Official Site: http://www.titanfall.com/
Source: Youtube Channel gamespot
Gamescom 2013 is happening right now! One thing that I saw this morning that really stood out was the gameplay demo of Titanfall. Titanfall is a First-Person Action Shooter that allows players to take control of large mechs, jump around great heights, and utilize an array of futuristic weaponry. As much as I want to keep taking a break from FPS games, I keep getting pulled back in when something like Titanfall shows up and goes "this could be even better than the FPS before it!" I've played a LOT of different FPS games, yet there always seems to be another that comes out that interests me despite the core game not changing too much. Titanfall is the product of those who left Infinity Ward because of the dispute between the developer and Activision and had formed Infinity Ward because they had left Electronic Arts because of how much the team was limited to their creative development when making Medal of Honor and had gone back under Electronic Arts as Respawn Entertainment. To put it simply, the developers continue to innovate and change the First-Person Shooter genre no matter what studio name they use or which publisher they work under.
From the video, not only is the graphics impressive, but the mobility and movement that the player is capable of is what really stood out for me. The player must take into account height, jumping, and falling rather than running on ground level. The high mobility and jump height boasts the idea of a much more faster-paced shooter rather than a tactical one which has been the forte of the genre due to the success of franchises such as Call of Duty and Battlefield. Call of Duty got big under the development of Vince Zampella and Jason West, will Titanfall be the next big franchise for them? Currently, the game is announced to launch on PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in the Spring of 2014.
Showing posts with label Electronic Arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Electronic Arts. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
GameLight - Fuse
Official Site: http://www.insomniacgames.com/games/fuse/#/home
Source: Youtube Channel pixelenemy
The studio behind the Resistance series releases Fuse, a team-based, third-person, co-op shooter that utilizes class-based mechanics to form a cohesive and interactive cooperative experience. It released yesterday for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. There seems to be a divide between those who enjoyed it and those who thought it was fun but unrefined. With a focus on multiplayer, there doesn't seem to be many people enjoying a single-player experience. There isn't a competitive multiplayer which means the replay value is entirely cooperative on other difficulty levels (if there is one). From what I gather on the critics and players' sides, it seems the game was fun but not for the $60 they are charging for it. So maybe if the price of the game was lower and one was able to find 3 other friends to join them, it'd probably be a really fun gaming experience. Fuse is now available for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 for $60.
Source: Youtube Channel pixelenemy
The studio behind the Resistance series releases Fuse, a team-based, third-person, co-op shooter that utilizes class-based mechanics to form a cohesive and interactive cooperative experience. It released yesterday for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. There seems to be a divide between those who enjoyed it and those who thought it was fun but unrefined. With a focus on multiplayer, there doesn't seem to be many people enjoying a single-player experience. There isn't a competitive multiplayer which means the replay value is entirely cooperative on other difficulty levels (if there is one). From what I gather on the critics and players' sides, it seems the game was fun but not for the $60 they are charging for it. So maybe if the price of the game was lower and one was able to find 3 other friends to join them, it'd probably be a really fun gaming experience. Fuse is now available for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 for $60.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Retroview - 007 Nightfire
Source: Youtube Channel MORPHEUSCATANA1
It's been a while since I've played my Gamecube and I still have uncompleted games on it so I still have a reason for playing it. I bought 007 Nightfire a little over 10 years ago and never completed because I got stuck on one of the levels. In the past year, each time I wanted to take a break from recent games I go back and play a level. For some reason, the game felt significantly easier for me to complete in terms of difficulty. In terms of patience, it was difficult to sit and play through. I finally played the last 2 levels last night and completed. Did I really become that much more experienced in First-Person Shooters? Perhaps I did considering the amount of FPS games I played throughout college and beyond. I looked back at the previous levels of the games and even though I played them over a decade ago, I remember them and the events that took place. Sure, no 007 games seem as great and memorable as 007 Goldeneye, but I think even Nightfire had its moments. What I really miss about playing Nightfire is playing multiplayer with friends. I think I miss doing that in most games as less games have local multiplayer and very few of my friends have interest in playing games that have them (ex: Call of Duty series). That seems to be what put 007 games above the others early 2000. But as online multiplayer games got more popular as well as the rise of Call of Duty, the 007 franchise just couldn't hold the interest of players anymore. 007 games ares still being made, but I rarely hear anything good about any of them. The latest 007 games I got is 007 Goldeneye for the Nintendo Wii, and it's a recreation of the original with some modern twists such as using Daniel Craig's likeness rather than Pierce Brosnan's. The game feels more like Call of Duty than classic 007 games, but maybe that's okay. It felt good finishing Nightfire because I left it uncompleted for so long, but I don't think it's a game I can really enjoy anymore. Sure there's nostalgia there, but I think I'd only be able to enjoy playing multiplayer with friends which I doubt will happen anytime soon as my friends can't handle playing with such outdated graphics. 007 movies still do fairly well such as the most recent one "Skyfall" which won an Oscar for best song for a film of 2012, but I think the popularity it had on gaming is long gone.
It's been a while since I've played my Gamecube and I still have uncompleted games on it so I still have a reason for playing it. I bought 007 Nightfire a little over 10 years ago and never completed because I got stuck on one of the levels. In the past year, each time I wanted to take a break from recent games I go back and play a level. For some reason, the game felt significantly easier for me to complete in terms of difficulty. In terms of patience, it was difficult to sit and play through. I finally played the last 2 levels last night and completed. Did I really become that much more experienced in First-Person Shooters? Perhaps I did considering the amount of FPS games I played throughout college and beyond. I looked back at the previous levels of the games and even though I played them over a decade ago, I remember them and the events that took place. Sure, no 007 games seem as great and memorable as 007 Goldeneye, but I think even Nightfire had its moments. What I really miss about playing Nightfire is playing multiplayer with friends. I think I miss doing that in most games as less games have local multiplayer and very few of my friends have interest in playing games that have them (ex: Call of Duty series). That seems to be what put 007 games above the others early 2000. But as online multiplayer games got more popular as well as the rise of Call of Duty, the 007 franchise just couldn't hold the interest of players anymore. 007 games ares still being made, but I rarely hear anything good about any of them. The latest 007 games I got is 007 Goldeneye for the Nintendo Wii, and it's a recreation of the original with some modern twists such as using Daniel Craig's likeness rather than Pierce Brosnan's. The game feels more like Call of Duty than classic 007 games, but maybe that's okay. It felt good finishing Nightfire because I left it uncompleted for so long, but I don't think it's a game I can really enjoy anymore. Sure there's nostalgia there, but I think I'd only be able to enjoy playing multiplayer with friends which I doubt will happen anytime soon as my friends can't handle playing with such outdated graphics. 007 movies still do fairly well such as the most recent one "Skyfall" which won an Oscar for best song for a film of 2012, but I think the popularity it had on gaming is long gone.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
GameLight - Brutal Legend
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/225260/
Source: Youtube Channel gamespot
Look what's decided to show up on PC after its initial launch 4 years ago! Brutal Legend is an open-world, Action-Adventure, Real-Time Strategy game that heavily references the metal genre of music. The game features voices from heavy metal musicians such as Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford. The main character Eddie Riggs looked a bit like Jack Black during the conceptual stages of designing the character and so the development team decided to ask him personally if he wanted to work with them on the game and he agreed. You can pre-order now on Steam and receive 2 exclusive Team Fortress 2 hats and early access to the multiplayer beta. Brutal Legend for the PC releases on February 26, 2013 for $14.99 pre-order and $19.99 normal price.
