Soul Calibur 4 for my birthday. Awesomeness. My favorite fighter returns, with Star Wars characters too.
In other news I'm still trying to get into Vegas 2, but the multiplayer still doesnt feel right. Especially any of the objective games. Deathmatch however flows just fine, and its clear thats what the maps were meant to be played with. I just cant shake the feeling however that the game would be much better with a mouse and keyboard.
This was proven correct when i got Vegas 1, for my PC and can quite easily dominate it. Keyboard + Mouse = my friends. Gamepad = evil little toy for little boys.
Nah thats too harsh. Gamepads are awesome for action games, they just really suck for RTS and FPS games. Therefore leave them on PC. Tragically ever since Halo proved you could have 'fun' in a console shooter it seems the new home of FPS is the console, even with the tragically gimped control scheme.
Oh well.
I'll play through Vegas a bit more, mostly just want to rank up... anything else is sorta beside the point.
GTA 4 comes out soon though, so Vegas has until then.
Also, Wii Fit in May, which I am actually super excited for, just because I'm a whore for charts and graphs of progress over time. That shit turns me on. Seriously, it does, which concerns me greatly. But more important than my lack of proper turn-ons, is that Wii Fit can probably mesh into my gaming life quite easily. A half-hour or so a day is all you really need I've heard. And it seems 'fun', whereby I mean that the game is more fun than going to a gym and having some muscle bound heartthrob yell at you till you do the damn reps. (alternatively it's a smoking hot woman whom thoroughly trounces any manliness that remains.) Suffice it to say, I'll take a Wii Fit right away. Granted There is borderline no way in hell that Wii Fit will drastically alter my BMI (body mass index, you imbeciles) but there is more to it than that. Like balance. Which I've always thought was
awesome, but of late I've come to realize that while my balance may be awesome, it also
seems to be some mutant creature thing that defies all logic.
Well thats all for now.
Classes are pretty much done, Finals next week, then my Spring Class a week after that. It goes until June, then 2 months of work, and I'm on to my final year. Graduate and then...
Well, I'll cross that bridge this time next year.
Ciao.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Formalities be Damned!
I cant be bothered to write formal reviews, I'll write about games and talk about them, you'll get my impressions and that'll have to do. Because the formality of a game review for a blog I'm writing seems questionable at best. Well to me anyways.
So Devil May Cry 4, no review coming. EVER!!! The last post covered it quite well and I believe that will do. If you enjoy stylized frenetic difficulty based games, then you should definately give it a spin.
N+: Quirky adorable platform puzzler-ish that is so fucking hard you will need to buy new controllers. Awesome sound effects too. Visuals are bare but surprisingly
effective.
Awesome physics are what make the game. So yep. Its like $10, and it's easy
to play a few
levels at a time. Your call. Quite hard to beat the later stuff however. Multi-player is hilarious though.
Las Vegas 2: Its a fairly competent "tactical" shooter. Its not really tactical and the PVP, multiplayer is mediocre at best, but I want to talk about that more in depth in a moment.
I had not played the first and hadnt played a Rainbow Six game since the first came out 10 years ago or something, so the story made no sense whatsoever. Overall though the Singleplayer was enjoyable, fun sequences, good challenge, could have used a coupla better placements of checkpoints. And making you rely on teammates is good, but then suddenly pulling them out and dropping you in a place where simply seeing your opponents is a challenge, and expecting survival is a joke at best. Luckily Co-Op play countered that quite well. But still, it shouldnt be forced to simply beat a level. However the rest of game was good enough that it is still a very good game.
Overall if you have a buddy to play with, definately get it. If not... well you might just wanna rent it.
Okay but playing multiplayer for Vegas was brutal. Simply because the maps are complete and utter crap. CoD4 suffered for the exact same thing. Halo 2 & 3 as well.
I should clarify that however. All of the game mentioned have awesome deathmatch/team deathmatch levels. But These games also have many different modes of play that are much "better" (imo) than decade old deathmatches. Tragically the maps are never made with this in mind, (sometimes downloadable content is made with alternate modes in mind but they are sold seperately and thus dont count in an original purchase decision) so you get deathmatch levels that are being forced to run objective based play. Which you should never do. Objective based play needs objective based map design. This is considerably harder, Team Fortress shipped with 6 maps. But they are infinately superior maps specifically because they were created for one purpose (you might counter that cp_well can be played as ctf_well, but ctf_well doesnt work as good as the capture point it was originally built for, and i think simply furthers my argument that levels should not be jack-of-all-trades).
