Bluecast Episode 22 – Sean's Internet Sucks 4

by Adam Blue • Podcast

I gotta say that for being out for about a month, this show started off good. There’s great stuff here. But unfortunately Sean’s internet sucks so we were cut a bit short. Although because of the technical difficulties, the show ended on a cliffhanger. I guess you can now compare the Bluecast to Lost. It’s that epic.

Sean and I review Dante’s Inferno, comparing it to God of War. We also go over some Avp, DRM, and GDD (Gamestop Dumpster Diving). We also throw in an STD or two.

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Punching Aliens In AvP 2

by Adam Blue • Editorial, Just Beat

I’m a huge fan of Aliens and Predators. So, what was the day like after I saw the first AvP? Constant crying. Luckily, the second one turned out to be badass. In the gaming world, Rebellion and Monolith put out a couple games on the PC that were a ton of fun and scary. To be honest, I’m actually looking forward to Gearbox’s Colonial Marines. I just like the idea of shooting at swarms of Aliens! But punching them? Hmmmm….

This new AvP uses a pretty nice melee mechanic allowing blocks and counters. This is great for the Aliens and Predators. But allowing a human to block and counter an Alien? What the fuck? Maybe I missed this part in the movies, but I figured if you were that close to an Alien you are either already dead or about to have a baby. Basically, if an Alien gets close, the game will alert you to block. If you block, the Alien attacks and steps back, which allows you to then punch it in the fucking dome. That’s actually pretty awesome, but then it would be more of a cheesy action flick than a suspenseful horror movie. I mean…what if you break exo-skeleton? You’ll get acid on your hands!

I played the game trying to avoid having to do this. Unfortunately I’m either not that good or the game is just designed to be played this way. I mean, it makes sense with the Alien and Predator, and it’s flawless design too! But as a human…no. But that didn’t stop it from being fun, as it was certainly a suspenseful ride that felt true to the source material. To me, it seemed like a re-written Alien vs. Predator (first movie) which I’ll certainly welcome.

I haven’t done multi-player, but this will ruin the human class for me if it’s still major part of combat.

Better Late Than Never: ME2 Review 0

by Chad Blue • Reviews

The galactic action packed soap opera is back! And whether you like it or not Bioware and Mass Effect are the Jay Z of gaming because they are laying the Blueprint. You cannot turn your head at the fact, even if you don’t like Mass Effect, that Bioware is simply showing the world how to make a complete interactive cinematic experience. And I would label Mass Effect 2 as an experience as much as it is a game. Ok, enough horn blowing.
What does Mass Effect 2 do better than 1?
Easy…Everything!!! And let me tell you that is nearly impossible to do no matter the medium. Movie, music, games, whatever….making a part 2 completely better than the 1st in every aspect is damn near impossible. I will name a few things. The 1st is something that my brothers claim not to like from the 1st. Shooting. I was skeptical that Bioware decided to add an ammo system to the 2nd installment. But they did, and it works. Yes you are shooting these baddies in real time, while telling your squad mates what to do ala Ghost Recon style. The battle pause is still here, which Bioware 1st introduced in the KOTOR series. For all the Haters it isn’t mandatory to use. You can even quick map moves to your LB, RB, and Y buttons if you want to feel more in charge of the free flow action. You can even map your team’s moves so you don’t have to pause battle. But as far as shooters go this game is very strategic. Enemies flank, rush cover, and shoot from a distance, and sometimes all at once. So sometimes planning is better than rushing head strong. 1 last point on the ammo is the ability to change to different types of ammos. Fire, ice, warp, whatever. And it all works well with the new ammo system.
On to more better. One big change is planet exploration. No more Mako. No more driving around. I, for one, loved driving around. Yes annoying sometimes, but I still loved it. ME2…no driving. Now some don’t like the idea but I’m a big advocate on the introduction of planet scanning. You can now scan the whole surface of a planet and send out probes to retrieve minerals. In ME1 the minerals were an almost “who cares” item. Now they are necessary to upgrade your weapons, shields, and yes even your new Normandy space shuttle. Sometimes you will find side missions while scanning a planet. And each side mission has been put on steroids and given its own unique level and feel. Going back to the upgrade system, there is no more selling un-needed equipment. You can buy upgrades or scan dead bodies/computers for research projects that allow your scientist to beef up your weapons and shields.
I can honestly write forever about this game, but I will just mention 1 more important thing. You can take your ME1 character into ME2! All your decisions from the 1st carry over. Depending on your level and money from the 1st you get bonuses upon starting part 2. I was rich in ME1 so obviously I started ME2 with a nice chunk of change. Once you beat ME2 you can even start a 2nd play through with that same character at the same level. And I hope you didn’t kill your main character by the end of ME2, if so, you will be unable to import them into ME3. Which means you can carry over every decision from ME1 and ME2 into part 3. Has this been done before? Maybe, but if so, definitely not on the same scale.
There is definitely a lot more to say on this game, but it is worth checking out on your own. Even if you didn’t like part 1, play part 2. You can even create your part 1 back story if you didn’t play it. This game is a must buy. Anyone who claims they are a gamer, should have this. IF you don’t, I’m sorry because I don’t respect you claiming to be a real gamer. And I stick by that 100%!!!! That goes for you too, Adam and Sean!!!

