So... I've been busy. Taking college courses in high school isn't a walk in the park, you know! And I've also been working on a certain awesome extracurricular activity - robots! More on that later.
Anyways, it's going to calm down in a bit soon. AP Tests are in 2-3 weeks, and the Nationals FIRST Robotics Competition is next week (Wednesday-Saturday). With all of that wrapping up, and summer coming up, I figured I might have time to get back to this. Plus I had a really awesome idea that I'm amazed I hadn't though of before - shouldn't be too hard, or take too much time, and I'm sure anybody who enjoys this site will enjoy that!
That idea was doing a Let's Play. For those of you who don't know, a Let's Play is where someone plays through an entire game, commenting on it. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes they're serious. Mine will be more on the serious side, with some humor thrown in there (my kind of humor). Oh, I haven't said what game I'm doing, have I? I'll give you a second, make a guess.
Made your guess? It wouldn't really have been that hard, you know! I'm doing Mass Effect! After that, I'll go through Mass Effect 2, and by that time ME3 will be just about out (I'll try to finish ME2 a week or so ahead of the release. It depends...), and I'll do that. At some point (this summer) I'll probably start doing some others, like Dragon Age 2 (Not Origins. It would make a really bad LP, the combat's too slow. And the game itself is too long.) I wouldn't mind doing some more retro ones, like KotOR, and maybe some space sims. That at least would be unique, since no one plays those any more... If you guys have any requests, ask and I'll tell you if I have it or can get it easily, and I might do it. Otherwise, you'll have to get it for me yourself. (Ha. I would be greatly impressed if someone did that!)
Back on the ME LP. I'll be playing Infiltrator, Renegade, probably Hardcore difficulty. (Not that Insanity is too hard, but it would take too long for an LP. Watching someone die several times in a row is kind of boring. Unless you like to watch someone suffer.) I'll do every main quest in ME1 and ME2, but only the interesting/plot important side quests.
I'm going to attempt to begin recording this weekend and begin posting next week, (planning on a MWF, 15 minute episode schedule, btw) but that may fall through. If it doesn't work out, it will be at least a week later, more likely two. It won't be that spiffy, (planning on just having the raw recording with the commentary spliced over it, and possibly the theme at the beginning)
P.S. Oh, shoot. I'm going to post it on Youtube, I think. If I was just doing it for here, there's other video hosts I could use, but I'm hoping for this to be like a synergistic kind of thing. The blog helps the LP, and the LP helps the blog. Hard to have an independent video LP anywhere but Youtube.
I'm also going to try to get back to doing the stuff I was doing before. DAII review, commentary, etc. in a couple weeks, and I'm planning on doing previews/commentary on the new information on ME3 (obviously) and Skyrim. (Those both look awesome, btw.) Any other games as I get (and play) them, obviously (Orange Box, Black Ops, Starcraft II. Hoping to get all of those soon. Portal 2 is making a case as well. Dang, I need a job >.>)
In other, not video-game related but still awesome, news, is robots. For those of you who don't follow my Twitter (@aldowyn), I'm on a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition Team. FIRST is an organization devoted to the promotion of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, mostly through the organization of these competitions, from Jr. FLL (First Lego League) for younger grade-schoolers, to the "varsity" FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition). Anyway, long story short, we went to a couple of regional competitions, sucked at the first, did awesome at the second (easily the best rookie team there, and a couple of awards to prove it), and are going to Nationals next week. So, that's awesome. Before I forget, there's a Youtube video for the team, mostly as an inspirational/recruitment video, but in any case it's pretty awesome. Check it out here.
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Assassin's Creed II: Assassination Complete!
I finished! It was totally awesome! Post done! Back to Minecraft! Just kidding, I'm not done, though I do admit I probably would be if the server was up... ANYWAYS...
I'll be trying a more structured system for this one, like I did with Dragon Age way back in the day, because I said most of what I wanted to say in the last post.
For those of you who don't know, Assassin's Creed II is an action-adventure game (what would you call it?) imbued with platforming. It's developed and published by Ubisoft. They're not one of the huge publishers, but they're one of the bigger ones and they've got quite a few game development studios. This one was made by the Ubisoft Montreal team, and they've got others all over the place. (Check out the Wikipedia page. So many!) The first game was pretty good, receiving solid reviews (81 aggregate on Metacritic.), but was critiqued mainly for its annoying and unrealistic stealth system and incredible repetition.
Does Assassin's Creed II get past these issues and become a much greater game? What do you think? Read on and find out!
Gameplay
I climb up the rear of a building, finding and reaching for handholds in the facade. I reach the top in mere seconds, and begin to slowly make my way towards the other side. A guard on patrol begins to turn around, but falls to the ground as I fling a knife to his gut. I continue on, reach the edge, and look down towards my planned targets. There they are, four knights guarding the entrance to a codex page bearing untold secrets. I leap towards the edge, and fly down like an eagle swooping to the ground to catch its prey, and smoothly kill two of my adversaries with my dual hidden blades. The other two look up and begin to shout in alarm, but their voices gurgle and fail as my blades reach their throats. I enter the building and retrieve the treasure, now mine for the taking!
Yes, you can really do that. No, it's not a setpiece. In fact, you can do that literally dozens of times in the game! The combat in the first game was pretty neat, aided by the innovation of the free-running that is the series' signature. It's even better in this game, with many more choices for weapons, ranging from many simple swords, to short, brutal knives (you can use a cleaver), and massive hammers. There's even a metal cestus you can use. (A cestus is basically a really heavy metal glove you use to hit people with. Not as lame as it sounds...) You can also buy armor, with four different suits for sale and a fifth available to earn. The combat system is also much deeper than the first game, with most of the abilities you gained in the first game available from the start, and more learned as you go through the game. (Ironic, considering how most games have to take away the stuff you learned in the previous games, and in this one you're playing as an entirely different character!)
The biggest difference though, is in the platforming. It's enough better that there is an entire section of the game (6 dungeons, basically.) devoted to platforming. Let me tell you, those were my favorite parts of the game, bar none. It's just so fun, swinging and jumping from beam to beam, rising higher and higher towards your goal. It actually feels like you're doing something other than just holding the stick down, like it does when you're climbing. The interesting thing about this is that it's mostly just polish and level design. I can only think of two new abilities off the top of my head.. wait there's a third... anyways, the first is a high jump when you're wall-climbing, allowing you to climb walls with longer gaps between hand holds. The others are variations of wall jumps, one where you jump straight out from where you're hanging on to a wall, and the other that's more like classic wall-running: run towards the wall and kick off it to the side when you get up there. That last one in particular looks really cool!
Those make a relatively small difference, though. The real kicker is the incredible level design. It appears that Ubisoft Montreal learned a lot from the first game! The roofs are no longer flat, but it doesn't really matter as the simple free-running and climbing is much smoother now. They seem to have done a lot of polishing with those mechanics in this game, as you're more likely to go where you want to go. It's also much easier and faster to get up onto a building without just climbing up the side because of all the crates on the street and beams and lamps and balconies on the sides of the buildings, often forming a path that you can jump up almost as fast as you could run on the street below. The only issue with this that it seems contrived sometimes, but it's not that bad and helps so much it doesn't really matter.
The last addition is an upgrade system. You get a villa early on in the game, and you earn money and discounts at stores by upgrading the town you protect. These improvements range from a brothel and barracks to upgrades to the four kinds of stores in the game: Blacksmith, tailor, doctor, and artist. These improvements, along with items of all kinds, including the tons of collectibles, increase the value of the town, increasing tourism and in turn your income.
Speaking of collectibles, there are a lot. Way more than the first game, with its hundreds of flags. (Those were so annoying...) There's one set that come with puzzles and unlocks this really, really freaky video (glyphs), one set that you get by going through those platforming sections I mentioned that unlocks that armor set I also mentioned (Assassin's seals), one that unlocks a couple of items (including the last weapon you were looking for. Oh and it's the feathers), one that just gives you money (statues), and more that just give you more money.. but they're chests, so they're supposed to. The chests are also the only ones that don't net you achievements.
So, in short, they incredibly polished the game, added some new features, and upped the ante for the collectibles. These all help make the game the much better game that it is. On to the next section!
Visuals and Sound
The first game was praised for its visuals. It had sweeping cityscapes, and probably the best building design of any game I had seen. (Kind of important, since you were climbing up the sides of them so much!) Everything but the facial animations, plus some bad clipping issues, was incredible. (Clipping is when two objects go through each other when they're not supposed to. For example, when a cape goes through a leg.) The sound wasn't spectacular - it had a pretty good soundtrack, but the ambient sounds weren't the best in the world.
I'll be trying a more structured system for this one, like I did with Dragon Age way back in the day, because I said most of what I wanted to say in the last post.
For those of you who don't know, Assassin's Creed II is an action-adventure game (what would you call it?) imbued with platforming. It's developed and published by Ubisoft. They're not one of the huge publishers, but they're one of the bigger ones and they've got quite a few game development studios. This one was made by the Ubisoft Montreal team, and they've got others all over the place. (Check out the Wikipedia page. So many!) The first game was pretty good, receiving solid reviews (81 aggregate on Metacritic.), but was critiqued mainly for its annoying and unrealistic stealth system and incredible repetition.
Does Assassin's Creed II get past these issues and become a much greater game? What do you think? Read on and find out!
Gameplay
I climb up the rear of a building, finding and reaching for handholds in the facade. I reach the top in mere seconds, and begin to slowly make my way towards the other side. A guard on patrol begins to turn around, but falls to the ground as I fling a knife to his gut. I continue on, reach the edge, and look down towards my planned targets. There they are, four knights guarding the entrance to a codex page bearing untold secrets. I leap towards the edge, and fly down like an eagle swooping to the ground to catch its prey, and smoothly kill two of my adversaries with my dual hidden blades. The other two look up and begin to shout in alarm, but their voices gurgle and fail as my blades reach their throats. I enter the building and retrieve the treasure, now mine for the taking!
Yes, you can really do that. No, it's not a setpiece. In fact, you can do that literally dozens of times in the game! The combat in the first game was pretty neat, aided by the innovation of the free-running that is the series' signature. It's even better in this game, with many more choices for weapons, ranging from many simple swords, to short, brutal knives (you can use a cleaver), and massive hammers. There's even a metal cestus you can use. (A cestus is basically a really heavy metal glove you use to hit people with. Not as lame as it sounds...) You can also buy armor, with four different suits for sale and a fifth available to earn. The combat system is also much deeper than the first game, with most of the abilities you gained in the first game available from the start, and more learned as you go through the game. (Ironic, considering how most games have to take away the stuff you learned in the previous games, and in this one you're playing as an entirely different character!)
The biggest difference though, is in the platforming. It's enough better that there is an entire section of the game (6 dungeons, basically.) devoted to platforming. Let me tell you, those were my favorite parts of the game, bar none. It's just so fun, swinging and jumping from beam to beam, rising higher and higher towards your goal. It actually feels like you're doing something other than just holding the stick down, like it does when you're climbing. The interesting thing about this is that it's mostly just polish and level design. I can only think of two new abilities off the top of my head.. wait there's a third... anyways, the first is a high jump when you're wall-climbing, allowing you to climb walls with longer gaps between hand holds. The others are variations of wall jumps, one where you jump straight out from where you're hanging on to a wall, and the other that's more like classic wall-running: run towards the wall and kick off it to the side when you get up there. That last one in particular looks really cool!
