Yes I am sorry that I haven't been keeping in touch and that is pretty much due to school and whatnot. I started just over a week ago and things have been pretty well and in a way, it's pretty cool that summer is over so you don't have to worry about the "Oh no only a week to go!" thing and whatnot. I also feel that time goes by super super fast when you go to school, like come on its like the 10th of September already and my last blog on Castle Crashers was done at the end of August. I really feel that this year will fly past me but I will try my hardest to enjoy it as much as I can.
Mash A!
Games? Yes but not many actually. I picked up Mercenaries 2: World in Flames there on Friday and I have to say, I like the game a lot more than most of you guys out there. I find the glitches and bugs to be more comical, me and my friend on co-op just laughed when two helicopters tried to pick up a fuel tank at the same time... stuff like that is dumb don't get me wrong but it doesn't break the game or anything like that. Overall it ain't a bad game at all, definitely in co-op. Single-player isn't that great but if you have a buddy willing to go through the game with you, then it's pretty awesome. Pretty much lag free and that's actually partly because of EA's stupid idea to make the game region specific meaning I can't play with anyone from the US or Canada or whatever, I am restricted to Europeans. A bit of a bummer and pretty ironic because that is the best part of the game. They did the same thing with Army of Two and the co-op was the same in that game too! What also sucks is that I can't get the viral achievement for playing with a developer since I don't think a developer has bothered his ass to play the European version so that's an easy 50G achievement turned into a basically impossible 50G achievement. I haven't got much to say about the game apart from it's dumb, silly but hell it's fun and hardly broken as some people make it out to be. It is a good game but not an amazing one, I will hopefully finish it soon.
Apart from that, nothing much really. I see lots of people are playing Spore but I probably won't bother yet, I don't want to play a game just because others are ^_^. Since I haven't had the chance to say any of this yet I will just give a small rundown of some of my most anticipated games of 2008 (duh!). No order here just a list really,
Left 4 Dead Crysis Warhead Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway Fallout 3 Far Cry 2 Call of Duty: World at War (debating PC or 360 recently, share you thoughts!) Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Gears of War 2 Duke Nukem 3D for XBLA
Maybe list
Saints Row 2 Star Wars: Force Unleashed STALKER Clear Sky C&C Red Alert 3 Shellshock 2: Blood Trails (just interested that it got a well needed sequel as it was a flawed game)
Anyways, it is a damn good year! And Aliens Colonial Marines and F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin out in early 09!
EDIT: Got the viral achievement today but it's still pretty flukey, ah well.
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Title cardCastle Crashers has been talked about for two years and it is behind the same guys that made the Metal Slug clone, Alien Hominid. When I saw footage and reports about it, I wasn't super excited for it but it looked like a damn fine game. It is in the same spirit of say Golden Axe or the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade where you walk from one side of the screen to the other, beating the crap out of anyone who stands in your way while collecting powerups and weapons as you go. Typically these games are repetitive and fairly old-hat and as a result, the side-scrolling beat 'em up genre has pretty much died and no one tries to make these games anymore. It makes me kind of sad as I remember playing Golden Axe when I was only a mere ankle biter on the Sega MegaDrive and I really like those type of games, they are just damn satisfying. Castle Crashers has always intrigued me as a result and when it came out yesterday for 1200 Microsoft Points, I thought I would have to get it. Lots of hyped Xbox Live Arcade games have came out this month though I have never bothered with any of them. Braid wasn't really my thing, I prefer action over mind frying puzzle solving. Bionic Commando looked pretty cool through the previews but as soon as they announced that it wouldn't have online co-op, I couldn't say yes to it then and I have heard that it isn't the best game ever anyway. Galaga Legions? Just no, heh I thought XBLA has gotten over updating old games. So that leaves me with Castle Crashers and yes 1200 seems pretty expensive but the way I look at it is that Alien Hominid was way more expensive when it came out for the PS2 and the Gamecube (and Xbox in Europe) in 2005 and I actually think this game offers much more.Alien Hominid on the GBA
Of course I tried out the demo before any purchasing took place and I was very impressed. Great graphics, looks really sharp and crisp in HD and the art style by Dan Paladin is just beautiful and so much fun to gaze at. The controls came very quickly and it can be just fun hitting the buttons and cutting peoples' heads off though the full game shows that there is more depth than that. So yeah, the demo is probably just only 10 minutes long perhaps under that but gives a great idea of what the game plays like and how it works. So yes, bought 2000 points and got the game and it is just a great achievement for both The Behemoth and also Xbox Live Arcade. While the action in the game is great, what keeps me coming back are the RPG elements. My Green Knight is currently Level 29 and that is after finishing the game so there is much more to go for. I also like how you can make a different style of character depending on what skills you improve and this is where the depth comes in. My Green Knight has maxed out Strength and good agility but so so defense and poor magic. My friend has a Blue Knight and he is focused on Magic so we worked well as a team going through the game together through Xbox Live. Overall, single-player in Castle Crashers is strong, leveling up your character is great, gameplay is fun and the different stages keep changing and feeling fresh.
