Retroactive Reviews: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Still not done with the new article, but I do have a big name review for you all.
I’m also catching Avatar on IMAX 3D today. Hope it’s good.
Retroactive Reviews: Dragon Age Origins
Just a quick update while I currently write up my review of New Super Mario Bros Wii. As my first review for RPG Site, here is the first Bioware game to not put me to sleep.
I’m also working on a new article that I hope to have ready in the next few days.
Retroactive Reviews: Motorstorm PSP, LostWinds 2, FIFA 10 Soccer
Had a real busy couple of weeks, writing two research papers for college, making this year’s Thanksgiving one of the more hectic in recent memory.
However, I did receive a sweet set of packages earlier this week, almost as some sort of karmic reward for dutifully finishing my schoolwork.
Shown here are my next three reviews for the month (and possibly the last three for this year).
Borderlands: An interesting and highly addictive Quest-driven FPS that had the unfortunate timing to be released alongside Left 4 Dead 2 and Modern Warfare 2. Seems like good a time as any to devote time into it and offer my personal thoughts. I was given a PAL copy of the game, but fortunately it’s one of the few 360 titles to be region-free.
Modern Warfare Reflex: Real odd to release this port during MW2’s highly advertised release. It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that the visuals have taken a massive downgrade, but do the motion controls make up for it? You’ll know soon enough.
New Super Mario Bros Wii: I was kind of set on receiving this game as a Christmas present for nostalgia’s sake, but Armchair Empire decided to give me an early X-mas gift. I still concede that the lack of online multiplayer really hurts, but you don’t need me to tell you that this game is still worth getting.
In fact, in preparation for Mario, I made a personal purchase of my own.
The BOSS controller wrap for the Wiimote is, quite frankly, boss. While the buttons are a bit more stiff than what you may be used to, it’s still a comfortable and ultimately essential addition for playing Wii games requiring a sideways-Wiimote interface.
Also purchased the little Shyguy there because, hey…Shyguy’s awesome.
Meantime, here’s some more reviews to check out. Two more have been recently submitted and pending approval.
Retroactive Reviews: Uncharted 2, Tekken 6
As a reviewer, I don’t take perfect scores lightly.
It’s always a big debate when other publications give upcoming, overhyped games a perfect score. People have always criticized such decisions, saying that the magazines were paid off by the developers, as a means of giving their games the best kind of advertising it could receive. Or maybe the guys reviewing the game are just like the majority of gamers who have been suckered into the hype for a massively anticipated title, and feel that it’s a life privilege to finally get a chance to play the game.
As a freelancer, one of my earliest, personal vows was to not conform to such practices. When I review a game, I deliver the most honest opinions and criticisms I’m capable of mustering, even if it’s a game I was personally looking forward to. I also consider myself hard to please, which only strengthens my resolve to not toss out perfect scores like they were free candy.
I’m not shy about giving a game its due merits, however. By my count I’ve given at least three games the perfect pass, with this year’s Shadow Complex just one percent shy of missing the mark (a decision I still get some scrutiny over). I wanted to state though that just because I do give a game the highest score it can achieve (whether it’s a 5 out of 5, 10 out of 10, or 100% of 100%, depending on the site that assigned me the title), that does not make the game itself flawless.
Only a handful of titles remain truly “perfect” in my personal list (which incidentally features a Zelda title, but not a Mario one, and absolutely no RPGs), but besides those holy grails, every game has, in my opinion, room for improvement. That’s why technology improves and sequels are made. Unlike with movies, I never believe in “no more games from this series or genre”, because there’s always potential to take a great thing and make it even better.
So despite my iron will to judge it as harshly as I always judge my games, I gave a major, highly anticipated title like Uncharted 2 the perfect pass, even though I can point out a few critiques that make the game anything but “flawless”. But despite that, I don’t regret my decision one bit; the truly great games are the ones that play out its strengths in order to mask its minuscule weaknesses, and Uncharted 2 is indeed great. I don’t regret my score, and I don’t regret calling it the best game of the year, and an inspired look into the kind of games the PS3 can pump out when running on its maximum potential.
Well then again, Modern Warfare 2 is out next week, so maybe I’m speaking too soon about GOTY.
Retroactive Reviews: Afrika, Dirt 2, C.O.R.E.
