It looks like Amazon is testing the waters a bit with AAA title digital downloads. Get Far Cry 2 for $5. I would love to see digital distributors get into price matching wars–even on their deep discount stuff.
Archives for December 2009
Assassin’s Creed II on the Cheap
Amazon is selling Assassin’s Creed II today for $40 (along with some PS3 lightning deals). Why do you not own this game yet?
2 Minute Review – Guitar Hero: Van Halen
A game that needs no introduction
Do: Play as the legendary band Van Halen
Type: Music Rhythm
Platforms: Playstation 2, Playstation 3, XBox 360 (Reviewed), Wii
Price: $59.99 PS3 and XBox 360, $49.99 PS2 and Wii
Meat: Not unlike Guitar Hero: Metallica, this is yet another band specific Guitar Hero release but with the ability to play all the instruments. Although after Guitar Hero: Aerosmith I said I would stay away from band specific games I am a huge Van Halen fan and I actually didn’t pay for this game. As part of ordering Guitar Hero 5 I received this free.
For anyone familiar with the Guitar Hero formula they should be instantly familiar with the game, though in many ways this game is a throwback and feels wrong after playing Guitar Hero 5. Despite some of the improvements made in Guitar Hero 5, which were carried over into Band Hero, Van Halen is clearly using a system more akin to the earlier Guitar Hero: World Tour. This just seems odd given its release date and the improvements made to Band Hero which was also released after Guitar Hero 5.
Also disconcerting is the total lack of reference to former band members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, or any songs that were sung by Sammy Hagar for that matter. C’mon guys! I know that David Lee Roth’s huge ego doesn’t like to acknowledge the band was actually successful while he was gone, but “Why Can’t This Be Love?” is a Van Halen classic! 5150 was a great album and it’s total exclusion is glaring to any Van Halen fan.
In fact, that seems to be the biggest problem with the game. It seems to be focused around the egos of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth without any concern over fan expectations. It’s like every distasteful thing fans have put up with who loved their music but presented in videogame form.
Perks: Overall it’s a great selection of music that covers some of the classic Van Halen hits. Without a doubt the opening song should be and is “Panama” which will thrill most fans and is the perfect introduction to Van Halen’s musical style for those that didn’t grow up with their music.
For a band that has often focused on how great a guitarist Eddie Van Halen is, the other instruments are not ignored. There are challenging drum sections, vocals, and bass chords throughout different songs. The game is very guitar focused, but that should be expected given the source material.
Screams: At this point though I am tired of the idea that the other songs have anything to do with Van Halen. After Beatles: Rock Band I think its safe to say that either a band is strong enough to represent themselves based on their own music catalog or not.
Here’s another big problem with the game. Despite the fact that Guitar Hero and Rock Band have both moved away from doing cover versions and moved on to master tracks, some of Van Halen’s songs are covers themselves. “You Really Got Me” and “Pretty Woman”, both made famous by their original artists, are presented as Van Halen’s work. Considering the nature of these games, these seem like odd additions.
Overall, the game really was released too late. Some of the better known Van Halen songs should have been released sooner when Guitar Hero was only about guitar and bass and simply included with earlier releases. Part of the problem with Guitar Hero: Van Halen, is that they may not be strong enough to carry their own game. Maybe they are, but they would have to be willing to use the whole of their music catalog instead of pretending certain events didn’t happen.
Verdict: PASS – There is not enough of a game here to justify a purchase and I wouldn’t even bother renting. Many of the stronger non Van Halen songs are available as downloads in Rock Band already. This should not have been a full game.
Requiescat in pace: Assassin’s Creed II
In some video games there comes a time where you know that you are going to be in it for the long haul. I remember relentlessly playing Wildstar and even though Killer Guides published a Wildstar class guide, it took me a little longer than expected to find a stopping point. No other game will be played until this one is done. No TV. No Internet. Nothing.
For me it was when the protagonist of Ubisoft’s recent game, Assassin’s Creed II, stumbled while climbing up a building near the beginning of the game. With literally no weapons and assassin’s outfit, I knew that this was going to be somewhat of an evolution story. Ezio was a rookie. He didn’t even know his father’s lineage — what his father truly was in the family controlled city-states of Renaissance Italy.
