I just scored The Last Guy, PixelJunk Eden, and echochrome for $15 total on the PSN store. Prices are good for about a week. There’s more, but I’m being lazy. Here’s other things that may make other people happy.
May 8, 2009
I have this spot in my soul that comes out every so often to play. I don’t talk much here about movies, but this cannot come soon enough.
If you do some digging, you’ll find the Cloverfield monster.
[2 Minute Review] Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Note: This review is full of light spoilers but does not divulge the outcome or major points of the plot.
Can a game cause a person to embrace the dark side?
Yes, one feels the hatred flowing through them while playing this game. One also feels the elation of redemption once it’s all over.
DO: You are every Star Wars fan’s dream. Kill anything that moves using Force powers–with ultimate effect.
TYPE: 3rd person action platformer
PLATFORM: 360 and PS3 (in this iteration) (360 version reviewed here)
PRICE: $60
MEAT: Made an orphan by Darth Vader and impressed to become his adept in the Force the player is forced (heh) to become a double agent and start an uprising for the purpose of Vader wanting to overcome the Emperor and have you rule at his side. Premise aside the game is an ongoing trial of frustration. Storm Troopers can block Force powers and unwieldy camera angles make knowing where the action is rather difficult. The camera also helps in missing numerous jumps when it comes to certain levels. Throw in a useless save system and some broken save points and you tend to know what it’s like to experience the extreme power of the dark side. On more than one occasion I felt as if I could Force pull the disc from the 360 tray. The game looks and sounds great, and only during the endgame when you have most of your powers at their full potential does the game play tend to get exciting. Perhaps though the most squandered potential of any video game moment of all time is lost during the often advertised Star Destroyer scene. You’re tasked to use your Force powers to pull it down right out of the sky. Instead of being an epic moment, it becomes one of trial and error and then develops a sense of defecating relief once it’s over. The following cut scene barely manages to cover that guffaw. However that leads me to the game’s redeeming moment: the story. Let me finish by saying that it ranks in the top three of Star Wars stories grouped with The Empire Strikes Back and Knights of the Old Republic. I’ve only done this once before playing a video game, but I teared up during the final cut scene. Maybe my frustration of playing gave way to an empathy with the frustration that the apprentice felt?
PERKS: wielding the Force in its full glory is awesome; excellent graphic design, sound effects, and soundtrack; one of the greatest Star Wars stories–is it any wonder Lucas considers the game canon?
SCREAMS: to have been play tested–by people; to have better enemy awareness; to have an enemy AI other than throwing wave after wave of troopers at you; to display real lightsaber effects and not essentially be a lit wooden pole; to not have Quick Timed Events; to have a better Force power progression; to be made into a proper movie
VERDICT: Rent. This rating was really hard for me especially if you’ve read my previous frustrations. Rent it for the story alone. Otherwise watch the cut scenes on YouTube or read the book. If it wasn’t for the story I would have recommended that you Pass on the pain. They’ve sold over 1.5 million copies so will probably see a sequel with the same crappy game play.
Here’s my gamercard to show I completed the game.
The Force Unleashed: Elated Frustration
I’ve shared my initial thoughts about the game in the past, but recently I’ve forced myself through the pain (“I need my pain!”–sorry wrong sci-fi franchise reference) and have started to finish it.
I just completed the star destroyer level.
I want to go on record and say that it is the most wasted potential of an epic moment in a video game of all time. To put it into a frame of mind, most fans had never even thought of the idea of pulling down a star destroyer using the force. LucasArts really had something there. It really got people hyped up and was a major selling point of the game.
How could they even package it and call it entertaining? Who signed off on it? It is a huge trial and error task of frustration.
The reason being that the quicktime events do not match the actions on screen. They’re just slightly off. TIP: Ignore the buttons on the bottom of the screen for the most part and just make the star destroyer look directly at you. When the light turns green, pull that sucker down.
The developers at LucasArts must have known that they had the most sucktacular epic fail of a level on their hands so they ramped up the cinematic that follows it.
Those last five minutes were better than the new trilogy movies combined.
The dialogue, plot twists, use of Star Wars cliches (and not being cheesy), camera angles, and voice acting make it one of the best contemporary video game cinematics I’ve ever witnessed.
Forget Clone Wars on Cartoon Network (they might be killing off Jar Jar tomorrow night!), Lucas should have focused on animating this story. I think it’s the best self-contained story in the Star Wars Universe behind The Empire Strikes Back.
Trophies Mandatory? About Dang Time
Was doing my daily browsing of kotaku and found out that Sony is making trophies mandatory for PS3 games come January.