Got another batch of reviews for you guys, including my exclusive review of DS First Person Shooter C.O.R.E., a sleeper hit that stands a chance of becoming Game of the Year.
No, actually, that’s a lie. It was the worst piece of crap I had to review since Everlight of Magic and Power. The only thing that managed to surprise me about that game was that someone actually paid $13 to buy it off me from Ebay. Enjoy it, buddy.
My next review will be my biggest yet this year, which will remain a secret UNtil it’s posted, but I’m sure it’ll be a cinCH for you readARs To figurE it out in Due time. It should be up in 2 days.
And with Halloween creeping its way up this week, I plan to make a special blog post in commemoration of the season.
Anyway, gotta wrap this up since I’ve got some Tekken 6 to start playing.
Retroactive Reviews: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Muramasa, Trials HD
Been quite a while since my last post, hasn’t it? As always, I’ve got a pretty good excuse for that, though whether you find it justifiable or not is up to you.
About two and a half weeks ago, this happened:
As if my 360 red ringing wasn’t enough, my 20gb PS3, which I’ve owned since launch day, yellow lighted on me in the middle of the night. And conveniently past its warranty too. I’ve read that many other owners experienced a timely death of their systems as well, which makes me wonder if this was some sort of timed conspiracy on Sony’s part to get people to buy their Slim model.
With no BC? No chance. Sony sent their coffin, and I quickly packed in the system. The good news was that the turn-around time for receiving the repaired system was much quicker than Microsoft’s Xbox repair. The bad news? Pretty much everything else.
What resulted upon receiving my “new” 20gb system was a string of misfortunes and repeated callbacks. This includes:
1. Bye Bye Data: All of my HDD saved data, from my saved PS3 games along with some PS2 titles (the most painful? Persona 3 FES, of which I spent 50 hours on and wasn’t even halfway done) have been completely erased. I knew this was a possibility, but I had also hoped it wouldn’t happen. I later learned that this was pretty much an inevitable outcome, because it turns out what I received back in the mail wasn’t my original system, but a brand new one (or most likely refurbished). Since HDDs are linked to the system it was formatted on, moving the HDD to another system immediately formats it.
Worse yet, I figured at the very least I could download copied saves from Gamefaqs on games I had finished, but hadn’t obtained all the Trophies for. No can do, because it turns out that using a copied save that isn’t your own will negate you from obtaining further trophies. So even though I legitimately finished Batman: Arkham Asylum and collected all of the Riddler’s riddles, I’ll have to do the whole thing over if I want to collect the remaining trophies. Not that I have any real problems playing through Batman again….but I was really hoping to achieve a 100% completion the first time out.
I was “recommended” to do a back-up of my data before shipping in my system, but that was impossible since I couldn’t turn the damn thing on. Of course, I should have taken the time to back up my data to my PC when I had the chance, since I was experiencing some warning signs about a month prior, when the system would freeze or turn off on its own. That’s not even close to the biggest mistake I’ve made during this whole mess….
2. -100 GB: Once I started re-downloading my PSN games and DLC, I was given a message that my hard drive was full, and this was before I reclaimed even half of my stuff. To my immediate horror, I discovered that the 120gb HDD that I included with the dead system had been replaced with a generic 20gb one. Panicked, I called up Sony, who told me that they would have to call the warehouse (aka “graveyard”) where my dead system would be boxed in, see if the 120gb HDD is there, and then ship it back to me.
This one is partly my fault, since I should have left a note that I had replaced my 20gb with a 120gb. Despite that, I thought it would be obvious enough if they opened up the system and looked at the drive. And of course, I’m kicking myself for not having the foresight to just swap the drive with my old 20gb drive, which I still keep packaged and within viewing distance.
At least there’s good news in this case. I was informed that the HDD was found, and that it’s scheduled to arrive at my doorstep on Monday. Good thing too, since Uncharted 2 is out this Tuesday.
3. Maximum Shares Reached: So I have no problems admitting that I’ve shared my account with other people online, so we can download and share each other’s PSN games. It’s not illegal, and it’s something Sony’s aware of.
Unfortunately, since I had shared my account up to four times out of the maximum five, since I had received a new PS3 and logged in my account information, that meant that I had filled out that final slot, thus keeping me from re-downloading any of my games. Worse still is that Sony can’t or won’t de-activate those systems linked to my account, not even the one from my now dead system. They said that was the reason for the five limit in the first place.
