Gaming update . . .

I haven't chimed in in a while.  I have been all over the place when it comes to gaming,  I'll try to give a semi-non rambling version of what I have been up to, since it is all over the place.

 

For a while I was churning along in Mass Effect 3.  I was enjoying the game and I was real curious to see how this saga would end and how all of my prior choices would come into play.  I heard about fans being upset with the ending, but I didn't let that sway me.  I made it until the end, or very close to what I assume to be the end, and I was in a particularly intense section, fighting off very tough waves of enemies while buying time for some missile to arm (or something, I forget).  My health was low, my shields were down, and I was surrounded by enemies and I get the call to finally activate said missile, so I run over to it and press "A" to activate . . . except that stupid "A" is also the button you press when you want to dodge.  The game thinks I am trying to dodge (of course) so instead of activating the missile, I dive off to the side.  My screen is blurring red now from the damage I am taking and I run back to the button and press "A" again.  And AGAIN my stupid ass Commander Shepherd thinks it is a good ideal to dive off to the side, instead of activating the damn missile I have been waiting for!!!!!  I died.  I stared at the scream in disbelief for a long while.  The fight had been so intense I was really caught up in the moment.  I was THERE.  I was having a great time.  I felt the overwhelming enemy force.  I felt the desperation in the entire situation.  And it was ALL immediately erased because of the game's controls and it thinking I wanted to dodge.  That one moment took me out of the game and left me so enraged and depleted that I removed the game from my 360 and I have yet to get the urge to play it again.  That must have been a month ago.  After playing through practically all three games (like I said, I was right at the end of this one) I seem to have lost all interest to continue because of that one incident.  Go figure.

 

Next up, The Witcher 2.  I never played the first game and I knew very little about this series.  But I have been interested in this sequel since its release on PC last year.  Looked great and the gameplay sounded right up my alley.  I snatched it up on 360 and immediately was disappointed in my first few hours with the game.  Hell, maybe even longer than that.  It took almost all of Act I before the game finally started to click with me.  The game does many things well, straying from the normal gaming conventions.  And then others are so straight up gaming clichés that take you out of the moment.  By the time I made it to the second Act I was having a great time though.  I was enjoying the story and liked the characters.    Decisions you make in the first act really do change the course of the game and are pretty significant.  But then it happened again.  At some point early in Act III, I just lost all interest.  It came out of nowhere.  I completed a certain mission and I just did not feel like playing anymore.  Very odd.

 

So I did the logical thing.  Instead of maybe going back to Mass Effect 3, or the 25 other games I have yet to complete, I decided to start playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (for like the 6^th time) since it was offered as a free download for PS Plus subscribers.  I still own my original copy of SotN.  I played and beat it several times.  I also own the Live Arcade rerelease and also played through and beat it then as well.  So I started playing this again and became just as hooked as the first time.  I absolutely LOVE this game.  I played through it, all the way through and even started a new game after that!  I was on message boards, FAQ pages, reading old reviews of the game, it was pretty pathetic.  I wanted more old school 2D Castlevania!  So I ended up getting Dawn of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia on the DS.  Yup, I have serious problems.  I haven't played either, and knowing me, I may never play them, but I bought them because I was riding on a Castlevania high.

 

Next, due to Gabe's texts about co-op, I picked up Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.  I've played a handful of the single-player game and it has its ups and downs.  It is not a bad game, but doesn't feel very Ghost Recon-y to me.  Worst of all, Ubisoft totally killed the co-op in this series.  Playing GRAW and GRAW 2 co-op with Gabe and our other Xbox friends has been some of the most fun I have had this generation.  Each co-op level consisted of one HUGE map that was completely open and you had objectives to complete.  You had to be very stealthy and really plan out your attack.  Plan poorly and you and your team would get destroyed.  It was insanely fun since it encouraged improvisation and trying different tactics.  If something didn't work you would try something else the next time.  You spent a lot of time in the prone position, using your UAV to mark enemies and basically being STEALTHY, which is what Ghost Recon has always been about.

 

Co-op in Future Soldier is complete garbage.  The standard co-op mode is nothing more than playing through the story-mode with your friends, which removes EVERYTHING that made the previous co-op so enjoyable.  The open ended nature of the game, the huge map, taking everything at your pace and using your own tactics, all gone!  The other mode, Guerilla, is just as insulting to Ghost Recon fans since it is just a horde mode where you face off against waves and waves of enemies.  The mode itself can be fun, and if it was included along with the traditional co-op the GRAW series was known for, it would have been a fun diversion.  But because the old co-op mode is completely absent, the addition of this horde mode instead is just another sign that this series has moved to a more action-oriented, Call of Duty-like game.  Very disappointed.

 

My last bit of gaming news is tied to a new purchase I have made.  I recently got rid of my lovely, original HDTV (which was so old it was a big, heavy CRT model! 200 lbs in fact!) and grabbed me a brand new, top of the line model, LED LCD.  The Sony Bravia HX929.  It is absolutely gorgeous and after I spent countless hours calibrating that puppy, I had to pop in every bluray and game I own to see what they looked like on my new toy.  Side note, Avatar on bluray is the best looking thing I have ever seen from a picture quality standpoint and I cannot think of better demo material to show off a new display.  On the games side of things, all my games looked better than ever but there was one in particular that looked worlds better than it did on my older set.  God of War III.  Holy crap that game is gorgeous.  The textures are unbelievable and because of this new tv I now consider it the best looking game I have ever seen, taking the crown from Killzone 3/Uncharted 3.  I was so impressed by the visuals that I decided to play the entire game again.  So there you go, I am playing GoW3 again and loving it more than the first time.

