Finished my 30th game of the year...the underwhelming Crackdown 2.
Its like they copy/pasted everything about the first game, except for the crime bosses to take down, and the fun factor. I seriously hope Crackdown 3 is a return to form because this series has a ton of potential to be one of the better open world games. 6.5 rating.
Don't forget the part where they replaced the fun with zombies. Fucking zombies.
edgecrusher said:Finished my 30th game of the year...the underwhelming Crackdown 2.
Its like they copy/pasted everything about the first game, except for the crime bosses to take down, and the fun factor. I seriously hope Crackdown 3 is a return to form because this series has a ton of potential to be one of the better open world games. 6.5 rating.
Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V indeed. Ruffian was afraid to do anything other than mimic the what Realtime Worlds did with the original. And see where it got them? Nothing really since. should have tried to break the mold.
At least it was short.
13. Beat Her Story - 6/10
Of all the hipster indie story driven, light gameplay games, I actually dig this one. There is something really cool about actually having to piece something together, even if this goes a bit down a tropy route. I might retry Gone Home to figure out why Gone Home didn't grab me as well as this, but either way there is something really cool about how it all works.
So it's like this FMV game with this hot chick acting and stuff, and you like put words into a search engine and it shows different clips you need to sit through to figure out what happened. So a lot of it is taking down notes, paying attention to certain things, figuring out what is what, when she's full of shit and when she's telling the truth. I don't think you can share the positives and displeasures of the game without spoiling it, so I'll avoid that.
But my clean playthrough I twitch streamed and had twitch upload it to youtube. Once I was done, I went through the process of hunting down how to see all the videos since I wasn't completely chill with how the ending is handled. It's pretty cool.
Definitely worth the 6 bucks if you want something different and want to kill 2-3 hours.
Towers is guaranteed to complain about her acting.
aspro said:Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V indeed. Ruffian was afraid to do anything other than mimic the what Realtime Worlds did with the original. And see where it got them? Nothing really since.
The Halo Collection huh? That explains a lot.
And a shitload of Kinect games....though this year they have a PS4 game coming? They split from Microsoft?
Updated again, with SEGA ALL STARS Racing.
Very fun kart racer...this series in terms of kart racing is like Silent Hill next to Resident Evil. Mario Kart may be more popular, but this series has its own charm and in some ways is more enjoyable than Nintendo's title. I played through the entire Career mode as my british comrades Banjo & Kazooie, and we kicked some ass. 7.8 rating.
Not a very long game, but that's fine for me.
Updated with the 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3. Finally played through the campaign mode. Still a hell of a fun game.
Updated with Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. This was a game I'd left a little more than half way done. Not sure why. I should have started it again from the beginning but I just got into my last saved file and finished the last 5-6 "kingdoms" I had left to do. Originally a gamecube game which was meant to be played using the bongo controller. I played the wii version instead which makes use of the wiimote + nunchuck combination.
Even though I didn't use the bongos the game feels very physical. There's a lot of shaking and swinging both the wiimote and the nunchuck. But given the original control scheme, this feels fairly natural and not out of place.
It's a masterfully designed platformer. The levels are all wonderful and a true joy to play. I thought that perhaps the game would be too easy if one no longer had the handicap of playing with the bongos but it actually wasn't. The difficulty felt about right for a platformer of this type actually. There are some easy parts but also some fairly tricky parts. If I remember correctly they adjusted the game somehow when they made the Wii version to stop it from being too easy. If so they did a great job.
The bosses are fun and enjoyable to fight even if they are somewhat recycled (but with variations to make them more difficult). It's a wonderful game. I almost feel like playing all the levels again to get better banana scores and unlock everything but (same as with Yoshi and Kirby etc which I recently played) I'll probably move on to something else given the hundreds of games I have to play.
Very highly recommended if you haven't played it before though I'm sure most of you have.
___
Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
bugsonglass said:Updated with Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. This was a game I'd left a little more than half way done. Not sure why. I should have started it again from the beginning but I just got into my last saved file and finished the last 5-6 "kingdoms" I had left to do. Originally a gamecube game which was meant to be played using the bongo controller. I played the wii version instead which makes use of the wiimote + nunchuck combination.
Even though I didn't use the bongos the game feels very physical. There's a lot of shaking and swinging both the wiimote and the nunchuck. But given the original control scheme, this feels fairly natural and not out of place.
It's a masterfully designed platformer. The levels are all wonderful and a true joy to play. I thought that perhaps the game would be too easy if one no longer had the handicap of playing with the bongos but it actually wasn't. The difficulty felt about right for a platformer of this type actually. There are some easy parts but also some fairly tricky parts. If I remember correctly they adjusted the game somehow when they made the Wii version to stop it from being too easy. If so they did a great job.
The bosses are fun and enjoyable to fight even if they are somewhat recycled (but with variations to make them more difficult). It's a wonderful game. I almost feel like playing all the levels again to get better banana scores and unlock everything but (same as with Yoshi and Kirby etc which I recently played) I'll probably move on to something else given the hundreds of games I have to play.
