As of right now, it would seem that neither Rock Band 2 nor Guitar Hero World Tour are faring well in the drum quality department. This guy made a video documenting most of the RB2 drum issues, and how to spend over $100 to make an awesome bass pedal, if you feel like dropping a bunch more money to play Rock Band a little better. The video quality is pretty horrible, but the information is good, definitely worth watching if you're into the drums.
I have Iron Cobra Jr. double bass pedals on my real set, so I can say first hand that they're awesome. Not sure if they're worth the price if you're just going to scab some rock band electronics on them though... might be better off going for another $100 or so for the ION drums. At least they work as an electric kit on their own.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
James Bond - Quantum of Solace (X360)
I've heard a lot of good things about this one. People seem to be of the opinion that it will be the best Bond game since Goldeneye. They may be right.
The game follows a pretty straight duck and cover format, very similar to games like Gears of War, except that you're in first person when you arent in cover. Unlike Gears though, there's a good amount of stealth gameplay, where studying enemy movements and dispatching of them quietly is going to give you an advantage. Your watch gives you an overhead map of the area, so you've always got some intel in addition to what you observe straight up. This is a little bit more realistic than a heads up minimap in the corner, since Bond doesn't have any ocular implants or anything. Being spotted, heard, or seen on camera in these stealth modes will bring elite guards down on you.
Throughout the game, you can find cell phones that give you intel on the level as well. Perhaps it's a voicemail or a text message with the location of some ammo or a sweet gun, or a picture of an upcoming area. Collecting these gets you achievements as well, so keep an eye out for them (or an ear, they ring when you're close by).
The graphics are gorgeous. This being coupled with some Hollywood style deaths (enemies flailing their arms, shooting wildly as they fall) and action (explosions actually deforming buildings, perhaps a bell on a building under construction is persuaded to fall on some enemies) and you might actually mistake the game for a movie every now and then. Daniel Craig's face is modeled extremely well, so that adds to the realism, since you're looking at his mug every time you're in cover. I also found it pretty cool that his hair looks realistically wet in rainy levels. The game seems very polished, obviously a lot of effort went into making it seem like a real movie.
The story line bothered me a bit though. It starts off in the new movie, but then flashes back to Casino Royale for at least 75% of the game, before returning to Quantum of Solace. They make an effort at explaining it, but it just seems a bit weird. It also doesn't give me much hope for the new movie, if its namesake game spends most of its time on Casino Royale. If you ignore the timeline warps though, the story telling is done very well. You get your futuristic computer display which constantly cross references pictures, video, audio, etc. while M talks to James and other MI6 people, which is cool. Daniel Craig and Judy Dench do the voices for Bond and M respectively, so that makes a big difference as well. Games such as Force Unleashed that use imitators just leave a bad taste in my mouth (ears?).
However well told the story is though, it ends way too soon. I think I spent 5-6 hours on the single player, and that's just not long enough at all for $60. It's really a great game too, and with two movies to pull from, its a shame they didn't make it longer. The replay value isn't terrible though, since there are multiple difficulties with their own achievements, and of course all the cell phones to find.
What may save the brutally short single player from massive ridicule is the multiplayer. It looks pretty sweet, as it offers some customizations that you can purchase with money that I assume you win from online matches. Unfortunately I haven't been able to play it, as there is NO SPLIT SCREEN MULTIPLAYER, ahem, but it does look like it will be excellent online. On that note, why is split screen multi dying out? Is it that hard to implement? Games like this and Pure are both lacking it, but offer excellent online play - I don't get it. Those of us with real friends shouldn't be punished here!
The achievements are exactly what achievements should be in a game like this. You get some for beating levels and beating the game, and stupid things like hacking every locked door that you're gonna do anyway, but just about every level has something extra to shoot for, like going through undetected or only using the pistol. Those type of achievements can add a lot of replay value, and this game really needs that.
So in closing, this is an excellent game that suffers from a bit of a length problem. It's probably worth the money when multiplayer is considered, but I just can't say at this point. Absolutely pick it up if you're a Bond fan, but you're not going to be able to invite friends over to play like the Goldeneye days.
The game follows a pretty straight duck and cover format, very similar to games like Gears of War, except that you're in first person when you arent in cover. Unlike Gears though, there's a good amount of stealth gameplay, where studying enemy movements and dispatching of them quietly is going to give you an advantage. Your watch gives you an overhead map of the area, so you've always got some intel in addition to what you observe straight up. This is a little bit more realistic than a heads up minimap in the corner, since Bond doesn't have any ocular implants or anything. Being spotted, heard, or seen on camera in these stealth modes will bring elite guards down on you.
Throughout the game, you can find cell phones that give you intel on the level as well. Perhaps it's a voicemail or a text message with the location of some ammo or a sweet gun, or a picture of an upcoming area. Collecting these gets you achievements as well, so keep an eye out for them (or an ear, they ring when you're close by).
The graphics are gorgeous. This being coupled with some Hollywood style deaths (enemies flailing their arms, shooting wildly as they fall) and action (explosions actually deforming buildings, perhaps a bell on a building under construction is persuaded to fall on some enemies) and you might actually mistake the game for a movie every now and then. Daniel Craig's face is modeled extremely well, so that adds to the realism, since you're looking at his mug every time you're in cover. I also found it pretty cool that his hair looks realistically wet in rainy levels. The game seems very polished, obviously a lot of effort went into making it seem like a real movie.
The story line bothered me a bit though. It starts off in the new movie, but then flashes back to Casino Royale for at least 75% of the game, before returning to Quantum of Solace. They make an effort at explaining it, but it just seems a bit weird. It also doesn't give me much hope for the new movie, if its namesake game spends most of its time on Casino Royale. If you ignore the timeline warps though, the story telling is done very well. You get your futuristic computer display which constantly cross references pictures, video, audio, etc. while M talks to James and other MI6 people, which is cool. Daniel Craig and Judy Dench do the voices for Bond and M respectively, so that makes a big difference as well. Games such as Force Unleashed that use imitators just leave a bad taste in my mouth (ears?).
However well told the story is though, it ends way too soon. I think I spent 5-6 hours on the single player, and that's just not long enough at all for $60. It's really a great game too, and with two movies to pull from, its a shame they didn't make it longer. The replay value isn't terrible though, since there are multiple difficulties with their own achievements, and of course all the cell phones to find.
What may save the brutally short single player from massive ridicule is the multiplayer. It looks pretty sweet, as it offers some customizations that you can purchase with money that I assume you win from online matches. Unfortunately I haven't been able to play it, as there is NO SPLIT SCREEN MULTIPLAYER, ahem, but it does look like it will be excellent online. On that note, why is split screen multi dying out? Is it that hard to implement? Games like this and Pure are both lacking it, but offer excellent online play - I don't get it. Those of us with real friends shouldn't be punished here!
