Batman Arkham City takes the same tried and true gameplay formula from Arkham Asylum and continues on. The combat was smooth for the most part. Its mostly a button masher, but there is thinking involved in the act. Combos you have to do to take out certain thugs. There is an order of attack you must think of also.
This time around detective mode didn't hold my hand as much as in the last game. For those who haven't played Arkham Asylum, detective move is a function in the game where you just tap a button and Batman goes into this x-ray vision mode with his helmet, and he can see things we normally couldnt, like enemies skeletal structure. It helps find clues and in Arkham Asylum I felt like I played 90 percent of the game with it on. Which took away from the gameplay difficulty and all the beautiful graphics as well. I was left more on my own to explore this time around. I could have spent hours aplenty in Arkham City, but I chose to mostly stick to the main campaign. Let me say there is tons more to do in arkham and plenty more villians to come across. I only completed the Mad Hatter, Dead Eye, Baine, and Zsaz side quests. The one complaint I do have is that I spent a lot of time gliding and rappeling between buildings, and not much time on the ground. I felt a tad bit like spiderman. I always thought Batman to sneak around on the ground and do a little more not just glide from building to building. I did feel like the one catwoman portion of the game I played felt fun. The way she ascends buildings felt more fun. Also her fighting style was nice. I don't know if it was cool cause she was a chick beating up all these tough guys, if it was cuz she was a hot chick, or if it was a sense of desperation as in she is much smaller then her foes, so maybe there was more of a sense of accomplishment for this tiny girl beating the crap out of these guys who could've killed her at any second. I'm thinking it was the latter..
Lastly let me say that this story started off awkward and slow for me. Whereas the last one started off big and felt good all the way through till the finale that is. Titan Joker come on! Speaking of Joker, is there a better comic book villian? Or villian period for that matter? Also is there a better Joker than Mark Hammil? I think not. As this story progressed it became more clear and focused. The twists and turns were not expected especially not the last one. I'll leave those secrets to be found out by you the player, when you go through the game yourself. Lastly about the stories in these games they rival any of the films to date and prove why Batman is such an appealing ip, and why people continually come back to and love the Batman. This game is a solid 9 out 10 for me. I highly reccomend it. Especially if you've played the first one.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Batman Arkham City - PS3
Monday, March 5, 2012
Super Stardust Delta - Vita
Ever yearn for the yesterdays of space invaders, centipede, and time pilot? Well then you need to look at Super Stardust Delta. SSD is a twin stick shooter on the PSN. It is available only in digital form on the Playstation Store for 9.99. It's quite a bargain if you ask me. This twin stick shooter has beautiful graphics with colors that jump off the screen. The first time you boot the game up you may be a bit intimidated by the look to be honest. Thinking maybe there is a lot going on, and that maybe the game is too complicated. Fear not, the game is really simple while remaining very deep and complex at the same time. The only thing you really need to use to play are the sticks themselves. You use one analog stick to move around on the screen and the other to shoot in any direction. There is a button for a quick speed burst to evade enemies. Also you can touch the screen to deploy a screen clearing bomb to give you some breathing room. The boss battles at the end of each level were nice. I found myself anticipating them in the 5th round of every level. So much so that sometimes if I died and lost one of my lives, I would just restart, so I could save up to beat the boss. My only complaint is the game was too short. But for 10 bucks can you really complain. All thats left to do now is up the level of difficulty and chase scores.
This game is by far a must own for any playstation vita owner. If you don't have a vita then maybe check out Super Stardust HD on the PSN. It's about the same price and you can also play it in 3D for those 3Dtv owners like myself looking for something to do with their tvs. SSD is a perfect fit on Vita. It's a handheld type of game. You can pick it up and get sucked in for hours or you can blow through a level and put it down only to pick it up later. So car rides, bus rides, at the airport, its perfect for these situations. This game is a 9 out of 10. Go download it now if you have a PSV.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Virtua Tennis 4 - Vita
Virtua Tennis 4. Ahhh what a glorious way to break in my Vita. Tennis games are synonymous with handhelds. From back with the launch of the first handheld game system ever, the Nintendo Game Boy. Which launched with of course Tetris, originally packaged in with the system, and also Tennis was a launch window title. I played mostly those 2 games on my game boy until the first super mario land came along. Tennis fits onto a handheld. You can pick it up and run through a match or 2 pretty quick and then walk away. This fact about tennis games along with the sleep mode on the vita makes for a good combination.
