Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Review: Turok Demo (PS3)
Finally, some hands-on time with the game saddled with bringing the Turok franchise back to...well as far away from Tobias Bruckner as possible. After playing through the demo a couple times i have to say, not only does this newest installment seem to be a significant step up from (D)Evolution, but it's pretty damn good.
Starting the demo in a "labyrinthine cave system" may not have been the best move, as it's easy to get turned around and it's a little too dark for a game that doesn't offer a flashlight. While this is a rather discouraging way to start out, play on and it will be worth it. It won't be long before you and your pal Slade (voiced by "Hellboy" Ron Perlman, bonus!) come across some raptors and the fighting begins. While some elements of the environment are somewhat blocky, the character and enemy (especially dinosaur) models are quite pretty, if a little too shiny; this may be as close to getting in Jurassic Park as you're going to get for awhile. Not all the dinosaurs are enemies either, i came across two types that were content to wonder around and simply ignore me and my squadmates, it added to the "you are in dinosaurland" feel, but i still prefer the ones i get to fight. Speaking of fighting, i feel like i should mention the weapon/inventory setup. You can only carry two weapons and are capable of double wielding similar to Halo, however, in my opinion, Turok does it better. To explain further, you can choose to carry either one of your two weapons or dual wield them, the tradeoff with dual-weilding being that you can't toss grenades or zoom. You can even choose which weapon goes in which hand, a nice touch for players that may prefer to fire their primary weapon with their left hand, or just like to have options. Besides your two weapons, you have a knife (more on that in a second) and a bow, both handy for stealthy kills. Through the course of the demo i came across a sub-machine gun, shotgun (with flare gun alt fire) and a pulse rifle, all of which i found quite fun to mow through enemies with.
Now for the knife. The knife is fun, pure and simple. It's fun to run at a raptor, knife it right through the top of the skull and kick it's corpse aside, it's fun to sneak through tall grass behind a guy then jump up and take him out with the knife, it's just fun. And when it comes to killing, one thing Turok offers you as far as death dealing is options. It was fun to come upon a clearing of guys you're supposed to take out "quietly" and deciding if that means you're going to sneak around and take them all down with your knife, drop them from afar with your bow or firing a flare into the middle of them and letting the troops fight it out with the pack of raptors that draws. Of course that last one requires you to listen for the grunts of some dinos just out of sight right near the enemy patrol. I had a blasty blast going back and doing that section each of the various ways.
As far as story goes, they don't offer up much of anything new in the demo. You're still crashed on a planet that is, for some reason, full of dinosaurs as well as an enemy platoon of soldiers. You're name is still Turok and it's still your job to kill both of these groups...or letting them destroy each other (sigh, choices). By the end of the demo, however, i got the feeling that your squadmates don't like you very much, but maybe that's just me. And if you're wondering how helpful your fellow dinosaur killers are, the answer is very. In one particular scenario Slade fought alongside me with a shotgun while our friend with the sniper rifle (can't recall his name at the moment) picked guys off from the high ground. At one point i had even been tackled too the ground by a raptor and as he came in to try and eat my head (a fun little mini-game of it's own) Slade blasted him of with his shotgun, nice. The enemy's AI seems decent enough, they took cover, dodged around while shooting back, and made some attempts to flank, so i'll take it. Back to the story, the only other tidbit i was offered was something about main man Joseph Turok's training (with some mention of the Blackfoot tribe of Native Americans, a shoutout to the source material it seems) and how he got his scar. This sequence mostly had me going "huh?" but i'm sure/i hope it'll make sense in the full game.
That said, i did have a few issues with Turok. One, as i mentioned earlier, it can be easy to get turned lose your way. The opening sequence in the cave and some suprising dead-ends in the jungle were the worst, but i did manage to finish the demo, so i guess it's not too bad. Second was the damage system. I find it a little odd that i can take 4 or 5 tackles from a velociraptor and soldier on, but it only takes a handful of bullets to kill me. Psh, whatever, it least it's a progressive healing system rather than being on the search for med-packs. I had one other issue with the damage system, and that's how prominent the red "damage ring" around the screen is. After being knocked to the ground by a dino, i often found it hard to shoot back as i couldn't see past the red haze covering my screen, i understand that it's showing how damaged i am, but if i'm close to death while my attacker's still there, it'd be nice to be able to see them. My final issue with the game is somewhat of a nitpick and i'm sure won't be as prominent after adjusting to the game, but it was still annoying. Your weapons don't have any kind of counter as to how full the current clip is (there is a HUD indicator for total ammo). Each gun does have a SMALL light that blinks yellow when running low and red when empty, but the colors tend to blend in to the look of the weapon and can leave you empty without realizing it. The pulse-rifle was the only weapon not hampered by this issue. I understand that this method keeps the screen much clearer, but it can really screw you over in heated shootouts.
