Gaming Addict

There’s a new trailer out for the upcoming kid/family friendly LOTR game, Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest.  I have to say, from the early screenshots, and the concept of the game, I was very skeptical.  But now seeing Aragorn’s Quest in action, I’m definitely excited.  The only thing that makes me still skeptical, is the fact that Aragorn’s Quest will only be available on PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and Wii.  None of which known for their graphical capabilities, or the processing power to display a crap load of enemies on screen.

But I’m still willing to give this a shot, for a few reasons. 

One of those being that this game looks like an amalgamation of many other great games.  The most obvious being Zelda.  Aragorn has clearly been remade into a character reminiscent of Link.  Especially given the plot line that Aragorn’s Quest follows.

The Aragorn specific parts come in via tales from Samwise about his great exploits.  As Frodo, after you accomplish your Hobbit goals, you’ll find Sam and he’ll tell you about Aragorn’s legend.  Through the stories you take control of Aragorn and fight through his biggest battles, with a few fairytale embellishments, to make the battles more out of control and awesome.  This also accounts for any inaccuracies with LOTR lore, as many fan boys have called out Aragorn’s Quest as being sacrilegious to the original text.  

However, as a fan, I see it as exploring the same content in a different way.  Aragorn’s Quest could be a new way for more people to enjoy Tolkien’s world, and why is that ever a bad thing?  There’s nothing awful about making a fun game from the LOTR backdrop.  Zelda is goofy and kiddy at times, I’m not opposed to a Lord of the Rings entity that looks to be more fairytale, and less ridiculously dark.

After all, sometimes it’s nice to step out of the darkness to have some lighthearted fun once in a while.  Plus who can argue with the Zelda rip off combat?  The sword, horse, and bow mechanics look exactly like you’re controlling an adult Link.  To me, that looks fun.  I like Zelda, but I like Lord of the Rings more…so what’s wrong with Lord of the Rings: Zelda edition?  

The only problem I would have is with the awful voice actors, and cheesy music.  Please, keep the feel intact and use Howard Shore’s brilliant movie score if you need some music for the setting.  You can’t get any better.  And can please find voice actors that understand how to simplify to achieve a sound like the characters…overacting just makes you sound ridiculous. 

So the Spike TV Videogame Awards hit, and with them, the new Halo: Reach trailer.  Looks like this Halo game will have several new changes from the series’ past exploits.  First off, the trailer actually shows Spartans without their helmets.  They have a zombietastic creepy, pale white eye look.  The trailer also eludes to Reach being a more tactical squad based shooter. 

Clearly you are joining a Spartan team, as they refer to the trailer’s main character, who I expect is the player character, as the new no. 6.  Also the Fall of Reach is about a hopeless battle that the Spartans eventually lose, eliminating all of them, save Master Chief.  So I’m guessing this goes more the route of Gears of War.  Squad shooter, with an emphasis on hopelessness as you face insurmountable odds to accomplish your goals.  

Definitely a direction Halo has never gone before, and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or bad thing.  The more Halo games that come out in the series, the farther they stray from the original look and feel of Halo.  I liked the sci-fi feel of the first game, the vibrant colors and weapons.  Now with each game the vibrant colors are dulled to be more gritty, and therefore make Halo look like every other shooter.

So while this is one step forward for the series in terms of gameplay, for me as a fan, this looks to be a giant step back from why I liked the series in the first place. 

Also announced at the VGAs was the new Lucasarts Star Wars game.  Despite rumors about the Australian revelation of a game titled Star Wars Legends, this announcement was far more boring.  Instead of giving us what we all want with Star Wars Battlefront, they’re making a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.  Lame.

Maybe if the game is longer, has larger levels, and combat that’s a little more balanced, I might consider renting this one. 

I’m fresh off playing the new demo for the upcoming PSP game Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.  What I’ve seen and done here really disappoints me, I have to say.  The concept seemed larger than life, and I just don’t think that the PSP was the place for such a concept.  In Elite Squadron the big hook is more massive battles, in which space and land skirmishes take place at the same time.  You’re able to travel to the ground, and into space to wage war.

Of course the PSP isn’t powerful enough to house a battle like this, so what you’ve really got is two different battles going on simultaneously.  Through a starship you can choose to enter a nice little pre-rendered cutscene that shows you either entering space, or entering the atmosphere to join the ground battle.  That’s a very cool concept, unfortunately I’m just not impressed with the end result.  

When you’re in space with your starship, the battles are nice and big, plenty of open flying space, and enemies to blast.  Then you transfer to ground, and the game’s “massive” scale battles are exposed for being nothing but small skirmishes.  It’s pathetic trying to fly a starship around the miniature ground battle environments.  The level I played might have been the smallest ground skirmish area I’ve ever seen in fact, in a Battlefront game.