Basically to summarize the point I want deathmatch levels for playing deathmatches, and objective based levels for playing objective based modes. None of this lazy level designing that says make 8-14 maps that can play every game type and call it a night.
Now i understand that maps take lots of time to make, believe I tried my hands at such things back in my Counter-Strike days. But having a single map that exists solely for one gameplay type is an infinately more enjoyable level than one level that can play every gameplay type ever conceived.
My other gripe is the recycling of singleplayer levels for multiplayer matches. Thats really just topnotch slack on the multi-player level design team. Sure its technically efficient use of a limited number of resources, but usually those levels are no right being there.
The ideal i have in my mind is of course based on the original multi-player king.
Unreal Tournament. That game comes withn over 40 maps, mostly deathmatch, but many also specifically objective based, many solely capture the flag, many solely domination, many solely assault (when we had it). Although Unreal tournament was a game built to be multiplayer, largely eschewing its
singleplayer completely.
So guess I'm saying that I like my multi-player games to be built around multiplayer. None of this add it on later.
Also work sucks. Especially managers. Burn in Hell you shitty shitty horrible person.
So Devil May Cry 4, no review coming. EVER!!! The last post covered it quite well and I believe that will do. If you enjoy stylized frenetic difficulty based games, then you should definately give it a spin.
N+: Quirky adorable platform puzzler-ish that is so fucking hard you will need to buy new controllers. Awesome sound effects too. Visuals are bare but surprisingly
effective.
Awesome physics are what make the game. So yep. Its like $10, and it's easy
to play a few
levels at a time. Your call. Quite hard to beat the later stuff however. Multi-player is hilarious though.
Las Vegas 2: Its a fairly competent "tactical" shooter. Its not really tactical and the PVP, multiplayer is mediocre at best, but I want to talk about that more in depth in a moment.
I had not played the first and hadnt played a Rainbow Six game since the first came out 10 years ago or something, so the story made no sense whatsoever. Overall though the Singleplayer was enjoyable, fun sequences, good challenge, could have used a coupla better placements of checkpoints. And making you rely on teammates is good, but then suddenly pulling them out and dropping you in a place where simply seeing your opponents is a challenge, and expecting survival is a joke at best. Luckily Co-Op play countered that quite well. But still, it shouldnt be forced to simply beat a level. However the rest of game was good enough that it is still a very good game.
Overall if you have a buddy to play with, definately get it. If not... well you might just wanna rent it.
Okay but playing multiplayer for Vegas was brutal. Simply because the maps are complete and utter crap. CoD4 suffered for the exact same thing. Halo 2 & 3 as well.
I should clarify that however. All of the game mentioned have awesome deathmatch/team deathmatch levels. But These games also have many different modes of play that are much "better" (imo) than decade old deathmatches. Tragically the maps are never made with this in mind, (sometimes downloadable content is made with alternate modes in mind but they are sold seperately and thus dont count in an original purchase decision) so you get deathmatch levels that are being forced to run objective based play. Which you should never do. Objective based play needs objective based map design. This is considerably harder, Team Fortress shipped with 6 maps. But they are infinately superior maps specifically because they were created for one purpose (you might counter that cp_well can be played as ctf_well, but ctf_well doesnt work as good as the capture point it was originally built for, and i think simply furthers my argument that levels should not be jack-of-all-trades).
Basically to summarize the point I want deathmatch levels for playing deathmatches, and objective based levels for playing objective based modes. None of this lazy level designing that says make 8-14 maps that can play every game type and call it a night.
Now i understand that maps take lots of time to make, believe I tried my hands at such things back in my Counter-Strike days. But having a single map that exists solely for one gameplay type is an infinately more enjoyable level than one level that can play every gameplay type ever conceived.
My other gripe is the recycling of singleplayer levels for multiplayer matches. Thats really just topnotch slack on the multi-player level design team. Sure its technically efficient use of a limited number of resources, but usually those levels are no right being there.
