Review – Sonic Generations

Review – Sonic Generations 1

by Adam Blue • Reviews

This year is Sonic’s 20th birthday, and Sega celebrates that with a game that features the best of Sonic’s history. I’m a huge Sonic fan, so it’s pretty easy for me to like a Sonic game. I thought Unleashed was great where others had issues with it. I will admit that Sonic 2006 was…a buggy clusterfuck. Generations, though, is AWESOME.

First of all, I bought this beast on the PC. I never thought I’d play the latest Sonic title on the PC, but it is the best version of the game. Period. The graphics are 50% better than on the consoles, mainly due to resolution, but also with its 60 frames per second. The 360 gamepad works flawlessly, and like a few other titles recently (Renegade Ops), I believe it is a necessity. So, that goes without saying that the graphics here are great. Not only does it run and look well, but Sega put some nice touches to make each pixel of a level matter. 60 fps and $30 on Steam makes this a no-brainer.

The game plays just like you’d expect (or maybe not given Sega’s track record) – Classic and Modern gameplay blended together. Each of the nine stages includes two acts: One based on classic Sonic physics, the other on Modern. I love both styles of gameplay, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. It does get difficult though, but that is Sonic. I would have preferred it to be done a little differently too, with 2-3 acts for classic Sonic, like back in the day, and classic boss battles. Instead, between these acts you have challenge levels which are pretty fun, but not staple Sonic fun. The few bosses that are in the game are really nothing too difficult, and I found the finale to be rather abrupt.

Yes, this actually happened in the game.

That being said, when I finished it – I wasn’t done. I wanted more levels, more bosses, and more music. But, most likely DLC will be available for purchase adding these additional levels. I’m pretty sure I’ll scoop them up. As a Sonic fan, I say this game is worth a buy. Especially on the PC for only $30 and technically being the best version.

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Impressions – Super Mario 3D Land

Impressions – Super Mario 3D Land 0

by Adam Blue • Impressions

I picked up Mario 3D Land on launch day without a pre-order. I actually meant to pre-order it for the little key chain bonus, but luckily I was able to smooth talk one into my hands. Wait…that sounds bad. Anyway, I sat down just to play for a second – and finished an entire world.

So far, SM3DL is pretty simple. It’s not anything amazing like previous Mario games have been. And if you say that’s just nostalgia talking, I’m even taking in account New Super Mario Bros. DS and Wii (still not as amazing as my nostalgia, but still good). It has been easy. I’m not sure how many secrets a world is supposed to have, but the first flew by with nothing obvious. Even the boss was so easy I had a hard time with it – I was thinking too much about it when the solution requires no thinking at all.

It plays a lot like Mario 64, but inside more compact, shorter, linear stages with little to do. The 3D effect is nice here which really helped save my ass in situations where I wouldn’t have been able to get a grasp on the depth.

I will obviously be putting more time into this, but so far I can’t exactly recommend it. I would love my final review to be nothing but nice things to say about the game. We’ll see.

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Renegade Ops, BF3, Sonic = No Time

Renegade Ops, BF3, Sonic = No Time 0

by Adam Blue • Editorial, Impressions

And then there’s Uncharted 3, Goldeneye, Dark Souls, Ace Combat, plus many other games I haven’t been playing. Just too much. But, the three I listed in the title will be my main focus…if I can even focus. I’ve been…pre-occupied.

As for BF3, it is incredibly awesome, but I suck horribly. I’m just bad. I follow my friends around who seem to be invincible to fire, yet I’m being obliterated. I’ll go entire matches without kills. It’s still fun, but the campaign is rather dull.

Renegade Ops is just fun as hell. It’s a twin-stick shooter that is based on a free-roam map rather than the normal A to B stage set up. It’s very difficult too, which is just my thing. I’m stuck on the 4th stage; I either die or run out of time – which the time limit thing is pretty lame. I have no idea why they decided to put that in this game. It does nothing other than make you skip by destroying enemies.

And then we have Sonic Generations. It’s odd that I’m buying it for PC, but with higher resolutions and $30, it’s a no brainer. The demo looked way to crappy on the 360. Consoles are really showing their age. Sonic is supposed to unlock tonight. We shall see…oh, and this is pretty sick:

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Rage and Aliens

Rage and Aliens 2

by Adam Blue • Editorial, Impressions

So, Rage has been out. I was pretty damn excited about it initially, but once I played the game, the excitement waned. Yeah, it looked like a me-too, post-apocalyptic, quest-fest FPS. And that’s what it is. The AI is amazing, but the shooting-to-killing ratio is in between Battlefield and Borderlands. A headshot won’t kill, but two will. I’ve never been a fan of that.

Let’s get to the biggest issue: the engine. There are some very horrible textures ehere, and apparently this is due to it being cross-platform. I want high resolution textures for the machine I built, and of all companies, Id Software should have no problem with it. Carmack has since admitted, though, they he made a mistake building it for the consoles though it is good for business.

