Dark Souls
Make no mistake about it. If you play Dark Souls, you will die. Not just one time, or five times, or even twenty times. You will probably die so many times you will lose count. Even the game’s website is www.PrepareToDie.com. Despite being a very punishing game, it is equally rewarding and offers an amazing experience to those with a decent dose of patience.
Gameinformer Overview – November Update 2011
This months Gameinformer cover features Transformers and the Fall of Cybertron. It’s a huge month for the online gaming community as Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is released within a week as well as a few other large titles in the upcoming months.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (AH) is the latest in the series of Ace Combat titles to hit the shelves since Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation back in 2007. In this arcade style aerial combat game you are put behind the throttle of some of the biggest baddest birds in the sky and pitted against numerous foes. Will this game hit the afterburners and soar, or crash and burn in twisted metal wreckage?
Beat Hazard Ultra
The best way that I can describe Beat Hazard Ultra is to take Super Stardust HD, put all your favorite dance/electro/dubstep music behind it and put thousands of music strobing lights on the screen at the same time.
When I first looked at a gameplay video of this game I couldn’t even keep track of what was going on, but soon after I downloaded it, I was already playing on Suicidal and it was pure fun!
Catherine
“Where all is but dream, reasoning and arguments are of no use, truth and knowledge nothing.”–John Locke
The best way to describe Atlus’s latest puzzle game, Catherine, is to say it is not your typical game. It’s certainly different than the standard game players will find on store shelves, but it’s different in a good way. On the outside, this game may seem simple, but brave through the nightmare and you will find an interesting and unique experience awaiting you in Catherine.
What Dreams May Come
In Catherine, we follow the story of Vincent, a regular guy who’s happy with the status quo of his life and would love nothing else to leave it that way. However, his long time girlfriend, Katherine upsets that quo by beginning to pressure Vincent into marriage. Vincent grapples over the notion of marriage, commitment, and eternal bondage later that night by himself over a drink at his favorite bar. Then along comes Catherine. No, you’re not crazy and that’s not a spelling mistake. The game has two “Catherine”s. One spelled with a “K” and the other with a “C”. Despite a close association by name, similarities stop there. Where his girlfriend Katherine with a “K” is grounded, disciplined and focused on the future, Catherine with a “C” is care-free, spirited and vicarious. With Catherine’s good looks, youthful charm, and a little bit of forward flirting, it’s barely a fair fight for slightly drunk Vincent. The next morning, Vincent awakes to find Catherine still with him in his bed thus starting a long nightmare of a love triangle that carries over into Vincent’s dreams.
It is in these dreams you tackle the majority of game play that makes up Catherine. Vincent finds himself in a nightmare world similar to Dante’s inferno where he must climb blocks to get to the top. To climb, you must pull and push blocks to create steps up to the next level and must do so quickly since the floor is rapidly falling beneath you. This adds a great level of suspense and gives a well balanced tension to the game causing you to climb as high and fast as possible. The towers become progressively more challenging and cause you to find a solution from a “top-down” perspective. While at first it may be difficult to think of different strategies, the game does a good job of presenting new techniques and ideas on how to climb throughout the game. There are quite a few techniques demonstrated for you, but you don’t need to worry about memorizing all of them. Majority of the puzzles can be figured out using the basic block techniques figured out early on in the game.
While the controls feel smooth for the most part, there are a few problems that can be frustrating. The controls are a bit “twitchy” at times and it is all too easy to push a block away when instead you wanted to pull it. Luckily, it’s a forgiving game which allows you to undo a move on the lower difficulty settings. The game’s camera angle can also be troublesome and limiting. This is especially made apparent when you go behind a set of blocks and there is no way to see yourself or no where you are making moving around difficult. It’s a minor complaint though and won’t greatly interfere with your game play.
This puzzle climbing makes up the majority of the game play and while it seems like this would become repetitious and boring, the game finds ways of making each level interesting by increasing the complexity and the variety of blocks. New blocks are constantly added to levels which cause you to change strategies and rethink the rules on climbing which adds refreshing and changing game play. For instance, you have blocks that will crumble and fall apart after stepping on them so many times, or blocks that are made of ice causing you to slide until hitting a non-ice block. Boss levels also add a change of pace and variety. Still, there were times where I did feel the climbing segments did become monotonous and repetitious but these moments were usually short lived and broken up by the games cinematic presentations and interactive intermissions.
