My childhood is sacred to me. There are things that I fondly remember that I never want to let go from my piggy bank of memories. Things that generations that followed mine don't quite understand, will never understand or simply have never heard of. Toys, cartoons, cereals, movies, video games ... all were pretty important in shaping me to be the kind of guy I am today. However it is you decided to categorize me, that is. Anyway, for what it's worth, I try to hold on to the things that shaped me tightly, in hopes of the special memories I have of them remaining true and pure forever. Unfortunately, Michael Bay has done a fantastic job of taking small bits of my childhood, crumbling them up and tossing them into a burning trash can. He did it with the Transformers movies, he is bound and determined to do it to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and just recently, it was reported that he is going to do it to the Dinobots from Transformers, which essentially will ruin that storyline along with all things dinosaur related. Thankfully, he has kept his grubby little hands off of the Ghostbusters franchise, but after playing Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, it's clear he didn't need to do a thing. I had high hopes for this game. I'm not entirely sure why, but I figured for the couple of bucks I spent to pick it up, it had to be enjoyable in some capacity. I mean, it's the Ghostbusters. How bad could it be? Well, it's pretty bad. Not bad enough to regret buying it or to think I got ripped off (considering it was severally on sale when I grabbed it, I can't complain too much), but it's just not an enjoyable game. For one, it features a brand new ghost busting crew, which is a shame in it's own right. Sure, it has Egon as the guy supply all the high-tech gear, but the actual team you play as and with is an all new group of forgettable characters. They add nothing to the story or the game, which is just a top-down, dual stick shooter anyway. The Ghostbusters movies thrived on having a strong cast of characters, with the actual plots and effects playing second fiddle to the guys you wearing the proton packs. This game does nothing to make you feel any sort of connection to the characters, or the story for that matter. Or even the game play. Essentially, the game just wants you to connect to the idea of this being part of the Ghostbusters franchise. It doesn't give you any other reason to like it. And even that is a stretch if you think about it. The game is boring. You go into a room and the door locks, forcing you to clear the area of poltergeists, before advancing to the next room where the formula is repeated. And it's repeated, over and over again. It wears thin after a while. Because of the 4-player style, the action gets hectic and hard to follow at times, and while the gear seems like it would be fun to use, it just doesn't ever feel exciting at all. I don't know. Maybe I am being overly cynical because it carries the Ghostbusters brand behind it. I guess maybe I expected more from it before of the logo. But ultamitely, if this was just some random game about fighting ghosts, I never would have given it a chance. So at least the brand still has power, even if it is slightly diminished in my heart because of this game. I can live with that. Just don't let Michael Bay anywhere near Slimer, and we're good.
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Want to know a secret of the gaming industry? You might have already heard it, but possibly ignored it, overlooked it or flat out dismissed it. So here I am, bringing you a total pro tip, free of charge, because that's just how I roll. The Playstation Plus program is hands down the absolute best deal for your money in console gaming, and I would almost go as far as to say just gaming in general. And that would include Steam. Every month, Sony is dropping a handful of free games on to the laps of subscribers, ranging from full-fledged retail releases to PSN gems, both for the PS3 and the Vita as well. Better yet, one PS+ subscription nets you the benefits for both systems, so those who are rocking the home game console and it's handheld counterpart are reaping in the benefits on both gaming fronts. One of the latest PS+ treasures offered up for free was Dokuro, a charming little platformer that is designed in a style not seen before (that I can remember, at least), for the Vita. The entire game is artistically designed as if it were all chalk art, which is a cool take on the "hand drawn" style that is more commonly used. The plot is a common one; you are trying to save the princess. Spoiler alert for anyone not keen on knowing about the first minute of a game. The game play follows suit with the plot, where you control the protagonist in his quest to save the princess. The twist is you start out with the princess, as she is constantly running to the right of the screen, which obviously leads to the end of each level. While she runs on her own, she still requires the assistance of you for clearing enemies out of her path, creating platforms for her to continue on and essentially just making her route to the end of the level as easy as possible. The first few levels are quite easy, and the solutions to the puzzles in each area are simple enough to show you how to play the game. But by the time the first boss comes along, the game ramps up its level of trickiness - which is a good thing. None of the "puzzles" are really hard, but without thinking outside of the box, they could cause quite the problem. And that is one thing this game does exceptionally well. It makes you think differently about the environment and the path to take. It opens your eyes to a new way of thinking and makes you look at the possible solutions in different ways than you are used to. And that's a great thing. It's