Now before I get to my review, I want to say that I bought this game at a bargain bin price a month or so ago because my instincts told me it wasn’t a full price kind of game. Although late to the party in terms of writing a review (4 1/2 months after release) I can honestly say I’ve beaten it and have experienced all four player classes. This game has gotten a bit of a bad rap by the gaming press and much of it undeservedly so.
Now as many of you know, I’m a sucker for WRPGs (Western RPGs). That’s a bit of a stereotype I’m afraid but it has since taken root and is generally used on a wide scale to describe these type of games. A WRPG is basically a sword & sorcery type role playing game, usually developed by a European or North American company, and has plenty of Dungeons & Dragons or Tolkien inspired elements to it.
This game is a port of the 2006 PC Dark Messiah title and is more simplified and altered to better match the console experience. You have four player classes (Fighter, Archer, Mage & Assassin) and have no real customization of your character other than the equipment you choose to use. Leveling up is linear and since there is no respawn of enemies, it’s carefully spread out throughout the game.
Gameplay if I was to formulate an analogy, would be something like a cross between Thief, Tomb Raider and Oblivion. The combat is pretty straight forward, the controls work well and the platforming aspect of it using the rope bow can be very challenging and rewarding. It let’s you explore and challenge yourself on a scale I wish more games would offer. This exploration is a combination of acrobatics, skill and puzzle solving and is one of the best virtues of this game.
This would be what I’d call a “Lite” RPG, where one could argue this to be a “action RPG” or an “unsophisticated dungeon crawler”. There’s even a bit of humor in the game from time to time to keep the dark story in check. The story itself is pretty simple and really unimportant, and there are two different endings to the game for you to explore as well as a few in-game story paths you can follow.
The sounds & voice acting is generally well done, the graphics look a bit dated but still work well for the type of game and considering it’s a 2 year old port. There are a couple minor bugs but nothing game breaking or overly aggravating. You can expect a solid 20 hour game give or take a few hours depending on how you play it and the multiplayer is simple, mindless fun.
If you can find this game for $20 or less and would enjoy a “Lite” RPG, or a simple game with a fun laid back single player, I recommend this game wholeheartedley. Few instances in gaming does a “Jack of all trades, Master of none” type of title work out so well. Just don’t spend a lot of money on it hoping to get your WRPG fix until Fallout 3 or the Two Worlds sequel comes out.
Kotaku posted it as rumor, a juicy juicy rumor to come out of Jump Magazine. Now, a tipster sends in a link to the Game Countdown Page. Holy, holy shit. Did I mention Holy Shit? I know I am the Site Director, but damn, it's real. It's real. Pop the Champagne, we've been waiting for a trip back to the Chrono Trigger Universe for a while. Can you blame us? It's been a long time. and we've missed you, Chrono.
Light week. Nothing very good at all really. One game might be pretty cool but that's about it really.
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
•Hail to the Chimp •Guitar Hero: Aerosmith •Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
•Hail to the Chimp •Gears of War Refresh •Guitar Hero: Aerosmith •Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
•Guitar Hero: Aerosmith •Purr Pals (if you buy this, you are part of the problem, not the solution)
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
...
•1 VS. 100 •AMF Bowling Pinbusters •Ducati Moto •Smart Kids Game Club •Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
•Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
It's the 4th of July. Go buy some fireworks instead of games. But Civilization Revolution looks cool if you're into that kind of thing. Not sure if it is? Download the demo from the Playstation Store or Xbox Live. I did it, and I must say it was pretty nifty. Didn't get a chance to play much of it, but it I liked what I played. Oh and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith comes out this week for all two people that care. Enjoy your game with effing Aerosmith (uggghhh). For the rest of us, Rock Band 2 has been announced.
*Note: the views of Tony are those of himself and do not represent the views of anyone else. If you have a problem with it, please direct complaints to the OH NOOOO Otter.*
It seems as though some of you are pretty excited. Personally I am excited. It's certainly a throw back to retro roots, with graphics meant to imitate the original NES Mega Mans. In short, it's pretty damn cool, and hopefully the game play comes through. Time shall tell in that regard.
I imagine most of you expect Capcom to release this on all console digital distribution formats. Certainly, I sure did. You might notice that I said did. Yeah, about that... Kotaku and Ars both though have some troubling news. It appears that for you Sony and 360 Owners, Capcom currently does not desire your money, as it says that Mega Man 9 is only in development for WiiWare. Wow, that's a... shocker.
To mark this development, it's time to bring out the OH NOOOO! Otter. I imagine that lots of you really would like the opportunity to get this game, but have found their prospects of getting this retro odyssey somewhat... dashed. Perhaps Capcom has been misquoted, and meant to say it'll come out for other systems later. Perhaps they really meant what is being reported by folks like Luke Plunkett. You know, he writes for Kotaku, so he is part of that bunch of respectable game bloggers, so they wouldn't wrongly state something, would they? Well, regardless, the OH NOOOO! Otter feels your pain. Since I can't feel your pain because I own a Wii, at least the OH NOOOO! Otter can.
