Before I get started with this feature, I want to say something to (and anyone connected with) ‘Lucas Arts’: *ahem* Stop with the prequels already. I love Star Wars, who doesn’t really? But they dug from the original movies (IV, V, VI) far too much for my taste. All I see from them is prequels, prequels, prequels! Outside the books (seriously, books Lucas Arts?) the only advancement of the series is through video games, (Jedi academy in particular) quite a shame. For the love of all things good and sci-fi please start doing sequels (movie or otherwise) or I swear to you, you’ll curdle that great galactic cash cow we all know and love. Ok now that I’ve said my peace, let’s move to gaming business with ‘The Force Unleashed’
Available via download through X-box and Playstation, this sampling was short, but gave me enough to see what I’m working with. You play as Vader secret Sith apprentice named Starkiller (how Vader got that apprentice is unknown), but to finish his training Vader sent him to an imperial shipyard to kill a Jedi and his rebel forces that went there. The imperial troopers at the base also must be silenced, because if the Emperor finds out Vader took an apprentice there will be trouble. I’m proud to say that I’ve played my fair share Star Wars games; Force Unleashed is definitely different than the games that came before it. Starkiller is able to use the force at an extreme level; sending entire battalion flying using force pull, throwing giant explosive cores at rebels and watching them blast away like shrapnel, and even throw enough force lightning to make any obstacles into ash in no time. Of course any Sith worth their saber can use it (the Lightsaber I mean) to carve carnage into all who stand before them, Starkiller is no different. Another uniqueness about our boy is that he’s able combine his force attacks to rack up the points and cause maximum damage. Use your imagination and think of the chaos one could cause in the full game. The enemies in the demo weren’t stupid either; they do their best to work together, however against a force-user normal tactics won’t do at all. It only got challenging when the AT-ST showed up. Even then, once I figured out how to fight it, the mecha-chicken when down pretty hard. After that the playable demo ended and went into advertisement mode for the game and its release. All and all I was satisfied, total domination of the battlefield through the force was fun. Though I’m sure it won’t be like that when we come across Jedi in the full game. If I had to classify this game, it would be a mix between ‘Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy’ and ‘God of War’. Two great gaming concepts that are perfect together, but nothing set in stone. I’ll reserve my final judgments for the release.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Fall of Games – Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
In the wide world of webbing there is never a shortage of time wasting entertainers; Youtube alone could keep the world in a catatonic state for who knows how long. However if your like me (the world could be so lucky) you want to log in to something with a little substance, thought and comedy gold. One such site is homestarrunner.com. It stars an armless athlete of sorts, a balloon best friend, a bell shaped girlfriend and many other colorful characters that live in Free Country,
These e-mail fuelled misadventures has not only spawned new features & mini-games for homestarrunner.com, but also propelled the site into the humorous juggernaut that it is today. So were does the series go from here; TV? Movies? Nope, they take their next steps to the most interactive entertainer in the world today – Video Games, and more to the point, the Nintendo Wii and the PC. Attractive ladies and gentleman I present “Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People”. This game puts you the shoe-boots & non-finger mitts of Strong Bad, you control him and interact with his environment by pointing and clicking with the Wii-mote or mouse. From there, you can do whatever you want to get through the game with Strong Bad looking cool & awesome as possible. Also you can choose to make him a nice guy or the Baddest Strong Bad the pre-teen censors will allow. Tired of kicking ‘The Cheat’ already? No worries, ‘SBCG4AP’ has other mini-games to enjoy like ‘Snake Boxer 5’, some rock & roll treasure hunting, some non-rock & roll item hunting, and a fan favorite – ‘Teen Girl Squad’ comics (impress Strong Bad by bring the pain to the squad). This is a simple point & click adventure, but chock full of that Homestar funny that fans know and love. It also gives those same fans the inside look of Free Country USA and how everything connected in their little world. Add to the fact that SBCG4AP cost only $10.00 (through Wii shop channel anyway) and new episodes will appear monthly (until December) makes this an attractive addition to any gamers library. Now if you all will excuse me, I’m going to kick The Cheat just because I can now, it feels good to be Strong Bad.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Fall of Games – Too Human Preview
Yep, summer is almost over – which means some of us will be going back to our studies; while to others it just means it’s getting colder. If you’re one or the other, and also a gamer; you know premium games will be around the corner as well. Quite a number of exciting titles in fact - a lot of sequels true, but a lot originals titles as well. So to aid people during this time, I’m going to post up coming games that I personally think will go distance in the coming months. Thanks to the demo on Xbox live I’m able to post my preview of “Too Human”; a game about Norse mythos with a sci-fi slant to it. See the gods and goddesses of this universe are not mythical, but rather cybernetically enhanced. Such enhancements give them powers and abilities that normal folk believe to be divine (even though they live in a sci-fi reality).
You play as Baldur; son of Odin, ‘God’ of Justice, and bringer of Ragnarök in his death (foreshadow much ‘Too Human’). Anyway in the demo Baldur and his troops are sent to destroy an android that has been killing humans in the land. How the machine kills (drinking its victim’s blood) has Baldur particularly worried; so he wants to take care of the mission personally. The first thing I’ve notice about this game is how epic-movie it feels; scène transitions, speaking parts, battle, etc - like weird fusion of Starship Troopers and Lord of the Rings (more or less). The game is visually beautiful in many areas in the game, and even more so on the character’s faces. I’ve never seen more realistic faces in the video game; they had creases, wrinkles, indentations, the whole nine. Very impressive but the most unique thing about the game (and the most advertised difference between itself and other action RPGs) is its fighting sy
stem. Most games of this type would use a single button for attack like ‘A’ or ‘X’ but Too Human wants style & substance. Its main attack, is the right thumb stick. That’s right (pun intended), the ‘RTS’ (pun not intended), the part of the controller that usually reserved for looking around. Funny enough though, I think it’s do-able. Just press the thumb stick in the direction to attack, and watch little Baldur go. Even enemies all around the character, can be cleared easily. The left & right triggers fire twin side arms (the all purpose stick is used to aim); great for those who want to keep their distance. It’s also a simple system to use, and allows for quite a deal of carnage; which is good because for every one of you there is a hundred of them - all wanting to kill you. The game has five classes to use, but the demo only has two to use – champion (all-around warrior) & berserker (melee damage maestro). I liked using the berserker class out of the two because it brought pain; even though it has the worst shot in all of Asgard. Sadly the demo didn’t last too long, and left me wanting more.
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