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MooseyMcMan

It's me, Moosey! They/them pronouns for anyone wondering.

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I need help naming my LBP2 level. Also, Uncharted 3.

By MooseyMcMan 1 Comments

 So, as you may or may not know, one of my goals for this year was to make a LittleBigPlanet 2 level (and have it not be terrible). I'm just about done with it (aside from a few tweaks here and there), but I don't have a name. Now, the premise for the level is that you need to infiltrate this secret base on an island, and everything is crazy. Here's some ideas for the name that have been floating around my head (and I mean that literally, you know, Heavy Rain style): 
 
Super Crazy Fun Island Time...OF DOOM! 
 
Super Happy Mega Island...OF DOOM! 
 
Crazy Mixed Up Island...OF DOOM! 
 
SECRET ISLAND...OF DOOM! 
 
Or in other words, I don't really have any decent ideas, other than that I want it to say island, and OF DOOM. Any suggestions would be appreciated.  
 
In other news, I've played a decent amount of the Uncharted 3 beta. If the beta is any indication, that game is going to be awesome. One of the maps begins with one team on a moving plane, and the other team on these moving trucks that are chasing after the plane, and everybody's shooting each other, and jumping from trucks to trucks, trucks to plane, plane to trucks...It's crazy, and awesome. But then after that they arrive at the actual level, and it's pretty standard Uncharted stuff from there on out. 
 
I like the stuff they've add. I think the buddy system is neat, but I'm not sure if it's totally random, or if you're playing with someone on your friends list you'd be paired with them or something. I think that'd be a good idea. And the fact that the game rewards you for high five-ing or fist bumping your buddy is great. 
 
Also, when you kill dudes, there's a chance that loot will drop, and a chance that said loot will be treasure, and said treasure can be used to unlock hats. But much like another multiplayer game with useless hats, getting to the hats is overly complicated and time consuming. In other words, I think it's great.  
 
And in other, other news, I saw Transformers 3. Now, I know a lot of people are hating on it, just like people were hating on the last ones, but I thought the movie was great. That's all I'm going to say though, for I fear that saying much more could lead to a flame war with some trolls, and I'd like to avoid that. I'm entitled to enjoy whatever movies I like, just like the trolls can hate on whatever they want.  
 
So that's it. I'll update this once I've finished and uploaded the level (after naming it of course), at which point I'd be pleased if people actually played it. It's not too long, and it's pretty silly and goofy. 

1 Comments

Yo, another update on my Gaming Goals of Twenty Eleven!

By MooseyMcMan 11 Comments

YO! Been working on these goals.  
 

100% LA Noire, and 5-Star every case.

Progress: COMPLETED! AHAHAHAHA! Well, except for the Reefer Madness DLC, which isn't out yet, but the game says I have 100% completion, and I have literally all of the Trophies except for the Reefer Madness ones. But I bought that DLC pack thing, so I'll play that when it's out. I really hope it involves punching druggies in the face. 
 

Upload at least one good LittleBigPlanet 2 level.

Progress:  I'll get to it...Evenetually.
 

Become skilled at Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Progress: Complete! Depending on how you define skilled, anyway. I'm probably out of practice, but whatever. 
 

Acquire a copy of ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman

Progress: Complete!
 

S-Rank Deadly Premonition

Progress:  It's looking less and less likely that I'll get a new Xbox this year, especially if we have to get a new TV. If that's the case, then I shan't complete this one. 
 

Finish Alpha Protocol (with my friend).

Progress: We'll finish it. Someday... 
 

Beat Deus Ex: Human Revolution with zero kills.

Progress: You know, as awesome as this game seemed in the early (and mostly not gameplay) trailers, word on the street is that it doesn't really seem to live up to its potential, at least based on what I've heard from people at E3. I'm still hopeful, and I'll probably buy it regardless, and try for this silly goal.
 

Try once again to beat Dead Rising (and probably not succeed).

Progress: Without a working Xbox, this is pretty much impossible. 

Buy and beat Dead Rising 2: Off the Record.

Progress: I read somewhere that this game will be $40. I can't pass it up for that price, even if I had hoped that I could beat the first one before starting this one. 
 

Don't buy this year's Call of Duty.

Progress:  Wait until it comes out. Then thou shalt see mein iron will! 

Don't buy anything at GameStop.

Progress: Goin' strong! You won't get any of my money this year, GameStop! 
 

Buy at least one Wii game.

Progress: I totally bought Red Steel 2. And that game is awesome. SO COMPLETE! AHAHA!

Beat Yakuza 3, then buy/beat Yakuza 4.

Progress: Finished! OHO! 

Buy the new Mortal Kombat game, and memorize some fatalities.

Progress: Komplete! 

Resist buying Portal 2 (or any other Valve product) until Valve gives some concrete info on the next Half-Life game.

