GameLight - Bodycount

Official Site: http://www.bodycountgame.com/index.php?&lang=us&ap=yes

Source: Youtube Channel bodycountgame

What happened to the ratings for this game?!?!?!  Metacritics scores average to 53 on PS3 and 58 on Xbox 360!  Was it really that bad?  It's true that after watching a few gameplay footages, all I got out of it was that there's a lot of bum rush shooting and explosions and thus I wasn't very interested in the game.  The game does look good though and seems to have its entertainment value in the exaggerated destruction and chaos, so it baffles me to see an average rating of a 5/10.  Bodycount is a First-Person Shooter with a focus on destructible environments and arcade like gameplay rather than a more realistic, tactical shooter.  From the looks of some of the videos, it seems like players can go online and co-op up to 4 players.  The game averages out to 7-8 hours on campaign according to one of the reviews on Metacritic and it seems multiplayer can be fun (but still have its shenanigans, what FPS doesn't have shenanigans happen?).  Perhaps it's not worth the $60 price tag and people are upset about that.  That, or people are comparing it too much to others games in the market such as the upcoming release of Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.  Because even with games such as Section 8: Prejudice out for $15, barely anyone plays it anymore.  Seems like the biggest games in the market are the ones that are most talked about and praised by critics.  I don't know, perhaps I'll check out Bodycount one day, but I'm still kind of taking a break from FPS for a while to play some more Shoot-em-ups, Fighters and RPGs.

GameLight - MineCraft 1.8 Adventure Mode to be added soon

Official Site: http://www.minecraft.net/

Source: Youtube Channel GrynarGaming

I've played the demo of Minecraft and knew I would like it and spend hours and hours on it, which is exactly why I didn't buy it.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend a lot of time building something and then call it quits afterwards, but with multiplayer capabilities, an adventure mode being added, and tons of mods by the community being added, I can't help but feel that it's perhaps worth my time and money.  Adventure Mode will have a stronger focus on an Action RPG aspect rather than a sand-box builder with randomly generated dungeons, more monsters, maybe some quests, an experience system, and weapons.  This is mainly what would get me to start playing it.  It was one of the main reasons I was attracted to Terraria with the ability to adventure around the world rather than just pure building stuff.  Minecraft is still in its pre-purchase beta phase, and so players can still buy it for $15 before it's official and completed (which will then be sold for $20).  If you're not sure about the game, try out the free demo at the official website up on top.

GameLight - The Binding of Isaac

From the creators of Super Meat Boy comes a hardcore dungeon crawler:

Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid

While the trailer is rather disturbing, the game does look interesting.  From the Steam page: "The Binding of Isaac is a randomly generated action RPG shooter with heavy Rogue-like elements."  It's definitely a reminiscence of "The Legend of Zelda" when going into a dungeon.  The graphics are obscure, grotesque, and down-right odd, which makes it difficult to decide whether that's a good choice to look unique or an uncomfortable one.  I really liked Super Meat Boy a lot, and I'm very excited to see what Team Meat will do for this game.  The game will release on Steam for $5 in September.  You can check it out on:
-Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/?snr=1_4_4__13

GameLight - Counter Strike: Global Offensive

A trailer/teaser has been put out!!!

Source: Youtube Channel Barkz0rWins

More so, a gameplay video is up too!

Source: Youtube Channel Barkz0rWins

Counter-Strike has always been more of a casual game for me since I played with friends a lot in the past.  I also really like playing a lot of the mods, crazy maps, and custom rules.  When I played competitively, I always had such incredible skill to allow other players to get a headshot out of me with one shot.  To put it simply, I sucked at the game (and it's alright).  I enjoy the game.  It's pretty straight forward, there's a lot of experimentation to be tested, and it's pretty fast-paced since it's a bit more arcade-like compared to other tactical shooters such as Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Battlefield and such where aiming down sight, covering, and tactics is important.  It seems that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is leaning more towards the casual side like most games do as it evolves so that more people can enjoy it.  Some people will hate it (some people still play CS 1.6) and other will love it (better graphics than Source?  Yes please).  So besides old maps and new maps, there is enhanced graphics, new animations to models, ranked matches, new game modes, cross-platform play (will be available for PS3 and Xbox 360 as well as PC), and even more weapons!!!  I'm excited about the newest installment of Counter-Strike and will definitely get it.

GameLight - CrimeCraft Bleedout out on Steam

Steam Site: http://store.steampowered.com/app/38830/

Source: Youtube Channel KiillWiithMe

Crime Craft Bleedout is a free-to-play, 3rd-Person MMORPG shooter that has a unique approach on Co-op and PvP.  Everything in CrimeCraft that isn't in the city is instanced.  This means that you'll be put into a level on your own and sometimes you'll be playing in a level with other people in it doing their own quests.  Players can help each other out as enemies are everywhere.  Players can purchase guns, upgrade them, change their apparel, level up and such.  It's a unique blend of the MMORPG genre with competitive 3rd-person shooters where levels, skills and items are persistent, but the action and ability to react quickly and aim true is still the necessary takes needed to win a fight.  I'll admit that the game can get boring after a while, but I found it oddly relaxing and somewhat challenging.  Also, with everything instanced, I don't have to keep running towards an area in order to fulfill my quest.  Just this week, CrimeCraft Bleedout was announced to have released on Steam, so I'm guessing that you can use your steam account to log in.  I had stopped playing a while ago because it took too much hard drive space (but now I have a 1TB hard drive, so it's okay) and it was a drag logging in with an account I didn't play on very often.  So now that it's on Steam, I think I'll dive back into it and start playing again.  It'd be a fun distraction from all the other games I'm playing at the moment.

NewNews - Deus Ex HR PC does not come with OnLive code at Gamestop

Deus Ex Human Revolution was released yesterday and word was that the PC retail version came with a free copy of an OnLive Code to the game.  The first thing that crossed my mind was "why in the world would someone need an OnLive code if they're buying the PC version?"  It is an obvious promotion for the OnLive service and most people are going to just sell it off on eBay since they'll be playing it on the PC anyways with the CD/DVD they get.  OnLive is a videogame streaming service.  Much like NetFlix, players can buy games from the OnLive service and the game will stream as a video to the player so that players can play at the highest graphics settings and still be able to play through their PC monitors or TV.

