Majini, Lightning and Nazis, Oh My!

There's nothing quite like the feeling of finishing a game, and sending it packing back to GameFly. Of course, it's an extra bonus when I get a Platinum trophy or Completed game out of the equation, and this time, I managed get two! Two Platinums, and one hideous, glaring hole in my completion record. Read on!

 My Resident Evil 5 Stats:

 

• Platform:  PS3
• Playthroughs: 6+ @ 45+ hours     
•  Trophies: 51/51 before DLC (Platinum #9!)      /
•  I compare it to: Resident Evil 4, 2
• Play it again?:If not playing the DLC comes back to haunt me.
• Urgency: Gamefly or Used Section

Resident Evil is one of those franchises that I've been playing almost since game one. I haven't played any of the many spinoffs, however, I have played every main game in the series, and when Resident Evil 4 revitalized the series (and the genre), I was actually excited about it again. Resident Evil 5 takes the formula that RE4 utilized to such great effect (over the shoulder aiming, intense action, and upgrades upgrades upgrades!) and amps it up a bit. And, for the most part, it works.

The visuals, as I've expected from every new RE game, are fantastic. Top notch production value is one of RE5s real strengths. It's also the first RE set in bright sunlight, proving scary isn't just for the dark. The sound also keeps up with RE's stellar track record. But, these are all things we expect from AAA titles nowadays. When we consider the gameplay....

My first reaction after playing the demo was not excitement, but frustration. I had just played Dead Space, and while that game is just as terrifying and gripping (ok, maybe more so) than RE5, it has one important feature that RE5 did not. STRAFING! The ability to move sideways (or to move at all while you aim), Capcom argued, diminished the tension in this environment, which I think was just a lame cover for the real reason, which I think sounds something like, "Why didn't we think of that? Well, it's too late to put it in now, just make something up to cover for us, would you?"

One thing I noticed about this game and its predecessor is that it's not very fun the first time through. It's intense, it's taut, you're always fighting or running for your life (and not always succeeding). In other words, survival horror. However, on your second playthrough, you've fully powered up a weapon or two, and you tear through subsequent playthroughs, plural, like an unholy badass. This is where the new RE games get fun to play, and they are. It's also nice that you get to keep your equipment on higher difficulties, which makes them bearable.

A major new component in the RE formula is the inclusion of co-op. Having a partner, while one might think would lessen the intensity of a survival horror experience, actually provides some new thrills for the genre. Covering your partner as he/she runs across a catwalk crawling with Lickers (I'm so happy they're back!) is almost as intense as doing the running, hoping your trust in your partner is well founded.

Now, I haven't said much about the story. There's really not much to say, except that despite all of the improvements to the presentation, Resident Evil's story is a special type of ridiculousness that you can't find just anywhere. On the first playthrough, it's kind of fun to watch the cutscenes to attempt to figure out whats going on, but skip them thereafter. The game flows better without them, and they're not worth taking seriously. And, I do have to say, even though the lines haven't improved too much, lets give it to the voice actors for doing a decent job. And no one asks, "Where's Barry?"

If you're a RE veteran, definitely check this out. Not so bad for the general public, either, but no need to rush out the store.

My Infamous Stats:

• Platform:  PS3
• Playthroughs: 2 @ 35-38 hours     
•  Trophies: 50/50 (Platinum #10!)      
•  I compare it to: Supercharged Sandbox Superhero!       
• Play it again?: If it showed up orphaned on my doorstep. Otherwise I'll wait for the sequel.
• Urgency: Gamefly or Used Section.

Moment of Complete Honesty: I'm sick to death of sandbox games. Seriously. Yeah, ok, immersive worlds are fun, but it's hard to get this stuff right anymore. I HATE taking forever to get where I'm going, and sometimes I just get sick of wandering around. Infamous, I am glad to say, has refreshed my taste for these types of games, because it has shown me what they need: SOMETHING DIFFERENT! And, in Infamous' case, its superpowers! Sweet!


