- @ -Fa- 2010-06-15 21:33:50 Forgot to put this in my last entry: Portal 2 is actually not PS3 exclusive. It's still going to be coming to the PC and 360 (I'll be getting the PC version myself). However, I'm still a little surprised that it's coming to the PS3, considering some of the harsh criticism Gabe Newell had about the PS3 in the past.
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2010-06-15 21:08:10
E3 gaming expo:
E3 is going on right now, and there are many great games being presented. I haven’t had a chance to go through all the videos, but there are a few really cool trailers I’d like to highlight:
Star Wars: The Old Republic:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-star-wars/101162
Deus Ex: Human Revolution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6JTvzrpBy0
Metal Gear Solid: Rising:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-metal-gear/101272
In addition to the above, other games that I’m really excited about include Killzone 3, Gears of War 3, and Dead Space. I’m also hoping to hear more about Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Vanquish. However, I’m a bit disappointed that apparently Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and a new non-handheld entry into the Kingdom Hearts franchise will not appear at this year’s E3.
Alpha Protocol (Xbox 360 game review):
**Warning: Possible spoilers ahead**
The world of spies, counter-terrorism, and international intrigue is one that is ripe for gaming. I mean, who wouldn’t want to step into the shoes of a James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Jack Bauer type? It’s for this reason that I’ve been really interested in the development of Alpha Protocol since it was first announced. However, after a lengthy delay of the game, I’ve been a little worried that all might not be well with this game. After recently completing the game, I can definitely say that Alpha Protocol was an interesting and unique experience, but one that is marred by a lot of flaws that many gamers simply won’t overlook.
The game puts you in the role of Michael Thorton, an agent who works for Alpha Protocol, a spy agency working for the US government but whose existence is known only by a few. You’ll be travelling to several locations around the world, including Moscow, Rome, and Taipei, uncovering the inner workings of a global conspiracy to destabilize the entire world. During your missions you’ll interact with many characters and organizations, and how you interact with them will have an effect on the game, all the way up to the final mission. Instead of dialogue trees, when you communicate with someone you’ll usually only have the choice of a “suave”, “professional”, or “aggressive” response. Based on your response a character may grow to like you, which can provide bonuses to you for use on a mission. It’s this ability to interact with other characters (and having tangible consequences based on how you interact with them) that form one of the highlights of Alpha Protocol.
For each city you travel to, you’ll start at a safehouse before each mission. This is a hub location where you can buy new equipment or upgrade existing ones, check your email for new intel from the characters you’ve met, and even watch the news for info on what’s going on in the world. Now, as for how fun the actual missions themselves are, it really is a mixed bag. On the surface, the game looks and plays similarly to Mass Effect. However, Alpha Protocol really emphasizes the RPG aspect more than the shooter aspect, and this fact can really make or break the game for a lot of players. How well you shoot isn’t just based on how well you aim your crosshairs, but also on how high your skills are for a particular weapon (similar to Fallout 3, which is another shooter-ish RPG that emphasized stats over how well you aim). For example, if you use an assault rifle but have no skill points for it, be prepared to hit everything else most of the time other than your enemy. Personally, I don’t mind this at all since I love developing a character’s skill set in RPGs. But you may not share the same love for stat manipulation that I do, and if that’s the case, this game might not be for you.
An area that could use some improvement is with the AI of the enemies you encounter. Often times you’ll see enemies doing things that make no sense. For example, I’m standing by a ladder with an enemy climbing down, whom I promptly beat up when he reaches the bottom. Despite this, enemies will continue climbing down the ladder, only to receive a nice hello from my fist. You would think that after I beat up the first guy, they would drop a grenade or shoot at me instead. Also, if you were hoping to have a character that’s more stealth based, I should note that the stealth mechanics are a bit broken. Enemies will often spot you even if you’re far away and/or obscured by other objects (and this happens even if you have a lot of skill points invested in stealth). Splinter Cell this game is not.
Presentation wise, the game’s graphics could certainly use some work. The levels, and in particular the character model and animations, simply don’t look as detailed as they could be, and pale in comparison to games like Mass Effect 2. On the upside, the voice acting is overall well done, and does a great job conveying character emotions. Also, the way the game handles activities such as hacking computers, picking locks, and bypassing keypads is through interesting mini-games that can get quite intense when you’re running out of time.
Despite the many negative things that I’ve said about Alpha Protocol, I’ll be honest, I still thought the game was pretty fun. The intriguing story, the people you encounter, the ability to truly customize your character to suit your play style, and having the choices you make really impact what happens in the game world all combine to lift the game up from mediocrity. As for everything else in Alpha Protocol, I can definitely see the ambition that the designers had, and a bit more polishing and fine tuning of the gameplay mechanics could have made this game a must buy. For now, I recommend you wait a while until the game gets patched up, and the price drops by at least 20 to 30 dollars. Let’s hope that should the developers decide to make a sequel, they’ll learn from the mistakes they’ve made in this game.