games like Dokuro that really showcase how special the PS+ program really is. I just hope you believe me on this. On the heels of my failed attempt to join people online and play a game of Borderlands 2 co-op style, I decided to play a game that is absolutely, one hundred percent designed to be played cooperatively with a partner in crime. And like the stubborn gamer I am, in protest of my recent disappointments with every possible partner that should have played Borderlands 2 with me, I shunned the the world and decided to go about this co-op journey completely solo. That's right, I tried to play Ibb & Obb, the most recent release from the PSN as part of their Summer Play promotion, alone. All by myself. A one man wolf pack. And it was probably the worst decision, too. So the game itself is cute, colorful and stylish in the most basic and simple fashion, in every way possible. The pastel colors are utilized to their full potential, but many of shades of the color wheel are vividly splashed around the landscape that you are asked traverse. And when I say "you," I mean "you and your partner." That is, if you have a partner. The game doesn't hold your hand, nor does it walk you through the learning curve of figuring out how to play the game. It just kind of dumps you in and let's you learn on your own. It's not exactly a complicated game, as once you figure out the basic premise and understand the physics of the co-op platformer, you are well on your way. After that, however, is where the fun stops for a one man wrecking crew. You see, there are two characters that play simultaneously, which if you have a second player along for the ride, makes things a lot easier. You control one guy, and your buddy plays as the other, helping each other along the way, solving physic-based puzzles in order to continue the adventure. One character is on the "normal" plane of the level, while the other is upside on the reverse plane of the terrain. You use launch pads, introversion gates that fling you from one plane to the other, and other forms of physics to help each other, very much in the same way that Portal 2 did. In fact, the game took a lot of what Portal 2 did with the co-op physic-based game play and problem solving and twisted it into a simplified, basic version. And quite frankly, if you are going to be inspired by any puzzle game when developing your own, it might as well be Portal 2, right? Here's where things got horrible for me. If you are choosing to play all alone, you still have to control both characters simultaneously, one with the left analog, the other with the right analog stick. There is no AI to control the other character, you have to move them both at the same time. The first few levels are very doable with this style of game play, but eventually it gets down right tough to nearly impossible. With enough practice I'm sure it can be conquered by your lonesome, but seriously, this game was designed to be played co-op. Trying to play this solo is flat out ridiculous. So now I'm left with the question of whether or not to enlist the services of someone online, or invite someone over for some good old fashion couch co-op. Whichever path I decide to take, one has to be chosen. I will not be able to complete this game on my own, not matter how stubborn and determined I am to make a point. The white flag has been waved. I've always loved the story of the contest on the old game show Press Your Luck who "cheated" the system to ultimate victory. Because the giant board of the game show ran on a pattern - albeit a complex one - this gave someone brave enough and smart enough the opportunity to study and eventually memorize the pattern of the game, thus eliminating the randomness and chance from the equation. Well, this one guy did just that, and he capitalized big time on the fatal flaw in the system by memorizing the pattern of the Big Board. He ended up winning over $110,000 back in 1984, which at the time was the largest one-day winning ever on a game show. He didn't cheat, but rather did the equivalent of counting cards in a game of black jack; he used intelligence to counteract the randomness that most players struggled against. When there are patterns to learn, the probability of chance is diminished. This is usually the downfall with challenging platforms, and any other games that rely on patterns (I'm looking at you, Punch-Out!). Cloudberry Kingdom, the newly released title on the PSN. recognized the downfalls of relying on patterns, and decided to do something about it. The game is developed with an AI level design engine, that essentially generates random levels on the fly, never allowing for memorization of a pattern to take place. Brilliant idea, if you ask me. And what's even better, is that it works beautifully. This game is like Super Meat Boy, on crack. Feeling masochistic and want to die a lot? Want to play the same level over and over again, trying to perfect your timing and hand/eye coordination so that you can finally land that one, seemingly impossible jump you've already tried countless times? Want to get to the brink of throwing your controller, only to experience sheer and utter satisfaction upon completion of a level? Then this game is for you. If you hate extremely hard, difficult and almost impossible games, then stay far, far away from this game. Those looking for a fun, short, easy little gaming experience need not apply to this tour through the twisted kingdom riddled with disappearing platforms, spiked balls attached to chains, pop-out spikes and laser beams shooting down from the clouds. The varying, randomly-generated levels are fun, because the difficulty seems to change based on how well or poor you doing in the game. Die a lot in one level? The next level will scale down the difficulty tremendously. Start getting cocky because