If I'm Here I Do Not Have To Write Essays!

So lets get onto some stuff.

Resistance 2 Beta:

I think i can talk about this. And if I cant well then whoops. Send a crack legal team over steal my hundreds of dollars of assets. 

It is pretty fun. the Co-Op is all i've tried out so far, but it is good. Mainly play the medic. Which is fine for me because they get like double the exp of everyone else when they are played correctly, because healing instantly tosses up like 20-100 exp where as most kills are only around 20-50 exp. The leveling up system makes you feel like progress is being made with actions, and it seems like a long progression system. 

Overall the game seems good. Good aiming system and hit detection, nice graphics, all good production values. Giant monsters to kill in a team. I'll definitely get it at some point in the future, prolly not at launch though. Too much to do.

World of Goo:

Jeezus christ this is how we need to push games. The aesthetics are brilliant, the sound effects are perfect (how did they know that goo should sound the way it does, how do you figure out what noise it makes when it sways in the wind?!) and the music ohhhh boy. yes if you like finding those gem of an indie game. This one you should look at. There is even a fairly lengthy demo. 

The game is best described as an architectural puzzler. Because you have to build buildings to bring the goo where it needs to go. Sounds crazy, But believe the first time you figure out how to get across the pit (no spoilers here but i really enjoy just figuring out the solutions because it is totally not a fixed path, there are probably at least a couple of valid ways to get through every stage. 

Spectromancer:

Turn based card battler! Well I adore turn based strategy games so this was pretty much a no-brainer. Especially once Tycho of Penny Arcade fame pushed it on his little website. It is very fun. And upon completion of the demo, i was compelled, NAY obligated as a lover of turn based strategems to give them their $20, so that I might continue to play it.

Oh also apparently there is like 6,200 games coming out in the next 6 weeks. Woohoo. Well I do have multiple research intensive (or is it extensive?) to pump out. So I had best mosie on to those. 

Ciao. Oh and if you've read this far. I love you. 

So I Lied.

See there was this other game that I got that I totally forgot to talk about. And the funny thing is, it is a rather high profile title. Also I quite enjoy it. I simply had been avoiding it for the prior 3 weeks because of its ability to pull me into it far too effectively.

I am of course speaking of the one and only:

Spore

It certainly gets credit for being unique. Also for being fun. If not for difficulty. Although the final stage helps with that. But lets go a little more in depth to its lack of depth.

Cell Stage: You are pretty much Pac-man. You eat the color of food that matches what your mouth can eat; jaws eat the red meat bits, which you can get by killing things also, filter feeding mouth eats green bits you find on plants. It is fun enough, and it is pretty short. The evolution mechanic here is simple and doesnt give you a whole lotta flexibility, but it isnt suppose to yet.

Creature Stage: You are in an action RPG that has little to no purpose. You either befriend neighbouring creatures, or you slaughter them all into oblivion. It's alright and seeing your first Epic creature is quite a sight. I actually got to see two of them fight, although the winner then turned around and killed me... so yea. Fun Fun. Creature creator here is the real fun, the potential you have is basically unlimited. If you can think it you can probably make it. And it is fun just making things. Sometimes you make quick easy things just to make it. Other times you want the windows to look just right, or you fiddle getting the eyes in right spot, then you move the tail around just right. Positioning the arms and legs though is the real challenge. Get that done well, and your creature can be pretty badass. 

Tribal Stage: RTS so fucking light. You basically mass produce your guys and rush the other tribes. The clothing editor Is very fun to fiddle with though. 

Civ Stage: RTS slightly heavier than before. Basically you get to build buildings and vehicles now. I made a tank, which was awesome for me. The quest for spice is interesting, although also quite easy. I really like making buildings. Especially homes.

Space Stage: The WTF where did this massive game come from. Okay you know how there are 100 Billion stars in the Galaxy? Go visit all of them. Also there are going to be crap load of other Aliens out there also exploring and doing stuff. Many of whom will be dangerous to you. I swear if I get anymore simultaneous attacks on three colonies at once again. But once you actually get the feel for the flow of space stage you can easily lose hours on end playing it. The game's entire depth is in this part of the game. There is no quick way to finish it, there is barely even a truly finish the game proper. But you certainly can have fun, and if you like having fun, in unconventional games, well then you cant go wrong with Spore.