Fortunately I was able to get a hold of one of my shared users, and have him de-activate my account from his system. Just having one free slot lets me resume my downloading, but I still have to get a hold of the other guys I shared games with and decide if I should sever my ties with them as well.
What sucks is that with that one dead PS3, I’ll never have a full 5/5 sharing like I did before.
4. $150: And yet despite all these setbacks, I still have a $150 bill to look forward to for repairing my system. I tried to see if I could get a discount since I am, with no exaggerations, a member of the gaming press, but nothing doing.
Well, at least there’s been some good news from the last couple of weeks. I signed on with Massive Damage as a reviewer, who provide games by having me physically purchase the copies, and be reimbursed the cost through Paypal upon review. I actually prefer this method, as it gives me a bigger chance in requesting a particular game to review, plus not having to worry about shipping delays that ultimately result in a late review. In fact, MD demands that I have most reviews ready within a week of purchase. Again, not a bad requirement, since it’s a good test of my ability to meet deadlines as well as retain the feelings I get from a week’s impression. I just better be careful not to request any RPGs though.
My debut title for them is Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for the PS3, and my next title will be Afrika. I’ve also been approved for Tekken 6 on the 360, my second most anticipated fighting game this year after the recent Street Fighter IV.
I’ve got two other reviews that have been put up, with a couple more recently submitted. Also plan to have my review of Dirt 2 to go up soon, which was unfortunately delayed due to my PS3 going kaput (plus the disc was stuck inside the damn system, though it was shipped back to me without a scratch).
More good news: I managed to order a full version of Windows 7 from the Microsoft Store for just $30, using my college e-mail address. I’m also currently using Windows 7 on my laptop as I type this, which I installed using a purchased activation key from Ebay for $12. Not exactly the most secure way to install a new OS (and probably not too legal either), but it’s worked great with no problems. Speaking as a Vista user, you definitely want to make the jump to 7, which is much faster and more convenient than anything that was released prior.
Anyway, on to the reviews.
Retroactive Reviews: ‘Splosion Man, Shatter
One of the very first reviews for Batman: Arkham Asylum was from this unknown magazine, who went to great, fanboyish lengths to praise the game, clearly arousing suspicions of moneyhats. What would you expect when their most positive comment was “play as Batman” while their biggest negative was that “the game ends”? Let’s face it, there were tremendous odds against Batman’s newest game, namely the fact that it was based on a licensed property. I remained hopeful, however, since it looked great, sounded great (Conroy and Hamil, of course), and because Batman was probably the one superhero to actually have some legitimately good adaptions (in particular, Sunsoft’s NES games, and my personal favorite, Konami’s Batman Returns on the SNES).
Well, color me shocked to learn that not only did Arkham Asylum not suck, it was awesome. And not just “awesome for not sucking” or “awesome for being Batman”, but legitimately, utterly awesome. One person compared it to Resident Evil 4, and I have to agree on that; Batman: AA is like one big thrilling blockbuster that starts with a bang and doesn’t let up until the end, while steadily dropping kickass items and weapons on your lap as you face off against new challenges and intimidating bosses. I’m saddened that I wasn’t given the chance to review this game, but I’m also pleased to give you my biggest off-the-record recommendation. Buy this sucker, posthaste.
I’m planning a new Prospective Preview soon, but in the meantime, I’ve got two more reviews for you.
Retroactive Reviews: Shadow Complex
I’ve got a little late-night treat for you guys. I was supposed to have my review of Shadow Complex ready next week, but I decided to follow suit with every other reviewer and have my thoughts ready just before the game’s launch. I was privileged enough to experience this wonderful game a week before the general public, so I felt it was only fair that I have my review out at the precise moment of its impeding release.
Take it from me as a gamer, this is a title you don’t want to miss out on.
Also, take it from me as a movie fan not to miss out on District 9 either, which I watched the other day. Amazing how despite having a quarter of the budget of Transformers 2, the CGI and aliens were far more believable than in this movie than in the former. An excellent sci-fi romp that will bring about a variety of emotions from you, it deserves all the praise it’s getting, and I can’t wait for the inevitable sequel.
Ironic that I can say the same thing about Shadow Complex here. I can only hope Epic doesn’t pull a Gears 2 here.
