Playing with yourself: Persona 3

By Alpha
(ehhh……)

Well hell, I guess motivation has hit me at quite an awkward time. There’s only 2 days left for this musing. Despite it, I think I’ll be able to write something out. So yes, “Playing With Yourself”, quite an easy phrase to poke fun at as an innuendo. We all know that it’s quite funny, but I’ll try my best to restrain from taking the low road.

I enjoy playing games with others, and I usually have a much more exciting and fun time doing so then playing alone. For me, the outside experience surrounding the game is what I take in and cherish most when I play a game with others. A one player game however tends to pull me inside, the experience within the game. Multiplayer or not, memories are made despite the number of folks on my couch.

Trial and Error – FEAR 2 Demo

By OD

(Fear Alma again. Or as I like to call it! Falma!)

Presents

Oh yes! FEAR 2 is almost ready to hit store shelves, and the super sleek slow-mo has never lo-…….well never mind that. We’ve already seen Slow-mo in mostly every game out there to date.  Anyway, I just recently decided to play the FEAR 2 demo and see what all the rave was about it. In the last FEAR you played as a mute, slow-mo using, gun wielding, soldier who is trying to uncover the secret of Alma and the corporation behind her creation. So is the demo gonna make you go out to the nearest game store and buy FEAR 2? Let’s find out.

Under the Knife: The Lord of the Rings Conquest

By Kaiserhawk

(Mages?! FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU)

A long time ago, in a development studios far away came Star Wars: Battlefront. Battlefront was a conquest style game set within the Star Wars universe and many of the levels were based off locales from the films. Both it and its sequel were very successful and became one the top selling games under the Star Wars license. Now Pandemic Studios have opted to trade in their Lasers and Lightsabers for Swords and Sorcery. Will lightning strike thrice with the Lord of the Rings Conquest, or is it a black abomination worthy of the pits of Mordor.

Insert witty caption here

Under the Knife – Dead Space

By OD

( Hey look! It’s another Space Ship filled with killer aliens!)

Oh hello! You just caught me exploring a space ship filled with monstrous aliens who want to tear me into two! Of course I am playing Dead Space. Dead Space is a 3rd person Survival Horror/ Action game for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. I chose to review the PC version because the PC is full of win. Anyway, Dead Space was created by EA and is set around a space ship that has been mysteriously taken over by an alien life form that kills off most of the crew. Blah blah blah to be honest you really don’t need much of an introduction to these kind of games. So let’s just get on with it.

Story

You are Issac Clarke, an engineer who is sent on a mission aboard the massive mining ship known as the USG Ishimura. What was suppose to be a quick in and out fix it up job, turns out to be a nightmare instead. The crew has been turned into hideous creatures, and are slaughtering all who are aboard the vessel. Now it’s up to Issac to stop this madness and save his darling wife who is aboard the ship.

If you ever watched the movie “Event Horizon”, then you probably already get the jist of the story already. Because Dead Space takes a large page from it. But really what would you expect from most horror games set in space?

The Rant: A Game Can Too Make You Cry

By GamerChris

(So seriously ill…)

So, I’m currently freezing my butt off, coughing up a lung and my nose is exploding every 5 seconds (Now that’s a visual…) but I recently (and by recently I mean 2 minutes ago) came across a blog article talking about how games have never made you cry or at least, talking about crying because of a game is pointless. I would like to say that this claim is not exactly true. In fact, it’s a totally relevant discussion and crying because of a video game has been present in the history of video games.

Under The Knife: Tom Clancy’s End War (The full game this time)

By Kaiserhawk

(Feeble reviewer, review game, Bravo)

So being the huge RTS junkie that I am I just had to try out the new and interesting idea from Ubisoft in the form of “Tom Clancy’s End War” which is a console exclusive RTS game something that is more rare than a girl willing to have sex with me. However after a brief time with the demo that had it’s share of ups and downs for me but I said back then that maybe it would be tweaked a little in time for the full game, well after spending time on this game here is what I have to say about the full game of End War.

News of the Now (and The Rant) – Watchmen: The Videogame

by Beeslo

(wonders how Rorschach isn’t suffocating under that latex mask)

Hey, so remember that review of Watchmen I did…like yesterday? Remember how I said, it would be cool if Alan Moore had made some more back story concerning the partnership of Rorschach and Nite Owl? But also remember how I said that would be, in fact, more of a bad idea?

Well, EGM announced that Denmark based, Deadline Games is developing a prequel to the upcoming film adaptation following the early exploits of Rorschach and Nite Owl. You think that’s big? Well not only will it appear on both the 360 and PS3, but its going to be an episodic, downloadable game (a la, Penny Arcade Adventures) to boot.