Source: Youtube Channel OnliveFansCom

Anyways, what happened was that those who bought the PC retail version of Deus Ex HR from Gamestop ended up not having the OnLive codes inside. What happened was upper management in GameStop told every store to open up the box and take out the code as it's a promotion of their competitors and that it was implemented without their prior knowledge.  It makes sense that GameStop doesn't want to help a company that could lead to their ultimate downfall, but it seems that it has caused an uproar in the community for selling a game as "new" after it was open.  It's true that if a game is pre-ordered or brand new and they have a stack of the games, they'll keep it under wraps and sell it brand new.  But most of the games I buy new are already several months old and so they'll have taken off the plastic wrap and taken out the game and put it behind the desk while putting up the box.  I never liked the idea since the boxes get extremely dirty from everyone touching it, the booklets get bent and wrinkled, and an ugly yellow or white sticker gets stuck onto the front and side of the box.  I take good care of my games and their boxes, so it pains me to see all that adhesive on the box when I try to take off the sticker (sometimes I don't even bother taking it off so I don't leave adhesive on their).  But this was all done to prevent further theft of games which often happened in the past (and to prevent little kids from touch the bottom of the discs and scratching them up.  So GameStop's decision to open up all the boxes, take out the OnLive code, and sell the game as new is no surprise to me.  Yes it does suck since a lot of people are paying full price for an open boxed product, but at least GameStop will know that this act has hurt its reputation within the community.  I miss having Play N Trade and Game Crazy around my neighborhood, but GameStop is the only store that has specific games that I'm looking for.  Once in a while, I'll find a good deal at Amazon, Target, or Best Buy (more so on Amazon than anywhere else).  For Deus Ex Human Revolution, I think I'll be waiting for a Steam Sale before I get it.

Sources:
-Gamasutra: GameStop Removing OnLive Vouchers From PC Human Revolution Boxes 
-Joystiq: GameStop intentionally removing Deus Ex OnLive coupons from retail PC copies 
-Kotaku: GameStop Policy: Open Your Games, Steal Your Codes, Sell Game Like New 

GameLight - Deus Ex Human Revolution (Available Now!)

Official Site: http://deusex.com/
Buy it on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/28050/

It's been 8 months since I posted my first thoughts on Deus Ex Human Revolution, and a lot has been revealed and the perspectives of people's opinions on the game has changed.

Source: Youtube Channel machinima

Unfortunately, I never finished playing through the first one.  I'm still working on it and I've accumulated so many other games because of sales and discounts.  With Deus Ex HR out now, I am more determined to finish the first one AND start on the 2nd one (invisible war).  So I talked with some more friends about the original two and apparently, the 2nd one wasn't as bad as so many fans have claimed so.  It probably disappointed fans of the first one in changes in aspects of the gameplay, but it seemed to have been a good game nonetheless.  With actual footages of Deus Ex HR, it seems a lot of fans of the first are extremely excited for this one and has high hopes for it compared to invisible war.  It definitely seems to be much more action orientated, which I don't really mind, but it still retains much of its open-ended gameplay and RPG aspects.

It seems the newest complaint on this game isn't from the fans of the original, fans of Mass Effect.  I was very confused as to why people were complaining about Deus Ex HR being a rip-off of Mass Effect.  With that one line, a huge flame war began.  It's nothing new to see people on the internet argue who know more, who's more faithful to their favorite publishers; the typical fanboy seems to dwell on public chat quite often to troll and flame.  Those who know the history of both games correct many people saying that the multiple choice dialogues, open-world gameplay, and Action/RPG hybrid aspects was already in the original Deus Ex which released 7 years before the first Mass Effect game.  True, there are similarities in its formula, but you can't say that either one are rip-offs of each other.  Even before Mass Effect, Bioware has adopted many aspects of past RPGs into games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Bulder's Gate.  Even before all these RPGs, the dialogue choice system has been around since early 1980's adventure games (and even before videogames, there were "choose your own path novels.").  The open-world aspects was also seen in early adventure games as well if not the NES days with The Legend of Zelda.  And the Action-RPG genre seemed to have been around longer than I thought with games such as the first "The Elder Scroll: Arena" game  dating back to 1994.  It very much reminds me of today's comic on Nerf Now:

Source: http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/image/565

They say that "ignorance is bliss", but to not know the history of the games you love so much when you're a gamer while making very bad claims in the gaming community.  It seems that in the gaming world "ignorance is arrogance" with fanboys and elitist believing that they know everything and that all others are wrong.  With such thinking, many other great games will be void of their experiences.  Deus Ex Human Revolution should be a great game for both fans of the original and to those new to the series as long as they give it a chance.  I will be buying mines once I see a good sale for it (no rush to play it yet).

NewNews - Blizzard DotA still on the way with different name

As you may all know, there was a dispute between Blizzard and Valve when the term DotA was copyrighted and threw the whole community into confusion as to what was going on.  Icefrog, one of the developers of the original DotA, was hired by Valve to create a game and was asked what he wanted to do.  Icefrog said he wanted to do a sequel to DotA and create a better experience for the game without the limitations of the Warcraft III Engine that the original DotA was created on.  So I guess it was natural for Valve to copyright the trademark in order to release the game as an official product.  Around the same time the announcement of Valve getting the rights to the term "DotA", Blizzard was working on "Blizzard DotA" and found it befuddling that Valve would copyright the term "DotA" at all.  There has been DotA games for Starcraft 2, but there seems to be an official one that Blizzard is working on releasing.  With the release of DotA 2 close at hand, Blizzard seems to have decided to change the name of the Starcraft 2 mod rather than fight over the name as to not delay the release.

You can look up the history of DotA on Wikipedia, but I can try to give a very brief description of how it went down:
-It started with a custom campaign game on Starcraft called "Aeon of Strife."
-Username "Eul" created "Defense of the Ancients (DotA)" based on the maps, concept and gameplay of AoS.
-Username "Guinsoo" and a team of other WC3 modders helped on building on the DotA map.
-Icefrog joined the team and mostly carried the development from 2005 onwards
-After the popularity of DotA reached to international status, the MOBA genre was adopted into the industry
-Pentadragon and Guinsoo went on to work with "Riot Games" on "League of Legends (LoL)" and Icefrog was hired to work on "S2 Games'" "Heroes of Newerth (HoN).
-Over the years, a number of games adopted the genre and started making similar games or fusions: Demigod, Land of Chaos Online, Monday Night Combat, Realm of the Titans, Rise of Immortals, etc.
-Valve copyrights the term "DotA" and announces the development of DotA 2

Hopefully that's accurate, but it should still show how extensive the history of DotA is nonetheless.

