Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
This just in (or not) – Twenty five years to life with Tetris
Ok people stand up and give props to a game legend: Tetris. This year (it was on June 6 actually) the puzzle classic reaches 25 brains crunching, multi-colored, didy humming years of entertaining us all. Virtually impossible not to play (or love) as it’s available on almost every console (since the beginning of time) and PC with an internet connection. Ridiculously easy to play but impossible to master, it was only equaled to the Rubik's cube in pure puzzle enjoyment. Alexey Pajitnov, the game’s creator, only got a computer for Tetris at first; but now has a company devoted to the Tetris band in all its forms across the world. I am thoroughly convinced (and so is Time) that Tetris is an irreplaceable game that helped make video games what they are today. So thank you Mr. Pajitnov for making a game that changed the world; this is for you.
Character Quotes – Paul Barnett
Ok, ok I know Paul Barnett, Creative Director for Mythic Entertainment and big wig for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning isn’t a video game character either (see Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) but if I’m going to just keep finding quotable quotes about video games from people as well as game characters I might as well as include them as well - it just a good idea. Anyway, this quote was given on the MMO Report with Casey Schreiner explaining to the idea of the ‘Tomb Kings’ in Warhammer Online’s latest “Arms” expansion: Land of the Dead (a land with a clearly Egyptian feel about it).
“Well what you got to remember is that almost everything that the games workshop guys do is English xenophobia, redressed with a bit of comedy. When it comes to Egypt, we gone to museums; over here in American I notice your museums are all about the things your good at; nuclear weapons, flight, space, cinema. Over in Britain, museums are about gloating – it’s about showing all the stuff we stole off people at gun point.”
“Well what you got to remember is that almost everything that the games workshop guys do is English xenophobia, redressed with a bit of comedy. When it comes to Egypt, we gone to museums; over here in American I notice your museums are all about the things your good at; nuclear weapons, flight, space, cinema. Over in Britain, museums are about gloating – it’s about showing all the stuff we stole off people at gun point.”
This just in (or not) – Meet the Spy
You know ladies and gentlemen I hate to be the last to know anything, especially in gaming. That’s why I almost cried (well not really) when they put out the ‘Meet the Spy’ video almost a month ago, and I didn’t find out until recently. Now for people who don’t know, the ‘Meet the’ videos are funny, hyper-violent profiles on the characters of the Team Fortress 2. I love the game but not so much Valve, the creators of the game. Why? Because TF2 first released on the Orange Box and it was good; but then they released it (TF2) for the PC as a stand alone game. Now the PC version get’s regular software updates, new stages, upgraded weapons, and all other bells and whistles; while the console versions are super glitchy, have no type of content upgrades and hacked roughly in one out of seven matches. Valve, I don’t care what issues you’re having with Microsoft and/or Sony about the Orange Box but overlook them and give your console fans some love.
Anyway, enjoy the video and if you want to see more go here.
Anyway, enjoy the video and if you want to see more go here.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Game Review - Bionic Commando: A legacy game that deserves some love
Ladies and Gentlemen, while these days I verbalize my game reviews I won’t give up of the written ones so easily. After all you don’t dump the girl that brought you to the dance. Enough about that though, let’s, move on to the star of this review which is Bionic Commando.
Bionic Commando is a game in the Capcom ‘Commando’ legacy series that follows a continuing story from the NES game with the same name. The new game takes place 10 years after Nathan "RAD/ LADD" Spencer and Joseph “Super Joe” Gibson (the original commando) saves the world from the ‘Imperial Forces’. Instead of receiving a hero’s welcome, Spencer and all other Bionics are incarcerated under the government’s ‘Bionic Purge’ act. This causes a backlash between bionics and norms and gave raise to ‘BioReign’, a pro-bionic terrorist group. Their goals are shrouded in mystery, but will go to any length to meet them; which is evident by their nuclear bombing of Ascension City. Now what’s left the city is under the control of BioReign and sending troops in to stop them has been ineffective. Joe, now the Tactical Arms and Security Committee (T.A.S.C) Superintendent, knows only one soldier who can infiltrate the Ascension City ruins and find out what BioReign is up to, and that’s Spencer the Bionic Commando.
Spencer is armed (pun totally intended) for war and gives players many options for taking out BioReign opposition. The quickest method is gunning them down, and the game provides the commando with standard but effective weapons like pistols,
shotguns and rocket launchers. However these conventional weapons have limited rounds and ammo cylinders are few and far between so most enemies will be dealt with in melee combat (which is more fun). The bionic arm doesn’t just get Spencer point A to point B; it also trashes faceless grunts. What’s more, as the game progresses Spencer gains new abilities with the arm such as throwing heavy objects, causing shockwaves by falling from great distances, and the like. This commando is ready for war, but sadly so are BioReign. Their grunts, the weakest of their fighting force, can pack a surprising punch especially when they travel in numbers, which is often. Then there are the battle suits which have greater strength than your arm, deceptively quick, equipped with wrist-mounted shotguns and can fly in small bursts. BioReign also have air support vehicles that maybe small but are difficult to hit and dole out missiles like an MF’er. All of these though are just warm ups to the bosses you eventually have to face, which aren’t pushovers and are many times larger than you.
Bionic Commando is a standard action game, meaning ‘you see it, you shoot it.’ No thinking, no experience points, no mercy. Ok, so they try to mix things up by adding combat challenges and finding hidden 8-bits icons of commando games past in stages, but really it is simple text book stuff here. What really set’s this game apart from your standard fare is the Commando’s mode of travel and attack, the Bionic arm. So
far Spencer and his famed arm only handled the 2-D plain in the past, but in this game he has length and width to deal with, and does so like a pro. Don’t be fooled by X-Play’s spiteful words (lacking rhythm and flow, indeed!) about the swing mechanic. All it really takes is some practice to get it down; and before you know it your Spiderman. Blaming a reviewer’s failing on the game is just lazy X-Play. This isn’t an isolated incident though; both Miller and Ben of ‘Game Informer’ seem to mirror X-Play complains about B.C. but none more so than the random pockets of radiation in the game, which can kill Specter in a few seconds. They’re present in most stages and server as a barrier to keep the player on track. A simple annoyance that is EASILY avoidable, but to them it some sort of omni-present grim reaper in radiation form that makes the game too linear. This is incorrect. Halo 3 is a more linear experience than B.C, there’s more than enough ways to move about and take down enemies on the fly before the radiation ever becomes a problem.
Both the look and the sounds of the game are excellent, they complement each other well and make the experience feel realistic like ‘Lost Planet: Extreme Condition’. Unfortunately, like that game, it was made mainly for hi-def T.V. playing B.C. without one makes captions hard to read and some graphical details blurry. Combat’s fine (despite opinions to the contrary), but the game definitely leans towards melee and than shooting (which is fine by me).
While I rather enjoyed the voice acting of the characters the things Spencer said outside of cut scenes are really corny, and confusing. Honestly though the game’s true weak spot is it online multiplayer; with only three simple game modes it can easily be avoided (though it is fun Tarzan killing opponents) without consequences of ‘missing out’ anything. Truth be told people I’ve played the NES Bionic Commando back in the day, but I don’t remember much from it other than it was fun. This game is also fun, but compared to ‘infamous’ and/or ‘Red Faction: Guerrilla’ it does seem a little outclassed. However I judge a game based off its own merits and not by its closest competition at the time, but at the end of the day is this game worth anything higher than a silver rating? No. It’s a great game, no question and has gotten a raw deal by E3 bound reviewers; but after beating the single game and playing a lackluster multiplayer there is no other reason to play it again.
Bionic Commando is a game in the Capcom ‘Commando’ legacy series that follows a continuing story from the NES game with the same name. The new game takes place 10 years after Nathan "RAD/ LADD" Spencer and Joseph “Super Joe” Gibson (the original commando) saves the world from the ‘Imperial Forces’. Instead of receiving a hero’s welcome, Spencer and all other Bionics are incarcerated under the government’s ‘Bionic Purge’ act. This causes a backlash between bionics and norms and gave raise to ‘BioReign’, a pro-bionic terrorist group. Their goals are shrouded in mystery, but will go to any length to meet them; which is evident by their nuclear bombing of Ascension City. Now what’s left the city is under the control of BioReign and sending troops in to stop them has been ineffective. Joe, now the Tactical Arms and Security Committee (T.A.S.C) Superintendent, knows only one soldier who can infiltrate the Ascension City ruins and find out what BioReign is up to, and that’s Spencer the Bionic Commando.
Spencer is armed (pun totally intended) for war and gives players many options for taking out BioReign opposition. The quickest method is gunning them down, and the game provides the commando with standard but effective weapons like pistols,
shotguns and rocket launchers. However these conventional weapons have limited rounds and ammo cylinders are few and far between so most enemies will be dealt with in melee combat (which is more fun). The bionic arm doesn’t just get Spencer point A to point B; it also trashes faceless grunts. What’s more, as the game progresses Spencer gains new abilities with the arm such as throwing heavy objects, causing shockwaves by falling from great distances, and the like. This commando is ready for war, but sadly so are BioReign. Their grunts, the weakest of their fighting force, can pack a surprising punch especially when they travel in numbers, which is often. Then there are the battle suits which have greater strength than your arm, deceptively quick, equipped with wrist-mounted shotguns and can fly in small bursts. BioReign also have air support vehicles that maybe small but are difficult to hit and dole out missiles like an MF’er. All of these though are just warm ups to the bosses you eventually have to face, which aren’t pushovers and are many times larger than you. Bionic Commando is a standard action game, meaning ‘you see it, you shoot it.’ No thinking, no experience points, no mercy. Ok, so they try to mix things up by adding combat challenges and finding hidden 8-bits icons of commando games past in stages, but really it is simple text book stuff here. What really set’s this game apart from your standard fare is the Commando’s mode of travel and attack, the Bionic arm. So
far Spencer and his famed arm only handled the 2-D plain in the past, but in this game he has length and width to deal with, and does so like a pro. Don’t be fooled by X-Play’s spiteful words (lacking rhythm and flow, indeed!) about the swing mechanic. All it really takes is some practice to get it down; and before you know it your Spiderman. Blaming a reviewer’s failing on the game is just lazy X-Play. This isn’t an isolated incident though; both Miller and Ben of ‘Game Informer’ seem to mirror X-Play complains about B.C. but none more so than the random pockets of radiation in the game, which can kill Specter in a few seconds. They’re present in most stages and server as a barrier to keep the player on track. A simple annoyance that is EASILY avoidable, but to them it some sort of omni-present grim reaper in radiation form that makes the game too linear. This is incorrect. Halo 3 is a more linear experience than B.C, there’s more than enough ways to move about and take down enemies on the fly before the radiation ever becomes a problem. Both the look and the sounds of the game are excellent, they complement each other well and make the experience feel realistic like ‘Lost Planet: Extreme Condition’. Unfortunately, like that game, it was made mainly for hi-def T.V. playing B.C. without one makes captions hard to read and some graphical details blurry. Combat’s fine (despite opinions to the contrary), but the game definitely leans towards melee and than shooting (which is fine by me).
While I rather enjoyed the voice acting of the characters the things Spencer said outside of cut scenes are really corny, and confusing. Honestly though the game’s true weak spot is it online multiplayer; with only three simple game modes it can easily be avoided (though it is fun Tarzan killing opponents) without consequences of ‘missing out’ anything. Truth be told people I’ve played the NES Bionic Commando back in the day, but I don’t remember much from it other than it was fun. This game is also fun, but compared to ‘infamous’ and/or ‘Red Faction: Guerrilla’ it does seem a little outclassed. However I judge a game based off its own merits and not by its closest competition at the time, but at the end of the day is this game worth anything higher than a silver rating? No. It’s a great game, no question and has gotten a raw deal by E3 bound reviewers; but after beating the single game and playing a lackluster multiplayer there is no other reason to play it again.
Character Quotes - Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw
Now normally I reserve this segment for wacky/interesting quotes said by video game characters. Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw may not be a video game, but he’s certainly a character. This is what he said at the end of his review of Velvet Assassin (a WWII game) upon finding out it was made by a Germany company.
“Between this and Valkyria Chronicles what’s with all the World War II games being developed by the Axis forces, what is this – community service?”
“Between this and Valkyria Chronicles what’s with all the World War II games being developed by the Axis forces, what is this – community service?”
Monday, June 1, 2009
Game Review - Punchout
Little mac is back and pulling no punches in this Wii title; here's my review.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Character Quotes - Magus Filinthus
This is a new, but small, segment to celebrate good quotes coming from a video game characters. These quotes are usually ones that bring a smile to my face or give me something to think about. Today it's the crotchety old lush of a mage from World of Warcraft: Magus Filinthus
"A mailbox? Well is that not the salt on the wounds! Twenty years cut-off from the world and now a mailbox! WONDERFUL!"
"A mailbox? Well is that not the salt on the wounds! Twenty years cut-off from the world and now a mailbox! WONDERFUL!"
Summer time! - Wooooo!
Here already and it's a beautiful thing. For the new season the blog has a new name: "Switch On"; it's chic. Anyway, to get us started with the awesome gaming summer we're all going to have, here's the latest audio words from me; the One, True Omnigammer. Enjoy:
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A.V.G. - Demo of the Dead
Avi's back and this time he's playing the Resident Evil 5 demo; hopefully his luck is better this time around. Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Resident Evil 5: Demoview
Ok people I’ll be honest; I’ve played a lot of Resident Evil games but I’ve never beaten one before, not a single one.
Why? Not sure.
I didn’t like the game; I got bored with it, etc. It could be any number of things but it is what it is. And you know what; I don’t feel any lost for not finishing any of the series games. That being said, Resident Evil 5 could be the first of the series I will finish to completion. Thanks to Capcom and whatever geniuses at Microsoft, the masses got a sneak preview of RE5 in a form of a short (but sweet) demo for the Xbox 360. Don’t worry; PS3 owners will get a taste later on. Players start the demo with two stage choices; one in which you fight for your life against a zombie horde, the other is a standard ‘shoot one, turn two, collect one, boss two’. One of the main characters of this adventure is a Zombie killing vet: Chris Redfield he now works for an anti terrorist organization Jack Bower style. The other main character is hot number name Sheva Alomar, who works for her own agency: the B.S.A.A. Whatever fates brought them together, they must combine their skills in order to survive Capcom’s latest sign of the apocalypse.
That’s right! It’s takes two to tango with the dead in RE5, and might I say it’s about freaken time. My favorite of the Resident Evil games (and a ‘very’ crude prototype of Left 4 Dead) was Resident Evil Outbreak. It was a game with no mic support, crazy camera angles and a somewhat random storyline. But it allowed players to work together, pull their talents, and take on the zombie hordes of Raccoon city in a fun and interesting way. RE5 brings back that sense with cooperation, focusing on no man (or woman) left behind because if one of you dies, you both do. I liked what I played, everything looked smooth and there were no graphical glitches. The demo didn’t enlighten me to the story (of course), but as long as I was shooting something I was happy. The CPU partner was spot on, saving me from damnation a couple of times - really though the experience comes alive with another player. My only true compliant is the controls scheme, when you’re being hunted by a pack of pseudo-dead (just as speedy as you are) the ability to run ‘and’ fire your weapon at the same time is not only common sense, but a good idea. Instead Capcom still holds true the ‘turret target’ style of shooting that Resident Evil is so known for; meaning players can’t run-&-gun as the same time. Unfortunately this combat style cannot be changed and in turn does slow down (and cheap-up) the game play somewhat - but in no way, shape, or form is this game breaker. It just takes getting use to.
This demo has already broken record numbers for Xbox live downloads. If people weren’t already foaming at the mouth like some brain obsessed zombie, they will be after playing this. Fortunately the full game’s release date is March 13, 2009; so they won’t be waiting for too much longer.
World Premier of ‘Average Video Gamer’
Nope, it’s not a movie, but my very own comic based off the video game world I love so much. The main character is ‘Avi Gamer’, who is a (you guessed it) game player that lives in a video game parody of reality. When he plays games he takes on the character he plays (for good or bad), always adds his own personality to the mix. Outside the games, he’s his own character and acts accordantly to the world (if our world was full of question blocks and 1980’s game sprites walking down the street). As long as I’m doing this comic, I will make it as entertaining as I can (and at least get a little chuckle from ya). After all, I can’t make it look any better ;-). Enjoy
By the by, if anyone wants a better look, I put this and all future comics on my brother's Deviant art account located here: Here
By the by, if anyone wants a better look, I put this and all future comics on my brother's Deviant art account located here: Here
Join the Red Ribbon Armanda today!
Normally I don’t put non-game material on my ‘games and nothing but’ blog, but I believe this is a special case. See my brother (True Backlash) and I have started our own jointed account in youtube called Red Ribbon Armada. It’s (and ours) purpose is to entertain the masses through parodies and abridging series. We want to become the next (and one day rival) Team Four Star. Right now we only have trailers and teasers, but soon we’ll have full episodic content for all to enjoy; so everyone subscribe while the subscribing good. I promise you’ll have fun and kill a few boring minutes out your day.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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