I had a chance to play a bit of Aliens: Infestation. It plays just like a 2D Metroid title but with enough of an Aliens vibe to make it feel like a part of that universe. I haven’t played enough yet to get into any detail, but I’ll try to write-up some impressions soon.

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So Much To Play… 0

by Adam Blue • Editorial, Impressions

Last weekend I finally completed Hard Reset. It is definitely the best FPS I’ve played in a long time. Being a PC exclusive totally helps it – no more being hindered by consolitis. The game is just crazy shooting with a new interesting mechanic on a weapons system. You have two weapons and upgrade abilities for them, like grenade launching and gravity disruptors. The game is just incredible and I suggest any PC gamer to play this. If you don’t have a PC, you’re missing out.

Then, I completed Kill Team – totally awesome. A fun twin stick shooter/brawler. I then moved on to another WH40k game, Space Marine. I also completed that one. It is definitely worth playing. It seemed to be a little boring at first, but it picked up and became a ton of fun. It has a nice difficulty to it, but not too much to keep you away. The multiplayer is also fantastic.

And now we have the Battlefield 3 Beta. So far, so fun, and it runs great on my laptop. I’ll post my impressions later. Then there’s The Binding of Isaac…and some Playstation Move titles. And Space Marine on PC…

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Let’s Complain About DRM

Let’s Complain About DRM 1

by Adam Blue • Editorial

Actually, let’s complain about you. With any game released containing DRM, internet gamers scream in unity over the horror. Even if they don’t plan on playing the game and even if they do plan on playing the game. At the same time, these same gamers will only buy something from Steam because Valve is God for releasing a couple games. These gamers say no to any other DD service, like Origin…even though they’ll use GoG and Impulse because of the indie or old-school titles (See ‘Elitist’ in the Guide to Annoying Internet Gamers (I will write this in the future)). I don’t mind using any digital distribution service. I go where it’s cheaper, but usually just default to Steam only because most of my purchases are there. Steam isn’t end-all-be-all for me. I will always try another service – I have no hate for Origin. It detected my email and showed a purchase for red Alert 3: Uprising from 2009.

But last night, Steam reared its ugly head that gamers ignore so they can hypocritically complain about non-Steam games. I was with my laptop at a location with no internet. I was bored, so I wanted to play some games. All of the games I have on this laptop are from Steam – and I couldn’t launch one.

It would tell me there’s no active internet connection so I can use offline mode. Offline mode resulted in the system telling me there’s no active internet connection. And the circle of hell began. I couldn’t play a game. I wish I had my GoG installs on this laptop, like The Witcher 2. But no, Steam failed. Now there may be a way around this (I thought there was) but at the time without an internet connection there wasn’t one readily available, so I was just stuck.

This is you, so shut the fuck up.

You internet gamers need to understand that Steam shouldn’t be the one and only. We need to be accepting of other services and not so negative about DRM unless we plan on doing something about it (being vocal alone won’t do anything).

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Oh, Magicka…

Oh, Magicka… 0

by Adam Blue • Impressions

I heard many a good thing about Magicka and decided it may be worth trying out. I downloaded the demo but found it to be incredibly boring. I was just walking around using magic (magicka?) to get past obstacles. Again, it was boring. Though a daily Steam deal happened to pass by, and that included Magicka with all the DLC…for $6. I decided to bite, mainly to try out the parody add-on, Magicka: Vietnam.

Skipping the tutorial and actually playing the main story – this game is awesome. It’s really just action the whole time, fighting different types of enemies with magic at your disposal. Constant action. I’ll get waves of enemies coming at me, which I will try to dispatch with different magic types and even my space marine blaster. Yes, the ‘robe’ I choose is that of a Warhammer 40K Space Marine. One of Magicka’s many nods to the gaming scene. Achievements will pop up that make reference to Metal Gear and King’s Quest. It can get tough. I’ll be hammered by trolls and orcs and not know what-the-eff to do. I then have to think about magic combinations.

I’m not a fan of RPG’s at all. This isn’t an RPG. Almost a puzzle-action game. You have to be quick in figuring out what magic to use when and what combination.

It worths.

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Weekend in Gaming – 9/16

Weekend in Gaming – 9/16 0

by Adam Blue • Editorial

I had quite a productive weekend. I spent most of my gaming time with Hard Reset. A recently released PC-only FPS by Flying Wild Hog. In short, this thing is awesome. It gives me the same feeling I had when I first played Doom, but the mechanics are modern enough. I’m pretty much blasting baddies with two weapons, and when I say baddies, I want to emphasize on the suffix – the ies. Tons are thrown at you, and you’re dispensing what seems like an infinite supply of bullets. I think there was a time or two that I run out, but that’s not the core mechanic here. Hard Reset wants you to be able to take down tons of enemies, avoiding attacks, and using the environment to dispatch the waves quickly.