In the previous game, you played as Altiar an ancestor to Ezio. However, you started that game as a complete assassin. It’s not so this time around. In what amounts to the first underpinnings of the Italian mafia (Ezio’s accent even reminds you of east coast mafia movies), you’re just nothing but a street-brawling, womanizing son of an upper-middle class family. Just what is it that daddy does?
He’s an assassin.
More importantly, he’s a protector of the “Truth” behind the Garden of Eden and its famed forbidden fruit.
Oh, from here on out I must warn you. This will not be a completely spoiler free review. I don’t give too much away like specifics, but there is a game progression.
Inconceivable…
Technically, you’re not playing the game as Ezio, but you are actually playing the game as Desmond who is in turn playing as Ezio. Confused? Baby, you’ve seen nothing yet. Desmond is also an ancestor of Altiar who lives in a very near future from our own. Apparently, a certain group of scientists (we’ll call them the evil Templars who suppress the truth and use it for their own gain) have discovered that the memories of all our ancestors reside in our DNA. They’ve created technology that lets someone “re-live” their ancestors past.
In the first game, these Templars have abducted Desmond (because by genetic makeup alone he is an enemy) to learn the truth behind some historical events that did not go their way. Namely, they are looking for pieces of a device that when separated are pretty powerful but combined well, it’s not pretty. They want to combine it.
This time around it’s a day later for Desmond and he’s on the run with another assassin descendant, Lucy. Conveniently, they have a portable animus with better features — literally called Animus 2.0 — and Desmond needs to jump back into another ancestor’s memory. We return to Ezio. Thank goodness — for now.
Family Ties
Ezio is a bit of an uninspiring bumbler. The second oldest of four children, he pretty much lives off his family’s wealth and has almost no ambition in life except for wine, women, and song. this is where you begin.
And the beginning may take up to four hours. In what possibly may be be the longest interactive narrative and tutorial for a game ever made we get to learn along with Ezio how to climb buildings with ease, fist fight, and equip some armor. His motivation? In a surprising turn of events dear old dad and his two brothers are arrested for treason (think only one outcome), mommy goes into a state of shock, and sis decides grow brain and become the family accountant.
Only at the end of the memory sequence (think levels) when Ezio dons the traditional assassin blade do you realize that he now has a motive, mission, and will to live. We get to follow him over the course of twenty years discovering who he was along the way all the while stabbing people. Lots and lots of people.
For someone who may be well versed in the controls and playability of the first game the opening sequences of this title may be a bit of a bore. It’s saving grace is the wonderful opening narrative that sets the tone for Ezio and his surrounding environment. By the time Leonardo da Vinci fabricates your assassin blade for Ezio and then makes another one for him you know that you want to experience the full effect of being an Italian Assassin.
Big Time BFFs
Leonardo? In one of Ubisoft’s best moves, da Vinci becomes a confidant and gadget maker for Ezio. The scenes and missions with him are truly enjoyable. Towards the end of the game, you realize that Ezio would do anything for Leo. Renaissance bosom buddies. In other words, da Vinci would be Ezios wingman, but Ezio would not be his. They do mention that little known orienttion of the Italian genius, but it’s very minor.
Over the course of the next twenty-five hours (and twenty in-game years) Ezio assassinates, races, follows, climbs, and learns more about how Italian politics is really nothing compared to the conspiracy pulling their strings. Everyone wants a piece of the take even when they don’t truly understand what that “piece” is.
It’s a fixer-upper
Ezio cannot be an assassin all the time and that’s wonderfully handled in the family villa. You restore it to its former glory by collecting items (that have meaning and worth this time around) investing in the village surrounding the city, collecting art from the various cities, and investing in new weapons and armor.
Speaking of income, Ezio is also a little bit of a thief. He can steal from almost anyone, loot dead bodies, and take money from various treasure chests all over the place. This adds so much to the character. Altiar had a sense of honor and ideals where he only stole when necessary. For Ezio, it’s more than a necessity. it’s a way of life. As a side note, there are some in the game who can steal from you.
No one ever got away with stealing from me — and they never stole again.
Anything you can do…
There are some other things that Ezio can do that Altiar couldn’t. He can blend with any crowd of two or more people not just monks. He can hire groups of people to do various tasks: thieves harass, mercenaries fight, and courtesans, well, you know, distract. Ezio can throw money on the ground as well to create a mini-riot of pheasants and guards — another excellent diversion tactic. In the areas of fighting, he can bare-knuckle almost any opponent and disarm them eventually using their own weapons against them.
