Gears of War 2

This JUST in from Cliff Bleszinski´s twitter (@therealcliffyb). His top 10 games of all time. Something I´ve been waiting for since.. I dont even know when. Huge deal.  
Find the list here !  
Alot of shockers for me here since I pretty much thought I had his top 10 nailed down years ago. But appearantly I don´t know the man quite as well as I thought. Very interesting choices overall. I really like his motivations for Link to the past and Doom in particular: "Because no other game has ever captured the magic of a childhood spent roaming in the woods quite like Zelda." and "Because I was a Marine going against the legions of Hell and it invented Deathmatch and birthed a genre. " for Doom. He nailed it! Spot on.
 
And here´s the quick version for you lazy kids out there that dont want to read his motivations for each one:
 
 
10. Golden Eye / Halo 
9. Contra 
8. Grand Theft Auto III 
7. Tetris Attack / Pokémon Puzzle League 
6. Legend of Zelda - A Link to the past 
5. Super Metroid 
4. BioShock 
3. Super Bomberman 
2. Doom 
1. Half-Life 2 
 
I guess I wouldnt take Cliff for a Half-Life 2 man and I would never ever ever put HL2 in front of Doom in such a list. And where is Mario? For as much praise that Cliff has given Miyamoto over the years one would think SMB or SMB3/World would be in there but hey, I respect the man´s opinion.

  


 

To commemorate the first year anniversary of the release of the frankly brilliant Gears Of War 2, Epic have got together with Xbox Live to host a 10 day event packed with loads of goodies and special modes...guaranteed to nail you those tough achievements that so far have been eluding the grasp of your clammy and blood-stained hands!

The event runs from Friday November 6th (last Friday) to a week on Monday (November 16th)...that is 10 days of chainsaw-duelling awesomeness and will have the following modifications:

> Triple experience (!!!) for all game types.

> All games will be in the new Tactical mode. Tactical scenarios feature increased weapon damage, decreased ammunition, and longer bleed-outs.

> A separate playlist with every game type listed, allowing you to choose a specific game types.

> Public horde will now be set to the Hardcore difficulty.

So now there's no excuse for teaming up with all your buddies and fragging the hell out of wave after wave of bad guys for those ever-illusive gamer points and push on to rank 100!

I only found out about this today, so will be nailing it for the remainder of the event. I could probably do with the help so please free to add me as friend on Xbox Live (Gamertag is Latrelus), spam with me invites, pop your headset on and we'll have a good ol' chinwag about carving up the opposition. Also, you can check out the Gaming Sessions on TrueAchievements to see who is boosting what and when.

Good luck, and I'll see you out there!

I´m just randomly going to spill some thoughts on this game now that it is finished. I want to bring up points that might not be the overall opinion and as such I´m prepared for flaming. This is also why I have chosen to not write a review on the game. The only thing it would bring me is a lower recommendation ratio on my reviews. Its sad that it works that way but thats how it is.   
This text will probably sound pretty negative but thats because these are the points I want to bring up. Uncharted 2 is a fantastic game and a game I will probably play through again but me sitting here squirting awesome-sauce on the screen would not make for an interesting text.
 
For me the game is all about the production values. They are so insanely through the roof that they become the best part of the game. The overall presentation is quite mindblowing at spots. Its also all about the great characters and the interaction between them. Sound quality is also way up from the first game with much better SOUNDING weapons unlike the pea shooters in U1.

Its great to see these fantastic locations that all feel very dynamic and lively. Environments in general might actually be..yes.. THE best looking ever. On the other hand this is a very easy thing to say when you get your hands on a good looking, hyped up AAA release. If I were to instantly go back and compare to something like Gears of War 2 the difference might not be that mindblowing. Better,yes, but not mindblowing. With lighting and weathereffects seen in few other games though history tho, I always wanted to see the next locale and the next cutscene. Theres also some very intense cinematic moments stuffed in there that isnt as heavy on gameplay and that are scripted in such a way that you think you are going to die but you manage to get out of it in the last second. Its a great trick that brings the rollercoaster-value up even higher.  But all these things also hide the flaws very well.
 

