Backlog: Bad Company Edition

By angularbanjo March 8, 2010 1 Comments

Last week I bought Bad Company 2. I took it home, put it on the shelf and started playing through Bad Company 1. It had its problems, mainly with save points and the weird semi-persistence of the world, but it was an awesome shooter experience and a breath of fresh air after all the MW2 I've been playing. So now, I guess, the time has come for another Bad Company experience, and along with that, I have three other games I've bought but not yet sunk my teeth into. 
 

Game 1: X-Men Origins Wolverine 

 
BEFORE: I hear the movie sucks. For the game, I really don't know what to expect. I've played some of the God of War games, a little bit of Darksiders and Heavenly Sword, but I'm not really into these character action games in a big way. I guess I'm expecting satisfying, gory combat. Also, apparently, this is the Uncaged Edition. Was there ever a caged edition?
 
AFTER: I'm a little surprised at liking this. You can totally tell where they've had to cut corners to make the release date, which is a shame, because the base game is very satisfying. The lack of polish gives Wolverine an early-gen feel, at least presentation-wise, but the combat is this satisfying, who cares? I mean, lunge chaining. Come on. The first achievement popped 17 minutes in, I stuck around for the first boss.
 

Game 2: The Darkness 

 
BEFORE: Picked this one up really cheap recently. I've had it on my radar for some time, and the price got me down off the fence. I'm not huge on dark and brooding stuff, but I've heard there's supposed to be enough here to warrant a playthrough, at least on a level of game literacy. 
 
AFTER: There's something to this. It looks very good for a 2007 release, and the audio is very well done. I love Mike Patton's Darkness voice work, and the immersion factor that Starbreeze seem to put into all their games is stellar. I will be playing more of this. It took 10 minutes to get an achievement for pulling of an execution move, and roughly 15 more minutes to finish the first level. 
 

Game 3: Bayonetta

 
BEFORE: This might actually be sort of cheating. I've played the demo, and I've watched my brother play the first hour or so, so I guess the crazy Japaneseness of it won't hit me in the gut like it did the first time I saw it. Still, this'll be the first time I've actually played it myself. 
 
AFTER: I was wrong. The weird combination of gratuitous crotch and ass shots and western-world stereotypes set to a soundtrack of J-Pop elevator jazz still freaks me out a little. The combat is rock solid, though. Got my first achievement after 25 minutes for randomly jumping on an enemy and killing him. If I can only get over the excentricities, I'll finish this one day. 
 

Game 4: Battlefield Bad Company 2 

 
BEFORE: After finishing the first Bad Company, and, surprisingly, spending quite a bit of time with the multiplayer, I'm totally stoked for the sequel. Bring it on. 
 
AFTER: Now that's how you make a sequel. The guns feel and sound better, the enemy AI has been worked on, sprinting feels faster, and the overall control scheme is closer to Modern Warfare. Solid stuff. I made it through the prologue in 20 minutes for the first achievement. Can't write more, must get back to playing the game.

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