Bottom Line:
Magnacarta 2 is an console action RPG where you primarily play as a character who doesn't remember his past - until it comes back to haunt him. i know, groundbreaking for an RPG. Magnacarta 2 is actually a RPG that leans heavily on RPG conventions - but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. You are thrown into one side of a civil war as certain events traspire. But is everything as it seems? You can switch between characters in battle using the direction pad (and it is necessary for some types of attacks - like battle chains) or the battle menu. As a character attacks they lose stamina, when that happens enough they can't attack until they "cool down" - unless battle chains are used.
There are a variety of skills to learn (kind of a skill tree scenario), unfortunately some skills are only available based off of what weapon type the character is using. Each character has two weapon styles (ex. Juto has 2 Handed sword or 1 Handed sword), which has different associated skills. Battle skills can be launched with the B button (provided they have saved up enough Kan to use them). Oh yeah, as a character attacks or is attacked they build up Kan which can then be used for special skills.
There is also DLC that costs 400 points that adds 240 gamerscore points and a weapon (in each style) for each of the 6 characters. The weapons are a little overpowered (especially early on).
Grade: C+
What to Expect:
* Numerous side quests (over 100)
* Fighting monsters and humans in a party of 3 (user selectable, though some might not be able to be used at certain times)
* Decent length for an RPG, i think this was designed for 2 playthroughs.
* Action combat with the semi-frequent need to switch characters
* Some relatively difficult enemies
* Relatively standard RPG faire
* Battle system that may take a little while to become proficient in
How i Played:
Difficulty: Default
Play Time: 40 hours (probably another 30+ on 2nd playthrough)
Achievements: 38/46 (with DLC), 1,000/1,240 gamerscore
Bad Tips: Rue (Katana) is a good leader to use when you get her as she has an instant kill ability that you can use sometimes - well it would be if you didn't need to use so many Battle Chains for the achievements.
Achievements:
i will get 1,240 eventually, but i only have 1,000 now. Basically the achievements are for stuff like: finishing all of the side quest (some are easily missable), doing X Chain Breaks, Story Related, Mastering Weapon Styles, etc. The DLC is for watching brief videos and collecting all weapons for the 6 characters.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Dview: DeathSpank (Xbox 360, XBLA)
Bottom Line:
DeathSpank is kind of a loot based hack-n-slash action RPG that relies heavily on quests. You play as a relatively dim-witted hero of the downtrodden named DeathSpank. This isn't a game that takes itself seriously - there are a bunch of off-the-wall quests and lines of dialog. Basically the combat consists of using the face buttons (A,B,X,Y). In the end, DeathSpank succeeds in vanquishing the forces of evil - well at least until the sequel (i wish i would have bought that when it was on sale). i actually spent longer on a playthrough of this than i did BioShock
Grade: B
What to Expect:
* Fighting a bunch of enemies with the face buttons
* Using potions and food to heal (and you will actually need these)
* A bunch of quests - many are of the fetch or kill monster x variety. Much of the time you will be on some quest or other.
* Numerous outhouses to discover - used for quick travel or resurrecting the character
* A decent length XBLA title
* Thankfully, not much of a penalty for dying
* Some action game elements (talking about Monkey Island type action games)
* Fortune Cookies - you can find these scattered around, they can be used to get hints about how to complete quests.
* Some sort of strange characters, quests and dialog
How i Played:Difficulty: Easy (Still died a lot, you probably would want to play at harder level to get more XP)
Time Spent: About 13-15 hours (it is annoying to get to level 20)
Achievements: 12/12 or 200/200
Achievements:
The achievements here are attainable at any difficulty level. One tip, termites eat the outer rim of a wooden wheel so it can be used as a gear. The achievements are for story events, killing enemies, side quests, reaching the maximum level, and even one for doing something specific in the menu.