I give Alpha Protocol 3.5/5 stars.
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2010-06-08 22:01:35
Working on my next AMV:
I’m currently in the planning stages of my next AMV, and I’m looking for some gun toting anime characters. Please feel free to post suggestions in this thread:
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=100281
Thanks in advance for any new suggestions, and thanks to those who’ve already made suggestions.
Red Dead Redemption (PS3 game quick review):
Games set in the Wild West are few and far between these days, but if we can get more games of Red Dead Redemption’s quality, hopefully we’ll see more games using this setting. RDR puts you in the role of former outlaw John Marston, who is tasked by U.S. government agents to track down and kill the remaining members of the gang he once rode with. The game is structured similarly to the Grand Theft Auto series (no surprise of course since the game was developed by Rockstar), which has you taking on missions given out by various NPC’s. These missions range from infiltrating bandit hideouts, rescuing prisoners, and even herding cattle. There are also plenty of side activities to do as well, such as night patrols around ranches, Texas hold-em, and my personal favourite, bounty hunting.
A really cool feature of this game is the Dead-Eye targeting system, which slows down time and allows you to mark and takedown multiple enemies at a time, which really helps with large gun fights. Another thing I’d like to highlight is the really strong voice acting in RDR, which helps you to truly sympathize with the game’s characters. The only downside to RDR is that it has quite a few bugs to iron out, including characters becoming invisible and many random game freezes/crashes. Overall, Read Dead Redemption is a fantastic game, and here’s hoping Rockstar will continue this franchise.
I give Read Dead Redemption 4.5/5 stars.
(Please note: This review is primarily on the single player aspect of the game, as I unfortunately did not have time to play through the multiplayer portion)
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@Code
2010-05-30 21:53:29
I was going to suggest Red Dead Redemption too, but Competitionbros beat me to it :)
However, I'd also like recommend Borderlands (assuming you haven't played it). It's a shooter with some RPG elements. It's main story isn't super long (although it's of decent length), and it has lots of side missions and loot to collect. -
Alan Wake (Xbox 360 game review)
2010-05-30 18:23:33
**Warning: Possible spoilers ahead**
Announced way back at the 2005 E3 gaming convention, Alan Wake has been in development for quite some time. Now, five years later, the game is finally released, but has all this development time translated into a quality game? My answer would have to be yes. Alan Wake is not without its flaws, but its dark, surreal atmosphere, engaging characters, and great gun fights make it a game that 360 owners should try out.
The game’s story takes place in a seemingly peaceful, small town called Bright Falls. Alan Wake (a famous author who has not written anything new in two years) and his wife, Alice, have decided to take a vacation in this town, which Alice hopes will give Alan inspiration to write again. However, after his wife goes missing, Alan suddenly finds himself waking up one week later with no memory of what happened during that time. On his journey to find his wife, Alan is attacked by people who are literally covered in a mysterious dark force, as well as finding pages of a manuscript he doesn’t remember writing, with the contents of that manuscript coming true around him.
The main gameplay innovation of Alan Wake is its use of light. When you encounter an enemy, you’ll need to burn away the darkness surrounding them with your flashlight before bullets will have any effect on them. Your flashlight can also illuminate hidden markings that can lead you to hidden weapon caches. There are also other weapons such as flare guns and flashbangs that can instantly vaporize enemies, and can be extremely useful if you are surrounded. As you traverse the town of Bright Falls, you’ll also find more pages of the manuscript that Alan supposedly wrote, which can give deeper insight into what exactly is going on in the town, as well as the characters you encounter. One thing I should note about the gameplay is that, despite the game’s spooky atmosphere, I never felt really fearful of my enemies since ammo was fairly plentiful throughout the game. I think that to make the game more suspenseful, ammo should have been made rarer, forcing the player to make every shot count. Also, there were a few driving sequences in the game that felt a bit pointless, and were only there to give the game world an artificially larger feel.
Graphically, Alan Wake is a bit of a mixed bag. As you would expect from a game that uses light so heavily in its gameplay, the lighting effects are extremely well done. From the way the flashlight can realistically cast shadows on objects, to the gorgeous sunsets, a lot of effort and care was put into the way the light works. However, I thought that the character models and animations felt a bit stiff, particularly when trying to convey emotion. On the other hand, the voice acting in this game is very well done, as were the environmental sound effects. Lastly, one minor gripe I had with the game’s presentation is the fact that the game is set up as kind of a TV show, with ending title cards and recaps of “previous episodes” in between each section of the game. It didn’t detract from the experience, but it did feel a bit tacky.
Overall, Alan Wake is a great entry into the “horror” genre of video games. At 10 to 12 hours in length, it won’t take you too long to complete it, however, after finishing the game I wanted to play more of it, and I’m hoping that Alan Wake will turn into a franchise.
I give Alan Wake 4/5 stars.
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