Another Castle

Bombshell Announcement...

2005-05-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

This is the game everyone has been waiting for at E3. The one that will send shockwaves through the asian-school girl filled booths. The game that will take us to the next generation of gaming as we know it....

Final Fight: StreetWise

What, you'd think I'd blow my load over something like Quake 4? Nuh uh.

Yes, the sequel everybody wanted in the back of their minds has arrived. It'll be out Q4 2005, in full 3-D glory. You'll take control of Kyle Travers, brother of original Final Fight character Cody Travers. No word yet on whether Mayor Hagar makes an appearance, spinning piledriver and all.

Yeah, I'm probably the only guy on the blog who cares about this. But soon, real posts will be made about actual bombshell announcements.

Welcome to E3 2005!

2005-05-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, it's E3 week! Woo!

Throughout this week, I'll be here posting highlights from the events over in LA.. but of course, you will have to go to other sites to catch everything. Even if some other AC members chime in during E3 with news and the like, none of us are actually going. So therefore, what I'm setting out to do with this first post of the week is recommend some other places you might like to go in order to check up on what's going on.

First up, the big two. Gamespot have their E3 homepage up already, and it's quite nicely set out with links to all their articles, previews and streaming videos. It looks like they'll be the most comprehensive this year, but IGN as always will be trying to give them a good run for their money. Page is a bit less tidy, though. There's also their 'other half', GameSpy, who will be.. a lot like IGN, probably.

As for the rest.. 1Up.com look quite impressive, GameDaily less so. The official E3 website, E3Insider, should be up and running later today. Eurogamer will be trying their hardest, bless 'em. ComputerAndVideoGames.com? Well, at least their address is nice. And TeamXBox will be hideously biased as always. :)

If you're after the official line on all the announcements, then you'll be wanting the official sites. Sony have a placeholder up at the moment, while all the XBox and Nintendo stuff looks like it'll be going on their main sites as of right now. Keep a look out in particular at the Sony and XBox sites, as it seems those two might be the only places to find live feeds of their respective press conferences..

Just after media from the show, like screenshots and videos? In that case, take a look at GameTrailers and Kikizo for starters. XBoxyde have also been particularly good at finding exclusive XBox related screenshots in recent weeks. And finally, if you're really lazy, try NewsNow. They'll be trying to bring you links to coverage from a huge array of sources. Oh, and Kotaku will be blogging away throughout, too.

So, there we go. Enjoy the week, and keep checking back here for more all throughout E3 2005!

Halo 3 due in Spring 2006

2005-05-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

Anyone would think that Microsoft were promoting a new console or something. There's a big interview with Bill Gates in the new issue of Time Magazine, and yes, he speaks at length about XBox 360. Here's the edited highlights:

Note to the hard-core faithful: the next version of Halo will not, repeat not, be ready in time for the launch of Xbox 360. It will be part of the all-important second wave next spring. "It's perfect," Gates says, radiant with bloodlust. "The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], and they walk right into Halo 3." Microsoft is expected to announce that Xbox 360 will play Halo 2 and other Xbox games.

Slightly ruthless of them, if not unexpected. And then there's this frank admission:

"We're not gonna get so everybody in the family loves this thing just with sports and shooters and racers," Gates admits. "We're gonna have to fund, both internally and externally, some high-risk genres and see if those can stick. We can't just stay with the tried and true."

Hurrah! And as for a potential killer app:

Right now you can use Xbox Live to talk to people you're playing with via voice chat—think free long distance over the Internet. Soon you will also be able to send e-mail and instant messages. If you have a camera peripheral, you will be able to send short video messages and even videoconference. And here's an important point: with Xbox 360, you don't even have to be playing a game. You will be able to chat with other people over Xbox Live when you're just plain watching TV. The words appear over the show, or you can chat aloud using a headset.

To read the full article, go to the Gaming Age forums by clicking here.

E3 Update: Project Gotham Racing 3

2005-05-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

It's fancy pictures of cars day, here on Another Castle! Anyway, the above is allegedly the first proper screenshot of PGR3 on the XBox 360. Let's go live to Josh Hogan, fellow AC member, for his reaction:

That can't be in game. I mean - that looks Hollywood-level. I will gladly eat my doubting words on shards of hot glass however if I am wrong. I want that to be an in-game or real-time shot.. but I don't think it is.

We think negatively here on AC, as you can tell. But just in case, I'm getting the glass shards ready!

E3 Update: Test Drive Unlimited (XBox 360)

2005-05-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

What with all the hype around the XBox 360 since last nights unveil, it seems some of the actual games for the console are going by unnoticed. Here's a case in point. Now I know all the Test Drive games of late have been a bit crap, but you've got to admire the effort being shown for this one. Here's some quotes from a preview over at IGN:

What's really exciting about this title is that it takes place in a persistent online world. Through satellite imagery and GPS tracking, Eden Games has recreated the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The geography is correct down to the smallest detail, and all of the street names are correct. This may have seemed like an outrageous claim, except that I have actually hiked across Oahu and was able to pin-point buildings, roads, and specific geography from the island. To give you an idea of just how impressive it was to see this take place in-engine, Oahu contains approximately 596 square miles with 112 miles of shoreline and a peak elevation of about 4000 feet.

We know that every Xbox 360 game will have custom soundtracks, but Test Drive takes things a step further. The car radio actually streams MP3 web radio stations when playing over Xbox Live. When driving online, players will see other 360 gamers driving around the island and can challenge each other by flashing their brights. There is a map editor that allows players to quickly mark a start point and an end point on the map and decide the rules of the race. Players can wager money or cars when setting up these challenges. Feel like creating a three hour race where the looser forfeits their ride? Press a few buttons and the work is done.

So let's just hope it's a good game, then. Saying that, the guys behind this one did make V Rally.. and that was quite good..

E3 Update: Ghost Recon 3 (XBox 360)

2005-05-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Want more? Watch MTV tonight! Or maybe...

E3 Update: Prey

2005-05-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Wow. Look everyone, it actually exists! Now all we need is Duke Nukem Forever, and.. wait, who am I kidding? Anyway, yes, Prey is back. Gamespot have posted a nice little Q&A on the resurrected game, which answers such questions as why the game has been brought back from the dead after all this time:

The decision to revive Prey was based on finding a talented studio that we thought could do the project justice. So when we found out that Human Head was interested in developing the game, it became an easy decision to pursue it once again. Prey's appeal was based on leading-edge technology, a strong, unique character-based story, and unique gameplay hooks. Over the years since Prey's original conception, there's not been a game that's stolen Prey's original thunder. So the door was wide open for us to revive the project.

Also, while the original ideas for Prey were mostly solid, Human Head and we have refined and improved most aspects of the game, and we've cut out some elements that weren't as strong. In effect, the concept, gameplay hooks, and story have benefited from years of consideration, giving the game a foundation that most projects simply cannot match.

If you want to read more, the article is here.

Calm Before The Storm..

2005-05-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

So, tomorrow night, they unveil XBox 360 on MTV.
Monday, we get the E3 press conferences for both Sony and Microsoft.
Tuesday, Nintendo spill the beans in their press conference.
And then Wednesday, three days of E3 itself get underway.

Not surprising all the news has dried up these past few days, is it?

Is This Half Life 3? No.

2005-05-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

This actually is the results of one man experimenting using real-world photographs, models from Half Life 2, and some fancy HDR lighting techniques. Don't know what HDR means? Me neither. For more information, however, you can always go look at this thread over at the interestingly named Facepunch Studios website.

In the meantime, here's some more, larger images:
One - Two - Three - Four - Five

E3 Update: Burnout Revenge

2005-05-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

The trailer has been posted online over at Gamespot, and as much as I hesitate about making decisions based on one-minute clips of footage, it doesn't really look that different does it? A few more explosions, not quite as bright and primary-coloured, and that's about it thus far. Of course Burnout 3 was great, and so more of the same wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. It'd just be nice to get something other than the traditional EA yearly update. We'll see, I guess.

E3 Update: Is this Perfect Dark Zero?

2005-05-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

(edit)No, no it isn't. But you'll get all the footage of Perfect Dark Zero you want on Thursday, when XBox 360 is unveiled on MTV! That image up there is a fairly-convincing fake, which actually comes from Half Life 2. Apparently.

E3 Update: Unreal Tournament 2007

2005-05-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yep, time for another Unreal Tournament update.. only this one's a bit more than a few tweaks and new gamemodes. UT2007 is the first in the series to be based on Unreal Engine 3.0, and looks incredible as a result. Though admittedly, my PC is quaking in fear already at the prospect of trying to run it. There's a small screenshot above, but for larger ones you can click here, here and here.

So, what of the actual game? Details are thin on the ground at the moment, but it'll apparently be published in the second half of 2006. Long wait ahead, then. There'll be a new 'Conquest' gametype featuring enormous maps, team-based play and resource management aspects, together with the reappearance of old favourites such as Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and Onslaught. There's also the prospect of much improved bot AI, and voice commands coming into play to a greater extent, as this quote from lead designer Steven Polge reveals:

'You'll be able to ask the bots questions about their status: "Is there anybody down in the cavern?", "No, cavern's all clear". Or you could throw out warnings like, "There's a sniper on the tower. Go get the sniper." So if you're doing a flag run, you can hear what's going on back at your base because guys are shouting to each other where the enemy's coming from and what they're doing to prevent it.'

There'll be more weapons, more vehicles, and all the other stuff you've come to expect as a given with a FPS sequel. Only with much prettier graphics. Guess it's time for another new graphics card.. unless it appears on PS3 or XBox 360, at any rate. If you want any more information, try the PC Gamer UK forum.

E3 Update: Rockstar announce 'Bully'

2005-05-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

Rockstar Games is proud to announce Bully for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and Xbox video game system from Microsoft. Bully is the brutally funny debut title from Rockstar Vancouver and is expected to hit retail shelves in October 2005.

Bully takes the Rockstar tradition of groundbreaking, innovative, original gameplay and humorous tongue-in-cheek storytelling to an entirely new setting: the schoolyard. As a troublesome schoolboy, you'll laugh and cringe as you stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks on malicious kids, win or lose the girl, and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of school.

It's not the most obvious follow-up to Midnight Club 3, Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, is it? Still, this is what happens when you get Rockstar Vancouver on the case, I guess. Those wacky Canadians.

Oh, and yes, I will be attempting to keep Another Castle up-to-date with all the latest from E3, before, during and after the event itself. Someone needs to.

News: Gamestop & EB join forces

2005-04-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

Full Story

News: GTA Made Me Do It

2005-03-02T16:37:00.000-08:00

Should the people who make and sell "violent video" games be held accountable if someone commits a crime because of playing them?

Full Story

News: Shadow of the Colossus (Ico 2)

2005-03-02T09:21:00.000-08:00

After the disappointment of Katamari Damacy not making it to the UK, and the general silence about the game of late, I was fearing that the sequel to Ico had disappeared completely off the radar at Sony HQ. Thank heavens, then, for this news:

'Sony Computer Entertainment has confirmed its Japanese ICO development team's second game, known to you and us as Wanda And The Colossus, will be released in Europe during 2005.
In a brief missive sent to hacks this morning, Sony offered no specific details on the game other than its European name. Wanda, often referred to by its working title NICO, will henceforth be known as Shadow of the Colossus around these parts.'
(Eurogamer.net)

Aside from the slight corniness of the new name, I am now a happy bunny. Especially when other sources says the release is set for the third quarter.. well, before the inevitable delay, anyway!

News: Mario Brothers Flash Movies

2005-02-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

For anyone who's followed the series, part five is on it's way. For those of you who have no clue as to what I speak, head on over to the link and catch some very impressive Flash movies, using modified sprites pulled directly from the game.

Alexander Leon's Official Mario Brothers Flash series

News: Xbox Baby

2005-02-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

Love works in mysterious ways. Some people meet in bars, some in the produce aisle and for some an Xbox Live Halo 2 deathmatch.

Behold, the Xbox baby.

News: Accidental Video Game Pr0n & Update

2005-02-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates to our fine readers out there (all four of you), but it's kinda hard to review games when all your stuff is stolen and the only thing you're left with is disc 1 of Resident Evil 4. So now that I'm slowly putting things back together I should have a review of RE4 in the not too distant future. In the mean time, I'll try to keep the site full of meaningless game linkage and news until then.

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~derekyu/pr0n/gallery.html

News: EA buys ESPN license

2005-01-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Yahoo

ESPN and EA Sign Agreement for Sports Games
Relationship to Integrate Content and Introduce New Sports Games

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2005--Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS - News) and ESPN today announced a long-term agreement for the development and integrated marketing of EA SPORTS games containing ESPN content. The relationship will include established EA SPORTS franchises -- which will be enhanced by ESPN telecast, print and online content -- as well as new sports games to be published by EA based on ESPN media properties. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The agreement gives EA access to ESPN programming, personalities and integrated marketing opportunities on ESPN television programming and other ESPN properties. The ESPN integration will appear in EA SPORTS console, handheld, PC and wireless games beginning in 2006 upon the conclusion of ESPN's existing video game licensing commitments.

"EA and ESPN have a shared belief that adding ESPN content will improve an already outstanding line of games," said George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN Inc. and ABC Sports.

"This relationship was created to benefit consumers who are passionate about sports games," said Larry Probst, Electronic Arts Chairman and CEO. "EA SPORTS recreates the real life experience fans enjoy while watching or playing their favorite sport; while ESPN programming captures the look, sound and excitement of the sports they follow. Together, we believe we can significantly grow the interactive sports category."

The agreement is for fifteen years with an option to terminate after ten years under certain conditions and gives EA exclusive first rights to all ESPN content for simulation sports games.

The Rundown: 10th to 16th January

2005-01-10T06:26:00.000-08:00

And now, later than advertised.. welcome back to The Rundown! Yeah, see, this is what happens when you say you're going to make your return on a day that doesn't actually exist like Monday 5th. Anyway, back now, and I actually have a fair few releases to plow through. So, let's get back into the ol' routine, and start by looking at the two big titles of this week.

Given that I'm not a big fan of the whole survival horror genre, I'm probably entirely the wrong person to be the first to mention the apparent greatness of Resident Evil 4 (GC). What I'll do, then, is mention that all reviews so far are calling it by far the greatest ever game in that genre, and that Hogie will almost certainly be along with further thoughts on it in the near future. Maybe. Suffice to say, if you're even vaguely interested in this title, it's almost certainly well worth a purchase.

Grand Theft Auto, in the army. That's as good a summary of Mercenaries (PS2, XBox) as you can probably get. Tanks instead of cars, airstrikes instead of machine guns and hostage retrieval instead of gang warfare. Of course, it's inferior to San Andreas - most things are - but it's still a fine third-person action game.. albeit one saddled with a slightly lame 'pack of cards' gimmick to represent the most wanted list. And it looks and sounds great, too.

Amazingly, there have been some games released in the past few weeks while this column has been away. Chief among these is MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf (XBox), the vastly improved sequel to the first big XBox Live game, which Dan should be reviewing soon enough. If you were a big fan of the first NFL Street, then maybe a rental of NFL Street 2 (PS2, XBox, GC) is in order to see if the few new features improve it enough for it to be worthwhile. If you were a big fan of the first The Getaway, then you enjoy inflicting harm upon yourself and should see a psychologist before you do something stupid, like say, buy The Getaway: Black Monday (PS2).

And finally for the big titles, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA) is another installment in the adventures of Link, and represents two firsts for the series. It's the first Zelda game to be developed by Capcom as opposed to Nintendo, and perhaps slightly surprisingly, it's also the first true single-player Zelda title for the GameBoy Advance. And hey, it got released first in the UK a few weeks back. Miracles do happen, clearly.

Also out this week:

So, none of those take your fancy? In that case, here's a list of everything else that's been released since the last column:

Playstation 2:
Airborne Troops: Countdown to D-Day, Suikoden IV, Virtua Quest
XBox:
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, GunGriffon: Allied Strike, Tork: Prehistoric Punk
Gamecube:
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
PC:
Advanced Battlegrounds: The Future of Combat, American Chopper, Civil War Bull Run, Dragon Puzzle, The Guy Game, Hearts of Iron 2, Hoyles Casino 3D, SeaWorld Adventure Parks Tycoon 3D, Shadow Vault, World Championship Tennis,Yourself!Fitness
Gameboy Advance:
Banjo Pilot, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town for Girls

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom:

Think the release list is barren in the US? Well, it's worse in the UK. The sum total of what's coming out over here this week are the ESPN 2K5 series of sports games for PS2 and XBox (still at a low price, but stupidly with all the online options removed) and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC), which is a great game provided you've spent a fortune on all the required hardware. Still, if you've got four GBAs, four link cables, three other players, and a GameCube, then make the most of it and buy the thing.

So, that's all for now. There's not much out next week.. so how about we meet up again in two weeks, hmm? That's Monday 24th.. and before you check, yes that date does actually exist. See you then.

Review: NFL Playoffs Virtual Style

2005-01-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

Desperate for quick content I've decided to simulate the NFL Playoffs all the way through the AFC & NFC Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. If you're looking for play-by-play coverage or indepth analysis of the games, well, I don't have THAT much time on my hands. Besides, I can't hog the main television all the time, the wife has to catch up on her Law & Order watching and all of its incarnations. I will be using samples from the following games; Madden 2005, ESPN NFL 2K5 and Super Tecmo Bowl for the NES. Both Madden and ESPN were "played" on an Xbox, with the most recent roster updates used. The most current ESPN roster is nearly two months old, so if you're wondering why TO is still playing or why the Vikings are doing well, I hope that explains it. Madden on the other hand has a roster that's current up to December 21st and yes, Super Tecmo Bowl's rosters are as current as 1991.

ESPN NFL 2K5 - Wild Card Games

AFC

Denver Broncos @ Indianapolis Colts
Indoor
31 Score 24
241 Pass Yds 300
43 Rush Yds 12
1 Turnovers 2
12:34 T.O.P. 7:26

Petyon Mannning & Jake Plummer both threw 3 touchdowns in the game. Marvin Harrison accounted for a majority of the receiving yards with 242. Rod Smith and Ashlie Lelie caught 98 and 115 respectively. Denver scored on a last second INT that was returned for a touchdown.

New York Jets @ San Diego Chargers
Light Rain
10 Score 17
195 Pass Yds 117
41 Rush Yds 102
2 Turnovers 0
13:13 T.O.P. 6:47

In the way of stats, it was all San Diego, Ladanian Tomlinson with 102 yds rushing with 2 touchdowns. Keenan McCardell followed up with 71 yds.

NFC

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers
Light Snow
17 Score 10
164 Pass Yds 74
71 Rush Yds 61
3 Turnovers 4
10:58 T.O.P. 9:02

The game took place in the snow and it shows. Dante Culpepper threw 2 INTs, along with 1 touchdown to Randy Moss who received 129 yds. Brett Favre doubled Culpepper's INT effort with 4.

St Louis Rams @ Seatle Seahawks
Clear
17 Score 7
118 Pass Yds 95
73 Rush Yds 13
1 Turnovers 2
13:04 T.O.P. 6:56

This was all Rams,Bulger threw 2 touchdowns, one to Tori Holt who had 112 yds receiving. Marshall Faulk also ran for 76 yds.

ESPN 2K5 - Divisional Games

AFC

Denver Broncos @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Clear
10 Score 20
144 Pass Yds 164
22 Rush Yds 22
2 Turnovers 2
9:33 T.O.P. 10:27

Ben Roethlisberger threw 1 touchdown along with 2 INTs. 82 of his passing yards were caught by Hines Ward. Rod Smith faired just as well with 82 yds receiving, but Plummer threw 2 INTs with no touchdowns.

San Diego Chargers @ New England Patriots
Heavy Snow
3 Score 17
156 Pass Yds 170
7 Rush Yds 86
1 Turnovers 0
7:06 T.O.P. 12:54

All New England, Corey Dillon rushed for 88 yards and 1 touchdown while Daniel Graham had 118 yds receiving.

NFC

Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles
Clear
14 Score 28
212 Pass Yds 209
14 Rush Yds 48
2 Turnovers 1
9:34 T.O.P. 10:26

Donovan McNabb and the Eagles had an excellent showing. McNabb threw 3 touchdowns along with an 1 INT to Terrell Owens, 81 yds/2 TDs, and Todd Pinkston, 76 yds/1TD. Culpepper and Moss hooked up for 1 touchdown and 113 yds receiving, but it wasn't enought to overcome the Eagles.

St Louis Rams @ Atlanta Falcons
Indoor
10 Score 7
110 Pass Yds 121
50 Rush Yds 21
0 Turnovers 3
11:39 T.O.P. 8:21

The only stat worth noting here is Michael Vick's 3 INTs.

ESPN 2K5 - Conference Championship Games

AFC

New England Patriots @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Light Snow
20 Score 3
147 Pass Yds 102
72 Rush Yds 41
2 Turnovers 4
11:27 T.O.P. 8:23

Roethlisberger's winning streak came to an end when he threw 4 INTs. Tom Brady didn't do much better, throwing 1 TD along with 2 INTs.

NFC

St Louis Rams @ Philadelphia Eagles
Clear
20 Score 17
214 Pass Yds 222
27 Rush Yds 86
1 Turnovers 2
10:21 T.O.P. 9:39

This was a stat heavy game. McNabb threw for 2 touchdowns, but none to Owens who did have 124 yds receiving. Michael Westbrook had 2 touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, along with 76 yds rushing and 58 receiving. On the other side of the ball Holt had 132 yds receiving with 1 touchdown.

ESPN NFL 2K5 - Super Bowl XXXIX

St Louis Rams v New England Patriots
Clear
3 Score 35
167 Pass Yds 202
20 Rush Yds 72
1 Turnovers 2
9:39 T.O.P. 10:21

In the biggest game of the year, Corey Dillon ran for 63 yds and 3 TDs.

*************************************************************************************

Madden 2005 - Wild Card Games

AFC

Denver Broncos @ Indianapolis Colts
Indoor
19 Score 21
259 Pass Yds 222
69 Rush Yds 28
1 Turnovers 1
11:57 T.O.P. 8:03

Manning was knocked out early in the game, but his back-up, Jim Sorgi, ended up with Player of the Game, throwing his only touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne, who ended the game with 109 yds receiving. Plummer threw 1 INT and 2 TDs, both to Ashlie Lelie, who gained 153 yds.

New York Jets @ San Diego Chargers
Clear
17 Score 13
87 Pass Yds 43
175 Rush Yds 146
1 Turnovers 2
9:07 T.O.P. 10:53

The only people worth noting are Chad Pennington's 2 touchdowns and Curtis Martin's 79 yds rushing.

NFC

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers
Clear
28 Score 24
192 Pass Yds 264
143 Rush Yds 98
1 Turnovers 2
9:04 T.O.P. 10:56

It was a RB/WR combination that kept both teams going. Ahman Green rushed for 103 yds and Donald Driver lead all Green Bay wide receivers with 143 yards. The two combined for 3 TDs. So was the case with Minnesota, where Randy Moss, 89 yards receiving, and Onterrio Smith, 130 yards receiving, combined for 4 TDs.

St Louis Rams @ Seatle Seahawks
Clear
17 Score 33
294 Pass Yds 289
2 Rush Yds 77
2 Turnovers 0
6:31 T.O.P. 6:56

In a losing effort, three Rams wide receivers were at, or close to 100 yards receiving, Tori Holt, Shaun McDonald and Issac Bruce were all near the centry mark. Holt and McDonald had a touchdown each. It wasn't enough however as Shaun Alexander had 66 yards rushing with 2 touchdowns, while Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram both had 100 yard receiving days.

Madden 2005 - Divisional Games

AFC

New York Jets @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Clear
44 Score 41
297 Pass Yds 417
102 Rush Yds 98
3 Turnovers 0
11:59 T.O.P. 8:01

Pittsburgh had three receivers over 100 yards receiving; Hines Ward 142/1 TD, Plaxico Burress 114/1 Td and Antwaan Randle El 139/ 2 TDs. Deuce Staley had 98 yards and 1 TD in the losing effort. The thorn in the side of the Steelers was Ben Roethlisberger's 3 INTs. The Jets had outstanding efforts in all fields; Pennington with 3 touchdowns, Martin with 101 yards rushing/1 TD and Santana Moss 135 yards receiving/ 1 TD.

Indianapolis Colts @ New England Patriots
Rain
14 Score 16
176 Pass Yds 181
13 Rush Yds 39
2 Turnovers 1
7:20 T.O.P. 12:40

Player of the game was Tedy Bruschi with 2 INTs and 4 tackles.

NFC

Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles
Clear
14 Score 3
187 Pass Yds 184
244 Rush Yds 94
0 Turnovers 1
8:58 T.O.P. 11:02

Culpepper and Moss hooked up for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns in the win.

Seatle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons
Indoor
20 Score 12
177 Pass Yds 205
47 Rush Yds 43
2 Turnovers 2
9:00 T.O.P. 11:00

When the player of the game is Jay Feely going 4 for 4 on field goals in a losing effort, you know it was a crap-tastic game.

Madden 2005 - Conference Championship Games

AFC

New York Jets @ New England Patriots
Clear
31 Score 24
317 Pass Yds 257
43 Rush Yds 30
1 Turnovers 0
10:53 T.O.P. 9:07

Two good QB/WR combos carried most of the game. Brady threw 2 touchdowns, on of which went to Givens, who also had 118 yards receiving. But it was the Jets coming up with the win behind Pennington's 3 TD/1 INT performance and McCareins 152 yards receiving and 1 TD.

NFC

Minnesota Vikings @ Seatle Seahawks
Light Rain
13 Score 26
287 Pass Yds 240
43 Rush Yds 62
2 Turnovers 1
9:50 T.O.P. 10:10

A game of old school v new school wide receiver action. Moss in the losing effort had 160 yards/1 TD, while Jerry Rice caught 174 yards and 1 TD

Madden 2005 - Super Bowl XXXIX

New York Jets v Seatle Seahawks
Clear
20 Score 7
170 Pass Yds 112
89 Rush Yds 45
0 Turnovers 1
7:50 T.O.P. 12:10

Chad Pennington passed for 2 touchdowns while Curtis Martin racked up 83 yards rushing and 1 TD.

*************************************************************************************

Super Tecmo Bowl 1991 - Wild Card Games

AFC

Denver Broncos @ Indianapolis Colts
17 Score 13
33 Pass Yds 160
193 Rush Yds 28

No individual stats.

New York Jets @ San Diego Chargers
14 Score 15
137 Pass Yds 107
79 Rush Yds 108

No individual stats.

NFC

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers
21 Score 20
167 Pass Yds 183
64 Rush Yds 54

No individual stats.

St Louis Rams @ Seatle Seahawks
7 Score 10
167 Pass Yds 183
34 Rush Yds 107

No individual stats.

Tecmo SuperBowl 1991 - Divisional Games

AFC

Denver Broncos @ Pittsburgh Steelers
20 Score 10
58 Pass Yds 109
113 Rush Yds 61

Bubby Brister with a 30% completion percentage and 3 INTs.

San Diego Chargers @ New England Patriots
14 Score 17
148 Pass Yds 155
128 Rush Yds 82

Although it was in a losing effort, Marion Butts rushed for 115 yds.

NFC

Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles
35 Score 20
317 Pass Yds 157
29 Rush Yds 114

The tag-team of Wade Wilson and Anthony Carter owned the game. Wilson threw for over 300 yards, 205 of them to Carter, had a 75% completion percentage with only 1 INT.

Seatle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons
9 Score 26
64 Pass Yds 268
29 Rush Yds 114

Andre "Bad Moon" Rison caught three passes for 157 yards.

Super Tecmo Bowl 1991- Conference Championship Games

AFC

Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots
34 Score 20
123 Pass Yds 157
190 Rush Yds 69

Only stat worth noting here, John Elway and Steve Grogan combined for 4 ints.

NFC

Minnesota Vikings @ Atlanta Falcons
25 Score 7
223 Pass Yds 72
33 Rush Yds 30

Anthony Carter caught 3 passes for 119 yards.

Super Tecmo Bowl 1991 - Super Bowl XXXIX

Minnesota Vikings v Denver Broncos
7 Score 0
89 Pass Yds 44
46 Rush Yds 24

No individual stats.

*************************************************************************************

After ESPN's results came in I thought "It's possible, but not practicle." It wasn't until I saw the results from Madden and said "What the hell?" Of course the games can't take into effect momentum (Steelers), attitudes (Vikings) or their overall strangeness (Rams). The NFC is certainly a crap shoot, in my honest opinion, and the four division leaders in the AFC all have a shot at the Super Bowl. I don't know that I would wager any money on the results above, but it certainly was a lot of fun to do. Once the Super Bowl matchup is announced, we'll follow up with another sim of the game, with more details, stats and lame jokes.

News: Mario Mosaic

2005-01-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

An easy way to kill time during your Christmas break.

http://shoe.mortgagesbyanna.com/sticky/

News: Belated Christmas Present

2004-12-28T06:46:00.000-08:00

For those who haven't played the original Grand Theft Auto & it's sequel, Rockstar Games has posted them, along with Wild Metal, free for all to download. These are of the PC persuasion, so stumbling through keyboard commands can be frustrating. Sadly for those who enjoyed the add-on GTA London 1969 pack, it is not available to download.

Enjoy~!

http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/

News: Man sets game record, has no life

2004-12-27T09:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks to BBC News:

Video game 'record score' claim

A man who has spent at least two hours a day practising on a vintage video game for the past 25 years has secured what he says is the highest ever score.

Gary Whelan, of Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, has been playing the space invaders game, Galaxian, since 1980. He said he had set a world record of 399,290 points, beating the previous record held by a Californian. Mr Whelan said he would not stop playing until he had reached at least a million points. He said: "You've got to put some effort into it and some time into it. "My marriage is probably the same. "The worst it's been is if my wife shouts me for my tea. I say 'I'll be down in a minute', but obviously, if I'm on a good run, I'll keep on going till my tea's cold." His understanding wife of 24 years, Trish, said she had not considered divorcing him. "It's not like I didn't know what I was getting into," she said. "He has always been really interested in video games. "At least I know where he is and what he's up to. It's our silver wedding next years so I'll wait till then and then we'll see."

Review: Fight Club (Xbox)

2004-12-24T08:10:00.000-08:00

President Abraham Lincoln must be rolling over in his grave right now. Why you ask? President Lincoln, the man who ended slavery, the man who put the country back together during one of it’s toughest times, is a hidden character in the Fight Club game. The only thing that could make things worse is the fact Lincoln has to share time with Fred Durst, who in the game appears to have come straight from a Bow Flex television ad. These are only minor complaints in regards to this awful game, but you want in on a secret? It didn’t have to be this bad.

I will say that I was surprised at how nice the game looks. Characters are nicely sculpted, with the exception of Bob of course, facial hair looks good and those with tattoos are nicely detailed. The damage your character sustains throughout a match looks nice too, but you’ll occasionally have blood “splatter” onto the screen when someone receives a nasty thump to the face that looks more like cherry Kool-Aid was poured onto your TV set. Backgrounds look great and are interactive, nothing like Def Jam Fight for New York, but still nice none-the-less. There are also good weather effects, moving people and cars and nice use of lighting, especially in the airport level. Some levels have secret rooms that can be fought in, but nothing like what you would see in the latest Mortal Kombat or Dead or Alive games. You’ll recognize some of the levels from the movie, while others seem to have been plucked out of thin air. The same could be said for most of the characters in the game as well. I’m not sure if the developers were trying to expand the Fight Club world, but you’ll run across many a character in the game and wonder just who the hell they are. Much can be said for those who do exist in the movie, too; what the actors and their digital selves share is in name alone. Sure Tyler has spiky hair and Bob is fat, but that’s where the similarities end. In fact, Jack looks much like your character in the story mode, which becomes even more confusing during the cut scenes between the two characters.

Ah, the glorious cut scenes, what a fine place to start taking a dump on this craptacular game. When you begin the story mode you get a cut scene to kick things off, which is then followed up with another when you complete the mode, but nowhere in between does one exist. The meat of the story, if you want to call it a story, is told with the use of rough draft storyboards that appear to have been colored in at the last moment. Of course this wouldn’t be complete without the B-movie level of acting that is so full of pointless swearing a thirteen year old boy would think it’s the greatest game next to Grand Theft Auto. The Brad Pitt, Jared Leto and Meatloaf impersonators aren’t too far off from the actual thing, but the Edward Norton voice is nowhere near to the real thing. There are so many inconsistencies between the storyboards, cut scenes and in game action. People who wore clothes before fights lose them during and then show up with them after the fight is over.

And if that weren’t bad enough, the story is completely pointless. You’re a random white guy with a goatee who’s trying to track down Tyler Durden, either to capture him or ask to join Fight Club. So you track across the globe looking for him all the time without wearing a shirt or shoes. How he got through security at the airport I’ll never know. At one point your character thinks about painting the inside of a bar with his medulla oblongata because his girlfriend is banging someone else, but it’s only a passing thought. You eventually meet up with Tyler/Jack, doing their best Smeagol/Gollum impersonation, and defeat them. Problem is, Tyler/Jack still goes through with Project Mayhem, blows the crap out of some buildings and that’s the end. So what was the point again?