And that's it, here's to hoping the rest of the game keeps up the quality of the demo. In the same sentiment i say: Turok is back!
Starting the demo in a "labyrinthine cave system" may not have been the best move, as it's easy to get turned around and it's a little too dark for a game that doesn't offer a flashlight. While this is a rather discouraging way to start out, play on and it will be worth it. It won't be long before you and your pal Slade (voiced by "Hellboy" Ron Perlman, bonus!) come across some raptors and the fighting begins. While some elements of the environment are somewhat blocky, the character and enemy (especially dinosaur) models are quite pretty, if a little too shiny; this may be as close to getting in Jurassic Park as you're going to get for awhile. Not all the dinosaurs are enemies either, i came across two types that were content to wonder around and simply ignore me and my squadmates, it added to the "you are in dinosaurland" feel, but i still prefer the ones i get to fight. Speaking of fighting, i feel like i should mention the weapon/inventory setup. You can only carry two weapons and are capable of double wielding similar to Halo, however, in my opinion, Turok does it better. To explain further, you can choose to carry either one of your two weapons or dual wield them, the tradeoff with dual-weilding being that you can't toss grenades or zoom. You can even choose which weapon goes in which hand, a nice touch for players that may prefer to fire their primary weapon with their left hand, or just like to have options. Besides your two weapons, you have a knife (more on that in a second) and a bow, both handy for stealthy kills. Through the course of the demo i came across a sub-machine gun, shotgun (with flare gun alt fire) and a pulse rifle, all of which i found quite fun to mow through enemies with.
Now for the knife. The knife is fun, pure and simple. It's fun to run at a raptor, knife it right through the top of the skull and kick it's corpse aside, it's fun to sneak through tall grass behind a guy then jump up and take him out with the knife, it's just fun. And when it comes to killing, one thing Turok offers you as far as death dealing is options. It was fun to come upon a clearing of guys you're supposed to take out "quietly" and deciding if that means you're going to sneak around and take them all down with your knife, drop them from afar with your bow or firing a flare into the middle of them and letting the troops fight it out with the pack of raptors that draws. Of course that last one requires you to listen for the grunts of some dinos just out of sight right near the enemy patrol. I had a blasty blast going back and doing that section each of the various ways.
As far as story goes, they don't offer up much of anything new in the demo. You're still crashed on a planet that is, for some reason, full of dinosaurs as well as an enemy platoon of soldiers. You're name is still Turok and it's still your job to kill both of these groups...or letting them destroy each other (sigh, choices). By the end of the demo, however, i got the feeling that your squadmates don't like you very much, but maybe that's just me. And if you're wondering how helpful your fellow dinosaur killers are, the answer is very. In one particular scenario Slade fought alongside me with a shotgun while our friend with the sniper rifle (can't recall his name at the moment) picked guys off from the high ground. At one point i had even been tackled too the ground by a raptor and as he came in to try and eat my head (a fun little mini-game of it's own) Slade blasted him of with his shotgun, nice. The enemy's AI seems decent enough, they took cover, dodged around while shooting back, and made some attempts to flank, so i'll take it. Back to the story, the only other tidbit i was offered was something about main man Joseph Turok's training (with some mention of the Blackfoot tribe of Native Americans, a shoutout to the source material it seems) and how he got his scar. This sequence mostly had me going "huh?" but i'm sure/i hope it'll make sense in the full game.
