Friday, August 21, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Games On Demand: Who is this service for?
But this didn't make me as angry as what happened next. The pricing for the games. They are priced at RETAIL! I'm sorry, what exactly are we paying for? Data and the right to play the game. There is no BOX, no manual, no disc stamping! The games are old, so there is no advertising involved, so what is going on? Amazon.com has Assassin's Creed priced for a FULL BOX COPY at $25.99 and we have to pay $29.99 on the Games on Demand service for nothing more than a copy of the game and nothing else?
So who is this service for? Perhaps people who live SO FAR away from a store or their mail box that the only way they are going to be able to get games is from the service. The only problem with that is they probably have satellite internet then and it will probably take them 2 days to download the game.
Perhaps its' for rich people who want to own a bunch of games that they could get for half the price at Gamestop. I guess Gamestop is THRILLED with this, anyone going in and seeing that the same games used are about half the price of those of Games on Demand will actually make MORE people purchase them. XBOX.com won't even show the prices of the Games on Demand. They say to "check marketplace." What they think people won't comparison shop?
I love digital distribution, I haven't purchased a boxed PC game since Wrath of the Lich King came out and I purchase about one PC game every 2 months. I love it! But this IS NOT the way to do digital distribution. The service NEEDS to give me a REASON to download the game, other than instant gratification!
Of Worgens and Goblins! WTF?
I haven't done a World of Warcraft post for a while as it appears that Project Lore is slowly self-destructing. So I figured yesterday's "leak" of Worgens and Goblins as the new Races in the next expansion, apparently called Cataclysm would be a good post. As I have a VERY strong opinion on this.
Its ridiculous! I honestly will say that this whole thing appeals to SO FEW people that I really can't even begin to understand it. Blizzard had complained a while ago about no one was playing Horde because they didn't have enough pretty races. So how do Goblins, help with this? Goblins are gnomes and orcs combined. People in general hate both; its a two for one!
Worgen on the other hand are monsters. We kill a slew of them in Duskwood. Are these supposed to be nice werewolves. I think the story folks at Blizzard have been reading too many Twilight books. This would be like taking Dragonkin and making THEM a playable race. Even better making them an Alliance race? I could all most see Worgens on the Horde, but the Alliance? Supposedly there are some lore foundations for all this but people this seems like a bit of stretch. I guess the folks at Blizzard felt a new Class would be too much work. Which is probably called for considering how crazy powerful Death Knights are. I play a Death Knight and I STILL feel they are crazy powerful.
I will probably play a Worgen, in some fashion as an alt. But there is NO FORCE ON EARTH THAT WILL GET ME TO PLAY A GOBLIN! I don't care what their starting area looks like or what their racials are. I just don't like them and never have.
Considering we currently have a SERIOUS healer shortage on most servers considering the call seems to be going out DAILY for this instance or that instance that needs HEALS. I would have thought that a new HEALER class would have been MUCH BETTER than ANY new races. But hey, I guess I don't get paid to make these decisions so what do I know. All I can say is that if we get an influx of Hunters, Rogues, and Warlocks. Because they are SO COOL to play as Goblins or Worgen; I'm going to just roll my eyes and shake my head. Considering the class imbalance is all ready there, I think it's up to Blizzard to do SOMETHING to fix it and making two new races really doesn't do that. Sorry guys, but I REALLY want to hear the explanation for this at Blizzcon, I'll be there. Taking notes...
Call of Juarez Bound in Blood Review
The latest offering in the Call of Juarez franchise is a prequel. Which in itself is strange considering I wasn't really wondering how the first game happened. But hey, it doesn't really matter in the end. The McCalls; Ray and Thomas are out to shoot folks and get themselves some Aztec gold. And hey that sounds like fun to me.
Call of Juarez begins during the Civil War where you are forced to play Thomas because for some reason he was chosen as your focus character. I can't tell you why except that maybe some of his mechanics are unique so the developers thought that if you started with Thomas you would never switch to Ray. Which wasn't true for me, as I hated the whip mechanics from the first game and everyone will be happy to know that they haven't been improved much in the second. Wonderful... The story takes center stage in Call of Juarez and it is probably the best thing about the game on the whole. Which is kind of sad to say about a FPS. The story takes you from the Civil War right through into the days of the old west.
I have to make comment about the various on rails shooting sequences in the game. They are broken. The guns that you are shooting are usually VERY inaccurate and often don't portray very well the power of the actual weapon that it is supposed to be depicting. The Gatlin Gun that seems to make innumerable appearances in the game was a devastating weapon and would have easily torn anyone apart that got close to the gun. In some instances people and horses are simply hit as if they were being struck by rifle bullets. Not really what would have happened. Oh, and there were even instances where people were shot multiple times before they died, yeah that wouldn't have happened either. You were basically cut in half by the weapon, that was kind of the point.
