Having just completed Bionic Commando and Fallout 3's The Pitt, I was left wanting by both.
First off, Bionic Commando doesn't end. The game ends, but the story certainly doesn't, and I don't mean that in a cliffhanger sort of way, it just cuts off right in the middle, pretty much. The game introduces a mysterious character towards the end who vanishes and never shows up again, and makes a bizarre plot twist that is both crazy and kind of stupid, but then is never fully explained. And then, after an uncharacteristically God of War-like moment, it just ends. It left me sitting there, going "What the shit?"
I was pretty disappointed with Bionic Commando overal. It has the perfect mechanics for a game with a lot of exploration, but instead it's linear to a fault. Even veering
It is a pretty game, I'll give it that.slightly off the path the developers intended you to go can and will often result in a swift death. The radiation excuse is incredibly lame, and often irradiated areas don't even have the telltale blue glow. It's bizarrely punishing, and frustrating that they chose to go that route. It feels dated, a feeling that's exacerbated by the frequent load times, making the game appear even more fragmented and linear. Not every game needs to be open-world, but a little bit of freedom to mess around with the swinging mechanics would've made it a lot more entertaining. On the plus side, when the game hits its stride it can be pretty fun to take guys down with your arm in various ways. It does give you a bit of freedom in that regard, at least. Also I really like the environment art. I'd give it a 3/5 if I could be arsed to write a review.
So I played The Pitt. I know, late to the party, etc. I started playing it proper today, and finished it in about two hours. That's pretty quick. Now I know I am usually faster at games than the average person, but it still seemed a little rapido. Also, one of the two paths you can take is much shorter than the other, as I found out when I reloaded my save to check out both options. In short, one option has a LOT more combat and is longer and more challenging, and the other is fairly easy and ends faster. It's bizarre, then, that the rewards for both paths are identical, contrary to most quests of Fallout 3. The moral choice is more interesting, because it's kind of a Witcher-like gray area - damned if you do, damned if you don't. But since I know the consequences of my decision affect nothing outside of the Pitt, I ended up going with the path that gave me more experience points, even though I preferred the other option. But morals in games are a topic for another day, and have already been discussed to death (and well!) by fellow, much-more-frequent-blogger Sweep.
Thanks for reading! I plan to start blogging a lot more, and I also still have Demon's Souls on the mind, which you people need to know about... comment below :) 2 Comments
Day 2 has come and gone, and it was notable mostly because I actually talked to Jeff and Brad a little bit. Which is totally weird, being such a longtime 'follower' of these guys since the days of that website that shall not be named. I mean, it's no exaggeration to say that what these guys are doing is one of the biggest reasons I want to get into games journalism. So that was very cool. Here are some pictures I took.
Look, it's Drew, Jeff and Alex! Truly, we live in the age of Ryan singing the BeatlesSadly I forgot to take a picture of Bradley Shoemaker, and I didn't see Vinnie anywhere. Poor guy was probably abandoned in the hotel to edit some videos. Other people I've seen over the course of E3: Young Clifford B, right after the MS Press Briefing, walking down the street. Tomonobu Itagaki, after the show floor closed. Hayden Blackman (I think), director of the Force Unleashed. And of course various game directors and producers doing demonstrations, like Mass Effect 2's director, Forza 3's director, and many more. Tomorrow I'm gonna try to corner Sam Lake to shower him with praise, because Max Payne 2 is the finest video game story every written.
Alright, games I played/saw today:
The Beatles, Colon: Rock Band
This was my first stop, and where I met Jeff and co. After a gameplay demonstration by the Harmonix house band (not an actual 'house' band), we got some hands-on time with this. Played some drums. I'm not a huge Beatles guy, but the attention to detail is very impressive. They are going to great lengths to ensure everything is accurate and faithful. Probably a real treat for Beatles fans. But other than the presentation, it's totally still Rock Band.
Splinter Cell: Conviction, starring Brian Ekberg
A hand-off demo only, but we were talked through the demo by the game's associate producer/director (I forget which). Mostly the same stuff as in the MS press briefing demo, but he went a little more in-depth in the game's mechanics, like the last known position, which is where enemies will start looking when Sam disappears, and the quick executions, Jack Bauer-like instant kill moves that you have to earn by performing stealth kills. I'm loving the presentation on this, the way story elements and objectives are integrated into the background is really nice. It looks like it's going to bring some Hollywood sensibilities of flash to the stealth genre. It's definitely very 24/Bourne style.
