GameLight - Project M (SSB Brawl Mod)

Official Site: http://projectmgame.com/en/
Source: Youtube Channel Project M

Super Smash Bros. Melee is really popular.  It's actually super popular.  It's so highly regarded by fans of the series that play competitively that Melee tournaments are still held over Brawl.  Fans of the series wanted the fast, balanced and competitive play of Melee in Brawl but didn't get it.  Thus, a group of modders banded together to start Project Melee (Project M) which is a mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl that bring in elements from Super Smash Bros. Melee into Brawl while having a major overhaul on the game's mechanics, character balances, custom stages, and bringing back older characters such as Mewtwo.

To many Smash Bros. fans, Melee is king of the series and people were really hoping to get more of that in Brawl.  Unfortunately, the game went in the opposite direction in hopes of making it more casual.  The goal of Smash Bros. was to be a fun party game that anyone could enjoy.  Through the strong community and fighting game enthusiast behind Super Smash Bros. Melee, the game became a much more competitive and serious game than what the developers had intended.  With slower gameplay, tripping, and such in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it was simply not viewed possible for competitive play.  Despite that, people tried and realized that the characters have vast advantages over others when played competitively.  Meta Knight never left the spot of the highest tier in the game since the game first came out and remains to be the top choice for competitive play.

With the team behind Project M, they wanted to break that balance barrier and create whole new possibilities with all the characters in the game so that there would be more variety in competitive play.  One great example is Sonic the Hedgehog.
Source: Youtube Channel Project M

I was very excited to hear Sonic being added to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but was very disappointed with how he played when I finally got the game.  I didn't mind that he deals very little damage due to this advantage in speed, but a lot of his attacks have charged up time, a long recovery delay, and a dive kick that can't be canceled that leaves him open or sends him straight down to his death.  Another problem is that he doesn't have many options for finishers.  His Back-Air has a long start-up and his forward-smash is very short ranged.  This makes both of them very situational and not very reliable.  What Project M wanted to do with Sonic was shorten charge up times, shorten recovery delays, give him more options for smashes, and possibly fix priority shots because every character in the game seriously has priority over all his attacks.

The mod has been created so that you don't need a hacked/cracked Wii to play it.  You just need a working Wii with Super Smash Bros. Brawl and an SD Card that doesn't exceed 2GB.  Still, I don't feel very confident about modding over my original game and hope that there will be alternatives such as being able to use the disc and mod files on PC instead.  But I understand that the team behind Project M wants to continue to support Nintendo and the those behind Brawl by preventing piracy, so that's commendable.

I've been playing Melee and Brawl again as I've missed the game very much and am very much excited for the new Super Smash Bros. that's in development at the moment.  I'm just hoping to be able to play Project M until the release of the Wii U and 3DS Super Smash Bros. comes out.  If you're done with Brawl and like what you see in Project M, click on the top link, go to Download and learn how to safely install the mod to your Nintendo Wii.  Project M Version 3.0 comes out on December 9th, 2013.

VGCulture - Lots of releases next 3 days

I'm looking at what games are released this week and there's a lot worth mentioning!  We even have a Nintendo Wii game coming out!

La-Mulana - PC - 4/15/13
Source: Youtube Channel 256nigoro

La-Mulana in many aspects was developed the same way Cave Story did, in one man's free time.  It was released only in Japan back in 2005 and was first introduced in NA just last year in Fall on the WiiWare channel.  Today, it was released on Steam after it was greenlit and had the okay to be put up.  I hear it's a lot like Metroid in terms of traversing the levels and similar to Castlevania in terms of combat and gameplay.  I love these types of games, so I'll probably get it eventually.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U - 4/16/13
If you like fighting games and DC Comics, this is probably the game for you.  Developed by the team who worked on Mortal Kombat, the world of DC comics is darker, gritty, and a lot more violent.  Despite loving fighting games and DC comics, I'm not that entirely excited about the game, but I know many others who are ecstatic about the idea and can't wait to get their hands on it tonight.

Pandora's Tower - Wii - 4/16/13
Probably the last great Wii game to come out of the console, Pandora's Tower is one of the games that was petitioned to be brought over along with Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story which NA got last year.  I gotta finish more Wii games so I can get around to these 3 great Wii games.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers - 3DS - 4/16/13

This one's a bit complicated to explain, but I guess you can say it's a remake of an old game.  SMT:DS Soul Hackers was originally released back in 1997 on the Sega Saturn and never saw a Western release.  It's a sequel to Devil Summoner, which also didn't see a Western release, and has been enhanced for the Nintendo 3DS.  This game is great for fans of cRPG/Dungeon-Crawl RPG.

God Mode - PS3, Xbox 360, PC - 4/16/13
Waves of enemies, lots of killing and destruction, seems like my sort of game.  In this action 3rd-person shooter, the player can customize their character appearance and I think some skills or loadout from leveling up and jump online to team up with 3 other players in a frantic co-op campaign.  I'm conflicted on whether to get this game or not right now, mainly because I have so many other games that need my attention in finishing.  But the rest of you that don't need to worry about it should check it out since it's only $9.99 ($8.99 for pre-purchase).

Sacred Citadel - PS3, Xbox 360, PC - 4/17/13
Old School beat-em-ups are rare nowadays, so it's always great to hear new ones that come out.  The 3DS has Code of Princess, Xbox 360 got an HD version of Guardian Heroes while PS3/PSV will have Dragon's Crown, but what about PC?  (Okay, there's Dungeon Fighters Online, but their servers terminate this June).  Sacred Citadel brings back old-school beat-em-ups with a modern touch.  Three players can cooperatively play together as one of four classes.  This is also another game I'm going to keep an eye out for.


Besides Injustice: Gods Among Us, I think I'll be getting each of these games by the end of the year.  I just need to clear out my games that I already have first.

NewNews - North America gets Pandora's Tower

Official Site: http://www.xseedgames.com/
Source: Youtube Channel GameNewsOfficial

It was great news to hear Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story getting a release in North America, but many were still wondering if the last of the 3 petitioned games would see the light of day in the Western Market.  Let us thank the dedicated members of XSeed games for once again bringing another great title to North America.  In this dark and gritty Action-RPG, the protagonist must bring back the flesh of slain beasts to rid the curse of the girl "Elena" who is slowly turning into a beast herself.  An exact release date hasn't been announced, but the game is set to launch in spring of this year 2013.  This will possibly be the last real Wii game worth buying as all attention and work has been turned to the Nintendo Wii U, so keep an eye out for this game.

Source:
-Joystiq: XSEED erecting Pandora's Tower for Wii in NA this spring

GameLight Review - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Official Site: http://www.callofduty.com/mw3
Source: Youtube Channel CALLOFDUTY

Developer: Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games
 *Additional work by: Raven Software, Treyarch (Wii version), Neversoft
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: PC, [Playstation 3], Xbox 360, Wii
Release Date: November 8, 2011
Genre: First-Person Shooter

Pros:
+ Great campaign mode with a compelling story and exciting gameplay
+ Significant improvement in Audio from its predecessors
+ Spec Ops is a great co-op mode to play when a friend's over
+ Multiplayer's redesigned level-up system rewards practice on a single weapon
+ Online gameplay still allows 2-player split-screen co-op

Cons:
- The ending of this trilogy will either satisfy fans or infuriate them
- Spec Ops can get really repetitive for some people
- You die faster than ever in online multiplayer

Recommended: Depends, a lot of people buy it for the multiplayer and its community might drop quite a bit since Black Ops 2 came out yesterday.