That said, i did have a few issues with Turok. One, as i mentioned earlier, it can be easy to get turned lose your way. The opening sequence in the cave and some suprising dead-ends in the jungle were the worst, but i did manage to finish the demo, so i guess it's not too bad. Second was the damage system. I find it a little odd that i can take 4 or 5 tackles from a velociraptor and soldier on, but it only takes a handful of bullets to kill me. Psh, whatever, it least it's a progressive healing system rather than being on the search for med-packs. I had one other issue with the damage system, and that's how prominent the red "damage ring" around the screen is. After being knocked to the ground by a dino, i often found it hard to shoot back as i couldn't see past the red haze covering my screen, i understand that it's showing how damaged i am, but if i'm close to death while my attacker's still there, it'd be nice to be able to see them. My final issue with the game is somewhat of a nitpick and i'm sure won't be as prominent after adjusting to the game, but it was still annoying. Your weapons don't have any kind of counter as to how full the current clip is (there is a HUD indicator for total ammo). Each gun does have a SMALL light that blinks yellow when running low and red when empty, but the colors tend to blend in to the look of the weapon and can leave you empty without realizing it. The pulse-rifle was the only weapon not hampered by this issue. I understand that this method keeps the screen much clearer, but it can really screw you over in heated shootouts.
And that's it, here's to hoping the rest of the game keeps up the quality of the demo. In the same sentiment i say: Turok is back!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Rock Band (PS3): Out with the guitar, in with the wired Warhark
I don't know what happened, but i can once again use wired/charging controllers with motion controls in Warhawk. There was a weird day where the invert up/down option wouldn't stay disabled, and the following day poof! all the issues were gone. The following day, however, my Rock Band Stratocaster lost functionality in the strum bar. CRAP! At least EA has an rather rapid and painless warranty/return process, esp if you have a credit card as collateral; and completely free either way.
Ah, well, i do enjoy rocking out the drums, as you can see from my abused pads.
Ah, well, i do enjoy rocking out the drums, as you can see from my abused pads.
Monday, January 14, 2008
The Shape of Things to Come.
Alright, since i've been busier than i anticipated and haven't gotten up all of the content i planned, i'd like to take this time to post what i call "planned editorial content" to try and make up for all the things i haven't posted yet in case anyone actually reads this.
Another episode of my as-yet-unamed cartoon is in the works with several new features: Faces on characters! Movement! More dialogue! Cops!
I'm planning to start a feature i call "Overdue Reviews". First up, Assassin's Creed. Considering how mixed and numerous the reviews are on this game i'm going to try and go more in depth on the specifics of what was good and bad and focus less on the overall "score" of the game. I've got at least 2 more titles planned for this feature as well
The status of HD, updates and comments on the raging war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray
Movie/DVD reviews... because i said i would and haven't yet.
That's all i'm going to tell you for now. Back to work an actually finishing the stuff i just mentioned...
Another episode of my as-yet-unamed cartoon is in the works with several new features: Faces on characters! Movement! More dialogue! Cops!
I'm planning to start a feature i call "Overdue Reviews". First up, Assassin's Creed. Considering how mixed and numerous the reviews are on this game i'm going to try and go more in depth on the specifics of what was good and bad and focus less on the overall "score" of the game. I've got at least 2 more titles planned for this feature as well
The status of HD, updates and comments on the raging war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray
Movie/DVD reviews... because i said i would and haven't yet.
That's all i'm going to tell you for now. Back to work an actually finishing the stuff i just mentioned...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Breaking Warhawk
So i've noticed something rather disconcerting recently in Warhawk, wired controllers don't allow motion control. I'm not sure when this came in, it could have been with the 1.2 patch, or the Operation: Omega Dawn booster pack but either way, it's a big suck. I hadn't noticed it initially as i'm typically using my wireless SIXAXIS, but at one point, while playing splitscreen online with a friend, noticed that my wired MadCatz controller wouldn't allow motion control for anything, flying, hovering, or ground vehicles no matter what method i used to enable the feature. At first i assumed it was a problem with the sub-standard controller (see the review) but found that the controller worked perfectly in flOw. The issue was compounded when i had to charge my SIXAXIS while playing the other night, and found that while the controller was plugged in i was unable to use motion controls. While the game is still addictive and a blast to play without them, the motion controls are one of it's better unique features, as well as a superior way to pilot a Warhawk (separate flight direction and aiming only possible through motion control are a big advantage, I can't even imagine how much more so with something like the FragFX.) So, Incog, if you're listening, whatever you did to Warhawk that caused this, would you fix it/put it back the way it was...please?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
LINKS! (news on other sites)
What new characters are you expecting in Soul Calibur IV? Did any of you say Yoda and Darth Vader? I better hear some James Earl Jones, that's all i have to say about that.