 

So to recap, I have had mixed feelings about the 3 new games I tried yet I have been having an absolute blast playing through older titles which I have already beaten.

 

Makes sense to me.

 

GotY

So of course I never posted my top games of 2011, that is just how I roll.

 

Here is the short version.

 

2011 GotY:

 

Dark Souls

 

Honorable mentions:

 

Rayman: Origins

Portal 2

 

Let me proactive and already name my GotY for 2012: Journey

 

Buy this game already.

 

Journey

If you have a PS3, you should also own Journey. Log on to PSN, buy it, put on some headphones and devote 1 ½ hours of your life to this game. Or I should say, to this experience, since to me, that is what Journey is.

Now, I don't want to hear anything about how $15 is too much to spend for a 1½ hour game. Remember, this is not a game. This is an experience. If you have ever spent $15 on a dvd, an IMAX movie, or a CD, or anything that ever left you feeling emotionally stimulated, then the $15 cost of Journey is money well spent.

Everyone's experience with Journey will be unique to them. A large portion of the experience is dependent on the extremely innovative multiplayer and the "travelers" you meet along the way. For my first playthrough, everything came together magically to create a gaming experience unlike any other I have had. I experienced a huge range of emotion in my 1½ hour session, from awe, to happiness and joy, to sadness and loneliness, to fear and companionship, all manifesting naturally through my interactions with a total stranger who you cannot communicate with outside a few "chirps" and audio calls. Even without being able to speak to them directly or knowing anything about them (name, gender, gametag) I found myself creating a real bond with them and caring for them far more than any other co-op experience I have had.

I'm going to keep this short, because I've started writing about Journey in my head many times and it always results in a 20 page post full of hyperbole and pretentiousness. I'll save you that ordeal.

Journey. 2012 Game of the Year. Go buy it.

Skyrim, The Simpsons, and Saints Row the Third

Skyrim continues to be my go to game.  130 hours in.  My stealthy archer character is now so powerful that I can take down most foes with one well placed arrow from my legendary Daedric bow armed with Ebony arrows and benefitting from the 3x damage of the sneak attack.  It is extremely satisfying, but in the long haul may be what makes me finally stop playing.  I am pretty unstoppable at the moment.  I was obsessed with making my character the ultimate archer.  Leveling up my skills, aiming to craft a daedric bow for the first time, finding or crafting enchanted armor to improve my bow damage.  I am now where I want to be.  As a result my character hasn't died is a really long time.  I fear no creature in all of Skyrim.  Even Elder Dragons go down easily.  Now that any really threat is gone, I feel like the game may become dull.  We'll see.

 

On the PS3 side of things my HDD has been filling up quickly with all these free games you get as a Playstation Plus subscriber.  Sony's online service and functionality may still be far away from Microsoft's, but I do feel like I am getting my money's worth from my PS+ membership.  So many free or discounted games.  My library is full of these things and most of them I haven't even played once.  I have the entire original Resident Evil trilogy, the new Back to the Future game (all episodes), countless classic games, and the list continues to grow.  One of the recent titles offered is the classic Simpsons Arcade game.  I had fond memories of sinking countless quarters into this thing.  I was really excited at the thought of playing it again, now for free!

 

Man, funny how clouded your memory can be.  Maybe it is just that my taste as a gamer has changed, but holy crap this game is terrible!!!  I also never realized how absolutely ridiculous its premise was.  It makes no sense.  Smithers robs a jewelry store and then kidnaps Maggie?  Are you kidding me?  Did the creators of this game ever see a single Simpsons episode?  The entire game doesn't make any sense in regards to its use of characters.  And the game is unbelievable cheap and difficult, which is a staple of these old arcade games and how they were programmed to take your money.  Anyway, word of warning, avoid this game.  Don't let your childhood memories fool you into thinking it was ever any good.  Because it's not!

 

The last bit of gaming news is that I picked up Saints Row the Third because of all the good word of mouth it received.  I heard it was over-the-top crazy and in my limited time with it (played for about an hour last night), it is.  Plenty of potential here for good, escapist fun.

 

Stupid Skyrim

I finished Uncharted 3.  The game definitely had its ups and downs.  I won't lie, the game had me on the edge of my seat at times.  When it did, it was fantastic.  But a lot of times it was also too formulaic, repetitive and not much fun.  Too much of the "been there, done that" syndrome.  I won't complain if Naughty Dog takes a break from this series and concentrates its resources in other franchises.

 

I haven't played Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath in a while.  In fact, I completely forgot about the game until I started writing this post.  Not sure if that says something about the game or my terrible gaming habits of leaving games unfinished and forgetting about them.

 

Speaking of which, I have completely stopped playing one of my favorite games from last year, Rayman: Origins.  I love the game but I just stopped playing.  Yeah, I have problems.

 

Which leads me to Skyrim.  Stupid Skyrim.

 

I've had a rollercoaster ride with this game.  I like it.  I hate it.  It is fun.  It is boring.  It is enormous, detailed and immersive.  It is shallow, bland and repetitive.  It is realistic.  It is extremely gamey and dysfunctional.

 

I could go on.

 

Regardless of my problems with the game.  Regardless of me actually trying my best to not like it so that I can stop playing the damn thing.  And regardless of all the things I wish I could change, the bottom line is this: I have logged in 120 damn hours into it and I am more addicted to it now than I was 80 hours ago.

 

Like I said, Stupid Skyrim.

