Moving To A New Site

For those who may have been coming to this blog, I'm moving to a new collaborative site with my friend. Here's the link:

http://savepointsite.blogspot.com/

Torchlight 2 Too Memory-Intensive For 360

It would seem Torchlight 2 requires more than 512 MB of RAM to run properly:

Max Schaefer, the Runic Games CEO, told Eurogamer that the first Torchlight just barely fit under XBLA's file size limit. While file size is not the issue here, memory is, Torchlight 2 would still need to be "comprehensively redesigned" to get on the Xbox 360's download service.

http://kotaku.com/5827880/torchlight-2-is-too-big-for-xbox-lives-memory-limit

It Would Appear The Age Of WoW Is Over

WoW is down from their peak of 12 million to just 11.1 million players. Trends show it will just keep falling. Perhaps we have seen the end of the behemoth known as World of Warcraft?

http://kotaku.com/5827577/world-of-warcraft-still-losing-players

Too Human's Third Anniversary

Just thought I'd give a shout-out to the guys over at SiliconKnights.net. They're holding a big contest/event for Too Human's third anniversary, with co-op and developer chat for all. Head on over to SK.net to see the details:

http://www.siliconknights.net/

Personally, I loved Too Human, especially its premise and combat, but the game did have some big flaws. Word is a sequel's on the way, so hopefully those issues will be resolved by then.

Pandaren Finally Coming To WoW?

And I quote:

With Blizzcon only a few months away, a trademark filing has surfaced hinting at what could be one of the last big hurrahs for the aging MMO.

Dated from last week in the US, it's for something called Mists of Pandaria...

Honestly, it's about time Blizz caved in to fanboy demand. At least now the Alliance (who will inevitably get to play as them) will look even more ridiculous and childish than they did before, what with all the Chinese Tony the Tigers running around. I wonder what race the Horde will get...

http://kotaku.com/5827221/is-world-of-warcraft-taking-giant-man+pandas-a-little-more-seriously

The Key To Sony's Success

Sony's first-party studios (and second-party as well). This has also been the key to Nintendo's success.

If Microsoft had been smart, they would have realized this and begun buying up developers left and right at the dawn of this gen. Instead, they offloaded Ensemble, lost Bungie, gave up on buying BioWare before EA did, and handed the most overrated game developer of all-time, Peter Molyneux, a big fat cheque so he could continue churning out Fable 1 with minor improvements every couple of years.

Also note that FASA Studios, of MechAssault fame, was similarly killed by MS.

http://kotaku.com/5827180/just-how-many-game-studios-does-sony-own-anyway

Single-Player Games > Multiplayer Games

Personally, I couldn't give two shits about most Multiplayer games (except for wanting many of them to fail so that developers can stop wasting money trying to dethrone the latest Call Of Duty clone on Xbox Live and go back to making interesting, unique and immersive games).

I find Single-Player games to be vastly more entertaining, require far less set-up, and are as intense or laid-back as you choose to play. As well, there is also something to be said for the unique nature of Player-vs-Player gameplay, but I prefer Co-Op over PvP any day. I would rather help someone succeed in the game alongside myself than stomp them into the dirt, and vice versa.

http://kotaku.com/5826946/look-single+player-people-are-just-better

After Months Of Consumers Not Giving A Shit, Nintendo Drops 3DS Price And Pisses Off Fanboys

Title says it all.

Personally, I've been hoping for the 3DS to bomb horribly and kill this asinine 3D fad once and for all, so this can only be seen as good news. Maybe now Nintendo will suffer for choosing Casuals over Hardcores, though I'm not holding my breath.

http://kotaku.com/5827105/nintendos-president-addresses-3ds-owners-who-may-feel-betrayed-by-sudden-price-drop

Ah, Serious Sam, I Heart You

Serious Sam + Contra + Weapon Of Choice = win.

Looks Like RAGE Isn't Just Another FPS

Kotaku's done a preview of this likely-to-be-awesome FPS that certainly intrigues me.