The next-gen Bionic Commando sequel looks to be coming along pretty well.
After countless delay announcements for Solid Snake's latest outing, Metal Gear Solid 4, it's nice to see a possibility of an earlier release.
Tired of fearing the "Red Ring of Death?" every time you boot your 360? Well apparently Bill Gates is on it.
Survival horror fans can start getting excited about/writing excessively long essays bashing Silent Hill V
Alright, cult classic (obscure) PSOne game fans, Vib Ribbon may make it's way to the Playstation Store.
Find out what games may be coming to the big screen. No, not yours, the REALLY big screen.
That's all for now, so go forth and read.
The next-gen Bionic Commando sequel looks to be coming along pretty well.
After countless delay announcements for Solid Snake's latest outing, Metal Gear Solid 4, it's nice to see a possibility of an earlier release.
Tired of fearing the "Red Ring of Death?" every time you boot your 360? Well apparently Bill Gates is on it.
Survival horror fans can start getting excited about/writing excessively long essays bashing Silent Hill V
Alright, cult classic (obscure) PSOne game fans, Vib Ribbon may make it's way to the Playstation Store.
Find out what games may be coming to the big screen. No, not yours, the REALLY big screen.
That's all for now, so go forth and read.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Review: MadCatz wired PS3 Controller
Alright, so you have yourself a PS3, and if you picked it up before the price drop, owe some money to some unsavory characters as a result. But what's the fun of having a shiny new system without someone to play with? Of course, having someone else requires another controller, and you can't really count on any having a controller to use this early in the PS3's lifespan; unless, of course, you've got one of those PS2-to-PS3 adapters. But a PS2 doesn't have any motion-sensing capabilities, so if you wanna go multiplayer in something like flOw or WarHawk (assuming you use motion controls in WarHawk) you've still got to either shell out $50 for a SIXAXIS or find a third party solution that actually has SIXAXIS (read: motion sensing) functionality, that's where MadCatz comes in.
Personally i always like to have at least 1 wired controller, that way you've always got one controller to use that you don't have to worry about recharging. Also, at $29.99, the wired MadCatz is conisderably cheaper than Sony's offering; you can even opt for a wireless one for 10 dollars more and the 9 foot cord offer plenty of length for most room setups. However, since no 3rd party yet uses bluetooth, any wireless controller is going to use up one of your USB ports anyway.
Now, anyone that's held a SIXAXIS knows how light it is compared to the force-feedback enabled controllers, an issue we'll have to readjsut to when the DualShock 3 comes out.. This just doesn't translate very well to the MadCatz controller as it jsut doesn't feel very...solid at all, i might even go so far as to say it feels cheap. Another difference form the SIXAXIS most will notice is that the triggers are stiffer/springier. This is good in that they "pop" back out faster, although i doubt you'll ever find a situation that requires you to push the triggers fast enough to matter, and bad in that it takes more effort to depress the MadCatz triggers, which tires your fingers faster.The MadCatz, does, however have a "home" (PS) button which many other 3rd parties lack. Another advantage the controller has over other 3rd parties is it's own brand of tilt functionality, dubbed SixSense, which allows play in games like flOw, Toy Home, or even Lair if you're feeling masochistic.
From this point on, though, the MadCatz controller fails miserably in regards to longevity. After a little over a week, the numbered led's no longer lit to show which player, they still blink when the controller isn't "active" but once you push home to turn it on, you won't have any idea if you're 1st or 7th without checking the "Controller Settings" menu. Then there's the matter of the button labels. After about 2 weeks, the X and square buttons were no longer labeled, and the O and triangle had become noticeably faded. After a month there were no longer any labeled buttons, including Start, Select and Home; even the number indicators next to the led had rubbed off (not that it mattered since the lights no longer work anyway).
The d-pad on this controller is your standard cross layout, but around the same time all the button labels had disappeared, left on the d-pad started acting up. The pad still senses when left is pushed, but you can't just hold it down, the controller "let's go" after a short period time and you have to let go and press again. Since there's not exactly an abundance of 2d sidescrollers on the PS3, this isn't likely to be a major issue, but this isn't something that should be happening so early in a controller's life.