The ideal i have in my mind is of course based on the original multi-player king.
Unreal Tournament. That game comes withn over 40 maps, mostly deathmatch, but many also specifically objective based, many solely capture the flag, many solely domination, many solely assault (when we had it). Although Unreal tournament was a game built to be multiplayer, largely eschewing its
singleplayer completely.
So guess I'm saying that I like my multi-player games to be built around multiplayer. None of this add it on later.
Also work sucks. Especially managers. Burn in Hell you shitty shitty horrible person.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Long Time No See Huh?
Busy Busy. Well I'll try to say something about something now. Since i feel all guilty about neglecting this tiny portion of my life. Seems with my limited time I'd rather just play games than write about them, but here goes anyhoo.
N+ is fun. very very fun little challenging Ninja gold gathering platforming game. Lots of skill involved but very rewarding once you get it down. Overall I'd recommend most people get the demo and if they like it then buy it. Its $10. and there is a lot of value in this with something like a couple hundred levels.
Playing through Mass Effect again. This time as a jack ass character, quite fun, although being this much of a douche bag doesnt feel right. I'm a mild jackass in real life, but Bioware always gets the writing perfect so when you're a douche scumbag that is really how it comes off. Although its nowhere near as bad as i felt playing darkside in KotOR... some parts where you basically destroy innocent lives is absolutely stomach wretching stuff.
And I think I'll get Rainbow Six: Vegas: 2, because i dont have the first and the whole leveling up in a FPS is mindlessly addicting to me.
The Club refuses to work on my PC, so i went through the whole customer service jive and all they came up with was a resounding.
"Are you sure you purchased your copy from a reputable store?"
Which is really just the polite way of telling me that they feel I have a pirated copy of the game. Pricks. If you're gonna accuse me of something then fucking have the balls to come out and say it. Dont dance around the damn issue. Fact is I bought the game through Steam. And I've gotten maybe 2 hours of play in roughly 5 minute intervals at best because it randomly kicks me back to desktop... I could live with that... if logging into Games for Windows Live (henceforth to be called GFWL) didnt take 5 minutes by itself.
They say a patch is in the works. And I'm a nice guy so if it ends up making the game work, then all will be forgiven. If not, well sorry Bizarre Creations, you'll never get a cent from me again.
Too bad too, the game itself is pretty fun. From what I've played anyways. Nothing exceptional, just above average shooting thats really really fun.
Devil May Cry 4 Review:
Full review soon. As in after my term paper is done in my Seminar Course. Sorry but I've got the Battle of Kursk on the brain.
Heres a snippet of Devil May Cry 4 though.
If you enjoy crazy action, nonsense stories that make no sense unless you abandon rational thought, and scantily clad gals every now and then. Well you may just like the game. Luckily difficulty is not an issue. The easy difficulty makes the game very, very, very easy. But everything above it should give a fairly decent challenge. You'll have to grind up your skills a bit if you start on the Demon Hunter difficulty, but overall its not too difficult. Just dont expect to beat every boss on the first fight, you will need to learn attack patterns and such. Playing on the higher difficulty levels however really boosts the game's challenge, especially since it throws new combinations of enemies for you to fight that you otherwise wouldnt see at all (I'm looking at you Mr. Lightning guy who annoys the crap outta me!)
Well that'll do.
Oh and Smash Bros. Brawl. Get it now if you have friends to play with. Not a better fighting game out until Soul Calibur 4. And this one gets bonuses for hilarious fights that you will enjoy even when you lose. Thats a good game. You lose and still enjoy it.
N+ is fun. very very fun little challenging Ninja gold gathering platforming game. Lots of skill involved but very rewarding once you get it down. Overall I'd recommend most people get the demo and if they like it then buy it. Its $10. and there is a lot of value in this with something like a couple hundred levels.
Playing through Mass Effect again. This time as a jack ass character, quite fun, although being this much of a douche bag doesnt feel right. I'm a mild jackass in real life, but Bioware always gets the writing perfect so when you're a douche scumbag that is really how it comes off. Although its nowhere near as bad as i felt playing darkside in KotOR... some parts where you basically destroy innocent lives is absolutely stomach wretching stuff.
