Get Ready To Point And Click

This Wednesday, July 15th, something I’ve been waiting a very long time for is going to happen. The Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition will be released for download on Xbox Live Arcade and PC.

To those who didn’t play it when it originally came out years ago, it is an old school point-and-click adventure game. It may not have all the bells and whistles of a new HD console or PC game, but what it lacks in flashiness, it makes up for with its awesomely funny dialogue, great characters, and a truly fun-as-hell experience – and it was the first game I think I played that Tim Schafer worked on (Brutal Legend comes out soon!!). Check the trailer, and download it on Wednesday.

- Goodchild

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What I've Been Doing, and What You Should Be Doing

photo courtesy of IGN

For the last few weeks, I have been mildly obsessed with [Prototype], the new game from Radical Entertainment.

I really wanted to finish the game before sharing my thoughts, but it took me a dang long time, since I there was just so much to do aside from the missions. And while everything is exceptionally fun, taking my time with the game also let me see its (few) flaws as well. Let’s start with those, since this will mostly be a glowing review.

The story of the game starts off at the end – you are a super powered viral freak, 18 days after a major infection has spread throughout all of Manhattan. The military is out in full effect trying to maintain order (and keep the virus from spreading off the island), but there are monstrous mutants wreaking havoc all over the city. You play as Alex Mercer, who seems to be patient zero, and within whom the virus has taken a unique form – Alex can jump over buildings, glide through the air, mutate into different combat forms, run up the sides of buildings, throw cars at helicopters … the list goes on. So, starting at the end, fully powered and causing destruction, is fun, but you must realize what comes next – the flashback. So, jump back 18 days to Alex waking up in a morgue. He has no memories, and doesn’t even know he has powers yet. I don’t mind the taste of the good life to come before having to learn it all over again, but as the game starts as a flashback to a specific point in time my problem with the story is that if I run around doing all the side quests and not the main missions while the sun rises and sets over my head 25 times – well, that was more than 18 days, wasn’t it?

photo courtesy of IGN

This nitpicking is far from the only problem the game has. The targeting system can be horrible at times, refusing to catch on to close and/or strong threats. Many times I found myself on a rooftop, surrounded by Hunter mutants and helicopters, only to have my targeting system lock on to the “hive” building across the street. Also, while the graphics in the game are pretty good, they’re nothing spectacular, and they stay the same. What I mean by that is, from the beginning of the game, all of Manhattan is open for you to explore. And, since running around as a super powered freak is ridiculous fun, explore you will. But that’s it – you can easily plug anywhere from 15-20+ hours into the game if you take the time to go after everything, and the sights never really change, and all the brownish buildings do kind of get a bit boring. Staying with the graphics, there is also a problem with pop-ins coming through the dreaded haze. At the beginning of the game, I climbed up to the top of the empire state building and looked around, and the haze wasn’t all that bad – but as the infection spreads throughout the city and more and more of it is on fire, it’s hard to see a few blocks ahead of you sometimes. The pop-in graphics sometimes don’t pop-in until you’re right within a few meters of them, which also makes finding all the collectible landmark orbs in the city a lot harder – you can be on one rooftop looking at another, not see an orb, and then jump over to it and there it is.

But this all aside, this game is pure fun and enjoyment. While I knew it would be heavy on hand to hand combat, I had no idea that the game was a huge open-world brawler, whose combat mechanics reminded me of old school favorites like Streets of Rage. I must have been more than 5 hours into the game before I realized how cool the combat was, and I spent about 2 hours just running through infected streets brawling with mutants in various forms – not a mission, just having fun. The RPG elements of earning experience points to spend on new powers and moves were great, and truly rewarding.

photo Courtesy of IGN

Once the flashback has started, as I said, you have to learn all the powers you tasted in the opening scene. You start off being able to do a few cool tricks, but right around the time you are able to upgrade, the enemies get harder (hello, hunters!) and make you plan out your upgrades. I got this damn cool claw power, running around with lady deathstrike-esque hands and ripping people to shreds – then I met the hunters and had my ass handed to me. So, upgrade to the hammer fists, and then I could hold my own. And once I got the whip fist power and could hijack helicopters mid-air …

The (main) missions started out a bit run of the mill for me – I was ok with that because the game was so fun, but I thought they would be like that for the rest of the game. Nope. Right when you’re getting used to things, the hook comes and you get stripped of powers, forcing you to plan different attacks and new strategies. The missions get varied, the boss fights are cool, and the learning curve is just about spot on.

