Topic: Rate The Last Game You Played

[Ceric]

Did you play with the WII remote or the Bongo's?  I've been looking for the bongo's myself.

I'm in the process of getting Bongo's.  I've been playing through it with the GCN controller, its the GCN version(Got it and Donkey Konga 1 & 2 from about $15.)  The swimming issues I can't see being fixed with Bongos.  How do you tell it that Yes I definitely want to go down with this taps.

[Dasmos]

I just got to the credits on Donkey  Kong: Jungle Beats and let me say this game should be a solid 9 but I give it a 7.  Mostly due to controls.  Every water level I felt I was fighting the controls more than playing the level.  Which would have made this just an 8 but, then the developers in their infinite wisdom made a level where I had to race 4 Turtles in water
  What got me was not that the turtles where that fast but, more that I couldn't get DK to go up and down like I needed him to.  Also whoever bright Idea was it to make the birds disappear after touching anything should be taken out back and flogged. Besides water levels and anything to do with those birds I think the game is very enjoyable and polished.  Its a fun game and I especially enjoy the bull things level.  This game ironically really reminds me of Sonic 2. It has that type of pacing and feel but, as I said the developers insisted on those birds and the water way to much and that's mainly why it get a 7.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is my favourite game of all-time and I still beat-off reguarly to this day. I wouldn't change a thing. The controls are perfect, two buttons and a microphone is all you need. The level design is perfect as well, and many are designed so that they can be combo'd all the ay through. This is why the birds are the way they are, they're not supposed to pander to the "casual" audience. You make a mistake, you pay the consequences and lose your beats.

The water levels are great too, I don't know what you're crying about unless you're playing the New Play Control version in which, you deserve to have shitty controls by playing the game in a way that wasn't originally intetended.

Did you play with the WII remote or the Bongo's?  I've been looking for the bongo's myself.

I'm in the process of getting Bongo's.  I've been playing through it with the GCN controller, its the GCN version(Got it and Donkey Konga 1 & 2 from about $15.)  The swimming issues I can't see being fixed with Bongos.  How do you tell it that Yes I definitely want to go down with this taps.

o. m. g. just read this after original post.

you don't have the npc version and you're not using the bongo's in the gc one? yeah, there's you're problem right away, you have chose the absolute worst control scheme available in the game. also god knows why you'd buy the donkey kongas without bongo's as well, you're severely limiting your experience.

[broodwars]

I just finished the Killzone 3 Single-player campaign, and I have to say that that is probably the best FPS Single-player campaign I've played since probably Bioshock 2 last year (though BulletStorm's and GoldenEye's was good as well).  Where the Killzone 2 levels felt small and claustrophobic with an emphasis on trench warfare, Killzone 3 opens up the arenas to allow you much more freedom of movement to tackle areas as you like.  The control in the last Killzone was rather loose as well, leading to scenarios where I couldn't get and keep a bead on Helghast soldiers.  By comparison, Killzone 3's controls feel substantially tighter (it helps that the SixAxis motion control blessedly no longer has any influence upon your aim), especially now that cover has been set to a Toggle so you no longer have to hold the Cover button, as well as allowing you now to aim down your sights while within cover.  And Melee combat is so much more visceral and entertaining with the Brutal Melees, though there could have been more types of them.

I can't emphasize enough how welcome the addition of color and environmental variety is in this game, considering Killzone 2's stages were almost entirely set in either war-torn trenches or heavy industrial buildings.  And the campaign does an excellent job of changing up the experience, with the game quite frequently switching game scenarios and offering new, more powerful weapons.  This game seems especially fond of rail-shooting, which only stands out as silly in the final stage of the game where the game decides to be an on-rails Wing Commander.  This has been mentioned a lot in reviews, but the stealth level through a Helghan jungle (though how there's a jungle on seemingly barren Helghan is anyone's guess) halfway through the campaign is especially well-done.

