Tag Archives: Review

An Apology

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Hi everyone, I would like to apologize to those looking for my review of Bioshock Infinite or the third part of my ReviewAgeddon series. Sadly that review is not coming. Due to work, and a myriad of other things I have not had time to play the game very much. Therefore even if I did review what little time I had spent playing Bioshock Infinite, I would not do the game justice and I feel my review would not even contain the smallest bit of any useful information. Again my apologies. Moving forward hopefully things will get less chaotic soon and I will be able to put up new content.

I am very sorry, hope to see y’all soon.

-Jessica out-

Review – Jetstream Sam DLC, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

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What’s good, everyone? Joshua Evo here (yes, I’m totally still around) with a quick review for you guys. Let me just start by reiterating that amidst some of the criticisms of rapid tonal inconsistencies,  seemingly “shalllow” game play and bizarre story in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, I still enjoyed this game, except that I felt it was a bit on the short sid.. Thankfully, this past Tuesday, April 9, 2013, Konami released a DLC add-on that traced some of the backstory of my personal favorite character in the the game, Jetstream Sam.

The add-on puts players into control of Samuel Rodrigues, dashing swordsman,administrator of justice and man of MANY monikers (Jetstream Sam and the awesome sounding “Cool Brazilian Wind). After cutting down drug cartels and other underground criminals across Latin America, he arrives in Denver at the World Marshal headquarters to  further test his skills. For me, Sam was an incredibly compelling character just based off of his appearances and role in the rest of the game, so assuming control of him in any form was a tantalizing concept, as was checking out the differences between him and Raiden. To avoid spoilers, I’ll be focusing more on the game play rather than going too into detail with the story points.

How dare you, sir! My story DEMANDS to be told!

How dare you, sir! My story DEMANDS to be told!

While a lot of the core game play mechanics like Zandatsu, parrying, Blade Mode, Ninja Run, counterattacking and stringing attacks together are all still intact, there are some pretty notable differences between the two characters. For starters, playing as Sam feels MUCH less emphatic on stealth. Raiden’s Enhanced AR is replaced by Sam’s Taunt, which serves to attract attention to himself and enrage his attackers. What does this do other than turn you into a moving bulls-eye? Well, it makes affected units take more damage and more prone to blade mode destruction. Considering that Sam is much more flashy than Raiden, his attack swings are a little bit slower and more deliberate feeling. Virtually ALL of Sam’s Hard attacks can be charged for a few seconds to unleash much stronger versions of themselves with differing effects. While some of these are stagegeringly powerful, they can leave Sam vulnerable. Luckily, he is also very maneuverable; as he has an air dash and is granted a dodge roll/somersault move to get himself out of trouble spots. 

Pictured: Trouble spot.

Pictured: Trouble spot.

While also a bit short, the add-on also includes several familiar faces and additional collectibles of its own. The interaction with LQ-84i is particularly interesting and fleshes the two characters out a bit more. The Sam-specific VR Missions are very challenging and the differences in styles between Sam and Raiden, while subtle, are enough to need to modify your approach and attack patterns to get in and do what needs to be done progress. The familiar locations look as good as they ever did and Sam is a great character to control and watching his story unfold and seeing the chain of events that lead him to his place in the main story of Revengeance is satisfying and fun. The DLC is available now on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live for $9.99. Definitely give it a look if you’re a big fan of the game, though it might seem a little steep for casual fans.

By the way, if you check out the trailer above, keep an eye out at the very end for a teaser regarding the next bit of DLC.

– Evo out.

Starcraft II, Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Bioshock Infinite… It’s ReviewAgeddon!! Part Two

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I’m baaaaacckkk! Sorry for the delay, but I had much to do and less time to do it in, and sadly did not get around to writing this until right this moment. It’s weird, I am pressing these buttons and letters and words are forming on my screen. What is this magic? Weirdness aside I do believe that this time around I am going to let you know my thoughts (so far) on Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon.