From there you discover that the controls have become a right mess, if you’re trying to fight on the ground.  Space combat plays as well as ever, which has been a series shining accomplishment since Battlefront II.  But here the changes made to ground combat are just horrid, and mar the experience as almost unplayable.

Because you only have one analog nub on the PSP your aiming depends on auto targeting the enemies around you.  The problem with this principle is that in big firefights, you frequently target the wrong enemy, over and over again.  I died more than once trying to target a closer enemy, finding I could only target the same far away foe I had been shooting.  There really is no useful means of target switching on the fly, that could be considered effective. 

All in all this is a mess, and serves as a fine example why Lucasarts is slipping in the gaming world.  Starting with Force Unleashed, continuing with Fracture, and all the way into Battlefront: Elite Squadron, everything feels cheaply thrown together and rushed.  Elite Squadron has a fantastic premise, but portable systems just aren’t the place for such a massive idea.

Elite Squadron is screaming for a console release, where the game can take on the massive feel that it really deserves.  But here on PSP, the game rots in the inferior processing power, and small fight environments available.  Maybe Lucasarts will finally learn though, and give us the Battlefront game we’ve all been waiting to see.  Just make the 360/PS3 version everyone wants.  PSP is not the place to take this game online, or try to emulate shooter gameplay. 

If you’re a fan if Ikki Tousen, you already know of the common theme that the anime series carries, of school girls getting their clothes torn apart whilst fighting.  Well the new Ikkit Tousen game Ikki Tousen: Xross Impact picks up where the first PSP game left off, only now with clothes shredding fighting as a feature.  That’s right, now as you pummel your opponents, not only with they receive the wrath of your beating, but they’ll also lose their clothing.  

Of course, as with the show, there is no actual nudity beyond quite a bit of flesh between clothing shreds.  But still, I suppose that’s entertaining to Ikki Tousen fans.  The new game is in the same vein as the first, a side-scrolling beat-em up, in which you’ll face wave after wave of clothing tearing enemies.  As I’m on the outside, not really a fan of the series, this just sounds like a hilarious feature.  That destructible costumes is a big plug for Ikki Tousen: Xross Impact seems like there can’t be a whole lot of great gameplay otherwise. 

But I guess a game with violence and half naked girls that you can make more half naked, the better a fighter you are, is great motivation for someone out there.  

I should be really excited that there is a new Star Wars Battlefront game coming out, but I’m just not.  Probably because Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron is planned as a PSP, Nintendo DS release.  I’m getting really tired of playing Battlefront on my PSP, and I’d like to switch to consoles now please.  I don’t understand Lucasarts.  You have this amazing medium of PS3 and better yet Xbox 360 for it’s Xbox Live set up, which would be perfect for Battlefront.  Yet still, no announcement on the game every Star Wars fan is waiting for.  

For what Elite Squadron is, the game still looks decent.  The big changes this time around are space and land battles that happen simultaneously, so you’re able to affect a space battle from the ground, and vice versa.  That means blasting ion cannons at a star destroyer, or taking the big guns in space and shooting at the ground, or even flying your X-wing or TIE fighter from space to the battles below.  Of course you’ll have to deal with a 5 second loading screen when you transition from land to space, but small price to pay.

Elite Squadron promises a revamped single player campaign as well.  We all know Star Wars Battlefront games in the past had throwaway senseless single player campaigns, but Elite Squadron promises to change things this time out.  No details on how that will change, just that the story spans the entire 6 episode Star Wars saga.  

But really, give us Star Wars Battlefront for consoles already.  I’m dying to take the game out on Xbox Live, where I can talk to friends and formulate strategy while we take down some hopeless chumps in multiplayer.

The box art for Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 has been released, and I’m a little unimpressed.  I’ve never really been sold on PES over FIFA, mostly because of the fact that PES can’t afford to get the rights to the vast majority of football clubs the way that EA can with FIFA.  I’ll hand it to PES that the quality of the simulation is for the most part better, and more realistic.  But FIFA just has the bells and whistles that truly represent why this is the world’s most popular sport.  

Not to mention the cover art.  Look at PES.  You’ve got arguably the two best strikers in world football right now, in Lionel Messi and Fernando Torres, and they both look bored to tears, acting like they’re actually playing. 

Whereas take the FIFA 10 US artwork, which has been released for a while now, you have Frank Lampard front and central shouting, and looking passionate about the game.  Although Blanco and Sacha Kljestan look fairly bored just like Torres and Messi, still, I think the FIFA cover inspires more passion.  Even if you’re not a Chelsea fan, which I most definitely am not.  At any rate, I’m really droning on about nothing, so decide for yourselves.  I’ll be sticking with FIFA solely based on the more fully fleshed out Be A Pro mode, and that’s become the meat and potatoes of my videogame footballing.  

I’m fairly excited for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines for PSP, considering two announcements about the game.  Apparently Bloodlines is going to tie together the plotlines from the first Assassin’s Creed and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 2, acting as a storyline bridge so that we can better understand exactly what’s going on in the greater scheme.  Bloodlines will also feature a fully realized open world environment for you to traverse at will as Altair.

If you haven’t played the first game, I’d suggest you don’t read any further, as the plotline of Bloodlines gives away the ending of the original Assassin’s Creed, so consider this your SPOILER warning. 

After the events of the first game the Templars flee the Holy Land to settle on the island of Cyprus.  Altair follows the Templars and takes up arms to lead a local resistance in their bid to remove the Templar influence from their homeland.  So basically this will be Assassin’s Creed 1.5.  But that sounds pretty cool for the most part.  And the island environment gives them a good excuse to make a smaller open world environment, that doesn’t detract from the game’s core mechanic too severely.

You’ll also be able to sync Bloodlines with Assassin’s Creed 2 via your PS3, in which you’ll be able to access all manner of upgrades to your gameplay that would be otherwise unavailable. 

Apparently Sony has big plans for the PSP console, a very welcome change, considering the longstanding critiques of Sony for not supporting their handheld enough with big releases.  Well that’s about to change with two giant announcements of major Sony franchises coming to PSP.  The first of which was the confirmation of Gran Turismo for PSP, to be released on October 1st, coinciding with the release of the PSP Go.  Awesome news considering how legendary the Gran Turismo has become, though it’s not my cup of tea, it’s fantastic news for a handheld I love, that desperately needs the support.

Also announced is an upcoming Resident Evil game exclusively for PSP.  Though no word on what’s planned for the title has been announced beyond just that the game exists.  Already anticipated to have a 2010 release, this will mark the first time that the Resident Evil franchise makes an appearance on PSP, and considering how long PSP has been out, it’s about damn time.

And finally still, in more PSP news, often touted as the absolute best of the series, Final Fantasy VII has been released via the Playstation Store for both PSP and PS3.  Especially awesome in the case of the PSP considering now you can take FFVII with you on the go, one of the most legendary games in the history of the console.  Now all we need is a PSP version of Metal Gear Solid and the classic games quota will really start meeting expectations.  

This is turning into the Metal Gear news network, but Hideo Kojima has announced another Metal Gear Solid game set to come out in the near future.  That being Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker which will be exclusively released on the PSP.  Peace Walker has been described by Kojima as being a direct sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3, taking place ten years after the events of Snake Eater. 

Kojima also emphasized that Peace Walker is a whole new game in the Metal Gear Solid series, a game of it’s own taking up it’s own end of Metal Gear’s plotline.  Meaning Peace Walker is not a port, tie-in, or subplot, but a full blown chapter in the Metal Gear Solid saga.  Pretty freaking awesome if you ask me. 

Especially considering how fantastic Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops was, I really can’t wait to play essentially a game that will encompass all the good, but take MGS’ foray into the portable to a new level with a plotline to match the fantastic gameplay.  I just hope, of course, as with all Metal Gear Solid games that Kojima has a heavy hand in the production, because I still don’t trust anyone else with the series, as we’ve seen the results before, and Metal Gear without Kojima just feels like Snake in someone else’s shoes. 

Warner Bros is taking the reins of the Lord of the Rings movie/game tie-ins, and are going to start us off by basically remaking the games that have come before.  First up is Lord Of The Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, which is just a rehash of the same battles and events you’ve already played through from the films, only this time you’re only given the choice of playing as Aragorn.  The game is going to be released for DS, PSP, PS2, and Nintendo Wii, which also means we won’t get a cool glossy and beautiful ‘next-gen’ LOTR world to play through, meaning this really is going to be nothing but rehash of what you’ve already done before.

Lame, is all I have to say, completely and utterly lame.

I don’t really find myself interested in any ‘unique’ take on Aragorn’s quests, at least not with last-gen technology, or motion control gimmicks.  I want new LOTR experiences, with battles that push the scale and ability of the Xbox 360 and PS3, with graphics that make you feel a part of Middle-Earth.  I don’t want to play yet another LOTR PS2 game, or a gimmicky DS game…although some cool epic battles on the go would be awesome for PSP considering the 3D rendering ability of the handheld.

But still…new experiences, not rehashed cash-ins…please Warner, take that to heart.