And I think I'll get Rainbow Six: Vegas: 2, because i dont have the first and the whole leveling up in a FPS is mindlessly addicting to me.
The Club refuses to work on my PC, so i went through the whole customer service jive and all they came up with was a resounding.
"Are you sure you purchased your copy from a reputable store?"
Which is really just the polite way of telling me that they feel I have a pirated copy of the game. Pricks. If you're gonna accuse me of something then fucking have the balls to come out and say it. Dont dance around the damn issue. Fact is I bought the game through Steam. And I've gotten maybe 2 hours of play in roughly 5 minute intervals at best because it randomly kicks me back to desktop... I could live with that... if logging into Games for Windows Live (henceforth to be called GFWL) didnt take 5 minutes by itself.
They say a patch is in the works. And I'm a nice guy so if it ends up making the game work, then all will be forgiven. If not, well sorry Bizarre Creations, you'll never get a cent from me again.
Too bad too, the game itself is pretty fun. From what I've played anyways. Nothing exceptional, just above average shooting thats really really fun.
Devil May Cry 4 Review:
Full review soon. As in after my term paper is done in my Seminar Course. Sorry but I've got the Battle of Kursk on the brain.
Heres a snippet of Devil May Cry 4 though.
If you enjoy crazy action, nonsense stories that make no sense unless you abandon rational thought, and scantily clad gals every now and then. Well you may just like the game. Luckily difficulty is not an issue. The easy difficulty makes the game very, very, very easy. But everything above it should give a fairly decent challenge. You'll have to grind up your skills a bit if you start on the Demon Hunter difficulty, but overall its not too difficult. Just dont expect to beat every boss on the first fight, you will need to learn attack patterns and such. Playing on the higher difficulty levels however really boosts the game's challenge, especially since it throws new combinations of enemies for you to fight that you otherwise wouldnt see at all (I'm looking at you Mr. Lightning guy who annoys the crap outta me!)
Well that'll do.
Oh and Smash Bros. Brawl. Get it now if you have friends to play with. Not a better fighting game out until Soul Calibur 4. And this one gets bonuses for hilarious fights that you will enjoy even when you lose. Thats a good game. You lose and still enjoy it.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Busy Busy Of Late
Hence the lateness with the posting.
School had me reading alot so not much time to write up reviews right now.
Devil May Cry 4 is in the pipe, hopefully I'll get time for it late.
SSBB Came out yesterday and it's awesome if you loved the previous ones. If you didnt like it in the past its not going to change your mind though. Hopefully get a review up after I've played much much longer. Only have about 7-8 hours so far. Mostly in subspace mode.
I had a lil post about GDC stuff that interested me, but the internet died and it was lost in a series of tubes, which sucks.
Lots of interesting development talk went down though.
Well I've gotta get to classes.
Adieu.
School had me reading alot so not much time to write up reviews right now.
Devil May Cry 4 is in the pipe, hopefully I'll get time for it late.
SSBB Came out yesterday and it's awesome if you loved the previous ones. If you didnt like it in the past its not going to change your mind though. Hopefully get a review up after I've played much much longer. Only have about 7-8 hours so far. Mostly in subspace mode.
I had a lil post about GDC stuff that interested me, but the internet died and it was lost in a series of tubes, which sucks.
Lots of interesting development talk went down though.
Well I've gotta get to classes.
Adieu.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Witcher Review... WHEN?
Apparently a new version is due out sometime around summer, so i'm going to set the game aside until then... Should buy me some precious hard drive space. Normally I'm pretty big on reviewers reviewing the game that ships, but I am not currently (nor have I ever been, although i may aspire to some form of game "journalism", if you will) a professional reviewer. As such I am free to review the game whenever i feel like it.
So the new version will add a shit load new animations when conversing; as well as add lots more NPC models so the towns actually have more than 4 people walking around.
Also shorter load times and better UI, but really Ialready really enjoy the game so its just like putting gravy on ice cream (inside joke). And cannot wait for this "patch" to bestow the true Witcher game on me.
Its still prolly on gonna let women be whores... but who are we to decide if that universe is sexist and our own is not? Oh-kay i just like Sexing it up in-game... You caught me... Moving on, no Witcher review anytime soon. Bummers.