Contrary to  what many would believe, but Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon was my most anticipated game of March 2013. I have long loved the original Luigi’s Mansion for the Nintendo GameCube and was so excited for this second installment that I went on an adventure to acquire a GameCube and attempted to track down a copy of Luigi’s Mansion. I got the console, but sadly did not get the game until Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon was already out. You win some, you lose some. Moving right along, slight Spoilers ahead. 

Oh you POOR little green man.

Oh you POOR little green man.

Poor Luigi… Dude you are definitely not living large when E. Gadd interrupts your life. What happened to all that money you sucked up last time you went ghost hunting? Personally I would like to think he somehow got screwed over by Mario in some pyramid scheme but that is just me. It just makes you root for him just a bit more. Anywho if I remember the opening cinematic correctly E. Gadd was working with ghosts of the friendly variety. (Nope.. not Capser… though to be honest a cameo would be awesome)When suddenly King Boo shows up and just ruins all the happy fun ectoplasmic sci-ency goodness that is happening by destroying the “Dark Moon” that keeps all the ghosts nice. So naturally E. Gadd essentially kidnaps Luigi from his living room and thus the story begins.

Now that you know how it begins I can get into the specifics. For those of you that don’t already know the main “weapon” of Luigi’s mansion is the Poltergust 3000. Obviously E. Gadd has been busy in the years after the original because we now have the Poltergust 5000! Which is still essentially a glorified vacuum.

*WOMP WOMP*

Doesn’t seem so shiny now, does it?

The controls are what I expected them to be, simple. The one complaint I have is that I seem to keep forgetting that I can run. You have to hold B when moving around to run. For some reason it just doesn’t feel right and thus, Luigi gets around a bit slow for me. Oh well.

I am nitpicky about this game because I loved the original there are two other complaints that I have about Dark Moon. The first is the fact that you cannot save your progress during levels. This drives me insane! So if you die near the very end of a level or quit out or lose power. You have to do the whole level over again. !@#$ that! The other complaint is really minor. In the first Luigi’s Mansion the ghosts just felt like there was a little more depth to them. They had names. They had rooms. In Dark Moon the ghosts are more generic. Green ghost does this, blue ghost does that, etc. It takes just a bit of the magic out.

On to more positive things. I am enjoying the different locals and graphics. Now I do not use the 3D feature of the 3DS very often it gives me a headache, but I have to say the 3D in this game is pretty well done. I recommend that if you do pick up a copy turn the 3D up at least once just to give it a quick look. The puzzles are also something I would like to highlight, they have just the right level of challenge. I mean some times you get stuck but isn’t that the point who doesn’t love a good challenge?

E. GADD IF YOU HAD THIS, WHY DID YOU KIDNAP LUIGI, YOU SICK LITTLE MAN?

E. GADD, IF YOU COULD USE THIS YOURSELF, WHY DID YOU KIDNAP LUIGI? YOU SICK LITTLE MAN!

I feel like I have been talking too long so I will wrap up quickly. In the end you should get this game it’s fun, honest. BTW, multiplayer is hilarious if you don’t know what you are doing. I laugh at my own inadequacy! HA!

Stay tuned for Part 3!

Great Game(s) You May Have Missed! (Part 2)

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Megan Highwind here! This time I am going to delve into the reasons why tri-Crescendo’s Eternal Sonata is a game that did not get the attention I feel that it deserved. Eternal Sonata was a Japanese RPG released on the Xbox 360 back in 2007 and the Playstation 3 in 2008. This game is amazing for many reasons, the first of which being its story.

Eternal Sonata is the story of the composer Frederic Chopin, lying in his deathbed in Paris, and the world he creates in his mind while he is not awake to the outside world. He creates an intense story with an alluring set of characters to match. I will freely admit that when I started this title I found myself thinking that it was going to be another overdone story, especially with the cutesy cover art and young looking characters, but I was wrong. When first falling into the world that Chopin creates, it is easy to feel like the story is going nowhere; but after the beginning sequences end and the heart of the story begins, it becomes so much deeper than at first glance. The story brings to the forefront the meaning of life and death, light and darkness and even dreams and reality such as the dream that Chopin created for himself. When the game ended, I found myself wanting more. All of the different characters that player encounters and the circumstances that have brought them together are also part of what make the story great. While they may all seem as though they are just children with no real issues to face, the more time spent with them the more it surfaces that not just Chopin, but Polka, Allegretto, and the others are all dealing with issues that are well beyond their years.