Source: Youtube Channel gamespot
Look what's decided to show up on PC after its initial launch 4 years ago! Brutal Legend is an open-world, Action-Adventure, Real-Time Strategy game that heavily references the metal genre of music. The game features voices from heavy metal musicians such as Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford. The main character Eddie Riggs looked a bit like Jack Black during the conceptual stages of designing the character and so the development team decided to ask him personally if he wanted to work with them on the game and he agreed. You can pre-order now on Steam and receive 2 exclusive Team Fortress 2 hats and early access to the multiplayer beta. Brutal Legend for the PC releases on February 26, 2013 for $14.99 pre-order and $19.99 normal price.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
GameLight - Medal of Honor Warfighter
Official Site: http://www.medalofhonor.com/
Source: Youtube Channel eavision
If MoH: Warfighter is anything like MoH (2010), then I am excited. I have never really liked the MoH series for the longest time, but EA had changed my mind about that 2 years ago when they released a modern First-Person Shooter with Medal of Honor (2010). It still stands today to me as the FPS with the best audio I have ever experience. The graphics were clean, detailed, bright, and visually appealing. The story was compelling and made for a very exciting experience for the single-player campaign. If there were any faults, it was that multiplayer wasn't entirely refined. Multiplayer was a lot of fun, but level designs made the game imbalanced, certain weapons were clearly rigged, it was very easy to spawn camp, and there was a certain amount of lag that caused problems with gameplay. Now the game is back with a sequel and it's looking pretty good. I'm hoping that the developers experience with the first iteration of the new MoH has allowed them to work and refine the game to make it truly great this time around. As broken as multiplayer was in the first one, I had a lot of fun from it. It was neck to neck against Call of Duty: Black Ops that year with CoD:BO having a great story but boring gameplay for the main campaign while the multiplayer was also broken and laggy. Last year in 2011, EA was neck to neck against Activision with Battlefield 3 against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The campaign was very disappointing for BF3 but made up for its multiplayer while CoD:MW3 was pretty solid on both sides. So right now, I'm hoping that MoH:WF will have a polished game experience for both campaign and multiplayer it competes against Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 this year. Medal of Honor: Warfighter is now available for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Source: Youtube Channel eavision
If MoH: Warfighter is anything like MoH (2010), then I am excited. I have never really liked the MoH series for the longest time, but EA had changed my mind about that 2 years ago when they released a modern First-Person Shooter with Medal of Honor (2010). It still stands today to me as the FPS with the best audio I have ever experience. The graphics were clean, detailed, bright, and visually appealing. The story was compelling and made for a very exciting experience for the single-player campaign. If there were any faults, it was that multiplayer wasn't entirely refined. Multiplayer was a lot of fun, but level designs made the game imbalanced, certain weapons were clearly rigged, it was very easy to spawn camp, and there was a certain amount of lag that caused problems with gameplay. Now the game is back with a sequel and it's looking pretty good. I'm hoping that the developers experience with the first iteration of the new MoH has allowed them to work and refine the game to make it truly great this time around. As broken as multiplayer was in the first one, I had a lot of fun from it. It was neck to neck against Call of Duty: Black Ops that year with CoD:BO having a great story but boring gameplay for the main campaign while the multiplayer was also broken and laggy. Last year in 2011, EA was neck to neck against Activision with Battlefield 3 against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The campaign was very disappointing for BF3 but made up for its multiplayer while CoD:MW3 was pretty solid on both sides. So right now, I'm hoping that MoH:WF will have a polished game experience for both campaign and multiplayer it competes against Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 this year. Medal of Honor: Warfighter is now available for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Monday, August 6, 2012
GameLight - The Secret World
Official Site: http://www.thesecretworld.com/
Source: Youtube Channel Funcom
The Secret World is an MMORPG portrayed in a gritty modern-world with fantasy-like themes embedded. This past weekend was a free weekend that allowed all players to play "The Secret World" for free in celebration of one month of the game since its launch. I actually had lost interest in the game ever since it showed its gameplay videos over a year ago; however, I am always willing to give games a try as they have surprised me in the past with some turning out to be some of my favorite games (Demon's Souls was one of them). As to not drag this out, I'll get to the point and say that the game has long-winded cut-scenes and conversations with very little gameplay in the beginning of the game. To give a gauge of how much: I was on "The Secret World" for about 2.5 hours and only got to really play for about 15 minutes out of that entire time. I had a friend describe to me that "they're trying too hard" and I see what he meant.
Essentially, the environment and story is very in-depth and the developers want very much for the player to be immersed into that world. From the gritty streets of our modern day society to crazy world portals floating in mid-air, the game tries its very best to get the player interested in the world. So the first few hours will mostly be cut-scenes of the characters explaining who you are, where you are, what you and the group you're in do, why you fight, but also tries not to tell you "how" to approach your goals. The game boasts itself having freedom of choice and not being locked into a class. You can switch between "class-types" by changing the weapons you wield, but you still fall into a certain "role".
Despite all the waiting I did hearing the characters jabber, the combat is actually pretty fun. As an MMORPG, it still follows the point-n-click style combat where the player targets an enemy with a click or "tab" key and spams their attacks on them. The difference is that the player's character will not auto-attack and must be able to cycle through their skills strategically based on their situation. This means that the player will have to press keys 1~7 repeatedly in combat. The player can also move while attack and can also do an action dodge with the "shift" key (this is implemented to upcoming MMORPG Guild Wars 2 as well). With these little changes, players can no longer stand there and win by auto-attack like many MMORPGs have been designed to work in the past decade, but will have to move around a lot and avoid enemy attacks to survive. Another fun aspect of combat is being able to take on multiple enemies right from the get go rather than being limited to fighting 1 enemy at a time. I hated being static and taking forever on one enemy in a lot of the MMORPGs I've played in the past because it stayed that way throughout most of the game until you could participate in PvP, instances, boss fights and raids. So it was fun running around, being able to effectively kite and dodge, and taking on multiple enemies. After the 3rd large enemy, I started to realize the controls were a bit of a problem though.
Having to move, mash on the number row keys and pressing shift to dodge was actually not possible to do effectively in quick succession. They should've made the game entirely "Action-RPG" rather than partial point-n-click/Action as it doesn't work very well with the combat mechanics they set up. If the mouse were able to aim, the left-click to attack, the number row to switch to a different special attack, and the right-click to use that special attack, the player wouldn't have to keep leaving WASD (movement keys) to reach over for the number keys and having to keep mashing them. The way it's set up now, the player has to juggle between using the mouse to look around, the WASD to move around, the number keys to attack, with a crazy left-hand dance between the number keys, shift, WASD, and spacebar for jumping up to higher places. It just doesn't work very well right now and I can see a huge improvement to combat with a more action-orientated control scheme (though some may argue that it'd be too much like Vindictus, Dungeons and Dragons Online, or TERA Online). Take note that I noticed this problem within the 15 minutes of combat I got to experience as the other 2.25 hours was spent watching cut-scenes and listening to conversations.
The graphics are pretty good, but the character creation did feel a bit limited compared to most MMORPGs nowadays. The story as a whole is pretty interesting but the conversations and cut-scenes describing them were really boring. The well engineered sound effects added a visceral impact to combat, but the controls kind of killed the combat in the long-run though. And so in my opinion, the game as a whole doesn't seem to be worth the monthly-subscription unless you totally dig the game's mechanics and don't mind listening through a lot of yakking before smacking baddies.
Source: Youtube Channel Funcom
The Secret World is an MMORPG portrayed in a gritty modern-world with fantasy-like themes embedded. This past weekend was a free weekend that allowed all players to play "The Secret World" for free in celebration of one month of the game since its launch. I actually had lost interest in the game ever since it showed its gameplay videos over a year ago; however, I am always willing to give games a try as they have surprised me in the past with some turning out to be some of my favorite games (Demon's Souls was one of them). As to not drag this out, I'll get to the point and say that the game has long-winded cut-scenes and conversations with very little gameplay in the beginning of the game. To give a gauge of how much: I was on "The Secret World" for about 2.5 hours and only got to really play for about 15 minutes out of that entire time. I had a friend describe to me that "they're trying too hard" and I see what he meant.
Essentially, the environment and story is very in-depth and the developers want very much for the player to be immersed into that world. From the gritty streets of our modern day society to crazy world portals floating in mid-air, the game tries its very best to get the player interested in the world. So the first few hours will mostly be cut-scenes of the characters explaining who you are, where you are, what you and the group you're in do, why you fight, but also tries not to tell you "how" to approach your goals. The game boasts itself having freedom of choice and not being locked into a class. You can switch between "class-types" by changing the weapons you wield, but you still fall into a certain "role".
Despite all the waiting I did hearing the characters jabber, the combat is actually pretty fun. As an MMORPG, it still follows the point-n-click style combat where the player targets an enemy with a click or "tab" key and spams their attacks on them. The difference is that the player's character will not auto-attack and must be able to cycle through their skills strategically based on their situation. This means that the player will have to press keys 1~7 repeatedly in combat. The player can also move while attack and can also do an action dodge with the "shift" key (this is implemented to upcoming MMORPG Guild Wars 2 as well). With these little changes, players can no longer stand there and win by auto-attack like many MMORPGs have been designed to work in the past decade, but will have to move around a lot and avoid enemy attacks to survive. Another fun aspect of combat is being able to take on multiple enemies right from the get go rather than being limited to fighting 1 enemy at a time. I hated being static and taking forever on one enemy in a lot of the MMORPGs I've played in the past because it stayed that way throughout most of the game until you could participate in PvP, instances, boss fights and raids. So it was fun running around, being able to effectively kite and dodge, and taking on multiple enemies. After the 3rd large enemy, I started to realize the controls were a bit of a problem though.
Having to move, mash on the number row keys and pressing shift to dodge was actually not possible to do effectively in quick succession. They should've made the game entirely "Action-RPG" rather than partial point-n-click/Action as it doesn't work very well with the combat mechanics they set up. If the mouse were able to aim, the left-click to attack, the number row to switch to a different special attack, and the right-click to use that special attack, the player wouldn't have to keep leaving WASD (movement keys) to reach over for the number keys and having to keep mashing them. The way it's set up now, the player has to juggle between using the mouse to look around, the WASD to move around, the number keys to attack, with a crazy left-hand dance between the number keys, shift, WASD, and spacebar for jumping up to higher places. It just doesn't work very well right now and I can see a huge improvement to combat with a more action-orientated control scheme (though some may argue that it'd be too much like Vindictus, Dungeons and Dragons Online, or TERA Online). Take note that I noticed this problem within the 15 minutes of combat I got to experience as the other 2.25 hours was spent watching cut-scenes and listening to conversations.