If you like Fallout games and what sounds like a decent story, check it out:

http://kotaku.com/5826646/rage-is-the-id-software-comeback-ive-been-waiting-for

Review: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

Price: 1200 Points

Two reviews in one day? I know, I can't believe it either. Here goes:

PRESENTATION

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet's (ITSP) story is pretty simple: some parasitic lifeform takes over its parent world, infects other nearby planets, and then, at the start of ITSP, fires off a colony of parasites to infect and devour the star of our protagonist's home planet. The infection spreads from there to said planet, and so begins our journey. It is up to Nameless Protagonist In A Ship to save his planet and its star from the same fate as the other consumed worlds. This is all told wordlessly in cutscenes that are expertly drawn and animated, something I particularly enjoyed.

There are a series of bosses you must fight in ITSP, each unique in its own regard. Some fights were interesting, others meh, but all were certainly fitting.

Needless to say, the art itself is a masterpiece. A beautiful Samurai Jack-esque art style combined with a few flourishes of originality lead this game to looking like quite possibly the most unique game of the year.

As for ease of use, it is a given in a game as polished as this.

GRAPHICS

Well, again, it goes without saying that this game has spectacular graphics. The art style alone is memorable and noteworthy, but the cleanness and beauty of the graphical implementation itself is flawless. Whether in still frame or in motion, it's just beautiful. I really can't praise these graphics enough to do them justice.

SOUND

Dimmu Borgir, a band that my buddy Joe loves (http://lazyassgamer.blogspot.com/), allowed the developer of ITSP to utilize their more epic pieces for both teaser trailers as well as in-game music. Personally, I wish the music was a bit more prominent during gameplay, as it all sounds a bit empty, but overall it's not too bad.

The sound effects are quite good, and suit the gameplay well. No complaints.

GAMEPLAY

ITSP isn't the longest game, but in that relatively-short timespan, you will experience a very fun and addicting game. I myself was hooked from the moment I began to play it until I had finally beaten the last boss after dying several times.

I should mention that ITSP does have a 4-player multiplayer co-op mode, called Lantern Run. It's possible to play this solo, but it's incredibly hard. I played about 40 seconds of it before dying on solo, so I can't speak for its quality, though it seemed like it could be fun.

You fly around in a little UFO thing that attains gadgets it can use for various tasks as the game progresses. The "meta" gameplay is very much like Shadow Complex or Metroid, but on a shorter, smaller scale: the game map is big, but not huge, and you'll explore all of it quite easily. For those who have never played the aforementioned, it can basically be summarized as "lots of backtracking" and "open exploration concept", however in ITSP, the game pretty much forces you down certain paths, even more so than other similar games.

As you progress, you will attain gadgets that you can use to assist you against enemies and bosses. These include a Laser weapon that is good for mowing through swarms, a Grabber Arm useful for latching onto things, and an Energy Shield. The variety is quite good, and you can assign up to 4 to "Hotkeys" (i.e. the face buttons A, X, B, Y). This is quite handy, though I do wish they had allowed the D-Pad to be utilized in addition to or in place of this, as there are more than 4 gadgets you'll be wanting to use regularly. One gadget in particular that is very useful is the Scanner you start the game with: when you scan enemies and notable terrain, just like in Metroid Prime, it will let you know their weaknesses or what you need to use.

Scattered throughout the world are Artifacts and Concept Art pieces, the first of which awards an Achievement for finding all 18 of them. If you keep an eye out, these aren't hard to find, and certainly provide a secondary set of goals for the player, particularly with regards to backtracking.

In addition to this, there are upgrades littered around the map for your main gun and your ship's defenses. The first of these is found early on, but the others require map exploration, as each needs 3 or 5 (for 2nd or 3rd upgrade) pieces for completion. This also awards an Achievement.

ITSP has some few puzzles that require a bit of thinking, as well as boss fights that aren't straightforward and predictable in nature. Usually I find this kind of stuff to be annoying, and requiring me to go look up solutions on Google, but for the most part the answers were quite intuitive. A few I had to think about after a liberal bout of swearing and frustration, but nothing too notable.