Progress: I see what you're doing Valve. You make Team Fortress 2 free, just to make people think you're all nice and junk, but really you just like tempting people with Half-Life, BUT THEN NEVER ACTUALLY MAKING ANOTHER ONE. Come on, Duke Nukem Forever came out! Yeah, it was terrible, but you don't want Half-Life to go the Shenmue rought, do you? Speaking of which...

Never give up on the other long rumored games I've been waiting for.


Progress: You know what would be great Wii U games? Metroid Dread and Shenmue III. I mean, the Wii U is pretty much the Dreamcast II, just like I predicted. It's coming out before the other systems, and will be kinda in-between in terms of power, and it's got a screen in the controller. THE DREAM IS TRUE! Sort of. 

Get back my S-Rank in ME2.

Progress: Not having a working Xbox sucks. All I want to do is give BioWare my money, but I can't. 

See every hidden Calendar Man conversation in Batman Arkham City.

Progress: I'll get back to you when I play this game. You know, when it's out later this year.  
 
Sorry, but no new goals this time. I can't think of anything. I think I've done pretty well on these though, all things considered. You know, aside from my Xbox breaking. That was bad. Now if only there would be a decent deal on the 250GB Xbox that doesn't come with Kinect. Seriously, all the deals are either for the 4 GB model (and I've barely gotten by with 20 these last few years, I ain't downgrading) or the Kinect bundles. I don't want a freaking Kinect Microsoft! Those games come in purple boxes. PURPLE! Whose bright idea was that? As if transparent neon green wasn't bad enough. 
 
Speaking of which, that brings me to my other point of discussion: Mass Effect 3. More specifically, the fact that the 360 version of Mass Effect 3 has Kinect support.  
 
Now, I don't mind that BioWare (by which I really mean Microsoft pressuring EA, and then in turn pressuring BioWare (well, maybe, I don't really know)) added in Kinect stuff, especially since it's optional and in a way that makes sense (even if it's all just stuff that literally ANY MICROPHONE can do). What bothers me is that Kinect games come in purple boxes. 
 
Is Mass Effect 3 going to come in a purple box?  
 
I sure hope not. I don't know if I could bring myself to buy it then. Yeah, I know, it's a really dumb and meaningless thing to be upset about, but on the other hand, I have my pride. My manly pride. Purple is not manly. Purple is the color of royalty. Royalty is not manly, and it's not American. 
 
So yeah, the color purple is not American. You know that song "Purple Haze?" Well, Hendrix was writing about the evils of monarchies. You can look that up, it's totally true.* 
 
 And don't say, "Oh, well just buy the collector's edition." There's three potential problems with that. One: It may just have the regular case in it. Two: I'm too cheap for that. Three: I read online that it'll have lady Shepard on it too, and I'm too sexist for that. That, and I feel like BioWare has wimped out by not sticking with the same thing they've used in all the marketing for the previous games. The hell with the people who used lady Shepard or changed the look of man Shepard. They went to the trouble of modeling it after a real dude. Stop disrespecting that Dutch model or whatever the hell he does for a living.  
 
Okay, so that last reason is pretty silly, and I'm not really sexist (well, maybe a little). But I seriously wouldn't want to buy a game in a purple box. I'd seriously consider borrowing my friend's PS3 copy of ME2 and playing that (and paying $10 for that comic thing) so I can have all the decisions for Mass Effect 3. And I could save a couple hundo dollars by not buying a new 360. Of course then I'd miss out on Gears 3...Decisions, decisions... 
 
Anyway, does anyone have thoughts? Anyone else afraid that ME3 will be in a purple box? Do you internet people not care? Damn hippies, women, and hippie women. You ruined America! And this one I stand by. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*Not true at all.
11 Comments

So many games!

By MooseyMcMan 3 Comments

So, it's been a while since I've written anything significant here, so now I'm going to get everyone caught up on what's happened since the tornado. Not in terms of what's happened to the town, because everything's fine related to that. I mean in terms of games.  
 
So I'll start with all the stuff I've gotten off the PSN lately. And before I write about that, I should point out that I may have access to more than one account, and two of them may be from England/Japan. Although so far as I can tell the Japanese PlayStation Store still isn't working, which is odd.  
 

US Account: 

 
Wipeout HD/Fury: For those who haven't played a Wipeout game before, it's basically F-Zero, just without all the goofy characters and stuff. It's really good, but I feel like the single player stuff goes through the same courses too many times. As much fun as I've had playing it, I can't help but feel that more than anything else, it makes me wish Nintendo would make a new F-Zero game, especially with the new and more powerful Wii U on the horizon. Wipeout's great and all, but 8 racers is nothing compared to the 30 racers in F-Zero.  
 