 

A funny thing happened recently.  I stopped playing Skyrim in a "realistic" way.  I stopped trying to role play.  I stopped playing my character with the imaginary morale code I instilled in him.  I stopped trying to immerse myself fully in this world.  And as a result, I began enjoying the game much more.  Its silly, game-like, unrealistic parts stopped bothering me.  In fact, I started exploiting them.  I stopped caring about any of the characters and  story and I began concentrating on using the game world as my own personal "funbox", its sole purpose to be a playground to level up my character and become as powerful as I could.  All was fair game.  If a saw something I liked, I would steal it.  Even if I liked the owner.  Morality be damned.   If someone mouths off to my character, or shows a hint of attitude, I take them out.  I joined the Dark Brotherhood (something I was against previously since I was a "good" character) and I am more than happy to kill anybody any of the many Daedric gods want me to kill.  They are all just obstacles in my new goal of leveling up my skills to the point of eventually taking out Dragons in one hit, or walking into a town and wrecking havoc.

 

I didn't want to have to enjoy the game this way.  I wanted to enjoy it by being fully engulfed in the story and game and playing it straight.  But that just resulted in frustration.  Too often the veil of immersion is broken by the game.  So I just gave up.  As compensation I kinda gave a story-related reason for this recent change to my play style.  I finished the main quest (a first for me in Elder Scrolls games!  Yay for me!).  And when I did, not much happened.  I just saved all of Skyrim from annihilation, single handedly too, and I wasn't honored for it.  I'd still be put in jail for stealing an apple from a merchant's cart (hey, a Dragonborn has to eat too!).  Here I am, the savior of all of Tamriel, and I am treated as any regular commoner!  Blasphemy!  After all the dragons I had slain, all the sacrifices and dangers I faced, I was rewarded with nothing.  So my character snapped.  All the power he acquired went to his head.  He felt entitled to praise, gold, women, a lavish castle, and instead the world shunned him.  As a result, he is now in a quest to get all by force.  He is not dumb though.  He plays by the rules when watched, lies and acts accordingly to get his way, but when the time comes he will show Skyrim the true power of Dovahkiig!

 

Hey, I do what I can to enjoy the damn game.  Stupid Skyrim.

 

Some more complaining . . .

I really dislike the new Xbox Dashboard.  Instead of streamlining things it seems to have made everything more difficult to find.  Looks like it was designed with Kinect in mind and  is not very intuitive in my opinion.

 

For example, after the update I downloaded a few game videos from the Game Marketplace (after I managed to find them in the new interface).  So I try to watch these new videos and when I head over to my "Zune Video" section nothing happens.  It tries to launch the video player for a split second and it just stops.  I never get any kind of error message.  No prompts. It just refuses to let me access any game videos I may have saved.  I check under my memory settings to make sure I have videos and sure enough I have about 5 saved which I seem to be unable to access.  Frustrating.  I give up, thinking it may be a bug and will be patched and feeling too lazy to look for a fix online.

 

About a week later I try again (I want to see those damn videos) but the same thing keeps happening.  The Zune video player refuses to launch.  I am locked out of being able to watch the videos that are saved on my HDD!  After much trial and error I end up clicking on the "Zune Marketplace", a place I never go to.  I am immediately told that I need to download the Zune Video App.  Umm, ok?  I download the player and voila, I can now launch my Video player.

 

Now, why in the world do you not get this message when you try to launch the player in the first place?  Why do I have to go to the stupid Zune Market place to trigger this?  That is just ridiculously stupid!

 

Bring back the original Dashboard with Blades!

 

Starhawk Beta . . .

I played a match of the Starhawk Beta the other night.  I had no idea what was going on.  I had no idea what the controls were.  I had no idea what the objectives were.  And I was not having much fun as a result.

 

Prior to launching the match I did try to prepare myself.  I looked in the options menu for a controller configuration screen.  Didn't find one.

 

I looked for a section describing the play mechanics or goal of a match.  Didn't find one.

 

C'mon folks! I don't find it much fun to play a game blind, learning the controls by trial and error, and figuring out what I should be doing by dying over and over and eventually figuring it out.  Why can't you include a very simple "How to play" and "controls" screen?  That would make the experience so much more enjoyable.

 

Ok, rant over.

 

Note, if the game does have this buried in the menu system, then I retract all my comments.  But I really didn't find anything.

 

Gaming update

I've been all over the place the last week or so with my gaming habits.

 

I haven't gone back to Uncharted 3.  After the exhilarating plane sequence I have kinda lost interest again.  Some of the battle sequences in that game are extremely frustrating.  A combination of a sudden difficulty spike combined with the iffy controls resulting in many deaths and replays.  I think I am towards the end so I hope to finish it this weekend.  And when I start wishing to just be done with a game so that I can move on to something else, I know it is ultimately a disappointment.  Shame.  Still looking forward to The Last of Us though.

 

I've starting playing Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.  It was released on PSN a few weeks back, all HD-afied, and I never played the original even though I've heard great things.  So far the game is enjoyable and runs at a smooth 60fps.  Gameplay is fun and different, but definitely showing its age.  I am only about 2 hours in though.

 

I have also somehow started playing Black-ops again.  It had been a while.  I still got it though, as I have been playing great without missing a beat.  I am surprised by how many people are still playing this.

 

Still also dabbling in Skyrim every now and then.  I'll play in one or two hour chunks periodically.  Entertaining, but it leaves me wanting more.

 

I haven't played Rayman: Origins in over a month.  Not sure why, I love that game and want to finish it.

 

I haven't started Bastion yet because I really want to give that game a fair shot (really enjoyed the demo) but I have been in such a weird, jaded mood with games lately I get the feeling I won't enjoy it if I start now.