If you just stick to the main missions, you can probably run through the game in about 10 hours – but as I’ve been saying, there’s a ton of other stuff to do. Race events, challenges to get a certain amount of kills with certain weapons, and these really cool gliding events, where you jump from a rooftop, glide towards the target and try to land in a bulls eye. There are the landmark orbs I mentioned – 200 of them hidden throughout the city, plus an extra 50 hint orbs. And if that’s not enough, the in-game military is constantly setting up new bases to fight the infection – and each new set up is a new chance to infiltrate the base and consume key personnel in order to upgrade your abilities. Plus, once you finish the game, you can play through again using all the powers you’ve built up your first time through.

The game is nothing but extremely fun, and has more than enough to keep you coming back – if you haven’t played it yet, get to your local retailer and plunk your money down – you won’t be disappointed.

- Goodchild

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Thoughts on E3 (Part V)

Looking at Sony’s offerings at E3, I wasn’t all too enthused with everything – but the two games I drooled over the most were over in their camp.

Starting with the obvious, God of War 3 will simply be the coolest action game ever. The series may not be as hardcore as the Ninja Gaiden series, but in terms of sheer visceral fun, it simply can NOT be beat. I don’t even know where to begin in talking about this game – at the end of the second game, Kratos and the Titans were climbing Olympus to fight the Gods. Well, it’s war, and it’s war on the appropriate epic scale. Don’t believe me?

Watch this, but then remember to wipe the drool off the ground before you slip on it and hurt yourself.

Video Game - E3 2009 - Videogames

But even that wasn’t as titillating as The Last Guardian. Team Ico, the developers behind Ico and the other-worldly Shadow of the Colossus (one of my absolute favorite games ever), showed off the trailer for their new game – and it looks just as epic and soaring as I hoped it would. Even more than GoW3, this looks to me like it will be the number 1 reason to own a Playstation 3 when it releases.

Video Games - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

- Goodchild

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Thoughts on E3 (Part IV)

Rounding out my thoughts on Microsoft, I’d be remiss not to mention The Beatles: Rock Band. Awesome – play through the Beatles’ career, which is the best music, and the “instruments” it comes with are super cool representations of the real instruments they used. Combine that with the chance to harmonize, and you don’t need to say anything else.

So let’s talk Project Natal.

Microsoft pretty much blew everyone away with the demo of their new motion sensing camera peripheral (project name, Natal). They showed a 3d tech demo where a girl interacted in a 3d space in order to play a 3d variant on the old Breakout formula – hitting balls as they came to her to knock out blocks at the end of the space. Also was its ability to recognize faces and voices. At the show, it was on the floor where people could play an insanely fast racing game – Burnout Paradise – without using a controller – simply by mimicking the motions of driving, much as the girl in the trailer does in the previous hyperlink. But as cool as all that seemed, this was the coolest part of it. Lionhead – the studio that made Fable and Fable 2 (which was my pick for game of the year last year) has been messing around with the Natal technology, and if you watch their Milo video, you’ll see that the possibilities for the technology are vastly interesting and ridiculously appealing – and knowing that Epic Games and Bungie have already been looking at it makes my dreams all nice and fuzzy (in a good way). It might be a long time off, but I am seriously counting down the time until this platform launches and I can play around with it in my home.