The graphics are pretty good, but the character creation did feel a bit limited compared to most MMORPGs nowadays. The story as a whole is pretty interesting but the conversations and cut-scenes describing them were really boring. The well engineered sound effects added a visceral impact to combat, but the controls kind of killed the combat in the long-run though. And so in my opinion, the game as a whole doesn't seem to be worth the monthly-subscription unless you totally dig the game's mechanics and don't mind listening through a lot of yakking before smacking baddies.
Friday, August 3, 2012
NewNews - The Secret World Free Weekend
Official Site: http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/celebrate_the_first_live_month_of_the_secret_world
Source: Youtube Channel dievorezimas
The Secret World caused quite a buzz 3 years ago when it was announced. When it finally started showing some gameplay footages, the whole MMORPG community suddenly lost interest. The launched seemed kind of quiet and it seems that it's been a month since launch and the developers want to celebrate by allowing all players to try out the game for free this weekend from Friday, August 3rd at 4pm GMT until Monday, August 6th at 7am GMT. The Secret World is a monthly subscription-based MMORPG set in a post-modern world with less emphasis on "class" and "role" and more on character progression. Players will fall into a class of their own based on how they play and what skills they learn. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll give it a go since we can this weekend.
Source: Youtube Channel dievorezimas
The Secret World caused quite a buzz 3 years ago when it was announced. When it finally started showing some gameplay footages, the whole MMORPG community suddenly lost interest. The launched seemed kind of quiet and it seems that it's been a month since launch and the developers want to celebrate by allowing all players to try out the game for free this weekend from Friday, August 3rd at 4pm GMT until Monday, August 6th at 7am GMT. The Secret World is a monthly subscription-based MMORPG set in a post-modern world with less emphasis on "class" and "role" and more on character progression. Players will fall into a class of their own based on how they play and what skills they learn. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll give it a go since we can this weekend.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
NewNews - Mass Effect 3's "new" ending
Official Site: http://www.masseffect.com/
The so-called "new" ending has launched for Mass Effect 3. Originally, it was going to be a DLC sold to the players who wanted an extension to the game's story; however, the onslaught of angry gamers changed Electronic Art's position on the case and asked the developers over at BioWare to create a "new" ending that will be given to the players for free. It's not an alternative ending that will change the outcome of the ending, but rather add to the original ending to explain some of the unanswered questions. I don't know much about the ending of Mass Effect 3 or the DLC and I intend to keep it that way until I can catch up. For those already caught up, go ahead and try out the DLC and judge for yourself if this made Mass Effect 3's ending any better.
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| Source: http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/783 |
The so-called "new" ending has launched for Mass Effect 3. Originally, it was going to be a DLC sold to the players who wanted an extension to the game's story; however, the onslaught of angry gamers changed Electronic Art's position on the case and asked the developers over at BioWare to create a "new" ending that will be given to the players for free. It's not an alternative ending that will change the outcome of the ending, but rather add to the original ending to explain some of the unanswered questions. I don't know much about the ending of Mass Effect 3 or the DLC and I intend to keep it that way until I can catch up. For those already caught up, go ahead and try out the DLC and judge for yourself if this made Mass Effect 3's ending any better.
Friday, April 6, 2012
VGCulture - EA voted the worst Company in 2012
Official Site: The Consumerist - Worst Company In America Final Death Match: Bank Of America Vs. EA
Every year, the consumerist creates a poll of companies within America and has people vote for the one they believe is the worst company in America. I saw the polls a week ago and would have never thought that people would vote Electronic Arts all the way to the top. I thought people would be more upset at companies like Comcast for increase in monthly fees with no upgrades or GameStop for monopolizing the retail division to keep both new and used games high in price for the most profits. The runner up against Electronic Arts is Bank of America, which I suppose I'm not as surprised about seeing how their changes in policy and requirement for extra payment in debit usage last year has affected many loyal customers. Anyways, let's take a closer look to why EA was voted worst company in America:
Business Practices
Electronic Arts is mainly a publisher as most of the games they produce are developed by other studios. As a publisher, they ensure that things get done and have promise of marketable success. In the past, they have rushed projects, prevented creative freedom, shut down various studios, bought out companies to eliminate potential competition, and has also embraced social/casual gaming over core gaming (they shut down a studio that was developing a game while acquired a casual game studios). They might have changed throughout the years though. Look up on the history of Infinity Ward and you'll see that it started 22 developers leaving EA to working on Call of Duty and being picked up by Activision only to leave after Modern Warfare 2 to start a new studio under Electronic Arts once again. I guess you can't really change how a publisher works. You can't live with them, but you can live without them (unless you're an indie developer I guess).
Launch of Origin
Electronic Arts games for PC can be bought at retail stores while digital versions were also available on Steam. Games sold well on the Steam platform and it made Valve quite a bit of money to host those games. EA seemed like they wanted a crack at it and created Origin, a platform geared towards selling their own games on their own platform. A lot of people were upset, some were excited, and others didn't care.
Problems:
-Crysis 2 was about to be launched on Steam and some pre-purchased it. It was pulled from Steam and forced players to create an account and use the Origin platform in order to play it
-EA having total control over their games meant no awesome deals like it did on Steam
-The program is slow, buggy, and intrusive to the computer
-Origin apparently scans the user's computer to see what games they have, whether the player liked it or not
-Players were locked out of games they bought, crashed on games they played, and some couldn't even log in
Okay, this could be one of the reasons why it rubbed players the wrong way. I tried out Origin and really didn't like how I could barely download the games, had trouble starting up any of them, the amount of resources it took up on my laptop (probably constantly scanning my computer to see what games I had), the amount of times it crashed or froze my computer, and the fact that games stayed at its retail price. It converted me back to playing EA games on consoles rather than on PC as it caused too many problems for it to be worth it. I would like to remind everyone that Steam was once like that: took forever to load, froze the computer, was buggy, etc. and sometimes it's still like that. So maybe Origin will get better one day.
Secret support of SOPA
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a government bill that would have allowed government intervention on the internet. If passed, the government could block any site that was considered a breach of copyright. It would be nice if piracy would stop killing the entertainment industry, but this was a bad solution to that problem. Fan made sites for games or shows would be blocked, your favorite video streaming sites would no longer exist, and those who possess their own intellectual property with reference to existing ones (videogame remixes, videogame comics, meme sites, etc.) would be considered a breach and be blocked. Many companies understood this to be a problem too and took the effort to prevent such an atrocity to ever be passed. EA was the suspect of one of the companies being a supporter of the bill and has been since looked down upon by the community.
Downloadable Content (DLC) Galore
Sure, we can pan EA for always pumping out DLCs, but that goes for a lot of other companies too. I think what really hit fans of EA hard was the day-one DLC that wasn't included with Mass Effect 3 when it launched. The purpose of DLCs was to provide extra content to fans who wanted more out of their games. The problem is that publishers (and possibly the minds of developers) has taken advantage of that option and has exploited the term DLC to being "more money" rather than "extra content". It's not considered extra content when it should have already been on the disc already. This brings about another irony in the game industry as Capcom's latest release of Street Fighter X Tekken really did have day-one DLC on the disc but was unaccessible to players unless they paid the extra cash for it. I really hate DLCs as publishers abuse this power way too much and it is creating a horrible trend in game development where projects are rushed, lack content, and are unpolished just because they can be fixed later, added later or alongside the launch for extra money, and sometimes go unfinished entirely. This seems to be the problem with EA's Mass Effect 3 where the ending was unsatisfactory and has forced EA to create a DLC (which they have announced will be free shortly after being awarded worst company in America) that as a more conclusive ending. I swear, the trend of DLCs will one day cause players to buy portions of a game rather than an entire game (pay this much for single-player, pay that much for levels 1-5, pay monthly for the multiplayer portion).
Mass Effect 3
EA received an overwhelming response from fans of the series about the ending (*cough* even though BioWare was the one that developed it *cough*). I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! I have yet to complete 1 and 2 and so I don't want any spoilers. Anyhow, this seems to be the major factor for causing all those votes to focus on EA since it wasn't too long ago. This has caused EA to bring about a DLC with a new/alternate ending (I'm not sure). BioWare's working hard I suppose since EA has the studio on 2-3 different projects, and now they still have to make additional content to a game everyone's so angry about.
Electronic Arts might have done things that did not favor their audience, but I'm not sure if they really deserved the title of "worst company in America" (compared to those listed, not comparing it to other companies in the game industry). It's commendable that EA has ensured the launches of games such as Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Syndicate and Mass Effect 3 (hey, everyone wanted it so bad before it came out) during the first-quarter as game releases have been sort of slow in the beginning of this year. I'm not sure if I can quite call myself an EA fan as I do play a good amount of games published by them, but I also question some of their practices in the industry too. What keeps me from delving too deep into how they work is the way other companies have worked in the past as well. Notable companies are currently Capcom and Activision. I have my doubts that EA will change anytime soon as they're a huge corporation and making any changes to it while they still have their success (despite low market value and angry fans) would be dangerous for them, or so the higher ups and business men would say. Sad but true.