To sum up, the wired MadCatz controller is good to have around when you've got someone else to play with (but don't wanna drop 50 bones to do so) and want the security of a controller that doesn't need to be charged. The bugs and defects, however, make even $30 a little steep. I mean, if a controller feels cheap in the beginning, and turns out to be very much poo, then you shouldn't be charging over 20, especially for wired.
Score: 5.5/10
Personally i always like to have at least 1 wired controller, that way you've always got one controller to use that you don't have to worry about recharging. Also, at $29.99, the wired MadCatz is conisderably cheaper than Sony's offering; you can even opt for a wireless one for 10 dollars more and the 9 foot cord offer plenty of length for most room setups. However, since no 3rd party yet uses bluetooth, any wireless controller is going to use up one of your USB ports anyway.
Now, anyone that's held a SIXAXIS knows how light it is compared to the force-feedback enabled controllers, an issue we'll have to readjsut to when the DualShock 3 comes out.. This just doesn't translate very well to the MadCatz controller as it jsut doesn't feel very...solid at all, i might even go so far as to say it feels cheap. Another difference form the SIXAXIS most will notice is that the triggers are stiffer/springier. This is good in that they "pop" back out faster, although i doubt you'll ever find a situation that requires you to push the triggers fast enough to matter, and bad in that it takes more effort to depress the MadCatz triggers, which tires your fingers faster.The MadCatz, does, however have a "home" (PS) button which many other 3rd parties lack. Another advantage the controller has over other 3rd parties is it's own brand of tilt functionality, dubbed SixSense, which allows play in games like flOw, Toy Home, or even Lair if you're feeling masochistic.
From this point on, though, the MadCatz controller fails miserably in regards to longevity. After a little over a week, the numbered led's no longer lit to show which player, they still blink when the controller isn't "active" but once you push home to turn it on, you won't have any idea if you're 1st or 7th without checking the "Controller Settings" menu. Then there's the matter of the button labels. After about 2 weeks, the X and square buttons were no longer labeled, and the O and triangle had become noticeably faded. After a month there were no longer any labeled buttons, including Start, Select and Home; even the number indicators next to the led had rubbed off (not that it mattered since the lights no longer work anyway).
The d-pad on this controller is your standard cross layout, but around the same time all the button labels had disappeared, left on the d-pad started acting up. The pad still senses when left is pushed, but you can't just hold it down, the controller "let's go" after a short period time and you have to let go and press again. Since there's not exactly an abundance of 2d sidescrollers on the PS3, this isn't likely to be a major issue, but this isn't something that should be happening so early in a controller's life.To sum up, the wired MadCatz controller is good to have around when you've got someone else to play with (but don't wanna drop 50 bones to do so) and want the security of a controller that doesn't need to be charged. The bugs and defects, however, make even $30 a little steep. I mean, if a controller feels cheap in the beginning, and turns out to be very much poo, then you shouldn't be charging over 20, especially for wired.
Score: 5.5/10
Monday, January 7, 2008
Rock Band: Bangin on Mousepad
Alright, anyone who plays Rock Band knows how loud the drums can be. Loud enough to drown out the music coming from the game itself. Fortunately, ingenious gamers came up with a cheap, easy, fix that involves mousepads and some rubber cement. While this solution certainly quiets the drums enough that you can actually hear that drum beat that you're...pretending to play, it's not quite as durable as the drum pads underneath.
After about a week i'd noticed the pads on the red (and to a lesser extent, green) drums were starting to, well, i guess fray would be the word to use, around the center where the drumsticks made contact. After three weeks, the red had a sizable wound near the middle and all the pads had begun to fray noticeably. Although still considerably quieter than the drums alone, the worn part is slightly louder. I don't know if i bang on my drums harder than most of you out there, but if you use this solution, maybe consider doing something to your sticks to soften them (plasti-dip?) otherwise after a few weeks you're going to be beating a dead...mouse...pad.
here's a pic of the red drum's current condition:
After about a week i'd noticed the pads on the red (and to a lesser extent, green) drums were starting to, well, i guess fray would be the word to use, around the center where the drumsticks made contact. After three weeks, the red had a sizable wound near the middle and all the pads had begun to fray noticeably. Although still considerably quieter than the drums alone, the worn part is slightly louder. I don't know if i bang on my drums harder than most of you out there, but if you use this solution, maybe consider doing something to your sticks to soften them (plasti-dip?) otherwise after a few weeks you're going to be beating a dead...mouse...pad.
here's a pic of the red drum's current condition:
Sunday, January 6, 2008
DMC4 (PS3/XB360): Devil May...wait, who now? ok, someone's Crying
I was thinking about Devil May Cry 4 because...well honestly because it was too late/early for the noise Rock Band makes and i wasn't sure if i could stay awake long enough to invest in Uncharted again (more on both games and why the drums are still loud after the mouse pad mod at a later date).
