Gaming Addict

Red Steel 2 is going to try and deliver a concept that the first Red Steel didn’t, good gameplay.  Red Steel was a typical launch title when the Wii was released.  A game with many promises, but no delivery.  The promise of gunplay and fighting with katana using the Wii’s motion controllers sounded like the coolest thing ever.  But what you really got was no control over the way the katana moves in a fight, and guns that mimicked the control of a light gun game from ages past.  Nothing intuitive, and nothing that made you feel like you were really in control of the motion of the gun or sword combat. 

Now with the Wii’s new addition, the WiiMotion Plus, Red Steel 2 has the promise to become the game we were all expecting the first time around.  The WiiMotion Plus promises that the motions you make with the controller will now be much more accurately mapped to your on screen avatar.  Meaning, that now Red Steel won’t be awful, and instead you’ll relish the opportunity to sword fight on your Wii console.  Sure it’s a few years late, but at least it’s arriving.

Now all we need is the Wii attachment for better graphics.  Seriously, can we upgrade to looking beyond the PS2 era of graphical prowess?  Or will you always be using your Wii to play as grainy ugly avatars whose flaws are amplified by high-definition.

Whatever happened to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for Sony PSP?  Bethesda is reportedly working on the project one moment, and then cancelling it the next.  I can recall reading many times over the summer that the game was on schedule for a holdiay release, and then that it was cancelled outright, and then that Bethesda hasn’t canned the title, but has no new info to release.

So what’s the deal, is it coming out or not?  Because I can’t think of many things in the videogame world, that could be more fun that portable Oblivion.   Sure the graphics would suffer greatly, and I don’t know how you compress Oblivion’s fairly complicated combat and item system into the PSP’s four face and two shoulder buttons.  Which made for the conclusion to cancel the project the obvious decision.

But, on the plus side we have Valhalla Knights 2, Star Ocean: First Departure, and FIFA 2009 to look forward to.  Action RPG Star Ocean goodness?  Almost some sort of a filler for when/if Oblivion comes to the portable console.

On a side note, at least we have the impending Bungie announcement of Halo 4 coming soon.  Although it may not be named Halo 4, it will be Master Chief fueled, gun shooting, warthog driving mayhem.

Imagine GTA IV with better graphics, and upgraded gunplay, better and more realistic damage to cars, and Vin Diesel as the main character.  Wheelman is set to promise this and much more.  The way it’s looking Wheelman will be akin to the smooth driving controls of the original Driver games, with the added plus of GTA quality outside of the car antics.  Vin Diesel will also be lending his voice, as well as likeness to the game.

If Wheelman proves to be anything like Vin Diesel’s past foray into the videogame world, Chronicles of  Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, then it will be one of the 360/PS3/PC’s premier titles as of late.  

Which brings me to a second point, why is it looking as though Chronicles Of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena will never see the light of day.  As one of the titles canned by Activision in hopes of the publisher staying alive in the videogame world, word is that things aren’t looking good for Riddick.  Which is unfortunate, as rumor has it that Dark Athena was being developed as a full fledged  Riddick sequel game, opposed to a remake of Butcher Bay with additional gameplay added.

That makes me sad because the first Chronicles Of Riddick was incredibly awesome, playing a game in prison, and having to survive, shiv fools, and mount an incredible escape attempt was one of the most memorable experiences on an Xbox console.  Mostly because Riddick set the standard for HD gaming, that was never bested in the life of the original Xbox console.

Hopefully such prestige over a movie tie in shooter will be enough for Dark Athena to find another publisher, as the game is just about completed anyway.  But like I said, things don’t look good.

First off, normally I don’t get really excited for Sonic games, as Sonic the Hedgehog hasn’t exactly seen his best form as of late.  The next-gen version of Sonic?  Awful.  But this looks extraordinarily intriguing for two reasons.

1. It’s an RPG
2. It’s an RPG developed by Bioware.

Yes that’s right, the creator of such fantastic titles as Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, and Mass Effect is undertaking the Sonic franchise reinvention.  With enough fresh ideas to make the series much more interesting than it’s been since the early days of the Sega Genesis home console.

For example, the game doesn’t look to be breaking any RPG handheld boundaries so to speak, but it’s got some cool ideas for how to bring classic RPG turn based combat into the Sonic world.  Such as Sonic’s speed being so high he can attack three times every round.  The game will also feature different Chao eggs that can power up your characters in a variety of different ways, i.e. strength, speed and such.  The game also features classic locations like the Green Hill Zone, and hopefully the various Casino inspired worlds found in just about ever edition of Sonic that’s ever come to pass.

Characters will also have unique tasks they can perform to help the group along the way.  Sonic’s speed will allow you to chase after enemies that attempt to flee combat, Knuckles will be able to scale walls, Tails can fly the team to higher altitudes, and Amy can stand around and be a useless cash in for the female audience as she was intended.

But all of this is completely meaningless compared to the fact that it’s developer Bioware behind Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood.  I don’t care what the game is based off of, I will play anything Bioware undertakes.  They can’t miss, I’ve never known an RPG developer to have such a long running string of excellent titles.  And I can’t wait to see how they rejuvinate and maybe reinvent the Sonic games, because the franchise has needed an overhaul for years now.

Did I mention the story is told through awesome looking comic panel stylized videos?

Here’s to hoping Sonic v Eggman can reclaim the fun it’s been missing since I was a young kid, and controllers only had a d-pad and three face buttons.

First off, I really need a subscription to Gamefly at this point, because it took forever for me to get a copy of Mercenaries 2: World In Flames.  Second, I wish I hadn’t been so hyped to play it, nor put out as much effort to get a copy to play.

Mercenaries 2 is just plain bad.  Much like the first effort the gunplay is just not polished enough.  The explosions don’t look as explosive as one would like from PS3/Xbox 360 quality graphics.  And the vehicle control is just laughable, with slow unresponsive unrealistic reactions to terrain and obstacles, and trying to turn.

Sure the graphics overall aren’t half bad, but the game just lacks that little bit of polish needed to become a valued gaming experience.  Instead we get an incomplete game that’s only gimmick is  being portrayed as a GTA clone with military weapons.   Which is exactly what you’ll get here, a game that is leeching off GTA’s open world standard, to give you a sub-par product for you to waste your money in confusion.

Maybe I’m just not a Mercenaries fan, but I like my games a little more polished before they hit store shelves, I understand not every game can have the precision aiming of a Halo or Call of Duty 4, but how about putting the ability to put the reticule on target fairly often.

I was a big fan of Shadow Of Rome, the visceral combat, the great control scheme for said combat.  Rise Of The Argonauts looks like it will continue that brand of sandal wearing, big weapon swinging violence.   With a unique premise.  The action/rpg genre is plagued with short titles that only really give you a taste of what they could have been.  Rise Of The Argonauts is looking to change that, with an action game that is as long as any traditional RPG.  To me, that would be fantastic.

However I doubt that such a milestone can be achieved successfully.  Let’s go down the list that makes Rise Of The Argonauts look like a great experience on the horizon.  Legendary weapons, reportedly you will be able to find and use legendary weapons from other characters in Greek lore as well as weapons of the gods.  Which means awesome combat options involving magically imbued weapons to bust fools with.

A brutal combat system is another plus, beckoning back to the days where the gladiatorial games were a regular event.  Depending upon how the final controls work out, the combo of brutal finishing attacks with slow motion enemy smashing looks like it could provide hours of entertainment.

The expansive environments and story will also be a great big plus if the game can pull off what it’s intending.  Featuring many famous Greek myth backdrops and characters, as well as graphics that are supposed to push the PS3 and Xbox 360 to their limits.  Hopefully featuring some gameplay on Mount Olympus.  

So maybe I’m just hyped because I’m a sucker for hack ‘n slash, or maybe Rise Of The Argonauts will be that awesome.  I’m hoping so, because I’m getting tired of playing lackluster sword swinging games, or just plain bad ones.  Two Worlds anyone?

Dead Rising on Xbox 360 was fantastic.  One of the best games on the console, and one of the best games in history.  Replay value was given a new definition in the world of Dead Rising’s character upgrade system and endless variety of objects that could be used as melee weapons.  Slaughtering hordes of zombies with a guitar? awesome.

So if the 360 version was so good, why does the Wii version look so bad?  I know, graphics, gameplay adjustments, processing power, unpolished controls, to name a few.  The game was hard enough at times using the 360 control set, throw in the wonky motion control without any inkling of pinpoint precision, and you have a frustration on your hands, a big one.

Not to mention the graphics on the original were by no means head turners, but compressed to the Wii’s PS2 level of graphical prowess, Dead Rising CTYD will be looking ugly, very ugly.  Especially considering the graphical short cuts that will have to be taken to facilitate a fair number of zombies on screen.

Which brings me to my next point.  The 360 featured endless amounts of Zombie’s in a horde attacking you with no slowdown in gameplay or frame rate.  The Wii version has to cut one huge corner and limit the amount of zombies on screen to 100.  Meaning you can only expect like 1/5 of the original zombie mayhem you’ve already played before.

The Wii isn’t winning me over here.  The system just doesn’t have the power to process a game that could attract those hardcore gamers the system lacks.  No hard drive support still stops me from downloading an titles available online.  What’s the point of buying them if i don’t have room to store them for play? No good online co-op or versus play in any game on Wii.  And seriously in the age of high-definition, your system has graphics from waaaay back in gaming’s past?

I guess I just don’t understand.

If you haven’t played the first Overlord you should.  Despite that fact that it’s a fairly broken game, it introduced a lot of ideas.  Like, controlling a horde of minions, which pretty much plays out as a small army under your command to destroy anything from sheep, to humans, to halflings (in their full hobbit ripoff glory).  All the while being as evil, or good/evil as you desire.

Like I said the first Overlord added to a crowded adventure game market a new take on the concept of combat and puzzle solving.  But was widely missed by many gamers that would have enjoyed the unique take on fantasy.  

But good news has been announced recently, as an Overlord sequel is in development, being referred to simply as Overlord 2 for the moment.  So far the promises for this new edition will be more of the same minion controlling combat and shenanigans as before, with none of the issues that plagued the first game.  You know, those ? worthy design decision like no camera control, awful melee combat for your character, almost no movement ability.  Even the control over the minions themselves could have been much more polished.

And seriously, in this day and age no good multiplayer content?  No wonder nobody on Live is playing the first Overlord.  

It’s a lot to ask for any studio to rebuild a game from scratch essentially, to fix so many issues, but not forget about the many fantastic points available.  But hopefully developer Codemasters is more than up to one such challenge.

I know I’ve talked about it before, but Mirror’s Edge looks really awesome.  Every time I think about running rooftop to rooftop effortlessly.  Wallrunning and leaping and climbing and hanging all in first-person.  The transistion from a 3rd-person perspective as most of us are used to for platformery titles, to first-person looks so remarkably smooth I can’t wait for the November 11th release date.

I don’t know how many have actually played Breakdown on the original Xbox, but a lot of people missed out on the amazing innovation started there.  Breakdown was the first title to really introduce the concept of melee combat in an FPS as well as many more platforming elements.  I loved Breakdown, despite a few wonky control issues that were evident.  Mirror’s Edge just looks like everything Breakdown could have been, and so much more.

The fluent transitions between jumping from the edge of a building, to balancing on a thin pipeline, and then kicking the gun out of a policeman’s hands, everything plays so smoothly.  The really intriguing concept to combat being your characters movement ability.  Sure you could pick up a gun and use it, but why do that when you can run and jump at your opponent delivering brutal lashing kicks that can disarm as well as debilitate?

The only problem being that Mirror’s Edge is going up against some heavy hitters with that Nov. 11th release date.  Namely, Gears of War 2, Call Of Duty: World At War, Fallout 3 at the end of October, and even Grand Theft Auto IV’s first downloadable content.  All will be attempting to get your hard earned cash, and to me that means unfortunately the new title is going to lose out to the sequels.  

But hopefully there are enough faithful in Mirror’s Edge’s new style of gameplay to push the game beyond the limitations of ending up in a bargain bin.  Like Breakdown.  Or else they’re going to stop making crazy first-person titles like this.  And that would be very bad.

Looking to cash in on the MMORPG trend is the Star Trek franchise.  The game will reportedly offer the ability to create your own new alien race, as well as a faction to choose from.  Obvious early choices being Federation or Klingon.  The game will feature ship driven space combat, as well as on planet blaster to blaster combat, just to mix things up.  

The thing I wonder is, who’s going to stop playing World Of Warcraft to pick this up?  Because I won’t be.  Previous movie/tv cash in RPG’s Lord Of The Rings Online, Star Wars Galaxies, etc.  don’t particularly seem to be turning into MMORPG heavyweights.  I don’t really see how Star Trek would change the trend.

But I am forgetting my screening of the movie Trekkies, which proved to me the fan base I had previously been unaware of, and the fanatical devotion many Star Trek fans carry for the show/movies.  So perhaps the overall install base won’t ever be as high as a World Of Warcraft.  But a few million hungry Trek fans will keep Cryptic Studios provided with a good amount from the games monthly fees.  Making Trek a no brainer to produce.

Pop in a few obsucre references to the show, maybe a few beloved characters.  Make the game run on more than just savagely expensive beast machines.  Keep the new content and patches rolling out fairly often, and Crystal Studios have a long term cash cow to fund any number of future titles.