The Last Stand update for Dawn of War II was released yesterday…and it is a breath of fresh air. After three hours of play, I claim it to be gaming goodness. FREE gaming goodness. Let me know if you have the game in the comments and we can survive a few rounds. Relic has really taken this game to a new level. Mixing Call of Duty with DoW II was an excellent idea. It’s a shame some people missed this, but Steam was selling the game half-off yesterday Holy frick. I just checked. They’ve extended it until Monday. $20 (TWENTY!) for this amazing game.
Archives for 2009
+800 Microsoft Points
Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade has come and gone. A couple of weeks ago I got a message from LIVE letting my know that 800 points had been credited to my account. This made me look back at the 5200 points I spent to get this rebate.
When I first saw the line up, I was unsure of most of the titles. Getting 800 points back was a nice incentive to take a chance on them. Now, having played all of them, I found that my expectations and my experiences with the games did not match up.
Pre-demo impression: What’s the name of the game? ‘Splosion Man? Pass.
Post-demo impression: Whoa, this game is kinda fun. The demo let me play through a few levels (six, I believe) and even gave me a sneak peek of the first boss; just enough for me to get a handle on the game. There is no tutorial at all, but I didn’t need one. All face buttons ‘splode. The left analog stick moves. Pretty simple, and I like it that way.
Post-purchase impression: The game starts of nice and easy. Every level slowly ramps up the difficultly, but at no point did I feel overwhelmed or frustrated. No matter how difficult the puzzle, I always think about how I can change my tactics to complete the puzzle.
Verdict: Satisfied. This is my favorite 2D platformer on the XBLA.
Pre-demo impression: I played Marvel vs. Capcom 2 when it was out on the Dreamcast. I’d play with my brothers, wife, her brother, and her future brother-in-law. We had a blast, so adding an online mode with Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix’s quarter match setup and excellent netcode? How could I go wrong?
Post-demo impression: The demo doesn’t do a good job of showing what the game can offer; you can only choose from six characters in offline mode. Oh well, since I liked the game years ago, I’m sure the full version will be fine.
Post-purchase impression: I don’t remember this game being completely unbalanced. In particular, multiple characters share similar moves (such as Captain America’s Charging Star and Jill Valentine’s Kinkyuu Kaihi B), but have completely effects in combos, allowing certain characters to be more “cheap” than others. Using the two characters I mentioned as an example, Jill can land multiple hits when your character is in the prone position, whereas Captain America can’t, despite the fact that both moves only differ in a cosmetic way. These differences lead players of Marvel vs Capcom 2 to build squads made up of the cheapest possible characters that can land as many unblockable hits in a row as possible. As I prefer to build thematic squads (such as my Boys in Blue and Brotherhood of Evil Mutants teams), playing against this type of gamer leads to me getting frustrated.
Verdict: Regret. Years of playing better-balanced, slower-paced fighting games like Street Figher IV, Soul Calibur IV, Dead or Alive 4, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix have made this game unplayable for me.
Pre-demo impression: Just like with Marvel vs. Capcom 2, I played this game with friends and family on the SNES. It was such a simple game with memorable music and colorful graphics that looked like the cartoon. Now I’ll get this game again, with updated graphics and four-player LIVE play? Instant buy.
Post-demo impression: What happened? I already knew that the graphics were going to be different. Unlike many message board posters, I actually like the new graphics, since they look a lot like the most recent CG TMNT movie. However, I did not expect the light-hearted and sometimes goofy music to be replaced with totally uninspired music that could have been copied directly from a low-budget B-movie’s soundtrack.
Post-purchase impression: I just can’t get over the change in music. When I think back to the multiplayer beat ‘em up action games from my youth, like Streets of Rage and Final Fight, one of the things that sticks out is the music. This game’s dull tones seem to be trying to put me to sleep. Knowing what the music should sound like prevents me from getting into it. That aside, it works well as a four-player online game.
Verdict: Regret. My nostalgia for the SNES version of Turtles in Time negatively affected my ability to enjoy this new version.
Pre-demo impression: Some called this game an HD ExciteBike. I never played that game or its Nintendo 64 follow-up, so that comparison didn’t take hold on me.
Post-demo impression: This game is pretty fun! The tutorial is simple but effective. I breezed through the levels offered in the demo. I imagine the game will get harder, but I should enjoy it.
Post-purchase impression: This game is ridiculously hard. In no way did the demo prepare me for the extreme ramp up in difficulty. The Beginner and Easy tracks are pretty easy to get gold medals in. The Medium tracks are unbelievably hard. I don’t even want to see what the Hard and Extreme tracks are like. Want to see how hard this game is? The split wasn’t in my controller before buying Trials HD:
Verdict: Satisfied. Yes, it is ridiculously hard. If you have the patience to push your way through, or a lot of controllers to go through, you will enjoy it. When I first wrote my post-purchase impressions on this game, the Medium tracks were practically impossible. Now, I have gotten through them, finished most of the Hard tracks and am struggling with the Extreme ones. My controller has flown across the room a few more times, but I keep coming back for me.