Those make a relatively small difference, though. The real kicker is the incredible level design. It appears that Ubisoft Montreal learned a lot from the first game! The roofs are no longer flat, but it doesn't really matter as the simple free-running and climbing is much smoother now. They seem to have done a lot of polishing with those mechanics in this game, as you're more likely to go where you want to go. It's also much easier and faster to get up onto a building without just climbing up the side because of all the crates on the street and beams and lamps and balconies on the sides of the buildings, often forming a path that you can jump up almost as fast as you could run on the street below. The only issue with this that it seems contrived sometimes, but it's not that bad and helps so much it doesn't really matter.
The last addition is an upgrade system. You get a villa early on in the game, and you earn money and discounts at stores by upgrading the town you protect. These improvements range from a brothel and barracks to upgrades to the four kinds of stores in the game: Blacksmith, tailor, doctor, and artist. These improvements, along with items of all kinds, including the tons of collectibles, increase the value of the town, increasing tourism and in turn your income.
Speaking of collectibles, there are a lot. Way more than the first game, with its hundreds of flags. (Those were so annoying...) There's one set that come with puzzles and unlocks this really, really freaky video (glyphs), one set that you get by going through those platforming sections I mentioned that unlocks that armor set I also mentioned (Assassin's seals), one that unlocks a couple of items (including the last weapon you were looking for. Oh and it's the feathers), one that just gives you money (statues), and more that just give you more money.. but they're chests, so they're supposed to. The chests are also the only ones that don't net you achievements.
So, in short, they incredibly polished the game, added some new features, and upped the ante for the collectibles. These all help make the game the much better game that it is. On to the next section!
Visuals and Sound
The first game was praised for its visuals. It had sweeping cityscapes, and probably the best building design of any game I had seen. (Kind of important, since you were climbing up the sides of them so much!) Everything but the facial animations, plus some bad clipping issues, was incredible. (Clipping is when two objects go through each other when they're not supposed to. For example, when a cape goes through a leg.) The sound wasn't spectacular - it had a pretty good soundtrack, but the ambient sounds weren't the best in the world.
The biggest difference in this category, though, is the architecture. The cities are modeled after their real-life counterparts, and since Florence, Venice, and Rome are marvels of Renaissance and Gothic architecture, this is reflected in the game. Some of the buildings are just breath-taking. There isn't one tower that's just massively taller than the rest of the entire city, like there
tended to be in the first, but there are plenty tall enough to see large swathes of the much larger cities, and man does that look cool!
Story
Now we get to the tricky bit. The story was fairly simple in AC1: you're Altair, an assassin in the Third Crusade who breaks the assassin's code, is demoted to an apprentice, and you have to work your way back up to master assassin by doing the tasks assigned you by your master. You do, and gradually an evil templar plot to take over the holy land (Jerusalem and surroundings, basically), with both Christians and Muslims in on it, and eventually you discover the leader of the plot and kill him. It's obviously much more complicated than that, but that was the basics.
Simple, right? Wait, there's something else: you aren't actually Altair, you're Desmond Miles, his descendant by blood who is being kept prisoner by the Abstergo Corporation, the current face of the Templars, who are trying to find an ancient treasure by going through Altair's memory, hidden in Desmond's DNA, by using a machine called an Animus.
At the end, you find the artifact, Abstergo finds out where all of them are, and something very strange happens to Desmond. He gains Eagle Vision, one of Altair's abilities, and ends up seeing some very, very strange stuff.
Yes, I made that in Minecraft!
This stuff is explained... mostly... sort of... in the second game. Which is just as strange. Of course, Desmond end up joining up with the modern assassins and becomes quite awesome himself, but the story line while you're in the Animus 2.0 (assassin version.. looks so much more comfortable!) ends up being very, very strange.
At first, Ezio is just some kid whose male family is wrongfully executed and vows for revenge, learning the assassin arts in order to kill the ones responsible. He does so, killing some very lame, one-dimensional not even interesting characters in the progress (worst backstep from AC1), but one of the side-quests yields an extremely freaky video, and the very final part of Ezio's story is one of the freakiest things I've ever seen... not to mention putting a very interesting light on a lot of things. The problem is, it's so hard to make sense of it I still don't know what happened, and I finished it several days ago.
Basically, the in-Animus storyline is more about Ezio than the bad guys (I am Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and I am an Assassin. On the back cover, and so, so epic.), but the main, overarching storyline is interesting, but confusing and weird as anything you'll ever see. We'll have to wait until ACIII, or maybe the upcoming Brotherhood, to find out what everything meant.
Conclusion
Assassin's Creed II is one of the best action-adventure games I've ever played, miles ahead of its predecessor, and I'd say the second best implementation of platforming out of any modern game, behind Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. That's just a guess, and ACII may even be ahead. Mirror's Edge would be second, or maybe even first, but it didn't quite work as well as advertised... and it was the main focus of the game, which is actually a bad thing in my opinion. Anyways, you really should play this game if you can. It may not be a buy, as the main reason I would play it again is to get a second crack at deciphering the incomprehensible story.
So, have fun! Also, I'm going to make a snazzy new Review pic, so look for that soon.
And my PS Move post will be coming early next week.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Minecraft!
So, the reason I haven't done the ACII review, or, well, pretty much anything lately, is because I've been playing Minecraft. If you haven't heard of it, it's an indie game being made by one, count 'em ONE guy. The main game is in Alpha phase (before Beta.. kind of...), but there's another version, free, that has the main idea of the game and nothing else, called Minecraft Classic.
My very first creation, at the very bottom of the map. It's gold, now, to fit with the gold city that I and a few others made down there.
That main idea is building. With blocks. Like, 16-bit blocks. It's like playing with Legos, but with less parts, less room, less stimulus (depending), and a lot. more. BLOCKS! You start out with a pretty bit randomly-generated map with trees, caves, hills, and rivers, are given an inventory of blocks to use, and set loose. You can make anything you want with the fairly diverse library of blocks.
But that's the single-player, and it can get awfully lonely out there in the black. (Kudos for those who get the reference that I suddenly had the urge to use.) There are multiplayer servers, quite a few actually, ranging from a dozen or so to 10 times that. I picked the biggest one I could find, on purpose, and it turns out for a very good reason.
It's amazing. Like, seriously awesome. Like, this next picture is only one of more than half a dozen worlds (albeit one of the better ones.)
The Zone2 world, with opposing Red and Blue castles. These are huge, BTW. Those little green dots, prevalent on the right side? Those are trees. Like, 5x5x10 (WxLxH), trees.
The way they manage to keep these worlds so nice and tidy is through a rank system that only allows certain ranks to build on certain worlds. There are only one or two that guests can build on, and these become crowded, busy, and annoying awfully fast. Not to mention full of griefers messing up your awesome creations.
There's a Museum, full of the most awesome sprites you'll ever see, the Zone2 I showed above, with opposing red and blue castles, an entire world for building the above sprites, and an Enterprise world with most of an USS Enterprise that actually fills the entire world.
One of my better creations, fail-modeled after the Spiral Minaret. Except for the cross.
The community is really awesome, too. The veterans (or relative veterans, anyway), are glad to help out a confused newbie, of which there are many, and it's not hard to find people willing to help you with a particularly large and time-consuming project - sometimes too willing. You work on your creations, submit them for review by the admins, and if it's up to snuff and you've played enough time, you get promoted, allowing you access to new worlds and sometimes new abilities (The most important one I know of is making water. You can swim up water, and it doesn't flow, so you can make "elevators" out of water) and admin rights, like kicking people.
Speaking of kicking people, this server does have an issue with griefers, which are people who go around messing other people's stuff up - usually with swastikas. You know, the Nazi symbol? (Well, mostly. The Nazis modified it a bit.) The higher-ranked people are pretty strict about this (Their stuff gets messed up too!), and you seldom see ten minutes go by without someone being kicked. Repeatedly, usually. The admins aren't afraid to ban people, either.
My very first creation, at the very bottom of the map. It's gold, now, to fit with the gold city that I and a few others made down there.
That main idea is building. With blocks. Like, 16-bit blocks. It's like playing with Legos, but with less parts, less room, less stimulus (depending), and a lot. more. BLOCKS! You start out with a pretty bit randomly-generated map with trees, caves, hills, and rivers, are given an inventory of blocks to use, and set loose. You can make anything you want with the fairly diverse library of blocks.
But that's the single-player, and it can get awfully lonely out there in the black. (Kudos for those who get the reference that I suddenly had the urge to use.) There are multiplayer servers, quite a few actually, ranging from a dozen or so to 10 times that. I picked the biggest one I could find, on purpose, and it turns out for a very good reason.
It's amazing. Like, seriously awesome. Like, this next picture is only one of more than half a dozen worlds (albeit one of the better ones.)
The Zone2 world, with opposing Red and Blue castles. These are huge, BTW. Those little green dots, prevalent on the right side? Those are trees. Like, 5x5x10 (WxLxH), trees.The way they manage to keep these worlds so nice and tidy is through a rank system that only allows certain ranks to build on certain worlds. There are only one or two that guests can build on, and these become crowded, busy, and annoying awfully fast. Not to mention full of griefers messing up your awesome creations.
There's a Museum, full of the most awesome sprites you'll ever see, the Zone2 I showed above, with opposing red and blue castles, an entire world for building the above sprites, and an Enterprise world with most of an USS Enterprise that actually fills the entire world.
One of my better creations, fail-modeled after the Spiral Minaret. Except for the cross.
The community is really awesome, too. The veterans (or relative veterans, anyway), are glad to help out a confused newbie, of which there are many, and it's not hard to find people willing to help you with a particularly large and time-consuming project - sometimes too willing. You work on your creations, submit them for review by the admins, and if it's up to snuff and you've played enough time, you get promoted, allowing you access to new worlds and sometimes new abilities (The most important one I know of is making water. You can swim up water, and it doesn't flow, so you can make "elevators" out of water) and admin rights, like kicking people.
Speaking of kicking people, this server does have an issue with griefers, which are people who go around messing other people's stuff up - usually with swastikas. You know, the Nazi symbol? (Well, mostly. The Nazis modified it a bit.) The higher-ranked people are pretty strict about this (Their stuff gets messed up too!), and you seldom see ten minutes go by without someone being kicked. Repeatedly, usually. The admins aren't afraid to ban people, either.
The Enterprise I mentioned. Not 1:1, but still HUGE!
That's just Classic, and absolutely free, too! That's not even talking about Alpha, where it starts getting even crazier! Imagine the capability to build all of these, but with limited resources you must mine for and determine how to create from basic materials, when at night you're under attack by monsters! I haven't actually played it yet, or even purchased it ($13 U.S, I believe), but from what I've heard it's hugely addictive. One article I read compared it in units of addictiveness (Pongs) to being like 100 times as addictive as WoW. (Shamus Young on 20-sided, if you want to know. Specifically, here)
So, yeah, it's awesome, and if you want to play go to http://minecraft.net , and the site for the server I play on is http://team9000.net. (BTW, the server is down right now, which is why I'm not playing. Will edit when it goes back up. Probably.) Oh, and I'll also tell you all about them, since I just love bragging about my own stuff!
At first I was completely lost, and I went down to the bottom of the map and made that Welcome sign, and came up with the idea to make an underground city. Well, I told someone else about the idea, and the following was the result.
Neat, huh? BTW, the one on the left is full of non harmful lava, and that blue pillar next to it is one of those water elevators I mentioned.