 

Alright, fine . . .

This does not negate my previous post, but last night I was playing some more Uncharted 3 and I experienced two sequences that I found exhilarating (something I hadn't felt with this game until this point).  The escape from the tanker was great (started iffy to me).  But the following sequence involving a plane might be my favorite gaming moment of 2011 (even though I experienced it in 2012 . . .????).  I was practically laughing out loud because I could not believe what was happening.  Amazing.  Intense.  Brilliant on a technical level.  But more importantly, the first time I had ever experienced that.  Bravo for that sequence Naughty Dog.  I really hope more await before the game's end.  Maybe overall I'll come away with positive feelings on this one yet . . .

 

Uncharted 3 impressions

Uh-oh . . .

 

Something is wrong.  I am supposed to be having a great time with Uncharted 3.  But I am not.  Well, not completely anyway.

 

It seems to be a fine game.  It looks so good on a technical level it is stupid.  Just stupid.  Naughty Dog are technical wizards. The voice acting, like all prior games in the series, is excellent.  The interaction between characters has a natural flow that no other game can match.  It follows the same formula as the previous games too, both of which I loved.  But I am not enjoying this third installment much.

 

This happens to me from time to time.  I get jaded.  I get tired of the same old thing.  The very thing I used to love prior.  Maybe it is a normal progression.  Something is initially impressive.  It is the first time you are doing it.  Seems fresh, exciting.  So the stakes are raised, the excitement level increases.  But you reach a point when you become desensitized to it all.  The explosions and set pieces are bigger, but it is a road you have already traveled.  You know what the outcome is.  The veil is raised.

 

Wow, I am rambling at this point.

 

Uncharted 3, more so than the other games, feels very controlled.  In the sense that I feel like almost everything is scripted to the point where my input matters little.  Almost as if I am playing a modern version of Dragons Slayer.  I find all the platforming sections excessively boring, because it no longer feels exciting.  Or fun.  You are just going through the motions.  All the environments conveniently have ledges and railings for you to grab on to.  All your jumps are basically pre-planned and the animation seems canned.  Pre-determined.  Precision is not required.  You just press in the general direction and hit jump, no worries, Nate will get there.

 

Things then get predictable.  It is a sure bet that eventually a ledge will break off or a section will begin to collapse.  It is supposed to be exciting.  To give a sense of danger to what you are doing.  Except it is all canned.  There is no need to panic.  You are not falling to your death.  Just keep pressing that jump button at a steady pace and all will work itself out.  The excitement is just not there for me anymore.

 

The predictability continues with the story.  As has been the case practically every time, you make your way through a level trying to acquire an object.  You get said object.  You escape the area and are greeted by the game's antagonist who was waiting for you and takes the item away.  Rinse, repeat.  I am only halfway through the game and I think this has happened four or five freaking times already!

 

Like I said, I am jaded.  Uncharted does what it does very well.  I guess what it does just doesn't excite me anymore.  Shame.

 

Gaming update

The other day I attempted to finish the single-player campaign of Battlefield 3.  I didn't want to add another title to my huge list of unfinished games.  Plus it is supposed to be short.

 

Nope.

 

I am not saying it is not short.  It may be.  I am saying I couldn't finish it because I was finding the entire experience to be a dreadful bore.  Maybe I should have tried to finish MW3 instead.

 

Something about this game's single-player experience rubs me the wrong way.  At a glance it doesn't appear to be much different than any of the CoD games.  Fairly linear, action packed, and mindless fun right?  I was even enjoying it during my first session.  But BF3 just isn't . . . well, fun or exciting.  It looks nice.  The sound is amazing.  The set pieces seem to be good enough.  But I am bored out of my mind playing it.  It feels more controlled and scripted than any of the CoD games.  I found myself playing it simply hoping I would somehow reach the end, not because I was having fun.  Once that dawned on me I turned it off and I may not play it again.  At least not the single player.

 

Next.

 

Still sinking hours into Skyrim.  Yet I hate playing Skyrim.  Not that it isn't fun mind you.  Unlike BF3, Skyrim is actually fun.  But I feel like I am wasting my life playing it.  I start playing for a bit and when I glance up at the clock I've spent my entire evening sitting on my couch and I have barely advanced the story.  I can see this repeating for the next two months.  That may be a positive to some (you sure get your money's worth), but I can't shake the feeling that I could be doing other things.  Or playing other games which I would be able to complete after a few sessions and feel like I at least accomplished something.

 

I don't mean to knock the game for this, since really, that was Bethesda's goal for this game.  I am simply saying that this formula may not be for me.  Skyrim is a fine game.  Pretty buggy and it contains what I consider to be many design flaws and shortcomings, but any game that can make time fly by that fast has to be doing something right?  I see myself playing this damn game until August of next year.  And never finishing it.  I really should finish one of these damn Elder Scrolls games . . .

 

Next.

 

Alright, I am about to make my above argument about wasting your life not accomplishing anything completely moot, but I continue to sink endless hours of my life into Dark Souls.  I am now on my third run through the game on NG++.  Funny how perception works.  I find spending 4 hours playing Skirym a waste, when in those 4 hours I probably completed about 6 or 7 quests, found endless loot and gold, and experienced many unexpected encounters.  And yet I cherish my time with Dark Souls, a game in which you can actually spend 4 hours replaying the same section over and over and not really advancing the "story" at all because of a difficult boss or tough area.  Yet as crazy as it sounds, I find those 4 hours of Dark Souls much more satisfying than the 4 hours of Skyrim.  I may have to deeply analyze what it is about this Souls' series that just speaks to me as much as they do.  But I freakin love 'em!