Little Lost Sheep
The second half of the game consists of these interactive intermissions with Vincent at the bar which serves as a nice break from the puzzle climbing. The best way to describe this part of the game is it’s an interactive RPG-ish socializer. You get text messages from your two Catherines and can choose to reply to these messages in a variety of ways. You also can chat with your friends as well as fellow bar members giving more character depth to both Vincent and those around him. Not only do these interactions provide more story, but how you choose to respond to people will affect the outcome of the game. There are also quite a few treasures one can find while spending time at the bar for those willing to get up and explore the quaint little pub.
And once you beat the game there are still plenty of reasons to come back to Catherine. Not only are there 8 potential endings to the game but there is a multiplayer feature that is unlocked during your initial play through of the single player. The multiplayer is local based only but gives you two modes: co-op and competitive. Also unlocked as you go through the game are additional puzzle challenges with online leader boards showing best times and highest scores.
The presentation style is unique and gives an interesting and different atmosphere to the game. Much of the game’s story is presented through a blend of 2D anime sequences as well as 3D cell shading. If you’re a fan of anime then this style of story telling will feel like a natural fit. One possible downside is the length of these sequences in between game play. They can range anywhere between 2 minutes to almost 10. While they can get long, I definitely recommend sticking through them. The voice acting is fantastic and the scenes are well written and provide plenty comical and suspenseful moments.
Overall atmosphere is spectacular as well. The use of neon lights and shadows creates a bright but edgy atmosphere in the bar. Nightmare levels are filled with torturous machines, cries of fellow trapped souls falling to their doom, and moody and creepy music creating a dark and twisted atmosphere definitely leaving the feel of living in a night terror.
Something More Than Just Sex
Despite it’s strong sexual theme, the game isn’t about sex! Make no mistake, this is a mature level game that you do not want to play in front of your kids! However, while the game is very sexually themed and there are some scenes which demonstrate this, nothing graphic is ever shown (with maybe the exception of some of the bosses) and nothing seems out of line or overly done as some games tend to do. The story goes deeper than that and becomes more about relationships, maturity, and self discovery. Combined with it’s unique presentation and game play, Catherine offers an enjoyable and different experience than most games being released.
Final Verdict
For me Catherine is one of those games that you’ll either love it or hate it. It is a game that will take you by surprise if you let her. Surprisingly deep at times with fun and challenging puzzles with interesting atypical characters. The fact that the game is not centered around saving the world or rescuing damsel’s in another tower, but rather about an average guy with personal relationship issues trying to fight his own nightmares makes for a refreshing change as is the puzzle mechanic of the game. As mentioned before, it is a game that breaks away from standard norm and takes a risk…take a chance with Catherine and you might find plenty of reward waiting for you.
Homefront: Single Player
Homefront is Kaos Studios next installment in the popular FPS genre. Unless it has completely slipped your memory, they were also responsible for Frontlines: Fuel of War. It received a somewhat positive response when it was released back in 2008, and to say that Homefront needed to be a top of the line shooter for THQ and Kaos studios would be an understatement. Their was a lot of marketing put into Homefront last year at E3 and other gaming events, but did the marketing dollars exceed the amount spent on developing a quality shooter? In my opinion I think it’s fair to say, yes.
Story
The story in Homefront poses the question as to what if Korea took over most of the United States. You play as former Marine helicopter pilot, Robert Jacobs, and in the beginning of the game you are sent off to a reeducation camp because you refuse to cooperate with the occupation forces. However, things go sideways on your trip and you become rescued from a group known as The Resistance. They believe you can be a great help to them acquiring fuel in San Francisco for the U.S. Military, given your background as a pilot. I thought the opening sequence of you being transported on the bus was very well done. Without giving anything away, some of the things being seen were pretty shocking compared to some of the other shooters out these days, and gave it quite the wow factor. Sadly enough, the game doesn’t continue to wow you with great cut-scenes but the Homefront story is something the game does nicely, considering most of the other shooters in comparison put a well told story at the bottom of the list. I’ve always loved it when games can emerge me into a really good atmosphere and Homefront has a couple of nice set piece moments and even gives you that feeling of fighting a warzone in your own “backyard”, which I believe was Kaos Studios exact intentions. Some of my favorites were battling it out on a baseball field, that looked like something you would have played on as a kid. Also the mission at the Golden Gate Bridge I thought was done well. Personal places like these is something that was quite different than some of the other shooters, but unfortunately were shot down way too fast. The Homefront campaign is a very short one. I finished the game in about 4 hours on the normal difficulty and was shocked that some of the best missions were 15-20 minutes long. It seemed at times I was playing a demo to get a taste of whats to come, but that isn’t the case at all. While I did enjoy the story and atmospheric locations of Homefront, it came to an abrupt end way too early.