Forza 3
Not a big driving game guy, but if you are, this looks like the game for you. The attention to detail in this game is insane, and the passion of the developers shines through. It's very customizable in terms of difficulty, making even a total beginner like me look competent with stuff like driving lines and brake assists. It runs at 60 frames per seconds and looks pretty great.
Demon's Souls
This little-known PS3-only gem from Atlus is one to watch for sure. It's an action RPG that's got a hardcore edge to it. The action isn't quick and flashy, but more deliberately paced and timing-based. You have to parry, dodge or block enemy attacks and time your attacks carefully. Enemies killed grant souls you use to level up, and if you die, the souls you collected will be dropped where you died. Then you'll enter spirit form, and you're given a chance to reclaim your body and the souls. If you die again, you lose those souls permanently. And you WILL die. A lot. But you learn from it and you get better. There's also a REALLY cool system in place where online players can actually write hints on the ground, like "Watch out for a trap ahead" or "Use fire on the next enemy" or "Attack from behind". Also, you can see online players as white ghosts in your world, and when you see a bloodstain on the ground you can click on it and see how other players died. This game is already out in Asia and is in full English, and PS3 games are region free, so you can import it, but it's coming out later this year. I actually already imported this game but hadn't played it yet, and now I can't wait to get back home and play this. Awesome game.
DC Universe Online
This MMO set in the Marvel Universe is pretty action-packed. Combat is entirely real-time, with your skills being on a timer, so it has a pretty actiony feel to it. I didn't play too much of this but it seems interesting enough to warrant a look.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Another hands-off only, unfortunately. It basically looks pretty similar to the last game but better, with more destructable environments, more varied and organic level designs and awesome fusion moves where 2 superheros team up to unleash some destruction. Again, it's a bit like a brawler with RPG elements, like leveling up and increasing your powers' strength and equiping passive bonuses. Also very interested to see how they adapted the Civil War storyline, which is awesome in the comics, in the game.
That's it for today. Unfortunately, I cannot get in to see Assassin's Creed 2, as I talked to the Dutch Ubi PR guy and they are just fully booked, so that's out. Tomorrow I'm gonna try and play ODST, which is pretty popular, for some reason, and Left 4 Dead 2 (same deal). I really wanna play God of War 3 as well but the lines are ginormous as there are only about 6-8 demo pods for it.
It's pretty awesome. Today was the first day, and I've already seen a bunch of awesome stuff. Also it's basically everything you probably expect it to be: noisy, busy, and huge. I only saw half of the stuff today, and there was still so much I didn't get to play. Wait times in general weren't as bad as I expected though, except for obvious stuff like ODST (which I didn't see yet). Here's what I did see/play:
Brutal Legend.
Kind of underwhelming. It was hard to hear the dialogue, what with it being so noisy and all, and I bet that game really relies on its charms. Also, it was pretty much the very beginning of the game, as you're just getting your weapons and abilities, so it didn't feature any of the open world stuff or minion control. As such, there was only some basic hack n slash action, which was alright, but nothing you haven't played before. And also the driving, which felt pretty smooth. Will have to see more.
Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Here's a picture of the batmobile at the AA stand. Everything I wanted it to be. You feel like Batman as you're sneaking around and taking fools down silently or not so silently. They nailed the look, in my opinion, it's gritty and mature. Also Kevin fucking Conroy and Mark fucking Hammill. Only wish the demo was a bit longer. It contained the first 15-20 minutes of the game and a few challenge rooms. My personal favorite of the games I've actually played so far.
Lego Rock Band.
It's Rock Band. With Lego characters. Seriously.
Dead to Rights: Reckoning (?)
This one took me by surprise. First off, it looks really good. Very impressed by the graphics. Second, it's a pretty satisfying action game. Shooting fools results in slow motion close-ups, and you can pull off some nice melee moves. Also your dog's kills are pretty vicious. I only felt that aiming and shooting was too twitchy, it was actually hard to hit guys and they're not shy about rushing at you with some melee moves. Probably better than the prequels.
Dragon Age: Origins
I know a lot of people are pretty hyped about this one. I saw a presentation on it and got to play it afterwards. The story looks pretty good, but like what you'd expect from Bioware: Building relationships with your homies, romances, all that. Combat.. eh. I played it on the 360. Special abilities are mapped to the face buttons, and you can switch between 2 presets by using a trigger, and A just does a regular attack. Combat didn't do much for me personally. I was never a Baldur's Gate guy. It also just feels a little weird playing a game like that on 360. If you like traditional PC RPGs and Bioware games, odds are very good you're going to like this. Everyone else, try it out for yourself if/when a demo comes out.
