Gears of War Revisited

Ok so Gears of War again. Now much of what I stated before still applies but there are a few things to add.

I am severely disappointed with how short the game was, yeah I was playing it on easy mode, but it only took 6 hrs and 45 minutes to complete (1 hour of which was spent on the final boss, which I will gripe about later.). Now this is a pretty big chunk of time, I was hoping for more. In the entirety of this time none of my questions about the story were ever answered. I still have no idea who Fenix is or how the Locust came about. If anything its left me with more questions.

Perfect set up for a sequel, right? Wrong! this was an Action game with great potential for a story. I was all ready to hear about how much of a bad ass Fenix was and how he curb stomped some General for being an idiot, or maybe perhaps how he didn’t follow orders and took his squad headlong into enemy territory and got them all killed and he came out by shear physical prowess/willpower. No, nothing was addressed. So now I sit wanting the 6 and three quarters of and hour back that I had spent on the game. I feel insulted. Now mind you the story may have unfolded farther in the harder difficulties, but after playing it in easy and learning nothing I didn’t want to get my hopes up and waste my time. besides that ridiculous, how hard the game is should not limit what it is you learn about the story, it should just change the challenge.

It was like Epic said, “hey lets create this game that really has no story what so ever….but hey we’ll give it really cool setting and make the graphics awsome. no one will notice!” well I noticed and I was hoping for more.

If the story (or lack there of) wasn’t aggravating enough the multitude of gliches adds to the frustration. Several times I shot at enemies only to realise in frustration that my bullets where passing through them and doing no damage. One instance I killed a wretch with the shotgun at close range, it died collapsing to the ground(I am positive it was dead) and then sprung up(as if respawning) like it had never been dead.

Other glichy moments include losing my Squad mates, I tried to follow the arrows but I eventually came to a point where I felt as if I were in the Bermuda Triangle, with the arrow constantly shifting directions. This happened several times when I could have used some semi-intelligent backup. there were even times where my squad mates “died” and just completely disappeared….there was no where for them to go but they “died” and were gone. There is a saving grace for these two problems though. if you manage to provide cover while your squad mate is “dead” when all enemies in the area are killed he gets up by himself. When you enter a check point your squad mate automatically catches up with you.

Now as for the final boss fight, he got stuck(I don’t know how) with his “invincible” shield around him and I was out of grenades. So what was I to do….commit suicide by hiding in the dark and getting killed by Kryll.

I stand by the fact that console games should not require patches to fix problems in play, short of multiplayer problems(hacks).

If you feel you can deal with these problems, more power to you. As I stated before the game looks great and his great potential…..but I feel it fell pretty short of the hype.

Gears of War First Thoughts

So I got My hands on a copy of Gears of War to see what all the hubbub was about. In someways I’m surprised and in others I’m disappointed.

The Story definitely has me intrigued; I want to know what the deal is with Marcus Fenix and his history, as well how the Locust came to be.

Graphics: The game is gorgeous. The detail on the characters is amazing, you can see every wrinkle and scar. The buildings are amazingly detailed and have a lot of Greek/Roman influences. The lighting effects are good and add great depth to the game, but unfortunately the game is pretty dark and seeing details and intricacies is complicated.

Gameplay: Here is where the things that really start to bother me . The AI has more then enough of the “A” but is lacking severely in the “I” department, for both allies and enemies. You’ll have a great battle plan set, your squad will be in position, you get a bead on the enemy then……one of the idiots in your squad decides to run right into your line of fire and screws up you shot. Thanks, thanks for screwing up my shot! Fight with the berserkers is even more annoying, if your squad mate gets killed you lose. This wouldn’t be so bad if he was actually smart enough to run away from the berserker, but know you have to save his ass and put yourself into harms way even more than normal.

The only reason I say the enemies are lacking in the intelligence department is because the combat is rather repetitive. You find cover the enemy finds cover, then you shoot until one side over runs the other. The only thing that alters the normal algorithm is what weapons you have and if you have any grenades.

While the Chainsaw Bayonet is an awesome weapon and amazingly bloody. It does have its flaws, the fact that you can’t strafe while using it limits its functionality to close combat unless you have a straight shot to an enemy with no obstacles. Unfortunately running has the same controls as the chainsaw so trying to run around the battlefield your more likely to end up face first into a wall or find yourself getting a little to friendly with some of the Locust.

Sound:The voices in the game are great and emotion is conveyed very well. The explosions and gunfire are well done unfortunately I don’t have a seround sound system set up so I can’t really tell you how well the sound helps with situational awareness. One issue I had with the sound is there is a section where it is raining…..I didn’t hear the rain at all.

Story: As I said earlier the story definitely has me intrigued. The unknown history leads you to want to continue playing to see what the deal is. The script also has several amusing moments that not only convey the story well, but also get you to chuckle a little.

I haven’t had the opportunity to try the multiplayer yet, I have a feeling that it may actually make this game better. Not to say that it is bad, but I’ve notices as of recent that most games of this style tend to be ok in one player mode and multiplayer is the redeeming quality.

All and all I would say this game is pretty good(so far) and would suggest it to anyone who is into action games and I assume that the multiplayer is also a good reason to check the game it, I will update the review once I get a chance to check it out.

I Don’t Care What You Guys Say God Hand Rocks!

Now the Reviews blasted this game repeatedly, which from a strictly sanitized stand-offish way, makes perfect sense.

But this game is hilarious! sure the Graphics are not the greatest, and the control system can be a bit frustrating at times….but who hasn’t wanted to slap the ass of a demon dominatrix queen? I mean the things they get away with in this game …..would make the christian  right WRONG shit their pants.

But hey Clover went out on a limb….(that perhaps cracked under their weight) and made a game that defies a lot of the rules put in place. Maybe that’s why it bombed in the reviews, because it didn’t follow the cookie cutter pattern. Maybe that’s why I like it, because they didn’t and they were not afraid to push the envelop.

I also went into the game expecting very little in the way of game play.

It essentially plays like this

Take “Fist of The North Star” add a healthy amount of humor, set it in  a post apocalyptic western setting with demon possessed ruffians, sprinkle some potty humor, a “modest” amount of sexual references, and cast the main character(above) as a cocky wanderer with a big mouth and you pretty much have God Hand.

Yes it does have its shortcomings, but all in all the massive amount of off color humor and adult references makes God Hand an amusing and fun game to play.

Hey my wife perfers watching me play this over Okami…….

What Ever Happened to Playing Games?

Now I love tech. stuff as much as the next guy, but this crap is getting out of hand.

A multitude of sights have shown one of the multitude of next-gen and this-gen systems in various states of dissasembly. So while the average go has to fight, kick, bite, and scream(as well as probibly fluff) in order to get there hands on some of these systems some tech. fan boy gets to take a PS3 apart to comment on the colors of the main board and the choice of RAM.

What ever happend to just playing the freaking games…..?

No Fun For You

Ahh, so here we are my wonderful PS3. Luckily I didn’t have to pay full price for you, I was able to trade in my beloved PS2 to get your price down a little….but I was still unable to buy a game. At least I still have all my wonderful PS2 and PS1 games….whats that PS3…YOU HATE ME?!….and a POX on my family???!!!

In case you have not heard yet the long awaited PS3 is having difficulties working properly with previous generation games, about 196 of them. So if you though you could skimp on getting a game for your PS3 , you thought wrong.

Things keep piling up against “the system to end all systems”, but hey Sony says they will have it fixed down the line……..sure haven’t heard that one before.

*UPDATE*

Sony’s PR person stated that they knew that they would not have 100% backwards compatability, and that gamers can deal with playing games that lack full functionality.besides what they have done is good enough….

The State of Things{rant}

Now I love Video Games. I’ve been playing them since I was a toddler. but the way things are going just saddens me.

I mean games are starting to become as insipid and uninspired as movies have been for the past 6+ years. Don’t get me wrong, occasionally something great comes out that completely redefines a genre or causes a whole new surge of interest. The unfortunate thing is, these trend setting games are slowing being squashed by junk that has a mass appeal. Companies would much rather sell you crap by the truckload, then create games, with meaningful play and stories that have substance.

Most of this stems from the Spin Doctors they call marketers. Ok, They are good, they are really really good! So good in fact, they could sell you your own children…and charge interest. Here in lies the problem, the marketers are so good that the game designers could take a crap in a box and put there name on it; what do you know it sold…..not only did it sell but it sold 1M+ copies.

But we can’t put all the blame on the companies, what about all those wonderful people we call our neighbors. You know the ones who turn a blind eye to what little Timmy is doing until….BAM! little Timmy ganks his sister, like he ganked that prostitute last night in GTA10:Lament of Society. Then they want to say “oh my god! Timmy would have never done this if he never played that horrible game!”….

Wrong Bitch! Timmy would have never done it if you would have actually paid attention to him. You know instead of thinking that the video game consoles were some sort of baby sitting robots, while you were out getting your nails/hair/and boobs done. Had you been around and spent time with the kid…perhaps you could have set some healthy boundaries for him.

These are the people who decide the way the economy goes……we’re all screwed!

Poor poor, poor people…..NO PS3 FOR YOU!

In a move that is as money grubbing as it gets, rumor has it that Best Buy is planing on reaming its customers.*surprise surprise*

Apparently Best Buy wants you to buy an HD TV to get your PS3. As if I didn’t feel poor enough. thanks Best Buy, thanks once again for pointing out my shortcomings.

Great now I got another reason to roll someone in the parking lot to get my PS3.

Lets look at this Logically.

If your going to buy a PS3 your going to need some stuff to go with it, you know like games, easy women, and drugs(which always seem to follow rich lifestyles for some reason). so you get a game or two.  You can’t just get the cheap PS3, that would be pointless, so you get the good one.
Now you need to get an HD TV….well you can’t just get the TV, you got to get a new stand for that TV (because you know its not going to fit on that monstrosity you call an entertainment center….that looks more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa) and all the special cabling(you know so you can hook your antenna to your TV)

So mathmaticaly we have:

PS3( $600) + 2 Games(2x$69.99) + 1 HD TV($900) + cabling ($100) + Tax = You around the corner on your knees in front of some guy they call “Fat Charly”.

And people wonder why underage prostitution is getting out of hand…

*UPDATE*

So the actual deal is its CompUSA that wants you to by a 40″ Sony TV to get a PS3