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| Source: Link at Top |
Business Practices
Electronic Arts is mainly a publisher as most of the games they produce are developed by other studios. As a publisher, they ensure that things get done and have promise of marketable success. In the past, they have rushed projects, prevented creative freedom, shut down various studios, bought out companies to eliminate potential competition, and has also embraced social/casual gaming over core gaming (they shut down a studio that was developing a game while acquired a casual game studios). They might have changed throughout the years though. Look up on the history of Infinity Ward and you'll see that it started 22 developers leaving EA to working on Call of Duty and being picked up by Activision only to leave after Modern Warfare 2 to start a new studio under Electronic Arts once again. I guess you can't really change how a publisher works. You can't live with them, but you can live without them (unless you're an indie developer I guess).
Launch of Origin
Electronic Arts games for PC can be bought at retail stores while digital versions were also available on Steam. Games sold well on the Steam platform and it made Valve quite a bit of money to host those games. EA seemed like they wanted a crack at it and created Origin, a platform geared towards selling their own games on their own platform. A lot of people were upset, some were excited, and others didn't care.
Problems:
-Crysis 2 was about to be launched on Steam and some pre-purchased it. It was pulled from Steam and forced players to create an account and use the Origin platform in order to play it
-EA having total control over their games meant no awesome deals like it did on Steam
-The program is slow, buggy, and intrusive to the computer
-Origin apparently scans the user's computer to see what games they have, whether the player liked it or not
-Players were locked out of games they bought, crashed on games they played, and some couldn't even log in
Okay, this could be one of the reasons why it rubbed players the wrong way. I tried out Origin and really didn't like how I could barely download the games, had trouble starting up any of them, the amount of resources it took up on my laptop (probably constantly scanning my computer to see what games I had), the amount of times it crashed or froze my computer, and the fact that games stayed at its retail price. It converted me back to playing EA games on consoles rather than on PC as it caused too many problems for it to be worth it. I would like to remind everyone that Steam was once like that: took forever to load, froze the computer, was buggy, etc. and sometimes it's still like that. So maybe Origin will get better one day.
Secret support of SOPA
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a government bill that would have allowed government intervention on the internet. If passed, the government could block any site that was considered a breach of copyright. It would be nice if piracy would stop killing the entertainment industry, but this was a bad solution to that problem. Fan made sites for games or shows would be blocked, your favorite video streaming sites would no longer exist, and those who possess their own intellectual property with reference to existing ones (videogame remixes, videogame comics, meme sites, etc.) would be considered a breach and be blocked. Many companies understood this to be a problem too and took the effort to prevent such an atrocity to ever be passed. EA was the suspect of one of the companies being a supporter of the bill and has been since looked down upon by the community.
Downloadable Content (DLC) Galore
Sure, we can pan EA for always pumping out DLCs, but that goes for a lot of other companies too. I think what really hit fans of EA hard was the day-one DLC that wasn't included with Mass Effect 3 when it launched. The purpose of DLCs was to provide extra content to fans who wanted more out of their games. The problem is that publishers (and possibly the minds of developers) has taken advantage of that option and has exploited the term DLC to being "more money" rather than "extra content". It's not considered extra content when it should have already been on the disc already. This brings about another irony in the game industry as Capcom's latest release of Street Fighter X Tekken really did have day-one DLC on the disc but was unaccessible to players unless they paid the extra cash for it. I really hate DLCs as publishers abuse this power way too much and it is creating a horrible trend in game development where projects are rushed, lack content, and are unpolished just because they can be fixed later, added later or alongside the launch for extra money, and sometimes go unfinished entirely. This seems to be the problem with EA's Mass Effect 3 where the ending was unsatisfactory and has forced EA to create a DLC (which they have announced will be free shortly after being awarded worst company in America) that as a more conclusive ending. I swear, the trend of DLCs will one day cause players to buy portions of a game rather than an entire game (pay this much for single-player, pay that much for levels 1-5, pay monthly for the multiplayer portion).
Mass Effect 3
EA received an overwhelming response from fans of the series about the ending (*cough* even though BioWare was the one that developed it *cough*). I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! I have yet to complete 1 and 2 and so I don't want any spoilers. Anyhow, this seems to be the major factor for causing all those votes to focus on EA since it wasn't too long ago. This has caused EA to bring about a DLC with a new/alternate ending (I'm not sure). BioWare's working hard I suppose since EA has the studio on 2-3 different projects, and now they still have to make additional content to a game everyone's so angry about.
Electronic Arts might have done things that did not favor their audience, but I'm not sure if they really deserved the title of "worst company in America" (compared to those listed, not comparing it to other companies in the game industry). It's commendable that EA has ensured the launches of games such as Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Syndicate and Mass Effect 3 (hey, everyone wanted it so bad before it came out) during the first-quarter as game releases have been sort of slow in the beginning of this year. I'm not sure if I can quite call myself an EA fan as I do play a good amount of games published by them, but I also question some of their practices in the industry too. What keeps me from delving too deep into how they work is the way other companies have worked in the past as well. Notable companies are currently Capcom and Activision. I have my doubts that EA will change anytime soon as they're a huge corporation and making any changes to it while they still have their success (despite low market value and angry fans) would be dangerous for them, or so the higher ups and business men would say. Sad but true.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
GameLight - SimCity
Official Site: http://www.simcity.com/en_US
Source: Youtube Channel pixelenemy
SimCity has had a long history and influence in simulation games for the PC. It's been nearly 9 years since the last release of the series and is now returning. SimCity is a simulation game where the player (who's essentially god) creates a living, breathing world by constructing buildings, roads, resources, and necessities for humans to live. Knowing where to place certain buildings determines the well being of the inhabitants. I'm not much of a fan of SimCity, but I always fancied the idea of creating a whole city in a game. SimCity steps up and brings the game to life with hyper-realistic graphics, innovative customizations, and seemingly a multiplayer aspect where players' cities are right next to each other and will affect one another. The amount of detail in this SimCity is remarkable just from watching the trailer. Each tiny human in the game has an animation set. All objects reflect accordingly with light, environment, and weather. Even though I'm not entirely excited about the game, I think it'll be really fun to watch videos of other people's creations when it finally releases sometime next year.
Source: Youtube Channel pixelenemy
SimCity has had a long history and influence in simulation games for the PC. It's been nearly 9 years since the last release of the series and is now returning. SimCity is a simulation game where the player (who's essentially god) creates a living, breathing world by constructing buildings, roads, resources, and necessities for humans to live. Knowing where to place certain buildings determines the well being of the inhabitants. I'm not much of a fan of SimCity, but I always fancied the idea of creating a whole city in a game. SimCity steps up and brings the game to life with hyper-realistic graphics, innovative customizations, and seemingly a multiplayer aspect where players' cities are right next to each other and will affect one another. The amount of detail in this SimCity is remarkable just from watching the trailer. Each tiny human in the game has an animation set. All objects reflect accordingly with light, environment, and weather. Even though I'm not entirely excited about the game, I think it'll be really fun to watch videos of other people's creations when it finally releases sometime next year.
Monday, February 27, 2012
GameLight - Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes
Official Site: https://wrathofheroes.warhammeronline.com/
Source: Youtube Channel gamespot
Over the weekend, I finally took the time to download and play Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes as it has been released to the public in its open beta testing. Wrath of Heroes is a special PvP (Player vs. Player)-centric multiplayer take on Warhammer Online's main MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Age of Reckoning. It takes two modes (at the moment, Capture Point and Death Match) and pits three teams against each other using pre-made characters, each with their own unique abilities, role in the team, and 5 usable skills. Joining a game from the main menu is much like joining a PvP in other MMORPGs with players joining getting matched up and placed into a server to play. When the match starts, the player can choose from any of the characters available and can purchase more later on when they earn enough in-game currency. When a player dies, they will respawn and choose to play the same character or choose a different one to adapt to the situation. Like any MMORPG PvP match, knowing your role and complimenting them with your team mates' characters is the key to victory. You have the tank who charges in and pins down the enemy while the damage dealer takes care of them, the healer who keeps their team alive, the support who buffs allies and debuffs enemies, the DPS (Damage Per Second/Damage Dealer) who causes the most damage, etc. Since each character only has 5 skills to cast from, sticking to their role is very important. An assassin charging in head first will probably get killed before they can take down their target. A healer trying to hard to fight will do no damage and have their team suffer. And the classic: if everyone chooses a DPS, the team will most likely fail to achieve anything as their tanks, disablers, and healers will overwhelm the team.
The gameplay feels a lot like any MMORPG in PvP mode, which is great for anyone who like PvP but hates grinding for levels and farming for equipment. The game provides the most bare necessities for a fun PvP experience placing everyone on equal levels. Victory is dependent on skill and teamwork and focuses on that as they take out any variables of class paths, items, character level, or perks. The game is very fast-paced and can be confusing for new-comers of the genre, but I believe it's pretty easy to pick up after a few rounds (considering that I don't PvP that much in MMORPGs, I learned pretty quickly). By simplifying it down to 5 skills, players won't have to juggle a series of skills to figure out what does what and be able to catch on the strategies to the character more quickly. The game is free to play and is available as an open beta. Click on the official site up top and register for an account to try it out. It's great for any players who likes PvP but don't have the time to play a full blown MMORPG to do so.
