Say what you like about Fable II (which I will do shortly when our review is posted), but Gears of War 2 is out and this is the 360 game you NEED to own this year if you have a remote interest in shooting games featuring bald space marines. Except Marcus Fenix has hair under his bandana.
I liked Gears 1. I didn’t love Gears 1 like so many. As someone who enjoys lots of shooters, I found the gunplay in Gears to be not as good as it could have been and, as I occasionally do these days, played that game on Casual mode (ie easy). I’ve started playing Gears 2 (on normal) and its far better balanced. I recently attempted a playthough of Gears 1 again in anticipation of the sequel, but apart from the fact the difficulty still sucked, I came up against a glitch that didn’t affect me on my original playtrhough (the push car getting stuck). This frustrated me enough for me to say, fuck it, I remember why I didn’t like Gears 1 as much as I probably should.
Its still early days in 2, but I’m far more impressed with it than I was at the same point in the original. It just seems so much more interesting from the get go and not as shallow. The story is also more interesting that the first game. Yes, these game’s stories are all interchanghable but there’s doing something to death well and there’s doing something to death badly. And this one seems to get it right.
At some point I will hunt down Resistance 2 and play that (I wasn’t impressed at all by the original) but I see that Gears will be my shooter de jour for at least the next few weeks.
Also played, a few of the recent Demoes released for some of the season’s big hitters.
Firstly: Tomb Raider Underworld. I played this for 2 mins. I realised I was probably going to pick this up down the track when it was cheap so I gave up pretty quickly. It looks great, plays as well as Tomb Raider Legend (the first Tomb Raider game I ever enjoyed) and this time looks to have been built with 360/PS3 in mind.
Secondly: Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Hmmmmmm. I’m not sure. This thing I took away most from the demo was how busy it looked. What you saw on screen wasn’t just crammed with detail, it was cluttered more than a level 70 mage’s bedroom is cluttered with diet coke cans.
I think Banjo shows the great thing about Rare. They don’t just make a game that conforms to a genre, or something that is easy to describe. It is also one of Rare’s major failings in that without knowing what to expect, its all too easy to be disappointed by the ambition sometimes not being realised. I can’t make my mind up whether I like this demo so I will still pick up the game soonish. Its not a particularly expensive game so that will help soothe the wallet sting if its not all that great.
It’s only partially a platformer the same way Uncharted is only very slightly a tomb raider style game.
Lastly, Mirror’s Edge. This is a platformer and bravely DICE have made this in first person, traditionally, the very worst way to make a platformer. The last game I played that attempted to make a first person game with decent jumping was Call of Juarez.
And that wasn’t the best bit of that game. Mirror’s Edge is all about parkour, that free running shit that is all the rage with the kids who are destined to be arthritic 30-somethings. The demo was quite good, but I don’t think that DICE have solved all of the problems but I’m up for somthing different. Hey, EA lost a bit of money just as they were starting to get out of making the same old same old all the time. Better get in on their good games now before they revert to licenses and sequels (as if there isn’t going to be Mirror’s Edge 2…)
Reviewed on XBLA. Also on PC, N64. Developed by 3d Realms
Well Duke is back and this time its the original 1996 adventure in its entirety on XBLA. This isn’t a remake, merely a port but even after all these years, this is still a good game.
The game is a first person shooter starring Ass-kicking Duke Nukem, originally a star of a side-scrolling shooter before getting this 3D makeover in 1996. An instant classic managing to hit all the sweet spots for a typical teenage gamer (action, gore, smart ass wrestling style commets and some pixelated T and A), the game is also a case study in making a varied FPS. So much of the game play is done right that its hard to remember its rather unrelenting difficulty and some rather obtuse puzzle elements.
This port brings features online multiplayer and 8-player coop. It also manages to make the difficulty a non-issue without completely re-engineering the gameplay. When you play, the game is recording every move you make so that when you die, you can restart anywhere along the timeline of your current playthough of the level. The game is still hard, its just not as punishing as it was.