I will however get a Devil May Cry 4 review up sometime soon. Reading week is helping me quite a bit with the gaming stuff... not so much with the reviewing of a historical periodical by some Stolfi chap... oh well. I'm pretty sure the Soviets win.
Also Ninja Gaiden Black on Xbox Originals coaxed me into buying it. And damn, the game still looks pretty good. Plays even better, and is serving as a nice warm up for getting ready for the bitch slapping that Ninja Gaiden 2 will serve me when it comes out later this year.
Apparently GDC is going on this week (right now in fact), so maybe I'll say something eloquent and intelligent about the state of gaming after having been enlightened by the God's of Gaming. For now I just wish i could remember how i managed to beat Ninja Gaiden the first time around...
Oh Well... Nighty Nighty Folks.
So the new version will add a shit load new animations when conversing; as well as add lots more NPC models so the towns actually have more than 4 people walking around.
Also shorter load times and better UI, but really Ialready really enjoy the game so its just like putting gravy on ice cream (inside joke). And cannot wait for this "patch" to bestow the true Witcher game on me.
Its still prolly on gonna let women be whores... but who are we to decide if that universe is sexist and our own is not? Oh-kay i just like Sexing it up in-game... You caught me... Moving on, no Witcher review anytime soon. Bummers.
I will however get a Devil May Cry 4 review up sometime soon. Reading week is helping me quite a bit with the gaming stuff... not so much with the reviewing of a historical periodical by some Stolfi chap... oh well. I'm pretty sure the Soviets win.
Also Ninja Gaiden Black on Xbox Originals coaxed me into buying it. And damn, the game still looks pretty good. Plays even better, and is serving as a nice warm up for getting ready for the bitch slapping that Ninja Gaiden 2 will serve me when it comes out later this year.
Apparently GDC is going on this week (right now in fact), so maybe I'll say something eloquent and intelligent about the state of gaming after having been enlightened by the God's of Gaming. For now I just wish i could remember how i managed to beat Ninja Gaiden the first time around...
Oh Well... Nighty Nighty Folks.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Here We Go Again
Burnout Paradise Review:
Zoom Zoom. Although zoom doesnt exactly encapsulate the speed
of this game. Its rare that a game actually requires an HDTV to fully
play the game, but the speed you end up moving at in Paradise has such
a degree of blur and speed that to fully "see" all the surroundings
accurately (and hence avoid crashing into the many things you
'zoom' by with much gusto).
The question though is does this sense of speed make the game fun?
I mean sure its great that the game looks amazing but how does the
game play. So the basic premise of the game is that you are dropped
into Paradise City and allowed to driveall over the city spinning your
wheel at light intersections to initiate the various challenges, like
Race, Road Rage, Marked Man, Stunt, and Burning Lap. All of these
are quite fun. But simply tooling around Paradise city can be an
unbridled joy, as you look for the special Jumps, Billboards
and secret paths that are littered all over the game.
If you've ever played a Burnout game before you know its about
driving fast, really really fast,
and seeing amazing crashes. And the crashes in this game are nothing
short of brilliant, the game slows down switches angles to show the
heap of metal spiralling through the air and into well pretty much
anything, cars, buildings, signs, buses. The crashes are also pleasant
even when its costing you that Burning Lap event.
The real question with this game is how exactly will you find your
enjoyment with it? Because the game really doesnt tell you what to
do and what order to do it in. It simply informs you of the possibilities
and then lets you go.
Annoyances however are things like the bloody EA DJ Atomica,
whom it seems is going to be gracing more and more EA titles much to
my chagrin. Also there is no way to quickly jump to the events, you have
to drive across the whole city. Which can sometimes be annoying, but
honestly i really enjoy driving across town to get to the various events,
finding the various secrets along the way.
Would I recommend this game to others? Oh yes.
buy it if you're a fan of the Burnout series especially. Or if you liked
the old San Francisco Rush series, then this brings back the crazy
secret routes of that game. The game itself doesnt really lend itself
to rentals given that it simply is the kind of game that you will want
to own forever and keep at it. I suppose you could plough through
the game in a weekend if you are so inclined but in my own opinion
I feel like this is a game you will want take your time and enjoy every part.