Then I made the tower that's pictured up in the main post. During the middle of construction, they refreshed the guest world (They make new guest worlds periodically when they get full, but they leave the old ones so they can move anything particularly spectacular. You can still edit the most recently archived world, so I just finished it and moved on.), so I didn't have much company here.
After that I just got bored for a while, I'd thought of some stuff to build but it was going to take a while so I decided to wait until I got promoted (which should be happening fairly soon now. First one doesn't take much, I've heard.) to build it. Eventually I thought of something relatively easy to build that I already had some experience doing, and this last one was the result.
So, yeah, it's awesome, and if you want to play go to http://minecraft.net , and the site for the server I play on is http://team9000.net. (BTW, the server is down right now, which is why I'm not playing. Will edit when it goes back up. Probably.) Oh, and I'll also tell you all about them, since I just love bragging about my own stuff!
At first I was completely lost, and I went down to the bottom of the map and made that Welcome sign, and came up with the idea to make an underground city. Well, I told someone else about the idea, and the following was the result.
Neat, huh? BTW, the one on the left is full of non harmful lava, and that blue pillar next to it is one of those water elevators I mentioned.
That was just the beginning. We made 4 or 5 rooms behind that gold there, none of them small, and all of them completely coated with gold, except for the white signifying the connecting tunnels and stairs. The last one was a fairly neat church with pews and flower beds (There's flower blocks) and a couple of crosses. Behind one of the crosses ended up what looked like a Nazi shrine, the best grief I've ever seen. Wouldn't even have been able to tell if it hadn't been for the upside-down cross he left behind. Someone else removed the swastika. I made a massive sign pointing to the entrance, and a gold road with metal (I suppose it's silver) lining it.
Then I started messing around in the same map, with the result of this triforce, complete with signature (I put it on the tag wall at the spawn point, too. I think it got griefed, though. Should still have a picture) For those of you that are curious, each of those triangles has a base of 15 blocks.
Bit egotistical, you think?
Then I started messing around in the same map, with the result of this triforce, complete with signature (I put it on the tag wall at the spawn point, too. I think it got griefed, though. Should still have a picture) For those of you that are curious, each of those triangles has a base of 15 blocks.
Bit egotistical, you think?
After that I just got bored for a while, I'd thought of some stuff to build but it was going to take a while so I decided to wait until I got promoted (which should be happening fairly soon now. First one doesn't take much, I've heard.) to build it. Eventually I thought of something relatively easy to build that I already had some experience doing, and this last one was the result.
My latest creation, and my favorite, just above the tower.
It's a 4 sided pyramid with Triforces for sides and a huge Master Sword in the middle. (Seriously, it's like 7 or 8 blocks high and your dude is only 2 blocks high. Really hard to make something small detailed here, with pixels half the size of your character!
That's all for today, I hope you enjoyed it! I'll do my best to do that ACII review tomorrow, and I've got a PS Move impressions post in the works for sometime... maybe tomorrow, if you're lucky! (I got personal experience at Sam's Club a week or so back.)
*edit* I was promoted pretty much as soon as I logged back on! :) Now I can build on the cool worlds (Literally, cool. Means that cool rank and above can build there.)
That's all for today, I hope you enjoyed it! I'll do my best to do that ACII review tomorrow, and I've got a PS Move impressions post in the works for sometime... maybe tomorrow, if you're lucky! (I got personal experience at Sam's Club a week or so back.)
*edit* I was promoted pretty much as soon as I logged back on! :) Now I can build on the cool worlds (Literally, cool. Means that cool rank and above can build there.)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Assassin's Creed II: First Impressions
Today I'm talking about Assassin's Creed II. The first one is one of the two (yes, that few) titles that I have for my 360 that I got sometime last year, because it looked really cool. (Honestly, the AC1 cover is really awesome. I should post a pic of the drawing I did of the creed on the back, with the Assassin's symbol.)
Anyway, it was a good game, but nothing special. Among it's myriad drawbacks were incredible amounts of repetition, unrealistic level design (seriously, those rooftops are literally meant for running around on!), annoying sequences back at Abstergo, and really, really bad AI. Of course, the idea was absolutely awesome, it's the best usage of platforming in a game I've ever played, and possibly seen. Uncharted 2 probably outdoes it, but not by much.
They fixed almost everything. It's just... awesome. ACII has more depth than any action game in recent history: collectibles everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, these really awesome platforming sequences (my favorite part), much, much better pacing and overall story, a whole bunch of new abilities, weapons, and things to customize, and characters that are actually interesting and likable.
First: collectibles. The flags from the first game have been replaced with feathers, of which there are only 100 in the entire (huge!) game, but that's only the beginning! Another minor one is treasure chests. There's 330 of them, and they can have significant amounts of money, but you get more for completing the main storyline and there's no achievement for them. There are also two main side-quests involving collectibles (main meaning hey, they actually have story! Interesting story, too...), the first of which is finding these glyphs left by Abstergo's previous prisoner, known as Subject 16. There's several different kinds of puzzles you have to solve. I haven't finished this one yet, and I have no clue how it's going to turn out. The next one, and my favorite, is the Assassin's Tombs. These are platforming masterpieces unlike anything I've seen. They get steadily more and more complex, from crossing the rafters of a church (harder than it sounds) to a 4-part discovery that.... I haven't finished yet. Still awesome, though. The final one (I may have missed some) are codex pages written by the first game's protagonist's, Altair, that, when decoded, allow you to increase your health or gain new weapons. (One of the first: Double hidden blades. AWESOME!) Oh, and the guy that decodes these codex pages and makes the equipment is none other than Leonardo da Vinci. Who is also awesome. More on that later.
Slightly related is the upgrade system. You use Florins (money) to buy all sorts of things, from weapons and armor, to new shops at your villa (technically it's your uncle Mario's.), and paintings. This system is surprisingly deep, with the ability to upgrade all your different shops, increasing the town's value as well as giving you discounts, and renovating the town with everything from brothels to barracks to churches, which also increase the value of the town. The town's value determines how much tourism you get, and thus how much money you earn. The money is put into a chest every 20 minutes, but you have to come get the money every hour and 20 minutes or it's lost. The only reason I can think of for this decision is to remind people that they really do need to come upgrade the villa and buy armor and stuff, which is actually kind of brilliant--if they did it on purpose.
Oh, and I want to talk about the weapons, and then the combat. There's so many weapons this time around! There's two kinds, swords and small weapons, analogous to the sword and knife from the first game, and there must be well over a dozen of each, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. You can also disarm enemies and use their weapons, which is awesome to the point that you can easily win an entire fight just be disarming enemies and killing them with their own weapons ad nauseum.
The entire combat system is also considerably deeper. Along with the disarm move, there's also a strafe move that can be really cool if used right. One time I was fighting one of my main assassination targets and his guards, and, after I killed his guards, I just sidestepped around his attack, ended up behind him and stabbed him in the back. That move is pretty hard to accomplish, but it looks absolutely awesome when you pull it off.
The pacing is much steadier this time around. The main storyline isn't so sharply split into investigations and assassinations, but there are pros and cons. The build-up is much more enjoyable, with a lot more story, but the actual assassination tends to fail to distinguish itself from what happened before. I kind of miss the main assassination missions from the beginning, where you use all the information you gathered to find the best place to strike, and then go and carry out your plan. The enemies don't seem to get enough time in the lime-light either-- the story tends to focus on the people helping you accomplish your goal, instead of why your target is so evil. There are exceptions, and these exceptions are marvelous, but sometimes it's just a little anticlimactic-- probably my least favorite change from the first one. What I would have done is just made the build-up sequences more interesting forms of the ones from the first game, instead of random-seeming thefts and interrogations like the first game.
My last topic tonight is the characters. The total of likable characters went up from 0 (ok, Malik was pretty cool sometimes. Probably the most fleshed-out of the characters.) to 3. There are two new characters back in the real world, along with Lucy (who gained several levels in awesome) helping with the project, and both of them are pretty cool. Shawn is this British guy who investigated his way into finding out about Abstergo, and the assassin's picked him up before they could off him. At first, he seemed like just a jerk, but after a while he turned into that awesome British jerk kind of guy. The other one, Rebecca the Animus 2.0 tech, is less awesome, but still cool.
Finally, there's da Vinci. So cool. He's just so eager and nonchalant, going about building all these awesome inventions. He comes off as fairly innocent sometimes, but is occasionally surprising. I'm not quite sure why I like him so much, but I do. And I'm sure I will more once I get to test out his greatest invention...
Anyway, Assassin's Creed II is awesome. They've fixed almost everything about the first one, come up with a bunch of new awesome things, and put it all together seamlessly to make a really, really awesome game. Sign me up for Assassin's Creed III!
I should finish it sometime this week, and look for a more traditional review a little bit after that. Early next week, perhaps. Oh, and don't forget to listen to the Halo: Reach podcast that should be up fairly soon! (It's supposed to be up, I'm not quite sure what happened.)
Anyway, it was a good game, but nothing special. Among it's myriad drawbacks were incredible amounts of repetition, unrealistic level design (seriously, those rooftops are literally meant for running around on!), annoying sequences back at Abstergo, and really, really bad AI. Of course, the idea was absolutely awesome, it's the best usage of platforming in a game I've ever played, and possibly seen. Uncharted 2 probably outdoes it, but not by much.
They fixed almost everything. It's just... awesome. ACII has more depth than any action game in recent history: collectibles everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, these really awesome platforming sequences (my favorite part), much, much better pacing and overall story, a whole bunch of new abilities, weapons, and things to customize, and characters that are actually interesting and likable.
First: collectibles. The flags from the first game have been replaced with feathers, of which there are only 100 in the entire (huge!) game, but that's only the beginning! Another minor one is treasure chests. There's 330 of them, and they can have significant amounts of money, but you get more for completing the main storyline and there's no achievement for them. There are also two main side-quests involving collectibles (main meaning hey, they actually have story! Interesting story, too...), the first of which is finding these glyphs left by Abstergo's previous prisoner, known as Subject 16. There's several different kinds of puzzles you have to solve. I haven't finished this one yet, and I have no clue how it's going to turn out. The next one, and my favorite, is the Assassin's Tombs. These are platforming masterpieces unlike anything I've seen. They get steadily more and more complex, from crossing the rafters of a church (harder than it sounds) to a 4-part discovery that.... I haven't finished yet. Still awesome, though. The final one (I may have missed some) are codex pages written by the first game's protagonist's, Altair, that, when decoded, allow you to increase your health or gain new weapons. (One of the first: Double hidden blades. AWESOME!) Oh, and the guy that decodes these codex pages and makes the equipment is none other than Leonardo da Vinci. Who is also awesome. More on that later.
Slightly related is the upgrade system. You use Florins (money) to buy all sorts of things, from weapons and armor, to new shops at your villa (technically it's your uncle Mario's.), and paintings. This system is surprisingly deep, with the ability to upgrade all your different shops, increasing the town's value as well as giving you discounts, and renovating the town with everything from brothels to barracks to churches, which also increase the value of the town. The town's value determines how much tourism you get, and thus how much money you earn. The money is put into a chest every 20 minutes, but you have to come get the money every hour and 20 minutes or it's lost. The only reason I can think of for this decision is to remind people that they really do need to come upgrade the villa and buy armor and stuff, which is actually kind of brilliant--if they did it on purpose.
Oh, and I want to talk about the weapons, and then the combat. There's so many weapons this time around! There's two kinds, swords and small weapons, analogous to the sword and knife from the first game, and there must be well over a dozen of each, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. You can also disarm enemies and use their weapons, which is awesome to the point that you can easily win an entire fight just be disarming enemies and killing them with their own weapons ad nauseum.