Jumping around to different topics aside (sorry) i'm beginning to get worried about this new "Nero" kid i hear so much about. Mostly i'm worried about how we haven't seen this guy before and now he could comprise roughly 60% of your playing time. See, it's been my experience that when a game forces a new main character on you like that, you're not going to be very happy with the new guy. See example: Metal Gear Solid 2. Of course, 60% isn't as bad as the complete Raiden overhaul that was MGS2 (or SoL if you prefer that humorous pun of an abbreviation). But even Hideo learned from that one.
Alright, so he kind of cheated in MGS3 with the "original" snake, but it was still Snake in pretty much every way -- minus an eye -- so it satisfied. Kojimasan cheated again with Raiden in DMC4 also, if you think about it. He took a hated character (Raiden) and recast him as one of the series favorites (the Ninja) in an attempt to cancel out whiny girly-man Raiden hatred with pure Ninja coolness, and we love him for it. It's kind of like taking Jar-Jar and turning him into Boba Fett ...ok maybe not that hated a character, but you get what i mean.
The way i see it, if you wanna try and switch up the main character on your players at all, you gotta start them as prominent NPCs*. If that works out you can test them out with a small playable part**, maybe even make it optional a la Ninja Gaiden: Sigma, or go for a full-on spin-off title of their own*** if you've got the balls and the character's got the popularity****. This way, you don't run in to players in their own 60/40 split. 60% annoyed that they're not getting as much time with the character they know and love, 40% annoyed that they don't really have time to get used to this new guy.
So that's why i'm worried about DMC4. The series may have survived it's just-sufficient-to-tie-together-ridiculous/awesome-battles storyline and the coming of Kratos, but this move could end up hurting the series reputation, again kind of like MGS. Maybe Capcom will manage to pull it off, they have been doing this longer than i have, after all. I'll keep the fingers on my (insert heavy metal sounding name) hand crossed just in case.
*see: Crash Bandicoot 2, Jak and Daxter
**see: Crash Bandicoot 3, Jak2, Jak3
***see: Daxter*****
****I should mention; i love Naughty Dog
*****I didn't actually play Daxter, but see ****
Jumping around to different topics aside (sorry) i'm beginning to get worried about this new "Nero" kid i hear so much about. Mostly i'm worried about how we haven't seen this guy before and now he could comprise roughly 60% of your playing time. See, it's been my experience that when a game forces a new main character on you like that, you're not going to be very happy with the new guy. See example: Metal Gear Solid 2. Of course, 60% isn't as bad as the complete Raiden overhaul that was MGS2 (or SoL if you prefer that humorous pun of an abbreviation). But even Hideo learned from that one.
Alright, so he kind of cheated in MGS3 with the "original" snake, but it was still Snake in pretty much every way -- minus an eye -- so it satisfied. Kojimasan cheated again with Raiden in DMC4 also, if you think about it. He took a hated character (Raiden) and recast him as one of the series favorites (the Ninja) in an attempt to cancel out whiny girly-man Raiden hatred with pure Ninja coolness, and we love him for it. It's kind of like taking Jar-Jar and turning him into Boba Fett ...ok maybe not that hated a character, but you get what i mean.
The way i see it, if you wanna try and switch up the main character on your players at all, you gotta start them as prominent NPCs*. If that works out you can test them out with a small playable part**, maybe even make it optional a la Ninja Gaiden: Sigma, or go for a full-on spin-off title of their own*** if you've got the balls and the character's got the popularity****. This way, you don't run in to players in their own 60/40 split. 60% annoyed that they're not getting as much time with the character they know and love, 40% annoyed that they don't really have time to get used to this new guy.