 

Next.

 

So I finally started playing Uncharted 3 last night.  Finished about 8 chapters or so.  My thoughts so far are . . . well, they are confused.  It starts off on a different note from the other games.  It does some things with the narrative early on which is pretty cool and unexpected.  Sorry, trying not to spoil anything here.  The game is absolutely beautiful of course.  A technical marvel.  Yet I am finding it more scripted than prior titles.  Naughty Dog is going for major cinematic feel here and as a result the player seems to get less and less control in favor of cool camera angles and set pieces.  You still have some influence over these scenes, but it is all arbitrary and it makes me feel less in control than if they would have gone with just a straight up cut-scene instead.  I dunno, I am still collecting my thoughts on this one.  Maybe I am experiencing Uncharted fatigue after 2 titles.

 

I also still have Bastion waiting for me.  Definitely will start it after I am done with Uncharted.

 

GotY on hold . . .

I was going to start prepping my Game of the Year post and had my choices more of less worked out, but I just purchased Bastion on the 50% off 12 Days of Xmas sale and I definitely want to play it before I make any final decisions.  It is a title that always intrigued me and I have been meaning to play it all year.  I mean, it is not like I am playing 6 other games right now right?  Ugh!

 

Arkham City

It took almost 2 months, but I finally started playing (and beat actually) my most anticipated game of this year, Batman: Arkham City.  Arkham Asylum was my GotY when it came out 2 years ago so this game had a lot to live up to.  It does live up them.  It may no longer feel as fresh and unexpected as the original (how could it), but it is more of what made the first one great.  Just bigger.  A lot bigger. 

 

Maybe too big?  While the first game had a very focused narrative and you progressed through it in a pretty linear way, learning new abilities and unlocking gadgets along the way, Arkham City basically starts you off with most of your toys from the first game intact.  And while the main storyline will give you focus, it is very hard to keep that focus with all the side missions that pop up as you are making your way to your destination.  This introduces a problem with a lot of open world games in that you are often forced to break "character", but veering off the main story which oftentimes is time sensitive, to go off and do other things.  I won't spoil anything for those that haven't played it, but there is a pretty big incentive for Batman to hastily advance the main story for most of the game, yet the "gamer" in you wants to waste time collecting Riddler trophies or pursuing other side missions.

 

As far as game mechanics, the game plays just like Arkham City.  Meaning, very, very well.  Locomotion in this game is a total blast and traversing Arkham City with all your gadgets and abilities is just fantastic.  You feel like Batman as you zip around, chaining together moves into a graceful dance through the rooftops.

 

Combat remains the same as well, which is a good thing since the first game's unique combat  mechanic was one of its best features.  It may seem simple at first, one attack button and a counter, but it is actually extremely deep and complicated and practically overwhelming.  The number of moves you can unlock and techniques you can use is vast and certain enemies require different tactics.  Chaining together a perfect combo while surrounded by 10 enemies of various types requires an amazing amount of concentration, timing and precision.  Anyone that dismissing the combat as a "button masher" hasn't even scratched the surface of the nuances in the combat.

 

Now that I have beaten the main storyline, I am tying up all the side missions I am finding some annoyances.  Many of the side-missions do not let you advance them yourself.  You happen to come across a clue, investigate it, and need to find additional clues to continue the mission.  However, you do not know where that next clue will be.  You don't even get the general direction or area it may be located in.  You basically just have to keep exploring the entire city in hopes of getting close enough to the area to trigger the next part of the mission.  I find this poorly done and a bit annoying.  Traversing aimless through the city with no real direction hoping to trigger a mission is all kinds of "not fun".  Not sure what Rocksteady was going for here.  Encouraging exploration?  That is what the Riddler trophies are for, not side missions.

 

Speaking of Riddler trophies, some of them are very creative and fun to find.  However, I do think they went a little overboard and just put too many of them this time around.  400 trophies?  Ouch.  Sounds like fun on paper, but again, trying to find all these things can become pretty dull after a while.  But hey, your results may vary.

 

I don't want to end this post on a negative note, because the game really is great.  I haven't even mentioned the Catwoman sections (which I actually enjoyed quite a bit), or all the great bonus content and Challenge Rooms.  You definitely get your money's worth.  I only hope they release extra side-missions as DLC, instead of just these characters which can only be used in the Challenge Room stuff.  Being able to play as Robin in the main game on a few missions as a DLC pack is something I would definitely buy.  Or even just some more Batman side-missions.  Arkham City itself is too cool a place to not take advantage of.  Come on Rocksteady!!!

 

Rayman: Origins

Rayman: Origins is an odd game for me.  It is the first Rayman game I have ever played (I may have played demos of some of the other titles, or tried them out on an in-store kiosk), yet, I really want this game to do well and sell a ton of copies.

 

Unfortunately, Ubisoft seems hell bent on making sure this game fails miserably.  They released it in the middle of the fall game onslaught.  A death sentence for the majority of titles not currently tied to a AAA franchise.  Hell, they even release it on the very same day as another Ubisoft title, Assassin's Creed!  Talk about cannibalizing your own title! Throw in the fact that the title was originally planned as a downloadable, episodic game and it is now being released at full retail price with little fanfare or marketing and it seems they want it to fail.

 

Did I mention it is a cartoony 2D platformer?  Yeah, the cards didn't exactly line up for this one to succeed.

 

But this game is my biggest surprise of the year.