The achievements are exactly what achievements should be in a game like this. You get some for beating levels and beating the game, and stupid things like hacking every locked door that you're gonna do anyway, but just about every level has something extra to shoot for, like going through undetected or only using the pistol. Those type of achievements can add a lot of replay value, and this game really needs that.
So in closing, this is an excellent game that suffers from a bit of a length problem. It's probably worth the money when multiplayer is considered, but I just can't say at this point. Absolutely pick it up if you're a Bond fan, but you're not going to be able to invite friends over to play like the Goldeneye days.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Guitar Hero: World Tour (X360)
Mixed feelings on this one. It's great to have new tracks, but there's really a lot more they could have done with it.
First off, instead of your straight through progression from all the other GH games and RB1, you have sets to play. It's sort of a middle ground between the straight through list and the world tour - you have to play multiple songs in one sitting, but you only have to do each set once, and you don't have to do all the sets to unlock the later ones.
Many of the new tracks are awesome - the inclusion of a decent amount of classic rock really made me happy. Steely Dan finally enters the GH arena with "Do it Again" after making their Rock Band debut with "Bodhisattva." Guitar battles against Ted Nugent and Zakk Wylde, followed by encores of "Stranglehold" and "Stillborn" respectively really made my day. But then you get to some really lame sets, with some unlistenable music. For example, the baffling inclusion of Dinosaur Jr.'s horrific "Feel the Pain." It's already in Rock Band 2, so I'm not sure why this pile of crap needed to be on this one as well. Also, it's not the only repeat from RB2 - a good amount of songs are going to give you some déjà vu. The good song to crap ratio seems a bit better than RB2 overall, but with RB1 songs exported, GH:WT kind of pales in comparison.
First off, instead of your straight through progression from all the other GH games and RB1, you have sets to play. It's sort of a middle ground between the straight through list and the world tour - you have to play multiple songs in one sitting, but you only have to do each set once, and you don't have to do all the sets to unlock the later ones.
Many of the new tracks are awesome - the inclusion of a decent amount of classic rock really made me happy. Steely Dan finally enters the GH arena with "Do it Again" after making their Rock Band debut with "Bodhisattva." Guitar battles against Ted Nugent and Zakk Wylde, followed by encores of "Stranglehold" and "Stillborn" respectively really made my day. But then you get to some really lame sets, with some unlistenable music. For example, the baffling inclusion of Dinosaur Jr.'s horrific "Feel the Pain." It's already in Rock Band 2, so I'm not sure why this pile of crap needed to be on this one as well. Also, it's not the only repeat from RB2 - a good amount of songs are going to give you some déjà vu. The good song to crap ratio seems a bit better than RB2 overall, but with RB1 songs exported, GH:WT kind of pales in comparison.
One thing they got right this time around is instrument compatibility. Though I have no idea why anyone would choose the Rock Band guitar, it's good to know that it will work. GH3 wouldn't even let you to the title screen if you had a Rock Band controller plugged in at all. While we're on the subject of peripherals, what I'm reading about the new GH drums is a bit less than stellar. I was really looking forward to the drumkit, but apparently they are extremely flimsy and have almost a 95% breaking rate. The things that break are the actual drumpads as well, so it's a bit harder to fix than a simple snapped bass pedal. The ball has really been dropped on this one I fear.
All things considered, and I hate myself for saying this, I'd take Rock Band 2 over Guitar Hero World Tour. This is doubly true if you own RB1 (or can borrow a friend's for ten minutes) - only five dollars to export all but three songs from the original, plus all your DLC transfers for free. RB2 just feels a lot smoother and less cheesy. Features like the difficulty meter for all instruments and song info right on song list are really nice to have. On top of all that, Harmonix has a pretty excellent track record for releasing DLC, so there's more hope for a Dethklok DLC album someday.
All things considered, and I hate myself for saying this, I'd take Rock Band 2 over Guitar Hero World Tour. This is doubly true if you own RB1 (or can borrow a friend's for ten minutes) - only five dollars to export all but three songs from the original, plus all your DLC transfers for free. RB2 just feels a lot smoother and less cheesy. Features like the difficulty meter for all instruments and song info right on song list are really nice to have. On top of all that, Harmonix has a pretty excellent track record for releasing DLC, so there's more hope for a Dethklok DLC album someday.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
World of Goo and Mega Man 9 (Wii)
These games are awesome.
I was not expecting this sort of fun and quality from a WiiWare game, since everything but "My Life as a King" is pretty horrible. Both these games are really worth the price of admission though.
World of Goo has you building bridges and towers out of goo balls. It's like the West Point Bridge Designer with cartoon faces, awesome music, and brilliant art styling that remind me of a Tim Burton movie (Edward Goohands?)
The levels go from "heh that was a bit tricky" to "holy crap this is impossible" to "I have an engineering degree and I can't get more than halfway through this game." As you progress through the game, you're given all sorts of different goo balls, with different properties for each. For every goo you collect over the minimum for beating the level, a goo is added to a free building level, where you build a tower that is ranked against the world over the Nintendo WFC.
Mega Man 9 follows a similar difficulty scale, though I don't think it even gives you the benefit of a few training levels. Right from the start (if you're following the boss order) this game is just brutal. The game is compeltely retro styled, to the point that you might not even realize that this isn't a virtual console game. The only thing that gives it away is the item shop, a feature clearly not available in Mega Man 1, 2, or 3. Truly an old school difficult game.
So with this much needed quality boost in WiiWare games, we are given two amazing games that will make you pull your hair straight out of your head. Both games are available on the Wii Shop Channel. For those who can't find a Wii, Mega Man can be found on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network, while World of Goo can be downloaded from Steam. I highly suggest you get both, on whatever system you can.
Mega Man 9 has achievements, which are obviously mostly meant for the 360 version, but are listed in the WiiWare version as well. As if the game wasn't hard enough, try beating it three times in a day, or once every day for three days. It's really just hilarious how difficult things get. DLC is also rumored to be on its way, in the form of two HARDER difficulty levels. I can't wait to see how absurd they are.
I was not expecting this sort of fun and quality from a WiiWare game, since everything but "My Life as a King" is pretty horrible. Both these games are really worth the price of admission though.
World of Goo has you building bridges and towers out of goo balls. It's like the West Point Bridge Designer with cartoon faces, awesome music, and brilliant art styling that remind me of a Tim Burton movie (Edward Goohands?)