Source: Youtube Channel gamespot
Over the weekend, I finally took the time to download and play Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes as it has been released to the public in its open beta testing. Wrath of Heroes is a special PvP (Player vs. Player)-centric multiplayer take on Warhammer Online's main MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Age of Reckoning. It takes two modes (at the moment, Capture Point and Death Match) and pits three teams against each other using pre-made characters, each with their own unique abilities, role in the team, and 5 usable skills. Joining a game from the main menu is much like joining a PvP in other MMORPGs with players joining getting matched up and placed into a server to play. When the match starts, the player can choose from any of the characters available and can purchase more later on when they earn enough in-game currency. When a player dies, they will respawn and choose to play the same character or choose a different one to adapt to the situation. Like any MMORPG PvP match, knowing your role and complimenting them with your team mates' characters is the key to victory. You have the tank who charges in and pins down the enemy while the damage dealer takes care of them, the healer who keeps their team alive, the support who buffs allies and debuffs enemies, the DPS (Damage Per Second/Damage Dealer) who causes the most damage, etc. Since each character only has 5 skills to cast from, sticking to their role is very important. An assassin charging in head first will probably get killed before they can take down their target. A healer trying to hard to fight will do no damage and have their team suffer. And the classic: if everyone chooses a DPS, the team will most likely fail to achieve anything as their tanks, disablers, and healers will overwhelm the team.
The gameplay feels a lot like any MMORPG in PvP mode, which is great for anyone who like PvP but hates grinding for levels and farming for equipment. The game provides the most bare necessities for a fun PvP experience placing everyone on equal levels. Victory is dependent on skill and teamwork and focuses on that as they take out any variables of class paths, items, character level, or perks. The game is very fast-paced and can be confusing for new-comers of the genre, but I believe it's pretty easy to pick up after a few rounds (considering that I don't PvP that much in MMORPGs, I learned pretty quickly). By simplifying it down to 5 skills, players won't have to juggle a series of skills to figure out what does what and be able to catch on the strategies to the character more quickly. The game is free to play and is available as an open beta. Click on the official site up top and register for an account to try it out. It's great for any players who likes PvP but don't have the time to play a full blown MMORPG to do so.
Friday, February 24, 2012
VGCulture - Mass Effect 3 DLCs on day 1
Official Site: http://masseffect.com/
Source: Youtube Channel biowaremasseffect
Mass Effect 3 nears its launch date of March 6th, 2012, and apparently EA has made quite a few fans unhappy after announcing that there will be a DLC available the day it releases. Downloadable-Content (DLC) has been looked down upon by the community as what was once a great idea to offer more out of a game well after its release as it has become a dirty practice in the industry to purposely taking out contents of a game that should have already been in the game only to sell it back to the players for a price. What keeps this trend going is that it is an effective business system as people still buy the DLCs knowing that it will eventually cost more than the game itself. It's a reflection of what business model works best in this generation. Games or content that cost only $1-$15 has become a normal trend in buying games through digital distribution or micro-transactions/DLCs for existing games. With such small price tags, it gives the illusion that one is not paying all that much for their purchase. $5 doesn't seem too bad for a DLC, but the customers are already paying $60 for the entire game already and would expect the most out of it for full price. Just a few years ago, games would launch at its full entirety for the retail price people would pay for. With the new trend making more money, games are rushed out sooner with less content for the same price which is what's bothering a lot of people.
Personally, I am very against DLCs and have only bought them for insane discounts on Steam as I find their existence to lower the quality and ethics of game development in the industry. I think it's great when a developer wants to offer more out of an existing game; however, the price tag that they (or their publishers) place on them just feels like a cheap way to make more money without being justified as a worthy purchase. The matter on Mass Effect 3's DLC doesn't really bother me too much as I don't plan on getting the game anytime soon. I have yet to finish 1 and 2 (lost my save files from my laptop crashing, remember?) and so I feel I can wait it out and eventually get the game when I'm ready and play through just the main story. Mass Effect 3 releases on March 6, 2012 and the demo is available for download now.
Source: Youtube Channel biowaremasseffect
Mass Effect 3 nears its launch date of March 6th, 2012, and apparently EA has made quite a few fans unhappy after announcing that there will be a DLC available the day it releases. Downloadable-Content (DLC) has been looked down upon by the community as what was once a great idea to offer more out of a game well after its release as it has become a dirty practice in the industry to purposely taking out contents of a game that should have already been in the game only to sell it back to the players for a price. What keeps this trend going is that it is an effective business system as people still buy the DLCs knowing that it will eventually cost more than the game itself. It's a reflection of what business model works best in this generation. Games or content that cost only $1-$15 has become a normal trend in buying games through digital distribution or micro-transactions/DLCs for existing games. With such small price tags, it gives the illusion that one is not paying all that much for their purchase. $5 doesn't seem too bad for a DLC, but the customers are already paying $60 for the entire game already and would expect the most out of it for full price. Just a few years ago, games would launch at its full entirety for the retail price people would pay for. With the new trend making more money, games are rushed out sooner with less content for the same price which is what's bothering a lot of people.
Personally, I am very against DLCs and have only bought them for insane discounts on Steam as I find their existence to lower the quality and ethics of game development in the industry. I think it's great when a developer wants to offer more out of an existing game; however, the price tag that they (or their publishers) place on them just feels like a cheap way to make more money without being justified as a worthy purchase. The matter on Mass Effect 3's DLC doesn't really bother me too much as I don't plan on getting the game anytime soon. I have yet to finish 1 and 2 (lost my save files from my laptop crashing, remember?) and so I feel I can wait it out and eventually get the game when I'm ready and play through just the main story. Mass Effect 3 releases on March 6, 2012 and the demo is available for download now.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
GameLight Review – Crysis 2
Official Site: http://www.ea.com/crysis-2
Source: Youtube Channel Crysis
Developer: Crytke Frankfurt, Crytek UK
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: March 22, 2011
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Pros:
-Incredible city-scape environment with beautiful graphics
-Unique upgrade system favors to different play-styles for both single-player and multiplayer
-Immense freedom in allowing various ways to reach a goal
-Plenty of maps, weapons, and builds to keep multiplayer fresh
Cons:
-Story wasn’t as good as the first installment
-Odd glitches are prevalent throughout the game (though hilarious sometimes)
-Some checkpoints can be pretty far apart while others are very close
-Higher level players have a lot more abilities than lower level ones in multiplayer
The plot and progression of Crysis 2’s story doesn’t have the same surprising and engaging experience that the first one did; however, the gameplay excelled in every way. The boost mechanic is simplified and works much smoother and efficient compared to the clunky wheel menu it utilized in the first one. Combat is a lot more intense and dynamic with more upgrades, enemy types, weapons, and play style options. Although I enjoyed the story to the first Crysis, I felt that it didn’t flow very well and that there were a lot of boring and/or frustrating gameplay. Crysis 2 was constantly entertaining with tension always on the rise and challenges present in every battle. What I really enjoyed in both single-player and multiplayer is the versatility in upgrade customization that changed the play style. You could take it slow and eliminate enemies from far range, ram through with high armor and high rate of fire, or my favorite: you can discreetly eliminate enemies using a new and improved stealth mode that makes so much more sense than Crysis 1. It was an overall enjoyable experience and possibly the best single-player campaign for a first-person shooter that I played throughout 2011.
Aesthetics
Crytek put a lot of time, effort and thought into how they were going to create an urban jungle out of the city of “New York
Buttons
I really liked how the controls to Crysis 2 felt. I especially liked how the boost effects worked. I no longer had to fumble around with a wheel menu and switch between 4-5 different modes. Having armor mode and stealth mode was sufficient to create a dynamic combat experience. I really liked how you can execute your enemy in stealth rather than just shoot them and causing attention to your position like the first one did. The ability to jump incredible high, grab and hoist yourself up edges, and drop kick enemies “boot to the head” style felt so natural due to the familiar control layout and ease of use of them. The usual “aim-shoot-crouch-run” key mappings are the same as other shooters and should be fairly easy to learn to even those who never played one. Some of the difficulties in controls is bringing out grenades (double tap triangle, which can be troublesome when trying to quickly switch between primary and secondary weapons), switching between boosts in mid fire fight (in multiplayer), and when trying to ground pound as the right thumb needs to leave the right analog stick which leaves the player wide open if the attack didn’t kill the enemy (I guess PC players don’t have to worry about this). Although the boost system is simplified and easier to switch between, the problem occurs when the player is practically out of energy but could use that 1-2 second of armor to win a firefight. The player might accidentally turn it off when they want to turn it on or vice versa depending on the energy usage which causes the player to fumble between modes. For the most part, the controls to the game are very smooth and fairly easy to learn after a while of playing and experimenting. It’s also a whole lot of fun sliding around. Buttons: 9/10
Concept & Content
As I’ve mentioned, the story isn’t that great. Crysis 2 picks up shortly after the ending of Crysis 1 and introduces a new character that didn’t have that much of a personality. There weren’t any other characters that were meaningful, interesting, or “that” important. The enemy didn’t have a true face or leader, but rather the entire alien race is the enemy. Crysis 2 is pretty much “guy fights to save world” kind of storyline. I didn’t mind too much as I found the gameplay to be really engaging and challenging. One of the aspects I thought they would take out is the freedom that Crysis 1 had since the 2nd one was in a city and didn’t have that many vegetation and space to make it as large. I was happy to be proven wrong as the city has sewer lines, subway stations, high altitude building tops, and all sorts of cover on ground floor to create a large, dynamic map to get through. What really got me into the game was the new and improved stealth mode where the player can subdue enemies quietly and even avoid an entire fight by walking through enemy lines undetected. The armor mode didn’t have too much of a change, but the player is still able to run quickly and have the strength to take down enemies if upgraded. Because of this versatility, the developers didn’t stick with all the boosts that the first one had as switching between power, armor, speed, and stealth was cumbersome and annoying. Crysis 2 didn’t seem to have as much dynamic variety in environment that Crysis 1 did, but I felt that the level designs were used much more creatively and effectively in the 2nd one. Still, there were some parts of the game where it was boring from the map being to empty or repetitive in task if not frustrating from having little to no ammo. I was a bit disappointed with the last level of Crysis 2, but I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t say anything past that.
