Vegieza’s Virtual Vices: Limbo

5 10 2010

Occasionally there comes along a game that’s simple but does everything right.  With the game market full of crap like shovelware and other games with developers that should probably being doing something other than making games, it’s nice when one of these comes along.  Limbo is a $15 XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) puzzle-platformer that feels a lot like Braid (play that game, too).  The concept is simple:  you wake up, somewhere bleak, and just start doing stuff.  More games should be like that.

PROS:

It’s black, gray, and amazing. This game has like every shade of gray known to man.  Even without colors, it’s amazing to look at.  They kept it simple.

There’s no soundtrack, and it’s amazing. Just the ambience of the forest and the occasional dull tone make this game deceptively creepy.  Once again:  simple.

The puzzles are pretty great. While not as difficult as Braid’s puzzles, you’ll still have to think.  Upon watching multiple people play the game, some players get stuck where others get it right off the bat.  As I observed the Goblin himself, he instantly solved things that took me a while and vice-versa.

It’s one of those interpretive stories. You know, the ones where the developers don’t actually have to create a story, just throw in some mysterious imagery and what-not.  They then sit back and watch the forums buzz with endless theories of what actually happens.  I like that occasionally.

The achievements are easy in addition to other things. After beating the game, chapter select opens.  You can then jump to whatever achievements you missed.  Besides this, there’s also a leaderboard.  It tracks what percentage you’ve beaten the game, which can go up to 111%. Past the 100% mark is even more super secret things to find, as well as beating the game in one sitting without dying once.

CONS:

It can be divided into sections pretty easily. It would’ve been nice to see a mix up of the puzzles, instead of all of the same type in one area.

The second two-thirds of the game feels less personal. Things are aggressively attacking you toward the beginning, but after a certain point that all stops.  The rest is just puzzles and dying is something you bring upon yourself from then on.

The above thing gets rid of the creepiness, too. You’re on edge a lot at the beginning, but then it slowly dies down as you realize that you aren’t in as much immediate danger anymore.  With your nerves no longer being frazzled, puzzles become frustrating as arguing with inanimate objects becomes anger at yourself.

It’s pretty short. It’s about 4 hours long, but that’s if you don’t get stuck too often.  You might wanna play it again, so that’ll extend it some.

That story thing again. Some people actually hate when things don’t explain themselves outright and are up to interpretation.  If one of these people is you, then it’ll detract some from how much you like it.

Limbo is worth $15 because it’s an experience.  If all of this sounds good, but you don’t have $15, then get Braid.  It might be discounted by now.  I don’t know.  Come back to this in a couple of months and it might be less then.

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Vegieza's Virtual Vices, Video Games

Feralw0lf Fury – Metroid: Other M

27 09 2010

Here, we have the first review by a good friend of mine and long-time lurker, Feralw0lf. This time, He’s striking hard at Nintendo Wii’s newest blockbuster. Here’s his review of Metroid: Other M.

I’ve been a long time fan of the Metroid series. Getting Super Metroid for my birthday is probably one of my fondest memories, and that game remains to this day as my favorite video game of all time. Naturally, I was excited when I learned about Metroid: Other M. The game itself is fairly solid, but it definitely suffers from some flaws.

(Game Play)

The game play in Other M is definitely its’ strongest point. The controls, while initially awkward, are solid and seamless. You control Samus in a 3rd person perspective that plays very much like a 3d versions of the classic Metroid platformers. By pointing the Wii-mote at the screen you’ll switch to a stationary 1st person perspective (like Metroid Prime) where you can shoot missiles and do other effects. Flipping between the two modes is fast and easy. The action in the game is very fast paced and exhilarating, and none of the power ups feel gimmicky or shoehorned, unlike certain items in the Prime series (screw attack for example). You also have the ability to dodge attacks by tapping the control pad just prior to being hit, and can recharge missiles and even energy. The ability to dodge, while powerful, is not the be all end all as it can be difficult at times. Recharging your energy is nice, but you have to be at low health to use it and it’s so slow you often won’t be able to pull it off during a boss fight, which keeps the game from feeling easy. Other M also displays a little higher level of difficulty over earlier Metroid titles since the only way to recover energy is to either recharge at low health (which as I said can be difficult) or at a save point because monsters no longer drop energy refills. The level design in the game is pretty good, leading to several interesting environments and many hidden items. The game will point some items to you during play, but many remain very cleverly hidden and are only revealed to you during the Epilogue segment.