Random screenshot of CCNow the online play which has been the subject of much comment. I have to say, it isn't in good condition overall but I have been reading websites and blogs saying how people are so disgusted and offended and those people should probably think twice about that. Sure, I have tried to play a co-op game with strangers and that failed miserably as the game kicked me to the menu after starting but really, loads of games do suffer from problems like this and really, if you hate the game for this reason alone, your loss and you have obviously been spoiled fucking rotten. When I tried to play through the game with my friend, it worked pretty much very solidly with no lag or slowdown whatsoever and it kicked ass. The All You Can Quaff minigame where you are a knight eating through different dishes of food by manically bashing the X and Y buttons has made a return from Alien Hominid (Where it was called All You Can Eat) and it now has online play and that has worked 9/10 and I played lots of that with sweat running down my face afterwards. Sure that minigame is dumb, silly and sore on the fingers but damn it is exciting and just fun in it's own way. I am sure the normal online play will be fixed better but in the meantime, appreciate the game for what it is. It kicks ass and worth all of those 1200 Points, easily. Sure the game is about 6 hours but there are many secret weapons, animal orbs and character unlocks that you shouldn't just stop.
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School is coming up in just over a week which really sucks but this could be my last year, it depends on how things go. Recently, I have been playing several games though really in anyway, just whenever I feel like.
ArmAI have been playing ArmA: Armed Assault every night the last few nights with two friends I know in real life using TeamSpeak. I know the game has ingame talking to people but using TeamSpeak or Ventrilo is much easier. I have to say ArmA is one of the most underrated games of all time. Most critics gave it decent to good reviews apon release and that is fair enough. For those who don't know, ArmA was developed by Bohemia Interactive and they were became popular for their last military sim, Operation Flashpoint. Many complained and said that Operation Flashpoint and ArmA are basically the same game but ArmA has much better graphics but a middling framerate as a result. I have to completely disagree with that statement. From what I have played single-player wise of both games, I would say Operation Flashpoint seems stronger and seems more focused on developing your character. ArmA feels more disjointed but the real reason why ArmA is such a great game is because of it's multiplayer. Most of the time, I play the servers that support the mission Evolution Blue or Red. They are both similar but in Blue you play as the Americans while in Red you play as the Russians. In ArmA, you have a massive map that would probably take hours to travel through and in that map are soldiers controlled by real people shooting against AI controlled enemies. What is the objective? Generally to take over the island by taking over each of the cities one by one but it is a bit of the nightmare at the start of the game. You start of as a crappy private, you have a basic rifle with no attachments and your best friend is your rocket launcher. But don't fret! You and your squad can choose to do a side-mission such as defending a certain area or rescuing a hostage from a group of enemies. The one that we usually do is the one where you destroy a convoy usually consisting of soldiers, trucks and maybe a tank or light tank. Destroying enemies gives you experience but everyone in your squad also gets extra experience for actually finishing the mission. The highest rank I have ever been is Major which isn't bad lets say! I would check out ArmA if your computer can run it at around 30FPS or more, it is definitely fun you get other people to buy it too!
CrackdownI have also been playing a bit of Crackdown because I got half way through it and then stopped just because I thought that game was damn repetitive but it sure is fun. I just beat the Volk gang and I only have the last one to go. Hopefully I will be done with that game soon. In the meantime, that is really all with me and I will talk again soon, Ross.
