Category: Shooter

Metroid Other M Trailer Dishes Some Gameplay

I have never been in love with Metroid, but I know that there are many out there that are. I was not a huge fan of the Metroid Prime games, particularly the last Wii outing. However, the announcement last year that Team Ninja would be handling Metroid Other M got me excited for the franchise in a new way, especially considering the mix of the Prime style with what looked to be an old school platforming in some ways.

Up until now, we haven’t really gotten to see much in the way of gameplay, especially how these two will phase together on the fly, except in some small bits. Enter the new Other M trailer, chock full of gameplay goodness. What do you guys think?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrAWYvUG8N8[/youtube]

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

bc2
We might sound like a broken record around here, but this first half of this year has been an absolute treasure trove for our hobby. We’ve already had several Game of the Year candidates land on our consoles already, and we’re not even in April yet! Even though we’ve got Splinter Cell: Conviction and Red Dead Redemption on approach, we’re getting ever closer to the dreaded Summer Drought where our consoles remain cold and dark and we’re forced to venture outside in search of amusement.

Before that happens, we have a few more weeks of glorious gaming! Seeing as how we’re inundated with more excellent games than we know what to do with, I thought I’d initiate our little monthly quiz and find out what you’re playing.

Since I know you’re dying to find out what I’m spending my time on, I’ll deign to answer your queries. This time, anyways. I’m currently doing a heck of a lot of PC gaming, mostly on Battlefield: Bad Company 2. This game continues to be fantastic, and I just can’t get enough of it. I’m also smiting the forces of Chaos in Dawn of War II, and that’s a pretty good time, especially in the co-op campaign. On the console, I’m just about done my fourth Mass Effect 2 playthrough, this time with a Shepard carried over from the original. I also got my mits on a PlayStation 3, so I’m looking forward to firing up some of 2010’s big PS titles. Oh, and I’m playing Pokemon HeartGold, but don’t tell anyone.

What about you guys? What have you got on the go, and what are you looking forward to? Anything that we haven’t talked about on GamerSushi that you think we should be checking out?

GamerSushi Asks: Are Games Pissing You Off?

conviction
One thing I’ve been noticing a lot recently is that it takes fewer and fewer annoyances to make me give up a game in frustration. In my youth, I used to be able to look past repeated cheap deaths or terrible voice acting, but now that I’m older and my time has become increasingly more valuable I’m throwing aside games that rub me the wrong way very quickly.

A couple examples of this have come from two demos I’ve played recently: Splinter Cell: Conviction and Just Cause 2. While they both have the makings of two very fun titles, there are certain aspects of both that make me doubt whether or not I even want to bother with them. I’m going to sound a little petty here, but just hear me out. For Splinter Cell: Conviction, I was having a decent time tagging guys and doing silent take-downs, even if I did find the actions a little repetitious after a while. Once I got detected by the guards, that’s when I started to get agitated. While they’re searching for you, the various henchmen populating the level will spout phrases like: “Target lost, requesting update!”, or, “Continuing search for the target!” over and over until you put several bullets through their skulls. While this may not be enough to set most people off, having to listen to a dozen automatons bark their dialogue while waving their flashlights around really did the game in for me.
Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Are Games Pissing You Off?

Crackdown 2: Rocket Tag

Many of you know of my great love for the game Crackdown. I credit the sandbox/platformer hybrid with my obsession for achievement hunting, and also name it as one of my best of this generation with no shame. It was a game unlike any other I had played before, and made you feel like a super soldier in the midst of a gorgeously realized open world.

While I have my doubts about the sequel, I’m still holding onto hope and looking forward to its release. The primary draw for me would have to be the four player co-op, which just seems like it’s going to be a screaming good time. It seems there’s a new Crackdown 2: Rocket Tag promotional video out, highlighting what was good sport in the first game: shooting the crap out of each other with rockets.

I’m still not sure how I feel about the game completely, so I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this newest trailer.

Mass Effect 2 Says “Tanks” For the Memories

I’ve been replaying Mass Effect one recently so I can import a character over to the sequel, something I wasn’t able to do on my three play-throughs (quiet, Eddy). For those of you who may not be familiar with the mechanics of importing versus not importing a legacy Shepard, the game assumes that you made certain decisions, all of which follow the Renegade path, something I don’t usually do in moral choice games.

While Mass Effect one still holds up, one thing that’s really getting to me are the Mako driving sections. That armored personnel carrier handles like a hyper-active child throwing his Hot Wheels around, and I’ve gotten stuck in narrow canyons more times than I care to mention. While I may hate the Mako with a passion, the good folks over at BioWare have decided to give the old wheeled vehicle a make-over and transform it into a hovering tank. Watch the tank in action in the following video:

Pretty slick, if you ask me. Looks like BioWare solved all the complaints with the Mako, which were mostly concerning handling and the occasional problem of not being able to aim properly due to wonky terrain. Most of us have probably finished our ME2 campaigns by now, but who’s going to jump back in and give the “Firewalker” DLC pack a try? It’s coming out late March free for Cerberus members, and those who didn’t buy the game new will have to pay $15USD to join the Network.