Unfortunately the game play does suffer in some areas. The most glaring problem is the forced 1st person moments where the game wants you to either browse the environment for something to scan, or fight off some monsters. The first can be highly annoying because the object it wants you to scan almost never stands out, leading to a highly frustrating search that many people are calling ‘find the pixel’. The later can be equally annoying due to the difficulty of trying to lock on to things that pass rapidly in and out of your view. These points don’t happen too often, but when they do it’s very aggravating. The second problem is that while none of the power ups feel stupid, some come to late in the game to matter. You don’t gain the classic power bomb until the final boss fight (which you aren’t told about either, you just have to figure it out before you die), meaning it’s only really useable during the very short Epilogue segment. The gravity suit, while it does up your defense, only gets to use its primary effect of gravity/water negation for a very small number of rooms. The final failing aspect of the game play is the overall length of the game. Other M can easily be completed in 8 – 12 hours of play. While the levels are interested and well designed, there are too few of them and they are all fairly small compared to previous games. This leads to little diversity and the shorter length of the game. Like Metroid Fusion, exploring is limited and you are often forced down certain paths.

While the game play suffers from some flaws, I feel the strength of the game and its mechanics easily out-way the negatives. To that affect, I give the Game Play – 4/5 stars.

(Sound and Graphics)

The Sound in the game is good. All of the effects sound right from damage to laser shots to explosions. The voices are clear and easy to understand, and the music (when present) sounds good and is non-obtrusive. Unfortunately the sound track has few memorable pieces. The best tracks are easily the remixes of older songs, and the ending credits track (which is a sweeping orchestral piece that sounds more at home in star fox than it does in Metroid).

The Graphics for Other M are probably some of the best produced for the Wii. All of the game environments are gorgeous, the character models move very well and are excellently rendered, and the special effects are beautiful displays of color and light. The cut scenes are magnificently rendered with great character models, good facial displays, and wonderful backgrounds. The opening movie depicting the ending of Super Metroid is simply fantastic.

The sound, while crisp and clean, is often nothing memorable, but the graphics as a visual spectacle are easily some of the best that has been produced for the Nintendo Wii. To That affect, I give the Sound and Graphics – 4/5 stars.

(Story and Acting)

Metroid has often been known for its lack of story. Other M has attempted to break that mold by delving into Samus’s character and back-story. The overall premise of the story for Other M is solid. Samus is shaken by the events of Super Metroid, and now acting on a distress signal she received, she is exploring a mysterious research ship and encounters her old C.O. from her days as a Galactic Federation Marine. All of these things play together to make what could have been a very good story. Unfortunately the implementation is very poor. The biggest tragedy is Samus’s characterization. In all previous Metroid games she has been presented as a very heroic figure. She is a woman of strength, integrity, and honor. In Other M she is portrayed as subservient, docile, weak, overly emotional, and in some cases downright incompetent. The worst moment is when Samus faces off against Ridley for the seventh time (count em, Metroid Zero mission twice, and then once in Prime 1, 2, and 3, and Super Metroid) and suffers from a bout of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder where she freezes in place, de-spawns her power suit, and whimpers like a child. This would make sense if it was the first time she fought Ridley, since the guy killed her parents, but not when she’s already killed him and robots of him six times before. For the actual story, the plot is rushed at the ending, and a plot line focusing on a betraying Galactic Federation marine is completely forgotten about halfway through the game. The power ups you receive through the game are actually all currently possessed by Samus, but she refuses to use them until Adam authorizes it. This makes sense to a point, since Samus feels guilty and views Adam as a father figure. However it stops making sense when Samus goes trudging through lava, slowly burning to death, just because Adam hasn’t authorized basic life saving protection. Lastly, there is a TON of narration to the game. Samus will take the time to tell you everything about what’s happening, whether you want her to or not. The dialogue between the characters is not particularly well written either. Parallels are often forced down your throat as well. Primary culprit is the hatchling from Metroid 2 and Super Metroid now being called ‘The Baby’, Samus receiving a distress message called ‘the baby’s cry’ and then flying to a research center called ‘The Bottle Ship’. Gee, I wonder what they’re going for there.

Finally, the acting in this game is horrendous. Samus’s voice actress is easily the worst part. While her voice sounds good for the role of Samus, she gives such a deadpan performance that it just doesn’t matter anymore. A few characters managed to give a decent performance, but often you can tell these are unattached people reading from a script, and not the characters you’re watching on the screen.

While I still think the basic premise of the story is good, the overall implementation coupled with the terrible acting and Samus’s awful characterization ruins the entire thing and brings the game down. To that affect, I give the Story and Acting – 1/5 stars.

(Replay Value and Achievements)

Many Metroid games will feature some incentive to play through again, such as multiple endings, hidden endings, speed challenges, or unlockable objects. Other M is no different, although it offers much less. There are no hidden endings in the game, only an Epilogue sequence, and the only thing you gain for beating the game with 100% completion is a hard mode which lets you play through the game without any collectible power ups.

While hard mode is a nice touch, there isn’t a whole here except for simply enjoying the game again. To that affect, I give Replay Value and Achievements – 3/5 stars

(Overall)

Metroid: Other M is a really great game with solid game play and some fun ideas that are sadly brought down by its length and poor story. While the music is nothing to write home about, the graphics are beautiful and manage to make the terribly scripted cut scenes at least entertaining to watch. For Metroid fans and those interested in a really solid platformer, then I recommend this game, but for others I would suggest renting before buying. Metroid: Other M Overall Rating – 3/5 stars.