One thing I should note is that, when you die in ITSP, you simply restart from your last save point. You don't lose anything, and enemies stay dead, though bosses will reset. Some hardcores will be BAWWWWWWWWing about this I'm sure, but for me it was welcome.

One of the few flaws of ITSP, I should note, is that when the camera zooms out or there are lots of enemies on-screen, the game suffers from slowdown. Nothing crippling or annoying, but certainly noticeable. As well, when zoomed out, unless you have a big TV, it will be difficult to see where your ship is sometimes.

ETC.

One thing of particular note that bothers me is that, in making ITSP, they seem to have had to cut a lot of cool things they had shown in the trailers and preview pics (one instance above), as well as a few elements of the game (such as the Samurai Jack-esque explosions). Hopefully this stuff makes it into a sequel.

SUMMARY

ITSP is a fantastic game, though it is fairly short. Would I say I got my money's worth? Probably. Maybe 1200 Points is a bit high, but for the polished nature of the product as well as the beautiful art design, I would say it's worth it. There are no recycled areas, and the gameplay does shift well, depending on what weapons are required as well as what section of the game world you're in (I note in particular, the Electrical Zone). Overall, I would say ITSP is a worthy Summer Of Arcade title in the same vein as Castle Crashers and Shadow Complex, and thus, I am rating it a Buy with a value of 85.

Achievements - 170/200
Hours Played - Probably around 8 hours
Game Completed - Yes

My Rating - 85 (Buy)

Review: Warhammer 40,000 - Kill Team

 Price: 800 Points

So here we are, my first review. I guess I should state what my criteria is and how we will go about this (taken from my Review page):

My Reviewing process is somewhat different from other blogs/websites. I typically won't run-down a long list of things everyone expects in any decent video game these days; therefore, anything I don't comment on you can assume is either not particularly noteworthy or is a given (ex. whether the controls are good, etc.).

Each review will be separated into 5 categories:

Presentation

       - Story, art, ease of use.

Graphics

       - Self-explanatory. Also, any weird bugs related to such.

Sound

       - Music, sound effects, etc.

Gameplay

       - Controls, difficulty, "fun factor", etc.

Etc.

       - Anything else I can think of (ex. replayability).

I have also decided on utilizing a combination of Ratings: a numerical one alongside a Buy/Rent/Forget qualifier. The most important of the two is the B/R/F: I don't care how amazing a 4-hour retail game that costs $60 is, if it's over before I get my money's worth, it's a Rent at best. The numerical value will be out of 100, to better specify where in the B/R/F range it is (ex. a "Buy" game with a low Buy score of 80, indicating it is worth picking up, but perhaps not right away).

B/R/F scale:

0 - 60: Forget

61 - 79: Rent

80 - 100: Buy

As well, yes I am aware of game rental stores shutting down en masse. Replace "Rent" with "Borrow From A Friend", "Get Used", etc. if necessary.

Now, without further ado, my review:

PRESENTATION

Kill Team's story is pretty basic: Orks are invading an Imperial Forge World via a big "Kroozer" ship, and you have to stop them. This line of thought continues throughout the game's length, with a few shifts in theme once the Tyranids arrive. The story culminates in a fun boss battle with a machine that has never been fought before in any 40K video game, which I of course enjoyed, being a huge fan of the lore.

Personally, I'm sick of seeing Orks in every 40K game, though thank God Chaos doesn't get their millionth time in the limelight. The Tyranids showed up in Dawn Of War 2 after relentless whines on Relic's forums, so I guess they're taking Chaos' place now, though I can't imagine why: Nids and Orks are basically the same, tactics-wise.

Anyways, the art itself is typical 40K fare, though the transfer to the 360 has been done well, I must say. Very dark, very dirty, crude in the right ways, etc. Certainly great by Arcade standards.

The game's menus are suitable as well, and overall the game is easy to pick up and play.

GRAPHICS

Though there are a few flat textures and rough edges typical of this gen's game engines (think UE3 shine, though not quite as much in Kill Team), overall Kill Team's graphics are quite good. There are some weird moments in the selection menu where your guy will spawn in on the screen all fucked-up and contorted like a circus act, but otherwise the graphics and wireframes function properly.