Super Stardust HD: It's pretty fun. Really nice looking, especially in 1080P. When my dad was watching me play, he was amazed at how good it looked what with all the particles and junk flying around. It's kinda hard though, as I've yet to beat the forth (of five) levels. I keep dying on the boss (which is really two bosses) at the end. I'll get it eventually though. 
 
Killzone Liberation: So, when I was deciding what PSP games to get for free, I thought I'd get this one, because I liked Killzone 2, and IGN gave it a 9 back in the day. And I really shouldn't judge it after only playing the first level, but I don't like it very much. A 9 star PSP game in '06 is not a 9 star game PSP game is '11. It doesn't look good, the controls aren't great, and it just seems pretty lame. I dunno, maybe it'll grow on me if I give it more time.  
 
Pursuit Force: Now this game, on the other hand, is awesome. See, the concept is that there's this city that has so much crime that it has more crime than Detroit (that's literally what the game says) so they create the Pursuit Force, who can do whatever is necessary to stop crime. And that involves jumping from car to car Vin Diesel style and then killing the guys in the car, which of course fills up the justice meter which increases attack power and stuff. Also, the voice acting is hilariously bad. To be honest, it's not really that great, because the controls are kinda bad, and it looks kinda dated, but it's still fun.  
 
Braid: I got this for $3.75 with my PlayStation Plus (which I got a free month of, course). It's pretty cool. The game gets really tough and mind boggling. The "story" gets really weird in the end though. It was definitely worth the low price though, and I encourage everyone with PS+ (which is pretty much everyone with a PS3 at this moment) who hasn't played this game to buy it and play it. 
 
PixelJunk Shooter 2: Since I'm pretty sure there's a $5 minimum charge for buying stuff on PSN, and Braid was under $5, I got this too so I wouldn't have some money leftover. It's pretty good. It's pretty similar to the first one, which is good, because that was a great game.  
 
So that's it for stuff I've downloaded with my official US account. Now for this UK account that I have access to but isn't necessarily mine because Sony probably doesn't like people having more than one account:  
 
Dead Nation: I know this game has gotten mixed reviews, but I enjoyed it. I played through it on my own, and while I definitely thought it got kinda old by the end, it was still fun. And I've played through about half of it in co-op, and that's fun too.  
 
Ratchet and Clank Quest for Booty: Haven't played it yet. But I downloaded it. Should be fun. 
 
Streets of Rage II: This was free on there for PS+ users. Some people may get some nostalgic fun from it, but that game has not aged well. But it was free, and I got a couple Trophies, so yay.  
 
Burnout Paradise: Yup. UK users get Burnout Paradise FOR FREE. And it's awesome. Not much else to say. Well, I do love that the soundtrack has a ton of classical and opera music in it. I turned off most of the other stuff, so I listen to that, GNR, AIC, and of course, the soundest of gardens, Soundgarden.  
 
So that's it for the stuff I've downloaded. Yeah, I know, it's a lot. But I've played some disc based games too. And here's my thoughts: 
 
Yakuza 4: This game is an awful lot like Yakuza 3. And that's a good thing, because that game was awesome. But I liked this one a whole lot more, because the story was better, there was more voice acting, and having four playable characters kept the combat fresh and exciting throughout. Also, I think it's a huge achievement that they had four likable protagonists in one game, especially since in this day and age most games don't even have one likable protagonist. So that game was great, and I cannot recommend it enough. Buy this game, because the more copies that are sold, the more likely it becomes that Sega will release Yakuza of the End in the US (so far as I know, while it has a Japanese release, they haven't announced a US one yet).  
 
inFAMOUS 2: While I haven't actually beaten it yet, I am pretty close to the end, and as much as I loved inFAMOUS 1, I'm afraid to say...That this one is better! Haha, fooled you there, didn't I? No? Oh, well, too bad. This game is rad. Electrifyingly so. It's shocking how much I like this game. It's like lighting struck twice. It's...Alright, I'll stop. But if you liked inFAMOUS 1, you'll like this game. Plus, if you get it soon, you can get in on the Uncharted 3 beta. Speaking of which, I need to find out when that starts.  
 
Red Steel 2: Yeah, I went out and bought a copy of this. It was $20 bundled with Wii Motion Plus at KMart, so I couldn't pass it up. And I think it's great. Much better than I was expecting, and I expected it to be good. It's got a great sense of style, it's fun, and more than anything else, it's nice to have something to use in my Wii. I just wish that it was in HD though, because as great as the art style it, the screen just looks blurry and stuff after playing so many games in HD. It's fun though, even if my arm feels a little sore after swinging it around so wildly (though carrying wood around after playing it didn't help).  
 
So that's it for games I've played lately, aside from a couple matches of MK here and there with friends. Shadows of the Damned is out next week. I really want to buy that because of how much I love Suda 51's and Shinji Mikami's games, and I think the style of the game is great. On the other hand, I'm not sold, because all the Duke Nukem-ish jokes (for example, there's a talking skull named Johnson who turns into a gun called the boner) has me worried, and I haven't seen too much of the actual gameplay. I'll play it at some point, but not sure when if the reviews aren't great. 