Gameplay
No matter how well a story is told in a game, the controls and actual gameplay is obviously the most important part. This is where Homefront separates it self from the big boys, and not in a good way. First thing you will notice is how the game looks, at times the environments and the character models look flat out awful and outdated. In my opinion the other most important part when developing a shooter is making sure the guns sound like they should. Other games like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty did an amazing job making the guns sound real. This is something I usually pay very much attention too because I really am picky when it comes to audio in video games. The weapons in Homefront sound very depressing, and at times made me feel like I was the kid from A Christmas Story firing a BB rifle. Even the knife and reload animations were laughable. Framerate issues at times also hindered my experience with the game. It wasn’t a continuing problem but an annoying one at that. Especially nowadays, its inexcusable.
I don’t want it to sound like I’m totally hating on the game, because it’s not the worst I’ve played. The game’s A.I. felt right, even on the normal difficulty I found it being quite a challenge. Even if some of the deaths were cheap ones. It’s not a surprise, nor do I blame developers trying to copy other games that have been a huge success. But Homefront just falls flat in comparison, and with the amount of competition, you have to beat the best, to be the best. Homefront is the perfect example of a game that needed more development time.
Closing
After reading everything I’ve said, you may be wondering why you should even play this game. I still believe it’s a game you should experience so you can see how the story unfolds. I’ve also been told the game’s Multiplayer is enjoyable, when you can actually connect and get into a game. But as the campaign clocks in around the 4 hour mark, I really cannot recommend it as a purchase. It is perfect if your looking for something to play on a rainy afternoon, but above that I say wait for the bargain bin. I really think Homefront could of been an amazing game if just given a little extra time. Kaos Studios will no doubt have their work cut out for them next time around.
This review was based on the Xbox 360 version of Homefront.
Bulletstorm
People Can Fly and Epic Games has brought us one of the most over the top, foul mouthed shooters to come out this gaming generation. I realize the game will not be for everyone, due to the fact that it will give some the urge to kill and rape people in real life according to Fox News. O k maybe not, but regardless it is still a extremely violent game with a dialogue that would make a sailor blush. But with all that said, I still had a blast playing it.
You play as space pirate Grayson Hunt who is followed by his best bud Ishi Sato. After finding out they were tricked into killing innocent civilians by their commanding officer General Sarrano, in which Hunt and his crew believed they were killing murderers and other scum of the world. So it is no surprise that Hunt and Sato want their commanding officer dead. Years later Hunt and Sato’s plane crashes on a planet called Stygia. Which is run by ruthless disgusting mutants that look like something out of the Hills Have Eyes movies. After the crash, Sato is injured pretty bad and Hunt must track down a energy cell from an escape pod to put into Sato’s brain to save his life. I’ll let you experience the rest to find out what happens, but the story is not whats going to make you keep coming back to Bulletstorm. It’s the ridiculous extreme gameplay that awaits you after you arrive on Stygia.
One of the first things you’ll notice right away is how beautiful the game looks. The environments and lighting truly looks stunning, and I was quite surprised. Bulletstorm also does a good job of changing up each section of the game, so that you never get tired of seeing the same scenery over and over. Aside from the eye candy, Bulletstorm is a very fast paced game. You will constantly be blowing stuff up and kicking your way to the next area of mutants. The variety of blood thirsty enemies you face will also change up quite a bit as you make your way through Stygia. Some guys you can take down with a couple blows, while others will make you think in more creative ways to take down. But the combat in Bulletstorm is the games bread and butter. The game feeds on collecting Skillshots. Skillshots are points that you collect by killing enemies in gruesome and unthinkable ways. For example using your surrounding environments is a good way to collect points. Some areas of the game will have things like cactus’s or flesh eating plants that you can kick those ugly buzzards into to gain some serious skillshot points, and not too mention saving some ammo. Fairly early on in the game you come across a device that slips on your hand called a Leash. Its basically just like it sounds, if you point that at a enemy it will shoot them towards you in slow motion and will allow you to do whatever you want with them. You can simply shoot them and move on, but it is much more fun and recommended to think of creative ways to take them out. This is some of the most fun the game has to offer.