As for multiplayer, utilizing all the skills, weapons, and abilities in online combat was truly a unique experience for a first-person shooter. The level system is unbalanced and unfair for low leveled players after level 10 as those with high levels have a significant amount of abilities and weapons that does affect the balance in advantage unfortunately. The level system; however, has a lot of depth and content for the player to unlock as a player puts more hours into multiplayer. There’s a fair amount of maps and modes to play from, so variety isn’t too much of an issue. Although multiplayer is quite entertaining, it doesn’t seem to have a pull factor where it makes me want to continue to play other than to unlock more items. The original concept Crytek had for Crysis in futuristic abilities, open map goals, and dynamic load out customization is further used more effectively and creatively in Crysis 2. Everything, in terms of gameplay, feels more polished and thoughout. It’ll be interesting what Crytek will do next for the series. Concept & Content: 8/10
Duration
I’m actually not sure how long I spent playing Crysis 1 or 2, but I do know that Crysis 1 felt like an eternity while the 2nd felt more leisurely. The flow of Crysis 2 was a lot smoother and connected each event between missions. The game constantly felt engaging and challenging at a fair level (though sometimes not) when compared to its predecessor where some events seems really amazing but is followed up by really annoying or boring gameplay. Crysis 1 felt like a lot of great ideas pieced together along in a jumble. Everything felt disconnected and the broken flow between fast-action fire fight, slow moments of sneaking away from a helicopter, and frustrating enclosed areas with minimal ammo made Crysis 1 very difficult to enjoy. Crysis 2 had a lot of the same ideas with vehicle chases, enclose areas to fight, and some parts where the player can sneak through; however, the gameplay felt consistent and enjoyable throughout each of those events. The different between the duration of Crysis 1 and 2 was that I couldn’t wait to reach the end of Crysis 1 while I didn’t pay much attention to getting to the end in Crysis 2. I felt the campaign was a decent amount and multiplayer could have a lot of hours put in if I really wanted to continue playing it. Duration: 8/10
Fun
I’ll admit it; I had a lot of fun with Crysis 2. When the game was announced and finally released, I didn’t care too much for it. When I finally decided to play Crysis 1 and somewhat enjoyed it and partially didn’t, I was skeptical about how the 2nd one would be like. I went and played Crysis 2 anyways as to continue the story that left off from Crysis 1 as it was one aspect I actually liked about the game. Unfortunately, the game’s story just got really boring and I stopped caring; however, the gameplay was surprisingly fun for using similar concepts from the first one. I essentially played the game like a stealth game unless I was found out and play the game like a brawler when I got close to the aliens. I just had a lot of fun deceiving the enemy, silently killing aliens and having the occasional chaos blow up in their faces. It was also fun utilizing the different abilities to jump around like a platformer, grab onto ledges, sliding around, and ground pounding from high up. There were frustrating battles in some areas, but none compared to some of the shenanigans I had to perform in Crysis 1 in order to finish the mission. I was also disappointed with the last mission as it lacked the challenge that the rest of the game had throughout my playthrough. Still, it was fun playing through Crysis 2 and multiplayer was fun for a while too. If I had the time and given the chance to play Crysis 2’s campaign again, I’d be willing to do so. Fun: 9/10
Overall
Crytek pushed their technology as far as they could and revised the interesting concepts that made Crysis 1 a revolutionary game to the first-person shooter genre and create a compelling action experience in Crysis 2. There’s beauty, creativity, and variety to make up for its lackluster story and that’s okay because the game is ultimately a lot of fun. Whether you like to play games strategically, covertly, or outright gung-ho, Crysis 2 seems to satisfy all playstyles. The freedom and challenging campaign is possibly the best of 2011 for first-person shooters while its deep and engaging multiplayer is sure to entertain casual and highly competitive players alike. I would recommend this game to anyone who wants a fun single-player campaign or something different in their online multiplayer in their first-person shooters. Overall: 8.6/10
Friday, February 10, 2012
GameLight Review - Battlefield 3
Official Site: http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3
Source: Youtube Channel eavision
Developer: EA Digital Illusions CE (DICE)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, iOS
Release Date: October 25, 2011
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Pros:
-Huge maps with a large array of vehicles to utilize
-Sense of camaraderie and of belonging within a unit
-Beautiful visuals and powerful/realistic audio
-Level up system has a lot of depth in customization and item/ability acquisition
-Emphasizes cooperative play a lot more than most FPS games
Cons:
-Single-player is boring and forgettable
-The game is riddled with bugs, glitches, and server lag
-Communication and cooperation can be a problem for console players
-PC players have better graphics, but struggle with even starting a match successfully
-Multiplayer experience relies heavily on the players one sides with
It is clear that all efforts and resources were focused on the multiplayer side of Battlefield 3. If you’re one to look for a strong cooperative, team-based, first-person shooter to play online, then perhaps Battlefield 3 is the game for you. If fighting solo and instant action is one requires in their online multiplayer, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 might be more appropriate. If one seeks a fun and intuitive single-player experience, I would recommend Crysis 2. Cooperative scenario modes are rare, but perhaps Resistance 3 might be a better choice for an FPS player if they want to play next to a friend in the same room. Battlefield 3 may be an FPS game, but it’s not for all FPS fans. Battlefield 3 doesn’t have a very good single-player campaign, but those looking for an extensive online multiplayer experience will be able to enjoy playing the game for the rest of the year and beyond should the community stay strong. There are plenty of vehicles, weapons, gadgets, classes, and unlocks to keep the game fresh and keep players intrigued to try something new. The game does suffer from many technical problems, but the developers have always been diligent in correcting them as quickly as possible should any arise. The game feels a lot more like a sequel to the Bad Company series than the main series, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a lot of fun and challenges even the most experienced FPS players.