3 Comments

Yet another update on my gaming goals of 2011. And Enslaved!

By MooseyMcMan 17 Comments

So, if you've been keeping up with me (and there must be a few people out there with enough free time to be doing that), then you know that a while ago I came up with some "achievable" goals for my gaming this year. And here's another update. Also, I've added one at the beginning (with an asterisk too!). 

*100% LA Noire, and 5-Star every case.

So, you may have read that I was kinda bummed by LA Noire's final hours, but that didn't diminish how much I loved the rest of it. So much so that I want to get 100% game completion, and get a five star rating in every case. I've found every landmark, done every street crime mission, found every newspaper, and already five starred a few missions. Now I just need to find half of the remaining film feels, and about half of the remaining cars. Yeah, it'll take a while, but it'll be worth it (not really, but what else do I have to do?).
 

Upload at least one good LittleBigPlanet 2 level.

Progress: None since last time. 
 

Become skilled at Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Progress: Complete! Depending on how you define skilled, anyway. I'm probably out of practice, but whatever. 
 

Acquire a copy of ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman

Progress: Complete!
 

S-Rank Deadly Premonition

Progress: On hold until I get a new Xbox.
 

Finish Alpha Protocol (with my friend).

Progress: We'll finish it. Someday... 
 

Beat Deus Ex: Human Revolution with zero kills.

Progress: I still intend on doing this. It'll probably be hard though.
 

Try once again to beat Dead Rising (and probably not succeed).

Progress: I've already tried to beat it this year, and didn't succeed, so I guess that's probably the best I'll do, at least until I replace my broken Xbox. 

Buy and beat Dead Rising 2: Off the Record.

Progress: To be frank, I'm still interested in that game. 
 

Don't buy this year's Call of Duty.

Progress: Man, that trailer with in-game footage...But I'm not giving in. 

Don't buy anything at GameStop.

Progress: Goin' strong! You won't get any of my money this year, GameStop! 
 

Buy at least one Wii game.

Progress: You know, I really want to play Skyward Sword. But, unless I'm mistaken, Nintendo's said nothing about the game's release date, so who knows if it'll be out this year. I hope so. 

Beat Yakuza 3, then buy/beat Yakuza 4.

Progress: I have beaten Yakuza 3, and Yakuza 4 should arrive some time this week. 

Buy the new Mortal Kombat game, and memorize some fatalities.

Progress: I have kompleted this task!  

Resist buying Portal 2 (or any other Valve product) until Valve gives some concrete info on the next Half-Life game.

Progress: What's that you say? Valve said something about not being at E3? Curses! 

Never give up on the other long rumored games I've been waiting for.

Progress: I have not given up yet. And I shan't. Some day I will be playing Shenmue III on my Dreamcast II whilst also playing Metroid Dread, etc. 

Get back my S-Rank in ME2.

On hold until I get a new Xbox. Once I do, I can assure you that the first new thing I download onto it will be the last ME2 DLC, regardless of how poor it is! I mean, I bought the second DLC for ME1, and that was really bad, so I gotta keep the trend going! 

See every hidden Calendar Man conversation in Batman Arkham City.

According to "the internet," Batman's greatest foe, Calendar Man, is going to be in Arkham City. And apparently if you talk to him on a holiday, he'll say different things. So, yeah. 
   


Oh, in other news, I started playing Enslaved yesterday after beating LA Noire, and I beat it today. Aside from thinking that the game is a little on the short side, and a few issues with the camera, I thought the game was really good. Surprisingly good, to be frank. And given the low prices that it can be found for (about 20 clams on Amazon right now), I wholeheartedly recommend it (assuming you like games with lots of climbing on stuff, and beating up robots with a stick). 


Although, I do think it may have had more Andy Serkis that I can handle. Without spoiling anything, it gets real weird at the end. But in a way that I love. Okay, I will spoil it, but in one of those spoiler dealies. 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.
 
 So that's about it. My copy of Yakuza 4 should arrive soon, so I'll make sure and post about that (though I'm willing to guess that I'm going to like it). 
17 Comments

My final thoughts in LA Noire (spoilers ABOUND!)

By MooseyMcMan 35 Comments

So, I finished LA Noire this morning. And I have to say, I felt kinda disappointed at the end of the game. And as stated above, there's going to be MAD spoilers here, so YOU'VE BEEN WARNED! Also, there may be Red Dead Redemption spoilers in there too, in case for whatever reason you haven't played that game. 


First off, let me get this out of the way: I have no complaints with the gameplay. The investigating and interrogating work as advertised, and the action scenes aren't bad. Well, the fistfights are a little clunky, but the gunfights are fun, and the car chases are often pretty excellent. 