I do have one nice thing to say, the original Dust Brothers music from the movie remains in tact, along with music from Limp Bizkit, Korn and the Queens of the Stone Age. There are also generic instrumental songs that sound like cheap knock-offs of the Dust Brother music, but you can use custom soundtracks in the game. There is one major issue in regards to the music and sound. At the default settings, the in-game music drowns out all of the effects. I thought this would be a simple problem to fix, simply turn down the music, up the effects and I would get a nice, even mix. It didn’t happen. I went so far as to turn the music to zero, up the effects as loud as I could and even then I could barely hear the sounds of people landing punches and falling to the ground. To make matters more confusing there are three volume controls in the options menu, but only two from the in-game menu (I assume this is ambient and effects combined). Oddly enough, menu and cut scene audio are mixed well, with one not over-powering the other.

Now I could look past all of that if the gameplay was good and what we get, sadly, is a garden variety fighting game. A majority of the modes available are your standard fare; arcade, story, survival, vs, training and online, but nothing that resembles a team battle or time battle. A create-a-fighter mode exists within the online portion of the game, but nowhere within the game itself. It’s not a big loss however, your options are limited to sets of threes. Three different fighting styles, all of which play the same, three body styles, three skin tones, three hair colors, three shirt colors, three jean colors, etc. For anyone renting this game, like myself, chances are you’ll be without an instruction manual. No problem, I thought, as I went to the training mode in hopes to find a listing of the moves and the button combinations that would execute them and much to my surprise, not really, there was none. Much to my surprise the fighting system is deep, to a certain degree, of course. Your character is capable of grapples and throws, countering moves, combos and ground attacks. One big innovation that was pimped upon release of the game was the ability to break bones, rendering an opponent’s appendage useless for an entire match. Even I thought this might be cool, but the way in which it was executed left me disappointed. When you execute the move the game cuts to slow motion and zooms onto the area in which the bone will be broken, but before you go through with the action you gain x-ray vision and get to witness the snap, crackle, pop. The problem is the slow motion is too fast, so fast that you have no chance to “ohh” and “ahh” at a moderately neat feature. The game introduces another interesting concept in its online mode, almost Sims-like. You can modify your character’s abilities, which can be built up over time, but if he receives too much damage in online play he will be taken to the pasture and shot. One last thing I found odd was the fact no timer or score exist, only health bars, but after some thought I realized they never would have served any purpose.

Is anyone surprised that I managed to hammer out this review after spending less than an hour playing the game? I completed story mode, played through arcade once or twice, survival a few times and messed with the training and online modes. This game has zero replay value, four hidden characters, a thin online mode and unlockable videos. Want some evidence to support the claim that this game was rushed out, look no further than these videos. From what I can figure they are available one at a time after you finish the story mode. The videos are one to two minute interviews with the voice actors that also include snippets of cut scenes that don’t exist in the story mode. We’re not talking storyboards, we are talking full motion cut scenes, with voices intact that might have added some depth or point to the story mode. I was tempted to play the story mode more in hopes I’d unlock videos to help flesh out the story, but I couldn’t bring myself to it. I love the movie and book, and if done right the Fight Club license could have made a decent fighter, nothing like Dead or Alive or Soul Calibur, but there are a few fresh ideas here. If you do receive this game for Christmas, try not to break down and cry, the case made reference to a twelve month Xbox Live subscription being included, which in turn you can use to play Halo 2, or Project Gotham Racing 2 or any other game that ever existed.

(Edit: I had a second look at the box the other day and noticed it's not a 12 month Xbox Live subscription, but a 12 month XBN subscription, so if you bought the game with the thought of a year long Xbox Live account, well you're screwed.)

Prison staff uses video games to baby-sit inmate

2004-12-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

By KATHERYN MOHR
http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=11223
December 16, 2004

JEFFERSON CITY — Although the Missouri Department of Corrections decided earlier this month to ban violent video games from its prisons, Missouri remains one of only three states that allows any such games at all.

A survey by the American Correctional Association lists Missouri, Maine and West Virginia as the only states that allow prisoners to play video games. All three permit inmates to play sports and science-fiction games.

John Fougere, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said the games have been allowed for almost 10 years.

“Video games are just another way for us to keep the inmates occupied when they are not doing their full-time activities,” Fougere said. “We let them play these games so they are not spending their time assaulting our staff.”

Michael Lung, a prisoner serving time at the Jefferson City Correctional for assault and robbery, said video games serve as pacifiers for many inmates.

“By allowing video games, the prison is basically paying for cheap and easy baby-sitting,” he said.

In Maine, prisoners have been allowed to use video games for more than a decade.

Dede Short, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Correctional Center, said prisoners there are allowed to have televisions in their cells, but video games are considered a luxury inmates should not enjoy.

“As far as the state of Illinois is concerned, video games would be considered contraband,” she said, adding that the prison system offers a number of structured activities it feels are more appropriate for its inmates, such as basketball, softball and volleyball.

Missouri made national news this month when it banned 35 of the more than 80 video games from the Jefferson City Correctional Center because of violent content. PlayStation 2 games such as “Hitman: Contracts” and “Mortal Kombat” were among the casualties.

Anthony Dixon, another inmate at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, said removing violent video games does nothing to inhibit violence in prisoners. “That is kind of like shutting the barn door after the horses have gotten out,” he said.

Dixon, who was convicted of robbery and rape in 1993, was recently hired by the prison’s recreation unit to monitor the video room when it is occupied by his housing unit. Dixon said that inmates before the ban experimented with all sorts of video games but the violent content of some games didn’t carry over into real life.

“The guys in here know the difference between reality and fantasy, and if they didn’t before, they realized it when they hit the front doors of this prison,” Dixon said.

Sterling Ivey, spokesman for the Florida corrections system, said that state prohibits all video games in prisons because they’re viewed as a threat to the security of both the inmates and the staff.

“There is no way that prisons can monitor every individual scene in every video to make sure that there is no violence involved in the construction of these games,” Ivey said.

Dixon, however, doesn’t believe violent games cause criminals to become more violent.

“Playing video games is no different than watching movies or listening to music on the radio,” Dixon said. “It is just entertainment.”

Fougere, of the Missouri Department of Corrections, said that although violent videos will never be allowed in Missouri prisons, video games rated “T” for “teen” or “E” for “everyone,” will continue to be useful recreational tools.

“It is a good thing when inmates are not attacking our staff, and we will utilize anything that will keep our offenders occupied and our staff safe,” Fougere said. “We think video games work in this respect, and we will continue to use them as part of our recreation department.”

News: San Andreas headed to the Xbox

2004-12-17T21:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks to IGN & Doug Perry:

Rockstar Games let the good news fly today, announcing that its mega-hit Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will arrive on Xbox and PC on June 7 in North America. Euro-gamers will receive the fifth game in the series June 10, 2005.

Following Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in this generation of console systems, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas takes place in the fictitious city of San Andreas and enables players to explore cities much like LA, Las Vegas and San Francisco, all of which take place in real estate that's approximately five times bigger than the landscape found in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

The game follows the African-American Carl Johnson, who escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas five years ago. Returning to his hometown upon his mother's death in the early 1990s, his family has been torn apart. The game introduces a slew of new features including eating food to survive, the freedom to completely customize your character with tattoos, clothing, and haircuts, a brand new vehicle physics engine, and the ability to swim.

If Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is anything like the GTA bundle pack before it, then Xbox and PC gamers should expect no content changes to the gameplay, but they should look forward to higher resolution graphics, and better overall graphic presentation.

You knew it was only a matter of time before Rockstar would release the fifth Grand Theft Auto game for the Xbox. Those like myself who are PS2-less can stop holding their breath and mark their calendars.

Now if only Konami would announce Metal Gear Solid 3 for the Xbox...

Review: Spider-Man 2: The Movie (XBox)

2004-12-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

Most video games based on comic book characters have sucked for the most part. In fact almost all the games I have ever played have failed to capture what it is like to be the costumed star of the game. There have been exceptions to this, but most games fall short of delivering on the promise of their premise. Fortunately, along with the string of excellent Marvel movies has also come a string of good video games, which brings us to a video game based off of a movie based off of a comic book. Just one of those transitions usually boded disaster for the franchise in question. In this case we get the sequel to the aforementioned, which is also a boding for disaster. Fortunately Spider-Man 2 squashes these curses like a bug.

Spider-Man: The Movie was a very well done game but, at times, was still your standard superhero smash 'em up, with a couple of other genres blended in for good measure (I particularly enjoyed some of its ceiling crawling stealth segments). Spider-Man 2 is a whole new game, however. Stealing GTA's free-form mission-based exploration formula, this game presents a compressed rendition of Manhattan, which is eerily accurate in a lot of respects, and drops you completely into Spider-Man's tights. After the first opening cinematic through the first training sequence to the first of a series of chapters, the game allows you to become a superhero more thouroughly than any other game I've ever played. As accurately as the movie captured the use of Spider-Man's abilities, the game lets you use them as accurately as they were captured on film. Webslinging alone will consume hours of your time, all the while you are doing nothing more than traveling from place to place.

The webslinging in this game is absolutely perfect. No longer are you swinging from some imaginary point in the sky as in the first movie game, You are now required to have a point to swing from. Usually a step this dramatic into the realm of realism ends up killing the fun in the game, but having a realistic New York to swing from makes this swing mechanic far superior to any seen in any previous spiderman game. You will swing realistically and have more fun doing it due to the greater control now possible. Previous games had you swinging forward and moving slowly from side to side, or jumping off and swinging forward in a new direction. You can still do this in this game, but you can now web shoot the corner of a building and swing around it, executing a turn at over a hundred miles an hour, do loop de loops around a post, or the very corner at the top of a building, or even just swing around a pole. Anything you think you should be able to do if you tied a rope to something you can do in this game. This combined with two more websling moves you can unlock (the webzip shoots out a webline and Spider-Man pulls on it hard, changing his momentum entirely, and the web sling, where you shoot out two webs and you can use them to slingshot yourself through the air in a similiar manner as when Spider-Man slingshotted himself from a building to the bridge in the first movie) as well as your ability to run along walls allow you to move through the game just like you saw Spider-Man do in the movie. It was so accurate that while I was playing someone walked into the living room and thought that I was watching the movie. In fact it wasn't until I dropped down to the street to talk to a citizen in distress that she realized I was playing a video game. It is also that much fun to do.

Speaking of citizens in distress, the game presents challenges to you at every opportunity. Some of them are timed events that wait until you have advanced to a certain point before activating some quick missions that advance the story, but, in order to become a better Spider-Man, you must earn hero points, usually by stopping crime in a manner of ways. A lot of the time you will see someone on the street with a question mark over their hand, and they'll wave up to you and yell for help. Once you initiate conversation with them they'll inform you of some crime in process and it is up to you to stop it. There will also be random crimes that you can stop. Unfortunately there is not a lot of variety in the things you can do. They boil down to, stop a car, beat up some thugs, rescue someone from a building/boat, and get someone to the hospital. This part will get repetitive for some, but once you've unlocked some of the myriad of Spider-Man's combat moves you can do alot of these missions in several different ways. Unfortunately a lot of people will get mired down in having to do the same mission over and over again.

Another thing that gets used over and over again is the sprites for the random citizens in the city. It wouldn't be such a big deal, considering the amount of time you spend swinging at 150 mph 200 ft in the air, but you have to talk with them over and over again in order to progress through the game.

Fortunately the game offers several side distractions to break up your duties as Spider-Man. You can take photos for the Daily Bugle, race to meet Mary Jane for a date, or deliver Pizzas (with hilarious pizza delivering music). There are also 150 challange markers with a variety of tests for your Spider-Abilities and 2 levels for each challange, giving you a total of 300 optional challenges to fulfill. Not to mention there are skyscraper tokens, bouy tokens, hideout tokens, and secret tokens to find.

Coming back to the sprites for a second, some of the jobs done on the actors is terrible. Mary Jane in particular looks like she got hit with a frying pan. The voice acting is not inspired either. Doctor Octupus' lines are well done and Black Cat's are excellent (as is her character model) but everyone else is pretty bad, and even Tobey Maguire sounds bored at times. JJ is hilarious though. The one true brilliant spot in the voices comes from Bruce Campbell, who once again guides you through the training mode, but also joins you in the form of help icons scattered through out the game. You can read what he is supposed to be saying from the pop-up that comes up although he ad-libs all over the place to hilarious results.

The game keeps statistics for just about everything you do (one of my proudest achievemest is a streak of 51 enemies beaten without taking a hit) even the amount of distance you've traveled, how much web fluid you've used, and what your maximum speed was.

At least rent Spiderman 2 and dedicate some time to it, or use a cheat code to unlock all of Spidey's abilities and give it a whirl. If you liked it as much as I did go out and buy it. The game is very good and all the potential is there for an absolutely spectacular sequel. Now you too can do whatever a spider can.

News: Links! Top Spin! Amped! Dead.

2004-12-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

It's like a sports news special today, isn't it?

The Salt Lake City based development studio behind titles including Top Spin, Amped and Links has been sold to Take Two Interactive, in a move which finalises Microsoft Game Studios' move out of the sports market. The sale was confirmed last night by Take Two president Paul Eibeler, but no details have yet been announced regarding which of Take Two's labels will run the studio, or what games are in development at the company.

It's believed that Indie Built are currently focusing their efforts on next-generation development, and following the Take Two acquisition, the studio will undoubtedly be looking to develop across multiple platforms rather than just on Xbox consoles.
( Eurogamer.net )

Anyone think this was one of the conditions of the Microsoft/EA deal from back at E3? Even if it wasn't, it still sucks. Mainly because (while I never played Amped that much) Top Spin and Links were both fine, fine games - with a far better implementation of Xbox Live than any of the EA Sports titles so far. Though to be fair, that's not that hard. Still, hopefully Indie Built will keep up the good work..

Whatever happened to XSN Sports, anyway?

News: Blitz - Playmakers

2004-12-17T04:53:00.000-08:00

So, what happens to all those developers who were making NFL games, and saw EA sweep the license right out from under their feet? Well, here's one idea..

Midway Games Inc. announced today the development of Blitz:Playmakers, a new, unlicensed videogame exposing the harsh realism and troubling, behind-the-scenes stories of a fictional professional football league. Blitz:Playmakers has been in development at Midway's Chicago studio for the past year in collaboration with a writer from ESPN's controversial "Playmakers" TV series. Blitz: Playmakers goes behind the glitz and glamour of the game through a revolutionary campaign mode that explores the on-field violence, off-field fallout and front-office politics of professional football. Blitz: Playmakers is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2005 on multiple videogame console platforms.

"Midway's Chicago studio has laid the foundation over the past year for what is the ultimate alternative to watered down NFL sanctioned football games," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer of Midway. "No longer bound to the NFL license, there will be no league restrictions on content and gamers will finally experience what makes playing a football videogame really fun: off-field controversies, dirty hits, excessive celebrations and much more. Blitz: Playmakers buyers will be assured of one thing – our game will include all the gameplay and fun the NFL won't allow."

The first ever anti-sports game, folks. Thing is, sports games normally work because they allow you to live out your fantasies with the teams that you support. Any game that now has to go to a completely fictional set of leagues, players and teams is going to have to make sure everything is balanced and well-written.. because they sure as hell aren't going to have the 'we made this team dominant to be realistic' card to fall back on...

A New Addition

2004-12-17T01:49:00.000-08:00

We've recently added a new writer to Another Castle, Ryan. Ryan is an ornery SOB, even more mean than me, and I eagerly anticipate his special kind of charm as he runs certain games through, and gives you the word as he sees it. You can check out his first AC review here for Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GC).

As for new content, below, Ariel and I've finally posted our Splinter Cell review, I've been caught up between two excellent RPGs that are stealing all of my non-Christmas time away (KOTOR 2 and Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines, since you asked!), but we'll have the reviews promised and more up in fairly short order.

Review: Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (XBox/PS2/GameCube)

2004-12-17T01:07:00.000-08:00

Single Player Review:

For some reason or other I was extremely hyped for the first Splinter Cell. I can't remember why exactly, but hearing about an exclusive XBox title that was going to completely revolutionize the stealth action genre had me rushing out and buying it the day the game was released. It was a purchase that I am extremely happy I made. The game use of the X-Box graphics capacity to generate real time shadows and the nice uses of filters made for an innovative experience that was addicting as it was challenging. I remember that Dan was engaged in Skies of Arcadia at the time and we would each play our respective games for hours on end, talking breaks to eat, drink, and tell each other of the awesome game exeperiences that we just had. Which is why I bought Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow day one as well.

In case you didn't know, Splinter Cell is one of the most artistically well designed games on any system. It doesn't have the prettiest or best graphics (certainly not on par with DOA or Ninja Gaiden) but it has the best use of real time rendering I've ever seen. The world of SC is one of stark contrasts, where Shadows fade into oblivion and harsh lights expose the rest of the world and while everyone else fears the dark, you revel in it. No other game has given me so many options in order to remain a ghost, nor forced me to use them as well as I had to in order to succeed.

Most stealth action games are heavier on the action than the stealth, catering to the button mash mentality that is believed to be prevalent in our ADD generation. This game is a stealth game with action in it. You get spotted when you aren't supposed to and it's game over. Unlike other games with stealth aspects (*cough*MGS*cough*HITMAN*cough*) you can't just eliminate everyone who gets in your way. Without permission to utilize the fifth freedom (The right to do whatever is necessary to protect the other freedoms) you have to rely on stealth and cunning in order to achieve your objectives, not brute force. If you are not ot be spotted in a mission, then DO NOT BE SPOTTED. Patience is a virtue and darkness is your best friend. I was dumbfounded the first time I shot out a light and bathed a room in darkness because it seemed like such an obvious idea that I wondered why no one else had done it.

The other games in which I have played the role of a one-man inflitration unit usually have you gather your weapons while doing the mission, ostensibly keeping the earlier parts of the mission from being too easy. Here, they send you in with all the gadgets you're ever going to need. The only thing you pick up are usually frag grenades and maybe some flares, but you have all the amunition and tools you need to confront every situation. There is also no lecturing here. If someone needs to communicate to you they'll let you hear it over the communication patch implanted into the back of your ear, while you are still playing the game. Imagine that, not breaking up the action for exposition.

Sam Fisher is a veteran of his trade and it shows in the way he moves and the manner in which he executes his mission. He doesn't wonder at the morality of his actions, nor asks dumb questions. Plus he can be an intimidating SOB when you need him to be. His abilities are really only limited by your own and his skill at accomplishing his tasks is only limited by your ability to carry out the action.

The first game had only industrial and urban landscapes, but this game takes you to the outdoors, in day time no less, to perform your missions as a splinter cell. The first stealth game to have woodland environments did it excellently, giving Sam a new camo set to blend in with his surroundings and allowing you to duck and hide among the foliage.

The game is pretty linear, however, and so ends up being a trial and error in several cases, although there are a couple of ways to do certain sections of a mission, there is usually only one right way to do it. It's not as exactingly linear as the first game and hopefully SC: Chaos Theory will expand on it even further.

The story, however, is excellent. It probes deeper into who Sam is, and reading the messages you find off of soldiers bodies, or the dossiers you receive on your targets and potential threats add depth to the world. I even guessed what the storyline for the next game might be based on subtle clues placed into the cutscenes of the game, which play out as a news report for the most part. All other story information is deseminated by communications between Sam and his handlers, while you play the game, or conversations you have with others in the game, including one with a hostage you hold. The story is excellently told to you while you play, so that the amount of time control is taken out of your hands is cut down to a bare minimum.

The story is standard Tom Clancy fare, realistic military intrigue. You actually care about the people involved and confront some moral issues yourself over what you are doing (I know I did a couple of times) before you follow Sam's lead and follow your orders, trusting that you are serving your country to the best of your abilities. Splinter Cell is one of the few games that made me react to the violence I was inflicting in a thought provoking manner, because every person in the world seems like a real one. They write letters, send e-mails, have conversations, so that putting a bullet in their head is not as easy as pulling the trigger. Most people said they had a hard time keeping track of the story in the first game, although I had no trouble (though I do read a lot of Tom Clancy) with it and actually enjoyed it.

And all of that just covers the single-player experience. The multiplayer one is a completely different story. Presented as a quick, 1 minute cutscence, Operation Shadownet is the where the multiplayer takes place. Two Shadownet spies square off against a pair of Argus Corporation mercenaries. The game is always 2 on 2 teams with a wide variety of different objectives to accomplish. Sam shows his age here as these newer spies can run up walls, leap over railings and move more lithely than he can. Fortunately these skills are challanged by the mercenaries, who are stuck in first person mode, but are tougher and more heavily armed.

Both sides have their own sets of equipment to use against the other, along with different skills (the spies can put you in a choke hold, choke you out or snap your neck, but the mercs can flip you over themselves and have a shoulder tackle attack). They are extremely well balanced for the most part and SC utilizes the communicator feature more fully than any other game I've played. Both players can talk to their enemies, if they are close enough, which leads to the some excellent opportunities for taunting and gloating, especially when you have a merc in a chokehold or you've just stunned a spy, but the teamwork necessary to succesfully accomplish your mission, from either side, fosters constant communication between you and your partner. So much so that the ability to tap your enemies' communications becomes extremely useful, just as in real combat scenarios.

Not since the advent of teams in deathmatches has such a multiplayer concept altered the way people think about online play. Who could've imagined that stealth multiplayer would end up being so much fun, intense, and filled with action. If you haven't played online, go out and do it know. Right this very instant. You will not regret it.

Overall a great game is made even better and revolutionizes yet another genre of gaming as we know it today. Some will knock the single player but it's multiplayer is just mind-boggling.

Multiplayer Review:

When Ariel and I bought Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, I was actually short on cash, and unsure whether I should open my copy. That uncertainty lasted for over a week. It manifested itself over that time into genuine apprehension: I thought the first Splinter Cell was the best Tom Clancy game I'd ever played, but still not really my cup of tea. The stealth play was excellent, but implementation issues in the controls (toggling instead of instant action), snail-paced crawls through dark passages, and realistic, but check-my-watch waiting for the exact right time killed my buzz for the game. I suppose, to an extent, I was looking for more action than stealth.

And thus my apprehension. However, after reading and reading about the multiplayer, I decided to break the seal, thus rendering it impervious to return. But folks, seriously, the multiplayer in Pandora Tomorrow is worth the price of admission alone.

As Ariel said, you pit two Shadownet Spies against two ARGUS Mercenaries, with varying abilities granted to each. Spies are granted the ability to move fast, hug shadows and take hidden paths through levels. They lose the ability, for the most part, to engage in combat - they can sneak up behind Mercenaries and knock them out or snap their necks, if they get into the right position, but most of their equipment is non-lethal ordinance: a long-range tazer-gun, spy cameras that can shoot gas to knock out Mercenaries, to a variety of grenades (smoke, flash, chaff). Mercenaries are the complete opposite. While anyone familiar with guiding Sam Fisher through his adventures can pick up and play (initially) a spy, Mercenaries have an unfamiliar-to-Splinter Cell first person vantage point. Mercs are extremely well armed, posessing a combination assault-sniper rifle and lethal grenades, tazers and mines, amongst other gadgets.

Each side is granted special cameras, each of varying usefulness. The Spies get a thermal camera and a night-vision camera (these are cameras Sam Fisher has at his disposal). These are probably equally useful: night-vision goggles can shed light on some of the darker spots you'll find yourself in, while using the thermal goggles can help you find the mercs if you lose them. Mercs work a bit differently. Their equipment seems to be run by internal computers which displays information through their visors, and gives them two special modes: the first, a motion-detecting camera, the second, an electromagnetic camera. The motion-detector turns most of the screen a bright orange, allowing you to see only faint shapes. But should a spy move too much anywhere within your visible range, it will pop up on your visor for as long as you can still trace him. The electromagnetic visor works a bit differently. If the spy uses any sort of technology, such as their own cameras, they light up brightly. However, the sacrifice here is that everything in the world either turns black, or black with a blue outline (such as with boxes). In both mercenary modes, you sacrifice the ability to see the world as it is for the hope that you'll catch your opponent slipping up.

However, smart Spies are watching, and Mercenaries can be painfully obvious with what they are using. Careful, and experienced Spies will watch the color of the Merc's visors to see exactly what camera they're using. More obvious is when the Merc utilizes his torchlight, which casts bright light for the Merc, but gives away both where he is and where he's looking. Because he is limited to the first person perspective, Spies know they can't see anything beyond what they're immediately staring at. It works phenominally. Trading off with the torchlight is the laser, which can be extremely useful or extremely useless. If you happen to catch a spy in its beam, he will light up for targetting. However, given its very narrow beam, it's best used for quick sweeps of rooms upon immediate entrance.

Spies get a lot of gadgets, but their real talent is exploiting the environments of the extremely smartly designed maps that come standard with SC: PT. Any grate can be crawled up, and box climbed on, and any railing scaled. Moreover, Spies are given a lot more freedom with movement. They are faster and more limber than Mercenaries, who are totally stiff by comparison. But experienced Spies will find multiple paths into and out of most every room, including climbing up walls, upon rafters, and through airducts to get to targets and behind Mercenaries to disable or kill. Spies use their fists up close, either attempting to knock out or snap the necks of their opponents.

The immersion here is outstanding. Spies are unaffected by their various devious implements, their flash, smoke and chaff grenades, for example. So while they are attempting to get out of sticky situations by throwing off everything they have, Mercs are literally trying to sift through the fog without losing consciousness. Every flash grenade disables Mercenary sight, while smoke grenades slow and can eventually knock out a Merc. Chaff grenades, though rare, can disable any use of technology for a period of time, rendering a Mercenary vulnerable to attacks he can't defend against.

I actually disagree with Ariel about the graphics. I think the graphics (on the XBox) are some of the best you'll see in a game. Realistic, well-textured and superlatively lit. The sound effects, especially for the Merc, are superb. 5.1 sound is supported, and hearing Spies skitter about as you trudge along is enough to send a chill up your spine.

One of the things I liked most here is that cooperation is an absolute must. While I can play Halo 2 without ever talking to teammates, and do most times, you absolutely must communicate with your partner, giving locations of Mercenaries, or progress on targets for instance. A Mercenary who is knocked out from an attack by a Spy can be awakened by his team mate, but the Mercs still must coordinate to pull something like that off. Both Spies and Mercenaries have the ability to tap into these conversations amongst partners, lending a bit more espionage to an already stealthy title. I've even heard other people talking in code, should their opponents (me) be listening in on their conversations. It's extremely compelling, and the sort of thing that lends itself to playing with experienced friends. And of course, everyone wants to think of smart-assed things to say to Mercenaries when they've got them by the neck (you can actually whisper, or scream, something in their ear before you off 'em).

There are, by default, 3 multiplayer modes: Neutralization, Extraction and Sabotage. All three center around cryogenic containers called NDI33s, which contain something presumably dangerous that will be launched should the spies fail their mission. Each of these modes has the Spies as the attackers, infiltrating, neutralizing their targets and getting the hell out before mercenaries show up to spoil the party. Mercenaries are then, on defense for the entire game, running to and fro to make sure that each sector is in order. Neutralization requires that spies get to an NDI33 and neutralize it, like disarming a bomb. This usually takes some time, during which the spy is vulnerable to attacks. Extraction works more like capture the flag, with only one team on offense, and sabotage is a derivative of neutralization. Instead of standing prone at an NDI33, a spy needs only get close to the target and place a modem, allowing a spy to be free to defend the modem as it does its work.. Neutralizing in this mode takes a lot longer than in the standard Neutralization mode, letting Mercenaries have more time to shut down the modem and kill any lingering Spies. Each of the modes also has a life-limit for the Spies, should they incur too many deaths.

The most beautiful thing here is the incredible balance. Just when you start to get the hang of the Spies and start thinking that Mercs are worthless, you get completely wasted by a pair of Mercenaries who work together in concert and eliminate you without a second thought. Just when you think you're getting the hang of the Merc's, you meet - or should I say "fail to meet" - a pair of Spies who neutralize you and their targets faster than you can figure out what's going on.

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorow has a very steep learning curve, and its gameplay may not appeal to absolutely everyone. It takes a long, long time and many matches to finally learn the ins and outs of each level, each mode and each character class. But for anyone interested in a deep, intelligent and incredibly well designed online experience, one needs to look no further than Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (on the XBox and PS2, this mode is not availible on the Gamecube). There is no better online experience out there this year.

- Dan

EA Gains Exclusive 5 Year Contract on all things NFL

2004-12-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

From Gamestop.com (thanks to Ryan for the heads-up)

Electronic Arts has signed the biggest sports free-agent on the market. In a devastating blow to competitors, the software giant has signed an exclusive deal with the National Football League and the NFL Players Inc., a subsidiary of the NFL Players Association. The deal is an exclusive five-year licensing deal granting EA the sole rights to the NFL's teams, stadiums, and players.

The arrangement encompasses action simulation, arcade style, and manager games made for PCs, consoles, and handhelds, giving EA a firm hold on the football gaming market. The deal does not include titles for mobile phones or internet-based games, but does include online features of consoles. With next-generation consoles scheduled for release next holiday season, EA looks to handily dominate the professional football market for the duration of the license. teams, stadiums, and players.

Well, I guess this settles how much of a hurting the $20 price point put on EA, huh? And as Ryan also pointed out, how much longer before EA succeeds in getting the same type of deal for the NBA, the NHL, and MLB.

UPDATE: Ryan also noted this article from IGN that adds a couple of more tidbits:

Brown [Director of Corporate Communications for Electronic Arts] continued: "Look at what else EA has done, look at FIFA, PGA Golf Tour and NASCAR, we have exclusivity rights for all those licenses as well."

On a scarier note for these same publishers, rumors are already circulating that EA is attempting to negotiate similar deals with the NBA and Major League Baseball. When IGN contacted Trudy Muller, spokesperson for Electronic Arts about these rumors, she told us: "We cannot speculate at this time about any further plans these other leagues may have."

That's right. What we joked about earlier could very well be true: The only sports titles that would ever be released from now on would be all from EA. And we think the EA Sports series are stagnant now . . .

Review: Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GC)

2004-12-12T18:08:00.000-08:00

What does one do when they are caught up in the hype that is Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, but only own a Gamecube? They do the next best thing, or in some people’s opinions the best thing, and pick up Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Konami, along with Silicon Knights, have given one of the greatest games of its time, 1998’s Metal Gear Solid for the Playstation, a well deserved facelift. However, this remake is not along the lines as Capcom’s complete overhaul of the original Resident Evil, also for the Gamecube. There are a few additions to the original, a few changes and a much better looking game here, but level structures, item placement & over all strategies are nearly identical to that of the game released six years ago.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the storyline of Metal Gear Solid, so I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. Our hero, Solid Snake, is brought out of retirement to investigate a nuclear warhead storage facility that has been taken over by a group of terrorists, who have also taken two very important men hostage. Your objective is to find out what the hell is going on and save the two hostages. Sounds simple enough, right? Not so fast, this is a Metal Gear game after all, so prepare yourself for plenty of plot twists. From beginning to end, you’ll be guessing who’s on Snake’s side and who’s not. With every cut scene or codec conversation comes another twist in the story. There are more subplots than I could keep track of and more plot holes than a block of swiss cheese. By the end of the game, a majority of the story lines come together, albeit, a bit sloppy. There are also a few loose ends, but most of those carry over to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. All that aside, the story moves at a reasonable pace and will keep you playing only to find out what hoops Snake has to jump through next. Who is the female soldier who appears to be on Snake’s side? Why is there a ninja in stealth camouflage running lose? What are Vulcan Raven and Liquid Snake thinking by going shirtless in Alaska?

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, this game looks great. The cinematics have been completely redone, top to bottom. Under the direction of famed Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus), the action sequences have been re-choreographed to include Matrix-esque bullet time sequences and enough acrobatic foot work you’d think Snake was a member of the Cirque du Solei. In fact, it’s a bit too much. The coolness of said special effect has worn off, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the cut scenes. To say that the bullet time concept was beaten like a dead horse in regards to this game is an understatement. One thing I did find odd, for all the work that went into the cut scenes and the game itself, faces in codec conversations have not been updated. They remain identical to those in the original. In regards to in-game graphics, it looks just as good as its two sequels. Also of note, I don’t remember there being so much blood in the previous game’s cut scenes, but if you have small children, make sure they are pre-occupied with a stuffed animal or an electric socket before watching any cut scene involving the ninja.

For reasons unknown, the voice work has been redone, even though the dialogue remains almost identical to the original. And not everyone made it back, leaving us with accent-less versions of Mei Leing & Natasha Romanenko. The voice acting is a mixed bag. While some of the actors seem “into” their characters, others appear to have grown tired of doing the same voice over the course of four games (I’ll give you a guess as to whom I’m speaking of). The soundtrack score for the game is intact, with the exception of the Metal Gear Solid theme, which has been remixed for The Twin Snakes. Unlike the PS2 and the Xbox, the Gamecube is incapable of 5.1 surround sound, but what we get is the next best thing, Dolby Pro-Logic II. While the game still sounds a bit front loaded, it’s still a great audio experience, plenty of deep bass explosions to work your subwoofer and gun battles are treat when you’re surrounded, particularly the Vulcan Raven boss fight.