Aesthetics
The graphics in Battlefield 3 are beautiful. I think what I really like about the style of graphics done in the game is how bright and inviting it looks. FPS games in the past have been mostly dark, brown, muddy, boring, and difficult to distinguish objects. Battlefield 3 has an amazing lighting system that just makes everything pop out and bring it to life. The physics and effects are very detailed to get the most out of explosions and destructible environments. There’s also an improvement in the audio from Bad Company 2; however, it’s still not as powerful and life-like compared to DICE’s previous work on Medal of Honor (2010) (it still has the best audio for a military shooter I’ve heard so far). While the graphics might be incredible, it’s mainly for those who have a PC that can handle them. Console players will have textures with a lower resolution than the PC, so it sadly has graphics that are great but not incredible compared to the PC put on max settings. The load out screen right before deploying can be a bit difficult to get used to on console as it was set up originally for the computer mouse on PC, but it eventually makes enough sense to utilize. I really like the neon-like layouts for the mini-map, HUDs, and menu. It sets a certain atmosphere to the game that distinguishes itself as “Battlefield 3”. Some of the problems within aesthetics are texture glitches, objects disappearing, players getting stuck in each other or pushed into a wall when spawning, graphics lag from explosions and smoke, and the audio of gunfire suddenly going silence for an entire match. Aesthetics: 8/10
Buttons
Playing Battlefield 3 on console is a lot different than playing on PC. It’s much easier to tag people while still moving on the keyboard. On a controller, the player has to leave their analog stick in order to press the select/back key (PS3/Xbox 360) in order to tag enemy units which sadly leads to players tagging a lot less on consoles. The load out menu is a bit confusing between choosing a class, weapons and gadgets, but it eventually makes sense. Those who have gotten used to the usual FPS settings on controllers will need to adjust a little as keys cannot be customized or changed. The right thumb stick will be to crouch or prone instead of a melee. R2 will be the key used to knife. L2 tosses a frag grenade. The circle face button is used to interact with gadgets, setting a bomb, defusing one, etc. I mainly find the spot key to be the biggest problem as tagging enemies is a pivotal action in team fights but leaves the player vulnerable while doing so. Not being able to customize the keys and switching them around from the norm does make it confusing and takes some getting used to, but it makes sense for multiplayer (for the most part). Buttons: 8/10
Concept & Content
I was very disappointed with the single-player campaign as I enjoyed DICE and EA’s last two game’s campaign modes (Medal of Honor 2010 & Battlefield Bad Company 2). The story was told very similar to Call of Duty Black Ops in that the main character is being interrogated and the player relives all the flashbacks. The progression of single-player is extremely sectionalized with the player just constantly going forward requiring that the player stays undercover for long durations and popped their head out once in a while to fire at the enemy (at least for the more difficult settings). The story wasn’t cohesive, the gameplay was boring, and the level designs were odd considering its core concept (you have to be under cover a lot, but there is VERY little cover in every level and they can be blown apart). One thing I have to praise the single-player for is its incredible settings and environment. Sadly, the campaign mode didn’t feel like there was a lot of thought and consideration put into it. Co-op mode is unfortunately online multiplayer only and won’t be as fun unless you have friends that you know you can play with (and cooperate with). I would’ve been nice to have SOME sort of local multiplayer, but there isn’t one. Thankfully, online multiplayer is really fun (or I would have felt ripped off). There’s a variety of maps that are large (sometimes too large for its player capacity), plenty of things to unlock as the player progresses their level, and an array of vehicles to fly and drive. After a good dozen hours of playing multiplayer, I realized that the game still has problems with glitches; however, I already saw problems from the beta fixed while new ones are quickly addressed and remedied. Multiplayer actually feels more challenging than Bad Company 2 did, but it also feels more balanced. Consoles unfortunately have half the player capacity that PC players do and it can be difficult to find or even see any enemies for a while. I find it upsetting that the DLC was planned from the beginning to be sold separately, but I can’t say I’m surprised seeing how a lot of game developers and publishers has turned to purposely excluding content from a game to be resold to players. Still, the core content within Battlefield 3 is enough to satisfy me on what I want out of it for the rest of the year. Concept & Content: 7/10
Duration
Single-player wasn’t very long, and that’s alright by me since I didn’t enjoy it that much anyways. I’m not sure what to say about online multiplayer. I’ve barely scratched the surface of multiplayer and I’ve already played 10-20 hours on it. I’m mainly playing as assault as I’ve come to enjoy playing healers in games now (this started when I realized other players not doing their jobs when choosing to play as one). There’s a lot of things to unlock and experiment with and each match can last anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour. The gameplay is slower paced than most FPS games, but that tension right before a really big fight is what makes the game so exciting. Other times, it’s not but action and both sides are constantly in a fire-fight. I have to admit that I can’t play the game for long durations (it can be a tiring game), but it’s a game I feel comfortable revisiting again and again as long as I feel up for playing it. Duration: 9/10
Fun
I had mixed reactions throughout playing Battlefield 3. I started with campaign first and marveled at the amazing graphics and how breath taking the environment was. The gameplay was okay for a while and then I started realizing how very little safe cover there were in every area. Enemies were killing me in 2 shots if not one and that led me to staying in cover a lot. As the game progressed, it got worse and the story didn’t interest me anymore. With multiplayer, it was difficult to adjust to the controls in the beginning. I died a lot trying to knife but ended up crouching or trying to throw a grenade and accidentally knifing the air. I really hated how the spot key was in a position where I had to leave my analog stick. It was mainly getting used to playing on controller as opposed to keyboard and mouse (I purposely chose to purchase the console version because the PC version had so many problems that I couldn’t even start it). After having a grasp at the concept, controls and area of each map, I began to play a lot more naturally and enjoyed the game. Then there are times when I play multiplayer and can’t enjoy it because no one on my team seems to want to fulfill the main objective and I’m always put in the losing team (which makes sense because the only games with free slots are ones with players leaving a losing game). When all goes well, I get a game where I get tons of kills, lots of points from healing and support, and the whole team wins which feels so good. It’s like a crazy roller coaster ride with Battlefield 3. Fun: 8/10
Overall
The single-player campaign wasn’t that great. Co-op is only online play and it’s difficult to coordinate on console if you don’t have a microphone (which most people don’t even use for team-work in the first place). Content that could’ve been in the game to begin with is cut out to be sold as a DLC. There were plenty of reasons that made me look down upon BF3 and made me wonder why I got it. Battlefield had always excelled in is multiplayer mode, and although BF3’s multiplayer is really fun, it’s not entirely polished. I would much rather have had the developers focus on the multiplayer and take out all the problems before it actually launched, have the content that should have been in there stay there and justify the $60 it charged players, and truly have a complete multiplayer. Still, I thought they did a good job on rebalancing the game from what they did for Bad Company 2 such as changing the roles of each class and the power output of each weapons. Teamwork is still a must and does a good job emphasizing it by punishing those who go off on their own through its game design. The game isn’t entirely up to expectations from all the hype it gathered, but I still ended up enjoying it for the most part. Overall: 8/10
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
GameLight - Syndicate
Official Site: http://www.ea.com/syndicate
Syndicate is a revival and re-creation of 1993 isometric Real-Time Tactics game of the same name. Some of the reactions are similar to those responding to the new XCOM game being made in how a strategy game is being remade into a First-Person Action Shooter. The new Syndicate focuses on a team heavy cooperative play campaign much like games such as Left 4 Dead or Payday: The Heist, where a team of 4 players works together in fulfilling objectives and getting to the end. The game looks slick with simple HUD layouts, beautifully designed sci-fi levels, and technological abilities to utilize. I guess it does look interesting when talking about all the aspects of the game, but it kind of looks boring from the gameplay:
I hope that isn't the case because there's a lack of co-op games in the market, or at least good ones. I can't help but be reminded of "Brink" when I look at the footages of this game. Brink had a lot of great ideas, but were not executed really well. Eventually, the online community died out and the game just wasn't the same with bots. That's what I'm worried about for Syndicate. It relies too much on "online community" with the whole game revolving around Cooperative gameplay. If the online community dies out too quickly, the game becomes pointless unless they have "very" dynamic and smart AI bots to play with (in which Brink did not). I'm going to try to find time to get and play the demo so that I have a better idea of what the game is like, but I'll most likely skip buying Syndicate if the online community dies out. I'm pretty sick of spending money on online intensive multiplayer games and finding out that no one's playing it anymore. Syndicate releases on February 21st. Here's hoping that it's a good game.
Syndicate is a revival and re-creation of 1993 isometric Real-Time Tactics game of the same name. Some of the reactions are similar to those responding to the new XCOM game being made in how a strategy game is being remade into a First-Person Action Shooter. The new Syndicate focuses on a team heavy cooperative play campaign much like games such as Left 4 Dead or Payday: The Heist, where a team of 4 players works together in fulfilling objectives and getting to the end. The game looks slick with simple HUD layouts, beautifully designed sci-fi levels, and technological abilities to utilize. I guess it does look interesting when talking about all the aspects of the game, but it kind of looks boring from the gameplay:
I hope that isn't the case because there's a lack of co-op games in the market, or at least good ones. I can't help but be reminded of "Brink" when I look at the footages of this game. Brink had a lot of great ideas, but were not executed really well. Eventually, the online community died out and the game just wasn't the same with bots. That's what I'm worried about for Syndicate. It relies too much on "online community" with the whole game revolving around Cooperative gameplay. If the online community dies out too quickly, the game becomes pointless unless they have "very" dynamic and smart AI bots to play with (in which Brink did not). I'm going to try to find time to get and play the demo so that I have a better idea of what the game is like, but I'll most likely skip buying Syndicate if the online community dies out. I'm pretty sick of spending money on online intensive multiplayer games and finding out that no one's playing it anymore. Syndicate releases on February 21st. Here's hoping that it's a good game.
Monday, January 30, 2012
GameLight - Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Official Site: http://reckoning.amalur.com/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
I finally found some time to try out Kingdom of Amalur Kingdom of Amalur
My first impression of the game was that it reminded me of Divinity 2. What I first noticed and really liked was how the camera pulled back so that it made the character’s surroundings visible. There wouldn’t be constant surprise attacks from a blind spot. The combo system felt pretty slick with unique animations for each attack and weapon. Stepping outside and playing the actual part of the game for the first time can be quite overwhelming for a “single-player” game as it’s much like an MMORPG where you pick up 3-10 quests just walking through a town. Playing through all the quests is sure to make the game last quite a while. The game’s graphics and environment has quite the atmosphere and really immerses players into its colorful world. It is very much a “fantasy” game and doesn’t limit itself to being realistic. Now that many gamers have had the chance to play the demo, it seems a lot of people are either more convinced to get it or not. It seems that the juiciest parts of the game won’t be revealed until playing farther into the game. The game releases on February 7th, so be sure to pick a copy up if you’re looking for a large, open world, Action-RPG to play.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
NewNews - Game Releases
Battlefield 3 (Released Today)
It's a big day today as FPS fans get their hands on Battlefield 3 and has started fragging each other as of last night. My friend just told me he beat campaign, but it's longer than most FPS games' campaigns (I won't spoil anything, even the duration).