Finally.
I know of many people who choose 360 games over their PS3 counterparts just for achievements alone. I’ve had more fun with my PS3 in the last two months than any other system. Competition is good. I want to see it survive.
Overlord On The Cheap
One of the hidden gems I came across this year was Codemaster’s Overlord.
The fine folks behind Steam are selling it this weekend for $9.99. I deem this price to be GoodTM.
…or if you prefer, get every game released (and soon to be) by Valve for $100.
[2 Minute Review] Hinterland
Note: with this review, we’ve moved from the “+” and “-” format in our VERDICT to Buy, Rent, or Pass.
Mix a little Diablo II, a little Dwarf Fortress, and a little Sim City and what do you get?
Hinterland—a surprisingly fun game, even without the professional polish.
DO: Build a little village all the while terrorizing the “hinterlands” with your villagers cum warriors at your side. Essentially make your tyrant of a king happy.
TYPE: clickfest hack and slash with a dose of micromanagement on top
PLATFORM: PC (Steam version reviewed here)
PRICE: $20 (via many different digital download vendors)
MEAT: You play a character (one of many typical fantasy classes with a few tongue in cheek classes as well) that’s been called by the king to establish a village and conquer the region for your liege. Travelers come to your village and you get them to stay and perform their special skill while possibly using and training them to raid the countryside with you. One caveat: when they are with you they don’t perform their skills in the village. Your village is raided as well and you can minimally defend it. The game session ends once you’ve conquered all the regions. The replay-ability comes from all the character classes and villager skill classes. Essentially, you play for high scores—and a dragon or two.
PERKS: easy to learn, lifetime to master; humorous; variable game sessions; excellent developer support; dragons; huge replay-ability; casual or hardcore; cheap;
SCREAMS: to be less ambiguous in some parts; online leaderboards; to have specific quests (the king’s requests can go to…); to have random map encounters; to have major weapons and characters (ie dragons) not be always so close to the endgame; to be able to reuse your characters; to have a little more polish; to have a screen zoom function; to be a little more reliable on some machines
VERDICT: Buy. The next game by TiltedMill—with a little more money put into by you owning this one—will be stellar. This is an excellent independent developer effort.
No Wii Speak (and Possibly Animal Crossing) for Me
Have you been hearing about publishers efforts to block or prevent the resell and trade-in of games? Nintendo’s not any different.
The peripheral can also be used without “Animal Crossing,” just for game-free voice chat, but that requires used of the Wii Speak Channel, which will be released in December.
But there’s a catch, a fine print surprise. There is a pamphlet packaged with the peripheral that includes a 16-character code, a “Wii Download Ticket Number,” to be used for downloading the Wii Speak Channel. According to the pamphlet, this code “cannot be replaced by Nintendo or your retailer if it is lost or stolen.”
A Nintendo rep further clarified to me that the channel won’t be able to be downloaded through any other means. You won’t be able to get it off the Wii Shopping Channel manually, nor would you be able to buy it. Essentially, the Wii Speak Channel will be available to new purchasers of the Wii Speak mic and that’s it.
Gimped games being sold at a premium is coming. It’s for certain publishers are thinking about it. My guess is you’ll buy a disc and have to enter a code or a one-time use key to get a level, ending, weapon, or character. Of course, you’ll need internet access, and I can see companies like Microsoft making it so you have to be a Live Gold subscriber.
My wife wants Animal Crossing. We’re not getting it if we don’t find it without the mic. Who is there going to be to talk to on the Wii anyway? Like I want to share a friend code to talk, and I’d rather take a bat to Tom Nook’s knees, not leave him a message.
LittleBigPlanet Levels Being Moderated
Media Molecule and Sony seems to be deleting user-created levels that feature or copy intellectual property.
Get over it, whiners. Create something unique and original. I’ve specifically avoided anything to do with other IP and game level copying. 99% of it is crap anyway. If I want to play Super Mario Bros., uh, I’ll play SMB.
I’ll be nice now. Mean mode is off.
Roads? Where We’re Going We Don’t Need Roads
Burnout Paradise. Do you see what they are doing?
Best. Supported. Game. Evar.
Fill the gauge and hit boost to trigger burning flame trails from your back wheels. The 88 Special’s fast, manoeuvrable and great in the air.
In fact, if you want to take off, this is just the car for you. Hit L3 to switch to hover mode – the wheels retract and the car takes off and hovers through Paradise City at head height.
Seriously. It hovers.
This is paid DLC and I will gladly pay if the price is right in light of their previous updates.