24 posts tagged “video games”

After a busy Sunday, I got a solid three hours to check out the new Zelda game for the Wii.  Without giving too much away, I met Zelda, got to play as a wolf, and finally transitioned from peasant Link to Mack Daddy Link.  The graphics are definitely not next generation, but they are not an eyesore either.  They don't detract from the game play so the fact that Nintendo has gone down the game play over graphics path does not hurt this game.  As for the control scheme, it's fairly simple to pick up quick.  Swing the wiimote for a horizontal slash, hold the Z-button on the nunchuck and perform the same swing motion for vertical slash, and hold the Z-button while slightly pressing forward on the analog stick and preform the swing motion for a stab.  The spin attack is performed by shaking the nunchuck.  So it is quite simple to pull off a slash-slash-spin attack combo.  I don't know why they didn't map the vertical slash to an up-down motions (or vise versa) and the stab to an outward stabbing motion, but they must have had their reasons.  Still, the swordplay becomes second nature after 5 minutes.  Aiming your "precision" weapons can be done with the Wiimote and it is so much easier than aiming with an analog stick.  Just point and click.

The one thing that I don't like about the game is the audio coming from the Wiimote.  It just sounds too loud and tinny.  There is no option to control the volume coming out of the Wiimote, which is something that I would really would have like to have had.  While playing a game of Tennis in Wii Sports, the sound of the ball hitting a racket coming out of the Wiimote is awesome, so I can't blame substandard speaker equipment in the controller.  That was pretty much the only thing that bugged me about the game and after a while, it really didn't bother me.

So last night when I went to pick up my Wii, everyone in line was picking up the same thing: console, extra Wiimote, extra nunchuck, and Zelda.  As a fanboy, it takes some serious effort to make a Zelda game that I don't want to play.  I had to stop playing (due to the hour), but I was compelled to play on.  So far, I am hooked on both Zelda and the Wii experience.

What's on your Top 5 video games list?
Submitted by mileena.

Hmm, let's rephrase this to 5 video games that changed gaming for me.  There are more than what is listed but I tried to keep it under 10.  Also this is in no particular order.

Final Fantasy (NES)
Doom (PC)
The Legend Of Zelda (NES)
Tie Fighter (PC)
Guitar Hero (PS2)

Honorable Mentions: Mario Kart, Diablo II, Team Fortress, GTA: Vice City

Last night, in an effort to unlock Freebird, I decided to go through Career mode on the Hard Difficulty.  So 4 hours and 2 bottles of water later, I completed all 40 songs without ever failing one song.  The delta in difficulty between Hard and Expert is huge.  My hands were cramped and my left leg (I guess I put all my weight on that leg when playing) was sore.  I did sit down though a couple of songs, but when I was done, I was limping.  I do have a fellow hero coming over this evening for a night of co-op play, so unlocking Freebird was a must.  Next stop: Practice the Face-Melters on Expert.

Gears of Heroes?  Gears of War Pigs?  Anyway...

For my gaming session last night, I decide to finally put away the 1st generation Guitar Hero controller that I have and replace it with the new hotness: the candy-like red guitar that is bundled with GH2.  I have had this controller since 12/26/2005 and it was sad to see it get put back into the box.  But it was first gen, so the strum bar is clicks much louder than later versions and the mechanism to activate Star Power changed.  I think Red Octane/Harmonix modified the cushioning in the buttons as well.  So, the old guitar controller is in a box ready to be shipped to its new home.  I just need to get it in mailable condition and it will begin its voyage to the West Coast.

So, with the new hotness, I decide to work on the last 8 songs left to complete on Expert.  Psychobilly Freakout was first on the list of songs to fall.  Three stars and flying to the end in the Red, it wasn't pretty but I can put that notch on my belt.  Next, Carry Me Home.  It got choppy in the middle but I did pull it off with three stars.  And the encore: YYZ.  That was cake because all the practice I had with the OPSM demo. 

So 5 more left.  The top tier in the setlist, the Face-Melters.  I played each one once and got my ass handed to me.  My guess is that I really need to get the strum up and down method down than the just strum down.  So I am either gonna sit in Practice Mode until I get the songs down, or work on them at the Hard difficulty level.