I wanted to insert some screenshots, but apparently the screenshots I took in Steam didn’t save. That’s pretty lame.

I actually just got the Razer Lycosa keyboard as my G15 seemed too big and I really always had an awkward time with the large keys. After using my new laptop to game, I realized I had a more comfortable time. The keys, like on most laptops, are pretty tiny. The Lycosa fits the bill, and has made PC gaming so much more comfortable for me. This made Hard Reset an enjoyable experience.

I also got a Kinect. This was mainly for being able to video chat so my daughter can see her grandparents – but who am I kidding? I also wanted another piece of gaming technology. The distance between my couch and TV is way too small, and so the Kinect doesn’t work exactly right. I can use hand gestures and speak to my machine (hopefully it won’t take over), but I don’t think gaming can happen. I’m going to pick up one of those Kinect Zoom things made by Nyko to see if I can get that extra foot I need. I’m in the ‘circle’ if I sit on my couch, not standing in front of it. So, I’m close. The Kinects also now come with a copy of Children of Eden.

I then tried out a bunch of 360 demos:

SkyDrift – Flying Mario Kart. WWII style planes with power ups. It’s awesome and think it’s worth a purchase.

Radiant Silvergun – I’ve been wanting to try this forever, plus I love Treasure and shmups. This isn’t my type of shmup though. Very hard.

Bloodrayne – TAKE MY MONIES

Renegade Ops – Tons of fun. A harder-to-control Assault Heroes, but more open-map rather than screen-scrolling. Any more hyphens and I’d wear-out this new key-board. Also, I went in on a 4-pack with Mike on Steam. But it’s not out yet…

Adam Blue: so it says the gift was revoked.
Adam Blue: its in my library but wont allow me to install/play
Kaz: well its not out so that is no surprise

lol

Crimson Alliance – Snoozefest 2011.

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The ‘Used Games is Lost Sales’ Argument is Stupid

The ‘Used Games is Lost Sales’ Argument is Stupid 0

by Adam Blue • Editorial

Gameindustry.biz has an article about a dev from Quantic Dream, who made Heavy Rain, complaining that used game sales lose the company money. So much bullshit here. But I will say in advance that he does believe games cost too much to make. It’s true.

1. People buy used games because they are cheaper. Would have they made a new game purchase without the option? No.

2. Games cost too much to develop. So much time is spent with graphics, marketing, etc, that the core ‘game’ is lost and we get, sorry for you fans, generic Gears of War bullshit. There’s so much in Gears that did not have to be paid for. We’d have the game already and possibly even cheaper.

3. If we take away the used game market, what’s next for devlopers and publishers to take from us? The simple ability to share? That’s almost a reality. Try borrowing a copy of Mortal Kombat and playing it online.

This really is just a short little rant, but fix the problem. Don’t be the problem.

*This was written in a couple minutes. I think I got my point across.

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One Horrible, Glaring Issue With Dead Island (And Other Games)

One Horrible, Glaring Issue With Dead Island (And Other Games) 1

by Adam Blue • Editorial

Dead Island is so damn fun. Let me get that out of the way. But there’s one thing I cannot stand that even other games do. Doom 3 did it great. You know…the flashlight. In Doom 3, the flashlight is a weapon slot. You have to equip it to use it, then switch to a weapon in order to use a weapon on an enemy. I thought that was an awesome, sick, and an unpleasant gameplay element that really drove home the tension of being in the dark with baddies.

Then a bunch of whiny gamers complained that it made the game too hard/scary. ‘Duct-tape’ mods were created and eventually Carmack buckled and apologized. So weak!

So what does this have to do with Dead Island? The flashlight comes out of your fucking chest. You could juggle running saw-blades and still be able to keep a straight beam of light coming out of your chest. What the fuck. Either this is because the developers forgot that light doesn’t come out of human chests, or they are just siding with all the whiny gamers who had to have their mothers hold their hands when playing Doom 3. Whatever the reason is, fuck that gameplay decision.

Then, on top of that, is the fact that other co-op players cannot see your light. So, not only is this beam of light coming out of your chest, but it apparently exists in a spectrum that only your specific character has visibility of. What the fuck is that? Here’s my brilliant idea, and why I should be a development consultant: make the flashlight an equipable item. In co-op, one person could be the flashlight holder while the others shoot, and as batteries run out…switch! This is brilliant and I will patent the idea. I will pull an Apple and sue anyone that has swipe to unlock on their flashlights. No, I’m no where as douchey as Apple. Any developer can use my idea for the greater good of gamers.

So, while Dead Island is an amazing game, this one flaw keeps it from being flawless by way of gameplay mechanics. There’s very little else I could bitch about.

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