Rather then post a series of lengthy comments on many other peoples articles, I thought I would place my thoughts on the trailers of E3 Day One right here. Thanks to Michael Donahoe for compiling many of the trailers on one page. Reviews after the jump.
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Is it just me, or did anyone else feel cheated by the last half of Bionic Commando? Because despite the blue screen of death imposed by radiation and the water traps, at least the first game gave me a sense of flexibility, control, and maneuverability that was lost in the second half. Sure, you do some really awesome things that invoke Starscream's F-22 Raptor hopscotch in 2007's Transformers movie, but it's buried under what seems to have become a Capcom staple: the quicktime event. Potential spoiler warning - I've tried to be vague regarding plot but wait until you finish the game if you would like to have your experience unaltered by these afterthoughts.
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According to my save file, I'm currently 57% of the way though the game. But whether this is a percentile for story completion or "full completion" (as in exploration and secret items) I'm not sure. I'll assume story/chapters for now. Having just finished the FSA building, was anyone else disappointed that you didn't get to scale the thing yourself? I'm curious how Nathan actually gets up there, since we rarely get to go "inside" buildings - floors with holes blown through the walls not withstanding - and he'll seemingly fall to his death because its layered with radiation on the walls. And yet he jumps from the roof and lands safely afterwards... Um, okay.
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Playing though HAWX this past March, several things occurred to me... 1.) The story has some interesting ideas in the first third or so of the game: I'm fascinated with the PMC concept and the world the game establishes could've scrapped the crazy US Invasion (spoilers!) threads and made an incredibly interesting narrative. Alas, it didn't.
2.) The missions, while similar in some ways, cleverly play with mechanics (ERS system at Norfolk - fly through the gates to avoid AA fire and SAMs) and story trappings (air force one, the space shuttle) to create tension by playing off of subconscious attachment we have to something like, say, the White House or Cape Canaveral.
3.) This game is essentially Macross minus the Macross. If they haven't already implemented these sorts of game play elements before, Japanese Developers would be well served by watching what did and didn't work in this title for future Macross (or as most Americans know it - Robotech) titles. The OFF system, mixed with the swarms of AA Missiles, screams Macross... if only there was a snowball's chance in either getting another (better then okay?) Robotech game or (non-import) Macross games here in the states...
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(Authors Note: This piece was originally a term paper written way back in November 2007, before GTA IV came out for my Cultural Anthropology class... I was really lucky to have a supportive Professor, as most critical analysis of video games is non-existent it seems in college... regardless, please forgive the speculation and/or inaccuracy of the GTA IV material) Conservative lawyer Jack Thompson has made a personal vendetta against Rockstar Games, developers of the Grand Theft Auto franchise of games. Jackson has accused GTA and other “violent video games” such as Counterstrike to be “murder simulators”. According to Jackson, after 'training' on such games, individuals become capable of going “room-to-room, very calmly, efficiently, coolly killing people” (Hardball 4/19/07). Thompson crusade has taken him on a quest to not only sue Rockstar and its publisher Take-Two, but other publishers/developers as well. Is GTA nothing but a simple murder and carjacking simulator (Today 10/24/04)? Jackson has indicated with great disgust how publishers, developers, and other video game supporters have claimed the game is art, and therefore protected as a form of free speech. But what exactly is art, and how does GTA stack up against this criteria?
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