Where I do find fault with the game is in the story. And in a story-focused game like LA Noire, that's not good. And it's especially disappointing when the first, I'll say two thirds of the game was so good. 

See, up through the homicide desk in the game, I was absolutely loving every second. But then once Phelps got transferred to vice, I found my interest waning. For one thing, investigating morphine trafficking isn't as interesting as going after a serial murder, and more importantly, Roy Earle is an asshole, and I didn't like working with him at all (though I feel like that part was intentional), especially after working with Rusty Galloway. 

But those are minor issues. Where I really find fault is the in overarching story. See, at the end of vice, it turns out that Phelps had been having an affair with some German broad (and he's married with two kids). This is where the game started to lose me.

First off, goody-two-shoes Phelps wouldn't be having an affair. It's out of character for him. Now, I could understand if he was having marital troubles at home, but the game shows literally none of that. And to top it off, he's not even having an affair with someone attractive. No offense to the actress who played Elsa, but she just seemed ugly to me. Why would the star officer of the LAPD risk his career on an ugly German broad? It doesn't make sense, and more importantly, I didn't like it. 

In a game where so much of what happens in the cases is entirely dependent on my actions, it felt really cheap that something like this was entirely out of my hands. It really destroyed the "connection" with Cole that had been created over the course of the game up to that point. And again, in such a story focused game, that's not good. 

But after that, the game got my interest again, because I dug the whole, "You're demoted to arson thing." At least I did for a while. Because after I had just gotten into the swing of searching through the burned down remnants of houses, the game says, "Hey, you know that guy you've played as for the whole game? Well, now you're playing as this other guy." I'm not going to lie, I hate it when games do that. I hated when it happened in MGS2, and I really hated it in Red Dead Redemption. 

And I hated it here. I spent the whole game playing as Cole Phelps, who, aside from an affair that I think was out of character, was one of the best new characters I've seen in a game in years. And then the game, with no warning, makes me play as Jack Kelso, or in other words, that asshole I don't like. I don't mind if games tell you that you play as multiple people, and if they're all likable, but springing it out in the last hour or two of the game, and having it be someone I really didn't like really makes me angry. 

And then the end of the game. They kill off Cole for no reason. Why? I don't know. I hate it when games kill off likable characters, whether they're good guys or bad guys. But especially when it's the dude you play as in most of the game. It's what ruined the ending of RDR for me, and it looks like this year's big RockStar release followed suit (though I realize there's no real connection here, because I don't think Team Bondi would change their "vision" to do what RockStar wanted). 

So, yeah. I really felt disappointed in the game's story. That doesn't change the fact that I still think that, for the most part, this is a phenomenal game that everyone should play. Just because I didn't like the story doesn't mean everyone won't like it, and the first 2/3-ish of the game is so fantastic that it easily makes up for the rest of the game (again, much like my thoughts on RDR last year). 

But if you're reading this, then you've already beaten the game! Right? You know, because I warned about spoilers. 

Also, Rusty Galloway was awesome. 
35 Comments

My early thoughts on LA Noire.

By MooseyMcMan 4 Comments

First off, I'd like to say that I got LA Noire today at KMart, where I got a $20 gaming coupon, and a free $20 game of my choice (I got Enslaved). So yeah, depending on the bargain bin in your local KMart (the pickings were pretty slim overall when I went), that's the place to get LA Noire this week (assuming you plan on buying another game in the near future).
ANYWAY, I've played a couple hours of the game. Here are my thoughts!

The Good.


RockStar has been touting LA Noire's (or "Elanor," as I like to call it) facial animation for a while now. At first, I was quite skeptical, because I couldn't look past what I thought was poor skin textures on the faces to see the animations. I'm not sure if it's a result of more development on the game, or my seeing the faces in HD on my 61" TV, but now I think the faces look incredible. Easily the best facial animation I've ever seen in a game. It's good enough that my dad (who almost always complains about the faces in games, even ones like Mass Effect that are usually considered to have decent faces) thinks the faces look really good. It's really mind blowing how well the faces animate.

And the rest of the game looks pretty sharp too. Not the best looking game ever, and the framerate drops a little sometimes (rocking the PS3 version), but it's not bad at all. And the attention to detail is amazing. Everywhere there are all sorts of signs and buildings and whatnot that seem perfect for the setting (at least to someone who has never been to 1940s LA). And I greatly appreciate the olde timey music on the radios, including my dad's surprise at hearing the original version of "Move it on Over," rather than the George Thorogood classic (well, he knew that was a cover, but not that the original was from the 40s). Also, you can play the entire game in black and white. I wouldn't want to do that, because the game has some excellent use of color in the classic cars (all lovingly recreated based on real cars, and there's a car viewer in the main menu) and the various neon signs in the city.