you are handling the levels with ease? The game will smack you down with a quickness and remind you that you aren't supposed to do good ever while playing. Long story short, don't try to memorize any patterns, especially if you are high-score chasing. If you do, you might be pressing your luck. I completed my week-long adventure through the Metal Gear Solid series. We already established this, and how it practically ruined me for life. Well, maybe not that drastic, but nonetheless, it didn't end up as positive as I would have hoped. So what was the best way to cleanse my gaming pallet of the franchise that is self-described as "Tactical Stealth Espionage"? To play a game that embraces the stealth mantra of gaming so much, it went ahead and used it in the name of the game itself. That's right, in a shocking turn of events, I continued my romp through stealth gaming and played a charming little ditty called Stealth Inc.: A Clone in the Dark. This game isn't your typical stealth game, however, which might be the biggest reason why I enjoyed playing it so much. It is a PSN title, that is the first of four titles in Sony's Summer Play 2013 promotion on the PSN store. By buying two of the four games, you get $3 PSN credit back. Buying three entitles you to $5 back, and buying all four games rewards you with $10 back. Also, take in to consideration each game is a few bucks cheaper if you are a PS+ subscriber and you "pre-order" them. (Personally, I think the term "pre-order" is hilarious, because you are essentially just paying for them upfront, before they are released - it's not like they have a limited number of digital copies of each game available or anything.) Truth be told, this game is far from a "stealth" game. Sure, you try to stay in the shadows and out of site of the enemies in the level, but ultimately, it is a puzzle-platformer, as you have to solve puzzles throughout each stage to advance to the next, albeit while trying to remain unseen. The game itself is gorgeous looking, and the character you control is charming - in a weird way, he reminds me of the minions from the Despicable Me movies, if they were all trying to imitate Sam Fisher. The puzzles themselves get progressively harder as you go, just as they should, and while none of them are extremely challenging, the difficulty resides in trying to complete each stage as quickly and effectively as possible. If you are perfectly content with lower grades from being killed and/or spotted many times in a level while you crept along at a snail's pace, then you could complete this game without breaking a sweat. But if you even dare to think about trying to complete a level as it was intended to be beaten, then buckle your seat belt, because it's going to be a bumpy ride of trial and error. Of all the awesome elements in this game, the one I found most endearing was the mysterious messages you come across throughout the whole game, written on the walls, only to be seen when light shines on them. And they aren't just any messages, but rather notes of sarcasm and taunts encouraging you in a way that reminds me of GLaDOS from the Portal series. I could tell you what some of them say, but without playing the game and coming across them in their natural state, they lose some context that emphasize how creative and fun this game really is. So while Metal Gear Solid 4 was a disappointment, I feel like I finished my week of stealth games perfectly. It just took me an extra day. It is very rare that games successfully make the transition from mobile game (iOS, Android, etc.) over to consoles or handhelds, without being a straight cash grab. Sure, a lot of mobile games make their way to PC gaming, but to consoles or handheld consoles? Not very often at all. Angry Birds tried it, and ended up charging consumers 10 times the amount to play on their consoles. Like I said, cash grab. When I saw Draw Slasher appear on the PS Vita as a downloadable title, I was wearing for this fact. Not to say it wasn't a good game and unworthy of gracing the beautiful screen of the Vita, because I worried it would be nothing more than an attempt for the developer to sucker in fans of the iOS game and charge them an exuberant amount more to play it on their Vitas. So I didn't buy it originally. I waited, and ultimately forgot it existed. That is, until it popped up on a PSN sale, with the price being slashed for PS+ subscribers. At only a couple of bucks, which wasn't much more than the iOS version, I figured it was a worthy investment finally. Besides, I've wasted more money than that for the purpose of getting trophies before. The thing is, it isn't exactly a waste of money. It's actually a really fun game, and because I have been desperate for something quick to play on my Vita for a while now, it more than justified its purchase. I will say this, however. The game is not without it's flaws, especially for being a port to a handheld console. In order to kill all the enemies, you have slash the screen with your finger, summoning your ninja to slice whatever is in the path that you designated with your digit. Unfortunately, to make your character walk or run, you have to tap on the screen where you want him to go. This control scheme worked perfect for a touchscreen device with no buttons, like an iPhone, but hey, guess what? The Vita not only has buttons, but it has joysticks too! Why not utilize that little stick on the left side to make the ninja move, and eliminate the touch-to-move control configuration? I guess that was just too obvious of an idea. Also, holding the Vita with one hand while you slash with the other works fine in small bursts (like Uncharted), but to do is exclusively ends up hurting your hand, as I found myself switching back and forth, trying different fingers and even laying it down eventually. It's not a huge