Why's everything closing?

So, I heard a number of horrible things today. First, Studio Liverpool (Psygnosis), best known for the Wipeout series is being shut down. This sucks. Wipeout was one of those games that had a big following, but over the years dwindled down to a small, but still significant group of dedicated players. Its sad to see the company being shut down, not even a year after the release of Wipeout 2048. Heres hoping the franchise will live on in the community. Its sad to see it off.

Viewed on the Wipeout 2048 FaceBook page.

Another closure hit recently as well, which would be the closing of Nintendo Power Magazine. With the Closure of GamePro last year, its hard to see this one go. Nintendo Power (and GamePro) had been a big part of my life growing up, Getting a new issue each month was always a huge blast for me, and as a kid with limited funding for games, Nintendo Power helped to enrich me on all the latest and upcoming from Nintendo. Nowadays with the net being the new end all be all for news regarding anything, its harder for Published magazines to keep their user base, and it would seem that Nintendo thought the same, as they decided not to resume its contract with Future Publishing, who holds the rights to Nintendo Power. So again, lets remember fond memories of Nintendo Power, and wish it the best until its last volume.

I never got any of my Fan Art published

And, our last bit of news comes from SquareEnix. Following this link here brings us to a new page about a new upcoming game for Square Enix's latest and greatest heroine, Lightning...

 Ill be honest, I love the Final Fantasy franchise, If it had Final Fantasy in its title, chances are Ive played it at one point. And of Coure Ive run through each of the series main numbered titles. Even the online XI and XIV. But XIII is the ONLY one I cannot stand. It was a game that I was excited for, and on the day of its release I rushed home to play it, but when I started it up, I just could not get into. Everything about it just felt off, the combat was mediocre, and boring, the "dungeons" were essentially a forward path to the end, and the Story was lackluster and uninteresting. Granted these are my own opinions, but im not here to really get into why I do or dont like the game. I mainly wanted to mention that this essentially means we're getting a Final Fantasy XIII-3, and that annoys me. Mainly because there's another game that should really be deserving of more attention.

Versus XIII is a game that everyone has been excited for, but its been Absent from E3 since its announcement in 2006. Sure there have been scatter's  of news here and there, and lots of talk about whats been going on, but we really still have yet to see any of it. There's been 4 Final Fantasy Releases since Versus' announcement, and we still have nothing in regards to any sort of time frame or release date.

I dont like this

Im going to cut it here. I feel Im just ranting now and not bringing anything worthwhile to the table at this point. If you like XIII, good for you and congratulations, enjoy your new title. If you're not a fan of this title. I share your pain, and lets hope Square Enix decides to giev us more news on something that doesn't have Lightning in it.

Busy? Hardly!

Sorry about the lack of updates in June, was busy with work and family oriented events. Plan on getting the ball rolling a bit more and pop an update out every week or so from now on. Game releases may be in a bit of a slump for the next little while, and some that may look interesting to others I may have no interest in. So If I cant find something new to talk about I may do a review or... something, on older games, hardware, etc. Maybe even talk about something completely unrelated.

Who knows!?

Spec Ops: The Line Review

By: Shalin Wiese

Developer: Yager Development, Darkside Game Studios

Platform: PC, XBox360, Playstation 3

Released: June 26th, 2012

Spec Ops was kind of a sleeper hit for me, I had no idea a new one was released until I saw it at my local gameshop. On a whim, I decided to pick it up. Turns out, the game is more interesting and entertaining than half the other nonsense flooding the market right now. Spec Ops: The Line is all about telling a story, and it tells it well.

The story begins in the middle of a firefight between you and your crew in a Black Hawk engaging other helicopters in a firefight over Dubai, during the middle of it, a giant sandstorm approaches ends up crashing the chopper, and bringing about our flashback to start the game proper.

Delta Operatives Walker, Adams and Lugo are sent in to Dubai to find a missing american unit under the command of Kernal Konrad who was sent to Dubai for evacuation of the city due to a giant sandstorm that buried the city. What they find however, is a mysterious message left by Konrad and the Unit gone rogue.

Throughout the game, you realize that things are much worse than they originally expected and Dubai and the people in it are a bit more disturbed than was originally reported. At certain points in the game, you are given options that have no bearing on the ending of the story, but instead, affect the gameplay and make you and the characters rethink why they are there and what they are really trying to do in the city.

This is the most interesting thing about the story though, how it affects the characters and situations they are placed in. During the course of the game, these choices directly impact the characters and their emotions, and its reflected during gameplay. At the beginning, the team goes in as a typical commando unit, enemies drop to Smooth, controlled "Tango Down!" and reloading is a typical "Reloading!" shout. But as the game progresses and they experience the reality of the situation, and the effects of there choices, those original shouts become Desperate with "Take that Fucker down!" and "God damn piece of shit work!"

Gameplay is typical TPS gunfare, you can crouch and roll behind cover, throw grenades, switch between main and secondary weapons etc. And while its certainly nothing new, its fluid and works well. Walker controls smoothly, and camera controls are tight. Having squadmates opens up interesting ways of approaching situations. Lugo is a sniper, and you can mark faraway targets for him to take down, and Adams can toss flash bangs on big groups converging close to your unit.