GamerSushi Asks: Immediate Regrets?

stalkerIt’s happened to all of us at one point or another: we buy a game, tear off the shrink wrapping, pop the disc into our console or PC, boot it up and watch as our hopes are torn asunder. It doesn’t occur all that often, being the net-savvy video game fans we are, but there are some games that manage to defeat all of our ingrained warnings and end up absorbing our hard earned cash.

This circumstance befell me last week with STALKER: Call of Pripyat, an open-world FPS by GSC Game World, a Ukraine-based developer of some note. I’ve been interested in the Stalker series for a while, but I’ve never had a machine capable of running the titles until now. I figured that, after three iterations on the formula, it was probably a safe bet that Call of Pripyat would fix up the nagging problems I’ve heard about the first two games, namely the repeated crashes and lock-ups.

Well, you know what they say about assumptions, and it turns out that Call of Pripyat is just as unstable as the other two games. After raising all my graphic options to maximum, the game promptly crashed, forcing me to do it all over again. It also doesn’t help that, even on full graphics, the game looks and plays like a budget 2007 title. I understand that GSC is using the same engine, but they could have at least given it a bit of spit shine.

Needless to say, I promptly uninstalled the game and began pining after my forty misspent dollars. Has something like this happened to anyone else? I can think of two other instances of this phenomenon, but I’d like to hear your stories first. Have any of you been burned by hype? Sound off!

Review: Resident Evil 5 DLC: Lost In Nightmares

It is no great secret that we here at GamerSushi are a bit in love with last year’s Resident Evil 5, even to the chagrin of some in our community. We voted the game as one of our tops of 2009 and have sung its praises on many occasions. And while no, we don’t love Resident Evil 5 enough to go out and marry it, we do feel a great desire to take it behind a middle school and get it pregnant. You heard me right.

So it should come as no great surprise or shock that a few of us were hungrily clamoring for the first bit of DLC that Capcom sent hurling our way. Lost in Nightmares hit the Webs just last week, ready for gamers all around to savor its tasty flavors. This is the first of a few downloadable co-op chapters that will all eventually be packaged in the RE5 Gold Edition hitting sometime in the near future.

The burning question, though: how is Lost in Nightmares? Let’s find out.
Continue reading Review: Resident Evil 5 DLC: Lost In Nightmares

Review: BioShock 2

As the cover for BioShock 2 tells you, it is the “sequel to [the] Game of the Year”. Cheeky, that, but in many ways that bit of advertising copy defines this sequel, for better or for worse. BioShock 2 has big shoes to fill, and a lot of people were either full of anticipation that the second go-round would be as inventive and atmospheric as the first, or instantly dismissive of something that could never live up to the original.

The original game has a reputation of excellence from most quarters. It’s actually the first game I played this generation, when I picked up my 360 back in 2008. I had heard so much about BioShock that I just had to check it out. Also, I’ve always been a fan of “horror” games, which BioShock is to a certain degree. It isn’t a full-bore jump-and-scream gorefest, but it does have an evocative setting and deliberate pacing that fills you with tension and certainly creeped me out.

So when a sequel was announced, I was instantly excited. I loved the setting of the original game, and no amount of multiplayer or skeptical friends were going to keep me from picking up the sequel on release day. Here I am a week later to tell you how it all stands up.

Continue reading Review: BioShock 2

What Do Bad Company 2 and Mass Effect 2 Have in Common?

bad company 2
If you first answer is “the number two”, then you’re only half correct. The other thing these two sequels have in common is that they’re both playing host to EA’s new online initiative which asserts that all major forthcoming releases will have heavy back-end support and a lot of additional content available post-launch. Just as purchasers of brand new copies of Mass Effect 2 obtained a Cerberus Network Card which gave them access to free day one DLC, customers who buy unused copies of Bad Company 2 will receive a VIP code that will offer up a couple exclusive multiplayer maps. If you buy a used copy then you can still gain access to these promotions, you just have to pay around $15 dollars first.

By 2011, EA expects that all of its games will have an online component and this is a major step in the company’s efforts to combat both piracy and the used game market. By making the bonus content available to paying consumers, it keeps those of us with weaker scruples out of PC matchmaking (at least for a little while), and it also provides additional incentive to drop $60 on a title, a little extra enticement which is beneficial in these trying time.

I for one applaud this movement, but how do you guys feel? Now that DLC and online support is becoming more and more popular, should companies attempt to assert their monopoly? While publishers have a right to protect their games, do you feel that shunning the used game market is the right way to go about it? Let us know how you feel!