See You Next Mission.

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Feralw0lf Fury, Video Games

Vegieza’s Virtual Vices: Lego Rock Band

27 09 2010

Even though the music game genre is being flooded with endless titles, I still need them in my life. I consider myself pretty good when it comes to anything with fake instruments, and I constantly think about adequate charting, what a new game’s setlist could be, or what I will have to do to 5-Star every song on every instrument. The addiction hasn’t died in me yet. Since so many games came out toward the end of last year, I could only pick and choose what I bought.

Now, upon scouring the internet I have found that some games I chose to skip over are now $20 or under (like Spirit Tracks *gasp*). Therefore, I got Lego Rock Band.

PROS:

There are the occasional songs that should’ve been done before now. Songs like We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Ghostbusters, Two Princes, Final Countdown, and even Kung Fu Fighting are featured here and are the only place to find them on Rock Band.

There’s a ton of unlockable things. Since it’s a Lego game, there are many unlockable pieces for your character and even pieces of furniture you can buy for your Rock Den.

The gems look like Legos! The colorful gems falling down the highway that cross the strike line (music game terms meaning the notes that come down) are now shaped like legos. Kinda like how in The Beatles: Rock Band the gems are saturated colors.

There are bosses to fight, kinda. They’ll just tell you something like, “The harder you rock the more you blow up this building” and that’s what you do. It shows the building blowing up in the background while you play.

Rock Band DLC that the game finds “family-friendly” enough is playable automatically. I have mostly metal and stuff (so those songs weren’t in there), but some of my dlc and some of the Rock Band 1 songs were there to break up the monotony of some of the setlists.

CONS:

The overall song list isn’t that great. Some of these songs you’ll get tired of really fast, sometimes to the point of frustration.

It gets repetitive in the worst places. You’ll see a new song in the new venue you’ve unlocked and will say, “Cool!” Then the next gig will be a one song setlist with a “random” song. Guess what? It’ll probably be the song you JUST PLAYED.

With the characters being made of Legos, it kinda gets rid of the “I’m a cool rockstar” feel. It feels unrealistic… mainly because it is.

A lot of the different options and modes aren’t explained very well. At one point I was unable to progress any further in the “story” until I did… something. I just played every gig that had been unlocked that I hadn’t played yet for about 2 or 3 more hours until finally I could progress.

There’s no Endless Setlist. One of my favorite things about Rock Band 1 and 2 is the gig that makes you play every song in the game in a row. For the first game that particular gig was over 4 hours long, and for the second game it was over 8. This “Endless Setlist” is just 30 random songs, including your DLC, not in order of increasing difficulty. Argh.

This game is worth $20 but just barely. I’m glad I didn’t buy it last year.

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Uncategorized, Vegieza's Virtual Vices, Video Games

Vegieza’s Virtual Vices: DOAX

12 08 2010

I’m finally back to give you another review. Much like the “Fangirl on the Loose” segment, I am very much a fanboy of something. It’s not Nintendo (though I used to be a fanboy), cart racers, or RPGs. It’s Dead or Alive, my favorite fighting game series. I own most of the games, if not the remakes, and that most certainly includes the infamous Dead or Alive Xtreme series.

As with all Team Ninja games, the DOA series is known for its heightened difficulty. I believe the game mechanics of the Dead or Alive Xtreme series to be one of the most complex of all time, almost as complicated as real-live-action-life women themselves. A game about playing volleyball and giving women swimsuits being complicated is a crazy idea, and I love Team Ninja (well, Tomonobu Itagaki) for creating it. Itagaki, the creator of the Dead or Alive series and every game related to it has since left the company, so let’s see how things have changed.

PROS:

Finally, a new DOAX series game has arrived. I need more of this series in my life. Maybe the next iteration will be in 3-D or have motion control. >:D

It’s portable! Finally one can take the experience anywhere. I plan to play it on board a cruise ship. It’s theme appropriate, after all.

There’s a 10th girl! Rio, some reference to some other game, is now playable once you unlock her.

Virtual Pictorial is way easier to unlock. In fact, it seems like most of the game is based around this feature. It doesn’t take 30+ hours to unlock this time around and finally keeps track of which gravure videos you’ve watched and which you haven’t.

No Hilary Duff! Unlike the soundtracks on the first two games, this one is mostly filled with actual Japanese music. The others were terrible pop and reggae-style beach-themed tracks (Reel Big Fish was nice, though). You can still provide your own music by putting mp3s on yourmemory stick.

CONS:

There’s less of everything. You know when you get the ‘Lite’ version of something, there’s less of something and it usually isn’t as good. That’s this game. It’s DOAX Lite, and the only thing added is the aforementioned extra character.

The difficulty has been removed. I guess Itagaki was the only person making the games difficult, because now it isn’t difficult at all. So far no suit has been rejected. Before this game I would’ve said that this would be a good thing, but now I’m not so sure.