 

First of all, the most striking thing about it are the visuals.  Yes, the game is all hand drawn 2D art.  Sounds old school.  But it is the most visually impressive game I have played this year.  It is absolutely vibrant, colorful, with fantastic art design and the entire thing runs as a silky smooth 60 frames per second.  Not a single pixel in sight!  Watching this game running in high-definition is a real visual treat.  I cannot give enough accolades to the Ubisoft team.  I hope many, many titles are released using this game engine (UbiArt Framework I believe it is called), because the results are amazing and I wouldn't mind an explosion in 2D games.  Especially when they look, control, and run this good.

 

Not only does it look gorgeous, but once you begin to play it you realize that it plays fantastically as well.  The controls just feel right.  The character's momentum, jumping and "feel" is spot on, as is necessary in any great 2D platformer.

 

Gameplay follows by mixing things up occasionally and giving you enough variation to always be entertained.  You learn new moves and abilities and some levels have you traverse them different. There is plenty of variety here and it borrows gameplay elements from many of the great platformers from the past.

 

The music is also extremely well done and whimsical.  I dare you not to smile when the underwater music kicks in the first time you learn the ability to swim under the surface.

 

And that is my favorite aspect of the game.  It is extremely charming.  All the tiny details come together perfectly.  Tiny nuances in character animation, sounds effects, music, gameplay.  I find myself playing with a smile all the time.

 

The game can also be very challenging if you are a completionist.  Getting through the stages themselves is not too difficult.  But if you are trying to get all the collectables and unlockables in every stage prepare for a challenge!  The "chase-the-treasure-chest" stages are especially challenging, bordering on frustrating at times.  But they are very thrilling and encourage memorization and practice.

 

If you haven't tried this game out, at the very least download the demo.  But preferable, just go out and buy it!

 

Skyrim

So instead of doing the smart thing and leaving Skyrim – a game that I know I will be playing for 100+ hours - as the last game I purchase this holiday season, I went ahead and picked it up on 11/11/11.  Because that is just how I roll.  Long list of must-have games be damned!

 

My experience with The Elder Scrolls series dates back only to Morrowind, a game which took me a long time to "get", but once hooked I was blown away.  I sunk in well over 100 hours into Oblivion and I never even completed the main quest.  After Fallout 3, which I also enjoyed for the most part but never completed, I began to get a little tired of the Bethesda "formula" (now that I think about it, looks like I have never completed a single Bethesda game).

 

Their games are huge.  Offer a great level of freedom.  A rich history.  Great ideas.  Plenty of bugs.  Weird design choices.  And are hit in miss with a lot of what is going on.  NPC characters can show intelligence by going about their day, having routines and giving off a real world feel.  Yet you can place a bucket over their heads and rob them blind, or walk into their homes at night and wake them up from their slumber to ask them what they have to sell and they behave as if that is a perfectly normal thing to do.  Like I said, it is a give and take.

 

But one thing I will give their games is that they are extremely addicting.  The type of game where once you complete a dungeon or quest, you tell yourself you will just check out that one landmark off in the horizon, or do one more thing before you stop playing, and next thing you know another 2 hours have passed.  You get addicted not so much to leveling or finding gear as you do in other RPGs, but in exploration and discovery.  I have my issues with some of the design and play mechanics, but they work well enough to keep me plowing ahead.

 

I am not sure how much time I have devoted to Skyrim, but I'd estimate about 15 - 20 hours or so.  Some random thoughts and observations:

 

- Textures can be pretty awful (360 version).  Yes, I did install it onto the HDD, but I tested it out without the install and they were still pretty bad in spots.

 

- That being said, when the visuals align at the right moment, they can be very effective and atmospheric.  Still not as big a leap as I was hoping from Oblivion, but massive open world games like these will always have to compromise in the visuals somehow.

 

- God I hate having to go through load screens whenever you are entering/leaving buildings.  Technical limitations of the hardware, I know, but still very annoying.

 

- I have discovered that I have a very distinct play-style that I gravitate towards in all Bethesda games.  The stealthy long-range fighter/magic user.  I just love sneak attacks with the bow and then going off to hide.  Sure, it probably takes me three times as long to complete dungeons this way, but I find the stealthy approach very satisfying.

 

- Bears should not be this difficult to take down!  A bear should not require 10 arrows to the face and 5 or 6 fireballs to take down!!  These things are monstrous!  WTF?!  It is a bear, not a furry tank!

 

- I do love the dragons.  I love how they show up randomly patrolling the skies and the audio cues you get when they are near.  It is really damn cool.  And scary if you are in a spot with no cover, because going toe-to-toe with a dragon (at least when you are a stealthy archer) without a place to hide is a death wish!

 

- I do love all the random events that seem to occur based on the game's rules, like coming across a bandit camp that just happens to be getting attack by a pack of wolves, or leading a dragon to a populated area and having guards come to defend the town (aiding you in the process).

 

- I really like that the "main" quest does not seem to be as urgent as in Oblivion, allowing me to veer off and explore and do side-quests without breaking character.  Seriously, it felt really odd ignoring the main quest in Oblivion to help someone deliver a message, giving the urgency of that storyline.  In an open world game like this, with so many options, you want to let the player feel like they can explore without breaking the immersion of the world and storyline.  Something that happened in Oblivion to me by me choosing to gather herbs instead of, you know, saving the world!  Felt guilty about that.

 

I'll continue to sink most of my free time into Skyrim.  Believe it or not, I still dabble in some Dark Souls every now and then.  I also caved and ordered Rayman: Originas and Batman: Arkham City from Amazon during the Black Friday deals, so I should have those in my possession very soon.  Yup, gaming overdose indeed.