Another way to approach situations is to use the environment, Dubai, being ravaged by sandstorms, can lead to some interesting ways to approach combat. If an enemy is behind an outside window, shooting it can dump sand on their head, stunning and disorienting them. Enemies above on a glass catwalk? Shoot out the glass and send them plummeting down. There are even certain areas where you can destroy whole walls and complete wipe out a unit, burying them in sand.

Unfortunately, using the environment is really only expiremented with when it's blatantly obvious. Which may not be a bad thing per se. But when certain enemies essentially line up behind a cracking window or on top of glass, theres no subtlety to it, and it doesnt really feel like you genuinely figured it out. Adams and Lugo, while the characters themselves are great, and do contribute to firefights, arent really necessary for the actions they could perform. Its great that you can designate them specific actions, but I found I could easily do it faster myself, and rarely had to rely on them.

Dont let those minor issues take you away from the game though, Spec Ops: The Line, as I said before, is focused on telling a story, and thats the real driving factor behind the game. Spec Ops isnt about run and gun gameplay or getting to the end of the game. Its about the actions you take and the effects it has on the characters and yourself. A War game that shows you that war isnt heroic or interesting, its brutal and horrifying.

Presentation: 5/5

Sound: 5/5

Gameplay: 4/5

Graphics: 4/5

Replay Value: 3/5

Overall: 21/25

Pros:

-Amazing Story

-Great Atmosphere

-Likeable Characters

-Fluid Combat

Cons:

-Combat is repetitive

-Combat doesnt experiment with its assets.

Note: This review is based solely on the Single Player campaign. I never once set foot into the mulitplayer, which I have heard to be fairly entertaining.

Lollipop Chainsaw Review

 By: Shalin Wiese

Genre: Action

Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture

Platform: Playstation 3 (also available for Xbox 360)

Released: June 12^th 2012

Ever wanted to wield a multifunctional chainsaw, in a quest to kill zombies being brought from the “Rotten World” by an Evil Goth who was bullied in high school? Welcome to Lollipop Chainsaw. A twisted and entertaining game from Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51 (Killer 7, No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned) A game that prides itself on its over the top action and crudeness. And, while not without its faults, provides an entertaining experience throughout.

Juliet Starling, high school student, cheerleader, zombie hunter. The game starts on her 18^th birthday (that’s a relief) and a brief explanation that she plans to enjoy the day with her boyfriend and family. Only, on the way to school, things don’t go as expected. Zombies now fill the streets and are in the way of her meeting place with Nick Carlyle, the previously noted boyfriend. So of course, there’s only one way through, slicing and dicing with her zombie hunting chainsaw.

This is where the game starts, and where the tutorial kicks in, Juliet has several basic moves that are upgraded as the game progresses. Her basic pom pom attack is essentially a stun move, it CAN kill zombies, but it takes a long time. However, after a few hits, they become stunned, and a stunned zombie can be instantly killed by the Chainsaw. This opens up into a combo system combining both Pompom attacks and quickly followed by Chainsaw finales. This however, will turn out to be a problem for button mashers. The best approach to take with combat is to time each hit as it happens, and press when the first attack has ended. Pressing to quickly will have her continue unintentional chains, and will more often than not, leave her open to attacks from surrounding enemies.

Unfortunately after our tutorial/opening level is over, Nick ends up taking a bite for Juliet and begins to become infected. So, in order for Juliet to still be with Nick, she does the only sane thing a person would do, Chop off his head. Upon waking she simply explains to him that its because of magic. She is able to do this, and off they go again to kill more zombies. Nick himself is obviously terrified,shocked, awed at this, but eventually comes to terms with it as the story progresses. He is also one of the most entertaining characters in the game, every event or battle in the game has him spouting witty one liners or commenting on his predicament in a way that only a man tied to his girlfriends belt as a head would be able to see it. Not only that, but Nick can be used in a variety of ways throughout the game, to collect money, attack enemies, or shoot him out of your Chainsaw cannon (yes you read that right) to quickly stun enemies for easy kills.

You've probably guess by now that, as a story, Lollipop Chainsaw enjoys being ridiculous, Swan, our evil goth bad guy has summoned these zombies using a ritual, and has also created 5 zombie overlords who will reign over the areas of the game. And, each overlord has there own music to accompany them, from punk rock to heavy metal, each zombie adds a unique flavour to each area of the game. And the soundtrack reflects that in full. And the 5 areas of the game are just as interesting, ranging from the highschool, to a stadium, and ending up at farms and arcades. Each level has a very unique experience, and always brings a new twist and element of gameplay to the floor.

Of course, the game is not without its faults and issues, as stated earlier, the combat is clunky, and until you learn some new skills and abilities later on, you'll be using the same combos for a majority of the game. Another “problem” that may not go over well with alot of people is the profanity in the game, alot of the characters and enemies swear, alot, and more still like to point out how much they love seeing Juliets... *ahem* Assets. While it doesnt take away from the gameplay at all, it gets a little tedious having enemies call Juliet a whore every other encounter.