Infamous really did an excellent job of creating a city that was fun to traverse, and entertaining powers to wreak havoc with (and traverse said city, love you Rail Grind!). The game's morality system, while at times black and white, actually has a bearing on the gameplay, with each path directly affecting your selection of powers, as well as the city around you, with an altruistic play style inspiring the citizens to clean up the streets and cheer you on, while those of a more malevolent bent will notice neighborhoods falling deeper into ruin, and trash and insults being thrown your way.  


Honestly, I didn't get Infamous' story at first. I thought the tone was bizarre and confusing, however, when I thought of it as more of a comic book tale than other open world games, then I really was able to kick back and enjoy it. There are some bizarre and borderline ridiculous happenings, but in the context of a superhero comic, they all work just fine.


I have to recommend Infamous highly for anyone, but especially those burned out on open world games. It uses a lot of those conventions we know so well, but mixes up the formula just enough to make it a blast to play.

My Call of Duty 2 Stats:

 

• Platform: 360
• Playthroughs: 1 @ 10-12 hours     
•  Achievements: 200/1000 (really? See below)
•  I compare it to: WWII as you've never seen it before....as of 5 years ago.     
• Play it again?: Perhaps, that 200/1000 mocks me every time I see it.
• Urgency: For archival purposes only

A lot has changed in the gaming world since 2005. We're used to iron sight aiming, regenerating health, and Hollywood quality cinematic action. In other words, Call of Duty. After Modern Warfare, we've come to expect these features in a triple-A FPS.  So, I suppose it's no surprise that Call of Duty 2 was somewhat underwhelming for me. But, I could definitely see why it was such a big deal at the time.

A month or so after the Xbox 360 debuted, I saw CoD2 playing at a kiosk somewhere. I was instantly impressed by the level of detail on display, to say nothing of the utter chaos of battle. All running at 60 frames per second as well (my favorite framerate!). I was impressed and made it a point to play it someday. 

And 5 years later, I did. While some of the level design is pretty dated, it's very easy to pick out the conventions that made Modern Warfare such a resounding success 2 years later. The campaigns are interspersed with unforgettable "water-cooler" moments, the two that come to mind right this second are crawling through a trench while enemy tanks roll overhead, and gunning a tank over sand dunes taking out Rommel's Afrika Corps. And of course, there is the requisite D-Day level, though this one is certainly one of the best. 

Call of Duty 2 is also interesting in that it presents an example of developer's thinking toward achievements in their inception. While most games now have 40-50 achievements, with a very defined plan about when they are unlocked, Call of Duty 2 has only 13. I unlocked 2 on my Normal playthrough. 2. 50pts for finishing the tutorial, and another 150 chunk for beating the game. All the rest are for beating levels on Hardened or Veteran. While I just wasn't interested enough to keep going through Hardened and Veteran on this one, I may just get it again to do so, because looking at that 200/1000 feels like a stain on my GPA, er, completion record. Yeah.

From a historical perspective (and I mean gaming history, I'll leave the historical accuracy of the game to others), Call of Duty 2 is an important title that features many design staples that we take for granted today in their infancy. If you're interested for this reason, or if you're a World War 2 buff, CoD 2 may be worth taking a look at. Otherwise, just recognize this as a stepping stone to the games of today.

Next Time! Almost Caught Up! Hooray!

Wet With Sewage!

It's not often that I give a game its own blog entry. (Yes, I know I gave God of War 3 its own last week.) As I am fairly selective in the games I play, I generally have mostly good things to say with some minor complaints, which is informative but not all that fun to read. However, sometimes I do come across a game that I think will be good, and turns out so bad that at the end I have enough animosity towards on it to create an unrelentingly scathing review that's not only fun to read, but cathartic to write. This week's victim is Wet. Enjoy.