Early previews reveal that it will be an action game of some type, but at this moment, its not exact what the gameplay will like. However, I have very mixed feelings about this. You might recall that I did say that more back story about Rorshach would actually be a very bad idea. And perhaps this a good point to clarify. There are two things wrong with this idea. One, the thing that drew most people to Rorschach’s character was his enigmatic personality, always shrouded in darkness and cynicism. This game is set in 1973, which places the game in a time where Rorschach is not like the cold and cynical vigilante that we meet in Watchmen. And on top of that, a prequel will give us too much Rorschach. Half of his charm in the graphic novel was that he rarely talked to anyone and mainly kept to himself, lost in himself as it were. But this prequel reveals a lot about Rorschach that could possibly delute his image in the movie or even the original graphic novel itself.

The second thing that makes me not like this idea is like I said before, this appears to be an action game…possibly even a brawler. I know this sounds odd, me not liking the idea of a video game being an action game when its based on a superhero comic. But trust me when I say, there’s actually very little action in all 12 issues. And on top of that, we rarely see Rorschach fight. We see the results of his battles, with very disturbing imagery, but we never are shown how Rorschach takes his enemies down. And so making a game where this is the main mechanic, will once again dilute his character. Half the enjoyment of Rorschach’s encounters with the seedy underworld was that you could tell that he would resort to tactics that were ugly and at times, heinous. But what exactly he does is always surrounded in ambiguity. So watching him fight alongside Nite Owl (who actually does do a lot of on screen fighting), kinda destroys what people like about him in the first place.

While I think Alan Moore is a little too protective of his work…I mean, come on man…adaptations rarely are perfect from their source material (LoExG is the exception), but I will stand behind him and say that this game abominates the source it was birthed from. Poor guy. DC really is selling this guy out… Good thing more of his properties have been adapted. Perhaps he can finally sleep after Watchmen…

Oh and for the record, I actually found out about this almost a month ago. I just forgot about it and realized that it hadn’t been covered yet.

Misc Media: The Bike Hero Saga

By GamerChris

(Can 5-Star Through the Fire and Flames and any other song on GHII and GHIII…on medium…)

So many of you may be familiar with the Bike Hero video recently released with someone riding his bike through the night with the note chart for Prisoner of Society by The Living End in Guitar Hero Word Tour drawn on his bike ride path, lighting up coloured lights on his bike and essentially playing the song with his bike, complete with special effects like star power and the 50, 100 and 500 note combos. If not here is the video:

Not so long afterwards this stunt turned out to be viral marketing and was done with the help of some computers. It’s a shame that it wasn’t just some guy doing this with some friends for fun but it was cool never the less. Some other people however have not responded quite the way I have to this revelation. One of these people happens to be Freddy Wong.

Who’s Freddy Wong? Well in my own opinion he’s the greatest Guitar Hero player around. He might not have the technical capabilities of iamchris4life on YouTube (Who I believe had a world record for his skills), but Mr. Wong is definitely the most entertaining player of the game I’ve seen with his stunts and showing off.

What does Freddy have to say to Bike Hero? ‘What up, viral marketing douchebags?’ In a recent video he responded to this stunt, saying that he will now show them how to play Bike Hero on expert. How can he possibly do this? By playing Through the Fire and Flames, on a bike, with the GHIII guitar peripheral, at night, following a TV. Hit the jump to watch some greatness.

What’s So Wrong With…Final Fantasy VII Part Twenty-Two

By GamerChris

(Not feeling the funny this week…)

Welcome once again to What’s So Wrong With…Final Fantasy VII? The action picks up where we left it (Obviously) where GmerChris and crew have began climbing the side of a cliff in order to make it to the Northern Crater (Why there’s a cliff right next to a crater I have no idea…) So let’s go look at what our adventurers get up to this time.

As we climb up the final part of the cliff we are greeted with an FMV of the Northern Crater in the distance, with what appears to be the Northern Lights above it. We head into the crater where GmerChris talks about how something must have fell from the sky to create such a thing, and Daigo adds that all the energy has gathered here in order to help heal the Planet.

We continue on through the crater, finding more mysterious black hooded figures who seem to keep dying and disappearing all the while when mentioning Sephiroth. Knowing that we must be close, we continue to speed ahead to find Sephiroth himself.

Misc. Media – Mirror’s Edge: Live Action

by Link
(Making up for a lack of an entry on Wednesday.)

As we approach the winter and holiday season, many of our writers are afflicted with busy schedules, lack of job security, and broken PCs. So, please hang in there with us as we hopefully return to our 2 articles per day schedule in the future. I personally haven’t been able to sit down and write anything lately due to a PC in the repair shop.

But, for the time being, here’s an awesome video brought to you by me (and a YouTube search!)