The entire combat system is also considerably deeper. Along with the disarm move, there's also a strafe move that can be really cool if used right. One time I was fighting one of my main assassination targets and his guards, and, after I killed his guards, I just sidestepped around his attack, ended up behind him and stabbed him in the back. That move is pretty hard to accomplish, but it looks absolutely awesome when you pull it off.
The pacing is much steadier this time around. The main storyline isn't so sharply split into investigations and assassinations, but there are pros and cons. The build-up is much more enjoyable, with a lot more story, but the actual assassination tends to fail to distinguish itself from what happened before. I kind of miss the main assassination missions from the beginning, where you use all the information you gathered to find the best place to strike, and then go and carry out your plan. The enemies don't seem to get enough time in the lime-light either-- the story tends to focus on the people helping you accomplish your goal, instead of why your target is so evil. There are exceptions, and these exceptions are marvelous, but sometimes it's just a little anticlimactic-- probably my least favorite change from the first one. What I would have done is just made the build-up sequences more interesting forms of the ones from the first game, instead of random-seeming thefts and interrogations like the first game.
My last topic tonight is the characters. The total of likable characters went up from 0 (ok, Malik was pretty cool sometimes. Probably the most fleshed-out of the characters.) to 3. There are two new characters back in the real world, along with Lucy (who gained several levels in awesome) helping with the project, and both of them are pretty cool. Shawn is this British guy who investigated his way into finding out about Abstergo, and the assassin's picked him up before they could off him. At first, he seemed like just a jerk, but after a while he turned into that awesome British jerk kind of guy. The other one, Rebecca the Animus 2.0 tech, is less awesome, but still cool.
Finally, there's da Vinci. So cool. He's just so eager and nonchalant, going about building all these awesome inventions. He comes off as fairly innocent sometimes, but is occasionally surprising. I'm not quite sure why I like him so much, but I do. And I'm sure I will more once I get to test out his greatest invention...
Anyway, Assassin's Creed II is awesome. They've fixed almost everything about the first one, come up with a bunch of new awesome things, and put it all together seamlessly to make a really, really awesome game. Sign me up for Assassin's Creed III!
I should finish it sometime this week, and look for a more traditional review a little bit after that. Early next week, perhaps. Oh, and don't forget to listen to the Halo: Reach podcast that should be up fairly soon! (It's supposed to be up, I'm not quite sure what happened.)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Questions From the Crowd Contest!
Welcome to the Questions From the Crowd contest! I'm planning on doing this weekly, if I can, and usually I hope to have a topic for you guys, kick start your brains.
Today, though, I'm leaving it wide-open! Ask me anything, be it personal, like how I came to make the blog, technical, like how I do the videos or writing, or professional, like what I think of a particular game or genre.
As far as I'm concerned, you can ask DarkPC or Abujaffer something, too. It's up to them whether they answer, though, I don't really tell them what to do. (I gave myself the title of Editor-In-Chief-- and actually act as an editor. I go through their posts, checking facts, spelling, and grammar, then give the thumbs-up and post it. I have very little to no influence on what they actually choose to write about.)
Anyway, ask me anything you want, as long as it has to do with video games (or similar nerdy past times-books, movies, desktop RPGs, computers.) or my blog. Feel free to go as specific or as broad as you want, but be warned I don't know everything about everything. Don't be afraid to ask several questions. I'll go over the entries, pick a few of them, the number depending on the number and quality of submissions (I'd like to do maybe 5 or so), and answer them after one of my posts early next week (I decided tomorrow was too soon, and I'm gone this week.)
Hope to see some good questions in the comments!
Today, though, I'm leaving it wide-open! Ask me anything, be it personal, like how I came to make the blog, technical, like how I do the videos or writing, or professional, like what I think of a particular game or genre.
As far as I'm concerned, you can ask DarkPC or Abujaffer something, too. It's up to them whether they answer, though, I don't really tell them what to do. (I gave myself the title of Editor-In-Chief-- and actually act as an editor. I go through their posts, checking facts, spelling, and grammar, then give the thumbs-up and post it. I have very little to no influence on what they actually choose to write about.)
Anyway, ask me anything you want, as long as it has to do with video games (or similar nerdy past times-books, movies, desktop RPGs, computers.) or my blog. Feel free to go as specific or as broad as you want, but be warned I don't know everything about everything. Don't be afraid to ask several questions. I'll go over the entries, pick a few of them, the number depending on the number and quality of submissions (I'd like to do maybe 5 or so), and answer them after one of my posts early next week (I decided tomorrow was too soon, and I'm gone this week.)
Hope to see some good questions in the comments!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The New Xbox & Kinect Pricing and Split/Second Review
Hi everyone! In 360 News:
Just Released on July 25 is the Kinect and 360 S Pricing. First, Kinect will drop on November 4 for $149.99 with a copy of Kinect Adventures. Secondly the Xbox 360 S drops on August 3 for a retail price of $199.99 and last but not least the Kinect Bundle, which includes the Kinect system and a 360 S, retail pricing was released and it will cost $299.99 when it drops on November 4. Also something we weren't told about Kinect at E3 was that Kinect has 4GB of Flash Memory built in. Peculiar? Yes. Also, keeping in Microsoft's tradition to release special console bundles for big games a Halo: Reach Console Bundle was announced on July 22 and priced at $399.99 on September 14, the same day the game drops. And in new game news Street Fighter X Tekken (for SF fans made by CapCom) and Tekken X Street Fighter (For Tekken Fans made by Namco) were announced at Comic-Con on July 14. Both games will be on the PS3 and the 360 a release date is TBD.
Now that the news is out of the way the review can begin!Today, I am reviewing Split/Second on of course the Xbox 360. Split/Second was Developed by BlackRock Studios and Released by Disney Interactive the same team that put out Pure, a ATV racing game. Price: $59.99 (Authors Note: I got it a Costco for $30 with a MFR. Discount) GamePlay: Fairly simple! Right Trigger: Accelerator Left Trigger: Brakes A: LVL 1 Power Play B: LVL 2 Power Play RS: Down Backwards Left, Right Sides (Power Plays will be explained in a bit.)Power Plays: Power Plays are parts of the race track that can be blown-up. e.g. Tram Car rigged with explosives.Online MP: The online MP so far out of the 3 modes available only 1 has online activity.Achievements: Split/Second has a grand total of 46 achievements for 1000 Gamerscore. Personally on my gamertag, I have been able to get 27 out of 46 for 430 Gamerscore.
Final Verdict: Split/Second is a fun game but would I pay $59.99? No. get the game at around $25 to $30.Split/Second gets 3.5 out of 5
 |
| $149.99 Retail on Nov. 4 |
Just Released on July 25 is the Kinect and 360 S Pricing. First, Kinect will drop on November 4 for $149.99 with a copy of Kinect Adventures. Secondly the Xbox 360 S drops on August 3 for a retail price of $199.99 and last but not least the Kinect Bundle, which includes the Kinect system and a 360 S, retail pricing was released and it will cost $299.99 when it drops on November 4. Also something we weren't told about Kinect at E3 was that Kinect has 4GB of Flash Memory built in. Peculiar? Yes. Also, keeping in Microsoft's tradition to release special console bundles for big games a Halo: Reach Console Bundle was announced on July 22 and priced at $399.99 on September 14, the same day the game drops. And in new game news Street Fighter X Tekken (for SF fans made by CapCom) and Tekken X Street Fighter (For Tekken Fans made by Namco) were announced at Comic-Con on July 14. Both games will be on the PS3 and the 360 a release date is TBD.
Now that the news is out of the way the review can begin!Today, I am reviewing Split/Second on of course the Xbox 360. Split/Second was Developed by BlackRock Studios and Released by Disney Interactive the same team that put out Pure, a ATV racing game. Price: $59.99 (Authors Note: I got it a Costco for $30 with a MFR. Discount) GamePlay: Fairly simple! Right Trigger: Accelerator Left Trigger: Brakes A: LVL 1 Power Play B: LVL 2 Power Play RS: Down Backwards Left, Right Sides (Power Plays will be explained in a bit.)Power Plays: Power Plays are parts of the race track that can be blown-up. e.g. Tram Car rigged with explosives.Online MP: The online MP so far out of the 3 modes available only 1 has online activity.Achievements: Split/Second has a grand total of 46 achievements for 1000 Gamerscore. Personally on my gamertag, I have been able to get 27 out of 46 for 430 Gamerscore.Final Verdict: Split/Second is a fun game but would I pay $59.99? No. get the game at around $25 to $30.Split/Second gets 3.5 out of 5
7/29 Update: 1 Vs. 100 on XBL has been canceled by Microsoft Game Studios as it was a Beta.
Thank you for reading, I'll be back soon -DarkPC
Picture Credits go to G4tv.com, Kotaku.com IGN.comThursday, July 1, 2010
Roger Ebert: Maybe video games CAN be art!
Yes, I know I already talked about this debate. Sorry, you're going to get a bit more. Just a bit though. Before I do so, you do need to go read my first post on this topic, way down in like April. (April 20, in fact.) It's very possible that it's still my best post yet.
Now, if you're still with me or have come back from reading that one. you have something else to read, assuming you haven't. Roger Ebert's concession, which is here.
If you noticed, he said that he personally still thinks video games can't be art, but admits the validity of one of the most common arguments--that he shouldn't be talking about something he has next to no experience in. I can agree with that, but he also says a whole bunch more. (He can be just a bit long-winded sometimes) Eventually he gets around to repeating his reason for video games not being art, that being they're not static. Video games are interactive, and the player controls it. Thus, it is no longer controlled by the creator, and thus is not art.
Ok, that makes sense. It has a problem, though. This assumes that the amount of interaction is infinite-- that the player can make anything they want happen. As we all know, this is far from the case. The creator personally creates everything in the game, controls how they interact, and finally determines how everything will come together to the endings that he decides. It is very, very finite, and it shall remain finite until at least true virtual reality is brought to the medium (At which point the playthroughs themselves will become art, but that's another story.), and if and when that happens I shall accept that those games are not art.
Also, somewhere in there, he gives a textbook definition of art.
This belongs more with my previous post more than with this one. In that one I argued for the capability of video games to elicit emotions, and that video games will be considered art by the masses when their main purpose is considered to tell a story, or make you feel a certain way. Almost directly supported by that definition over there.
Lastly, I want to comment a little bit on the poll he made and tweeted out to his followers, many of whom retweeted it in turn. I don't remember if I retweeted it, but I did participate. The poll asked "Which would you value more?" in between Huckleberry Finn and a great video game. (Obviously I voted for the game)
I just want to say this is flawed. To be fair, it should be simpler: in between a great book and a great video game. I would still vote for the game, but this one is a lot closer. If the vote was in between Harry Potter (one of my favorites, just so you know) and say, Modern Warfare, I would say Harry Potter. You may have noticed before, but I'm not the biggest FPS guy. They're fun, but they're just time-wasters, for me.
What do you guys think? I don't really have a specific question this time, but there is plenty to discuss, and I always like to discuss, so find your own question, opinion, or comment, and I shall respond.
Now, if you're still with me or have come back from reading that one. you have something else to read, assuming you haven't. Roger Ebert's concession, which is here.
If you noticed, he said that he personally still thinks video games can't be art, but admits the validity of one of the most common arguments--that he shouldn't be talking about something he has next to no experience in. I can agree with that, but he also says a whole bunch more. (He can be just a bit long-winded sometimes) Eventually he gets around to repeating his reason for video games not being art, that being they're not static. Video games are interactive, and the player controls it. Thus, it is no longer controlled by the creator, and thus is not art.
