While this won't be a day one download, I do plan on picking it up at some point for some more Arkham City. Peoples' opinions on Robin may be divided but whatever you think of Dick Grayson as Robin, he is almost universally accepted as awesome as Nightwing. Also, good to see that they added the costume from the animated series as well.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Nightwing DLC Trailer
Arkham City has been incredible and you can expect my review in a few days time. On Tuesday, a piece of DLC starring Nightwing will be released and Rocksteady has been kind enough to give us a trailer for the pack.
While this won't be a day one download, I do plan on picking it up at some point for some more Arkham City. Peoples' opinions on Robin may be divided but whatever you think of Dick Grayson as Robin, he is almost universally accepted as awesome as Nightwing. Also, good to see that they added the costume from the animated series as well.
While this won't be a day one download, I do plan on picking it up at some point for some more Arkham City. Peoples' opinions on Robin may be divided but whatever you think of Dick Grayson as Robin, he is almost universally accepted as awesome as Nightwing. Also, good to see that they added the costume from the animated series as well.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Retro Review: Fallout
Well, I teased this a long time ago and have been teasing it in almost every podcast Tyler and I have done. But here it is, the first of my five cRPG Retro Reviews. This week is the original Fallout which was published by Interplay and developed by its child studio, Black Isle Studios, back in 1997.
In the mid-to-late 90s, computer RPGs (or cRPGs) were really struggling. There weren't many big name titles for them anymore and they just weren't very commercially viable. Fallout was the game that started the comeback with Baldur's Gate later sealing it, but we'll get to Baldur's Gate later on. Fallout received critical acclaim for its freedom, in-depth gameplay, and unique world, which today has been milked to death as the post-apocolyptic setting.
For those who are expecting it to be Fallout 3, well it's quite different in design and gameplay, obviously with the top-down view. It's actually closer to New Vegas in top-down view actually. So let's get down to it and look at the game that helped save the ass of the cRPG.
STORY
For those unfamiliar with the universe of Fallout, in the year 2052 a war began. In 2077, nuclear bombs went off and essentially erased human civilization. Oh sure, humans still exist but they're scattered and the surface of the planet is irradiated to hell. There are underground bunkers called Vaults where groups of people live without fear of radiation or the irradiated monsters above.
Unfortunately, in the main character's vault or Vault 13, the water chip has given out. What the hell's the water chip? Oh nothing important, just a computer chip that gets water into the vault and makes sure it's radiation-free. So yeah, the vault's in a bit of a pickle.
Anyway, the Vault Overseer sends you out with a PIPBoy 2000, some equipment, and bottle caps as money, to get a replacement water chip. You have 150 days to do this, and an extra 100 if you complete a certain objective.
But that's just the beginning. After you complete that, there's a lot more to do. Really, the water chip is just a way to get things moving, though how quickly you do things does affect the ending. Later on the game's story starts to get more complex with murkier morality. It's a good one though it's not what will keep you coming back.
GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN
As said before, this game is a top-down RPG. Now it does have a lot in common with Fallout 3 but there are also a lot of differences. The commonality lies in the different skill sets that you upgrade throughout the game, as well as perks, attributes, etc.
Unlike Fallout 3 and New Vegas, the combat in this game is completely turn-based. For those of you used to the real-time action of those two games, this can take some getting used to. It did for me.
The action points are still there, but unlike those two games where they were kind of optional, in this game they are absolutely necessary. You need to use them for just about everything you do during combat. For that reason, the agility stat is incredibly important as it determines your action points amount.
Also important is the intelligence stat which has the ability to change both gameplay and story. Your intelligence stat determines how many skill points you are given to use each time you level up but it also affects your speech. Having a character with low intelligence really changes up the game and can make it near impossible to complete most sidequests. This was not used much at all in Fallout 3 but saw a good amount of use in New Vegas, though not quite as much as in this game.
To move from one place to another, you have a world map in your PIPBoy. The map starts out black and then lightens up as you travel to new locations, sort of like an RTS game. The amount of time it takes to get to certain locations depends on a number of factors such as the terrain. Some will slow down your character more than others. There is also a perk to increase your overall speed on the world map and to have a better chance of finding special locations and people in random encounters.
Oh yes, random encounters. There's no telling what you might run into as you go through the Wasteland. Around every 24 hours in game while traveling, an invisible dice is rolled which will determine whether there is a random encounter. These are things that you should keep yourself well-prepared for.