There are a lot of weapons is this game, but really only two or three matter. The rest are good for one or two fights to see what they do and and then they’re off to the weapon’s room in the villa for display. The same goes for armor.
The amazing thing about the final armor and weapon is that they have this almost epic quality in their use. The task of solving six assassin tomb riddles to acquire the gear is one of the highlights of the game — but the last tomb is one of the worst frustrations. Timed events with clunky wall — running control is not a winner.
All roads lead to…
The end of the game has you facing the most powerful person in the known world at that time. It actually was a little bit of a shock (And also relied a little too much on Hollywood end-movie cliche.) However, by this time Ezio has discovered who and what he his. His mission is in full effect. Revenge and free will preservation are his motives–even if he fully doesn’t understand a lot of the history behind it.
We do get to see the history in its full glory. There’s one line delivered by a key character in the end that’s not directed to Ezio but to someone else that has a huge impact on the future of this da Vinci-code laden universe. I suppose that I should have seen it coming but it took me by surprise. “No. Way.” is what I think I uttered.
The only problem with the narrative is that we are left with Ezio in the dark. This may not really matter because all this time the story has been about Desmond. See, there’s this bleeding effect that the Animus has: the patient starts to learn the skills of their ancestors.
Any guess as to who the next assassin in the third game may be?
Next time on in search of…
On a final note, the historical detail behind the cities and their prominent features is amazing. Every painting you collect is real and includes a description of the piece and its artist. I don’t believe that the Renaissance is an area that’s been fully explored in a game setting before. Ubisoft are truly masters of putting you in the place of interesting underused time periods when it’s late fifteenth-century Italy or the time of the crusades. The cites in Assassin’s Creed II are alive with people not just walking around but drunk, playing games, celebrating Carnivale (amazing!), painting walls, carrying all sorts of textiles and produce, and trying to hawk a few florins from you with a song (hint: steal from them instead).
After every assassination, Ezio shows the life he has just taken some respect by uttering the phrase, Requiescat in pace. It essentially means rest in peace. The story may be over for Ezio at the end of Assassin’s Creed II (actually there will be some DLC that’ll fill in some gaps in the memory timeline), but it appears to be just beginning for Desmond.
In the beginning, God…?
I played this game on the PS3 to completion eventually earning my first Platinum Trophy for getting every trophy in the game.
Microsoft to Nat: You’re Screwed
Well, the family just acquired LEGO Rock Band. Popped it in, navigated past the main menu, and lockup with Three Red Lights. This is the second time it’s happened. Before Christmas? Wonderful. Out of warranty? Possible. We got the thing in 2006. If it is, I’m NOT GETTING A NEW ONE. Sometimes, the console company makes it easy for you to decide whether or not to buy their exclusive games. Kind of a bummer too, because we just cracked open Forza 3 and played it once.
Weekend Gaming
Now that the weather gets cooler and the days shorter, I always seem to find more time to game. Especially now that the college football season is winding down. I already got some Borderlands in last night and I hope to get back to some Forza 3 and Mass Effect for the rest of the weekend. And of course Torchlight. Always Torchlight.
What are you playing this weekend?
2 Minute Review – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
More Modern Warfare!
Do: Continue the story of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Type: First Person Shooter
Platforms: XBox 360 (Reviewed), Playstation 3, Windows
Price: $59.99 all platforms
Meat: Until Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare came out I was not a big fan of the COD series. I won’t go into specifics, I just didn’t particularly care for it. However, Infinity Ward won me over at last with COD4 and I played through many of the single-player missions multiple times and found the multi-player to be a welcome respite from Halo 3’s infuriating design decisions. However, one observation I had about COD4 was that it was essentially two games. An excellent single-player story that had all of its art assets and underlying engine reused for the multi-player portion. This is not a complaint, as I found myself perfectly happy with each “game”, though I would like the two to have crossed a little more.
Unfortunately, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 does little to alleviate this. If you’ve played COD4, you’ve played MW2. As a bonus commentary, if you’ve played COD4 you’ve also played Call of Duty: World At War, just with a different time period and weapons. Essentially you’ve got the single-player game with a strong story focus and almost frustratingly linear level design and a strong multi-player component that practically exists as its own game. As a bonus, there are the new “Special Operations” missions that use many of the single-player and multi-player maps for specific game types, all of which can be played co-op and some can not be played single-player at all.
