We’re lousy with games around here lately!
Grand Theft Dead Rising?
I just read this rumor earlier today on Joystiq.
While it would be weird to go from the gritty setting of Liberty City to a zombie-infested Liberty City, I would certainly approve this change. Especially if Frank West was a playable character.
Fable II – Am I missing something?
A step in the way-back machine would prove that I was completely caught up in the Fable hype back in Xbox 1 days. I was head over heels. It was going to be the best game ever. Immediately after I read the TWELVE page preview at IGN, I excitedly told a fellow buttonmasher the he needed this game. My effulgent praise convinced to buy not one, but two copies of the game. (He ordered a copy online, then couldn’t wait for it to arrive and purchased the second later that day at a local store). I grabbed mine shortly thereafter and traveled to Disappointment City, population: me.
It stunk.
I promised myself I wouldn’t play the sequel, no matter how much praise it gets. But it’s happening: this time around, it might just be good. First, I recently read BAPenguin’s “10 Things You May or May Not Know About Fable II“. The first Fable was full of promises but, in my opinion, did not deliver. From these ten things, it looks ambitious once again. I’m not going to fall for it again!
Jake at 8Bit Joystick says it’s “better than the last two Zeldas.” I loved Wind Waker. That’s high praise. I still ain’t buying it.
Then, Don Reisinger calls it his “game of the year.” The hype machine is firing up again.
I haven’t checked any of the review sites, yet. I’m sure they’ll be giving it high marks. I’m looking forward to some more trusted blogs to give their thoughts and reviews. But it can’t be as good as they say, can it?
Naturally, this game now sits at the top of my Gamefly queue.
In My Hands
A little package appeared at my doorstep on this past Saturday afternoon:
It would appear that someone (Nat) is trying to broaden my nerd horizons, into a realm I’ve never ventured…
Arcade Machines in the Movies
Forget terrible movies based on video games. Let’s look at the real stars: Upright arcade machines in the movies.
It gets even better when it’s meta: movies about an arcade game, with the arcade game in the actual movie:
(Also, note to self: go find City Hunter on DVD)
Dead Space [360] – First Impressions
We had a little Dead Space party here at Casa Buttonmasher this weekend, celebrating the arrival of Dead Space on the Xbox 360.
In preparation for a full review, Ehergeiz is currently putting it through its paces. But since my 360 is kaput, he brought his machine over here and we put a couple hours in together.
So some initial impressions: In a generation of expensive development cycles and heavy focus testing, it’s clear that Dead Space is game of very high production value. Both the graphics and sound are superb. Not to be gushing, but these are Gears of War-level graphics, but in space. The environments are creepy and eerily quiet. Tension is real and when a baddie drops in behind you, it’ll make you jump. In the dead space of space, no one can hear you wet your pants.
Erhegeiz will have to go into specifics of actual gameplay, but from what I observed, control seemed pretty intuitive and responsive.
It’s hard to be innovative and appeal to the mainstream at the same time. There’s nothing new here, but that’s not a bad thing. There are lots of little tweaks and enhancements. It’s going to be compared to games like Gears of War and Resident Evil 4 for obvious reasons. But it takes its own approach. Marcus Phoenix’s curb stomp has nothing on you dropping the big boot.
Devastating.
RE4 had a great weapons upgrade system which Dead Space apes to a certain extent, but does it its own way, giving you upgrade paths with limited resources to max everything out.
The story has been enhanced by things like the No Known Survivors website, but is mostly standard sci-fi fare. You pick up snippets of what has happened (and clearly something has happened) as you begin exploring the space station. I love the details like writing on the walls (Portal), the audio and video files you find (Bioshock) and the monsters jumping out of ventilation ducts (Doom 3). Again, there’s nothing wrong with imitation. Dead Space does it with flair.
Now I can’t wait until Ehergeiz is done with it so I can get some time with it.
In my [Digital] hands
Saga calls itself an MMORTS, which is a pretty good description, but it doesn’t describe it completely. It is an MMO, the majority of the gameplay is an RTS (real time strategy), but there are also city building elements above and beyond a regular RTS. And there are collectible card game aspects to it, as well. It’s free to play the basic game, with additional features available for a price. And booster packs can be purchased, too.