Not only have the audio and video aspects of the game been revamped, but some new additions have been added to the game play as well. Moves that were introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2, but didn’t exist in Metal Gear Solid 1, have been implemented here. Some come in handy, while others do not. The addition of first person mode makes the shooting of gun turrets, cameras and soldiers easier. Somersaults, ledge hanging & hiding victims in lockers have also been included here, but I rarely used them, if at all. A handful of new weapons make appearances in the game as well, but serve no special purpose considering the original ones work just fine. The AI of the genome soldiers seems to be bumped up some, yet they can’t seem you from across the room because you’re not in their field of vision, according to the radar. One particular scenario sticks out in my mind when you enter Nuke Building #1. No mater how many times you come and go from this building, the same soldier is reliving himself. You’d think after knocking him out, along with the other soldier who shows up in the bathroom, that they might send reinforcements, maybe bring in another squad, but no. You do back-track through this building a few times and every time you do, it’s the same soldier, taking the same leak again and again.

I’ve never been big on Metal Gear’s control scheme and when you add that to the layout of the Gamecube controller, you can only wonder as to how I feel about this game’s handling. My biggest complaint is the combining of the equip weapon/item buttons with the ability to peek around corners. I can’t remember how many times I would try to peek around a corner, only to have the menu to equip a weapon pop up, cycle through several times, land on a weapon I didn’t want, then Snake would spin out of control into a hallway full of guards. What is more irritating is the fact that the PS2 controller has more buttons and they still married these two actions to the same button. Zooming with either sniper rifle involves the B and X button, which happen to be the farthest from one another. In order to bring up the codec, you have to press the A button in conjunction with the Start button, which I found to be a little odd. My only other complaint is the fact Snake has two speeds, running & sneaking, nothing in between. Granted, this game is more of a facelift than an out-and-out remake of the original, however, it’s been six years since the original Metal Gear Solid was released and not one change or innovation has been made to the control scheme. I will say that assigning first person mode to the Z button was a good choice, felt comfortable and worked well with the A/fire button. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Splinter Cell and its control scheme, but I certainly prefer it over the Metal Gear Solid one.

I’m sure others will agree with me when I say that one of the best things about the Metal Gear games are the boss battles. Every battle is unique, each boss has their own ability and each one requires a different strategy. No two boss battles are the same, although you do run into a couple of them more than once, and even then they’re not usually the same as before. They’re tense, full of action and a lot of fun. Cut scenes and codec conversations aside, the game moves at a pretty brisk pace, which in turn is one of its downfalls. An experienced gamer, especially one who has played the original, could finish the game in an afternoon. To make matters worse, you probably spend more time watching cut scenes and in codec conversations than you do actual game play. If someone had enough time on their hands, which I might with Winter coming up, I’d like to see how much time is spent in each area. I like the cut scenes as much as anyone else, but there are just too many of them. When I got close enough to the end of the game and had put most of the plot together I started to skip them and fast forwarded through all the codec conversations. Just get me to the action damn it!

With most games, there are the little things that can get irritating at times. How many times does one need to receive a codec call at the worst possible time? Why have hand-to-hand combat with bosses and regulate Snake to one move, a punch punch kick combo? Characters are introduced, say their lines and then disappear never to be heard again? Why even bother?. And don’t get me started on the dialogue in the game. Why does Snake answer everything with a question? Like Dan mentioned in his review, for example:

Colonel: You need you to enter the secret base and defuse the bomb.
Snake: Secret base?
Colonel: Yes, the secret base located in the Alaska.
Snake: In Alaska?

All these aggravating things aside, The Twin Snakes is still a fun gaming experience, especially if you weren’t around for the original release six years ago. It’s too bad that MGS 2 left a bad taste in many gamers’ mouths because The Twin Snakes is what Sons of Liberty should have been. A storyline that people could half-ass follow, plenty of action to keep you on your toes and a game where you could play as Snake from beginning to end. Granted the controls could use some work and there’s enough plot here for three more games, but this was THE game six years ago and even though it’s starting to show it’s age, it’s still a lot of fun. There is some replay value here, alternate endings and a few fun bonuses, however, unless you plan on keeping this game for your private collection, rent it for the week. Chances are you’ll have it finished before it’s due back.

News: Two People Arrested For Xbox Modding. Sign in front of the store shouldn't have said "WAREZ INSIDE"

2004-12-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

(c/o Xbox.ign.com)

Two people were arrested for selling modded Xbox consoles, according to a Reuter's story posted today. Three Washington, D.C. area Pandora's Cube game store locations were raided by federal authorities. Two store employees were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and conspiracy to traffic in a device that circumvents technological protection measures.

The arrests in Maryland and Virginia were a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Justice's computer crimes unit, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Maryland and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Entertainment Software Association says the Pandora's Cube stores were selling modified "Super Xbox" consoles for $500. The systems had been rebuilt with larger hard drives, software to enable full games to be copied to the drives, some pre-loaded with up 15 or more games.

These consoles were on open display, the ESA reported. It is not clear, however, whether the stores were selling the pre-loaded versions of the modified consoles.

Seriously, what the hell? Why promanently display something that is righteously illegal? They deserve to get caught for being such flaming dumbasses.

Sleigh Bells Ring...

2004-12-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

...I just fragged Brew....

We're winterizin' a bit here at AC in preparation for Christmas and other lesser holidays (I kid, I kid. Or do I? Yes.). In any case, don't expect content to slow down just because we're entering the holiday season; I'm officially out of school tomorrow, and a two-month subscription to Gamefly means that you'll get reviews of action packed sequels Viewtiful Joe 2 (GC/PS2) and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (XBox/PS2/GC). Additionally, I hear there's a (guest?) review coming for Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GC), we'll get some playtime in on Knights of the Old Republic 2 (XBox), while World of Warcraft (PC) is being talked about. JayGo and I will, at some point, team up on a Half-Life 2 (PC) review, while Chris is contractually obligated to share some thoughts about Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (XBox/PS2/GC). Even Josh has been making noise about doing some reviews soon, which is good, because I always like to think long-term.

Oh, and how could I forget about retro-reviews? Ariel's got reviews of Spiderman 2: The Movie (XBox/PS2/GC), Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (XBox) and Ninja Gaiden (XBox) queued up. Not to mention our end-of-the-year Awards Extravaganza*. Let me go ahead and run down the categories:

Platform Awards:
These awards are pretty self-explanatory. Multiplatform games will not be considered for individual console game of the year awards unless there was a large gulf in between its initial release and its multiplatform release (more like Splinter Cell 1 than Splinter Cell 2).

Best Game of 2004
Best Playstation 2 Game
Best Gamecube Game
Best XBox Game
Best PC Game
Best Handheld Game

Genre Awards:
Games for any platform so long as they're released within the consideration dates are eligible. There's some ambiguity among the categories, especially in the Action and Adventure categories, but we'll attempt to justify any discrepancies as best we can if they come up (I think the general concensus was that traditional "platformer" games are considered as Adventure, whereas games like Ninja Gaiden are considered Action. But the truth is that there's a giant gulf where most games fit, thus our attempts to break it up. If it doesn't work, we just won't do it next year, and will pretend it never happened. So there.)
Best Sports/Driving Game
Best Role Playing/Strategy Game
Best Action Game
Best Adventure Game
Best First Person Shooter Game
Best Other Game

Open-Ended Categories:
Somewhat self-explanatory. Each AC member will give their opinion on what they think the biggest disappointment, innovation and defining moments were of 2004. Not so much an awards as an end-of-the-year sort of thing.
Biggest Disappointment of 2004
Biggest Innovation of 2004
Defining Moment of 2004

As for the open-ended categories, we're looking for comments from any and everyone. Use that email link over at the side, and we'll throw up your opinions. We'll cap the eligibility period from 12/16/2003 to 12/15/2004, and announce nominees sometime after the 15th. As soon as we stop arguing about it.

Game on, folks!

* P.S. -- taking suggestions for a name for said awards period and the awards themselves (use comments).

Review: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)

2004-12-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

"Snake is Dead"? You don't say...

I loved Metal Gear Solid (PS). Back in 1998, I bought (okay, back then my parents bought) a Playstation for me, and, hearing MGS was the official Next Big Thing, I went out and rented it immediately. What I played was nothing short of innovative. Tense, solid stealth gameplay that defined the genre. Interactivity with the music, dual-shock controllers (still new at the time) and innovative boss battles (remember Psycho Mantis?). I loved listening to and reading a story that played out over the course of a few hours of superlative gameplay.

...

What happened?

Granted, I didn't play Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2), because after hearing about the story from Ariel, who's cursed with a much better memory than I am, I was instantly put off. As he told me all the twists and turns and inconsistencies, I started thinking he was messing with me. When Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance came out for the XBox, I went ahead and rented it to try it out. What I was met with was a wall of cutscenes, and, by 2002, gameplay that just didn't seem all that innovative anymore, in light of all of its imitators.

I'll say it right now, up front: Splinter Cell is a far better game than this. Not just because of the story (which I'll not spoil, Lord knows why, though), but because of the gameplay. While I don't really particularly like SC's stealthy missions, I recognize how effectively they're pulled off, and I'm thankful for all the excellent control they give you to implement Sam Fisher's missions. Moreover, compared to Metal Gear Solid 2, which looked like a slight upgrade from MGS1, Splinter Cell sported nearly photorealistic graphics and lighting effects that set a standard that most games wish they could achieve.

So when MGS3 was coming out, with me in my (patented) anti-hype chamber, I waited for its release tentatively. Recalling how much I enjoyed MGS1, and how I'd only played MGS2 for 10 minutes or so, I tried to give this a fair shot. Here's what I found:

Metal Gear Solid 3 sucks. I don't mean "It's an average game", I don't mean "It's a good game that I just don't like". I mean anyone not hooked into an IV pumping pure hype into their veins should run away, far and fast while you still have good memories of what this series used to be. I mean anyone will be hard pressed to have me take them seriously for liking this game.

Man, where do I begin? ... Let's begin with the most important aspect: Gameplay. Metal Gear Solid 3 plays exactly like you'd expect a 6-year-old game to play. Yes, they added in a "close quarter combat" (CQC) system, that lets Snake pull off a "variety" of moves once you're close enough to your opponent to engage in hand-to-hand combat. But for a game that's supposed to be a stealth game, why am I engaging in so much hand-to-hand combat? Why can I run up to enemies who have guns trained on me, who are shooting me, and casually engage them in a fist-fight? Why, for all the hype, is this so-called CQC system so unintuitive? If I am standing over a downed guard with my hands bare, what would you want to do? Punch the air or snap the prone guard's neck? What do you think the game has you do?

Then there's the game's "Stealth" play. Splinter Cell requires you to, in some missions, maintain complete stealth. That is, if you are seen, and the guard who sees you is able to call for help, end of mission. This is done because some crazy radical government is going to destabalize the world if they find out America is sending operatives in to disrupt thier coup (or whatever the story is in Tom Clancy's mind). Splinter Cell has caught a lot of flack for this; not because it's unrealistic, but because it makes for a bad game (lots of restarting), goes the claim. Yet in MGS3, I was told nearly 6 times within the first 40 minutes (and not because of me breaking stealth, but because of all the cutscenes) that this is a "sneaking mission" or a "stealth mission". Why is it a stealth mission? Because MGS3 is set in the middle of the Cold War, with Snake being thrown into the middle of Russia to rescue some regretful scientist/engineer who's building the Uberweapon, which, if Russia finds out about Snake's presence, will trigger a full-on nuclear war. Please tell me which makes more sense to have the mission restart if you get caught?

There are no serious consequences for being seen here. The Caution meter lasts for a fair bit longer than it did in MGS1, which keeps the guards on alert, but once it goes out, the guards go "Oh. I guess everything's okay." and move back into regular positions.

Another gameplay enhancement in MGS3 is the ability to change camouflage. For the first time in the MGS series, a stealth meter has been added. The meter is pretty straight forward: the more camouflaged you are, the less likely you'll be seen. You can change outfits on the fly; Snake initally starts with 5 or 6 different outfits and 5 or 6 different facepaints. Rather than making the process trial-and-error, though, the game tells you exactly which outfits will work best given whereever you are (this costume decreases your visibility by 20%, this facepaint by -5%). Their choice to do so renders what could have been a cool feature into mandatory exercise: as soon as you move to a new area, you're switching clothes again. This gets old before the first mission ends.

Running through the menus is an exercise in frustration by itself. Rather than using X to advance, and either circle or triangle to back up, now circle is advance, and pressing X backs up. This seemingly minor change goes counter to every game ever released on the XBox or PS2, and is another frustrating point in an already frustrating game. If I step away from MGS3 for more than 2 minutes and come back, I'm guaranteed to screw up entering or leaving a menu more than once.

Speaking of menus, let's talk about another "realism" aspect added to MGS3: As Snake is basically dropped into the world with no weapons, no supplies, etc, he has to procure all this. For the first time in series history, you actually have to feed Snake. This is done by killing local fauna, then picking up little, floating boxes that represent the fully edible meals that come from them, and going into a menu to eat it. This was added to make the game more realistic. The other beautiful addition is that Snake can get wounded seriously and have to stop, go through a menu, and administer first aid to himself. Not only is the implementation poor (It's the equivalent of pressing three buttons), but simply putting a broken, say, leg, into a splint in the middle of a firefight is not only unrealistic, but is completely unlikely to do anything to help anything for a period of, say, 4 weeks. It raises the question that recurs with this game: Why bother?

The story's of course, completely laughable. It's not initially as awful as the Metal Gear Solid 2 storyline, but you still have to climb Mt. Exposition after every three feet you walk in the game. You'll get calls from people telling you how to walk, how to shoot, how to climb trees, how to save the game, how to use your menu to change your clothes, how to interpret the story... Moreover, you'll get lectures from people during inappropriate and unrealistic times (the middle of a fight is not the appropriate time to tell me about the importance of Godzilla), meet up with old friends/enemies, get lectured on the art of being a warrior after being told it is impossible to tell someone how to be a warrior... The codec scenes (Snake talks to people over a radio, during which any action on screen pauses while they talk) can at least be read and skipped through. The cutscenes, which make up a giant bulk of this game, are the ones you can't skip because you'll not be able to understand anything that's going on if you do.

Much of the voice acting here is laughable. The dialogue is corny, and contrived, and David Hayter, playing Naked Snake (who is not Solid Snake but has the same voice), sounds like he's forcing 60% of his lines through his "cool" voice. Dialogue seems like it's intended for people who are stupid; an example: Colonel: Our operatives inside Russia have leaked information that says Russia is very close to developing the next stage in nuclear weaponry. Snake: The next stage...? Colonel: Yes, a weapon so powerful it could change the course of history. Snake: Change the course of history...? Colonel: Indeed. You will be going to Russia. You will meet up with a very important scientist. Snake: A very important scientist...? - you get the idea. Stretch this out over 40 minutes and see how eager you are to play.

That's really the problem with this game. It relies on the conventions it invented 6 years ago when MGS came out as though other games haven't made innovations in the genre. Can you imagine how terrible Mario Sunshine would have been, even with the same gameplay, if it forced you to control the camera as much as Mario 64 did? These things don't detract from the original experience, both MGS and Mario 64 are both classics. But there's so many smarter, better ways to do what MGS3 is trying to do. For instance, if the people in your head want to talk and advance the story, let them. But don't stop the action in order to do so. Don't tell me everything in the game manual, have a training mode. One of the best points elcyberGoth at elcyberGoth.com made in his hilarious Metal Gear Solid 2 review was that a game should never remind me that it's a game. Especially one that's actively pissing me off, because once it does that, it's going directly off.

The sacrifices made, supposedly, in the name of realism here detract mightily from the game. MGS 2 was playable despite its aging gameplay because you at least still had a radar that functioned, and could move around tight environments with it. MGS3's open, random forest environments lack a clear direction or a suitable radar ... In fact, you're given a battery powered one that resolves to uselessness because it lacks any ability to see how far enemies can see. The camera, hung high over Snake, makes it hard to see around obstacles or corners. While MGS2 had clearly defined points for you to execute your stealth moves, MGS3 has trees, sticks and grass to see from. When you are crawling around in grass, the camera forces you into a first person mode that makes it impossible to peer above the grass without exposing yourself. Realistic? I suppose. Fun? God no.

MGS3 is inherently inconsistent everywhere. Does the game want to be a movie? Fine, but how many rambly, pseudo-historic, self-important 20 hour long movies have you watched? Does it want to be a game? Then let me walk for more than 10 seconds without having to hear an essay on the Magna Carta and how it's importance shapes modern history. It's a game that desperately wants to be something more than it is, when what it could be wouldbe more than sufficient. For all that I knock the series, Solid Snake is instantly more marketable than Sam Fischer is, yet Kojima and company continually squander what could have been: a standard-bearing, standard-setting game that shapes the course of the genre for years to come. It's happened before with games like Halo 2, and Resident Evil 4 (potentially). This isn't where the stealth genre is going. Even series devotees would likely not want to see a ton of clones of this. Frankly, it's a god damn terrible movie, and somehow, an even worse game.

The Rundown: 10th to 16th January

2004-12-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

And now, later than advertised.. welcome back to The Rundown! Yeah, see, this is what happens when you say you're going to make your return on a day that doesn't actually exist like Monday 5th. Anyway, back now, and I actually have a fair few releases to plow through. So, let's get back into the ol' routine, and start by looking at the two big titles of this week.

Given that I'm not a big fan of the whole survival horror genre, I'm probably entirely the wrong person to be the first to mention the apparent greatness of Resident Evil 4 (GC). What I'll do, then, is mention that all reviews so far are calling it by far the greatest ever game in that genre, and that Hogie will almost certainly be along with further thoughts on it in the near future. Maybe. Suffice to say, if you're even vaguely interested in this title, it's almost certainly well worth a purchase.

Grand Theft Auto, in the army. That's as good a summary of Mercenaries (PS2, XBox) as you can probably get. Tanks instead of cars, airstrikes instead of machine guns and hostage retrieval instead of gang warfare. Of course, it's inferior to San Andreas - most things are - but it's still a fine third-person action game.. albeit one saddled with a slightly lame 'pack of cards' gimmick to represent the most wanted list. And it looks and sounds great, too.

Amazingly, there have been some games released in the past few weeks while this column has been away. Chief among these is MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf (XBox), the vastly improved sequel to the first big XBox Live game, which Dan should be reviewing soon enough. If you were a big fan of the first NFL Street, then maybe a rental of NFL Street 2 (PS2, XBox, GC) is in order to see if the few new features improve it enough for it to be worthwhile. If you were a big fan of the first The Getaway, then you enjoy inflicting harm upon yourself and should see a psychologist before you do something stupid, like say, buy The Getaway: Black Monday (PS2).

And finally for the big titles, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA) is another installment in the adventures of Link, and represents two firsts for the series. It's the first Zelda game to be developed by Capcom as opposed to Nintendo, and perhaps slightly surprisingly, it's also the first true single-player Zelda title for the GameBoy Advance. And hey, it got released first in the UK a few weeks back. Miracles do happen, clearly.

Also out this week:

So, none of those take your fancy? In that case, here's a list of everything else that's been released since the last column:

Playstation 2: Airborne Troops: Countdown to D-Day, Suikoden IV, Virtua Quest

XBox: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, GunGriffon: Allied Strike, Tork: Prehistoric Punk

Gamecube: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2

PC: Advanced Battlegrounds: The Future of Combat, American Chopper, Civil War Bull Run, Dragon Puzzle, The Guy Game, Hearts of Iron 2, Hoyles Casino 3D, SeaWorld Adventure Parks Tycoon 3D, Shadow Vault, World Championship Tennis,Yourself!Fitness

Gameboy Advance: Banjo Pilot, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town for Girls

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom:

Think the release list is barren in the US? Well, it's worse in the UK. The sum total of what's coming out over here this week are the ESPN 2K5 series of sports games for PS2 and XBox (still at a low price, but stupidly with all the online options removed) and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC), which is a great game provided you've spent a fortune on all the required hardware. Still, if you've got four GBAs, four link cables, three other players, and a GameCube, then make the most of it and buy the thing.

So, that's all for now. There's not much out next week.. so how about we meet up again in two weeks, hmm? That's Monday 24th.. and before you check, yes that date does actually exist. See you then.

Review: Capcom Fighting Evolution (PS2)

2004-12-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

Well. This was something. I had completely forgotten that Capcom was releasing this title until Dan came over one weekend and told me about it. He said that this game was supposed to mix up different styles of play in one video game. I was thinking I'd get to finally match up Alpha chracters against SF3 characters against some of the VS title's characters. Instead what I get is a spattering of characters from 5 series (Including Red Earth, a Capcom title so obscure that the man that played Jojo's Bizarre Adventure one and two has never even HEARD of it) put together in a game that is, in one short, to the point word: Lame.

Why is this game lame? I'll tell you why. Capcom did not make this game. I refuse to believe it. Now as almost everyone who has ever mashed buttons in an arcade know, Capcom loves to rehash their stuff. Sure, it was an attempt to make money but they were always forgiven because each of their iterations was noticeably superior to the previous version. They always improved on something (sometimes everything) even if it was just a little bit. The Street Fighter Collection was just that, a collection. This game was suppsed to be an evolution of their past fighters. What you actually get is a step backward for everything. Instead of composing new animations for some of the older character models, the newer ones were simply downgraded. Instead of providing you with a large array of characters to choose from, only 4 from each series were provided. There are no real modes to speak of, and none of the added features (custom colors, online play, multiple system tweaks) that are usually prevalent in current-gen fighting games. If you could possibly phone-in a game then that's exactly what Capcom did here.

The graphics where a step down from where they could have been, the AI had no sense of progression, the choice of characters was limited and some choices were just nonsensical (Why include the Red Earth characters when you have so few characters from the more popular series?). I don't think the music was bad but there were simply so many other things wrong that it doesn't matter. It's got Capcom on it so you'd expect it to be at least a lot of fun. It's not even that. It's all cross-game gimmick with none of the substance of any of the games. It's not godawful (the core play mechanics of the original games are there and it has a certain fun novelty aspect to it) but it's pretty close. At least it wasn't buggy, that would have been the kicker. Strong recommendation to avoid, especially if you like Capcom. That's why I'm giving it a:

News: New Sony PS2 Demo Disc Could Erase Memory Card

2004-12-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

(c/o CNET News.com)

PlayStation 2 owners are seething after discovering that a demo disc distributed by Sony could accidentally erase the memory cards attached to their consoles, wiping out many hours of progress in games such as "Grand Theft Auto."

Sony acknowledged the problem last week in a postcard sent to members of its PlayStation Underground fan club, warning members to be careful with holiday demo discs sent out last month. Don't play the trial version of the Capcom adventure game "Viewtiful Joe 2" included on the disc, Sony warned, unless you want to start over from scratch on every PS2 game you own.

A representative for Sony Computer Entertainment America said: "We recognize this as a serious issue and are doing everything we can to alert the consumers who received the demo. We have sent out postcards and e-mails alerting the recipients of the glitch, as well as posted the information on various message boards to alert consumers before playing this demo."

Copies of the Sony demo disc sent later in November don't include the "Viewtiful Joe 2" demo or the glitch. Capcom representatives have said the glitch is not replicated in the full version of the game.

Wow, way to go Sony. There's got to be at least tens of pissed off people who actually subscribe to the Playstation Underground.

Seriously though, that's a terrible glitch.

News: Renewed Furor Over Video Game Violence

2004-12-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

Not the latest of news, but I wanted to back off the story for a bit until people sort of moved on from it.

A video game simulation of President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination released this week sparked outrage yesterday from a leading entertainment decency watchdog.

In "JFK: Reloaded," the player views Kennedy's fateful Dallas motorcade from the book depository tower in which Oswald sat and is charged with the mission of assassinating the president. The game debuted Monday to coincide with the 41st anniversary of Kennedy's assassination. Traffic is offering a $100,000 prize to the first player to "most accurately re-create the three shots fired by Lee Harvey Oswald," according to a news release issued Monday.
(Source: CapeCodOnline.com)

Does this cross the line? For myself, I think it's, again, a big disconnect from the attitudes that older politicans have about games versus the reality that is there. Last week, I gave some facts about video game players that stated that a good majority of players are adults (18+) and are capable of making these decisions without politicians' help. But the statements in the article are a bit more insidious than that. Lieberman outright threatens developers and publishers with possible legal action for "contemplating violent action against an elected official." Please.

Video games are a form of media, and like all media, sometimes acts are simulated that the participator would never do, but wants to experience. When we watch a movie like Rambo, are we actively involved in the killing of commandos in the jungle? Or more relevantly, when we buy books, watch TV shows, attend movies, and read magazines about the assassination of JFK, or any figure, are we any more or less culpable for the promotion of that event?

Moreover, where is the outrage over games like Dynasty Warriors, in which you simulate the assassinations of leaders of Chinese dynasties. Oh, wait. That aroma you're catching is the smell of hypocricy. Because it's tragic to you, now it's a problem. If politicians want to make hay, let them. But don't start telling me that I'm culpable for promoting the assassination of a president if I'm interested in a game, when more pure profit has already been made over exploitation of his assassination through books, magazines, movies and television than this game could ever make.

This, by the way, brings up our second ever
QUESTION OF THE WEEK

How do you guys feel about this? Do you agree with the way I stated it, or do you think that I'm full of it? What about the broader implications of games like this? Will its acceptance, tacit as it may be open the gates for mainstream games about assassinating current political figures?

Respond in comments!

News: Independent Ratings System to Target Video Games

2004-12-01T10:16:00.000-08:00

(c/o Planet Gamecube)

Research Finds Ambiguities And Inconsistencies In Current Industry-Run Ratings

LOS ANGELES, November 30, 2004 – Cutting through the ambiguity of the current industry-run ratings, Current Attractions has begun an objective and quantitative reporting on the Profanity, Sex, and Violence in today’s hottest video game releases. With Current Attractions’ use of the proprietary PSVratings technology, parents will know exactly what to expect before they purchase video games containing potentially objectionable material for their children.

Until now, video games have been rated only by the software industry’s own Entertainment Software Rating Board, (ESRB), which rates games using a subjective, age-based rating system. The ESRB attempts to match the content in games to players’ ages, but how many parents know that the Teen-rated best-seller Tony Hawk’s Under Ground 2 shows characters vandalizing buildings and women lifting up their shirts to bare their breasts?

The ratings found on Current Attractions are powered by the PSVratings system, the most comprehensive, accurate and objective ratings system currently available. They do not suggest what content is suitable to any particular age group. Instead, they provide parents with the detailed, unbiased information, independent of game manufacturers, necessary to make informed choices based upon each individual family’s own personal standards of suitability.

Initially devised to evaluate movies, the PSVratings system utilizes the globally recognizable traffic-light symbol to convey three levels – green (suggestive), yellow (explicit) or red (graphic) of Profanity, Sex and Violence. It provides consumers with in-depth information including the exact number of instances and the context in which profanities, nudity, sexual words and activities, disrespectful behavior, character, racial, religious and sexual slurs, alcohol abuse, illegal drug use, tobacco use, threatening behavior and violent actions will be encountered.

Current Attractions’ original research shows that while some of this season’s major releases bear the same game-industry rating, their actual content varies widely. The inconsistencies found among games with the same ESRB rating can be seen clearly in a side-by-side comparison of four games rated M:

Game Title Profanity Rating Sex Rating Violence Rating
Halo 2 Yellow (None) Red
GTA Red Yellow Red
Fable Yellow Green Red
Shellshock Red Green Red

“The fact is, parents don’t know the half of what is going on in these games,” said David G. Kinney, CEO of Veritasiti Corporation, the parent company of both PSVratings and Current Attractions.

“We take it for granted when the rating on the box tells us a game is rated for ‘Teens’ or for ‘Everyone,’” continued Kinney. “A lot of parents might be shocked by what some video game developer has decided is appropriate for their child. The PSVratings offered at Current Attractions make no value judgments about age-appropriateness. That is a parent’s job. We take objective, quantitative research and present it in a way parents can easily understand.”

In the volatile video game industry, Current Attractions aims to be a comprehensive resource for parents. The new service will include listings of the most popular video games, a traffic-light style PSVrating, pages dedicated to general information about each game, pages featuring in-depth information about each game and an entire section providing a Parental Guide to Video Games, including a glossary of terms for the uninitiated and links to articles on the effects of gaming on children.

About PSVratings

The PSVratings process is both extensive and objective. The system operates on proprietary, database-driven technology featuring in excess of 3,000 rules and more than ten million rule combinations. A Standards Board of educators, child psychologists and child psychiatrists, all of whom are parents, assign ratings to each of the rules of the system; thus creating the PSVratings Standard. Auditors are trained to record instances of Profanity, Sex and Violence in media. The data then goes through three independent stages of validation. Proprietary technology then analyzes the complete data and generates the PSVrating, which ensures objectivity and makes the system unique from the industry-based systems that generate ratings based upon the opinions of a subjective group of parents, critics or enthusiasts.

To learn more about the PSVratings system or for more specific information on these and other video games, please visit www.CurrentAttractions.com and sample the PSVratings and reviews with a complimentary 30-day pass.

Now, this sounds like a good idea... in principle.

But 1) If it's not on the packaging, I bet you dollars to donuts that the majority of the parents will never know about these ratings. Seriously, who else but insane Christian Fundamentalists log online to check the ratings on video games that you weren't gonna let your kid buy in the first place. Now, slap these colored ratings on a game case and then you might have something.

and 2) a "complimentary 30-day pass" generally means that once that's up, you have to pay for a subscription of some kind to view the latest ratings on the newer games. And I bet you some more donuts that even fewer people will do that.

Like I said, it's a good idea, in principle. And I really want a donut.

Review Archive

2004-11-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

This post will basically be used as a reference for the reviews we've done. I've added a link to the sidebar for it, for new visitors who just want to read reviews. I've broken it down by console for your convenience.

Multiplatform Reviews:

X-Men Legends (XBox/PS2/Gamecube)
Def Jam Fight For New York (XBox/PS2/Gamecube)
Mortal Kombat: Deception (XBox/PS2)
ESPN NBA 2k5 (XBox/PS2/Gamecube)
The Bard's Tale (XBox/PS2)
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (XBox/PS2/Gamecube)
Star Wars: Battlefront (XBox/PS2)

XBox Reviews:

Fable
Halo: Combat Evolved
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders
Halo 2
Dead or Alive: Ultimate

Playstation 2 Reviews:

Street Fighter: Anniversary Collection
Smackdown vs. Raw
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Killzone
Katamari Damacy
Rumble Roses
Capcom Fighting Evolution
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Gamecube Reviews:

WWE Day of Reckoning
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Donkey Konga

Gameboy Advance Reviews:

Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Last updated: December 17, 2004

Review: Dead or Alive Ultimate (XBox)

2004-11-30T23:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I rented DOA: Ultimate a few weeks ago, and ever since, I've tried to fob off the review of it to other people (Chris, Ariel). But they all balked, so let me pop this one out for you guys.

As a compilation, DOA Ultimate will basically be judged on completeness, but we can look at some gameplay aspects. DOA Ultimate is a massive two-disc compilation of the original Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate. As for DOA1, you'll most likely not be playing it much, but it is nice to see that the graphics have been updated a bit (though nowhere near DOA 2/3 levels). DOA1 can be played online, though the day I got it, November 9th, no one seemed particularly interested in playing it. If you've never played Dead or Alive 1, it's an interesting experience, but not so much that you'd be buying the entire package for it. The modes are not as fleshed out as in DOA2U, basically arcade, versus, training and live modes are the only ways to fly here. As far as the gameplay, it plays a whooole lot like "Tecmo sees Virtua Fighter 2 and really wants one of those too".

No, if you buy this, you're coming for DOA2 Ultimate, and that's where the majority of the beef to the package lies. DOA vets will be happy with the additions to DOA2. The graphics are on par with DOA3 (in fact, I'm 99% sure the same models are used), stages from DOA3 are here, including some new, very expansive and beautiful models, and Hitomi, Bayman and Tengu are unlockable characters here. In addition, each character sports tons of costumes, from Ayane and Kasumi who have nearly 20 each, to updated costumes for characters like Ryu Hayabusa (Star of the XBox hit Ninja Gaiden), whose NG costume is the default. The game is easily the most beautiful fighter on the market, from massively detailed characters to open-ended stages that have multiple paths to throw your opponent through.

The modes here are equally expansive. Story modes are pretty straightforward affairs for each character, but tag battles and survival mix it up a bit. Tag battle is sort of the middle between Tekken's Tag Tournament and SoulCalibur's Team Battles: there is some interaction between characters, who can be switched on-the-fly, but there is not a huge variety of team moves. The modes are rounded out with a solid training mode (where you can go through a test of each character's entire moveset - a nice touch), and a Watch mode, where you can watch two characters fight one another, with control over the camera.

If you're unfamiliar with DOA2/3, it's one of the best hand-to-hand 3D fighters (right up there with Tekken and Virtua Fighter). Its button layout is rather simple, punch and kick buttons, and a free button that acts as a counter if the timing is performed right. Combinations of these, and button presses in each direction yield a surprisingly intuitive fighter that is easy to jump into, but has a fair amount of depth once you're ready to sit down and try and learn it all. Series trademarks, beautiful women and environments combine to create likely the best looking games on their respective systems (Dreamcast and XBox especially).