Whats that you say? You're not sure if Spore is for you? Well answer this. Did you enjoy the Sims. If you said yes, then yes you should get Spore. Different game, but the experience overall is similiar.

So yea, I'm done with Spore for tonight, but every now and then it is one hell of the game to blow an evening playing.

Ciao.

Stuff = No Posts

School's Back in the swing, so it's hard to get extra time to type stuff out but here I go.

Force Unleashed:

Fun game, The story of it is very, very nice. Must play if you are a Star Wars fan. The gameplay is decent but really lacks depth. Sometimes you feel totally badass, other times you just feel like ass. Often during the same fight. I am specifically referring to enemies who sometimes recoil upon being hit with lightning and other times do not. Very annoying. 

Overall it is a solid rental for all. Especially since it only is around 10 hours long. -ish.

Braid:

Very fun game. Pretty short, but the puzzles make you think. I had to cheat a bit to get through them, but I dont especially enjoy thinking over a static puzzle for hours on end. Didnt really get the story so maybe thats just me. And the game seems to make you draw connections to Mario games for no apparent reason. I seriously do not believe that it is a fair comparison to draw principally because they are fundamentally different games. (Mario games very rarely test brain power beyond simple implementation of simple ideas the compound to produce somewhat more complex gameplay/puzzles; While Braid focuses exclusively on interesting highly unique puzzles that often involve the manipulation of time and a freaking goomba look-a-like.

Buy if you have $15 burning a hole in your pocket.

Castle Crashers:

If you have friends with a 360 and you often play games online together with it, then you owe it to yourself to get this. It is a classic beat'em-up with an awesome sense of humor with fun combat, cool levels, and even cooler enemies. Awesome game to play with friends.

Other than that. Well, I suppose I'll talk about the games I'm playing right now:

Call of Duty 4; Yep got suckered into the multiplayer again. It's fun as ever. Especially since I'm focusing on LMGs now. Nothing like unloading round after round into a house and killing people via deep penetration. 

Team Fortress 2; It's always there, it most likely always will be. It is simply an awesome game and probably the most balanced team game I've ever played.

Defense of the Ancients; Man if you told me a custom map of Warcraft 3 would have me playing Warcraft 3 for 3 years straight I probably would never have believed but DotA is just that good.

Mass Effect; I'm trying out being Evil this time around. Not quite as fun as being a Sith in KotOR but still pretty satisfying, and not as blood curdling; It's not evil purely for evil sake.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn; The one on Wii. I never beat it so I'm about 50 hours into it now. It's classic Fire Emblem gameplay all over again. The Team I've got is pretty badass now so it is all coming together. Still fucking tough as hell though.

Witcher: Enhanced Edition; Oh my dear fucking gawd, they actually fixed the load times? Wow. Also the inventory is quite a bit nicer. Other than that I havent played enough to notice the new dialogue, but the game still rocks like it did last time I played it.

Halo 3; Sometimes it is the most fun you can have playing an Online shooter, other times it is so fucking stupid you just want break shit. That is what I did recently. Oh well. Live and learn. Also I need a new headset. So like would anyone like to buy me a new one?

That is pretty much it about the gaming I'm up to right now. Warhammer Online seems really fun, but I do not have the time for an MMO until April. (When I can roam the streets with my Bachelor's Degree in hand and ask politely for a high paying job in the Oil Industry)

Oh yea and I was at PAX at the end of August. It was very fun and really cool to see there actually are other hardcore gamers out there. Also getting to meet and talk to Felicia Day, and getting her to autograph my dvd of The Guild was very awesome. It was a great time, and Seattle, man that city fucking rocks. I really wish I had a city with that much culture in it. I'd settle for like 1/10 of it's culture. All our street performers are lame, all our gimmicks shops are lame. But then again I hate Calgary's cowboy love affair. (nothing against the Cowboy stuff, just have problems with this city's over indulgence in it)

Oh and If you arent watching The Office or 30 Rock, what the shit is wrong with you?

Ciao. I've got some busy weeks coming up. My reward however shall be great.

Fallout 3 awaits me after 2 papers and a midterm. Mmmmm bloody mess trait.