SOUND

 

The music is recycled Dawn Of War stuff, though being from DoW, it's not bad music at all. In fact, it's basically become 40K's de-facto theme music by now. As it was Jeremy Soule who created it, of Elder Scrolls fame, I'm not one to object.

The sound effects are standard stuff you'd expect: explosions, sword swipes, bullets firing, etc. I believe these are also mostly recycled from DoW.

GAMEPLAY

When playing KT, I tried out both Singleplayer and Co-Op, with my buddy Joe (http://lazyassgamer.blogspot.com/). KT only has 2-player Local Co-Op.

KT singleplayer is certainly possible, unlike many other games with a focus on co-op modes, though not a cakewalk. Mobs can be a bit overwhelming at times, but with a Sprint button smartly-placed on the LT and Special Attacks that power up over time tied to the LB, one can definitely manage. You can also use Grenades that you find in power-up pickups, though I found them to be a last-resort weapon at best, due to scarcity and fixed throw distance.

There are power-ups in KT, each of which benefits the player in some way. My favorite is probably the Quad Fire: nothing like firing 4 missiles at once.

Melee is tied to the A button, and Shooting is done via the Right Stick: I find this system works quite well, though Joe had some issues with it initially. There is an auto lock-on for melee attacks from a short distance away, which certainly helps when fighting off the hordes of Orks and/or Nids, and when playing as a Melee class, every now and then you will cast aside the enemies arrayed around you in a big attack that usually kills all of them.

There are four classes: the Vanguard Veteran, the Techmarine, the Sternguard Veteran, and the Librarian. For those of you who do not know much about 40K, let's just say this isn't your typical Librarian :-P

The Vanguard is the dedicated Melee class, easily capable to tossing aside the elite Nob warriors of the Orks at full strength. The Sternguard is the dedicated Ranged class, equipped with heavy weaponry to mow down swarms of mobs. The other two classes are a combination of these two: the Librarian better at Ranged than the Vanguard but worse in Melee, and the Techmarine better at Melee than the Sternguard but not as good at Ranged.

Each class has its own Special Attack: the Vanguard charges forward at super-speed swinging his weapon before setting off a radial blast, the Sternguard simply fires a torrent of shots, the Librarian sets off a delayed radial blast around him, and the Techmarine gets the best one of all, a turret :-P

Seriously though, the Tech's turret is worth playing that class alone. It's immensely useful when defending a position, and recharges fast enough to basically act as the equivalent of a brain-addled third player (it only fires every now and then) :-P

Throughout the game, as you rack up points by killing mobs and blowing shit up, you will unlock "Perks", which are basically permanent power-ups: +5% Health, +15% Ranged Damage, etc. You can equip 2 of these per character, and once you unlock one, everyone can use them (including co-op people).

ETC.

One thing of particular note that Joe and I found odd was the fact that, in Co-Op, only the First Player can unlock Achievements. Whether this was an attempt to keep people from going to their friends' houses and earning Achievements without buying the game or a crude attempt to lengthen gameplay time, we cannot discern.

As well, as for KT's replayability, I would rank it as quite good, depending on your tastes. There is a Survival Mode that you can play, based on the 5 large levels in the campaign, as well as the ability to replay each of the 5 levels over again with all your unlocks.

SUMMARY

Overall, I found KT to be quite fun, and it lasted a good while too, clocking in around 10 hours or so (of course, we played through the game twice for Achievements and for the hell of it, so judge accordingly). If they made a sequel to this game, I would certainly buy it. As it stands, however, I cannot fully recommend Kill Team, due to its short length (compared with other games in general) and its somewhat limited replayability (you will unlock everything by the campaign's end). That said, it is still a great game, and thus I am giving it a score of 80, in the lower end of the Buy category, indicating it is worth picking up if you're looking for a good co-op romp.

Achievements - 105/200
Hours Played - Probably around 10
Game Completed - Yes

My Rating - 80 (Buy)

Games I Am Playing - August 2011

This monthly post is for games that I am currently playing for the purposes of review. I might play other games, such as World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Killing Floor, etc., but they will not be listed here.

