Halo Reach Multiplayer: Remakes, Outer Space and Aerial Assaults

Even though the Reach Beta is far behind us, my mind is still consumed with thoughts of running around Boneyard and Powerhouse, throwing mini-nuke grenades and Lock Blocking some fools. Needless to say, I’m greatly looking forward to the game’s release on September 14, and I’ve even taken a couple days off of work to fully absorb it (that and go to a wedding, but we know which is more important). Bungie recently played host to a variety of media outlets – while snubbing my tear-filled pleas to be invited – and the fruits of those visits are finally hitting the internet. IGN got to take a look at three of the maps being shipped with Reach, and two of them should be familiar to Halo 2 veterans.

It all looks pretty good to me, especially the prospect of flying Falcons in multiplayer. How is it looking to you guys?

Batman: Arkham City Swooping From the Shadows in 2011

BATMANBatman: Arkham Asylum was probably the biggest surprise of 2009 next to Wolverine. A big-budget super-hero game that actually captured the feeling of being Batman and was a blast to play? Almost unheard of in the video game industry, but developers Rocksteady pulled it off. Of course, a big success means sequels, and Arkham Asylum is no exception. Originally teased last year at Spike’s Video Game Awards show, the follow-up to AA will take place in Arkham City, a “heavily fortified” district in the heart of Gotham. Presumably this means more gargoyles to hang on.

Besides being in a different locale, Arkham City will feature a new cast of villains like Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, and Catwoman. Nothing much has been announced for the upcoming title, but Rocksteady promises this game will “deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.”

I think we can all agree that Arkham Asylum was fun, but there were things that needed to be improved about it, most notably the poorly designed boss fights. Almost every single boss encounter in that game was gimmicky or totally out of context (Scarecrow being the notable exception). What do you guys want to see from this bat-sequel? The game is dropping on PC, PS3 and the 360 in Autumn of 2011.

Source: CVG

Poll: Do You Read Video Game Books?

Besides being a fanatic gamer, one of my other hobbies (other than tearing up the drums) is being an avid reader. I’ve been in and out of it the past few years, but recently I’ve begun to pick up books again. One of my favorite authors at the moment is Karen Traviss, who you might know from her successful Republic Commando novels (which themselves were based off of a video game). Recently, Karen has been doing the writing duties on both the Gears of War novels and the third game, but she’s also announced that she’s taking up the mantel of Halo after Greg Bear is done with his Forerunner trilogy. Novel tie-ins are becoming more and more pronounced in the games industry, so I pose this question to you guys: have you ever read a video game book?

Do You Read Video Game Books?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

StarCraft 2 Impressions: It’s Not Just WarCraft in Space!

StarCraft 2So, StarCraft 2 is finally out as of last week. You’ve been playing it, I’ve been playing it, and Eddy wishes he’s been playing it. Now that we’ve had a good amount of time to digest Blizzard’s long-in-the-making sci-fi RTS follow up, I thought I’d start a little topic where we could discuss our thoughts on the single and multiplayer portions and maybe start a little Battle.net group so you can wail on me as often as you like.

Starting with the single player, I have to say that the game is very, very solid in its design. Blizzard has been tweaking and polishing the balance on all of their games for a long time, and it really shows in the tightness of the units and how they counter-act against each other. While you do get access to a wider variety of troops in the single player game, they’ve all been assigned a specific role much like their multiplayer counter-parts. There are no “god-units” here, just one that might happen to do better in a given mission. While so far the designs of the missions themselves haven’t really stood out, I’ve been able to do fairly well and I haven’t become frustrated with impossible goals or cheap AI tactics.

Between missions, you can explore Jim Raynor’s battlecruiser The Hyperion. Along the way, you’ll stock the ship with various characters who will aid you in your quest or provide you with missions and upgrades. Exploring your ship is a cross between Mass Effect and an old-school point and click adventure game in that you can talk to or click on anyone and anything, but it’s all done without ever taking direct control of Jim. I liked this part of the game a lot as it added a lot of personality to characters we’re used to seeing from a top-down view. The ability to augment units with Protoss and Zerg tech is also a welcome addition because of how it changes the dynamic of the units. Again, it won’t make any one unit over-powered but the upgrades do give you a nice edge. Like I’ve mentioned before I’m finding the mission design a little samey, but it is improving the farther I get into the game. Once the story starts rolling, you get hooked pretty easily.

Now, I’m going to let you guys go to town on multiplayer, because StarCraft has always had a steep learning curve. I’m not exactly terrible at the game, but a competent player could wipe the floor with me easily. I’ve been doing a few comp stomps with a buddy, and those have been great fun in addition to letting me practice my build orders and hotkey commands. So what do you guys think of StarCraft 2?

GamerSushi Asks: Photorealistic Graphics?

LimboOver the weekend, I’ve been dabbling a bit in a couple of newly release titles. One is, obviously, StarCraft 2, but the other is Limbo, newly up for purchase as part of X-Box LIVE’s Summer of Arcade. I didn’t really follow the story of Limbo that closely, but I knew it was a side-scrolling platformer with a unique look. I tried the demo and immediately bought the full game, mostly because of how much the art style appeal to me. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Limbo, check out the trailer. Among other cliched terms, I’d call it hauntingly beautiful and very atmospheric. In addition to looking as gorgeous as a game that dark can it also features some slick puzzles and grotesque punishments for failure (seriously, you get messed up).

The game’s visual presentation got me thinking, though. The farther into the future we get with game consoles, the closer to life everyone seems to want their graphics. While some big-budget titles stretch the limit of what is acceptable by our real-life standards (Gears of War’s improbably bulky protagonists come to mind), video games are getting closer and closer to emulating what we perceive through our own two eyes. Games like Limbo, Braid and many similar titles show us that we don’t have to constrain everything to an Earth-bound package. Perhaps one of the barriers to the “games as art” argument is that this visual medium doesn’t add anything that movies have already done in this respect. That’s probably why Braid got tossed around a lot when this issue got brought up the first time; it looks like a painting come to life, much like Limbo. So I ask you guys this: do you want more games to stretch the graphical barrier and start using different ways to interpret what we see? Or do you think that sort of experimentation is confined to downloadable titles? Fire away!

Metroid: Other M Goes to the Movies

Other MNintendo and Team Ninja’s collaborative efforts on Metroid: Other M are coming to fruition at the end of August, and the game is going to be a bit different than what fans of the series are used to. Typically, Metroid games play up the feeling of loneliness and desolation on hostile alien worlds, but this time around Samus is going to be a lot more vocal and she’ll have a few characters backing her up. Because the game is focusing more on character interactions, Other M will feature almost two hours of cut scenes. Since you’ll probably spend most of your time looking for hidden items and blasting creepy bad guys, Team Ninja is doing you a service by giving you the option to watch Other M’s video segments strung together in a sort of “theater mode” once you’ve finished your playthrough.

A very nice gesture on the developer’s part, but I can’t help but feel that they’ve missed what makes Metroid the unique series that it is, outside of the whole being-hit-so-hard-your-items-fall-off gameplay mechanic. Metroid isn’t about long winded cut-scenes or being told hold Samus feels. Part of her mystery is that you don’t know anything about her, her motivations or what goes on inside her head. She’s a bounty hunter and a warrior. Do people want to know more about Samus? I might be alone in this, but I like Metroid when it’s dark and enigmatic, not when it’s beating you over the head with narrative. What about you guys? Are you down for some cinematic action, or are you a bit wary?

Source: Kotaku

Proof That the Dance Command Can Go With Anything

Blizzard sure loves to slip little jokes into their games, and StarCraft 2 is no exception. I’m making my way through the campaign at the moment and I’ve already spotted a few, such as the Night Elf dancing in the cantina and the Metroid cameo. One of Blizzard’s other successful games, World of Warcraft (you may have heard of it) features a fun little command called /dance where you can make your in-game avatar do a few slick moves depending on your species. Looks like the company’s sci-fi RTS isn’t immune either. The marines are jacked up and good to go, and some user captured them doing their routine:

Pretty hilarious, and very in keeping with Blizzard’s sense of humor. Like I mentioned, I’m making my way through the single-player game and I’m finding it solid so far, even if the mission designs are a little vanilla. How about you guys? What’s your StarCraft experience like so far?

