February 24, 2012 in Games, News
EA developer Danger Close and Tier 1 operators team up again for the sequel to 2010 shooter-reboot in the form of Medal of Honor: Warfighter. Battlfield 3 lovers will be pleased to hear that it runs off of the undeniably impressive Frostbite Engine 2.0. As of right now, there are no details but there will be next month during GDC (Game Developer’s Conference)!
February 24, 2012 in Games, News
Missed out on the Sony’s PS3 exclusive, graphical FPS champ Killzone 3? Well, Sony and Guerilla Games, in an attempt to keep the title relevant, have decided to release the multiplayer component for free — that is, up to a certain, currently unknown level cap. To purchase the entire multiplayer-only package, it’ll set you back a measly $14.99, which is an absolute steal for one of this generation’s finest first-person shooter multiplayer experiences available. Don’t be an idiot by not even trying out the multiplayer for free — trust me, you won’t be disappointed. Expect it to drop next Tuesday on the 28th of February!
February 22, 2012 in Games, News
Like most people with a console who enjoy a good game, I have been mildly excited about Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect 1 and 2 both had engrossing stories that were brilliant to play, harkening back to the day when games were made for content. This game is being created by BioWare, which have brought us games like Dragon Age, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Baulder’s Gate, etc., and being marketed by EA. EA, as we all know, is a major marketing firm that pushes games hard, and doesn’t give a shit about the industry (mainly because they consider themselves the industry). And, with over $3.8 Billion in revenue reported on physical sales for the end of the fiscal year in March of 2011, why should they? More importantly, with $3.8 billion in revenue on physical media, and over $1 Billion in digital revenue reported for 2011, why should they give a shit about the consumer? 1 They have us in a bind. They know we will buy their games, no matter how outrageous they make acquiring all the content.
On Feb 20th, a new DLC arrived in the XBL store. It was for a pack called From Ashes, and frankly, I’d warn for spoilers, but I don’t think anything that is DLC could ever be a spoiler, especially when it’s planned for release on day one. EA and BioWare are providing something that is incredible in the Mass Effect universe. They are providing a Prothean as a downloadable part of your team. Anyone who played Mass Effect is freaking out. Considering the entire plot has revolved around Reapers and Protheans, this is a big fucking deal. A big. Fucking. Deal. Obviously Protheans are still alive and kicking, and will be an integral part of the story in a new way if you can get one on your team. Now, this isn’t the big deal. The big deal is them providing this only as DLC. It’s free with the N7 Collector’s Edition (which is $20 more than the regular), and available for $10 (I believe) on day one as DLC.
What the fuck. I understand providing free DLC that could be integral to storyline as an incentive to purchase the game new, which they’ve done in the past for Dragon Age, etc., but to provide an integral piece of the storyline, which was created during regular development time mind you, at a price like $10 is absurd. If I’m paying top dollar for a game already, I want all the fucking content it has been made to have. Obviously if this DLC was created during planning, it’s a part of the storyline and can give insane insight into the world and the lore. As a nerd, of course I fucking want to know about the Protheans straight from the Protheans themselves! I want to fight side by side with the Protheans against the Reavers, because how fucking angry are the Protheans at the Reavers? How fucking sick would that be? Come on. I know you agree. But to have this available only to people that are willing to pay $70-$80 for a game is stupid.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand business and I understand the market. I understand that it’s an obvious move for EA to provide this content as DLC right off the bat for a high price. I understand that this is the natural progression of the gaming market, and DLC is totally normal. I’m alright with DLC, even! It’s just the fact that this isn’t after-launch content. This is pre-launch content, already prepared to be assimilated into the game from day 1. Already prepared, already cooked, all ready to serve to the public, but no. To provide this from the beginning, not for free as an incentive to buy new, is absolutely absurd. To me, this is providing a frame for a bed, and instead of the mattress it promised you, it’s a flimsy top to a futon. But, you can buy the proper mattress that fits this bed perfectly from the company that sold you the bed. For an amount more. Notice, I’ve bolded that bit. When you buy a videogame, you are taking the developer’s word that this is the best product they can offer to you. You accept that there may be bugs, and there may be some extra quests on the side as DLC, but you expect the integral story experience. You expect to pay for this product, and receive it as the developers intended, in whole. Now, if they’re providing launch day DLC, it’s not the whole game that the developers intended you to play, especially if it’s coming for free with the N7 Collector’s Edition.