If you're unfamiliar with the Call of Duty franchise, the game consists of a lot of fire-fights, quick-time events, some crazy scripted scenes, and a lot of killing/dying if you're playing online multiplayer.  What sets each iteration apart is the little changes here and there that makes them special.  In the case of Modern Warfare 3, the campaign is probably the most involving, epic battle of the whole series while multiplayer provides a nice change in leveling mechanics.  I wanted to boycott this game because of the conflict between the original developers and Activision, but I ended up getting the game and was surprised of how great the game turned out.  There were things I liked and disliked about the campaign, but I felt it was a pretty solid experience.  Multiplayer still doesn't capture the charm and memories of Modern Warfare 2, but it still turned out to be different and a lot of fun.  Even though MW3 gave me high hopes, I'm still weary about getting Black Ops 2 at the moment.

Aesthetics
Art Style: Realistic 3D
+ The graphics are notably better, even though it seems to mirror MW2 a lot
+ Scripted-scenes were breath-taking and very exciting
+ Lots of beautiful landscapes and all very detailed
+ Significant improvement in the sounds of the gun-fire
+ Even better motion-captured animations

- Why do the enemies have to blend so well with the environment? D:
Aesthetics: 9/10

Buttons
Controller: Respective gamepads for PS3/Xbox 360; Wii-mote & Nunchuck for Wii; Keyboard and mouse for PC
+ As expected, the controls are tight, responsive, and faster than ever
+ Key layout is the same: familiar and comfortable
+ User-interface is familiar with very little changes, easy to navigate menu
Buttons: 8/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept:
 *For Campaign: Kill enemies, move to next scene, repeat
 *For Spec Ops: Survive as long as possible
 *For Multiplayer: Fulfill the most points through killing, capturing points, etc.
+ A very large scale virtual involvement for the ending of the trilogy
+ Story was compelling, but the gameplay was also exciting
+ Level designs weren't only effective in gameplay, but beautiful in Aesthetics
+ Some rather memorable characters and scenes throughout campaign
+ Spec Ops satisfies the urge to kill waves of enemies
+ It's a good game to play cooperatively, be it against AIs or players online
+ I really like the level system for weapons and items, incentive to try new items
+ Tango Down mode is a nice addition to online multiplayer involving teamwork

- Multiplayer maps still aren't as fun as the ones in Modern Warfare 2
- The ending for the trilogy is kind of empty and some might not like it
- DLCs prices equal to, or more than, the game itself
- You die significantly faster in multiplayer than previous CoD games, meaning who sees who first will have an even bigger advantage than before
- There are still odd problems with lag in multiplayer and odd glitches such as being able to knife players 10 feet away
Concept & Content: 8/10

Duration
+ Campaign is a bit slow paced in the beginning but picks up and moves quickly
+ Campaign was at a decent length, but the ending did kind of come up abruptly
+ Spec Ops and Online multiplayer adds a multitude of replay value to the game
+ The new leveling up system is a good incentive to keep playing with a certain set of weapons and equipment

-As fun as campaign was, it's not something I'd replay like MW1&2
Duration: 8/10

Fun
+ Campaign was quite the experience and I'm glad to see the story conclude
+ Spec Ops was a surprising addition to the game and eats a lot of time
+ Multiplayer turned out to be pretty fun with the new items and leveling system
+ I like the new support build available for multiplayer, it suits me
+ The environments were really beautiful, I think it added to the experience
+ Audio was a vast improvement as gun-fire sounded more powerful

- Why do DLCs have to be so expensive?
- Multiplayer is fun, but I still like the multiplayer in MW2 a lot more
- I feel like a bigger n00b than ever at the rate of deaths I have
Fun: 8/10

Overall
I really liked how Modern Warfare 3 turned out, especially after the previous year of playing Black Ops (that one disappointed me).  The campaign's story was interesting without sacrificing gameplay.  Spec Ops allowed me to still play the game with friends who didn't want to play online.  Multiplayer is more challenging than ever and changes some things around to cater to more than one playstyle in the community.  It might be a bit more difficult to recommend the game now if what the player is looking for is Online multiplayer since the community might have died down quite a bit with the release of Black Ops 2 yesterday.  Still, it's worth borrowing from a friend or renting out for the campaign and Spec Ops.  Overall: 8.2/10

GameLight Review - Centipede Infestation (3DS)

Nintendo Page: Centipede Infestation
Atari Page: http://www.atari.com/buy-games/action/centipede-infestation
Source: Youtube Channel atari

Developer: WayForward Technologies
Publisher: Atari
Platforms: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Genre: Arena Shooter

Pros:
-Great soundtrack (trailer doesn't use the in-game music)
-Straightforward gameplay; not complex
-Interesting boss battles
-The 3D looks pretty cool for the game

Cons:
-Non-emotional or odd situational voice-acting
-Cut-scenes were cool, but they played at 1-3 frames per second
-Boss battles were fun, but the rest of the game was pretty boring
-Without the 3D, the graphics were pretty outdated and ugly

As a fan of the original Arcade Centipede, I was curious seeing this title on the shelves for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo 3DS.  I didn't pick it up until very recently when I bought my new 3DS XL and decided to give the game a try.  Hearing almost nothing about the game and purchasing it used for $10 kind of gave me the impression that I shouldn't expect too much out of it.  The game starts off kind of boring and eventually picks up as the difficulty rises, but ends up being a very standard Arena Shooter where the player avoids contact with any enemies and kills everything on site until the level is over.  Honestly, what allowed me the patience to get through the rest of the game was the somewhat interesting story, amazing soundtrack, and challenging boss battles.  The rest of the game was a repetitious cycle of running around in circles and shooting enemies with bad voice acting and mediocre graphics.  Unless you'd want to buy the Wii version for really cheap (say $5-$10) to play a 2-player co-op game to pass the time, I can't really recommend this game to anyone else.

Aesthetics
My first impressions when seeing the title screen and the cut-scenes with the 3D enticed my attention as it was my 2nd game for the 3DS XL and I thought it looked pretty nice.  But once the actual game started, I quickly realized how ugly the graphics were.  The environments were darker and muddy in color compared to the Wii version which really made it a problem when the enemies were tiny and dark in color as well.  The explosion effects were dark and cloudy which hid enemies from view.  The weapon projectiles weren't very flashy and didn't feel  visceral which would've helped with the gameplay as combat would've felt more satisfying (if you have a mechanic that's seemingly repetitive, make it so that players would enjoy it).  The models were really blocky and the cel-shaded art style made it even more prominent.  The major redeeming factor for the graphics was that the 3D effects were nice.  It added depth to background and form to environmental objects.  There were quite a few times where some of the flying enemies really felt like they flew out of the screen at right at me.  So without that 3D effect, I imagine that the Wii version had considerably bad graphics as well, though enemies do look more visible from the trailer above than they did in the 3DS.  The cut-scenes were another thing that was a bit disappointing.  The art is done in the style of Saturday morning cartoons; however, the animations weren't smooth and had 2-3 frames between each movement.  They should have went all the way with the idea of cut-scenes, they were pretty interesting.