This leads into another part of the game. I was really excited to be able to upgrade my guns. This is a part of many western style titles that I usually absolutely love. But in Call of Juarez, the only difference from one gun to the next is all about aesthetics. Perhaps the load time IS longer on the Volcano Gun versus the Ranger. But I really didn't notice when you were loading 12 bullets versus only 6. Sure it's going to take a little longer and you are going to load the bullets differently. But there was no REAL gameplay effect. Also, the guns are supposed to get more powerful and/or more accurate. This might be happening with rifles and shotguns. But my Ranger Prime bore no power or accuracy difference from my Volcano Prime; even though the latter was supposed to be one of the most powerful guns in the game. The latter guns, rifles, etc... Certainly looked cool, but that seemed like about all.
Also, the ridiculous mini-game style distractions in the game that all seemed to be bordering on broken were also nothing to redeem the title from a fountain mediocrity. Dropping explosive barrels from a great height and then telling me I have to shoot the guys dropping them. When in fact, I have to shoot all the barrels is kind of mean. I believe I had to restart about 4 times before realizing the game was actually lieing to me.
I did kind of like the shooting mechanics although I felt that your character moved MUCH too slowly. The game reminded me of the original Unreal where you had this big weapon and you were slowly moving down this hall and that hall. When you actually had to jump it was impossible to believe that this slow tank-like character would be able to make it. I guess that's why there is no platforming in Call of Juarez. Thank GOD for small favors. The areas of the game where they let you ride a horse were incredible, if there was anything they nailed in this game it was the riding and shooting. It was great, until they shoot your horse out from under you anyway.
The multiplayer which I was REALLY looking forward to, ended up to be a bad rip-off of Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Darkwatch! Each game wonderful in their own right but put together its like putting ice cream on a hamburger. It sucks! I did have fun for around 20 minutes but as the game went on I kept thinking about where I could get a copy of Darkwatch and if it would run on my XBOX 360 or not.
Perhaps they should have spent less money on having a multiplayer mode , as it didn't work that well in the first game and instead spend some money on character models and voice acting. For a game that was centered around a story the VERY WORST part of the game were the HORRIBLE character models. The best models in the game were the Mccalls who probably wouldn't win any beauty contests. But compared to the ugly group of cronies that populate this game they are gorgeous.
The above is the love interest in the game. She kind of looks like somebody from Left 4 Dead or one of the Romero vampire movies. I was wondering all throughout the game who the guy was who was left alone with the unreal editor over a weekend and got REALLY DRUNK and then made all these models. Then some how everyone said,
"Well they aren't THAT bad, and they look like so much work to do over again."
Can we patch these people with better skins or something? Its awful! The voice acting is hokey and probably they were going for spaghetti western style and I guess they achieved that but it doesn't do a lot to immerse the player in the world.
To wrap this up. I didn't mind playing through Call of Juarez Bound in Blood once. But if you had paid anywhere in the neighborhood of $60 for this game you would be REALLY unhappy. I did leave out a few more things I didn't like about the game, the duels for instance. But why beat a dead horse. Don't buy this game and if you REALLY NEED to find out the story and play through the game. Rent it. That's it, that's the best recommendation I can give this game. Oh and Ray is the best character to play as, no matter what anyone says. By the way, Darkwatch IS backwards compatible with the XBOX 360. Just in case you wanted to know.
Technorati Tags: darkwatch,xbox360,xbox,western,callofjuarez,boundinblood,vidoegames,shooter,console
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Delay of Games! Did you REALLY think this wouldn't happen?
Back at this years' E3 I was confronted with such a glut of games to make anyone think that perhaps this year would resemble the gaming nirvana of old. Back in 2007, we had such a year. But those days are gone people. Really, they are. When I saw all these titles my first thought was; all most none of these games are ACTUALLY coming out this year. Probably more like beginning to middle of next year. Just the idea of getting Rock Band Beatles, Guitar Hero 5, Modern Warfare 2, Bioshock 2, Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect 2, HALO ODST, Left for Dead 2, Brutal Legend, Uncharted 2 Den of Thieves, Forza 3, Borderlands, and the HUGE AMOUNT of PC only titles supposedly on the slate. Like Champions Online and Starcraft 2. The feeling I had was pure skepticism and the fact that everyone kept saying end of the year or fall made me feel this even more. I figured they were probably shooting for this; but game development is a little too fluid to all ways hit their mark; and marketing even more so.
The cold hard facts are that the history of game releases has proved to just about every game developer that even though Christmas is a great time to release games; but it isn't the ONLY time to release games. In some cases, coming out with too many games at once creates a shortage of money, drains the market and we end with one or two HUGE titles and everything else gets the shaft. Anyone remember the Christmases of Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia, and Psychonauts? I'm sure the publishers do.