The multiplayer is like stepping into a time portal and emerging in 1996. All that’s missing is Ace of Base on the radio and giant cell phones that could cave in the skull of a hippopotamus. If you loved that sort of intense deathmatch gameplay, you might get some feelings of nostalgia but this is an excellent single player experience.
Graphically its still a 4:3 game with either decals or black bars on the side (though you can zoom the image to see more of the VERY PIXELATED graphics. The sound is just as crunchy as it was back in the pre HD era. But you are playing this game because you remembered it being fun and cool, not because you miss 3D games using sprites instead of 3D models.
Is this a portent for Duke Nukem forever actually coming out? I’ve no idea and after playing this and enjoying it, I really don’t care anymore. This sates any desire I had for more Duke unless DNF is very, very, very, very, very good.
controller1.com Rating 2/3
Sony’s PSP hardware is selling quite well around the world. In Japan the Monster Hunter games has given impetus to the handheld that isn’t a DS, bringing gangs of otaku together in order to play with each other (emphasis mine). In the west, the PSP is the is hacked console currently on the market.
10. Use it as a remote controller for your PS3 I don’t know why but somehow you can and somehow you would want to. Your PSP interfaces with the PS3 in useful ways not seen since the Gamecube could be attached to the Gamecube. You can download, via the PS3, PSOne games. You can use your PSP, via the PS3, to play online multiplayer games. You can watch movies stored on your PSP, via your Bravia, in a resolution best described as “I paid 3k for this TV and it looks like what?”
9. Play movies on UMD disc. Movies such as XXX, Charlie’s Angels, SWAT and Hitch.
8. Play movies from your DVD collection ripped to PSP or the digital copy many DVD’s come with these days.
7. Skype. With its inbuilt Wifi functionality you can use the PSP as if it were a telephone, not not as if it were an NGage. For some reason, Sony forget about the whole Sony Ericsson thing when they designed this thing. Its a multi-media player, not a taco.
6. Spend countless hours updating the firmware every 14 days. The system has been out since 2005 and the firmware is now up to version 5 something.
5. Spend countless hours downgrading the firmware so you can run “homebrew.” Apparently everyone wants to use “homebrew” games. Note that when you say this out loud you must hold up your hands and articulate the quotation marks with your fingers. This is so people know you’re using “homebrew” as a euphemism for pirated games. In lieu of articulating quotating marks with your fingers, you can also tap the side of your nose or wink (or ever say “homebrew, wink wink.)”
4. Pirate the games. Why lie? That’s why you bought this thing. That’s why the system sells respectable numbers each month but UMD is a completely dead format and PSP games almost never chart. Its incredible that western publishers bother so much with trying to port their PS2 and Wii titles onto PSP considering the return on their investment must be less than the distance between a corpse of a Wall Street Stockbroker with an office on the 30th floor and the pavement.
3. Use the PSP as an MP3 player. Yes apparently Sony didn’t completely forget they invented the walkman. But they did forget how and why they invented it. The PSP, with a decent size memory stick can play music as well as movies.
2. If you own any version of PSP, you know have something to use as a conversation starter with someone who works in a store where memory cards are sold. You can have long and ponderous conversations about the differences between the 1178 different variations of Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick format, complain about why the fuck they couldn’t just use the ubiquitous and far cheaper SD cards
1. Play legally bought games. No only kidding. What would you want to play that shit? Instead you can look cooler on the bus than those DS-playing kiddies playing New Super Mario, Mario Kart and whatever else came out on the DS two years ago.
Editor’s note: I have not downgraded the firmware on my PSP. I also have not played my PSP is a long time. It has more dust covering it than my Wii.
For the past three months I’ve been trying to decide between getting Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band. Both EA and Activision are making this a stupidly hard and frustrating progress.
I decided early on that I’ll get Rock Band. After all, Guitar Hero 3 sucked so it’s a no brainer.
But wait! After months and months and months Rock Band still isn’t on Australian shores and Rock Band 2 is on the way. This sucks. I’ll get Guitar Hero: World Tour.
But wait! Rock Band is the better moral choice, right?. The real creators of the game have gone onto their own thing, so it’s best to support the ‘real’ game, right? And Activision are treating the GH franchise like a hot step daughter, giving it to any developer with five bucks and a case of beer.