They worked on this DLC in conjunction with developing the full game, and we the consumer, who are paying top dollar for a completed work, should be entitled to receive it. We aren’t sold movies where integral scenes are sold at an extra price. We aren’t sold books where a full storyline is available for $10 extra. We as consumers should demand a certain level of product, and currently, I can’t say EA is providing the product that I want. Between the Origin fiasco, and now this, I cannot provide EA with my money any longer. I will not be purchasing Mass Effect 3. I might purchase it used, but even that is something I might not do because I don’t feel I should support this company in any way. I urge you to think about not purchasing it either. If we can make a stand with the one thing that will make them hear us, our wallets, then we might even affect other companies that do similar things (like Capcom and its contant releases of rehashed fighting titles i.e. Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, and so on). We as consumers have more power than we give ourselves credit. If we could boycott opening day sales of Mass Effect 3, just one day of not buying it, then it would be a huge gesture to EA. Just one day. If you get it the next, whatever, but one day of not buying what could be the biggest release in a long time would provide them with a little glimpse at just how ridiculous this practice is.
–Christian a.k.a. Boris The Baby Eater
Edit: This is the video by TotalBiscuit that originally piqued my interest.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
1 Williams, M.H.. 2012. EA Reshuffles After $1 Billion In Digital Year. http://www.industrygamers.com/news/ea-reshuffles-after-1-billion-in-digital-year/ (accessed Feb 22, 2012).
February 21, 2012 in Games, Random, Thoughts
“Murders a sin, you know. You go to hell for murder.”
Silent Hill. You’ve probably heard the name before, or if you’re lucky like me, maybe even vacationed there a time or two. The Silent Hill games became a cultural phenomenon with its down right disturbing and frightening images when Silent Hill 2 came out on PS2. The games follow your character, who always end up in Silent Hill one way or the other. What you find out is Silent Hill is what you make it — it personifies the bad things you’ve done into frightening things that try to cause you harm. (i.e., infamous Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2 — just how bad of a person do you have to be to create something like that?). While Silent Hill Downpour is the eight installment of the franchise, all you need to know is what I already told you. To my knowledge, you do not have to play any of the games before this one to understand the story. I’d bet there’s even a little side-plot in there for you to find out what Silent Hill is.
I’m covering news of this game because March is the month of Silent Hill. The weather is even reminiscent of Silent Hill, (varies on location) but March is a time of cold, wet, rain, and fog. Silent Hill’s main climate…when it’s not burning. I’m here to inform you on some deliciously terrifying deals coming out in March.
March 6th: Silent Hill HD Collection. No, ladies and gentleman, the year of the remake is far from over. Since the Metal Gear Solid and Team ICO HD remakes, Japan’s been in an HD’ifying mood. Such announcements as Armored Core as well as Zone of the Enders have also been announced and now on March 6th, the glorious Silent Hill HD collection, full of it’s great horrors and chilling music, is set to come out. This collection includes new versions of Silent Hill 2 and 3 (2 arguably being the best of the franchise) complete with new voice-overs for the characters.
March 13th: Silent Hill Downpour. Here to ruin your spring break (or make it) is Silent Hill’s latest installment. Follow a convicted felon, Murphy Pendleton, in the aftermath of his bus escort aciddent that leaves him stranded in Silent Hill with only his thoughts, memories and what he’s done to keep him company. Silent Hill is sure to do work on a convicted felon.
March 27th: Silent Hill: Book of Memories. While the first two will be on both the 360 and PS3, this installment is only on the PlayStation Vita. This game will center on a mysterious book that contains the main character’s life story. Apparently your protagonist can also edit it to change the past and present and as to how this will be done will be revealed later in March. The game will also implement a multiplayer (being the first game to do so in the franchises’ history) with a new cooperative mode.
It looks like March is the month of terror instead of Halloween this year. Look forward to these games and be sure to always check RealViews for both reviews on Downpour as well as the HD Collection!
