Resistance 2

I only just realized that I have had Resistance 2 for nearly two months, and I haven’t really said anything about it. Due to this hectic fall season for gaming, I think a shooter like Resistance 2 is particularly susceptible to being lost in the shuffle, especially up against blockbusters like Gears of War 2, Farcry 2, etc.

I try to be pretty forward with my reviews, so here it is. Resistance 2 is the best shooter exclusive to the PS3, though I doubt anyone would argue that. Its no Call of Duty, but then I don’t think the developer intended such a comparison. It has a solid campaign, fast paced multiplayer, and a unique co-op system. I was a big fan of the first Resistance game, but in many ways it was lacking. Resistance 2 improves on these shortcomings in almost every way, although I wish the opportunity to play the campaign with a friend were still an option. The 60 person online play is pretty crazy, but luckily games don’t often reach that size. The fast paced nature of Resistance 2 sorta reminds me of the Tribes games, and is vastly different than Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty, or Epic’s Gears of War.

This gameplay style definitely is not for everyone; I have already seen several of my friends turned off from the game simply because it doesn’t follow the typical FPS mechanics. Many PS3 games are somewhat of a gamble for online play; people lose interest a few weeks after release.  Luckily the Resistance 2 is popular with enough people that I suspect it is in for the long run, or at least until Killzone 2 comes out (and doesn’t disappoint).

Prince of Persia

I have never played a Prince of Persia game before this recent installment, which is no small feat considering the series has spanned nearly 20 years. I decided to rent this game based on the reviews it was getting. All in all, I enjoyed the game a lot. It has its annoyances, all of which are typically noted in most of the big site reviews… but it is put together well, like most of Ubisoft’s Montreal’s recent work. The feature that stood out most to me was the cel shaded graphics, a unique look for games these days.

One major criticism in many reviews is the lack of a death penalty in Prince of Persia. Whenever you take too much damage, fall off a cliff, etc, your female cohort instantly revives you back to the nearest solid ground. This tends to make the game extraordinarily easy, especially since the game has very few enemies. Even though the game is easy by today’s standards (and the series, which is notoriously difficult), it is long enough that you won’t find yourself blowing through it in one sitting. I actually appreciated the revive system in the game: it felt realistic for the setting (considering that your companion can teleport anywhere, it makes sense that she can catch you if you fall), and helps the flow of the game: no disjointed loading screens between deaths, etc.

The structure of Prince of Persia is interesting, because it is essentially built on activities within four zones, each housing a different mini boss. While I can tell the developers were trying to create a very unique experience for each boss, the combat system is fairly generic each time, and all but one of the bosses are best dealt with in the same combo patterns. The combat system is visually flashy, but leaves something to be desired, especially compared to the multitude of platforming/adventure games these days. Luckily the focus of the game is not combat, but platforming, a system which Prince of Persia handles flawlessly. Literally, one of the best platforming mechanics in recent memory.  There are a few caveats, but in most cases the system feels extremely fluid.

The story, convoluted at times, accomplishes its purpose, and I mentioned in a previous post how much I enjoyed the voice acting of the prince. The prince character is actually a lot like Nathan Drake from Uncharted (not to mention that they share the same voice actor): a mysterious, suave adventurer with a taste for leaping over tall objects. In any case, I haven’t played another Prince of Persia game, so I do not know how the Prince is typically portrayed.

While Prince of Persia may not live up to its predecessors, I feel like it stands out among other recent adventure games, and is absolutely worth a play through.

I have Call of Duty: World at War coming in the mail through gamefly, and I also recently bought a copy of Motorstorm Pacific Rift, so I will post my impressions on these games soon. Happy Holidays!

Mirror’s Edge

I signed up for a free trial of Gamefly over break, and the first game I decided to rent was Mirror’s Edge, to determine if it is worth all of the hype. The game is extremely short, I played through it in nearly one setting, but for those 4-5 hours I had a hard time putting it down. Developer DICE’s free running system works extremely well, and I really enjoyed the rooftop platforming. Sadly, the rest of the game feels lacking in many ways: story, combat, linearity. I’ll begin with the latter: I suppose I expected a free running game to be in fact, free, aka not linear. While oftentimes you are given fairly free range where to go, it can often box you into a path, especially in the later chapters.