Mass Effect 2.
Only got to see this, they didn't let anyone play it. It looked goddamn amazing. Best graphics on the 360, probably. The cut scenes are even better than before, and this time the dialogue is integrated seamlessly into them. There are even little moments where you can occasionally react to unexpected stuff in a cut scene by pressing the left trigger. It's like a quick time event, except you don't fail if you don't do them, totally optional. They also showed how it is a darker, more cinematic game. The cut scene they showed was a total spoiler, so I'm not going to tell you here, but suffice it to say it was a pretty dramatic event. They also said that it's totally possible to not survive the game, and not in a "Game Over" kind of way, but in a "your Commander Shepard totally fucking dies" kind of way. So you could screw yourself if you wanna take your Shepard into ME3. Also, they confirmed that all the choices you made in ME1 will totally carry over into part 2 if you transfer your save. The gameplay also looked much tighter, with guns that are more accurate, with skills only influencing your special powers and abilities. You can also give orders to your squad mates. Really excited for this game now.
Dante's Inferno.
Last game I checked out in detail. Again, only shown being played by a developer. Graphically and stylistically, I love how the game looks. They had Guillermo del Toro's artist design the monsters, and it shows. The environments also look very... Hellish. Which is appropriate. Loved the look. The gameplay was totally God of War, but with a scythe. Quick time events were of course in ample supply. Bosses were suitably big and mean-looking. Also, you get to ride around on the backs/heads of big-ass monsters. Seems like a game worth playing for genre fans because of the high production values and cool setting, even if the gameplay is pretty derivative.
So that's it. Tomorrow I'm gonna check out a whole bunch of other stuff. I'm going to try and get into presentations of Assassin's Creed 2, which is apparently hard, The Beatles Rock Band, which is also hard to get into, and Final Fantasy XIII, which is probably the hardest to get into. Also stuff by Activision, THQ and whatever else wasn't in the South Hall.
It's been a while since I've read the book, but I liked it well enough. It dragged in a few spots, but it was pretty much a panel-for-panel recreation, with a few ommissions and fewer changes. The actors were mostly well-cast, except I didn't like Ozymandias. Accent felt off, and I felt he should've been more muscly. He looks a bit wimpy, really. Man, Laurie (Silk Spectre II) is a fox, really gorgeous woman.
I liked it. It's not gonna blow your mind, but I had low expectations, and I like me some brawlers. Check out my review here.
I made my first guide, for Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.
I forgot to mention this, but I knocked out an Achievement guide for the UGC. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, as I had gotten all the achievements myself in one day, and figured I could help Giant Bomb out with a guide, as there wasn't one. If you want to do me solid, head on over to it and rate it! It's gotten a bunch of views, but not ratings yet.
I'm writing reviews for a Dutch XBOX website now (www.xbw.nl), and they sent me this atrocity. Good lord, it's the worst game I've played this console generation. Whatever you do, do not play this. Not even for ironic lulz. It will make you want to kill yourself.
I finished the Dawn of War II campaign the other day. I loved it, it's a great game, I might write a review later. But the achievements for beating the campaign didn't unlock. Quite annoying. Then yesterday, I downloaded (and completed) the new Prince of Persia Epilogue DLC, which should've gotten me 150 points, but the new achievements haven't been added to www.xbox.com yet, so they don't actually show up on my gamercard. Great. So that's kind of a bummer.
Speaking of which...
The new DLC for PoP is kind of disappointing. It's pretty short (I obtained the achievement for completing it in two hours without even trying, or indeed knowing about it, as it's Secret), and boy, let me tell you, they weren't kidding when they said they were going to make it more challenging. In fact, it's really just more frustrating. A lot of time will be spent watching for the patterns of the black, lethal blobs on the walls, figuring out when to go, and the gaps between actually being on solid ground are much longer. The pacing is just kinda off, and sometimes the camera is hideously unhelpful in pointing out where you should be going. The fights are also a yawnfest, as the "new" enemy is just a shapeshifter who is either The Warrior or The Hunter, and every time you have to lure The Warrior to the edge so you can get him to transform into The Hunter, whereupon you can actually hurt him. It's needlessly laborious and the same fight is repeated several times. You also fight Elika's dad, who I thought was dead, a bunch of times. They also don't do a great job of explaining the ending. Elika is pissed, of course, but The Prince pretends like he did it for good reasons, whereas he really did it for selfish reasons, but he still can't bring himself to say he cares for, or indeed loves, Elika. It ends on another cliffhanger that does nothing to resolve the actual plot.
So there you go. Thanks for reading, comment below!
That's right, European dating conventions, that's how I roll, being European and all.
I felt like I needed to write something but couldn't be bothered to write a review. I've been playing a lot of Fable 2, again, getting the last achievements out of that game. I enjoyed the Knothole Island expansion.
Look familiar?The quest itself was so-so, but the stuff you can get on the island is pretty cool and useful. There are some nice weapons and cool aesthetic things for your Hero, like a knight's armor, a leather biker suit, a guitar that is a weapon (really) and Master Chief's gun. I disliked the reliance on the magical switches in the temples. You have to be very quick to hit them or they go back and you have to repeat the sequence, and sometimes there just isn't enough time to get to them or whack them, or you have to manually target them. It's a pain. It still baffles me that virtually no developer has ever figured out how to do environmental puzzles in an action/adventure game even half as well as the Zelda developers, with the exception of Capcom, who made some darn good portable Zelda games. Soul Reaver 2 did. I'd rate the expansion 7/10. It's not fantastic, but it's lengthy enough for the price and offers lots of new things that a lot of developers would charge as much for without the new location.
I'm still playing a bunch of HD Remix, in anticipation for Street Fighter IV. That game can't come soon enough. It's kind of weird, I never thought I'd get this excited over a fighting game, it's a first for me, but HD Remix totally got me into the Street Fighter. I mostly play Cammy and Sagat on HD Remix, but I also like Fei Long, Ryu and Akuma. I think on SF4 I will start with Ryu, Cammy and Sagat as my 'mains', but I'll try everyone out. I'm curious to see how well the Trial mode will explain stuff like canceling and the like. I'm decent at Super Turbo, but really I don't rely on memorized combos at all, I just have a vague notion of when it's a good time to use certain special moves. Someone jumps, you uppercut them, duh! Fireball, spinning backfist through it (on Cammy, anyways). I'm not big on charge characters. Like Vinny, I like to bust moves out at a moment's notice. But having seen some fearsome E. Honda and Guile players first-hand, I certainly know better than to dismiss them.
Are you ready to ride with The BROTHERHOOD?I am also very much looking forward to The Lost and the Damned, the upcoming GTA IV expansion. For some reason, maybe because of the upcoming expansion, I've been wanting to go back to Liberty City. However, my GTA 4 disc got irreparably scratched a few months ago when I foolishly moved the console whilst playing the game, so I'd been needing a new copy. I'm swapping my copy of Guitar Hero World Tour (game only) for someone else's copy of GTA 4. I realized I'm pretty done with Guitar Hero these days, as I've invested far too much in Rock Band DLC and equipment (ION kit, Rock Pedal), and there's just something about the presentation of Rock Band that appeals to me much more. Anyway, GTA 4. Expansion looks great, hopefully it'll be a little more light-hearted and out-and-out action than GTA 4, without the heady moral stuff, as that's perfect material for an expansion to explore.
Also cautiously optimistic for Killzone 2, but I'm not 100% on board yet. I have a feeling it's going to be a divisive game, for whatever reason. Guess I'll have to wait and see whether I'll like it or not. My PS3 could sure use an awesome exclusive, though!
Anyway, that's it for now. I'm debating writing Fable 2 and Left 4 Dead reviews, but since those games have been out for a while I'm not sure it's worth the effort, even if I could do with the practice.
Earlier today, Square announced that Final Fantasy XIII, the company's flagship title, won't make it to the West until 2010, while the Japanese version is still on track for a 2009 release. Stephen Totilo wrote a piece that got me thinking, here.
A 50-month gap between the start of this console generation and a Western release of Final Fantasy XIII. That is a long time. In general, all the major Western developers have been steadily pumping out games for the current consoles for a good, long time now, traditional initial months of draught notwithstanding. But with the exception of Capcom, who in my opinion has done an excellent job making games to appeal to both Western and Japanese markets and supporting the latest console generation in general, all of Japan's major dev houses seem slow to follow. Why is this?