 

No progress . . .

So many games out that I need to pay.  Yet I am stuck on Dark Souls.

 

Not stuck as in I cannot advance in the game.  I beat it this weekend.  65+ hours.

 

Stuck because as soon as I finished it I started a New Game+ and haven’t looked back.

 

What I should be doing is shelving the title for now and pick up Batman.  Or Uncharted.  Hell, I bought MW3 last night!  And do you know what I did?  I played one on-line match, turned the game off, and then played Dark Souls for about 4 hours.

 

I need help.

 

More Battlefield . . .

Played some more single-player missions last night and I am starting to see what the majority of reviews pointed out.  The campaign is extremely limiting and there seems to be practically no freedom to improvise.  It wants you to head to that next waypoint, so you better follow that waypoint!  Most games suffer from this but it seems to be taken to another level with Battlefield for some reason.  As amazing as the visuals look, the world feels hollow and detached.  Just a pretty backdrop that you can’t and shouldn’t interact with outside of what the game is telling you to do.

 

Played a few more on-line matches too and the game fares much better there (as its supposed to).  Still not feeling 100% comfortable in my skin but I am getting there.  Been playing the Rush mode and I am getting the feeling that a lot of new players to the series are trying to play this like CoD, because there is very little coordination or teamwork at the moment.  In fact, nobody even talks on your team!  It can get frustrating when it seems like I am the only person trying to capture/protect an objective and everyone else is running around playing the game like team deathmatch.  There’s a playlist for that guys!

 

Dark Souls, Battlefield, not enough time . . .

Dark Souls continues to consume pretty much all my free time.  I must be a masochist and didn’t even know it.  I am about 50 hours in and instead of getting tired of it, I am enjoying it more and more.  I’m currently addicted to forging weapons.

 

I only have one serious issue with the game and I am hoping it gets addressed soon with a future patch.  There seems to be an occasional “input lag” that occurs far more often than I want it to, usually involving me pressing the R1 button to attack and my character ignoring me and then deciding to attack 2 to 3 seconds later.  Except that with combat being how it is in this game (strategic, relying heavily on defense and counter attacking), a 2 to 3 second lag can kill you since you missed your window to attack and are now starting your animation to do so right when your enemy is stabbing you through the face with his weapon.  Very, very frustrating and it happens enough to be a problem.  Please fix this guys!!!

 

I have been enjoying Dark Souls so much that I have yet to pick up Arkham City, a game that I am DYING to play!  Probably my most anticipated game this year.  As a result, I refuse to start playing it until I can give it 100% of my attention.  So I am using all my willpower to hold off on it for now.

 

I did pick up Battlefield 3 last night for the 360.  As much as I love Dark Souls, having a second game to play along with it is a good thing, since DS just permeates dread and sorrow and darkness from its every pore, and mixing it up with something else is good for your psyche.

 

After installing the day 1 patch, the “HD content pack”, and installing both discs to my HDD, I was ready to play about 20 minutes and 15GB later.

 

I played through the first couple of missions and after having read some pretty abysmal things about the single-player campaign, I found them to be solid enough.  The visuals are excellent (as long as they are not compared to the PC version), the controls feel good and the sound is by far the best in the FPS genre.  Play this game with headphones (or a great surround set-up) if you can.

 

I played about 2 multiplayer matches as well and aside from feeling completely overwhelmed and lost (I am new to the Battlefield franchise) the game has potential to get me out of my “I only like CoD online” state of mind.  In fact, it already took some steps in that direction since I enjoyed the Rush play-mode a lot more than the Team Deathmatch one I played (the only mode I play in CoD).  I think once I get over the growing pains of learning how this multiplayer works, all the ins and outs and intricacies, I can see myself having a great time with it.

 

I’m still trying to figure out how I am going to juggle Uncharted 3, MW3, and Skyrim next month.  Might be ugly.  On the wallet and my personal life.  Oh, and I gotta squeeze Forza 4 in there eventually.  Eventually.  One thing is certain, I am playing Arkham City before all those.

 

Well, maybe . . .

 

Dark Souls

I am descending a spiraling staircase; shield up and sword ready, which is the only way to explore uncharted territory in this hellish world.  The stone walls of the castle’s tower slowly illuminate in front of me with my every careful step.  I had just dispatched a dozen well-armed undead soldiers moments before, fairly easily too, so my confidence was high.  I was, after all, wielding my newly acquired Drake Sword which cut through my recent enemies like a hot knife through butter.  Yes, me and my Drake Sword can take on anything that awaits us in the darkness ahead.

 

I turn the final bend of the staircase and am confronted my an hulking beast of a knight, clad in white heavy armor and wielding a massive blade which dwarfs mine!  Panic strikes momentarily as I clumsily backpedal back up the staircase, monstrous knight advancing towards me with menacing confidence.  I backtrack to an open area where I have room to maneuver and await my foe, his footsteps creating ever louder metallic clanks, my pulse rising with each one.  I consider fleeing the tower completely.  Maybe I should head back to the safety of my previous battleground where the bodies of the undead soldiers still lay.  But it is the very thought of those fallen soldiers that keep me in place.  I have the Drake Sword after all!  Surely, this white knight knows not what awaits him.

 

He emerges and I am once again taken back by the size of his weapon, which must be as large as me yet he casually carries it on his shoulder as if but a twig.  Without hesitation he charges, swinging that tree trunk of a blade towards me!  I dodge the attack and see an opening to counter.  I swing my sword and connect cleanly!  The sword bounces off his armor, barely making a scratch!  I stare in horror as the white knight faces me again, readying his next attack.