Source:
-Gamasutra: Blizzard: Valve's 'Dota' Trademark Won't Delay StarCraft Mod 
-Joystiq: Blizzard Dota hits the reset button 

GameLight - The Last Story

Official Japanese Site: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/slsj/

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

I never made a post about "The Last Story"?  Wow I'm surprised I didn't since I've been so excited about it.  Two reasons being two people behind the project.  Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy Fame are teamed up in this project at "Mistwalker" to deliver what is said to be Sakaguchi's last project before he retires....oh wait, just found something:

In July 2010, Sakaguchi announced on Mistwalker's blog that The Last Story may be the final title of his career. However, this turned out to be a translation error in which he meant that he was working on this as if it was his last game.[9] -Wikipedia

That's good to hear, but there's still a problem.  This amazing Action-RPG exclusive to the Nintendo Wii isn't seeing a U.S. release from speculations in the past half year.  It's already out in Japan, and there has been word that it's going to have an English translation for Europe; however, it seems that Nintendo of America doesn't seem keen on bringing it over to the U.S.  This is very VERY sad news indeed as it was one of the most anticipated games coming out for the Wii (if not the only one).  Aside from "The Last Story", it seems "Pandora's Tower" and "Xenoblade Chronicles" won't be seeing a U.S. release either.  It's very sad to hear and I really hope that changes in the future as I'm very anxious to play those games (my Wii needs some love).

So about "The Last Story".  I was thinking that it was going to be another turn-based RPG with lots of story and great music (which I don't mind, but am eager for change); however, Sakaguchi and team has surprised me with an incredible Action-RPG with unique elements that mixes several elements of other games into a cohesive adventure showcasing what the Wii is capable of.  So there's the story and RPG elements that creates the basis for the game, and then there's the combat system.  In combat, there's tactics that allows the player to plan ahead and control the AI of their comrades for flanking strategies and such.  Characters can hide behind cover and spring out to attack an enemy when they least expect it.  There's a 3rd-Person perspective when aiming with a crossbow to be able to fire at an enemy at a distance.  I'm not sure how multiplayer works yet, but it allows the ability to team up to 6 people for cooperative play and competitive play.  The combat isn't so much run up and mash buttons like a hack-n-slash as it is like a tactical shooter where things are planned, stealth is used, and maneuvering is recommended.  With such a different take on the Action-RPG genre, I became even more interested in it.  Even better with Nobuo Uematsu composing the music to the game.  The main theme reminds me of the main theme from "Lord of Arcana" (also composed by Uematsu).  Someone has uploaded the first hour of the game for us to see, and it only makes me want to play the game even more!

Source: Youtube Channel NiNTENDOMiNATi0N

Nintendo of America has received the Trademark Rights to "The Last Story", but no word has been said about localizing the game over to the U.S.  I can only hope that they do and then buy it the first day it comes out if it ever does.

Source:
-Kotaku - Nintendo of America, You Are Really Smart (Or Mean!) 

Retroview - The Elder Scroll III: Marrowind

So The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim is about to be released and I'm actually very excited about it.  Why did I say "actually"?  Because I was never to big of a fan of The Elder Scroll Series and didn't even know about it until Marrowind came out.  As the years go by, I have matured a lot as a gamer and am more tolerant to games that require a lot of reading and patience.  Because of that, I really got into immersive RPGs.  With Skyrim about to come out and hearing how great Marrowind and Oblivion was, I finally bought Oblivion and tried it out.  Aside from the game crashing a lot and being over-encumbered without knowing how to drop items, I started to like Oblivion more and more.  With my new interest in The Elder Scroll series, I decided to seek out Marrowind to give that one a try as well.

Source: Youtube Channel AxelNL1994

I found a used copy of Marrowind at a local game store and the guy working there offered the game for $2 for me since we weren't sure if a CD key was needed for it from it's original $5.  Seeing how that's a great deal to check the game out, I bought it (it's $20 on Steam, so I didn't bother buying it there).  I installed it and tried it out and I was actually impressed with the graphics for it being released in 2002.  And then I started playing the game.

After an entire hour, I had talked to the people I needed to, killed a worm, 2 rats, and walked to another town while having to switch between walk and run because running takes up stamina which recovers VERY slowly.  I don't know how all the Marrowind fans played through the game, it's so very very slow!  I do like the immersion aspects of the game (which is why I started liking the series) as well as the many customizations you can do with your character's attributes, but I'm not too keen on spending 100 hours of doing a lot of walking.  Oblivion is a lot like that too, and I guess it's part of the "journey".  Oblivion does feel a lot more easier and noob friendly compared to Marrowind with voice overs so that you don't have to read several thousand passages.  I remember my biggest first complaint about Oblivion was how slow I moved.  I remedied that with the sign and class I created to make me move faster.  I unfortunately decided to go with a pure spellcaster on Marrowind and I'm slow as a mule because of it.  Oblivion does feel like quite a leap from Marrowind and I probably don't mind putting in 100+ hours for it, but I'm not sure if I want to do that for Marrowind.  It just doesn't seem worth it at the moment (remember, I have a 100+ game backlogged).  But Marrowind itself is a huge leap from the first two in the series which was played on MS DOS.  I'm eventually going to try those out too, but most likely won't be able to finish it.  I may not even be able to finish Marrowind because of how long it might take (and how slow it feels).  I have seen several videos where players have beaten the game in less than 10 minutes.  I'm not sure if I'm able to do the same.  Perhaps I shall try if I end up not being able to get through the game with my mage (the speed runners went with assassin-type classes that give them a total of 65+ speed or something like that).  Well, just Marrowind and Oblivion itself is holding me down pretty well until Skyrim comes out, and I highly doubt I'll get it on the first day with my crazy backlog of games (I'm excited for it, but not desperate).

