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Game Review – Stuntman:Ignition [360]

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Every now and then, I’ll pick up a game just on premise alone. I’ll buy it without a single thought as to its value or without any purchase research. About a month ago, I picked up Stuntman:Ignition from THQ. I had heard of the previous game in the series and the insane levels of repetitiveness and difficulty it presented and I still took the jump. Was I impressed?

Simply put, you are a stunt driver for a movie studio. I’ll let this explain it:


Have you ever wanted to drive the General Lee and experience what it would be like to be on the set of the show?I don’t think this is entirely stuntman profession realistic, but I play this game and seven-year-old fantasies come true. Basically, you drive a stunt vehicle and have to perform various stunts by hitting director markers. Markers are yellow and when you nail them they turn green. Miss five markers and you have to start all over. As you can tell, the director calls out what he’d like to see. I’ll give you a little gameplay experience boost: upon loading the game, go to options and turn him off. The better you perform stunts the higher your score (duh!). However, there’s this wonderful catch that immediately adds replay value to the game. If you can keep performing stunts in a certain amount of time through the whole run (one every two seconds!), you perform what is called “stringing it.” In the video above (courtesy of Youtube and bonersgames.com) you can see how crazy the crew gets when you perform an insane number of stunts. The driver in that video is pretty skilled. Some stunts are easy to string and others, you’ll be lucky just to complete the course. The higher the score, the more stars you earn, and the more stars you earn, the more courses you play..

…

Stuntman:Ignition

The style of this game is great. Its inspired by many cliched movies and TV shows: 80’s action flicks, Dukes of Hazard, Dante’s Peak, Bullitt, James Bond, and Batman. Completing these movies nets you a fake movie trailer. Most of them are hilarious. There’s also TV commercials that you can perform stunts on and garner more stars to unlock courses. (Armor All is a personal favorite).

Is this game easy? Yes and no. When you first play a track you may not know what stunt to perform or where to go. Some courses you’ll have to learn. However, level load times are instantaneous and there is an easy mode that gives you more strikes but halves your score. So it’s no biggie to replay at times. Also, you need to unlock a high number of stars to play the last movie level or two. In some cases, you’ll have to go back to previous movies and try and earn more points. This can be frustrating if you just want to play new levels. However, because of the difficulty, when you finally string a level, it’s very rewarding. Performing a huge stunt such as a jump moves the game into slow motion and you see the jump from another angle. Jumping through a barn in a Whoopin’ and Hollerin’ II course a la Dukes of Hazard with your car is a real treat.

Stuntman:Ignition

There are achievements out the wazoo. Some are easy to earn and others are pretty tough. I imagine that very few people have earned the achievement where you string everything. There’s even a large score of sub achievements in the game that they call badges: certain jumps here, time trials there, etc.

There’s a stunt editor that lets you create your own stunt track in a stadium,(When? SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAAAAY!), and you you can unlock more stunt items and vehicles in the gam to use. Xbox Live users can even upload their stunts for others to play.

Speaking of Live, multiplayer is crazy, fast, and furious. You steal stunt scores during races, jump over your opponents, and overall play dirty all in the confines of a movie set. Of course, records are kept online of each individual course as well. However, it appears that the strong suit of the game is still in the single player.

Stuntman:Ignition

Bottom line: It’s at least worth a rental. However, in this gamer’s case, it’s a must-buy. This title has probably been lost in the ’07 Fall glut of AAA games. However, I think it’s definitely AAA material. It’s also available on other platforms.

BONUS: Instant replays look great. I’ve never saved replays before on any game, but this was a first.

Jericho initial impressions

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Clive Barker’s JERICHOEven though I haven’t played it for a couple days, now is as good as ever to talk about my initial impressions of Clive Barker’s Jericho. Once I can finally finish it, I’ll probably do a full review.

The first feeling I got about this game is a lack of vision. Things are out of place, they don’t fit.