- Goodchild

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Thoughts on E3 (Part III)

Moving on, Ubisoft, WHAT THE HELL?!?! When I saw what SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION looks like, I had to get a crank to pick my jaw off the floor. Now, I’ve always been a fan of the Splinter Cell games (Chaos Theory FTW!!!!). I love the stealthy nature of the game engine – the way they use natural and dynamic lighting to help and hinder you makes each level a giant puzzle, and the games are always fun as hell. And, let’s be straight here – I’m talking about the single player campaigns in the games, and not even the multiplayer. The co-op levels are always awesome, and the spies vs. mercenaries multiplayer is so radically different than other games it’s amazing. But the one thing I’ve heard other people complain about is the pace – too slow. Personally, I like the methodical slow pace – it gives you time to strategize and is a welcome break from the frantic shooters I play a lot of. But now – Sam is moving a lot faster, deftly climbing across ledges, rushing silently through the shadows, and brutally attacking his enemies head on.

While all this looks incredible, there’s one part of the trailer above that I’m really interested in – the way the story unfolds, almost in real time around you as you play. Mission objectives display themselves largely against objects in the game – kind of like the way the title of each episode appears in HEROES. Flashbacks and whispers are seen and heard against the walls as Sam moves through the levels – this new way of telling the story of the game shows that developers are really trying to break away from the “cinema, gameplay, cinema, gameplay” structure games have been stuck in for far too long. Games, while similar to movies, are NOT movies and thusly need to find their own voice as an artistic medium. Ubisoft has tried something like this before – in the previous generation of hardware, they put out a pretty cool trilogy for the Prince of Persia series. While you (as the prince) ran around the levels, the female lead in the game would talk to you, and this was how most of the story and character development was learned – not through cinema. It was a cool experience, and this looks to take that to even greater heights.

- Goodchild

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How a Judge in Ohio Got Something Right, While Being an Idiot

taken from Cleveland.com

If you’ve been coming to Highlark for a while, you might remember a post I made about a few stories in the news about teens that were convicted of murder, where gaming and games were mentioned. To recap, one of the stories was about a teen in Ohio. When Halo 3 released in September of 2007, the teen played obsessively – around 18 hours a day (which is just ridiculous). Recognizing this obsession, his parents took the game away from him and forbid him to own or play the game. Well, one day he went to his father’s lock box, took out the 9mm handgun, went to his parents room and told them to close their eyes – he had a surprise for them. He shot them both, killing his mother and severely wounding his father, and then he took back his copy of the game and ran from the home.

Well, I’ve been waiting to find out what the sentencing would be like in this case, and now it’s in. So, life in prison – GOOD. Eligible for parole in 23 years – not so good, but he was a minor, so this is still a fairly harsh sentence.

What I don’t get are the judge’s comments. “The other dangerous thing about these games, in my opinion, is that when these changes occur, they occur in an environment that is delusional. Because you can shoot these aliens, and they're there again the next day. You have to shoot them again. And I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea, at the time he hatched this plot, that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever.”

Really? To play a video game, there are many steps that you have to go through in order to begin, so let’s just break this down. First (provided it is a home console such as the Xbox 360 – the one that you’d use to play the game in question – and not a portable, handheld system), you have to go to a designated area – usually a living room, den, bedroom or wherever the home entertainment center is. You have to put the television on, and you have to put the video game system on. After making sure the correct game is in the disc tray, you have to pick up a controller, which you will use to control everything. You select the correct icon on the system menu that starts the game, and then you have to wait for the game to load. As the game loads, you see the logos for the various companies that made the game possible – Bungie for developing the game, Microsoft for publishing it. Then there is main menu. From here, you can choose what kind of game to play. You can start a game from the beginning, or load a save and start from where you left off the last time you played. The game will them load again and bring you to your choice. You’ll watch cinemas starring science fiction characters that have no place in reality, on planets that don’t actually exist – situations made possible by technology that isn’t real inside of storylines concocted by a paid writer. All the while, you have to stay in the one designated area for the game – if you look away from the television, the illusion is over.