Also, it seems as though I'll be getting Skyrim on PS3 as I want to play it in its full glory of beautiful graphics.  The problem is, I feel as if The Elder Scroll series should be played on a PC.  It feels more natural to play on a PC, but I won't have a strong enough computer to play it on its highest settings.  I wonder how many hours Skyrim will eventually take out of me?  Anyways, those who want to try out Marrowind must have an open mind and have a LOT of patience (emphasis on "a LOT").

NewNews - DotA 2 Tournaments at Gamescom

Gameplay of "Defense of the Ancients 2" is being shown publicly through the best DotA teams in the world competing in a tournament at Gamescom Germany.

Source: Youtube Channel dota2

In addition, you can sign up for the beta with your steam account here: http://dota2.com/tournaments/international/

DotA 2 is looking pretty good so far, but it scares me already.  It's not just the fast-paced gameplay and split-second decision making of the old DotA that only scares me, but of all the people getting ready to play the game and start creating a bad community off of it right away.  I noticed a pattern that most all the popular online games have the worst communities while smaller, underestimated games have a really chill community of people playing on them.  It's sad, but I think a lot of people will turn away from DotA 2 because of the harsh/bad community and being scrutinized or ostracized for every little thing you do (doing bad, doing too good, having more kills than the rest of the team, having the most deaths, etc.).  It makes it very difficult to enjoy the game when the community is so bad (Land of Chaos Online was like that).  At the moment, there still hasn't been any conclusive evidence of DotA 2 being free-to-play when it's released.  Here's hoping for a successful (and fun) game.

NewNews - BF3, DotA 2, ME3 and LPC Videos

Woke up this morning and suddenly saw a bunch of videos to games worth taking a look at:

Source: Youtube Channel eavision

Battlefield 3 is looking more and more incredible as EA slowly brings out their videos.  I'm looking forward to all parts of this game and what DICE has to offer.  They have impressed me with Battlefield Bad Company 2 and even more with Medal of Honor (2010) in terms of audio, so I'm extra excited about BF3 as DICE and EA will take everything they have done in the past few years and create a masterpiece of a game for the 3rd iteration.

Source: Youtube Channel machinima

Just today, I was wondering "when will valve show anything related to Defense of the Ancients 2?"  Sure enough, I saw this video (released yesterday).  I'm not too keen on the elitists and fanboys bantering on about DotA, LoL and HoN or any other MOBA game, but I'm still very excited about seeing all my favorite characters in a full fledged game.

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

I REALLY need to play through Mass Effect 1 & 2, especially since I bought both of them close to a year ago now.  It's looking pretty great, and it seems to be much more action oriented than from it's first installment.

Source: Youtube Channel gamespot

Before deciding to play this game, I should really check out all the other games Suda51 has worked on.  I think it's an interesting contrast between violence and pop-inspired themes.  I can't help but think of Dead Rising when I look at this game, except that it's in a school.  Oh well, it's Suda51, should be interesting.

VGCulture - Filler - Deadmau5 and Minecraft

Feeling miserable right now, watch this:

Source: Youtube Channel 1337Snaz

VGCulture - The Trenches

If you haven't heard, the creators of PVPonline.com and Penny-Arcade.com (both webcomics that started in 1997 and 1998 respectively) have joined forces to bring you their new webcomic "The Trenches".  It tells an on-going story of a guy getting a job as a game tester and his life in the industry.

Source: http://trenchescomic.com/comic/post/once-more-unto-the-trench

I just finished my last day at the company I worked at this week and now am looking for a job once more (though I have been for the past year since it was a temporary job to begin with).  Looking at this strip got me to laugh a bit because it is very relevant to our modern day employment.  What does "Over-Qualified" really mean?  It means you have the credentials to get paid well for the job you do and that the company doesn't want to pay that much.  They rather have someone without a degree with the same amount of skill that could do the same job for a lesser pay.  A lot of companies have outsourced their work to oversea workers where they pay dirt cheap for a position they would have to pay much more, even if it was minimum wage.  It seems that the game industry is starting to outsource their jobs in art, programming and game testing to oversea workers as well now.  The recession in our economy only makes it more tempting for company CEOs to make the decision to outsource their positions, so it gets harder for those trying to look for a job here.  I think I'll like this webcomic as it will be relevant to what I'm doing/want to do (game testing/game development).  You can check out the webcomic and the other ones the creators have been working on for over a decade here:

-The Trenches: http://trenchescomic.com/
-Penny Arcade: http://www.penny-arcade.com/
-PvPOnline: http://www.pvponline.com/ 

VGCulture - The griefing game

A griefer is a player in a multiplayer video game that deliberately irritates and harasses other players. -Wikipedia

Source: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/8/10/

So what game are the guys at Penny Arcade trying to show here?  League of Legends, the very successful free-to-play MOBA game by Riot Games inspired by DotA.  The first panel is of WuKong, and the 2nd is of Leona.  Griefing is a sadistic game enjoyed by the person harassing and bugging the other players (usually their own teammates) and can be applied to a number of multiplayer games.  Griefers can sometimes be just as bad as hackers because they affect the experience for everyone.

Source: Youtube Channel TEAMROOMBA

Yes, it's funny to laugh at the misfortune of others, but it's not as fun when the griefing is being done to you.  I think some of the worst ones I've heard about is people joining servers to games that require a lot of building and time and destroying everything that other people have built.  In First-Person shooters and such, players who bug you can either be banned or a player can leave if they want.  But games like DotA and League of Legends, you commit 20-60 minutes of playtime in order to finish one round which makes it all the more frustrating when someone is griefing you or the team.  People should respect each other in multiplayer online games, because without those people there would be no game to play.  Unfortunately, besides griefers, there's spammers, glitchers, hackers, smack-talkers and such to help ruin a game's experience, so that's only hopeful wishing.  The griefing game can only be fun for so long until you kill off an entire gaming community and get banned from every server in the world.  Anyways, the comic that Penny Arcade made was funny and true.  I don't recall getting griefed that much except this one time where a team mate in Modern Warfare 2 trapped me in a corner on purpose and was stuck for a good 10-20 seconds before we were both shot to death.