Speaking of the weapons, though, all feel very responsive and useful (except for, oddly enough, the much-hyped Jet Pack, which makes you a huge target for not really anything worthwhile in exchange) and Guerilla Games did something that really enhanced my enjoyment: they constantly throw power weapons at the player, which you can carry around and refill ammo for quite frequently along with your standard pistol and assault rifle.  While this essentially throws any idea of game balance out the window, it does mean for once I can just sit back and enjoy that this is a game meant to be fun as I run around the environments as the Harbinger of Death wielding a Chain gun I just ripped off a turret.   ;D

The best thing I can say about the story is that I was invested in it, but not surprised.  As was the case with its predecessor, I was much more interested in the internal politics of the Helghast than my motley band of I.S.A. troopers, though the "trapped behind enemies lines and totally screwed" angle of their story worked too.   The story pretty much hit all the notes I expected, but I came away entertained (especially with Malcolm McDowell's typical performance as an evil businessman with grandiose ambitions).  I could have definitely used more levels in the SP campaign (and would enjoy DLC to that effect, though it won't happen), but I'm satisfied with the experience provided.

Overall, Killzone 3 is an awesome game and I haven't even played the multiplayer yet.  If you have a PS3 and like FPS games, definitely check it out.  It's probably the best game of its genre (excluding the Bioshock games) on the platform.  My only real problems with it are the total crap-shoot over whether an AI teammate will heal you or not when you go down (I've seen AI partners standing right next to me let me die), as well as the fact that your character never crouches low enough behind cover for it to truly be cover much of the time.

[Ceric]

I just got to the credits on Donkey  Kong: Jungle Beats and let me say this game should be a solid 9 but I give it a 7.  Mostly due to controls.  Every water level I felt I was fighting the controls more than playing the level.  Which would have made this just an 8 but, then the developers in their infinite wisdom made a level where I had to race 4 Turtles in water
  What got me was not that the turtles where that fast but, more that I couldn't get DK to go up and down like I needed him to.  Also whoever bright Idea was it to make the birds disappear after touching anything should be taken out back and flogged. Besides water levels and anything to do with those birds I think the game is very enjoyable and polished.  Its a fun game and I especially enjoy the bull things level.  This game ironically really reminds me of Sonic 2. It has that type of pacing and feel but, as I said the developers insisted on those birds and the water way to much and that's mainly why it get a 7.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is my favourite game of all-time and I still beat-off reguarly to this day. I wouldn't change a thing. The controls are perfect, two buttons and a microphone is all you need. The level design is perfect as well, and many are designed so that they can be combo'd all the ay through. This is why the birds are the way they are, they're not supposed to pander to the "casual" audience. You make a mistake, you pay the consequences and lose your beats.

The water levels are great too, I don't know what you're crying about unless you're playing the New Play Control version in which, you deserve to have shitty controls by playing the game in a way that wasn't originally intetended.

Did you play with the WII remote or the Bongo's?  I've been looking for the bongo's myself.

I'm in the process of getting Bongo's.  I've been playing through it with the GCN controller, its the GCN version(Got it and Donkey Konga 1 & 2 from about $15.)  The swimming issues I can't see being fixed with Bongos.  How do you tell it that Yes I definitely want to go down with this taps.

o. m. g. just read this after original post.

you don't have the npc version and you're not using the bongo's in the gc one? yeah, there's you're problem right away, you have chose the absolute worst control scheme available in the game. also god knows why you'd buy the donkey kongas without bongo's as well, you're severely limiting your experience.

Ok, How do the Bongo's make going up and down easier in the water levels?  I can see how the birds be easier (but still 1 hit from anything and their gone.   I would be totally fine if it items that could hurt me that makes sense but slightly brushing the wall come on.)
Does the Bongo magically have a third pad I could use to flip between going up and down?

[Dasmos]

To tell you the truth man, I never had the slightest trouble with the swimming sections, so I'm not sure what you're specifically having trouble with. Your problem may be helped by using bongo's or it might be the way you're playing, I don't know...

[Ceric]

To tell you the truth man, I never had the slightest trouble with the swimming sections, so I'm not sure what you're specifically having trouble with. Your problem may be helped by using bongo's or it might be the way you're playing, I don't know...

I get in a situation where I need DK to go down or up and he does the opposite.  So I'm motoring along and I'm about to run into a shocking jelly and I need to go up but I can't convince him to go up or I need to go down to get something but he is sure I want to go up.  Its annoying but not overly so in the regular water level.  When I got to the Turtle Race one... It made it nearly impossible.