As well, I should note that I reserve the right to post my review when I feel it is ready, and when I can find the time to either complete the game or complete enough of it to satisfy myself: this is not my main job, it is my hobby, and as such this stuff comes second to life and work.

CURRENTLY PLAYING

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Ms. Splosion Man
Trenched

The Next Shadow Complex?

Granted, I haven't been keeping an eye on this game, but wow. It's like Shadow Complex, but you're flying around in a lost episode of Samurai Jack in a UFO. I figured it was going to be something of a Pixeljunk Shooter clone, judging by the trailers, but this revelation bumps ITSP into Must Buy territory:

http://kotaku.com/5826593/it-looks-like-metroid-starring-a-flying-saucer-but-it-plays-a-little-differently (VIDEO)

For Mass Effect 3, Fans Pick Angry Barbie Doll

So BioWare, in their wisdom, decided to hold a Facebook poll of sorts to see which custom-designed female Shepard they would utilize in marketing Mass Effect 3.

Personally, I think this was a huge set-up. I mean, look at the Barbie's competition:

Three butch chicks, an emo, and a creepy Russian dominatrix from 1985. Note Barbie's the only blonde in the bunch as well. My runner-up would be #3, as she looks the least scary/pissed-off/BAWWWWWWWWW, but even so, the blonde Barbie beats her by a mile. Better/unique hair, intense but not scary look, blonde hair contrasts well with the black/grey armor, etc.

Oh well. At least they didn't have us choose between Fantasy-style armor and standard Mass Effect armor. I think everyone knows how that poll would go.

(For the record, I roll custom male Shep. Never understood the need for a guy to play as a female character, never will)

http://kotaku.com/5826702/fans-picked-the-blonde-in-a-controversial-video-game-beauty-contest-but-thats-not-a-bad-thing

I Believe This Will Quell Any Doubts As To Space Marine's Difficulty

Just in case you had any doubts:

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-ex-warhammer-40000-space-marine/17-4640/

(VIDEO)

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Will Have Co-Op (Eventually)

Despite evidently shipping with no Co-Op mode(s), it would appear Space Marine will indeed have Co-Op at some point in the future, according to posts made on the game's website forums.

Honestly, I cannot wait for this game, so having Co-Op would only make this game even more awesome than it already is.

To quote THQSledgehammer:

Space Marine will have Co-Op, we have more details headed your way soon.

http://www.spacemarine.com/forums/topic/2055?page=4 (Post #50, at the bottom)

Borderlands 2 Confirmed?

Not that it should surprise anyone, but it would appear Gearbox is developing a sequel to 2009's Borderlands. Personally, I enjoyed Borderlands for what it was, but certain elements of the game (in particular, the Zombie Island DLC) just felt either underdeveloped or overly difficult.

Borderlands 2 is in development at Gearbox Software, Eurogamer understands.

We've heard an announcement from publisher 2K Games will be made soon.

A source close to the game told Eurogamer the Gearbox-developed shooter will release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next year.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-02-borderlands-2-confirmed-source

Dragon Age 2 No Longer On Steam

Well, it seems Steam (and by extension, Valve) have gotten a bit more up-front with their monopolistic tendencies. No longer content to simply have a de-facto stranglehold on the Digital Download market, now they have decided to make it legally-binding for any publisher/developer who wants to sell games and/or DLC via Steam:

The EA and Steam saga marches ever onward. Dragon Age 2 is no longer available on Steam, apparently pulled just as the new "Legacy" downloadable content was released. No reason has been given by Steam or EA regarding the absence.

This wouldn't be the first time a game was pulled from Steam in recent weeks. When Crysis 2 disappeared from Steam, it seemed like a shot across the bow of Valve's digital service as EA aggressively marketed its own service, Origin. EA claims the issue was merely an "agreement with another download service which violates [Steam's] new rules."

Eurogamer notes that the game's removal coincides with the release of the "Legacy" DLC for Dragon Age 2.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/69452/dragon-age-2-missing-from-steam