Of course, the most anticipated feature here is the online play. The XBox finally gets its first full-3D online fighter (with the somewhat worthless exception of Mortal Kombat: Deception). Having played a few online fighters (Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO for instance), it's honestly a much different experience. The strict one-on-one nature tends to make the process of finding a fight a bit like ships colliding in the night. You can spend a lot of time sitting around and waiting for someone who can match your criteria to come along. DOA Ultimate, in perhaps it's biggest innovation, changes all of that. Now, the game plays like an arcade, with a lobby that up to 8 potential players gather in. While the two active players duke it out, you actually get to watch their fight on your screen, and can talk smack or listen to smack being talked over your XBox Live headset. Just like putting your quarter on the machine, as soon as the challenger or champion loses, you move up a slot, and once you play, you stay until you're defeated. It's an ingenious system that I would expect many other fighters (Especially 3D ones... Dare I hope for Online SoulCalibur 3?) to adopt.

So how does it all fit together? The offline modes are as solid as DOA3 ever was. If you don't have XBox Live, I wouldn't recommend a purchase, though. You can get all the features from DOAU from DOA3 (and unless you absolutely must have/play DOA 1, I don't think you do), without having to unlock Hitomi (who is one of my favorite fighters) and Bayman. The online play is solid, but there is generally lag coming through. Mostly it manifests in a bit of slowed down combat, which is less annoying than when it jumps from one point to another (which is quite rare). Rarer still, though, were games where I experienced no lag, and this is over the same connection through which Halo 2 runs flawlessly. On and offline play are helped by a complete lack of load times and solid gameplay that I'd recommend anyone to try. The only annoying bit is that in order to unlock each of the characters' costumes, you've got to beat the story mode for that character. Going through Story Mode 20 times just to unlock Kasumi's costume takes the luster off of the mode, though one could argue that it's intended to up the replay value of the game. In any case, scoring the compilation, I give DOA Ultimate

The Rundown: 29th November to 5th December

2004-11-29T04:43:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a shortened The Rundown. Seriously. There's not much out at all this week, for some reason or another. In fact, let's cut straight to the one big title of the week...

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC) is the sequel to one of the big surprise hits of last year, and yet, manages to completely ignore the usual idea of not messing around with a winning formula. The setting is darker. The soundtrack is nu-metal. And the Prince now calls people 'bitch'. The whole thing now seems a lot more mass-market, and (dare I say it) aimed at the 'casual gamer'. But the question is, does it still manage to improve on the first game?

Well, I've played the demo, and it's a mixed bag. The combat system has been overhauled, and is much better as a result, and the camera system is unusually great for a game in this genre, but if anything.. well, it seems a bit Mortal Kombat-esque now. In terms of style at least. Long battle sequences with leather-clad women to what sounds like a Linkin Park album filler reject jar quite badly with what fans of the first game may expect. This isn't to say that it's a bad game, by any stretch of the imagination. Just that perhaps it could have been better.

Still, I've only played the demo thus far, and I'm sure Dan will be weighing in with his review some time in the next few weeks. So look out for that.

Outside of the new Prince of Persia, things are quite barren. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 (PS2) has been delayed to this week, so anyone looking for more war-based action could try that, while Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (GBA) brings the first two Final Fantasy games together for handheld gamers. You know, before they added the long FMV cutscenes everywhere.

Also out this week:

The creators of Dora The Explorer (GBA) may think that nobody has been observing the continuing delays to this eagerly awaited title. They are wrong. Don't worry folks, as soon as those slackers get around to unleashing Dora's special blend of platforming action onto the nation, I'll stop mentioning it every week. Until then, here's the rest of this week's new releases:

Playstation 2: Growlanser Generations, Kuon
XBox: American Chopper: The Game, GunGriffon: Allied Strike, World Championship Poker
Gamecube: Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2005 Adventures, Pinball Hall Of Fame
PC: Armies of Exigo, Bad Mojo (Redux), Blitzkrieg: Rolling Thunder, D-Day, ER, Fritz 8 Deluxe, Konung 2, Legacy: Dark Shadows, Painkiller: Battle Out Of Hell, Second Sight, X-Plane 8
Gameboy Advance: Dora The Explorer: Super Star Adventures, Metal Slug Advance

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom:

The release schedule looks a bit more healthy in the UK this week, but it's made up entirely of titles I've already covered in this column before. So, in short: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC) and Painkiller: Battle Out Of Hell (PC) will be arriving in both continents at the same time, while Call of Duty: Finest Hour (PS2, Xbox, GC), Blinx 2 (Xbox) and Sid Meier's Pirates! (PC) will all be out on British shores.

Oh, and there's Pro Evolution Soccer 4 arriving on the PC too, but I think I went on about that enough last week. So.. that concludes a shortened Rundown for this week. Don't worry, there's one final torrent of big names to arrive before Christmas yet, and I'll get a chance to talk about them in seven days time. So, see you then.

Review: Rumble Roses (PS2)

2004-11-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

We're all adults here, right? I mean, when DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball came out, we all recognized it for the excellent volleyball simulation that it tried to be, right? And we all recognize the serious important contributions to the videogaming society that bobbing and weaving a rogue sperm cell through a minefield, a la Leisure Suit Larry, don't we? Hell, we can even enjoy the simple pleasures of a quiz-show turned mature adventure in The Guy Game, right?

Okay, those games sucked (Yes, DOA XBV sucked. It was an awful volleyball simulation. Yes it was), and they sucked because the primary emphasis was on T&A and not on the gameplay that passed for an excuse to see more tits. And while I like tits and I like video games, I really hate it when the former becomes an excuse not to make a decent game.

Honestly, that was my initial impression with Rumble Roses, an all-female wrestling game for the Playstation 2, published by Konami. In Rumble Roses, sexual innuendo is all over the place... Skimpy costumes, provocative moves, insultingly sexualized wrestling. Yet beyond all of that, if you can get into it, lies a pretty interesting and fun arcade-wrestling game.

As you guys know by now, we take a pretty close look at wrestling games, having originated from In This Very Ring.com, and so I waited with anticipation for Rumble Roses. My initial impressions were mostly negative. Match types were the most basic possible: one-on-one and mud matches. No tag team matches, no special matches (aside from one to be discussed) and no customization on the type of win (submission, pinfall, KO, etc). A staple of most modern wrestling games, the Create-A-Wrestler mode was also missing. Moreover, the focus here did not seem to be on the wrestling. Rather, the mud match style and a focus on "humiliation" moves (which usually involve putting your opponent in compromising positions) looked like they would overshadow any sense of core gameplay here.

The story, such as it is, unfolds as you play each character. Rumble Roses sports (off the top of my head) 10 initial characters to play with, with half the roster unlockable. The characters range from the justifiable (Wrestler Reiko and judo fighter Makoto) to the cheesy (Ninja Bloody Shadow) to the why-are-you-here (Schoolgirl Candy Cane, her teacher Miss Spencer, pop star Aisha). While some characters have pretty self-contained storylines (like Candy Cane), others' storylines wrap around the entire conspiracy and mystery surrounding the Rumble Roses tournament. The main villains here, a nurse/mad scientist Anesthesia and main-bad-girl Evil Rose, actually develop pretty well. You'll come to apprciate why Rose is the way she is, and, through her incessant meddling and smug attitude, you'll come to hate Anesthesia.

Graphically, the game looks like a Dreamcast holdover. A lot of anti-aliasing "issues", but some pretty sharp textures. Everything looks as good as it should look, but not necessarily superlative. Many people have drawn (valid) comparisons between a lot of these characters and Dead or Alive vixens. Music is j-pop, dialogue is predictably cheesy.

The gameplay here is very good, once you get into it. It took me a while to adjust from the more-sim-like Smackdown vs. Raw to a game like this. Moves are predictably over-the-top, though the game never gets into the realm of the impossible. You'll see stuff like Shining Wizards or Mr. Neibla's autosubmission here. Rumble Roses utilizes the fact that it's not tied to any specific real-life characters to open up what the girls are allowed to do. That said, it does take a lot from SD vs. Raw in its grapple scheme: left or right + grapple results in a standing grapple, up or down + grapple results in your character throwing her opponent to the ground to focus either on the opponent's head or legs, respectively. From there, each character has a pretty decent variety of moves. Submissions play a pretty big part here, too, but it is very straight forward. Once in a submission, the game tells you exactly how many button presses you need to get out of the move. As you do moves, you also do damage to specific parts of the body, helping your submission moves.

Collision detection, aside from a few moves, is excellent. Strikes that can have complicated results on successful hits only work if you hit directly at the opponent, although they can do a slight amount of damage should you hit (or miss) at an angle.

The major gameplay difference here is a humiliation factor. Simply put, you can gain an advantage over your opponent by exposing her to the audience. Why any of these characters would be embarassed to be put in, say, a small package is beyond me given what they wear to the ring, but once your opponent is in a humiliated state, and if you have a super move, you can pull of a humiliation move, which for each character is a very powerful submission maneuver. Humiliation is the only stipulation that you can set for a match. Joining the Humiliation move are killer and lethal moves, which act like regular special moves. Each wrestler has a killer move that can be pulled off in any position. But if you are in the proper place, it will turn into a lethal move (which are like extra-special moves).

Once you win with a character in story mode, you can play her alternate version in the story mode. Each character has an alternate mode; if the character is a heel, her alt will be a face and vice versa. In many cases, the alts are extremely different takes on the characters... Sullen Candy Cane turns cheerleader Becky, f'rinstance.

Alternate characters can be unlocked in the Exhibition Mode, as well. This is also very well-carried out. Each character is ranked either 50% face or 50% heel intially. Through what they call the Vows system, basically a lot like the challenges in SD vs. Raw, vowing to do good things before the match, like not using weapons or not attacking your opponent on the ground, increases your face percentage. Vowing to do bad things, like making sure you attack your opponent with a weapon, or not allowing them to damage you for the entire match, increases the heel percentage. Once you get 100% face or 100% heel, you can challenge for the title in the Title Mode. Once you win a title, you can defend it. Winning the title opens the character in the Gallery, defending it opens her beach gallery. Finally, changing the alignment of a particular girl opens her alternate version for the exhibition mode.

Overall, Rumble Roses is a very fun arcade game, with portions that can turn off any number of gamers. I get how someone would be unable to get past the humiliation aspect... It's annoying and borderline insulting, but luckily it does not become the major aspect of gameplay. Rumble Roses won't appeal to everyone, but if you're able to get into it, it's a solid example of an average game that is still very fun.

News: Lieberman Gets Boobies Shown On C-SPAN. Good Job. Also, Top 10 Games "To Avoid"

2004-11-24T21:40:00.000-08:00

Tits on C-SPAN. Primarily 90-year-old audience stunned.

No, you weren't hallucinating if you saw naked boobies on C-SPAN this evening while flipping channels (since it's unlikely you were actually sitting there watching it): uncensored, unpixelated clips from the M-rated "The Guy Game" and "Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude"were shown to a bored looking audience (including Senators Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl) as part of a National Institure for Media and the Family briefing on its annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card.
(Full article with NSFW pics: Fleshbot.com)

Not really huge news, but a bit relevant considering the entire flap over titties that we've been going through this entire year. When 2004 goes into the books, it really will be "The year hooters destroyed society." There is a legitimate question of why this industry is so heavily regulated. I think it's because politicians, who are now pretty much the Vietnam era, see video gaming as primarily a children's hobby, something that people give up around age 18, and thus, concern and flap over violent video games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is justified. However, a casual google search reveals some startling facts that run contrary to that assessment. Firstly, the average age of gamer is nearly 30 years old ... Secondly, most games (85% of console games) are purchased by people over the age of 18 (Note that the ESRB's Mature rating only requires the purchaser to be over the age of 17, just as in movies). And perhaps most importantly, 92% of parents say that they monitor the content of the games their under-18-year-olds play. (source) This compares to 81% of movie-goers being over the age of 18 (actually, much much better) (source).

Are there bad games out there that kids shouldn't be playing? Absolutely. But there are bad movies, sitcoms, dramas, plays and events they probably shouldn't be watching either. That's the job of a parent. Parents don't complain when they take their child to a horrid movie, because they know if they do, the theater management will tell them they clearly knew what the rating was before they went into the movie. I haven't seen a single video game commercial that didn't give the rating of the game. The information is out there, people. Quit running to government to solve the problem of your own piss-poor parenting.

Now, if you are a parent who wants recommendations on which games his or her child should avoid, MediaFamily.org's report may be for you. I'm not arguing that there shouldn't be oversight. What I do object to is the belief that video games are somehow more insidious than movies or television.

I really do think that, in many cases, these sorts of lists are well-intentioned. Most of the games on that list (maybe not so much the Halo and Half-Life 2) are not age-appropriate for kids. Even though the games don't appear to be in any particular order (I think The Guy Game and the new Leisure Suit Larry game are games no one should play for a large variety of reasons...), they get the general idea right. There's just no way that a simple list of 10 can keep kids "safe". Is Psi-Ops any worse than, say, a Bloodrayne 2 or Chronicles of Riddick, or a Killzone? The only way to be safe is for parents to not rely on lists like this and be vigilant.

I will actually have a review of Rumble Roses up sometime later this week (That and MGS 3 and Capcom Fighting Evolution and other stuff). Stay tuned.

Review: Katamari Damacy (PS2)

2004-11-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

So. It's the end of November, and everyone is rife with talk of the Game of the Year. There's plenty of games that are getting consideration: Halo 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half Life 2, Metroid Prime 2. All of these games are quite good. However, none of them are the Game of the Year for 2004. No, the 2004 GotY (at least, in my opinion) goes to a $20 game from Namco for the PS2 that was brought over from Japan. That game is Katamari Damacy.

The story for Katamari Damacy is the weirdest story you'll hear all year. The King of all Cosmos (a combination between Galactus and God from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail") went on a inter-galactic bender the night before, and well . . . when he gets drunk, he likes to break things. Turns out he broke the moon as well as every star in the sky. So he enlists the help of his son, the Prince of All Cosmos. That's you. The only problem is, well . . . you're really tiny. 5 cm tall. So the KoAC gives you katamaris (small bumpy balls that damn near anything will stick to) and sends you to Earth to rebuild the stars in the sky. As you progress through the game, you'll get cut scenes on how one family is reacting to the loss of all the stars in the sky. The story is that special type of insanity you can only get from the Japanese.

So how do you rebuild the stars exactly? For every level, you are dropped into one of three environments: a house, a town, or a whole world. You start off with a katamari of a certain size (for example, 5cm). You will then be given a time limit (say, 3 minutes) to make the katamari a bigger size (say, 10cm). You make the katamari bigger by rolling it into things in the level. The katamari is controlled by the dual analog sticks -- "tank controls", for lack of a better term (both sticks up = forward, both sticks back = backward, left stick down/right stick up = turn to the left, etc.) To better explain this, let me describe the first level:

You start off on the top of the table in this room. Around you are erasers, caramel candies, and batteries. Starting off you can only get the candies, so you roll them up. As you roll up the candies, they stick at all kinds of odd angles onto your ball. By the time you roll up all of the candies, you are now big enough to grab the batteries. When you get all of them rolled up, you roll off the table onto the floor, where there are mice running around and tons of new things to pick up, from broccoli to chopsticks to lipstick containers to cheese from the mice to Lego pieces.

Now, judging from this description, the game doesn't sound like it would be fun. Once you start playing the game however, you realize just how much fun this simple concept can be. The next thing you know you're steering your ball out of the dining room and into the backyard where you can roll up birds, cucumbers, tomatoes, and pots. Then you start rolling up the cats and dogs . . . and finally work your way up to people. Then from people you start rolling up cars and trees, all the way up to buildings and even islands. KD's graphics engine does a tremendous job of handling the sense of scale throughout the entire level. The graphics themselves have a very "Japanese South Park" look to them: Very simple figures for everything. You get a real appreciation for the graphics engine in the later levels however: You'll start off roaming the streets of a town and 15 minutes later roll up the entire island the town was on. The really impressive thing is how well it flows from the smaller areas to the larger areas.

I've barely even discussed the music for this game. The soundtrack for Katamari Damacy is also the best of the year. You will find yourself humming and singing the songs from the game for days and days after playing it (YOU! HAW! GET UP!). The music is perfect for the game -- noticeable but not overly distracting. I really wish they would release the soundtrack in America -- an import copy runs upwards of $40, and while I love the soundtrack, I don't love it THAT much.

The game does end up being rather short. In all, it has 19 stages. 10 of them are standard "Get this big before time's up". Other stages (ones where you are building specific constellations) require you to capture as many of a certain type of item as you can before time expires. A couple of stages require you to pick up as big of a item type as you can. For instance, when making the Taurus constellation you're trying to get the biggest cow that you can. Getting a small carton of milk will count as finishing the stage . . but if you can get your katamari big enough to grab up a large bull, you will score better for the stage. Also, if you can beat three of the stages with an extremely large katamari, you will unlock an untimed version of the stage. This unlocks the biggest replayability with this title -- just going through the stages with all the time in the world on your hands.

The biggest charm of Katamari Damacy is that anyone and everyone can pick it up and play it. My wife doesn't like to play a lot of video games. She's spent hours playing this one. Even my mother had spent a few hours playing this game and the last game she played was Samba Di Amigo. The game's ability to draw you in is astounding, the gameplay is so simple and yet so addictive, the music is amazing, it's ability to make you say "I know I can finish that one stage just a little faster" -- the game just does everything perfectly. For $20, you will not find a better gaming value period. Not only the 2004 Game of the Year, but a completely solid . . .

--DrH

News: More on the EA lawsuit....

2004-11-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

Just an add-on to Dan's earlier post about the lawsuit being filed against EA by former employees. Here are two blogs which feature personal accounts of the working conditions at EA. They are a very interesting look into the industry as a whole:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/

http://www.livejournal.com/users/joestraitiff/

News: Valve Suspends 20,000 Steam Accounts. Valve, Steam, Oh I see what they did there.

2004-11-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

(c/o Gamespot.com)

Developer stages mass bust of users attempting to 'illegally obtain' Half-Life 2, shoots down warez-trap rumors.

Last week, rumors circulated that Valve had released a fake key to Half-Life 2 to various "warez" sites in order to trap game pirates. Today on the forums of Steam, Valve's download service, the developer announced it had busted nearly 20,000 people who tried "to access Half-Life 2 without purchasing it."

As a result, the offenders have had their Steam accounts suspended indefinitely. Valve also warned that "Accounts also may be closed due to fraudulent activity in an attempt to obtain additional products for your Steam Account. This includes Credit Card fraud, theft of accounts you do not own and using cracked versions of Valve games."

Valve's statement was coy about how it caught the pirates. "The method used was extremely easy for Valve to trace and confirm," it read, "and so there is no question that the accounts disabled were used to try and illegally obtain Half-Life 2."

However, Valve was extremely clear about one thing--it did not create a special version of Half-Life 2 to bust pirates. "Valve did not put out any kind of fake key or fake warez or hack instructions to trap people," read the statement. "The hack came from the 'community' as do they all."

Well, if they want to start putting a stop to pirating games and "warez" this is a really good way to do it. I'm not opposed to piracy, as everyone knows, but I really like this method. Sure, people will find away around this eventually, other warez sites and what not, but this puts a small dent in the 'Ole Internet Piracy Thing, and that's a nice start. For te record, though, I've never downloaded a video game off the internet. My 56k would explode if I tried. I suck.

News: As far as the DS is concerned...

2004-11-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

To my knowledge, no one here at AC went out and got a DS at launch. For that matter, I don't know if any of us are actively pursuing one. I can't speak for my colleagues, but I will give you my opinion on it:

Before I saw a video Matt showed me, I thought this was a disastrous idea. I personally don't really use handhelds that much, but even beyond that, it seemed like superfluous design that was incapable of having any real support from developers due to its limitations (Yes, two screens can be a limitation, it's a liability to have to have something on the second screen to begin with). Not that this would be a new thing for Nintendo. Does anyone remember the Virtual Boy? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

But the video I saw changed all that. What I saw was, heads and shoulders, above the level of design that I'd seen in many games. Nintendo's got some whacky minds in their R&D, and I have a feeling that as they were pitching the system, they were giving some hints on where to take the DS, because for the year or so between its announcement and its release, most gaming publications, sites and players couldn't figure out what the hell they were going to do with the thing. The video answered a lot of that. I saw games that used the touchscreen to draw independent paths for a character to speed through. I saw incredibly handheld graphical potential and a vast array of new design avenues to wander through.

Here is what I think of the DS now: I think that it will ultimately not succeed because most designers are incapable of designing for it. A review of Mario 64 DS I read stated that the second screen was used primarily for a map of the area. The reviewer correctly pointed out that he'd never needed a map in the N64 version of the game. And this is Nintendo's development. I have a sinking feeling that a lot of the crazily-designed games I saw in the video (This is an open call to Matt to please track the video down, by the way) won't make their way stateside for fear that they'll be rejected as being too weird (Sadly, American audiences have a pretty poor track record with supporting fringe titles). More likely, developers will take advantage of the power of the system and scrap use of the second screen, except in the most necessary of cases.

In leiu of being able to provide my our own coverage right now (unless you want to buy a DS for me, and a couple of games. If you do, hit the email link over at the side), I'll give you guys a link to an article with more hands-on info than I've got now.

I'm also wondering what you guys think of the DS? Destined for greatness, or destined for failure? Are you planning to get one as soon as possible, or are you waiting for Christmas? Inquiring Dans want to know.

Here's the link to a Gamespot article detailing a lot of the features and launch titles for the Nintendo DS.

- Dan

News: NYTimes Article on EA Lawsuits Alleging Unfair Working Practices

2004-11-22T23:10:00.000-08:00

(Link to full article. Requires Registration.) (Subvert the registration - Thanks Shad)

Very interesting article. Before I got into college, it was a dream of mine to design games. It sort of fell by the wayside a few years ago, but I'm considering picking it back up. I actually admire EA a great deal. They pump out very good and great games with startling regularity.

However, if this is true, and I don't have much reason to disbelieve it, they need to really evaluate what they're doing. It's not uncommon to push young people to work to extremes out of college... Talk to any young lawyer. It's entirely another thing to not compensate them fairly for it. Given the nature of the gaming business, rather than building a solid team of loyal workers, they're much more likely to spawn a hundred small competitors who learned the trade by toiling in their salt mines for a few years. If I were a stockholder in EA, I know I'd rather see some long-term viability to the company in the form of reduced turnover.

In any case, this will add some fuel to the stupid "EA is satan" fire.

- Dan

The Rundown: 22nd to 28th November

2004-11-22T04:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to The Rundown! Again, it's time to look at the new releases for this week in the UK and the US. It's quite a bit calmer than last week, thankfully.. with one noticeable exception.

The Nintendo DS was released yesterday, but don't expect to be able to go into a nearby shop and pick one up off the shelf. According to many sources, you may only be in luck if you preordered.. and preordered early, at that. The unit costs $149, and is getting a good reception from most areas.. though some have said the stylus control can be a bit error-prone at times. The console comes complete with Pictochat, so you can chat and draw pictures to nearby DS users wirelessly, and Metroid Prime: Hunters First Hunt, a demo of the upcoming Metroid Prime variant.

The launch line-up consists of six games, with the main one being Super Mario 64 DS. Mario 64 with minigames and a multiplayer mode? Sold! There's also the always present EA with Madden NFL 2005 and The Urbz: Sims in the City, above-par racing action with Asphalt Urban GT, average movie tie-in Spiderman 2 and the quite frankly odd Feel The Magic: XY/XX. We here at Another Castle are working hard on getting some DS impressions posted.. as soon as we can find someone who's got one.

In the meantime, TheRealGamers.com reports that it's 'sturdy' and the 'touch screen is great', but it also 'feels cheap'. Next week, he might get Mario DS into the machine itself. We'll be waiting!

So - didn't preorder a DS? Not to fear, EA have another tie-in for you to buy like the communist pigs you are! Goldeneye: Rogue Agent (PS2, XBox, GC) sees you playing a bad guy working for Goldfinger, battling against the forces of.. Dr. No? Hmm. I guess expecting anything more risky than that was a bit foolish. The game itself is yet another first person shooter, and in a world where Halo 2, Half Life 2, Metroid Prime 2 and, hell, the original Goldeneye exist, I can't see why you'd want to be bothering with this one. The reviews aren't favourable, the story is laughable (surgically implanted 'golden eye'?), and on the whole it appears to be incredibly unremarkable.

Despite the relative calm following the avalanche of titles that was last week, two big names still arrive on the PC shortly. World of Warcraft (PC) is the second of the two big massively multiplayer online RPGs to arrive, coming shortly after Everquest II. It's the first such game that Blizzard have made, but success is almost certain given that it builds on the incredibly popular Warcraft franchise that partly enabled them to make a name for themselves. If you're a fan of the franchise, or you just want to play around with a new MMORPG, then you could do a hell of a lot worse than giving this a try.

The second big PC game is that rare thing - an update of an oldie from the Commodore 64. Sid Meier's Pirates (PC) isn't solely out to attract gamers who played the original back in the early 90s, with many new features and gameplay elements being added to the mix. And heck, the graphics have improved a bit too. Ship battles, duels, trading, wooing the governor's daughter.. all aspects of life on the open seas are here. And yes, the wooing does occur within what is the newest videogame craze - a DDR-alike minigame. Woo.

Keeping with the remakes, Alien Hominid (PS2, GC) is a side-scrolling shooter built upon a game from Newgrounds.com. In fact, you can still play the original if you click here. It plays a lot like a mix between Metal Slug and Viewtiful Joe, which ain't exactly a bad pair to draw inspiration from. Heck, it's only $30 too. Have a go with the Flash game, and if you like it, then rest assured that the full console version is a whole lot better still.

Also out this week:

Shock! Horror! The big release of Dora The Explorer (GBA) ended up being put back to this week instead. Of course, I can't justify going on about it two weeks running, so it's down here along with the rest of the releases for this week in the US...

Playstation 2: American Chopper: The Game, Atari Anthology, Outlaw Golf 2
XBox: Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2005 Adventures
Gamecube: MC Groovz Dance Craze
PC: Alexander, Bad Mojo (Redux), Dragon's Lair 3, ER, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, X-Plane 8
Gameboy Advance: A Sound Of Thunder, Dora The Explorer: Super Star Adventures, Ice Nine

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom:

The first rule of Another Castle is not to talk about Fight Club (PS2, XBox). The second rule of Another Castle isn't to take ages on really poor jokes related to crap movie tie-ins. I guess that means I can't mention Goldeneye: Rogue Agent (PS2, XBox, GC) is getting a parallel release in bot continents, either. So, moving on..

So, yes. Outside of Fight Club, more games already out in the US make their way across to the UK this Friday. It's a big welcome to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2(PS2, XBox), the eagerly awaited Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GC), and sub-standard PS2 'Halo-killer' Killzone (PS2). Dan reviewed Killzone not too long ago, of course, and you can read that by clicking here. Jak 3 (PS2) also is released this week, and proves to be a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy of high-quality platformers.

The biggest release of the week in the UK, arguably, is Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (XBox). Sure, it came out a few weeks back for the PS2, but this version has improved graphics and sound, and full XBox Live support - including leagues, tournaments and the like. Better than FIFA 2005, it's the most fully realised online version of the beautiful game yet. In fact, it's possibly the greatest sports game of all time, even if the US may never get to see it. Shame.

Oh, and Get On Da Mic (PS2) is released too. Rap karaoke. And not good rap karaoke, even. Sure, the song choices are good enough, but they're not by the original artists, everything is censored, there are fundamental design flaws, and.. well. Rap. Karaoke. Need I say more?

Well, not for this week I don't. Back next week.

Review: Killzone (PS2)

2004-11-20T20:15:00.000-08:00

Gary's question the other day couldn't be more relevant, as earlier that day I'd actually gone out to rent Killzone for the PS2, which, published by Sony, had a decent buzz about it and was touted as a "Halo Killer". Now, you guys know my attitude on the whole "Killer" thing. I think great games come out for all platforms, and I love gaming enough to be in pursuit of all the consoles.

However, after I thought about it, I can understand a bit more how the suffix gets attached. Basically, a lot of people simply don't play games enough to justify running out and buying games regularly, or playing on every console. Daryl and I had been harassing Josh for about 2 years before he finally broke down and got an XBox. I think the killer thing comes from that, because Daryl and I'd been telling Hogie what he'd been missing out on for so long, he finally had to succumb. So with Halo 2 coming out, and half the gaming world completely freaked out about it, it's understandable that PS2 loyalists would want to find a game that could counter some of that momentum, or at least give them comparable gameplay experiences.

Well, unfortunately, Killzone doesn't achieve either of those things. While it's a solid game, it's got plenty of flaws that keep it from reaching that upper echelon.

Killzone's Helghast, Nazi-inspired supersoldiers, versus the-forces-of-good storyline is actually very well pulled off; in fact, the game is full of immersive aspects that put it heads and shoulders above many, if not most first person shooters. Your character bobs up and down as he runs, looks down when he hops over objects, shifts around when climbing up ladders... In comparison to Halo, its realism makes the floaty Master Chief feel a bit unnatural. Though it's a little unsettling at first, it becomes a bit natural, especially considering how well it's pulled off. Its closest comparison would be Breakdown, a game in which hand-to-hand combat was eventually primarily pulled off in first person.

Graphically, Killzone likely sets a standard as well. The game looks absolutely amazing. Vast, noisy battlefields and dug-in trenches litter the opening level. The sky is ominously brown, and a dusty fog blocks your vision. Cities are broken down and half-destroyed; buildings lie in ruin. Through all this, the game's textures are incredibly sharp, the character models very detailed. However, all that glitters isn't gold. Killzone taxes the PS2 a bit beyond its limits. Slowdown is not uncommon, but more common is a stunted framerate that slows the immersive aspects of the game. As well, a lot of objects morph through walls or into and out from floors.

Killzone is almost completely linear. Having a linear storyline is not uncommon for a First Person Shooter (or many other games), but having a single path through most areas is. It's even evidence of poor design. Many things play out in a series of triggered attacks from you entering a certain area, killing all the enemies and then moving into the next place you're supposed to go. It's not that this is awful in-and-of itself (again), but the vast battlefields I described earlier are fenced in by invisible walls and linear paths through which there's no variation in the way you run through. The game could practically be on rails (think Pokemon Snap (N64) as the most obvious example). At times it feels more like a puzzle-shooter like Capcom's P.N.03 (GameCube). These aren't bad comparisons, but it doesn't make for a great game, especially one that borrows so many FPS conventions, or wants to belong in the upper echelon of FPS games.

In another recent FPS development, Killzone has a weapon-carry limit. Unlike Halo and Brute Force, though, you can carry 3 weapons here. Unfortunately (I sure am using that word a lot tonight, aren't I?), it doesn't work very well either. Having 2 weapons allows you to quickly switch back from one type of weapon to your other weapon. The entire point of having a 2 weapon limit, aside from increased realism, is that you can carry two weapons for different sorts of situations: a shotgun for when enemies close in, or an assault rifle for medium range engagements. Switching between 3 becomes cumbersome and impossible to immediately get where you need to. Making it even more impossible are ridiculous weapon-switching animations you are forced to endure absolutely every time you switch weapons (usually him cocking the weapon, although he could be reloading and then cocking). Versus Halo, or Brute Force, you're unable to switch quickly from a weapon that's empty to a weapon that's ready to go in the heat of battle. This was a poor design decision, and factors into both single and multiplayer.

Weapons here run the usual gamut. Rifles, guns, rocket launchers, etc. Helghast weapons generally being less accurate and having more ammo, ISA weapons being the opposite. Considering how awful the reloading sequences are, I preferred going with Helghast weapons. However, when I say "less accurate", I friggin mean it. I've stood at 10 paces and have missed with 30 rounds of submachine gun fire on a stationary enemy as I stood directly in front of him. I've blasted people with shotgun fire multiple times just to get them to die at point blank because they were slightly outside the reticule. The game has on- and off-line multiplayer, but predictable frustrations happen considering the reload animations and framerate problems.

Though the campaign mode is interesting, and the cutscenes and voiceacting are well done, I don't know if they're strong enough to carry the game. Idiotic AI, countless iterations of the same enemies (Am I playing Killzone or Time Crisis?), and frustrating level design which intimates more interesting experiences but punishes you for straying off the beaten path. Many times, some random character will shout "Captain, meet us over here, we'll escort you" without you knowing who they are or where they are. Of course, nothing can happen until you do this, and even if you try to look at other soldiers who might, you know, be guarding you and directing you toward your goal point, they are often off looking into space or aiming at (and into) walls. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

I usually don't go into games with expectations, because I'm easily disappointed. But I did expect this game to be better than average, especially because I knew with Sony publishing this, it could turn into a marquee title. But Killzone seems like it was rushed out for the holiday season. Another 3 or 4 months in development would have turned what is ultimately a substandard experience into an extremely memorable one. Going into the review, I was thinking of saying the game is average and leaving it at that. But the more I think about its flaws and potential, I have to go lower than that. While I love the storyline and want to see a sequel, this game probably doesn't warrant more than a very brief rental.

News: Ok, now you've just gone too far

2004-11-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

c/o Planet Gamecube

CAPCOM AND NUBYTECH REVEAL HORRIFYING RESIDENT EVIL 4 CHAINSAW CONTROLLER FOR NINTENDO GAMECUBE™

LOS ANGELES, Calif., November 17, 2004 – Capcom and Nubytech® unveiled today the Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw Controller for the Nintendo GameCube™. While Resident Evil 4 is certainly the most anticipated third party title on the Nintendo GameCube, the Chainsaw Controller will quickly become the most popular peripheral in hardcore gamers’ and series loyalists’ hearts. A growing topic in the gaming community ever since the initial sketches were released to the press, this truly unique accessory is coming to reality January 11, 2005 when it is available alongside the game.

