So one of the things in thursday's PSN update was the Metal Gear Solid 4 database. A free add-on that gives you a multimedia encylcopedia with the entire history of Metal Gear characters, places, weapons, technologies, events, etc. This is...just cool, and a much smaller download size than i expected. Pretty much everything that you didn't even know that you didn't know is in this database, and it even keeps track of what you've read already. Also, a very cool feature, if you haven't beaten MGS4 yet, the databse "locks" all spoiler information that would ruin the game for you. Kojima-san certainly has a dedication to his storytelling.
I did find the answer to my question about Raiden in the database also. While not stated explicitly, it is implied that THIS (what's mentioned in the database) is why he became mostly cybernetic. Fair enough, but shouldn't that have been mentioned IN THE GAME? Of course there is the possibility that i missed it, but i'm almost done with my second playthrough (taking my time a lot more than the first) and it still doesn't seem to have been brought up. Whatever man, maybe i just need to have more conversations via codec.
Friday, June 20, 2008
(PS3) Fatal Inertia: Let me hear you say "...meh."
Yeah, that was about my reaction to this game. A hovercraft racer in the same vein as WipeOut (or blatant ripoff of, depending on your level of cynicism/fanboyism) available as of 6/19 on the PSN as either a demo (reccomended first) or a full game for $29.99. But let me start from the very beginning, the opening cinematic. Why, exactly, is my driver a skintight leather clad female? Not that i don't like unrealistically hot rendered women as much as the next guy, but when i'm playing a game where that cinematic is the only time i'm actually going to see that character (racing game) at least make it entertaining or worthwhile in some way; make it a monkey! people love monkies!
Simian digressions aside, let's move on to my first real gripe with this game; the sense of speed. The really isn't any, i got a better sense of speed playing Mario Kart Wii, which actually kept popping into my head while i played the demo. Seriously, if i'm racing with a futuristic, ultra-advanced hovercraft, i want it to look like i'm going more than 30mph, damnit! The racing aspect does have its noteworthy points, however. The ability to adjust the pitch of your craft slightly up or down allows you to maintain a much better speed while on a slope or incline of you adjust your craft's orientation to parallel the ground. Pretty cool, and i hope they utilize it throughout the game, but i don't see it remaining all that entrancing for more than the first few times it's used. There's also the ability to strafe, which allows you to avoid incoming weapons, make sharper turns, and barrel-roll if double-tapped. Also kinda cool to mess with while racing, but again, not compensation for the severely lacking sense of speed.
Did i mention there are weapons in these reaces? Oh yes. Everything from battle of Hoth style cables, to rockets, magnets (yes, magnets) and EMP's to disable everyone aroudn you's vehicle. The weapons are actually pretty cool and all have some kind of alternate fire, whether it's jsut firing backwards or riding the rocket for a speed boost instead of firing it. The cable in particular is fun with this, you can attach it to the vehicle in front of you to launch yourself forward and disconnect jsut as you fly by them, or attach it to the wall at a sharp turn to swing yourself Batman-style, pretty fun to jsut mess around with, for profit or not. There was one thing about the weapons that bothered me, and it wasn't even really abotu the weapons, it was about their marketing. All i kept hearing about leading up to racing (in meadia and in the game itself) was these "physics-based" weapons. Uhhh, ok. Yeah, i definately see where physics plays into the weapons -- a shackwave that knocks around surrounding craft, anythign with the cable -- but it doesn't really stand out above every other weapon system in every other weapon-enabled racing game. In fact, if i hadn't been staring at the game going "next-gen physics, next-gen physics, lookin for next-gen physics," i probably wouldn't have noticed at all. I suppose that's not really a fault of the game though, just lack of creativity/over-hyping on the designers' part.
There are some cool variants when it comes to the racing though. One match gave all the racers infinite magnets (they make the craft stick together or to other metal objects if too close) and no other weapons. Sounds novel, except that all i had to do was get in first and keep dropping my infinite supply of magnets behind me for all the other guys to run into. Elimination mode was another race type i encountered in my time with the demo. Every lap the driver in last place is "eliminated," read: you explode. Definitely a cool way to race, except that in the track i was on i managed to take a turn too sharp and put myself on an earlier part of the track without crossing the start/finish line, meaning i was actually in last. Now the seperation between these two lanes on the track was NOT marked, so inly knew id' shifted myself backwards from teh big flashing "Elimination Warning" on my screen. Maybe a little less time on the "physics" and more on the track design, huh guys? Also, form what i can gather form the demo you only end up getting a total of three vehicle to shoose from. ...THREE!!? REALLY!? That's beyond disappointing, but maybe the promise of customizing your vehicle will soften that...assuming you get to mess with more than THREE parts on your vehicle.
All of this isn't to say that i hate the game, i just don't really like it either; it's just: ...meh. That attitude actually sums up the last thing i'd like to mention, the graphics. While not standout, the visuals are certainly servicable, and shiny! All in all, i'd say the visuals are abotu what i'd expect from a $30 downloadable title. There's also splitscreen (2 player) and online (8 player) multiplayer i didn't get a chance to tryout, but all to consider there is lag and stability, soooo...yeah. So if you just can't wait for WipeOut HD to get your racing, shooting hovercraft fix, and have 30 bucks you don't need, get Fatal Inertia. Otherwise you're probably better off just waiting for WipeOut.