A little background: You’re part of a religious fighting force, fighting back demons and “The Firstborn” (It makes more sense in the game, but it’s not Jesus) and you’re doing it for the better of the world. Your religious devotion and Calling From on High demand it. Your whole team has been imbued with different holy powers.

In other words, you’re righteous. Your men (and women) of the cloth. Problem is, everyone swears like sailors and they make jokes about lesbians. The crudeness is over the top. Unfortunately all the canned dialogue is on a loop, so you’ll hear a lot of “Jesus Christ on a crutch!” These things do not match up. One of these things is not like the others. It just doesn’t fit.

Visually, the environment is just how I described the screen shots – juicy. Blood and entrails abound. Cursed monsters and zombie Nazis around every corner. As you progress through the game you not only move from one location to another, but you also move from one time to another. From WWII Germany to the Crusades. While the levels so far fell completely on rails, this may change.

I’ve played Jericho for about five hours now. I’m not ready to call Jericho a bad game, but it hasn’t grabbed me in any way. I’ll give it a couple more hours for a fair shake, but it’s not looking promising.

There will be achievements, right?

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So every gaming site is buzzing with the news that one of the updates to Microsoft’s Xbox Live service will be the ability to download “Classic” Xbox 1 games such as Halo, Fable, and others. I say “Classic” completely irony-free.

I guess I’m not as excited as some people about the prospect of downloading games that are only 5-6 years old, especially if they’re going to cost 15 bucks (1200 Microsoft Points). Even more so if they’re gigantic game turds like Fable. Color me uninterested.

But color me slightly interested if they offer achievements in the classic games. Then, like the Pavlovian gamerscore whore that I am, I’ll salivate and pick up a couple of these titles. If I can score an achievement for punting a chicken 200 feet or farting in the presence of 25 women, then I’ll pick up Fable as soon as it’s available.

Candy is dandy…

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The Orange Box… but the cake is fake!

Leading up to the Orange Box’s release, people were stumbling over each other, pushing each other out of the way to declare how amazing Portal is, how funny it is and it just may be “THE GAME OF THE YEAR!” You probably heard about the clever song by Jonathan Coulton or the funny dialogue throughout the game. Well, they were right. It is an awesome game and they should want to tell everyone about it. I think I figured out why they were so anxious to tell everyone to play the game. It all makes sense now.

The game probably needs no introduction or description. It’s plain and simple — you have a portal gun. You shoot it at a wall, open one side of the portal. Shoot it again somewhere else and the pathway is complete. That’s the easy part. The challenge and the fun begins when you have to solve the increasingly complex puzzles using your brain, your portal shooter-outer and a few spare crates. Sounds simple. It is. Perfectly simple. Through 19 levels, simple becomes simply amazing. As you progress, the more fun you have. There were times when you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I was having fun

But I can’t shake the feeling that being fun just isn’t enough to elicit the response it got. The real reason I think everyone gushed so profusely about it? Solving Portal makes you feel smart. There’s this sensation of, “there’s NO WAY someone else figured this out. I’m definitely the first person to do that.” There’s a real sense of accomplishment when you complete a level in Portal. The levels are masterfully designed and there’s a rush when you finally figure it out. I’m sure there is more than one way to get from point A to B on each level, but the enjoyment of finding a really clever way is very fulfilling. And fun, of course. I finished a few levels with my kids watching and the sensation of flying out of a portal was not lost on them. They thought it was great. I felt intellectually superior.

There’s something to be said about resolving conflict in a manner that doesn’t include a crow bar (or rocket launcher).

So yes, forget about Brain Age, forget about Chess. Want to play something that will make you feel like a genius? Portal is your game.

In the mail…

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Clive Barker's JERICHO

Thanks to the fine folks at M80, I received a copy of Clive Barker’s JERICHO. I am going into this game completely blind, as I haven’t been following this game’s development or anything. I recently read a couple of reviews, and while they aren’t glowing, I’ll give it a fair shake.