Audio has a bit of mixed feelings as well.  The sound effects weren't that bad.  All the weaponry and enemies were believable in the context of its art style.  I think the killing sound effects mixed with better graphic animations for the weapons would have made combat feel a lot more satisfying as the fighting felt a lot like shooting nerf guns at blocks until they exploded.  It would have made the game better overall, but it sadly didn't feel that way.  The voice acting was pretty bad.  In a lot of the cut-scenes and cinematics, the characters voice tone and emotion don't match up to the situation and expressions on their faces.  There was actually some progress through the game as the voice acting got a little better in the last half of the game.  There could be some blame to how this part of development was handled and not the voice actors in general.  Sometimes, voice actors don't get to see the game, or the graphics to which lines they're recording (sometimes to avoid leaking assets to the public) so the voice actors have to guess what the situation is like when speaking.  There's also some blame to the writing as a lot of the lines were cheesy or groan worthy.  What impressed me more than anything in the game was the soundtrack.  There's an obvious influence of the new wave of electronic music, dubstep, drum 'n bass and such in the music.  The style of music was very familiar to me and I had an idea of who wrote it.  I looked it up and sure enough the music was composed and produced by Jake Kaufman who has worked with WayForward Technologies in the past.  The music is enjoyable to listen to.  But more than that, it created an atmosphere to the game that was both dark/daunting and energetic that really melded well with the action and waves of enemies that runs toward the player.  It's also the fact that it's so unique for music in a videogame that really impressed me.

Lastly, there was the story.  The story seemed rather cheesy and something to be overlooked in the beginning, but it actually got pretty interesting as the game progressed.  Despite the bad voice acting, the story had a cohesive tie with the gameplay which explains why the main protagonist is fighting these bugs, where the gardens were coming from, why flowers turned into turrets, and gave a bit of personality to the characters.  It got to a point where I actually started caring about the story and the characters.  The problem is that the story sets up a lot of plots, but never develops it.  They didn't go all the way with it so it fell short of at least becoming a memorable story.  I don't want to get into details as it might spoil the story for those who haven't played it who's willing to give it a try like I did.  The aesthetics could've helped the gameplay tremendously, but I suppose it's too late for that now.  Aesthetics: 5/10

Buttons
The controls for an arena shooter such as this one is okay considering the 3DS has an analog stick to move around compared to how the DS only had a digital pad to move around for its release of similar games such as Geometry Wars.  Shooting is what makes it a bit more tricky as the face buttons represent a direction to shoot at.  Generally, these types of games are played on dual analog sticks, but as far as I know Centipede Infestation is not compatible with the 2nd analog circle pad attachment for the 3DS.  At least the player can choose a direction to shoot at as opposed to the Wii's wiimote and nunchuck combo.  Weapons are switched on the bottom touch screen as the player picks them up.  The player can also use the should button to stomp the ground to push away enemies or kill them if their hp is low enough.  The controls were quite responsive and easy to grasp, but I think innovation could've been a bit more involved for this type of game.  Buttons: 8/10

Concept & Content
The original Centipede was an Arcade shooter where the player had a limited  space on the bottom of the screen to fire at incoming enemies with each wave progressively stronger and faster.  Unfortunately, retail games now can't get away with game designs like that if they plan on charging $30-$40 (I think it was $50 on Wii) for the game.  So the game isn't really a remake of the original but rather a game tied to its legacy.  There will be at least 1 Centipede for the player to fight each stage, but the attention doesn't seem to be so much on them as much as it is on the other bugs attacking the player.  The basic concept of the game is that the player goes from one stage to another with different looking environments and slightly different level designs to kill off all the bugs there, fulfill a task, or reach the exit.  The whole point of the game is to kill bugs.  There's actually nothing wrong with that had it been done better.  In terms of aesthetics, the combat didn't feel very satisfying and harder difficulties just made it a chore as it takes significantly longer to kill the enemies.  Everything in-between the basic concept should be designed to make killing the bugs fun.  A variety of weapons should be one of them; however, the weapons available have little differences between them as most of them just do extra damage, vary in range and have a different animation effect (with the exception of the frost gun which slows enemies down a little).  This made some of the weapons pretty useless (such as the shock gun) which rules out one of the factors that should have made the game fun.  Another aspect implemented was having different challenges such as the different tasks the player had to fulfill besides kill the bugs such as protecting another character or activating a power source.  These were good attempts, but it didn't change the gameplay very much as the player still ran around in circles a lot to avoid contact with the bugs while shooting them.  Then there's the bugs themselves.  Each bug had a different strength that made them more difficult to kill than the others.  Some moved fast, some charge at you and some exploded.  This at least challenges the player to approach each enemy differently.  The problem is that they all have the same programmed AI: run towards the player.  With that in mind, the player just runs in circles a lot to get the enemies to fall in line so that a good amount of them will fall under weapon fire.  One of the better design choices in the games was the boss battles.  Bosses didn't just stand there to take damage.  The player actually had to move around and not just in circles.  The player would have to learn the enemy's pattern and avoid waves of projectiles.  Sadly, there were only about 5 bosses total in the whole game.  The game has about 45 stages total, a fair amount since I was expecting 16 or lower.  Other than the core game, there's 2-player cooperative play, unlockable characters and outfits, accomplishments (achievements essentially), some extras such as the jukebox (which I ended up using to rip the entire soundtrack since I liked it so much), concept art, and streetpass mode.  To sum it all up, the game had a lot of potential and I could see it being a lot more fun if developed further.  Concept & Content: 6/10

Duration
The game took me around 7 hours to complete according to my activity record on the 3DS.  The length in general isn't too bad for a retail game, but the game did feel rather dragged out.  The pacing felt very slow throughout the game with the exception of certain stages and boss battles.  The replay value relies solely on its campaign with all the aspects with it: difficulty level, 2-player cooperative, accomplishments, and unlockables.  Had the combat been developed with more depth, an endless mode or boss rush mode would have been nice.  It's not a game I really feel compelled to play again (which is why it's one of the extremely few games I have ever returned; I bought it used).  Duration: 6/10

Fun
I got bored of the game extremely quickly after the first 3 stages.  What eventually compelled me to continue playing the game was the story and the music.  I can't say I didn't have any fun with the game as some stages did feel a bit entertaining destroying waves of enemies with missiles.  When I completed the game, I felt empty.  There was no satisfaction in completing the game and no lingering interest in playing it again.  It was much more of a study game than anything else, to learn what could have made a game such as this better.  Fun: 5/10