The environment textures are terrible. I know I’ve been playing a lot of ridiculously good looking games lately, but this is like Pre-PS2 stuff. The models’ textures are as good as Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (the first game), but the rest of the environment is not.

There’s less control while playing volleyball. Your partner is controlled completely by the right thumbstick on the console versions. The PSP has no right thumbstick, so therefore you can’t control your partner.

There’s less clothing… I know that usually this is a good thing, but in this I mean that there are fewer varieties to choose from. From a female clothing fanatic’s point of view, this is not a good thing. Now you know that about me.

Well, wasn’t that fun? Next week I’ll have a review for you about a little known game called Super Mario Galaxy 2… or something like that.

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Vegieza's Virtual Vices, Video Games

Vegieza’s Virtual Vices: Poke’mon HeartGold and SoulSilver

20 04 2010
After a week more I can now bring you a nice weigh in of Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver.  This review covers both, even though I only have SoulSilver.  HeartGold has the same content albeit a few of the Pokémon that aren’t in SoulSilver, just like all of the other games.  I should give you my stats so far (oh no, I’m not through with this game, yet):
  • Badges:  16
  • Pokédex:  198
  • Play Time:  104 hours and 11 minutes

Whew, I’m beat.  Keep in mind that the entirety of this content was local to the game cartridge.  There was no outside trading from a different game (yet), and I didn’t catch anything on the Pokéwalker (yet).  That’s enough for now, as I’ll explain more in the review itself.

PROS:

It’s a remake of Gold/Silver/Crystal (a.k.a. Generation II… G/S/C from now on). The best Generation is better than ever in this remake.  The developers overhauled the graphics in the style of Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (a.k.a. Generation IV), the only other Nintendo DS Pokémon game.  The original was the best because it offered so much content, especially because, in one of the best plot twists ever, there were 16 badges to get instead of 8.  Hallelujah!

There’s so much to do! I said G/S/C had tons of content, but this has even more content, more than even Platinum (the strategy guide for that game is over 600 pages long).  Along with the 16 badges there are stylus-based minigames, two different game corners, a new safari zone, a pal park (like in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum… D/P/Pl from now on), added areas not in the original, added trainers, longer gyms, a trainer house, gym leader rematches, online trading/battle, a battle tower, a Pokéwalker so as you walk around in real live action life your Pokémon gain XP, Nintendo-sponsored Wi-Fi events so you don’t have to make the trip to Gamestop anymore, the Suicune event from Crystal, more legendaries, and more Pokémon overall.

As I said, there as so many ways to get Pokémon! Apart from getting them normally (tall grass, surfing, water, and caves), you can get Pokémon from the safari zone, pal park, game corner prizes, head butting trees, bug-catching contests, breeding, in-game trading, online trading, gifts, catching them on the Pokéwalker, swarms, radio music, and more.  Also, since this is based on G/S/C, time is a crucial part in the game, and some Pokémon only come out at certain times of the day.  Plus, three different times you get to choose a starter!  At the beginning there are the Generation II starters, of course, but after the game you are able to choose from one of the Generation I starters and in a different place one of the Generation III starters!  Yay!  There are perhaps the most available locally in this one than any other.

There are more legendaries than ever! Game Freak wanted to have 99% of all 493 Pokémon available on the DS series alone, so they crammed as many Legendary Pokémon as they possibly could into it.  Along with the obvious Generation II legendaries (Entei, Raikou, Suicune, Ho-Oh, Lugia), there are Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo, Latias or Latios, Groudon or Kyogre, Rayquaza (if you have both Groudon and Kyogre), and more will be opened eventually through events (like Mew and Celebi).

The Safari Zone is ridiculously improved! They completely remade the idea of the Safari Zone into a completely customizable experience.  Most of the Pokémon in the game can be caught in the Safari Zone if you know what you are doing, and the new idea is to create your very own Safari Zone for your very own little old self.  There are six sections to it, and there are 12 areas to choose from.  You put which areas you want where you want them, and violà.  Then you are eventually given different types of objects to place in the different areas and can put up to 30 objects in each area.  Depending on what objects are put in what areas, rarer and rarer Pokémon come out.  You leave the objects in the area over a period of time and they upgrade into more powerful ones.  From then on those types of objects in that area are forever upgraded even if you remove them and then put them back in later.  It’s hard to explain, and you’ll have to look up the minor details to get the full experience.

CONS:

There are some minor issues, like how some Pokémon need the correct objects laid out in the right area for an upwards of 110 days to get some Pokémon to come out.  A lot of those I have bypassed by simply getting them a different way, however.  Also, the Pokéradar from D/P/Pl was awesome and isn’t in this one.  There are still different swarms, but these seem to repeat Pokémon a lot more than in D/P/Pl.