February 15, 2012 in Games, News
As you may already know, Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy are in the game but the game’s setting hasn’t been revealed. The location has now been confirmed by Capcom, namely a fictional coastal town in China called Lanshiang in the year 2013. The three main characters in the game are Leon Kennedy, Helena Harper and Chris Redfield. Helena Harper, as you may hear in the trailer, says that she is the one responsible for the incident that is happening in this game. As for Leon and Chris, well, there probably there to kick ass and take zombie names. There is a new villain in the game and his name is J’avo. This demon was named by the BSAA and was discovered in Europe six months before Resident Evil 6 happens. He has human characteristics and can speak, work in groups and use weapons, making for one badass demon. He is very aggressive and has the ability to regenerate and change body parts into different forms. Yeah, I look forward to fighting this dude. Oh, and by the way, did we mention that Capcom has confirmed the ability to run and shoot at the same time? Yeah! You can run, roll and slide. They have also promised us new enhanced melee attacking.
More details to come.
February 14, 2012 in Games, Playstation 3 RealViews, Xbox 360 RealViews
Pinball is one of those classic forms of gaming that will never get old — a style of play that you thought was already perfected. Well, the team at Zen Studios not only knocked up the presentation of pinball to new heights with their prior release, but now they’ve combined RPG elements with the addictive gameplay of pinball to great effect.
The Epic Quest DLC will run you about $2.49 on the PSN and 240 MSP on the Marketplace and for that kind of chump change, you get a lot of bang for your buck, assuming you don’t have pinball fatigue. Even then it’ll still give you great entertainment in small doses. Despite RPG elements, the gameplay still revolves around the left and right triggers being flicked at the right time and at the right angle. Of course, in order to make Max (the DLC’s main man) into a medieval badass, you have to take down enemies and obtain loot by defeating them. You beat them by initiating a counter by hitting the ball down a certain path and then making sure you keep hitting certain lanes without letting the ball go pass your flippers (or else you automatically lose the encounter and have to initiate it again). You can also, believe it or not, level up Max (with a cap of 100) by obtaining XP that’s represented by a red bar on the bottom. Like how you deal with encounters, you obtain XP by hitting the ball down certain lanes.
The RPG elements of Epic Quest feels like a natural progression in pinball, organically blending in with the existing mechanics. The presentation is bare-bones but top-notch for a pinball game, as the almost Robin Williams-esque voice of Max being a treat to hear, spitting out amusing lines and never becoming annoying. The Epic Quest DLC is a no-brainer for fans of pinball, especially when taking the price into consideration.
REPORT CARD
Story: –
Graphics: 76
Audio: 88
Gameplay: 88
Lasting Appeal: 85
Overall
84
February 14, 2012 in Games, News
Having a resume is a fantastic way to get a job but what I love most about a motion capturer’s resume is that they sometimes accidentally leak what projects they’re working on. According to motion capture actor David Thornfield, gamers can expect God of War IV and a new Medal of Honor title. Personally, God of War III is easily one of this generations best games and probably the best action game by a mile and while it would have been nice to see the franchise end on a good note, it’s hard not to want more at the same time. Medal of Honor was a lukewarm-received title aimed at Call of Duty’s throne. It wasn’t quite the AAA experience as CoD or Battlefield 3 (it sold like one though, that’s for damn sure), being on the same tier as probably the Resistance franchise. Here’s the pic below of the actor’s Linkedin profile:
February 13, 2012 in Games, Playstation 3 RealViews, Xbox 360 RealViews
Monolith is a game developer that is known for their horror FPS games. They made the Condemned and F.E.A.R. franchises and now they’ve developed a title you wouldn’t have expected them to make — a Batman-based FPS game. Monolith and Warner Bros team up again to make a downloadable FPS title like no other.
First off, this game has a very good and very funny intro movie. This game doesn’t have any kind of story other than Batman and Joker left the city and now the crazy citizens are impersonating them but utilizing guns. This game is friendly to FPS newcomers that don’t know typical button layouts. They put in an Initiation mode in the main menu that teaches you all the controls and how to play but it doesn’t teach you the game mode. Don’t worry about that because each game mode, once you first start it, comes attached with a little movie/slideshow that teaches you how to play. The whole movie/slideshow presentation that you find throughout the game is pretty cool because it shows tutorial clips in a funny light.
It’s a strictly online title but it does have a challenge mode where you try to complete a course in a record time with a certain gadget but that’s about it for offline gameplay. The challenge modes can be pretty easy at the start to get a gold medal but the difficulty ramps up after that. I like that the challenge mode gets you XP and helps toward ranking up and it also has a leaderboard implemented.