The gameplay in this title is another interesting part of the allure. Like some other RPGs, when a monster runs into the party the player controls three different characters and has to fight. Hitting the monsters is done by slashing with the X button while special attacks are reserved for the triangle. However, unlike other games the light and darkness elements and the party level system keep the game from becoming too linear. As the Party Level of the group goes up, things become increasingly difficult. For example, when the player begins the game there is plenty of time to counter attack an enemy whom is attacking you. However, the further along the game gets the less time the player has to use a counter attack. Similarly, the counter of time above the players’ head shows how much time is left before the enemies can attack. As players level up, the counter gets faster so tactics have to be taken into account to figure out the best way to get the most damage in. The final thing I loved about the gameplay in this game is the Light vs Darkness system. Depending on whether characters are standing in a light area or a dark one, the attacks that they can use change. This adds a level of difficulty to the game as well because it is not always easy to reach a light or dark area without wasting at least one turn. Little side quests like finding Score Pieces also add to the gameplay to keep it from being just about running through dungeons and killing monsters.

Orchestral composition has taken a VERY different direction these days.

Orchestral composition has taken a VERY different direction these days.

The final things that make this game worth checking out are the music and graphics. The music in this game is fantastic. Some of the songs are ones created by Chopin himself and are played at times with a thoughtful little saying or phrase that really add to aspects of the storyline. Other times pieces created by Motoi Sakuraba flood the speakers. No matter which composer’s songs are played during different times in the game, they blend together beautifully to create a picture of a world of beauty and hope as well as sadness and pain. Finally, the way the characters and backgrounds look and feel together are well done. The characters show emotion with every word and look that comes out of them. This makes it easy for the player to feel for them and their situations as the game progresses. The different places that the characters travel to and the worlds that they encounter inside of Chopin’s mind also contribute to the understanding of the state of Chopin’s innermost feelings and it is beautiful to behold how fluidly the characters and the settings blend together.

Overall, Eternal Sonata definitely falls into the great games that you may have missed category. Trust me when I say that if you enjoy games with an alluring story, memorable characters, beautiful graphics and incredible music that this game is worth a try. I decided to try it and even though it took a little while for the storyline to draw me in; once it did it kept me coming back until Chopin drew his last breath.

– Megan Highwind has left the party

Review – Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

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What’s good, everyone! It’s been a pretty long time since our last review but we’re back in fine style, and considering that 2013 has a very robust release lineup, we’re going to get right into it. Today, we’re going to be discussing Konami’s most recent addition to the Metal Gear saga, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. 

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As regular readers of the blog know, I’m a bit of a Konami fanboy. They’re responsible for some of the most awesome games I’ve ever played in my life, from Castlevania and Contra to Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders. Hell, I was even a Yu-Gi-Oh! player for almost a decade. So when Jessica and I got to go to the Konami Gamers Night press event last year, it goes without saying that I was pretty drooly at the prospect of playing the demos for both Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Zone of the Enders HD Collection. While ZOE is firmly established as my favorite game, I was (like many) a bit leery on the direction that MGR:R was taken in. Granted, Platinum Games has a great rep and has put out some great titles like Vanquish and Bayonetta but an established property like Metal Gear? Particularly one that’s historically very heavily stealth based? I had to see it to believe it, and when I did, all my fears were gone. After that, my hype was sufficiently built for the game’s actual release, as I had been playing the demo that was included with ZoE:HD over and over again. The prospect of owning a plasma lamp of Raiden’s sword kind of fed the hype too.

As is expected of the current-gen Metal Gear games, MGR:R offers some incredible visuals. The outdoor environments are lush while also providing a sense of warring conflict, that the player is surrounded by the feeling of trouble in paradise. Raiden himself has the “ninja-cyborg-of-doom” look down perfectly. Every little movement and facial nuance is incredibly detailed. Then again, considering how late into the current generation of gaming we are, it’s kind of hard to get good visuals wrong. Nevertheless, the sword swings, enemy movements, cinematics and accompanying audio are all extremely crisp and hampered by little to NO slow down… unless you’re going into Blade Mode in which case, the game slowing down is a core part of enjoying the experience

FUN FOR ALL AGES!