Designed with an actual chainsaw lying in the middle of the R&D lab during brainstorming sessions, this sculpted controller comes with a built-in sound chip, imitating the roar of the powerful weapon. The attention to detail goes as far as having gory blood marks on the blade. When not being wielded to destroy the on screen enemies, the Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw Controller can rest on its display stand, on top on your TV or trophy case.

“NubyTech’s development team worked very closely with Capcom to develop this unique, one of a kind controller,” stated Paul Chen, president and chief operating officer, NubyTech. “We plan to shock the world with this revolutionary and die hard collectible product.”

“The Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw Controller is very impressive. It is an incredible enhancement to the game experience,” said Todd Thorson, director of marketing, Capcom Entertainment. “The Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw Controller is the ultimate ‘wow’ peripheral for Resident Evil fans and brings horror game action to a whole new level.”

No, just... no. Bongos = yes. Chainsaws = no no no. How is this supposed to work with THE GUNS in the game? What if you never use the chainsaw? Are we supposed to buy this hefty piece of platic for a few seconds of "realistic" gameplay. To you I say "fuck off and let me murder dead-ish people the old fashioned way."

News: Master Chief - Action Hero?

2004-11-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

c/o xbox.ign.com

November 19, 2004 - As if there needed to be any more Halo hype, the Internet is abuzz today with rumors of a potential Halo movie in the works. If the rumors are to be believed, Director Ridley Scott, known for his excellent science fiction films Blade Runner and Alien, is looking at potentially directing said film, with Ed Harris potentially playing the role of Captain Keyes and Samuel L. Jackson playing Captain Johnson.

Microsoft came up with its own special comment on the subject: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation." Which naturally shocked us.

It's not the first time the notion of a Halo movie has been bandied around, but two generally reliable sites, halo.scifinews.de, and aint-it-cool-news.com have come up with leaks on it.

Halo.scifinews.de claims to have early storyboard drafts on the movie, with early pencil sketches of Ed Harris looking a whole lot like Captain Keyes. The draft images are not in any previous Halo art books. Ain'-it-cool-news.com received a letter from an insider at Warner Brothers, where Ronald Shusett and Daniel Alter are apparently in touch with Scott about a potential Halo movie, no doubt as part of some smart movers and shakers working behind the scenes at E3 and the game's unearthly sales records.

Here's an excerpt from the aint-it-cool-news.com letter:

"Now the tricky part is, apparently Ridley Scott has seen the materials before. And subsequently passed on doing it. But, with HALO 2 sales having been astronomical, Shusett and Alter's camp has been in-touch with Scott Free about it. What's more, upon reviewing the game, Shusett commented that it reminded him of STARSHIP TROOPERS, which apparently Ridley and him had considered collaborating on 20 plus years ago after ALIEN came out. Funny, considering Shusett's TOTAL RECALL director Paul Verhoeven went on to bastardize Heinlein's classic.

"Don't know if Ridley's budged. Or how serious Bungie is about licensing the movie rights. But a HALO movie from the creative team behind ALIEN, and who also toyed with STARSHIP TROOPERS, would seem to be a great fit. What I wonder is if these parties can't come to an accord, why wouldn't Bungie be open to somebody like James Cameron?"

Bungie, of course, has been offered the chance to make a movie before, and being the smart, thrifty developer it is, its team has said no to everybody. However, Studio Manager Pete Parsons recently said that if there was to be a movie made, it would have to be the right people, story, and timing. Bungie has also been quoted as saying that they're big fans of Ridley Scott and they would love having him behind such a film.

There is no word on whether Scott has yet to accept any deal. But according to our very own FilmForce.com, the legendary director has been hesitant to take up the project because he hasn't seen a world for the story.

Once again, we're all up speculation creek without a paddle. All we know is, where there is money to be made in the videogame world, Hollywood comes running.

Also, we're quite clear on another subject, which should make everyone pause for concern: while there might have been some excellent movies based on comic books, if the best videogame movie to date is Resident Evil, a potential Halo movie could be awful. If Ridley Scott and some very smart, very well-read Halo writers are put on the project, there is at least some hope.

Hmm, interesting. Thing is, though, do we REALLY need a Halo movie? Cause we all know Hollywood. Just make a full length Red vs Blue movie and we'll all be happy. The AICN article also goes on to say "I think the best thing about this bit of information is Bungie's reluctance to give the film rights to anybody but a master. The last thing I want to see is Uwe Boll's HALO (C: Uwe Boll was the director of House of the Dead and the up coming Bloodrayne and several other asstastic video game movies.) which would undoubtedly take place modern day, without any mention of either the Flood or the Covenant and starring Ben Affleck as Master Chief and Tara Reid as Cortana."

So true. When will people realize that video game movies just don't work? And if it does get made it'll probably end up starring The Rock anyway.

Email Response

2004-11-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Loyal Another Castle reader Gary "Topps" Sheldon sent us the following questions via email (which is now a nifty link over at the side, feel free to click it and email us with any questions you guys have). Since I am leading by example, I'll take the first crack at 'em, though it's open to all readers and writers here.

First question : With all the talk of Halo 2 being like butter from the gods..and other games being called (and apparently failing to be) "a Halo killer" - How do you feel about genre busters? Certain games that after - why do you even bother to make anything even vaguely comparable? Do you feel that some genres should be left alone for a time after something just blows it out of the water? (I know I yawned for a long time at fightersafter I played MKII)

Well, regardless of what gamers think, the gaming biz is a lot like California in 1849: As soon as one guy finds gold, everyone and their mama runs to the coast and tries to make a name for themselves. That's why you see a hundred iterations of "The Next GTA Killer". Sadly, a lot of really great games don't get a "Killer", when if companies would just try, it would greatly advance the genre (the first game that comes to mind is Super Monkey Ball, for instance).

It's a double-edged sword. Success with Street Figher 2 lead to Mortal Kombat, which eventually lead to Virtua Fighter, which led to SoulCalibur (and frankly, you can pretty much close the door right there). But success with Grand Theft Auto 3 spawned such riveting hits at True Crime: Streets of LA and The Getaway.

Ultimately, I think the whole "X-killer" is absurd. There's never going to be a game that just makes people throw down their controllers in disgust at having played some other game they previously thought was great. It's not religion... You don't wander in the desert one day and suddenly realize that your life has been a lie, and Sonic is The Way And The Light. Hell, I'll still take Mario 3 over just about any platformer out there, before or after. Maybe I should start waiting for the next "Mario 3 Killer"?

Second question: I find Tennis for the Atari 2600 EXTREMELY entertaining. Its got a ball, a net, two guys that run around and hit the ball. It keeps proper tennis score . What more does it need? barring anything not related directly to the game play (ie season/career modes etc)why would I need anything more then Tennis?

I guess you technically wouldn't. And that's kind of why a lot of tennis games failed in the interim between a game like Tennis (or even more simply, Pong) and the excellent, excellent Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast). Hell, it's even why Virtua Tennis 2k2 (DC as well) failed. Tennis, the game, is exciting when it's fast paced, back and forth action. The whole thing with Pong was that it was "fast paced", back and forth action. You can distill the game down to that, I suppose. What you may want to have in order to improve the basic back and forth is increased control over your shots, maybe a little extra give as far as you getting to the ball (shamefully, I have not played Tennis on the Atari, so I cannot speak to its gameplay), all in the name of fun. Newer games combine some of those aspects, as well as try to make a more rounded simulation, and fancy presentation options that probably aren't really necessary.

To answer the more general implication of your question, the whole thing with new games vs. old games... This is why I tend to emphasize the gameplay in my reviews, unless the game's spectacularly beautiful. Until I was 7, although the NES had already come out, the only console my family had was an Intellivision, which had been dead as a doornail since 1984 or so. But my parents had tons of games, and I grew up playing stuff like Burger Time, Astrosmash and Tron's Deadly Discs. Frankly, there isn't much more anyone needs to a game than what was there in games like those. While the new generations of consoles have introduced great gameplay and even wonderful innovations, the basic, core gameplay hasn't changed a whole lot. Most games are about winning, or defeating an opponent, or exercising a skill, or cooperating with friends. Games are about fun. If you're still finding Tennis on Atari fun, or Zelda on the NES fun, or Crash Bandicoot on the PSX fun, or Fire Pro D on the Dreamcast fun, don't let anyone tell you any friggin' different.

Third question: Your system...whatever you want it to be...has a game stuck in it. The game just won't come out and you'll probably be playing the game in it FOREVER... but your not upset at this turn of events...what gameis stuck in there?

Let's make the system the Dreamcast, and we'll say SoulCalibur, because as far as I'm concerned (Ariel can attest), my Dreamcast and SC are pretty much married at this point.

Thanks for your questions, Topps!

- Dan

Review: Quick & Dirty Reviews 11/18/04

2004-11-18T09:52:00.000-08:00

In order to catch up with some of the games that have come out this year, especially during a month like this, in anticipation of our End-Of-The-Year-Awards stuff, and because I feel like it, I am going to review some games in a slightly shorter format. Since I feel like I'd be cheating you if I just quickly review one game, I'm going to try and jam more than a couple games in each time I do this. Think of them as gaming haikus.

Review: Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (XBox)

About a year ago, I rented Otogi: Myth of Demons because I was jealous of Devil May Cry, was slightly more of an XBox fanboy than I am now, and even though I had a PS2 at the time, I wanted to see the XBox kick the PS2's ass... and since everyone and their mama said that Otogi was "The XBox's answer to DMC" I was all ready for some hack-and-shooting action. Well. No. I never felt like Otogi: MOD ever played like Devil May Cry (which I eventually did end up playing). Otogi was a far, far trippier experience.

Otogi and Otogi 2 were both developed by From Software and published by Sega, and in a sense, they are very similar to Panzer Dragoon - games that are technically and visually brilliant, but just don't seem to get the respect they should probably command. In fact, given the tepid reaction to Otogi, I was surprised to see a sequel sitting innocently on the shelves of my local Blockbuster. Of course, having played the first, I grabbed it immediately.

Otogi is a weird, weird, weird game. It's like a psychotropic trip through Japanese mythology: subdued Japanese music, ethereal voiceovers, soft, beautiful lighting effects and eclectic demons. The main character of both Otogi 1 and 2 is Raikoh, a demonslayer who is reminiscent of Ryo of Wildfire from the Ronin Warriors. Raikoh is ressurected in a ceremony where 5 noble warriors sacrificed themselves to bring him back from the dead. After this, they become playable characters who each have varying abilities. Each stage (this game is non-linear) presents a challenge: Defeat these demons or protect this artifact, for instance, and gives suggested aptitude for each character for each mission. The missions are completed by defeating the enemies in a very straightforward manner, and you are graded on completeness, speed and damage done to buildings. Paradoxically, though you are supposed to be helping the people of Japan, you earn more points by completely destroying their villages. While Otogi 1 had the option to upgrade Raikoh, this game takes it a lot further, offering you many more weapons and armor features to upgrade the group.

So where does it fail? Well, for all the upgrades, the game feels exactly like Otogi 1, and the reason why Otogi 1 didn't do so well, despite being perhaps the best looking game on the XBox was that it was even more mindless than DMC. Hack, hack, hack, target new enemy, dash towards them, hack, hack, hack. Racking up combos is nice, but it's a little hollow when it's the bulk of tha game and it isn't very varied. Although you have 6 combattants to choose from, they basically play the same because they are all tied to the core engine. Don't get me wrong, I like the game... Playing Otogi 2 reminded me of all of the weirdass experiences I had playing Otogi: Myth of Demons that I really couldn't remember where they came from (Playing an entire boss level while dodging on Japanese-rooftops, avoiding demons and the boss's energy beams as his laughter echoed through the entire, cavernous valley). But ultimately, I can't see it being much more than a rental, or a purchase if/when it finds its way into the bargain bin.

Review: Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (Xbox)

Read about this in EGM. It got pretty good reviews, so I decided to pick it up. This one will be pretty brief:

Kingdom Under Fire is a European-ized version of Dynasty Warriors, with a couple of twists. Firstly, instead of just being in battle, like in DW, you lead an army (and armies), arranged like a phalanx down the field until you encounter another army. There is a slight amount of strategy in this, as, for instance, arranging this phalanx in a tight formation slows them down, but renders them much less vulnerable to ranged attacks. Likewise, arranging them in a loose formation allows them to move faster, but subjects them to ranged fire. However, once your army encounters another army, the game turns into a hack-and-slasher akin to Dynasty Warriors. As your main character fights, you gain points that can be spent like mana to call in assistance from one of your partners (kind of like legendary warriors from Warcraft 3) or to use a special move yourself.

The problem here is that the gameplay is, aside from the army-control actions, completely derivative of Dynasty Warriors. However, it has the design flaw that by killing the leader of the opposing army, you automatically "discourage" the remaining troops and win the battle. So, if you can search out the leader in the mayhem, which at times is not particularly easy, you can run him or her through and move onto the next battle.

Now don't get me wrong, the gameplay is pretty well integrated into the missions. As you encounter armies and are playing with several armies at once, you will be rushing across battlefields to give aid or backup to other armies or to protect certain areas. These are nice aspects, and something that you can't exactly do in Dynasty Warriors, but the gameplay once you manage to catch up with the enemy is still more of the same hack-and-slash as the last battle you were in.

The story follows from a little known 2001 PC game, Kingdom Under Fire: A War of Heroes, which set in motion a story about evil orcs who are taking over a holy land and the Crusaders are going to over take it and yadda yadda yadda. The story's a complete yawn, is not something you've never heard before and shares striking and perhaps alarming similarities between the actual Crusades (erm, if you replace the evil orcs with Muslims) and the current Israeli/Palestinian situation (erm, if you replace the evil orcs with Muslims).

Special mention must go to the graphics and sound departments: The graphics look great, and are very well detailed. At times, there are a lot of characters on the screen in the heat of battle, and there is no slowdown or draw-in that I noticed. The sound, however, is another matter. Poor voiceacting and a very cheesy metal soundtrack stand out here for all the wrong reasons.

I give props to KUF: TC for having an XBL mode, where you can download missions, maps and such, and potentially play against others. But given that Halo 2 is out now, and a lot of games better suited to XBL play, I don't think there'll be a huge following for it. As it is, the gameplay aspects of the game are only slighty better than average. Everything else balances out in the wash. Give it a rental.

Review: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)

After I played Paper Mario, I decided I wanted to track down the so-called rightful successor to Super Mario RPG, which game out on the Gameboy Advance last year. Superstar Saga is definitely a great game in that same mold.

Just like Paper Mario (N64, NGC) and Super Mario RPG (SNES), Superstar Saga utilizes interaction during turn based combat to keep the player interested, and avoids the rote button jamming that even the best in the RPG genre can slip into. I did cover these aspects in the Paper Mario review I did, so I won't rehash them here... What I will say is that the platforming elements in Superstar Saga are reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and that is a link that many people would consider favorable indeed. The story is also somewhat similar to every other Mario game: Save the Princess. The great thing about Mario RPG games is that they'll make fun of themselves constantly. The game follows Mario, Luigi and Bowser's quest to recover Princess Peach's voice from the dastardly witch Cackletta from the Beanbean kingdom.

The gameplay innovation used here is that Mario and Luigi are controlled independently in all actions in the game... Oh, okay, they walk together like Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear toward a bad Farrelly Bros. script, but all actions you'll do in the game regarding Luigi are done with the A button, and all actions regarding Mario are done with B. So, when you're hopping around the game world, you're pressing A and B to get them both around the map. In battle, the same rules as in Paper Mario apply, except instead of special moves, Mario and Luigi have "Bros Moves", which are combination attacks that do damage depending on how precise your button presses are. In fact, much of the game plays out in an interplay between pressing the A or B button at the proper time. In order for Mario or Luigi to counter or dodge attacks, he must jump, with his corresponding jump button, at the right time. In fact, since I'm not particularly good at this, it led to Mario jumping in vain as enemies smashed the crud out of poor Luigi. This also leads to some interesting minigames where your skills are tested, such as when two guards at the Beanbean kingdom demand that you pass their sacred test... a game of jumprope...

Oh yeah, the game's totally silly, even funnier than Paper Mario. The game, of course, makes no attempt to hide this, and in fact, revels in it. Luigi is brought along against his will, characters will taunt you in broken Engrish, and RPG and even Mario conventions will be challenged and made fun of. The only place where it falls off is in the level design. In the beginning, you'll get a couple of powers that you'll have to use over and over and over again. Additionally, some of the layouts are a bit oblique. Not that they have to be obvious, but it'd be nice not to circle the same areas a hundred times before you finally figure out where you were supposed to go.

All in all, this is a great time, a definite buy, and will cause lots of people to stare at you as you laugh your ass off on the bus.

Review: Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (PS2/XBox/Gamecube)

Matt was surprised to find out I play Tony Hawk... DAN PLAYS EVERYTHING. (Even Tony Hawk?) DAN PLAYS EVERYTHING! I'm an old school Tony Hawk vet, since THPS1 on the Dreamcast. But here's the thing, I'm starting to think that the first iteration had it right.

Sure, I can go into THUG2 immediately bust off a 20 trick combo and grind and trick all over the damn place. I'm not so much complaining about that... But I haven't played a Tony Hawk game since THUG about a year ago... My point being everything I was pulling off was straight from memory, and is stuff I've been doing for 5 years now with this franchise. What's new here? When you get special, you can enter a bullet-time mode called "Focus Mode", which, actually, is rather cool. When you fall off your board, you can throw a tantrum... Um, you can slap stickers on the wall, as opposed to wallplanting... Um, you can graffiti... Um....

So yeah. Returning modes include the Story, Create-A-Park, Create-A-Goal, Create-A-Skater, PS2 Online and "Put Your Ugly Mug Into The Game On The PS2 With An EyeToy" modes. New modes include Create-A-Graphic (which is for the graffiti), and the return of Classic Mode. Classic Mode is a welcome return to the THPS series, where you are limited to 2 minutes in a game world to run around and skate to collect items, complete objectives and rack up points. New to the Classic mode is the C-O-M-B-O objective, where you collect those letters in a single, strung together combo to complete the objective. Very nice.

Story mode is very fun here, as well. It plays out as Tony Hawk's team vs. Bam Margera's team as they travel around the world, skating in an underground competition to rack up points against one another. The loser pays for the trip. It's hilarious the way it plays out, and is voiced very well. As your character skates around, he or she gains experience points in the moves you use the most. The game actually tells you what you need to accomplish in order to level up a particular skill if you're dead-set on doing so. Objectives in the story mode vary from things like "Get launched out of a cannon" to "grind over this" to "deliver this kid to see Tony Hawk". Some of them play out like really weird minigames that control a lot like the driving missions in Tony Hawk Underground (read: not very well). The graphics get an over (or under?)haul here too. Rather than the more realistic-looking THUG, these models look slightly more cartoonish and fun. Each level also has some weird celebrity involvement, like Steve-O from Jackass riding a mechanical bull (you control him and skate around with him on this mechanical bull). It's very, very quirky.

My problem was that I just couldn't get around the gameplay. I like it, it's interesting and fun, and for a newbie to the series, you're gonna be impressed once you get about half-way through the game with how much better you are than when you started. But for me, the fact that jumping right in it felt like more of the same was an immediate turnoff. I respect the accomplishment, and applaud the hilarious story mode, but I'd rather see the series take a turn for the more simplistic next time out (remove the Revert, make the grinding a bit more difficult to balance... something). It's just not really all that fun anymore for this grizzled vet. New players to the series will definitely want to pick this up, so I'll rate it for them.

Review: Star Wars: Battlefront (PS2/XBox)

Star Wars: Battlefront is a giant battle sim similar to games like Battlefield 1942 and even Dynasty Warriors in a roundabout way. It stars YOU as Random McSchlub in a giant battle between 399 of your closest friends and enemies, fighting on the most historic battlefields of Star Wars history: Fighting the Gungans on in the Battle of Naboo, or fighting against the Empire on Hoth.

Every army has 5 player types (think: Team Fortress Classic, and every other derivative game), a Warrior, Sniper, Special Unit, Pilot and Heavy Artillery. Each army has their own special player type. The Empire gets a jetpacked fighter with a heavy gun, and the Droid Army has those Droidekas introduced in the Phantom Menace. There are tons of vehicles here, as well. X-Wings, Speeders, Y-Wings, Snow Speeders, and TIE fighters. Any class and player can utilize them, but pilots fare best.

As I said up above, though, the heart of the game is this 200 on 200 battle that you'll go through in each mission. While the various modes are nice, such as a singleplayer campaign that has you win 2 out of 3 matches on various worlds to capture them, they all boil down to this fight between two matched armies. As you are just a random soldier, you'll die plenty, and as you are ressurected, you dwindle your numbers. As you fight, you attempt to claim certain key points on each map. As you win these locales, you can respawn from them and advance your numbers. Most of the maps are actually tremendous. The urban warfare of the Naboo map sticks out in my mind best, as I prefer bright, open levels, but it is typical of the beautiful layouts and graphics in the game. Sure, the character models aren't the best looking, and the frame rate suffers a bit, but it still gets the point across: giant, chaotic battlefields.

Although most reviews I read didn't find the single player all that engrossing (the AI is dumb), I actually did like it. The Galactic Conquest mode, which I mentioned briefly above, was interesting and huge in the amount of scenarios you could play out. But the bulk of the game plays out in multiplayer online, where the game's ambitions are pretty obvious. Huge battles, lots of people, how can you go wrong?

Aside from some immersion issues (I never really felt like I was drawn into the game very well... I know, I know, I'm a picky ass bastard), I liked this game just fine. Very good, worthy of a rental or a buy, if you're into Star Wars.

News: Halo 2 Followup

2004-11-17T23:46:00.000-08:00

Since I posted my review, Bungie has issued an autoupdate for XBL that dramatically increases (speaking from my own experience) the time it takes to arrange a match. On the negative side, I have played a couple more games that had an additional amount of lag. To quote from their release:

The Halo 2 Autoupdate is a small piece of software which will improve the functionality of Halo 2, most notably in the following areas:

Matchmaking: Some players have experienced irritating delays while waiting for a game to be found while in Quickmatch and Optimatch. This is caused by a combination of factors, including connection speed and other detailed nuances of matchmaking. We have isolated the cause and applied a solution to the autoupdate which should normalize that wait time.

I have a feeling "we have isolated the cause" means "We've stopped being so picky about connection speed". However, I'll take an extra laggy game in 10 or 20 to get more games in.

In addition, this update unlocks a secret multiplayer level previously unlocked when you beat the game and complete a certain action (which, since it's out for grabs is no longer a spoiler, right?) It's interesting to see Bungie's response to the, um, constructive criticism, on their boards. You can view the full release at Bungie.net.

- Dan

Review: Halo 2 (XBox)

2004-11-16T09:40:00.001-08:00

Okay, so here's the scene. I am the Master Chief (Yes I am), and I've got a battle rifle - a burst action assault rifle that shoots in 3-round bursts and has a short range scope on it. I'm facing Jackal snipers on the tops of 10 and 20 story buildings, grenade-lobbing Grunts and several classes of Elites all trying to make a name for themselves on the ground. Around me lays an Earth-city in ruins, wrecked from savage urban warfare. Chunks of cars, Pelican transport vehicles and Covenant supply boxes litter the streets. Not to mention all the dead Marines.

This is the scenario that Halo 2 puts the Master Chief into routinely. And while a casual analysis of the game would lead one to write it off as just-another-First-Person-Shooter, one must still weigh that Halo defined the standard for the console FPS in this gen, and that Halo 2 improves upon is predecessor in almost every way. Since Ariel already covered the features in Halo 1 last week, I won't repeat them. Rather I'd like to take the main points of his analysis and cover the all new features introduced in this version.

One of the most significant gameplay changes is the removal of the lifebar. In Halo, your armor provided a shield that could absorb damage until it was gone. This shield would regenerate if you took cover without being hit for a few seconds. However, should the Chief continue to take damage, his lifebar would begin to go down to zero. This damage he took could only be recovered by a health pack, which were somewhat sparsely scattered throughout Halo's vast world. In the sequel, however, there is no lifebar. Rather, you are limited to a shield only, and the Master Chief can take small amounts of damage beyond the shield, but loss of a shield is the immediate point at which one should run for cover. The amount of damage the Chief can take depends upon the difficulty.

Another thing Halo vets will immediately recognize is the revamped weapons. Nearly every weapon in the game has been altered or replaced in pursuit of better balance. The Assault Rifle of Halo 1 is replaced by a Submachine Gun (60 rounds) and a Battle Rifle mentioned above. Aside from the pull of the SMG (which was not a factor in Halo 1), it's standard and familiar fare. The Battle Rifle is one of those weapons whose use changes depending on the difficulty one is playing on: in Normal and even Heroic, its somewhat slow rate of fire and close-range weakness doesn't really allow the player to take full advantage of it when they're able to charge at the enemies. On Legendary, when standoffs are the standard, the 2x scope and burst fire modes will become your closest companion. The handgun has been somewhat downgraded from its godly Halo 1 status: it does a little less damage and lacks a scope, so pulling off those precision headshots will take more practice. The shotgun and sniper rifle don't see any real changes here, but the Missile launcher, in addition to reloading faster and doing more melee damage, can also track against vehicles (think Half-Life).

As far as Covenant weaponry, there is a plethora of new weapons. Because they were limited to essentially plasma rifles and plasma guns in the previous game, it's nice to see an expansion of their arsenal. Perhaps the most prolific addition is the plasma sword, bane of the Master Chief. In this game, you'll get several opportunities to hack and slash at enemies - and it's beautifully integrated into the multiplayer experience. Returning from the PC version of Halo is the Fuel Rod Cannon, very similar to the projectiles the Hunters throw. The Covenant get their very own sniper rifle here, as well as a Carbine, a fast-firing rifle-like weapon (similar to the radiation gun in Half-Life). The plasma gun and rifle return here as well. The plasma gun can now overheat on regular, rapid fire, but it trades this for the ability to knock down any kind of shielding when fully charged. The Needler is back, and supposedly better-than-ever (I never had a problem with it in Halo, personally). The plasma gun is relatively untouched, but a red version, a Brute plasma rifle, trades faster fire and slightly higher accuracy over long range for faster overheating. The Covenant gain yet another weapon in the form of a Brute Shot, which delivers bouncing grenades that do splash damage, and is very effective against light vehicles. Finally, while not a Covenant or Human weapon, the Master Chief will occasionally run across Sentinel Beams, which are basically the exact same thing Sentinels attacked the Chief with in Halo 1.

One can't talk about the weapons without mentioning the dual wielding aspects introduced in this game. While the game sticks to the formula of holding only two weapons, you can mix in a third weapon which can be dual-wielded with some of the primary weapons. This leads to some interesting and necessary combinations: dual wielded plasma guns, plasma gun/SMG, plasma rifle/SMG, dual SMGs, etc. Dual wielding a weapon doesn't impart any penalty to aim or accuracy not found on the weapon itself, but it does render the Master Chief unable to throw grenades. For some reason, when dual wielding, you can't even see the status of your grenades (how many of each you have), which would be useful to know, as sometimes you might want to drop your secondary weapon to start lobbing grenades if you're sure you have them. Depending on what you encounter, and what difficulty you're on, some of the combinations of weapons become a must, and while the plasma rifle is a good weapon, a single one pales in comparison to a pair of them. Unfortunately, I found that the interface for collecting and utilizing the dual weapons was a bit cumbersome. After 20+ hours of playtime, I am still not totally accustomed to it, and mostly because I just decided to forget about trying to figure it out about halfway through. While the weapon system in Halo 1 was perfectly balanced, fast and responsive, all but the most experienced will be second-guessing themselves as to whether they hit the button they intended to hit. I also felt this feature should have become integrated later into the game, as the difficulty and storyline ramped up. Because you can dual wield immediately in the single-player mode, the game loses a bit of balance early on as you're introduced into the Halo world, and changes it from being purely a feature into more of a gimmick.

The essential question here is are the new weapons more balanced? I don't know. I didn't really feel the weapons in Halo 1 were particularly unbalanced until I felt the terrible sting of the Pistol. I always felt the Plasma Gun matched up against the Rifle if you pressed the trigger fast enough (considering it didn't overheat, it would beat the rifle in a head-to-head, eventually). To be honest, a lot of the Covenant additions are stinkers. The carbine doesn't do enough damage to put down any serious threats and the Plasma Gun is only good for knocking down shields (this is very big in multiplayer and in Legendary, but most players won't use this). The Needler doesn't really seem that different, though the ability to dual wield it makes it extremely useful. While the Beam Rifle is a very powerful sniper rifle, it gives away the location of the sniper even more than the sniper rifle does. The plasma sword is a bit more balanced in the campaign mode than in multiplayer, as it has a battery limit imposed on it. I suppose on some level, the give and take inherent in most weapons is a good indicator of balance. The variety of options you have in combat- being able to mix up a plasma gun with a SMG to cover up the weaknesses of both are very good additions. Additionally, dual wielding adds in a skill aspect... using a Needler and a pistol at the same time requires that you remember to hold the trigger for the needler and pump the trigger for the pistol while keeping aim, etc. Some of the more powerful combinations need to be used in this way, so that there is a learning curve for using them in tandem.

The thing I look forward to most often when playing Halo is the opportunity to match up against the AI in the co-op mode. It was pretty much my introduction to the series and it suits the game very well. On the Normal difficulty, progressing through the game is almost simple. There are some challenges, but for a Halo vet, you won't be hung up on too many parts. The real challenge here is on Legendary. In the Easy, Normal and Heroic modes, when one partner dies, the other can get to a safe location to respawn his fallen comrade... not in Legendary. Now your survival depends on not only your own skill, but the skill of your partner. It's an interesting dynamic that can't be appreciated unless your partner is as good as you are. In fact, it is a testament to the friendship between Ariel and I that we didn't kill each other for our various goof-ups and deaths resulting in our having to start over.

But even in the non-cooperative campaign mode, skirmishes between you and the Covenant (especially the Covenant Elites) are extremely protracted and difficult. Each scenario forces you to figure out the best way to approach and neutralize the target with the limited resources you have. This is exactly the reason why weapons like the Needler and Plasma Gun are in the game: on Legendary, human weapons don't have the ability to knock down covenant shields in a reasonable amount of time. The various dual weapon mixes in the game force you to attempt to adapt your weaponry to the situation, or vice versa. If you have a needler and a SMG, you might try to take out an elite behind cover, because of the Needler's tracking ability. If you have a plasma gun and an SMG, you might try to charge the gun and rush a single elite, which may require creating some sort of diversion to separate him.

The downside, though, is similar to Halo 1. The levels where the game feels like a tactical battle sim are somewhat distanced. While the campaign mode here feels similar to Halo 1, it offers more pure gameplay experiences: levels where you're the ultrabadass in a Scorpion tank, or racing down freeways in a Ghost or dogfighting with Banshees. These are the kinds of levels that Halo 1 veterans practically begged for, because the potential to make a great level was always there. But there are other levels that drag on, and those are primarily the ones where you're not in open spaces or (spoiler) fighting the flood, who kind of bust up the game's steeze again. Additionally, Marines, who were promised to be able to flip over tables and hold thier own with Covenant battle parties don't. In fact, their biggest use stems from the fact that they will hold onto weapons you can trade with them. While I am glad they haven't gone the route of some games, with cumbersome and inadequate troop handling schemes, I am not happy with the way the Marines don't last here either.

What I will say about the story is that it is very well told. It doesn't get oppressively integrated into the game, nor does it bury you in cutscenes because it feels that it's earned enough credit with gamers to inundate them in the world (*coughMGS2cough*). The way the story plays out allows the player to learn about the world surrounding Halo without being mired in endless cutscenes or feeling distanced from the story. That ending, though... Find me someone who didn't go "Wait, what?" at the end of all that.

Music and graphics are greatly improved. The Master Chief's new armor model is extremely impressive, and the cutscenes, which use ingame graphics (at least, I believe this because there is some texture draw-in when playing in co-op) will make you wish there was a third person mode. The music, which I was a bit worried about (Steve Vai is not my favorite guitarist by a long shot) was actually really well done. As soon as it fired up, hearing that awesome riff in addition to the Bungie logo told me there would be an awesome gameplay experience; and though I hate to compare the two games, the way Halo 2 has you immediately jump into the game versus GTA: San Andreas's protracted silent loading screens are a way to get Dan into the game experience faster. The music indeed makes Halo 2 a nonstop experience, alternately punctuated by trippy space music, reflective, deep and almost sorrowful melodies and all-out-badass rock. The non-celebrity voice acting is superb. The Master Chief and Cortana continue to provide witty dialogue with one another, and despite being cannon fodder again, the Marines' chatter is interesting and fun. Some of the celebrities sound sedated, or a bit bored, but it doesn't take away too much (I think Michelle Rodriguez, who has prior voice acting experience, is the only voice actor who sticks around for mostly all of the game).

Finally, the multiplayer is fan-friggin-tastic. I've played 24 games by now, and I think that I'm enjoying this experience as much as any games of Quake 3: Arena that I've played, which was previously my favorite multiplayer deathmatch game. In fact, the awesomeness of the multiplayer kept me from finishing this review on Monday! The interface is a great cross between Quake 3: Arena and Unreal Tournament. Double-Kills, Killing Sprees and Headshots are called by the announcer, for instance. Weapons and vehicles litter several of the battlefields, allowing you to team up with people and run through the levels in your own way. The destructability of the vehicles keeps it from being unbalanced. Options here are 8-man deathmatches, 4 on 4 and 8 on 8 team deathmatches, Clan battles and one-on-one battles. This game sets a standard in allowing clans, creating logos and having you fight with friends. I would eventually like to see added options for 16 player deathmatch and additional maps, however.