The levels go from "heh that was a bit tricky" to "holy crap this is impossible" to "I have an engineering degree and I can't get more than halfway through this game." As you progress through the game, you're given all sorts of different goo balls, with different properties for each. For every goo you collect over the minimum for beating the level, a goo is added to a free building level, where you build a tower that is ranked against the world over the Nintendo WFC.
Mega Man 9 follows a similar difficulty scale, though I don't think it even gives you the benefit of a few training levels. Right from the start (if you're following the boss order) this game is just brutal. The game is compeltely retro styled, to the point that you might not even realize that this isn't a virtual console game. The only thing that gives it away is the item shop, a feature clearly not available in Mega Man 1, 2, or 3. Truly an old school difficult game.
So with this much needed quality boost in WiiWare games, we are given two amazing games that will make you pull your hair straight out of your head. Both games are available on the Wii Shop Channel. For those who can't find a Wii, Mega Man can be found on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network, while World of Goo can be downloaded from Steam. I highly suggest you get both, on whatever system you can.
Mega Man 9 has achievements, which are obviously mostly meant for the 360 version, but are listed in the WiiWare version as well. As if the game wasn't hard enough, try beating it three times in a day, or once every day for three days. It's really just hilarious how difficult things get. DLC is also rumored to be on its way, in the form of two HARDER difficulty levels. I can't wait to see how absurd they are.
Fable 2 (X360)
I'm really torn on Fable. On one hand, it's fun to play, gives you a ton of play style options, and is fairly open ended. On the other, it has a great deal of shortcomings, and really doesn't meet my expectations. At times I can only describe it as a "Kiddie" or "Fantasy" Fallout but I'm not sure if that's quite correct.
I think the game really struggles with what it wants to be, and that's why I'm struggling to make up my mind about it. You've got this incredibly simple combat system, which while it is pretty fun, doesn't provide any sort of challenge for a core gamer. Each style of attack has one button - sword is X, gun is Y, magic is B. You earn some new abilities as you gain XP, which make you do such challenging combinations such as "hold X to block, and release for an unblockable flourish" or "hold Y to aim." So obviously it's meant for kids, right?
Well it certainly seems that way for a while. The graphics are reminiscent of World of Warcraft's cartoony style, you get an incredibly annoying dog pal that spots treasure for you, and the bloodless combat is simplistic enough for a four year old. You're given an array of actions to impress or belittle people, such as dancing, farting, whistling, or threatening. There's nearly no penalty for death, just the loss of some experience points that you haven't spent (no skill loss) and you are revivied on the spot within a couple seconds. So challenging.
Well if that's the case, why do fat whores proposition me for sex in old town? When I beat down someones door to use their bed for fulfilling this business arrangement, why am I given the option of protected or unprotected sex? Why do I get bonus points for sacrificing my wife at the evil temple, or given missions to slaughter an entire town of innocent people? When I'm caught breaking the law, why am I allowed to skip out on my community service over and over again (just like real life)? Certainly not a kids game then. So what is it?
I guess the only way it fits is as an adult casual game. Grown men and women who are so busy with their "lives" that they can't learn a combat system that takes more than one button, or can't be bothered spending their leisure time in a serious game. So is this really where the intention lies? The RPG equivilent of Wii Sports? I'll pass.
Moral dilemmas aside, it is a fun game to play. You can hack up just about anyone you come across, buy and rent houses, whistle and fart in front of girls until they want to marry you (and then sacrifice them to the dark lord), or just murder guards over and over until you have massive horns growing out of your face (just like real life). The story isn't super interesting, but there's plenty of side quests and jobs to take along the way.
The co-op is pretty terrible. It's great to be able to play with a friend, but it's severely limited by bad camera control, and only the hosting player gets to use his actual character, the other player is just a "henchman." I believe xp and items carry over, but it just seems pretty cheesy.
Achievements are given out for just about everything. I think in four hours of playtime (co-op) we got about 25 achievements, mostly worth 5g each.
I'm not wholly disappointed in Fable 2, as it is a good time, but I think the features that make it fun are found in other, better games. I would check out Fallout over Fable, unless you're really big on the casual style play or the fantasy setting.
If you do pick this up, going full evil might be better saved until later in the game, as things can get weird when the entire town runs away screaming when you walk by. You get a few discounts and things for being feared, but I imagine items are even cheaper when you're just well liked.
I think the game really struggles with what it wants to be, and that's why I'm struggling to make up my mind about it. You've got this incredibly simple combat system, which while it is pretty fun, doesn't provide any sort of challenge for a core gamer. Each style of attack has one button - sword is X, gun is Y, magic is B. You earn some new abilities as you gain XP, which make you do such challenging combinations such as "hold X to block, and release for an unblockable flourish" or "hold Y to aim." So obviously it's meant for kids, right?
Well it certainly seems that way for a while. The graphics are reminiscent of World of Warcraft's cartoony style, you get an incredibly annoying dog pal that spots treasure for you, and the bloodless combat is simplistic enough for a four year old. You're given an array of actions to impress or belittle people, such as dancing, farting, whistling, or threatening. There's nearly no penalty for death, just the loss of some experience points that you haven't spent (no skill loss) and you are revivied on the spot within a couple seconds. So challenging.
Well if that's the case, why do fat whores proposition me for sex in old town? When I beat down someones door to use their bed for fulfilling this business arrangement, why am I given the option of protected or unprotected sex? Why do I get bonus points for sacrificing my wife at the evil temple, or given missions to slaughter an entire town of innocent people? When I'm caught breaking the law, why am I allowed to skip out on my community service over and over again (just like real life)? Certainly not a kids game then. So what is it?
I guess the only way it fits is as an adult casual game. Grown men and women who are so busy with their "lives" that they can't learn a combat system that takes more than one button, or can't be bothered spending their leisure time in a serious game. So is this really where the intention lies? The RPG equivilent of Wii Sports? I'll pass.
Moral dilemmas aside, it is a fun game to play. You can hack up just about anyone you come across, buy and rent houses, whistle and fart in front of girls until they want to marry you (and then sacrifice them to the dark lord), or just murder guards over and over until you have massive horns growing out of your face (just like real life). The story isn't super interesting, but there's plenty of side quests and jobs to take along the way.
The co-op is pretty terrible. It's great to be able to play with a friend, but it's severely limited by bad camera control, and only the hosting player gets to use his actual character, the other player is just a "henchman." I believe xp and items carry over, but it just seems pretty cheesy.
Achievements are given out for just about everything. I think in four hours of playtime (co-op) we got about 25 achievements, mostly worth 5g each.
I'm not wholly disappointed in Fable 2, as it is a good time, but I think the features that make it fun are found in other, better games. I would check out Fallout over Fable, unless you're really big on the casual style play or the fantasy setting.
If you do pick this up, going full evil might be better saved until later in the game, as things can get weird when the entire town runs away screaming when you walk by. You get a few discounts and things for being feared, but I imagine items are even cheaper when you're just well liked.
Gears of War 2 (X360)
I know a lot of you are really excited for this game, so I will happily give you a review three weeks early.
If you've played the first Gears of War, you'll be able to jump right into this one. The controls are the same, the weapons are the same, the strategies are the same - wait, this is a sequel?
Gears of War 1.5 won't disappoint if you're a fan of the first, provided all you expected from it was another single player experience. That said, the new levels are pretty awesome. It's still fairly linear, with the same "you go left, I'll go right" sort of splits. The bosses aren't quite as good in my opinion - there seems to be a lot less figuring out what to do, and more shooting. The final boss isn't difficult at all, I probably could have done it with my eyes closed. The weapons are all the same, with a few additions. There's a mortar gun, which is pretty cool for the few times you use it, a flamethrower, and a minigun that's fun to mow people down with. The Hammer of Dawn seems to only appear once. As you have probably seen in trailers and videos, you also get to ride some Locust vehicles, which are definitely fun.
My main concern with Gears of War, the first one, was the lack of character exposition. They drop you into a prison and tell you to start shooting. After beating it, I looked up some back story online, and found out that a 30 second cutscene could have explained everything. Just a quick little exposition to tell me why I give a crap about these aliens, which would really help me enjoy curb stomping a whole lot more. It's all there too... the story is actually pretty cool. They just don't bother to tell it to you.
A few of the questions that the first one leaves you with are answered here, but its largely the same sort of thing. As I said before, I know a lot of people are looking forward to this, so I won't spoil anything. What I WILL say is that Cole doesn't get nearly enough lines in this one. As a huge fan of the Terry Tate series, I looked forward to every Cole line in the first. "Can't stop the Train baby! WOO WOO!!" and "The Train's at home on the RAILS." literally made me reload the last checkpoint to listen again. However, in 2, I don't think I heard a single mention of the train. His lines were much more serious, when he got them at all, to the point where I wasn't even sure if it was the same guy.
I haven't gotten around to playing multiplayer, since I value my ability to connect to Live. I wouldn't expect many sweeping changes there though.
As for achievements, you get your standard 10g for each level, one for killing enemies in 15 unique ways, killing X number with the flamethrower, mortar, and minigun, and a whole slew of multiplayer achievements. "Seriously 2.0" involves getting 100,000 kills, which will take you quite some time. The collector achievement, the closest to the COG Tag collection in the first one, only consists of 5 items, and they're all more or less handed to you. The hardest one to find is probably the first, which is located on your assault platform dealie. Instead of running straight up to the turret to shoot the Reavers, go backwards, and it's a sign on the wall.
One more bit about achievements - there is a new achievement tracker, which shows your progress toward an achievement. For example, every time you pick up something for the collection achievement, your progress toward it is shown in a little box with a progress bar. Pretty handy for the achievement junkies out there.
So in closing, if you want new single player levels for Gears, and you don't mind spending the $60, I say go for it. If you'd like to play something groundbreaking, I suggest passing on this one.
If you've played the first Gears of War, you'll be able to jump right into this one. The controls are the same, the weapons are the same, the strategies are the same - wait, this is a sequel?
Gears of War 1.5 won't disappoint if you're a fan of the first, provided all you expected from it was another single player experience. That said, the new levels are pretty awesome. It's still fairly linear, with the same "you go left, I'll go right" sort of splits. The bosses aren't quite as good in my opinion - there seems to be a lot less figuring out what to do, and more shooting. The final boss isn't difficult at all, I probably could have done it with my eyes closed. The weapons are all the same, with a few additions. There's a mortar gun, which is pretty cool for the few times you use it, a flamethrower, and a minigun that's fun to mow people down with. The Hammer of Dawn seems to only appear once. As you have probably seen in trailers and videos, you also get to ride some Locust vehicles, which are definitely fun.
My main concern with Gears of War, the first one, was the lack of character exposition. They drop you into a prison and tell you to start shooting. After beating it, I looked up some back story online, and found out that a 30 second cutscene could have explained everything. Just a quick little exposition to tell me why I give a crap about these aliens, which would really help me enjoy curb stomping a whole lot more. It's all there too... the story is actually pretty cool. They just don't bother to tell it to you.
A few of the questions that the first one leaves you with are answered here, but its largely the same sort of thing. As I said before, I know a lot of people are looking forward to this, so I won't spoil anything. What I WILL say is that Cole doesn't get nearly enough lines in this one. As a huge fan of the Terry Tate series, I looked forward to every Cole line in the first. "Can't stop the Train baby! WOO WOO!!" and "The Train's at home on the RAILS." literally made me reload the last checkpoint to listen again. However, in 2, I don't think I heard a single mention of the train. His lines were much more serious, when he got them at all, to the point where I wasn't even sure if it was the same guy.
I haven't gotten around to playing multiplayer, since I value my ability to connect to Live. I wouldn't expect many sweeping changes there though.
As for achievements, you get your standard 10g for each level, one for killing enemies in 15 unique ways, killing X number with the flamethrower, mortar, and minigun, and a whole slew of multiplayer achievements. "Seriously 2.0" involves getting 100,000 kills, which will take you quite some time. The collector achievement, the closest to the COG Tag collection in the first one, only consists of 5 items, and they're all more or less handed to you. The hardest one to find is probably the first, which is located on your assault platform dealie. Instead of running straight up to the turret to shoot the Reavers, go backwards, and it's a sign on the wall.
One more bit about achievements - there is a new achievement tracker, which shows your progress toward an achievement. For example, every time you pick up something for the collection achievement, your progress toward it is shown in a little box with a progress bar. Pretty handy for the achievement junkies out there.
So in closing, if you want new single player levels for Gears, and you don't mind spending the $60, I say go for it. If you'd like to play something groundbreaking, I suggest passing on this one.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Dead Space (X360)
I was really surprised by this game. I had only seen a few random screen shots before last week, so it never really appeared on my radar. What I did see was some dude in a goofy helmet bashing some zombie things.
However, this game is probably one of the finest examples of what a 360 game should be. The graphics are tremendous, the sound is incredible, and it really feels like they spent an inordinate amount of time polishing this game. The real killer for me is the game play in a vacuum environment. All the outside sounds become muffled or silent, so almost all of what you hear is the stomping of your boots and your heart beating. The color scheme looks so much colder, it's almost hard to keep from shivering. When enemies jump out at you, there are no terrifying orchestral cues as there are in air filled environments, just eerie silence. Zero gravity areas have you jumping from wall to wall, constantly changing your view of the room, shooting at aliens who can jump just as well as you can. I really can't say enough about how well the environments are represented in this game.
The HUD is pretty unique for a shooter, largely because there isn't one. Your health is displayed by a meter of blue light on your suit (RIG), next to a meter showing your remaining stasis energy. All messages are displayed as pop up displays that float semi-transparently over the rest of the environment. All of this really helps you feel like you're right there, hanging over Isaac's shoulder, through all of it.
The weapons are really cool as well. You start with the fusion cutter, which is great all through the game for the task of severing limbs from zombie demon alien thingies. This is great, because unlike most games, the limbs are where you can inflict the most damage - body shots aren't as effective. This makes for a uniquely gory experience of limbs and heads rolling around the floor, as well as floating through the zero gravity environments. Other weapons you obtain include a standard laser assault rifle, the "Ripper" which fires a remote controlled buzz saw (awesome), a flamethrower, a spartan laser style weapon called the contact beam, a force gun that repels enemies while doing damage, and the line gun, which fires a wide beam of mines. On top of these guns, you also have stasis, which slows down objects and enemies, and kinesis, which picks up and launches items, body parts, whatever.
Throughout the game you can find stores and benches. The use of stores is pretty obvious - buy and sell weapons and items you've picked up, and store items in a safe if you're running low on inventory. During the game you can find schematics, which will be downloaded at the store and allow you to purchase new items. Benches are also sort of obvious, as they are used to upgrade your equipment. Throughout the game you find "Power Nodes" that you can use here, or for unlocking the occasional room that requires one.
The upgrade system is sort of strange. When you select a weapon, ability, or your RIG to upgrade, you'll be shown a map of what I imagine is supposed to represent your nano-circuitry or whatever. You can place nodes next to nodes that have already been added, but not every node gives you any bonus. You may have to spend three nodes or so just to get any sort of benefit out of it. While I enjoy that it isn't a straight forward system like most games, I do get a little frustrated wasting a bunch of hard earned nodes for one upgrade.
The achievements are varied and will give you some little extra motivation to change up your gameplay a bit. There is an achievement for using each of the guns to score over 30 kills, hacking off 50, 500, and 1000 limbs, 20g for completing each chapter, as well as a bunch of secret and ability specific ones. There's also an achievement for going through the game using only the fusion cutter, which doesn't sound too difficult.
So in closing, if you're a fan of survival horror games such as Resident Evil 4, definitely pick this one up. If you've played Doom 3, it's easy to describe the game - Replace the Mars moon base with a giant space ship, slap a flashlight on your guns, jack up the graphics and polish by a generation, and swap a space marine with a bad ass armored engineer. And turn some lights on every now and then :)
However, this game is probably one of the finest examples of what a 360 game should be. The graphics are tremendous, the sound is incredible, and it really feels like they spent an inordinate amount of time polishing this game. The real killer for me is the game play in a vacuum environment. All the outside sounds become muffled or silent, so almost all of what you hear is the stomping of your boots and your heart beating. The color scheme looks so much colder, it's almost hard to keep from shivering. When enemies jump out at you, there are no terrifying orchestral cues as there are in air filled environments, just eerie silence. Zero gravity areas have you jumping from wall to wall, constantly changing your view of the room, shooting at aliens who can jump just as well as you can. I really can't say enough about how well the environments are represented in this game.
The HUD is pretty unique for a shooter, largely because there isn't one. Your health is displayed by a meter of blue light on your suit (RIG), next to a meter showing your remaining stasis energy. All messages are displayed as pop up displays that float semi-transparently over the rest of the environment. All of this really helps you feel like you're right there, hanging over Isaac's shoulder, through all of it.
The weapons are really cool as well. You start with the fusion cutter, which is great all through the game for the task of severing limbs from zombie demon alien thingies. This is great, because unlike most games, the limbs are where you can inflict the most damage - body shots aren't as effective. This makes for a uniquely gory experience of limbs and heads rolling around the floor, as well as floating through the zero gravity environments. Other weapons you obtain include a standard laser assault rifle, the "Ripper" which fires a remote controlled buzz saw (awesome), a flamethrower, a spartan laser style weapon called the contact beam, a force gun that repels enemies while doing damage, and the line gun, which fires a wide beam of mines. On top of these guns, you also have stasis, which slows down objects and enemies, and kinesis, which picks up and launches items, body parts, whatever.
Throughout the game you can find stores and benches. The use of stores is pretty obvious - buy and sell weapons and items you've picked up, and store items in a safe if you're running low on inventory. During the game you can find schematics, which will be downloaded at the store and allow you to purchase new items. Benches are also sort of obvious, as they are used to upgrade your equipment. Throughout the game you find "Power Nodes" that you can use here, or for unlocking the occasional room that requires one.
The upgrade system is sort of strange. When you select a weapon, ability, or your RIG to upgrade, you'll be shown a map of what I imagine is supposed to represent your nano-circuitry or whatever. You can place nodes next to nodes that have already been added, but not every node gives you any bonus. You may have to spend three nodes or so just to get any sort of benefit out of it. While I enjoy that it isn't a straight forward system like most games, I do get a little frustrated wasting a bunch of hard earned nodes for one upgrade.
The achievements are varied and will give you some little extra motivation to change up your gameplay a bit. There is an achievement for using each of the guns to score over 30 kills, hacking off 50, 500, and 1000 limbs, 20g for completing each chapter, as well as a bunch of secret and ability specific ones. There's also an achievement for going through the game using only the fusion cutter, which doesn't sound too difficult.
So in closing, if you're a fan of survival horror games such as Resident Evil 4, definitely pick this one up. If you've played Doom 3, it's easy to describe the game - Replace the Mars moon base with a giant space ship, slap a flashlight on your guns, jack up the graphics and polish by a generation, and swap a space marine with a bad ass armored engineer. And turn some lights on every now and then :)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Rock Band 2
I must say I'm hugely disappointed in this game. I'm a huge fan of Rock Band 1 - I was able to look past the fact that the instruments were made by idiots. I didn't mind the down strum on the rock band guitar broke every five minutes, or that the strum bar didn't have a click to it. I didn't mind the 95% failure rate of the bass pedal on the drum set, nor the fact that it sounded like horse galloping down the road. The game was just that much fun to play - you could get a bunch of friends together and just have a great time.
Rock Band 2 - not so much the case. I was excited when I heard about the new drum kit - as a drummer myself I appreciated that there would be actual elevated cymbals, and it could be used as an electric drum kit by itself. However this only applies to the $300 ION drum kit. The standard one is more of the same, with a reinforced pedal this time. Big whoop.
