Tag: brutal legend

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.
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GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

Left 4 Dead 2This Spring is going to be an usual one for us gamers. Heck, even this January is going to be odd. With some well-reviewed games like Bayonetta and Darksiders already hitting the shelves, as well as Mass Effect 2 dropping this week, it seems that we’re going to have our hands full with more than our Christmas gaming purchases. And that’s not even considering that Heavy Rain, Bioshock 2, Splinter Cell, Final Fantasy XIII and Crackdown are all on the way before the summer.

So, before (yet another) flood of good gaming options, what are you guys sinking your time into? Are you still working on the games you just got, have you purchased new ones, or have you returned to the old favorites?

Right now, I’ve been playing Left 4 Dead 2 on the XBox 360 and really enjoying the enhancements to the game. As much as people griped about its release, I’m impressed with just now how much content there is, and how well some of the new mechanics have been implemented. Really, kudos to Valve on proving some people wrong. In addition, I plan on starting some Brutal Legend tonight or tomorrow while I wait for Mass Effect 2 to be in my sweaty and anxious hands.

So, what are you guys playing? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: Greatest Single Player Game?

uncharted2Two great single player games are coming out today, in case you didn’t know. That’s right, both Uncharted 2 and Brutal Legend are dropping today, and from the reports, they are both awesome. In fact, Adam Sessler referred to Uncharted 2 as the greatest single player game he’s ever played. Ever. While it’s usually hard to take such grand statements seriously, I can’t help but get hyped for this game.

So it got me thinking about what the greatest single player game I’ve ever played actually is. There are quite a few of them, to be honest. Knights of the Old Republic, Mario 64, Final Fantasy 7 and Suikoden III come to mind. Also, Shadow of the Colossus is a strong contender for number one as well.

I’m very much aware that this topic of discussion is the complete opposite end of the spectrum from one we had last week, but I wanted to explore it anyway. So what about you guys? What’s the best single player game you’ve ever played? And are any of you going to pick up Brutal Legend or Uncharted 2? Go!

The Death of Single Player Gaming

brutal-legendWe’ve talked around these parts before about how single player gaming seems to be going the way of the buffalo, slowly shuffling towards some great doom in future generations of gaming yet to come. It seems that you can’t make a decent single player experience without trying to tack on a co-op mode or some kind of competitive multiplayer. Why, Brutal Legend and Uncharted 2 are recent examples of this idea in action.

Kotaku has put up a fairly thoughtful piece on the idea of single player gaming’s slow extinction, and what it means for the industry. The big factor in most of these multiplayer mode add-ons is that companies don’t want people to resell and buy their games used. To me, you can’t escape the inevitable- used games are here to stay, and there’s nothing you can do about it. What you can do as a game company is lower your budget and (gasp) maybe even the prices of games so that there’s more incentive to both buy and keep the games you want. Another great model is Fallout 3’s DLC packs.

So what do you guys think? Is single player gaming dying?

Kotaku

Ready to Get BrĂ¼tal?

Are you prepared for Rocktober, the most heavy metal month of the year? If you are, brace yourselves for the opening six minutes of the Jack Black-starring, Tim Schafer-produced BrĂ¼tal Legend, a journey through the most raging of fantasy worlds! No doubt you’ve already heard about some of the voice stars in this game-which includes Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister and Tim Curry-and you’ve probably heard about the various legal troubles that the game has had, what with Activision being a vicious font of evil and all that. Anyways, check out the video, which feature some awful “music”, surprisingly sober voice acting by Black, and a giant monster that reminds me of Mannoroth from Warcraft III.

So, who’s picking this up? October’s a packed month as far as releases go, but I’m making room for a little BrĂ¼tal Legend on my calendar.