deal for me, as I can adapt just fine, but it just gets tiresome after a while, which only strengthens the argument that games like these are best played in short bursts, not long, drawn-out play sessions. But hey, at least I didn't pay 10 times the price of it to get it on my Vita. Damn you, Birds. When buying a game, everyone seems to make a decision differently, taking into consideration different factors and justifying the purchase or lack thereof upon their own personal guidelines they have in place. Some people have to decide whether or not the game they are buying will be worth the monetary value that is asked of it, because of tight budgets or the desire to be smart with money. Other people solely rely on reviews to help them make a decision, sometimes going as far as to set a specific review number as the bar, and if it gets that or beyond, then it's "good enough" to buy. Then there are the consumers who just buy games from specific genres, or by specific developers, but these are a rare breed from what I can tell. Of course, there are always those who just want to buy everything that is new and shiny, not matter what it is. Lastly, you have the category that I fall under the most, despite the fact I have dabbled in all of the categories it seems at one point or another. And no, I am not talking about the group that buys games to build up a library to ensure there is enough content to play a game a day for an entire year - because I would be the lone wolf in that wolf pack. I am actually referring to the buyers who drop money based on hunches, feelings in their gut, on whether or not they should buy a game. Something about it just calls to them and says,"Buy me, buy me!" This category can often get confused with the new and shiny group, but where as they just buy everything in site, this other group usually has some thought or feeling put in to it - despite the fact it does look like they buy almost everything. Why am I making these distinctions? Because when I bought Knytt Underground, I may have jumped the gun just a bit, and ultimately, my gut feeling was wrong. I looked at what the game looked like, with the colorful backgrounds and silhouetted foreground, and thought to myself, "this is my kind of game." After all these are the same reasons I liked Badland just a couple days ago. Knytt Underground is a platformer, which is my genre of choice, and combined with the art style and the fact it was a cheaper downloadable title, this was pretty much a no brainer for me. Well, maybe I should have trusted my brain more than my gut on this one. I just don't like this game. The art style is great, if it wasn't for the actual character you play as, which looks cheesy and cartoonish compared to the rest of the game. It's like the game has an identity problem, unsure if it is an artsy, moody game or a cartoony, whimsical game. While it is possible to make such a game (see Trine 2), this game was not attempting that as far as I could tell. And if it was, it failed miserably. Another issue I had with the game is the controls. The jumping and platforming feels broken and wonky, not fluid, tight and precise like I am used to. It's very floaty and almost impossible to predict where each jump will land. I don't know if this is intentional based on the universe they have created or what the deal is, but it was a game breaker for me, plain and simple. Sure, other people have really liked this game. I don't know why, but hey, to each their own. I just wish I wouldn't have paid money for this game ... especially since it went free as part of PS+ just a month or so afterwards. Yeah.... July 11th, what a significant day on the calender for our country. Now normally, I haven't played many games for this blog to coincide with specific dates or holidays, mainly because I haven't wanted to, but also because there haven't been that many specific dates that would make for good video game blog posts. But July 11th? Oh yeah, this one had to be written about. July 11th, or 7/11 as it is more commonly written/typed, is celebrated across this great country by everyone of all genders, ages, races, sexes, religious beliefs and ethical values. It is recognized and celebrated for being Free Slurpee Day, at any and all (participating) 7-11 convenience stores. In other words, it's pretty much the best day of the year. I love 7-11 stores. Well, I used to as a kid, as I don't seem to have the same affinity for them now as an adult that I did when I was just a young noyse-maker. Back then, going to 7-11 was an awesome experience, for some odd reason. There was one a couple blocks from my house, and my friends and I would always head over there whenever the mood seemed to fit. One friend in particular would always meet me Sunday mornings at the end of our paper routes, and we would ride over together to grab some donuts and whatever else we felt necessary to celebrate the fact we were up and done with "work" before most adults were even thinking about getting out of bed. And then you have the Slurpees. 