The argument that they just weren't ready is no longer really valid, as even now we aren't seeing nearly the same output out of Japan that we used to. The powershift of developers and publishers from Japan to America (and to a lesser degree, Europe) has mostly been accepted, true, but why are so many Japanese developers still hesitant to develop for the current hardware?
I think it's partially that Japan still doesn't "get" Western tastes, by and large. When Japanese developers try to appeal to Western tastes it often appears more like a parody of games like Gears of War than an "influenced by" case. Of course, there is a large demographic that likes the anime-based games Namco Bandai saturates the market with, and the Japanese role-playing games still have their audience (which seems to be shrinking). But looking at role-playing games, we're seeing Western games like Fable 2, Fallout 3 and Mass Effect enjoy increasing mainstream popularity, whereas games like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, traditional JRPGs, fail to entice all but the most die-hard role-playing purists.
Konami seems to be slowly realizing that the traditional Japanese approach isn't working anymore. MGS 4's more Gears-like control scheme and shooting gameplay was widely acclaimed as a step forwards for the series, and Kojima recently made comments indicating that he's restructuring his team to try a different, more Western approach. It's not hard to see the differences in Japanese and Western schools of storytelling in games, with Japanese games often still opting for long cut scenes and character monologues. But there's more to it than storytelling, though that's certainly one part of the equation.
The stylistic sensibilities are also worlds apart. When Kojima told his designer to create a handsome man, we got this:
Raiden, Metal Gear Solid 2
A more Western version of an attractive man:
Nathan Drake, Uncharted
Clearly, something got lost in translation. Western gamers everywhere cried foul on Raiden's effeminate looks and wimpish demeanor. Similarly, Halo's iconic, slightly jingoistic sensibilities appeals to lots of Americans in particular, but Japan doesn't really "get it". Master Chief hardly talks, we can't see his face, yet he's an icon, a hero, someone who fights just because, not because his parents were killed in an earthquake when he was a child and he was orphaned and wouldn't you know it, all his fellow teenaged special forces were also in the same orphanage but they all forgot! The same thing goes for the quarterback all-star cast of Gears of War.
Capcom has demonstrated a willingness to change their approach, as well as corporate savvy, by being the only major Japanese developing and publishing house to latch on to the XBOX 360 out of the gate. Games like Dead Rising and Lost Planet were significant because they straddled the line and appealed to both Japanese and Western sensibilities. Sure, they were still awkward in places, but it's a learning experience. Their support for downloadable platforms Live Arcade and Playstation Network is also inspiring, even to Western developers. Their remakes of Bionic Commando and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo have significantly raised the bar for remakes of classic games. Also, Ben Judd's and David Sirlin's appointments as directors of those respective games indicates they are willing to let outsiders work with their classic franchises. FFXIII's most recently announced character... yeah, I don't know either. Square-Enix shocked the world last year when they announced Final Fantasy XIII would be coming to the XBOX 360. But when that release is still probably a year and a half off, and at least half a year after the Japanese release, there is still a problem. They need to show Western gamers that they're just as important to them as the rest. Localization needs to happen faster. They have a lot to prove. Looking at the game's newly announced character, I can't help but cringe. Is this an attempt at creating a "hip" character? Really? It just feels like they are out of touch, and even I, a long-time fan of the series, don't know if it's even for me anymore.
The small contingent of gamers that are still down with the increasingly esoteric, Japanese school of design is shrinking, and the old way of doing business in the West isn't cutting it for them anymore. They need to step it up, both in terms of speedy conversions/localizations and accessibility (of story, gameplay and art).
What do you think? Do you think Japanese development is still in a good spot, or do you worry about their ability to keep up? How excited are you for FFXIII? Is Ben Judd, in fact, the greatest man alive? Comment below!
10 Comments
As promised, my first review in blog format. Special thanks go to Matt Bodega for proof reading my review and helping me improve it! On we go:
Much like one of Dead Space's necromorphs after meeting the business end of a plasma cutter, I am torn. I really want to love Dead Space for its brilliant graphics, brutally satisfying combat and creepy atmosphere. But I also want to berate it for its generic plot, repetitive structure and overall predictability.
You see, the plot really is a bit rubbish. Stop me if you've heard this before: You are Space Engineer Isaac Clarke,
Isaac Clarkeon a mission to answer a Distress Call from a Big, Adrift Space Ship. Of course, said space ship is overrun with monsters of unknown origin, and after a brief introductory sequence wherein everything goes Very Wrong (complete with the obligatory deaths of two red shirts) you are separated from your team and henceforth set out to fix the ship's various vital systems and find your characterless Love Interest.