My Wet Stats

• Platform: PS3
  
• Playthroughs: 1 @ 8-9 hours
• Trophies: 22/41
  
• I compare it to: Enter The Matrix meets Kill Bill, except not any fun
  
• Play it again?: I will cut you if you make me.
• Urgency: Don't Waste Your Time.

As frequent readers of my blog know, I am a sucker for story. A good, or even halfway decent story will keep me chugging along through an otherwise bad game (See Matt Hazard). This aspect of myself was sorely tested today as I played Wet, a game I queued up based on the demo I played last year, based itself on Bethesda's excellent track record. Aesthetically, Wet rips off Quentin Tarantino's movies (most notably Kill Bill and Grindhouse) so hard I'm surprised he hasn't sued. Then again, it also rips off all of the old exploitation flicks he ripped off, so I guess that would be a serious case of the pot calling the kettle black. So, instead of saying "rip off," I'm going to use the phrase "pays homage to," which is the same thing when the rip-ee either approves or doesn't care, and Tarantino doesn't even play games, let alone one as infuriatingly inconsistent as Wet, so I'm pretty sure he doesn't give a damn. Anyway.

The worn-out film print look is complete with deep runs and heavy grain (a great joke for a different, current title out there at the moment), and, at least for the first two hours, complements the ultraviolence nicely. The story was definitely written as an homage to QT, just read and tell me if you disagree. Rubi Malone, a fixer for hire, undertakes a routine job to deliver a person back to her employer, who frames her for murder and leaves her for dead. After recovering, she sets out to perforate and dismember her betrayer and all of his allies. I knew you'd think so too.

Not that it does it badly. The look and feel of Wet (along with its fun psycho-billy soundtrack) is actually pretty unique for the game world. Which is why it's such a shame that the gameplay is so bad. The first game I thought of when I first played the Wet demo was, of course, Enter the Matrix (some will say Max Payne, but as I haven't played those, EtM is my frame of reference), with its slo-mo diving and shooting, superhuman feats of agility, etc. The problem with this is that it takes a lot of polish to get right. EtM's wasn't perfect by any means, but it was more polished than Wet. It is just downright tough to line up a shot while Ruby is pulling off these acrobatic stunts, and not once during the course of the game did I feel like a badass, like I'm sure the devs hoped I would. While it's an interesting idea to have one manual target reticule and an auto-target, the enemies just soak too many bullets for this to feel as cool as it should.

It really seems like the mark developer A2M missed here was that feeling of empowerment for the player. The one aspect of combat I did enjoy was using the sword, as it was pretty well engineered, powerful, and I usually hit the guy I wanted to hit. However, you actually get LESS style points at the end of the level for using your sword as opposed to "acrobatic kills" during which you can only use guns. So, not only did the gunplay actually make me feel more vulnerable than melee, as a player, I am actually DOCKED for using the sole aspect of combat that I thought really worked well!
 
I expect to die a few times during my first playthrough of a game. I expect a few combat deaths, and one or two "testing the waters" platforming deaths. I died more often just by accidentally falling off of ledges than I have in any other game in years. If the gunplay in Wet lacks a certain element of polish, the platforming didn't even bother with it. I cannot tell how many times I made a seemingly simple jump to the obviously correct spot and fell to my death, frequently necessitating a restart much earlier in the level. This also happened while I was climbing, fighting (rolled off a ledge at least 4 times), and, inexplicably, climbing up a ladder. This, more than any other single factor, was the source of my frustration with Wet.

In my Matt Hazard review, I lamented that such an awful game surrounded a story I thought any gamer would appreciate. Here, there is no such conflict. The story, while fun and decently written (with great voice acting by Eliza Dushku, Malcolm McDowell, and Alan Cumming), is not worth suffering through the subpar gameplay for. Watch a Tarantino flick instead. Very rarely do I slap a game back in the GameFly envelope as soon as (or before) the credits roll, but Wet is definitely an exception. The most telling review I can give of this game: I got a headache ten minutes in, and it didn't stop until I was done.

-B. Hunt

Epic Beyond Epic! I'm Tired of That Word!