Zoom Zoom. Although zoom doesnt exactly encapsulate the speed
of this game. Its rare that a game actually requires an HDTV to fully
play the game, but the speed you end up moving at in Paradise has such
a degree of blur and speed that to fully "see" all the surroundings
accurately (and hence avoid crashing into the many things you
'zoom' by with much gusto).
The question though is does this sense of speed make the game fun?
I mean sure its great that the game looks amazing but how does the
game play. So the basic premise of the game is that you are dropped
into Paradise City and allowed to driveall over the city spinning your
wheel at light intersections to initiate the various challenges, like
Race, Road Rage, Marked Man, Stunt, and Burning Lap. All of these
are quite fun. But simply tooling around Paradise city can be an
unbridled joy, as you look for the special Jumps, Billboards
and secret paths that are littered all over the game.
If you've ever played a Burnout game before you know its about
driving fast, really really fast,
and seeing amazing crashes. And the crashes in this game are nothing
short of brilliant, the game slows down switches angles to show the
heap of metal spiralling through the air and into well pretty much
anything, cars, buildings, signs, buses. The crashes are also pleasant
even when its costing you that Burning Lap event.
The real question with this game is how exactly will you find your
enjoyment with it? Because the game really doesnt tell you what to
do and what order to do it in. It simply informs you of the possibilities
and then lets you go.
Annoyances however are things like the bloody EA DJ Atomica,
whom it seems is going to be gracing more and more EA titles much to
my chagrin. Also there is no way to quickly jump to the events, you have
to drive across the whole city. Which can sometimes be annoying, but
honestly i really enjoy driving across town to get to the various events,
finding the various secrets along the way.
Would I recommend this game to others? Oh yes.
buy it if you're a fan of the Burnout series especially. Or if you liked
the old San Francisco Rush series, then this brings back the crazy
secret routes of that game. The game itself doesnt really lend itself
to rentals given that it simply is the kind of game that you will want
to own forever and keep at it. I suppose you could plough through
the game in a weekend if you are so inclined but in my own opinion
I feel like this is a game you will want take your time and enjoy every part.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Review Time (At Last)
Super Mario Galaxy Review:
Its the game that Sunshine should have been. At least thats what I've heard several times in the past. But personally I really enjoyed Sunshine and did not see what people's problem was. But this is about Galaxy. And rest assured whether Sunshine burned you or not (no pun intended) Galaxy is a real treat, although i think it has been over reviewed thus far by most.
You've played Mario 64 Ihope? If so you understand the premise, Mario goes for walk, Bowser shows up steals Princess,
Mario runs around and collects stuff (new collectible is shiny star bits, although they might as well be coins).
Then you fight bowser several times and get the classic "your princess is in another castle.
The deal is this all happens in space. Its quite well done in fact. There are these Galaxies (Apparently Nintendo doesnt get the difference between a solar system and a Galaxy, but whatever)
Also apparently Mario isnt allowed to punch in any game that is not Smash Bros. Because they removed that. Mario can jump or spin now. Well he can jump then spin, but no more punching or diving (i adored his dive move).
The camera is annoying. Mainly because when you're upside-down you are upside down, and i want the camera to follow me a flip upside-down so that i can actually see where i am. It is very difficult to accurately land on something when your view is distorted beyond comprehension.
Now this gripe isnt really much of an issue in this game because the game itself is so easy a mildly retarded child with down's could figure out how to beat it. The game is very, very forgiving, and this is in essence my whole problem with the game.
By the time you start actually enjoying the game the level design is challenging you and working with the controls (not telling you run upside down and jump on a fucking thousand goombas).
There is no challenge to the game. And to me it feels like this was done to compensate for only partially making the controls feel effective at controlling Mr. Stache.
You can still enjoy the game, but its for a different reason than I want in game. I cant even describe why I like the game. Its doesnt test my ability to beat it. Sure there are the "challenge bits where you have a time limit, or you only get one health, but they literally make up an optional 1/5 of the game.
My final problem is the length of the game. It is far too short. You might argue that getting 100% will take a substantial investment. But honestly I dont think it would. Maybe 30-40 hours to 100% the game. But only maybe 10 hours max to beat the game. Certainly it might be enough, many games are less and still excellent games. But the strength of those games is that the gameplay itself is so finely compact and refined that you feel like its was amazing.
