I like games… sometimes.
Archive for April, 2010
Super Street Fighter IV (360)
Apr 26th
Street Fighter IV is really freakin’ awesome. Not only did it make it to my top three games of last year, but it’s one that I have consistently jumped back to time and time again. Whenever folks mention it, I get this craving and just have to go play even if it’s just for a few matches. So here we are a year later and Capcom has tacked on a “Super” to their Street Fighter IV. The game at its core is essentially the same, so if you’d like to read a review on that part, you may as well look back a year and check out the one I wrote back then. This review will focus on the new additions and changes to the game instead of just rehashing what I wrote previously.
To start, how about we talk about the negative stuff? That new announcer is pretty weak. If you’re paying attention to him, he’s trying way too hard to be totally extreme. If you’re not trying to hear though, at least he fades into the periphery and is barely noticeable. We’ve now also got a 35 fighter roster which can make the character select screen a bit intimidating for newcomers. Oh, and Hakan is totally weird and they completely removed my favoritest song ever, Indestructible by The Next Door.
In case one of the original 25 characters wasn’t doing it for you, now they’ve added ten additional fighters and all of them are unlocked from the start. Eight of these are from past Street Fighter games, and two are completely new to the series. All of the fighters now have an additional Ultra move that can be selected prior to the start of the fight, unless you’re in arcade mode where you’ll just pick it and stick with it. These new ultras are generally quite different from the existing ones, giving the defender just a little more to worry about when looking to dodge, and some of the new ultras can be followed up with additional moves. I honestly would have liked to have seen these both available during the match instead of having to choose one ahead of time, but they do add another degree of variance to an already complex engine.
The ten characters alone would probably be enough for this to exist as an expansion, however Capcom has decided to go the extra mile and address just about every single complaint players had. The entire roster has been tweaked for balance and timing. Despite developer commentary that Seth would be even more ruthless this time around, I found him much easier with significantly reduced damage being dealt. Even on the hardest difficulty, he fell after only one continue which is nothing like what I experienced previously.
Online multiplayer is the biggest change and everything is for the better. Instead of just having the 1v1 Ranked and Player match “lobbies”, we’ve got Ranked, Endless, and Team Battle. Ranked is now a mild combination of what we found in the tournament DLC from SFIV and ranked, complete with an improved point system, double blind character select, and letter grading for competitors. You’ll be happy to know also that quick match performs as quick match should. Instead of giving you a list of three possible games to join, the system attempts to place you directly into the best match. You’ll still experience a “cannot join match” error, but it is certainly less frequent. One really subtle but awesome change is that the game will remember your previous character choice during multiplayer, making the character select go just a hair quicker.
Next up is the new ‘Player Match’ in the form of Endless Mode and Team Battle. While these won’t contribute to your overall ranking, these are the things that players were looking for previously. Endless is basically the quarter match from Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, where up to eight players may join a session and wait for their turn to fight. Winner stays, loser pays. The good thing here is that a lobby can be created with all private slots and be joined while already in progress, so if you’re waiting for some friends, you can get in a few matches. If you’re waiting, you won’t be looking at a blank screen though, you’ll be able to spectate the game that’s going on. Team Battle allows groups of two, three, or four to face off in a similar winner-stays style until one team is completely defeated. Both of these sate the desires planted by the shoddy original iteration.
If you didn’t like Street Fighter IV, there’s really nothing here that will change your mind. While it is a bit disappointing that this is a full retail item that will certainly split the userbase, if you’re an existing fan there’s just about zero reason to not buy this. Capcom has released a truly monumental update to the best fighting game in years which will certainly keep it truckin’ long into the future.
Score: 5 out of 5
The Good
Tons of thoughtful improvements to an already phenominal experience.
Overhauled online options create the experience we were all hoping for.
Still infinitely replayable.
The Bad
The announcer is new, and bad.
A split userbase may mean only the hardcore will come to the new land. Better kick up your game.
The Ugly
Yeah, T. Hawk is still an annoying prick.
Writer’s Notes
Favorite New Character: Cody
Least Favorite New Character: Hakan (I don’t like wrestlers)
Stupidest Inclusion: Bonus Stages
Originally posted on Evil Avatar.
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening (360)
Apr 19th
Dragon Age: Origins was my Game of 2009. It was a beefy old school RPG that hit every just about every note during its sonata with awesome flair. So when BioWare announced they’d be hitting the market with an actual expansion to it instead of just some smaller $DLC, I was more than excited. Here we are with that expansion, Awakening, released about 4 months after the original offered in both digital and physical form. It should be noted also that while the PC version requires the original game to play, if you’re on a console you can play this by itself.