I then decided to blow the dust off the Xbox 360 and pop in Gears of War.  That is how I spent the rest of the evening into the early morning.  The graphics are phenomenal.  The story keeps you wanting to play more and more to see what happens next.  And the level design is phenomenal.  I know people will want to compare this with the Halo series, but I see these two games as two separate entities.  Gears of War is much more cinematic and beautiful in my opinion (yet we have yet to see a Halo for the 360 yet) and doesn't feel like the FPS (yeah I know Gears is third-person) that Halo is.  You feel like you are some war reporter's camera man following this gi-normous hulk, blasting away at the Locust Horde.  The running camera angle and screen shake is just genius. The fact that I sat with my 360 controller in my hands for the amount of time that I did, fighting off the reasoning portion of my brain telling me to go to sleep, is evidence enough to show how incredible this game is.

I got a good 3 hours in this evening.  My left hand is throbbing.  I have 8 more songs (non-bonus) to beat on Expert.  Proudest moment for myself was getting 5 stars on Sweet Child of Mine on the first try.  Also, I am so glad they introduced Practice Mode.  I needed that to get Crazy On You down.  The intro is ridiculous and the riffs during the verse are also just as ridiculous.  I am also surprise at the order of the songs.  In the first Guitar Hero, you could definitely feel the difficulty ramp up as you go down the set list.  In Guitar Hero II, I sometimes find later songs easier than songs before it on the list.

These last 8 are going to be tough.  I expect I will be playing a lot in Practice Mode.  Also, I first spent the in-game cash on the behind the scene videos (the Harmonix one is a waste) and on outfits for my rockers.  What's up with me and always buying outfits in video games?  I ended up unlocking all the rockers and their outfits. And of course, purchased Trogdor.

On the way home Monday night, I went to EB Games to determine if the game would be shipping today or be on the shelves today.  As I walk in and see one of the employees (never seen before, must be new) playing Guitar Hero.  "Is Guitar Hero 2 gonna ship tomorrow or will you have it in the store tomorrow?", I query.  "We have it now in the back and will be selling it tomorrow morning when we open" responds the employee behind the counter.  I am familiar with him and have played The Hero with him in the store on numerous occasions.  "So you can't mysteriously sell me my pre-order now can you?" I ask him temptingly.  "Nope, tomorrow morning".  Well I just threw my loyal customer credit at him and got nothing.

I, then look at the PS2 kiosk where the employee was playing and immediately left the game (acting as if I was a "normal" customer and wouldn't approve of him playing).  "Wait, did you guys put Two in the kiosk?".  My "boy" (the employee that I am more familiar with) nods his head and gives me a mischievous grin.  So I run sprint 2 feet to the guitar and check it out.  The set list only had the first batch of songs available.  So I go choose "Mother" by Danzig and start it up.  Before I hit the first note, I made a face as if I ate and entire lime.  "The hell is this, Easy?".  "Yeah", responded the new guy, "I have never played this before".  "Ok", I said and immediately changed the difficulty to Expert.  All the sudden the entire set list (except Free Bird) and two of the bonus songs were available.  I point to my boy and say "you been playing it haven't you?".  He smirks and nods. 

OMG.  Where do I begin? I ended up playing the following:
-Sweet Child Of Mine
-Carry On My Wayward Son
-Trogdor
-YYZ
-Girlfriend
-Monkey Wrench

I completed every song I played with minimal problems except for Trogdor.  I got burninated.  I might have gotten to 81% complete on the second try before I decided to move onto another song.  I won't go into much of what I saw but the new venue are awesome (nice shout out to the old Ratskeller) and the resolution on the game is unbelievable.  I had to ask if I was playing on an HDTV because it looks so much more crisper than the first one.  I wasn't.

So tomorrow morning, after I drop off the wee one and vote, I will be making one extra stop before I finally head to work.  I really want to take the day off but responsibility seems to get in the way.  That and a friggin 3 hour meeting in the afternoon.

I was/am reading the game releases for this week [Gamasutra] and this is a good week to be a gamer (or a bad week to married to one).

Off the list there are that have pre-ordered for months:
Gears of War and that other game I told myself I wouldn't mention, that will be in my house this week.  It will be interesting to see if Gears of War will actually leave the wrapping.  Also, how will gamers now abbreviate Gears of War and not have it collide with the abbreviation of God Of War? GeoW?