So, if someone were to somehow blur the line between a game and reality – if they somehow forgot all of these steps and thought that the real world around them was in fact a fake one they can boot up in their living room – then they would have to be truly delusional, horribly out of touch with reality, and possibly mentally deranged. Normal people cannot understand the delusional or deranged – that’s what separates the two groups. So if this judge does a better job than the defendant could do explaining how real video games are, and how they can cause delusions leading people to believe their loved ones are scripted characters that can be killed and then rebooted into existence, then doesn’t that mean he’s also delusional and, quite possibly deranged? Is it just me, or does it seem that with an ignorant and dangerous statement like that, shouldn’t this idiot be removed from the bench he sits behind and sent off to a padded cell somewhere??

Anyone else agree with me?

- Goodchild

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Thoughts on E3 (Part II)

Sticking with the Microsoft announcements, how about we take a few moments to discuss some other big guns they showed at their E3 conference?

First, ALAN WAKE. I’ve been hearing about this game for quite some time, but all I really knew was that it was a huge budgeted title falling somewhere in the survival/horror genre. Now that the trailers are out, I’m stoked. It looks like someone was playing the Silent Hill games and said: “Hey, this game is atmospheric and creepy as hell. You know what movie was like that? In The Mouth of Madness. Maybe we should make a game that is like a cross between the two.” You play as Alan (a writer) himself, and you and your special gal take a trip to a sleepy town … when suddenly she disappears, and a terrifying “darkness” envelopes everyone and everything in the town. Weird, though – it’s straight out of your next novel. To find your love, you have to drive the darkness out of the town, and find the pieces of your manuscript to catch up with the forces at play. Or, are there forces at play? The whole thing could be Alan going insane – these fears will play into the game.

Great graphics, interesting gameplay, and an odd (but intriguing) story to boot – sign me up.

- Goodchild

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Game of the Week: Virtua Tennis 2009 - Just in Time for the Culmination of Clay Court Season

If you’re anything like me, you’re passionate about tennis.

If you’re not that much like me, but you are a gamer, then there’s a good chance you love a good tennis video game, even if you have no interest in the real sport. And if your tennis affiliation lies in the virtual world, then you should hit your local game retailer this week – Virtua Tennis 2009 releases June 2nd!

Now, don’t you worry – I’m not going to start talking about the French Open that is going on at Roland Garros right now. I won’t mention that Andy Roddick isn’t fooling anyone by getting in to the 3rd round, or that it doesn’t matter as Rafa Nadal is unbeatable in France (and don’t talk to me about Federer beating him in the last tourney, Nadal owns him and you know it). I won’t talk about the women’s game, or about how I want Serena Williams to show the rest of the ladies in the world who is boss.

Instead, let’s talk about gameplay and how Virtua Tennis always delivers great gameplay like a slicing second serve by Nadal himself – easy to get a bead on, but with so much English on it that it takes a long time to master. The controls in the Virtua Tennis games are simple enough to pick up and play by just about anyone almost immediately. You can pop the disc into the tray of your console of choice (the game releases across all major platforms), and can start playing and having fun within minutes. At the same time, though, there are nuances and skills to be learned, and mastery of the game is a rewarding experience. And skills will be learned – there are 12 mini games to play, in the ridiculous style of past iterations of the franchise. All the fun (and they are FUN) to be had with them will build you skill for the career mode, where online rankings can have you compete with players around the world.

I love this franchise for its fun, arcade take on a great sport – anyone planning on getting it to challenge me on Xbox Live?

- Goodchild

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About Damn Time! Fallout 3 DLC coming to PS3

photo from G4tv.com

Goodchild shot me an email letting me know of this great news so I thought I'd share it with everyone.... DLC (Downloadable Content) for Fallout 3 finally coming out for PS3! I was definitely pissed that they would neglect PS3 owners with the extra missions and perks for this awesome game, but now I can rest easy.

Anyway, read the article at G4 TV for the details.

- Sonic

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Bringing the Awesome: Prototype

I recently tripped over to the webpage for Radical Entertainment’s current project - PROTOTYPE.


Holy.

Mother.

Of.

Zeus.


Alright, so this game has been on my radar since I first heard of it a year or so ago, and everything I’ve seen from it has been just amazing to look at – but nothing is as bad ass as what I just saw on the site.
Once you go to the page, click ABOUT on the top left, and then click PARKOUR in the DNA strand on the left of the page.

Watch … and salivate accordingly. This is no joke, ladies and gents – the threat is very real, and very close.

June 9th is the release date, for Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 … and though it’s less than a month away, it just can’t come fast enough.

- Goodchild

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Game of the Week: Bionic Comando

Anyone who had or knew someone who had a Nintendo knows the game Bionic Commando. I mean, seriously –a platformer game where you can’t jump?! And it’s cool as hell?

Well, fan boys and girls, rejoice – your time is here. A series reboot is releasing on May 19th!

Beautiful new 3d worlds to swing around in, sweet graphics, cool gunplay, Mike Patton voicing the lead character, and … the ability to jump! I’m stoked. Download the multiplayer demo now onto your Xbox 360, and look for me on there.

Oh, but first, check out this all-sorts-of-awesome video Capcom made for the game.

- Goodchild

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Game of the Week: NBA Live 09

I've been slacking on the game of the week posts lately mainly because I was heavily addicted to Valkyria Chronicles, but in light of the NBA Playoffs going on I bring this series back with NBA Live 09. I've played 2K9 which seems to be the more popular choice but I think Live is a much better game.

The Dynamic DNA feature updates real life stats to game play everyday. It's not just rosters, but in its simplest form if a player is hot in real life, he is hot in the game. It's not just hot or cold either, it is also applies to areas on the court and play selection. You can even replay a real life game that happened last night with the stats from that game. I know the regular season is over, but it's pretty crazy what games can do these days. Basically the game is very realistic which also makes the game very hard. I couldn't win a game even on Starter Mode for a bit but you can really get into it whether it's doing pick-and-rolls, calling plays or actually playing defense!

Check out the link below for a more detailed review and features.

+ NBA Live 09 Review [IGN]

- Sonic

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Game of the Week: Grand Theft Auto - Chinatown Wars (Part II)

continued from Part I

The missions so far (I’m nowhere near done with the game yet) are typical GTA fair. Steal cars, drive stolen goods around, intimidate people for money, kill people for money and power, deal in the drug trade, race fast cars, etc. The thing is, it all works perfectly. Driving is a treat, and simple to control. As your map is on the bottom touch screen of the DS, while the game’s action takes place on the top screen, the game compensates for having to look down at the other screen by using an automatically straightening out your car if you are driving on a road. It won’t make turns for you, but this comes in mighty handy while involved in high speed pursuits. Pursuits that will happen very often, as anytime you bump into a cop car, they will come after you – but this is one of the game’s most fun aspects. Cops chasing you, and having a wanted level, turns the game into a round of bumper cars as you need to smash the cop cars up in order to lower your wanted level.

The touch screen is not only used for the map – in the pause screen, it’s a touch screen PDA with all the pertinent game info. When you steal a parked car off the street one of a few different mini games may pop up asking you to perform tasks – jam a screwdriver into the ignition and jiggle it, open the steering column and twist ignition wires together, or hack into the computer and start the car electronically. The varied uses of the touch screen are really fun and seem oddly organic in the game experience – they never seem simply tacked on just because there’s a touch screen to use.

Out of the cars, it is extremely easy to lock onto targets with the right shoulder button for either melee attacks or to fire at them. Running around is fun, especially hopping over walls to look for new dealers. Oh, right, the side game.

So, remember when you were in high school and you had that Texas Instruments graphing calculator? In my math classes, all the kids and I had this game called DrugWars on it. No graphics, just text. The point of the game was to buy drugs at low prices in one area from one dealer and sell them at higher prices in another area. Well, aside from all the missions and story in GTA:CW, and aside from all the hidden things to search for and find, properties to buy, aside from territories to explore, and aside from random people to run over and terrorize, there is a side game that is like an updated and way cool version of DrugWars. The main reason that I’m nowhere near done with the game is because I’ve spent maybe 50-60% of my time with it just running around town buying cheap acid, ecstasy, coke and weed and then selling it to fools across town who don’t know how cheap I just got it for.

All in all, the game is way more fun than I thought it would be, or even hoped it would be. It seems there is no shortage of things to do, and everything works well when doing them. If you’re a hardcore gamer and don’t mind a few dozen F-bombs every few seconds, dust off your DS and pick up this game as soon as you can.

+ Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review [Gamespot]

- Goodchild

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Game of the Week: Grand Theft Auto - Chinatown Wars (Part I)

On my commute home from work today, I managed to defibrillate a patient 3 times to keep him alive, all while also driving the ambulance as fast as possible to avoid the entire police department, who just so happened to be chasing me, blocking the roads to cut off my escape, and shooting at me with automatic weapons from helicopters. I got the patient back to where I was told to drop him, and the boss, so happy I got him there alive, proceeded to cut his heart out and laugh maniacally about it.

Put the kids to bed – the Nintendo DS has a brand new bag.

Take 2 Interactive, parent company for Rockstar Games has released Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for everyone’s favorite touch screen handheld game system, and in doing so has breathed fresh life into it again for hardcore gamers over the age of 15. I knew the game was rated M, and that it was so for all the things that make GTA games rated M – violence, drugs, sexual situations, a plethora of swear words, and plenty of situations no child could possibly understand. But still, this is the DS – surely on Nintendo’s family friendly handheld, a console so hugely popular and such a big part of children’s lives that some schools in Japan require the students to have it, the over the top adult antics would be muted in comparison to the home console versions?

Nope.

Now, I’m a fan of the GTA series, and always have been – but since the series moved to 3d with GTA:3 for the PS2, I feel that there are plenty of problems with many elements of the core gameplay (maybe not driving, but melee attacks, shooting controls, target locking, hit detection, graphical glitches, etc.). It seemed that the more seriously the series took itself, the more the games were trying to say as satires, the less the developers focused on fixing the basic controls of the game. Missions where you’d only have to drive were always fine, but anytime you had to get out of the car and interact with other characters under pressure of mission parameters was a maddening trip into control hell – in all of GTA:3, it’s 2 sequels, and GTA:4, there were plenty of missions that I had to do over and over again – mostly, it seemed, because the controls worked against me. As cool as the games were, I pined for the good old days of GTA and GTA:2, with their bird’s eye view of the action, simplistic controls, and sheer fun factor as they never took themselves too seriously. So, when I heard that Rockstar Games was going back to basics for the DS game, I was ecstatic – and so far, the game has not disappointed me at all.

The lightly cell shaded look the game has is cool as hell, and makes Liberty City more aesthetically appealing than its GTA:4 counterpart in HD on the home consoles. The map of the game is huge for a handheld – it is, for the most part, 4 of the 5 boroughs of Liberty City from the GTA:4 map. It has Broker (Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (The Bronx), and Algonquin (Manhattan). Even the Roosevelt Island and Liberty Island facsimiles are here, leaving only the electronic version of New Jersey out. I’m cool with that.

Cut scenes play out as motion comics, without vocal work – and I think that helps it, as all the characters are so over the top the acting would probably detract from the intended comedy – and it is very, very funny. But, this does not mean there are no voice overs in the game – random passersby will say things, continuously catching me off guard. Prostitutes ask if you want a piece of their pie, dealers ask if you want to get fucked up, civilians scream for social uprisings. And the audio cues in the game, from tire squealing to gun play to flatlining patients in the back of your ambulance, are excellent.

to be continued.

+ Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars UK Review [IGN]

- Goodchild

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Game of the Week: Valkyria Chronicles

I am playing this game now so why not it be the game of the week? I am a fan of strategy games and once I played the demo I was definitely sold. Valkyria Chronicles uses the Canvas graphics engine which makes it look like you are watching or reading a graphic novel done in water color. This style is definitely unique and it brings a whole different visual gaming experience.

It has that anime/manga feel which at first made me think this will be unchallenging, but the missions are a little tricky even from the start. It took me a few missions to get a hang of the different characteristics of different troops and all the extra options the game gives you.

Check out the trailer and the link below for more details. Valkyria Chronicles is available for the Playstation 3.

+ Valkyria Chronicles Review [IGN]

- Sonic

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Game of the Week: Final Fantasy XII

screenshot by Swotti

It's a bit of a throwback, but I must have spent over a hundred hours easily on this game. I am talking about Final Fantasy XII, which is the latest of the FF series. As far as PS2 games go it probably has one of the best graphics, and it is the realest of the FF series. The maps are huge and extensive and the battle system is really awesome. Unlike the RPG standard turn based fighting, the enemies are visibly around on the world and fighting commences once you get close enough.

The only thing I didn't like about the game was that the sidequests eventually become a lot more interesting than the actual story. Also as great as the sidequests are, some of the sidequest bosses have a gazillion HP and it literally takes an hour to beat. If you can withstand the battle for 10 minutes you are obviously strong enough to beat him, there really isn't a need to keep fighting for that long.... but I guess that's why they are called sidequests.

Anyway, a great RPG and you can get it for really cheap now. Check out the links for more details about the gameplay and go here for a quick gameplay video.

+ Final Fantasy XII Review [IGN]
+ Final Fantasy XII Review [GameSpot]

Oh, one more thing. If you haven't seen the gameplay trailer for the upcoming PS3 game Final Fantasy XIII, do it now! It looks insane. FF 13 should be out at the end of the year, definitely one of the games I am excited for.

- Sonic

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XBOX Live Deal of the Week: A Deal I Can Sink My Teeth Into

So, I previously posted my professed love for Fable 2, though I’d never played the original game. Man, oh man do I still love me some Fable 2.

So, I was just sitting here watching Korea play Japan in the World Baseball Classic (the bottom of the first inning was one of the most exciting and incendiary half innings I’ve ever seen played in a game) after having watched team USA come from behind in the bottom of the ninth to eliminate Puerto Rico, listening to some Led Zeppelin while surfing the net a bit.

Guess what I found out? There’s a pretty sweet deal over on Xbox Live. Get the original Fable for 33% off!

I’m still not done with all I want to do with Fable 2, but I’m grabbing this now so my time in Albion is even longer!

Game of the Week: Fable 2 - Why Our Very Own Sonic Hates Peter Molyneux (Part I)
Game of the Week: Fable 2 - Why Our Very Own Sonic Hates Peter Molyneux (Part II)

- Goodchild

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Game of the Week: Fallout 3

The game of the week is Fallout 3, which won game of the year last year at GameFly and bunch of other sites. I just beat the game and I am kind of sad I did. I won't be getting super anal with the trophies/achievements but I will definitely be playing it some more. Much like Fable 2 this shooting RPG allows you to control the type of character you are. You can be a good human being or a totally psychotic scumbag and anything in between. I played as a good character the first time around so I will probably play it again as a douche bag next time.

Considering the massiveness of the Fallout 3 world, I felt there should have been so many more side quests. The last bit of the main quest was kind of easy and short as well, but those are really my only complaints about the game. The freedom you have in the game is great. You can explore the entire map from the beginning of the game (as long as you survive), and do any quest you want as you encounter them. The only real order you have is the main quest which you will go in and out of as you do your other quests. I had a lot of fun playing this game, but instead of me trying to explain what the game is about and all that just watch the clip above.

- Fallout 3 is available for the XBOX 360, PS3 and PC systems.

+ Fallout 3 is no-brainer for Game of the Year [MSNBC]
+ GameFly names Fallout 3 Game of the Year [G4TV]

- Sonic

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Pre-Gaming: Star Wars - The Old Republic

Bioware.

If you know games, you know the name. They make some of the best role playing games (rpgs) ever. Mass Effect. Jade Empire. The Baldur’s Gate series. And, perhaps my favorite: Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic.