Gameplay wise, the game is a mix of driving around (complete with short, action focused side missions that pop up along the way to story missions), searching for clues, and interrogating witnesses. The driving is realistic enough to feel fairly accurate, but loose enough that the olde timey cares are still fun to drive. The combat in the game is decent, but nothing out of the ordinary (go into cover, shoot dudes, repeat). But the main focus is on searching for clues and interrogating the witnesses. The former involves walking around crime scenes (or other important areas) and looking at various objects in the environment. And there's a great subtle "hint system" in place where dramatic music (which is great) plays whilst there are still clues to be found, and slowly dies down as there's less to find. And the controller rumbles when you're near something that can be interacted with. And, of course these can be turned off if they aren't your thing (but I think it's a great way to help you out without explicitly telling you what to do).


And then there's the interrogations. This is both LA Noire's strongest part, and one of it's weakest. On the one hand, the insane facial animation and great voice acting means that, if you're good at reading people, you can use that to your advantage. If, on the other hand, you're more like me, you'll probably stumble through these blindly. And it doesn't help that everything seems to be pass/fail, with no in-between. I'm still fairly early in the game, but I can tell that I'm not great at this stuff. I guess that's not really the game's fault, but it's hard to tell when to say someone is lying, and when to "doubt" someone. I dunno, I guess I'll have to keep playing to get a better feel for it. 


On the other hand though, I do think it's pretty awesome that you can screw up talking to people, but still find other ways to the solution. Here's an example that I'll "spoiler" out (even though I'll try to be vague with it):

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

But as I'm still fairly early on, I have no clue if future cases will have similar secondary (or potentially tertiary) routes to solving crimes (and I mean solving them, as I have heard that it's possible to catch the wrong man, and I want nothing to do with that!). I'm hoping that's the case. It'll encourage me to replay cases to do them right.

So that's about it. This game is awesome. Go buy this game. You owe it not only to yourself, but also to the people at Team Bondi who have been working on this game for years. They clearly poured a crapload of time and love into this game, and it shows. 

BUY THIS GAME!
4 Comments

Mortal Kombat, Yakuza 3, and a broken Xbox.

By MooseyMcMan 17 Comments

So, a week ago I said I thought my Xbox was on the way out. In the mean time, I've been able to determine that it's not the wire that's broken, meaning it's something more substantial than that. Now the next step is to see if it's still within warranty (which I doubt). Then I'll wait until E3, and see if Microsoft drops the price to try and steal attention away from the Wii-2 and the NGP (and I hope they do). Then I'll go buy one. 


So yeah. In better news, I finished Yakuza 3. That game is pretty awesome. If you want a more detailed description of what I think, go here, where I wrote my early impressions. They're fairly accurate, except that the Japanese voice acting really grew on me over the 60 hours I spent with the game. If you haven't played it, stop reading this and go buy it. It's about $20 on Amazon, and worth every penny. 

I also got a kopy of Mortal Kombat, beat the story mode, played through 180-something of the challenges, played with a kouple of friends, and got three Toasties (today). To sum up my thoughts quickly, I love the game. But here's something long and probably rambling:

The Good.

The first thing I noticed about MK is how good the game looks. The kombatants are super detailed (and take damage in real time as fights progress), the environments are very detailed with lots of goofy things in the background (like billboards for Netherrealm Studioes and WB), the framerate is super smooth, and it runs in 1080P. The end result is a game that looks great, especially when kharacters are being ripped into pieces (literally, the fatalities are excellent). 

And the story mode! I'm sure at this point everyone knows MK has a story mode, but as someone who doesn't play games online very much (especially with a broken Xbox and a non-functioning PSN) a great story mode in a fighting game is a god-send. It's not perfect, because you can see the "seems" when it transitions from kutscene to gameplay, but the simple fact that it has full-motion kutscenes komplete with voice acting is astounding. Especially since it's pretty well done. I won't spoil anything, but I'll just say that it's worth playing through, even if you aren't a long time fan of the series (and I wasn't). 

But as one might guess, the most important aspect of any game is the gameplay. And this is where MK delivers the most. It's simple enough that any idiot can pick up a kontroller and beat up dudes, but it's got enough depth that there are videos online of people doing really krazy stuff that boggles my mind. But more importantly than all that, it's fun. There's nothing quite like playing Test Your Luck against a friend, when he loses the ability to use dash, jump, and use special moves, but ends up winning because he got quick uppercuts, and I was playing as a kharacter without a regular projectile attack.

I've also heard that there's some sort of "online" mode in this game, but since I have the PS3 version (because Kratos is a slick kharacter, and the God of War level has THREE stage fatalities), I haven't been able to try that. I hear it's quite fun though.