I will be posting my initial impressions as always, but here are a few things to tide you over:

Review scores are all over the place:

Planet Xbox 360 scored it an 83.
Gamespy gave it 3/5 stars.
IGN.com gave it a 5.6.

Some juicy screenshots after the jump:
[Read more…] about In the mail…

November Releases

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A feature I’ve been wanting for this site for a while is a look at the video-game releases for the month. With the holiday season and the glut of games that are released around this time, I figured now would be as good a time as any to start. So here are the releases for the month of Novemeber.

A couple of things to keep in mind: the release date I’m listing is what Amazon.com has listed. I haven’t checked each individual game for a change in release date. The links also go to the respective Amazon page. I haven’t included every game, which means I haven’t listed “Catz 2” or “Beowulf: The Movie: The Game.” Most of the games I’ve listed are games I want to play or I’m at least remotely interested in. I’m going off the assumption that may readers would also be interested. I’ve also grouped the games I’m most interested in at the top of each section and I’ve tried to sprinkle in a little commentary where I can. Please excuse any ommissions or errors in advance.

Xbox 360 banner

Mass Effect (Nov. 20th) – This is probably the only sure purchase for me this month. While most people hold BioWare in high regard, I’m not as enamored. I have very fond memories of Baldur’s Gate but I only played KoToR for a few minutes and I thought Jade Empire was a button-mashing turd of a game. That being said, Mass Effect still looks mighty tempting. I’m looking forward to a good RPG on the 360 and I’m pretty sure Mass Effect will be it.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare(Nov. 5th) – Call of Duty 4 looks awesome. Amazing. Tons of fun. I’m still not picking this one up. With all the unlockables and other hooks to get me to play it exclusively, I just can’t do it. I’d rather play Halo 3 and have a life.
Assassin’s Creed(Nov. 13th) – This is one that I had initially be very interested in, but that interest has waned a bit. Reports of really complicated controls and not delivering on promised game-play has me cautious.
F.E.A.R. Files (Nov. 6th)
Cabela’s Big Game Hunter(Nov. 6th) – Can someone clue me in here? How are these games fun? And who the heck are buying them?!
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga(Nov. 6th) – Looks fun, but I must resist.
Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action(Nov. 6th)
Blacksite: Area 51(Nov. 6th)
Popcap Arcade Hits Volumne 1(Nov. 12th)
Avatar: The Burning Earth(Nov. 12th)
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008(Nov. 13th) – Want me to buy a WWE game? Put Big Boss Man in it.
Need for Speed: Prostreet(Nov. 13th)
Soldier Of Fortune: Payback(Nov. 13th) – Rag dolls are magic.
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men(Nov. 13th)
America’s Army True Soldiers(Nov. 15th) – I’m in yer Xbox, subvertly recrootin’ ya.
College Hoops 2K8(Nov. 19th) – Respect for Greg Oden, your 2K8 coverboy.
Rock Band(Nov. 20th) – I’ll probably be the last person to play Rock Band/Guitar Hero.

Wii banner

Super Mario Galaxy(Nov. 12th) – I still don’t have a Wii. The fact that this game comes out in two days and I won’t be playing it physically pains me. I have owned a Nintendo console before the first Mario came out for each system (I’ve usually had one at launch) and Galaxy is the first one that will come and go without me. I am sad. I hope to rectify the situation soon.
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn(Nov. 5th) – As a huge Fire Emblem fan, this will also be an immediate purchase once I am a Wii owner.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games(Nov. 6th) – My childhood weeps for this game.
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Nov. 6th)
Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey(Nov. 6th) – I’ve got a four year old girl at home. I would be the biggest hero ever if I bring this home.
My Word Coach(Nov. 6th) – Me fail English? That’s unpossible!
Cabela’s Big Game Hunter(Nov. 6th) – Shooting virtual deer seems wrong with the Wiimote.
Spongebob Squarepants: Atlantis Squarepants (Nov. 12th)
Need for Speed: Prostreet (Nov. 13th)
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (Nov. 13th)
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Nov. 13th)
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Nov. 13th)
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 (Nov. 13th)
Cars: Mater-National (Nov. 19th)
Wii Zapper with Link’s Crossbow Training (Nov. 19th) – Can you use Link’s Crossbow in Cabela’s Big Game Hunter?
Soul Calibur Legends (Nov. 20th)
Trauma Center: New Blood (Nov. 20th) – Trauma Center on the DS was an exercise in futility. I can only imagine the Wiimote would only exacerbate the issue.
AMF Bowling Pinbusters (Nov. 20th)
Cranium Kabookii (Nov. 27th)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords (Nov. 27th)