Ok, that makes sense. It has a problem, though. This assumes that the amount of interaction is infinite-- that the player can make anything they want happen. As we all know, this is far from the case. The creator personally creates everything in the game, controls how they interact, and finally determines how everything will come together to the endings that he decides. It is very, very finite, and it shall remain finite until at least true virtual reality is brought to the medium (At which point the playthroughs themselves will become art, but that's another story.), and if and when that happens I shall accept that those games are not art.
Also, somewhere in there, he gives a textbook definition of art.
This belongs more with my previous post more than with this one. In that one I argued for the capability of video games to elicit emotions, and that video games will be considered art by the masses when their main purpose is considered to tell a story, or make you feel a certain way. Almost directly supported by that definition over there.Lastly, I want to comment a little bit on the poll he made and tweeted out to his followers, many of whom retweeted it in turn. I don't remember if I retweeted it, but I did participate. The poll asked "Which would you value more?" in between Huckleberry Finn and a great video game. (Obviously I voted for the game)
I just want to say this is flawed. To be fair, it should be simpler: in between a great book and a great video game. I would still vote for the game, but this one is a lot closer. If the vote was in between Harry Potter (one of my favorites, just so you know) and say, Modern Warfare, I would say Harry Potter. You may have noticed before, but I'm not the biggest FPS guy. They're fun, but they're just time-wasters, for me.
What do you guys think? I don't really have a specific question this time, but there is plenty to discuss, and I always like to discuss, so find your own question, opinion, or comment, and I shall respond.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Mass Effect: What's the Big Deal?
A lot of people, me included, weren't quite sure what was so important about Mass Effect before they played it, so I'm going to talk about why it was (and still is) such a big deal.
I got my (first) 360 not long ago, less than 2 years. I had to decide what games I wanted to get. I researched it a bit, and I decided I had to get Halo 3. (To not do so would be like not getting Twilight Princess for the Wii!) Other than that, I thought I should get one of those action games.. I don't remember what the choices were, but I ended up with Assassin's Creed. Finally, I wanted an RPG. I had the choice between Mass Effect, and Bioshock. (Note: I ended up getting ME on PC, mostly for the benefit of the rest of my family.) At this point, they were a lot alike: incredible, groundbreaking RPG/shooters. I don't quite remember why I chose Mass Effect. It may have been because of the sci-fi setting, maybe because of the developer. (I'd played several Bioware titles, like Knights of the Old Republic and Baldur's Gate.)
I still haven't played Bioshock, and Bioware has come to completely dominate my gaming life. I can't wait for news of the new Dragon Age game, I hang on every word I can find on Star Wars: The Old Republic, and I will die of anticipation for Mass Effect 3.
Why? In short: because the entire concept of Mass Effect is awesome, and Bioware is awesome. For the first, apart from my natural affinity for the setting, it, along with a few other games, essentially spawned a new genre that I have decided to call the Role-Playing Shooter (or RPS, but that doesn't sound right). Bioshock and Fallout 3 have also contributed, but this genre is just as varied as RPGs are. Mass Effect is decidedly different. Story and characters are the dominate aspects of Mass Effect. Bioshock is allegory, a story about a dystopia based on the philosophy of Ayn Rand that happens to be told to a guy with a gun and super powers. (Which look really cool, btw.) Fallout 3 is an open-world RPG (Bethesda FTW), which tend to be light on story. (I think it's because they're too busy building the world) Not that Fallout 3 or Oblivion have bad stories, they're actually both really good, but my point is they aren't what you play the game for. (mostly, anyway)
Mass Effect is a blend of what I would call a true western RPG-- you know, the ones that are essentially based on Dungeons and Dragons, (Speaking of, Bioware made the franchise that is one of the best games actually based on D&D, Neverwinter Nights, and what is IMO the best game that feels like D&D, Dragon Age: Origins) and FPS. RPGs, not necessarily this kind, and FPS are arguably the two most popular genres. I acknowledge that Mass Effect's blend of these is far from perfect, but it was a really good attempt-- and Mass Effect 2 capitalized on that and made it almost seamless.
The first thing that makes Mass Effect different from others like it is the story. It's one of those games that you could reasonably put it on easy difficulty and coast through the combat, just for the main story. You could do the same in an open-world RPG, but that's usually for the little things everywhere, (which are actually one of the weakest points in the original Mass Effect) as opposed to the actual, main story. Mass Effect creates a universe and story that, at least in my opinion, is worthy of the biggest sci-fi franchises out there. The world Bioware has created is, quite possibly, the most in depth universe ever created for a game. They managed to detail the last several centuries or more of the history of the current people, plus the overarching cycle of the entire universe, through dialogue. Then there's the codex- a partly voice-acted repository of almost everything you could imagine in the universe. (Of course, there's dozens of races, thousands of worlds, etc. etc., but it does detail everything you actually see.) There's even several paragraph long descriptions, and, when applicable, histories, of every planet in the entire game. Literally.
Tangent here: I figured out a while ago that I think there are 3 main differences in between Star Trek and Star Wars. 1: The world. Star Trek is the future of this world. Star Wars is in a galaxy far, far away. 2: Humanity's position. In Star Trek, humanity is just another race. In Star Wars they are dominant. 3: The Force. Star Trek doesn't really have any magic, apart from the tech. Star Wars has the Force. Notice that Mass Effect comes out decidedly on the Star Trek side, and the one that is like Star Wars (Biotics = the Force) is far from a central point of the story, like it is in Star Wars.
The second thing is the emphasis on characters. Look at the recent RPGs. (and as far as I can remember, all RPGs) There are western RPGs, and Japanese RPGs (as represented by Final Fantasy). Ignoring the JRPGs, look at the western RPGs. How many of them have companions, ala D&D? All the ones I can come up with from my admittedly biased memory are made by Bioware. Mass Effect takes this to extremes, though. Mass Effect 1 was fairly typical for Bioware, with maybe a few less than normal, with varied classes and races of companions, each with extensive dialogue trees, opinions on your actions, and their own quest.
Mass Effect 2 took this and literally made it the basis of the entire game. There are nearly a dozen characters, most of which have their own recruiting quest and all of which with their Bioware-signature quest-- which are actually an important, necessary part of the game. They are the stars of the game, and Bioware seems to have skimped on the rest of the story in ME2 to focus on them.
In conclusion, Mass Effect is important because it helps to create an entire new genre, but it is so enjoyable because it does it well, and Bioware made it. (Bioware made it = one of the best stories ever. ALWAYS.)
I got my (first) 360 not long ago, less than 2 years. I had to decide what games I wanted to get. I researched it a bit, and I decided I had to get Halo 3. (To not do so would be like not getting Twilight Princess for the Wii!) Other than that, I thought I should get one of those action games.. I don't remember what the choices were, but I ended up with Assassin's Creed. Finally, I wanted an RPG. I had the choice between Mass Effect, and Bioshock. (Note: I ended up getting ME on PC, mostly for the benefit of the rest of my family.) At this point, they were a lot alike: incredible, groundbreaking RPG/shooters. I don't quite remember why I chose Mass Effect. It may have been because of the sci-fi setting, maybe because of the developer. (I'd played several Bioware titles, like Knights of the Old Republic and Baldur's Gate.)
I still haven't played Bioshock, and Bioware has come to completely dominate my gaming life. I can't wait for news of the new Dragon Age game, I hang on every word I can find on Star Wars: The Old Republic, and I will die of anticipation for Mass Effect 3.
Why? In short: because the entire concept of Mass Effect is awesome, and Bioware is awesome. For the first, apart from my natural affinity for the setting, it, along with a few other games, essentially spawned a new genre that I have decided to call the Role-Playing Shooter (or RPS, but that doesn't sound right). Bioshock and Fallout 3 have also contributed, but this genre is just as varied as RPGs are. Mass Effect is decidedly different. Story and characters are the dominate aspects of Mass Effect. Bioshock is allegory, a story about a dystopia based on the philosophy of Ayn Rand that happens to be told to a guy with a gun and super powers. (Which look really cool, btw.) Fallout 3 is an open-world RPG (Bethesda FTW), which tend to be light on story. (I think it's because they're too busy building the world) Not that Fallout 3 or Oblivion have bad stories, they're actually both really good, but my point is they aren't what you play the game for. (mostly, anyway)
Mass Effect is a blend of what I would call a true western RPG-- you know, the ones that are essentially based on Dungeons and Dragons, (Speaking of, Bioware made the franchise that is one of the best games actually based on D&D, Neverwinter Nights, and what is IMO the best game that feels like D&D, Dragon Age: Origins) and FPS. RPGs, not necessarily this kind, and FPS are arguably the two most popular genres. I acknowledge that Mass Effect's blend of these is far from perfect, but it was a really good attempt-- and Mass Effect 2 capitalized on that and made it almost seamless.
The first thing that makes Mass Effect different from others like it is the story. It's one of those games that you could reasonably put it on easy difficulty and coast through the combat, just for the main story. You could do the same in an open-world RPG, but that's usually for the little things everywhere, (which are actually one of the weakest points in the original Mass Effect) as opposed to the actual, main story. Mass Effect creates a universe and story that, at least in my opinion, is worthy of the biggest sci-fi franchises out there. The world Bioware has created is, quite possibly, the most in depth universe ever created for a game. They managed to detail the last several centuries or more of the history of the current people, plus the overarching cycle of the entire universe, through dialogue. Then there's the codex- a partly voice-acted repository of almost everything you could imagine in the universe. (Of course, there's dozens of races, thousands of worlds, etc. etc., but it does detail everything you actually see.) There's even several paragraph long descriptions, and, when applicable, histories, of every planet in the entire game. Literally.
Tangent here: I figured out a while ago that I think there are 3 main differences in between Star Trek and Star Wars. 1: The world. Star Trek is the future of this world. Star Wars is in a galaxy far, far away. 2: Humanity's position. In Star Trek, humanity is just another race. In Star Wars they are dominant. 3: The Force. Star Trek doesn't really have any magic, apart from the tech. Star Wars has the Force. Notice that Mass Effect comes out decidedly on the Star Trek side, and the one that is like Star Wars (Biotics = the Force) is far from a central point of the story, like it is in Star Wars.
The second thing is the emphasis on characters. Look at the recent RPGs. (and as far as I can remember, all RPGs) There are western RPGs, and Japanese RPGs (as represented by Final Fantasy). Ignoring the JRPGs, look at the western RPGs. How many of them have companions, ala D&D? All the ones I can come up with from my admittedly biased memory are made by Bioware. Mass Effect takes this to extremes, though. Mass Effect 1 was fairly typical for Bioware, with maybe a few less than normal, with varied classes and races of companions, each with extensive dialogue trees, opinions on your actions, and their own quest.
Mass Effect 2 took this and literally made it the basis of the entire game. There are nearly a dozen characters, most of which have their own recruiting quest and all of which with their Bioware-signature quest-- which are actually an important, necessary part of the game. They are the stars of the game, and Bioware seems to have skimped on the rest of the story in ME2 to focus on them.
In conclusion, Mass Effect is important because it helps to create an entire new genre, but it is so enjoyable because it does it well, and Bioware made it. (Bioware made it = one of the best stories ever. ALWAYS.)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Indie Games for 360 Reviews!
Hello Again!
Today's is on Indie Game Reviews on the Xbox 360 (of course).