From a technical standpoint the game is near perfect, which is not much of a compliment since COD4 was already polished to a mirror shine. There are some graphical improvements, especially in the weapon models, but the game will feel very familiar if you’ve played its predecessor.
Perks: Without a doubt this game is about as close to technical perfection as you can get in a contemporary first person shooter. I’m sure you could harp about even more photo-realistic graphics or greater audio fidelity, but in terms of how the game works it’s as good as it needs to be and that’s all I ask.
The single-player story is well designed, at least from a level perspective. They have greatly improved enemy encounters by removing the ridiculous infinite “spawn closets” that enemies used to appear from until you passed a checkpoint. Combat is frantic and remains an adrenaline fueled affair. I want desperately to enjoy the fight itself in a first person shooter, and the Modern Warfare series has yet to disappoint.
Some nice additions to the game are the new weapon attachments, like the heartbeat sensor and thermal site. Both add new tactics to the game and yet are not without their own limitations. The breaching mechanic, while simplistic, never seems to get old. When you breach a wall or door the game goes into a slow motion “bullet time” which allows you to act quickly to prevent the execution of hostages or counter-ambush enemies that were lying in wait. I think they did this just enough to keep it from getting old.
The Special Operations missions are a nice touch and add some replayability if you’re one of those people who don’t enjoy replaying their favorite single-player missions. The Special Operations range from holding off waves of enemies, vehicle chases, single-handedly wiping out enemy forces, and stealth missions. A nice co-op mission allows one player to be the AC-130 gunner while the other player coordinates on the ground.
Multi-player remains the same but with more options. At last you can use more than one weapon attachment and they’ve added additional perks and challenges to keep the on-line portion attractive to the compulsive obsessive. The underlying system remains the same so the learning curve is not steep even with new perks, attachments, and killstreaks. They have done a much better job of balancing the different options available to the players, removing the controversial juggernaut ability and limiting the use of matyrdom. In my own opinion I found the whining about these perks more annoying than their usage in COD4, but the changes have not adversely affected on-line play in the least.
Screams: Here’s where you need to hold onto your hats, kids, because I’m going to say some very bad things.
Despite my earlier comments about the “No Russian” mission, the rest of the story is a bust after that point. There is no emotional payoff and the rest of the story is more like an alternate history novel than a Tom Clancy knock-off. Despite the criticism of COD4 as a poor Clancy-esque novel, I liked it. The whole concept was plausible and barely utilized my suspension of disbelief. The new story makes some ridiculous leaps, is overly reliant on plot contriavances and macguffins, and some plot elements are relayed in the middle of firefights so you might miss them completely.
While I appreciated COD4’s careful balance between realism and playability, I always felt they kept it just realistic enough that I didn’t feel like I was in an 80’s action movie. Firing from the hip was inaccurate, I didn’t have a health bar, and everyone seemed to be using regionally appropriate weapons. All of that is out the window in MW2. Russians are using weapons that make little sense for them to have, Brazilian gang members are using primitive and oddly high tech weapons at the same time, and US forces come the closest to reality in a “future force warrior” sort of way but still possess an odd amalgation of weaponry. You now have weapons that can be dual-wielded, which might look cool throws any sense of “reality” right out the window.
Also, the game is ridiculously hard. As a compensation for the removal of infinite spawn closets, enemies just start out ridiculously numerous and volleys of bullets will shred you to pieces even on the easiest of difficulty levels. Some of the Special Operation missions seem to be intently focused on being played co-op despite the ability to play them single-player. None of this is insurmountable, but the game can be needlessly frustrating at times. Especially in light of how well balanced COD4 was regardless of skill-level.
A further problem is that none of this ties into the experience you earn in multi-player. Experience points used to unlock new perks, weapons, and equipment is all kept seperate. Want to play local split-screen? Fine, but those experience points only count towards split screen play. Special Operations also does not help you advance. Wait? What? One of the driving forces behind Call of Duty multi-player is the ability to rank up and earn new stuff. Why bother playing on-line if it doesn’t help me advance? You give players the option of doing special operation missions but their is no real payoff for doing them. All you get is…more special operations missions?