You know, I thought the "Mega Man 9 will be done in 8-bit graphics" was an exaggeration. Something... lost in translation. Those things happen. That's why we say crazy Japanese translations like "SUPER HAPPY CRAZY FUN TIME". But you know, Mega Man 9. Wow, was it for real? Surely someone was jerking our chain, Capcom would never go back to revisit a class style of game, would they? Eh? EH?
WRONG! Turns out Mega Man 9 is very, very real. Complete with robot masters like Magma Man and my personal favorite, Concrete Man. More importantly, they weren't lying when they said it would be in 8-bit graphics. It really, really is. A part of me is saying WTF, while the other 4/5 says "Holy shit that's awesome!" Seriously, absolutely awesome, like "I AM BUYING THAT" awesome. Truly, Mega Man 9 has the potential to be quite the throw back to old school Mega Man. Here's to that. By the way, pictures can be seen at Kotaku
As you may or may not know, Tondog is a huge fan of MGS4. If he could, he'd probably have Kojima's babies. Unfortunately, or fortunately for him, he is a guy, and such a thing is physically impossible. That said, lots of people bought MGS4, including Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. See, Yahztee does Zero Punctuation, which in the realm of the internet geared towards gamers is absolutely hilarious. Today, Yahtzee is reviewing Metal Gear Solid 4, and well... why don't you watch it for yourself.
So, what'd you think? Personally, I am part of the group not currently already entrenched in Metal Gear Solid, so I think I'll follow this advice and just not play the game. Not really my cup of tea anyways. But then, I don't drink tea. What about you? Did Yahtzee strike a nerve, or do you wholeheartedly agree?
Wow, this is sort of sad. Nights, the game that a lot of fans asked for, came out, was declared mediocre, and now can be found new for $2.99. Of course, you have to live by a Meijer, which for those not in the know is a nicer, Midwest version of Wal-Mart. I have one three minutes from my house, and there is another Meijer probably 10 minutes from my house, if not less. Will I go out of my way to get this game on the cheap? Nah, that's alright, the game didn't really interest me, but perhaps you are and you live near a Meijer. If that is the case, then go buy your game on the cheap.
Did Nights really do that poorly? I've heard it sold 100000 copies, which is more than some other games, like Boom Blox. Does it deserve the $2.99 price tag, or is Meijer giving this game the shaft? It might be on clearance now, but regardless, this price tag is almost disgracefully low. Someone must have it out for this game at Meijer HQ. Perhaps their son told them it was stupid. That's just too bad.
Also, before you ask, no, I am not going to go buy the game for you.
In the last decade or so, custom soundtracks in video games have increased in popularity both due to the digital age as well as advances in game systems and personal computers. Of course there are also the memories and nostalgia of times when one would have their 8-track, LP, Cassette, or CD playing in the background. Add digital files to that and you've come all the way across 30+ years of gaming. Any of you listen to Pac-Man fever while chasing ghosts? Or "Gangsta's Paradise" when Ridge Racer came out for the PlayStation and you found out you could take the game disc out and pop in a music CD? No shame in that, we've all made mistakes in the past. Hell I remember when "U Can't Touch This" was all the rage a few months after Super Mario Bros. 3 came out 18 years ago. Did that make you feel old, or maybe really young? Just wait until the 25th anniversary of that song and the game when you, or one of your parents, break out the elephant pants and make an ass of you/themselves, hopefully all in good fun. Maybe Fred Savage will reprise his role in the sequel: The Wizard II: Arthritic Speedrun Pwnage.
That's not to say the default game music that is included in a title is bad, in fact in many cases far from it. It means that if a game's soundtrack doesn't suit you, you can always change it. So if your willing, feel free to share with your fellow RFGen members, your favorite custom music you listen to while gaming. Everyone's tastes are different and it's always great to find new songs or albums that may make a particular game that much better, or a song that really suits a genre perfectly. So here's a few favorites of mine and the games I like to play while listening to them:
What the hell happened this week? Is it last fall again? Goddamn...