The story, while compelling at first, gets a little convoluted, and is ultimately not all that memorable. I wish they had developed the characters more (other than Faith, the lead), especially this “Runner society”.  The story is fairly predictable, yet the game’s climax is a bit weak. Without a strong story, the Mirror’s Edge world feels hollow, albeit beautiful. A note here: the graphics and art style are awesome: one of the most unique games I’ve seen in this department. I love the use of strong colors in the various environments; It is obvious that the art direction played a huge role in the development of this game.

Finally, the games biggest lacking is its combat system. In the tutorial, I was under the impression that I would be stringing together all sorts of free running acrobatics, kicks, punches, etc. Rarely is the player given a chance to do much other than disarm or punch the opponent (typically police). This wouldn’t be a huge deal if you didn’t die so easily, or the disarm system weren’t extremely finicky. Normally you can avoid fights altogether (which I recommend, combat is more of a headache than its worth) but certain areas require you to take guards down, making these sections extremely difficult and frustrating, even on normal difficulty.

Due to its length, I was able to absorb all that Mirror’s Edge has to offer like I would a film, and I will say the same that I said of Assassin’s Creed: Certain gameplay elements stand out, and I am interested to see how the sequel expands on the first game’s shortcomings.

I just started playing the new Prince of Persia as well, so I’ll discuss that soon too (though I hear it is a much longer game than Mirror’s Edge). First impression: The voice actor of Nathan Drake (Uncharted, PS3) is the prince’s voice as well…I can tell I am already going to like the dialogue!

Playstation Home

I think Tycho and Gabe sum it up best:

“this is what happens when your marketing department tries to make a game.”

Why is it assumed that if a social technology is created, people will flock to it? I feel like Sony had plenty of time to get this idea right, namely by not creating PS Home in the first place. I am perplexed that the concept even made it past the drawing board. I suppose the discussion went something like this: “Lets sandbag players with advertisements and micro transactions disguised as a social space for PS3 fans”. If Sony was aiming to make a Second Life competitor, they sorely misjudged their target market. If they were attempting to compete with Nintendo and Microsoft’s avatar systems, then they went WAY overboard.

Everything you could possibly want to accomplish in PS Home takes an exorbitant amount of effort, so why bother at all? That is assuming you can even connect to the servers. Dear Sony, next time you launch something, test it (and don’t use the beta as an excuse).

It’s these little things that start to get me worried about you Sony. Get your act together. For the first time ever, I am a little embarrassed to be be a PlayStation fan.

Time Magazine’s picks

I previously posted about the VGA nominees, but even more ridiculous is Time Magazine’s Top 10 games of 2008 list. Does the guy who makes these lists even play video games? Put some thought into your picks. Some of his choices seem so arbitrary…Braid, Rock Band 2? The Force Unleaashed? Come on.  Just because IGN gave these games good scores doesn’t make them good, as a matter of fact, the opposite is often true.

How did Fallout 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, or even (dare I say) Super Smash Brothers Brawl not make the list? I suppose I base my picks not on personal favorites, but rather the games that actually made a difference: For example, I hate Super Smash Bros Brawl, but I recognize the fact that the game is a huge deal for most people.

I suppose these lists aren’t meant to please everyone, but when you are writing for the most read magazine in the United States, don’t call a mediocre title the 7th best of the year. Also wtf is with a flash game and an iphone game making the list? If you want to make a list of Top 10 casual games, go ahead. I’m sorry, but there is no way those games can be directly compared the “full-feature” titles.

2008 VGAs

So the Spike TV Video Game Awards are apparently just around the corner, and I nearly forgot about them, once again. But then I’ve never been much of an award show kind of guy…at least this one is judged by the public.

As for the nominees…the list is here, and below are my picks (I didn’t list them all, because there are some categories I haven’t played or don’t care about, aka Wii games):

Game of the Year

LittleBigPlanet (Sony Computer Entertainment/ Media Molecule)

I picked LBP because it is the most innovative and unique game in a long time…It does not fit in any particular game category, and this fact makes it worthy of Game of the Year. The other nominees are all excellent games, but they simply don’t make the kind of industry changing strides that LittleBigPlanet has made. Fallout 3 heavily relies on Oblivion in terms of gameplay and graphics, Gears 2 is essentially the same as Gears 1 with refinement, and GTA 4 doesn’t take a step forward or backward for the series. Finally Metal Gear Solid 4 probably takes second place by tying up a long running (and often convoluted) plot with  excellent voice acting, graphics, and gameplay. However even with all this going for it, MGS4 cannot surpass LittleBigPlanet’s innovation, style, and charm.