The Xbox is back! After it's 3 week Magical Microsoft Tour, the 360 is back in action, and hopefully no hotter than ever. But, more importantly, it's been a big week for operat1ve's trophy collection, three platinums! And one of these is from what is easily one of the very best games of this generation, the incredible God of War III, a game so excellent it gets its own blog post! Read on!

3/21 to 4/5 At a glance

Currently Playing:

Borderlands (360) Secret Armory here we go!
Mass Effect 2 (360) Renegade playthrough!
Assassin's Creed 2 DLC (PS3)

Rock Band 2 (PS3),

Recently Finished:

God of War III (PS3) Platinum #8!

coming next post:
Resident Evil 5 (PS3) Platinum #9!
Infamous (PS3) Platinum #10!
Call of Duty 2 (360) Story Playthrough

My God of War III Stats:

• Platform:  PS3
• Playthroughs: 4 @ 40+ hours     
•  Trophies: 36/36 (Platinum #8!)      
•  I compare it to: It's F****** God of War! 3!       
• Play it again?: I would be if I weren't blogging about it!
• Urgency: Buy, Borrow or Beg!

I've been excited for God of War III since the credits rolled on God of War II. The God of War series has always been a paragon of precision gaming, as well as a graphical benchmark and a study in creating a compelling protagonist. God of War's gameplay relies on a simple yet elegant formula that has been borrowed from (it, along with Resident Evil 4, is responsible for the many quicktime events now all too common in gaming) and in some cases, outright copied (see my upcoming Dante's Inferno review). After God of War II, while the series' impact was still beginning to be felt throughout the industry, Sony Santa Monica was already hard at work evolving this formula to a height that no one at that time (myself included) could ever dream of. The developer had the option of developing GoW II on the brand new PlayStation 3, however, they were practically masters of the PS2 hardware by that time, and were able to push that system to use 97% of its total hardware capability, and created a game that looked better than most of the PS3 launch titles. Knowing this, I asked myself, "If they can make the PS2 run a game this amazing, what will they be able to do with the PS3 after a few years with it?"

Three years later, I found out.

The sheer scale of God of War III is breathtaking. It only takes a few moments into the first level (sans any prerendered cinematic, the in-game graphics are way past the need for those) to see why this game would be impossible to make on any other system. Massive Titans scale a Cyclopean spire of rock, doing battle with the gods above, and Kratos scales the Titan Gaea, battling the many minions of Olympus.  It's every bit as epic as I'm making it sound. Kratos is more detailed than ever, which is all the more amazing considering the fact that he exists in the same space as the towering, 1500 foot tall Titans. And all this is only the beginning.

God of War III is amazingly tight, even more so than its predecessors. The game flows almost perfectly all the way to the end (with the exception of one extremely bizarre puzzle), interspersing spectacular set pieces with intense combat, mixing it up frequently. One feature of this game that deserves special mention is the boss battles. God of War was light, with only 3 real bosses, God of War II had them all over the place. God of War III falls somewhere in between the two, with the focus more on quality than quantity, and has given me at least two of my favorite boss battles of all time. Each battle is different, and most are highly technical, and when it's done right, I love technical. 

The squeamish had best beware, God of War's trademark gore is in rareform, and Kratos inflicts horrors upon his enemies the likes which even the most hardcore gamers have not yet seen.  However, this violence IS Kratos. I've never felt this series to be utterly gratuitous, simply because of how central Kratos' rage, viciousness, and lack of foresight are to his character. The fact that Kratos uses violence as the answer to his every problem is not simply due to the fact that he is a video game character, but has shaped his backstory, and the ramifications have always shaped the plot of the series.


When I don't have enough good things to say about a game, I still try anyway, and then take 6 months to publish my blog post about it. So, all I can say, is that if you have a PS3, get God of War III. Now. If you don't have a PS3, go buy one, then go buy God of War III. It's worth it.




Next time: More Platinum! More Zombies! More Superpowers!