Underneath this surface is a game that I still can´t enjoy to its fullest. Naughty-Dog have improved alot over U1 but man, they have ways to go before they can be counted amongst action titans such as Epic Games.  
I found myself often thinking about Gears of War 2 when playing U2. When I was thrown into another arena based battle I couldnt help but think about how much more well paced and designed they feel in a game like Gears 2. The flow of combat still feels a bit off in Uncharted. I can´t really put my finger on it but they feel a bit to chaotic and I often find myself dying from stuff I didnt even know were there. 
A.I behaviours might be smart (except when they throw grenades on themselves over and over) but I dont think they are FUN. The smartest A.I arent always the most fun to fight and considering what you go through over the course of the game I wouldnt blame them for making it even more unrealistic. 
I think I prefer third person shooting in a bit more structured form than in U2. It dosent have to be corridors, it just have to feel a bit less random both in arenadesign and enemybehaviours. 
I´m going to guess that many people playing through Uncharted 2 havent played Gears of War 2 and with that they lose a bit of perspective. I think that the Single Player campaign of Gears 2 is very comparable in terms of cinematic quality, rollercoaster moments and epic scenes. But without the frustration of the combat. 
You also die way to quickly on Normal in U2. You constantly have to be on the move to be more random than the A.I but in doing so you die all the time from trying to run from one point of cover to the next. Sometimes just sticking your head up will get you killed from something way past your line of sight. I constantly feel lucky when surviving a long encounter and thats not how I want to feel when playing a game through on Normal.
Its a bit sloppy and since Epic Games pretty much brought this style of combat into the current generation they also created the bar for it. Sadly it was very high even at Gears 1.  
 
Leveldesign is also very confusing at times. This was a problem I had in U1 and its still there. In several spots I find myself just having to wait for the hint button to

appear just so I can see where I´m supposed to go. The flow of the gameplay is broken up by this confusion and combined with the battles it ends up being a bit too exhausing on my mind. Part of it is because of the detailed environments but part of it is also failure in the leveldesign.  
A bit of a smaller thing that also was a thorn in my side was the whole weapong thing. There are so many weapons in the game..sooo many and they always get dropped ALL over the place. This often results in confusion in the heat of the battle. You need a new weapon so you go to pick it up only to find that there are so many things cluttered on the ground around the weapon you want that you end up either dead or with the wrong gun in your hand. This means you have to take cover again with the wrong weapon and then run up there again to start cycling through dropping your weapons with triangle until you get what you want. This is still annoying after a battle when you run around the area looking for ammo. Before you know it you have thrown your equipped weapon instead of picking up more ammo for it. Drives me up a wall !
There´s also alot of nitpicking to be done here on stuff like Drake jumping to his death even tho I clearly wasnt jumping that way and glitching the cover just enough to fall over a ledge. But stuff like that and stuff like choppy animations in certain situations arent really things that get in the way of the game. 
 

The thing is tho that Naughty-Dog succeeded so well in the presentation of the game that I am willing to put up with all this to see it through. The atmosphere, enviroments, characters and dialogue are so very well produced that one can´t help but fall in love with the game. Alot of work has been put into pacing in both gameplay and enviroments to create a very caried campaign that feels like a grand adventure by the time you are done. 
This game have some of the best voiceacting, character interactions, graphics, sound and pure rollercoaster feeling of the year and thats why its good. Its not because of combat or traversal. Its because of the cinematic quality of the experience. Because man, there are so many WOW-moments in this game where you cant believe you just did that. 
That is why you need to play through the game. The gameplay isnt all bad but that is not the reason I´ll play this game through again before the year it over. 
 
With that said I welcome any and all discussion on the subject. If you can argue against me in an adult manner I will welcome you and listen to what you have to say. Because that is fun. Mature discussion over a game is something very satisfying. On the other hand, if you are reading this and feeling uncontrollable anger I recommend that you just leave. I am not claiming to be right on any of this (hell I am willing to accept that I´m just mentally unable to enjoy the style of combat that this game offers), its just my perspective and I feel I really, more than ever, need to make this clear here.

Already at Number 14 and its Uncharted 2!
 