Overall
Centipede Infestation wasn't a bad game, it was just a boring one.  The game is certainly playable and isn't riddled with game breaking bugs (though enemies do get stuck now and then due to their very simple AI script), but it wasn't very engaging or entertaining.  The only reason why I'd tell anyone to give this game a try is so that they can play a 2-player co-op game with a friend, listen to the music, and/or experience a bit of the story.  This could've actually been a really fun game, but as it stands there are better Arena Shooters out there.  Overall: 6/10

Retroview - FarCry (revisited)

This game is the prime reason why no one should ever rate a game from the first few hours of playing.
Source: Youtube Channel expresszor

I am baffled by the high praise this game received unless they all played the first 4 hours and gave it a score.  Reading back on the original post I had for this game, I had a very optimistic view for the game.  Sadly, things didn't go so well after that initial portion of the game.  There was a long duration where I just stayed away from the game because of how much it was pissing me off.  I'll list my opinions to get straight to the point:

Pros:
-Incredibly beautiful graphics, even looking at it now I'm astonished
-Open ended map traversing to get to the goal
-Some pretty intense moments

Cons:
-Some objectives are vague and can get you lost for a very long time
-Various enemies that charge at you and kill you in a single blow
-Having to walk/run long durations with no checkpoint
-Can't create your own saves; if you reach one with a tick of life left, that's all you get for the next area
-Glitches that occur and break the game
-Enemies come in droves and can kill you in a few attacks, but they take quite a bit to die
-Some odd design choices makes it so that there are no cover or cover becomes pointless
-Moving while scoped it will take you out of scope for a lot of the weapons

You can see where I'm going with this.  I'm not going to even mention bad voice acting and lame story ending as it didn't matter by that point.  There were many instances where I'd die near immediately from gunfire while behind cover or from enemies that charge right into my face.  Hiding behind cover didn't really matter either as enemies would throw grenades, have others charge right where I am, shoot rocket launchers and running to another cover meant getting shot by possibly 7-15 other guys.  I got through most of those points by having enemies get stuck in trees, or funnel them through a doorway they can't quite get through or something that prevents them from one-shotting me.  A player shouldn't have to exploit bugs and glitches just to get through a part of the game (or the entirety of it).  I hated it most when I have to walk through an entire mountain or beach and get close to my destination only to get hit by 2 rocket launchers off from another island (you can't really hear it until it gets to you) and having to start over from the last checkpoint.  I got to admit that it was one crazy adventure for one guy stranded on the island, but it was a very painful experience.  I ended up playing through the rest of the game for two reasons: I already paid for it and I treated it as a study game and tried to learn not what to do in a game such as this one.

I still haven't tried FarCry 2 yet, and I'm hoping that it's good.  When I played Crysis 1, I liked the story but didn't like the gameplay as much while the reverse was true for Crysis 2 which I enjoyed a lot but thought the story was lame.  FarCry 1's story was rather predictable and possibly even cliché, but it had a really nice sense of adventure.  It's just that the frustrating combat and game glitches causes the adventure to be rather erratic and in pieces rather than a cohesive one.  So I'm hoping that FarCry 2 far exceeds its predecessors and have really enjoyable gameplay.  FarCry turned out to be a very bad experience, and I rather not play it again anytime soon.

NewNews - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Announced

Official Site: http://callofduty.com/
Source: Youtube Channel FPSRussia

Rumors about the next Call of Duty being a continuation of Black Ops has been going around for months, but nothing solid really had come out to confirm if it was true or not.  A week ago, the video above surfaced and tipped on the next Call of Duty having a weapon shown in the video be part of the arsenal the player can control.  Earlier in the day, the UK site for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was revealed before the actual announcement.  The game has yet to be formally announced by Activision through their site linked on the top, but it's pretty evident that the next Call of Duty is Black Ops 2.  From other sources, it seems that it will take place in the near future rather than the not so distant past that the original Black Ops was set in.

I'm not sure what to think of another Call of Duty anymore.  Black Ops had an incredible story, but a messy and boring gameplay experience for single-player.  Multiplayer was riddled with bugs that were never fixed and suffered from lag between the server's reception of data and the game's graphics animation.  Still, multiplayer did have some good points such as 2-player co-op online play.  I did enjoy Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer but I haven't even touched the single-player as there isn't any real drive to do so.  My interest in Call of Duty is starting to waver and I'm not sure if I'm willing to continue following the franchise.  I guess only time will tell.  Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is set to release on November 13th, 2012 on PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and maybe Wii/Wii U.

Sources:
-Gamasutra: Activision confirms Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for November
-Joystiq: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2: What we know thus far
-Kotaku: Call of Duty: Black Ops II Is Official

GameLight Review - Rhythm Heaven Fever

Official Site: http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/q1gNQNlKvXRq4LNu9mEdmcXmksSbnduz

Source: Youtube Channel Wii

Developer: Nintendo SPD Group No.1, TNX
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo Wii
Release Date: February 13, 2012
Genre: Music Rhythm

Pros:
-Simple to learn yet challenging to perfect
-Appropriate for all ages that would interest kids and adults alike
-Charming characters, catchy tunes, and quirky scenarios make for an enjoyable experience
-With 50+ games, Endless mode, and two-player mode, there's tons to do

Cons:
-Might be a bit on the easy side for Rhythm Tengoku veterans
-Not for the Rhythm-impaired
-You might laugh a little too much

I haven't played such an entertaining Wii game such as this in a long time.  I wasn't even sure if I was going to even give the game a try since I played both previous iterations in Japanese and didn't like the English dubbing to the Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Which was simply called Rhythm Heaven in North America).  The team behind Rhythm Heaven Fever (Minna no Rhythm Tengoku in Japan); however, did an incredible job of bringing it to the Western audience with impeccable translations and great dubbing to the songs with lyrics.  I've got to admit that this 3rd iteration of Rhythm Tengoku was far easier than the first two and took me around 6 hours to complete all 50 main games with each one taking me only one try if not three (except for Love Rap 2 (12+ tries) and the very last remix (5th try) where some of the songs from the original took me 20-30 tries.  So those who've played the first one on GBA or the 2nd one on NDS may have a significantly easier time on this one for the Wii, BUT it is still a whole lot of fun.  More genres of music are experimented and lots of hilarious shenanigans is bound to happen as the players tap along with the music and laugh their way through the end.  Anyone who likes music (and who doesn't like music?) should definitely give the game a try; you'd be surprised how fun pressing two buttons can be.