Halo: Reach Campaign Trailer Debuts

Your resident Halo fanboy is back, this time with the campaign trailer for Bungie Studio’s upcoming Halo swan song, Halo: Reach. You can debate whether this game is actually the most anticipated title of 2010 (please don’t), but there’s no denying that the excitement for Reach is building to a fevered pitch. With Firefight 2.0, Forge World and a swath of player customization options, it looks like Bungie’s last Halo game will be very fine indeed. Check out the trailer below:

Very nice in my opinion, if a little reminiscent of Modern Warfare 2 in some parts. Like all of Bungie’s trailers, this stuff is all in engine, and damn if it doesn’t look sublime. What do you guys think? Any more excited, or are you like me, veritably bursting at the seams with apprehension?

Red Dead Redemption’s Soundtrack is as Authentic as it is Beautiful

One of the stand-out things in Red Dead Redemption is, for me, the incredible soundtrack. Invoking the classic feel of Western films and composers, Rockstar’s latest opus had an incredibly nuanced creation process involving the use of several antiquated instruments and a unique method of composition. While “Far Away” by Jose Gonzales is the stand-out track in the game, the rest of the score is no less moving or powerful. Rockstar put out a video detailing the process, and it’s an informative watch.

I found that really cool, especially how the composers layered the “strands” on top of one another depending on what the player was doing. I enjoyed the ambient music in Mexico myself. What about you guys?

Top Six: Achievement Types I Never Want to See Again

Love them or hate them, Achievements (and Trophies) have become prevalent in our gaming lives, starting with the Xbox 360 and creeping over to the PS3 and the PC. While it has been a few years since the introduction of Gamerscore and e-peens, very few developers seem to grasp the point of Achievements, and there are a few out there in the wild that have caused an undue amount of frustration for many a gamer. We all know the ones, the few that makes us tear our hair out or have us stay up until three in the morning trying to earn something that isn’t real…but is. Here’s a list of six examples that I think should be removed from gaming forever: Continue reading Top Six: Achievement Types I Never Want to See Again

StarCraft 2 Finally Launches Today

Today is the day we’ve been waiting for since what feels like forever; the day that Blizzard deigns to grace us with the most hotly anticipated Real-Time-Strategy game in recent memory, StarCraft 2. Well, to be accurate, the first part of the StarCraft 2 trilogy, the Terran-centric Wings of Liberty campaign. I won’t split hairs though, because this is a monumental occasion for gamers of all types. More than any other game I know, StarCraft has a fervent legion of followers; even self-professed “non-gamer” friends of mine have been looking forward to this. Now that the game is finally out, how many of you are playing, and how many of you are waiting patiently for your copy to download? In celebration, check out the beautiful Ghosts of the Past trailer:

So, what’s your first stop: campaign or multiplayer?

GamerSushi Asks: Reviewing Free Games?

Alien SwarmAs you’re all probably aware, most of the GamerSushi staff are in the throes of Alien Swarm addiction. The game is really engaging, and it manages to wedge itself nicely into the niche left in my gaming life by Diablo 2. Valve was even kind enough to give it to us for free, and judging by how their servers got the crap beat out of them on its release day, they’re probably kicking themselves for not charging at least five dollars for the thing.

Even though we all love Alien Swarm, it’s not a perfect game. There are a few issues I’ve had with it, but my mind keeps glossing them over because of the price tag (or lack thereof). So I pose this question to you guys: can you even review free games? Price is definitely something that has affected the perception of past titles (ODST comes to mind), so will something that only costs us hard drive space be given an automatic pass in the grading department?

Something else I’d like you to consider is DLC. I’ve played all of the Mass Effect 2 content packs, and, when stacked against ME2 proper, they come up very poorly. Even Overlord, the most recent and best of the DLC, is kind of lack-luster compared to the main game and its selling price. Can DLC be rated on its own merits, or does it have to take the larger picture into account?

Rumor: Mysterious Video Points to Modern Warfare 2 Subscription Plan?

On the internet, everything must be taken with a grain of salt, which is why Wikipedia is no longer a valid source for information when writing a paper for school. Simply put, there are too many untrustworthy people who are much, much smarter than the vast majority of us, and they use their talents to disguise erroneous facts as the truth. This video, though, seems to be pretty legitimate to me. Apparently an X-Box LIVE user attempted to connect to a friend’s game, only to be bounced to a Marketplace page that announced that a Membership plan was necessary, but not available yet. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself.

