inFAMOUS - PS3 I loved this game so much. The story was engaging and interesting from the start to the finish. There were enough powerups and new ability's to unlock through out the game to keep you interested and not get bored with the play mechanics, the collectables were not impossible to find.
For those wondering I played through on the light side on the hard difficulty.
Really top game!
The Blackwell Legacy - PC This is what indie adventure games are all about, great little stories, little innovations and twists to the classic formula with enjoyable characters. One of the best indie adventures I have played (Beaten only really by Gemini Rue, which was made by the same company.) Highly suggest picking this up if your into adventure games, it is a fraction on the short side is my only complaint.
1/2 Cannon Spike (DC) 1/9 Mega Man X4 (GCN) 1/22 Warhammer 40,000: Dark Crusade (PC)
I am a huge fan of Warhammer 40K but the video games typically suck. The original Dawn of War was pretty good but felt shallow. This expansion, Dark Crusade, added a shit ton of strategic elements. I was especially impressed by the simple yet elegant implementation of a story line for each playable race.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
emwearz wrote: The Blackwell Legacy - PC This is what indie adventure games are all about, great little stories, little innovations and twists to the classic formula with enjoyable characters. One of the best indie adventures I have played (Beaten only really by Gemini Rue, which was made by the same company.) Highly suggest picking this up if your into adventure games, it is a fraction on the short side is my only complaint.
I'm glad to hear this game is good too. I've considered getting the Blackwell games because I like Gemini Rue a lot.
Super Mario 3D Land 3DS Professor Layton & The Spectre's Call DS Trip World 3DS VC Streetpass Quest II 3DS Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 301: The Penal Zone PC Kirby's Fun Pak VC Golden Axe Warrior SMS Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 302: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak PC Ax Battler: The Legend of Golden Axe Game Gear Gitaroo Man Lives! PSP Panzer Dragoon Saga Demo Saturn *NEW* Asterix SMS *NEW* Total: 12
Yeah, I know finishing a demo of panzer dragoon saga isn't really beating a game, but I had it as a unbeaten 'game' on my backloggery, and it's the closest I'm gonna get to beating Panzer Saga for a long time. The demo was enjoyable, lasting around 2 and half hours or so. The battle system was what really made the game for me, it was very unique and interesting. The game seemed a bit easy though, and it just threw items at me constantly. Ther story so far wasn't especially exciting, but I feel it would have a lot more to give if I continued. I love the aesthetic of the world in panzer dragoon, but I can't say I find myself having much interesting in the mythology and history of it's universe, and I find the games plots a bit hard to follow in general. Overall, I quite enjoyed this taste of an overpriced game, and it HAS made me want to play the full game. Shame I can't afford to!
Asterix on the Master System was a game I wasn't expecting much from. I heard it was enjoyable, but I have another Asterix game on SMS which I've previously beaten (Asterix and the Secret Mission) which was ok, but not wonderful. I was actually presently surprised though. The game is a pretty standard platformer with the odd puzzle thrown in, but something about it just felt fun to control. Asterix and Obelix moved at the right kind of pace, and the jump attacks reminded me of Castle of Illusion, which I enjoy. In fact, the whole game gave off a slight Castle of Illusion vibe within the Asterix comic world. One neat feature of the game was the ability to choose whether to play as Asterix or Obelix before each level. Not only was it nice to have a choice, but it made a real tangible difference. Obelix was bigger and more cumbersome, but could smash blocks without items, was heavier and had a slightly bigger punch range. Asterix was smaller and could fit through smaller gaps. Not only were the characters different, but there are two versions of each stage depending which you play as, basically doubling the games length (which at 21 levels was already not too short for the time). Obelix stages generally seemed slightly harder. Overall, it's a Master System game I would recommend, it was more than worth the 50p I paid for it.
Flake wrote:1/2 Cannon Spike (DC) 1/9 Mega Man X4 (GCN) 1/22 Warhammer 40,000: Dark Crusade (PC)
I am a huge fan of Warhammer 40K but the video games typically suck. The original Dawn of War was pretty good but felt shallow. This expansion, Dark Crusade, added a shit ton of strategic elements. I was especially impressed by the simple yet elegant implementation of a story line for each playable race.
Have you played Space Marine yet? That seems pretty fun (what I've played of it.)
Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended...so the world might be mended.
Uncharted is another great addition to the series and should not be missed by Uncharted fans. It did have some problems in my mind though:
1.) Controls - This game was hard to play in some areas due to the way that "Close Quarter Combat" works (or doesn't work as the case may be). Especially after just playing Batman: AC which does CQC right, I feel like there isn't good presence information for the bad guys' location. It's hard to be effective close range, especially with things like a shotgun which are best up close. Anyway, due to this unless you go all out sometimes you get easily swarmed and overwhelmed.
2.) Story Elements - I really like Amy Hennig and respect her writing, but I feel like some things were not explored enough.
For example the relationship between Elena and Nathan was very vague. What happened exactly between 2 and 3 and why did Sully have Nathan's wedding ring?
The ending fell a little short for me as well, just not enough oomph.
I wish that Drake didn't hesitate so much about saving Marlowe, it's seems like he's a better guy then that. I didn't have a problem with her dying, it just could have been better.
Even with these issues, it's easy to see why this is Sony's flagship series and why I'm looking forward to Last of Us. The graphical detail in this game is second-to-none. Just a gorgeous, fun, cinematic romp. All the best parts of Indiana Jones wrapped up in a video game. Love it. 4.5/5.
Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended...so the world might be mended.
1. Yoshi's Island (GBA) 2. Donkey Kong Country 2 (GBA) 3. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
I started this in September and savoured it for a bit, before my TV went and died, and life got in the way and forced me into a groove of perpetual handheld gaming, hence the prolonged playthrough. It's immediately obvious why this came a genre-defining piece so rapidly. The story is competently told, the mechanics slick and still relevant, the artwork boasts a rustic, otherworldly charm, and the soundtrack is something that I've not stopped humming or whistling for the past few months.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (1/12) Mirror's Edge (1/18) Medal of Honor [2010] (1/23)
Medal of Honor [2010] is loosely based on the real life story of Operation Anaconda that happened in Afghanistan, 2002. There is real tragedy in these real life stories, and knowing the real story adds something to the game; however, if you don't know about the real story, then the game is confusing, muddled, and probably won't make much sense to you. I didn't know about Operation Anaconda until I bothered to research it a bit after playing the game. The story in Medal of Honor is so full of acrononyms and military speak that I have almost as much difficulty understanding the American soldiers as the Aghani and Chechen ones. I passed the game in just under 5 hours and one of those hours was likely spent alt-tabbing over to Google and Acronym Finder to figure out what the hell people were saying to me. And you would think that a short 4-5 hour game could tell a tight and focused story too, but no. The story is all over the place. In fact, you don't even play the same character all the way through. You play 4 or 5 different soldiers split across just as many military units. I guess you could make a case that this gives you a sense of what it's really like to be in the military though because it's all high drama, high tension, life-or-death situations where you have no idea what the fuck is going on at all times.
And though the story is complicated and demanding to understand, the gameplay certainly is not. Medal of Honor is the textbook example of a corridor shooter that is incredibly easy and designed to make you feel awesome (as long as you don't see past the curtain and realize that they are making things as easy on you as possible). The enemies are simply dumb. They hide behind cover and pop up and down to shoot, making the gameplay nothing more than a high tech game of Whack-a-Mole. When you get behind a mounted chain gun though, they all run out in the open to get mowed down by your bullets. In the earliest stages of the game, it's almost impossible to die and the game actually has some built in mini-cut-scenes where you get attacked or shot just to remind you that you aren't invulnerable (even though you practically are). Actually, with the quick regenerating health system for the game, it actually makes all of the cut scenes seem laughable whenever somebody is injured in battle. "Oh, just put him behind a rock for 2 seconds and he'll be fine. Works for me."
And though the gameplay was exceedingly simple and linearly confining, I still enjoyed some part of Medal of Honor. The graphics really are fantastic, as are the sounds. The sound of the bullets piercing through are really startling, and there are elements of the gameplay, such as when you fall from a height, that do have a real visceral feeling of gravity and weight. It all looks and sounds very real. There are also some nice cinematic moments. One of the cutscenes takes place inside a helicopter being gunned down and you can see the bullets ripping through and the guys getting tossed around the inside, not knowing which way is up or who's alive and who's dead. It expertly conveyed the sense of terror and disorientation that would happen in a moment like that. I also liked a scene where you are hopelessly outnumbered in an ambush and you can hear a slow and somber music creep in. It just made you feel like you wouldn't get out of this one alive, which was a really nice juxtaposition of slow music over intense action.
So, it hits the mark in certain spots, but largely for cinematographic reasons, not for gaming reasons. The gameplay in this game is tepid and weak, and only picks up a little in some of the final moments when there is actually a modicum of challenge. Not a good game.