Read our full review on Shadow Complex.
Pre-demo impression: This game is constantly referred to as a Metroidvania-style title. Those are mighty big words for me, as that designation doesn’t only describe how it plays, but it is a statement about its quality.
Post-demo impressions: I can see that Shadow Complex has a lot of potential. I enjoyed the opening sequence, where you get to see how powerful your character will become. It is an effective tease.
Post-purchase impressions: Shadow Complex was very difficult for the first few hours. Jason Flemming could not take many hits before dying, and I found the “aim at the background” mechanic to be flawed and aggravating to deal with. Given how difficult the beginning was to me, it became immensely gratifying to see Jason’s power grow. By the end of the game, I strolled into every room without bothering to take cover. I walked over every enemy, including those annoying black-suited agents that would hang from the ceiling. The ending sequence is one of the easier ones I’ve seen in a game, which was a bit anti-climactic.
Verdict: Satisfied. Shadow Complex became an obsession for me. I wouldn’t quit until I found all of the items. I intend on going back to get all the way to level 50.
I spent 1200 more points than I should have. The rebate made up for the cost of Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, but I’m still out for the cost of Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Even though I really enjoy the three Arcade titles that I had no previous experience with, buying into the Summer of Arcade was not a smart financial move.
Left 4 Dead Leaves No One Behind
I know I’m late to the game, but I’ve got to say that the L4D community is one of the best around. I’ve played quite a few online random games, and every one of them has been a pure treat. I don’t think I can get that with some “other” FPS-based games. Of course, the need to survive brings a lot of people together.
On Why I Loathe Mario Kart Wii
Sailing along in first place and leading by almost half a leap on the group. The finish line is in site. Maybe a game distance of 20 feet. Blue shell. Red shell. Red shell. Green. Green. Red. Red. Hello 9th place. What just happened?
Poor balancing, that’s what.
I’ve never completed Mario Kart Wii. I don’t have the patience to do so. It has the most playtime of any of our Wii games at home (over 200 hours), but it’s not a game to play for serious players. It is a fun game, but it has this wonderful knack for not rewarding skill.
I don’t mind the powerups. I do mind that there is no counters for some or even a remote chance for others. Do the powerups add any strategy to the game? Not one bit. Some people may argue that, but it’s just too random. To random for this gamer to enjoy. I’ll stick with my DS and SNES versions.
As a side note, does anyone else’s Wii put slight scratch marks around the outer edge of their games–especially ones they play a lot? We’ve gone through one Excite Truck disk and our Mario Kart copy has been giving read errors lately.
Weekend Gaming
I haven’t done one of these in a while, and I’m hoping for a good weekend of gaming, so now is as good as a time as any to ask: what’cha playing this weekend?
Me, I’m about five hours in to Batman: Arkham Asylum and I’m really itching to get back. I am really, REALLY enjoying Batman. Extremely engaging and addictive. It has a bit of a Metroid feel to the exploration and jumping around. What I find most compelling is that I’m not firing hot lead through a rifled barrel at the heads of the bad guys. I know that’s not Batman’s style, but having to be resourceful and creative is quite satisfying. Of course, punching out scores of bad guys is equally satisfying. I’m hoping to make more progress this weekend on Arkham Island.
If time permits, I hope to join the guys from the site for a little Left 4 Dead. If you’re playing the PC version, let us know if you’re interested in joining us for a buttomashing.com L4D night. Also, time permitting, I’d like to make a little more progress with Mass Effect and Fire Emblem: Dragon Sword on the DS. Here’s to hoping.
What’s on tap for you guys?
More of the PSPnogo
Ok, so last week’s PSN’s PSP game release list was maybe the best they’ve ever done. The all-digital handheld system was released last week. It makes sense to have a large release of games. Not big, but there were one or two good titles. You think they would follow that up with another good release of titles for the PSP only one week after the PSPnogo’s release? Hahahahahaha. 16,000 items available at launch and less than 200 are games.
Dead Rising Megapost
We love us some Dead Rising here at Buttonmashing. At the recent Tokyo Game Show, Capcom basically positioned themselves and Dead Rising 2 as the company and game of the show. We just wanted to create this mega-post and let you know what’s been shared about the game so far.
- The game takes place a few years after the initial outbreak.
- You play as Chuck Greene (in another 72 hour period), a former motocross champion, who is is forced to confront the zombie horde in Fortune City (a Las Vegas wannabe).
