Ok I have to admit that I have heard quite some mixed reviews for Star Wars the Force Unleashed so i had to grab this game and try it for myself. Let me start by saying that Darth Vader is a full fledged pimp. That being said I also think that the ability to force throw 7 foot Wookies needs to be incorporated into every game. Even better is using a Wookie as a bowling ball that you can hurl into other Wookiies.
The environments are for the most part fully destructible, which is a great touch for throwing enemies through trees. Targeting different enemies can be a bit challenging to get a hang of but once you get that down using the force powers like throwing your lightsaber is very fun. Fighting the first Rogue Jedi was an interesting battle when you realize that he is taking Tie Fighters out of the sky and throwing them at you.
So far the game seems to provide some open ended ways to dispose of enemies and interesting ways to use the force to get your job done. Cut scenes and voice acting are spot on and really provide great background to the game and pull you into the story. So far the Force Unleashed looks like a good time to be had.
Stay tuned for a full review of the game very soon.
Nostars brought us some of his thoughts on Phantasy Star Portable so I thought we would share them with everyone. Thanks bud!
First, the basic controls are very similar to those of the prior Phantasy Star online titles.
D-Pad – Controls Camera/toggles through menus
Analog Stick – Moves character/Aims weapon in first person mode
X – Switch weapons/cancel in menus
Square – Main Attack
Triangle – Secondary Attack
Circle – Interact/pick-up/accept in menus
Left Bumper – Centers Camera/Strafe if held
Right Bumper – Alternate commands/weapons
Select – Switches to first person mode, handy for using the rifle.
Start – Brings up menus
Graphically, I am impressed. They were able to retain the artform of prior Phantasy Star titles, while translating it well to the PSP’s graphical capabilities. The beasts are different from the prior games, so that’s a plus. The bosses do bare a striking resemblance to creatures from the previous games, as do the lesser beasts and bots, which to me is ok, since I’ve been removed from Phantasy Star for a while. Read More »
I just got my imported version of Phantasy Star Portable for the PSP from Japan. (Special thanks to my bro for hooking that up) The game is completely in Japanese and so far has no option to convert to English in any way so you either have to find a Japanese friend or tough it out. Luckily the game itself is very easy to follow and if you played enough Phantasy Star Universe like I did you will be able to pick out the symbols on screen and figure out what is what.
The game itself runs smoothly and pretty much is a scaled down version of Phantasy Star Universe for your PSP. Many of the same items, mobs and planets make another appearance in this version and one huge difference is the rate at which you gain experience, which is much faster in the PSP version. I played for about an hour in order to figure out the layout to create a character and navigate around the menus (agian these are all in Japanese) and managed to get my character to level 10 fairly easily. Read More »
If you were not aware EA released a new mode for Battlefield Bad Company called Conquest, which was released because many gamers were anxiously waiting for it. If you have an Xbox 360 and thought that the update that popped up automatically just recently gave you Conquest mode you are dead wrong as I was, you actually need to download Conquest mode from the marketplace. This was a bit annoying, but even worse is the fact that unless you specifically choose to play Conquest from the menus you will continue to get the old mode over and over.
Conquest mode boils down to a game of CTF mixed with King of the Hill, there are random flags scattered through out the maps that you and your squad need to capture and hold to win. The flags that have not been captured you can run up and sit next to it for 15-20 seconds to raise your country flag and capture it and if you find an enemy captured flag you need to bring their flag down and raise your own, which will take a bit longer. The new mode is nice to mix up the monotony of just playing 1 mode over and over, but it needs to be incorporated into the regular Quick Match settings and would have been nice if it would have installed without having to go to the marketplace seeing as the actual download isn’t very large and the PS3 version updates automatically.
Battlefield Bad Company has a very steep learning curve and I do recommend people playing the single player first to get a hang of the different controls. This version of Battlefield tries hard to put a more personal touch to the game by making you play as a main character during the single player campaign. The game tries to bring in some one liner jokes here and there to keep things light-hearted in between the killing and destruction. One of the most impressive things in this game is the ability to level buildings in order to get to objectives. You can use grenades or rocket launchers to blow a hole in the side of a building and get to an enemy.
There are a good number of vehicles that can be used ranging from a jeep and a tank all the way to boats and helicopters. One complaint I do have about the game is the multiplayer mode. That’s right, it only has one mode so far. It is fun but I can see it getting old after a while. The team based play is pretty fun and the different classes of characters each have their pluses and minuses. So far I have focused on the demolition and support characters. The demolition character gets a rocket launcher and a shotgun while the support character can drop med-kits for teammates.
The game has a fairly robust system to track all of your different achievements in the game as well as your rank as you kill more enemies and do different things during multiplayer like get objectives. Bad Company so far has some great aspects to it, but I can see a big minus on the multiplayer side because of the lack of modes and options. Stay tuned for a full review of this bad boy real soon.
I just got a copy of Guitar Hero: On tour for my Nintendo DS and I got a bit of time to try some of the songs and the peripherals. The game comes with a hand strap/grip, guitar pick (stylus), stickers and the game. The hand grip has four buttons on it, which correspond to different notes similar to the console versions of Guitar Hero with one button missing. One major difference in gameplay is the usage of Star Power is easier on the DS version, all you have to do is scream into the microphone to activate, if your in public you can also hit the D-pad.
After playing around with the DS version of Guitar Hero a few things jump out at you very quickly: you will need good pair of head phones to hear the music in order to enjoy this properly, you will need to get used to the timing on a small screen as the notes scroll down and you will need to take breaks every so often to stretch your hand. The grip of the game and getting to the buttons is awkward at best, I have bigger hands so getting to all four buttons is not optimal. Also the more you play the more your hands will inevitably cramp up since they will be stuck in the same position for a few minutes at a time, the game actually begins with a warning and tells you to try different positions to help with this.
So far the concept of Guitar Hero DS is great but the implementation although solid just does not translate well. I think the biggest problem for the game will not be the gameplay itself but the awkward grip and people being displeased with how it feels over time. Look for a full review of this bad boy quite soon.
I spent a good deal of time the past week with the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Beta. I’m not typing that again, so I’ll call it SSFIITHDR Beta from now on. That’s just as hard to type. We’ll figure something out.
If you’re in your late 20’s to early 30’s, you grew up with Street Fighter II (and it’s various iterations) in the arcades. I spent countless hours and thousands of quarters perfecting my fighting regimen. And trust me when I say I was damn good back then. When Street Fighter II was announced for the Xbox Live Arcade, I got all antsy in the pantsy. Sadly, the game didn’t turn out to be the faithful recreation we had all hoped, mainly because of the controls with the difficult Xbox 360 D-pad. I was a bit skeptical at first when I heard Capcom would be turning the game into an HD Remix, mainly because of said controls. After spending a week with the game, I’m happy to report they did it right. The controls feel very solid using the left analog stick. Takes you back to rocking the joystick on the arcade machines of days past. You can customize the button layout to your liking, which is a huge plus since we’re not working with 6 face buttons (I miss you, Sega Genesis 6-button controller).
In the pursuit of science, I spent a while today getting to know the latest PS3 firmware update. Some of the biggest criticisms have been addressed, while a few others still remain. If you don’t know what this firmware brings, shame on you. But I’ll tell you anyway.
First off, in-game XMB works as you would expect. Checking and sending messages, viewing what friends are up to, changing some settings, it all works great. There are some features that don’t work, such as changing your video settings, which is understandable. Two areas I hoped would make it, but should be slated for a future release are cross-game invites and private voice-chat in-game. Another minor feature is the addition of the date and time in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Good idea, bad placement. You see, whenever you hit the PS button to bring up the XMB, the clock is covered up by the controller battery status. When in the XMB with a dark wallpaper, it’s tough to see either. Hopefully Sony includes an option to disable the clock or move it in a future firmware update. Custom soundtracks are there, but currently no games support this feature through the XMB just yet (some games support it in-game, like PAIN).
Lately I have had Starcraft on the brain and was even thinking about re-buying the old classic to get a few rounds of Big Game Hunters in, you know what I am talking about. With talks of Starcraft 2 in the air and a possible announced street date, which I think is far too aggressive and will be pushed back.
I did came across some pretty awesome Starcraft inspired shirts. My favorite is the Zealot grill, who knew the Protoss liked to grill?
It looks like our friends in Florida are trying to use videogames to help sway some people from picking up their cigarettes. I actually think that this video is a bad idea, showing a video game charcter smoking is a bad idea as some young kids could see this and think it is a good idea to smoke.
We're like Spaceballs... we're making Loot Ninja everything. Coming soon we'll have hats, shirts, hoodies, possibly banana hammocks if one Editor has his way...
Check out the shirt prototypes here and the hats here