The first game I will review is Super Avatar Hero Force made by UberGeekGames . It is a very simple game to get use to!
Controls: Move RS or LS toward the way you would like to attack but you have to get the timing right or else you would DIE by being eaten by zombie avatars (although they don't look like zombies).
Plot: You become a part of the "Super Avatar Hero Force" and you have to defend the world from a zombie infestation. There are 5 levels in this game, 1 training level and there are 4 other levels that have to do with the plot.
Price: 80 MSPoints || Final Verdict: I bought it for 80 MSPoints and it's price point is spot on for the kind of game it is. I give Super Avatar Hero Force 2.5 stars out of 5.
The second game is Avatar Paintball made by DigitalDNA. Once again a very simple game to get if you play alot of shooters because it is a shooter type of game but you are playing paintball.
Controls: Same as any FPS
Plot: THERE IS NO PLOT! its a Online MP Only Game but there is a 1P training mode
Price and Final Verdict: 240 MSPoints The verdict is that this game is fun BUT it is WAY over priced. for a MP only FPS that really should cost maybe 120 MSP but its best price point should be 80 MSP. I give Avatar Paintball 3 stars out of 5.
And my last game is Avatar Racedrome made by Juan Alberto Munoz. (yes I know I put a name instead of a company because one person [supposedly] made this game.)
Controls: Like any race game
Plot: No real plot but there are Practice, Single Race, and Championship modes and a XBL
MP mode.
Price and Final Verdict: The price for Avatar Racedrome is 80 MSP and it is one of the best XBL Indie Games on the marketplace! I give Avatar Racedrome 4 out of 5
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Nintendo conference
I did the summary for Microsoft's Press Conference last night, and I'm going to finish the other 2 today, but before we start I need to tell you to watch the "Hope" trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic that was shown as the closer for the EA conference, and I won't even make you go find it! Here it is, in its full HD glory from GameTrailers.com!
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-star-wars/101162
Awesome, right? I thought so. There was also a bit more news for SWTOR at E3, I'll probably talk about that later. (And I will certainly review SWTOR when it comes out) And now on to the Nintendo Conference!
Nintendo
The first conference on Tuesday, the first official day of E3, was Nintendo. Last year, their press conference was a complete laughingstock, in no small part due to the announcement of the Wii Vitality Sensor. (Which is still in the works, apparently) Despite this, there were some things to look forward to, like the new Zelda that had been alluded to at the end of last year, Metroid: Other M, being developed by Team Ninja, and the official reveal of the 3DS.
Personally, I certainly wasn't disappointed, but you can decide for yourself.
First off, to the surprise of no one, the new Zelda was announced. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is destined to hit store shelves in 2011. The surprise here was the heavy emphasis on motion controls. They have completely redone the control scheme, and now it's supposed to be realistic motions for the sword and shield and all your normal Zelda items--plus a few new ones, which include the kind of odd Beetle, which is basically a remote control spyplane that can pick stuff up (Including bombs. BOMBS AWAY!), and the much-cooler Whip. Which is a whip.
So now you have to pay attention to how you're swinging the sword. For example, for the classic Deku Baba enemy, you now have to swing the sword at the same angle its mouth is open, and enemies with swords and the like can block your sword. Overall a nice addition in theory, but I'm not sure how it will hold up when I'm actually swinging my arms around for hours at a time.
Next up was Mario: Sports Mix. Basically Wii sports, plus buttons and an analog stick, and MARIO! Simple enough. Sports include Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball, and Dodgeball, and that's just all I saw in time to write down. So, sports games are a lot more fun with the ability to actually, ya know, move, and time has proved that everything is better with Mario. (And his friends, of course.) It's set to arrive some time in 2011.
Now Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO of Nintendo America, comes on the stage again and starts talking stats. He rebukes the notion that the Wii is slowing down, saying that since last E3, the Wii set the record for console sales in a single month. He then rebukes another common notion, that people don't buy very many games for the Wii, stating (or statting, if you prefer) that the Wii has sold more titles in its 43 months than any other console did during its first 43 months.
Then he starts talking about "bridge" games, meant to bring casual gamers over from games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit to more traditional games. As examples he provides Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Ok, that makes sense. Now for the logical follow-through.
Following this trail of thought comes Wii Party. Mario-party style game with over seventy mini-games. That's about all I saw, but isn't that enough? Seventy. To top that, it's coming out soon, as in Holiday 2010 soon. Also coming soon is Just Dance 2.
Now back to the more hardcore gamers with a game that's been wanted for quite a while, a sequel for Golden Sun. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn essentially has two parts, adventuring and combat. The adventuring looks a lot like 2D Zelda, and the combat looks a lot like early Final Fantasy games. With that as a description, what's not to like? Oh yeah... maybe the fact that it is also coming out during the holidays of 2010!
Nintendo next confirmed a vague, hopeful rumor of many people older than I am that remember drooling over the first truly good multiplayer FPS experience out side of a PC. That rumor is a Goldeneye remake for the Wii. It's not an exact remake, as it's being "updated" to modern times. Things like new gameplay features and a different story line are there to bring it to 2010, culturally and in gameplay, and guess what? It is being brought to you in 2010! During the holidays, no less.
After that came Epic Mickey. If you haven't noticed this game and have a Wii, notice it now. It's an action/adventure with, you guessed it, Mickey Mouse as the protagonist. If you thought that meant this was going to be a little kid's game, think again. It looks to be a completely awesome, deep game that you must get if you own a Wii.
But if you just like Nintendo's old franchises better than Disney, I sure have a treat for you. Several, actually. The first of these is Kirby: Epic Yarn. The title has a double meaning. Yarn can mean a story, and it can also mean, well, yarn. Kirby is made of yarn in this game, and not just him. The entire world is made of yarn. Even the background is made of cloth. This makes for a huge difference in gameplay, as you can't swallow enemies. Never fear, though, because there's a whole bunch of interesting features to come with it. Kirby can transform into all sorts of things, and you can manipulate the environment using some interesting techniques... such as unzipping zippers. Yes, there are zippers in the game. Cool. Looks like another fresh creative game from Nintendo. Soon, too, slated for release in Fall, not holiday (!!!) 2010.
Just in case you would prefer something a little more traditional... how about another installment in one of the longest running JRPG franchises? (No, not Final Fantasy. That would be the longest.) Dragon Quest: IX comes to the West from Japan, where it's been an incredible hit, selling 4.2 million copies, July 11. THIS YEAR. Apparently, it's huge. Seriously huge. Like 14o hours in and feeling like you "haven't even scratched the surface". Yeah, that huge. 120 mini quests, over 300 monsters, nearly a 1000 customization items huge.
Nintendo also showed more of a game they announced at last year's E3, Metroid: The Other M. (What does that even mean?) While the game is being developed outside of Nintendo by Team Ninja, it is meant to retain the "sense of isolation and exploration" classic to the franchise, while providing some awesome action. It largely departs from the almost FPS style of the recent Prime series, going instead for 2D. Not your old 2D metroid, though. This game is going for pretty, cinematic, and very fast-paced. The best way to explain it would be to tell you to go watch the gameplay trailers. Apart from that you will be able to switch into FPS mode to shoot stuff by pointing your wiimote at the screen, at the cost of being able to move. (You control most of the game with the Wiimote held sideways.) This game, to the chagrin of many fans, will have an increased increase in story-- and a Samus that talks. OH NO! On the flip side, it is coming very soon, August 31, 2010.
If the return of all these storied Nintendo franchises isn't enough, it's okay, because there is yet another one. That game is Donkey Kong Country: Returns, just as full of bananas, barrels, and ridiculous mine kart levels as the original. There will be co-op, beautiful graphics, and probably a whole bunch of other stuff coming to you holiday of 2010. (Busy holiday.)
You might have noticed something was missing. Nintendo kind of saved the best (or at least most amazing) part for last. The glasses-less 3D of the 3DS works, and it is going to be incredible. It is the actual next generation of Nintendo handhelds, unlike the DSi, and it comes with increased graphical capability, two cameras (supposedly for taking 3D pictures), and the capability of playing 3D movies. Not bad!
Oh, and there's some really cool games coming for it. Including Pit's triumphant return. Yes, there is a new Kid Icarus coming to the 3DS, titled Kid Icarus: Uprising. The trailer looked incredibly fun, with Wii-level graphics of Pit swooping about, shooting his bow at everyone, and generally just doing awesome soldier-angel-kid stuff.
Nintendogs (and Cats) is also being developed for the 3DS, but it was kind of just slipped in there, so it's probably not going to be ready for a while.
The really amazing thing about the 3DS is the amazing level of third-party support that it's getting. Apparently the makers of everything from Kingdom Hearts (YES!) to Metal Gear to Assassin's Creed (and more) are considering putting games from these fabled franchises onto the 3DS. Developers, as provided by Nintendo, include (take a deep breath, there's a LOT): Activision, Atlus, Namco-Bandai, Capcom, EA, Harmonix, Square Enix, Sega, THQ, Ubisoft, and more. Incredible.
Then they showed this hilarious trailer showing Reggie, Satoru Iwata, and and Shigeru Miyamoto getting sucked into the 3DS and/or getting owned by Bowser, and here's the link to G4's HD video:
http://e3.g4tv.com/videos/46521/E3-2010-Nintendo-Press-Conference-Nintendo-3DS-Trailer/?quality=hd
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-star-wars/101162
Awesome, right? I thought so. There was also a bit more news for SWTOR at E3, I'll probably talk about that later. (And I will certainly review SWTOR when it comes out) And now on to the Nintendo Conference!
Nintendo
The first conference on Tuesday, the first official day of E3, was Nintendo. Last year, their press conference was a complete laughingstock, in no small part due to the announcement of the Wii Vitality Sensor. (Which is still in the works, apparently) Despite this, there were some things to look forward to, like the new Zelda that had been alluded to at the end of last year, Metroid: Other M, being developed by Team Ninja, and the official reveal of the 3DS.
Personally, I certainly wasn't disappointed, but you can decide for yourself.
First off, to the surprise of no one, the new Zelda was announced. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is destined to hit store shelves in 2011. The surprise here was the heavy emphasis on motion controls. They have completely redone the control scheme, and now it's supposed to be realistic motions for the sword and shield and all your normal Zelda items--plus a few new ones, which include the kind of odd Beetle, which is basically a remote control spyplane that can pick stuff up (Including bombs. BOMBS AWAY!), and the much-cooler Whip. Which is a whip.
So now you have to pay attention to how you're swinging the sword. For example, for the classic Deku Baba enemy, you now have to swing the sword at the same angle its mouth is open, and enemies with swords and the like can block your sword. Overall a nice addition in theory, but I'm not sure how it will hold up when I'm actually swinging my arms around for hours at a time.
Next up was Mario: Sports Mix. Basically Wii sports, plus buttons and an analog stick, and MARIO! Simple enough. Sports include Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball, and Dodgeball, and that's just all I saw in time to write down. So, sports games are a lot more fun with the ability to actually, ya know, move, and time has proved that everything is better with Mario. (And his friends, of course.) It's set to arrive some time in 2011.
Now Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO of Nintendo America, comes on the stage again and starts talking stats. He rebukes the notion that the Wii is slowing down, saying that since last E3, the Wii set the record for console sales in a single month. He then rebukes another common notion, that people don't buy very many games for the Wii, stating (or statting, if you prefer) that the Wii has sold more titles in its 43 months than any other console did during its first 43 months.