It's All In The Name

So names mean alot, usually. But they do not actually mean anything really. I mean honestly names are just tags we use to identify ourselves from the others who more or less look pretty much the same as us.

So obviously gaming frequently gives us the option to choose a name for ourselves. Most usually in the multi-player gaming scene. Single-player RPGs sometimes let you give yourself a name as well. But in that context it is utterly pointless as most games will simply take your name to be "x" variable at insert whenever "x" is called for in the game's script. 

But in the multiplayer games the choice of name is very important and I for one feel that people need to spend either a great deal of time thinking up their name, or none at all. Because either you want your name to be meaningful or you dont. 

If you dont want it to be meaningful then great. Just use your own name with some numbers after it. I would recommend "Bob11Forty". Or in my case: "Ryan17Forty". Just make sure to put Forty in it for me.

If you want it to be meaningful however then take a great deal of time to analyze what you want your name to reveal about yourself. Maybe you would like reveal your profound love of DBZ, and therefore call yourself -xXx-Goku-xXx-. I wouldnt recommend naming yourself after the main character of an incredibly popular show however. A lesser minor character might be acceptable, but the main character, it lacks originality. Unless it is the main character from a long defunct show that lends credit your "geek credentials" 

However this leads into another point. The use of prefixes and suffixes and what we assume they will apply to our "gaming cred", if you will allow. For example, someone might add a simple l33t in front of their name in imply that they are in fact "Elite". This should be avoided, at all costs. If you are in fact an elite player of the game, your opponents will find this out very soon. Your name need not tell this to them. Conversely you might think that putting noob in your name should be commended. This too should be avoided, for you never want to give people on the internet any advantage to lob insults at you. They will find something regardless and there is no point to give them easy shots. This point was proven when someone named themselves "gay boy" and proceeded to record the litany of insults that the Xbox Live community unleashed upon him. Being truthful is not to be pursued.

So what should you put in your name? I would personally recommend your nickname that friends call you. They typically are in short hand so people can quickly say it if they need you to turn around and kill the spy about backstab you. However you might want to add something that defines who you are. 
Myself for example have used RyePunk for over 6 years now.

Rye is shortened Ryan, and Punk is because I am something a fan of Punk ideals. However I like to point out that I am a punk against the punks because they are practically the norm nowadays. 

If i was to recreate a new name I would probably use something that reflected my love of history. So maybe something like "PyrrhicRye". Actually that's not half bad. Might use it in a future game.

So there you have it. Well almost. If you are choosing a name for an online RPG then basically you want to choose a name that fits the setting. So for World of Warcraft think Tolkien-esque names. For something set in Star Trek or Star Wars, I'd recommend a combination of name from various characters that you liked. But not Kirk Spock. Or Luke Skyclimber. I usually use Galcyon. Why? Because the random name generator in KotOR tossed it up and I liked how it sounded. 

So that is pretty much all I have to say about names at this point in time. just remember a few more bits and bobs. Names that are essentially bragging rights should be avoided at all costs. Randomness gets extra brownie points, having a name that says you are elite, pro, extreme or and such positive reinforcements to your already overinflated ego should be avoided.

Okay? Well do try to apply those. Thanks. And buh bye for now.

SC 4 & BC:RA

very light reviews today. Sorry for lack of updates. either too tired from work and just want to game, or just dont care enough. My bad. I've got some rough drafts of stuff that I'm slowly working on so stay tuned for those.

Soul Calibur 4,

it's Soul Calibur on the Next Gen systems. If you liked the previous ones you'll like this. Pretty much nothing has changed, barring slight moveset adjustments, and the inclusion of the armor break/soul crush moves. The soul crush moves almost never come into play though so it's kind of a moot point. If you like Soul Calibur you probably already have it. 

If you've never played Soul Calibur but would like to try a new fighting game for when friends come over then I would highly recommend this title. Its fighting system is simple enough that new players can pretty much jump in and mash buttons to a degree of success, while veterans can show off their skill utilizing slightly more advanced moves like counters, impacts, and parries. 

Oh they also increased the boobs. So i guess that is a plus.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed.

Its the classic old school game brought back. With shiny graphics and mind fuckingly stupid secrets. Honestly I never once played the original so i'm in no place to review this title as someone who played it. What I will say is pretty bashing, but oh well.