I guess my point is that Mario Galaxy is merely a fun game. You will enjoy it, but it doesnt do anything unique.
The character of Mario is can be so much. In Smash Bros. He is a bad ass fighter, in the RPGs he is an utterly aloof idiot. But in Galaxy we see Mario as nothing. He's some guy who doesnt speak, who saves the princess and has absolutely no reactions beyond the most basic emotions that you would expect given his situations.
So Who should Buy Super Mario Galaxy And who should simply rent it.
Any self respecting gamer should at the very least rent it. Those with families would do well to buy it. The children will enjoy it for quite some time, and the content is as wholesome as you can find in video games that are actually good.
The Halo fanboys would be advised to stay away, although they too would enjoy the game.
The People who should utterly avoid the game are those who adore Ninja Gaiden and its ilk of trama inducing difficulty challenge based games.
So go rent it. Sure it sounds like I didnt much enjoy the game. But really its a treat, my tastes have simply moved beyond it. Most will delight in it.
Its the game that Sunshine should have been. At least thats what I've heard several times in the past. But personally I really enjoyed Sunshine and did not see what people's problem was. But this is about Galaxy. And rest assured whether Sunshine burned you or not (no pun intended) Galaxy is a real treat, although i think it has been over reviewed thus far by most.
You've played Mario 64 Ihope? If so you understand the premise, Mario goes for walk, Bowser shows up steals Princess,
Mario runs around and collects stuff (new collectible is shiny star bits, although they might as well be coins).
Then you fight bowser several times and get the classic "your princess is in another castle.
The deal is this all happens in space. Its quite well done in fact. There are these Galaxies (Apparently Nintendo doesnt get the difference between a solar system and a Galaxy, but whatever)
Also apparently Mario isnt allowed to punch in any game that is not Smash Bros. Because they removed that. Mario can jump or spin now. Well he can jump then spin, but no more punching or diving (i adored his dive move).
The camera is annoying. Mainly because when you're upside-down you are upside down, and i want the camera to follow me a flip upside-down so that i can actually see where i am. It is very difficult to accurately land on something when your view is distorted beyond comprehension.
Now this gripe isnt really much of an issue in this game because the game itself is so easy a mildly retarded child with down's could figure out how to beat it. The game is very, very forgiving, and this is in essence my whole problem with the game.
By the time you start actually enjoying the game the level design is challenging you and working with the controls (not telling you run upside down and jump on a fucking thousand goombas).
There is no challenge to the game. And to me it feels like this was done to compensate for only partially making the controls feel effective at controlling Mr. Stache.
You can still enjoy the game, but its for a different reason than I want in game. I cant even describe why I like the game. Its doesnt test my ability to beat it. Sure there are the "challenge bits where you have a time limit, or you only get one health, but they literally make up an optional 1/5 of the game.
My final problem is the length of the game. It is far too short. You might argue that getting 100% will take a substantial investment. But honestly I dont think it would. Maybe 30-40 hours to 100% the game. But only maybe 10 hours max to beat the game. Certainly it might be enough, many games are less and still excellent games. But the strength of those games is that the gameplay itself is so finely compact and refined that you feel like its was amazing.
I guess my point is that Mario Galaxy is merely a fun game. You will enjoy it, but it doesnt do anything unique.
The character of Mario is can be so much. In Smash Bros. He is a bad ass fighter, in the RPGs he is an utterly aloof idiot. But in Galaxy we see Mario as nothing. He's some guy who doesnt speak, who saves the princess and has absolutely no reactions beyond the most basic emotions that you would expect given his situations.
So Who should Buy Super Mario Galaxy And who should simply rent it.
Any self respecting gamer should at the very least rent it. Those with families would do well to buy it. The children will enjoy it for quite some time, and the content is as wholesome as you can find in video games that are actually good.
The Halo fanboys would be advised to stay away, although they too would enjoy the game.
The People who should utterly avoid the game are those who adore Ninja Gaiden and its ilk of trama inducing difficulty challenge based games.
So go rent it. Sure it sounds like I didnt much enjoy the game. But really its a treat, my tastes have simply moved beyond it. Most will delight in it.
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