Aesthetics
I remember the first Rhythm Tengoku on GBA having a limited amount of technology to work with on the device and had to keep the art assets simple.  Just within the first two songs of the game I was entranced by the simple yet incredibly clean graphics.  There's so much depth to the art style compared to previous iterations, yet it stays simple enough to keep it from deviating too much from what was going on in the forefront.  There's a lot of charming characters (with the cat in the bi-plane playing badminton in the air with you being one of my favorites) and crazy scenarios that had me laughing all the way to the end.  Some songs get really creative with beats, off-beats, timing, and genres.  There were quite a few songs I really enjoyed playing because their challenging beats (like Working Dough) or liked listening to (like Love Rap).  As good as a lot of translations were, there were certain songs I wish I could change back to its original Japanese such as the remix songs.  Aesthetics: 9/10

Buttons
Controls are important in music rhythm games.  In the first game on the GBA, there was an issue with input lag on some of the songs.  In the 2nd game for DS, some players complained that having the touch screen controls weren't reliable and made it difficult to get a perfect.  It scared quite a few veteran players when it was announced that a Rhythm Tengoku was going to be released for the Wii.  Everyone thought it was going to implement motion control.  Instead, the developers kept it to simply using the A and B buttons.  It may sound boring just to press two buttons throughout the game, but it worked so well and efficiently that I'd say this version had the tightest controls out of the three iterations.  The key presses are dead-on to the beat that you press it on and I believe there is a bit of leeway for ones that require A and B being pressed together.  I'm glad they didn't go with a gimmicky motion control rhythm game as it would have turned out pretty bad (at least until they find a way to make motion control significantly more responsive in real-time).  They kept with the simple concept, clean controls, and creative usage of those two buttons for Rhythm Heaven Fever and I thought it worked out really well.  Buttons: 10/10

Concept & Content
The first time I played Rhythm Tengoku on GBA, I thought it was strange to have a music rhythm game using only two keys (and sometimes the movement key as a 3rd key) to play the entire game; however, I got so into it and was enjoying so much that I didn't think about it anymore.  This iteration had the same effect on me.  Most of the games require just pressing the A button with a certain rhythm and sometime changing up the beat playing triplets, or playing on an off-beat.  It succeeds very well as a music rhythm game and delivers an enjoyable experience for the one playing and those watching.  Adding in a two-player mode was also a nice addition though it would have been nice if they went all the way and allowed for 4-players to play simultaneously (the Wii lacks "good" multiplayer games nowadays).  There's an endless mode, toy boxes, and extra games for 2-player mode as well if enough medals are earned in 2-player regular mode.  The game only costs $29.99 compared to the usual $39.99-$49.99 for Wii games, so it's a pretty good deal for the amount of content the player receives.  Concept & Content: 10/10

Duration
I blazed through the game and finished the main 50 songs around 6 hours.  Still, there's a lot of medals I need to earn, perfects to achieve, endless games to acquire, and 2-player mode that I need to finish.  I liked the flow of the game a lot and felt each song had a reasonable length to them.  I'd probably still replay a lot of the songs to get medals and perfects, but this is one of those games where I won't play it for a while and then come back to it again for the memories.  In terms of replay value, it really depends on how badly one wants those medals and perfects and whether they'd still want to play it again after getting everything.  I'd say it's a fun game to play with a friend once in a while after getting everything.  Duration: 9/10

Fun
As I've mentioned, Rhythm Heaven Fever is one of the most entertaining games I've played on the Wii for a long time.  It's addicting nature and involving gameplay makes you tap along with the music.  It got me really into the game with the adorable characters, entrancing songs, and challenging beats.  It got me playing the original one again and made me realize how much more difficult some of them were on the GBA and DS versions.  The game made me smile.  It felt good to land all those difficult rhythm patterns and earn a medal.  Despite going back to using buttons instead of changing it up like they did with the DS game, the game still felt very fresh.  Sure, I was able to use a lot of the experience in the first two games in this one, but there were some new twists to some of the songs and patterns that made it unique and challenging.  After completing the game, I just wanted more out of it.  Luckily, there is still much I can get from the game by replaying some of the levels.  It was a great experience from beginning to end.  Fun: 10/10

Overall
Just like the first two games, Rhythm Heaven Fever is a great addition to the series and one that should be continued.  The game is easy to learn but still challenging and engrossing for players of any age or skill level.  The game is very well polished, has plenty of creative concepts with the music patterns, is translated rather well for the Western audience, contains lots of laughs and is just plain fun.  This is a highly recommended game for any Nintendo Wii owner as the system reaches its end with the new system about to be announced and 3rd-party companies dying down on the support for the system.  Overall: 9.6/10

VGCulture - Filler - Rhythm Heaven Fever Badminton

I had a busy day today, so here's another filler:

Source: Youtube Channel NintenDaan1

I completed all the main songs today and really enjoyed the game.  I will be doing a review for it sometime soon.

NewNews - The Last Story confirmed for localization

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

According to Gamasutra, publishing company Xseed Games will be bringing "The Last Story" for the Wii to North America.  To have Xenoblade Chronicles confirmed for localization was a special treat, but this announcement was mind blowing!  From before, the decision to "not" bring it over to stateside seem adamant and irrevocable, but I suppose seeing the strong support from the fans in the West convinced Nintendo to bring Xenoblade Chronicles over to North America.  Upon seeing the overwhelming positive reaction by the community, publishers might have felt a bit more optimistic about taking the responsibility to bringing the other games over.

For those unfamiliar with "The Last Story", it is an Action-RPG developed exclusively for the Nintendo Wii with Hironobu Sakaguchi of "Final Fantasy" leading the project with Takuya Matsumoto along with renowned videogame composer Nobuo Uematsu.  Sakaguchi takes on the Action-RPG genre by formulating a new and unique combat system that mixes tactical planning with fluid hack 'n slash attacks.  As always, there is a focus on story, the environment, and character development to keep the game's progress moving and the player involved.

The game has received high ratings and praise by critics and players who played through the Japanese version.  One of the major arguments pointed out by a lot of supporters of the petition to bringing the 3 JRPGs (Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower) to the western market was that they are possibly the last few games developed for the Wii considered worth buying anymore for the aging console who has failed to come out with anything new or interesting other than those developed directly by Nintendo (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword).  Judging from 2011's abysmal list of game releases, I'd say that seems to be the situation.  So Wii owners and JRPG fans rejoice as 2 out of 3 of the petitioned games have now been confirmed for a stateside release.  The Last Story does not have a release date yet.

NewNews - North America's gonna get Xenoblade Chronicles

Official Site: Xenoblade Chronicles on Nintendo Wii

Source: Youtube Channel NintenDaanNC

Many RPG fans, including myself, were excited hearing about and watching trailers to Xenoblade Chronicles.  Not only that, it was one of the more major reasons to getting back onto the Nintendo Wii which seemingly has a smaller library of major titles this year other than a few made by Nintendo themselves.  When Nintendo of America announced that they wouldn't be bringing the title over to North America back in June this year, it was a sad day for a lot of Wii owners and RPG fans.  It was a huge surprise this morning seeing the headlines of gaming news everywhere rejoicing in the localization of Xenoblade Chronicles to North America with an expected launch date of April 2012.