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
•Battlefield: Bad Company •Hail to the Chimp •Hellboy: Science of Evil •Overlord Raising Hell •Top Spin 3 •Wall-E
•Alone in the Dark •Battlefield: Bad Company •Hail to the Chimp •Hellboy: Science of Evil •Operation Darkness •Supreme Commander •Top Spin 3 •Wall-E
•Big Beach Sports •Rock Band (This is actually out already. I think I missed it on last week's list.) •Top Spin 3 •Wall-E
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•Hellboy: Science of Evil •Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress •Wall-E
•American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge •Cake Mania 2 •Code Lyoko: Fall of XANA •Final Fantasy Tactics A2 •Gourmet Chef •Guitar Hero: On Tour •Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Ninja •Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Saurian •Midnight Play Pack •My Weight Loss Coach •Smart Kids Game Club •Top Spin 3 •Wall-E
•Wall-E
There's far too many games coming out this week, but what's worth checking out? Alone in the Dark and Overlord Raising Hell look pretty neat. Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Top Spin 3, and Supreme Commander have been getting great reviews, but I would recommend Battlefield: Bad Company above all the other games this week. If you haven't seen anything about the game it's basically a wartime FPS, but unlike most other games of this type (Call of Duty 4 for example) it is actually pretty lighthearted in tone and contains a good amount of humor. The gameplay is like many other FPS games, so it's nothing completely new, but it's still very fun. If you're interested, give the demo a chance on either the Playstation Network or Xbox Live.
Face it, Sonic has had some serious ups and downs. The originals from the Genesis (Mega Drive) days had us going GaGa over Sega. They were fun and extremely fast, two gameplay elements that have eroded over the years. Despite the glory, a number of spinoffs and additional characters crowded out the franchise and a sad serious of spinoffs ensued. Sonic R, Sonic the Fighters, etc. The series got a jump start in 1998 with new freshness that was known as Sonic Adventure. It properly brought the core of the series into the 3D era, and tapped into the heart of the game. Sonic Adventure 2 was no letdown either, delivering the same standard of gameplay.
Of course, we all know what happened from there. A crowded and highly competitive hardware market forced Sega to give the Dreamcast an untimely end. Ports of Sonic Adventure and other classic compilations helped them assume their new role as a third-party developer, but once again the quality began to slide. The Sonic franchise took the blow in stride too. Sonic Heroes, meh; Shadow the Hedgehog, WTF!?; Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), fail, Sonic and the Secret Rings, meh. Hidden gems like Sonic Rush became overlooked as fans lost faith in the series.
Another year, another game. Sonic Unleashed is slated for a 2008 release, and the debut trailer shown earlier in February failed to impress. Recently a new trailer with more gameplay footage has been circulating, and its changing a lot of opinions.
The gameplay switches from 2D to 3D, and the camera transitions are unobtrusive. It's still too early to pass judgement, so we'll have to wait for more news. For now I'll say things aren't looking worse the blue blur.
Lead designer Tomonobu Itagaki quit Tecmo and filed suit nearly two weeks ago in a dispute over unpaid bonuses. Now another suit has arisen due to a discrepancy in unpaid overtime for the rest of the employees. The suit has been filed by Hiroaki Ozawa and Tatsuo Kakuta, top leaders of the recently formed "Tecmo Labor Union", to represent all 300 remaining Tecmo employees. The plaintiffs assert that Tecmo placed them on an illegal "flexible hours" work schedule four years ago, and since then overtime hours have gone unpaid. A company petition claims over 100 hours a month for employees, and 8.3 million yen are in demand as compensation. Further claims include Tecmo having falsified documents and attempting to cover up documents relating to their shady accounting practices.
Pretty light week for consoles, but a great week for handhelds.
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
... Go buy MGS4 you tool.
•Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm
•Wacky Races: Crash and Dash
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•Secret Agent Clank •Space Invaders Extreme
•Arkanoid •Code Lyoko: Fall of XANA •Imagine: Rock Star •Petz Dogz Fashion •Space Invaders Extreme •Tamagotchi Connection Corner 3 •Wacky Races: Crash and Dash
...
Secret Agent Clank seems good enough based on the demo, but sort of lacking the heart and soul of the Insomniac developed games. However, there is one game that each and every one of you must buy and that is Space Invaders Extreme. I don't care if you hate buying games for full price, this is one that you need to buy. I've played the Japanese demo for the PSP, and it is a STUNNING update of the classic. The game is just like the original but now there's boss stages, bonus stages, colored enemy matching, and a new remixed techno soundtrack. Just go buy it dammit! It's only $20 on your platform of choice.
Quick update: The US edition of Space Invaders Extreme does not have support for the DS rotor controller. If you want to play this game with the rotor controller, import it.
Now, in about three days, I can officially say that I am a Civil Engineer. Now, Civil Engineers do a lot of things. Designing Bridges, Creating Dams, Building Things, Creating Traffic Jams, Mitigating Floods, yeah, we do all that and much more. See, there is this thing though. Most, if not all Civil Engineers specialize in something. I, for example, specialized in transportation. Seamar, specialized in structures. See, from an ethics standpoint, we agree only to practice in the fields we're competent in. We know better than do attempt to do something when we have no idea how. So, we know better than than to do and market things that we have no idea how to do, so why does Microsoft then try to do something it doesn't really know how to do?