So that's why i'm worried about DMC4. The series may have survived it's just-sufficient-to-tie-together-ridiculous/awesome-battles storyline and the coming of Kratos, but this move could end up hurting the series reputation, again kind of like MGS. Maybe Capcom will manage to pull it off, they have been doing this longer than i have, after all. I'll keep the fingers on my (insert heavy metal sounding name) hand crossed just in case.
*see: Crash Bandicoot 2, Jak and Daxter
**see: Crash Bandicoot 3, Jak2, Jak3
***see: Daxter*****
****I should mention; i love Naughty Dog
*****I didn't actually play Daxter, but see ****
Friday, January 4, 2008
The Orange Box (PS3/XB360/PC): Broken.
Keeping with today's just decided theme of developer/publisher WTF!'s on PS3, i've got some rather good news for lovers of the awesome Orange Box (future review...?) and decriers of the sloppy PS3 port: Help is on the way. The Orange Box was, quite simply, phenomenal. Even if the games weren't of as high a quality as they are, there are FIVE games here for the price of one. Yeah, exactly. While i wag my finger harshly at EA for releasing such a shoddy port, i do appreciate the effort to remedy this. However, i do hope it's not going to become the pattern in this generation of broadband and hard drive equipped consoles to release unfinished/broken games just because they can be fixed with a patch later on.
And for those of you trying to cite this game as evidence that the Xbox360 is more powerful than the Playstation 3...well...i'd slap you, if i wan't afraid it would make you dumber. Look, i'm no fanboy, i LOVE the 360, it's a huge improvement over the original and evidence to the fact that Microsoft does pay attention what the gamers do (Live, advanced graphics/gameplay) and do not (comically huge system/controllers) want. But trying to say it's the more powerful system is just dumb. Yes, it does have more video ram available to it which is a big advantage for several things, especially for the developers; but just because i've got 2 gigs of RAM running with my Pentium III processor in one PC doesn't mean it's more powerful than a different PC running a Core 2 Quad CPU with 1 gig of RAM. Get me? (and no i don't have 2 pc's with those specs, it's an analogy people.) The difference in processing power between the PS3 and the 360 is roughly the same as the difference between the PS2 (=Xbox360) and the original Xbox (=PS3...funny ain't it?). I could give a rundown of the complete specs of both systems to prove my point, but i'm not geek enough to have them memorized and i don't feel like looking them all up right now.
...What a digression. Anyway, the point is this (other than "The Orange Box is awesome and they're finally fixing the shoddy PS3 port"), the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 are two very different, very powerful, very good systems (not bringing the Wii into this or i'll be here all night). And until developers have had time to learn all the nuances of each console and how best to develop for each, we're gonna keep seeing stuff like this (it may even go the other way at some point). So don't jump all over some shoddy port and shove it in the face of every owner of your "rival" system; have some restraint, grow up a little bit, and enjoy what you've got.
And for those of you trying to cite this game as evidence that the Xbox360 is more powerful than the Playstation 3...well...i'd slap you, if i wan't afraid it would make you dumber. Look, i'm no fanboy, i LOVE the 360, it's a huge improvement over the original and evidence to the fact that Microsoft does pay attention what the gamers do (Live, advanced graphics/gameplay) and do not (comically huge system/controllers) want. But trying to say it's the more powerful system is just dumb. Yes, it does have more video ram available to it which is a big advantage for several things, especially for the developers; but just because i've got 2 gigs of RAM running with my Pentium III processor in one PC doesn't mean it's more powerful than a different PC running a Core 2 Quad CPU with 1 gig of RAM. Get me? (and no i don't have 2 pc's with those specs, it's an analogy people.) The difference in processing power between the PS3 and the 360 is roughly the same as the difference between the PS2 (=Xbox360) and the original Xbox (=PS3...funny ain't it?). I could give a rundown of the complete specs of both systems to prove my point, but i'm not geek enough to have them memorized and i don't feel like looking them all up right now.
...What a digression. Anyway, the point is this (other than "The Orange Box is awesome and they're finally fixing the shoddy PS3 port"), the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 are two very different, very powerful, very good systems (not bringing the Wii into this or i'll be here all night). And until developers have had time to learn all the nuances of each console and how best to develop for each, we're gonna keep seeing stuff like this (it may even go the other way at some point). So don't jump all over some shoddy port and shove it in the face of every owner of your "rival" system; have some restraint, grow up a little bit, and enjoy what you've got.