Simian digressions aside, let's move on to my first real gripe with this game; the sense of speed. The really isn't any, i got a better sense of speed playing Mario Kart Wii, which actually kept popping into my head while i played the demo. Seriously, if i'm racing with a futuristic, ultra-advanced hovercraft, i want it to look like i'm going more than 30mph, damnit! The racing aspect does have its noteworthy points, however. The ability to adjust the pitch of your craft slightly up or down allows you to maintain a much better speed while on a slope or incline of you adjust your craft's orientation to parallel the ground. Pretty cool, and i hope they utilize it throughout the game, but i don't see it remaining all that entrancing for more than the first few times it's used. There's also the ability to strafe, which allows you to avoid incoming weapons, make sharper turns, and barrel-roll if double-tapped. Also kinda cool to mess with while racing, but again, not compensation for the severely lacking sense of speed.
Did i mention there are weapons in these reaces? Oh yes. Everything from battle of Hoth style cables, to rockets, magnets (yes, magnets) and EMP's to disable everyone aroudn you's vehicle. The weapons are actually pretty cool and all have some kind of alternate fire, whether it's jsut firing backwards or riding the rocket for a speed boost instead of firing it. The cable in particular is fun with this, you can attach it to the vehicle in front of you to launch yourself forward and disconnect jsut as you fly by them, or attach it to the wall at a sharp turn to swing yourself Batman-style, pretty fun to jsut mess around with, for profit or not. There was one thing about the weapons that bothered me, and it wasn't even really abotu the weapons, it was about their marketing. All i kept hearing about leading up to racing (in meadia and in the game itself) was these "physics-based" weapons. Uhhh, ok. Yeah, i definately see where physics plays into the weapons -- a shackwave that knocks around surrounding craft, anythign with the cable -- but it doesn't really stand out above every other weapon system in every other weapon-enabled racing game. In fact, if i hadn't been staring at the game going "next-gen physics, next-gen physics, lookin for next-gen physics," i probably wouldn't have noticed at all. I suppose that's not really a fault of the game though, just lack of creativity/over-hyping on the designers' part.
There are some cool variants when it comes to the racing though. One match gave all the racers infinite magnets (they make the craft stick together or to other metal objects if too close) and no other weapons. Sounds novel, except that all i had to do was get in first and keep dropping my infinite supply of magnets behind me for all the other guys to run into. Elimination mode was another race type i encountered in my time with the demo. Every lap the driver in last place is "eliminated," read: you explode. Definitely a cool way to race, except that in the track i was on i managed to take a turn too sharp and put myself on an earlier part of the track without crossing the start/finish line, meaning i was actually in last. Now the seperation between these two lanes on the track was NOT marked, so inly knew id' shifted myself backwards from teh big flashing "Elimination Warning" on my screen. Maybe a little less time on the "physics" and more on the track design, huh guys? Also, form what i can gather form the demo you only end up getting a total of three vehicle to shoose from. ...THREE!!? REALLY!? That's beyond disappointing, but maybe the promise of customizing your vehicle will soften that...assuming you get to mess with more than THREE parts on your vehicle.
All of this isn't to say that i hate the game, i just don't really like it either; it's just: ...meh. That attitude actually sums up the last thing i'd like to mention, the graphics. While not standout, the visuals are certainly servicable, and shiny! All in all, i'd say the visuals are abotu what i'd expect from a $30 downloadable title. There's also splitscreen (2 player) and online (8 player) multiplayer i didn't get a chance to tryout, but all to consider there is lag and stability, soooo...yeah. So if you just can't wait for WipeOut HD to get your racing, shooting hovercraft fix, and have 30 bucks you don't need, get Fatal Inertia. Otherwise you're probably better off just waiting for WipeOut.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
PS3: !!SPOILERTASTIC!! Metal Gear Solid 4: Sooo...why's Raiden a cyborg ninja?
So i finished mgs4 earlier today and besides wanting to immediately start a new game (which i didn't because i needed sleep) there was one thing that was never explained: why did Raiden become a cybernetic ninja? Last time i saw him he was standing in a crowd of people in new york and now everything but his head, heart and spine are cybernetic prosthetics? WTF!? when did this happen and why? was he just bored with not being able to sword fight with his foot/teeth? was there a terrible accident where he sat in a hot tub full of acid? no one ever even asks: "So, what's with the crazy new transparent lower lip/oddly Gekko-like feet/white blood/ability to withstand swords through the abdomen? Something crazy happen?" You can't just leave that stuff out, man! And at the end he's had it all replaced with an organic looking body, only clearly attached in the exact same shaped patches as his previous ninja body! ...well...uhhhh...what?
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Pineapple Express
For those of you who haven't gotten the redband trailer off the Playstation Store yet, here it is. And to those of you who have no idea what this movie is: click the same link. Seriously, this movie looks epic, in every way. Judd Apatow has yet to let me down as well, so the movie's got a couple things going for it. Lastly, if you have any kind of musical taste you'll like the song played for the latter half of the trailer, that song is Paper Planes by M.I.A. and i suggest you obtain it as quickly and *cough* legally as possible.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
MotorStorm (PS3): Where have all the drivers gone?
With the somewhat recent revealing of MotorStorm: Pacific Rift i decided to get back into playing the original MotorStorm online. The game in general was a blasty-blast afterall, even if it was a little bare feature-wise. The only problem with my little revival is the online MotorStorm community seems pretty bare these days (and why are all the players on the west coast?). I get that it was a while ago at this point the game released, but the graphics still hold up pretty well and the overall arcadey, over-the-top off-road racing isn't any less fun now. Maybe everyone else just needs a little more time for those Pacific Rift screens and videos to start the same itch it they did for me. One can hope...
Monday, May 19, 2008
The importance of paying attention: Dead Space and Dark Void
So at first glance i expected these forthcoming original IP's to be very similar, a big disappointment when you're looking at original games to overshadow the glut of sequels common to the gaming world. I mean...come on; main characters enclosed in helmets with gloing, unnaturally oriented eye slits, emphasis on defying gravity and limited HUD, even the titles sound similar as all hell. But closer inspection showed to very different, and somewhat promising titles. 1up.com has some excellent previews on both games here (DV) and here (DS) but i'll give you a quick lowdown on what sets these games apart from one another:
Dark Void: You take on the role of a cargo pilot that has been sucked into the Bermuda Triangle into the titular Dark Void amidst a war going on against the inhabiting "Watchers." The game plays out like most cover-based shooters (think Gears of War) only vertically instead of horizontally, with new abilities gained through self-augmentation with Watcher technology. The latter raises some very Too Human like issues about how to maintain your humanity while simultaneously giving it away in favor of more power. The vertical combat seems like an interesting (if perhaps gimmicky) twist, allowing players to simply throw enemies over the side. Later on players even acquire the power of flight, changing the combat yet again. All in all a seemingly much faster paced more action oriented title than Dead Space.
Dead Space: Playing as an engineer sent to repair a mining vessel in deep space only to discover that an alien virus has overrun the ship and killed/mutated the majority of the crew and wrecked the ship, which is where the gravity-free gameplay portions come from. While the setup is very familiar, there is one key difference: you character, Isaac Clarke, is not a soldier in any way, he's an engineer. For those of you used to non-military personnel like Gordon Freeman (Half-Life) i'll explain: Isaac has no truly traditional weapons, you'll be fighting with mining and repair equipment rather than assault rifles and futuristic pulse weapons. This fact kicks up the adrenaline factor with enemies even more since the only way to kill them is through prompt, i mean PROMPT, dismemberment...think cult movie Re-Animator. Severed limbs can and will attack you if not dealt with accordingly. Being a survival-horror title, Dead Space should have a much more deliberate pace than Dark Void, except when it comes time to combat; the up-close, frantic fights with powerful, disgusting enemies may make Dark Void seem pedestrian by comparison.
Dark Void: You take on the role of a cargo pilot that has been sucked into the Bermuda Triangle into the titular Dark Void amidst a war going on against the inhabiting "Watchers." The game plays out like most cover-based shooters (think Gears of War) only vertically instead of horizontally, with new abilities gained through self-augmentation with Watcher technology. The latter raises some very Too Human like issues about how to maintain your humanity while simultaneously giving it away in favor of more power. The vertical combat seems like an interesting (if perhaps gimmicky) twist, allowing players to simply throw enemies over the side. Later on players even acquire the power of flight, changing the combat yet again. All in all a seemingly much faster paced more action oriented title than Dead Space.
Dead Space: Playing as an engineer sent to repair a mining vessel in deep space only to discover that an alien virus has overrun the ship and killed/mutated the majority of the crew and wrecked the ship, which is where the gravity-free gameplay portions come from. While the setup is very familiar, there is one key difference: you character, Isaac Clarke, is not a soldier in any way, he's an engineer. For those of you used to non-military personnel like Gordon Freeman (Half-Life) i'll explain: Isaac has no truly traditional weapons, you'll be fighting with mining and repair equipment rather than assault rifles and futuristic pulse weapons. This fact kicks up the adrenaline factor with enemies even more since the only way to kill them is through prompt, i mean PROMPT, dismemberment...think cult movie Re-Animator. Severed limbs can and will attack you if not dealt with accordingly. Being a survival-horror title, Dead Space should have a much more deliberate pace than Dark Void, except when it comes time to combat; the up-close, frantic fights with powerful, disgusting enemies may make Dark Void seem pedestrian by comparison.
Hiatus much?
So it's been a little while...ok it's been a really long frickin time since i posted anything. I guess that's the thing with chaos though, you can't exactly predict when it's gonna show up or when it's gonna leave. Unforunately this has made a lot of my planned content moot and certain things even screwed up planned (and partially drawn) editions of Higher Technology. I do have some new stuff i'll be posting over the next few days and even went back to work on sketching out some ideas for new cartoons. i should even have something worthwhile... well interesting at least to post here shortly. in SUMMARY: i'm back and i've got stuff to write about, woo!
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