NewNews - Play games to get games (Steam Trading)

You know how Blizzard's Diablo 3 is going to have an auction house with real money and how people can sell in-game items for real money?  Well, what if you were able to get real games for trading in-game Team Fortress 2 items?  That'd be cool, right?

Source: Youtube Channel MrSmegheneghan

Well, Valve is working its way to doing just that.  Beside people selling in-game TF2 items for ridiculous prices ($240 for some of them I heard), players can opt to trade a full game on their steam list for an item.  Now, it's not any game a player wishes, but ones that publishers have agreed to and is part of the program that Valve is running.  It's sounds pretty cool, but you'd have to have an awesome items in order to get someone willing to give you a game for it.  Or perhaps some people have games they've already beat and don't want for an item.  Anyways, Valve is using every little unheard method of attracting players to play (and sometimes pay) for Team Fortress 2 as much as possible.  I'm not going to spend any money on in-game items still, but maybe I can score some free games for items I don't want!

Source:
-Joystiq: Steam Trading beta lets you exchange in-game items for games 

GameLight - The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim

Despite turmoil within the gaming community due to Bethesda's claim of trademark infringement, I am still very excited about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Source: Youtube Channel babypazuzu

I can't say that I'm an avid fan of the series since I've never touched any of them until just this summer I bought TESIV: Oblivion, but I really like these types of open world, non-linear Action RPGs and really like the series because of that.  What I didn't know is that you can get the first and 2nd TES games for free now.  They look so old and archaic, but it's hard to imagine a non-linear, free-roaming Action RPG back then.  I probably wouldn't even be able to stand playing games like those back then since I was so impatient.  Still, the original 2 games piques my interest and I think I might try them out in the near future just to see what they were like.  Looking at them and then back on the video for Skyrim, we've have come a long way in PC gaming.  There's the other hard part.  When the game finally does come out, I have the decision to get it on Playstation 3 or PC.  In all honesty, I think games such as these were meant to be played on PC.  They just feel...right.  The problem is that I'm still playing on a laptop (not a bad one though, but not great either) and I don't know when I'll finally decide to invest in creating a new tower.  Oblivion runs fine on my laptop, but I have to lower the beautiful graphics down in order to play without lag.  Then there's also the problem with the game frequently crashing.  By buying it on a console, I'm hoping that I don't have to worry about crashing, and incompatibility as much.  The thing is, it sounds awkward to play the game with a controller.  This is a decision I'm eventually going to make.  When I finally get the game, I have to decide what sort of path I'll be going down in terms of "class type".  In oblivion, I'm going for a blade user/marksman with stealth skills and some magic.  So I'm mostly going for an assassin sort of class (custom made).  It might be fun to try out a beefy fighter class or a crazy strong magic class when I finally start playing Skyrim (probably not going to get it on the first day, but will eventually get it).  Ah, so many good games coming out this last half year.  I just hope Nintendo joins in and has 3rd Party companies develop some good games for the 3DS and Wii U.

Sources:
-Gamasutra: Bethesda Targets Mojang's Scrolls For Trademark Infringement

GameLight Review - ARES Extinction Agenda

Official Site: http://ares.x10studio.com/
Buy it on Steam here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/92300/

Source: Youtube Channel binxpel

Developer: Extend Studio
Publisher: ORiGO GAMES
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Release Date: January 19, 2011
Genre: Action Side-Scroll Shooter, Indie

Pros:
-Classic 2D side-scroll action game vibe
-Incredible 3D graphics and environment
-Fast-paced Action and large scale boss battles
-Amazing soundtrack that captures the feeling of classic side-scroll shooters such as the Megaman series

Cons:
-Faulty controls and questionable game design choices
-Very short game (takes less than an hour to beat)
-DLC should have been in the game to begin with
-Lots of frustrating moments that deters from the game

Developed in a studio in Bangkok, Thailand, this nostalgic-inducing side-scroll shooter reminded me that I don't need long dialogues, epic stories, and 100 hours of replay value to enjoy a game.  It has many elements that are reminiscence of games like Megaman.  It's fast-paced, mostly enjoyable, but suffers from some awkward design choices in controls, level designs, and game concepts.  The game features 5 different weapons (including the Berzerker Suit), 5 challenging levels, 3 levels of upgrades to every weapon and item, and a list of achievements a player can earn to truly test the abilities of a player's perception, reaction time, and skills.  Although I enjoyed playing the game, there are many things about it that left a bad impression after I finished beating it several times.

Graphics
I want to start off by saying that the art direction and detail put into the environments and 3D models is simply incredible.  The level of detail in the backgrounds and levels is rich and creates an atmosphere that sets it apart from other Indie games.  The effects from gunfire, explosions and fire is a spectacle to look at and gives the player a satisfying feeling after blowing up a few dozen enemies.  Despite looking great visually, the game suffers from a LOT of problems in regards to gameplay.  This might not happen on a Xbox 360 (or other computers), but the graphics skipped a LOT during my play through the game.  It would freeze up for a second and then resume as if it's lagging behind.  This has caused me to fall into bottomless pits, run into enemy fire, and caused a multitude of unsuccessful double jumps.  There there's some problems with the color schemes for some of the levels and enemies.  Some enemies blend in with the environment and the player won't know it until they shoot at them which by then is usually too late to react.  The camera adjusts throughout the game quite frequently to fit in with the environment.  The camera is generally very close up which makes it difficult to see what's around the player or what's coming next.  Bullets fly towards the player off-screen, bottomless pits can't be seen until fallen into, and enemies would just run into the player out of nowhere because the player can't see them until they're up in their faces.  So visually, it was pleasing, but functionally it had some problems that just couldn't be ignored. Graphics: 8/10

Audio
The team that worked on the music for the game did an amazing job.  It's vibrant, exciting, has that futuristic feel, but it's still not Megaman status.  It's a mix between rock and electronic and delivers an enjoyable vibe for the game when playing.  Besides the visuals, the music is one of the aspects I enjoyed most out of the game.  The sound effects were pretty standard, but other games have messed up on it before.  And so I have to say that the work on the sound effects are pretty good too.  I feel as though the game is lacking voice acting.  I generally don't mind having just pictures and text, but a lot of the cinematics felt empty because of it for some reason.  It was mainly the ending that caused the most confusion and oddity out of the lack of sound effects OR voice acting.  Regardless, the music is definitely one of the strongest points of the game. Audio: 9/10

