A whole lot of games (spoilers)
By Jazz 2 Comments
So to catch up where we left off:
Unsurprisingly, Demon'sssss Souls has been the game that has taken up the majority of my play time. I've had the place to myself these past couple of days, so before i start my CELTA course on monday, I've been hitting those Demon's..souls hard. With a pointy stick.
Just to make one thing clear before we start: Demon's Souls is not hard. It certainly punishes 'run and gun' behaviour, but if you move slowly and carry a big wand you'll be fine for the most part.
I've killed the bosses of 1-1 (Phalanx) 1-2 (Tower Knight who was ridiculously easy with a royal) and 2-1 (spam soul thing at giant spider) so I feel pretty secure in the game now. 3-1 was a complete bitch to begin with. Trial and Error are a massive part in this game. One minute your fine, the next 7 prisoners stab you at once while the bells keep coming closer.
The Bells.
I've never been scared of anything in a game as much as i am of those goddamn bells. The Cthulhu wannabes get smoked quickly if you can see them, but...the bells. Gods.
I had my first Black Phantom visit as well. From what I understand, you can't go all black Phantom on someone till you get a certain stone from a boss or something. I'm miles away from that, so it was a bit unnerving to say the least when this random dude showed up, wrecked my gear and than sliced me in 2, leaving me with an 8000 soul bill.
Not cool, especially when I had very nearly killed him. Anyway I'm up to the boss on 3-1 when i get around to it...
I played around with some other low level characters. I'm very fond of my Thief and Hunter as well, the problem is that neither can cast magic, and at the beginning of the game thats the easiest way to roll, especially with a mp refilling ring. 100+ Arrows into that Spider boss only took it down to 1/2 with my Thief so i was fucked right there.
Next up is:
Xmen:Origins:Wolverine:Uncaged Edition. There are nearly as many colons in the title as there are ripped from random dude's abdomens in this game.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I'd played the demo, and that had some nice bits to it..but nothing much. I'm not the greatest Wolverine fan...I've got the first black and white Essential from the Claremont era and Miller's Enemy of the State, but thats about as far as i go. I'll pick up Jason Aaron's run on Weapon X when I get time though..Scalped is a seriously good comic. Anyway back to the game, as I said I wasn't expecting much so I got a rather nice surprise. XOWUE as I like to call it, is a solid 3rd person hack and slash with a good story. Guggenhiem wrote the story, so that kinda makes sense. It's far superior to the movie which was a major disappointment in nearly every way (do I need to mention Deadpool?). The story is told through Flashbacks, so If you're not familiar with the back story it may confuse you a wee bit. One minute we're ripping apart Wakandans (i assume thats who they are...Vibranium? Adamantium? UNOBTAINIUM?) the next we're having a drink with Creed (whoever thought the half brother thing was a good idea has problems) and then we've lost our healing factor and duking it out with a WENDIGO (again..wtf)
You'll notice most of my problems stem from continuity...which pretty much sums up the only glaring fault in my eyes with Wolverine (TM)...sorry XOWUE. Ive had a freeze or two..which may have been because the PS3 was hot, but..just so you know.
If you remember waaaay back, there was a pretty solid ps2 wolverine game that used stealth as a mechanic, and I think it could have been used a bit more in this game, and whats with all this slow walking/ear piece Gears of War crap now? The reason you have an ear piece is so you can move while talking, not take a quiet stroll though a military facility . 50 Cent had it too, and its really not needed. Gears can keep it..its a signature of the game. Otherwise its just stupid.
There are some really great moments, like jumping on to a helicopter over a ravine, or the tunnel escape. Cinematic cutscenes are the name of the game with n'arey a QTE in sight...something that, after Bayonetta, makes Dudeglove twitch.
If, like me, you like hack and slash games but thing God of War really only needed 2 games..take a look at this game. Get it for less than $20/£10 and you're in for a surprise.
Moving on:
Another game i didn't expect much from, and another surprise. Yes, there are some major flaws to this game, especially with the whole 'radiation on buildings' fiasco, but otherwise it's a solid game. What shocked me was, after playing XOWUE, i put this in and whoom Wolverine's back again. Kinda through me off. 'Super' Joe is voiced by the same guy who does Wolverine..so that was fun. Anyway, swinging. Doesn't always work the way you want to. You have to actually be facing where you want to go (which, if you overswing, can be a problem) and sometimes the lockon..doesn't lockon (LOCKOOOOOOOON NOOOOOO)
cough
Otherwise you got yourself a full functioning old school 3rd person shooter. Much more 'arcadey' than i thought. No Cover system here bub. You shoot, you punch, you swing, you fall from a great hight and punch...you fall from a great hight and get Rad poisoning (see what i did there?...no?). Its an old school game. Throughout you get bonus objectives that you can complete (kill 25 guys at once with a floor slam) to get upgrades or trophies. Oh and everyone hates everyone else. Especially Spencer..ooo Betty.
Anyway for under a tenner, its not a bad game. Full price? Hell no.
Really need to pick up Wanted when i can...
Next Up is:
This is an easy one. I haven't touched it, because
has completely taken over my psp. I'm gonna come out and say it..this isn't a great game by any measurement. The controls aren't bad, but could use some work. Targeting is a joke, and guys with lightning powers and two brothers are waaaaay too cheap at level 9, but by the gods it's addictive. Turn it on, tune out, and hope that you level up enough and have the right mats to get the next badass weapon. Its mindless fun without too much negative things going on. Once you get your Chi boosts on, jumping as high as Superman isn't a problem. I'm probably gonna take a look at Warriors Orichi 2 as well. Mindless fun for the zombie in you.
So, that covers my playing so far. Resonance of Fate has taken a back seat due to time and the MASSIVE difficulty spike in Act 14. As if Act 13 wasn't bad enough....since when was I the fucking Post Office? As I said I'm starting my course on Monday (hour to get there, start at 9:30am finish at 5:30pm) which last a month, so I won't have much time to do anything but work and sleep...and get lost in Madrid on the bus trying to get home.
In other news I saw Kick Ass last night. It was okay. Take out everything that doesn't have Big Daddy and Hit-Girl in it and it would have been a far better movie. John Woo would have been proud and Nicholas Cage's Adam West voice was absolutely hysterical.
Nothing else to add really. I'm doing everything I can to ignore the British Elections, so no spoilers please!