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

So, I guess I should spend some time talking about the story. Granted that this is a Metal Gear game, the assumption is that the story is a heavily convoluted mess of dismembered arms and multiple personalities. Thankfully, it’s not that terribly complicated, at least from the outset. MGR:R’s story takes place four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and follows the exploits of that lovable scamp, Jack Raiden. Raiden’s taken a job with a PMC called Maverick Security for the purposes of supporting his family, as any white-blooded family man would do. Maverick falls into conflict with rival PMC, Desperado Enterprises and Raiden is wounded in the conflict. After getting patched up, Maverick and Raiden must figure out and put a stop to Desperado Enterprises’s dastardly scheme. For the most part, it’s not nearly as complex as the Metal Gear Solid story line, so it’s easy to get right back into the stabbin’ and slashin’… which itself is incredibly responsive, gory, and satisfying. Movement and camera controls are perfectly responsive, which is a definite plus if you’re are familiar with the frenetic pace that’s the trademark of any of Platinum Games’s other stellar titles. Of course, the game’s highlight is “Blade Mode”, which is basically just a provided reason to chop things up into the smallest pieces possible.

Huh. I never saw THIS playing on the TV's at Toys 'R Us...

Huh. I never saw THIS playing on the TV’s at Toys ‘R Us…

Aside from being ridiculously satisfying, one of the pluses of engaging Blade Mode is that if you carve your opponents up in the right way, they drop Health and Energy for Raiden’s further forays into Blade Mode. Additionally, at the beginning of the game, the support character Doktor, the PMC’s doctor (oh yeah, that happened) asks Raiden to collect the severed left hands of certain fallen cyborgs, yet another useful application for Blade Mode. Raiden also has access to newer weapons upon defeating other bosses (Mega Man style) and is able to purchase body, technique and offensive and defensive upgrades with the Battle Points he collects from mission completion and senseless murder. Raiden also has the ability to engage something called AR mode, which is akin to Detective Mode in the recent Batman games but not as detracting from the imagery, which was a complaint that many players of Arkham Asylum had. 

Unfortunately, the game is on the short side but does prove to be quite challenging, especially after beating the game the first time and unlocking “Very Hard” and “Revengeance” difficulty settings. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a highly entertaining game that while a little repetitive, never manages to overstay its welcome. My only real gripe with the game is that the commands for performing the unlocked techniques is not really clear at any point in the game, so you’ll find yourself spending your hard earned BP on new attacks that you find yourself wanting to use but unable to. All things considered, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a genuinely satisfying gaming experience.

Annoucing… Incoductic!

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What’s good, everyone? Joshua Evo here, back from a bit of a work-related hiatus of sorts to announce that today, I launched my podcast, Incoductic, with my good friend, Samantha of Sam-Tried-It. You can expect pretty much the normal fare, random weirdness, gaming news and musings and much more nerdiness to come. Make sure to follow my new show on at the link up there but don’t think that I’ve forgotten my lovely DRE audience! We have some big reviews and events coming up so make sure to stay tuned, or at least come back to us! 

Also, we’ve added links to the episodes in the Incoductic tab up on the Home bar up there. Check it out every other Wednesday… FOR GLORY.

– Evo out

The Hits and Misses of 2012: Part 3 of 4

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Howdy everyone Jessica Valentine here, today I am going to round up the good, the bad, and the most surprising video games of this year. In other words YAY! BOO… and Oh Cool. Lets start with the BOO… shall we? I would hate to leave it for last best we get it out of the way.