DeathSpank is kind of a loot based hack-n-slash action RPG that relies heavily on quests. You play as a relatively dim-witted hero of the downtrodden named DeathSpank. This isn't a game that takes itself seriously - there are a bunch of off-the-wall quests and lines of dialog. Basically the combat consists of using the face buttons (A,B,X,Y). In the end, DeathSpank succeeds in vanquishing the forces of evil - well at least until the sequel (i wish i would have bought that when it was on sale). i actually spent longer on a playthrough of this than i did BioShock
Grade: B
What to Expect:
* Fighting a bunch of enemies with the face buttons
* Using potions and food to heal (and you will actually need these)
* A bunch of quests - many are of the fetch or kill monster x variety. Much of the time you will be on some quest or other.
* Numerous outhouses to discover - used for quick travel or resurrecting the character
* A decent length XBLA title
* Thankfully, not much of a penalty for dying
* Some action game elements (talking about Monkey Island type action games)
* Fortune Cookies - you can find these scattered around, they can be used to get hints about how to complete quests.
* Some sort of strange characters, quests and dialog
How i Played:Difficulty: Easy (Still died a lot, you probably would want to play at harder level to get more XP)
Time Spent: About 13-15 hours (it is annoying to get to level 20)
Achievements: 12/12 or 200/200
Achievements:
The achievements here are attainable at any difficulty level. One tip, termites eat the outer rim of a wooden wheel so it can be used as a gear. The achievements are for story events, killing enemies, side quests, reaching the maximum level, and even one for doing something specific in the menu.
Dview: BioShock (Xbox 360)
Bottom Line:
BioShock was one of the most immersive and impressive games i have played - on the first playthrough. The well placed period music and the unique environment of Rapture (a Capitalist utopia turned dystopia) make it an interesting game. However, the game seems somehow different in subsequent playthroughs. Basically it is a first person shooter with light RPG elements (like leveling up weapons, acquiring tonics to augment the character and also plasmids - which are like magic spells, sort of).
Somehow, the Dream of Andrew Ryan went wrong. Living in isolation and the discovery of Adam led to a different society. New advances were possible (especially in regards to genetic manipulation). Unfortunately, there were forces on Rapture that hastened its demise as the idealistic paradise. Unfortunately, he let people into his Utopia that he shouldn't have.
Grade:
B+
What to Expect:
* A first person shooters with limited enemy types, mostly Splicers (people who abused Adam). This seems to be focused slightly more on exploration than most "shooters".
* Big Daddies to kill - sort of an iconic creature in the game, Little Sisters to harvest or save
* A story line that finds you entering in a war torn rapture and maybe a little deception
* 100 diary tape entries that give you some of the back story
* Numerous tonics and plasmids to find/buy
* Limited penalty for death (for most of the game)
* A main character that seem like a throw-away
* A kind of annoying camera "weapon" used to research enemies that allows for bonus damage or reward tonics
* A kind of interesting under water place called Rapture - which is really the star of this game.
How i Played:
Difficulty: Casual
Time Spent: 10-12 hours (second playthrough getting all diaries 10-12 hours)
Achievements: 49/51 for 960/1,100 points (didn't get the Hardest difficulty ones)
Achievements:
There are two difficulty based achievements in this game - one is for just beating the game on Hard (the whole game not just the boss), the other one is for beating the game on Hard without dying and turning the Vita Chambers off. Other than that you have: story related, collectible, upgrade, dealing with Little Sisters, researching enemies, hacking and miscellaneous side tasks. Most of them can be done in under 20 hours. However, you may want to use a guide to find all of the weapon upgrade stations (one tricky) and audio diaries.
BioShock was one of the most immersive and impressive games i have played - on the first playthrough. The well placed period music and the unique environment of Rapture (a Capitalist utopia turned dystopia) make it an interesting game. However, the game seems somehow different in subsequent playthroughs. Basically it is a first person shooter with light RPG elements (like leveling up weapons, acquiring tonics to augment the character and also plasmids - which are like magic spells, sort of).
Somehow, the Dream of Andrew Ryan went wrong. Living in isolation and the discovery of Adam led to a different society. New advances were possible (especially in regards to genetic manipulation). Unfortunately, there were forces on Rapture that hastened its demise as the idealistic paradise. Unfortunately, he let people into his Utopia that he shouldn't have.
Grade:
B+
What to Expect:
* A first person shooters with limited enemy types, mostly Splicers (people who abused Adam). This seems to be focused slightly more on exploration than most "shooters".
* Big Daddies to kill - sort of an iconic creature in the game, Little Sisters to harvest or save
* A story line that finds you entering in a war torn rapture and maybe a little deception
* 100 diary tape entries that give you some of the back story
* Numerous tonics and plasmids to find/buy
* Limited penalty for death (for most of the game)
* A main character that seem like a throw-away
* A kind of annoying camera "weapon" used to research enemies that allows for bonus damage or reward tonics
* A kind of interesting under water place called Rapture - which is really the star of this game.
How i Played:
Difficulty: Casual
Time Spent: 10-12 hours (second playthrough getting all diaries 10-12 hours)
Achievements: 49/51 for 960/1,100 points (didn't get the Hardest difficulty ones)
Achievements:
There are two difficulty based achievements in this game - one is for just beating the game on Hard (the whole game not just the boss), the other one is for beating the game on Hard without dying and turning the Vita Chambers off. Other than that you have: story related, collectible, upgrade, dealing with Little Sisters, researching enemies, hacking and miscellaneous side tasks. Most of them can be done in under 20 hours. However, you may want to use a guide to find all of the weapon upgrade stations (one tricky) and audio diaries.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Duke Nukem Forever and Reviews
First, off let me say that i have not played Duke Nukem Forever (nor do i plan to). In fact the only exposure i have to the series is playing some of the early adventure (shareware) games and a little Duke Nukem 3D (my roommate used this for LAN parties a lot). So, to me, Duke Nukem seems to have played a big part in what was eventually to become online gaming (like XBL). In fact that was one of the reasons i was not interested in this title - i view it more as a multiplayer game (i have problems in general with shooters too). This is more of a reaction to what i have seen in the video game press.
The review scores i have seen in the press for Duke Nukem Forever are largely indefensible. What i am really getting at here is that the video game reviewers are showing a distinct lack of professionalism with their reviews for this game (unjustifiably harsh scoring). They are showing a distinct lack of any objectivity. Actually that is a major problems with reviews themselves - they are too subjective - they give some games 9.0s that don't deserve it and are way to harsh on other games. The way i see it, if a game works technically (not a lot of game crashing/killing bugs, playable) it deserves a 5.0 base score. Some points can be taken off for specific problems. Load screens are annoying, but not a real technical problem.
Sure, i never expected this game to be a work of art, but i'm sure it is better than some games which scored much higher. One of the problems is that Gearbox stayed remarkably close to the original intent of the game (which finally got off the vaporware list). The long/troubled development cycle is another strike against it. However, the complaint i find most egregious is the editorializing about the character and morality of the game. It is not a real game journalist's place to use a review as a bully pulpit. This game is getting slammed for offending some feminist sentimentalities (i'm not going to get into how intellectually dishonest feminism actually is here). Who cares is Duke comes off as sexist or misogynistic. That can actually be seen as some of the charm of a game (in this non-offensive vanilla climate).
Now, if Gearbox wanted to do something interesting... release all of the Duke Nukem games on XBL and PSN as downloadable content that launches from the full commercial game. i could go for some of the really early Duke Nukem games. So use the catalog as a value added proposition for the retail game.
The review scores i have seen in the press for Duke Nukem Forever are largely indefensible. What i am really getting at here is that the video game reviewers are showing a distinct lack of professionalism with their reviews for this game (unjustifiably harsh scoring). They are showing a distinct lack of any objectivity. Actually that is a major problems with reviews themselves - they are too subjective - they give some games 9.0s that don't deserve it and are way to harsh on other games. The way i see it, if a game works technically (not a lot of game crashing/killing bugs, playable) it deserves a 5.0 base score. Some points can be taken off for specific problems. Load screens are annoying, but not a real technical problem.
Sure, i never expected this game to be a work of art, but i'm sure it is better than some games which scored much higher. One of the problems is that Gearbox stayed remarkably close to the original intent of the game (which finally got off the vaporware list). The long/troubled development cycle is another strike against it. However, the complaint i find most egregious is the editorializing about the character and morality of the game. It is not a real game journalist's place to use a review as a bully pulpit. This game is getting slammed for offending some feminist sentimentalities (i'm not going to get into how intellectually dishonest feminism actually is here). Who cares is Duke comes off as sexist or misogynistic. That can actually be seen as some of the charm of a game (in this non-offensive vanilla climate).
Now, if Gearbox wanted to do something interesting... release all of the Duke Nukem games on XBL and PSN as downloadable content that launches from the full commercial game. i could go for some of the really early Duke Nukem games. So use the catalog as a value added proposition for the retail game.
i Do Not Like the New Xbox.com Forums
So, i was looking at the Official Xbox forums (xbox.com).
They really did a hatchet job on the site. Basically, every time they change it they seem to make things worse. Whehter it is game pages disappearing or something else. Basically, existing forums disappeared and they actually made it more difficult to find the forum you wanted. For some reason they like the mouse hover over method of loading a list interface. i would prefer launching it from its own page.
Maybe they will be rolling out more forums for individual games. However, it doesn't look good. It seems if you actually find a forum for a game you are interested in that they increased the font size and listed fewer threads per page. The next button will be clicked a lot with this format. i guess i don't like the green link text either.
i'm sure they have a reason for changing things around (that make sense to someone else). However, i'm not a fan.
Now for some bonus: Things i don't like about the Xbox 360 S
* Touch sensitive buttons - these are annoyingly easy to hit when you don't want to (especially if you are doing anything with the rear USB ports. i also hate the annoying chime they make when you hit them. i play a lot at late night (when i don't want to hear the sounds)
* The USB seem to be a little loose. i bought a 4GB slim (i have since added a hard drive). However, when i was using a 16GB USB flash drive, i had to kind of pin it in the front two slots or the console wouldn't read it. Why can't they put USB ports on the sides where they are easier to access?
They really did a hatchet job on the site. Basically, every time they change it they seem to make things worse. Whehter it is game pages disappearing or something else. Basically, existing forums disappeared and they actually made it more difficult to find the forum you wanted. For some reason they like the mouse hover over method of loading a list interface. i would prefer launching it from its own page.
Maybe they will be rolling out more forums for individual games. However, it doesn't look good. It seems if you actually find a forum for a game you are interested in that they increased the font size and listed fewer threads per page. The next button will be clicked a lot with this format. i guess i don't like the green link text either.
i'm sure they have a reason for changing things around (that make sense to someone else). However, i'm not a fan.
Now for some bonus: Things i don't like about the Xbox 360 S
* Touch sensitive buttons - these are annoyingly easy to hit when you don't want to (especially if you are doing anything with the rear USB ports. i also hate the annoying chime they make when you hit them. i play a lot at late night (when i don't want to hear the sounds)
* The USB seem to be a little loose. i bought a 4GB slim (i have since added a hard drive). However, when i was using a 16GB USB flash drive, i had to kind of pin it in the front two slots or the console wouldn't read it. Why can't they put USB ports on the sides where they are easier to access?
Dview: Karaoke Revolution (Xbox 360) US Version
The Bottom Line:
Karaoke Revolution is a singing game. i know that may be a real shocker. i really liked Lips, but i decided to try this when it got cheaper. The experience is a little different than something like Lips or SingStar (if they released it for the 360 i would get it) in that the main part of the game is the career mode - consisting of a series of "gigs". Yes, you can fail gigs (though Easy mode really, really is forgiving). Karaoke Revolution has the videos for the songs, but i have to ask myself why? Couldn't they have just added another 10 songs instead? i further question their decision to include Spanish language tracks in the US release (5 of them). Unfortunately, Konami decided to stop supporting this game fairly soon after launch (very limited DLC). This is a nice compliment / a little something different than other singing games. This is for the US version of the game.
Grade: C+
Karaoke Revolution is a singing game. i know that may be a real shocker. i really liked Lips, but i decided to try this when it got cheaper. The experience is a little different than something like Lips or SingStar (if they released it for the 360 i would get it) in that the main part of the game is the career mode - consisting of a series of "gigs". Yes, you can fail gigs (though Easy mode really, really is forgiving). Karaoke Revolution has the videos for the songs, but i have to ask myself why? Couldn't they have just added another 10 songs instead? i further question their decision to include Spanish language tracks in the US release (5 of them). Unfortunately, Konami decided to stop supporting this game fairly soon after launch (very limited DLC). This is a nice compliment / a little something different than other singing games. This is for the US version of the game.
Grade: C+
Dview: Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Xbox 360)
The Bottom Line:
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is sort of an action RPG. In the game you play as a team of 4 super heroes ranging from Spider-Man to Ms. Marvel. Yes, some are more obscure than others. There originally was a Heroes and Villians pack available as DLC, but has supposedly been pulled. If you want the complete experience go with the Gold Edition. The game really seems to be middling in every way.
Grade: C
What to Expect:
* Beating up a stream of enemies (mostly robots of some type)
* Leveling up - can set to auto
* Collectibles to find: Comic Discs (unlock missions for hero skins), Action Figures (unlock Daredevil or Black Panther) and Sketch Books (concept art)
* QTE (Quick Time Events) - basically button pressing at specific times. The most annoying of these are the comic book missions for Storm and Spider-Man.
* A bunch of heros to play as. Some seem eerily similar to others though (especially the DLC ones). i think it is 33 with the DLC.
* Defeating enemies can unlock additional skins for the characters
* Combat system - light attack, heavy attack, x is grab (for throws), the triggers can be used to launch a power (it and the corresponding face button) and select tactic.
* Some boss fights
My Play:
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 20-30 hours (with almost everything)
Achievements: 46/58 (1030/1,)250
Achievments:
Achievements in this game are for things like unlocking all available character skins (especially DLC), Throwing X people off ledges, defeating X enemies, story events, unlocking playable characters, answering trivia questions, etc. Unfortunately, there are also some for playing co-op. Some are more of a chore than others.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is sort of an action RPG. In the game you play as a team of 4 super heroes ranging from Spider-Man to Ms. Marvel. Yes, some are more obscure than others. There originally was a Heroes and Villians pack available as DLC, but has supposedly been pulled. If you want the complete experience go with the Gold Edition. The game really seems to be middling in every way.
Grade: C
What to Expect:
* Beating up a stream of enemies (mostly robots of some type)
* Leveling up - can set to auto
* Collectibles to find: Comic Discs (unlock missions for hero skins), Action Figures (unlock Daredevil or Black Panther) and Sketch Books (concept art)
* QTE (Quick Time Events) - basically button pressing at specific times. The most annoying of these are the comic book missions for Storm and Spider-Man.
* A bunch of heros to play as. Some seem eerily similar to others though (especially the DLC ones). i think it is 33 with the DLC.
* Defeating enemies can unlock additional skins for the characters
* Combat system - light attack, heavy attack, x is grab (for throws), the triggers can be used to launch a power (it and the corresponding face button) and select tactic.
* Some boss fights
My Play:
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 20-30 hours (with almost everything)
Achievements: 46/58 (1030/1,)250
Achievments:
Achievements in this game are for things like unlocking all available character skins (especially DLC), Throwing X people off ledges, defeating X enemies, story events, unlocking playable characters, answering trivia questions, etc. Unfortunately, there are also some for playing co-op. Some are more of a chore than others.
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