I could forgive this system in COD4, but after Rainbow Six Vegas 2 allowed you to earn experience both on and offline I don’t see the point of it. The problem is I want to unlock the different weapons and I want to use them all the time. Single-player or multi-player. I don’t want to be forced to interact with foul mouthed cretins to fully play your game, Infinity Ward. The way the game is designed they have nullified the whole point of doing special operations except for a tiny subset of people who don’t want to play with aforementioned foul mouthed cretins but will still venture to do on-line multi-player with friends who don’t mind getting nothing for their efforts other than bonding time with good buds.
As for the main multi-player portion itself, while the different weapons and abilities are more finely balanced I was worried that the additional killstreak options would further tilt the game towards the more experienced players. The biggest weakness of COD4’s multiplayer was its lack of good matchmaking by skill. This becomes an even bigger problem in MW2 since additional killstreak rewards just tip the scales further towards players who are doing well. This makes MW2 the least newbie friendly game released yet.
Furthermore, Infinity Ward has disabled party chat in some game modes in order to “encourage players on the same team to work together”. This was a huge mistake, as many players relied on party chat to avoid the large number of players who tended to use racial slurs or the idiots who would sing incessantly during a match. Instead I find myself unable to play those modes with friends and when I do play I have the microphone muted and the volume turned down. Well done, Infinity Ward, instead of encouraging teamwork you’ve turned a good portion of your player base into virtual hermits. I have noticed far fewer headsets plugged in during games then before. Previously, people without headsets were the minority, now they are the norm. Clearly something is going wrong.
Verdict: RENT – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a well polished shooter and worth renting, if just to see the fate of the various characters from the previous game and to enjoy the combat and various “toys” available. If you’re not an existing Call of Duty fan then you will likely not feel any need to play the game beyond the single-player game and maybe a handful of Special Operation missions.
Small Worlds is Amazingly Big
Just saw this on Kotaku and it may be the most unique game I’ve played this year. It’s simplistically amazing. Just take the 15-20 minutes to play it and change how you view gaming.
A little rant
By hitting control-option-command+8 in Mac OS-X, you can invert your screen colors (make them go negative). I’m sure there’s a reason why someone would want to do that, but I’m most certainly not that person. Nevertheless, the other day, I opened up my laptop only to find my colors have been inverted. Somehow, my two year old had hit this improbable key combination and plunged me into bizarro negative world. It took me a little internet sleuthing to get back to normal.
After another flurry of precise key presses, the same two year old bought me a subscription to Guitar Hero on my cell phone. Best three dollars I never spent. I have no idea how he did it, but there it was.
I relate these stories in preface to a rant about Microsoft’s ridiculous Xbox Live Arcade refund policies. (Hint: they don’t have one)
Up front I am going to admit that this was my fault. It was me that left the controller out in the open with the 360 on. While I was up at the computer I get an email from Xbox Live, thanking me for my Games on Demand purchase of GTA IV. Sure enough, in the space of no more than THREE FREAKING MINUTES, my two year old had navigated to the XBox Live Marketplace, located Games on Demand, selected GTA IV (at least the kid’s got taste) and purchased it. My heart sunk as I see the “no refunds” disclaimer in the XBL email. Great.
So against my better judgement, I give Xbox/Microsoft a call. All I was looking for a little understanding and maybe a little compassion and maybe to get the purchase wiped off my credit card. I explained the unlikely sequence of events that had got me to this point (I mean come on! I own the game. Why would I buy it again?) and asked for the refund. I made my way through about four levels of “you can speak to my manager” before I was met with utter silence on the other end of the line when I declare, “I find it hard to believe that a company as large as Microsoft has no way to remove a purchase from an account. At all. That is mind boggling.” “You have to dispute the charge with your credit card company, sir. There is nothing else I can do,” she finally replies.
Yeah, so we had to dispute the charge with our credit card company.
I am still flabbergasted that Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, did not build in any mechanism to deal with this type of issue. It’s nigh unexecusable. I wonder sometimes why I stick around.
When streaming isn’t
For the most part, I’m not offended by the new community features added to Xbox Live last month. I use Twitter and Facebook, and seeing Facebook pictures on my wide screen is pretty cool. But Microsoft really dropped the ball with last.fm. I’m a pretty active user of last.fm and I was excited when I heard it was going to the 360. But now that I’ve used it, I’m pretty disappointed. I can’t start the last.fm option and stream music in the background, I can only listen by leaving the app running.
Until I can stream my last.fm music and play some Hexic HD, it’s another useless feature to me.