[broodwars]

So, in the midst of the annual E3 nonsense (this has to be one of the more underwhelming shows in years), I've managed to play through and complete Infamous 2 on the Good path.  Overall, it's...more or less the first Infamous again, but with more polish and some much-needed gameplay tweaks that add both speed and power to the game.  The new city of New Marais is both more interesting and much better rendered than the first game's Empire City, and character animation and in-game cutscenes are loads better (they're not using the Sly Cooper-style twitchy character animation anymore) and more epic in scope.  The story is much better told than in the first game, and while moral choices remain obvious and binary they don't descend into the level of "I could help this guy out, or I could shoot this box of puppies!" silliness that the first game did.  Melee combat is so much better now than in the first game, as well, with a simple combo system.  And really, if you aren't smacking the scum of New Marais around with the Sly Cooper cane (forget that silly tuning fork the game wants you to use), you're playing the game wrong.   ;)

While most abilities are taken away at the beginning of the game, you retain many of your important ones from the first game (notably power line grinding and the Static Thrusters) so you start off the game actually feeling empowered and mobile (both of these were abilities granted late in the first Infamous, and radically change how you play the game).  And as opposed to the first game's consistent grind, Infamous 2 starts throwing new powers at the player fairly quickly, and to my delight the game does NOT fall into the same trap that Prototype did and dish out too many.  At least on the Good path, each core ability has several alternate versions you can swap between as you like, so it's more picking the flavor of your attacks than picking whole new ones.  For instance, do you want Sticky Grenades or Ice Grenades?  Do you want to be able to shoot your lightning blasts at exceptionally long range, or do you want more of a machine gun-like rapid fire?  Speaking of the new elemental powers, though, I'm a little underwhelmed by at least the Ice powers of the Good path.  They're not as useful as your electrical powers, and in the second half of the game you face enemies who use the same abilities so they're even less useful.  Being able to buy a radar ability to track down blast shards from the other side of the map, though, is so useful I'm annoyed you have to wait until the end of the game to get it.

Probably my biggest complaint about the game (besides some annoying crash and camera bugs, one of which popped in up in the final boss fight, forcing me to die to reset the camera), is that while the enemies in this game don't have the godly sniping ability of those in the first game (who could kill you from a rooftop a mile away before you could even see them), they are still rather annoying to kill.  As the game goes on, larger and more powerful enemies are added to a mix in even common fights and while it makes combat consistently chaotic, it also can make it a royal chore to get through large-scale mob battles if you don't have any of your godly ionic powers handy.  I also have to complain about the sound design a bit: while the music is very good and adds a nice cinematic atmosphere when it's playing, it is also completely absent at the oddest times.  Just wandering around the city with nothing playing in the background is very strange.

Overall, I view Infamous 2 the same way I viewed something like the Assassin's Creed sequels: it's much more polished than its predecessor; its systems are much better integrated; and it's much more fun, but ultimately it's the same game.  It feels like with at least the Good path that Sucker Punch may intend this to be the last game in the franchise, and if so the franchise goes out on a high note.  Very much recommended.

[Halbred]

Hmph. See, I never finished Infamous because I got sick of the movement not being as nice as Prototype and the combat was pretty terrible IMO. I also didn't like the stark B&W moral choices that actually gave you a freaking on-screen CHOICE. It was just so blatant, and I'm sick of games playing with "morality" but not really. I don't think I'll be into Infamous 2, but maybe I'll try the demo and see what I think of it.

[broodwars]

Hmph. See, I never finished Infamous because I got sick of the movement not being as nice as Prototype and the combat was pretty terrible IMO. I also didn't like the stark B&W moral choices that actually gave you a freaking on-screen CHOICE. It was just so blatant, and I'm sick of games playing with "morality" but not really. I don't think I'll be into Infamous 2, but maybe I'll try the demo and see what I think of it.

Meh, to be honest the demo's kind of terrible and takes place during quests right at the beginning of the game when you don't have many (if any) new abilities.  I don't think there's even any music in it, which was the first thing I noticed booting it up.

As for movement, having the Static Thrusters and Electric Grind abilities from the start of Infamous 2 definitely speeds up your movement tremendously, and late in the game you get another upgrade for the static thrusters (which I think actually is in the demo) that allows you to fly much faster and gives you a little upward movement as well.  It also helps that there are now little vertical grind rails on buildings that shoot you halfway up the building when you grab them, so that definitely speeds things up a well.  It also may just be me, but I think Cole actually runs a little faster now by default, but that could just be a smoother framerate or whatnot tripping me up.  You still can't move anywhere near the insane speeds that Alex Mercer can in Prototype, but it's definitely better than in the first Infamous, which took too long to give you mobility upgrades.  The combat's pretty much the same as the first Infamous, but you do have more options in combat (such as melee actually being worth a damn now) and the enemies aren't quite as annoying since they don't snipe you from the other side of town anymore.