In a game where brutal gun firing combat is what you’ll be spending much of your time on, the weapons would be a pretty important part in a game like Bulletstorm. You will be allowed to carry up to 3 weapons at a time. Your always equipped with your basic assault rifle that really resembles a Lancer from Gears of War minus the chainsaw. One of my favorite weapons in the game was the Flail gun. It’s a chain that shoots out thats equipped with two bombs at each end that wraps around your enemy then with a single press of the RT, it rips most bodies in half. I found this to be extremely useful during some of the tougher enemies in the game like some of the bigger bosses. The drill bit weapon was also a blast to use, that will instantly implode your enemy into the nearest wall, killing them with one hit. But the shotgun is the weapon I had in my arsenal throughout the entire game. It was great for close quarter shootouts and it was equipped with 4 barrels instead of 2 and as you would imagine it literally tore people in half and made for a nice rack up in Skillshot points. There are a total of around 8 different weapons you can use in the game, and you upgrade each weapon with the points you collect with Skillshots. Each time you come up on Dropkits, you can buy ammo for your guns, add a secondary fire onto them or swap out one of your guns for something new. But whatever your weapon of choice may be, Bulletstorm is sure to have everything your sick little mind desires.
But Bulletstorm has more than just a campaign mode. If you played the demo, then you got a little taste of the Echoes mode. These are levels pulled from the single player that last anywhere from 4-6 minutes, and basically all your trying to do is get through each section not so much quickly, but how many Skillpoints you can accumulate. At the end of each level you are graded on how well you performed. It also has a leaderboard attached so you can see how well your friends did during their run. Echoes mode isn’t the highlight to Bulletstorm, but it does make for some fun if you just want to hop on for 20 minutes or so, and anytime you can compete against your friends, it always adds for some replayability. Anarchy is the cooperative multiplayer mode in Bulletstorm. It pits you and three of your buddies against 20 waves of enemies, and as you would guess each wave increases in difficulty. To complete each wave you have to rack up enough skillpoints to advance. Anarchy will have the most lasting appeal because it’s the mode that you can play with your friends. If you can get 3 of your buddies together, you will no doubt have an absolute blast.
By no means is Bulletstorm a “perfect” game. One example is the games controls. I am not saying they are bad, in fact after a little while you will pick up on them fairly quickly because of how much they resemble Gears of War. But if your like me who’s brain is wired to the Call of Duty controls, it will take some time before you are running, sliding, and pulverizing your enemies in a smooth manner. I also had instances of getting stuck onto objects which is very annoying when your under heavy gunfire. At one point it happened during a pretty intense boss battle and I nearly almost died because of this. I would say it only happened maybe two or three times but it always seemed like it came at the worst of times. The game’s story and characters is also not much to write home about. You will really care less about both as you make your way through the 6-8 hour campaign, depending on what difficulty you play on and how many times you die.
At the end of the campaign I was satisfied with my time with Bulletstorm. The single player is a decent length and with the Echoes and Anarchy mode on top of that I would justify this game being a 60$ purchase, not too mention having a chance to jump in the Gears of War 3 Beta early. But if the single player is the only thing that interests you, I would say give it a weekend rental. But definitely give it the time of day, Bulletstorm puts some of the fun back into the FPS genre.
This review was based on the Xbox 360 version.
Call of Duty: Black Ops “First Strike” Map Pack Coming February 1
In the latest episode of Major Nelsons Podcast, news came out regarding the first map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The “First Strike” Map Pack will be a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360 and it will arrive on February 1st for 1200 Microsoft Points. The DLC includes four brand new competitive maps: Kowloon, Discovery, Stadium, and Berlin Wall, and also includes a brand new co op zombie map, Ascention.
Keep your eye out for more news and screenshots over the next couple of days.
VGA 2010: Mass Effect 3 Coming Holiday 2011
One of the more interesting things to come out of the VGA’s was the announcement of Mass Effect 3. I don’t think fans of the title were surprised that we were going to get a sequel at some point, but the fact that it’s coming in holiday of 2011 has a lot of people very excited. You can watch the World Premiere trailer below.