Source: Youtube Channel Battlefield
The Cursed Crusade (Released Today)
Published by Atlus, The Cursed Crusade provides a unique co-op hack-n-slash Action game with over 90 combos, dozens of weapons, and a lot of chaos. Right now, the game is getting killed by the critics. Not to mention that it released on the same day as Battlefield 3 with little to no advertising at all (not even on the front scroller on Steam). Oh well, I am very interested in this game and will eventually check it out.
Some games to look out for in the next month:
-October 31: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
-October 31: Lord of the Rings: War in the North
-November 1: Sonic Generations
-November 1: GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
-November 8: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
-November 11: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
-November 15: Assassin's Creed Revelations
-November 20: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
-November 22: TEKKEN Hybrid Limited Edition
-November 22: The King of Fighters XIII
It's a big day today as FPS fans get their hands on Battlefield 3 and has started fragging each other as of last night. My friend just told me he beat campaign, but it's longer than most FPS games' campaigns (I won't spoil anything, even the duration).
Source: Youtube Channel Battlefield
The Cursed Crusade (Released Today)
Published by Atlus, The Cursed Crusade provides a unique co-op hack-n-slash Action game with over 90 combos, dozens of weapons, and a lot of chaos. Right now, the game is getting killed by the critics. Not to mention that it released on the same day as Battlefield 3 with little to no advertising at all (not even on the front scroller on Steam). Oh well, I am very interested in this game and will eventually check it out.
Some games to look out for in the next month:
-October 31: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
-October 31: Lord of the Rings: War in the North
-November 1: Sonic Generations
-November 1: GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
-November 8: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
-November 11: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
-November 15: Assassin's Creed Revelations
-November 20: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
-November 22: TEKKEN Hybrid Limited Edition
-November 22: The King of Fighters XIII
Friday, September 30, 2011
NewNews - Battlefield 3 Beta Begins
Official Site: http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3
Source: Youtube Channel cvg
Battlefield 3's Open Beta Testing started yesterday and will only last for a week or so. The beta is available to everyone on all platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360.
For PC:
-Login with your EA account through their new Origin program
-Download Battlefield 3 Beta through the program
-Make sure you have the latest drivers and meet the minimum requirement
-Install Battlefield 3 and launch it to get to the Battlelog screen
-Press Quick Start or find your own server to join and play
For PS3:
-Go to the PSN Store and download the BF3 Beta
-Install it and start up the game and select quick start
-Here are the controls for PS3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/playstationblog/6193188563/
For Xbox 360:
-Go to the XBL Marketplace and go to the demo section
-Download and install BF3 Beta
Please find the time to log into the Battlelog and list off all the bugs you find in the forum page under "Bugs/issues". I couldn't even play the game on PC because of countless errors. For the PS3, the game would keep loading without any results, I've fallen through the ground several times before, and a lot of weird ally spawn collision happens. So there's plenty to report. Send in your bugs and opinions and help the developers make the best FPS experience they can possibly make.
Source: Youtube Channel cvg
Battlefield 3's Open Beta Testing started yesterday and will only last for a week or so. The beta is available to everyone on all platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360.
For PC:
-Login with your EA account through their new Origin program
-Download Battlefield 3 Beta through the program
-Make sure you have the latest drivers and meet the minimum requirement
-Install Battlefield 3 and launch it to get to the Battlelog screen
-Press Quick Start or find your own server to join and play
For PS3:
-Go to the PSN Store and download the BF3 Beta
-Install it and start up the game and select quick start
-Here are the controls for PS3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/playstationblog/6193188563/
For Xbox 360:
-Go to the XBL Marketplace and go to the demo section
-Download and install BF3 Beta
Please find the time to log into the Battlelog and list off all the bugs you find in the forum page under "Bugs/issues". I couldn't even play the game on PC because of countless errors. For the PS3, the game would keep loading without any results, I've fallen through the ground several times before, and a lot of weird ally spawn collision happens. So there's plenty to report. Send in your bugs and opinions and help the developers make the best FPS experience they can possibly make.
Friday, September 23, 2011
VGCulture - Mass Effect Movie
A while ago (I don't remember clearly, but maybe half a year to a year ago?) the rights to making a Mass Effect Movie was bought and is now showing some progress of its existence. Videogame to film adaptations has been one of satire and mis-guided tribute in order to use the success of the game to bring in money for the movie. I never understood why so many movie makers go out of their way to create a film that the general public wouldn't really understand or be able to appreciate without the background and upset the actual fans of the franchise that the film is based off of when it doesn't even make them that much money. If someone is very serious about creating a "good" movie out of the characters and content of a popular videogame, they should do it in a way that interests movie-goers and please the fans. With Mass Effect 3 coming out early next year 2012, the movie is hard at work on finishing it if they want to use the hype of Mass Effect to its fullest.
Source: Youtube Channel EAsingapore
Well it seems that screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) is determined to make Mass Effect an incredible movie in its own rights. What has fans worried at the moment besides the fact that it's going to be actually made? Well, it seems that they're focusing on the plot of the first Mass Effect and is planning on changing the entire story for the movie. Mass Effect has its popularity in the ability to create an immersive atmosphere in a believable environment by giving life to all the NPCs, allow the player to travel freely in a gigantic galaxy, and tying in a large adventure for the player to journey. Is it really possible to create such a story that can match the epic proportions of the game in all its characters, story, and world into a 2-3 hour movie? The crew responsible for the making of the movie has their work cut out for them for sure.
Source:
-Tom's Guide - Mass Effect Movie Will Have a New Storyline
Source: Youtube Channel EAsingapore
Well it seems that screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) is determined to make Mass Effect an incredible movie in its own rights. What has fans worried at the moment besides the fact that it's going to be actually made? Well, it seems that they're focusing on the plot of the first Mass Effect and is planning on changing the entire story for the movie. Mass Effect has its popularity in the ability to create an immersive atmosphere in a believable environment by giving life to all the NPCs, allow the player to travel freely in a gigantic galaxy, and tying in a large adventure for the player to journey. Is it really possible to create such a story that can match the epic proportions of the game in all its characters, story, and world into a 2-3 hour movie? The crew responsible for the making of the movie has their work cut out for them for sure.
Source:
-Tom's Guide - Mass Effect Movie Will Have a New Storyline
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
NewNews - Battlefield 3 Beta on Sep. 29th
Official Site: http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3
Source: Youtube Channel XboxViewTV
Before I start, I want to say that Joystiq might actually read some of my posts! They started something called "Deja Review" which is synonymous to what I do for "Retroview". Of course I don't have a problem with that since they didn't use my exact term AND their first "Deja Review" is on legendary Shoot-em-up "Radiant Silvergun" (which I sadly never played before). It's cool to know that I might have contributed to an idea for the guys at Joystiq. Anyways~
Electronic Arts has announced that Battlefield 3 will have an Open Beta Testing for all platforms on September 29th to all gamers. I originally planned on buying this for PS3, but I recently found out that my friend will be getting it on PC since he won't even have his PS3 with him while in college. Along with the fact that PC will have more content (slightly) than consoles, I am now considering getting it on PC instead and get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on PS3 instead. So this Beta Test is a great time for everyone to try out on all their systems and decide which one they want to get it for. You can figure out whether your PC specs can hold out, is the console version good enough to ignore the limited capacity of players, and which system feels most comfortable to play on. And if you're one of the people that has early access beta, Beta starts on Sep. 27th for you. I'm not sure when I should actually buy the game since I'm not desperate to get it the first day it comes out. I'm willing to wait a little while to get a bit of a discount on it. But if EA is anything like Activision in how they market Call of Duty, the price will never go down until the next sequel comes out. Well, hopefully EA has some sort of sale or special discount on their Origin service. I will see you all out on the battlefield on September 29th!
Source: Youtube Channel XboxViewTV
Before I start, I want to say that Joystiq might actually read some of my posts! They started something called "Deja Review" which is synonymous to what I do for "Retroview". Of course I don't have a problem with that since they didn't use my exact term AND their first "Deja Review" is on legendary Shoot-em-up "Radiant Silvergun" (which I sadly never played before). It's cool to know that I might have contributed to an idea for the guys at Joystiq. Anyways~
Electronic Arts has announced that Battlefield 3 will have an Open Beta Testing for all platforms on September 29th to all gamers. I originally planned on buying this for PS3, but I recently found out that my friend will be getting it on PC since he won't even have his PS3 with him while in college. Along with the fact that PC will have more content (slightly) than consoles, I am now considering getting it on PC instead and get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on PS3 instead. So this Beta Test is a great time for everyone to try out on all their systems and decide which one they want to get it for. You can figure out whether your PC specs can hold out, is the console version good enough to ignore the limited capacity of players, and which system feels most comfortable to play on. And if you're one of the people that has early access beta, Beta starts on Sep. 27th for you. I'm not sure when I should actually buy the game since I'm not desperate to get it the first day it comes out. I'm willing to wait a little while to get a bit of a discount on it. But if EA is anything like Activision in how they market Call of Duty, the price will never go down until the next sequel comes out. Well, hopefully EA has some sort of sale or special discount on their Origin service. I will see you all out on the battlefield on September 29th!
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