Nintendo DS banner

Contra 4(Nov. 13th) – This may be the only DS game I pick up this month, but it’s been a long time since I’ve played a Contra game, and I’m due.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Nov. 5th)
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Nov. 6th)
Build-A-Bear Workshop (Nov. 6th) – I made fun of this game a while ago. I guess they’re actually making it.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker(Nov. 6th) – I may pick this one up.
Panzer Tactics (Nov. 6th)
World Series of Poker 2008 (Nov. 6th)
Ontamarama (Nov. 6th) – Didn’t Wyclef sing a song about this game?
Ultimate Mortal Kombat(Nov. 12th) – I don’t think 2″ fatalities would do it for me.
Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends (Nov. 13th)
Orcs & Elves(Nov. 13th)
Mario Party DS(Nov. 19th) – Will they ever stop making these games?
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings(Nov. 20th)
Geometry Wars: Galaxies(Nov. 27th) – I love me some Geometry Wars, I just can’t see how this could be done successfully on the DS. Hopefully I’m wrong, but we’ll see.

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Everquest: Rise Of Kunark (Nov. 13th) – I haven’t purchased a PC game in a long time (I got EQ2 for free) but I’ll definitely be picking up this expansion up. It’s 40 bucks, but it’s got all the previous expansions and adventure packs. This is a no brainer for EQ2 players.
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance (Nov. 5th)
Empire Earth 3 (Nov. 6th)
Crysis(Nov. 13th) – AKA bring your rig to its weak, sorry, 3 GHz knees.
Unreal Tournament III(Nov. 13th) – Ditto.
Soldier Of Fortune: Payback (Nov. 13th)
Universe At War: Earth Assault

PS3 banner

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Nov 6th)
Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War (Nov. 6th)
Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions (Nov. 6th)
Assassin’s Creed (Nov. 13th)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (Nov. 13th)
Need for Speed: Prostreet (Nov. 13th)
Medal of Honor Airborne (Nov. 13th)
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 (Nov. 13th)
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Nov. 13th)
Soldier of Fortune: Payback (Nov. 13th)
College Hoops 2K8 (Nov. 19th)
Rock Band (Nov. 20th)
Time Crisis 4 (Includes Guncon 3) (Nov. 20th)
Timeshift (Nov. 27th)

PSP banner

Silent Hill Origins (Nov. 6th)
The Simpsons Game (Nov. 6th)
SOCOM: Tactical Strike (Nov. 6th)
Warhammer 40k: Squad Command (Nov. 6th)
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 (Nov. 13th)
Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Plus (Nov. 13th)
Sonic Rivals 2 (Nov. 13th)
Aliens vs. Predator Requiem (Nov. 13th)
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (Nov. 13th)
Atari Classic Evolved (Nov. 20th)

October in Review

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I’ve never done this before, but I’ve always liked it when other blogs I read do their monthly reviews. So I thought I’d give it a try. Time to take a look at the month that was.

It seems like it’s been pretty much Halo 3 and Portal around these parts in October. Sure, we chatted about more than that, but I was pretty much playing Halo 3 exclusively (still am) and my posts had a decidedly Halo 3 slant. I’m actually disappointed to report we only had 16 posts this month. Again, I blame the amount of Halo 3 being played on the drop in post frequency.