Overall, the game itself is a very enjoyable experience, the story is hilarious and entertaining and the cast is interesting and fleshed out. Combat, while certainly not the best out there, is fun and visceral and can become much more interesting later on after learning the basics and purchasing new skills. If you like Suda's earlier works, this is definitely a game worth checking out, and if you're starting with this as your first, maybe try giving No More Heroes or Shadows of the Damned a whirl as well. While not for everyone, Lollipop Chainsaw can be a great experience, and I'd recommends giving it a playthrough at least once.

Presentation 4/5

+Interesting story and characters

+Creative level design and scenarios

-Crude humor may not be for all

Sound 4/5

+Excellent Soundtrack

+Great Voiceactors

-Repetitive zombie shouts

Gameplay 3.5/5

+PomPom/Chainsaw combos are rewarding

+Nick abilities are great

-Combat can be slow and clunky

-Can be repetitive until later on when new moves become available

Graphics 3.5/5

+Detailed and vivid

-Lack of variety with zombie characters

-Can sometimes stutter during certain action scenes

Replay Value 3.5/5

+Tons of collectables/costumes

+Has a ranked mode for competing with top scores

-Game is on the short side averaging betwen 5-7 hours.

Overall Score 74/100

Dragon's Dogma Review

By Shalin Wiese, May 24^th, 9:00am PST

Dragons Dogma is a game I had been waiting for since its announcement last year. I had been following the videos, checking the website, essentially absorbing as much information as I could. Now the game is out and I've had a chance to play it, and I am certainly not disappointed by the wait. Dragons Dogma is one of the few games to come out this year thats really impressed me.

You are Arisen, a hero to the people, a legend. Or, in other terms, a Dragon stole your heart and taunts you to come get it back. Thats where the game starts, and how the story begins. Being heartless (Arisen) is not without its perks though. While most RPG's tend to revolve around you and a cast of characters you come into contact with throughout the story, Arisen have the ability to summon "Pawns" into being. Human-like beings called from the Rift to aid the Arisen in battle.

You make one Pawn when you first are given the ability to summon, which becomes your lifelong partner throughout the game, while the other two are pulled from the Rift. Whats interesting about this though, is its not a stock character chosen and designed at random by the game. The Pawns you can summon are characters that were created by other players. These pawns come at whatever level the owner has played them to, and don't level up in your game. Which means you'll be trading pawns around every few levels to keep yourself up to snuff with whatever baddies you come across.

Being an action-heavy RPG, Dragons Dogma has a varied class system. At the start, you'll be given three classes, or Vocations, to choose from; Fighter, Strider and Mage. Each of these classes branches off into other subclasses that range from an enhanced upgrade (Fighter to warrior) or even a mix between classes (warrior+mage to Mystic Knight) each with its own skills and perks. Depending on your main class, you'll want to use Pawns to compliment or flesh out your playstyle, Rushing in with four warriors might make for easy goblin pickings, but its going to be a problem later when Harpies are stinging from above or no ones around to heal that new hole in your head, so do yourself a Favour and throw a Strider or Mage in there for good measure.

Combat is very akin to one of Capcoms finest series, Monster Hunter. There is no lock on, and the battles are rough. Knowing where the enemies are, and when to strike is key to performing well. Added to that, most enemies can be picked up and thrown, and the larger monsters can be climbed upon to attack weak points. The most entertaining thing about the combat though, is that you can use the terrain to your advantage. Climb rocks for a better advantage, retreat behind trees to avoid enemy fire. At one point I even ended up knocking a cyclops off a cliff. Even I wasn't expecting that.

The story itself takes on the role of a side-quest game. Which is my only real gripe. Getting to a new town or area has you communing with the townsfolk to find quests to do, whether it be needing to recover a stolen book, or felling a gryphon terrorizing citizens. While theres nothing wrong with that, Occasionally the main story will pause, and have you wandering around completing the side-quests before the Main story rears back up and sees you off again.

The world is a massive place to explore and theres plenty of dungeons and areas to check out, each with its own polish and look, some areas are connected to each other and find you coming back around to place you didn't expect, after finishing a quest in a cave, I noticed a door that I couldn't open because it was looked from the other side, heading back to town I took another quest that had me killing monster in a well, being unable to climb back up I ended up finding an exit, which I unlocked that opened up into the cave I had been to earlier not only that but the cave was also quite a distance away from the starting point of the current quest I was on. Interesting aspects like that are what keep the game entertaining, and discovering a new area and finding every secret nook and cranny always gives you a sense of accomplishment after exploring.

Overall, Dragons Dogma has a certain level of charm to it that will either attract players, or push them away. If your a fan of exploration and hard an rewarding combat, consider giving Dragons Dogma a whirl. While the story may not be as epic or enthralling as other big name RPG's, Dragons Dogma delivers a solid, entertaining experience that has you cheering yourself on after every tough encounter and breathing a sigh of relief when you finally make it back to town after every journey.

-Shay

First. Blog. EVER!

So, heres my blog, creating this for a number of reasons. One being boredom, and the other is for game reviews since I play to many and feel like doing something productive with them. So thats that.

Cheers!

-Shay