And here we go… My biggest disappointment for gaming this year cannot be attributed to just one game, but the delays that pushed back the releases of a few games that I anxiously awaited. *Cough* BioShock Infinite*Cough*Luigi’s Mansion 2*Cough*. Sorry about that I must be sick. Sick of WAITING! Moving on and regaining my composure, I should mention that this year I have been let down by many a game, but one game immediately springs to mind when I think of the word disappointment. I had such high hopes for this game, only to be let down. So, the award for Jessica’s Biggest Disappointment of 2012 goes to… Drum-roll please…The Secret World.

Meh.

Meh.

Dear The Secret World, you broke my heart. I wanted to love you, I really did, your concept, your art, your ideas were fantastic. I thought you would be the one to rope me into MMO’s Then I took you home… For those of you not familiar with The Secret World it is a MMO set in the real world, but with just one difference. Every conspiracy theory  or myth turns out to be true. Cool, right? Players are given a choice of 3 factions, the Illuminati, the Templars or the  Dragon. Personally I chose the Illuminati because hey with a faction tagline of “Sex, Drugs, and Rockefeller” Why the !@#$ would I pick anything else? And that’s where I stopped having fun.

Maybe it’s just me, but I cannot get used WASD controls. A PC gamer I am not, because if I was at least I wouldn’t spend 20 minutes running into walls or get lost trying to find my objective. Also for some reason the game decided that it couldn’t recognize my graphics card and although I have a pretty beefy card in my laptop, the game always defaulted to a low graphics setting, where I couldn’t read anything. Despite my floundering with the controls and necessary tweaking of the settings I bravely pressed on. Then it was boring. I don’t know why, but the story did not engage me. I found myself not caring if my character lived or died. The game was just boring. Needless to say I didn’t play it very long. Maybe if I had toughed it out I would have liked it more, but there is nothing worse then realizing that you just spent good money on something that is just not worth your time. I realize that now the game is free to play, which is should have been to begin with. Desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose.

Now let me lighten the mood a little bit. “Damn Jessica, you scary when you go on rants.” “Why thank you, Jessica.I take that as a compliment.” Yes I am talking to myself and no I don’t care that you are judging me right now. Any who, incoherent segues aside, my most surprising game of 2012 is Borderlands 2. Before I am assaulted with a resounding “WHAT?!”, let me explain. I normally do not play first-person shooters because of this, Borderlands (the original game) somehow flew under my usually impressive radar. So on a whim, I purchased Borderlands 2 knowing nothing of the game other than it was a cell shaded first-person shooter. Boy howdy was I  delighted with my “whim” of a purchase.

Only downside? Claptrap, shut your trap!

Only downside? Claptrap, shut your trap!

Not only is Borderlands 2 fun, the story engaging, and is just overall awesome but it managed to accomplish something that no other video game had done before. It got me to actually buy DLC for it. I have wanted to buy DLC for many games but this was the first game that I actually purchased DLC for. I just had to have the Mechromancer pack. There is nothing not cool about running around with a !@#$% giant robot named Deathtrap that just straight murders practically everything in his path. I LOVE IT. If you don’t have it get it. Like seriously. So yes, that sums up my most surprising game of the year.

Now ladies and gents for the highlight of this post the highest honor I can give to a game my pick for best game of 2012.  And that the most exemplary game is Dance Central 3 for the Xbox 360. I do love me some movin’ and groovin’. Okay I you got me. I lied. I never have and most likely never will EVER play Dance Central 3 and no, I have not played the first two games of the series. Now I will tell you my actual pick for best game of 2012, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Yes, I know that came out in 2011, it’s because I am messing with you again. For realsies this time, my pick for best of 2012 is Persona 4: Golden on the PS Vita.

Golden for a reason.

Golden for a reason.

I love the Persona franchise and no joke this game is the reason why I bought a PS Vita. ‘Nuff Said.

-Jessica OUT *throws down microphone*

The Hits and Misses of 2012: Part 2 of 4

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Hey everybody, this is James B. Boss here to both wish you all a Happy Holidays and bring you my picks of 2012. This year has been an interesting run for a lot of video game titles and many of them were great hits, while some of them were either a gigantic blunders and some were just surprising or tragically unsung. I can go on about how the WHOLE year in gaming went but that would just be boring and it’s late, so without further delay, here are my picks.