Nat brought up the fact that’s he’s got a long list of games he wants to finish. I have one, too. It’s too long to admit. We were discussing this very topic one night on IM and I mentioned that since November is “National Novel Writing Month” we should hijack it and make it “National Finish a Game Month.” Me personally, I want to finish Halo 3 and find all the skulls. If there’s time after that, I want to eventually finish Pokemon Diamond. But one game at a time. Feel free to join us in the “NaFiGaMo.” Something like that.

So what posts got the most traffic this month? I get a lot of traffic from search engine referrals so some of the top posts are actually older posts. The top five posts for the month of October were:

5. Dead Rising is dead to me.
4. MMORPG Sports (Part I)
3. Resident Evil 4 Translation Guide
2. Halo 3 stats ready to go
1. Halo 3 Stats and Stats Galore

There are a lot of people looking for Halo 3 stats. I happy to provide some hopefully useful information.

Of course, along with the regular searches for things like “Halo 3 Stats” and “Resident Evil 4 translations” I get some funny search terms. A few:

“tickling me” – This one baffles me. Sometimes I wish I could see into the mind of the person searching for something like “tickling me.” Maybe something crawled up his shorts and just really wanted to know what that thing that was “tickling him”? I wish I knew. Or maybe I’m glad I don’t. Of course, that’s not half as bad as the person looking for “tickling pee.” I just… Stop. Sadly, this eventually ends with someone looking for “tickling till pee.” I blame Nat.

“deer buttons” – They’re right next to the moose zippers and the bear patches.

“eve is boring” – EVE Online might be boring, but I can’t vouch for eve. Maybe, maybe not.

“gears of war wallet” – Didn’t Jules own one of those?

I could go on, but I’ll spare ya.

So what about November? I’d really like to increase my posting frequency. I often feel like I’m neglecting you guys when I go a day or two without posting. It’s been great having Nat around to help, I just hope to get more content out on a daily basis. With the holidays quickly approaching, we’ll definitely have some timely content for that. Hopefully with the bad weather will also bring some more blogging time. Here’s to great November. Let me know if there is something you’d like to see me cover!

Tender Moments in Halo 3

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I was doing my daily multiplayer matches (USDA Recommend Daily Allowance is at least 5 a day), this time in the Ranked Team Slayer playlist. I’m matched up with some players and we wait for the map to load. As often happens, someone comments on my gamertag (I aint yer Pa). The person that found it funny was a player with a gamertag like “EvilPRINCESSS183” or something. At first, the voice sounded like like a teenage boy whose voice hadn’t deepened just yet, but it turns out it was a real girl. I chuckled at the name EvilPrincess193, thinking some little kid thought it would be funny to call himself an evil princess.

The match was set for Guardian (one of my favorite maps) and it was on. Turns out that the competition was quite weak, so I was running around spanking the other team on the bare bottom. I go up the elevator and find three blue guys looking for trouble when EvilPrincess842 runs in and screams “Ahhh! Why do I always find the bad guys when I’m by myself?” She was promptly dispatched and then I Gravity Hammered two of them into oblivion before the third one got me.

I respawn and I hear a couple of my teammates talking. Another member of the team was RootofEvil583. I should have made the connection, but I didn’t until after the game (I noticed they had similar names and icons). How cute — a couple playing Halo 3 together. They were even playing on separate boxes (this was a ranked matched, after all). This adds to the cuteness. Then I overhear this conversation:

RootofEvil482: Honey, please! Don’t fall of the edge again.
EvilPrincess410: I’m trying! It’s not the easiest thing to do.
RootofEvil482: Sweetie! Be careful. You’re gonna fall!
EvilPrincess410: This level drives me crazy! It’s so hard to jump around!
RootofEvil482: You’re doing great! Now lets go get some kills!

It was a nice tender moments between a couple of love birds. The encouragement, the positive reinforcement. I just wanted to hug ’em! I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: “The family (or couple) that games together, stays together.”