The Pokéwalker’s like 10 year old technology. It’s cool to get a pedometer that also lets you get experience for your Pokémon while you walk, but the thing itself is kind of old.  However, it does have some sort of nostalgic feeling when using it.  Plus, the little monster inside of it can only go up one level until you reset it by putting it back in the DS.  It’s like after that point your Pokémon isn’t actually getting anything useful out of being in there.

This is still like a 10 year old story. As always, for an RPG Pokémon never seems to have much story.  This one’s twice as long, but the little story events are few and far between in the second half.  Plus, the first 3 or so gyms after getting to the second half are over almost before you know it.

It’s still the same old Pokémon. It’s still the same 2-D battlefield with 2-D sprites and little MIDI sound effects.  This will apparently be finally changed somewhat with the release of Pokémon Black/White (Generation V) later this year… in four months, rather.  I have a huge list in my head of all of the improvements they could do… stuff that would make this game series even better.  I believe the Safari Zone was the first step in doing something right for once.

The “final boss” has Pokémon like 25 levels higher than the previous fight. I thought I was going to beat the final and most powerful trainer before I wrote this review, but no.  It will take many more hours of training to beat him.  Let me structure it for ya:  the 16th Gym Leader’s Pokémon are about level 60, maybe slightly more.  Immediately, it’s like, “Hey, go fight the final dude!”  I go there and his Pokémon are around LEVEL 85.  OMGWTFBBQ.

If you like Pokémon, get this.  If you never have played one, this is a good place to start.  If you hate the game series, this is more of the same.  Anyway, after 104 hours I still have much to do in this game, so it’s definitely worth the money.  As a parting gift, here’s a nice little fact the game gave me:

Mr. Mime, the Barrier Pokémon:  Its fingertips emit a peculiar force field that hardens air to create an actual wall.  O.O

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Vegieza's Virtual Vices, Video Games

Tunes of Tuesday: Alex Day

13 04 2010

Hey all, here you go, a GREAT trio of songs about video games, called ‘Poke’mon, What Happened to You?’ ‘I Hate Mario Kart Wii’ and ‘Sonic Doesn’t Need a Story.’

Enjoy, ingrates. :)

He’s got the songs for sale on itunes, go forth and give him the credit he’s earned.

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Tunes of Tuesday, Video, Video Games

Vegieza’s Virtual Vices: God of War 3

24 03 2010

I’m back again, and this time with great vengeance.  Epic vengeance.  Glorious vengeance.  Finally, the day has arrived for the epic conclusion in the God of War series, God of War III.  If you haven’t played this series before, read the God of War Collection review and buy that game and then this one.  If you think it’s bad, shut up and continue playing anyway.  If you finish this spectacular conclusion and still don’t like it, go to an exposed corner of a brick wall and shove your face into it over and over.  I couldn’t care less what you think.  For those of us who deserve to live:  Play this game.  Now.  It doesn’t matter what else you’re playing; it can wait.

PROS:

Teh GRAFICKS. The best implementation of computerized video technology so far in the known video game world is in this game.  There are only 4 loading screens:  the one before the opening cinematic, the one you get if you die and have to restart at the last checkpoint (duh, the game wasn’t expecting you to FAIL AT BEING EPIC), one in a hallway toward the end, and one if you load your game.  But you won’t have that one because I expect you to play it through without stopping or blinking.

You kill things. Lots of things.  And if you have been following along in the story then when you kill these people it will be the most satisfying thing ever.

Switch weapons on the fly! L1 + X equals go to the next weapon and continue the brutality you are currently dishing out.

It clears up things that I had a problem with, mythology-wise.  They explain a lot of things that I was previously confused about.  You know that thing you said, “Well, that’s stupid and anticlimactic” about in the first game?  Explained.  The plot also refers back to many things Kratos did or plot points that were created back in the first two games.  It’s a smorgasbord of God of War trivia.

Like the first two in the series, it has lots of documentaries. The main making-of video shows a lot of the 2 and a half process of making the game.  Stan Lee makes an appearance!

CONS:

Some players might not like the ending. If you happen to be a fan of bad storytelling, or hate good things in general, then you will probably not like the ending.  Go find a cliff and throw your mother off of it.  Then, after you watch her death, jump over as well and try to hit her corpse for extra points.  The ending is poetic and makes sense in every sense of the word.

Challenge of Olympus seems easier. The extra mode that has been featured in every game (Challenge of ____) is in this one as well.  I beat 6 of the 7 challenges without too much retrying in about 30 minutes.  There is a Combat Arena, but it is unlocked after you beat all 7.  I don’t know what’s in that (maybe more, harder challenges, lol), but the game’s only been out for 5 days.

On one boss I died a lot. It’s a massive series of checkpoints.  At almost every point I died because I wasn’t quick enough or didn’t know what to do.  It’s ok, because when you go through that section on a second playthrough you’ll get every one of them and it’s amazing.

There’s no spear-a-majig. That awesome lance weapon from the second game.  I wish it was in this one.  Oh, well.