As for the new guitar, its much of the same. They might have fixed the downstrum (perhaps by spending more than 38 cents on production), but it still doesn't click. If you really want a new guitar, i suggest waiting for the new Guitar Hero one - it's already been announced to work with Rock Band 2.
There aren't many changes in the game itself either. One change I did enjoy was that the song list looks just like the music store in Rock Band 1, so it shows album art, overall difficulty as well as per instrument difficulty, and all the info on the band, song, album, etc. Also, you can make your own playlist for multiplayer quickplay - not a huge deal, I usually can't think of more than one song at a time that I'd like to play anyway, after I've played through all the Boston songs of course. Another aspect I appreciate is that all your DLC carries over, and for a measly $5 you can re license all but maybe three tracks of the original Rock Band playlist. This gives you a truly epic number of songs - if you can be bothered to unlock the whole playlist from 2.
Here is where my biggest beef with the game lies - there is no more straight through solo tour to unlock songs - it's all done through the world tour. Which wouldn't be such a big deal if it didnt make you play the same garbage songs over and over, instead of just once each, to get to anything fun - and I've counted the songs I like from 2, and I think it MAY have reached 15. Out of over 80.
Now I'm not sure about this, but it seems to be the case - the terrible Harmonix bands are still in the game, except they arent labeled as bonus songs. They just come up in world tour like regular songs. Here's a sample of some of the "Rock" you will have to endure time and time again just to unlock Metallica's "Battery" -
So in short, if you dig a lot of the playlist for this game, go ahead and buy it. Otherwise you're looking at essentially the same game with a few minor tweaks, and a whole lot of songs you're probably not interested in playing, that you will NEED to play, many times, in order to get the good stuff. I'm not huge on that.
Rock Band 2 - not so much the case. I was excited when I heard about the new drum kit - as a drummer myself I appreciated that there would be actual elevated cymbals, and it could be used as an electric drum kit by itself. However this only applies to the $300 ION drum kit. The standard one is more of the same, with a reinforced pedal this time. Big whoop.
As for the new guitar, its much of the same. They might have fixed the downstrum (perhaps by spending more than 38 cents on production), but it still doesn't click. If you really want a new guitar, i suggest waiting for the new Guitar Hero one - it's already been announced to work with Rock Band 2.
There aren't many changes in the game itself either. One change I did enjoy was that the song list looks just like the music store in Rock Band 1, so it shows album art, overall difficulty as well as per instrument difficulty, and all the info on the band, song, album, etc. Also, you can make your own playlist for multiplayer quickplay - not a huge deal, I usually can't think of more than one song at a time that I'd like to play anyway, after I've played through all the Boston songs of course. Another aspect I appreciate is that all your DLC carries over, and for a measly $5 you can re license all but maybe three tracks of the original Rock Band playlist. This gives you a truly epic number of songs - if you can be bothered to unlock the whole playlist from 2.
Here is where my biggest beef with the game lies - there is no more straight through solo tour to unlock songs - it's all done through the world tour. Which wouldn't be such a big deal if it didnt make you play the same garbage songs over and over, instead of just once each, to get to anything fun - and I've counted the songs I like from 2, and I think it MAY have reached 15. Out of over 80.
Now I'm not sure about this, but it seems to be the case - the terrible Harmonix bands are still in the game, except they arent labeled as bonus songs. They just come up in world tour like regular songs. Here's a sample of some of the "Rock" you will have to endure time and time again just to unlock Metallica's "Battery" -
So in short, if you dig a lot of the playlist for this game, go ahead and buy it. Otherwise you're looking at essentially the same game with a few minor tweaks, and a whole lot of songs you're probably not interested in playing, that you will NEED to play, many times, in order to get the good stuff. I'm not huge on that.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Saints Row 2
I don't even know where to start with this. I did, in fact, know where to end it, and that was less than an hour after I started playing. This game is crap.
It was readily apparent as soon as I took a shot. "Pop." What the hell? I just SHOT a GUN, and that's the best sound effect they can give me? I've got a 5.1 system with the bass maxed, which ten minutes ago made my heart stop when I fired the Fat Boy in Fallout, and all I get is a lame pop. Ok fine, maybe the later guns are better. Let's just get this tutorial over with.
Oh no, guards! Alright, time to aim and fire. Wait, no auto aim? This is gonna take a little more skill I guess. Oh wait, no it doesn't. Completely unsatisfying shooting system. Next up is a helicopter with two guys shooting at me. This should be fun, in GTA4 you could snipe out the pilot, which was awesome, I'd like to see how they top that! Oh, after the two guys in the back are dead, the chopper just falls out of the air. Were they thinking at all when this was made? Wasn't this DELAYED for POLISHING?
The game just feels completely cheesy. Driving is awkward and jumpy, nobody seems to care when you shoot someone (as opposed to GTA4, where just discharging a firearm got you a wanted level), even when the cops are after you it doesn't seem to matter, as the AI is completely retarded... Did I mention the physics are nonsensical? I had to tow a car, with a tow truck, and the car on the back made driving absolutely impossible. I was ripping donuts while just making a simple right turn.
GTA4 was a polished, well executed game. It had its faults, but overall you could almost believe that you could go outside and jack a car, and things would turn out similarly. When people compared this game to GTA4 (especially their own commercials), I figured it would be a similar experience. It's not. Saints Row 2 is just a poorly compiled list of things that might be fun if the engine tying them together didn't make you want to shoot yourself with your stupid pop gun. If I had to compare it to a game, it would be GTA3 for PS2, and even then it would come up short. It tries so hard to be edgy, but it's just pathetic really.
Don't buy this game. Please. Not even because it's completely unoriginal, that would honestly be fine with me. It could be Nicky Bellis in Libertree City, as long as it played well it would still be fun. This is not fun, this is an embarrassment.
It was readily apparent as soon as I took a shot. "Pop." What the hell? I just SHOT a GUN, and that's the best sound effect they can give me? I've got a 5.1 system with the bass maxed, which ten minutes ago made my heart stop when I fired the Fat Boy in Fallout, and all I get is a lame pop. Ok fine, maybe the later guns are better. Let's just get this tutorial over with.
Oh no, guards! Alright, time to aim and fire. Wait, no auto aim? This is gonna take a little more skill I guess. Oh wait, no it doesn't. Completely unsatisfying shooting system. Next up is a helicopter with two guys shooting at me. This should be fun, in GTA4 you could snipe out the pilot, which was awesome, I'd like to see how they top that! Oh, after the two guys in the back are dead, the chopper just falls out of the air. Were they thinking at all when this was made? Wasn't this DELAYED for POLISHING?