Also, the game has a ton of other stuff. It's got a regular arcade ladder mode, and the endings are even narrated (which is more than I can say for another recent fighting game). And most of these things give you Koins, which kan be used to unlock kontent in the Krypt. Most of the stuff there is dumb stuff like koncept art, but you can also see the kombos for secret fatalities, or unlock hidden kostumes. Then there's the challenge tower, which has 300 challenges, ranging from lessons on how to do specific kharacter's special moves, to minigames like Test Your Might, to super hard fights against the game's bosses. Speaking of which...

The Bad.

I'm not going to beat around the bush, the boss fights in this game are not very fun. At least not on the default difficulty (Medium and there are five total). They're cheap. They have special moves that do over 50% damage. One attack that kan take off over half your health bar. That doesn't seem too fair to me. And even beyond that, their regular attacks to tons of damage, and half the time they don't even flinch when you hit them (I mean that literally, as in I do an uppercut, but they don't fly up in the air). 

And it's not just the bosses, there are numerous times in the story mode when there's a 1 on 2 match, with the AI having two dudes. And there's one part where you need to beat three kombatants without the healthbar refilling between rounds (and then it happens a second time right after). And these fights feel pretty cheap too, especially since you kan't select who you play as, meaning you may have to play as someone you don't like. 

But despite these shortcomings, the game is still excellent. If you like fighting games, you kan't do much better than this. It's the type of game that appeals to long time fans, and to new guys like me. 

Plus, you kan encourage throws. There's nothing like being komplemented for throwing a foe. 

And you can see Dan Forden in HD. There is a piece of toast on his t-shirt. A Toast Tee, in other words. 

So that's about it. I'll make sure and keep you guys updated on the Xbox situation. Otherwise, I won't be beating Dead Rising, or S-Ranking Deadly Premonition (or re-S-Ranking Mass Effect 2). And if/when the PSN is back up, my PSN name is JusticeMoose. I'll play all komers in MK, and probably lose to most of them. Or maybe smoke them. People who play the game will know what I mean. 
17 Comments

I think my second Xbox is on the way out.

By MooseyMcMan 13 Comments

So, I just came back from college a couple days ago, and was upset to hear that apparently during my absence, my stepbrother had been using my Xbox (that part I didn't mind, he knows what he's doing with the thing), and that after ten or so minutes of play, the colors get all messed up and shadows turn green and stuff. So, I turn the thing on, and sure enough, anything that's dark turns into a pulsating green. 


And it's not just one game, everything is affected, including the main menus (though there it's the white stuff turning blue). 

So, I decided to try plugging the wires into the other component holes on my TV. No dice. Then, as more of a joke than anything else, I decided to use the "Nintendo Method of getting things to work," so I removed the video out from the back of the Xbox and blew into it a little. Plugged it back in, and it was the same as before. 

Now, by this point, I had already gone onto Google, and saw that other people had this issue (mainly a couple years ago, but my Xbox is one of the older white ones that has  the really loud disc drive), but I also hadn't really found many answers online. 

Anyway, I decided to turn the system on once again and see if there was something I could adjust in the menu options. However, now when I turned it on, the TV wasn't getting a signal. No video, and no audio. So, I decided to try plugging it into another TV that I have (both the HD wires and the SD wires), and no signal either way (yes, I remembered to flip the video switch on the Xbox). 

However, I'm pretty sure the Xbox is still functioning normally otherwise, because I was able to turn it off by holding the Big Center Button Thingy for a couple seconds, then pushing up twice and hitting A (you know, to bring up the menu that lets you turn the system off (cause I have it memorized)). 

I tried going to Microsoft's troubleshooting website, but again, no dice. 

So, right now I'm thinking that either there's something wrong internally with the Xbox, or there's something wrong with the wire. At the moment I don't have another wire to test it with, though I do have a friend that I'm sure will let me use his (but he's still at college for several days, so that'll have to wait). 

So...Any suggestions? I think my Xbox might still be under warranty (I got a two year extended warranty, but then Microsoft added three years or something to everybody's regular warranty), so if it is, then I'll be sending this in for repair. If not...Then hopefully I'll be able to find a good deal on one in a store, and be able to figure out how to get all my saves and stuff over to my other Xbox, because I don't want to lose all that stuff. 

But I'm still hoping that it's something wrong with the wire, and that I can buy a new one. Or that I'll at least be able to get the signal working long enough to copy my saves onto a USB stick. 

Man, this sucks. I don't even use the thing that often, but often enough that I don't want to go without one. I mean, I don't want to get Mass Effect 3 on PS3 when I've played the first two on 360! Argh! 

Again, any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate them. 
13 Comments

Another update on my gaming goals of 2011!

By MooseyMcMan 14 Comments

So...BioWare announced today that Mass Effect 3 isn't coming out this year...Which means that all of my goals related to Mass Effect 3 are, well, impossible to accomplish this year. So that means I won't be able to accomplish those goals, but hey, at least it's not my fault! 