Then he starts talking about "bridge" games, meant to bring casual gamers over from games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit to more traditional games. As examples he provides Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Ok, that makes sense. Now for the logical follow-through.
Following this trail of thought comes Wii Party. Mario-party style game with over seventy mini-games. That's about all I saw, but isn't that enough? Seventy. To top that, it's coming out soon, as in Holiday 2010 soon. Also coming soon is Just Dance 2.
Now back to the more hardcore gamers with a game that's been wanted for quite a while, a sequel for Golden Sun. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn essentially has two parts, adventuring and combat. The adventuring looks a lot like 2D Zelda, and the combat looks a lot like early Final Fantasy games. With that as a description, what's not to like? Oh yeah... maybe the fact that it is also coming out during the holidays of 2010!
Nintendo next confirmed a vague, hopeful rumor of many people older than I am that remember drooling over the first truly good multiplayer FPS experience out side of a PC. That rumor is a Goldeneye remake for the Wii. It's not an exact remake, as it's being "updated" to modern times. Things like new gameplay features and a different story line are there to bring it to 2010, culturally and in gameplay, and guess what? It is being brought to you in 2010! During the holidays, no less.
After that came Epic Mickey. If you haven't noticed this game and have a Wii, notice it now. It's an action/adventure with, you guessed it, Mickey Mouse as the protagonist. If you thought that meant this was going to be a little kid's game, think again. It looks to be a completely awesome, deep game that you must get if you own a Wii.
But if you just like Nintendo's old franchises better than Disney, I sure have a treat for you. Several, actually. The first of these is Kirby: Epic Yarn. The title has a double meaning. Yarn can mean a story, and it can also mean, well, yarn. Kirby is made of yarn in this game, and not just him. The entire world is made of yarn. Even the background is made of cloth. This makes for a huge difference in gameplay, as you can't swallow enemies. Never fear, though, because there's a whole bunch of interesting features to come with it. Kirby can transform into all sorts of things, and you can manipulate the environment using some interesting techniques... such as unzipping zippers. Yes, there are zippers in the game. Cool. Looks like another fresh creative game from Nintendo. Soon, too, slated for release in Fall, not holiday (!!!) 2010.
Just in case you would prefer something a little more traditional... how about another installment in one of the longest running JRPG franchises? (No, not Final Fantasy. That would be the longest.) Dragon Quest: IX comes to the West from Japan, where it's been an incredible hit, selling 4.2 million copies, July 11. THIS YEAR. Apparently, it's huge. Seriously huge. Like 14o hours in and feeling like you "haven't even scratched the surface". Yeah, that huge. 120 mini quests, over 300 monsters, nearly a 1000 customization items huge.
Nintendo also showed more of a game they announced at last year's E3, Metroid: The Other M. (What does that even mean?) While the game is being developed outside of Nintendo by Team Ninja, it is meant to retain the "sense of isolation and exploration" classic to the franchise, while providing some awesome action. It largely departs from the almost FPS style of the recent Prime series, going instead for 2D. Not your old 2D metroid, though. This game is going for pretty, cinematic, and very fast-paced. The best way to explain it would be to tell you to go watch the gameplay trailers. Apart from that you will be able to switch into FPS mode to shoot stuff by pointing your wiimote at the screen, at the cost of being able to move. (You control most of the game with the Wiimote held sideways.) This game, to the chagrin of many fans, will have an increased increase in story-- and a Samus that talks. OH NO! On the flip side, it is coming very soon, August 31, 2010.
If the return of all these storied Nintendo franchises isn't enough, it's okay, because there is yet another one. That game is Donkey Kong Country: Returns, just as full of bananas, barrels, and ridiculous mine kart levels as the original. There will be co-op, beautiful graphics, and probably a whole bunch of other stuff coming to you holiday of 2010. (Busy holiday.)
You might have noticed something was missing. Nintendo kind of saved the best (or at least most amazing) part for last. The glasses-less 3D of the 3DS works, and it is going to be incredible. It is the actual next generation of Nintendo handhelds, unlike the DSi, and it comes with increased graphical capability, two cameras (supposedly for taking 3D pictures), and the capability of playing 3D movies. Not bad!
Oh, and there's some really cool games coming for it. Including Pit's triumphant return. Yes, there is a new Kid Icarus coming to the 3DS, titled Kid Icarus: Uprising. The trailer looked incredibly fun, with Wii-level graphics of Pit swooping about, shooting his bow at everyone, and generally just doing awesome soldier-angel-kid stuff.
Nintendogs (and Cats) is also being developed for the 3DS, but it was kind of just slipped in there, so it's probably not going to be ready for a while.
The really amazing thing about the 3DS is the amazing level of third-party support that it's getting. Apparently the makers of everything from Kingdom Hearts (YES!) to Metal Gear to Assassin's Creed (and more) are considering putting games from these fabled franchises onto the 3DS. Developers, as provided by Nintendo, include (take a deep breath, there's a LOT): Activision, Atlus, Namco-Bandai, Capcom, EA, Harmonix, Square Enix, Sega, THQ, Ubisoft, and more. Incredible.
Then they showed this hilarious trailer showing Reggie, Satoru Iwata, and and Shigeru Miyamoto getting sucked into the 3DS and/or getting owned by Bowser, and here's the link to G4's HD video:
http://e3.g4tv.com/videos/46521/E3-2010-Nintendo-Press-Conference-Nintendo-3DS-Trailer/?quality=hd
Saturday, June 19, 2010
E3: Big 3 Intro, & Microsoft
In case you've been living under a rock in the gaming world, this week was E3- short for Electronic Entertainment Expo, held annually in June, usually in LA. (Its history is a little spotty, but nevermind that, it doesn't matter.) E3 is THE conference of the year, where developers and publishers announce their games and provide demos for the press-- all in the name of publicity.
What's really cool about E3 is you get to see the future of video games happen- and most of that happens during the big 3 press conferences. (Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony.) This is when and where they announce new consoles, new features, sometimes big new exclusive games, and just generally brag about how awesome this next year is going to be for this console and why YOU should get it. So I'm going to do a summary and short analysis of the big 3 conferences, each one with its own post and with a tie-in analysis after the last one (Sony) about where the industry seems to be heading, according to the tone of the conferences.
Considering doing a highlights of E3 post, but I probably won't because I didn't take notes for enough of the coverage... shame on me. I guess I'll just have to find a way to go next year, huh? :D
P.S. With a lot of these my knowledge from outside the conferences is going to be mixed with actual stuff from the conferences, especially with Microsoft. I'll try to keep to the most salient points of the games, but if you just want to know what games were announced instead of reading all of it, just look for the bolded and italicized (boldicized) words. Also, if there's something written about it, it probably had a trailer, and if it doesn't it was probably just in a list of stuff thrown out there.
P.P.S. If there's a particular game that you'd like me to take a look at and muse upon, put it in the comments! I really want to make this as informative for you guys as I can, as well as getting all this stuff in my head onto paper. (figuratively)
MICROSOFT
Microsoft started their conference with Call of Duty: Black Ops. While it's being made by Treyarch, the studio behind World at War, instead of Infinity Ward, who made the hugely popular Modern Warfare series, lots of people don't know that, and Treyarch isn't bad anyway, so this was a pretty good way to start.
Black Ops is going to be a FPS based throughout the Cold War period (Say 60's to 80's) in several different locales, as several different characters. (obviously. This isn't Metal Gear, where the protagonist remains the protagonist even when he's old and crippled--literally.) So there's going to be parts in Vietnam (I believe they showed this in particular), Russia, and a whole bunch of other places in SE Asia, Eastern Europe, Etc. It is logical to assume it will cover the story of all the secret stuff we did during the Cold War that we really weren't supposed to be doing.
Anyways, they showed a trailer, and it looked awesome. Graphically, I mean. The gameplay didn't seem like anything special, despite a cool-looking helicopter sequence, but the graphics... wow.
Following the trailer, Microsoft announced an unprecedented arrangement: All DLC, map packs, etc. for the Call of Duty franchise will come to the Xbox 360 FIRST before any other console, for the next 3 years. (Technically through 2012, I believe.) Obviously a good deal for Microsoft, and I imagine Activision (the CoD publisher) is getting quite a bit out of it too. In other words- get CoD on the 360 or be prepared to wait for after launch content.
Next came a 4-player co-op demonstration of Gears of War 3, with Epic's own Cliff Bleszinski (hey I spelled it right first time!) doing all the necessary on stage stuff. In this trailer, you fought all these mutated Locusts, called Lambents, which can do some really freaky stuff, and at the end you fight this giant... monster... thing. Not sure what it is.
ANYWAYS, Epic also announced a new Beast mode, where you play as some of these creepy beasties and try to kill the COG soldiers. From what I've heard, it sounds pretty deep and fun. Don't worry, everyone's favorite Horde mode will be returning as well.
Then came Peter Molyneux from Lionhead Studios to talk about Fable III and show a trailer. More blah blah blah stuff. So, Fable III is basically divided into 2 parts, the first part you are trying to overthrow the tyrant king, and in the second part you ARE the tyrant king-- or you can be. Well, you're the king. So you can be a tyrant if you want. So Peter Molyneux being typically ambitious, if not as much as some other times. (Remember Milo?)
Next came my personal favorite of the Microsoft conference, largely because I actually have played the earlier games in the series, Halo: Reach. (Notice all of these are later in a series. Interesting, no?)
Halo: Reach is Bungie's last hurrah with the Bungie universe, and it sure looks like its going to live up to the lofty expectations that are inevitably being placed on the last game in such an iconic franchise. The graphics are better, the physics are better, there's new weapons, the equipment of Halo 3 has been replaced with some cool looking "armor abilities", and it just looks all around awesome. What they actually showed at the conference was a trailer (it looked like gameplay, but it may have been scripted gameplay that was recorded for the sake of the trailer, thus making it a tiny bit suspect) for the campaign. It shows Noble Team (The protagonists. Halo: Reach is squad based, folks!) fighting through some Elites (who, btw, are MUCH bigger and stronger than the Spartans-even in multiplayer.), and eventually culminating in a space battle. Yes, playable space battles in Halo. Awesome, yes?
So that was basically the first part of the conference, and the part that you all are probably more interested in-- despite being unimportant, overall, to the game industry. So the second part of the conference is about that one big thing that's coming to the 360... Oh yeah. Motion Controls. Newly named Kinect, after ditching the code name, Project Natal. (They should have called it Kinetic. More accurate, and pretty much the same.)
First off, they talked about how it's going to revolutionize your dashboard experience. Yes, all I ever wanted my Xbox to let me do is to swipe with my hand to select what I'm going to do, even though it probably takes MORE effort than using a controller! Ok, seriously, it does sound like it could be pretty handy. Apart from the obvious camera, Kinect comes with a microphone, so you can control videos and the like with your voice. Example: "Xbox: Stop" stops the movie. Simple! You can also do video chats, and all sorts of other neat stuff that really has nothing to do with games. You can go watch the conference if you want, just pick a gaming site, it'll probably be there.
Oh, I almost forgot. This one's actually kind of cool: Microsoft has made a deal with ESPN to stream games straight to your Xbox, at no additional charge. Of course not even all major sports are represented, most notably (at least to me) the NFL. So no, you can't watch the Super Bowl on your 360 next February. Sorry.
Then they got down to the actual games, of which there were... six? launch titles specifically shown at the conference. A lot of them just seem to be Wii knockoffs, most namely Kinect Sports, which I'm not going to even talk about because it's Wii Sports with different sports (didn't write them down, sorry) and a different controller. Then there was Kinectimals, which had an admittedly adorable demo of this little girl playing with her pet tiger, names Skittles. Yes, a pet tiger named Skittles. Obviously not going for realism in that one. Kinect JoyRide is fairly self explanatory, though the controls seem to have been dumbed down to accommodate Kinect. Brakes seem kind of important to me, but it's their call. I guess. Kinect Adventures is a game where you raft around, striking poses to collect the coins. Interesting, I guess. Not really. I believe all these were developed in house at Microsoft, unlike these next two.
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is a superior (yes, I said it) version of Wii Fit being developed by Ubisoft. It's a lot easier to tell what you're doing with a CAMERA than with a glorified scale.
Dance Central is the one game that actually seems fairly innovative, and above all- well implemented. The premise is simple- do whatever's on the screen, almost Rock Band/Guitar Hero style. There's 2 different modes, one which takes you through the moves of the dance one by one and teaches them to you, and one which, guess what, goes through the actual dance. The interesting thing about this game is that apparently, it's not beyond imagining for it to actually teach you how to dance. Pretty impressive, actually.
Microsoft also showed a really impressive, tech demo I guess it'd be, for a 2011 Kinect Star Wars game. Kind of like TFU, but not. For one thing, you are actually swinging the lightsaber. SOLD. Except, as I recall, it looked more like the cartoon than TFU. Not good.
Also shown was a demo for Forza Motorsport... whatever. Didn't actually get named. Forza Motorsport: Kinect (working title)... Back on track! Also coming out in 2011, they showed a guy... using Kinect to "walk" around the car and point out features of the car like the brakes and the engine, and then he "entered" the car and looked around. Amazingly detailed, but that's not the point. Of course I do believe you'll actually be driving with Kinect--- Hopefully with brakes. Buttons are important, guys!
And then the big shocker! Microsoft announced a NEW XBOX! Wait, sorry, not the next gen. This is the Xbox version of PS3 Slim. It IS significantly smaller, if not to the extent of the PS3 slim, and it's also quieter, comes with a wi-fi adapter, 250GB HD, and should be more reliable than the other 360s. Oh, and it can't RROD. Literally, it CAN'T. As in they took out the red lights. Instead, the green lights are going to flash. Umm, I sense confusion.
And then the REALLY big shocker-- Microsoft gave, gave, one of the new edition Xbox 360's to every person at the conference. I'm not kidding, they did.
So, the Microsoft conference essentially had two sides- the serious, normal, hardcore games (3 of 4 were shooters. Something's wrong with that. At least only one of them was the modern, realistic kind), and the new, family-friendly, Wii ripoff games, along with a few that actually show some promise, and even fewer that actually show promise for hardcore gamers. Overall, not bad. Definitely not a complete failure, fairly good organization, but not a stand-out performance either. Obviously trending towards motion controls, but that really started last year so it doesn't count this year.
What's really cool about E3 is you get to see the future of video games happen- and most of that happens during the big 3 press conferences. (Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony.) This is when and where they announce new consoles, new features, sometimes big new exclusive games, and just generally brag about how awesome this next year is going to be for this console and why YOU should get it. So I'm going to do a summary and short analysis of the big 3 conferences, each one with its own post and with a tie-in analysis after the last one (Sony) about where the industry seems to be heading, according to the tone of the conferences.
Considering doing a highlights of E3 post, but I probably won't because I didn't take notes for enough of the coverage... shame on me. I guess I'll just have to find a way to go next year, huh? :D
P.S. With a lot of these my knowledge from outside the conferences is going to be mixed with actual stuff from the conferences, especially with Microsoft. I'll try to keep to the most salient points of the games, but if you just want to know what games were announced instead of reading all of it, just look for the bolded and italicized (boldicized) words. Also, if there's something written about it, it probably had a trailer, and if it doesn't it was probably just in a list of stuff thrown out there.
P.P.S. If there's a particular game that you'd like me to take a look at and muse upon, put it in the comments! I really want to make this as informative for you guys as I can, as well as getting all this stuff in my head onto paper. (figuratively)
MICROSOFT
Microsoft started their conference with Call of Duty: Black Ops. While it's being made by Treyarch, the studio behind World at War, instead of Infinity Ward, who made the hugely popular Modern Warfare series, lots of people don't know that, and Treyarch isn't bad anyway, so this was a pretty good way to start.
Black Ops is going to be a FPS based throughout the Cold War period (Say 60's to 80's) in several different locales, as several different characters. (obviously. This isn't Metal Gear, where the protagonist remains the protagonist even when he's old and crippled--literally.) So there's going to be parts in Vietnam (I believe they showed this in particular), Russia, and a whole bunch of other places in SE Asia, Eastern Europe, Etc. It is logical to assume it will cover the story of all the secret stuff we did during the Cold War that we really weren't supposed to be doing.
Anyways, they showed a trailer, and it looked awesome. Graphically, I mean. The gameplay didn't seem like anything special, despite a cool-looking helicopter sequence, but the graphics... wow.
Following the trailer, Microsoft announced an unprecedented arrangement: All DLC, map packs, etc. for the Call of Duty franchise will come to the Xbox 360 FIRST before any other console, for the next 3 years. (Technically through 2012, I believe.) Obviously a good deal for Microsoft, and I imagine Activision (the CoD publisher) is getting quite a bit out of it too. In other words- get CoD on the 360 or be prepared to wait for after launch content.
Next came a 4-player co-op demonstration of Gears of War 3, with Epic's own Cliff Bleszinski (hey I spelled it right first time!) doing all the necessary on stage stuff. In this trailer, you fought all these mutated Locusts, called Lambents, which can do some really freaky stuff, and at the end you fight this giant... monster... thing. Not sure what it is.
ANYWAYS, Epic also announced a new Beast mode, where you play as some of these creepy beasties and try to kill the COG soldiers. From what I've heard, it sounds pretty deep and fun. Don't worry, everyone's favorite Horde mode will be returning as well.
Then came Peter Molyneux from Lionhead Studios to talk about Fable III and show a trailer. More blah blah blah stuff. So, Fable III is basically divided into 2 parts, the first part you are trying to overthrow the tyrant king, and in the second part you ARE the tyrant king-- or you can be. Well, you're the king. So you can be a tyrant if you want. So Peter Molyneux being typically ambitious, if not as much as some other times. (Remember Milo?)
Next came my personal favorite of the Microsoft conference, largely because I actually have played the earlier games in the series, Halo: Reach. (Notice all of these are later in a series. Interesting, no?)
Halo: Reach is Bungie's last hurrah with the Bungie universe, and it sure looks like its going to live up to the lofty expectations that are inevitably being placed on the last game in such an iconic franchise. The graphics are better, the physics are better, there's new weapons, the equipment of Halo 3 has been replaced with some cool looking "armor abilities", and it just looks all around awesome. What they actually showed at the conference was a trailer (it looked like gameplay, but it may have been scripted gameplay that was recorded for the sake of the trailer, thus making it a tiny bit suspect) for the campaign. It shows Noble Team (The protagonists. Halo: Reach is squad based, folks!) fighting through some Elites (who, btw, are MUCH bigger and stronger than the Spartans-even in multiplayer.), and eventually culminating in a space battle. Yes, playable space battles in Halo. Awesome, yes?
So that was basically the first part of the conference, and the part that you all are probably more interested in-- despite being unimportant, overall, to the game industry. So the second part of the conference is about that one big thing that's coming to the 360... Oh yeah. Motion Controls. Newly named Kinect, after ditching the code name, Project Natal. (They should have called it Kinetic. More accurate, and pretty much the same.)
First off, they talked about how it's going to revolutionize your dashboard experience. Yes, all I ever wanted my Xbox to let me do is to swipe with my hand to select what I'm going to do, even though it probably takes MORE effort than using a controller! Ok, seriously, it does sound like it could be pretty handy. Apart from the obvious camera, Kinect comes with a microphone, so you can control videos and the like with your voice. Example: "Xbox: Stop" stops the movie. Simple! You can also do video chats, and all sorts of other neat stuff that really has nothing to do with games. You can go watch the conference if you want, just pick a gaming site, it'll probably be there.
Oh, I almost forgot. This one's actually kind of cool: Microsoft has made a deal with ESPN to stream games straight to your Xbox, at no additional charge. Of course not even all major sports are represented, most notably (at least to me) the NFL. So no, you can't watch the Super Bowl on your 360 next February. Sorry.
Then they got down to the actual games, of which there were... six? launch titles specifically shown at the conference. A lot of them just seem to be Wii knockoffs, most namely Kinect Sports, which I'm not going to even talk about because it's Wii Sports with different sports (didn't write them down, sorry) and a different controller. Then there was Kinectimals, which had an admittedly adorable demo of this little girl playing with her pet tiger, names Skittles. Yes, a pet tiger named Skittles. Obviously not going for realism in that one. Kinect JoyRide is fairly self explanatory, though the controls seem to have been dumbed down to accommodate Kinect. Brakes seem kind of important to me, but it's their call. I guess. Kinect Adventures is a game where you raft around, striking poses to collect the coins. Interesting, I guess. Not really. I believe all these were developed in house at Microsoft, unlike these next two.
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is a superior (yes, I said it) version of Wii Fit being developed by Ubisoft. It's a lot easier to tell what you're doing with a CAMERA than with a glorified scale.
Dance Central is the one game that actually seems fairly innovative, and above all- well implemented. The premise is simple- do whatever's on the screen, almost Rock Band/Guitar Hero style. There's 2 different modes, one which takes you through the moves of the dance one by one and teaches them to you, and one which, guess what, goes through the actual dance. The interesting thing about this game is that apparently, it's not beyond imagining for it to actually teach you how to dance. Pretty impressive, actually.
Microsoft also showed a really impressive, tech demo I guess it'd be, for a 2011 Kinect Star Wars game. Kind of like TFU, but not. For one thing, you are actually swinging the lightsaber. SOLD. Except, as I recall, it looked more like the cartoon than TFU. Not good.
Also shown was a demo for Forza Motorsport... whatever. Didn't actually get named. Forza Motorsport: Kinect (working title)... Back on track! Also coming out in 2011, they showed a guy... using Kinect to "walk" around the car and point out features of the car like the brakes and the engine, and then he "entered" the car and looked around. Amazingly detailed, but that's not the point. Of course I do believe you'll actually be driving with Kinect--- Hopefully with brakes. Buttons are important, guys!
And then the big shocker! Microsoft announced a NEW XBOX! Wait, sorry, not the next gen. This is the Xbox version of PS3 Slim. It IS significantly smaller, if not to the extent of the PS3 slim, and it's also quieter, comes with a wi-fi adapter, 250GB HD, and should be more reliable than the other 360s. Oh, and it can't RROD. Literally, it CAN'T. As in they took out the red lights. Instead, the green lights are going to flash. Umm, I sense confusion.
And then the REALLY big shocker-- Microsoft gave, gave, one of the new edition Xbox 360's to every person at the conference. I'm not kidding, they did.
So, the Microsoft conference essentially had two sides- the serious, normal, hardcore games (3 of 4 were shooters. Something's wrong with that. At least only one of them was the modern, realistic kind), and the new, family-friendly, Wii ripoff games, along with a few that actually show some promise, and even fewer that actually show promise for hardcore gamers. Overall, not bad. Definitely not a complete failure, fairly good organization, but not a stand-out performance either. Obviously trending towards motion controls, but that really started last year so it doesn't count this year.
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