Some other items off the list that will be purchased at a later date:
Final Fantasy V Advance (GBA)
Elite Beat Agents (DS):  Portable rhythm game. Mmmm.
Call of Duty 3 (360):  I owned Call of Duty 2 on both the PC and the 360.  Even though I am not a fan of FPS on consoles, the execution of controller scheme on the 360 was amazing.  I think I had more fun playing CoD2 on the 360 than on the PC.  I am expecting the same from CoD3.

Finally, games that I need to get feedback on via reviews and word of mouth:
Tony Hawk's Project 8 (360):  I saw this sick video of the controller scheme for performing tricks using the analog sticks awhile back that really put this on the "to be considered" list.
Viva Pinata (360):  Jared wrote up a glowing preview of the game.  However, I am still on the fence of spending this much money in a genre that I am not so sure about.
Lumines II (PSP)

So, I will be getting two new games this week.  The other three definites will wait until Black Friday (Friday after Thanksgiving) to see if they get priced at some ridiculously low price.  Last Black Friday, I picked up CoD2 for the PC at Best Buy for $25!  I still don't think you can get the game that cheap.

So I only went to one place this evening for trick or treating, EB Games.  I grabbed my first pre-order of many coming down the pipeline, FFXII.  I played for about 1.5 hours this evening.  The pre-rendered cutscenes are gorgeous.  The best I have ever seen in the series up to date.  I am still in the introductory levels with no party so I have yet to really test the gambit system or really level (beyond the tutorial) to get into the whole new license system.  I also picked up the Limited Edition Strategy Guide because if you ever want to fully complete a Square Enix game and see all the hidden/secret weapons, espers/summons, and the super secret ultimate hyper ending cutscene, you need the guide.  I have 7 nights to get as far into this game as I can because on the 7th night, Guitar Hero II will be in my house, and it will be good.  Once GHII enters the PS2, it will be a long time before it leaves.

I remember when the first Rainbow Six game came out for the PC.  I was so pumped up to get my counter-terrorism on.  I wanted so badly to be Ding Chavez, the bad ass sniper from Clear and Present Danger.  I had read all the reviews about how you controlled multiple squads and plotted out your teams routes to save the day before the terrorists even knew what hit them.  I remember being so jacked up.  I also remember the disappointment when I actually played the game.  The world's most elite counter-terrorism squad had trouble navigating around walls and entering doors.  This crack team had trouble engaging hostiles in plain view.  WTF.  This is not what I wanted to do.  So what did I do when I saw that 30 minutes of drawing up a strategy lead me to 4 minutes of actual game play with the entire team dead.  My being the completionist worked my way around the system.  My strategies were drawn up in 30 seconds: all teams stand still at the insertion point, when I give the signal, move to the extraction point.  Once I entered the level, I would tell the squad I was leading to hold and would pull a Rambo: one man in to take them all out and save the day.  This was not fun though.  I gave the sequel, Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear a shot, but again I was disappointed.  Since then, every Rainbow Six title has purposefully flown under my radar.

That was until July 14th, when Penny Arcade pointed me to the video from E3 2006 of the latest installment of Rainbow Six.  I was floored by what they had put into the game: smaller squad to manage, dynamic squad tactics, simple interface for telling teammates where to move as well as what to do, and a level of graphic polish worthy of next generation systems.  However, I am reluctant of all videos that emerge from E3, especially this one.  Well, the demo for Rainbow Six: Las Vegas is up on Xbox Live for non-North American Xbox Live members.  For those of us, in North America, we can either fake an account that is non-North American, or just pick up the new issue of the Official Xbox Live magazine.  On a recent early morning milk run, I grabbed the issue from the supermarket.  Last night I had a chance to play with the demo.  It is as amazing as the video that I saw in July.  It is one of those demos that I will replay again, which is a pretty rare thing (unless it's the Guitar Hero II demo).

Found this on the Guitar Hero forums today.  ZOMGWTFBBQ....Trogdor!  Also cool to see Shadows Fall in the mix.  I used to work at a liquor store with the lead singer back when I was working on my undergrad.  Really nice guy.  I was hoping to see The Slip in there as well, but you can't always get what you want.

For those not in the know regarding Trogdor, please read this wiki entry and/or watch this Strong Bad email where Trogdor is introduced to the Internets.

UPDATE: For those unfortunate souls that can't see the forums, Gamespot also covered the story (with the forum posting as the source). [Gamespot.com - Guitar Hero II b-sides revealed]