There have been a raft of delays rolling through the gaming news in the past two months. One of the biggest being the pulling of the rumor carpet out from under us with Blizzard saying that Starcraft 2 is coming out in the first half of 2010 rather than this fall or Christmas. According to Blizzard this is due to problems with Battle.net which there have been but I think they could have probably sewed all of this up; but why? They can just come out after all the hubbub and get a nice clean launch. I think they probably preferred that anyway. Its not as though they are going to lose money by waiting. Everyone loves Starcraft and will probably buy this game if it comes out on December 1st or June 1st. As for all the other games NOT coming out. Well, there are a few big ones being delayed. But really guys, this just gives the developers time to make the games better...
Yeah I know, it doesn't seem to make much difference. If the game is great it could launch a month early and be great and if its bad it could come out a year late and it not matter too much. I know this seems contrary to logic; but history seems to show this happening WAY TOO OFTEN! The big games that ARE STILL hitting before 2010 that you probably want to check out are:
1. Batman Arkum Asylum (August 25th)
2. Dragon Age Origins (11/3)
3. Brutal Legend (10/13)
4. Dirt 2 (9/10)
5. Wet (9/15)
6. Halo ODST (9/22)
7. Modern Warfare 2 (11/10)
"Wait!" You say, that can't be all! No, it probably isn't but these games are coming out in the near enough future that they PROBABLY won't be delayed. I'm going for safe bets here. I'm looking at you Assassin's Creed 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction! Just remember that this isn't exactly the best economy for games to come out to HUGE day one sales. So don't be surprised if one of those games you haven't heard too much about lately, all of a sudden gets delayed. Also, if you REALLY want a game make sure you pre-order because this is the ONLY way that the developers and publishers get a CLEAR idea of what the interest in their game REALLY IS.
On a side note, I know I haven't been around as much lately; and for that I apologize. But you should be looking for a Call of Jaurez Bound in Blood review shortly and also a preview of a secret game that will also be launched before 2010. Its for the PC.... It might even be a positive preview, wouldn't that be nice for a change. But I make no promises, I'm not done yet....
Technorati Tags: xbox360,ps3,dragonageorigins,batman,brutallegend,rockband,guitarhero,wet,COD,modernwarfare,consoles,PC,delays,E3
Monday, August 3, 2009
Wet Shot at Love Viral Video
Somebody at Bethesda's marketing department deserves a raise for this one!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Giant Bomb gives us 40+ Minutes of DC UNIVERSE ONLINE!
This is awesome, for a game that is coming out the first half of next year, there has been SO LITTLE information out there. I'm happy to see this.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Aion Online Beta and why I STILL KEEP PLAYING World of Warcraft!
I was one of those people who managed to snag a Beta key for this weekend's Aion Online Tower of Eternity Beta Event. I hopefully won the contest and get to meet the developers because I REALLY DO have some questions for them.
I DID do some research about Aion; for instance did you know that this game was ORIGINALLY a free to play MMORPG in Korea? Did you also know that initially the game was MORE popular than Lineage! All of this is very interesting and it will possibly help you understand why the game works the way it does and why it probably won't be eating into Blizzard's profits; at least not once its' been out for a few months.
The amazing part of Aion Online is also the most obvious. The visuals in the game are AMAZING and probably rival ANYTHING in ANY other MMORPG and in fact many other non-MMORPGs. The animations on the player character models are absolutely amazing and at no time did I ever see an action that EVER got old to watch. All of the effects on the water, lighting, and special magical effects are incredible. This is probably one of the only things that makes Aion Online SO HARD to not play when compared directly to games like World of Warcraft whose five year old stylized graphics are getting old VERY FAST. What most people SHOULD realize however is that you need a pretty nice computer to run these graphics. This is not going to run on your laptop unless you got said laptop from Alienware. You should probably also watch your internet connection speed as it seems like, at least right now, that the game can chug here and there. You don't want to be part of the problem, do you? It's just too bad that the graphics are really the only jewel in Aion's crown.
Unfortunately that is about the only brilliant part of Aion Online. The game goes right back down the road of all other Eastern MMORPGS. Which consist of high degrees of grinding and repetitive quest structure. They have a very low frequency of diversity in their quests therefore making them not very fun. At least after a few hours anyway.
The very nature of MMORPGs tend to be skewed towards grinding. But Free to Play MMORPGs and JMMORPGs tend to be the masters of this particular mechanic. Every quest giver wants you to go out and kill some monster 10-20 times and then come back and go kill something else 10-20 more times. And there usually is no such thing as collecting all of these quests at once even if all the monsters are in the same area. Because for whatever reason they don't do it that way. Unfortunately, Aion Tower of Eternity is no different and it isn't even a JMMORPG or free to play.