Studio of the Year

Media Molecule

This one is kind of a no-brainer. Rockstar North consistently makes great games, but lacks any long term innovation. I really do not understand why Harmonix is on this list at all, so I won’t  address them. Finally Bethesda, like Rockstar, makes great games, but relies way too heavily on their prior work. (Fallout 3 is often referred to as “Oblivion with Guns”)

Media Molecule, on the other hand, literally appeared out of nowhere and created a game that defies classification. Innovation is what the Studio of the Year award is all about, which makes Media Molecule the textbook answer.

Best Shooter

Gears of War 2

Had Call of Duty 4 come out in 2008, I would have had a much harder decision on my hands. Luckily Gears 2 is the obvious choice this year. As much as I love Resistance 2, it has its flaws. I haven’t had the opportunity to play Farcry 2 yet (though hopefully I will after the winter break), but from the reviews I have read, it is far from perfect. The same goes for L4D. Gears 2, on the other hand, is perfect. This isn’t an opinion, it is a fact.

Best RPG

Fallout 3

Warhammer Online is fun, but it doesn’t beat WoW. Fable II was dissapointing for me, and I haven’t played The World Ends With You.  I love Fallout 3 for the same reasons that I love Oblivion. It is a solid and enjoyable RPG, through and through. Unlike the earlier categories, I do feel there is a bit more room for debate, as I know Fable II was well recieved (I just personally am not a fan).

Best Graphics

Metal Gear Solid 4

This one was a toss up with Gears II. I think Metal Gear wins with its character models: some of the best I’ve seen in a game.  While LBP has cool graphics, they aren’t the “best”, and Fallout 3 has some pretty strange character models and graphics issues at times.

Best Driving Game

Burnout Paradise

Honestly there haven’t been many strong racing titles this year, making Burnout the shoe-in. Also why is Motorstorm 2 not even nominated?

Best Action Adventure Game

Metal Gear Solid 4

MGS4 wins because it does not operate solely on gimmicks- aka everything Ubisoft makes, and the GTA series in general.

Best Soundtrack

LittleBigPlanet

This category is ridiculous, because it allows rhythm games to be included in the nominations. So here is my protest.

Best Xbox 360 Game

Gears of War 2

Not only for 2008, but for the history of the system.

Best PS3 Game

LittleBigPlanet

I’ve already spoken enough for this game.

Best Original Score

Metal Gear Solid 4

Metal Gear’s music has always stood out to me, similarly to the Final Fantasy series. Few games can offer memorable scores, but Metal Gear is one of these exceptions.

Best Multiplayer Game

Gears of War 2

Five man Horde Mode. Enough said.

Best Performance by a Human Male

David Hayter as Old Snake in MGS4

Its not so much that David Hayter is awesome in this game, but his performance is a testament to the production quality of Metal Gear Solid 4.

Best Performance by a Human Female

Debi Mae West as Meryl Silverburgh in MGS4

Big Name in the Game Male

Liam Neeson as “Father” in Fallout 3

Who doesn’t love Liam Neeson?

I know some of my choices seem arbitrary, and perhaps they are, but it is only because most of the categories have a weak set of nominees.

Bleh

I can’t sleep, so here are a few items off of my feeds that I found particularly interesting:

The answer to our traffic problems

Will we be looking for the Killzone-killer in 2010?

Will games ever be able to fill a 16 layer blu-ray?

New header

Redid my header, I noticed it had some weird color issues on certain monitors, hopefully this one is better. I finally figured out a better way of doing the rising sun effect behind the shark…Illustrator’s pie chart, strangely enough.

I am also sporadically working on a few WWU designs, maybe I will enter in the t-shirt contest this spring.

I find that a lot of my ideas are a bit too ambitious for my current design skills, but I suppose that is how you challenge yourself, right?

College

There are two kinds of people at college. The people who care, and those who don’t. I think the effect is worst in the business school, where all the “what should I major in” people end up after coasting through their first four years of 100-level classes. It frustrates me, but I suppose I came to school to get a degree, so sue me.