The game just feels completely cheesy. Driving is awkward and jumpy, nobody seems to care when you shoot someone (as opposed to GTA4, where just discharging a firearm got you a wanted level), even when the cops are after you it doesn't seem to matter, as the AI is completely retarded... Did I mention the physics are nonsensical? I had to tow a car, with a tow truck, and the car on the back made driving absolutely impossible. I was ripping donuts while just making a simple right turn.
GTA4 was a polished, well executed game. It had its faults, but overall you could almost believe that you could go outside and jack a car, and things would turn out similarly. When people compared this game to GTA4 (especially their own commercials), I figured it would be a similar experience. It's not. Saints Row 2 is just a poorly compiled list of things that might be fun if the engine tying them together didn't make you want to shoot yourself with your stupid pop gun. If I had to compare it to a game, it would be GTA3 for PS2, and even then it would come up short. It tries so hard to be edgy, but it's just pathetic really.
Don't buy this game. Please. Not even because it's completely unoriginal, that would honestly be fine with me. It could be Nicky Bellis in Libertree City, as long as it played well it would still be fun. This is not fun, this is an embarrassment.
Fallout 3
Yeah, it doesn't come out until the end of the month, but I'm sure most of you reading this have heard that it's been leaked. Due to this leak, I can say first hand that this is quite possibly my favorite game already.
It's apparent from the start of the game just how polished it is. The character creation is actually built into the story of the game. Instead of a thoughtless character editor before the game begins, your character is actually BORN into the game. Various story elements bring your character to life, from the doctor checking if you're a boy or girl, all the way to actually taking an aptitude test to determine which skills you should tag for a starting boost. Following your character as he or she grows up and makes decisions gives you an actual attachment. Unlike a game like Gears of War, where you're busted from a prison cell with no back story at all, you actually have time vested in your character's past, and that makes a huge difference.
When you step out into the ruins of Washington D.C. the first time, it really hits you - this WAS the capitol of the United States. From the girders of the Washington Monument to the fortified Citadel that was once the Pentagon, you instantly understand the magnitude of destruction that has occurred, and you're almost forced to thinking about what you could possibly do in such a situation. Then you remember, it's just a game, and you have a waypoint marker. Back to reality.
The gameplay is fantastic. Your wonderfully styled Pip-Boy, complete with retro DOS fonts and monochrome display, shows your status, inventory, maps, quests, everything. You can swing a baseball bat or shoot a gun in real time (first OR third person), or you can bring up your VATS display to pinpoint where your attacks will land. The VATS mode will most likely please old school Fallout fans, as your attacks use Action Points and bring a more retro turn based experience to what otherwise looks like an FPS. Even the sound effects when you turn on VATS are true to the series. And the GORE is phenomenal. Heads explode, heads and limbs fly off, people turn into piles of goo and ash, and if that's not enough, a certain perk makes enemies completely EXPLODE into guts and blood at a fairly decent rate.
Another thing about the game that really appeals to me is the variety of ways that you can go about doing things. You can always go guns blazing of course, but there is almost always another way of going about things. It's so open ended that you're really only limited by your own imagination. To keep spoilers to a minimum, I'll use an early quest as an example.
When you enter Megaton, you're looking for some information about a missing person. After asking around, you find out this one guy has the info you need, but he wants you to pay him 100 caps. If you have 100 caps, you can do that, easy. If you don't, he wants you to do go collect money from a drug addict. You can do that as well. If you have some skill in lockpicking, you can forgo all of this and pick his cabinet lock, take his computer password, and get the information from his computer. If you have enough skill in science, you can just hack the computer and find it out that way. If you don't mind wanton destruction, you can shoot the guy in the head (or plant a live grenade in his pocket), take his password, and use his computer as well. If you're not a fan of killing, stealing, hacking, or paying, you can get the Lady Killer perk when you level up for the first time, and a friendly woman at the bar will give you the password to the computer if you play your cards right. Do you see what I mean by open ended yet?
There seems to be just an endless amount of quests as well. Almost everyone you meet has some information on a new location or a quest they need done. If you like to explore, you're really in luck here. I've read that the story can be completed in 90 minutes or less, but I can say first hand that I've spent longer than that on a single side quest.
The perks for leveling up are really fun as well. I've already discussed two of them, but also on the list is are perks to let you feed off corpses (though you lose karma and can be attacked by police for it), collect ears or fingers from enemies and turn them in for money and karma, boost stats, and much more. The limits on character customization are about as definite as the ways to complete quests.
There are also some fantastic weapons you can make through schematics. I made a weapon called a shishkabob, which is essentially a flaming sword, out of some junk parts. I've also seen videos of a Rock-It Launcher, which hurls whatever junk you pick up (hilarious).
I did find a couple of things wrong with the game though, despite my overall infatuation with it. First off, it seemed to me like the enemies scaled to your combat level, which I'm not a fan of. I like to level up and beat the crap out of things that would've beat the crap out of me earlier. Now I've read that this isn't the case - the OXM review says everything is preset. However, it seemed even in full power armor and a minigun, a mole rat that I could dispatch with my newbie gun in the beginning of the game would still give me a bit of trouble. Also, at one point in the game I persuaded the people I was escorting to leave one member of the party behind, due to his heart condition (he was dying, needed medicine, whatever). I came back to that area later, and he was still there! He was quite rude to me as well, trying to convince me he was busy, standing there in the sewer all by himself.
Achievements are mostly for completing quests or gaining levels with specific karma levels. There is an achievement for pickpocketing a live grenade into someones pocket though, which is hilarious.
As you can see, this is much more than Oblivion with guns. It's everything great about old school Fallout games, with the power of new hardware. I highly advise that you pick this one up if you're a fan of these types of games. From what I've seen, it has everything.
It's apparent from the start of the game just how polished it is. The character creation is actually built into the story of the game. Instead of a thoughtless character editor before the game begins, your character is actually BORN into the game. Various story elements bring your character to life, from the doctor checking if you're a boy or girl, all the way to actually taking an aptitude test to determine which skills you should tag for a starting boost. Following your character as he or she grows up and makes decisions gives you an actual attachment. Unlike a game like Gears of War, where you're busted from a prison cell with no back story at all, you actually have time vested in your character's past, and that makes a huge difference.
When you step out into the ruins of Washington D.C. the first time, it really hits you - this WAS the capitol of the United States. From the girders of the Washington Monument to the fortified Citadel that was once the Pentagon, you instantly understand the magnitude of destruction that has occurred, and you're almost forced to thinking about what you could possibly do in such a situation. Then you remember, it's just a game, and you have a waypoint marker. Back to reality.
The gameplay is fantastic. Your wonderfully styled Pip-Boy, complete with retro DOS fonts and monochrome display, shows your status, inventory, maps, quests, everything. You can swing a baseball bat or shoot a gun in real time (first OR third person), or you can bring up your VATS display to pinpoint where your attacks will land. The VATS mode will most likely please old school Fallout fans, as your attacks use Action Points and bring a more retro turn based experience to what otherwise looks like an FPS. Even the sound effects when you turn on VATS are true to the series. And the GORE is phenomenal. Heads explode, heads and limbs fly off, people turn into piles of goo and ash, and if that's not enough, a certain perk makes enemies completely EXPLODE into guts and blood at a fairly decent rate.
Another thing about the game that really appeals to me is the variety of ways that you can go about doing things. You can always go guns blazing of course, but there is almost always another way of going about things. It's so open ended that you're really only limited by your own imagination. To keep spoilers to a minimum, I'll use an early quest as an example.
When you enter Megaton, you're looking for some information about a missing person. After asking around, you find out this one guy has the info you need, but he wants you to pay him 100 caps. If you have 100 caps, you can do that, easy. If you don't, he wants you to do go collect money from a drug addict. You can do that as well. If you have some skill in lockpicking, you can forgo all of this and pick his cabinet lock, take his computer password, and get the information from his computer. If you have enough skill in science, you can just hack the computer and find it out that way. If you don't mind wanton destruction, you can shoot the guy in the head (or plant a live grenade in his pocket), take his password, and use his computer as well. If you're not a fan of killing, stealing, hacking, or paying, you can get the Lady Killer perk when you level up for the first time, and a friendly woman at the bar will give you the password to the computer if you play your cards right. Do you see what I mean by open ended yet?
There seems to be just an endless amount of quests as well. Almost everyone you meet has some information on a new location or a quest they need done. If you like to explore, you're really in luck here. I've read that the story can be completed in 90 minutes or less, but I can say first hand that I've spent longer than that on a single side quest.
The perks for leveling up are really fun as well. I've already discussed two of them, but also on the list is are perks to let you feed off corpses (though you lose karma and can be attacked by police for it), collect ears or fingers from enemies and turn them in for money and karma, boost stats, and much more. The limits on character customization are about as definite as the ways to complete quests.
There are also some fantastic weapons you can make through schematics. I made a weapon called a shishkabob, which is essentially a flaming sword, out of some junk parts. I've also seen videos of a Rock-It Launcher, which hurls whatever junk you pick up (hilarious).
I did find a couple of things wrong with the game though, despite my overall infatuation with it. First off, it seemed to me like the enemies scaled to your combat level, which I'm not a fan of. I like to level up and beat the crap out of things that would've beat the crap out of me earlier. Now I've read that this isn't the case - the OXM review says everything is preset. However, it seemed even in full power armor and a minigun, a mole rat that I could dispatch with my newbie gun in the beginning of the game would still give me a bit of trouble. Also, at one point in the game I persuaded the people I was escorting to leave one member of the party behind, due to his heart condition (he was dying, needed medicine, whatever). I came back to that area later, and he was still there! He was quite rude to me as well, trying to convince me he was busy, standing there in the sewer all by himself.
Achievements are mostly for completing quests or gaining levels with specific karma levels. There is an achievement for pickpocketing a live grenade into someones pocket though, which is hilarious.
As you can see, this is much more than Oblivion with guns. It's everything great about old school Fallout games, with the power of new hardware. I highly advise that you pick this one up if you're a fan of these types of games. From what I've seen, it has everything.
Who am I?
First off, let's discuss what this site is for.
My name is Stark, and I love video games. However, as a recent college graduate in a pretty terrible job market, I can't really afford much in the ways of things other than food. I've found myself flat broke quite often in the past six months, usually because of a game that I ended up regretting my purchase of. Games that got great reviews, but left me frustrated, bored, or wanting something more. After making these mistakes for a while, I decided that my only option to play video games AND eat is to acquire these games in a less than moral manner. I have paid for all my games up to this point, so I feel I must give some sort of retribution to the community instead of being a total leech.
I've decided that as a service to my fellow gamers, I could offer an unbiased review service of games that I play, regardless of if I actually pay for them. The benefits of this sort of business model are as follows -
1. Not actually paying for things allows me to start this by myself. Without any income from game companies, I can give you the straight review, without worrying about losing sponsors or whatever.
2. It allows me to review games when I get them, which is often before the street date. This allows you to make informed pre-orders of games that are worth it. Unless I'm forced to take it down, of course (I will be complying with whatever requests games companies make, after all I can't afford a lawsuit).
3. Despite my inability to support the games market the way I'd like to, I can help YOU to support it. If people read my positive reviews and buy a game, that's fantastic. If someone reads a negative review and doesn't buy a game, then he or she isn't supporting the rubbish that seems to be the standard in games now. With more informed purchases, we can show games companies that making a GOOD game is more worthwhile than say a standard GTA ripoff that's total garbage but people for some reason buy it anyway (*cough* Saints Row 2 *cough*).
So there you have it. A pirate with a conscience, and a goal. A goal of helping you to help the game companies realize that we want innovative and fun games, not just recycled crap with new extra crap on top.
My name is Stark, and I love video games. However, as a recent college graduate in a pretty terrible job market, I can't really afford much in the ways of things other than food. I've found myself flat broke quite often in the past six months, usually because of a game that I ended up regretting my purchase of. Games that got great reviews, but left me frustrated, bored, or wanting something more. After making these mistakes for a while, I decided that my only option to play video games AND eat is to acquire these games in a less than moral manner. I have paid for all my games up to this point, so I feel I must give some sort of retribution to the community instead of being a total leech.
I've decided that as a service to my fellow gamers, I could offer an unbiased review service of games that I play, regardless of if I actually pay for them. The benefits of this sort of business model are as follows -
1. Not actually paying for things allows me to start this by myself. Without any income from game companies, I can give you the straight review, without worrying about losing sponsors or whatever.
2. It allows me to review games when I get them, which is often before the street date. This allows you to make informed pre-orders of games that are worth it. Unless I'm forced to take it down, of course (I will be complying with whatever requests games companies make, after all I can't afford a lawsuit).
3. Despite my inability to support the games market the way I'd like to, I can help YOU to support it. If people read my positive reviews and buy a game, that's fantastic. If someone reads a negative review and doesn't buy a game, then he or she isn't supporting the rubbish that seems to be the standard in games now. With more informed purchases, we can show games companies that making a GOOD game is more worthwhile than say a standard GTA ripoff that's total garbage but people for some reason buy it anyway (*cough* Saints Row 2 *cough*).
So there you have it. A pirate with a conscience, and a goal. A goal of helping you to help the game companies realize that we want innovative and fun games, not just recycled crap with new extra crap on top.
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