Unlike most XBox Live games, though, the interface is a bit confusing at first. The goal of multiplayer is basically to reach the mythical level 50. You gain experience points for wins, and lose experience points for losses. As you get better and better, and higher in level, you are paired up with people in a similar level class to you. Necessarily, it can't be possible for you to join just any random level game. This leads to the Optimatch option trying to find the best game for you which can sometimes take a while. Unlike most online games, you don't have the option of immediately restarting the match after its over, or if you do, I haven't figured out how to make it work. I think this was possibly an oversight, but you do get used to immediately jumping out of the game and into the matchmaking process. Games are relatively lag free (this is another consideration in matchmaking). I didn't really experience any lag aside from 2 episodes I can vividly recall in my 24 games, and I'm comparing this to DOA Ultimate, which did lag out of the exact same connection.

So how does it rate? Well, is Halo 2 better than Halo 1? I think it is, ultimately. The stages, music, and multiplayer are all enhanced and a lot more fun than Halo 1. The multiplayer isn't hampered by ridiculous imbalance like with the Pistol, and the goal of trying to get to level 50, while likely a pipe dream to most players, is still something a lot of people will try. It's immediately more accessible than Splinter Cell, though I might have climbed the learning curve when I cut my teeth on PC first person shooters for the past few years. Because of the increased depth in Legendary, what was an easy 8-hour jaunt in Normal/Heroic will turn into a far, far longer adventure (Spent an hour and a half to get halfway through the first level alone on Legendary - and I'm good at the game, dammit). I'll break it down this way: If you don't have any friends, rent Halo 2. It'll be similar to Metal Gear Solid 1, a very great story and gameplay experience that ultimately isn't really very long, but doens't necessarily need to be. If you have some friends, buy it for the co-op experience and eventually work your way together through Legendary. If you've got some friends and XBox live, definitely get it and enjoy one of the most fun online multiplayer experiences out there. Halo 2 seems definitely worth the wait in any of those contexts, and I think in this case, a solid 9.5 rounds up to a

- Dan

The Rundown: 15th to 21st November

2004-11-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to The Rundown. Each week, we'll be 'running down' (see what I did there?) the games that are set to be released into shops in both the UK and the US over the next seven days, and attempting to steer you in the right direction for any purchases you may make. And boy, did we pick one hell of a week in which to start this feature up..

Let's start by looking at the USA, where undoubtably the biggest release this week is Dora The Explorer (GBA). You get to take Dora through seven action-packed levels and using over twenty activities and abilities in your quest to.. what? You mean you're NOT looking forward to this one? Eh, suit yourself.

There's a lot of big games out this week, in fact. Tomorrow will see millions of gamers finally able to get their hands on Half Life 2 (PC), with the boxed version appearing in stores and downloads via Steam being activated. Reviews that have appeared so far have praised the revolutionary use of physics, strong characters and varied gameplay.. and it does seem that the third of the Big 3 games of the season (after GTA:SA and Halo 2) has comfortably lived up to the hype. You can expect more thoughts on this one to be posted on Another Castle in the weeks to come. Interestingly, also out this week is the first game other than HL2 to make use of the Source engine, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC). Well, that didn't take long.

The latest installment of the Metal Gear series is also out this week, in the form of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2). Who knows, maybe this time the plot might actually be understandable? The setting has changed, with the action now taking place in a jungle in the 1960s, and this adds features such as traps and camouflage to the otherwise familiar gameplay. Impressions thus far seem more positive than those which met MGS2.. again, expect AC to be bringing you more on this one.

Now, I don't know how things are in the US, but over here in Britain the anticipation around Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GC) has barely stretched above levels of 'meh'. Seems strange that a game released to such widespread praise last year can't get much interest going in the sequel, but still. Maybe it's a victim of all the other big names around at this time of year. MP2 appears at first glance to be more of the same, but reviews talk of improved play mechanics, a deeper, more involved plot, and a half-decent multiplayer mode. So if you're one of those who really liked the first game, you could do a hell of a lot worse..

Fancy a game you probably won't complete until 2010? Sadists who enjoyed continually dying in the first one will be rushing to the stores this week to buy Viewtiful Joe 2 (GC, PS2). As much as I liked the first game, I haven't seen anything sufficiently different about the second one to persuade me it needs to be bought.. but that's just me. There's more abilities, more levels, and a second selectable character in the form of Joe's girlfriend. For some of you, that might be enough.

EA release another of their all-format blockbusters this week, with Need For Speed Underground 2 (PS2, XBox, GC, GBA, PC). It attempts to happily marry the street racing and car-customisation of the first game with a free-roaming environment similar to Grand Theft Auto.. not the worst of ideas by any means. However, playing the demo for a while shows that the combination of the two ends up feeling a bit off, with neither of the parts meeting the required standard. You want exciting racing action, get Burnout 3. You want freeroaming with your driving, buy one of the GTAs. You want more of both? THEN consider this.

You may have spotted that most of the games this week are highly antipated sequels.. but not all! Some are not-at-all anticipated sequels too! As badly received as the first game was, I'm quite a fan of Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space (XBox). Really, the demo I've played was quite good.. and it doesn't hurt that it'll be cut-price in the UK, either. Most of the faults from the first game are now absent, and a new set of characters introduces stealth-based gameplay into the mix too. Anyone looking for a platformer on the XBox should at least give it a rental.

What with Halo 2, Killzone, Metroid, Half Life 2, Medal of Honor and numerous others around, you'd think there was no more room for any FPS games right now. Wrong. Call of Duty: Finest Hour (PS2, XBox, GC) ventures out into the great unknown this week, bringing more war-based first person shooting action to the gamesplaying public. Quite how it will perform against such opposition remains to be seen, though. Oh, and speaking of war, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 (XBox) also sees a release this week. Never got on with the first one, but you might.

Also out this week:

None of the above appealing to you? Really desperate to spend some money anyway? Fine, here's a list of all the other titles emerging in the US this week...

Playstation 2: Alien Hominid, Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood, Castle Shikigami 2, Choro Q, Crash 'N' Burn, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, ESPN College Hoops 2K5, Fight Club, King Arthur, NCAA March Madness 2005, World Championship Poker

XBox: Atari Anthology, Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood, Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2005 Adventures, Crash 'N' Burn, Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2, ESPN College Hoops 2K5, Fight Club, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, Godzilla: Save the Earth, Greg Hasting's Tournament Paintball, King Arthur, NCAA March Madness 2005, Pinball Hall of Fame, World Championship Poker

Gamecube: Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, King Arthur, Room Zoom, Scaler, World Championship Pool 2004

PC: Bicycle 21 Casino: Texas Hold 'Em, BreakQuest, CSI: Miami, Dragon's Lair 3, EVE Online: Exodus, Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition, Hot Wheels Stunt Track Challenge, Joint Operations: Escalation, Konung 2, MTX Mototrax, Sonic Heroes

Gameboy Advance: Beyblade G-Revolution, Dead to Rights, Donkey Kong Country 2, Dora the Explorer: Super Star Adventures, F-18 Super Hornet, Fear Factor: Unleashed, Golden Nugget Casino, Pac Man World, Yu Yu Hakusho: Tournament Tactics

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom:

So, to the UK, home of delayed launches and much, much waiting. You know those Americans are playing Dead Or Alive Ultimate.. guess when we get to play it? Yeah, that's right - April. *sigh* Anyway, let's look at the big titles that WILL be turning up this week. First up, receiving parallel launches with the USA are Half Life 2, Need for Speed Underground 2 and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. More on these can be found up there.

Three quite big games finally make their way across the pond, having been launched in America a fair while back. Mario vs Donkey Kong (GBA) has already been reviewed on this very site by the fair hand of Dan, so check that out if you haven't already. Meanwhile, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault (PC) is a first-person shooter sequel, being released in Britain in the same week as Half Life 2. So, good luck with that. Oh, and there's another foriegn RPG in the form of Tales of Symphonia (GC).. good, if you like that kinda thing.

So, that leaves us with the games making their debut. First, we have Singstar Party (PS2). Yes, it's a karaoke game. Yes, that is a guily pleasure of mine. This stand-alone expansion on the popular Singstar contains thirty new songs, and a new duets mode enabling you to sing along with a friend. Whether or not you'll still be friends by the end of the song remains questionable. Still, I'll enjoy singing away to Kylie Minogue and Franz Ferdinand, even if most of you readers won't. Don't worry, I'll spare you from hearing the results..

Also making a debut over in the UK this week, Worms: Forts Under Seige (PS2, XBox, PC) is the latest in the popular series of Worms strategy games. It's more of a straight sequel to Worms 3D than anything else, with the additions of fort building and destructible environments adding to the traditional carnage. If you've already played Worms 3D you should know whether this will appeal or not, as the basic play mechanic hasn't changed that much. If you're looking for an introduction to the series, though, this is probably the best place to start.

So, that's about all for this week. Feel free to comment using the handy link below, and I'll be back in seven days with yet more releases to talk about. Who knows, maybe some of them WON'T be sequels for once. Still, apparently, there's some new Nintendo console out or something. Should be interesting. See ya next time!

News: Xbox Next

2004-11-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Finally, after all the rumours about the next Xbox.. we get.. more rumours!

The next-generation Xbox console may come in three different versions, according to a report today which claims that the firm plans to launch versions with and without a hard drive in 2005, and a fully functional PC / Xbox 2 combination in 2006.

Technology website The Inquirer reports that an NDA'd presentation given by Microsoft to analysts and market researchers in the UK pointed to the existence of three hardware versions, with two of them launching next autumn.

Xbox Next and Xbox Next HD would largely be functionally identical, but the latter of the pair features a hard drive and offers increased functionality as a result - which could be anything from Xbox backward compatibility (which the basic model could not offer due to the lack of a hard drive) to media jukebox functions or TIVO-style video recording.
(Eurogamer.net)

The full article goes on to describe the proposed Xbox Next PC in more detail, and says that the plan may be unveiled in full at CES in January. Now, forgive me here.. but if you're trying to compete with a console in such a dominant position as the PS2 is, why would you try and give them a helping hand by dividing your product up into three lines? Seems very counter-productive to me.

Futhermore, current Xbox users have got used to the benefits of the hard drive. Not needing memory cards, downloading new content, custom soundtracks and all of that. So.. why would Microsoft even consider having a version of their new console which removes all of that, and potential goes back to ol' expensive pain-in-the-ass memory cards?

Of course, this may just be all speculation for now, but not much of this new plan (as bold as it may be) makes sense to lil' old me. Oh well. We'll have to wait and see..

Review: Smackdown vs. Raw (PS2)

2004-11-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw for the PS2 Game Console is the newest entry in the Smackdown series from THQ that's spanned 5 previous games over two systems. Developed by Yuke's, the 6th game in this series added some well deserved tweaks in the game engine. Several new features have been added this year, such as the opening match mini-games. These consist of a Test of Strength, a Staredown, and a Shoving contest, which are all performed with a well timed hit of a button at the beginning of a match.

Another great added feature was in the form of Clean/Dirty Moves, so you can choose to play the heroic good guy or the devilish, cheating heel. SDvsRaw also has more than 40 of your favorite and not so favorite WWE Superstars along with WWE Legends such as Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Andre the Giant, and the Legion of Doom. And unlike last year's SD: Here Comes the Pain, the legends are complete with entrances and theme music. Nice touches there.

Probably the most improved feature in this year's game is the Royal Rumbles. The addition of a Ringout Meter, which at leat gives you a fighting chance in the Rumbles because it takes longer for you to be eliminated because you have to wear down your bar first. Unfortunately, it also gives your opponents the same fighting chance. So Rumbles are bit harder this year, but more fun.

Also available this year, for the first time ever, is online play. Sadly, the only thing available for play online is singles matches and Bra and Panties matches. No defending your Create-A-Belts, no tag team matches, no tracking your wins and losses, and no participating in Specialty matches. Very disappointing. Maybe someday, someone will get an proper online wrestling game going. And maybe by then, I'll actually have broadband. :(

Returning, FINALLY, is the Create-A-Belt and Create-A-Pay Per View. Fans haven't seen the Create-A-Belt since the Good 'Ole Days of Wrestlemania 2000 on the N64, and I, for one, am glad to see it back. You can also defend your belt in multiplayer and if you lose your belt, it goes onto your opponent's memory card and you can't get it back until you win it back. SO be careful who you put your title up against. You may never see it again.

So, since this was a big title here at AC and several of our reviewers either bought the game and/or wanted to review it, what we've done is set up a bit of a Roundtable Review. This review features our AC's Own Dan, Anthony, and myself along with Special Guest Reviewers Omar and Chris McLeod and (for the most part) covers what I didn't cover up there in the beginning. So, take it away, fellas!
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Chris: Alright gentlemen, first off, what are some initial impressions of the game?

Chris M.: As someone who played the fuck out of Here Comes the Pain, I was anticipating this game a ton. I have to say, it wasn't quite as good as Here Comes the Pain was, but it's not horribly dissapointing as some of the reviews made it out to be. The game has depth, but it has depth in different ways than Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain (HCTP) had it. Overall, not dissapointed, but not dazzled. I will go more into depth with this when other questions arise.

Anthony: I was worried it would be a step backwards from HCTP. But, I actually found myself having more fun playing this then HCTP is some areas. The mini-games, and challenges make this a deep game, and much fun to play.

Dan: I didn't really know what to expect from the game. I'd sort of stayed away from the PS2 games for God-knows-what-reason, and even when I ordered HCTP from one of my rental services it didn't work. But when this came around after talking with some of you guys, I decided to get it (We are or were, after all, wrestling fans). I thought the game was actually pretty good. The controls were a bit unintuitive to me, but nothing completely prohibitive. I had issues in other areas, though.

Chris: Now, I was sorta looking forward to the game, but in all honesty, not too much because at the time, I didn't have a PS2, so I was worried I wasn't gonna get to play it. But then I did get one and SDvsRaw at the same time. I've played all of the SmackDown series, with the exception of SD: Just Bring It, and while I prefer the No Mercy engine, ( I honestly think everyone in this room does as well) I've really gotten used to the SD engine.

[At this point, the church says "Amen."]

So all the added tweaks to the engine like the Dirty/Clean meter and the Pre-Match Mini Games were nice additions. I especially love the Dirty Moves, since I'm a heel bastard.

Omar: I think this engine is an improvement over Bring The Pain since it felt almost too mechanical in how you had to break down your oppenent. It was break down one body part and that's it. Compared to a game like Fire Pro, where you can cause general damage to your opponent and win that match, much like real wrestling.

Chris M.: Well, a lot of real wrestling is working a certain body part, too.

Omar: Yeah, but Bring the Pain was extremely mechanical, and if a guy's moveset didn't have moves that damaged the area that his finisher did, you were forced to repeat the same moves over and over. It showed how stupid Rock and Austin's movesets were. Where's the fun in that? Even with the reduced roster, I think it's the best SD game of the series and it does a good job recreating the WWE.

Dan: Now the title of the game is Smackdown vs. Raw - basically the premise follows the last year, give or take a few months, of the WWE storyline, which is that the shows Smackdown and Raw are split, allowing for completely different things to be going on in each show (with the odd trade or feud between shows). How do you think the story mode reflected the spirit of that and the current storyline climate of the WWE?

Chris: Honestly, I don't think it reflected it very well, because the story modes are the same regardless of which brand you're on, which was very disappointing. And sometimes it was the little things. Like I was on Raw and there was Torrie Wilson and Sable on Raw. Which is a big WTF. And both Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus were on Smackdown. Which made no sense. On the other hand, some little details were quite good, such as JR and King randomly spouting out "You won't see this kind of action on SmackDown!" during commentary and the outrage of a SD superstar coming over to Raw. Seeing Angle and Taker and the like on Raw was neat, but there wasn't really a long term reason for them to be there, and it was like it was forgotten the next month.

Chris M.: I agree with Demp [ed note: "Demp" is Chris' nickname] that the season mode doesn't compare well to the current WWE environment and storylines. The whole "divas on the wrong shows" stuff was very weird. As was the fact that the wrestlers they accompanied weren't even the right wrestlers. The whole "You won't see stuff like this on Smackdown, JR!" commentary was nice and all, but it made little sense when King said it during my battle royale match where it was me and 14 other SmackDown guys. And also, in the real WWE, they don't really focus on brand feuds all that much. I think that the whole "Smackdown invading" and such was a product of the fact that the game is named "Smackdown vs. Raw", and ultimately, I think the idea of the game shaped the story mode more than the actual WWE storylines. HCTP's story mode was probably a little better, though SDvR's wasn't horrible by any means.

Omar: I agree with Demp and Chris on the storyline mishaps, I personally think the story mode from Here Comes The Pain was much better with random stuff from past WWE storylines with the characters from the season being thrown in. My favorite storyline from HCTP was my guy as champ, me getting attacked from a car with a sledgehammer (like Rock) and finding out it was my friend, Killa K's CAW... Then at Wrestlemania we fought. You just don't get that in SDvRaw.

Anthony: I hated how the storylines for each brand were the same. To be honest, outside of the commentary, I didn't feel a difference between two brands. I also didn't like how they took out the option to create the rosters for each brand. But overall, the career mode was fun, and had a variety of twists and turns.

Dan: I couldn't believe, personally, that they pulled the same trick they pulled in this game that they did in Day of Reckoning. There's no real difference here between either storyline. That takes out half of the replay value, unless you happen to like seeing both red AND blue. There were two things I really did like, though. One, you can actually lose matches here and the storyline progresses. I know this because I lost a whoooole lot (we'll talk about that later) intially. Two, you actually get to make the odd decision. This sometimes affects whether you'll have a tag team partner (for instance), or whether you'll be playing a good guy (face) or a bad guy (heel).

Chris: Now, one of the new features in SD vs Raw is the Clean/Dirty Moves and Meter. Two part question here: How did you guys like that, and did it change your wrestling style any?

Anthony: I really enjoyed the clean/dirty meter, I thought it added a whole new dimension to the matches, and the gameplay. I really felt a level of satisfaction hitting someone with a mega low blow after building up my meter, and I also found myself trying to play as a face/heel in order to build up my meter.

Chris: I really enjoyed the Clean/Dirty Feature. My CAW's are usually heel-ish guys and I like to cheat alot by using chairs and low blows, cause frankly it's more fun. So now I can do all that AND get rewarded for it? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. So it really didn't change the way I play much, because I'm a heel dick anyways. Although the Clean Meter is great incentive to actually wrestle Chris Benwah style and break down your opponents body piece by piece.

Chris M.: The Clean/Dirty moves and meter were okay, but I think it kind of limits my style if I want to do clean or dirty moves with the filled meter. Perhaps I haven't explored it enough, but I usually like to do the dick heel moves AND the crazy dives onto my opponents.

Anthony: You do have the option of turning off the meter.

Chris M: I know... but it just doesn't seem worth it to wrestle a certain style in order to do just a low blow or just more powerful clean moves. It's a nice feature, and I'm sure I'll find more use for it as I wrestle more, but for now, it just seems superfluous.

Omar: I like the meter since I felt like I was actually working a wrestling match, as compared to trying to beat the hell out of my opponent. I even crafted my CAW to working a dirty style and it had a hand in what choices I made in Story mode. My one gripe is that I don't think dirty fighters should be penalized for high flying moves.

Dan: I think it was a little flawed in the execution. I played mostly Dirty, and even when I was trying hard, it was still pretty difficult to pull off the Dirty "finisher". Moreover, when I made a decision storyline-wise that turned me into a Clean wrestler, it didn't work very well for me, as almost all my moves were set up for a Dirty wrestler. It would have been nice to include 2 different movesets to bring that in. What I also noticed a lot of was when I was wrestling Clean with my Dirty moveset, I actually wrestled a lot like Stone Cold Steve Austin. Putting some sort of "grey" or "anti-hero" characteristic would have been nice as well. Unfortunately, neither of those were there. Also, I found it a little annoying that they didn't integrate this feature into all (or nearly all) different match types. Heels and faces exist in Last Man Standing matches too.

Chris: I'll agree with Dan here with the Wrestling Clean with a Dirty Moveset. That didn't quite work out for me.

Chris M.: Yes, and I'll also note that to do the dirty finisher, all you have to do is grapple.

Omar: I think there should have been another dirty attack... Where's the fork attack?

Chris M.: How do you all feel about the CAW mode this time around? HCTP's CAW mode was really great, do you think this version is better, worse, the same?

Anthony: I felt that the CAW has always been the finest feature of the SD series. This one was no exception. I made a pretty good version of my SWF [ed note: Slash Wrestling Federation is an e-fed at InThisVeryRing.com] wrestler. Only one complaint: I felt there was a lack of moves that hadn't already been given to an already created WWE wrestler. Not having a slingshot suplex upset me, also.

Dan: CAW mode was interesting. I was able to make a pretty decent luchador, who looked a lot better here than he did in DOR (THE RETURN OF LEYENDA!). However, when I went to create myself, obviously I was looking for a lot more facial details for myself than I was looking for for my masked luchador. I found that while having 154 or so different eyes is nice, how come there are no different noses, or mouth shapes? My guy barely looks like me as I was able to do a slight bit of jaw morphing. I also thought the hair options were kind of abysmal. My hair looks like a shorter version of Rhyno's - curly and long. It was impossible to find even his hair type - I looked over and over again. I'm not sure if it needs to be unlocked, but it's annoying that it isn't there. As for moves, I didn't really feel like it was lacking a lot. It actually had the Emerald Fusion, so I was happy.

Omar: I personally think that creating the body parts for your CAW is almost too deep, The people that post CAWs online are insane to toy around with it to make near perfect versions of WWE guys not included in the game. I love the large selection of moves though.

Chris: I thought the CAW Mode was pretty much the same this go around, although I did like the new interface. And for the love of God, THANK YOU for fixing the shitty looking shorts and pants and for also having a decent selection of short hairstyles. I've always thought that one area where SD Create-A-Wrestler modes were lacking was in all the goofy shit they'd put in for you to use. I mean, really, who's gonna use a Rainbow Wig or a Vegeta hairstyle? Not I, that's for sure. I'm anal about some parts of my Create-A-Demp and the little facial tweaks you can do satisfies me greatly. Also, I'm glad they kept the CAW Snapshot feature from Day of Reckoning, cause I for one was really tired of seeing my CAW represented as Shadow Man.

Chris M.: I'm a mixed bag about the CAW. The initial interface seems kind of unfair. At some points it's easier to scale your body when you have the clothes you want on your CAW. I thought it was good, and I did like the better selection of pants and shorts and short hairstyles (though none seemed to fight just right). I thought it was a little lacking in shirts, and I thought the face morphing was kind of strange. I'm still not quite comfortable with my CAW's face.

Dan: Yes, I agree.

Chris M.: It takes a LOT of tweaking to get the face right... a lot more than in HCTP. The moveset doesn't seem too limited, it's still got the moves I liked last time and then some. The only thing that makes it seem limited is the fact that you can only assign certain moves to certain grapples. Like, in HCTP, I could put anything in Submission grapple... Not so in SDvR. It doesn't bother me THAT much, it's just kind of weird. I DO like the bookmarking feature, though. A LOT. Basically, as you're going through and assigning your CAW moves, you can hit R2 and "bookmark" that move if you like it.. Thus you don't have to go scrolling through all the moves.

Omar: Oh yeah, and some of the B submissions seem kind of weird. A headlock can make you submit? WTF?

Chris M.: And I also don't like that they removed the original entrances from last time. Where's the ballet dancing? Where's the drunken stumble? Those were things that made the CAWs fun last time.

Dan: Okay... I famously went something like 2-20 on the first 3 days with this game in Story Mode. The matches I won I happened to win by sheer luck or by exploiting the system (keeping the computer on the ground longer than would normally be possible, with the same submission move.) Be honest. Wasn't the story mode AI a bit overly aggressive early on? I can't see that being healthy for the casual gamer. I'd have given up if I hadn't bought the damn game. Also, what did you guys think of the WWE Challenges?

Anthony: I think that for a good career mode, you need to gradually increase the AI. It eases you into the game, and let's you build your character up. I didn't notice it being hard early on, but I could sense an un-eveness with the AI in career mode. The game gives you about 60, maybe more challenges. The challenges ask you to complete exhibition matches under certain guidelines for cash. I really enjoyed them - they reminded me a lot of Madden. Plus, it was a great way to earn money for the shopzone.

Ramo: I'm a SD junkie so I know the system in and out so I didn't have too many problems, but I did have the same problem that Dan had with HCTP, if you know in the begining that your CAW sucks, then it's understandable that the AI could whip your ass. I loved the challenges, except for the "win after taking two finishers" one since it's not natural to the game play.

Chris M.: I didn't think the AI was too hard, I think that you have to strike early though, and not let them get an advantage at all. It takes some getting used to, but if you pretty much stay on the offense the entire match, you'll probably win every time. That's one thing I keep in mind while making my CAW: I go for moves and strikes that are conducive to further offense,l ike the Jericho toe kick, which stuns an opponent and lets you get off an easy finisher. The challenges were pretty cool, it's a nice element that it added to the game, but some of them do seem pretty ridiculous.

Dan: See, for me, I was actually not comparing it to Fire Pro D (which don't have no, and don't need no stinkin' storylines), but to Day of Reckoning, where you start up from the ground as a jobber (a guy who loses a lot) and work your way to the championship. In this game, it's like your CAW is already assumed to be a Superstar, but his stats just happen to be 50 points lower than everyone else's. It's extremely frustrating. As far as the challenges, I found I was doing some of them so I could cling to the AI curve and win matches. After the dam broke in Story mode, I started doing a lot better. The gameplay was even compelling. But they really, really need to start slower next time. This was my least favorite part of the game. When I went into exhibition to play, say, Eddy Guererro vs. Triple H, I didn't see any drastic difference between the two in terms of ability, and everything flowed like a normal match. Not so much with the story mode initially.

Chris: I honestly didn't have too much trouble with the story mode mainly, just because I hadn't played an SD game in forever, I turned it down to easy to get my rhythm back. So then I took my CAW, complete with a 26 rating, into story mode and didn't have too much trouble, except for the fact that I tapped out to Shelton Benjamin and had to restart the Last Man Standing Match with Tajiri few times. Then I when I got my stats up to point, I jacked the difficulty back up to normal. But one thing I cannot STAND about the AI is the constant barrage of attacks the computer will hit you with while you're on the ground and they will NOT LET YOU UP AND I WANT TO KILL THE PS2. It's very fucking cheap and not very gentlemanly like.

Dan: Yeah, in No Mercy, after one or two submissions, the game would force you to your feet. In this game, you can actually endlessly apply submissions as long as the opponent doesn't counter.

Chris: One gripe about it, though is that there's no Tag Team Title or Icey Title storyline like in Here Comes The Pain, and even if you had a Superstar Point total of 65, you could still win the World Title. Almost like you didn't earn the title. I didn't like that the World Title being the focus of the Story Mode. I liked the slow build of HCTP's story mode better.

Anthony: I HATED that they took out those titles... really took away a dimension of career mode.

Anthony: This next one's simple question really: what were some of the little things that you really liked about this game? I'm talking about quirks and such the average gamer may not notice. These can be postivie and negative. They can be graphical, control wise, or sound wise.

Chris M.: First off is in CAW mode, the fact that you can put a bag over your CAW's head. Second, I liked the "holding onto submissions until the five count" feature (In order to build up your "dirty" meter, you can hold onto a submission hold after the ref tells you to break it.) Third, I kind of like the new ringside view, it makes it look more like you're on the actual show with the actual camera view.

Chris: The return of the turnbuckle removal and the foot on the ropes moves. The fact that you can complain to the ref about a slow count. DITTO on the "ignoring the rope break" thing. The corner chop mini-game, and last but not least, THE TITLE AT RINGSIDE SO YOU CAN USE IT OMG if you're a champ. But I will say, that the Hell in a Cell looks waaaay too small this go around.

Omar: When I go to the top of the stage, the side view hampers your view, I love being able to ignore the ref for the 5 count, I love being able to complain to the ref. I think being able to have your manager distract the ref and it really works it great. The camera in the 6-man hell in a cell pulls out way too much. Like Demp, I love the chop battles.

Dan: Unlike most of you guys, I think, I actually liked the dancing Torrie and Sable menus. Sable looks actually decently attractive here. I liked that the camera was set just like a TV camera was. I liked the holding of the 5 count, though I wish you could do it in any match type, not just the ones who had a clean/dirty meter. I didn't really particularly like the submission A/B stuff. Nor did I like that submission moves basically were null and void in any match where they were turned off. You can't even apply them to work on an opponent.

Omar: Dano, I think you can. As long as the match has rope breaks

Dan: I don't think you can because it doesn't count them as "submissions", per se. It's like the armbars in the game where it does damage, but needs to be applied repeatedly.

Chris: Superstar Voiceovers: Good? Bad? Cool? Annoying? What's your take?

Dan: One word: awful.

Omar: Most of the guys sound like they were using their normal voices, which is really shown when you hear Vince who must have been really geared up that day.

Chris M.: They were sort of cool, but I don't think they were needed. I don't think they should've sacrificed other stuff for the sake of voiceover.

Chris: Well, like the actual Raw and Smackdown broadcasts, JR and King and Cole and Tazz are hit and miss in the commentary, mostly miss. But for the most part I tend to ignore them in the heat of battle anyway. Now, as for the cut scenes, very few of the voiceovers have any spunk to them. Vince McMahon's is my standout voiceover, as it was emotional and as pumped as he usually is. But as for the rest, *snore* Which is what Eric Bischoff must have been doing during his recording session, cause he sounds like he downed a gallon of Quaaludes before he got started. They add to the realism of the TV production, but I do think that they should have given your CAW a default voice to use.

Omar: Also, if you go through the Story mode with a guy on the WWE roster, they don't talk either.

Chris: Alright guys, final scores?

Chris M.: 3.5
Omar: 3.5
Chris: If I could give it 3.75 , I would, but as it stands, SD vs. Raw gets a mighty 3.5 from me.
Dan: 3.5
Anthony: My final score: 4/5 While it has some hic-cups here and there (story mode, crappy announcers and voice over), this is still the best installment of the Smackdown series, and arguably one of the best US wrestling games available today.

Chris: Now, averaging the scores, rounding up (chosen at random prior to review starting), we still arrive at a mighty...!

Out of 5.

Review: Halo (XBox)

2004-11-08T20:38:00.000-08:00

A Retrospective Reflective

A few games in every generation sometimes become the standard by which other games in that genre are judged. Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, Doom. These are just a few of the titles that have forever altered the perception of what games can and should be and how they are created afterwards. Most of these divisions are made, initially, along console lines (Arcade games are usually immune to this), especially before the true impact of the game can be noted. One of the last monoliths to have been released is Halo: Combat Evolved.

Dan and I knew only three things about the game when we initially picked it up. The first was that it was the "killer app" for the X-Box (or so EGM said). The second was that it was a first person shooter. The third was that it had a co-op mode. With this information available to us we were braced for the worst. The last experience we had playing an FPS on a console was Quake 3 Arena for the Dreamcast. Let us just say that it SUCKED and leave it at that. With great trepidation and some would say morbid curiosity, we started up the system and the game. Little did we know that we were going to end up doing nothing else for the next 2 days.

Before embarking on this article I did some research and found the most common complaints that are had in this game, as well as the aspects of it which are unanimously praised. The most immediate detraction of the game, particularly from our current X-Box Live perspective, is that it doesn't have any Netplay. Bungie has said that it was not included because they couldn't get the system to work properly, or it didn't meet their standards, or something like that. I say more power to 'em for refusing to include an aspect in the game because they knew they couldn't get it to work. There has been some half-made crap released with things that could have been fixed if more time had been allowed for quality control or somebody bit the bullet and said, let's axe that and come up with something we can make that'll replace it.

The other design flaw I've noticed is the design of the game's sound seems designed to truly work only with a Surround Sound system. Every cutscene in the game I needed to turn up the volume on the TV because I lacked a center channel. I'm hoping I don't encounter something similiar in the next game. Beyond that I have heard this: The single-player mode of the game is weak considering it is the main method of playing the game. There are several lulls in action while playing the game. You repeat several areas instead of exploring new ones. The weapons are not balanced. The Allied A.I. is extremely stupid.

This first one, I've noticed, comes from several people whose intitial experience of playing the game was the Co-Op mode. Although you miss many of the graphic subtleties of the game when playing in Co-Op (you only use half the screen at the time) the gaming experience itself takes on a whole new level. While the single-player mode can be said to be good, maybe even great, although it is not the revolutionary achievement Half-Life was, being able to tackle all of the objectives in the game with the help of a partner added an entirely new dynamic into the mix that would probably not have been possible in other FPSs. This is something that I had been lamenting in video games in quite some time. The loss of the the 2 player game. Most games that had been created since the N64 era had been single-player only, unless they had a versus mode in them of some kind, where the players fought against each other. Gone were the days of Mario, Raiden, Final Fight, and Double Dragon, where two or more players could combine their abilities in order to complete the game and share their victory. Video games are always more fun with others (If not, then why on Earth would multiplayer games be so popular?) Halo brought that experience along with a great single player story that played out fantastically when you and your best friend teamed up and tackled the game's challanges. Which me and Dan proceeded to do for two days straight.