Pirating And DRM – Let Me Break It Down For You 2

by Adam Blue • Editorial

So Ubi’s Assassin’s Creed 2′s DRM sounds pretty nasty, huh? You have to always be online. Any disconnection and you’re out. No internet for the day, and you’re not playing. It’s not the first time DRM has creped its ugly face over our shoulders. Sometimes games become unplayable at launch! But why all the DRM? Well, because of pirating. It’s abundant and publishers are trying to figure out how to solve it.

Gamers complain. When a dev blames pirating for low sales, gamers blame the DRM for pirating. Does that make sense? No. Maybe low sales because the game isn’t appealing? Or maybe because PC gaming is too niche? In the end, none of these should matter. If sales numbers were good because pirating wasn’t an issue or PC gaming became hot again, maybe DRM wouldn’t exist. If a game doesn’t sell but they can see the game has been downloaded illegally thousands of times, does that mean the game is bad or people just don’t want to pay? No one knows. The only way to figure it out for now is to find a DRM scheme that works for both sides.

My personal opinion is that there is a chunk that pirate, but I’m unsure how much of that is lost sales. I also know EA tends to do well on the PC because of brand recognition. We’re seeing PC franchises moved to consoles because the numbers are there. If the numbers were on the PC and not the console, they wouldn’t have shifted development like that.

Some gamers argue that publishers should just go with Valve’s Steamworks. But I think these publishers also see this as threatening. Valve is a competitor, and for them to eventually distribute all PC games gives them some power. I’m interested in seeing where this goes.

In the end it will take some time. For now, I say we cut publishers some slack. I mean, hell, pirating is a big reason why we don’t have the Dreamcast anymore. Pretty shitty, huh?

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More Dante's Inferno – Did You Read The Poem? 1

by Adam Blue • Editorial

Without flinching, I’m playing through Dante’s Inferno again. This time may be quite quicker though…well, obviously because of the upgrades. But I mention ‘without flinching’ because it’s like I just continued on without the feeling of boredom. For instance, Visceral’s previous title, Dead Space (another fucking awesome game) warranted another play through after I completed it. Now, I didn’t make it that far because I honestly did get a little bored. That, to me, just says a lot about Dante’s Inferno. The achievements seem to be rather easy to get. Seeing them, it made me think about how fun these types of games are and that when I have time, I’d like to go through others for 100% completion. Conan, The Force Unleashed, Viking, etc. I think I’ve narrowed down my favorite genre.*

*On consoles. Because my favorite genre award belongs to RTS’s! C&C FTW!

Back to Dante’s Inferno…did you read the Divine Comedy? Inferno? It’s almost completely different. The poem is interesting because it explains aspects of the Christian afterlife in amazing detail. Now, there’s so much detail and intrigue here that the world would certainly survive and thrive in the realm of an action game. Hell, death, and sin screams action. So instead of taking the ideas and calling it something else, the developers use the same characters and plot points and twist it to fit the action genre. Sometimes though, this method doesn’t work. Like the Super Mario Bros. movie. I know they were trying to make it make sense in a live action world, but…it didn’t feel like Mario. It just had some reptiles, plumbers, a princess, and mushrooms. Dante’s Inferno, though, is putting the player through the events of The Inferno, with the action building up the suspense.

Review – Dante's Inferno 1

by Adam Blue • Reviews

While God of War games have been around long before God of War, the gameplay was just so tight that it set the bar for 3rd-person brawlers. It set such a bar, in fact, that EA and Visceral Games decided to copy that and put in their own look and story. Is that good enough to make it an enjoyable experience? Wouldn’t it be stale by then?

God of War used Greek Mythology as the setting. This allows the fantasy within the gameplay to work, and also allows the player to be put into epic set-pieces during battle. Dante’s Inferno is a mythology itself too. Although in the current day and age some may disagree. The mythology here would be considered Christian Mythology. The story is based on the poem, The Divine Comedy, which made straight into a game may somewhat lack in gameplay. Visceral took that story and pulled the mythology out of it, turning the idea into an action-driven story. For me it works; it’s about hell, sins, etc – perfect recipe for a game.

So does ripping-off God of War work? Yes. And I kind of like this idea. Take the GoW engine and controls and make it a template. Then, have developers create games within it. It controls the same. Weapons, enemies, environments. It all moves and acts the same. So, to sort of spice it up, the upgrade system is a bit different. There aren’t multiple weapons to obtain, instead just powerful attacks and magic. The game is about strengthening aspects of your character and using them in battle. Your scythe is your primary weapon, along with a projectile cross as your secondary. You upgrade through XP gained from Absolving or Punishing certain enemies or the damned. This is actually pretty unique and can technically allow the game to be played multiple times for different play styles. The game can be a little difficult which can be a good or bad thing. You can change the difficulty anytime, or just sit there and challenge yourself. Also, there are some arenas to unlock as well as a New Game+.

The graphics are just alright. I think it really has to do with some of the design. It’s just kind of plain. But then there’s some design that’s just brutally awesome. Some levels have nothing to them – then all of a sudden you’ll come across a badass looking boss. I guess there’s only so much you can do with hell. Just plaster the rocks with bodies…? It’s brutal though. There’s blood, guts, and tits with graphic animations to exploit these fun attributes. It sure is still fun to watch no doubt – but just a little on the plain side.

So in the end, this game is definitely worth a play-through. It brings up a point that this God of War mold could be used for multiple games of this style in different settings. I would love to see some Norse Mythology…or even a Blade game (actually, I already have an awesome idea for a Blade game). It’s worth $60 if you have the money to spend, otherwise it’s worth the rental.

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Week Of Impressions 0

by Adam Blue • Editorial

It has been a while…but a lot of things happened at once. I spent two weeks in Brazil and came back to more stuff to get done. So lately I’ve had very little time to play games, but I’ve got enough to share.

I’m a Sonic nut, but in no way blinded by fanboyism. I know that the first current-gen Sonic was horrible. And I do think Unleashed is great fun despite what many think (another rant, another time…unless I’ve already covered it…). So, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing was met with great excitement from me. And the demo delivered. First of all, the graphics are great, and presentation is tight. The game plays a lot like Mario Kart, but more in an Outrun-style driving mechanic. Drifting is a big deal here and it does play a little different than Mario Kart. This is a type of game I’d buy.

Next up is last week’s release, Dante’s Inferno. The demo left a luke-warm taste in my mouth, but now that I’ve spent more time with the game, I really do enjoy the hell out of it (lol!). It is a total rip-off of God of War, and on purpose of course, but there’s enough here to keep it interesting. Things are just fucked up and weird. And it throws crazy shit at you. I find it to me a bit more challenging than GoW. Dodging and blocking seems to play a more important role than in GoW.

The graphics are ok. They seem to be scaled back a bit or something…I’m not too sure. But the art direction and design is fun. In this age, Christianity is a way of life, whereas back in the day Greek Mythology wasn’t considered mythology. So for me personally, I like the Christian Mythology used here. It’s a touchy subject so I think that’s why we don’t see it often. But simply for art and creativity, rather than the idea of being offensive, I think this mythology is fun.

I’ll be doing a review of the above games. They both have some controversy to them: one being a Sega/Sonic game, the other, a GoW rip-off. I’d like to cover that.

And what’s next? AvP.

P.S. I guess with mention of AvP, the demo was fun but seemed a bit ‘scaled-back’ compared to the previous games. It might work out that way though, and the only way to find out is to play the full game.

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