No jump. No movement in air. (none, zilch, squat, zippo) Horrible collision detection. And retarded decisions on how the bionic arm shoots out. 

If i was simply talking about the single player game's default stuff. Then the game is quite good and most of the above negatives dont really apply, however it is nothing amazing. If however I take the fucked up challenges and the plethora of stupidly secret shit in the game, then I would be forced to knock it for not including such basic features... Like a jump button. I mean for fucks sake. they only use 3 face buttons. 

Is it because adding a jump button would make the game too fucking easy? 

My biggest reason for this complaint is that I played Ninja Five-O. A game that uses a grappling hook AND has a jump button. There are no stupid puzzles that make no sense because the military forgot to teach it's troops something as basic as JUMPING OFF THE GROUND! I wouldnt think you'd need to be a damn ninja to figure this shit out. 

So if the game was a straight remake I wouldnt hold the exclusion of the jump against it. But because they went to elaborate lengths to add numerous extras, and even through in a "new" side swing option, and failed to add something as basic as JUMP, I cannot in good wisdom recommend this title to anyone but those who played the original. It is simply too archaic and stuck up its own ass to see current modern innovations. Like a jump button. 

But the game is quite fun. As long as you avoid the challenges. My god avoid the challenges. Avoid them. Avoid them. Avoid them. They will bleed any enjoyment you might get from the game into dust. And then kick you in the nuts.

my idea of a challenge is something that makes me think "what do they want me to do here"
These challenges ask no such question. The path is almost always obvious. The only problem is pixel perfect timing is required when you launch your stupid fucking arm, and slight deviations result in failure. At least the game lets you restart instantly. I have no desire to acquire "eagle" times on the challenges. They sapped any fun I might have procurred from the game. And I very much doubt I shall return to it again.  

So yea avoid the challenges, stick the main game. Because the normal levels are awesome fun, and the boss fight are also very fun. Just ignore the extras, or you will loathe the game like I now do. For the record I  have currently completed roughly 75% of the challenges. With only the most irritatingly difficult ones left. Most that remain are quite simple in goal, but the actual execution on such a flawed control scheme makes it a trial of your patience more than of actual skill. I do not want to be punished for missing a grapple by .2 seconds. If I grapple the fucking platform that should suffice. 

It is simply poor design on the challenge. Now you might say it is suppose to be "CHALLENGING". True but challenging and ass-rape are two very different things. One makes me think about what I am doing wrong and makes me correct it. The other has me doing the correct thing, but still has me failing for missing by mere pixels, and results in me throwing my controller into the wall.

So yea. Fuck you "challenges". 

E3 Ala Penny Arcade.

Kudo's to Gabe and Tycho for simplifying 6 hours of presentations into 3 panels. Bravo.

E3 Blergy Blarg continued

Sony Press Conference

Having seen Microsoft getting down on their knees for the anticipatory money shot that is the casual market's giant collective wallets. Nintendo and their further groping for yet more Casual hook-ups. What could one expect from Sony. Apparently a history lesson. I myself am a student of History, so seeing the teleological view of Sony's past as recounted by one Mr. Sony Head Dude, left me a slight bit skeptical. However what they did show seemed fine. Some nice looking games, most genres represented, apparently they do still care about the PS2 and PSP, which I suppose is nice. Even if it is just like me saying I'm looking for a lady with a nice personality, when really all I want is someone who's good looking. (Hey I can find personality after I've had a trophy gal for a day or two...) 

So overall I'd have to say that the big winner this year of the conferences was (as stupid as such a premise may seem): 

Uhhh you actually want an answer. Um, I'm going to say Fallout 3 wins. That game looks awesome. Then I'll say Sony. I guess it is true they have the most exclusives. Although that 360 sure has a lot of RPGs coming up soon. So it can have second place for that. Nintendo doesnt really deserve a mention until they put out a game that uses swords to have a bloody bloodfest of a game that takes advantage of the new peripheral they have made.

Although that Madworld game looks fucking tight. Ramming a sign pole through a guy's face... Yes Please! someone give that dev team a cookie.  

So that's the main events of E3. Nothing Earth Shattering this year. But still lots of high quality games to look forward to. I look forward to not being able to afford them while I attend school. Awesome. 

Ciao.