Very highly recommended if you haven't played it before though I'm sure most of you have.
I played this game when it first came out and it's been one of my favorite games ever since. What I like about it is how every time you complete a stage, you get a short clip that shows you an advanced technique or secret area, encouraging you to replay the level and go after the high scores. The level design is very much like that of a schmup, where most enemies aren't there to pose a threat, but to act as a potential way to boost your overall score. Also, this was the first game this particular team within Nintendo made, after which they went on to create Mario Galaxy. They even reused some assets, like the huge springy flowers.
When it first came out ... meaning you played it on the gamecube with the bongos? Or when the Wii version first came out? I'm tempted to seek out the gamecube version on ebay so I can play it like that too. I have bongos though I don't know if they work nowadays. Got them with Donkey Konga which I never played. Something tells me this will be too expensive though on ebay.
You are right about the team who made this. I think EAD Tokyo or something like that. This game garnered some retrospective attention after they did Galaxy.
Yes, I also love how "rhythmic" the whole game feels to play. The combos of jumping and swinging etc to maximise your banana count make it feel like a different kind of game as you say.
___
Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
I liked Jungle Beat a lot more than I thought I would. I originally also played the Wii version and it works fine with that setup, but I did go and pick up the original Gamecube version last year with the bongos. It wasn't too expensive.
Updated with SEGA Allstars racing 2, and Unreal Tournament.
Beat the Grand Prix mode and everything in world tour except for that last cup, and that's enough for me. Overall its a better game than the first one, I just wish it didn't get so frustrating with the design choices. Unreal Tournament, man I wish I would have bought this back in the day when it first came out. While I still prefer Quake 3, UT is RIGHT up there...and it has a lot more maps and modes too.
Updated with Unreal Gold!
I had this halfway done from last year, and just finished it. Whenever I go back and play something old I try to imagine what was going on at that time, so I can properly evaluate the game's worth. Considering this game came out in 1998, it needs to be compared to similar titles of that time....Quake, Goldeneye, HalfLife, Turok..etc.
Unreal is definitely a classic game, the smooth play and fairly smart AI still hold up pretty well. And the production values were pretty amazing back then...it looked like Turok 2 on cocaine. However, I don't think it was the best overall shooter of the time. Games like Half Life and Goldeneye had started to do things in smarter ways than what up to this point had been a very twitch based genre. So to me, those games were more impressive than the souped up Quake style play that Unreal was sporting. Even still , in terms of THAT style of FPS, this game really did set a benchmark.
8.7 Rating.
Updated with Dead Space: Extraction. What an awesome game. Yes, it's on the Wii, yes it's on-rails but this is Dead Space through and through. And I love Dead Space. I love the world, the mythos, the atmosphere ... the insanity and the claustrophobia. Extraction captures all of that. The story falls into the storyline as a sweet prequel to explain the events leading up to the first Dead Space. We see the story of what happened, who found the marker, who sent the distress call and why etc. Even though it has been a while since I played Dead Space (and DS2) it didn't take me long before I could get back into it, in terms of the story.
The gameplay itself is intuitive as they get. After all this is what they call a light-gun game. But it does have several layers of depth and complexity even if it's just a light gun game. There is weapon selection and upgrades. The shooting itself which is the meat of the game is wonderful. So so intense. My wrist and arm hurts because I've been gripping the remote so tightly. There are more enemies on screen than in the PS3 games most of the time, and you have to be very accurate with your shooting or you get slashed by the necromorph's blade like limbs.
The story mode is fairly short. Only 10 chapters, but they are nice and diverse and the story is so interesting that it makes you want to keep playing. There are things which up the replayability factor though, like all the collectables (which I will get to in a minute), and a challenge mode (which I may but probably will not get into), also four different difficulty levels for the story mode and ratings etc.
The levels are sprayed with collectables some of which you have only a very small chance to get before the camera zooms past them for good. Weapons, upgrades, logs, audio logs, video logs and more which help piece the story together and add to the lore. As you complete the story mode you also unlock six "comics" which help flesh out the story even further. They are great (I'm watching them now).
It's a great little package, and you can get it for next to nothing on ebay or in hobo bins worldwide. If you love Dead Space but thought this was the poor cousin game you didn't really need to play, think again, you really do need to. Also even if you've never played a Dead Space game before but enjoy on-rails shooters (especially with the wiimote) ... this is a great one and you really ought to play it. It couldn't be any more different than Overkill ... but in terms of the overall quality and how essential it is I'd rate it alongside that masterpiece!
Now all I need is someone to tell me that Dead Space 3 is really not as bad as they say and that it's actually worth playing 
Also ... are the Resident Evil Chronicles games anything like this in terms of quality? I shall have to investigate them if so.
