE.
Instead of just monitoring your health and equipment condition you also have to deal with your character's water and food intake, as well as the amount of sleep you get.
It's not for the faint of heart.
I try to be a morally upstanding character in the vast confusion and chaos presented in the Fallout scenario.
Yes, I will help the old couple with their livestock being killed every night.
But you better be damn sure I'm going to rob their house of anything I need at the very first moment they turn their backs on me. I'm playing to LIVE, dammit!
Basically, the game is similar to F:3, with some good tweaks.
Which is in no way a bad thing. It's more awesome story, but set in an entirely new location. So you get to play the good story AND explore the new land.
Fallout: New Vegas
Rented once, likely will buy as soon as I get money.
5 out of 5 as a sequel. Improves on the original, but leaves the good stuff alone.
5 out of 5 as a game. Just plain awesome.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
GAMES: A Story you can't refuse....sort of. Mafia 2 XBOX360
Just when I thought I was out with my Demo Review of Mafia 2 the world of 2K Czech has pulled me back in.
Yep, I'm a bit of a mafia nerd. Which sounds like an oxymoron, but it isn't. The topic is fascinating to me. In my Michigan history class in college I wrote a paper on the Purple Gang (Detroit's ruthless gang of Jewish gangsters during Prohibition). That was about the ONLY paper in my college career that I finished early; I also wrote over the required pages.
So games about the mafia are extra fun for me, because I can live in that realm without the possibility of going to jail or being shot and stuffed in the trunk of a car.
Mafia 2 is a nice piece of story telling. Games sometimes forget about a compelling story and you just have aimless fun until you are bored, at least that's what I seem to do. Others hold you to a rigid story line that leave little "free will" style play that open world games like Grand Theft Auto brought to the masses.
The first Mafia had no real free roam, there was a mode where you could just drive around, but there wasn't a ton to do.
Mafia 2 lets you wander around mostly whenever, but the world just isn't as interesting as the story.
Empire Bay, the fictional East-coast city, is beautifully crafted. The buildings are nice where they should be and kind of scummy in the bad places. I didn't see many beat up cars in the poor parts of town, which seems like an easy piece of realism.
As I said in my demo review, the realism is quite nice. Rob a place and hang around (hidden!) outside and you'll see the cops come and interview the shop owner. Murder the shop owner and come back you'll see the shop closed with police tape over the door. The cars get dirty after a lot of driving and they will apparently run out of gas.
There are destructible environments in the gun fights, which is very nice. "Oh no, he's hiding behind plywood." Rat-a-tat-tat-tat. Plywood gone, man dead.
The problem is the story seems to stranglehold what you do in this massive town. In my first couple hours of play I drove in between places, watched very nice cut scenes and then did some shooting or fighting, then drove some more.
Yeah, that is the basic formula for missions in sandbox games...and that is sort of the problem. There isn't anything else.
GTA4 actually had TOO much stuff to do, with the missions and all your friends you had to entertain by doing stupid things like bowling or watching a comedy performance, so that was annoying. But at least there was some other substance to the game.
Mafia 2 seems to have gone the other way. The game is the story. With these pieces that spend so much time on creating a living, breathing city the game should be the world. That world should have a good story in it, for sure, but it should also have places for me to go and do things not related to the story.
In one of the first couple Chapters of the story you meet a man at a junkyard and he asks you to steal a car for him. The mission was fun, people mad and shooting because of the stolen car, a good time was had by all; but after that mission I should be able to go back and make more money getting him other cars, but it won't let you until way later in the story.
You can do what I did for the majority of the time I played the demo; rob stores. That will put a little scratch in your pocket and cause some possible gun-play, depending on the neighborhood and police proximity. But that also is later an actual mission. So it isn't just something extra to do. It's something you'll have to do to get money quickly anyway.
But really, there isn't a lot to buy. Food and drink, clothes, car modifications, car washes and gasoline are all you can spend money on. The gas and car washes are the only two of those things you can't steal.
You most expensive thing you spend money on are bribes if you get into trouble, likely after trying to steal something. But I just shoot the cops in the face and then change my clothes.
I understand 2K's drive to make a compelling story that is engaging and beautiful looking. But as a gamer I want more random fun! As a mafia buff I want more criminal activities!
Collecting protection money, hijacking trucks or beating deadbeats could all easily be side quests that you pick up at any time. Obviously there are no cell phones for them to call you on to let you know the truck is coming through town, but I'm sure the 2K guys could come up with some clever way to do it.
HITS! I want to do crazy Valentine's Day Massacre hits on people! There is the one from the demo, but that wasn't all that special, and another one that did make me very happy to pull off. But in a big city with multiple families (kneecapping families, not go to the store for groceries families) you'd think there would be enough hatred to justify a hit list for a side quest.
With DLC already planned before the game even came out I wonder how much time they spent making this game complete. The DLC looks to be different stories, which is fine, but you have to pay for it.
So this game that I was super excited about is around $60 and there isn't much to do.
Stretching it you can prolong the gameplay to about 15 hours or so. But that's really stretching it.
I often calculate how much I'm willing to pay for fun. Mafia 2 breaks down to about $4 an hour for fun. Sure, I have payed more than that for an hour of fun before...that sounded bad.
But the problem is this isn't like paintball or going to the movies. When you buy a game you've essentially told the makers, "I trust your product and I'm not going to be buying any others for awhile...entertain me." But so often they let you down.
Which is why renting is my default. And also why, I suspect, there is a such a debate going on about purchasing used games.
Yes, I want to support 2K for making such a nice game, but I want the rest of it. GTA 4 cost the same amount and had me enthralled for months. I rented Mafia 2 a week ago and have been playing it sparingly and I'm already almost done. A large difference in the purchase is the amount of re-playability. I could pick up GTA 4 and easily be entertained in the single player for awhile, even just driving around. Mafia 2 is also fun just driving around, but not as much.
A linear story line is not enticing after you've beaten it. That's why side quests are important in games like this, they distract and entertain you, stretching the length of your fun per dollar.
Despite all that gibberish, I did like it. It's just not the game I thought it was going to be.
Mafia 2
Rented once, likely not again. Very glad I did not purchase.
4 out of 5 as a sequel. Much better than the original
3 out of 5 as a game. Just not enough there.
Yep, I'm a bit of a mafia nerd. Which sounds like an oxymoron, but it isn't. The topic is fascinating to me. In my Michigan history class in college I wrote a paper on the Purple Gang (Detroit's ruthless gang of Jewish gangsters during Prohibition). That was about the ONLY paper in my college career that I finished early; I also wrote over the required pages.
So games about the mafia are extra fun for me, because I can live in that realm without the possibility of going to jail or being shot and stuffed in the trunk of a car.
Mafia 2 is a nice piece of story telling. Games sometimes forget about a compelling story and you just have aimless fun until you are bored, at least that's what I seem to do. Others hold you to a rigid story line that leave little "free will" style play that open world games like Grand Theft Auto brought to the masses.
The first Mafia had no real free roam, there was a mode where you could just drive around, but there wasn't a ton to do.
Mafia 2 lets you wander around mostly whenever, but the world just isn't as interesting as the story.
Empire Bay, the fictional East-coast city, is beautifully crafted. The buildings are nice where they should be and kind of scummy in the bad places. I didn't see many beat up cars in the poor parts of town, which seems like an easy piece of realism.
As I said in my demo review, the realism is quite nice. Rob a place and hang around (hidden!) outside and you'll see the cops come and interview the shop owner. Murder the shop owner and come back you'll see the shop closed with police tape over the door. The cars get dirty after a lot of driving and they will apparently run out of gas.
There are destructible environments in the gun fights, which is very nice. "Oh no, he's hiding behind plywood." Rat-a-tat-tat-tat. Plywood gone, man dead.
The problem is the story seems to stranglehold what you do in this massive town. In my first couple hours of play I drove in between places, watched very nice cut scenes and then did some shooting or fighting, then drove some more.
Yeah, that is the basic formula for missions in sandbox games...and that is sort of the problem. There isn't anything else.
GTA4 actually had TOO much stuff to do, with the missions and all your friends you had to entertain by doing stupid things like bowling or watching a comedy performance, so that was annoying. But at least there was some other substance to the game.
Mafia 2 seems to have gone the other way. The game is the story. With these pieces that spend so much time on creating a living, breathing city the game should be the world. That world should have a good story in it, for sure, but it should also have places for me to go and do things not related to the story.
In one of the first couple Chapters of the story you meet a man at a junkyard and he asks you to steal a car for him. The mission was fun, people mad and shooting because of the stolen car, a good time was had by all; but after that mission I should be able to go back and make more money getting him other cars, but it won't let you until way later in the story.
You can do what I did for the majority of the time I played the demo; rob stores. That will put a little scratch in your pocket and cause some possible gun-play, depending on the neighborhood and police proximity. But that also is later an actual mission. So it isn't just something extra to do. It's something you'll have to do to get money quickly anyway.
But really, there isn't a lot to buy. Food and drink, clothes, car modifications, car washes and gasoline are all you can spend money on. The gas and car washes are the only two of those things you can't steal.
You most expensive thing you spend money on are bribes if you get into trouble, likely after trying to steal something. But I just shoot the cops in the face and then change my clothes.
I understand 2K's drive to make a compelling story that is engaging and beautiful looking. But as a gamer I want more random fun! As a mafia buff I want more criminal activities!
Collecting protection money, hijacking trucks or beating deadbeats could all easily be side quests that you pick up at any time. Obviously there are no cell phones for them to call you on to let you know the truck is coming through town, but I'm sure the 2K guys could come up with some clever way to do it.
HITS! I want to do crazy Valentine's Day Massacre hits on people! There is the one from the demo, but that wasn't all that special, and another one that did make me very happy to pull off. But in a big city with multiple families (kneecapping families, not go to the store for groceries families) you'd think there would be enough hatred to justify a hit list for a side quest.
With DLC already planned before the game even came out I wonder how much time they spent making this game complete. The DLC looks to be different stories, which is fine, but you have to pay for it.
So this game that I was super excited about is around $60 and there isn't much to do.
Stretching it you can prolong the gameplay to about 15 hours or so. But that's really stretching it.
I often calculate how much I'm willing to pay for fun. Mafia 2 breaks down to about $4 an hour for fun. Sure, I have payed more than that for an hour of fun before...that sounded bad.
But the problem is this isn't like paintball or going to the movies. When you buy a game you've essentially told the makers, "I trust your product and I'm not going to be buying any others for awhile...entertain me." But so often they let you down.
Which is why renting is my default. And also why, I suspect, there is a such a debate going on about purchasing used games.
Yes, I want to support 2K for making such a nice game, but I want the rest of it. GTA 4 cost the same amount and had me enthralled for months. I rented Mafia 2 a week ago and have been playing it sparingly and I'm already almost done. A large difference in the purchase is the amount of re-playability. I could pick up GTA 4 and easily be entertained in the single player for awhile, even just driving around. Mafia 2 is also fun just driving around, but not as much.
A linear story line is not enticing after you've beaten it. That's why side quests are important in games like this, they distract and entertain you, stretching the length of your fun per dollar.
Despite all that gibberish, I did like it. It's just not the game I thought it was going to be.
Mafia 2
Rented once, likely not again. Very glad I did not purchase.
4 out of 5 as a sequel. Much better than the original
3 out of 5 as a game. Just not enough there.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
GAMES: Goombah Gunplay: Mafia 2 Demo Impressions
I really liked the first Mafia game. Honestly, I pretty much like all games involving a secret society of pasta eating criminals.
The first Godfather game was not good, but the second had a nice appeal that had me right up to the point I returned it...but I didn't re-rent.
But I've been really excited about Mafia 2. The first was a pretty fun game and based on my time with the demo for 2, it looks to be even better.
The demo gives you one mission, really half a mission, at the completion of which the demo ends.
It starts as a pretty simple mission, go here, kill guy, leave. But turns on its head quickly ending with your car stuck on a bridge boxed in by police. Short and sweet, but fun. A good show of the game's new cover system and gun selection.
But you don't have to do the mission. You are allowed to free roam, in a very limited piece of the city, for around 10 minutes. So it's a not very free, free roam. But unlike the first game this one actually seems to have true free roam.
What it usually entails is me driving around robbing stores, fighting people and then being killed in a hail of police gunfire with about a minute left on the timer.
Then I start back in the characters house with more time. :D
But in my play through I'm not just robbing and beating people for the sheer joy a goon would get out of these things, I'm doing vital game research for you! So stop judging me or I break-a you face!
The AI in Mafia 2 is pretty smart and the realism of the game is quite nice. Police will pull you over for speeding, like in the first game, so you can turn on a speed limiting option to avoid the hassle if you aren't in a hurry.
Also robbing shops has a dash of realism. Don't go into the gun store and try rob that dude, because he has a shotgun and likely you ain't got one. So you hit the burger joints, gas stations and clothing stores.
But be warned, pulling out a gun in stores in certain neighborhoods will get you shot by gun-toting civilians.
But if you wander into a shop with the intent of a simple robbery and end up committing a murder, when you come back later the store will be closed, adorned with police tape. That isn't a necessary gameplay mechanic, but it's a sheer point of realism that makes the game more fun. The lesson I learned, if you want a dram of scotch, don't go shooting up the bar earlier.
The biggest thing for me in most games (even games where it isn't even close to the point) is driving. It's fun.
I like it in real life and I love it in video games. In Halo 3 multiplayer battles on Live with friends, I'm behind the wheel of the Warthog. Yeah, I might only have 3 kills the whole game, but I've likely racked up around 20-30 assists with a competent gunner.
So in a big open game like Mafia 2 cars ARE a big deal. Set in the mid 40s to 50s the cars are a bit more my style than in the first one. I saw a nice collection of cars similar to real cars, including Thunderbirds and Corvettes as well as the lumbering land-yacht style Buicks of the era.
Some gamers might complain about the handling and power of the cars, but you would in real life too. Automotive technology has come a long way. These cars didn't handle that well. So it's all part of the realism.
In the vein of realism it should be noted this game should only be played by adults. Lots of violence and swearing. It also features several Playboy centerfolds as collectible items in-game. Hidden items are a staple of the sandbox style games. It promotes exploration of the huge, beautiful world the developers created. This game just happens to use boobies to make the items more enticing. :D
It wasn't readily apparent to me the first couple play-throughs, but the demo includes gangs on the street.
Driving a car I "borrowed" from a neighbor I was cruising in a downtown area and a fellow on the sidewalk commented on my driving style as I pulled up to a tailor's shop.
I took offense to his unwanted criticism and engaged him in fisticuffs. Upon thrashing the man I started taking gunfire from across the street. Apparently the man I had beaten up was a member of a gang in the area. The matching track suits and firearms cemented the idea in my head and I fled the area with about six of them chasing me.
The hand-to-hand fighting system is very nice in it's simplicity. Two punch buttons and a block/evade. But if you wear your opponent down you can finish them off with a punch combo or stylish, slow motion boot to the face.
There are a few issues with the demo that I hope get fixed up before the game's release on August 24th. There are some graphic load issues. One thing that seemed to pop in late all the time were the gas stations. As you would roll up it looked like it had silver windows and then a few seconds later you can see the interior of the shop.
Also, getting into cars can be a bit clunky. You yank a guy out of his car, most of the time so that you can get in and drive it, but the default move is to yank the guy out and stand there looking at him. The context cue on screen says "Y: Steal car"
But it doesn't. Maybe it should say "Y: Pull dude out Y: again and again to get in car"
Sometimes pushing Y near my own car wouldn't get me inside with the speed that I would hope. People are shooting at me, I don't want my character to dilly-dally around.
Aside from the stupid time limit (something more and more studios are doing with their demos) I am very happy with the Mafia 2 demo and am really looking forward to the release later this month.
I may buy it on release day, unless somewhere in town has it for rent.
Mt. Pleasant used to be a terrible town for video games on release day. They'd get movies the day they came out, but games could sometimes take a week or more.
It made me buy a lot of games it turned out I really didn't want. Yes I know, it didn't "make" me. But it didn't leave me with many options as far as playing the game I wanted to play.
Luckily the rental places seem to be coming around to notice that video game people are rabid about playing their games as soon as they come out. We ignore our actual duties to play these things. I may call in sick. :D
Verdict: Looking forward to release date. May buy without rental.
Very likely there will be a game review after the retail release.
The first Godfather game was not good, but the second had a nice appeal that had me right up to the point I returned it...but I didn't re-rent.
But I've been really excited about Mafia 2. The first was a pretty fun game and based on my time with the demo for 2, it looks to be even better.
The demo gives you one mission, really half a mission, at the completion of which the demo ends.
It starts as a pretty simple mission, go here, kill guy, leave. But turns on its head quickly ending with your car stuck on a bridge boxed in by police. Short and sweet, but fun. A good show of the game's new cover system and gun selection.
But you don't have to do the mission. You are allowed to free roam, in a very limited piece of the city, for around 10 minutes. So it's a not very free, free roam. But unlike the first game this one actually seems to have true free roam.
What it usually entails is me driving around robbing stores, fighting people and then being killed in a hail of police gunfire with about a minute left on the timer.
Then I start back in the characters house with more time. :D
But in my play through I'm not just robbing and beating people for the sheer joy a goon would get out of these things, I'm doing vital game research for you! So stop judging me or I break-a you face!
The AI in Mafia 2 is pretty smart and the realism of the game is quite nice. Police will pull you over for speeding, like in the first game, so you can turn on a speed limiting option to avoid the hassle if you aren't in a hurry.
Also robbing shops has a dash of realism. Don't go into the gun store and try rob that dude, because he has a shotgun and likely you ain't got one. So you hit the burger joints, gas stations and clothing stores.
But be warned, pulling out a gun in stores in certain neighborhoods will get you shot by gun-toting civilians.
But if you wander into a shop with the intent of a simple robbery and end up committing a murder, when you come back later the store will be closed, adorned with police tape. That isn't a necessary gameplay mechanic, but it's a sheer point of realism that makes the game more fun. The lesson I learned, if you want a dram of scotch, don't go shooting up the bar earlier.
The biggest thing for me in most games (even games where it isn't even close to the point) is driving. It's fun.
I like it in real life and I love it in video games. In Halo 3 multiplayer battles on Live with friends, I'm behind the wheel of the Warthog. Yeah, I might only have 3 kills the whole game, but I've likely racked up around 20-30 assists with a competent gunner.
So in a big open game like Mafia 2 cars ARE a big deal. Set in the mid 40s to 50s the cars are a bit more my style than in the first one. I saw a nice collection of cars similar to real cars, including Thunderbirds and Corvettes as well as the lumbering land-yacht style Buicks of the era.
Some gamers might complain about the handling and power of the cars, but you would in real life too. Automotive technology has come a long way. These cars didn't handle that well. So it's all part of the realism.
In the vein of realism it should be noted this game should only be played by adults. Lots of violence and swearing. It also features several Playboy centerfolds as collectible items in-game. Hidden items are a staple of the sandbox style games. It promotes exploration of the huge, beautiful world the developers created. This game just happens to use boobies to make the items more enticing. :D
It wasn't readily apparent to me the first couple play-throughs, but the demo includes gangs on the street.
Driving a car I "borrowed" from a neighbor I was cruising in a downtown area and a fellow on the sidewalk commented on my driving style as I pulled up to a tailor's shop.
I took offense to his unwanted criticism and engaged him in fisticuffs. Upon thrashing the man I started taking gunfire from across the street. Apparently the man I had beaten up was a member of a gang in the area. The matching track suits and firearms cemented the idea in my head and I fled the area with about six of them chasing me.
The hand-to-hand fighting system is very nice in it's simplicity. Two punch buttons and a block/evade. But if you wear your opponent down you can finish them off with a punch combo or stylish, slow motion boot to the face.
There are a few issues with the demo that I hope get fixed up before the game's release on August 24th. There are some graphic load issues. One thing that seemed to pop in late all the time were the gas stations. As you would roll up it looked like it had silver windows and then a few seconds later you can see the interior of the shop.
Also, getting into cars can be a bit clunky. You yank a guy out of his car, most of the time so that you can get in and drive it, but the default move is to yank the guy out and stand there looking at him. The context cue on screen says "Y: Steal car"
But it doesn't. Maybe it should say "Y: Pull dude out Y: again and again to get in car"
Sometimes pushing Y near my own car wouldn't get me inside with the speed that I would hope. People are shooting at me, I don't want my character to dilly-dally around.
Aside from the stupid time limit (something more and more studios are doing with their demos) I am very happy with the Mafia 2 demo and am really looking forward to the release later this month.
I may buy it on release day, unless somewhere in town has it for rent.
Mt. Pleasant used to be a terrible town for video games on release day. They'd get movies the day they came out, but games could sometimes take a week or more.
It made me buy a lot of games it turned out I really didn't want. Yes I know, it didn't "make" me. But it didn't leave me with many options as far as playing the game I wanted to play.
Luckily the rental places seem to be coming around to notice that video game people are rabid about playing their games as soon as they come out. We ignore our actual duties to play these things. I may call in sick. :D
Verdict: Looking forward to release date. May buy without rental.
Very likely there will be a game review after the retail release.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
GAMES: Jumpy, Jumpy. Punchy, Punchy. Crackdown 2 : Xbox 360
I looked at the first Crackdown without much enthusiasm. It was a golden ticket into the Halo 3 beta, that is the only reason I wanted it.
But it really was a golden ticket, because it was a surprise. I bit into that chocolate, prepared for gawd awful dark chocolate taste but got some sweet, sweet milk chocolate.
The original Crackdown was SO fun to play. The premise wasn't overly intricate, but the delivery was very well done.
I approached Crackdown 2 with a bit of excitement, but I was prepared for it to be crappy as well, because Realtime Worlds was not behind this one.
Well I was not disappointed...in my disappointment. It was disappointing.
Jumping super high and collecting agility orbs was my favorite part of the first one, that carries over. The rest of the game is also similar, but because it is the SECOND one, it should be different.
Sequels are supposed to improve on the brand, not carbon copy and then throw in some annoying zombie things that make movement at night annoying as hell.
But I would play the game, I would suffer the stupid squishy creatures of the night just for the fun of jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but I can't. The voice-over, announcer guy makes me want to yell most of the time. Occasionally, he's funny. Describing the traction of the Agency Supercar by saying it "sticks to the road like shit to a blanket."
But the rest of the time I want to find him and use my agent's super strength to choke that guy til his throat pops. Sorry...that was a bit much.
Anyway, you get to hear this D-bag give you helpful tips like "collect agility orbs while you are on foot around the city" or "complete vehicle stunt challenges for a major boost to your driving skill." But he always says them over and over while you are doing something else, and NEVER while you are actually in a position to do those things.
There are quite a few issues, technically, like aiming and camera placement. As a baddie car rolls up and two guys get out your aim, more often than not, sticks on the car. It also often jumps to a Agency car or a civilian car. SUPER annoying.
But I think I'd fire bomb all the civilians anyway, because they don't respect me! Mr. Announcer Man can yell at me all he wants about not running over civies or agency peace keepers, but SCREW THAT. None of those idiots get out of the way when you are driving down the road, EVER!
Even with lights and sirens on no one moves. WHAT THE HELL? Yeah, I don't want to kill the pedestrian traffic, but I'm chasing a renegade driving orb here. I don't have time to try and miss all these idiots. The orb is the one that chose to cut up on to the sidewalk and down the alley full of people.
The only saving grace this game might have is multiplayer, which I couldn't do because I don't want to play with some random person and I don't know anyone who rented it. But I don't think even that is enough to get me to rent it again.
Crackdown 2
Rented once. Likely never again
1.25 out of 5 as a sequel
2.5 out of 5 if you haven't played previous versions (just go rent the first one)
But it really was a golden ticket, because it was a surprise. I bit into that chocolate, prepared for gawd awful dark chocolate taste but got some sweet, sweet milk chocolate.
The original Crackdown was SO fun to play. The premise wasn't overly intricate, but the delivery was very well done.
I approached Crackdown 2 with a bit of excitement, but I was prepared for it to be crappy as well, because Realtime Worlds was not behind this one.
Well I was not disappointed...in my disappointment. It was disappointing.
Jumping super high and collecting agility orbs was my favorite part of the first one, that carries over. The rest of the game is also similar, but because it is the SECOND one, it should be different.
Sequels are supposed to improve on the brand, not carbon copy and then throw in some annoying zombie things that make movement at night annoying as hell.
But I would play the game, I would suffer the stupid squishy creatures of the night just for the fun of jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but I can't. The voice-over, announcer guy makes me want to yell most of the time. Occasionally, he's funny. Describing the traction of the Agency Supercar by saying it "sticks to the road like shit to a blanket."
But the rest of the time I want to find him and use my agent's super strength to choke that guy til his throat pops. Sorry...that was a bit much.
Anyway, you get to hear this D-bag give you helpful tips like "collect agility orbs while you are on foot around the city" or "complete vehicle stunt challenges for a major boost to your driving skill." But he always says them over and over while you are doing something else, and NEVER while you are actually in a position to do those things.
There are quite a few issues, technically, like aiming and camera placement. As a baddie car rolls up and two guys get out your aim, more often than not, sticks on the car. It also often jumps to a Agency car or a civilian car. SUPER annoying.
But I think I'd fire bomb all the civilians anyway, because they don't respect me! Mr. Announcer Man can yell at me all he wants about not running over civies or agency peace keepers, but SCREW THAT. None of those idiots get out of the way when you are driving down the road, EVER!
Even with lights and sirens on no one moves. WHAT THE HELL? Yeah, I don't want to kill the pedestrian traffic, but I'm chasing a renegade driving orb here. I don't have time to try and miss all these idiots. The orb is the one that chose to cut up on to the sidewalk and down the alley full of people.
The only saving grace this game might have is multiplayer, which I couldn't do because I don't want to play with some random person and I don't know anyone who rented it. But I don't think even that is enough to get me to rent it again.
Crackdown 2
Rented once. Likely never again
1.25 out of 5 as a sequel
2.5 out of 5 if you haven't played previous versions (just go rent the first one)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
GAMES: POW! Right in the Kisser: Red Dead Redemption: (X360)
This one will be short, cause it's my day off, I'm busy as heck and I want to free up some more time to play Red Dead Redemption.
Played the original, liked it a lot. Seems like such a long time ago, so I'm treating this as it's own game.
SINGLE PLAYER:
I'm a good bit through the single player, excellent.
Some of the cut scenes can drag on and on it seems, but you can skip past any of them, even ones you haven't seen.
The Campfire mechanic is kind of cool, being able to save anywhere, but still have to "do" something. Outfits is also an idea I thought was neat. Apparently you when you unlock one of the "gangs" outfits you can camouflage yourself as them; don't know how that works, but sounds cool. Just haven't tried it.
There is a fair amount of story and side missions to keep one person entertained for quite awhile. Plus the option to go back and do the game differently; I'm being good now, but next time I'm trying to be a Wild West Satan.
Showdowns are back, of course, but the bullet time slow down now has an appearance outside of dudes standing in a street. Dead Eye can be used in the middle of a gun fight or hunting or whatever by clicking down the right analog. In single player it slows stuff down and lets you pick where to shoot someone. In multiplayer you don't slow down, but get the shoot choosing and then super quick shot succession. Worth its weight in gold in multiplayer.
MULTIPLAYER:
Been playing quite a bit more multiplayer, super excellent.
The Free Roam mode is the lobby of sorts, select multiplayer, that's where you go to posse up and choose what you actually want to do.
The only thing that sucks is when your connection "fails," as it seems to do randomly in this game, you are bounced from Free Roam and stuck in a limbo loading screen. If you don't want to back out to the dashboard and reload the game, just unplug your network cable from the Box of X and it will kick you into single player.
Level progression in multiplayer is fun, killing "real" people is always more entertaining, because they think. Or they don't. I've come across some really dumb people in this game, but it's XboxLive so I wasn't surprised.
All the gametypes are fun, Free Roam is entertaining because you can do the gang hideouts and work on your Challenges (explained below). But there is always the looming threat of a posse riding you down and interrupting your progress. Some may find that frustrating, and it is, but I think it's also exciting. Any old school MMO player knows the terror of being ganked by roaming packs of PKs in Ultima Online.
It's the same sort of feeling.
In both play options you have Challenges, which range from shooting a different number of animals, to picking flowers (seriously), traveling different distances by different means and shooting skill challenges. All different and doable while you are doing other stuff, so it is a nice distraction among all the killing. :D
Controls can cause a little frustration in Red Dead, not moving the way you want it to, but only for a moment. Which is usually enough to get you killed.
Horses can also be frustrating, especially in multiplayer. I've whistled for my horse and the damn thing just runs right by me and stops. So I go to get on, but he keeps walking away. Maybe he was scared by the line of 5 dead horses, but he should realize I am not a man to be trifled with and if you keep walking away you will get a slug in the side of your head and then be sold to Elmers.
Red Dead Redemption
4.75 out of 5
Bought it after one rent
Played the original, liked it a lot. Seems like such a long time ago, so I'm treating this as it's own game.
SINGLE PLAYER:
I'm a good bit through the single player, excellent.
Some of the cut scenes can drag on and on it seems, but you can skip past any of them, even ones you haven't seen.
The Campfire mechanic is kind of cool, being able to save anywhere, but still have to "do" something. Outfits is also an idea I thought was neat. Apparently you when you unlock one of the "gangs" outfits you can camouflage yourself as them; don't know how that works, but sounds cool. Just haven't tried it.
There is a fair amount of story and side missions to keep one person entertained for quite awhile. Plus the option to go back and do the game differently; I'm being good now, but next time I'm trying to be a Wild West Satan.
Showdowns are back, of course, but the bullet time slow down now has an appearance outside of dudes standing in a street. Dead Eye can be used in the middle of a gun fight or hunting or whatever by clicking down the right analog. In single player it slows stuff down and lets you pick where to shoot someone. In multiplayer you don't slow down, but get the shoot choosing and then super quick shot succession. Worth its weight in gold in multiplayer.
MULTIPLAYER:
Been playing quite a bit more multiplayer, super excellent.
The Free Roam mode is the lobby of sorts, select multiplayer, that's where you go to posse up and choose what you actually want to do.
The only thing that sucks is when your connection "fails," as it seems to do randomly in this game, you are bounced from Free Roam and stuck in a limbo loading screen. If you don't want to back out to the dashboard and reload the game, just unplug your network cable from the Box of X and it will kick you into single player.
Level progression in multiplayer is fun, killing "real" people is always more entertaining, because they think. Or they don't. I've come across some really dumb people in this game, but it's XboxLive so I wasn't surprised.
All the gametypes are fun, Free Roam is entertaining because you can do the gang hideouts and work on your Challenges (explained below). But there is always the looming threat of a posse riding you down and interrupting your progress. Some may find that frustrating, and it is, but I think it's also exciting. Any old school MMO player knows the terror of being ganked by roaming packs of PKs in Ultima Online.
It's the same sort of feeling.
In both play options you have Challenges, which range from shooting a different number of animals, to picking flowers (seriously), traveling different distances by different means and shooting skill challenges. All different and doable while you are doing other stuff, so it is a nice distraction among all the killing. :D
Controls can cause a little frustration in Red Dead, not moving the way you want it to, but only for a moment. Which is usually enough to get you killed.
Horses can also be frustrating, especially in multiplayer. I've whistled for my horse and the damn thing just runs right by me and stops. So I go to get on, but he keeps walking away. Maybe he was scared by the line of 5 dead horses, but he should realize I am not a man to be trifled with and if you keep walking away you will get a slug in the side of your head and then be sold to Elmers.
Red Dead Redemption
4.75 out of 5
Bought it after one rent
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
GAMES: I Spy with my little eye, a bunch of dead guards. Splinter Cell: Conviction
The Splinter Cell games have always gripped me. Then used their elbows to cave in the soft spot at the back of my skull, rendering me a sack of worthless flesh laying on the ground.
Honestly, I didn't spend much time with Double Agent because when it came out I couldn't rent it and when I finally got it my situation just didn't allow for a lot of free time, so I had to abandon the game like a poor war buddy who was blown in half during a fire fight. I love you Billy, but I gotta get this freaking homework done!
When I played the demo for Conviction my inner Sam Fisher woke up, in a frenzied blood-lust; wanting vengeance against pitiless henchmen and innocent light bulbs. Damn you, light bulbs!
Conviction is different but the same, better but worse than other Splinter Cell games.
The text on the walls is a clever tutorial mechanic that rolls into the higher gameplay, telling you what to do. Tim Buckley of CtrlAltDelete poked fun at it here. The memory videos projected onto walls are also interesting, but easily overlooked, which isn't always a bad thing.
Weapon and gadget upgrades in Conviction is a nice addition. Sam doesn't start with the biggest and best anymore, being outside of Third Echelon, he has to earn scopes and higher damage grenades by getting achievements, mainly from killing henchmen in various, creative ways.
They fine tuned the story and presentation in this release and I'm itching to snap some more necks, like right now if I didn't have to work and even that is barely enough to restrain my urge.
My want is always much more important than my need.
Fisher as a super-badass, super spy was fun but pushing it through several games without any real evolution would have led to continual stale rehashing.
Conviction shows Sam out of the spy game, for about 3 seconds, until he is pulled back in with information about his daughter.
As always the missions leave you to decided how to approach and deal with various guards and bosses. One new trick Fisher has this time is an "Execution" mode. Cued up by taking someone out in hand to hand combat you can mark multiple baddies in Fisher's vision and then "Execute." Sam pulls his pistol and plants a head shot on all the marked targets, hopefully clearing a bottleneck situation.
This is emphasized in co-op play. Teammates can tag baddies and use each others Execute or position themselves and perform a synchronized Dual Execute.
One complaint I have, as apparently most other reviewers do, is you no longer have the ability to move bodies. Now, I've never been an actual spy or hitman. But I've played enough games to know that when you are stealthily dropping goombahs you don't want to leave a trail of them for someone to find. In old Splinter Cell the elbow to the head and the carry were part of the same swift stealth Splinter Sam smotion. Sorry, wanted to keep the alliteration going.
It seems like a simple game mechanic, why leave it out?
Multiplayer is quite entertaining, if only for the missions where it is better to NOT knock out every guard because it turns into a "who is going to cave and punch one of them" contest. But in this contest everyone loses, because you have to start the mission again. Yeah, Shawn! Leave him alone!
Strategizing and communication are key aspects of multiplayer gameplay for me. You take the two up top, I'll grab this guy down here then we'll tea bag everyone else. Communication is essential in tea bagging scenarios people!
Sometimes your duo has no choice but to forcefully take a door and it leaves the super spies completely exposed. But only a silly spy breaks a door down without peaking under or using a sonic detector or the Force to figure out how many henchmen are standing on the other side. Silly spies, they never learn.
Chaos Theory had some fun multiplayer actions where one spy would launch the other over a wall to access something. That doesn't seem to be in Conviction, which is a bummer. Double Agent might have had it, don't know. I should go back to that one.
Anyway, so far so good. May amend this upon further play time, but I'm under a similar time constrained situation as with Double Agent. So I might leave you with this.
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Still in possession. Very likely to re-rent.
3.75 out of 5 as a sequel
4 out of 5 if you haven't played previous versions
Honestly, I didn't spend much time with Double Agent because when it came out I couldn't rent it and when I finally got it my situation just didn't allow for a lot of free time, so I had to abandon the game like a poor war buddy who was blown in half during a fire fight. I love you Billy, but I gotta get this freaking homework done!
When I played the demo for Conviction my inner Sam Fisher woke up, in a frenzied blood-lust; wanting vengeance against pitiless henchmen and innocent light bulbs. Damn you, light bulbs!
Conviction is different but the same, better but worse than other Splinter Cell games.
The text on the walls is a clever tutorial mechanic that rolls into the higher gameplay, telling you what to do. Tim Buckley of CtrlAltDelete poked fun at it here. The memory videos projected onto walls are also interesting, but easily overlooked, which isn't always a bad thing.
Weapon and gadget upgrades in Conviction is a nice addition. Sam doesn't start with the biggest and best anymore, being outside of Third Echelon, he has to earn scopes and higher damage grenades by getting achievements, mainly from killing henchmen in various, creative ways.
They fine tuned the story and presentation in this release and I'm itching to snap some more necks, like right now if I didn't have to work and even that is barely enough to restrain my urge.
My want is always much more important than my need.
Fisher as a super-badass, super spy was fun but pushing it through several games without any real evolution would have led to continual stale rehashing.
Conviction shows Sam out of the spy game, for about 3 seconds, until he is pulled back in with information about his daughter.
As always the missions leave you to decided how to approach and deal with various guards and bosses. One new trick Fisher has this time is an "Execution" mode. Cued up by taking someone out in hand to hand combat you can mark multiple baddies in Fisher's vision and then "Execute." Sam pulls his pistol and plants a head shot on all the marked targets, hopefully clearing a bottleneck situation.
This is emphasized in co-op play. Teammates can tag baddies and use each others Execute or position themselves and perform a synchronized Dual Execute.
One complaint I have, as apparently most other reviewers do, is you no longer have the ability to move bodies. Now, I've never been an actual spy or hitman. But I've played enough games to know that when you are stealthily dropping goombahs you don't want to leave a trail of them for someone to find. In old Splinter Cell the elbow to the head and the carry were part of the same swift stealth Splinter Sam smotion. Sorry, wanted to keep the alliteration going.
It seems like a simple game mechanic, why leave it out?
Multiplayer is quite entertaining, if only for the missions where it is better to NOT knock out every guard because it turns into a "who is going to cave and punch one of them" contest. But in this contest everyone loses, because you have to start the mission again. Yeah, Shawn! Leave him alone!
Strategizing and communication are key aspects of multiplayer gameplay for me. You take the two up top, I'll grab this guy down here then we'll tea bag everyone else. Communication is essential in tea bagging scenarios people!
Sometimes your duo has no choice but to forcefully take a door and it leaves the super spies completely exposed. But only a silly spy breaks a door down without peaking under or using a sonic detector or the Force to figure out how many henchmen are standing on the other side. Silly spies, they never learn.
Chaos Theory had some fun multiplayer actions where one spy would launch the other over a wall to access something. That doesn't seem to be in Conviction, which is a bummer. Double Agent might have had it, don't know. I should go back to that one.
Anyway, so far so good. May amend this upon further play time, but I'm under a similar time constrained situation as with Double Agent. So I might leave you with this.
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Still in possession. Very likely to re-rent.
3.75 out of 5 as a sequel
4 out of 5 if you haven't played previous versions
Saturday, March 27, 2010
GAMES: Viva Revolucion, or the Asian equivalent - JUST CAUSE 2 for XBox360
The original Just Cause is one of my favorite open world games. The sheer fun of the game cannot be explained by the simple words of man, but I'll give it a shot.
Excitaxplosion parasailgrappletastic.
Had to make that crap up. I rented it when it came out and played it for several skipped classes and wasted homework hours. Now, I'm an adult and I can play video games whenever I want! Except I have dishes to do, a load in the dryer and bills to pay. But video games are fun and I like fun more than real life. HA! Take that stupid responsibilities!
The problem is that Just Cause 2 doesn't demand my attention as much as the first one. It is essentially the same game. Yes it is newer, has better graphics, new features and a beautiful large map. The key difference is the Chaos factor. In order to progress through the main story line you have to blow stuff up!
But JC2, the game...not Jesus Jr., is like Just Cause's little brother, yeah it's newer and can do some different stuff, but it's just not as cool. Sure it has a varsity jacket and a red mustang, but they are hand-me-downs.
In fact, there are some uncool parts. Taking over towns is a bit harder now, you have to blow up all the little pieces of government equipment. Some times that is kind of tough, flying over a facility in a helicopter cursing the pixels of the world below because you are 15% away from clearing the town.
The first game had compounds to storm and bosses to take out. Not the most story oriented, but simple fun.
The strongholds now are towns or military and everyone you must escort a team of dudes so one can hack some terminal. After the fifth time it gets a little old.
The voice acting is god awful. "I'm Bolo Santosi and I'm the leader of the some southeast Asian gang but I sound Jamacian. Mista."
It does something new with the grapple, being able to hook two things together. When you have the chance there is nothing like hooking one end to an enemy and the other to a propane tank that rockets into the sky. Good fun.
I want to like JC2 and I'm trying, but for some reason it doesn't have the drawing power the first one. Maybe I've evolved. But that is unlikely, I don't have much room for growth and most of it is currently taken by giving up caffeine.
Still, it's fun. Definitely worth a rent.
Just Cause 2
Returned after 1 rent, possibly re-rent later.
3 out of 5 as a sequel
4 out of 5 if you haven't played the original
Excitaxplosion parasailgrappletastic.
Had to make that crap up. I rented it when it came out and played it for several skipped classes and wasted homework hours. Now, I'm an adult and I can play video games whenever I want! Except I have dishes to do, a load in the dryer and bills to pay. But video games are fun and I like fun more than real life. HA! Take that stupid responsibilities!
The problem is that Just Cause 2 doesn't demand my attention as much as the first one. It is essentially the same game. Yes it is newer, has better graphics, new features and a beautiful large map. The key difference is the Chaos factor. In order to progress through the main story line you have to blow stuff up!
But JC2, the game...not Jesus Jr., is like Just Cause's little brother, yeah it's newer and can do some different stuff, but it's just not as cool. Sure it has a varsity jacket and a red mustang, but they are hand-me-downs.
In fact, there are some uncool parts. Taking over towns is a bit harder now, you have to blow up all the little pieces of government equipment. Some times that is kind of tough, flying over a facility in a helicopter cursing the pixels of the world below because you are 15% away from clearing the town.
The first game had compounds to storm and bosses to take out. Not the most story oriented, but simple fun.
The strongholds now are towns or military and everyone you must escort a team of dudes so one can hack some terminal. After the fifth time it gets a little old.
The voice acting is god awful. "I'm Bolo Santosi and I'm the leader of the some southeast Asian gang but I sound Jamacian. Mista."
It does something new with the grapple, being able to hook two things together. When you have the chance there is nothing like hooking one end to an enemy and the other to a propane tank that rockets into the sky. Good fun.
I want to like JC2 and I'm trying, but for some reason it doesn't have the drawing power the first one. Maybe I've evolved. But that is unlikely, I don't have much room for growth and most of it is currently taken by giving up caffeine.
Still, it's fun. Definitely worth a rent.
Just Cause 2
Returned after 1 rent, possibly re-rent later.
3 out of 5 as a sequel
4 out of 5 if you haven't played the original
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