What’s So Wrong With…Final Fantasy VII? Part Twenty-One

By GamerChris

(And now the numbers are becoming double-barreled…Yeah, I don’t have anything witty here this time…)

Today’s action picks up at the base of a cliff where GmerChris and the rest of the group will have to climb in order to continue their journey to the Northern Crater and find Sephiroth. Of course, instead of doing this straight away, we head in the complete opposite direction. Let’s check it out…

We regroup and after Daigo talks to us for a bit and before we head north we instead go south back into the snowstorm for a bit. After heading south to a cave and then east until we get to a new area. We then head south again and east again until we finally get to a cave.

(He said while freezing his nuts off…)

What’s So Wrong With…Final Fantasy VII? Part Twenty

By GamerChris

(Whoo! Disc Two!)

The action begins with the beginning of Disc Two in the aftermath of Aerith’s sudden permadeath at the hands-I mean, sword-of Sephiroth. Not being one to be hung up over it (*cough*Lies!*cough*) GmerChris and the remaining gang decide to go off and find Sephiroth once again.

Following the previous events we find ourselves outside one of the huts on the outskirts of the city. As we continue on we see a ghost version of Sephiroth heading north-east. Obviously we chase after him.

A couple screens on we find ourselves having to climb up giant splits in a wall, because obviously Sephiroth has pulled a Dick Dastardly and destroyed the path to the easy access to a ladder so we just climb up the cracks all the while with the ladder mocking us.

Misc. Gaming – Initial Impressions of Fallout 3

by Link
(I didn’t call off work so I could play this game all day. [Lie])

[Yes, I also bought the ridiculous version and I have the clock on my desk at work.]

Okay, so, I got Fallout 3 on Wednesday, and now I’m going to talk about it.

For the first time ever I’ve actually sat down and played a game for a MULTITUDE of hours straight. I mean, even with WAR I can only focus on it for 2 hours if that, but Fallout 3 has a hold of me, I’ve been getting to bed around 3 AM each night and sacrificing sleep for gaming. It’s that good.

However, it’s not without flaws. Now, some people have been bitching about voice acting and sound effects, and to that I say “I guess… but I don’t even notice it.” Some people are bitching about the story (which abruptly ends apparently), but to that I say “I’m not there yet, and so far it’s pretty damn enjoyable.” What I WILL say about the game is pretty solid and positive, with some exceptions.

So… it plays like Oblivion the FPS, seriously. But, not in a bad way, it feels much more refined than Morrowind or Oblivion ever did. The RPG Aiming system (V.A.T.S.), which requires action points, is pretty cool. Although disabling body parts is rarely useful. I barely notice the difference when shooting out someone’s legs. They’re still running at me at insane speeds. You can also just shoot your gun, which requires NO action points, and does fairly well, but eats the fuck out of your ammo. The deaths are amazing… peoples limbs flying off and heads exploding and people being vaporized into ash. It’s very awesome.

Really though, I just want to focus on some of my gripes, instead of talk about all the stuff you’ll read in most professional gaming magazine/website reviews. So… here it goes!

- There’s a bug in the initial main city, where people commit suicide due to pathing issues. They just jump off bridges and fall to their deaths, which would blow ass if you’re playing on a console and don’t have access to the ‘~ console’ to bring them back to life.

- Lockpicking & Hacking, while having cool mini-games, have VERY lame requirements. They go from 25, 50, 75, and 100 for your skill in Science or Lockpicking. That’s great. Except when I have 67 Lockpicking it feels like I have 17 useless points that don’t mean jackshit right now. I wish they made lockpicking/hacking requirements more dynamic.

Heart x2: Aerith’s/Aeris’ Death In Final Fantasy VII

By GamerChris(*Sob*)

So, for the last 19 parts of ‘What’s So Wrong With…Final Fantasy VII?’ I have been playing the first disc of the game. I’ve been giving my thoughts and commentary of the game exploring the land, logic and characters of the game.

One of these characters was the flower girl Aerith Gainsborough, who turned out to be the last Cetra, an ancient race that was the first to inhabit the Planet. The main character Cloud, or GmerChris as he is now lovingly called in the HealingTouch article first properly meets her after falling through the roof of her church where she is tending to her flowers.

(*Sigh*)

What’s So Wrong With…Final Fantasy VII? Part Nineteen

By GamerChris (It only took nineteen parts to get to this point…)

This week’s action picks up from GmerChris waking up from a dream involving Aerith talking about going to the City of Ancients. The remaining group give chase and head north to try and find her and stop her from doing something stupid on her own all the while with Sephiroth also racing there. (Yeah, good luck with that…)

We head south on the world map to the Tiny Bronco and get in, heading to our next location in search for the City Of Ancients where Aerith ran off to. How she got there so fast the world will never know. I’d like to believe it was on the wings of an eagle or something, kinda like Gandalf in Fellowship…Okay I don’t believe that, but it does seem plausible in this world so let’s just run with it…