Story
The story is pretty basic.  A gas that's taking over control of robots within human societies are quickly destroying all existence of humanity.  A robot name ARES was created out of the research of the gas to resist control and be able to save the human race.  Sound familiar?  "The year is 20XX and maverick reploids are running through the city and destroying human society."  So in similar aspects of the Megaman series, ARES, the main character of the game, goes out to rescue Dr. Carson and soon finds out that there's a weapon capable of destroying all of the humans.  As you go through the 5 levels, you find out that the beings trying to destroy human existence were the ones that created humanity and want to undo their creation.  All-in-all, I felt like it was a standard story that worked well with the game and its settings.  What killed my mood in all of the game was the ending.  I won't say what the ending is (even though it wouldn't spoil anything), but it's one of those game endings that causes the "...wtf!?" moments.  It's anti-climatic and very ambiguous as what the developers want to achieve from the player reaching the end.  I did say earlier that the game reminded me that I didn't need an epic story or long dialogues to be fun, and it's still true.  The game is certainly fun in its own respects, but if you're going to add a story into it, don't go half-way through it and just drop everything at the most pivotal part of the game.  After I beat the game once, I just played through the levels many times over to get a higher rating and upgrade all my weapons to the max level.  The ending just left a bad taste to the story when it could have been good, if not decent.  Story: 5/10

Gameplay
ARES Extinction Agenda is an Action Side-Scrolling Shooter that's focused on fast-paced reflexes and lots of destruction.  It boasts 5 weapons, 2 different grenades, several special moves, a mega cannon used by your sidekick in space, and tons of enemies to kill.  The game does capture that run and gun feeling of past games, but it felt very uncomfortable that the camera was so close (meaning very little screen space to see what's up ahead).  Being able to acquire weapons throughout the games is cool, but most of them are useless and some are only useful in specific situations.  The grenades could be very useful, but gathering the materials to create each one causes the player to conserve them more as a utility than a weapon (until you've beaten the game once and get an infinite amount).  The player can roll/dash to dodge enemy fire and charages, but it's awkward to have it set to "hold down + Jump".  It caused a lot of problem when fighting bosses or going through tricky areas when the player needs to dash but jumps instead.  It would have been better if it was a dedicated button.  The double jump is a cool feature too and really helps in combat situations, but it felt very clunky and caused a lot of problems when platforming up or past ledges.  Adding with the weird graphics freeze lag and double jump, platforming can be a nightmare.  For some of the level designs, enemies are placed and attack at places the player has to run into and thus causes the player to take damage.  Thankfully, the player can create first-ad kits as long as they have the materials to recycle them into.  The run and gun aspect of the game was fun after getting a weapon to their max upgrade, but a lot of the platforming and jumping was more frustrating than anything because of awkward the weight of the jump was.  When I wanted to upgrade my weapons, I felt like it was more of a chore than an fun aspect to the game's upgrade mechanic.  I guess it was to add to its replay value so that players would have to go through previous levels in order to get enough materials to do so.  Hard mode difficulty isn't that much different from normal from what I played. I only felt the difference when I fought the final boss.  So if you feel comfortable with the game right from the start, I suggest just playing on Hard Mode.  There are parts of a level where the player can die instantaneously.  Bottomless pits can kill you immediately, and so can getting crushed by one of the mashers on the last level.  Overall, it's a decent game for its price (but I bought it for $5 from the usual $10) despite all the frustration I got out of it.  I'd be lying if I didn't have any fun at all on it since I played each level 5-9 times before I called quits on playing the game anymore. Gameplay: 7/10

Replay Value
There are a few aspects that the game possesses that encourages multiple playthroughs for its replay value.  There's the rating system that tells a player who well they did in terms of score, the recycle system which allows the player to use collected recycled parts to craft first-aid kits, grenades and upgrades to weapons, and achievements that challenges the player to play a certain way that is sometimes very difficult (get a perfect on a boss by not getting hit).  A lot of the weapons don't really do much damage and are difficult to use against enemies past level 3, which makes one weapon useful and all the others pretty useless if a player plans  on running through first time through.  A player can freely go back to previous levels to gather more materials, but who wants to play level 1 five times in a row before moving onto level 3?  I focused on just upgrading my laser smg since it was the fastest weapon and then beat the game with it.  I then played through the game multiple time to get all my weapons to max level.  Even then, I didn't really use a variety of weapons.  My main attraction to wanting to play through the game again (which I did 5- 9 times) is to get a better rating on all the levels.  Beyond that is just cheap entertainment by going through the game again.  It'd probably be fun to play once in a while, but I'd have to deal with the frustrations as well.   I accumulated 5 hours out of it, and I think it's alright that it was short; however, I probably wouldn't have mind if it was longer either.  Replay Value: 6/10

Overall
I enjoyed the game, and I don't regret buying it (for $5); however, I don't think I'll be rushing back to play it again anytime soon due to all the anger and frustration I had with it.  There isn't enough motivation for me to try to get a better rating on the levels either as that would be the main reason why I'd want to play it again.  It was enjoyable to run through and destroy everything along the way and test my skills against the large bosses of each stage, and even more so with the visuals and music the game possesses.  If you see the game for $5 again and like 2D shooters such as Contra, Megaman, Metroid, Metal Slug or any other retro game such as those, then I say give it a try.  Overall 7/10

GameLight Review – Dynasty Warriors 7

Official Site: http://www.tecmokoeiamerica.com/dw7/

Source: Youtube Channel gameboyuk

Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: March 29, 2011
Genre: Action Hack-n-Slash

Pros:
-Vast improvement from Dynasty Warriors 6
-Dynamic changes to story mode and combat system
-65 characters to choose from, each with their own person EX attack and 2 different musou attacks
-Campaigns for all characters is melded into 4 separate stories for each faction for a full campaign experience
-Conquest mode has high replay value and the ability to play co-op online

Cons:
-Some graphics lag is still present
-Much more difficult to max out on skills, stats and abilities than past DW games
-No ability to create custom characters
-Not enough time in the day to play the game even more

With the disappointment of Dynasty Warriors 6, I was reluctant to playing or even caring about the release of Dynasty Warriors 7.  Upon watching preview videos and reading some of the changes in the combat system and the revival of the combo system, I was compelled to learn more about the game.  I felt like I was getting tricked into getting back into the series, but I was too curious.  My first reactions to the game were mixed and confused.  The color palette felt darker and realistic than past DW games, there seemed to be a bit of frame skipping and lag, the combo system was back, and much more.  It was hard to take in all at once, but after playing through 1 out of 4 of the story lines and playing through the new conquest mode, I was convinced that this was perhaps the best DW right next to DW5.  The ability to switch between weapons, having more enemies on the screen, having a stylish and dynamic musou system, bringing back the original combo system with a unique EX attack for each character, a more heartfelt and continuous story campaign, an adventurous conquest mode, very challenging difficulty levels, adding a 2^nd musou for each character and the addition of the Jin Dynasty/Faction truly pierced all expectations for the series and delivered simply the best experience a DW game could possibly give for the PS3.