Microsoft does a bunch of things well. I personally enjoy their Wireless Mice and Keyboards. Windows XP was and still is amazing. So Microsoft can in fact do things well. But there are certain things that Microsoft doesn't do well. Vista, for example. Windows 98 is to Windows XP like Windows Me is to Windows Vista. So, some things that Microsoft do are just terrible.
So, Microsoft has this wonderful little console that many of you might lovingly refer to as the Microsoft Xbox 360. It's lovely little console, but it had some problems. These problems caused Microsoft to issue a recall for the 360, and with that recall came quite a monetary hit on their ledger. So, what caused this problem?
So, this wonderful guy at the Gartner Group, Bryan Lewis, who happens to be their research VP and chief analyst, has stated that the source of their gigantic recall lies in the fact that Microsoft decided to design their original GPU by themselves. Did you know that Microsoft designs GPUs? Neither did I. When I think Graphics Accelerator, I think NVidia and ATI. Turns out, once a massive recall is initiated, that Microsoft also thinks ATI for their graphics needs, as that's who they contracted to redesign their 360 GPU.
Here's to you, Microsoft. If only you had used ATI or NVidia to begin with, you wouldn't have had this massive recall and all those extended warranties. I bet you all don't care, as your warranties are longer. But then, there are probably several of you who wish they didn't have to send their 360 in because of a RRoD. If only Microsoft stuck to what it could do well and contracted out that what it couldn't, you might have never had to send out your 360.
Gamers love GTA IV and its gritty, realistic, and wide open world. Well, one guy likes GTA IV so much that he decided to recreate the intro to the classic Leslie Nielson comedy The Naked Gun inside of the game. The result is nothing short of spectacular.
Oh and Blast Works for the Wii looks great as well.
There's also Nascar 09 (PS3, 360, PS2), Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit (PS3, 360), Don King Presents Prizefighter (360), Backyard Baseball '09 (Wii), Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles (DS), and more crappy DS shovelware, but who cares? There's only one game that TRULY matters this week.
Now before I get to my review, I want to say that I bought this game at a bargain bin price a month or so ago because my instincts told me it wasn’t a full price kind of game. Although late to the party in terms of writing a review (4 1/2 months after release) I can honestly say I’ve beaten it and have experienced all four player classes. This game has gotten a bit of a bad rap by the gaming press and much of it undeservedly so.
It's the 4th of July. Go buy some fireworks instead of games. But Civilization Revolution looks cool if you're into that kind of thing. Not sure if it is? Download the demo from the Playstation Store or Xbox Live. I did it, and I must say it was pretty nifty. Didn't get a chance to play much of it, but it I liked what I played. Oh and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith comes out this week for all two people that care. Enjoy your game with effing Aerosmith (uggghhh). For the rest of us, Rock Band 2 has been announced.
It seems as though some of you are pretty excited. Personally I am excited. It's certainly a throw back to retro roots, with graphics meant to imitate the original NES Mega Mans. In short, it's pretty damn cool, and hopefully the game play comes through. Time shall tell in that regard.
As a sort of unofficial part II to a great blog entry Dave wrote in January called "
There's far too many games coming out this week, but what's worth checking out? Alone in the Dark and Overlord Raising Hell look pretty neat. Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Top Spin 3, and Supreme Commander have been getting great reviews, but I would recommend Battlefield: Bad Company above all the other games this week. If you haven't seen anything about the game it's basically a wartime FPS, but unlike most other games of this type (Call of Duty 4 for example) it is actually pretty lighthearted in tone and contains a good amount of humor. The gameplay is like many other FPS games, so it's nothing completely new, but it's still very fun. If you're interested, give the demo a chance on either the Playstation Network or Xbox Live.
Secret Agent Clank seems good enough based on the demo, but sort of lacking the heart and soul of the Insomniac developed games. However, there is one game that each and every one of you must buy and that is Space Invaders Extreme. I don't care if you hate buying games for full price, this is one that you need to buy. I've played the Japanese demo for the PSP, and it is a STUNNING update of the classic. The game is just like the original but now there's boss stages, bonus stages, colored enemy matching, and a new remixed techno soundtrack. Just go buy it dammit! It's only $20 on your platform of choice.
Now, in about three days, I can officially say that I am a Civil Engineer. Now, Civil Engineers do a lot of things. Designing Bridges, Creating Dams, Building Things, Creating Traffic Jams, Mitigating Floods, yeah, we do all that and much more. See, there is this thing though. Most, if not all Civil Engineers specialize in something. I, for example, specialized in transportation. Seamar, specialized in structures. See, from an ethics standpoint, we agree only to practice in the fields we're competent in. We know better than do attempt to do something when we have no idea how. So, we know better than than to do and market things that we have no idea how to do, so why does Microsoft then try to do something it doesn't really know how to do?
METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS
