Currently Playing:
Fallout 3 (working on Devil and True Mortal)
Recently Completed:
Heavenly Sword (story playthrough), Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
On Hold:
Halo Wars, Dead Rising
One agonizing week of waiting for the new TV down, one to go. Of course, it's entirely possible that there could be up to two more weekends before I can really sit down and enjoy the new set, but, once it's here, its time for MEGA HD REPLAY MADNESS!!!!!! Um, yeah. More on that later. I'm saving Halo Wars and Dead Rising for when the new set gets here, but before that, I'm also saving my replay of Broken Steel for the new set, and with that, my last 4 levels before 30, and Devil and True Mortal will put me over the 15,000 mark. Hooray.
Anyway.
Finished Crisis Core this week and promptly sent it back. To be honest, I didn't expect the game to have as much side content as it did, however, in this case, the focus was surely on quantity over quality, and I figured I could sleep at night without experiencing ALL of it. Final verdict: A solid story for fans of the series, but a monotonous and contrived battle system kills any potential for long term enjoyment.
My Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Stats
- Platform: PSP
- Playthroughs: 1
- Trophies: N/A
- I compare it to: Kingdom Hearts without jumping, strategy, or Disney.
- Play it again?: Nope.
To get me through this last weekend of SD gaming, and to try to manipulate GameFly into sending me Uncharted 2 on launch day, I ordered Heavenly Sword, just to try it out. Rarely has a game left with such mixed feelings. (well, actually, Crisis Core did too) To be brutally honest, Heavenly Sword's gameplay is, for the most part, derivative at best, and utterly frustrating at worst. A few technically heavy boss battles begin to shine, but the inconsistent difficulty mars even those. And let's not get into the motion control segments.
However, you NEED to play this game for a reason I don't often recommend (outside of MGS), for the cutscenes. The motion capture for this game is downright AMAZING, as is the story it acts out. It should come as no surprise that these aspects of the game were supervised by mocap guru Andy Serkis, who after his excellent work on Lord of the Rings and King Kong, got into the field of gaming, and has really left his mark with Heavenly Sword (and, it's a good bet he'll do the same with Enslaved). In my opinion, HS has, arguably, the most convincing and realistic voice and mocap acting of any game. Serkis himself plays antagonist Bohan, and brings to life one of the most illustrated, despicable (and hilarious, and creepy), and fresh villains yet seen in the gaming world. HS is one of few games that have been able to evoke an emotional reaction from me by the strength of the scene alone. During a confrontation between Kai and Flying Fox, the few short flashes of the backstory along with the emotions in the scene conveyed something not even the last few survival horror games I've played made me feel, a moment of real terror.
Heavenly Sword was great for story and cinematics, just not for gameplay. I hope that for Enslaved, Ninja Theory will be able to bring the latter up to par with the former.
My Heavenly Sword Stats
- Platform: PlayStation 3
- Playthroughs: 1
- Trophies: N/A
- I compare it to: Devil May Cry, moreso than God of War (besides, I compare EVERY game to GoW)
- Play it again?: Only for the cutscenes.
When the new TV arrives, it will be time for.....MEGA HD RE...(right, stop that!!!), um, time for me to replay all of my current gen games in HD, hooray! I'm just having a tough time deciding which should be first, so I'll put it to you for your opinions. The top contenders are:
Metal Gear Solid 4
Bioshock
CoD4 (campaign)
Batman: AA
Mass Effect
So, that's it for this weekend. I'm hoping to have some impressions of Uncharted 2 for you next Sunday, as well as a new TV to game on! Until then!
B.