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front coverWhat am I talking about? Well the topic is Episodic Content and before I go on, I will have to say this is just my opinion so don't get angry though I think it is important to share your thoughts too. Episodic Content was introduced due to some criticism from fans and from critics that the biggest games out today takes years and years to develop and everyone just wishes the sequel to their favourite game franchise gets made in a year or so but that hardly ever happens and when it does, it usually isn't too different too the last game (that's a completely different topic altogether, so I will stop there). So those brainboxes at Valve Software, developers of the amazing Half-Life games, thought after the release of Half-Life 2 that it would be a bit of a drag if Half-Life 3 took another half of a decade to come out. So they came up with Episodic Content. I believe Half-Life 2 Episode One was originally meant to be called Half-Life 2 Aftermath which shows that they really wanted to show a new way of putting out game content and Valve have been very successful with this in recent years due to their Steam Digital Distribution service. Valve wanted to continue the adventure of Gordon Freeman and do it in small chunks released around 6 months of each other. I am not sure if Half-Life 2 was the first game to have this type of structure but I do know that SiN Episodes: Emergence was released around the same time (more on that later). My intial thoughts of this? I thought, damn, that would be fucking great! For those who don't know, Half-Life is my favourite game of all time and I shit myself when a new one comes out so I was obviously pretty excited by Valve's plans of continuing the game I love so much.SiN Episodes Emergence
But honestly, it didn't really work out the way I wanted to. When Half-Life 2: Episode One came out, I didn't actually buy it right away but I bought it a month later (cerca July 2006) and I very much enjoyed. The new interaction with Alyx Vance and the new gameplay mechanics involving her was new and it continued the story very well. None of the Half-Life 1 style different perspectives (though I liked that a lot). I think that was around the time Valve announced Portal and showed the trailer off to everyone and it was very much exciting and intriguing at the same time. There was also the new Team Fortress 2 stuff revealed, showing the characters in the new graphic style. I was especially excited about that since Team Fortress 2 had been delayed about 20 times before that and I honestly thought that game was in purgatory along with Alan Wake, Duke Nukem Forever and that untitled Wild West game for the PlayStation 3 which I think was maybe a sequel to Red Dead Revolver. "What does this mean?", I wondering as I was thinking about Episode Two's fate but then it was announced that Episode Two wasn't going to be a stand-alone product anymore, the two new games Portal and Team Fortress 2 were going to be sold with the new episode in a package known as The Black Box. There was also The Orange Box announced but that was also for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 and had both Half-Life 2 and Episode One for good measure. But it was a damn shame that the game got delayed so many freaking times! The Black Box was even cancelled after a while and I have to say, that still bugs me as I basically bought Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One again! But anyway, The Orange Box was delayed so many times that it eventually came out around October 2007! To be fair, there were rumours going around it was going to even be released in 2008. And for this reason alone, this is why I think Episodic Content should die. The whole concept of making smaller games and being able to release them faster seems like a cool idea but in reality it doesn't work! And if you look at the SiN Episodes, they got canned altogether so currently there is Episode One but there is no Episode Two or Three to continue it, it just ends there. This is because many of the developers at Ritual Entertainment left and the game really could not have went on. If Ritual had made a big sequel to SiN then this mess would have never happened! So that is my little thoughts on Episodic Content and you are willing to leave your own thoughts! I will speak again soon, Ross.
Here is a scale of the times of when the Half-Life 2 Episodes should have came out and when they have come out
Theory                                                                                                     Reality  Episode One: Release Summer 2006                                            Episode One: Release June 2006  Episode Two: Release Winter 2006                                                Episode Two: Release October 2007  Episode Three: Release Summer 2007                                        Episode Three: Release TBA 2009?!                                                                Â
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Hello there, I haven't been on in a week or so because I was on holiday to Spain. It was rather good and I also managed to beat Time Crisis II with only two credits which I was pretty proud of though I don't think it is that hard.