Of course the glowing beautiful exterior that the CRY Engine puts on this MMORPG will keep you from noticing for quite a while that you just keep basically doing the same thing over and over again. Also, you might be a little put off when you first get your wings, because you can't fly right away. But then, as if they realized this they let you fly in the very next area. But then at around 11-12, just 2 levels above the level that you got your wings. You aren't allowed to fly anymore. I was SO INTERESTED in what kinds of gameplay they could come up with using the wings. I guess they figured it was better to play it safe. I'm sure you can fly later and apparently you can fly in PVP. But the fact that in some areas you can and some areas you can't fly and they are actually separated by invisible walls is absolutely insane.
I did end up playing both sides of the story; the angelic Eloys and the more demonic looking Asmodians. The two sides are really only different cosmetically and while the Asmodians have a darker feeling starting area they are certainly much too similar to even discuss the differences. By the time I was ready to stop playing (permanently I'd logged in around 6-9 hours). I played a Mage(Sorceror at level 10) for the most of the game. I certainly loved the game up until they decided that I couldn't fly in the next area. Also, not being able to fly in the capital city put me off as well. Everything is kind of a long walk and you have to either pay a flightmaster or walk there. There are lots of times when you have to keep going back to particular areas and even your (hearthstone-like) return home spell charges you to reapply it as you continue through the game and worse if you don't do this often you may end up resurrecting SO FAR from the last place you were that your going to spend 10 minutes walking back there. Why am I walking when I have wings and can fly? Cause the developers say so. I also managed to level a Scout(which for some reason is some kind of thief/ranger/assassin thing, very odd that class) to level 9. After level 9 which is pretty much just your introduction to how to play you get to pick one of two specializations for your class. Which in other games, you usually just start out in that class or you put points into trees for them. So here is how it breaks down:
Mage: (Cloth weaing DPS spell caster)
Sorceror : just like every other mage class in the world, you get to use a book or a magical stone. The book is ranged the stone is a melee.
Spiritmaster: Similar to the Warlock in World of Warcraft. You summon a spirit and that spirit helps you fight.
Scout: (Leather wearing DPS Class)
Ranger: just like the Hunter in World of Warcraft.
Assassin: basically a Rogue
Warrior: (Mail wearing DPS/Tanking class)
Gladiator: Duel wielding melee DPS class
Templar: Tanking melee class
Priest: (Cloth/Mail wearing Healing class)
Cleric: more weapon focused healer
Chanter: more spell focused healer
So nothing new or creative here either. The worst part of the game is that the models for all of the monsters seem so well tread. They seem to just change their colors and worse most of them are ugly. With such a powerful graphics engine it's hard to believe they could have done just a poor job of rendering them. It might have been the alien nature of the world but that to me just makes it all the worse that they couldn't come up with anything better. Most of the monsters had stiff animations and most were incredibly hard to kill even when you were their level or one level higher. I'm not sure that I feel really powerful when a wolf or bird can kill me.
The part of the game that may be different is the PVP, but this also seems like something similar to Warhammer Online Age of Reckonings Siege and Area control mechanics. Which is nice, but in Warhammer it isn't very fun for the most part and I think this may have a similar problem in Aion Online as well. So I'm not exactly looking forward to that part either. There was no hint of PVPs' hows, wheres, or whens during the beta I played but it might not even be implemented yet or perhaps you have to be MUCH higher level. If the latter is the case, that's kind of sad and much too similar to Atlantica Online where you have to be level 20 to PVP.
This is in no way a review of the game; as I certainly didn't spend enough time with it to have an authoritative opinion on it. It is also a Beta, but I really didn't see anything that said to me that this game isn't done. Just that what they have done isn't for me. I did spend enough time playing it to not want to play the game anymore and to be relatively happy to go back to World of Warcraft. Which I just started playing again recently and even though I'm playing on Alliance with NO ONE I know and seem to be soloing just about everything. I really do love and want to level this toon to 80. I'm finally working on the Night Elf Druid I all ways wanted and I'm pretty satisfied with her so far. Although, the worst is yet to come as I'm only level 27. I know the stop gaps that lay ahead and I think I'm mentally prepared for them. I don't know why I love World of Warcraft, I just do. Aion Online Tower of Eternity comes out on September 22nd for the PC and is available at Gamestop and for digital download at Direct2Drive, I hope you like the game more than I did.
-Devilsalias(Timothy Pecoraro)
Technorati Tags: MMORPG,WOW,worldofwarcraft,Aion,Aiononline,Toweofeternity,PC,pcgaming,fantasy,darkfantasy,angels,demons
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