Xenoblade Chronicles is a single-player Action-RPG utilizing a real-time battle system for a more fast-paced and modern RPG experience in contrast to its predecessors.  It's also more open-world with games like Monster Hunter Tri (this one was really good I heard) or Valhalla Knights: The Eldar Saga (which is pretty bad, I'm playing that right now).  So players can freely wander the world and fulfill quests to gain experience and currency.  The story won't be as vague as the two I mentioned just now as the Xeno series has always had a deep plot that entices the player's attention to the environment, dialogues, and characters.  I'm really happy to hear that it will be brought over to North America.  I just hope The Last Story and Pandora's Tower follows suit and gets brought over, because I really want some good games on my Wii to play.

Source:
-Gamasutra: Nintendo's Xenoblade Chronicles Finally Comes To America

GameOn - Shmups - Castle of Shikigami 3

On the last day of this week's GameOn series of Shoot-em-ups (Shmups), I'll be talking about Castle of Shikigami 3 and the sub-genre Danmaku.

Source: Youtube Channel jedikevin20

I could've talked about Touhou, but I seem to talk about Touhou whenever it's about Shmups now (and so does many other Shmups gamers), so I chose a non-obvious choice.  Castle of Shikigami 3 is a vertical shmup danmaku (or more commonly known in English terms as Bullet Hell) where the levels consist mainly of enemy bullets.  There aren't that many Bullet Hell shooters in the United States (as far as I know) and the ones that are brought over are extremely rare (argh, still can't find Ikaruga!).  I first tried Shikigami no Shiro 3 (Japanese name for it) through a demo on PC and really enjoyed the unique characters, the music, the spectacular 3D-like graphics and effects, and the challenge of the "extreme" difficulty.  So when I heard that it was being translated and brought over to the States for the Wii, I really wanted it.  The voice acting is atrociously bad, but it's bad in a way to be considered humorous and laughable.  It added to the light hearted vibe the story gave considering its insane difficulty.  From the video above, it doesn't seem much.  This video here is closer to what a Bullet Hell usually looks like:

Source: Youtube Channel YannBer16

That excitement and thrill you get from barely escaping through enemy fire in such a chaotic moment is the charm of most Danmaku/Bullet Hell games.  It gets even crazier with a 2nd player joining in.  For Castle of Shikigami 3, the story/dialogue of the characters changes depending on who the player chooses and who they're paired up with.  Bullet Hell and even just shooters in general aren't as popular anymore (at least in the Western Market), but those that get brought over or are made are usually of the Bullet Hell style sub-genre.  The most recent one I bought and played is indie developed Jamestown.  I actually still play Castle of Shikigami 3 and see how little continues I need to use before beating the game each time and because I find the dialogues to be hilarious between the characters.  I hope you enjoyed this week's GameOn and I encourage everyone to try out all these sorts of Shoot-em-ups in the future.

GameLight Review - Call of Duty: Black Ops

Official Site: http://www.callofduty.com/blackops

Source: Youtube Channel CALLOFDUTY

Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC & Wii
Release Date: November 9, 2010.
Genre: First-Person Shooter

Pros:
-An intriguing story told in a different manner than most within the Call of Duty series
-Lots of customization in multiplayer that offers a lot to experiment with
-The ability to play 2-player cooperatively for zombies and for online play
-Item acquisition and levels are much easier to obtain

Cons:
-Lots of problems in both single player and multiplayer
-Single player lacked polish and were filled with flow breaking events
-Multiplayer suffers from lag, a limited number of maps, and numerous bugs
-Extra DLC cost $15 each adding up to $30 total (enough to buy another game)

The game is filled with bugs, questionable design choices, and frustrating gameplay in both single-player and multiplayer which eventually brings me back to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.  Despite these setbacks, Black Ops is still able to deliver a daring story and an exciting competitive multiplayer that has me coming back for more.  The addition of allowing a second player to join multiplayer online and co-op in zombies along with a currency system which simplified item acquisition made it much easier to overlook the tarnish in graphics and notable lag.  For those deciding whether to get Modern Warfare 2 or Black Ops in its current time, I'd say it's okay to buy and play both as there's enough difference to enjoy each one in its own right.

Graphics
Many people complained about the graphics, and I honestly don't think it's the most important aspect in a game.  I do think that certain design choices in graphics is incredibly important if it affects the gameplay though.  I noticed some of the problems players had with the graphics such as extremely pixelated shadows, some textures were blurred and archaic, and a lot of the models weren't as smooth as previous installments in the series.  My problem with the graphics were all the colors, shadowing, textures, and models were mostly dark, muddled and ambiguous.  This was something I didn't like about a lot of the older Medal of Honor games and some of the early Call of Duty games since it impeded on the ability to find your way around the environment, look for cover, or spotting enemies.  Thankfully, the entire game doesn't suffer from this problem (especially in multiplayer when it really matters).  The game is also horribly optimized as it can barely run at all on my computer at the lowest settings (which is why I got the PS3 version now)  The graphics are decent enough to make for an enjoyable experience though.  It's neither incredible nor is it horrendous.  I only hope that future Call of Duty games will have distinguishable models, cleaner textures, dynamics in contrast and color, and make it easier on the eyes when playing.  Graphics: 7/10

Audio
I know I have been spoiled by Medal of Honor's (2010) spectacular audio, but I will do my best to judge with unbiased views as possible.  The musical score wasn't too bad and they're recognizable, but they're not memorable.  I don't really expect First-Person Shooters to have music that I'd hum to anyways, so I don't judge too harshly on music for audio.  The voice acting was pretty incredible as it really brought the characters to life.  I was happy to see the return of Viktor Reznov from Call of Duty: World at War in which Gary Oldman returned to do the voice for once again.  The voice talents really brought the story together as the story is told through various flashbacks between the main character and the people he interacted with.  The guns weren't very impressive in sound and my friends and I joked a lot about getting shot by something that sound like pellet guns or party poppers; however, the recordings for each gun is distinctive.  Like many other FPS games, such as counter-strike, it can be used to a players advantage on how to counter the uses of each gun.  In fact, one of my favorite sounds is the "click" of a suppressed shotgun since it's something enemies can't hear!  Like the graphics, the audio was decent and was enough for the game to be enjoyable.  Audio: 7/10

Gameplay
I actually didn't like the story of the campaign at first since it was jarring and the flow of it was broken many times.  But near the end of the game, the story pulled through and made everything previous more important and have some sort of significance to the conclusion.  Part of the disconnected transitions in the story was due to the gameplay.  There were many events in the campaign that felt unnecessary and halted the flow of the game as the player would have to stop to play some sort of gimmicky side game.  The triggers in the game were pretty obvious too which often caused glitches, a break in the flow of the game, or just made the player feel out of place in the game.  There were times when the player couldn't continue unless they were at a certain spot, killed a certain enemy, or perform a certain task and was not told to.  Medal of Honor (2010) also had this problem and really affected the experience.  Multiplayer is much like many other FPS games and struggle through similar problems such as lag, spawning in front of enemies or having enemies spawn camp, and broken team balance where all the high points are on one side while all the low points are on the other.  There are of course some positive points to the multiplayer.  There a lots of combinations and customizations to work with, a 2nd player can join in, challenges can be taken like quests and give players a special objective to fulfill while playing each time, the currency system makes getting the weapons you want easier, and leveling isn't such a grind anymore (not that it really matters other than unlocking the ability to buy an item).  The maps feel very limited, and there doesn't seem to be any particular map I really liked.  Getting more maps means paying $15 for each map pack.  The decision to do such a thing was most likely the publisher and not the developers.  The modes are like the ones from previous games.  Deathmatch can be fun, but it can also be very frustrating.  Team-based modes such as capture points are usually one sided, but it can get pretty exciting when both teams do very well.  Players take a bit more hits than Modern Warfare 2 before dying, but it doesn't seem like it if you're going against players who know what they're doing and get single-shot kills off you.  As anger inducing as multiplayer is, I still go back to play it (especially with a friend over).  Gameplay: 8/10