 

That is when I realize my mistake.  I forgot what game I was playing.  This is Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls spiritual successor.  This game does not care that I have the Drake sword.  It does not care that I have been able to hold my own with the previous enemies.  It does not care about me at all.  It is here to teach me a lesson.  To remind me that it is in control and that I will never be able to rest in this world.  I will never be able to breeze through it.  That no matter how strong I get, or what weapon I find, there is always something out there, in the darkness, that can and will destroy me if I get overconfident and feel like I can take on the world.

 

So the white knight brings his massive blade down upon me and I raise my shield (which is about 1/3 the size of his weapon) in a feeble attempt to absorb the blow.  It cuts through my defenses and in one strike I am dead.

 

The words “You Died” appear on the screen but they very well may read “Welcome to Dark Souls, bitch!”

 

Touché Dark Souls.  Lesson learned.

 

God I love this game.

 

Gears of War 3 impressions

I have a weird relationship with the Gears of War series.  I enjoyed the first two games.  At times even loved them.  Yet in hindsight or while revisiting the titles after a few  play-throughs, I find them particularly bland, restrictive, predictable and scripted.  I wasn’t too excited for part 3 despite enjoying the prior games.  Maybe because once the adrenaline rush and the chaos on screen subsides, I find the GoW formula pretty bland.  But this being the end of the trilogy I wasn’t going to pass it up.  So, I picked the game up upon release and finished the campaign.  Some single-player  impressions . . .

 

- Gears, like many other action titles (I’m looking at you Halo) has always done a pretty poor job of conveying the story to the player.  The developers tried to make this game more cinematic, since there are a ton of cut-scenes, but just adding cut-scenes is not the best way to tell a story.  Especially in an action game.  Much like Killzone 3, GoW 3 breaks up the action way too often for absolutely no reason.  50% of the cut-scenes could be removed and told through actual gameplay and the game would have been infinitely better for it.  C’mon developers, this is a game!  Whenever possible, keep the player in control and move the narrative forward that way.

 

Story-wise, for being the end of this trilogy, the game leaves several questions unanswered.  I’m guessing that was intentional to keep the series going, but I was hoping for a little more closure and answers.

 

- This game was built with co-op in mind, even more so than the other games.  And not just 2 player co-op, but 4.  This is fantastic when you are playing with your friends, but playing through the game solo I found it to be a bit of an annoyance at times.  Far more so than the previous games.  I was cursing at my team-mates for getting in the way of my crossfire or bumping me from cover, or most annoying of all, for blocking my path in narrow spaces and not letting me advance.  This happens enough to be an issue.

 

Your teammate A.I. is also hit and miss.  They actually do a great job at taking down enemies and are not just there to look pretty.  They will take guys out by themselves and toss plenty of grenades, making your job easier.  So much so that on a few occasions they began to engage a wave of enemies up ahead while I stayed back to collect ammo and look for collectibles and while I was making my way to them I received the objective complete/checkpoint message because they killed all the enemies themselves.  Way to go guys!

 

The downside to the A.I. is that they are a bit too gun-ho for my liking.  They charge into the heat of battle, often going toe-to-toe with a wave of enemies without taking cover.  Luckily there is no friendly fire because I would have killed many a teammate while firing from cover 20 feet away and them standing right next to the enemies.

 

- One if my biggest complaints about Gears is just how formulaic is comes off.  Especially after three games.  The gameplay is basically moving from one location to the next, getting “closed in” by the environment, and a wave of enemies appear/emerging out of nowhere.  When the final enemy is killed, you hear a distinct sound effect, the area is safe, and the next location opens up.  It feels far from organic.  This was my problem with Dead Space 2 as well.  And is the formula many games follow.  Maybe I am just becoming jaded again.

 

The battle “arenas” are a lot larger this time around, offering you plenty of opportunities to flank and take different approaches, but the game still comes off as very closed off and linear.

 

- Visually the game is a complete homerun.  Best looking 360 game in my opinion.  The Gears series has always been known for its visuals, but I have found flaws in each of the previous games.  Each provided some jaw dropping moments, but there were always plenty of sections, levels, or textures that looked pretty bland and half-assed.  Not the case with Gears 3.  The game is just gorgeous and a lot of it has to do with the MUCH improved lighting.  Gears 3 is vibrant, even colorful at times.  A lot of it takes place during the day and the sunlight is glorious.  It really adds a lot to the overall visuals.  In the prior two games I always found your character to have an almost  “paper cut-out” or bad blue screen effect to him, where his colors and the light reflected on him did not match the environment.  Always looked odd to me.  That is no longer the case thanks to the fantastic lighting effects.

 

There is one section towards to the end of the game, an on-rails shooting section which takes place underwater, and the visuals are simply breathtaking.  It looks like nothing else in the Gears series and caught me completely by surprise.  Very, very impressive stuff.  Looks like Epic has really mastered the Unreal 3 engine.  If other developers can get this performance out of the engine going forward, then I can easily wait for the next-gen consoles for another couple of years.

 

- Overall, I enjoyed the campaign, despite its predictability and slightly stale gameplay.  One note, the game is FAR easier on normal difficulty than I remember the previous games being.  I breezed through it and began playing a bit reckless as a result, since I didn’t really fear taking plenty of shots from enemy weapons.  I am sure if I would have started it on hardcore my overall experience with the title would have been better.

 

I wonder what direction this series will go.  I am hoping they try something completely different and explore other areas of the story with completely different play mechanics.  Should be interesting.