I’ll start off with my blunder of the year because I hate ending things with a sour note. I would start by saying that Resident Evil is one of the best survival-horror franchises that I have ever played in my life and the one thing that I always wanted was a good Resident Evil game with multiplayer mechanics, so when I heard about Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, I was filled with joy and I reserved my copy right away, but when I finally got my hands on it and started playing it, I was greatly disappointed. The game’s story brings gamers back to the Raccoon City incident of Resident Evil 2 and 3 but the time the story is told through the eyes of the Umbrella corporation’s Spec Ops team. You can choose from one of six characters of the team to play as, and each character has their own unique set of skills that they can use to their advantage on the battlefield.

There's no way this can be anything but perfect... right?

There’s no way this can be anything but perfect… right?

This is all fine and dandy but once you start fighting the more advanced enemies, (or B.O.Ws) some of these abilities become kind of useless. I honestly found myself using the Cloaking, Super Armor, Incendiary Bullets and Painkiller abilities most of the time. Speaking of B.O.Ws, I would like to talk about the zombies, because majority of the time, they are the only enemies that you encounter. It’s not until later one that you encounter the more familiar threats like Hunters, Lickers and the American Spec Ops forces. The Lickers are annoying because they can strike from anywhere and walk on the wall, while Hunters are the biggest assholes in this game, as they have attacks that can knock you down and once that you’re down, they can just maul and camp until you’re dead. B.O.Ws aside though, the most frustrating thing about this game was the stability of online play. This game is home to some of the sloppiest matchmaking I’ve ever seen. When you look for a game by yourself it doesn’t take that long at all but when you are in a group of four people, it takes an eternity. I once went to the bathroom for five minutes and when I came back, my party and I were still in the process of looking for a lobby. There were also times when I entered a game and chose my character but would spawn with a duplicate of my character. So I either mastered the art of the secret shadow clone technique or it was a bug. Spoiler, it was a bug. In the end, while had some fun with this game, it was fairly short lived. Even with the downloadable content to play as the American Spec Ops team, it still was not enough for this game to stand out as a memorable title. Playing this game was like buying a big tub of Strawberry ice cream that looked delicious  but finally tasting it and getting a mouth full of Salmon sherbet.

Alright now for my surprise of the year and a surprise it is indeed. My surprise pick hails from the  Nintendo 3DS library and it’s name is Code of Princess. The game has a simple plot; You are a princess who takes a legendary sword that was handed down through the royal family to destroy the forces of evil. The game play is a pretty traditional 2D beat-em-up-in-the-spirit-of-Final Fight game. You can choose up to four different characters in story mode but more characters can be unlocked by playing through the game.

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Thankfully, this lends itself well to repeated playthroughs.

One of the most appealing features of the game is its Multiplayer mode. You can play up to four people wirelessly using the Nintendo 3Ds’s wireless function and play through either versus mode to beat each other up, or you can help one another in the games’ story mode. Code of Princess also has RPG elements that allow you to strengthen you characters but strangely, you can only use your powered up characters in Story mode. The only drawback that I can think of for this game, is that there is SOME lag when you play with others. This is game is quite fun and I am glad that I decided to buy this game on a whim, because if I didn’t, I would have missed out on a really good game.

OK! It’s time for my super-ultra-awesome pick of the year. My top game of the year is none other than a game that I reviewed earlier this year and absolutely gushed over: Transformers – Fall of Cybertron. I chose this game because everything about this completely satisfied me to the point where I was left speechless. I remember playing the prequel, War for Cybertron and remember it being a great gaming experience but I was left hungry for more. When I got wind of the sequel, the first thing that went through my mind was the question of which characters they going to put in the next game?

Hey cool, Optimus Prime and... wait, is that...