As for the morality choices, they're still black & white but are better handled in Infamous 2.  The game doesn't do that whole sequence anymore every moral choice where the character inner-monologues about making it.  With few exceptions, it's pretty much "do I go there and do this or do I go there and do that?"  If it helps, the game does try to present a much more compelling argument why you would make the more destructive/evil choices, and they're championed by a reasonably sympathetic character.  I didn't choose to side with her in all but one quest because I was on the "Good" path, but there are definitely some fun-sounding missions on her path.

[ymeegod]

I'm going try Infamous 2 later but I was wondering did you try any of the UGC levels?  I'm going hold back until later this year to see what the users come up with, if it's similar to Little Big Planet or ModMation then the best missions are still to come.

[broodwars]

I'm going try Infamous 2 later but I was wondering did you try any of the UGC levels?  I'm going hold back until later this year to see what the users come up with, if it's similar to Little Big Planet or ModMation then the best missions are still to come.

Yeah, I tried a handful of UGC missions.  Bear in mind that this was only the day after the game launched so the community really hadn't had a chance to play with the tools yet, but I was pretty unimpressed by the levels available at that time.  It's a good way to get XP, though.

[broodwars]

I started this game before I left on my big week-long roadtrip, but I finally managed to force myself to finish the SOCOM 4 Singleplayer campaign.  Honestly, there's not a whole lot I can say about this game except that it's textbook "blah", "bland", and "mediocre".  It commits the unforgiveable video game sin of being unbelieveably boring.  This game feels like the developers at Zipper were just trying to throw a game out there with the least amount of effort, and it definitely shows.  The shooting is pretty standard and the squad commands only kind of work: your teammates don't see to understand that when I point at cover, that means I want them to take cover behind it.  Instead, one takes cover behind it and another stands either in front of it or to the side.  Sometimes, they just ignore your orders altogether.  The story is boring and nebulous, and any attempts at actual drama come laughably forced because there isn't a single reason to care about any character in the game except maybe Lt. Park ("Fourty-Five").  At least the voice-acting isn't terribly mediocre: it's downright horrible, and I spent most of the game trying not to laugh at it.

This was my first SOCOM game, and Zipper has ensured that it will be my last as well.  It's not a bad game, but it's so painfully mediocre and dull that I wouldn't recommend anyone play it under any circumstances.

[broodwars]

Nice, I'm on a roll lately knocking stuff out of my backlog!  Well, 2 months and one week-long roadtrip from hell later, I've finally finished my first PSP game: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep.  Overall, it's...uneven, and really only 1 of the 3 stories is all that interesting, but it does get this wayward series back on track.  Terra's story is predictable and lame, and Aqua's is almost completely pointless until the very end of the game (though her story is somewhat redeemed by the Final Episode unlocked by completing all 3 stories and getting all the Xehanort reports).  Both of these characters also pretty much require an obscene amount of grinding due to either extremely slow speed (Terra) or being as fragile as glass (Aqua).  Ventus' story, though, is quite good (and mercifully free of a lot of Kingdom Hearts series cliches) and his playing style pretty much matches Sora's from Kingdom Hearts 2, so I do highly recommend his.  The production values are pretty good for a PSP game, as the worlds look and sound as good as those in the first 2 Kingdom Hearts games, though the worlds are a fair bit smaller and the music loops way too much.  We actually get mostly new worlds this time (Hercules' world and Radiant Garden are the only returning worlds), though the stories of the new worlds aren't terribly well-done and Disney Town is the new KH World I hate the most. The battle system is excellent, though, and I hope we see it again sometime.

As for the story as a whole, it does what Square-Enix set out for it to do: justify story-wise that Kingdom Hearts 3 is a game that actually needs to be made.  When I finished Kingdom Hearts 2, I was ready to be done with Sora but after watching the Bonus Epilogue/KH3 teaser in Birth By Sleep, I can acknowledge that there's still an interesting story to be told using him.  I'm now pretty eagerly awaiting Kingdom Hearts 3, hopefully on PS3/360/(Wii U?) provided Square-Enix ever decides to actually make it.

[ymeegod]

Yeah, wasn't to keen on Birth by Sleep either, good for the combat but that's about it.   Did you play the DS game, KH 358/2 days?  Storywise that's the better of the two.