If you are looking for a tennis sim you need to look elsewhere. This isnt zany hot shots or sonic tennis. It has real players the likes of Roddick, Federer, and Nadal. But it is more a casual tennis experience. There's not too much to say aside from the controls feel nice. You can use analog or digital. There is a touch screen option that I didn't care for at all. Firstly why would you want to cover up the beautiful vita screen with your greasy Cheetos stained digits. Various types of returns like lobs, slices, and backhands can be performed very simply with the various face buttons.
Where VT4 really shines through is the graphics. This game is beautiful. It would look beautiful on a full size screen. It just makes it even better that it is pocket sized. Animations look smooth and fluid. There is no slowdown even in doubles matches. The celebration animations and the TV style presentation are glorious. It's a nice game to show off what a vita can do graphically.
The one part about VT4 that I didn't like was the season mode. The season mode is set up kind of like a board game. You draw cards to move. You hold 3 at a time, any one of which you can pick and move how many ever spaces the corresponding card says. You then accumulate stars based upon matches you enter and charity events you attend. It is very fun and addictive but the setup made me miss some tournaments due to not having enough stars/high enough ranking. Also the oppoonents seemed terrible easy to beat. Either I'm the jkokavitch of the virtual tennis world or its just too easy. I got scored on like 10 times total in my career. Also, last but not least just as I became a virtual tennis star the game was over. It was a bit too short and once I completed the map all I could do was start over from scratch. I couldn't continue my career into another round of seasons. It was a big bummer. I didn't want to start over again. Other than that the game was phenomenal, and was ultimately the game that sucked me in the most of all my launch titles. This game gets a 7 out of 10 due to its lacking in the replayability department and the longevity of the game.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Red Dead Redemption - Xbox 360
Today I'm going to talk about Red Dead Redemption. A game I had a relationship with like oprah has with food. It was very on again off again. The game was released in May of 2010, and I just beat it a couple of weeks ago. When I first got it I played the Dickens out of it. Then it collected dust. Then I gave it another short go just to leave it sitting for the better part of a year. Well I finally made up my mind to finish it.
Let me tell you that it is by far my favorite Rockstar game out of all of them I've played, and I've given at least everyone of them a little bit of playtime. If you are a fan of westerns you'll love the game, if you're a fan of sandbox games you'll love it. The story albeit slow and confusing at times wraps up neatly at the end. It is epic in scale and the 30 plus hours of gameplay put into it makes you really care for John Marston and his family.
The gameplay in RDR is the usual rockstar controls and feel. Sometimes you end up yelling at the tv in frustrating battle sequences. But the lock on targeting although it seems cheap, it still fits in quite well with the scope of the game. Meaning it didn't annoy me as much as the Call of Duty crap that I hate. Horse controls are simple and understandable. Although I didn't enjoy riding across this huge map forever. I wish there had been a way to lock in a destination and just skip to that location. I know I'd have missed sidequests and some of the little touches they added in some areas but that would have been ok with me. I bet I spent half the game just riding my horse across the plains.
Voice acting was done well and all the sounds felt authentic. I assume they were. But my only basis for the wild west were all the spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood my dad had me watching while I was growing up. Replay value on this game I would assume to be pretty low. Once you've spent so much time with it I'd assume you'd be done with it.
The multiplayer is decent. I didn't play too much of it. Since the controls and camera angles to me didn't feel as natural a multiplayer game as say battlefield.