7-11 Slurpees are unlike anything else ever. They are often imitated, never duplicated. Sure, some people prefer Slushies or Icees, but clearly those people haven't truly lived. Slurpees are iconic staple of summer time, right up there with lazy days by the river and Sublime on the radio. Slurpees, 7-11 stores and my childhood always remind me of one thing, however. The Simpsons, and more specifically, the Kwik-E-Mart pretty much are the perfect examples of Slurpees/7-11/my childhood in cartoon form. And because of this long, drawn out analogy, I decided to play The Simpsons Arcade Game, which just so happens to be another awesome part of my childhood. I can remember one pizza place in town specifically that had The Simpsons Arcade Game, I can't even begin to fathom how many quarters I may have dropped into that machine over the years. I loved, loved, loved that game, and honestly, still do. So playing this on my PS3 is more fun than I could possibly imagine. Fortunately, I don't need to keep pumping quarters in to keep playing on, because as much as I have played the game, it's still ridiculously hard when playing solo. It's a 4-player co-op, and to truly be good at it, you should strive to fill in all four player slots. But hey, despite my lack of friends, I still enjoyed playing it, in all its old-school Simpsons cheesiness. And I have my free Slurpee earlier in the day to thank for the inspiration. And of course the best holiday of the year. ThatGameCompany is responsible for one of my favorite games of 2012, Journey. That romp through the mysterious desert, playing as the cloaked, nameless, mute protagonist was awe-inspiring, inspirational and flat-out breathtaking. Truth be told, that was not the first game from ThatGameCompany, but for me, it was. And it was the only one I needed to play to fully understand what they are about as a development company. Tonight, I changed that perspective, and tried out their first game that they brought to the PS3 via the PSN, which started out as a Flash game - Flow. Flow is a unique game that starts as soon as you push the start button, giving you no menus, no tutorials and no guides. You are simply an organism, floating around, with your only goal being to hunt down and consume smaller, red organisms. You can swim around and consume any of the other floating organisms, and even attack the hostile ones and devouring their particles as they break apart, while also jumping from level to level. This game is pretty straight forward, and is as simple as I make it sound, save for one key feature. Flow uses the Sixaxis controls of the PS3 controller perfectly, as your creature swims to the direction the controller is tilted towards. Now that I think about it, I can't remember if I ever even tried to use any other controls (joystick, d-pad, etc.) other than the Sixaxis control scheme, if only because it seemed to work so well. I guess I really didn't do my due-diligence on this assignment, did I? To be honest, I was just completely immersed in the game, the atmosphere and the mood that the game was setting. It didn't even feel like a game after a while, but rather a glorified art project/science project - which was awesome. Somehow I even made a few trophies pop, unbeknownst to me on what I did to activate them. Either way, it was a bonus treat to get trophies for such a pleasurable experience. And that's exactly what this "game" is - an experience, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. What a great way to start off a nice, long, hopefully relaxing vacation. Arcades are becoming a thing of the past. When I say arcades, I of course am talking about the old school type of arcades, with game cabinets lined up all over, quarters being the only currency used and the glow of machines being the guiding light through the establishment. Now days, "arcades" mean something different - with every game centering around winning tickets and no real skill being involved, but rather luck. Gone are the wall to wall arcade video game cabinets, replaced my gaudy monstrosities of "games." The reason I bring this is up, is because whenever I find myself in a tried and true arcade, the first game I always hunt down - and I mean always - is Bust-A-Move. For you youngsters out there, Bust-A-Move is not a type of Dance Dance Revolution game or anything of that nature, so get that out of your head right now. No, Bust-A-Move is a bubble popping game, where you must shoot different colored bubbles at stacks of colored bubbles, matching up colors in order to create a bubble explosion. Once all the bubbles are gone, the level is over. So again, every time I visit an arcade (which sadly isn't very often anymore), I hunt down a Bust-A-Move machine, if they have one. And let me tell you something, if they do, watch out! I will need to be dragged away from that machine, only after I dump a fistful of quarters into it. Over the years, I have probably spent more money on just that game than any other game I've bought EASILY, including DLC and season passes and all that. And that's just quarter by quarter, remember. Needless to say, I love those types of games for reasons I can't fully explain. It's just my thing. Imagine my surprise when I downloaded a free game (thanks to PS Plus) on my Vita the other morning, only to just discover today that it is a bubble popping game! Talk about an unexpected but very, very great surprise. Germinator isn't exactly your dad's bubble popping game, however. They introduce a new twist on the genre to set it apart from the rest. Instead of bubbles stacking up, when two of the same color come in contact, they merge into one big one. Add another one, it gets even larger. Add a fourth, and POP! This is all made possible by the fact that the bubbles are not bubbles at all, but rather germs. As if a game in this niche genre needed any sort of explanation. Another cool aspect is how the different color germs react when blowing up, and the introduction of a special meter to charge up shots with special powers that do different damage depending on the color. Because of my old school ways, I found it challenging to actually remember to use the special powers, but when I did, it was awesome. Thankfully, this was a free game. Not because it was horrible, but because if it was in an arcade, my wallet would be tapping out quicker than if it was fighting a Steam sale on a payday. Also, because it is on my Vita, I can take it with me while waiting in line to be next on Dance Dance Revolution ... or not. |
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February 2014
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