- He is possibly motivated by his surviving daughter and he also take part in a zombie-reality show at some point.
- This reality show also is the basis for some multiplayer play. Think of it as American Gladiators with zombies.
- Zombies on screen have been increased from 800 to 6,000!
- There is no more photography (thank goodness!)
- Weapons are crazier than ever. Think a shotgun attached to a rake, a blender placed on a head, double-edged chainsaws, and wheelchairs with all sorts of weapons attached.
Now on to the videos:
The multiplayer trailer (with an obvious nod to the Canadian developers working on the project)
Some actual multiplayer gameplay:
Shotgun rake gameplay:
Wheelchair gameplay:
Are ya’ ready for some football!?!?
Check out the chainsaws!
Source: Google?
Cheap Game of the Week – History Channel Civil War: A Nation Divided
Overview: A rare first person shooter set in the American Civil War
Pricing: About $20 new or used.
Rip-Off Warning: Can occassionally be found for $30 new.
Platform: Playstation 2, Windows, XBox 360 (Reviewed)
Is it worth it? There aren’t many first person shooters set in the American Civil War. While there have definitely been some liberties taken with historical accuracy and weapon reloading has been tweaked somewhat, the game stands in rare company. A lever action rifle feels like an assault rifle in this game and learning melee combat is a must.
The game does have some issues. The level design is full of invisible walls and is practically on rails, there are only 6 missions per each side, and the graphics are just barely servicable. Yet I found myself enjoying this game and the unique challenges it often presented the player. The game is not particularly hard, but the play style is different from standard run and gun.
Some quibbles with the game. Iron sights were worthless since you were better off just looking at the cross hair and waiting for it to turn red. Also, taking cover didn’t seem to work very well. Not that the game had a cover system, but enemies standing close to a solid object seemed to become bullet proof while I could hide behind a wall and still take damage.
Final Judgement: I just don’t have much to say about this one. It’s an enjoyable if somewhat short play experience that will definitely give you something different. It was a solid PURCHASE for me and highly recommended if you’re looking for a budget title.
Conventioneers
I’m not what you would call a “Comic Book Enthusiast” (read: NERD). People are trying to turn me into one but I’m not there yet. I don’t have the breadth of knowledge most comic book fans have. I’m not even sure I want to. I know I can’t afford another hobby, that’s for sure. I do know enough to be dangerous, however, and I do have my favorite characters, but the stories and histories are foreign to me. I’ve never fully immersed myself in the world but as I geek I feel a camaraderie with comic book fans and I respect them for their dedication. James, my bro-in-law and fellow blogger, is a comic book nerd of the highest order (with all due respect). So we decided to head to the yearly comic convention here in Central Ohio, the “Mid-Ohio Con“.
This was the first “con” for both of us. I think we had an inkling of what to expect, having read about conventions like the San Diego Comic Con or the New York Comic Con and seen the pictures online, but we weren’t sure exactly what to expect. Here are a few pictures recapping our trip (A complete set of these images can all be found on Flickr.).
(Note: I felt somewhat awkward asking people to pose for pictures. Most of these were snapped when other people were busy asking for poses.)
Most of these photos are of the crowd, of the cos-players (a sub genre of comic book fans that amaze me).
The first up was the gathering of Ghostbusters. This seemed to be the most popular costume of the convention. I was under the impression there were four (five if you count Tully) but there were quite a few more than that in Columbus last weekend:
I think these two Predator costumes were the Best in Show for James and I. Both were extremely detailed (the masked Predator even had the three-laser sight, which was extremely cool). They even scared the kids. That brightened my cold, dead heart. GET TO DA CHOPPA!
Of course, no convention is complete without Darth Vader and his cadre of Storm Troopers and MOC had its Vader. Here he’s talking to Boba Fett with his helmet off. This Fett costume was actually very well done.
Speaking of Boba Fett, one of the “celebrities” at this year’s MOC was Daniel Logan, the child actor who played the young Boba Fett in Attack of the Clones. It was actually kind of cool to see him there and being able to instantly recognize who he was. He seemed like a nice guy who was clinging to whatever was left of his fifteen minutes.
The highlight for me was meeting James Kyson Lee (AKA Ando Masahashi on Heroes). I haven’t been following Heroes as closely as I did the first few seasons, but all along Ando has been my favorite character, and it was pretty cool meeting him and snapping this picture (and professing my undying love to him):
So, all in all, it was well worth the price of admission. I’m sure James could do a better report of which “Comic Book Celebrities” there were, but I was fascinated by the dedication of the fans, the talent of the artists on display and the general feeling of acceptance that permeated the show. I don’t know if I’d go back again, but it was definitely an experience.
(As a bonus, here’s my four year-old son with the Spiderman mask we brought him):
What the PSPgo Means
This.