One of the things that made the original Fallout so groundbreaking was the immense amount of freedom that it gave. You can literally go anywhere and do anything from the get-go, but of course there are consequences to everything that you do. The freedom is also limited by the time limits put in place though it's a very generous time limit.
Finally, there are companions in the game. Some are temporary and some can stick around with you for the duration. First there's Dogmeat, a dog (duh), who you can "recruit". Dogmeat would make a return in Fallout 2 and 3 though whether it's the same Dogmeat, we'll never know *dramatic music* (though it's unlikely since Fallout 3 takes place over a century after this game). Unfortunately you can't control Dogmeat and he's a complete idiot meaning he'll probably die permanently soon.
Next there's Ian who is also a complete idiot though in a different way. While you can control him, he'll often shoot you in the back if your in the way of an enemy. The last two are Tycho and Katja who, while they also may shoot you in the back (yeah the friendly AI in this game is not all that good), have redeeming qualities that make them kind of worthwhile depending on the skills you have and what they have obviously.
At the end of the day, the freedom in Fallout is part of what made it such a big success, both critically and commercially. And it still makes it fun today. The gameplay has not aged as well as other cRPGs and can really take getting used to, but it's still great to go and explore the Wasteland.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
As stated above, while Fallout may not have created the post-apocalyptic setting, it was definitely a big player in popularizing it. The desolate wasteland, the small villages, the feel of a lawless land, all with a mixture of both primitive technology and weapons and futuristic technology and weapons. It's all there and sets the stage for the future of the genre and the stage for the freedom the game allots you.
So yes, graphics are what you expect from a top-down perspective. But the way they built the world serves to color the setting through more than just technical graphics and polygons.
As for the conversation screens with important people, they still look pretty damn good today. Personally I had some colorization issues during this and during the cutscenes but I feel that's more a result of the game being so old.
Speaking of colorization, some of the creatures are creepy as hell when put against the right lighting. Those radscorpions scared the crap out of me when I saw them creeping towards my party.
On the voice acting front, you've of course got Ron Perlman giving the standard intro for the game, but there are also voice actors like Jim Cummings, Keith David, Clancy Brown, and others. They do their job well though they're really just there to give exposition and lead you to your next area, not provide emotion. As for the soundtrack, it fits the mood but personally it didn't stick out to me that much.
CONCLUSION
These days, Fallout can take a while to get used to. In my mind, the gameplay in Fallout has not aged as well as in other games like it from the time. However, if you can get past that, it's easy to see why Fallout was such a big success when it was released.
The freedom that it gives you was unparalleled and the world that it gave you to explore was unique and fun, full of interesting characters and smart black comedy. It's still a great romp and one that you should definitely check out given the chance, especially if you're a fan of cRPGs or want to see the roots of the Fallout series.
In the mid-to-late 90s, computer RPGs (or cRPGs) were really struggling. There weren't many big name titles for them anymore and they just weren't very commercially viable. Fallout was the game that started the comeback with Baldur's Gate later sealing it, but we'll get to Baldur's Gate later on. Fallout received critical acclaim for its freedom, in-depth gameplay, and unique world, which today has been milked to death as the post-apocolyptic setting.
For those who are expecting it to be Fallout 3, well it's quite different in design and gameplay, obviously with the top-down view. It's actually closer to New Vegas in top-down view actually. So let's get down to it and look at the game that helped save the ass of the cRPG.
STORY
For those unfamiliar with the universe of Fallout, in the year 2052 a war began. In 2077, nuclear bombs went off and essentially erased human civilization. Oh sure, humans still exist but they're scattered and the surface of the planet is irradiated to hell. There are underground bunkers called Vaults where groups of people live without fear of radiation or the irradiated monsters above.
Unfortunately, in the main character's vault or Vault 13, the water chip has given out. What the hell's the water chip? Oh nothing important, just a computer chip that gets water into the vault and makes sure it's radiation-free. So yeah, the vault's in a bit of a pickle.
Anyway, the Vault Overseer sends you out with a PIPBoy 2000, some equipment, and bottle caps as money, to get a replacement water chip. You have 150 days to do this, and an extra 100 if you complete a certain objective.
But that's just the beginning. After you complete that, there's a lot more to do. Really, the water chip is just a way to get things moving, though how quickly you do things does affect the ending. Later on the game's story starts to get more complex with murkier morality. It's a good one though it's not what will keep you coming back.
GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN
As said before, this game is a top-down RPG. Now it does have a lot in common with Fallout 3 but there are also a lot of differences. The commonality lies in the different skill sets that you upgrade throughout the game, as well as perks, attributes, etc.
Unlike Fallout 3 and New Vegas, the combat in this game is completely turn-based. For those of you used to the real-time action of those two games, this can take some getting used to. It did for me.
The action points are still there, but unlike those two games where they were kind of optional, in this game they are absolutely necessary. You need to use them for just about everything you do during combat. For that reason, the agility stat is incredibly important as it determines your action points amount.
Also important is the intelligence stat which has the ability to change both gameplay and story. Your intelligence stat determines how many skill points you are given to use each time you level up but it also affects your speech. Having a character with low intelligence really changes up the game and can make it near impossible to complete most sidequests. This was not used much at all in Fallout 3 but saw a good amount of use in New Vegas, though not quite as much as in this game.
 |
| Stats screen (Note: not my character). |
Oh yes, random encounters. There's no telling what you might run into as you go through the Wasteland. Around every 24 hours in game while traveling, an invisible dice is rolled which will determine whether there is a random encounter. These are things that you should keep yourself well-prepared for.
One of the things that made the original Fallout so groundbreaking was the immense amount of freedom that it gave. You can literally go anywhere and do anything from the get-go, but of course there are consequences to everything that you do. The freedom is also limited by the time limits put in place though it's a very generous time limit.
Finally, there are companions in the game. Some are temporary and some can stick around with you for the duration. First there's Dogmeat, a dog (duh), who you can "recruit". Dogmeat would make a return in Fallout 2 and 3 though whether it's the same Dogmeat, we'll never know *dramatic music* (though it's unlikely since Fallout 3 takes place over a century after this game). Unfortunately you can't control Dogmeat and he's a complete idiot meaning he'll probably die permanently soon.
Next there's Ian who is also a complete idiot though in a different way. While you can control him, he'll often shoot you in the back if your in the way of an enemy. The last two are Tycho and Katja who, while they also may shoot you in the back (yeah the friendly AI in this game is not all that good), have redeeming qualities that make them kind of worthwhile depending on the skills you have and what they have obviously.
At the end of the day, the freedom in Fallout is part of what made it such a big success, both critically and commercially. And it still makes it fun today. The gameplay has not aged as well as other cRPGs and can really take getting used to, but it's still great to go and explore the Wasteland.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
As stated above, while Fallout may not have created the post-apocalyptic setting, it was definitely a big player in popularizing it. The desolate wasteland, the small villages, the feel of a lawless land, all with a mixture of both primitive technology and weapons and futuristic technology and weapons. It's all there and sets the stage for the future of the genre and the stage for the freedom the game allots you.
So yes, graphics are what you expect from a top-down perspective. But the way they built the world serves to color the setting through more than just technical graphics and polygons.
As for the conversation screens with important people, they still look pretty damn good today. Personally I had some colorization issues during this and during the cutscenes but I feel that's more a result of the game being so old.
Speaking of colorization, some of the creatures are creepy as hell when put against the right lighting. Those radscorpions scared the crap out of me when I saw them creeping towards my party.
On the voice acting front, you've of course got Ron Perlman giving the standard intro for the game, but there are also voice actors like Jim Cummings, Keith David, Clancy Brown, and others. They do their job well though they're really just there to give exposition and lead you to your next area, not provide emotion. As for the soundtrack, it fits the mood but personally it didn't stick out to me that much.
CONCLUSION
These days, Fallout can take a while to get used to. In my mind, the gameplay in Fallout has not aged as well as in other games like it from the time. However, if you can get past that, it's easy to see why Fallout was such a big success when it was released.
The freedom that it gives you was unparalleled and the world that it gave you to explore was unique and fun, full of interesting characters and smart black comedy. It's still a great romp and one that you should definitely check out given the chance, especially if you're a fan of cRPGs or want to see the roots of the Fallout series.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Arkham City Launch Trailer (and Catwoman Code)
First the bad. Yes, the Catwoman gameplay is only available via an Online Pass. Yes, it's a douchy move by WB Games to try to further hit the used game market. As Tyler and I have said MANY times on our show, the used game market is important for many people and this was just mean.
First off, I don't want to blame Rocksteady as I doubt they had much say in this given that WB Games packages the game and sends it out. Now, what could they have done differently? Besides not having an online pass at all, two things:
- They could made the decision that this would have been an online pass bonus early and told us from the beginning that Catwoman would be "bonus content." She's been teased for months, since JUNE! And they just now drop this on us? Unacceptable!
- They could have simply not announced her at all.
That said #2 could cause people to believe that they were deceived once other people got this content. So, #1 should have probably been the route that they took. However, if you go to GameStop, they've said that they will be including a code to access Catwoman with every used copy, so thank you GameStop.
__________________________________________________________________
Now for the good. Batman: Arkham City is being released on Tuesday and if the reviews that have come in so far are any indication, it looks like it's going to usurp its predecessor as the best comic book game ever made.
To get you guys even more pumped and anxious for Tuesday, here's the launch trailer that Rocksteady released. I'll be picking it up on release day, so keep an eye open for my thoughts and my eventual full review.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Podcast #5 - Video Game Difficulty
Time for another great podcast. Here us give our thoughts on Battlefield 3 beta and Dark Souls along with covering the latest news.
Some of the topics talked about include:
Skyrim Achievements and Trophies
Voice Actors announced for Skyrim
Christopher Plummer (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Insider)
Max Von Sydow (The Exorcist, Minority Report)
Joan Allen (The Contender, The Bourne Ultimatum)
Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman)
Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica)
Vladimir Kulich (The 13th Warrior, Smoking Aces)
Claudia Christian (Babylon 5)
Diane Louise Salinger (Carnivale)
Renee Victor (Weeds)
George Coe (Transformers: Dark of the Moon)
Man welds 242 pound Metal Gear Rex statue for fun
Nightwing and the Mad Hatter in Arkham City
Rage problems on PC
From Software underestimates Dark Souls sales
Death of Steve Jobs
iPhone 4S
Infinity Blade 2
EA suing EA
Diablo 3 might be banned in South Korea
Halo Reach Beta Playlist
Team Fortress Demake
Portal 2 Tardy DLC
Game of Thrones RPG early 2012
Gears of War 3 first DLC Horde Command Pack
Resident Evil 3DS Dated
Unreal 3 Engine in your browser
Gran Turismo 5 Cockpit Update
Team Bondi shutting down
Real Steel Xbox 720 WTF
Mass Effect 3 Online Multi-player a reality (MAYBE, I’ll explain on the show)
Dead Island has Nudity
IGN Pro League
Meta Night Banned from Brawl competitive play
Impressed by skyward sword
Syphon Filter in development for Vita
Fall of Cybertron
Some of the topics talked about include:
Skyrim Achievements and Trophies
Voice Actors announced for Skyrim
Christopher Plummer (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Insider)
Max Von Sydow (The Exorcist, Minority Report)
Joan Allen (The Contender, The Bourne Ultimatum)
Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman)
Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica)
Vladimir Kulich (The 13th Warrior, Smoking Aces)
Claudia Christian (Babylon 5)
Diane Louise Salinger (Carnivale)
Renee Victor (Weeds)
George Coe (Transformers: Dark of the Moon)
Man welds 242 pound Metal Gear Rex statue for fun
Nightwing and the Mad Hatter in Arkham City
Rage problems on PC
From Software underestimates Dark Souls sales
Death of Steve Jobs
iPhone 4S
Infinity Blade 2
EA suing EA
Diablo 3 might be banned in South Korea
Halo Reach Beta Playlist
Team Fortress Demake
Portal 2 Tardy DLC
Game of Thrones RPG early 2012
Gears of War 3 first DLC Horde Command Pack
Resident Evil 3DS Dated
Unreal 3 Engine in your browser
Gran Turismo 5 Cockpit Update
Team Bondi shutting down
Real Steel Xbox 720 WTF
Mass Effect 3 Online Multi-player a reality (MAYBE, I’ll explain on the show)
Dead Island has Nudity
IGN Pro League
Meta Night Banned from Brawl competitive play
Impressed by skyward sword
Syphon Filter in development for Vita
Fall of Cybertron
note: If you have problems with the player make sure you are using Chrome, Safari, or IE9. We are starting to switch to HTML5 and so should you :)
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Dark Souls First Impressions
Dark Souls has been one of my most anticipated games for months now. Its predecessor, Demon's Souls, was a brilliant RPG with a near unlimited amount of character customization. Mix in incredible difficulty that pushes you to complete the game every step of the way, and you had one of the best games of 2009 and of this generation in general.
So, I picked up Dark Souls on Wednesday and have been playing the crap out of it and in turn getting crap kicked out of me every step. But as Tyler and I said on this week's podcast (hopefully it will be on the blog soon), difficulty can be a double-edged sword. It can make or break the game. Does it make Dark Souls the way it did Demon's Souls or does it go too far?
STORY
Like Demon's Souls, so far Dark Souls really doesn't have much in the way of a narrative. In fact, the opening prologue even more cryptic and confusing than for Demon's Souls. It does have some lore mixed in there from what I've seen so far and I'm hoping to uncover more as the game goes on. While Demon's Souls never became a masterpiece of storytelling or had much depth to its story, there was definitely more than met the eye at first.
I'm not expecting much and if you're looking for story in the first place, you're probably playing the wrong game. This is a game primarily about the gameplay and overcoming extreme odds, so even if there's not much story depth, I'm not going to grill into it all that much in this case.
GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN
If you've played Demon's Souls, you probably have an idea of what to expect. Even the controls are almost identical. You have to go through several different and very difficult areas grinding your way through basic enemies and every now and then, killing a big demon (aka boss).
You gain souls for (almost) every enemy that you kill which act as an all-in one currency for everything. This includes leveling up, which gets more expensive each time you do so. They're also used for purchasing items, upgrading equipment (in conjunction with upgrading materials), repairing equipment and other things.
There are differences and the biggest one is that Dark Souls feels much more open. In the first game there was a hub called the Nexus which was used to get from one place to the next and a good safe zone. In this one, I guess there's one place you could call a hub but the safezones are bonfires.
The bonfires are essential to the game. Not only do they refill your esters, which replaces the grasses from Demon's Souls as healing items, they are also where you can level up your stats, repair your equipment and just plain take a breather. Though they also reset every enemy you've killed, not including bosses. Though this can be useful for farming for souls and other material.
Another difference is that you don't mana this time for spells and miracles. This time, each spell and miracle has a limited number of uses which can be recharged if you get to a bonfire. This was done in an attempt to balance the magic and I think it worked, though I'm still not quite sure where I stand on the change.
Also there's no soul form this time. There's hollow and human form. You get humanity points throughout the game which can restore your humanity each time you die as you become hollow each time. Humanity also gets the enemy to drop more items and if you have humanity points but are already human, you can kindle the bonfires to give you more healing items when you use them. Just be careful because when you die, you lose all your unused souls and humanity points. If you get to the spot where you died without dying again, you can get them back. Die again before that, and they're gone for good.
Even bigger is that there's no world tendency this time. In Demon's Souls, world tendency could be either light, dark, or neutral and all of them had effects on the world and gameplay. I'm kind of sad to see it go but I can definitely see why they did it as manipulating the world tendency in Demon's Souls was a pain in the ass at times.
When I say Dark Souls is hard, I mean it is REALLY hard. Enemies are relentless and even most of the weaker enemies can kill you in a few hits from get-go. If you get outnumbered too much, you can your ass goodbye.
But like the first game, it's for the most part fair. If you die, you screwed up and you need a new strategy. Customization, variety, and adaptation are key here. So here's a tip. While you should definitely focus on your strength, whether it be magic, melee, archery, or whatever, don't ever ignore any of your skills. Try to keep your character somewhat balanced. The same goes for equipment, have a good variety that you can switch to-and-from quickly. And when you do overcome an obstacle, the satisfaction that you'll feel is absolutely incredible.
The online component is also back and is almost the same as last time. There is a new addition in the form of covenants that the player can join which have different practices and can give some nice goodies to members, whether they be spells, miracles, or equipment. I haven't really checked them out yet so I'll go over them more in the full review.
Much is the same, but much has changed and it's just as much fun as it was two years ago.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
Artistically, Dark Souls has much more varied environments than Demon's Souls did and also a much richer color scheme. The first one had too much gray which was definitely a problem. It was further held back by at times being WAY too dark.
Some of the creature designs have been awesome, particularly the bosses. Even though the first boss is ridiculously easy to kill, he still looked intimidating as hell. The Taurus Demon also looked incredibly badass and those are just two bosses that I've really come across. Some of the others that I haven't come across yet have looked awesome from what I've seen in footage and images with the Gaping Dragon being pure nightmare fuel.
As for the music, I like it much more than the music in Demon's Souls which I just didn't get into for some reason. This one has some much more peaceful sounding tunes than Demon's Souls did which is nice for a break when you've been getting the shit kicked out of you for the past few hours.
CONCLUSION
There's still a LONG way for me to go in this game and I wouldn't expect the full review for sometime as I want to try everything that I can. Arkham City will also delay the main review.
However, from what I've played so far, this has been an excellent follow-up to the game that came out of nowhere two years ago. It's mostly the same mechanics with a few changes. Some are great and some I'm mixed on but as a whole, at the moment, it's been a great package.
So, I picked up Dark Souls on Wednesday and have been playing the crap out of it and in turn getting crap kicked out of me every step. But as Tyler and I said on this week's podcast (hopefully it will be on the blog soon), difficulty can be a double-edged sword. It can make or break the game. Does it make Dark Souls the way it did Demon's Souls or does it go too far?
STORY
Like Demon's Souls, so far Dark Souls really doesn't have much in the way of a narrative. In fact, the opening prologue even more cryptic and confusing than for Demon's Souls. It does have some lore mixed in there from what I've seen so far and I'm hoping to uncover more as the game goes on. While Demon's Souls never became a masterpiece of storytelling or had much depth to its story, there was definitely more than met the eye at first.
I'm not expecting much and if you're looking for story in the first place, you're probably playing the wrong game. This is a game primarily about the gameplay and overcoming extreme odds, so even if there's not much story depth, I'm not going to grill into it all that much in this case.
GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN
If you've played Demon's Souls, you probably have an idea of what to expect. Even the controls are almost identical. You have to go through several different and very difficult areas grinding your way through basic enemies and every now and then, killing a big demon (aka boss).
 |
| There are big rats and then are REALLY frakking big rats. |
There are differences and the biggest one is that Dark Souls feels much more open. In the first game there was a hub called the Nexus which was used to get from one place to the next and a good safe zone. In this one, I guess there's one place you could call a hub but the safezones are bonfires.
The bonfires are essential to the game. Not only do they refill your esters, which replaces the grasses from Demon's Souls as healing items, they are also where you can level up your stats, repair your equipment and just plain take a breather. Though they also reset every enemy you've killed, not including bosses. Though this can be useful for farming for souls and other material.
Another difference is that you don't mana this time for spells and miracles. This time, each spell and miracle has a limited number of uses which can be recharged if you get to a bonfire. This was done in an attempt to balance the magic and I think it worked, though I'm still not quite sure where I stand on the change.
Also there's no soul form this time. There's hollow and human form. You get humanity points throughout the game which can restore your humanity each time you die as you become hollow each time. Humanity also gets the enemy to drop more items and if you have humanity points but are already human, you can kindle the bonfires to give you more healing items when you use them. Just be careful because when you die, you lose all your unused souls and humanity points. If you get to the spot where you died without dying again, you can get them back. Die again before that, and they're gone for good.
Even bigger is that there's no world tendency this time. In Demon's Souls, world tendency could be either light, dark, or neutral and all of them had effects on the world and gameplay. I'm kind of sad to see it go but I can definitely see why they did it as manipulating the world tendency in Demon's Souls was a pain in the ass at times.
 |
| You fight a giant wolf that uses a giant sword. That is AWESOME! |
But like the first game, it's for the most part fair. If you die, you screwed up and you need a new strategy. Customization, variety, and adaptation are key here. So here's a tip. While you should definitely focus on your strength, whether it be magic, melee, archery, or whatever, don't ever ignore any of your skills. Try to keep your character somewhat balanced. The same goes for equipment, have a good variety that you can switch to-and-from quickly. And when you do overcome an obstacle, the satisfaction that you'll feel is absolutely incredible.
The online component is also back and is almost the same as last time. There is a new addition in the form of covenants that the player can join which have different practices and can give some nice goodies to members, whether they be spells, miracles, or equipment. I haven't really checked them out yet so I'll go over them more in the full review.
Much is the same, but much has changed and it's just as much fun as it was two years ago.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
Artistically, Dark Souls has much more varied environments than Demon's Souls did and also a much richer color scheme. The first one had too much gray which was definitely a problem. It was further held back by at times being WAY too dark.
Some of the creature designs have been awesome, particularly the bosses. Even though the first boss is ridiculously easy to kill, he still looked intimidating as hell. The Taurus Demon also looked incredibly badass and those are just two bosses that I've really come across. Some of the others that I haven't come across yet have looked awesome from what I've seen in footage and images with the Gaping Dragon being pure nightmare fuel.
 |
| YIKES!!! I'd hate to be its family dentist. |
CONCLUSION
There's still a LONG way for me to go in this game and I wouldn't expect the full review for sometime as I want to try everything that I can. Arkham City will also delay the main review.
However, from what I've played so far, this has been an excellent follow-up to the game that came out of nowhere two years ago. It's mostly the same mechanics with a few changes. Some are great and some I'm mixed on but as a whole, at the moment, it's been a great package.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Aliens: Colonial Marines Demo, Nightwing in Arkham City, and AC Relevations Trailer
As a huge fan of Alien, I find it baffling that we have yet to see a great game for the franchise outside of the arcade and without a Predator. (Note: Predators also kick ass). Apparently Randy Pitchford of Gearbox thought the same way as Gearbox has been attempting to make Aliens: Colonial Marines, a follow-up to the excellent sequel Aliens.
This is great for those fans who thought that 3 and Resurrection were not worthy sequels. And don't get me wrong, Alien 3 is not THAT bad. It just was very flawed and nowhere near the quality of the first two. Resurrection, on the other hand, can promptly be thrown in the garbage.
Anyway at E3 this year, Randy Pitchford showed an 11 minute demo to journalists that wasn't released to the public...until now. The demo finally got released and it is awesome. Listening to Randy, you can tell that he is really into this which is a great sign. From that we see it's nice and atmospheric. I actually wish they held the tension longer, but I'll probably talk about that on next week's podcast.
Here's the demo for your enjoyment.
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Batman: Arkham City will arrive in less than two weeks. I could have sworn there was a trailer for Nightwing but I guess I was incorrect. That doesn't mean that I can't go over it. For those unaware, Nightwing is Dick Grayson who was the first Robin. He became Nightwing after he left Batman's side and started kicking ass on his own. You can say all that you want about Robin, but Nightwing is awesome.
Also announced were the Mad Hatter, a villain who styles himself after the character of the same name in Alice in Wonderland and uses hats to control peoples' minds. Also, I believe the Calender Man was announced, a villain who's crimes always revolve dates and days of the week. It's going to be interesting and I can't wait to play.
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Finally, Assassin's Creed: Revelations is getting released next month. I am looking forward to it, but not quite as much as I was with Brotherhood. However, it's still going to be a big release.
Anyway a new trailer was given and it's probably the best trailer for the game so far and has gotten much more excited for it than I was before. I really do want to see Ezio's story end, not just for closure, but also so we can move on to something else. So, here it is.
This is great for those fans who thought that 3 and Resurrection were not worthy sequels. And don't get me wrong, Alien 3 is not THAT bad. It just was very flawed and nowhere near the quality of the first two. Resurrection, on the other hand, can promptly be thrown in the garbage.
Anyway at E3 this year, Randy Pitchford showed an 11 minute demo to journalists that wasn't released to the public...until now. The demo finally got released and it is awesome. Listening to Randy, you can tell that he is really into this which is a great sign. From that we see it's nice and atmospheric. I actually wish they held the tension longer, but I'll probably talk about that on next week's podcast.
Here's the demo for your enjoyment.
Batman: Arkham City will arrive in less than two weeks. I could have sworn there was a trailer for Nightwing but I guess I was incorrect. That doesn't mean that I can't go over it. For those unaware, Nightwing is Dick Grayson who was the first Robin. He became Nightwing after he left Batman's side and started kicking ass on his own. You can say all that you want about Robin, but Nightwing is awesome.
Also announced were the Mad Hatter, a villain who styles himself after the character of the same name in Alice in Wonderland and uses hats to control peoples' minds. Also, I believe the Calender Man was announced, a villain who's crimes always revolve dates and days of the week. It's going to be interesting and I can't wait to play.
__________________________________________________________________
Finally, Assassin's Creed: Revelations is getting released next month. I am looking forward to it, but not quite as much as I was with Brotherhood. However, it's still going to be a big release.
Anyway a new trailer was given and it's probably the best trailer for the game so far and has gotten much more excited for it than I was before. I really do want to see Ezio's story end, not just for closure, but also so we can move on to something else. So, here it is.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Compsoles Podcast #4 - Top 10 Villians/Enemies
Sorry about this week guys...got kind of busy with school and such but don't worry it is worth the wait. This week was a good one and I hope you guys listen to another great show this and every Thursday from 2 - 4 CST on http://thegalaxyradio.com/ .
Some of the things we covered include:
I hope you guys enjoyed. Feel free to leave us some feedback.
Some of the things we covered include:
Castlevania Tribute (25th anniversary)
Skyrim Racial Abilities and Skill Perks
Xbox 360 and PS3 hardware deemed to old for Braid Maker’s The Witness
LA Noire on PC, Free DLC
Foo Fighters to headline Blizzcon
Syndicate returns in February
The Kindle Fire
Shank 2 announced
Uncharted Dramatization to air in Tokyo
Scrolls lawsuit going places
Dead Island Movie?
iPhone Event
Dead Space 3 details released
Rage uses 3 discs on Xbox 360 and had 8GB install on PS3
Old Republic has a release date
Microsoft allowing mistakenly banned accounts back
Gears of War 3 on Conan
Gears of War 3 review by Jeremy
DOTA 2 coming sooner
Demon Souls online multiplayer will stay til 2012
Jade Empire 2 continues to be hinted
Witcher 2 DLC will be free on PC, not on 360
Enslaved is dead
Joker trailer for Arkham City
Mario Land 2 coming to 3DS
New I am Alive trailer
Skyrim Racial Abilities and Skill Perks
Xbox 360 and PS3 hardware deemed to old for Braid Maker’s The Witness
LA Noire on PC, Free DLC
Foo Fighters to headline Blizzcon
Syndicate returns in February
The Kindle Fire
Shank 2 announced
Uncharted Dramatization to air in Tokyo
Scrolls lawsuit going places
Dead Island Movie?
iPhone Event
Dead Space 3 details released
Rage uses 3 discs on Xbox 360 and had 8GB install on PS3
Old Republic has a release date
Microsoft allowing mistakenly banned accounts back
Gears of War 3 on Conan
Gears of War 3 review by Jeremy
DOTA 2 coming sooner
Demon Souls online multiplayer will stay til 2012
Jade Empire 2 continues to be hinted
Witcher 2 DLC will be free on PC, not on 360
Enslaved is dead
Joker trailer for Arkham City
Mario Land 2 coming to 3DS
New I am Alive trailer
I hope you guys enjoyed. Feel free to leave us some feedback.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Dark Souls Trailer and Arkham City Gameplay
Batman: Arkham City and Dark Souls are my two biggest releases this month. Both games have consistently impressed me with outstanding looking gameplay and design and each have brilliant predecessors.
I can't wait to play them and to review them and there are a couple of new trailers, one for each.
Dark Souls is being released tomorrow and it's been getting excellent reviews. I'll hopefully pick it up tomorrow but probably won't be able to until Wednesday. Keep an eye out for my first impressions of the game either on Thursday or Friday (maybe Saturday, it depends).
Anyway, a new trailer got released a few days ago and has gotten me even more excited. Some of the creatures shown in the trailer...wow, I can't wait to fight them. Enjoy.
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Two weeks from tomorrow, Batman: Arkham City will be released. I'm even more excited for this than Dark Souls, though not by much.
So much publicity lately has been directed at the villains because, really, we all saw long ago how excellent the gameplay was going to be. Well they've shown another quick trailer, this time showing the city-scaping and quick brawl.
As Jim Sterling on Destructoid said, I love the way you can swing through, hit a few bad guys, and then swing away as quickly as you arrived. It feels like Batman and the open-world looks awesome. So excited.
I can't wait to play them and to review them and there are a couple of new trailers, one for each.
Dark Souls is being released tomorrow and it's been getting excellent reviews. I'll hopefully pick it up tomorrow but probably won't be able to until Wednesday. Keep an eye out for my first impressions of the game either on Thursday or Friday (maybe Saturday, it depends).
Anyway, a new trailer got released a few days ago and has gotten me even more excited. Some of the creatures shown in the trailer...wow, I can't wait to fight them. Enjoy.
Two weeks from tomorrow, Batman: Arkham City will be released. I'm even more excited for this than Dark Souls, though not by much.
So much publicity lately has been directed at the villains because, really, we all saw long ago how excellent the gameplay was going to be. Well they've shown another quick trailer, this time showing the city-scaping and quick brawl.
As Jim Sterling on Destructoid said, I love the way you can swing through, hit a few bad guys, and then swing away as quickly as you arrived. It feels like Batman and the open-world looks awesome. So excited.
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