Issue 4 : May 7, 2009
Latest Happenings:
The biggest ‘latest happening’ is the delay of Batman Arkham Asylum. Ridiculous. That game was getting so much pre-release buzz and even the in-store ad’s and demo’s were out in force. Then the delay. I’m very disappointed, but I wonder if something more nefarious is going on. Let’s put the pieces together, shall we? Eidos has a great game lined up, Square Enix buys Eidos, Square Enix thinks “hmph, if FF XIII isn’t ready, we don’t have a big-name title for the holiday”, next thing you know, Batman is delayed to late summer to fall. Very suspicious, methinks.
The other interesting news is all the pre-E3 rumors. Some big names are already publicly teasing, like Modern Warfare 2 (note the lack of the Call of Duty tag) and Assassins Creed 2. Konami is teasing a Kojima Productions game on either May 15th or May 18th and rumor it’s an Xbox 360 exclusive version of Metal Gear Solid. I’ll believe that when I see it. I bet it’s Zone of the Enders 3, which will hardly be exciting. If it was a Snatcher remake or sequel….now we’re talkin! Then we have the oft rumored Xbox 360 full-body motion control sensor. Meh. That’s my response. Love me or leave me alone.
What would I like to see at E3? I’ll break it down:
1. For the 360 = Another blockbuster announcement on par with FFXIII from last year. A Metal Gear Game would suffice. More Mass Effect 2 is a must! I’d also like to see Killer Instinct 3 from Rare. If motion control is the big deal, I’ma be one pissed off fella. Oh, more fun stuff to do with your avatar would be nice, too.
2. For the PS3 = Kingdom Hearts 3. Please Heavenly Father up above in Heaven, make this happen. I expect God of War III to be huge along with maybe Grand Turismo or something. For some reason, I don’t think we’ll hear about a blockbuster exclusive title. I hope I’m wrong. Although I do expect they will continue to build with strong titles, but not that one “OMG the world just turned upside down” announcement that I think most people believe they need right now.
3. For the Wii = I expect to hear Reggie say “ooooh, we’ve got the core audience covered!” then show us Legend of Zelda: Horse Mane Comber for the Wii – with motion control hair combing action!! I expect nothing short of a slap in the face from Nintendo. Once again, I hope I’m wrong. I honestly can’t think of anything they could do at this point to take my gaming time away from the 360.
4. For the DS = more drivel. Nuff said.
5. For the PSP = Finally, the reveal of the new hardware. Although, I do believe it won’t be the PSP2, but a hardware reset w/ slide out controls and no UMD drive. When you look at it, yes, it’s new and it’s pretty and smaller. But, with a big enough memory stick, can’t the current PSP do everything the rumored new revision can do? Yeah, not as big a deal when you break it down. I also want, strike that, need to hear more about Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. I expect a few new big games to be announced that will surprise us.
Irresponsible Reviews:
Note: These are called “irresponsible reviews” because I’m basing my review on a very short time playing the game. A responsible reviewer would play a game in it’s entirety before making a blanket statement damning it to the ether of shovelware. I’m not that guy.
Resident Evil 5 (demo)
o Playtime: 10 Minutes
o Review: What a disappointment. Capcom has taken the Resident Evil franchise from being a modern day parallel to the Castlevania series (in that it was a horror themed action series) and turned it into a run of the mill gimmicky shooter. Sure, the graphics are great, but the gameplay, the setting, the gimmick are all just blah. The controls were flat out poop, too. Beyond that, I tried to hold a candle for Capcom regarding the racism controversy. But, when you’re playing, it does feel weird to be a white guy running around shooting black guys. It just feels wrong and weird.
o Verdict: Get it when you find it for $10 or less purely out of sense that you need to because it’s Resident Evil.
Fable II – Knothole Island (DLC)
o Playtime: 3 hours
o Review: If you liked Fable II, then this is a continuation of the side quests with a self contained story. The three dungeons are fun, nothing special. The story is interesting and the interactions are very funny. The Mayor is a complete dick and it was fun to be evil while on the island. The new stuff….clothing, potions….are mildly interesting. If you made a choice that left you ‘alone’, then I understand you can visit the graveyard on the Island to ‘meet up with an old traveling companion’ which is extremely cool.
o Verdict: At $10, it’s a little steep. But, if you’re a Fable junkie you need to buy it. Then go buy ‘See the Future’, it’s even better.
Star Ocean IV (Retail)
o Playtime: 9 Hours
o Review: I wanted this game to be a big deal. I wanted this to quench my Japanese role playing game hole. I just couldn’t get into it. The characters are pretty cliché, and you want to care more than you actually do. They just seem like they were developed by a 1st year student in one of those cheesy ‘You too can develop videogames!’ ads. The story is pretty mundane, too. The big thing this one has going for it are pretty visuals and a really fun battle system. It is fun and deep, but that can’t carry a 40 hour game like this. I felt like I was playing an early PSX RPG with bad localization.
o Verdict: I love RPG’s, but this is one that I can’t recommend. I actually enjoyed Infinite Undiscovery much more and that game gets ho-hum reviews at best.
Status Report:
Flipping back and forth lately. Playing Assassin’s Creed, Kung Fu Panda and now Fable II – See the Future. This latest Fable II jaunt should only last a few hours, so I’ll buzz through this quick, then I’ll jam on KFP to get the achievements. Then back to Assassin’s Creed. Just wasting time until the next big thing
On the Horizon:
Since Batman isn’t coming out in June, which was to be the ‘next big thing’, I may go back to finish Infinite Undiscovery. There isn’t a lot new that interests me right now. Ghostbusters looks okay, but that’s about it until August/September. We’ll see what my birthday brings me next week. Maybe some Blue Dragon action or store credit to get a PSP. All I know is that I can’t wait to get my PS3 and dig into MGS4, Uncharted and more. Heck, I’ll be able to pick up Uncharted 2 by the time I get the system! Very Nice!
You gotta finish AC, dude. Really. Don't listen to Dave. Once you are done messing around with your knothole, go back to it.
ReplyDeleteGod of War III is one thing that will have me aching for a PS3. But I'm strong...or cheap...Oh, yeah, I'm cheap.
I really hope we get Batman before say Christmas? Nothing worse than a bad case of the gaming drought and this surly is a 'dust bowl' of our era.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Star Ocean. I even got about 20hrs into it but the lack of save points (I stayed up until 3am one day because I started at midnight and I couldn't find one) horrid HORRID dialog and uneven battles were just too much to handle.
I'm really hoping for a Bioshock 2 date, Mass Effect 2 update, an actual demo/release date for FF13 (screw you Romans!) and AC2 for Simosaurus so he will shut up about it. =)