There is an add on for this game that I highly recommend and that is the dead nightmare pack. It is a cheesy, super creepy zombie add on that doesn't tie into the main story really. It has all the characters. It is just not in line with the actual ending of the game. It's almost an alternate ending. Kind of a what if. This game is probably easy to find since they sold a bagillion copies of it and have since released other editions of it. I'd highly recommend it if you want a great story. It left me wanting more. A sequel perhaps? I give Red Dead Redemption a 8 out of 10. The only thing holding it back are the floaty controls and the long drawn out horse rides from mission to mission.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Vita First Impressions
Well last week I finally got to get my hands on the long awaited new handheld from Sony. The Playstation Vita. I just wanted to share a few of my thoughts on the device thus far and a brief overview of the games I've been playing. I'll really get into the meat of the games and completing them when I'm in Haiti. I fully expect to beat Uncharted Golden Abyss while I'm down there, and I've actually not even booted it up yet because I know when I do I won't quit playing it till I beat it.
First off the hardwares look itself is very much the same as the PSP at first glance. When I showed it to my wife she very casually said " Yep, looks just like the last one." Needless to say I was crushed. Because when I opened up the box I was like a kid who had just tasted candy for the first time. I had a glow of excitement across my face I'm sure. Although since I can't see what my reaction really looks like I could have looked like a complete idiot staring at the sun. But alas to the untrained eye it looks the same. Truly it is far different/superior in every way. The weight and bulk of the unit make the device feel solid and well made which I like. The original PSP had that feel. The later models felt cheaper and more plasticky. Now of course the big deal about the system is the 2 analog sticks that have never been on a handheld before. Which makes portable gaming jump into the current home gaming type mold. We will see games like Call of Duty on handhelds now due to this, and the control that it is going to bring is going to be nothing short of amazing. I believe we are going to get a home console experience on a handheld device. Other features are the beautiful 5 inch OLED screen. Which is a good bit bigger than the PSPs was. The power button is finally also in a good location unlike the PSP, which was irritating. One of the negatives I've found is the sleep mode. Sometimes the device doesn't want to wake from sleep mode. So I have to give the device the finger and do a full reboot, its a minor inconvenience. Hopefully they can fix that with a system update though. Another annoyance is the cartridge slot. I know alot of people like me are going to want to buy the actual game cards rather than just buying digital downloads. That slot is hard to open and I feel like I've been scratching the plastic at that port trying to get the little door open to change my games out. They need to fix that on their first redesign. Other than that the device seems flawless. It's a bit pricey, but the tech inside is so nice. I've been playing a lot of Virtual Tennis 4, and let me tell you the graphics are console quality. Other games I've been trying are Mod Nation Racers road trip, it is fun and the graphics are nice but it has pop in and the load times are still an issue. The game seems like it was probably rushed. Also I've been playing Lumines Electronic Symphony and it is just as good as all the rest of the Lumines releases. Super hard but challengingly fun. I tried some of Little Deviants and it left alot to be desired. Next week I will have Ninja Gaiden Sigma the last of my pre orders. I haven't played any of the other Ninja Gaiden releases since the NES so it should be fun for me. I also plan on picking up the new baseball game later in the month. I'm gonna have to have a sports game to unwind in Haiti. One other thing to mention is remote play with the Vita. Right now all I can do is browse my ps3 xmb. But when they get that thing running right, it will be amazing. The concept is for me to connect my Vita to WiFi or 3g and be able to boot up my ps3 remotely and watch videos, browse the net, or even play games I have installed on my ps3. Like wipeout hd or dead nation. Also whatever game I have in the drive, say... Batman arkham city I could play the game remotely on my vita streaming from my home console, that technology gets me excited. For right now though I'm getting to know my new device and so far I'm loving it. Almost as much as I love Denzel movies. So I reccomend if you are on the fence this coming wednsday when the vita officially releases that you go ahead and get one. So far I'd give Vita a 9 out of 10 as far as the device itself goes. Its made well aside from just a couple of minor problems that I can live with and the strong launch lineup means you can have whatever flavor game you want right out of the gate.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The Darkness 2 - Xbox 360
Gameplay was the usual fair for a first person shooter anyone familiar with the COD franchise should pick this up and be able to play it. There are a few changes but mostly its the same. The ability to use the demon arms is pretty cool and I found myself using them alot Id say they were my main weapon in the game. Weapons didn't have enough variety I felt like I mostly stuck with the pistols and the AK47 the ability to dual wield weapons was cool seeing as how you end up with basically 4 weapons, demon arms , guns and all. But the non ability to zoom in and aim while dual wielding made me pretty much not use it very often, except when I did it by accident, while trying to eat a heart. Sound was as to be expected, everyone sounded like they were from the cast of the sopranos or jersey shore just not as douchey. Replay value on this title Id say is high, and not for the main campaign but there is another mode where you go on solo missions with a motley cast of characters. The first being this ninja assassin guy who has to invade a compound but instead of demon arms he has a ninja sword.... how awesome does that sound? It was pretty cool. To end. Being a fan of the franchise Id give this a higher score based upon my own personal interest. But for the masses Id say this one gets a 8 out of 10. It was a solid game that will probably fly under the radar much like the first one did. If you get a chance to rent this one it would be worth it, or get it on discount. Sixty dollars seems a bit steep for people who have never dipped a toe into this franchise, be it the comic or game. The appeal of playing the anti hero type hell bent on saving his dead ex girlfriend is one hell of a story though if you have the time.
Resident Evil Revelations - 3DS
Well let me start by saying I'm somewhat of a resident evil fan. I'm pretty much a zombie fan. There is something that draws me to the zombie genre. When I was young I'll be honest I never liked zombie movies or things of that nature. It hasn't been till my mid to late twenties that I have fallen in love with the zombie angle in every form of media. A little reference info I've read numerous zombie books... ie... World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide, Dead Island which I just finished so on and so forth etc etc. But when I was young my early teens I remember playing Resident Evil for the first time sitting in my room with my friend Brian Cox and watching that cheesy Blair witch like intro running from the chopper. Then the horrible voice acting, "You Jill, the master of unlocking." Lord that was awful. But as soon as the dog jumped through the window and my heart skipped a beat, I've since played all the resident evils to completion aside from resident evil zero, and resident evil 3. I've even played the resident evil gun games on Wii with my wife. The series as widely known in the gaming community has shifted from mainly a zombie game to oozy creature game, it has also shifted from a survival horror to more of an action game. I felt like this game was a cross of the two somewhere in the middle of both. You don't do as much gem and key hunting as in the first but it isn't as much run and gun as RE5 was. The voice acting is much better than it used to be. But the story line much like Metal Gear Solid is a little confusing at times. I felt like I should be taking notes as to who was double crossing who. The story needs to be easy to follow since most gamers just want to kill stuff we can't get too complicated here, and I'm in the minority of wanting a good story its usually what I'm looking for in a game so story wise it was decent but they need to make it less tom clancy more Stephen king. Gameplay was the usual tank controls which those who are used to the series will be familiar those who don't like it can buy the add on second analog stick for the 3ds. Speaking of the controls thank god all of the monsters move slow. Can you imagine a whole planet of RE monsters omg they'd never get anything done. It would take all day to just perform basic functions like eating. Which may be why they all want to eat you so much. Maybe if we strapped those monsters to a rascal they might be a little more sociable and reach for a box of cereal instead of you're brains. But controls are sluggish if you're used to them you'll be fine if.you haven't played the series you might get frustrated. Gameplay took a little over 7 hours which I feel like is a good amount of time for a game to take. I don't always need 60 to 100 hour quests. Also one thing I mentioned earlier was the creatures in RE. I think maybe character design is lacking. The monsters don't really look so much scary as they do disgusting. I wish they would stick to the older design of just regular zombies or the regular villagers zombies in RE 4 and 5. Those are scary especially the chainsaw guy from 5 it took me and Laura forever to figure that guy out. Graphically RE Revelations shines on the 3DS and should be the gold standard of what games should look like on the system. Sound was decent the musical score was eery at times and kept you in the zombie killing zone. All in all I'd say the game is a must own for Zombie/RE fans or hell 3ds owners even. I wouldn't buy a 3ds for it but if you have one I'd say it is one of the top 5 games for it. Right up with Super Mario 3D Land, and Zelda as far as 3ds games go that is. I'd give RE revelations a 7.5 out of 10.