And now you get to move on to VC2 :).  I was the poor soul crying during e3 when Sega didn't announce the NA release for VC3 for the PSP. 

[broodwars]

Yeah, wasn't to keen on Birth by Sleep either, good for the combat but that's about it.   Did you play the DS game, KH 358/2 days?  Storywise that's the better of the two.

And now you get to move on to VC2 :) .  I was the poor soul crying during e3 when Sega didn't announce the NA release for VC3 for the PSP.

The thing is, I had a lot of fun with Birth By Sleep.  I'm just annoyed that:

1.  They chose to split the story up to make you run through it 3 times when only ONE of the stories was actually any good.

and

2.  That despite the entire game seemingly existing to give background information and setup we're going to need for Kingdom Hearts 3, we're still not going to get Kingdom Hearts 3 now.  Instead, it's going to be Birth By Sleep 2.  That reminds me, I'm really getting sick and tired of Square-Enix continually making these Final Mixes for every single Kingdom Hearts title, putting important new information in them, and then making them Japan-only while basing all future continuity on them.  What.  The.  Hell?!  And no, I haven't played either of the DS games.  I'd long since sold off my DS by the time those two games released, and the reviews on both haven't been very kind.

Yeah, Valkyria Chronicles 2 is on the docket, but it's not the next game on my PSP list.  That belongs to my other UMD title: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth.  ;)   But before all that, I'm currently working on the original American McGee's Alice and its sequel Alice: Madness Returns.  Let's just say that the first Alice doesn't live up to my nostalgia and really shows how far Action-Platformers have come since the year 2000.  I don't know how I managed to play this game on my PC back in the day.

[broodwars]

Well, I've finished up both American McGee's Alice and Alice: Madness Returns...somehow.  OK, let's get the crappy one out of the way first: the original Alice is a terrible game by modern standards.  The combat is poor (though the weapons are nice), the platforming is quite possibly the worst I've ever seen in any game with incredibly floaty jumping and an unfriendly camera (the closest game it reminds me of is Castlevania 64), and the level designs are drab and uninspired.  There's also one completely unfair boss fight that can easily annihilate the player within a few seconds.  The controls work surprisingly well in general, considering this is a PC port, with the exception of firearms control.  There's one major weapon in the game that has to be charged, but the main fire button is Square (PS3)/X (360).  Trying to use it while moving your character on the left stick and aiming with the right stick requires hand contortions so uncomfortable that I just rarely used the weapon.  Along with numerous technical hitches (and several crashes), this port also has quite possibly the worst save system I've ever seen, something I blame on being a quick and dirty port of a Quick Save/Instant Kill-happy PC game.  Where the game (and its sequel) really shines is in the dark and twisted atmosphere, story, and characters.  But more on that with its sequel...

Alice: Madness Returns is a game I never thought I'd see made, considering the license has been dormant for so long and the story appeared wrapped-up in the original game.  But I am delighted that we got a sequel, and it's just as dark and twisted as its predecessor, just in glorious HD.  Unlike its "Proof of Concept" predecessor, Madness Returns is actually a good game and a much more polished one at that.  The overall flow of the game is more or less the same as the original game, playing very similarly to an N64-era Rare platformer: do a sequence of complicated platform-hopping, flip some switches, grab some collectables, fight some enemies, wash, rinse, repeat.  The combat is very satisfying now (and rather hard at times) with a lock-on mechanic and 4 weapons with a focus on melee combat and split-second dodging; the platforming is substantially improved with the ability to glide through the air and performing 3 jumps in the air.  I never saw a framerate dip, and the game looks gorgeous most of the time. 

As for the story, this game seems strongly influenced by Silent Hill, with the game flitting between Real World London and an increasingly distorted Wonderland as Alice struggles to regain her sanity.  The brief sections in the "real world" don't work as well as the designers probably hoped since you can't really do anything in them except run through corridors, but it was a nice attempt and occasionally works well.  The story has a few nice twists to it, and I'm satisfied with how it resolved despite some issues with how the final villain is brought into the story.  There is a definite emphasis on psychology and how Alice uses her Wonderland to work through mental problems in her real life, and it's much appreciated.

Where Madness Returns falters is in its pacing and some technical issues.  This game has 5 real levels (the 6th is the final boss), and the game is roughly 15 or so hours long if you're exploring and looking for collectibles.  Do the math, and you can see that these stages are ridiculously long, and despite some genuinely inspired environmental concepts several wear out their welcome long before you reach the end of the stage.  Getting through one of these chapters is very draining, and while there are some diversions along the way (my favorite being some 2D platforming sections based on Japanese scroll art), repetition is easily the game's worst enemy.  The game also tries to supplement the story a bit with "memory" collectables that serve as one or two sentence audio logs from members of the supporting cast, but these tend to be very random and come off as fairly pointless.  I'm also not altogether sure what actually happens in the "real world" in this game, as the game seems to be deliberately vague about it.  I also ran into several major and minor bugs, the most common of which is textures failing to load quickly enough towards the end of the game (apparently, this is a much more major issue on 360).

Overall, Madness Returns is a very flawed game that's only going to appeal to very accepting players.  I love what it does because we haven't really gotten an exploration-heavy action platformer since the Rare games on the N64, but there is no denying that this game has a definite formula and it unwaveringly sticks to it for roughly 15 hours.  If you can get past that, though, this is a cool game.

[ymeegod]

Yeah, was kinda looking forward to the Alice's return but from other reviews it sounds like a skip.   Had fond memories of first one though I played it on the PC which if I recall correctly had an quick/save option. 

Just finished a few games off my list as well; first my thoughts about Tactics Orge Let Us Cling Together PSP.  To start off this is an port/remake from an SNES title and it's the was successful in Japan so much that Square copied it's forumla in the better known US title Final Fantasy Tactics.

The story for me was a bit disappointing because I never felt anything for any of the characters.  The dialog between characters is thin even for major characters and you really don't get much of an feel for some of these additional characters that you can gain thoughout the game.  Both FFT and Fire Emblem series had alot more dialog which gave you a better feel for members in your party.

Gameplay suffers from poor level design and poor AI.  For level design I'm talking about it's just about the same setup each and every time minus maybe one or two differences.  Just about all of them gave the enemy the height advantage (meaning you're always at an disadvantage with range weapons).  As for the braindead AI--it does the reverse of the FireEmblem series--I would say it was suicidal.  The boss (AI) would charge straight at you while his alllies are failing back?  Makes alot of missions/maps that freaking easy because all you had to do was gang up on him.  Guest AI had the same issue.  Some maps had quests in your party or on the map and they were all pre-programmed to annoy me the most.  Had to restart the same map three or four times simply because the guest AI was killed :(  nothing you could do because he started out in the middle of the map and ran straight at the enemy AI.

Overall Tactics Orge was an great game for it's time but you really can't go back in time.  It doesn't hold up all that well and there's better games out there now so I give it an:

6/10

Also finished up Dead Rising 2 (Xbox 360).  I never really did play the first one so I don't have that game to compare to but here's my take of on the second one:

To start while my biggest gripe about the game--the WATCH--yes, you are on the clock.  I hate--and I mean Hate--games that have these built in clocks that you have to follow.  I like to look around and experiment with the enviroment and whatever else I see fit but NOO this game throws the clock right in your face.  Didn't see an option to turn if off maybe they fixed it in a patch.

Also the game has one glaring other flaw.  Backtracking.  You save these people but then you hold their hands back to an safe house.  True you don't have to do this but you won't gain exp fast that way.   I bet I ran the same damn hallway over 100+ times which got old after the first 50 times.  They could have easily fix this by having multiple safe houses in the mall.

The other flaws were a bit minor, it uses an crappy save system, save points that are mostly out of your way which doesn't help because if you losing time getting to them. 

Still the game it fun, loved all those sick-twisted mini-bosses and all the weapons and combining them into all kinds of crazy but sadly the damn timer sticks it's ugly head instead of having fun mushing zombies heads in I ended up running/shoving to mission to mission.
Dead Rising gets an 7/10.  Without a timer I think I was easily gave it an 8.5.

[broodwars]

Yeah, Tactics Ogre PSP's on my PSP games list, but it's near the bottom right now.  Ever since Valkyria Chronicles, I find it very difficult to go back to isometric turn-based cookie-cutter Japanese Tactical Strategy Games.  Considering Tactics Ogre invented that formula, it's not fair to hold that against it, but it still deters me whenever I think about picking it up.

As for Dead Rising 2, I've played the demo for the original Dead Rising and I'd totally love to play either of the games...IF Capcom removed the frickin' timer.  I hate when games ask me to explore and do whatever I want, and then penalize me against an arbitrary clock when I don't do what it wants me to do.  Some games like the Persona series work around that a bit by charging you units of time to go somewhere, but then let you do whatever you want while you're there without incurring time penalties.  While that's not an ideal solution, it's one that I can deal with in some games.  Most of the time, though, it just ruins my fun and turns my games into secretarial simulators ("Ok, I can pencil you in for 3 PM on Monday, and I'll make a note of your appointment at 5:49 PM on Tuesday for this as well!").  That's somewhat of an issue I'm having trying to work up the will to start Valkyrie Profile Lenneth right now, actually, as it also features an overall time limit while asking you to do your RPG exploring thing.

As for Alice: Madness Returns, I took advantage of an Amazon temporary sale and store credit to bring the price down to $30, and for that price I'm satisfied with what I got.  Like I said, I enjoyed what I played (it became Platinum #40 today, btw), but it's a game with serious pacing issues and some technical issues you have to be willing to look past in favor of a fairly well-done story and some fantastic art design.  I suggest waiting for a price drop or rental, and then give it a try.

[Nick DiMola]

I felt that the timer in Dead Rising 2 worked out a whole hell of a lot better than it did in Dead Rising. Most of the time, it came down to more efficiently completing tasks on the first play through. This meant that you had to plan your actions and execute well, which was a fun little restriction that drastically altered how you play the game.

Plus, you aren't meant to get everything on a single play through, so assuming you hit half of the stuff (most of it isn't mandatory), a second play through is practically a second game set in the same area. Dead Rising didn't encourage this type of play, which made it a far less enjoyable experience. Plus escorting the people you rescue was miserable.

I'd suggest checking out Dead Rising 2 in spite of the timer. It's not a mechanic I typically like in games either, but I felt it was done pretty well here.

[Ceric]

"Finished" Super Princess Peach(SPP)  This game does a lot of things right at the core.  Peach's moveset is a great extension to the traditional Mario moveset.  The levels are fairly well laid out with a few exceptions, I'm looking at you random find the right pipes.  Its clear this game started on the GBA and was moved the DS.  Though a lot of the effects in this game and how it does what it does would really really shine on the 3DS if a sequel was made.  Now to my biggest complaints.

The story is not bad but their are two going on.  One about the umbrella that gets told throughout but doesn't get resolved and another about Mario being capture that gets resolved but not told throughout.  This game would have seriously benefited from a series of cutscenes like it has to setup the game showing what Bowser has been doing to Mario etc.  Luigi is in the game and is totally ignored.  Much of his treatment like in the Mario and Luigi series.  Another problems are Toads.

Some of them are interesting to find but they give you and exclamation mark when one is around so you know where to look.  Which makes it less frustrating but, I have another complaint about them.  You HAVE to collect all the Toads to beat the game you find out the last level.  My biggest problem with that is you do celebrate when you find a toad but, you only get a star when you on the circle indicating the level when you collect all 3 in a level.  The game should have made that feel more epic and special so by the time you get to the last world you would have naturally gotten them all.

Their are also a lot of mini-games which I haven't really played.

Overall this is a good game.  I give it a 8-8.6 simply because of some of the things above.  That being said I wouldn't hesitate buying a 3DS sequel.  I know NSMB is the platformer to beat on the DS and seeing that I hate that game with a passion for variouse reasons, mostly disappointment, I can easily say that SPP is one of the best platformers I have played on the DS.  If you are going to buy it the game is a little rare but a little searching should be able to get a copy for $35 dollars at a BnM Toys R' Us.  Its going for $40 online so if you don't like it you can get your money back. Now to find Hatsworth.

[broodwars]

So now that both the Reverie and Resurrection DLC chapters are out for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, I can actually talk about them.  Simply put, there's a worthwhile experience in here, but it's not worth the combined $20 asking price.  Reverie features several new environments, some collectables to find, a couple reasonably engaging combat sections, and some interesting platforming areas and puzzles.  It also changes up how you play the game a bit by introducing a new playable character with their own unique moves.  Resurrection, on the other hand, is one boss fight strung out over two levels, both of which take place in the same area.  It's a well-done boss fight with some QTEs worthy of one of the epic boss battles from the main game, but it's not worth $10.  The story is interesting and told in Infamous-style comic book-esque cutscenes, but in the end it's basically an epilogue for the main game that sets up a recurring villain for any future Castlevania games in this timeline.  I'm also disappointed that Gabriel doesn't learn any new moves in this DLC, despite some rather major plot developments.  At least they managed to get the original voice actor for Gabriel to return to voice his lines, and there's a rather amusing dialogue reference to Symphony of the Night.   :P:

If you liked Lords of Shadow, this DLC is good but overpriced.  Pick it up when it is slapped into a bundle for $10.