It’s all confusing, I’m sure. Check it out, see what you think and let me know. I was contacted a while ago by the people a Saga to play their game, but things like GTA IV got in the way, so I’m finally getting a chance to play Saga while I await the return of my 360. So far I’m liking it!
In Our Hands
Thanks to EA for a copy of their Space Horror Survival Mining Simulator Dead Space. I say it’s in “our” hands, because while I am currently holding the phsyical box in my hand (that’s right, I’m typing this one-handed) Ehergeiz will be doing the actual playing and reviewing. My 360 is currently en-route to Mesquite, Texas, for some emergency surgery. I’ll hopefully have it back in house soon.
I’m planning on watching at least a bit of Ehergeiz’s initial play through and we should have some first impressions up shortly.
Halo 3 Recon
Honestly, I thought I was done with Halo. I thoroughly enjoyed all three games and played the heck out of them. It’s no secret I have a special place in my heart for the trilogy. But I thought I had my fill of the Master Chief. Then I saw the trailer/teaser for Halo 3 Recon:
And they pulled me back in. I’m such a sucker for good marketing a good trailer.
I do, however, have a problem with the name. Why are they calling it Halo 3 Recon if this is supposed to be a prologue to the first Halo? Was Halo Zero not available? (I guess not)
Anyway, what do you guys think? Don Reisinger doesn’t think this is a good move for Microsoft. I’d have to agree. I think it’s time to let Halo (at least in its current FPS carnation) go. At least until the next Xbox is upon us. By then, we’ll be ready to take on the Flood once again.
But for now, let’s give it a rest.
Games on my Radar
Well, it looks like my 360 is on the way out, again. So for the foreseeable future, I’ll be seeing a lot more DS and PC action, with the occasional DS game as well. With that in mind, here are a few games that are showing up on my radar.
For the DS, three games that have piqued my interest:
Lock’s Quest
I have mentioned this game before, but it completely fell off my radar until recently and now I’m ready to give this a go. It’s quite simple: an RPG with Tower Defense. Need I say more?
Disgaea DS
Disgaea is one of those games I’ve always been intrigued by and always wanted to play, but never had chance due to its platform exclusivity. Now that it’s coming out on the DS, Disgaea is finally within my reach. Even though it’s a port of the PSP version (which is, itself, a port of the PS2 version), I want to play this game. I’ve heard of its depth and replayability and I want a piece of that action.
Chrono Trigger DS
Being a part of the Greatest Video Game Generation™ (The 16-bit generation), I played my share of Square titles on the Super Nintendo, but one that I only played briefly was Chrono Trigger. I played enough of it (before I had to return it) to know that it was awesome. Now I get a chance to relive those memories and actually finish the game. This is going to be a great game.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (link is in Japanese, sorry)
I love Fire Emblems on the GBA and started playing the Gamecube version before getting distracted by other games. This one isn’t due out until next year, but another one I’m anxiously awaiting. I’m starting to see a pattern here.
Is there anyway to disagree that the DS is not the best gaming console out there right now?
Dead Space
If you’ve been following the development of Dead Space at all, you already know EA is going all-out in developing the back story and setting the stage for the release of Dead Space next week. If you haven’t been following its development, definitely check out No Known Survivors. There’s lots of good stuff there. We should be getting copy here in-house and hope to have a review of it up as soon as we can. Even though my 360 is kaput, as soon as it’s back in commission, I’ll be firing this up. I am very much looking forward to this.
The Godfather II
Speaking of EA, I’ll admit interest in their upcoming open-world mobster game, The Godfather II. That’s not arriving for a while, though, so we’ll have to wait and see how it develops.
There are more games out there, especially some triple-A titles for the 360 coming out very soon. But until I get my box back in house, fully operational, it’s the DS for me.
(Updated: I knew I’d forget something. I meant to include Fire Emblem for the DS. That’s been corrected)