Thursday, October 28, 2010

I Really Wish I Could Be A Part of The Killzone 3 Beta

So I hope you guys missed me, these damn midterms have been giving me hell. But in between studying I could not help but look at all the Killzone 3 (KZ3) videos pouring in.

It happens that the KZ3 beta is up now so a bunch of multiplayer videos are being uploaded. I've watched as many videos as possible (with the little free time that I have) and look for the improvements in the game. Just from low quality Youtube videos I can tell the visuals of the game have been improved because so many things are going on at once during the game and things like snowflakes look great. I also like the new weapons like the triple barreled shotgun and I am glad that they brought back the suppressed SMG from the first Killzone game. But the things that have me most excited for KZ3 are the jetpacks and the mech suits, they just ad a whole new dynamic to the game and I hope they are balanced properly so things don't get out of hand. One thing I would like to address to all the people who think that KZ3 is becoming like Call of Duty(COD)because of the new air strike ability in KZ3, stop your whining! I am pretty sure that only the tactician can use this ability and it has such a small blast radius than the ones in COD that it won't be overpowered, on top of that the maps in KZ3 don't seem as small and as cluttered as the maps in COD.

Well it looks like Guerrilla Games has made me a little less skeptical about KZ3, it looks even prettier than the previous installment in the series and the multiplayer looks like it's shaping up to be something great. I truly envy the people who have the opportunity to be a part of the beta because I cannot wait to play this game. Seems like I will have to wait until KZ3 launches next year, so lets just hope that Santa Clause puts a nice big EB Games gift card in my stocking this year.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Vanquish, This Game May Have Some Potential...

A couple days ago I was watching some videos on YouTube and the Vanquish demo was announced in one of the many I watched. So me being curious as usual, I had to try it out. I proceeded to download the demo and waited anxiously. Finally it was installed on my HDD (hard disk drive), I started them game, took a quick glance at the control scheme and got right into the demo.

I immediately noticed how bright and refined the visuals were, Vanquish is a pretty game when you are playing it. Sometimes I would just stop and look around the area due to the amount of detail. But as you all may know looks aren't everything.

Regarding the gameplay, I had some minor difficulties getting used to the cover system and jumping over obstacles when the time came to push forward. But as I continued to play I got the hang of this gameplay mechanic and things started going more smoothly. Although the demo was short I got to face a couple different kind of enemy units and there was a big boss battle at the end. I must say I really enjoyed the pacing of the demo as well how fast paced the gameplay is.

The demo was short but sweet, this game seems like it has some potential for being pretty decent and I could like to know more about the plot in the campaign. As Michael Pachter noted before on Gametrailers.com Vanquish is not very likely to get the marketing push it needs to move a lot of units. If this game is not marketed well it would be a shame and could possibly face the same fate as Beyond Good and Evil.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Finally Found An Addicting Iphone Game!

In one of my older posts I was trashing most of the Iphone games because they simply could not satisfy my needs as a gamer. Well I finally found one game that can keep me occupied for more than a few minutes.

I have become attached to the game called Stick Wars, yeah I said it Stick Wars it's a game concept that has been around for ages. The gameplay is simple and straight forward, all you do is defend your wall from the stick people by launching across the screen simply with the swipe of a finger. After each game you can get an array of upgrades to help defending you wall a little bit easier.

Some of you may ask "why Stick Wars?" Well it seems that I got the game purely out of nostalgia, I used to play a game similar to Stick Wars on the PC several years ago and I like the gameplay mechanic. So one day about a year ago I decided to download the demo version of the game. I really enjoyed the demo and was disappointed that it was so short. So I decided to purchase the full version for 99 cents (slightly more since it was converted into Canadian dollars). Well I have been playing the game pretty frequently ever since. Last week, I played it for almost an hour ( why study for exams when you have Stick Wars right?). The funny thing is, I can't seem to understand why I am not bored of the game yet. So there you have it, I was proven wrong, not all of the Iphone games suck, that was just a crude generalization on my part because I feel that Stick Wars is a great game.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Am I the Only One Not Excited for Test Drive Unlimited 2?

A little while ago one of my friends was all excited to show me the new trailer for Test Drive Unlimited 2. So I preceded to watch the trailer with no preconceived ideas about the game.

It did not take me very long to realize that I was not really liking the way the looked. It was pretty much a sandbox game and as many of probably already know, sandbox games and I do not go very well together. So I wasn't surprised that my friend is hyped about this game because he loves sandbox games, especially Grand Theft Auto. After discovering that this game was pretty much the genre of game that I lost interest relatively quickly.

In the video it seemed that the game was more about customizing completely irrelevant things, like your characters clothes and house than actually driving cars. The game looked essentially like a Playstation Home, which was a big disappointment. I don't know if it's just me but I buy a racing game to race not to make my avatar look pretty. I don't get why the game is trying to be something it's not, it's called Test Drive for crying out loud, as in driving cars not selecting some new skinny jeans and a polo shirt. This has lead me to the conclusion that I am simply going to walk by Test Drive Unlimited 2 when if it's in my local EB games because I feel that it really isn't worth my time.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

I Think it's Time for Nintendo to Make a New IP

Nintendo has been a part of the gaming industry for quite a bit of time now and the thing that really bugs me about Nintendo is the fact that all their "killer aps" are sequels.

I don't know if it's just me but the vast majority of the best selling and acclaimed first party games on the Wii are sequels of previous games that that have been around for what seems like an eternity. There is only so much Zelda, Mario and Metriod I can take. I would really like the Nintendo developers to try something fresh and out of the box like Heavy Rain.

Ir's nice to see that the third party developers are trying to make cool new IP's on the Wii. A good example of this is Epic Mickey, it has an intriguing gameplay mechanic and it has Disney characters so if the game does not turn out to be all that great it will still sell pretty well since it caters to a pretty large audience on the Wii. But it seems like the developers of Epic Mickey are trying hard to make a great game that is geared towards both the casual and hardcore gamer audiences. I just hope that at some point in the Wii`s life cycle, Nintendo will step up and produce a genuinely great new IP on the Wii, because I`m really getting tired of sequels these days and I would a reason to play the Wii again.