SW: KOTOR was released between episodes 2 and 3 in the theaters, and it did something that, at that point, I was convinced could not be done. It told an excellent, engaging and well written story in the Star Wars universe. With the tepid taste of those horrid prequels refusing to dissipate from my palate, this game surprised me incredibly by making me remember why I had liked Star Wars in the first place. The game remains one of the best I’ve ever played.

Well, Bioware is at it again. Star Wars: The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer online rpg (or, mmorpg). This means it will be a bigger, better and an ever changing experience – and, it will be a lot more social, being able to potentially play with thousands of other people.

But what’s the background on the story, you ask? Well, why don’t you check out the new web comic that just launched and find out?

+ Star Wars: The Old Republic First Details [IGN]

- Goodchild

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Game of the Week: Fable 2 - Why Our Very Own Sonic Hates Peter Molyneux (Part II)

continued from Part I

So, I got it, took it home and booted it up – and proceeded not to sleep for about 2 weeks. Within 5 hours of game time, I’d downloaded the expansion to the game, knowing that, even though I was nowhere near done, I needed more, just to know there would be more was ok …

I hadn’t played a fantasy RPG in a very long time, and wasn’t looking forward to an extremely convoluted interface – my roommate started playing Fallout 3 around the same time, and the game just looked so epic in scope – both in gameplay and in mechanics – that I found it to be a bit daunting. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find Fable 2’s mechanics almost too easy to navigate. One button for melee attacks, one for magic, one for ranged weaponry – all color coded to the buttons on the controller. The control scheme worked perfectly, providing easy access for people new to the genre, and plenty of depth for those looking for more.

The story was extremely engaging, to the point where I found myself not even wanting to complete the main quests because there were plenty of character building menial side tasks to undertake. I don’t want to give too much of the story away here – basically, you start as a kid, and this royal jerk tries to kill you. Luckily, he’s too arrogant to make sure you’re dead, and you are nursed back to health by an ancient mystic who reveals to you that you are of heroic heritage. And so, you quest to bring together a group that will help you take revenge on this royal jerk. But … there’s just so much more.

Each town you visit has its own working economy, which you affect with your actions. If you run around stealing things from people, the economy (rents, prices, etc) plummet. If you buy properties and lower rents, and spend money in the shops and bars, the economy shoots skyward. And you will spend money in the bars –

How about this for an achievement list? Get five people drunk in under 3 minutes. Marry one person while already married to another. Participate in an orgy. Kick a chicken a “respectable” distance. Commit an act of public indecency. Actually, that was the first one I got, pretty much – not liking the clothing I started in, I immediately took them all off, and when I went over to a guy and used an expression he found too suggestive … The achievements drove me more than they have in any other game I’ve ever played. I’m not 100% done with them yet, but I’m close and I won’t stop until I’m there.


The visuals in the game were really great. While obviously not overly “realistic” looking, the aesthetic used was a very colorful one (when appropriate – at times it was very dark, but it always seemed to be perfectly what it needed to be). And the inclusion of starting a family, having kids, and having townspeople the entire world over react to your every choice in the game really did something for the feel of travelling around. That, coupled with your faithful dog following you everywhere and showing you where to dig for treasures, and helping attack downed enemies really made the experience of playing through a solo game as one where you weren’t actually alone. I know a lot has been said about Fallout 3, and I’ve only watched (about 30 hours of) it so far and not actually played it, but I do like the feeling in Fable 2 better, than the empty lonely wastelands of post-apocalyptic D.C.

All in all, I truly believe Fable 2 to be one of the better rpg’s I’ve ever played. If I had just gone through the main story quest, the game probably would have only been at most 10 hours long. But as it stands, I’m not done with my first play through yet and I’m over 40 hours in – which is why Sonic, the editor here, is probably mad at Peter Molyneux. I’ve been playing so much that I haven’t been writing enough! I may have gotten a great deal on it, but this game is well worth the money at any price.

+ Game of the Week: Fable 2 - Why Our Very Own Sonic Hates Peter Molyneux (Part I)

+ Fable II [IGN]

- Goodchild

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