Wow! This game is amazing! Everything is top notch!  Traversal, hand to hand combat and shooting were all improved!
 
Got the game early (Pre-Order) and I was able to finish the game (on hard difficulty) in two huge sessions. If you have a PS3, you got to have this game!
 
As a pre-order bonus, I was given codes to unlock golden weapons for online multi-player. I played a few online deathmatches but I enjoy more with the game's 'survival mode'.  Its something like the 'Horde Mode' or the 'Survival Mode' in Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead respectively.
 
I want to keep this short because I need to play more 'survival mode'!
 
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the PS3 game of the year for me!
 
P.S: I was able to pre-order the Prestige Edition for Modern Warfare 2! I can't wait  to get my hands on my night vision goggles!

 

Hey guys. Long time no blog. Thought I'd let you know what's been happening with yours truly these past couple of weeks.

I've acquired a couple of games this past month. NHL 10 is, without a doubt, my favorite amongst these. Yes, I enjoy it even more than The Beatles: Rock Band. Surprising? Not quite. After I went through the Story mode and played some online with a couple of friends, the game got really old, really fast. I think the very limited track list (only 45 songs, plus All You Need Is Love that I downloaded) is to blame here. Now, I'm not saying the game is horrible, absolutely not. It's just very... limited for now. However, that's soon to change with the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as DLC in October, Rubber Soul in November, and Abbey Road in December. I guess it's a long-term love affair.

Back to NHL 10. The game is just freaking incredible. The one thing that stands out in this year's edition for me, aside from the subtle gameplay tweeks, board play and GM Mode, is the ambiance. The guys at EA Sports have done an incredible job recreating it. You actually feel like you're taking part in a good ol' hockey game, with fans bouncing out of their seats when the home team scores a goal, people banging on the glass when there's a big hit along the boards, the "oohs" and "aahs" when there's a great save or when a player hits the goal post. That's what makes this game so lifelike and spectacular this year. Once again, kudos to EA for another outstanding job.

I've also played some Halo 3: ODST. I completed the game on normal difficulty, by myself. I have to say that Bungie did a great job with this game. Once again, it's all about atmosphere. I loved the parts when I was playing as The Rookie, wandering alone in the dark streets of New Mombasa, trying to avoid (as much as possible) enemy platoons. The music blew my mind as well, such an immersive and profound score by Martin O'Donnell. As for when you get to play as other ODST, I didn't find those situations to be all that great. Yeah, they're fun to go through, but there's not a whole lot of meat on the bone here. I would have rather played as The Rookie the entire way through. Nonetheless, it's still a pretty good game and I'm always up for some Firefight or going through the campaign in co-op on Legendary.

Other games I've been playing include Lips, which is a surprisingly good game. The track list is quite good, and the fact that you can import songs directly from your PC or portable music device (ie iPod) into the game is very clever. There is a lot of potential behind this game, and I hope it gets pushed farther in future iterations. I've also completed Saints Row 2 for a second time, but this time around, I was playing co-op with Mr. Tony Smith. It was good fun, until the game started glitching out like crazy on us. It wasn't uncommon that my character would get stuck in vehicles or in a surface. That kind of took away from the enjoyment of the game. Mr. Smith and myself have now partaken in another co-op adventure. This time around, we're trying to go through Gears of War 2 on Insane (him) and Hardcore (me). We'll see where that leads us.

In conclusion, it looks like October is going to be another big month for video games. The ones I'm most definitely getting are DJ Hero, Brutal Legend, Borderlands and Forza 3. My poor wallet will hate me. Which games are you guys picking up next month?

Until next time, thank you for reading and have a safe, happy October.

 

Are you prepared to drop into a brand new episode? I hope you are, cause this week we start talking about Halo 3: ODST. Jason talks about Game Crazy for the last time and gets mad at Activision for not giving him his favorite character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Steven finally plays a good movie tie in game this week in the form of Quantum of Solace and goes crashing back into Paradise City in Burnout Paradise. Plus we give you the top news stories of the week and talk about the NPDs for August. So, tune in and get set for a combat drop.

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I finally broke 40K. And the game I did it whit was actually Gears Of War 2. I finally got around to finnishing the campain. I played up to the second to last chapter when it came out and after that been playing online agains my friends now and then and totally forgot about the campain. Well, its good to get that out of the way now that NHL 10 and Halo 3: ODST comes out.
 
To celebrate, A burger.

Before you erupt into prepubescent giggles, this isn't another blog about Sweep getting drunk. If that's what you were looking for then I advise you to come back on Sunday. 
 

Videogames are, largely for myself, a solo endeavour.

 I will participate in internet shenanigans, but the general gist of the occasion is me sitting in my room by myself. Depressing as that may initially sound, I would assume that for a lot of the people here the case is extremely similar, if not identical. Exploratory videogame surgery is best performed alone, a secondary influence considered corruptive and distracting. How can you make completely honest moral decisions with the real-life equivalent of Vinny sitting next to you and urging you to shoot your team-mate in the head.

I have fond memories of playing through resident Evil 4 with my brother riding shotgun, offering advice and sharing my fear and enthusiasm for every nightmarish punk that popped up with a chainsaw. Super Smash Bro's remains one of the best Multiplayer experiences around, even with one controller. The game is broken up into lots of bite-size chunks that make tag-teaming especially effective - particularly the event matches. Rewarding the entire group with unlockable characters which could then be used in multiplayer matches was, I though, a nice touch. Super Monkey Ball was another game that generated hours of slow-paced competition as we passed a single controller back and forth while attempting to land our bizarre flying monkey-ball on a target in the middle of a seemingly endless ocean.

I have a decent collection of games. I own pretty much every game of the year contender for 2008 and a fair few from 2009 as well. So why, when pressed to produce a 360 game that could be shared by 3 others, did I come up short - resorting to 2 hours of Castle Crashers and empty 4 player Halo 3 local Slayer.

One of my many lamentations with the gaming world is how difficult it is to share your experiences with other people unless they too have played the game. The typically single-player stereotype has been intensified to a level where empathy with the protagonist can only be truly experienced from the direct perspective of the player. Anyone else in the room can safely be classified as indirect - and therefore less interested or enthusiastic. This is why the bored chump who you have been given the job of entertaining will often encourage you to break from the typical flow of the game. I find it especially trying when people try to instruct me to skip cut-scenes I haven’t seen before. My patience wanes, and I end up playing an alternative - less enjoyable but more socially acceptable - game.

A large chunk stems from social insecurity.

 Just as we don’t like to cry in a sad film, we don’t like to be seen getting too emotionally involved in a videogame. I played through Gears Of War 2 with Oni and, whilst this is not the most meaningful of games, there are moments of sobriety where I felt impulsively depressed. As a result of playing co-op I found myself dismissing these emotions so we could return to the entertaining run-and-gun/chainsaw action. It worked out fine - as I mentioned, Gears 2 isn't going to win any awards for screenplay. However playing something like Grand Theft Auto 4 in a similar manner would have destroyed the experience for me, and perhaps this is why there is no co-op in Grand Theft Auto 4.

A great example would be the Giantbomb Quick-Looks.

 Great as they may be, there is no depth to these quick-looks at all. The purpose of a Quick Look is to provide a shallow glance at the potential the game has and the mechanics it employs. For the purpose of a preview this works fine, but this is often not the way the game has been designed to be played. As games become increasingly narrative focussed and, more importantly, as developers gain greater insight as to how to direct the flow of gameplay in an emphatic or cinematic style, they do so at the proposed notion that this experience has been tailored, and will be assigned to, a single player.

Thus, we have the purpose of Giantbomb, of the internet. A place for people to congregate and share views and opinions on topics that are contextually unimportant to the rest of the people in their lives. My friends play computer games, sure, but they have no interest in discussing the sharp character design of Nico Bellic, or how the atmosphere in Portal has been manipulated expertly to heighten the tension and encourage progressive realisations as to the context in which you operate.

I miss being able to share the good times with my friends, but at the same time I don’t know if I would be prepared to sacrifice the advances made in game design in order to do so. For the time being it seems the only way to really enjoy these games is to be the only one in the driving seat.
 

Woah, this is my first real blog for a while now :D

Thanks For Reading
Love Sweep