Source: The Escapist

Gaming Needs More Genre Busters

Brutal LegendI had a rather unique experience over the last week. Or at least, unique for me. These days, as I’ve lamented quite often and obnoxiously, I’m met with a schedule that doesn’t allow me to play and finish too many video games. However, in this last week, I’ve managed to complete two titles. And not just any two titles, but two fun and individual titles: Brutal Legend and Mass Effect 2.

While for the most part, these just seem like regular old video games on the surface, there’s something special about them. Something that struck me. You see, both of these games are genre busters. Games that come along and buck genre tropes, straddling the line between two or several different styles of play, combining them all in a way that doesn’t play awkwardly. Sure, there are several games that try to shove mechanics of multiple games together (Grand Theft Auto for one), but it’s more like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Very rarely do these games actually succeed at what they set out to do. Which makes it pretty cool when the developers actually pull it off.
Continue reading Gaming Needs More Genre Busters

Review: Mass Effect 2

mass effect 2
OK, word of warning first: this review might contain words that, when strung together to form a sentence, may or may not become spoilers. You’ve been warned.

If you’ve been paying attention to the pre-release hype for Mass Effect 2, one thing that BioWare was constantly touting is this: your Commander Shepard can die. Not like the cheap video game deaths where you re-load a save and try again, but permanent death. This applies to all members of your party, and you’re constantly reminded of your mortality as Mass Effect 2 progresses. The Grim Reaper is waiting for you out in the reaches of space. Will you sacrifice yourself to save humanity or will you pull through against impossible odds?

Death comes repeatedly for Commander Shepard, though, who gets turned into space dust by a brutal surprise attack in the opening moments of the game. Not one to let a little incineration put him down, Shepard’s body is recovered by shadowy pro-human black-ops group Cerberus, headed up by the Illusive Man, ably voiced by Martin Sheen. It seems that after you saved galactic society at large two years prior, the threats presented by the Reapers, sentient machines that harvest all life in the galaxy every 50,000 years, have been swept under the rug. Only Cerberus knows who the true enemy is, and they’ve brought you back to deal with them.
Continue reading Review: Mass Effect 2

AvP Trailer Proves That Survival is the New Deathmatch

I’m sure that most of us played Goldeneye 007 for the N64 back in our heyday and the majority of that time was spent slotting our friends in the Deathmatch mode. In almost every subsequent game, developers have tried to shoe-horn in a competitive match whether the title needed it or not, mostly based on the popularity of 007’s multiplayer. With the success of games like Left 4 Dead and Gears of War’s Horde Mode, it seems that four-player co-op survival against overwhelming odds is the new mode du jour. The thing is, with the Aliens versus Predator setting, it really, really works. Huddling in a corner with three buddies while the motion tracker makes its incessant beeping showing the xenomorph hordes getting closer and closer…should make for some entertaining games, to say the least. Take a look:

Most of us are still the in throes of Mass Effect 2 addiction, but who thinks that this game might derail them from that most epic of sci-fi RPGs? I think this and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are strong contenders in that regard. Tell us your thoughts!

Impressions: Mass Effect 2

We don’t always write impressions of games that we’re currently playing, but I figured since 15 people on my friends list last night were playing Mass Effect 2, I’d start a little thread about it.

As you all know, I’m a pretty big Bioware fan. I don’t know what it is, but something about their games just grab me in a way other games don’t. With most games, I have to take a break every couple of hours or so. With Mass Effect 2, I played it for 7 hours straight without a break once I got home from work…

So I guess that means I like the game. A lot. I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface, story wise. Perhaps that’s because I spent over an hour scanning planets for raw materials and looking for sidequests, maybe. I hesitate to gush over the game too much, because admittedly, for the first hour or two I was terribly confused. Gone were many of the RPG elements I loved from the first game. But with them, the awful item management system, confusing menus and cumbersome weapon/armor load-outs. The game is an extremely simplified version of the first, and my worry when I loaded it up and got into the action was that it was much too simple.
Continue reading Impressions: Mass Effect 2

What The? Gears of War in Lost Planet 2?

As far as video game cross-overs go, we’ve seen some great ones (Marvel vs Capcom 2) and some not so great ones (Spawn in Soul Caliber). This new promo for the X-Box 360 version of Lost Planet 2, I just can’t place. On one hand, Marcus and Dom have had a lot of experience slaughtering strange abominations of nature; on the other, putting two characters from an exclusive Microsoft game in a Capcom multi-platform title seems odd. One wonders who the PS3 purchasers will get as bonus characters.

Consider me officially intrigued, though. I tried the original Lost Planet but couldn’t really get into it, though I’ve always felt that the title may have some merit. What do you guys think? Worth a purchase, or more of a rental? Who do you think the PS3 owners will get, if anyone?

Mass Effect 2 Launch Trailer is Epic

I’m looking forward to January 26 with more than a little bit of trepidation because I’m seriously worried about what Mass Effect 2 will do to my life. The more excited I get about a game the more sponge-like I become, absorbing as much information as I can until I burst at the seams with hype and PR speak. Since the game comes out next week, I think this is the last in the deluge of videos that have been put out for this title. Sit back and enjoy Mass Effect 2’s launch trailer.

So, who else is getting this game, and for what system? I’m also curious to know if you’re going to pick up the Collector’s Edition. I certainly will.

Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition: Jill Valentine Trailer

You all know of my great devotion to Resident Evil 5 as one of the best games of 2009. It’s seriously one of the only titles this generation that has made me want to play it over and over, even after beating it multiple times.

That’s why I’m pumped about the release of RE5 gold edition, with extra chapters that will also be available via DLC. Both the gold edition and DLC chapters come out on March 9th. There’s a new trailer out that kind of rules. Will anybody else pick up either of these?

Review: Army of Two: The 40th Day

armyoftwo
There was something fun at a very base level about the original Army of Two, and I’m not just talking about the whole “frat boys killing for cash” milieu it presented. While the game’s setting and characters managed to offend a whole bunch of people, it was still enjoyable to sit down with a friend and fist-bump your way through the game’s summer popcorn flick story line. Add in a fairly in-depth if somewhat excessive (gold plated guns?) armament-upgrade system and you had a decent co-op shooter that got lost in 2008 thanks to poor critical reception and negative word of mouth.

Now, nearly two years later, EA Montreal once again attempts to thrust us into the brahsome world of international guns for hire Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios as they fight their way out of a man-made disaster in Shanghai, China. Why you’re in Shanghai isn’t exactly clear, but there are plenty of greenbacks to be made and our men are all over it. Continue reading Review: Army of Two: The 40th Day

GamerSushi Asks: Underrated Games!

Viva PinataMan, after the huge amount of response we got to the thread about overrated video games, I figured we were just about begging to get this follow-up. I’d love to see something similar happen here as well.

Basically, I want to know what you guys think are the most underrated games out there. Games that for some reason or another seem to get overlooked by either gamers or the media on the whole. Or perhaps they weren’t overlooked, but just discounted outright or given an unnecessary amount of undue hatred.

For me, I have to say that Suikoden III doesn’t really get the praise I think it deserved as one of the best RPGs of the last generation. In this generation, Saint’s Row 2 was largely ignored in light of Grand Theft Auto IV, when it was probably a better spiritual successor to the series than GTA 4 was, even. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand was a great shooter that more people definitely needed to play. Likewise, Viva Pinata was another underrated game still that got shoved under the rug because it appeared to be a kid game.

So what about you guys? What do you think are the most underrated games?

What Were the Top 20 Most Played 360 Games of ’09?

LIVE
We’ve got one more top something of 2009 list for you, but this time it’s a little different as it’s not some publication doling out their “best-of” awards, but rather a unique compilation decided entirely by you the player. Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb recently posted the chart-topping games of 2009 as tracked by X-Box LIVE, and it may surprise you to learn that Halo 3 has once again taken the top spot three years running with Call of Duty 4 riding its coat-tails and Modern Warfare 2 in third.

I know you’re going to say that MW2 was only released on November 11 of this year, and I’m sure that future metrics will show the widely acclaimed First-Person-Shooter rocketing into the lead and leaving Bungie’s mean green machine in its dust. I just think it’s amazing that Halo 3 continues to lead the charts even though it’s beginning to get a bit long in the tooth. If it’s any consolation, Call of Duty titles fill out the remainder of the top four.

The charts also list the most popular Arcade titles (Battlefield 1943) and the most-played original X-Box titles (Halo 2). How do you think 2010 is going to break down? My bet is MW2 will clinch the top spot then fight with Bad Company 2 until Reach comes out.

Source: Major Nelson

Army of Two Multiplayer Trailer Brings the Co-Op

Army of Two: The 40th Day (or Total Fistbump Destruction, as it is also known) is set to be released on January 12 and fulfill our need for bromantic private miliatry company action. While the original co-op shooter fell a little short of its goal to build a competent “you and a buddy against the world” experience, the sequel seems on track to match up to the promises of the original, something that seems to be a deepening trend in the games industry.

The multiplayer for AoT: TFD has the same flavor to it as several two-man teams of colorfully dressed mercenaries battle it out over various objectives. I’m interested to see how the game makes use of the small teams and how the fire-fights will play out because, more likely than not, you’re going to be facing off against two friends who know how to work together instead of a bunch of random people from matchmaking. I’m definitely giving this game a shot when it comes out, so who’s with me? Is Army of Two on your Q1 purchase list, or are there other games that are getting your money?