This marks the beginning of the game's endless fetch quest, which forces you to go from A to B to C etc. all over the entire ship to fix one thing after another. Every time one task is completed, something else pops up which demands your immediate attention. At no point does the game take an unexpected twist or turn. Even the characters themselves comment on the repetitive nature of your tasks. The story line is little more than an excuse to go around shooting aliens, and as such never manages to surprise or shock, with predictable "twists" which can be seen coming from miles away.
While the plot is insipid and uninspired, the gunplay is visceral and satisfying. The basis of combat in Dead Space revolves around severing the limbs and appendages of your enemies, the transformed humans dubbed necromorphs. Each weapon has a unique use, and you'll probably want to keep all of them around, with the exception of the inexplicably rubbish flamethrower. All weapons have unique properties and deal damage in a specific area. The plasma cutter and line gun fire horizontal or vertical lines of damage, excellently suited to severing long limbs. The ripper fires a saw blade which hovers a few meters in front of the weapon, leaving a bloody mess in its wake and making a suitably unnerving sound for a weapon that cuts through flesh and bone. The force gun functions much like a shotgun, firing a burst of energy capable of knocking over most enemies, but it's practically useless at anything but close range. The pulse rifle is a fairly standard assault rifle, dealing concentrated damage in a small, triangular area. Finally there's the contact beam, which takes a few seconds to charge up, but destroys almost any enemy in a single hit. When all else fails, you can take a swing at enemies, giving you some room to breathe.
Battles can be hectic and nerve-wracking, as enemies can come from all sides, including air ducts in the ceiling Sure, it looks cool, but the flamethrower really is awfuland walls. Occasionally, a room will enter lockdown until all necromorphs are killed. These large battles don't overstay their welcome, nor do they pop up so often that every other room becomes an action set piece. It's a shame the boss battles, while initially impressive due to their scope, don't live up to the same standards, as they quickly devolve into avoiding predictable attack patterns and shooting the obvious weak spots. Bafflingly, the few huge bosses in the game all have the exact same weak spots, which is disappointing, to say the least.
In true horror fashion, enemies often come from unexpected places, so you are always kept on your toes. You won't be running carelessly around every corner without knowing what's waiting for you. Sometimes it's just dancing shadows, or a canister rolling ominously over the floor. Corpses on the floor might spring up unexpectedly. Occasionally, you'll encounter a crew member of the Ishimura who survived the initial onslaught, but none of them have made it through unscarred. Their madness is unnerving at best, and while all these things may have been done before, it's an important part of the unsettling atmosphere which permeates the entire vessel.
Much of this can also be accredited to the game's superb sound design. The weapons sound punchy, the necromorphs sound vicious, and the clanking of Isaac's boots makes it feel like you're really carrying around a lot of weight, also accentuated by the brilliantly gruesome sound of stomping on a downed enemy with said boots. When you're in a vacuum in or around the Ishimura, there is no sound but for Isaac's breathing and the very faint sounds of his footsteps and guns. You won't hear enemies creeping up behind you, which makes these sections quite effective for their total lack of peripheral noise, as the silence can lull you into a false sense of safety.
Not pictured: asteroids that will kill you instantly
Besides areas in the vacuum of space, you'll also spend some time in zero-gravity environments, sometimes combined with the previously mentioned vacuums. In these situations, Isaac's boots will keep him grounded to whatever surface he's on (strangely not just metal), but your sense of direction will be put to the test as ceilings become floors and left becomes right. Enemies can come at you from every side and momentum carries debris and corpses in every which way. Killing a necromorph results in a satisfying mess of floating body parts and squirts of blood floating around. You'll often have to solve light environmental puzzles in these areas, never nearly hard enough to stump you, but enough to break up the killing of space zombies and give you a bit of a diversion. Isaac has two additional powers built into his suit to solve these puzzles: stasis, which slows down objects (as well as enemies, usefully), and kinesis, used to move objects from a distance. Think gravity gun, but not quite as novel or useful.
Also built into Isaac's suit is all the information that would normally be conveyed in an on-screen HUD. A glowing tube running along his spine monitors his health status, with the amount of stasis energy and remaining air supply (when in a vacuum) displayed next to it. When accessing the inventory, map or any other game menu, a holographic display pops up in front of Isaac, which you can actually turn the camera around. None of this pauses the game, so if you want to access the inventory, you'd better be sure there are no necromorphs around. Fortunately, you'll rarely need to access the inventory in the heat of combat, as using med packs can be done with one of the face buttons and switching weapons maps to the d-pad.