But wait! Rock Band is rumored to cost roughly equivalent to a house mortgage. I’m married, I’m not made of money! Guitar Hero: World Tour becomes the better choice again.
But Wait! Rock Band just signed a deal with the Beatles. The Beatles! How can you say no to The Beatles! Rock Band is the clear candidate.
But Wait! You can’t get just the Guitar + Game pack for Rock Band, and I don’t have room (or inclination) for a drum kit, so Guitar Hero: World Tour becomes the best choice again!
But Wait! Rock Band suddenly becomes a lot cheaper than we originally thought! Rock Band wins!
But Wait! People all over the world are complaining about the quality of the Rock Band instruments. Time to get Guitar Hero: World Tour!
But wait! The single player experience in Guitar Hero: World Tour isn’t as polished as Rock Band’s. I should get Rock Band.
But wait! One of my favourite songs is on Guitar Hero: World Tour. Maybe I should get….AAAAAGH MY HEAD IS CAVING IN, I CAN’T TAKE THE PRESSURE ANY MORE MAKE IT STOP
Singstar reviewed on controller1.com. Why? Why the hell not?
Singstar is a Karaoke game popularised by SCEE’s original Singstar titloe a few years ago in PAL countries. Its recently taken off in the US as well. Singstar (for PS3) is a Karaoke game where you watch a video clip of a song and try to sing into a USB mic along to the displayed lyrics and keep in pitch. That’s it.
You can have duets in Singstar (bundles include 2 Mics with a USB adapter), take videos with your Playstation Eye and post them on the net or you can buy new songs. Again, its a really simple concept. Yes, in hindsight its 1/4 of Rock Band, but there’s a lot of kids (read girls) who love this stuff.
This is volume 2 we’re reviewing with sings such as Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing, The Proclaimers “500 Miles,” Tone Loc and Young MC, yada, yada. But with PS3 being able to download tracks what I really wanted this for are the Queen songs on the Singstore. Singstore is the online music portal you can access through the game to buy new tracks or share your scores and videos. Like everything else on the PSN its free, pretty, clunky as fuck and slower than Crysis on a Pentium II.
So after taking a few hours to download the two Queen songpacks (apparently the songs are available on a disc for PS2, or will be- it’s all rather confusing) I finally got to have a go. It is exactly the same as the Karaoke you’d play in a bar, exepct maybe for the inclusion of the original song rather than a cover (and you can’t switch off the original vocals). Singstar does at least score you but then so do a group of your drunken co-workers so I’m still grasping for things Singstar does better. Oh well, if you buy a PS3 for your teenage daughters, then this is a game that should be on your shopping list. It does what it says it does with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of bland euro style. The interface could be a smidgeon less clunky and the mics should be wireless by now. For the price it should be more than 30-40 songs (compare this to 80 or more for Rock Band and GHWT
controller.1com rating 1/3 (2/3 if you love singing or live with someone who does)
On a side note, a friend asked me what she should get for her nephews, Guitar Hero World Tour or Rock Band? The first question I asked her was “do you like your cousins and if so do you visit them often?”
This week Fighting Games. Normally the best fighting games are made in Japan. So today we go all Ninja Gaijin and play fighting games developed in the West.
Mortal Kombat on DS, International Karate something on Commodore 64 and Castle CRASHERS!
November is more than pale guys trying to grow handlebar moustaches, its also the month in which publishers decide to release their big games. This November is a corker. Let’s go through the biggies.
Gears of War 2
Gears of War is Xbox 360′s trump card this year. Fable II was great and Banjo looks to be of similar quality, but neither has that holy-fucking-shitness that Gears 2 has. I liked Gears 1 but wasn’t in-love with it the same way I loved Halo 3 and CoD games, but I’m still highly hyped to be playing Gears 2.
Will multi be better than the first game? maybe. Will the single player be better? Looks to be the case. Can we get more hyperbolic? 1000 times yes!