Hey cool, Optimus Prime and… wait, is that…

My first glance of the new roster of who they included was interesting to me but the one who got my attention as soon as I looked at the list was the Dinobot leader, Grimlock. This blew my mind when I because not only was I a Dinobot fan butI always wondered how they would portray his character, as in Transformers lore, he wasn’t an @$$-kicking cyber T-Rex until he got to planet Earth. When it came time for High Moon studios to show off gameplay footage for Grimlock, they pulled out all the stops. It was amazing to see him in dinosaur form on the planet Cybertron and seeing him slash and rip Decepticons to pieces. The Multiplayer feature in this game was also satisfying as well. Character customization was back and players were able to create their very own Transformers once again. On a personal note, since I reserved my copy of the game, I got to play as big rig Optimus Prime, which mad it even more awesome. Fall of Cybertron was the game that I was waiting for as a fanboy and as a gamer. It delivered on EVERYTHING it promised; A great story, improved online and offline game mechanics and a buffed character roster. It may have not been this year’s best game but in my book it is a title worthy of a gold medal.

– James B. Boss

The Hits and Misses of 2012: Part 1 of 4

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Hi everyone! Megan Highwind here to start off our review of 2012. So as to not have to go through every single title of the year we have narrowed it down to our favorite, least favorite or most disappointing and biggest surprise or sleeper hit of the year. Now, I am going to start off my part of this segment by saying that 2012 was a VERY slow year of gaming for me. There were titles toward the beginning of the year that I looked forward to and titles toward the end (which I am not actually going to be able to play until Christmas) which has therefore limited my year of gaming. However, I think the titles that I have chosen fit well into these categories so without further ado here are my personal best, most disappointing and surprising games of 2012!

 Best – Mass Effect 3

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Mass Effect 3, as most of the readers probably know, was the final entry into the Mass Effect saga that started on the Xbox in 2007 and ended on the PS3 and Xbox this year. While I must say that I did not get to play the first Mass Effect since I myself only own a PS3, I really enjoyed Mass Effect 2 and 3. I think one thing that Mass Effect 3 did a good job of portraying was a sense of urgency throughout. The world was finally being attacked from all sides and Shepard was put in charge of bringing together different groups that still hated each other even when things were looking bleakest. It starts with an attack on Earth and quickly grows into an assault of every planet in the relay system. Shepard’s decisions not only in this title, but in the past two titles, affect what is going to happen and who is going to have Shepard’s back in the final fight. Not only that, but collecting things like War Assets to increase the player’s Galactic Readiness rating is crucial. This is an important aspect to the gameplay when the enemies could easily wipe out Shepard’s entire fighting force if not well enough prepared. Basically, Shepard has to take charge and make everyone see that fighting with him, or her, is the only way to go.

The gameplay is more of the run and gun style that Mass Effect 2 had. The small differences are that Shepard is now able to jump over things easier (thankfully. I cannot tell you how much this bothered me in ME2) and do more rolling and diving and things of this nature. Another thing added to the gameplay is the multiplayer aspect. Bioware did a good job of taking the team aspect of the single player and bringing it in so that it is just as important in the multiplayer levels. Bringing in levels from the single player campaign, the multiplayer is a rewarding experience that allows players to buy bigger, better, and cooler weapons, characters, and powers throughout. The graphics and the soundtrack are on par if not slightly better than the last two titles, but without much difference to mention. The only real downsides I found with this title were the occasional frame rate issue that has affected past titles and the lack of side quests that delve into the characters lives like those of Mass Effect 2. I will say something about the ending of this title. A lot of people were upset that the ending did not give enough about what happened to Shepard and everyone else and that the scale was not good enough for going through three previous titles and putting so much time, effort, and emotion into these games. I would have to agree. The ending was disappointing. I wanted to not only see some big explosions but I wanted to know how they were going to rebuild the relays or what Shepard’s crew was going to do after everything was over, or something. Even when they patched in the new endings, I found myself wanting more. However, even though Mass Effect 3 may not be a perfect title, and the ending did not satisfy as much as I would have liked, it did a lot of things right and that is why it is my favorite title of 2012 and a fitting way to end an amazing trilogy.