Graphics

The graphics were the first change that crossed my mind when first starting out.  The textures of models and environments were more earth toned and realistic compared to past DW games where colors were brighter and more vibrant.  I also noticed that there were 3-5 times more enemies on the screen and that the camera was pulled back a little further to see that amount.  The problem with past DW games was that enemies disappeared sometimes when there were too many at once because the graphics couldn’t support it or that it would have graphics lag.  In DW6, the camera was too darn close to the player and it obscured the vision of the player when all the allies and enemies grouped up.  These were all taken upon development in DW 7 when they recreated the engine to allow more enemies on the screen, pulled the camera back and angled it a bit downwards, and eliminated as much lag as possible (it still exists sometimes).  I’m not sure why, but the game lagged a lot in the beginning.  It could be that my eye adjusted to it or that the system was able to keep up with the game, but the lag doesn’t seem to be there anymore when I play.  The user interface changed as well.  The health bar is one sleek line with the musou bar as smaller bars curved alongside the health bar.  Everything is slimmed down and pushed farther to the corners which make the screen size feel a lot larger than any other DW games have.  Battles feel a lot more large scale because of all these aspects put together (more enemies, camera pulled back, and more screen space because of new UI).  Koei had changed some of the character designs (again) and some of them are alright (others can be questionable).  My biggest complaint in the graphics department (other than the usual lag) is that the mini-map in 2 player split screen is a nuisance and a hindrance to my vision.  Other than that, the CG cinematics are wonderfully choreographed, cinematics are seem-less with the gameplay so it doesn’t deviate from the gameplay itself, the animation for all the weapons and characters are amazing, the new art style is very different and a nice change, and the sequences for the musou attacks are incredible.  Graphics 9/10

Audio

One of the things I love about the DW series is the music.  The music is composed by the same guy who has been with the series since the first one.  The songs are memorable, dynamic, enjoyable to listen to, and adds a whole different atmosphere to the series.  I think it might be the best work the composer has done for the series (though he has always done a wonderful job).  The sound effects are a little better than its predecessors since weapon contacts sound and feel more realistic rather than everything sounding very metal or blunt.  I have a problem with some of the voice acting though.  One character in particular is Guan Yu.  He has always been portrayed as a man of valor and courage, but also of wisdom and grace.  In this one, they make him sound as angry and uncouth as Zhang Fei.  For a few of the voice acting, they seem to be out of character for them.  It’s also sad to hear the same one-liners when defeating an enemy.  I was hoping there would be at least 3 different lines for them to cycle through.  As for the “bad” voice acting, it’s still there and I think it’s become a staple for the series to have hilariously bad voice acting.  There is an option to download the Japanese voice, but I find it awkward to play a game about Ancient China when they’re speaking Japanese (I switch it to Japanese for Samurai Warriors though).  So 2 out of 3 things improved is pretty good for the audio.  Audio: 9/10

Story

Dynasty Warriors doesn’t change its story too much, mainly because it’s based off true historical events.  You always start off with the Yellow Turban Rebellion and you go through each character and their 6 chapters and then do it again with the other ones.  Not so with DW7.  The story is now told through 4 different segments in each of the 4 factions: Shu, Wu, Wei, and the Jin Dynasty which came around the end of the 3 Kingdoms era.  Each faction has approximately 20-28 missions told in a continuous journey much like a campaign should be for an action game.  The story mode has a lot of cinematics, lots of dialogue, and a little bit of free roaming before a battle begins.  The story is loosely based off real events in the history and is changed around a bit to dramatize the plot much like Hollywood directors do for movies based off real life stories.  I’ve got to say that Koei really went all out on the story mode for this one as events that happened in past DW games were retold in a different fashion that brought me to tears.  There’s so much joking and humor in past ones (possibly because of how bad some of the dialogue and voice acting were), but the story had quite a bit of drama to it.  But the humor is still there and quips from no-name soldiers turned the mood around when talking to people in the camp before a battle began.  Characters seemed to become more important, emotions felt more real, and the flow of the game and story is something that DW games should have been for the longest time.  Some people have complained about the story mode being too long, but I think they’re a good length.  I’m just happy that I don’t have to play the Yellow Turban Rebellion 60 times to get all the story lines from all the characters.  It’s surprising, but the story is one of the strongest points for the game.  It hasn’t changed the plot too much, but it has drastically changed the way it is told.  Despite some cheesy lines, bad dialogue and awkward animations in the CG, this is best Koei has ever done in the DW series for the story.  Story: 9/10