Resistance 2
You can tell who was an early adopter of PS3. They have two easy to spot traits. They are still eating noodles after they knock off from their second job and they say Resistance was the best game ever. I played it as a long as I could. While it was decent enough, it felt like a PS2 game. It played like one.
Resistance 2 is supposed to be the second coming. I will play it, but I’m not going to rush in to play it.
Quantum of Solace
Decent reviews. But not great reviews. This means this game goes in the post Christmas cheapie pile. I would like to play it at some stage, but not today.
Banjo Kazooie
I am a bit of fan of the original game and its sequel so I’m hanging out for this. I don’t really car about the building aspect, I just want a Rare game I can recognise as a game.
Little Big Planet
No next gen platformers for ages and t hen two come along at once. Will be picking this one apart when I get a chance. It was an October game until it good pushed back to November.
Mirror’s Edge
The demo is downloading as I type. Its such a busy season I don’t really know how I’m possibly going to play this before Christmas
Left For Dead
More cool games? Jesus.
Guitar Hero World Tour
Oh for fucks sake, I just got married and you’re trying to get me to leave my wife for
more games so cool my ass has gotten frostbite
Call of Duty World at War
YOU BASTARDS!!!! DAMN YOU, YOU BASTARDS!!!!!!
As you can see, I have some work ahead of me. I suggest you do what I do. Buy them all straight away at full price and watch half of them hit the bargain bins before you get a chance to unwrap them.
Oh, the pain. The pain, the pain.
I still haven’t finished Fable II let alone started on Fallout 3 or Rock Band.
Its probably for the best that December is actually quite bare and there’s really not much scheduled for January worth bothering about at this stage…
Arcades have been dead for a while. You can walk past them these days and just look inside with curiosity. 95% of games you play in arcades are inferior to what you could get on a PS2 though Street Fight IV shows there’s at least a pulse.
I grew up playing games in the arcades, though I was never very good at them. With my brother, we would visit the local arcades whenever we went into the City. Or when we were at a takeway with a Space Invaders machine, or anywhere that had arcade games, we were there. I recall playing lots of Donkey Kong, Rally X, Moon Cresta, Moon Patrol, Pleiades, Space Invaders, Asteroids and Space War (the only game you played on a keyboard back then- the numpad at least). These were what I enjoyed then. Platformers and Shooters. I’m still playing those sorts of games today so my personal development as a gamer has been almost zilch. Crazy Climber, Elevator Action and of course the original Star Wars game. Xevious and Time Pilot and Gyruss. Wow, that’s half of Xbox Live Arcade right there. But those new versions, the ones that I’ve played, aren’t all that great. XBLA Missile Command, is truly an abomination. But Pacman CE is a revelation. But Assault Heroes and Braid are better.
Defender was fun, but Zaxxon was ‘wow.’ Marble Madness everyone remembers, as people still fondly remember Gauntlet, but what about Atari’s Peter Pack Rat? What about Equites? My Bro loved that game so much to the point he’s still looking for a cabinet version for home.
I used to blow through my playing money way too fast to call it fun and so I stopped being drawn to arcade games in the mid 80s’. While everyone else was in a lather over Double Dragon, I looked at the games in the arcades and thought whatever the 1985 equivalent of ‘meh’ was.
Every now and then, I will still venture into the arcade and have a quick go of a light gun game. I still remember the image of a young man playing with Infant in one arm and clacking light gun pistol in the other. Last time I went into an arcade it was a friend who knew the owner. He showed us the inside of a Confidential Mission cabinet. A Sega Dreamcast with a few modifications ran the show.
The arcades fought back in the 90′s with the more specialised cabinets such as the Dance games, motobikes on a gimbal, and light gun games. Consoles replaced the arcade games, but at the same time, PC games have found their own arcades in the form of the Cybercafe. Here you can find CS and WoW Players (and probably TF2 by now) whiling away the hours until death’s sweet embrace.
And to rub salt into the wounds, Rock Band and Guitar Hero are doing what the arcades haven’t been able to do for years, getting people to play games in public. Bars and pubs are using Music games to get people in, just as Pong was first ‘focus tested’ in Andy Capp’s bar all though years ago.