My main only real problem is: At one point I glitched this game so hard that I hard to start back like 2 hours previous in the game.  If Goblin had been watching he would’ve been proud of me.  Always keep more than one save of your game, in case you hit the same glitch I did.  If after a boss’s death cutscene you are at a previous (like 10 minutes ago) area’s portal and then after you go through that portal it takes you to a different area, don’t save.  After the boss’s death you were supposed to be dropped into a hallway.  I can’t find anyone online who has experienced the same glitch.  Without giving any spoilers, it would be the cutscene that triggers after you let go of L2 and R2 at the same time, about 5 or 6 hours in.

Well, the gist is that you should play this on a 1080i HDTV with really loud sound, in the dark and in one sitting.  Then cry out of either happiness or because you’re currently mutilating your face against a brick wall.  In the end, there will only be chaos…

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Vegieza's Virtual Vices, Video Games

Vegieza’s Virtual Vices: God of War Collection

16 03 2010

For the first time, this week’s review is of more than one game!  God of War Collection is Sony’s way of getting everyone hyped for today’s (March 16, 2010) release of God of War III.  I’ll have that review completed next week.  God of War Collection is a port of the first two games of the series, originally only on the PS2.  Now they have been re-mastered in High Definition to base all three games on one system.

PROS:

Hopefully this is a trend. Having the first two games on a current system is something that hopefully Sony and other companies start doing more often.  I fully expect Sony to reveal at E3 2010 that a Team ICO Collection of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus will be released shortly before the third game, The Last Guardian.  The convenience of not having to dust off your PS2 is awesome, and that’s all most people have, as most PS3s do not have backwards compatibility.

It has some visual upgrades. It wasn’t recoded to be in true HD, but the scaling does improve both games quite a bit, more so in the second one than the first.  The frame-rate is now at a perfect 60fps (frames per second), and there is none of the screen tearing that was pretty noticeable in both games on the PS2.  The frame-rate actually does make a noticeable difference in the fluidity of the combat.

It’s worth the money. If you love the God of War series, then to have both 1 and 2 re-mastered in HD on a current platform is definitely worth the budget price of $40.  Both games are about 10 hours the first times through, and there are hours of documentary videos for both games.

There are two sets of trophies, a set for each game.  I’m not a trophy whore (achievements ftw), but most of them on both are easy to collect.  This is double the fun for a gamer, especially if the player hasn’t played either game before.

If you are new to these and happen to love them, then you’ll get a lot of re-playability out of these games.  I’ve personally played God of War 6 times and God of War II 4 times now, with a count added to each because of Collection.  It’s only just now starting to get old to me.

CONS:

No Chains of Olympus. If would’ve taken a lot of work to put the PSP’s God of War:  Chains of Olympus onto the PS3, but it would’ve been the cherry on the God of War Collection sundae.

No extra content. There are a lot of documentary videos, but they’re what came with the games originally.

Cutscenes and documentaries are not in HD. In-game cutscenes look pretty muddy, and the documentaries are less than DVD quality or less.  The Collection is meant to be played on a large HDTV, and these videos don’t stand the test of time.

And speaking of standing the test of time: even with its slight upgrade to HD, the first game doesn’t look near as good as it did when you first played it on the PS2. Or if you’re playing it for the first time, it’ll look pretty old.

Widescreen stretches the HUD. For those that know me, one of my worst pet peeves is incorrect aspect ratios.  It bothers me to no end.  The sides of the gameplay’s view are just extended to show more on the screen at once, but the HUD (heads-up display) is instead stretched wider.  All circular things are now ovals, and so on.  It personally gets to me.

There you have it.  If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get this and God of War III, play them all through in one continuous sitting, and then die happy while shouting, “Ares!”

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Vegieza's Virtual Vices, Video Games

Vegieza’s Virtual Vices: Mass Effect 2

2 03 2010
It’s me, Vegieza, back again to this time try to beat it into your head that you need to experience this game sometime in your life.  Today’s review of Mass Effect 2 will be somewhat different than the others.  The pros I discuss will be spoiler-free, as I hate spoilers.  They will also be mostly about the overall feeling of the entire Mass Effect series as a whole.  The cons will be very technical and picky, as I cannot find but minuscule things to say negatively about this game.

Before I start the review, I must say that the idea of viewing video games as an art and a medium through which to provide riveting storytelling is becoming more and more accepted by people that actually try to see games as such.  There are a number who still live in the past, as my own mother thinks that I should not be playing games (“Adults don’t play with toys”), but the populace used to think that motion pictures couldn’t tell stories or be considered as artistic either.

In this “Gaming Renaissance” there have been great ideas that have created a new outlook on the way gaming has evolved.  For instance, Valve created both the Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2 and the Portal Gun from Portal.  Both of these guns made developers begin to really use physics creatively and… “start thinking with Portals.”  Shadow of the Colossus had the idea to just let the character roam free, with no overworld enemies except for 16 huge puzzles.  It proved that a developer doesn’t have to cram a game with content to make it amazing.  The God of War series introduced ridiculously-sized bosses combined with over-the-top violence and “quick-time events” to really feel the weight of what you were accomplishing in such a foreign setting as ancient Greece.  There are more, such as Chrono Trigger and Prince of Persia’s time manipulation and Bioshock’s completely unique underwater FPS environmental setting, but the main point is that these games usually shift the industry in a fresh, exciting way.

I particularly use these examples because I plan on reviewing Left 4 Dead 1-2 for the new DLC, Bioshock 2, God of War 3, The Last Guardian (Shadow’s maybe sequel), the new Prince of Persia, and hopefully Half-Life 2: Episode 3 if they happen to surprise us and release it this year.  …Also because more Chrono Trigger would be a good thing, but let’s move on.

This is to introduce the next great idea in gaming that the Mass Effect series is pulling off quite amazingly.

PROS:

Great Gaming Idea #1:  The Suicide Mission. As with awesome action games, Mass Effect 2 (ME2) will culminate in a final mission/boss/etc.  Unless you’re Halo 2 (Finnish teh fite lololol).  This is obvious, so no spoilers.  The entire game/advertisements/etc. call this as such, so you pretty much know this.  The amazing part is that almost everything you do factors into this final mission.  Who you do or don’t recruit, whose special missions you do, how much you talk to your squad mates, what upgrades you buy, what morality decisions you make, and what you choose to do for the about 7 or 8 choices that take place during the final mission is all put into a series of equations that determine who lives and dies.  Your character can even die and then cannot be imported into Mass Effect 3.  Peter Molyneux (the Fable series) should pay attention to Bioware.

Great Gaming Idea #2:  It’s a… wait for it… Mass Effect 1 explained that all major and minor choices you made will affect ME2, and it’s true.  Assuming you imported your ME1 character, every choice, even the ones you made during side quests, are brought up in this one.  Most of the choices you can further influence when you come upon them again.  Combine with this the fact that there are more new choices in this one than the first and both games will affect the third game.  OMG.  Do you realize how many branches this can have?  It’s almost like a… Mass Affect!  You can tell in ME2 when you make decisions that these will be brought up majorly in the third one, in almost an epic Lord of the Rings-style encounter.

The story is great. I’ve previously mentioned in the Assassin’s Creed II review that this is one of my favorite plotlines.  This is still true.  The world building is so fleshed out it’s unbelievable.  Every race has little quirks and special customs and you know each one by heart by the time it’s done.  The continuation of the story just makes everything so engrossing.  I say again… you must experience this series.

As with the trend of late… it is much improved from the sequel.  I have listened to interviews with Bioware.  They actually read message boards all over the internet, made lists, and corrected most of the flaws of the first game.  Finally a developer listens to their fanbase.  Driving a vehicle over the same terrain is gone.  Seeing the same 3 types of rooms over and over is gone.

Also, they removed the inventory system. It makes it slightly less of an RPG, but it’s OK.  It feels so much more natural to play this way, and you’ll realize this while playing.

CONS:

There are the occasional twins. Some NPCs look the same as other ones.  You can tell the main male NPC model after you see him over and over.  This isn’t too often, though.

One of the hacking mini-games is difficult for the color-blind. I know this because I watched a color-blind person play the game.  They eventually used the shape instead of the color to complete it correctly every time.

There are some dialog overrides. If you’re listening to dialog and then get close to another NPC who has dialog, it’ll change over to that NPC.  Just stay still if you are invested in a conversation.

Team mates need help to find cover. This isn’t very noticeable on anything other than high difficulties, but your squad mates might need to be told where to take cover or they’ll just stand in the open and die in two seconds flat.

There is (*gasp*) a hidden “Point of No Return”. This is probably my only big qualm with the game.  A “Point of No Return” in an RPG is basically a point where there is no saving until after the credits.  This isn’t the same thing, technically.  There is a main mission where, should you do it, the game will then decide for you when you should do the Suicide Mission at some undetermined point later.  At that undetermined future point it gives you the choice to wait (a Point of No Return), basically making it a second Point of No Return.  The problem is that if and when the game decides to make you do it you choose to wait, there are consequences.  I won’t spoil you on the consequences, but just know that they are there.  No spoilers, but basically you should do most everything you want to do before doing the IFF mission.  You’ll know what that is when you come to it. There are more missions after the IFF mission, but at that point the invisible clock has started counting down.

Sorry this was so long, but I really can’t put in enough words how much you should play this series.  Next week will be my review of Bioshock 2.

Comments : No Comments »
Categories : Vegieza's Virtual Vices, Video Games

Vegieza’s Virtual Vices: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty 4… no, 5? Wait…

23 02 2010

It’s Vegieza, back once more to bring you a review from what I believe Assassin’s Creed II knocked off its Game of 2009 pedestal:  Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 2.  It’s the sequel to the 4th game, but the game before this one was Call of Duty:  World at War.  But World at War is not Call of Duty 5.  And Modern Warfare 2 is not 5 or 6.  And you’re just supposed to call it Modern Warfare 2.  And they dropped the “4” from “Call of Duty 4”.  Confused yet?

