I remember fondly sitting in my friend's basement, the two of us playing Soul Calibur II like mental patients. For months, we'd stare at the TV and pass the controller around like a cheap date, stuck in an endless phase of combat. The petty arguments that would arise over last minute ring outs, the deep connection we'd feel with our favorite characters, and that moment of glory when we had finally beat every level of weapon master mode. Over time our interest in the game faded as we moved on to newer games and, eventually, Soul Calibur II became a five dollar trade-in at Gamestop. Every time a new entry in the series is released I rush out to buy it and hope it rekindles my thirst for souls, but it's always a tragic disappointment.
Soul Calibur 5 is no exception to this.
It's not that the newest entry in the series can't stack up by itself; this is an enjoyable game in its own right. On a technical level, the controls have become tighter, the graphics are sharper, and new characters have mixed styles well with classic fighters. Sadly, the je nes sais quoi that made Soul Calibur II so deep and compelling might just be gone forever.
Since I moved to San Francisco in 2009 I've wound up working in two different bars for part-time work: Chaps II (now called Kok) where I was security and eventually a barback, and then Beatbox where I do security and occasionally coat check. It's decent work, but at both locations I watched the bartenders with a small degree of envy. They have the fun job where they get to talk to the customers, earn major tips, and engage in the modern alchemy of mixology when people aren't being "ironic" and ordering PBR. Sorry, but no amount of trendiness is worth subjecting your tastebuds to that stuff. *gag*
Though bartenders at both locations have let me experiment a little bit with the booze to mixed results - an International Incident was pretty tasty; Bull Sweat about broke my bartender when he tried it - I have pretty much zero experience, so the position is presently beyond me. Well, what are video games for if not allowing you to live vicariously through the lives of someone else? Enter Nimble Strong - Bartender In Training.
When we last checked in with Gorg, he was planning his brazen onslaught against the people of Earth.
The cities of man would be laid to waste, entire civilizations would be blown into red mist, and the monuments that once came to symbolize humanity's greatest achievements, would forever more serve as so many headstones - a somber memorial to a once-proud race. Gaia: Mother, provider, and if Gorg were to have anything to say about it, our tomb.
Now that the dust has settled, and Gorg's myriad misdeeds have been captured in video game form, the question remains: Is this a lovely romp through the digitized cosmos, or is Unstoppable Gorg the shame of Futuremark Studios's Finnish motherland?
The answer, as well as some fresh screenshots, awaits after the jump!
Hey there, gaymers, got a new video review for y'all. Since I got such good feedback from the one I did on Bastion - including from Logan Cunningham, aka Rucks himself on Twitter! - I thought I'd put my vid cap device to use and make another one. This time it's a big one: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword!
DC Comics recently collected the six-issue InFAMOUS limited series into a trade paperback, and it turns out it's a good read that nicely bridges the gap between InFAMOUS and InFAMOUS 2.
Written by William Harms, who also penned the script to the PlayStation 3 best-seller, the Infamous comic begins with Cole MacGrath dealing with the aftermath of the events of the first title in the series and as he tries to avoid capture by FBI Agent Moya Jones, keep the First Suns in check, and keep the city itself from being blown off the map, it leads nicely into setup for the second game. The art by Eric Nguyen is dynamic, and nicely replicates the rough, shadowy comic-style cutscenes from the game. It veers a little away from that style in later issues, but not so drastically that it's distracting. So between the words and the pictures, the comic does a really good job of recreating the feel of the game.
In InFAMOUS, it was up to the player to choose whether Cole would take the path of good or evil as he learned to use his powers, but obviously the comic can't do the same. But while comic Cole has clearly become a hero, he's still pretty dark, just like in the game. The basic storyline is entertaining enough, but what I really appreciated was the way the comic delves into the effects that the situation in Empire City has had on the general populace, something the game couldn't really do. The citizens in the comic series have much more impact than the random NPCs wandering around the game world getting themselves killed.
InFAMOUS is available now from DC Comics for $17.99 US and $19.99 Canadian.
Traveler's Tales has made quite the franchise out of the LEGO series of games, letting you play as tiny little toy versions of Batman, Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker. But how does the recently-released LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 measure up to the others? Well, that's what I'm here to find out.
Okay, technically I've already found out because I've already played the game. So really, I'm here to let you know!
They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but what about videogames? When Namco Bandai sent me a copy of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy for the Nintendo 3DS, I took one look at the cover art and shuddered. The title treatment was bland and faded into the art, which wasn't exactly eye-catching itself. So it was with great trepidation that I popped the cartridge into my 3DS and began to play.
So did this turn out to be a game as bad as its cover? Or another case of a good game being saddled with crappy packaging?
It feels odd to write that title as it seems as though Minecraft has been out for...well, for forever. But as it's progressed over the past couple of years, the game has really been moving through Alpha and Beta revisions - and the progression of the game in that time has been enormous.
Until now. Minecraft is finally, definitively upon us. Mojang has released 1.0, and from now on updates will be just that: Updates. Fun add-ons and bug patches. No more revising the core mechanics of the game. In a very real sense, it's all here now.
Certainly, without the fervour and riches piled upon Mojang since the game went public, it may never have reached the point it has today. In more ways than one, Minecraft has blown open more space for indie games to make it big, and without a doubt, Minecraft is a must-play for lovers of video games the world around.
Burger Time was always a favorite of mine from the glory days of the 80s arcade games. I'm not sure why, because platformers were never my genre of choice. (Heck, I even had a portable LCD Burger Time game I remember playing all the time on the school bus!) But then again, there wasn't any jumping around in it. You simply ran around a bunch of levels running across burger ingredients to make them fall one piece at a time until you'd completed the sandwich. All the while peppering the renegade foodstuffs that were trying to keep you from completing your goal. There was just something silly and fun about the concept that appealed to me, I guess.
Now, MonkeyPaw Games has released Burger Time: World Tour onto the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 via Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Network. So how does this updating compare? Is it still fun?
Tomorrow marks the re-release for yet another of Capcom's fighting games. I know what you're thinking, why would anyone want to re-purchase a game they thought they had already paid for? A valid question and an astute observation at that.
I remember when Super Street Fighter II hit stores and the confusion I felt when I learned that my Street Fighter II Turbo cart had become obsolete. Wasn't the latter cart supposed to be the definitive edition? True, SSF II was an improved version of the game with new content, but my twelve year old brain could not understand why that content was not included in the original. Twice.
On the flip side, SF II was so good that my mind was almost equally blown with the possibility of more of this awesome game. This was enough to sway me to make the new purchase and ended up being worth it in the end.
Today, at 32 I was again faced with the same question. To buy or not to buy? This time with Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and the vs. series. Capcom didn't disappoint me when I was 12 so I was willing to take that gamble again and I am very glad that I did.
The anticipation leading up to the release of Battlefield 3 has been steep. Since Battlefield 2 debuted in 2005 there have been eight Battlefield branded titles released, not one of them was Battlefield 3. Now in 2011, the series that raised the bar with 64 man battles is in its third official edition and the message is clear: Don't fix what isn't broken...lately
When Nintendo first released Professor Layton and the Curious Village on the DS, I thought it was terrific, but would never have expected that years later, it would have turned into a hit series that is now on its fourth US installment.
Professor Layton and the Last Specter is actually a prequel, going all the way back to when the professor was just starting out and had a totally different assistant. In fact, during this game, he actually meets Luke Triton for the first time. But how does this game stand up against the others?
• Rosa on First FF XIII-2 DLC Is Out!: This DLC isn't half as quick as everyone is accusing it as being. Japanese game, remember. It's actually about two...
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