Retroactive Reviews: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, KoF XII
Had Wingman been the defining multiplayer feature of Gears of War 2, I would have given the game a much, much lower score. By far the worst mode in the game, Wingman seems to be a meeting ground for every asshole on Xbox Live to congregate. Carrying the bulk of glitches, host lag and other exploits, it’s practically impossible to win a match without resorting to such dirty tricks. I should know, as I spent the last three days and several wasted hours frantically trying to win a single match in order to acquire the achievement. You know a multiplayer mode is bullcrap when you’re the last guy standing in a round, but still lose the match because the other guy achieved a higher score before getting his comeuppance. I’m only thankful that I finally got that achievement, and that I’ll never have to suffer playing this terrible mode again. I still can’t rest easy knowing that Epic continues to make big bucks while millions of idiots continue to play through Gears 2’s broken multiplayer.
Ironic, then, that at the peak of my Epic hate is also the moment they send me a review code for Shadow Complex, a week before its official release. I’ve been continuously receiving some uplifting hate-mail from my friend’s list over this privilege, and it only took an hour of playing to see why: This game is, in a word, spectacular, and is a prime candidate for Game of the Year. I could go on about what makes Shadow Complex so great, but that’s what the review is for. All I’ll say at this point is that you most certainly must purchase it the moment it’s available.
I’ve also been given a review code for Trials HD, which I still haven’t tried, but heard great things about (including that it’s frustrating, but the good kind of frustrating). I also traded a spare Splosion Man code for Marvel vs Capcom 2, thus rounding out the Summer of Xbox Live Arcade, and should entitle me to 800 MS points as part of their promotion.
In the meantime, I’ve got a couple more reviews for you today. Enjoy.
Retroactive Reviews: Point Lookout, Monkey Island SE, and Cogs
Now and again, I get these sudden urges to watch, read, or play something with a pure horror theme. I’m a huge fan by nature of horror, even if I rarely experience anything spine-tingling these days. Recently I’ve been entertained by campy horror such as Left 4 Dead and Drag Me To Hell, but I want to experience the cold chill that only real horror such as Silent Hill can provide (and even its latest game failed to truly terrify).
It was yesterday that I was made aware of an Indie film called Paranormal Activity, a film that has been toted by many as “the scariest movie since The Exorcist”. Even in a world of overhype, that’s a pretty prestigious claim. I’m also admittedly a fan of the mockumentary style of horror films, which was made famous with The Blair Witch Project (yes, I liked it, and I still do); low budget shaky cams is the way to go, since you don’t have to be distracted by mood destroying cliches such as bad monster CG or loud, intrusive music. Cloverfield and [REC] were both very entertaining, so I’m certainly interested in Paranormal Activity.
Well, there’s the problem: it’s not available anywhere. The movie was picked up by Dreamworks, and they’ve been sitting on the license while they work on an American remake. This trend of taking an existing horror movie and Hollywooding it up is pretty sickening. [REC], Let The Right One In, and now this. The originals were perfectly fine on their own, and the remakes usually end up inferior in comparison. The Ring seems to be the only Hollywooded movie to get it right, with better effects and a less boring middle portion.
The rumored release for PA is November 2009, which probably means that Dreamworks will work to get its own version out by Halloween. The sooner they chug that out, the better, since it means we can experience the original and see if it lives up to the hype.
On the gaming side of horror, I’ve decided to focus on Fatal Frame II, one of several titles I’ve purchased but ultimately left on the back-burner. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great horror game, but it’s also a really slow-paced one (it doesn’t help that the main sister walks as slow as her handicapped sister); the quiet moments in the dark rooms certainly lead to a never-ending tension, but it also leaves me rather sleepy. It also didn’t help that my saved data was deleted thanks to a shoddy third party card. Nevertheless, I’m going to commit to this game and see it to the end. Until Silent Hill: Shattered Memories comes out, I don’t have any other alternatives.
Now for the reviews: I’ve submitted four reviews last week, three of which are up for reading. I also received King of Fighters XII in the mail today, though unfortunately I was misinformed, as it’s a 360 copy instead of a PS3 one. I don’t know how much of my review will be affected by the terrible 360 d-pad, but that Tekken 6 arcade stick bundle can’t come soon enough. I also received a PSN code for Shatter, a title I wasn’t made aware of, but ended up a pleasant surprise as an addictive puzzle game. Expect a review sometime next week.
Meanwhile, enjoy the next three of my summer reviews.
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC)
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