Before I get to the Pros and Cons, I have to say that I had quite a hard time coming up with cons for this game.  The basics are that if you’re a fan of First Person Shooters, this is a must buy as it is one of the most exhilarating, depthful FPSs ever conceived.  If you’re looking for an action game, at least borrow this from someone.  If you don’t like FPSs at all, then you probably should find something else.

Pros:

It’s Action-Packed. Rarely will you see so many different action sequences rolled up into one campaign as with this.  It’s like they had a list of cool things they thought up and then squeezed them all in.  Basically, it’s an entire season of 24 in one game, but with most of the dialogue cut out.  When you put in the disc it even warns you on the screen that some levels are disturbing, and if you press a certain button those sections can be skipped over.  I actually gasped out loud at one point in the game.  At other points you will just be in awe at what’s going on around you.  If you’re going to play this, you really shouldn’t look anything up on Youtube, wikias, or anything to not spoil any of the like 50 surprises.

By the way, is Vladmir Makarov, a Russian terrorist who terrorizes an airport, voiced by one of the Russian terrorists who hold up an airport from season 5 of 24?  Why, yes.  Is the “Overlord” who explains all of my mission objectives mid-mission my favorite character from 24, Aaron Pierce, head of the Secret Service?  Why, yes.  Yes it is.  What a coincidence.

You’ll be playing multiplayer forever. Call of Duty 4:  Modern Warfare’s multiplayer overtook Halo 3 as the most played game of Xbox Live.  They took everything that made that multiplayer amazing and added more.  For people who don’t know about the multiplayer, you can create custom classes with the different guns, attachments, grenades, killstreaks, the new deathstreaks, and more.  This lets you really customize the multiplayer to the way you want it to be, as you can switch between your custom classes mid-match.  Add to this the fact that for every single gun, attachment, and more there are challenges to unlock.  You constantly get more XP and rank up all the time, and the more you rank up the more you unlock.  It makes it feel like you’re actually being continuously rewarded for playing, unlike in Halo 3.  It even keeps track of the percentage complete your multiplayer is, and it goes up to 1000%.  You can play for months straight (24 hours a day) and still not have everything.  I’m still not even doing it justice as I’ve left out even more things you can do.

Special-Ops is great. Spec-Ops is the co-op mission mode of MW2.  There are tons of really diverse and fun missions to do, and all of it is tracked just like in multiplayer.  As you complete more you unlock more, and some of the most fun times in this game has been playing this mode with a buddy.  Imagine a friend runs under cover of night across fields and through barns while you bombard all of the enemies coming toward him or her with an AC-130.  It’s glorious.

Grenades aren’t spammed constantly. This was World at War’s biggest downfall, and what made it the hardest Call of Duty game.  You get behind cover so you don’t get shot, right?  Well, you duck behind cover and 12 GRENADES LAND ON YOUR POSITION AT ONCE.  This doesn’t happen in MW2.

Graphics are just…  wow. Play this on a big screen TV in 1080i, and then be amazed.  It’s really, really realistic.

Cons:

You have a disadvantage when starting multiplayer. You get the crappiest guns and can’t use attachments and the like for about the first 5-10 levels or multiplayer.  I had such bad Kill/Death Ratios (K-Ds) toward the beginning.  The point is to stick with it, and don’t get discouraged.  It gets better.

Some choke points in the campaign are tricky. If you’re playing the campaign on Veteran, the hardest difficulty and what Call of Duty should always be played on, some (but very few) sections are really difficult.  One section of the white-water rafting comes to mind. If you get in a place like this (not the rafting, but in shooting sections), remember sometimes you can push forward and get another checkpoint.

The story isn’t as good as it could’ve been. It’s still gripping, mind you, but some events are really far-fetched.  Like I said, they had a list of cool things and then wrote the story around it.

Achievements/Trophies are hard for less-skilled players. If you aren’t that great at FPSs, then you might not be able to get the majority of the achievements/trophies, which have to be done on Veteran.  This Veteran isn’t as hard as 2, 4, or World at War, though, so if you’ve beat them then you probably can do this one.

There is no Jack Bauer. I know, I’ve probably mentioned 24 too many times by now, but Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer, the main character of 24) was the voice of your commander in World at War.  He should’ve been in this one, but he probably is under contract with the other Call of Duty company (it’s a long story, look it up yourself).

Well, there you have it.  Those first two pros were pretty long, but I still didn’t even say all that I wanted to.  Please look forward to next week’s review of Mass Effect 2, a game that I believe has achieved a pinnacle of gaming never before witnessed.  This has been Vegieza, and remember:  No Russian.

Comments : 1 Comment »
Categories : Vegieza's Virtual Vices, Video Games

« Previous Entries