The top of the screen clearly has the beginning of “membership” before it is cut off by the size limitation. What do you guys think? Will Modern Warfare 2 follow a WoW-based route, or is this for something different? Treat this as a rumor for now until we have official word from Activision. It wouldn’t surprise me, though.

Poll: What is Your Current Game of the Year?

We’re on the precipice of the holiday gaming rush with Halo: Reach leading the charge in about two months, so I thought I would whip up a quick poll and find out what your current favorite for 2010 is. We’ve had a really excellent first half of the year, and just making this poll made my brain light afire with all the great experiences I’ve had so far. Whether I was pressing X to “Jaaason” or rising my horse across the dusty wasteland, 2010 has given me some of the most outstanding gaming moments of recent memory, and if the fall is any indication, the hits are going to keep on coming. Take a look at the options below, and let your opinion be known!

What Is Your Current Game of the Year?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Peter Molyneux Bemoans Fable 2’s Development

Fable 3Fable 2 was OK, for the most part, but it wasn’t perfect. Like all games helmed  by Peter Molyneux, it over-promised and under-delivered. That’s not a shot against the long-time developer, but it’s a sad fact that most ambitious projects get crushed down by the harsh realities of development. The difference with Fable 2, though, was the astounding number of bugs that had to be squashed before the game game out. According to a recent interview, some 67,000 bugs were present in Fable 2’s code at one time, necessitating a rating of “super-black” by the Microsoft quality assurance team. Judging from the interview, games are rated on a sort of “threat assessment” scale, with “super-black” being a very scary area.

Eventually, Lionhead Studios got the bugs under control and the game shipped to above average reviews and sales. Molyneux still wasn’t happy with the finished product, conceding that there were “huge design flaws” in Fable 2 (what those were, he did not specify. How about farting until someone married you?).  Fable 3 is apparently facing a tough time as well, breaking its predecessor’s record for most bugs present in a Microsoft first-party title. While the exact number wasn’t mentioned, it is a known fact that Fable 3 has more coding errors than Fable 2, and the team at Lionhead are working very long hours to get it under control for a fall release.  Molyneux maintains that this is endemic to the industry as a whole, and reading post-development breakdowns of games like Uncharted 2 would reveal similar problems.

What do you guys think of Molyneux’s statement? As gamers, I think we’ve all come to accept the reality of bugs and glitches, but 67,000 is quite the staggering number. Does this change your perception of Fable 3?

Source: 1up via VG247.com and GamesIndustry.biz

Microsoft Declares 1 vs. 100 To Be The Weakest Link

1 vs 1001 vs. 100 was a beast of a different kind, something that we don’t get to experience all that often. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this bold product, 1 vs. 100 was an X-Box LIVE game show based on a TV program of the same name where “The One” would compete against “The Mob” for prizes. As far as LIVE offerings went, it was very original and quite outside of the normal offerings on consoles.

As well received as 1 vs. 100 was, Microsoft has unfortunately decided to pull the plug on that particular endeavor, meaning that the quiz game will not be returning for a third season. When asked about the cancellation, Microsoft Game Studio’s General Manager Dave McCartney stated the he was very proud of the team backing up the game, and was excited to see what could come in the future due to what they’ve learned from the process.

This is kind of a shame, consider that I never got to try it, and I continuously hear from some other GamerSushi staff members how much they enjoyed playing it. What do you guys think of this turn of events? Is 1 vs. 100 gone forever, or can we expect a Kinect re-launch under a different name?

Update: Kotaku posted a farewell letter from the 1 vs. 100 team, as well as a link to some insight as to why the game went under.

Source: VG247.com

GameStop Laments the Second-Hand Sales Business

gamestopIt’s no secret that GameStop does some serious business with its used-game sales racket; even in an industry that is seeing a steady decline in this rough economy, the sales giant is actually seeing a profit spike. Normally people don’t like to choke the golden goose, but recently a GameStop “spokesperson” named Niall Lawlor spoke very candidly about the company’s stance on its lucrative practice.

“We discovered the used business was a way of preserving our margins,” Lawlor said. “We don’t like being in the used business, it’s very difficult to manage. If we hadn’t got the used business, we wouldn’t be there.”