Replay Value
The graphics in Black Ops isn't as nice as Medal of Honor, the team play isn't as encouraged as in MAG or Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and the gameplay isn't as unique as say Halo 3 (I can't say "Reach" since I haven't tried that one yet) or Crysis 2, but it has the aspects that keep players coming back for more.  The game is still much easier to pick up, learn and play than most FPS games which is more welcoming to players of all skill levels (and it shouldn't be of all ages since there's so many parents complaining about their kids playing these games).  The Prestige concept rewards players by taking a big risk of resetting to level 1 and working their way back up again.  It really tests the player's persistence, skill, and ability to progress.  The ability for a 2nd player to join in for online multiplayer is one of the big ones for me and for many others since friends who usually come over don't have to idly sit and watch or take turns handing the controller over and can instead join in and enjoy (or suffer) the game together.  There are times where I do have to take a break for the game since it's just too much playing constantly and wanting satisfaction because it's hard to get.  Call of Duty: Black Ops, despite many problems and tarnish from its predecessor, is still a ton of fun and can be played for a very long time.  Replay Value: 10/10

Overall
Even though I'm giving Black Ops a slightly lower score than Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Medal of Honor (2010), it's still the game that's more often played than the other two due to the fact that it's the only game I can play mutiplayer with when friends come over.  I do think that Black Ops is fun, but I think it could've been better (without charging players $30 for the extra content).  Singleplayer isn't something I'd like to play over again, but I really enjoyed the story.  Zombie mode is a fun distraction from multiplayer once in a while, but it's not something I'd play for long durations.  Multiplayer is still infuriating on many levels, but it can be very enjoyable at times (especially with a buddy).  Black Ops could have been better, but it's a solid game for any FPS gamer to play.  Overall: 8/10

GameLight - FPS Games of 2011

After playing 20+ First-Person Shooter (FPS) games in 2010, I guess it wasn’t too surprising when a few of the games I’m looking forward to in 2011 were shooters.  Yes, there are a lot of shooters, like there always have been in the past, that look the same but don’t play the same.  After having an extensive experience with a wide range of FPS games, I can see and respect the differences between them which makes it all the more difficult to choose between them all.  I’ve picked out three to highlight on today: Bulletstorm, Homefront, and Crysis 2.

Source: Youtube Channel GamerLiveTV

Bulletstorm – This game was announced quite a while ago and has caught my interest in its crazy, over the top, arcade feeling with the points and extreme methods of killing an enemy.  The game is bright and colorful as opposed to the military shooter where everything is dark, brown, and muddled.  Tactical shooters aren’t bad, but it’s nice to see that there can be variety among shooters within the industry (or genre).  I’ve tried out the demo and laughed at all the crazy combos the game allowed the player to do.  I was able to tether and enemy, pull them towards me, kick in the face, shoot them with an explosive, and have it collide with all his buddies in the back.  What I was hoping for was a local, two-player split-screen co-op campaign that I could play with my friend.  Games are lacking local multiplayer nowadays and it makes it hard to bring friends together to play some games at home.  Because of this, I’m not very sure if I’m going to get it full price at $60.  I might wait till it drops down to $40 or $30 before purchasing it since it’ll mainly be for the single player campaign.

Source: Youtube Channel TheEGBot

Homefront – I remember seeing the banner for this game along the halls of E3 2010’s convention but didn’t see any videos or game booths promoting for it.  When I got home to look at trailers for it, I was shocked at the premise of the story.  North Korea and South Korea unites and attacks America?  Not only is that politically thought provoking, but it’s also a very scary scenario seeing how North Korea has an unstable government as it is.  I’m not sure why, but I’m drawn towards the game and am very curious of how the game plays in both campaign and multiplayer.  After watching some more gameplay videos that were released, it doesn’t seem that far from other shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield Bad Company 2.  Does this game have anything special that separates it from the rest of the genre besides its story?  Multiplayer will support 16 v 16 maps from what I know so far and will take largely in urban areas.  I don’t think I want to buy it, but I definitely want to try it out once it has released.

Source: Youtube Channel eavision

Crysis 2 – The game looks amazing!  Truth to be told, I didn’t care about Crysis 2 until just a few days ago when I saw some videos of how the gameplay for multiplayer will look and how fluid all the actions and animations look.  The visuals are breathtaking, which brings me to the big question: should I even get this for PC or should I get it on PS3?  I don’t mind playing FPS on console, but there are times where I would like to play it on PC for that freedom using the mouse to whip around 180 degrees and such.  But the problem is that Crysis 2 will be a very demanding game for the graphics card and processor and I don’t think my laptop can handle that.  I had the same problem when choosing between PC and PS3 for Medal or Honor (I chose PS3 and am happy with that decision).  So in the videos I saw, the nanosuit augmentations play a large part in the strategy against other players and emphasizes the Sci-Fi part of the game rather than just be another shooter.  The sliding and fence hopping puts Brink in a very difficult position since those were the main features for their game.  Will people still buy Brink if Crysis 2 has all the functionalities of it?  I was actually really excited for Brink since their first trailer, but now I’m not very sure after comparing the gameplay videos between Crysis 2 and Brink.  Out of all the FPS announced so far, Crysis 2 is on top of the list for me (and is the absolute last one to really cross my mind until just a few days ago).  There’s only one thing I need to do first before it comes out…play through Crysis 1…

Here are the other FPS games coming out this year:

-Killzone 3 – I didn’t play the first two and I didn’t really like the controls after trying out the demo for Killzone 2.  Perhaps the 3^rd one will surprise me.

-Brink – I had a lot of hope for this one, but I’m not sure how it will play out anymore.

-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – I’m curious what Sledgehammer games have in store for the franchise, but it also worries me how the story will end (yes, I care very much about the story).

-Battlefield 3 – I didn’t play BF2 that much since I played it at a friend’s house, but it was a fun and interesting experience.  DICE isn’t showing much of BF3 yet, so I have no opinions of it.

-Rage – I saw this at E3 and I’m not particularly interested in the game from what I saw so far.

-XCOM – The ideas they have for the game sounds interesting so far, but I have nothing to compare it to since I never played the original XCOM games.