Awakening takes place about six months after the events of Origins. It’s your job to establish yourself as Warden Commander and help recruit new Grey Wardens while rebuilding your new estate, Vigils Keep. It isn’t long after setting foot in the arling of Amaranthine (northeast of Ferelden) that you find out the Darkspawn haven’t completely gone away as was expected, and some are even talking. Of course, it’s your job to determine the root cause and stop it.
Like Origins, the big star here is the way BioWare handles player relationships. Sure you’ve got your dungeons, forests, swamps, and a cities full of stuff, but the interactions NPCs have with each other as well as how their background and motivations are explored is great. While there was a certain bit of comedy to be found in Origins, it seems as though that has been ramped up a bit with a metrosexual mage named Anders who loves his little kitten and the only returning party member, Oghren. When journeying around, characters will make snide remarks about Anders carrying Ser Pounce a Lot around everywhere and much laughter is had. This brevity makes your situation feel a lot less dire than the events of the Blight, and it should because you’re just not facing that same enemy. Despite what some had stated prior to release, the new characters are not simple rehashes with new skin, but are fully realized and interesting people.
Missions included range from standard stuff to great deviations. While there were a few too many cases of ‘scavenger hunt’ including one that’s straight up called “Scavenger Hunt,” there are plenty of unique events that make your journey worthwhile. Many of the interactions that take place while in Vigil’s Keep are particularly interesting and I really enjoyed the trek through Kal’Hirol, which is the polar opposite from how I felt of the dwarven aspects in Origins. While you won’t hit too many decision points, there’s one major choice towards the end that will certainly lend itself to further expansions or possibly even Dragon Age 2.
I’ve got two primary gripes with Awakening and the biggest has to do with technical issues that run rampant. Two of my character specific quests couldn’t be completed; one due to the time where I received it in relation to the overarching quest, and the other just wouldn’t trigger despite the requirements being met. Additionally, I took part in one quest during the endgame which required clearing an area of enemies. After I had done so, there were still two animated corpses that would not take damage or attack. A reload of the quest didn’t fix this and instead I had to game the system, pulling my team away to disengage them from battle. These sadly are just a few of the problems I came across and while most are quest related, there are some quirks with the visuals as well.
My second issue is with the length and difficulty of the expansion. While doing the vast majority of available quests, the whole venture still only lasted just over 12 hours. This could be due to the difficulty being significantly less than what you found in Origins. On normal, your character starts off so powerful that it’s a breeze to get through most encounters, including Dragons. I recommend bumping up the difficulty from where you had it previously.
Despite these quibbles, Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is still a fun romp which extends the already solid framework laid by the original title. If Dragon Age is calling you, but you don’t feel like reinvesting the time in the base title, or just want to see what happens next, there’s really no reason to stay away. It may not be as completely awesome as Origins was, but it’s still Dragon Age and by that regard, it’s still awesome.
Score: 4 out of 5
The Good
Fantastic character interactions coupled with interesting personalities.
An intriguing and well spun continuation of the Origins story.
It’s still Dragon Age.
The Bad
Much shorter than expected.
Not nearly as many choice points as its predecessor.
The Ugly
C’mon BioWare, patch these damn bugs.
Writer’s Notes
Single Player Playthrough: 12h40m
Typical Party Members: Maker, Andres, Nathaniel, Justice
Difficulty: Normal
Quests Incomplete: 5
Originally posted on Evil Avatar.
God of War III (PS3)
Apr 8th
The other night, my wife was watching Ghost Whisperer reruns. The story was a bit of a morality tale which concluded in the message that carrying around anger all the time is not a good way to lead your life. I kind of wish Kratos had watched this episode and took it to heart because he’s one angry, angry man. The consequences of his actions don’t matter, instead he’s just hellbent on killing every single thing in his path. If killing a god results in an undesirable outcome, what should you do? That’s right! KILL MORE GODS. Throughout the story of God of War 3, Kratos is single handedly responsible for destroying the world and he just doesn’t give a damn because he needs to murder his father. The story picks up right at the conclusion of God of War II where Kratos and a crew of Titans are climbing Mount Olympus to destroy the gods that reign on high. All the important events of the backstory are told through a brief stylized cutscene, so newcomers won’t be too lost.
If you’ve played any of the God of War games previously though, there’s really not much new here. Just about all the mechanics from the previous titles remain with some minor additions. You’ll eventually get four main weapons which you can switch through on the fly as well as some magic attacks to go with each. Biggest problem here is that three of the four primary weapons are just minor variants on your primary Blades of Exile. You’ll also be given a set of items to utilize through the game which will deplete a specific regenerating meter. The most useful of which is the Bow of Apollo which can be mixed up with your primary attacks in combat. Keeping the main gameplay mechanics isn’t a bad move though. Being an action heavy game, the combat is fast, visceral, and flows wonderfully just like it did in the first game. Games like Dante’s Inferno can try to mimic what was perfected in this series, but will always feel a step behind what you can accomplish with chained blades. The addition of an attack which switches to the next weapon really helps keep up the combo variety.
Despite being rated for Mature audiences, I get the feeling that the people who will find the most enjoyment out of GoW3 are minors. Not only is the story about how much Kratos hates his dad, but it’s full of scenes that are just in there to get a rise out of the player with no redeeming qualities at all. For example, at one point you come across a topless female (“heh heh, boobs”) who clearly knows who you are and doesn’t want your help. Against her will, you spring her from a cage in what appears to be a glimmer of humanity within Kratos. Soon after though, you prop her up against a weighted wheel to hold a door open. As you walk along and she moves off camera, you hear a blood curdling scream followed by sounds of nastiness as she is completely destroyed just so you can get through a door. It’s a cruel scene that is void of remorse and honestly made me feel dirty afterwards. Oh yeah, you get a Trophy for that too, congratulating you on decimating a helpless woman.
At least God of War III looks good all around, but where it really shines is in scale. You’ll be bringing the pain to bad guys, then all of the sudden the camera will zoom all the way back to show off what’s going on around you. Don’t stop doing what you’re doing though, because while you may not be able to see the skeletons attacking you as easily, they’re still there trying to skewer you. Most of the larger boss battles are often quicktime laden encounters that make full use of this scale, so instead of feeling like you’re the one doing the damage, it just feels like you’re pressing a button to move the action along. If you miss that button press, sometimes you’ll even die outright and get to do it again. I did appreciate the new quicktime button placement however. Instead of just flashing a button on the screen, they’ve placed the button on the side of the screen corresponding to where the face button is on the controller (X on the bottom, Triangle on the top, etc). This helps you focus on the central action more than which button needs to be hit.
There were some technical issues that frustrated my gameplay. Double jumping would not register properly, often resulting in untimely and multiple deaths; Save triggers were often delayed, requiring multiple instances of running away from them and back before they’d activate; and even opening chests would glitch out half way through the animation, forcing second and third tries. These almost seemed like low-battery charge symptoms, but they continued on full charge as well as being connected directly to the PS3. On Kratos’ second trip through Aphrodite’s chamber, a complete NPC model had gone missing, but she was still making comments while I railed Aphrodite, and still knocked over her girlfriend when the mini-game was complete.
After completion, you’ll unlock a fourth difficulty level as well as several challenges similar to previous God of War titles to help with the staying power. Throughout the journey as well, you’ll pick up artifacts that you may use on subsequent playthroughs. The strange design choice here though was that you can only use these modifiers on difficulty levels you’ve already beaten, making them seem less cool. I can see disabling the ability to earn trophies while activating them, but there’s little reason to play the same difficulty level another time through.
Perhaps I’m harping on the story a bit too much when it’s a straight up action game but considering that we’ve already done this twice before, I really feel there’s got to be something new to make it worth doing again and the mechanics certainly haven’t changed. With God of War Collection already available, it’s difficult for me to recommend God of War III as anything other than an extended tech demo. Combine Santa Monica’s checkbox approach to game design with a fairly callous and meaningless angst journey of a straight up unlikable main character, and you’ve got nothing worth writing home about except the scale.
Score: 3.5 out of 5
The Good
It certainly is a pretty game with an incredible sense of scaling.
Combat system remains a hallmark for the character action genre.
The Bad
The weakly strewn together story is just a vehicle to tie boss battle to boss battle.
Not much new to see here, mostly the same game from years past.
Misogynistic behavior isn’t hilarious.
The Ugly
Whoever thought it was a good idea to add Guitar Hero to God of War should never make video games again.
Writers Notes
Playtime: 9h53m
Favorite Weapon: Neaman Cestus
Most Impressive Boss Fight: Cronos
Originally posted on Evil Avatar.