Incidentally, I'm currently working my way through Suda 51's latest head trip Shadows of the Damned, and while I'm still pretty early in this one I think I can comfortably say this is probably Suda 51's first good game and I'm probably going to recommend it.  To think, he only had to be anchored by two other Japanese All Stars to make him capable of it (Resident Evil's Shinji Mikami and former Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka).  As you would expect from Yamaoka, the soundtrack's excellent.  I do have to laugh, though, that he went to all that fuss to leave Konami to work on something other than Silent Hill, and what's the first game score he makes as a freelancer?  Essentially a Silent Hill soundtrack.   :P:   Sadly, the content of Shadows of the Damned means I'm going to have to be rather heavy on certain puns in my review of it.  With the emphasis this game puts on one particular thing in nearly every line of dialogue, you just can't do a proper review without it.  :-\

[Nick DiMola]

I just started with Shadows of the Damned too. Posted my full thoughts in some initial impressions in the usual place.

As a fan of Suda51, I wouldn't say it's his first good game, but it's clearly his most polished game. I haven't played all that much as of this writing, maybe an hour or 2, but the usual rough around the edges stuff you see in his games is totally absent here. Everything looks to have been gone through with a fine toothed comb. Whether that's the work of Mikami or some close monitoring from EA it's hard to say, but hopefully he recognizes how much cleaner this experience is over past ones.

The gameplay in particular has been really great so far, blending some of the concepts of Resident Evil 4 with the style and flair of Suda/Grasshopper Manufacture. I'm really enjoying the dialog between Garcia and Johnson, keeps the game lively and fun, despite the dreary surroundings. The phallic jokes are fantastic and I think Fleming's character design is totally kick ass.

All that being said, I can't wait to play some more after I get my son to bed tonight.

[ymeegod]

Just finished up Heavy Rain on the PS3.

It's a nice change of pace and I loved the concept.  Basically gameplay follows an old school button presses at certain times (think of it as an modern day Space Ace) but even if you fail it doesn't led to certain death instead the game adapts from your success and even your mistakes.  It works great IMO, I replayed a few scenes a couple of times just to test how steamless it felt.  If you miss a punch then it goes straight to another scene, make contact then you get something else but whatever you do or don't the game will simply continue on. 

My only gripe about this game was the story which is great 4/5th though.  Not sure why developers always throws in that "twist" in the storyline but in this case there's to many holes that simply don't fit. 

Overall I say this gets an solid 9/10.

[broodwars]

Just finished up Heavy Rain on the PS3.

It's a nice change of pace and I loved the concept.  Basically gameplay follows an old school button presses at certain times (think of it as an modern day Space Ace) but even if you fail it doesn't led to certain death instead the game adapts from your success and even your mistakes.  It works great IMO, I replayed a few scenes a couple of times just to test how steamless it felt.  If you miss a punch then it goes straight to another scene, make contact then you get something else but whatever you do or don't the game will simply continue on. 

My only gripe about this game was the story which is great 4/5th though.  Not sure why developers always throws in that "twist" in the storyline but in this case there's to many holes that simply don't fit. 

Overall I say this gets an solid 9/10.

If you liked Heavy Rain, you should check out L.A. Noire.  While Noire doesn't use QTEs like Heavy Rain does, they both strive to be the next evolution of the P&C Adventure game...and they both have issues with their stories towards the end.

[Ymeegod]

Just purchased L.A. Noire but my copy was "lent" to my cuz who's "great" about returning games in a reasonable amount of time.

Finished up De Blob 2 (WII) and there's not alot I have to say about this platforming game.  It's charming and funny but it lacks the one thing that makes the WII other platformers great--varity.  The game tends to drag on in spots without adding anything new to the gameplay so I found myself getting bored rather quickly.  Two, they made the game way to easy compared to the first one.   You have this new "lock" down button which pretty much defeats all enemies with a simple two click.  All you have to do is hold down Z button and mash the A button for 90% of the battles.

Still it's an decent platformer with great funny videos so I give it an 7/10.