Also, if everything goes correctly, I should be returning home tomorrow until the fall semester, which means I'll have tons of time for getting all my other goals done. Yay!

Play through the entire Mass Effect trilogy.

Progress: Failed. I can't play a game that isn't out in this year! 

Buy a 3DS.

Progress: Abandoned! After spending some time with a 3DS, and taking a good long look at both the games currently available, and those announced for the rest of the year, I've decided that I don't want to buy a 3DS this year. Unless there's a big price drop, but I doubt that will happen.
 

Upload at least one good LittleBigPlanet 2 level.

Progress: I at least played through all the tutorials, and I have some great ideas for a weird level. 
 

Become skilled at Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Progress: Complete! Depending on how you define skilled, anyway. 
 

Acquire a copy of ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman

Progress: Complete! I've actually played it enough to get five or six different endings (note that after one play through, you can get endings at the end of each dungeon, so you can get them pretty quick).
 

S-Rank Deadly Premonition

Progress: I have beaten the game on easy, meaning that all I have left is beating it on hard. It will be done!

S-Rank Mass Effect 3

Progress: Failed! As stated above, I can't play a game that isn't out this year!
 

Finish Alpha Protocol (with my friend).

Progress: Not much of anything has happened here since last time. Hopefully we'll have time to go at this soon. 
 

Beat Deus Ex: Human Revolution with zero kills.

Progress: I still intend on doing this. It'll probably be hard though.
 

Try once again to beat Dead Rising (and probably not succeed).

Progress: Technically I have done this, because I played a decent chunk of DR earlier this year. But I still kinda want to finish it, especially with the "Westernized" (get it?) version of Dead Rising 2 coming out later this year. 


Buy and beat Dead Rising 2: Off the Record.

Progress: Game ain't out yet!
 

Don't buy this year's Call of Duty.

Progress: I don't think Activision has even officially announced what this game will be yet. But if it's what I think it will be (Modern Warfare 3), then I'm going to have to borrow it from someone like I did with MW2, because that game ended on a huge cliffhanger. 
 

Don't buy anything at GameStop.

Progress: Goin' strong! You won't get any of my money this year, GameStop! 
 

Buy at least one Wii game.

Progress: With rumors of the WiiWii (it's not much dumber than "Stream") becoming more widespread (especially since Nintendo said they're going to show it off at E3), there's rumors that Skyward Sword (the last Wii game I'm interested in) might pull a Twilight Princess and be on both systems, or even be a WiiWii game outright. So who knows if that'll be out. And there's literally no other Wii games that I want to buy. Maybe Mario Galaxy 2, if it went on sale. Maybe.

Beat Yakuza 3, then buy/beat Yakuza 4.

Progress: I'm pretty close to the end of Yakuza 3, so that part'll be easy. I'll finish this one easily. 

Buy the new Mortal Kombat game, and memorize some fatalities.

Progress: I bought a kopy the other day on Amazon for $40, and it should arrive soon! And memorizing a few fatalities should be easy. 

Resist buying Portal 2 (or any other Valve product) until Valve gives some concrete info on the next Half-Life game.

Progress: Still going. After watching the ending of Portal 2 online, and listening to the GB Spoilercast for the game, I find my interest in the game to be zero. I didn't like what I saw, and the gameplay isn't really enough to lure me in. I'm not giving in Valve. At least say SOMETHING about Half-Life. ANYTHING! It's ridiculous that you announced Episode III years ago and have put out so much other crap in the meantime, all without saying anything concrete about this! I understand taking your sweet time with it, but putting out so much other stuff (and announcing future stuff like that Dota thing) just makes it seem like you are purposely doing this just to laugh at us! Why?!

Never give up on the other long rumored games I've been waiting for.

Progress: I have not given up yet. And I shan't. Some day I will be playing Shenmue III on my Dreamcast II whilst also playing Metroid Dread, etc. 

So, yeah. Not much progress on anything, I just thought the ME3 delay justified updating my goals. I think next time I update the list I'll just omit those entirely. You know what, while I'm here, let me come up with another couple of new goals, just for you!

Get back my S-Rank in ME2.

With the release of yet another DLC thing for ME2, I realized that my S-Rank is gone. So I'll need to spend $10 (because while it costs $7, Microsoft only sells MS Points in multiples of $5 (you know, on PSN, they don't do that, once you spend over $5, you can do whatever you want)) to get that back. This is especially great given the sterling reputation this latest DLC has. Great!

See every hidden Calendar Man conversation in Batman Arkham City.

According to "the internet," Batman's greatest foe, Calendar Man, is going to be in Arkham City. And apparently if you talk to him on a holiday, he'll say different things. So, yeah. 

That's about it. 
14 Comments