 Most Disappointing –  Final Fantasy XIII-2

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 So, I will start this off by saying that I actually did enjoy Final Fantasy XIII-2. I gave it a 12/15, but since I did not play a whole lot, if I had to pick a game that disappointed me most it would be this one. I think it was improvement on XIII in pretty much every way. The graphics were slightly better, which makes sense since the game came out a few years after its predecessor, and the music was fantastic. The gameplay was also much better. The inclusion of the third character being a monster that Serah and Noel had to capture in order to use in their party was an interesting choice and gave the game an interesting spin since the monster had different abilites and strengths. I also found myself quite enveloped by the story by the end of the game. However, while I did enjoy the storyline to an extent and I thought the developers tried to make it as compelling as possible, I was never 100% drawn into the world and the characters like I was with say a Mass Effect game or an Uncharted title. In my original review, I stated that the story never left me feeling like I was ready for it to be over before the end of the game came around. While this is true, I still never felt the emotional connection that I have with other titles from this year and years past. I always just wanted that one big push that made me care fully about what happened to this world and its characters. Another thing that drove me crazy was one particular anomaly. The ridiculously frustrating and annoying clock puzzle that was added easily took me out of the story and made me want to turn off the game and maybe come back later. It was insanely difficult to figure out what moves to make to solve this puzzle and it easily ate up an hour trying to get through all of them in one area. Basically, while I did enjoy the overall feel that Final Fantasy XIII-2 had to it, I do wish that the storyline could have grabbed me a bit more and that the clock puzzle would have never been invented.

Surprisingly Fun/Sleeper Hit –  The Simpsons: Tapped Out

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So to start, this is a mobile title. I know that we have not done a lot of reviews or news about mobile titles in the past but this was one that I have been addicted to since it came out earlier this year and has become my sleeper hit of 2012. Tapped Out takes all of the characters that have become well-known from The Simpsons tv show and made them into a collect coins, build things, and repeat game. However, there are things about this particular title that have made it more interesting to me than previous ones that have used the same concept. First off, anyone who likes the Simpsons will probably like this game. It starts off with Homer eating donuts in the nuclear plant while playing on his Ipad and ends up that the whole of Springfield is destroyed and it is up to Homer and the other players that come along the way to rebuild the town. Basically, when the player builds a building it will give them coins, and sometimes a new character, and with those coins other buildings can be constructed which bring back more characters. The idea is to eventually rebuild all of Springfield and bring back everyone that has been lost. Now, this may sound like it gets old fairly quick, but it has not gotten there for me yet. There are random times where the player gets a scene that looks like it could be from the show and these are entertaining little tidbits that break things up a bit. Since it is Christmas time, the game was just updated so that there is snow everywhere and if the player collects specific Christmas coins by having the characters do Christmas themed things, the player can put lights on their houses, and  even build Christmas specific buildings. Now, I am not saying that is the greatest game to come out this year. It is actually far from it. There really is not much storyline besides trying to rebuild Springfield and having characters do the same certain tasks everyday, but this is a fun free game that is worth playing while having free time at work or being on the go. There are just enough little variations sprinkled throughout that game is not exactly the same for too long to get boring.

Plus, who doesn’t love Homer Simpson?

– Megan Highwind has left the party.

Gaming News – Street Fighter x Megaman announced

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Capcom announced at the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Grand Finals in San Francisco, CA today that on December 17, 2012, to commemorate the 25th Anniversaries of both the Street Fighter and Megaman franchises, they will be releasing for Street Fighter x Megaman for PC download at the extremely affordable price of “Free”.

The game is a crossover that is done in the retro 8-bit style of the Megaman games of the past, as well as the more recent MM9 and MM10, except that instead of the usual robot masters the Blue Bomber usually faces, he’ll be squaring off with 8-bit renditions of favorites from the Street Fighter universe like Chun-Li, Dhalsim, Rose and of course, Ryu. In true style, Megaman will acquire the powers of his fallen enemies and use them to tackle the next combatant that stands in his way. Additionally, this is a fan-collaborated game and features an amazing mash-up soundtrack by A_Rival.

Source > Brelston’s Blog

Wow. What an amazing way to close out the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Celebration and bring in the Megaman 25th Anniversary Celebration. I can’t wait for this game on a personal note, it shows that Capcom hasn’t completely given up on the Blue Bomber just yet and maybe has some great surprises in store for fans!

- Evo out.