The lulls in action in the game are necessary, especially when playing on the Legendary dificulty (By the way, renaming the difficulty scale from Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard to Easy, Normal, Heroic, and Legendary was a stroke of genius. There's nothing better than to turn to someone and go "We just accomplished something legendary"). Otherwise you would simply be overwhlemed, and you would seek to create your own lulls in the action. I can't even recall how many times, after staving off an attack, while we were still being bombarded by energy mortars and the marines accompanying us where screaming their heads off, me and Dan kept watch on screen while we talked over our strategy for defeating this next group of foes.

The most fun part about that was that the AI in the game was intelligent enough to be predictable. Sounds like a contradiction in terms right? Well, the thing is, if you're playing against another player and you notice that they run for cover when you chuck a grenade at them (a smart thing to do) then you can use that to your advantage (chuck two and hope you predict where they will dodge to correctly). The Covenant would try to retake strategic positions (higher ground, weapon stands, vehicles) and attack you in a co-ordinated and intelligent manner. A smart opponent is easier to outsmart than a dumb one.

Case in point: In Quake 2 there is a corridor patrolled by some huge brute. You lob a grenade over the side of the window to distract him. It blows up, makes lots of noise, but the brute just keeps on walking. You shoot him in the back to get him to come to you so you can kill him from a safe perch. He gets shot, stops for a moment, looks around (but never turns around) then keeps on going. If you step into the corridor he immediately turns and fires on you. If you step back out AFTER he's fired on you, he resumes his patrol. Stupid. Very stupid. A smart foe (Let's say an Elite) will detect the initial grenade explosions and careful saunter over to see what caused it. You shoot him in the back, he turns and if he sees you will first alert the troops under his command and then come after you. If you step into a corridor behind him he will not turn unless you make enough noise to be heard. Intelligent. Easier to manipulate than the dumbass hulk from Quake, but still intelligent (you alert him, he alerts others and this usually results in all hell breaking loose, which often results in your death).

You want an example of where a lull in action is a good thing? In the level where you make an assault on the Halo control room, right before you get to it, is a gaint door. Upon opening it you reveal a covenant ambush waiting for you. On Legendary there is a cloaked, plasma sword wielding Elite who charges you, plus a mass of Grunts, one or two with the huge Hunter guns, Vipers (I THINK that's what the guys with shields are called. Dan and I usually called them shield guys) and a couple of Elites in the back. Upon killing the charging Sword Elite (no easy task in and of itself) You can hide behind some of those purple containers that are found here and there and the wreck of the Banshee you rode in on (at least for us we where able to get it here). All the while the grunts are bombarding you with cover fire and the Vipers are moving into flanking position. Taking out the flankers allows you to sit back, fire a couple of shots to keep most of the grunts back, and talk strategy with your friend (if you're alone, get to thinking). There are several times where no one is attacking you and you can sit back and relax and believe you me, you'll be grateful for the break.

I spoke about the Marines screaming their heads off earlier. I know a couple of marines and soldiers. I know a lot more than I probably should about battlefield tactics and conduct and the training the Space Marines would have to go through in order to become what the game says they are. Granted the player plays the role of Master Chief, a genetically engineered soldier designed to be the best of the best of the best of the best of the best, BUT that still doesn't excuse the other marines from being nothing more than fodder. Especially considering the intelligence programmed into the enemy. If you have a Marine watching your back, shoot him. He'll do you no good except maybe alert you with his death gurgle, or the weapons fire that kills him. They won't try to dodge grenades, they know nothing of cover fire, they can't drive, or shoot well. They are fun to have around for conversation but they couldn't fight their way out of a garage if their life depended on it. Which is very damn funny considering that's almost an exact situation you run into in the game. After the experience of running through the game in co-op mode (something that more games should exploit) trying to use a group of marines to help me out 1/100th as much as having Dan at my back was an excercise in futility. I really was a one man army, which kind of sucked after being part of a tag team of ultimate destruction. If you get Halo, get your best Video Game playing friend (or just your plain best friend if they play video games) and run through the game, on normal if you've never played and then on Legendary. Trust me, the experience is worth it.

One complaint I read was that the game was not open ended enough, you kept running through the same areas and it was all very linear. I agree, somewhat, on the linear part. There was really only one path to go through when completing the game. The real fun part was what you did along the way. Occasionally the game allowed for some short-cutting or alternative route selection. But most of the time it said, go this way, and off you went. As far the repeating areas: I found it alot of fun to go back through an area I had already shot, fought, killed, and butchered my way through only to encounter the scars of my previous battle and heavier resistance. It added to the great atmosphere of the game, that you really were stuck on this ring world and that you where fighting for your life against what seemed like impossible odds. I would have liked the option of going a different route and having the chance to ambush an enemy or two, but I only started noticing this after playing through the game completely on every difficulty mode, alone and with a friend. Years later I still love playing the hell out of this game.

That was the point when I discovered multiplayer. I made some new friends and me and Dan finally got to experience the multiplayer mode that everyone was always screaming about. It was fantastic. The level design was spectacular (as the single player levels where), using vehicles and playing team games was great. Rally Racing was fun, especially when you had a gunner backing you up. Ambushing a Scorpion tank never gets old, and sniping another player, in the dark, at 500 paces is still absolutely priceless. I can see now why so many people went through hell and high water to get their X-Boxes online and play with others. Here is where the only true complaint many people have about the game comes in. The weapons are unbalanced. A head shot or two with a pistol will take down anything and the needler is ineffective as a combat weapon (if you've got the patience, space, and time to hit, run, and hide then you can MAYBE use it. But why bother when you call pull up a plasma pistol and take care of business right then and there). Most people (me included) love the Assault Rifle, (although the Shotgun is my personal favorite, especially considering my penchant for close quarter combat) and so I never really noticed the imbalance inherent in the weapon list until playing the game for a very long time. This is something that is going to be addressed in the next game, but it is also something I can't really dock the game for, as it never reared its unbalanced head until much, much later in my gaming experience, far past the time that the average replay value of a good game would have completely worn off.

This game had very little flaws. All of them can be easily fixed. Halo 2 shall prove whether or not Bungie listened and worked on the aspects of the game that will move it even closer to perfection as we now see it. At the time, Halo was absolutely fantastic: an incredible experience that could be shared with others and will soon be shared across the globe. This weekend, Dan will come over to my house and we will start the sequel the same way we started the original. Not really knowing what to expect, except now we'll have snacks and drinks at hand and a goal to work through the game on Legendary our first time out. I'll wait until he gets here to fire up the game, and we shall continue a story that we began years ago. Together.

Go out and buy this game right now. Get Halo 2 as well. Play through the first (even on Easy its a challange) and then play through the sequel. You won't be dissapointed. Wog wog wog!

Definitely Not News

2004-11-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

Apparently Halo 2 is coming out tomorrow. This is exciting to many folks. Expect a review for it by Monday-ish.

- Dan

Review: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)

2004-11-07T02:51:00.000-08:00

So, another year, another GTA. I have to admit, this one snuck up on me - I am not not a fan of the GTA series, but as I told Anthony last week, don't really ever harbor any loyalty to the franchise. Unlike a new Mario game, or Zelda, or even Halo (and most especially, currently, Prince of Persia), I don't wait with giddy anticipation at the release of GTA games. I just go and get them. My first true GTA experience was with the original PC game, a game I felt was kind of fun in small doses, but had utterly meaningless missions that did nothing but alleviate some of the boredom with the core gameplay. I probably played all of 4 minutes of GTA 2, finding it to be more of the same.

So GTA 3 knocked me as flat on my ass as it did anyone else who had ever even heard of the first couple of games. It was like taking a Game Boy Color version of Carmageddon and turning it into Grand Turisimo in a single leap. I still remember that you could set the camera in GTA 3 to be like the cameras in the first two games, strictly top-down. Of course, that was quickly abandoned as the series really took console-root with Vice City (and hasn't looked back), it was still one of those quirks that made you wonder how the heck we went from point A to point R so quickly.

But I never bought GTA3, though I spent some time with it. I downloaded the voice tracks and a couple of the music stations (back then, all the music, commercials and such were all made up, and excellently done), listened to them, laughed my ass off, and then got myself hyped for Vice City, aka The Game That Made Me Buy The PS2.

Irony would have it that the PS2 I bought Vice City for would break down right as San Andreas came out, forcing me to trade it in at EB Games (they never checked it, so I got $100 credit for it. Yeah, baby!) to get the new, sleeker, smaller PSTwo. It wasn't so much a force as a preponderance of evidence - old and busted PS2 that I can't play a potential Game of the Year on, or new hottness PSTwo that even comes with the network adapter I was too cheap to spring for? The choice was made.

Still, the loyalty issue comes up again, because I didn't dive straight into GTA: San Andreas. Rather, I let Ariel have at it for the weekend while I was down in LA. Mostly, what I wanted to see was how he played it, and what you could do with it. When I got back home, I basically did the opposite, and it had interesting results. Let me start from the beginning, though.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas basically chronicles the story of Carl Johnson - CJ, the San Andreas version of Tommy Vercetti. Continuing in the vein of strong main character development that was laid down in Vice City, GTA: SA gives a very interesting and complex character to CJ - somewhat former gang member, appears to want to reform, but is drawn back into the gang life in Los Santos when his mother dies, and ultimately back into the gang which he ran to Liberty City, the site of GTA 3, to get away from. The story drives the game, and the character of CJ is steadily developed through various missions.

The missions make up the heart of the game - it is where the plot is advanced and where you open up new areas to travel to. Intially, you only have access to the city of Los Santos, though by playing through and passing missions, you open up neighboring cities. While it may seem a bit restrictive to only allow access to a single city initially.. er.. it's not.

Los Santos is huge. It is bigger than most game worlds by itself, and, as a city modeled after Los Angeles, is eerily accurate. By eerily accurate, I mean it seems like it was designed by someone with an abiding hate for order (Like LA!). Streets meet up at all sorts of weird angles, over hills and wild curves, and for no particular reason. Going across a freeway will take you from one gang's turf to another's, or from a busy commercial area to a suburb. But unlike some of the polished streets in Vice City's sprawling metropolis, this game feels less like a city designed around helping a player find all the things he or she needs to find, and much more like someone dropped CJ into the middle of an already living and breathing system. As a result, you'll find that you're going to be more apt to get completely lost, or need to seek out a particular landmark or two to get a general idea of where you are. You'll be using the map a lot more here than in VC to help you just get around Los Santos (And never mind that there are 3 other cities like this in the game). What I found most amazing about all of this was that when I got out of whatever car I'd stolen, and just walked around, or into some buildings, the level of detail for just a simple house, or backyard or hotel was amazing. Stretching that out over an entire, gigantic game world is just mindblowing. As someone who has spent a significant chunk of their life living in South Central LA, I can attest that the world is a pretty accurate representation of a ghetto where it needs to be.

Actually being able to go into buildings is a new feature added to San Andreas. While many of the missions tend to serve the plot, and advance it, a lot of others are basically tutorials on how you can enter the many various minigames that make this game famously distracting. One of those, for instance, is the ability to burglarize buildings by getting into a particular burglar's van. With it, you can then enter peoples' houses and rob them blind. Other buildings have a little less life to them - the hotel I mentioned, while having a ton of detail in each room, lacked people! So after a while of exploring an empty hotel, I just left.

This leads me to making my first gripe about this game, and, slightly more generally, about the entire franchise up to now. For all the talk about a fully interactive world, neither Johnny McRandomThug from GTA 3, nor Tommy Vercetti in GTA: VC or CJ in GTA: SA has much in the way of words with the average, every day citizen. Beyond punching them, of course. Granted, GTA has always been more about generating enough people to make the option of fender-fodder more appealing than jabber-jawing, but after a while, with so many people around and no one to talk to, I actually did start feeling a little left out of the loop. Your character is cast into such an extraordinary role - rulebreaker, outlaw and bandit - that there is very little grounding in reality for his presence. In any sort of just world, citizenry would flee in terror at my very sight - my 200-innocent-citizen killing spree should attest to this. But citizens in San Andreas are happy to simply ignore me, even as I've got an MP5 in my hands and am aiming it at some other bystander.

Now granted, they did implement a way in which you could give positive and negative responses to people in this game, and it plays out a couple of times, but it is nowhere near the level of interaction of games like Fable, or even Mortal Kombat: Deception's Konquest mode. As I said, for a so-called "fully immersive" world, I should be able to talk to people who aren't about to give me missions every once in a while, even if it's just so they can tell me that they're going to work, or that their new Sony PSP really "ROCKS MY SOCKS!!"

Now the plot itself is worked out very well. There are some extremely humorous scenes, as well as some fairly dramatic ones as well. The world CJ left has essentially deteriorated, and as CJ and his friends try to piece together their gang, and their heirarchy within the gang structure, eventually leading into a lot of other problems. Voice acting here, bar a few slightly flubbed lines by CJ (voiced by Chris Bellard) is top-notch. Lending vocal talents are such actors as Samuel (IT'LL GET YA DRUNK) L. Jackson, James Woods, David Cross, to name a few (or have a full list).

Missions here are a mixed bag, though. A lot of missions are simple tutorials for minigames you can choose to engage in. Yes, they are well produced, but ultimately they don't really mean a lot if you're not very much into what it's peddling (The burglary wasn't really my thing, for instance). Some of the missions require reliance on AI controlled shooters (such as the infamous "Wrong Side Of The Tracks" level, which I am 2 for 15 on), or very vaguely defined mission standards. Added in was a new "Trip Skip" feature, that allows you to skip pat having to repeat the same portions of missions over and over. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on all missions. You will also inevitably end up playing some missions that just aren't fun, such as the ill-conceived OG Loc Dancing Mission, or the Caesar Vialpando racing mission. Filling a game with a few half-done minigames is one thing, but requiring a player to complete half-done minigames is an entirely different thing. No one forced you to play Pazaak in KOTOR (XBox/PC) or the Paddle Game in Beyond Good and Evil (PC/Consoles) to simply advance the story. Other missions are epic battles and heists that must be played just for the experience of playing them.

You can actually completely customize ol' Carl. This I really liked. Ariel turned Carl into, what could best and only be described as a reincarnation of Tupac, a big, huge shirtless gangsta with an attitude. He accomplished this by going to the gym and lifting weights, sprinting and sparring (you are given a cell phone call that tells you where the gym is and how to use it- BTW, the cell phones look like giant walkie-talkies, remember that?). He customized Carl with imposing tattoos and a combative wardrobe. I took a different tack. I did go to the gym, but only to get his muscle stat up to about 60%, so he was reasonably toned. I built up his stamina, dyed his hair blonde and dressed him up as a baller. Both looked incredibly different, yet both were the same character. Very nice, especially considering the best you could do with Tommy Vercetti was dress him up in a golf outfit.

Speaking of the statistics, the game carries RPG-like stats for CJ. Everything from his stamina to muscle tone to sex appeal, respect, driving, biking, cycling, piloting and boating, and just about anything else can be improved by doing activities that promote its increase. Eat a lot of fatty foods and Carl will get fat (dropping his sex appeal and stamina). But if you don't carry a certain amount of fat, then when you get hungry, you'll start burning muscle away, decreasing that stat. Don't go to the gym regularly for maintenance, and you'll start looking Somalian.

The stats I really wanted to improve were Stamina and (personal preference) Biking. Stamina, of course, helps you run away from people who are chasing you for longer. Biking, in a definite improvement over Vice City, improves the ability CJ has to stay on a bike when he would normally crash and bail. Also, biking in this game doesn't hurt CJ as much when he falls off as it did Tommy, which means you're a lot less likely to get wasted from flying off the bike. It loses a bit of realism, but the game is far more fun and balanced in this way.

Another source of cheap death has been eliminated as well: For the first time in the history of GTA, your character can actually swim! Yes, falling in the water no longer means instant death, although it can get you stranded in the middle of the ocean without so much as an island around. Swim long enough, of course, and you'll increase CJ's swim stat, which allows him to hold his breath longer. While I didn't see too much use for this, aside from the loss of a cheap death, I did read that there are apparently 100(?) pearls scattered throughout the waters if you feel like collecting them.

Another excellent improvement is the way the police respond in this game. In Vice City, anything above a single star had to be either bribed away (pick up a floating badge icon), or rectified by a local spray shop. In GTA: SA, you can out-pursue two stars if you work at it long enough, and one star you can usually get out of by running and hiding. This adds a lot to the game, because sometimes you can accidentally kill an officer and snag an easy two stars right off the bat. The cop AI is excellent here. At one star, the cops basicaly try to run you down. A cop car, if it sees you, might give brief chase, but generally leave you alone. They essentially try not to use lethal force, although they will if you are carrying a weapon, which was a nice touch. At two stars, you will usually get a couple of cruisers and a motorcycle cop after you, but, as I said, you can usually out run them as well. It's at 3 and 4 stars when it starts getting ridiculous: cops popping out of every corner, rappeling down from the helicopters chasing you - it's the kind of mayhem you deserve when you work for it, and is very satisfactory without stealing all the fun out of being a petty criminal.

Now the music - Vice City introduced the idea of having actual licensed tunes into a GTA game. I remember telling my friend James that one of the best features of the XBox was that you can incorporate custom soundtracks into some of the games, an idea which he poo-poo'd. Then out comes Vice City and he loses his shit over the soundtrack to the game. Well, with good reason - the soundtrack in GTA: Vice City was a retardedly outstanding collection of classic 70's and 80's tunes. Anyone who does not want to drive over a ramp in slow motion to the strains of "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" is not my friend. But the music here... the game is set in the early 90's, if I recall correctly, just doesn't do it for me in the same way. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I didn't get that killer soundtrack vibe from this game.

The game looks like like Vice City, if slightly "worse". While I don't think the graphics have changed all that much from GTA: Vice City, I do think they're behind the curve as far as where most games on the PS2 are now. Whereas GTA 3 set a decent standard, and Vice City piggybacked on that one, that back is getting awfully overloaded by this version. While they did tone down the obnoxious lighting effects that were utilized in Vice City, they eliminated the option to remove them completely, which was availible in VC. The game does seem a bit more "mature", in a sense. While Vice City emphasized and glorified the somewhat showy and glitzy Italian Mobster scene, this is a more serious and darker game graphically. In light of games like True Crime and The Getaway, though, which attempt to do the GTA thang, it'd be nice to see the series get a graphical overhaul, even if it meant sacrificing some of the draw distance, or random citizenry that could be on screen at the same time.

Likewise, the vehicle and fighting systems here need serious work. I have never understood how Rockstar, the developer of Midnight Club 2, continues to put out a game featuring out-and-out arcade racing through cities that still controls like the original Grand Theft Auto (read: Not that great). Crappy cars slide all over the road with no control. Big cars like the lowriders feel downright floaty. The rarest and nicest cars drive so fast and so out of control that they explode within minutes. Driving just about any car with any precision is an exercise in futility. If you want to test that theory, try driving like a regular, law abiding citizen for 5 minutes. You can't make right-hand turns, can't stop in the right lanes, can't go more than 2 or 3 minutes without hitting someone... I know the game is designed to be arcadey, but "arcade" is not an excuse for poor design. For GTA 3, this was fine, but at this point, I at least want a speedometer in first person mode. The fighting system is more of the same. In Vice City, and even here, it still remains a chore and a task to get through even the most mundane of gunfights without someone behind you, whom you can't see, drilling you with bullets because you can't get a lock on them. Honestly, a simple circle-strafe would be beautiful. I also almost caught a seizure from the camera flashing and jumping to-and-fro as Ariel changed locks on targets with no smooth transition. The effect was lessened when I was playing the game myself, as I knew where I was going to go to, but it was still an annoyance. The car camera is the opposite story. Depending on where the camera is when you jack the car, you could be in second or third gear by the time the camera moseys its way over to show you what's in front of you. This led to failing a couple of missions when the game accused me of "attacking" vital characters I didn't know were in front of me because I was waiting on the camera to get there.

While I'm complaining here, I absolutely hate the map system in this game. When I first played it, because I was still trying to get my old PS2 to work, I had my 19 inch TV sitting on my nightstand next to my bed. And since I am lazy, I just left it there when I started playing the game. So 4 feet away from a 19 inch TV, I had no gripes about the map. But put that on even a 25 inch TV screen more than 7 or 8 feet away and you're talking trouble. The map has so many icons on it, and the icons are so small, that everything is indistinguishable. You're lucky if you can tell where your next marker is for your mission. And, inexplicably, even though it is animated on the minimap, when you open up your big map, the icon does not animate. Not animating means it doesn't stick out, which means you must pore over every inch of the giant Los Santos map to find a small yellow marker. Sometimes this marker can be thrown in the mix with several others.. You get the picture here. The map in the menu, while allowing you to zoom in, doesn't allow you to see any but the most basic of terrain. About a third of Los Santos usually fits on the map in its most zoomed in form, and like I said, the city is huge, so this doesn't provide much in the way of detail.

Let's talk about the soul of GTA: ability to be a total outlaw and get away with it. Of course the game features all of the same gameplay elements that have made GTA games both famous and infamous - the ability to steal just about any car you see, kill anyone around, beat up cops, hire prostitutes, kill said prostitutes, go to clubs, pimp, etc. In fact, the sheer number of minigames is astonishing. There are even a few two-player icons out there which, if you're not playing alone (which I always was), you can hook up with a friend to try. Two of the more intriguing sidequests are the turf wars and the quest to get a girlfriend. By gaining respect (by winning missions, showing off your gang's colors, things of that nature), you gain more respect. The more respect you have, the more gangstas you can have as a crew to stalk the streets with you. After a while, you can even perform drive-bys and hit and run attacks on neighboring gangs, and take over their turf. As for the girlfriend sidequests, by upping your sex appeal - dressing nice and clean, being seen exiting a great car, not being overly fat, you can attract women and even get girlfriends. To each his own, is the saying.

In addition, if you want, you can enter professional low-riding competitions for cash, race, gamble, dance, work out, tag, become a taxi driver, EMT, firefighter or vigilate cop or, my personal favorite, just drive around. Driving around gives you a chance to explore the world, which blends being a world for a guy on foot and a world for someone driving around very well. I spent many more hours that I want to admit driving up and over the exact same few ramps in GTA: VC simply because it was so much fun. San Andreas is the same way. With the improved bike mechanics, it is actually more fun to zoom around in them than it was in the original. Driving around also gives you the opportunity to visit smaller towns and communities that the storymode just doesn't take you through. As well, you get a feel for the interesting and somewhat inaccurate, though appreciable physics engine the game employs.

Overall, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a game that favors the fun road over the ultra-realistic route. This alone makes it immediately more accessible than its imitators, and its insanity is one of the reasons so many non-hardcore gamers love the series. While I don't really want ultra-realism, I do want some refinement to the core portions of a game that is now over 3 years old. The lack of refinement led some to call Vice City a simple expansion pack to GTA 3, and in light of San Andreas, the criticism is valid. SA is a much, much more fleshed out and real improvement over Vice City and GTA 3 in that it integrates the storyline, the character, the city and his plight to create a total package. Even though CJ, like Tommy Vercetti, is basically dropped into his respective city, with CJ, it immediately feels like he grew up there and is a long-time resident instead of a violent tourist. It gives the player a bit more emotional investment as well. Rather than simply trying to take over the entire town, you're attempting to right a wrong that takes you in that direction. And even when you don't feel like getting into all of that, you can simply drive around, listen to music or hilarious talk radio and try to wreak havok. It's too bad I don't have a 9.5 here, because the game is simply, given its flaws (outdated driving, poor shooting, awful map, and required, poorly executed AI and minigames to advance the plot) right in the middle of perfect and almost-there. It's a definite buy, though. I will err ever-so-slightly against it, if only because I feel like they've basically ignored problems that existed since its first 3D foray. Still, go out and immediately get this if you don't have it already.

- Dan

Review: ESPN NBA 2k5 (PS2/XBox/GameCube)

2004-11-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

Special Guest Reviewer, Omar.

Over the last few years the 2K5 series has been more simulation centered than EA’s Live series, with this year being no exception, but this year the team at Visual Concepts has taken an extreme leap. Everything in this game is true to NBA basketball, and it would take an experienced fan to truly grasp many of the things that are going on in each and every game. Every player performs exactly to their true life counterpart, even Vince Carter going down with an ankle injury in the middle of the game, only to not return :).

While on offense, you have 4 set plays to pick from, (which can be changed in the coaching menu) or you can go for some Kobe-like freelancing. Since everyone performs like it’s a real game, you have to play like it too. As an example, if you took the Raptors against the Pacers, chances are Carter would have to go off in the 30-40 point range for Toronto to even have a chance, which plays out wonderfully in the game. Handling the ball is an extreme priority this year also, bring up the rock lazily and the defender will poke it away and take it to the hoop for a dunk. Running plays is a thing of beauty, like a perfect pick and roll with Parker and Duncan, or if you’re skilled enough Kenny Anderson and Toine.

The defense has been improved this year also, with a slightly reconfigured button scheme. You have to watch what angle you’re swiping at the ball since and bad angle will result in a foul, yet swiping when the ball handler has the rock in front of you usually will result in a steal. Rebounding is a little difficult since the AI seems to have a jump on boxing you out.

24/7 Mode is back, which is probably the closest thing we’re going to get to a basketball RPG. You create a character and compete in different challenges to build up the stats of our character. Only thing is, if you don’t play for a few days your guys stats go down. Also, different challenges are available at different times of the day.

My only gripes with the game are the horrible menu style for Franchise mode (I haven’t even bothered to start a franchise up yet once I toyed around with the menu), and some rare clipping issues which result in a playing going right through his defender, yet the defender gets called for a foul.

Final Score:

- Dan, for Omar.

PS.
Omar adds "At $20, I'd say buy."

Review: The Bard's Tale (XBox/PS2)

2004-11-06T03:45:00.000-08:00

So, where've the reviews been this week? I apologize to you guys. I wanted to review the Suffering (XBox), but it just wasn't my kind of game... I probably wouldn't have given it a fair score because I just couldn't get into it. So on Sunday Night, took both Street Fighter: AC and The Suffering back to Blockbuster; one of my new acquisitions is InXile's "The Bard's Tale".

Now, I don't think I'd ever heard about the game before. The thing that attracted me was the game's premise, "A quest for coin and cleavage." Well FINALLY, someone makes a game about my life. It also promised better AI and a lack of meaningless subquests. I'm in.

The whole premise of The Bard's Tale is that you're basically a cross between your Warrior in Baldur's Gate and the Necromancer in Diablo II. You summon creatures to help you fight, culminating in being able to summon a giant army. Which was excellent, because I wan't about to play a game about some singing fruit... The guys at InXile realized that. This guy's got a great edge to him.

The game's hilarious. The name InXile sounded familiar to me because they are a group created from the guy who started Interplay. Prior to the game releasing, they threw up a fake press release claiming they were considering "leaking" the game early and then acting indignant about it like the creators of Half-Life 2, GTA: San Andreas and Halo 2 (with the not-so-subtle implication that their game belongs in that echelon). Tough talk, and funny because Google tells me some sites bit on it. So the guys have spunk. That shows in their character. While he doesn't really have a name, per se, he still has plenty of personality. Dude's an agressive womanizer, which comes up about 15 seconds into the game, as he summons a rat and pretends to kill it to get into the good graces of a busty barmaid.

The Bard's Tale plays out mostly through cutscenes, narrated by a "standard" narrator, who sometimes interacts with The Bard. Some of the scenes are interactive, allowing the Bard the make decisions about how he deals with the characters (and is perceived by the world). Ply the right words to the Barmaid and you can expect a night of womanly pleasures, slip up and you're spending the night alone. This plays out in missions as well. Using a sharp tongue can send you on pointless fetch quests in order to advance the storyline.

The guys at Interplay are responsible for Baldur's Gate - and this game plays (and looks) almost exactly like Baldur's Gate. However, since it's not D&D licensed, it's got a couple of differences: character creation is fairly straightforward, with their own customized stats. "Feats" are more like abilities here, and don't have to be leveled up, they are just added. For instance, the ability to hit critical strikes or the ability to use a flail (which can't be blocked by creatures).

However, combat is plagued with all of the annoyances I found in BG - some people like it, but I just found it really boring. Especially because I was weaned on click-happy Diablo, which Baldur's Gate always seemed to be in the vein of. In and of itself, it's not too bad, but the game employs a lot of "cheap" tactics - Bugbears popping out of nowhere to smash into you before you can block or respond, giant wolves knocking you down and gnawing on you before you can respond, etc. Even though the premise of the game is to summon creatures to attack and, presumably, defend for you, initially the game is unbalanced in that respect. Your first creature, an electric spider, has low health and, despite the promise of better AI, doesn't always leap forward to defend you (or draw fire), nor does its routine change if you're wielding a bow (BTW, what is up with the bow in BG and, subsequently in this game? I know it's more realistic than Diablo, but for a game where you're playing by yourself, without someone ahead of you to block, it's extremely ineffective).

Overall the balance in this game seems to trend toward the kind of game that's difficult as hell for a spellcaster initially, but breaks about midway through. Unfortunately, there's no other kind of class you can be. By necessity, you have to be a Bard, and the game is single-player only. While the game's story is extremely tailored for this, the gameplay itself doesn't follow suit. At least it's by the same developers and creators of Baldur's Gate, otherwise a clone of this kind would be completely intolerable. As it stands, the game is flawed, and a bit outdated, and Baldur's Gate really isn't my kind of thing. On a final note, I ran into a couple of bugs in the game, including one where I fell through the floor into a blue screen of standing-around. Rent it for the jabs at the entire RPG genre, but I don't recommend a buy.

- Dan

The Console Christmas Challenge

2004-11-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here's the challenge:

A friend asks you to get him a console hookup for a Christmas gift. The gift is going to a friend who has no consoles, but will enjoy playing games. The friend is open to all types of gaming. So you're given $250USD in tax-free spending. With this money, you have to buy a console, any accessories, and games. The object is to get the baddest gaming collection possible.

The Rules:
--$250 to spend.
--All items must be bought online.
--Neither sales tax nor shipping counts towards your $250 total.
--Links to the games/deals in question would be very helpful.
--Refurbished and used games are allowed.

As far as the games go, the two priorities are bang for the buck and a really fun library of games. We will assume for this that the friend in quesiton will be playing single-player and/or online multiplater, with the occasional gathering of friends.

Go.

News: Kameo

2004-11-03T13:24:00.000-08:00

Prepare to be shocked by the most shocking news ever to send you into a state of shock. And quite possibly, awe.

Here's one you didn't see coming! After a lot of thought and discussion, Rare and Microsoft Game Studios have decided to push back the launch of Kameo: Elements of Power in order to incorporate several changes and new features (some minor, some not so minor).

We realise this is frustrating in the short term to all those of you avidly following the game's progress and itching to bust some Troll heads, and we can only apologise for keeping you in suspense, but rest assured that every last one of these new developments is designed to enhance and expand the overall experience.
(Rareware.com)

Gosh, Microsoft, that multi-million dollar investment seems so wise now, doesn't it? And I say this as one of the people who liked Grabbed By The Ghoulies. They've delivered one game, we're still waiting on Kameo and Conker, and Perfect Dark Zero may or may not exist. I know Microsoft don't exactly have to be careful with their money, but really.

Somewhere, Nintendo are patting themselves on the back over that one.

News: Microsoft Releases new XBox Crystal Pack

2004-11-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has released a new, crystal version of the XBox for $250 US. It comes with one crystal controller, Fable, Crimson Skies, and a 2-month subscription to XBox Live; a pretty good start for a new XBox player. Damn, that thing looks sweet. Figures it comes out after I trade in my busted XBox for a new one.

Details available at http://www.xbox.com/en-CA/Hardware/crystalpack.htm .

News: Nobuo Uematsu and Square Part Ways

2004-11-02T08:53:00.000-08:00

From Slashdot who gets it from Gamespot: (link to Gamespot):

According to Gamespot, Nobuo Uematsu and Square will be seperating. Nobuo was the person responsible for the mostly awe-inspiring music for the Final Fantasy games. The report indicates that he will be moving to a company called "Smile Please". While this was first thought to be a rumor it was later announced on Uematsu 's fansite that it is true. He states that it isn't "quitting", but more of a graduation. There are hints in this article saying he will still do work for Square, but at his own pace. The good news is that he still plans to write more music for video games, perform more concerts, and produce the second Black Mages Album.

As a longtime fan of the music of Final Fantasy, this saddens me. The music in Final Fantasy 4 and 6 was simply astounding and Uematsu's scores from the other games were sensational as well. I hope this means he will be doing work for Square still -- but the "at his own pace" doesn't sound very reassuring.

News: Sony PSP

2004-11-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

More news from Sony now, who appear to have decided to do Nintendo's negative publicity for them..

Question marks over the 'real-world' battery life of the PSP remained today, following comments made by Sony Computer Entertainment's Ken Kutaragi in a recent interview with Impress PC Watch which add weight to fears that the handheld console's lithium battery is currently ill-equipped to handle the more graphically intensive games for more than a couple of hours.

Tellingly, Kutaragi admitted: "A puzzle game will last longer, but Ridge Racer will probably be shorter than that." An interesting comment that is a logical, but obvious observation that any game that maxes the PSP's capabilities out will cost the battery life dear. Anyone expecting game which constantly stream data off the disc, such as Grand Theft Auto or Sony's own The Getaway will most likely be disappointed, with Sony keen to ensure all games pass stringent battery life tests before being released.
(Eurogamer.net)

The article goes on to say that the battery life shall be improved in future iterations of the PSP.. which begs the question of quite what the point of being an 'early adopter' is. You pay more, get a worse product, and barely get to play the games you bought the thing for. Well, I'm sold. On the Nintendo DS, at least. If you haven't got the battery power to keep such a high powered machine running for a long time yet, then maybe that's an indication that you shouldn't be releasing it yet..?

Still. Wonder what they'll call the improved second version of the PSP. The PSP Advance? The PSP SP?

News: Resident Evil 4

2004-11-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

If Blogger eats my text again this time, I'll scream. Much like the Resident Evil fans who went out and bought a Gamecube, I guess...

A PlayStation 2 version of the hugely-anticipated Resident Evil 4 will be released in Japan at the end of 2005, Capcom has confirmed, ending the long-term exclusivity arrangement it had previously signed with Nintendo. The move could also pave the way for long overdue ports of other previously GameCube-exclusive titles Resident Evil Zero and the well-received remake of Resident Evil.

Capcom will certainly be aware of the benefits of cross platform releases, with SEGA having enjoyed huge success with Sonic Heroes this year, with the firm announcing its first European million-seller in years. Capcom will no doubt realise the same fruits are on offer if it can finally co-ordinate its Resident Evil release strategy once and for all.
(Eurogamer.net)

First Monkey Ball, now this. Is there such a thing as a third-party exclusive left for the Gamecube? Sure, it's still getting the games.. but it looks like the success of the last year or two of the life of the console will be solely reliant on Nintendo games alone. I mean, not a bad company to have exclusively, but still. The Legend Of Zelda can only take you so far. They'll need more.

Hmm. What sports hasn't Mario played already? I guess Super Mario Power Hockey isn't too far off...

Review: Donkey Konga (Nintendo Gamecube)

2004-10-31T18:56:00.000-08:00

Oh, "Konga" I get it. It's a pun. Clever, Nintendo.

Now usually I despise the DDR-esque type games. (*ducks from Josh*) Mainly because I can't stand the techno-y bullshit music that accompanies them, plus I don't like to sweat when I play video games. Add to the fact that I'm a clumsy motherfucker, and you have a sad night of falling on my ass and having 12 year old Asian girls pwn me. So pretty much like every Saturday night out, then.

But Donkey Konga, this is a whole new beast here. Why, you may ask? I get to beat on shit! One of my most favoritest pasttimes. Now I've had people tell me that I should have been a drummer. It just comes naturally to me. I'm very good at keeping rhythm with my hands, so now Nintendo has given me an opportunity to experiance DDR-esque gameplay without the humiliation and degradation.

As in all Rhythm Based Games, DK has specific drum cues for each button on the controller. But in this case, instead of a controller you have... wait for it... a KONGA DRUM. Word. This thing is very cool. Using the Konga Drum, you have four different notes to hit. The left and right (yellow and red, respectively. Brother.) notes, the double (pink, as you hit both left and right together) and the kicker dynamic of the game, the clap note. That's right, you get to clap along with the music. Aww yeah. There's also a colored bar that calls for you to hit the appropriate note as many times as fast as you can to get more coins. I'll go over the coins in a minute. For each note you can either get a Great, OK, Bad, and a Miss. You can Combo your Goods and OKs together for some long combos, but miss a note or hit a Bad note and your combo is dead in the water.

DK is broken up into 6 different modes of play. The meat of the game is Street Performance, where players drum away at different songs in order to gain coins to purchase things like mini-games and extra drum beats in the DK Town. Street Performance has 3 Difficulty levels. Monkey, Chimp, and Gorilla. Money = Somewhat Challenging. Chimp = Hard. Gorilla = OH HEY'L NAW. But the Gorilla difficulty songs you have to purchase in the DK Town. Also available are Monkey, Chimp, and Gorilla Jam, which is essentially the same as the others, but with one catch. You'll had to have the other levels beats memorized. Yeah, I tried this one time and one time only. The other modes are Challenge, where you try to pass as many songs as you can in a row. Jam Session, where you can play any of the games songs you like. Battle, where you battle with a friend in Multiplayer, DK Town and Ape Arcade, where you go to play your purchased mini games. The Mini Games are ok, at best, but they're nothing more than a glorified Hit-The-Gopher-With-a-Mallet style game and others.

Now, a game like this would live or die depending on it's song selection. Drab songs do not a fun game make. Fortunately, Donkey Konga has a very interesting selection of songs to choose from. Some I didn't even see coming, really. The song list is as follows:

Diddy's Ditzies
Bingo
Campfire Medley
Pokemon Theme
Kirby Right Back at Ya
We Will Rock You
Like Wow
Wild Thing
I think I Love You
Louie Louie
The Locomotion
Shining Star
All the Small Things
Rock This Town
You Can't Hurry Love
Right Here Right Now
Dancing in The Street
Rock Lobster
Stupid Cupid
The Impression That I Get
What I like About You
Whip It
Busy Child
Para los Romberos
Sing Sing Sing with a Swing
Oye Como Va
On the Road Again
Hungarian Dance #5 in G MInor
Turkish March
DK Rap
The Legend of Zelda Theme
Mario Bros Theme
Donkey Konga Theme

Each song has a Bongos Rating ranging from 1-10 Bongos. And when a song has an 8 Bongo Rating on Monkey Level, you can damn well bet that it's gonna be fucking hard. Unfortunately, however, the songs are not performed by the original artists, leaving a nasty Kidz Bop taste in my mouth. But I can overlook that on the majority of the songs. All The Small Things still sucks though, no matter who sings it.

Pros: Fun fun fun, especially if you're a drummer-type person like me. Some catchy tunes and the Nintendo Tunes are greatness. The learning curve is pretty easy, too.

Cons: HARD HARD HARD, especially if you're a un-coordinated klutz like me. Kidz Bop style songs which will irritate the hell out of you. Did I mention sometimes frustratingly hard?

Personally, I had a freaking blast playing this game. One of the most fun games I've ever played, really and very addictive. But as a objective score I give Donkey Konga a...

Out of 5.

Review: Street Fighter: Anniversary Collection (PS2)

2004-10-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

The Past Fights for the Future

Ever since about 1991 or so, when Street Fighter 2 first came out, I've been playing Street Fighter and its many iterations almost non-stop since then. I've even played 3 different bootleg versions of the game (with the completely broken moves that only someone on crack could've come up with), Played through Championship, Turbo, and Super editions (although I never found an arcade with Super Turbo, so I don't have any experience with that) through the entire alpha series (American AND Japanese versions) as well as the long-awaited Street Fighter 3 series. I can recall, from memory, the movelist of almost every single character ever featured in a game (and yet, I have a lot of trouble memorizing phone numbers) and can even recall changes made to a character if they appeared over different editions. Both me and Dan have invested about 400-500 hours (in actual playtime) into Soul Calibur and Soul Calibur 2, but I alone have invested about, 3000-4500 hours into Street Fighter. I know I was one of several people who almost busted a nut when this game was announced.

Now, with that history in mind I proceed to review the compilation of one of the most revolutionary game franchises of our time. I will not grade the compilation based on the gameplay. That would simply not be fair to a game that has had 13 years to age. Instead I will judge it by the completeness and accuracy of the compilation and how it represents the gameplay of the original games. I will start with Street Fighter 2 Hyper Edition.

Street Fighter 2 Hyper Edition is every SF2 fanboy's dream. You can enter single-player or versus mode and select from your character from every edition of SF2 (original, Champhionship, Turbo, Super, Super Turbo) and battle against another character from another edition of Street Fighter. The character select system is very easy to use. You first select what edition of the game you want ot select your character from and then choose the character. If you pick Normal edition, although the icons of Fei Long, Dee Jay, Balrog, etc. are still there you won't be able to even highlight them. With the Super-only characters it's the same story if you don't choose Super or Super Turbo characters. I thought this was an excellent way to select a character and keep it simple and easy to use. I can only cringe at the thought of a 64 icon character select screen with 5 different versions of the original 8 to choose from.

Now, selecting a character can be a very daunting task for those that didn't grow up playing Street Fighter, but, truth be told, this game isn't meant for that person. It's meant for the older SF fans who waited year after year after year after year for SF3 to finally come out. For the fan that knows the Akuma code. When the Raging Demon first appeared, what the Raging Demon is, Who the hell Sheng Long is, when the Shoryuken lost complete invulnerability, that the attack buttons are called Jab, Strong, Fierce, Short, Forward, Roundhouse, and what Down, R, Up, L, Y, B does. Normally I would count that against a game but this is a compilation of that game. You'll need that knowledge to navigate through the nuances of a game that includes the evolutions of a game over 4 years.

There is a training mode that is pretty standard for Capcom games (doesn't mean it's not good, it's excellent, but they use the exact same format for all their fighting games) except for the glaring omission of a command list, which would have been imminently useful for those attempting to get into the game without the massive amounts of prior experience one would need. It also inlcudes the entire Street Fighter 2 animated movie, of which there were 3 versions: PG, PG-13, and R rated. unfortunately the one on the disc is the PG movie. Which, if you've never seen it, is the best Street Fighter movie, hands down. I do greatly enjoy the fact that it is in the game, although the quality is high-end VHS at best (They probably hit the memory limit of the PS game discs). Which also exlplains another gripe about the game. The music. Although it includes all the classic SF songs, it doesn't contain the SSF2T soundtrack, which was the best SF soundtrack at the time. The Super Turbo soundtrack was Capcom's first abandonment of MIDI's and synthesizers and it's first (and extremely effective) use of real instruments. The Super Turbo soundtrack is one of my favorite soundtracks to just sit back and listen to. Unfortunately, it is not present here. However, due to my very limited Super Turbo experience, this is not a big a flaw for me as it was for Dan.

The biggest flaw, to my mind, of the game is the fact that the Alpha series is completely ignored. When I first heard that they were compiling all the old SF games into one I began to marvel at the possibility of pitting Sakura against Old-School Chun-Li or Charlie versus Guile, or the Alpha Bison against the Turbo Bison. Custom Combos against Super Turbo super moves. Unfortunately that is not so. Which is a true knock against a game designed for hardcore SF gamers.

Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike is another great console port of a Capcom arcade game. The SF3 series continues with changes to the game that make each edition of it seem like a true sequel. There are even more characters in this game, with the addition of 4 new characters to the Street Fighter repertiore (including a Guile-like one, yay!) and the unexpected return of an old favorite: Chun-Li! The game stil looks as gorgeous as ever, and the fighting system still continues it's evolution. Taunts, EX moves, Selectable Supers, and the bold Parry System all come back. The single player mode now has an interesting twist in that it will let you select from one of two characters to fight before each stage of the tournament. That way you can avoid those characters that give you the most trouble, although sticking to one path has its own rewards as well. The existing characters also get new or tweaked moves to play with along with some that get new supers to select from. Akuma is also now a regularly selectable character (no need to use a code to access him like in 2nd Impact). Unfortunately the training mode is also bereft of a command list in order to learn the moves of the new characters (of course, there is always gamefaqs) but the game is VERY customizable. You can even extend the window of opportunity to execute a parry, even down to specific parries (in the air, while crouching, while standing, etc)!

If you liked the other SF3 games you will enjoy this one, although I am personally tired of being graded in Capcom games. If I win I win, that's all that matters. Only Dan Hibiki worries about fighting with style. Do you really want to be Dan Hibiki?

I think, in the end, that this game could not help but disappoint. To create a compilation of Street Fighter games and make them one game was probably an impossible task, and everyone will find flaws in it. That is the price you pay for creating a game for your most loyal of fans. They will easily see the flaws within, the promises unkept, the desires unfulfilled. But, for what it is, it is a fantastic game, and Street Fighter itself cannot help but be fun. The X-Box version will purportedly have On-Line Play so that will definately raise its rating by .5, as long as the system is not terrible to use. But for now, I have to give this game a

Street Fighter fans should definately buy, everyone else rent it.

- Ariel

First, lemmie state my credentials in the realm of Street Fighter 2: The first time I'd ever played Street Fighter 2 was at the Redondo Beach Pier when I was, what, 12? Even then, sucking at it as anyone new to the game does, I understood how great the game was and what it could be. I watched it go through successful and endless iterations, culminating in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, a game which I purchased for my old 486 DX (DX!) 50. Back when I only had 4 megabytes of RAM, each match took approximately 2 minutes to load. Nevertheless, I played hours and hours - getting frustrated, losing to T. Hawk especially, going to heat up dinner between matches... The day I upgraded to 8 megabytes, so the game started in about 15 seconds, was a great day indeed.

NOW, I have to say, after those 10 years, I am not terribly sure the game has aged that well. I mean, I'm not going to convince anyone who's a diehard SF2 fan that the game's outdated - and in many respects, it can never be. But I think in comparison to the far superior (in terms of modern mechanics) Street Fighter 3, the game suffers a bit in comparison.

Ariel already outlined all the features this game has in it, so I won't go over them again. I will just say that failing to include the remixed/redone tunes from SSF2T's PC iteration is a gross oversight. As well, the AI in the game is ridiculously hard. I now remember the bane of my childhood - Zangief on supersteroids. It's amazingly accurate, but it also seems eerily prescient and extremely unforgiving, even on the easier settings. And through my time playing through single player, I can't really recall ever seeing the computer not play a Super Turbo iteration of their character (perhaps because that was the only AI routine they put into the game?).

Regardless, for anyone looking for a good old school fighter knows what this game is about. The features you get in the Street Fighter 2 mode are oustanding (being able to combine and fight against different versions of every character). However, to get the full benefit out of this, you need to be a fairly large Street Fighter nerd (knowing which version of Ryu has the first-frames invincible Shoryuken, or which version of Zangief first introduced his fireball-swatting move). I really don't like that they didn't include OG Street Fighter 3 or Second Impact versions of the second game. As Ariel mentioned the snubbing of Alpha is mindboggling. Finally, where's my awesome remixed SSF2T music?

I like it, but unless you're a total hardcore SF nut, wait for it to drop in price.

- Dan

On the horizon

2004-10-29T01:41:00.000-07:00

Coming up later this week, reviews for Midway's The Suffering (XBox/PS2), Capcom's Street Figher: Anniversary Collection (PS2, XBox later), perhaps Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA), and I think Donkey Konga (GameCube) and ESPN NBA Basketball 2k5 (PS2/XBox/GameCube), the latter to be provided by a guest reviewer as soon as he figures out what he wants to give it. :) Also, there is rumor of a Katamari Damacy (PS2) review, done by Josh, meaning it'll be here.... December?

As far as the week's biggest release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, PC Later, XBox likely), I know at least two or three of us are working through the game. Just initial impressions based on about a half hour of play, it's fantastic. As solid as GTA Vice City, but a much more significant improvement and accomplishment. I am looking forward at getting more time to get into it.

Next week's biggest release seems to be Smackdown vs. Raw (PS2), the 6th (?) installment in the Smackdown series, also the first ever online wrestling game. After that, next Tuesday is the Halo 2 release date. Yes, yes, I know. Anyway, get your San Andreas in before that drops.

But for now, homework awaits (Even at this late hour).

Go play Paper Mario.

- Dan

News: Nintendo Ships Retro Series 2 for the GBA

2004-10-28T21:28:00.001-07:00

Nintendo of America has shipped the second series of Classic NES for Game Boy Advance. Each game is a direct port of the original version, except for a multiplayer feature in Dr. Mario. The games are sold individually for $19.99 each. The new lineup:

Dr. Mario®: A massive virus outbreak can only be solved in one way: Throw a bunch of pills at the problem. When you're unwinding after shopping for luxury cars with a friend, compete head-to-head using a Game Boy® Advance Wireless Adapter or the Game Boy® Advance Game Link® cable.

Metroid®: The original side-scrolling adventure featuring badass bounty-hunting babe Samus Aran. She can bring home the bacon and disintegrate it with her Plasma Beam.

Zelda II™: The Adventure of Link®: You swing a sword and rescue a princess. Put simply, Link could buy and sell you.

Castlevania®: Mummies, bats and zombies try to prevent you from undoing a curse in this classic adventure from Konami. Think of it as a rough day on the trading floor, except you have a magic whip.

Well, Dr. Mario is gonna be a definate pick up for me, but if you wanna get Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission is right there. It's got the Original, plus an updated version, which is great. I never was a big Castlevania fan, admittedly. Y'know, I do think it'd be much easier to put like several of these games on one cart. You know they can do it, and who wouldn't die to have say SMB1, 2, and 3 on one cart? I know I would. Dead, I say.

Also Zelda II sucked. Yeah, I seddit.

(News: Planet Gamecube)

News: Super Princess Peach

2004-10-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

Time for some news in keeping with the site design, I guess!

Nintendo has cleared its throat in front of Famitsu, to announce a brand new DS title. Joining other cast members from Mario’s extended family (Wario, Luigi etc), Princess Peach is the latest character to get her own touch-screen enabled outing.

Super Princess Peach will be a 2D scrolling action game (featuring Princess Peach). She will also be armed with an umbrella with which to attack oncoming enemies. Putting two and two together, we can comfortably suggest that the player will use the stylus to swipe, stab and control the umbrella.
(Spong.com)

So, despite all the 3D abilities of the DS, it looks as though it's going to attempt to continue the GBA tradition of fine 2D games. Which is fine. Wish they'd been slightly more imaginative with that name, though.. is everything going to continue to be 'Super'?

DERAILED

2004-10-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

Due to life's occasional buttfuckery, Mario Monday was derailed a short 15 minutes before I posted the review. So sad. I lost internet access at home, so in the interim, I also managed to sit myself in front of Mortal Kombat: Deception long enough to try to review it. That's also below.

- Dan

Review: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GameCube)

2004-10-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

From time to time, I get to thinking "Maybe I don't like RPGs". This usually comes around the time a new Final Fantasy game comes out. Since they seem to be the current standard people judge RPGs by, games I like, such as Zelda, get squeezed out (into somewhat-more-nebulous "action RPG" category). I also think maybe it's the turn-based combat, but as a guy who has, unfortunately, played up to an entire hour of Dungeons and Dragons and has lived to tell, no, not really. Besides, KOTOR had TBC and it was awesome. So what is it?

The answer to that is a definitive "Who knows?" Some games get you. Some games don't. But when RPGs get me, they get me bad. There's something about the storylines, the characters, getting invested in seeing them through their quest that's not a part of the more impersonal action/adventure genre - Even in action RPGs, you're generally immersed in an interactive world where you talk to people, solve puzzles by gaining information and travel to fantastic worlds. The last RPG to "get me" was Skies of Arcadia (DC), which I'd put off until about 2 years after the system died. I loved it so much, I lugged my DC around with me so I could play it wherever I found a TV that took RCA inputs. I just had to beat it.

So yeah, I guess I do like RPGs. And Paper Mario was the first time I've been overwhelmingly addicted to a video game since Skies of Arcadia.

Paper Mario is an excellent blend of platforming and RPG elements, along with superlative design to combine both. RPG fans will find something to like: turn based combat, HP/Mana/EXP system, a party system, and plenty of people to talk to. Action fans will enjoy the platforming elements - getting to blow away walls and jumping puzzles, as well as finally being able to smash a few bricks every now and again. As a sequel to Paper Mario (N64), and a somewhat distant sequel to the Square-Nintendo collab Super Mario RPG (SNES), it combines elements from both games, using their innovations to create an awesome gaming experience.

Let me get one thing out of the way first: The story is paint-by-numbers. Princess is captured, Mario must save Princess by collecting the 7 Crystal Stars, and taking them to the Thousand-Year Door. Of course, these 7 Crystal Stars aren't just laying around, they're in 7 different lands that Mario must travel to. But, if the RPG genre is about any old Japanese (?) pearl of wisdom, it's not the destination, it's the journey.

Getting there is all the fun in Paper Mario. I don't think I've ever seen a game with a so-so storyline poke fun at itself, but Paper Mario does. Regularly (Just talk to Luigi). The characters are ... strange. As you play through it, you'll never guess some of the people you'll be hooking up with to be your partners later on in the game. The combat, rather than being a turn based roll of the dice, actually engages you to improve your performance. The graphics are superb, the music not over-grand. The puzzles are fun, varied and interesting, and the game is chock full of sidequests that can eat up your days.

Paper Mario asks you to use platforming elements to interact with the world. By pressing B, Mario uses his (always equipped) hammer, and a makes him jump. As you find enemies in the game, you can either walk into them to start up the combat, or you can fight your way in by smashing them with your hammer or jumping on them to engage a "first strike" (more on that when I discuss combat). The genius here is the blending of those aspects - utilizing your hammer and jumping skills to solve puzzles and begin combat: it makes sense, yet many RPGs, to the annoyance of action gamers, don't take advantage of it.

The combat is an expansion of the best turn-based combat I'd ever played back on the SNES: You select the move you want to use, the enemy you want to attack, just like in any standard RPG. But carefully timing your button presses as you're attacking your enemy - pressing A right before you hit him - allows you to perform an Action Command, doing extra damage to them. Paper Mario expands on that, and it's, on a whole, the most engaging turn based RPG combat system I've ever seen.

Firstly, as mentioned above, you can execute a "first strike" by attacking your opponent in the game world before they attack you. Using your hammer will cause Mario to run out and hammer his opponent - jumping on them sends him into a jumping attack. This is, at times, critical to getting through a battle, because you can get a crucial strike in to destroy or weaken an opponent who would otherwise take two turns to defeat. Once the first strike phase is done, it's Mario and his partner's turn to attack. Stats in the game are broken up into Heart Points (HP), Flower Points (the equivalent of Mana, FP) and Badge Points (BP). When Mario's HP goes to 0, the game ends. Mario's attacks, unlike in Mario RPG, are limited to jumping and hammer attacks. The balance is Jumping attacks can hit ground and air opponents, Hammer attacks can only hit ground-level opponents. However, many enemies can't be jumped on, such as Pihrana Plants, Cleftors (rocky creatures with spikes over them) and Spinys. Additionally, each player has a very simple set of internal statistics: Attack and Defense. Attack is equal to the amount of damage you can do, Defense is the amount of damage you can deflect. Early enemies like Koopas have defense of 1, but their defense is dropped to 0 by jumping on them (at which point they're completely vulnerable).

Defeating enemies earns Star Points (EXP), 100 Star Points levels Mario up. After each level he can choose to raise his HP, or FP by 5, or his Badge Points by 3. After you find each Crystal Star, you gain access to special abilities, each one costing a certain amount of special points. New to this game is the crowd aspect. Every fight you have is fought on a stage in front of a crowd made up of various friends and enemies. Unlike almost everything else in the game, the crowd aspect is not immediately intuitive. When you start, you only have a crowd of a few, and gaining admirers is more difficult. But once you gain your first Crystal Star, you see that making the crowd cheer on, by executing Action Commands and performing "stylishly", the crowd renews your special points at a higher rate the better you perform. In an improvement over Super Mario RPG, instead of having Guard Actions (pressing A at the proper time to reduce damage), Mario can also perform counter moves by pressing B at an even more precise time. In later battles, where your success depends on hitting every action command and countering crucial strikes, you'll begin to realize how much better this system is than hoping you get a critical strike. Additionally since each move in the game requires your interaction, you're never just cycling through predetermined attacks by pressing A over and over again. You're deciding your attacks and carefully timing them to get the most damage out of them. Every time.

The game's graphical style is wonderful. There are some who might disagree with me, but, well, they're wrong. :) The game uses 2D, sprite-looking characters to interact with the 3D world. Everyone is "made of paper": they appear flat, and when they turn around, it flips them all the way around. This is initially a weird quirk, but it pays off: Mario gains skills such as being able to flip so he's paper-thin toward the screen to fit through tiny slits, like bars, or the separation between buildings. He can roll up, and roll under small openings, scrunch himself up and spring around or transform into a paper airplane or paper boat. Additionally, the less-taxing 2D element allows the developers to cram an INSANE amount of enemies onto the screen at once - a fact you'll find about 10 minutes into the game when you're attacked by 100 enemies at once. Later on, having a hundred or two hundred characters on screen is not uncommon, whether they're in the audience or you're fighting against all of them. It's so refreshing to see a game that wants to attempt something grand be able to pull it off- and this game is one of those who can do that. Smashing through hundreds of Dry Bones is as fun as anything. Watching a furious battle between 101 little Puni's and their 101 archrivals is one of the most chaotic scenes one will see in a video game. And when the game decides to throw around its 3D backbone, the contrast between the 2D characters you're used to looking at, and some of the huge, sweeping architecture really provides a beautiful contrast without trying to overwhelm you with vastness or pre-rendered cutscenes.

The environments are beautiful. The towns range from bright and green, to dark and purple - you'll play through beautiful black-and-white styled forests and desert isles. The way it integrates 2D elements is also amazing: If you see an item or distant locale in the background, there is a pipe around somewhere that will let you warp into the background of the stage while the camera stays fixed - Imagine one of those shooting galleries, where the duck is initially really close and then is way in the background. Excellent platforming element as well as design.

One low spot for the game, and one thing Nintendo MUST fix already is their unwillingness or inability to integrate full voice support in these games. There is almost no audible dialogue in the game - everything is done in text. Compounding this is the "silent hero" treatment that you'll find in both this game and Zelda, where everyone around the main character is talking, and he is mostly watching. This isn't to say that Mario doesn't make decisions, but there's literally, beyond making those choices, no dialogue written for him. It just doesn't make sense, and needs to be fixed.

The other music in the game is fabulous, though. Very RPG, and still very old-school and Nintendo. Additionally, alerts in the game are signaled by classic old-school Mario theme music, such as music from Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3.

The real charm of the game comes from its intuitiveness, style and humor. The game is flat-out hilarious. The translation team did a great job converting the game to the American audience. There are Mario references, movie referenes and geek references all over the game. As soon as I heard some kid tell me that his GBA really "ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!" I knew I was playing a great game. And if you ever need a laugh, every Bowser cutscene will make you cry.

Overall, I spent about 60 awesome hours with this game, running through every world and doing plenty of extra quests. I didn't complete or see everything there was to see, but suffice to say, Paper Mario will lead you through a pretty vast journey. Like most RPGs, however, I don't expect anyone to find a ton of replay value from it.

Paper Mario is likely the best RPG on the Gamecube right now, and will likely remain so. If you didn't catch Paper Mario on the N64, but did play Mario RPG, you'll feel right at home and really dig the new innovations. You may be a little less up on the game if you did play the 64 version, as this one borrows a lot of elements from its predecessor. The story and non-existent voicework, however, are the only downpoints on an otherwise absolutely engaging and fun experience. This is the most fun I've had with a game all year, and a solid addition to your Gamecube library. Just like Skies of Arcadia, another great game with a couple of unfortunate gaping flaws (in that game, it was the random enemies), I'll err towards the side of caution and score it

And eagerly await the sequel!

- Dan

Review: Mortal Kombat: Deception (XBox)

2004-10-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

REALTIME REVIEW FOR MORTAL KOMBAT DECEPTION

Realtime? It's when I write down what I'm thinking as I play it. Yes, it's kind of tired, but I don't think it's ever been done for Video Games. Plus, I already wrote two full reviews tonight, and I'm not really expecting to play this too long (Yes, I am assuming it's going to suck before I start playing it. Reason: It's probably going to suck. Expect professionalism, however). This game is most likely going to suck.

12:20: Skip intros, ah ha, Arcade mode. Good ol' Arcade mode.

12:21: What the hell did they do to Sub-Zero? Anyway, after looking through the fighters assembled (12 selectable initially, 12 more to be unlocked), I have chosen Kobra. Why? HellifIknow.

12:24: After first match, some notes: punching on people in this game can be really fun. Unfortunately, it invites comparisons to games like Dead or Alive and Virtua Fighter and Tekken. These are not comparisons this game wants to make.

12:25: WHAT THE FUCK, why did ERMAC just pull out an Axe on me? AN AXE? (Why the fuck is ERMAC in this game?)

12:27: After playing with the buttons I have discovered that Kobra has a weapon as well! A pair of sticks! It's not quite an axe, but it'll do, pig.

12:29: Further playing around reveals that playing with these sticks is actually kind of fun. However, it doesn't make any of what's going on on the screen make any more sense. It also invites comparisons to Soul Calibur. This is not a comparison this game wants to make.

12:30: I have lost my first match to Mileena, and have now picked Sub-Zero.

12:33: I have lost my second match to Mileena. Where the FUCK did Sub-Zero's moves go?

12:34: I have picked, after much consternation, Scorpion. I have also taken out his sword. It is scary how much this game looks like a 3D version of Time Killers. This is not a comparison this game wants to make.

12:37: I have lost my third match to Mileena. I am picking Baraka, the only guy who should actually have sharp, pointy things.

12:40: I have beaten Mileena. What, bich?

12:43: I beat some chick known as Ashrah. When it came time to finish her, she broke into a million bits. Then the game noted she committed Hari-Kari. Oh come on already, Jesus.

12:47: I have lost to (quite possibly the most ridiculous looking character in the game, and that's saying something) Bo' Rai Cho. I will not Kontinue.

12:48: Okay, here's the deal: The problem with the combat in this game is the exact reason that Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus (XBox) failed and why games like DOA and VF have succeeded: those games are intuitive. This game is really, really not. For a hand to hand fighter, the best one can hope for is that their offense flows into some sort of cohesive form. For a game sporting at least 2 fighting styles per character, plus an entire weapon style, that still isn't happening. Moves are still performed like the game is in 2D: Down, Left + X = Move. Well, the problem is in 3D, left and down (especially down) aren't really explicitly defined. Does "Down" mean duck, does it mean as you're moving down? Does it mean as you're holding down? Do you hit down and the button at the same time? Effective fighting games fill up all of these slots with moves that flow well, and create the fighting style from that. They don't say "Well, a 'Choy Lee Fut' fighting style has these 20 moves" and then proceed to cram them onto the joypad in any which order. They also make use of the fact that just about every button on the PS2 and XBox is analog and allow for pressure-sensitive attacks. This game does absolutely none of that. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. CHESS AWAITS!

12:55: So instead of king/queen/bishop/knight/rook/pawn (I guess chess names, while not chess itself, is for pussies), we have Leader/Champion/Sorcerer/Shifter/Grunt. I'm not exactly sure which piece we've lost, but who cares. Chess isn't a perfectly balanced game or anything.

12:57: I have always wanted to play a game of battlechess where you actually fought out the positions for the squares in a good fighting game. Unfortunately, I'm stuck doing it here. *sigh* This bites. I'm actively trying to lose, now.

1:00: Hey, I saw my first fatality! A black guy named Darrius (not Jax!) just ripped my arms off, and then beat me with them, and decapitated me. I guess black Kombatants have the market on ripping arms off, or something. That's how it's goin' down in tha hood.

1:01: Into puzzle mode. Can this be fun, please?

1:03: No, no it can't. Let me give you a brief rundown: pieces come down from ceiling. Slowly. Every time a piece falls, a two giant-head fighters punch and kick each other at the bottom of the screen. Since the match goes on for 5 minutes, they're both basically wailing away at each other for that entire time. Meanwhile, you're stuck playing this boring ass game. I'll recap the puzzle game itself quickly too: think of Dr. Mario, without the viruses.

1:06: Oh hell, I just realized there is a Konquest mode. WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO KONTINUE? In order to Kontinue on to Konquest Mode, I need to enter a Kode. WTF? I don't have a Kode!

1:07: Okay, Profiles, create a profile. Well this is nifty, they want me to create a 6 button passkode to access my profile. As if this game wasn't konvoluted enough, now I need to remember a locker kombination to get to my profile. Instead of, say, just selecting the damn thing. Even XBox's parental controls don't make you remember a 6 button code. Anyway, my Kode is "XXXXXX". Please don't steal it!

1:09: Hey, that was actually kind of a nifty intro. Decent cutscene to start my Konquest. I am now a young apprentice named Shujinko! This... is not good voice acting.

1:14: There's something hilarious about me sucker punching a guy in the face until he bleeds, and then him telling me "Korrect!" as he bleeds off a pint.

1:16: Oh no. Oh no. Oh no oh no. There are RPG elements in this. This cannot be good.

1:18: Solved a villager's dental problem by punching him. And received money for this. I am not making this up.

1:21: Apparently during my delivery of dental services, I punched and killed an old woman. And I apparently run like the Flash.

1:24: The breakdown of our once peaceful society is komplete. I have now punched and killed every person capable of being punched and killed. I have also, apparently, annoyed a lot of other people by punching them a lot. Before my mind dekays, I am putting an end to this.

1:26: I have ditched the Konquest mode and the noble path of ol' ironfist Shujinko and have moved into The Krypt, which is of no value to me, as I have no Koins, so I kannot open any Koffins (you think I'm making some of this up, I know you do). In leiu of that, I have decided to count the number of Koffins present - 380. Yep. Unless I miskounted.

1:30: I am embarassed for having played this. The fact that my internet access is down is, I swear, the only reason why I continued with it. The Mortal Kombat series really, really needs an overhaul- starting from this awful engine they're running with now, and ending with deciding what the hell it wants to be: A cheesy, 3D version of Time Killers, or a serious, mature fighting game that respects the players' intelligence. I give it a point for having the nuts to try and screw with Chess. Otherwise, what we have here is pure krap.

- Dan