Master ChiefMy outlook on games has changed slightly in the past month and I now want to be more open-minded towards games. My first step towards this is to try and find good things about every game I play and it really isn't too hard to do. I think that every game out there actually does have something good about it apart from some but most do. Yesterday, my friend gave me his copy of Halo for the PC which he regretted buying and said it wasn't as good as Halo for the Xbox. I do have the Xbox game but you know me, I prefer playing games, for the most part, on the PC. Beforehand, I really didn't like Halo that much overall. I always liked the first four missions but after that, the game just got boring for me and I didn't see why everyone calls this game the best FPS ever or anything. I think the enemies are extremely repetitive and so it the level design but I am starting to see why people like the game so much. I think Halo does a far better of making you feel like you are in a combat zone opposed to other games out there. Halo is also very innovative for countless reasons which you all probably know such as recharging energy shields and only carrying two weapons at one time. At the moment, I am only on the forth mission though I was actually a bit into it but I quitted the game and now it seems to think I am only at the start. Piece of shit... and I will always hate Halo's random checkpoints... terrible game design right there. But yeah, apart from that I really don't plan on playing much. I am trying to play through King Kong as I never really got around to it and I might as well get the easy 1000 points out of it. Tenchu Z and Saints Row are still on my list but I will get around to them.
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Recently, several things have happened. Yes my new Saturn controller came and I am very, very happy with it. Now I have both types of official controllers for the Saturn aside from the analogue controller that came with NiGHTS Into Dreams. I might check that out someday but I doubt it, the new controller I got is really good. I believe it is the first type of controller that came out but then people moaned and complained and Sega released the smaller controller that was much like a Sega MegaDrive controller. I actually prefer the original controller and I believe lots of people do too. The controller isn't that big at all and the D-Pade is far better. It is a really nice D-Pad and I haven't seen anything else like it since. The rereleased controller used a more standard D-Pad which was disappointing. The only bad thing about my new controller is that the shoulder buttons feel a bit strange at first but you get used to them. I also actually got around to replacing the battery that powers the internal memory inside the console itself. For those who don't know, the Sega Saturn actually did manage to save games without the need of a memory card and it was one of the first consoles I do believe to do this. While the Xbox made the feature far more robust and more popular, it is pretty cool that the Saturn had this feature. The only downside is after a few months, the battery in the Saturn can die and all of your saved games are lost. Real pain in the ass to say the least, eh? You could also get memory cards for the system and I actually still have the one I had back in the day but it doesn't seem to work... maybe I am doing something wrong but the Saturn doesn't seem to read it. Ah well, played some more Quake though I turned the difficulty down to Easy when I was starting over again since the game is much more difficult that it was on the PC. I also finished the old Fighting game, Fighting Vipers, without dying and I am not even good at the game...
Stunning
In other news, I did get to see Wall-E and I won't talk to much about it but I will say that there is nothing that I can say that does this film justice. Really, it isn't a film for everyone but I think most people should be able to appreciate and it is easily my favourite Pixar film by a Jupiter mile. It is also probably one of my favourite films of all time actually, it was a flawless piece of work and I recommend to anyone who has a heart. Overall, I haven't been doing much aside from that stuff. I have been playing Tenchu Z very irregularly and it is still damn fun though it is probably one of the most repetitive games I have played in recent memory. Stealth kill after stealth kill and the game has 50 missions and I only did the 20th one so I still have loads of work to do. Ah well, I will get there eventually, the game is the definition of undifficult really and I have got the top rank on every mission so far, which for the most part, is relatively easy. Well that is me for now and I will talk to you guys soon.
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Oh yes, you may or may not know this but the Sega Saturn was probably the console I play the most when I was younger. I wasn't cool enough to have a PlayStation or a Nintendo 64 but I was damn happy with my Sega Saturn. The controller was small and easy to use and I had several games I really enjoyed playing a lot. My favourite game was probably Alien Trilogy which was a first-person shooter based on the Alien franchise. My brother also had Duke Nukem 3D but I wasn't allowed to play it but it looked pretty cool. Recently, I have been playing that and I might do a review of all of the first-person shooters I own for the Saturn someday. Alien Trilogy and Duke Nukem 3D were great but I recently ordered another FPS. You already know and it is the Saturn version of Quake. Yes, I already have the game for the PC and yes the PC version is a shitload better but I just thought I would try it out and get a kick out of playing the Sega Saturn with a new game. I also actually ordered a second controller because it would be nice to play some multiplayer with some of my other games and also my current controller has a wonky D-Pad as I played the hell out of this thing back in the day. I probably played through Alien Trilogy a bizzilion times and it never got boring really. The atmosphere, the weapons, the enemies... it was all so sweet.
Quake SaturnMy overall first impressions of Quake are quite solid. I am rather impressed with how well the game looks on Sega Saturn hardware. Most people believe that the Sega Saturn didn't do anywhere near as well as the PlayStation was becuase the hardware was demanding and games often had a hard time running smoothly on the Saturn. While Quake certainly has framerate issues, the game often hangs around 30FPS but it can drop to about 15-20FPS in a big room with lots of enemies and it can be pretty difficult. But still, for a Saturn game to pump out these graphics is pretty impressive and it looks very nice next to the PC version actually. The environments still look extremely grotty and filthy which is clearly what the developers had in mind and all of the enemies as far as I know have made it and they look pretty good too. The only thing I found strange about the graphics is that your gun is no longer actually in 3D like the way it was on the PC. Now it is actually a 2D Sprite like if it was a Doom game or something but you might not have actually noticed unless someone pointed it out to you. The sound seems to be in full shape with loud monster groans and the sound of grenades hitting the ground. The classic soundtrack provided by Nine Inch Nails maestro, Trent Reznor, is here in full effect and give the game a very creepy and hair-raising atmosphere thoughout. The gameplay seems extremely solid and true to Quake at this point. While the drop in framerate can make some situations pretty hard, still, this is still Quake and for 1997 on the Saturn, this would have been pretty amazing. I will play the game and I might make the first-person shooter Saturn games review somewhat soon. Until then, stay safe!
Hey this is Vod but of course that isn't my real name but anyway. I am a former GameSpotter and I joined Giant Bomb as GameSpot gives of a bad feeling when I use the site. I don't know, maybe I am just the only person to experiences that feeling but I don't enjoy the reviews or anything anymore. If I am being honest, I cannot stand the new editors that came recently like come on that blonde girl doesn't even play games and it pisses me off something shocking. Calling 1942 1974 was just too fucking bad. But anyway, I am very impressed with Giant Bomb at the moment and the way it is nothing like any of the other game websites makes me intrigued and excited. I love the new way you can edit pages to help the website grow as it were and that is a great way of making you feel more important rather than just another profile. Sure, some people are going to turn their noses up at how this site doesn't focus too much on reviewing every game out but reviewing on the games are actually important makes sense rather to reviewing some weak complilation game. So I am very much happy to be a Giant Bomber!
Recently on the gaming front, I haven't been playing much though much of my focus has turned to the Xbox 360. I recently picked up both Saints Row and Tenchu Z and they both might make you think why? ^_^ Well, when I played Saints Row back around late 2006, I really enjoyed it but I never got to finish the game really at all but I knew I had to buy it sometime. Well you may think that would be a bad idea due to the fact I did actually finish Grand Theft Auto IV not too long ago and going back to an older game would feel strange. Actually, the only thing I miss when I play Saints Row is when you are being chased by the cops, I really enjoyed how GTAIV dealt with that with the idea of being out of sight and whatnot. The cops in Saints Row pretty much are following you the whole time and I found that pretty annoying. Some people say that the new system introduced in GTAIV was a bit silly and too easy but I actually thought it was a good way of making it seem realistic enough. Overall, Saints Row and GTA are both too different though. Sure, Saints Row really does duplicate lots of elements but I think the way the missions are structured make is just feel really different to me and it is neat knowing that the game isn't as linear, definitely with the different side-missions availiable. I currently have only eliminated the Vice Kings but I will continue with the game at a pretty steady pace. Tenchu Z will also get some mixed reactions due to most publications giving the game somewhat negative reviews. When a game becomes pretty looked down on the Internet, people just seem to think that game sucks by default and I don't like that, you should just be able to look at a game with an open mind. Sure, Tenchu Z isn't the best game in the world due to its repetitive gameplay, dreary graphics and dumb enemies but it is still a fun game and it is what you would want from a sequel in the Tenchu series. I will give you more thoughts on the game when I play more of it as I am only on mission 17.
Well that is pretty much me aside from the fact I have been playing my old Sega Saturn back from the late 90s again, mainly Duke Nukem 3D and Alien Trilogy, two FPS games. I plan on buying a controller from the Internet due to the one I have at the moment as a very dodgey D-Pad and it would be nice to have a second controller. If anyone has a game to recommend, please do tell as I am not sure on what to get. And yeah, don't mention NiGHTs. I don't think highly of that game, just not my thing.
If you want to talk to me, be sure to leave a comment or request and I will get back to you ;) See you guys soon.
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