-Resistance 3 – I stopped caring about Resistance after I got through the 2^nd one.  The first one was fun and I played through it five times on all the difficulty levels and I played the PSP spin-off “Retribution” and thought it was an interesting experience (not necessarily as fun as the original, but a good story and solid gameplay).  Resistance 2 just disappointed me gameplay wise and story wise.  The multiplayer was fun for a short while, and then I got bored of it.

-Duke Nukem Forever – It’s sad because it seems more of a joke rather than excited enthusiasm for the announcement of this game getting a release.

-Serious Sam 3 – The game stops being as funny after a while.  I’m not sure what else they can really do with the series besides better graphics.

-Doom 4 – I never got into Doom that much.  Doom 3 got kind of boring after a while and I never finished it.  I really wanted to, but I didn’t feel like I made much progress.

-F.E.A.R. 3 - I haven’t played any of them, but I really should.  Despite it being a horror shooter, I heard the gameplay was decent and players had a lot of fun.

-Conduit 2 – I’ve been meaning to buy the first one, but not for its full price.  I would much rather buy the game at a lower price and play through the campaign than having the online multiplayer tied into it.  I don’t think there are really all that many “public” online players on Wii, only private games held by friends/communities.

That’s it for today, here’s hoping for some good shooters in 2011.

GameLight Review - NBA Jam (Wii)

GameLight Review – NBA Jam (November 3, 2010)
NBA Jam 2010
Electronic Arts (EA Sports)
Nintendo Wii  (Also available on PS3 and Xbox 360 on Nov. 15th)

Photo by Shu

BOOM SHAKALAKA!  I am not sure if I would enjoy this game as much as I did if it weren't for the voice of Tim Kitzrow and his hilarious commentary.  Aside from that detail, the game delivers a satisfying experience with each dunk, steal, and shove that the player performs by integrating modern art, technology, sound, and controls into the old school, arcade-like gameplay from the original Super Nintendo/Arcade Machine (depending on which one you played it on).  I'm normally not a huge sports game player, but NBA Jam is a definite exception among the many basketball videogames out in the market.

Source: IGNentertainment Channel on Youtube

Graphics

The overall game is done in a semi-real retro design to utilize the modern day technology we have now compared to the 16-bit days while still retaining the quirky and ridiculous nature of moving limbs, sprite animation, and arcade-like feel.  Players’ faces can be seen clearly now rather than an ambiguous muck of a face from the Super Nintendo/Arcade with limbs of shorter frame animation sequences.  What does this mean?  They look like freaking rag-dolls with faces playing basketball!  And I find that rather acceptable for the game.  Movements within the animation are fluid.  The background sprites add a touch to the overall theme, but it is not distracting.  If anything, I would have liked even more animations for dunks.  Graphics: 9/10

Audio

It took me by surprise, but there was music playing in the background during the gameplay.  At first, it was distracting.  I seldom find a sports game that plays music other than the Mario sports games from Nintendo.  But after a short while, I enjoyed the music very much and my friend and I started humming to it while we were playing.  One of the concerns that I, and possibly many other NBA Jam fans from the SNES days, had was whether the game became more realistic in this reiteration of the classic.  Was the slam going to sound exaggerated or just a regular dunk?  Were players going to just fall over when getting shoved or have a weird grunt when being man handled?  Thankfully, the game sounded and felt like the classic with upgrades to the quality.  Even greater with Tim Kitzrow, once again, gracing the commentary with his charismatic voice.  I would have to agree with my friend who played the game with me when he said that the “sound and feeling of a dunk and shove was very satisfying.” Audio: 9/10

Gameplay

Sports games are difficult to get “non-sport fan” friends to play since they may feel intimidated by all the rules of a sport, learning all the buttons, and figuring out all the techniques.  NBA Jam is easy to pick up and play!  And it has one factor that realistic basketball games don’t allow that makes it even more fun: SHOVING!  While allowing your friend to constantly shove people around in NBA Jam, they get the chance to learn the rest of the controls and play on par without long explanations about the rules and techniques.  What made the experience more enjoyable was the use of the wiimote and nunchuck.  The game utilizes the motion sensor to allow players to swing up to either jump up for a block, dunk, jump shot, or alley hoop and a swing down to release the ball or slam it in.  It makes good use of the controls for the wii and felt more natural than trying to use buttons to jump and slam (there is an option to use the classic controller or wiimote without the nunchuck).  The game can still be strategically played and challenging when using all the moves correctly, so it isn’t just ridiculous arcade dunking.  It does bug me that there is a delay in steals like the old one did.  Even for those who plan on buying the PS3 and Xbox 360 version, it’s still worth trying the wii version out.  Gameplay: 8/10

Difficulty

The difficulty of the game must be pointed out.  EA did a good job on the computer AI…too good.  If it is the first time for someone to play NBA Jam, more than likely they’re going to get a bit frustrated with how well the computer AI plays and how cohesive their team work is.  They’re like crazy machines that read your mind and laughs at your face with each shove and dunk they slam into you.  For me, it wasn’t until I got used to the movements and patterns of the AI that I began to do the shoving and dunking.  The computer AI will seemingly move faster to pick up a stolen ball and act impenetrable to all grabs and pushes when holding the ball when playing on harder difficulties (or when the player is leading).  I have to play on easy in order to enjoy the game, and it’s still challenging!  What is more frustrating than the main game mode is the special mode which has specific rules such as the domination mode.  The computer will know exactly what to do one step ahead of the player, even at easy.  Unless the player is super hardcore about the game and wants the challenge, this may be a turn off for many regular gamers.  Difficulty: 7/10

Replay Value

This is debatable and is also determined by the type of gamer the player is.  If the gamer is a solo player and NOT a hardcore, this game can get old fast.  But if the player always has friends over to play, this game could last quite a while.  Playing against the computer can only do so much for NBA Jam.  It’s similar to how fighting games are in how computer AI will play a certain way which players can find predictable and use a specific method to beat them.  Or the computer can be so difficult that there doesn’t seem to be any point in playing anymore.  NBA Jam is already challenging enough, so playing the harder difficulty levels will not contribute to the replay value as much.  Playing with your friends and other human players bring a dynamic to the game because everyone plays differently and so you have to adjust to their play style in order to win.  Aside the actual game mode, NBA Jam is filled with a lot of unlockable content.  There are numerous amounts of cheat codes, secret characters, and legendary teams that can be obtained by playing through all the types of modes in the game.  Replay Value: 8/10

Overall

This game is worth getting.  Even if it’s not the most desired game on your want list, get it during a sale or price drop as it will provide hours of entertainment and satisfactory experience.  I actually bought the game on a whim when I received a $5 off coupon for Gamestop to celebrate 25 years of Super Mario Bros.  I was actually looking for Sin and Punishment that day, but bought the game and realized that I didn’t get gamestop points on my power up card (I forgot), AND I was given a cracked box:

Photo by Shu

Despite those small mishaps, I am satisfied with my purchase and look forward to unlocking everything I can in the game (unless it requires playing anything beyond hard difficulty, because that’s just nuts!)

Graphics: 9/10

Audio: 9/10

Gameplay: 8/10

Difficulty: 7/10

Replay Value: 8/10

Overall: 8.5/10