That’s sort of an odd position for a GameStop spokesperson to take, isn’t it? For a company that single-handedly started the trade-in scheme, bemoaning the method by which you pull in ridiculous amounts of cash is a little strange. GameStop quickly tried to stem the comments by maintaining that Lawlor was an impostor, but that would be kind of hard to pull off at an industry event. What do you guys think? Any opinion on this strange bit of news?

Source: 1up via GamesIndustry.biz and Kotaku

Obvious News of the Day: Black Ops Pre-orders Going Like Crazy

black opsAs reviled as Activision is among the hardcore gamer population, the constant success of their franchises really makes me wish I bought some stock in the company. Whether they’re printing money with World of Warcraft or breaking sales records all over the globe with Call of Duty, Activision seems to be doing quite well for themselves.

While Call of Duty may be experiencing a little fatigue brand-wise, there’s no question that the next installment, Black Ops, will still pull in massive numbers over the holiday season. An analyst for Pacific Crest Securities has predicted that, even with the current kerfuffle between Activision and CoD-creating studio Infinity Ward, Black Ops is outpacing Modern Warfare 2 for pre-orders at this current time. His information comes from some of his “retail contacts”, so take from that what you will. The same analyst also says that even though Black Ops will have a greater number of pre-orders, he expects it to only move about 12 million copies during the holiday season, about four million less than Modern Warfare 2 did.

Black Ops is coming into a tough market this season with a lot of big-name titles from competing publishers hoping to vie for consumer’s holiday dollars. Could this be the first step on the road to mediocrity for Call of Duty, or do you think that the veteran franchise will have another stellar year? Has anyone pre-ordered this yet?

Source: 1up

Review: Crackdown 2

Crackdown 2Crackdown is one of those games that somehow obtained mythical status among its fervent fanbase, a lofty position almost inexplicable in nature. Originally only noteworthy for the Halo 3 Beta invitation, the open-world super-hero cop game became a cult hit overnight, capturing players with its addictive skill progression and crazy gameplay. Three years have passed, and gamers have been waiting patiently for a sequel. The developer may have changed from Real Time Worlds to Ruffian but there was hopes that Crackdown 2 would retain the same charm that its predecessor possessed. Does Crackdown 2 recapture the magic of the original, or does it play it too safe?

I’m coming at Crackdown 2 with a unique perspective, specifically the one of someone who barely even touched the original. I played a demo of it at EB Games a long time ago for about five minutes, and I remember bounding around buildings until various gang members filled my vaulting body with lead. At the time, I didn’t even have an XBox 360, so I promptly forgot about the game. When I did pick one up a few months later, my chance to get in the Halo 3 Beta had long passed, so Crackdown slipped from my memory.
Continue reading Review: Crackdown 2

Today’s WTF: Blizzard Divulges Your Secret Identity

forum rageAnonymity on the internet is an important tool, even if it allows every single user on YouTube to type out the stupidest crap known to man without fear of repercussion. While we all get upset from time to time at the vitriol spouted from the internet, it’s mostly harmless and said by those who don’t really know better. However, most of us are rational people who can shrug off a random troll’s abuse. As with all segments of the population, there are those who can’t be responsible with information and use the internet as a vessel to play out their sadistic tendencies.

This is why protecting your identity is vital, because we live in an age of information where everything from your favorite band to your bank account can be accessed by someone with the inclination and the right know-how. Since we’re all pretty guarded against identity theft and stalking, Blizzard’s latest move has caused quite a furor on their forums. Just to bring you up to speed, the renown MMO/RTS developer has stated that, come StarCraft 2, forum posts will require users to submit their real name via the “RealID” system. Naturally, Blizzard’s users crawled out of the woodwork to protest this change, and some of the points they make are valid. Several female users expressed their concern for cyber stalking, and a lot of people voiced their opinion on the stigma associated with playing World of Warcraft and what would happen if their employers found out.

To placate the masses, Blizzard employee Bashiok decided to tell people his real name and within minutes all his personal information spilled onto the internet like tauntaun guts. While this act is mostly out of ire, it shows just what people are capable of with such little information. What do you guys think of this move by Blizzard? I’m sure it was put forward with the best of intentions but it seems to have backfired. Should you force users to give up their real names if they’re already paying you for your services?

Update: Looks like this idea got scrapped. Chalk up a win for for the forum goers. I guess Blizz should get some kudos for actually listening to fan feedback. Now, if we could only get LAN support.

Source: Kotaku