Gameplay

The biggest disappointment in DW6 was the change in combo system.  In previous DW games, the combo system consisted of 6-7 variations of attacks with strong attacks.  In DW6, the developers wanted to create a continuous string of attacks by allowing the player to attack with the regular strikes infinitely and then ending the strong attack with only 2 choices: singular and wide.  In DW7, they brought back the original combo system along side with having 2 weapons on the field with 2 different musou attacks with each character having their own specialized EX attack as well as having multiple musou bars to execute.  This opened so many more possibilities in creating combos and using special techniques to fight in certain situations.  The weapon changing system was implemented in Dynasty Warriors: Strike Force and the EX attack came from the Samurai Warriors series that Koei worked on.  So they put everything that worked well into DW7 to bring a spectacular experience to the game.  It does feel a lot easier to kill enemies in this one, but it’s also easier to get killed as well.  I think this design choice was based on how realistic fighting would be like.  I was able to get over 1000 K.O.s in my first level of playing.  The musou system changed as well.  Instead of holding down the musou button for a continuous attack, the musou attack is closer to that of Street Fighter where the player uses up a bar to execute a special attack.  This makes musou attacks faster to get through, flashier, and better for creating different kinds of combos since a player can have more than one bar in this one.  Story mode has a long continuous campaign that’s pieced by missions.  The game does feel a lot more linear than past DW games where strategy was just as important.  Strategy is still prominent in the game, but the focus seems to be more on the action aspects.  Free mode was taken out for conquest mode.  The player travels around China (the board) and fights through various missions with any of the characters they’ve acquired but they don’t represent the character they play entirely.  This is where I wish they had added a custom character option as it would have made more sense for the context of the mode.  Conquest mode has missions much shorter and less large scaled than story mode, but it does have its entertainment value.  Furthermore, conquest mode can be played 2-player split-screen and 2-player online.  The replay value will be from the conquest mode more than the story mode.  The game took a turn for the better and brought everything that was great within the series and put it into this one.  Gameplay: 9/10

Overall

The game feels like more could be added to the experience, but the story mode and conquest mode itself is enough to make it complete for now.  Koei really made a comeback with this iteration in the series and has renewed my faith in their company.  The changes are good, the gameplay is better than it ever has been, and an Xtreme Legends add-on has already been announced for it.  I really hate how Koei keeps coming out with the add-ons and selling them for retail price, but the game was so good that I’m actually looking forward to what else they’re able to add to it.  I haven’t loved Dynasty Warriors as much as I do now after playing DW7 since DW5 came out.  The game is even more fast-paced, has a better system for telling the story, and offers so much dynamics to the gameplay that I can hardly believe that it’s a DW game.  I’m looking forward to what Koei can do in the future now that I know that they can handle making such a good game as Dynasty Warriors 7.  Overall: 9/10

NewNews - Brink Free Weekend on Steam and Half Off

Official Site: http://brinkthegame.com/
Steam Site: http://store.steampowered.com/app/22350/

Source: Youtube Channel Cartagena44

If you've been waiting for a chance to check Brink out, like I have been for the past 3 months, this is the time to do it!  Brink is free to play for the weekend on Steam until Sunday 10AM.  If you happen to like it, you can purchase it for $24.99 since it's 50% off until Monday 10AM.  Brink is a First-Person Shooter with Class-based gameplay that truly shines in multiplayer.  The player can run on walls, scale on them, and do a lot of tricks to get to places they need to be.  So think Team Fortress 2 class based system with Call of Duty Guns using Mirror's Edge's parkour stunts.

Source: Youtube Channel GamingLives

I've been keeping up with the game since it was announced last year.  The problem is that the game is multiplayer intensive (most of the fun comes from the multiplayer side) and I've bought plenty of those games only to find that the servers were minimal to non-existent.  The latest example?  Homefront was on sale during the Steam Summer Sales and I was very reluctant to buying it for that very reason.  I opened up the multiplayer menu and sure enough there were only 10 servers with players on them with about 4 of them filled.  I find it saddening that so many great games (granted that there is a lack of polish to some of them) are neglected by the community and forgotten.  I'm going to give the game a spin this weekend and pray that it's really good and that people will continue to play on it.  Even something as big as Modern Warfare 2 is neglected on PC servers now, so I can only hope.

NewNews - Humble Indie Bundle 3 gives you 6 extra games

Official Site: http://www.humblebundle.com/

Just a quick update (and I apologize for missing yesterday's post).  If you bought the Humble Indie Bundle 3 before 10AM of August 3rd, you automatically get the games from Humble Bundle 2 as well.  If you haven't gotten it yet, here's what was added:
-Free copy of Steel Storm
-Get to play Minecraft for free up until August 14th
-All 5 games of Humble Indie Bundle 2 shown to the right of the image above

If you haven't gotten it yet, you need to pay more than the average price paid to get the games from HIB2.  If you bought it sooner, you could've gotten everything for:

Source: Youtube Channel TagHash

Sorry, I couldn't help but think of this video.  Remember that the payment for these games can go to charity.

NewNews - Diablo 3 announces auction house with real currency

Here's a video I found which explains some of the changes and announcement made for Diablo 3.  You can alternatively read the source article on the bottom:

Source: Youtube Channel OMFGcata

So Blizzard has decided to allow players to auction off and bid for items in-game with real money.  The reasoning behind this was that the same activities were done on sketchy websites and in-game dealers who were willing to sell items for real money.  This was allowing 3rd-parties to earn money off the game (or rip off a poor kid who didn't know better).  So in a way, Blizzard is trying to look out for the players; however, a lot of people have been saying that it is an act of greed.  That could be the case if Blizzard is earning money off of it, but I don't know how that would work yet.  I suppose if you look at Team Fortress 2 and Valve's change in business model for it, it makes more sense.  Valve places items for high prices and players still buy them.  Of course, Blizzard also mentioned that items can still be auctioned with in-game gold.  I never liked auction houses in online games.  Items were always at high prices and unless they were the best equipment that a player could get, it eventually becomes useless later on.  If it is the best, it would take a long time to get the amount of currency in-game to be able to get it.  I am curious about the auction house allowing the use of real money though.  It makes me wonder if I can make any money off the game if I just auctioned off rare items instead of buying or bidding.  I'm not sure how crazy I'll play when the game comes out since I barely touched Starcraft 2 after I bought it the first week (even got the Collector's Edition too).  We'll see...

In addition, Blizzard announced that the game will require a constant connection to the internet (be it single-player or multiplayer online).  It's not a surprise to me at all since Starcraft 2 was like that.  It's not too big of a problem, but I feel a lot more disconnected from the game when it requires it.  I feel like I'm always on an unstable line to be able to play my games when they require a constant internet connection.  I suppose I'm used to it already from playing games on Steam.  Regardless, I am still ecstatic about Diablo 3 and can't wait to play it when it comes out.

Source:
-Gamasutra: Blizzard Reveals Real Money-Powered Diablo III Auction House
-Joystiq: Diablo 3 to feature player-to-player real money auction house for virtual items