Random violence!It's a good thing there is no on-screen clutter, as Dead Space is a visually arresting game. It doesn't beat you over the head with it, but it's in the subtle touches of lighting, dust particles floating around in a ray of light, the rock solid frame rate, total absence of screen tear, and general lack of visual blemishes. There is really nothing I noticed in the visuals over the course of my two playthroughs to remind me I was in a videogame, except maybe corpses that disappear after leaving an area. It's an excellent looking game all around.
Were it not for the lack of variety and surprises in practically every facet of the game, from the plot to the gameplay, Dead Space could have been a classic to rival Resident Evil 4. As it is, it's a brilliantly designed game from a technical perspective, with great gunplay, hamstrung by a lack of creativity over the long run. The gameplay and general polish of the game are enough to carry it past these shortcomings and make it easy to recommend.
...Because no one seems to read the damn things otherwise, judging from the amount of comments they get!
I feel very lucky, because my Super Turbo HD Remix got picked up by Brad for the community review roundup feature. That really feels very encouraging, as a wannabe games journalist/critic/whatever. So thanks Brad/Giant Bomb!
As long as I'm blogging, might as well write about what's been keeping me busy...
Shooting zombies!
ZOEY! I got Left 4 Dead a few weeks ago, despite the fact that the demo left me unimpressed (as I've blogged earlier), and I ended up loving it. Still fire it up regularly. I only discovered how much fun Versus is a few days ago when Sweep made me play it. Downside? Even more so than regular campaigns, versus lives and dies with the company you're keeping. Playing with dudes that don't coordinate/communicate? Garbage. No fun at all. Also played some more on Advanced, which is already quite hard and requires solid tactics and teamwork. I can't even imagine trying to complete a campaign on expert, where 5 hits from any regular Infected will kill you... yikes!
Playing drums!
...On Rock Band 2, anyway. ION drum kit + Rock pedal = awesome kit. Hitch a Ride by Boston is still the funnest drum song, ever. Also, Afterlife and Almost Easy by Avenged Sevenfold. Anyone (non-drummer) wants to play online sometime and help me grab some achievements, add me, GT is in my profile. Still need 90 seconds consecutive overdrive, full band multiplier, million points etc etc.
Writing blogs!
Spoilerific ones, about the ending to Prince of Persia. Turns out Stephen Totilo agrees with me, over at MTV Multiplayer. Again, don't read unless you've finished the game. It's interesting! Also I want to thank everyone who commented on my PoP blog, it fostered some good discussion. Hell, thanks to all commentors in general!
...among other things. I've picked up The Witcher again, beginning of Chapter 4 now. That game is definitely very interesting. In a year that was dominated by choice and freedom in games, the one that did it best of all, in my mind, slipped under almost everyone's radar. Hopefully, the upcoming console version will give it the attention it so richly deserves. If you'll just permit me to quote Tycho from Penny Arcade here, as he sums up my thoughts on the game better than I could ever hope to: Not business as usual! Probably won't make the console version."I was sad to finally complete The Witcher last weekend, leaping immediately into the side stories that are included with the Enhanced Edition (or available online). I really didn't want it to be over, and wondered if some mild, self-inflicted head trauma would allow me to play it fresh. They made a number of decisions with the narrative that are fascinating, especially if you've played around with dialogue writing: in most games that allow "choice," you can usually just reload a save and try the other path. The larger decisions in The Witcher tend to change not just the game's state but the state of the world as well, so that paths you take are happening in a context created by an earlier decision, and so on. They delay the effect of some actions, so events feel as though they develop organically. At a late point in the game they actually dial the drama back, and the developer doesn't use the end of the narrative as a bludgeon to show you how incredibly clever they've been - they let you tumble to the truth of it yourself. In many ways, the game is not business as usual. If it weren't for the stability concerns I'd had earlier, I would be recommending it to you with the full measure of my power."
Also, today I picked up Dead Space for the 360 and Siren: Blood Curse for the PS3 (which has gone mostly neglected since, oh, MGS 4). Just started up Dead Space, only in chapter 2, but I'm loving it. There's something to be said for such a singular experience, especially in a year dominated by games all about "the freedom of choice".
FOUR STARS HERE!
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