GHIII and Rock Band(PS3/XB360): That Guitar Thing
Alright, by now i'm sure that any of you that have any interest own either Guitar Hero III, Rock Band, or both (you lucky, lucky asshead). If you own it on the 360, i hope you're enjoying the plethora of peripherals you have to choose from. PS3 owners, however, are most certainly getting the shaft. It was bad enough i had to keep my PS2 around just so i could play GH 1 and 2, but now not only can i NOT use that controller for Rock Band, apparently i can't use the PS3 dedicated Guitar Hero III controller either!? seriously!!?
Personally, i'm not a fan of the fact that i can't have a guitaris AND a bassist at the same time while playing Rock Band. Now apparently, Harmonix was all set to release a patch allowing the previously named lucky assheads to use their GHIII controllers with Rock Band, the only way to have lead and bass as there are no standalone Rock Band guitars yet. So...we waited and then...BAM! A big "not so fast" from Activision and, assumedly Red Octane. Ok, Red, we get it, Harmonix left you and you're sour for it. Yeah, Harmonix took pretty much all the credit for the actual Guitar Hero game (uuhhh, aren't they developers and you're the publisher?). But pretty much every gaming source that i read referred to Guitar Hero as a Red Octane game, so i think you enjoyed enough of the credit, no?
And as if stopping that patch wasn't bad enough, you now expect us all to believe that it was actually Harmonix that stopped GHIII/RB peripheral interplay? Really? The studio that had a patch finished and all ready to be sent out (read: downloaded) was that one that said "You know, we don't want other controllers to work in our game." Right, and i've got an 8 foot tall leprechaun hiding under my bed. Just because you've decided to act like an angry 12-year-old doesn't mean the rest of us have been reduced to the intelligence of one. (Honestly, i wouldn't be surprised to find an email that went from one studio to the other that read: I know you are but what am I?) I had been considering buying Guitar Hero III (i already own Rock Band, hooray Christmas!) so that i could get not only another game that i enjoyed during my brief playtime with it, but a controller that would put a stop to the "but i can't/don't wanna sing" argument that breaks out with my current 3 player Rock Band setup. But if you can't act like mature adults, much less a multi-million selling game studio, then I, for one, will certainly not be purchasing Guitar Hero III at any time, and possibly GHIV, V, etc.
Lastly, Harmonix/MTV Games, i'm keeping my eye on you too. It does, after all, take 2 to argue like spoiled children...
Personally, i'm not a fan of the fact that i can't have a guitaris AND a bassist at the same time while playing Rock Band. Now apparently, Harmonix was all set to release a patch allowing the previously named lucky assheads to use their GHIII controllers with Rock Band, the only way to have lead and bass as there are no standalone Rock Band guitars yet. So...we waited and then...BAM! A big "not so fast" from Activision and, assumedly Red Octane. Ok, Red, we get it, Harmonix left you and you're sour for it. Yeah, Harmonix took pretty much all the credit for the actual Guitar Hero game (uuhhh, aren't they developers and you're the publisher?). But pretty much every gaming source that i read referred to Guitar Hero as a Red Octane game, so i think you enjoyed enough of the credit, no?
And as if stopping that patch wasn't bad enough, you now expect us all to believe that it was actually Harmonix that stopped GHIII/RB peripheral interplay? Really? The studio that had a patch finished and all ready to be sent out (read: downloaded) was that one that said "You know, we don't want other controllers to work in our game." Right, and i've got an 8 foot tall leprechaun hiding under my bed. Just because you've decided to act like an angry 12-year-old doesn't mean the rest of us have been reduced to the intelligence of one. (Honestly, i wouldn't be surprised to find an email that went from one studio to the other that read: I know you are but what am I?) I had been considering buying Guitar Hero III (i already own Rock Band, hooray Christmas!) so that i could get not only another game that i enjoyed during my brief playtime with it, but a controller that would put a stop to the "but i can't/don't wanna sing" argument that breaks out with my current 3 player Rock Band setup. But if you can't act like mature adults, much less a multi-million selling game studio, then I, for one, will certainly not be purchasing Guitar Hero III at any time, and possibly GHIV, V, etc.
Lastly, Harmonix/MTV Games, i'm keeping my eye on you too. It does, after all, take 2 to argue like spoiled children...
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