There are 3 online game modes; Team Deathmatch, Fumigation and Psych Warfare. Team Deathmatch is the most played of course and it deserves to be. Fumigation is a game where if your team doesn’t work together, you’re screwed but what game isn’t like that? I really don’t like Fumigation though, it might be a good game type and it does remind me of Valve’s Team Fortress 2, but what really annoyed me was playing with random people who didn’t know what they were doing and it seemed like the enemy was just “strategically” placing (camping) themselves on each of the so called Gasblasters. I would recommend playing this with friends only.
Psych Warfare is a cool gametype also. This gametype is just like capture the flag except you are capturing batteries to plug them into a giant speaker to demorilize your enemy. I think is one is interesting because when your team gets demoralized, you lose your weapons and you just run around waving your hands in the air while hearing the enemy say stuff like “you should just give up” and other funny things in a calm voice. When you are demoralized, you can still attack if you get close enough and just panic slap them and they instantly die.
Throughout the game you can rank up and get keys to unlock tons of things for your character and for your loadouts. There are tons and tons of things to unlock. This game is just like Call of Duty with it’s custom loadouts. You can equip a freeze gun and have a bow and arrow or what ever you like. There are just too many unlockables in this game to talk about and I really think that is what makes this game truly great. I especially like the customization feature in this game. You get costume coins after each game and when those coins add up, you can unlock clothes for your Joker or Batman character. You can change you’re voice and body size, too.
There are perks but they are called Fun Facts and there are killstreaks but they’re mostly point streaks that do various things depending on which one who have equiped. Also, they have a Psych Profile for your load out which gives you things such as more XP or costume points but there are penalties. Very cool, I must say, and trying to choose which things you want on a class can be hard because everything in the game is helpful. There are challenges for everything in the game that help you level up and the max level is 1000. Yes… I said it. You go from 1 – 100 then you get a promotion and unlock a companion, then you go from 101- 200, etc.
Lots to do in this game and so little maps. This game only came with 5 maps and they are really good maps. I never get tired of playing them over and over again and with promised DLC of free maps, weapons and costume unlocks, it will be hard to pass this title buy seeing as CoD charges $15 for 5 maps.
There are bugs in the game but I haven’t found anything that is game threatening yet. The biggest issue is that they say the game has dedicated servers but I have reason to believe that there is still a host and out of the hundreds of games I’ve played so far, I’ve only lost connection to about 4 and sometimes the game will lag really bad and you just see people teleporting everywhere but this has only happened twice for me. Again, these don’t happen frequently and you shouldn’t be worried about it.
All in all, this is a great $15 game and if you are a fan of Call of Duty or even FPS games then you really can’t afford to miss out on this game. It’s like playing Call of Duty but completely re-imagined and new. There is tons of content packed into this game from funny remarks to weapons and costumes. It will take a while to completely unlock everything in the game.
REPORT CARD
Story: –
Graphics: 85
Audio: 80
Gameplay: 95
Lasting Appeal: 95
Overall
92
February 9, 2012 in Games, News
After a promising but ultimately underwhelming attempt at penetrating the television market, Google is seemingly up to building a wireless home theater system. Now how cool is that? Google’s alleged entertainment system will wirelessly connect music from the marketplace and/or Google Music to speakers, phones, and tablets. Google not only plans to manufacture it themselves, but they intend to sell it an affordable price. Expect an official announcement later this year!
February 9, 2012 in Games, News
Game Informer recently had an interview with creative/game director Neil Druckmann and Bruce Staley (respectively) where they shed some light on some of the games highly-anticipated story details.A fungus-based epidemic has bent Earth over and had its way with her and the game revolves around two leads twenty years after said epidemic. Military quarantine zones that are pretty much run via a dictatorship is all that’s left.
You have the on-the-edge Joel, a 40-year old man who is slowly losing his moral boundaries, contracted to escort a 14-year old girl, Ellie, outside of the military zone. Of course, it wouldn’t be compelling to keep them safe, eh? If you’ve seen the trailer, then you know what they’re up against and Joel, despite his moral ambiguity, he will stop at nothing to find another safe haven for Ellie and him.
RealTalk