___
Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
bugsonglass said:Updated with Dead Space: Extraction. What an awesome game.
Not only the best Dead Space game, but one of the best games on the Wii.
A must play for anyone who enjoyed DS1 and 2. I had the good fortune of playing them in order of the story and was up there with Asimof in terms of enjoyment.
DS3 is shit, forget it exists and let the tru triology stand as is.
edgecrusher said:Updated with Unreal Gold!
I had this halfway done from last year, and just finished it. Whenever I go back and play something old I try to imagine what was going on at that time, so I can properly evaluate the game's worth. Considering this game came out in 1998, it needs to be compared to similar titles of that time....Quake, Goldeneye, HalfLife, Turok..etc.
Unreal is definitely a classic game, the smooth play and fairly smart AI still hold up pretty well. And the production values were pretty amazing back then...it looked like Turok 2 on cocaine. However, I don't think it was the best overall shooter of the time. Games like Half Life and Goldeneye had started to do things in smarter ways than what up to this point had been a very twitch based genre. So to me, those games were more impressive than the souped up Quake style play that Unreal was sporting. Even still , in terms of THAT style of FPS, this game really did set a benchmark.
8.7 Rating.
I played the original UT recently and it si still a 10, 10, 10.
bugsonglass said:When it first came out ... meaning you played it on the gamecube with the bongos? Or when the Wii version first came out? I'm tempted to seek out the gamecube version on ebay so I can play it like that too. I have bongos though I don't know if they work nowadays. Got them with Donkey Konga which I never played. Something tells me this will be too expensive though on ebay.
You are right about the team who made this. I think EAD Tokyo or something like that. This game garnered some retrospective attention after they did Galaxy.
Yes, I also love how "rhythmic" the whole game feels to play. The combos of jumping and swinging etc to maximise your banana count make it feel like a different kind of game as you say.
I played it with Bongo's on the GC. It's up there with Parrappa (insofar as unique control input). Better, way better, than Taiko Drum Master.
aspro said:Not only the best Dead Space game, but one of the best games on the Wii.
A must play for anyone who enjoyed DS1 and 2. I had the good fortune of playing them in order of the story and was up there with Asimof in terms of enjoyment.
DS3 is shit, forget it exists and let the tru triology stand as is.
Totally, also I don't remember Wii games looking as good as this. I don't have a clear recollection as it's been a while since I played most of them but this game looks great. Not really much worse than the PS3 Dead Space games. The character models are some of the best on Wii by far. The necromorphs look scary as ever and there's loads of them on screen at certain times. All the cut-scenes are great and with full voice-acting (which most Wii games didn't do). The overall polish and shine of this game is remarkable. This would be worthy of being called Dead Space 0.
I very nearly bought DS3 this morning, but you spared me 
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Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
Updated with Yoshi's Wooly World. It's a great game, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Like Kirby Paintbrush which I played not long ago, it has a very unique look to it. Everything in the game world is made of yarn, fabric, cotton, felt, threads, leather, string, denim etc etc as well as other related items like buttons, pins, zippers, needles and everything is sewn, knitted or stitched together in very inventive and fun ways. It looks absolutely beautiful. And if it weren't for Kirby's Epic Yarn, I'd also say that it looks like nothing else.
The game plays like a platformer in the Yoshi Island series. Yoshi is not fast like Mario but he has a flutter jump which enables him to reach bigger heights and also stay in mid-air for a long time. Learning to use this jump and the hovering is key to playing this game. Playing World 1 I thought this was going to be a walk in the park as far as the difficulty is concerned but I was very wrong. There are some nicely challenging levels which take a lot of effort to get through. Especially if you aim to discover and pick up all the collectables. Which brings me to my next point.
A lot of what the gamer has to enjoy from the game comes from finding all the little hidden areas and all the little challenges which result in you discovering a yarn ball (of which there are five in each level) or a flower (of which there are also five in each level) or a stamp (of which there are twenty in each level). There is a lot of satisfaction from finding all of them and truly completing a level. This in a sense gives the game an element of puzzle solving if you like and it's great.
The game is quite hefty for a platformer. There are six worlds each of which has 8 levels with a mini boss at the end of level 4 and a boss at the end of level 8 in the typical Mario fashion. There is also at least one additional level of higher difficulty in each world which is unlocked after you pick up every flower in every level of that world. Each level consists of many sections and is generally far bigger and takes much longer than a Mario level. The game also has no timer rushing you along which is a very nice touch as it encourages exploration and discovery.
The game is full of great and wonderful ideas which bring great variety to the gameplay and none of which is overused nor does it outstay its welcome. By the time you get used to it, it's gone.
I loved this game and it gave me as it gave me a sense of childlike wonder which I don't often feel with games nowdays (especially being the nasty cynical bastard I've become). I don't know who I would recommend it too. Robio and Travo's boys will probably enjoy it as well as Steel's girls! The rest of you fuckers don't deserve it.
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Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu