As most people know and do these days when u find something good on the market you go ahead and flog it for all its worth
In the gaming market the latest trend to be flogged or rather the latest trend that is in the process of being flogged is strategy games genre. In the past strategy games were reserved solely for the PC market and rightly so as well.
Having played games from the late 1980’s through to the current day and age, I’ve come to love a lot of games and game genres for that matter. A certain genre that’s always had a place close to my heart, is the 2D side-scroller (aka platform games). At the mere mention of the name “side-scroller”, images of Commander Keen and the Vortigons come to mind. Along with Dangerous Dave, Crystal Caves, the original Ghosts n Goblins, Duke Nukem 1 and 2….the list goes on and on.
The genre kept evolving with new games being released adding more elements and twists to the play. One such release that really stood out, was Abe’s Oddysee in 1997. A fresh take on platform adventures with beautiful environments to travel through, an interesting world and story and a control system that worked. The year after saw the release of the second game in the planned five game series, Abe’s Exoddus. Continuing the success and innovation of Abe’s Oddysee and allowing gamers more time with the unlikely hero, Abe.
But all of that is irrelevant, really. It just serves as a means of showing that I’m a big fan and follower of the genre. And one of the favorites being the original arcade Bionic Commando and the NES version.
When the announcement came that they were making a 3D Bionic Commando, I was actually not that thrilled. Bionic Commando is like a fragile piece of equipment in a shop. It’s the mentality of “You can look, but don’t touch! You’re probably going ot break it”. Even more so when they announced there will also be a re-make of the original game. But as time went by and the trailers and screenshots started floating about the internet, I started to relax a bit more. It looked like they were doing a pretty good job. And what else would I have expected from the creators of the original game.
Thrilled was I, when I purchased the game over the weekend for PC and started the download. Words like “agony” come to mind when I think of how I watched the progress meter fill up. But all of that is in the memory box now. The one that I keep under the bed in the darkest corner. In it’s place, are warm, fuzzy feelings. Feelings of nostalgia reborn. Feelings of “happy as can be”.
Bionic Commando Rearmed (BCR) lives up to it’s promise. The promise of being a re-make of the original game. When playing the game, it feels like you’re playing the old one…..but not really. It’s a strange feeling indeed. Everything seems familiar, yet new at the same time. The arm is there, the jump isn’t there and the frustration is there, yet it’s all coated in a beautiful layer of coloured pixels. The graphics are eye-wateringly beautiful. And I don’t mean the colours are so bright they make your eyes water. I mean tears spring to one’s eyes when looking at BCR and seeing how Private Spencer is all grown up now…..*sniff*.
Bionic Commando Rearmed in action
The gameplay is a ton of fun, yet just like the original, completely unforgiving. For some of the later levels, you really need to have mastered the bionic arm, dodging, blocking bullets, shooting and swinging all at the same time. The game can get pretty intense (specially if you bump up the difficulty) so hardcore gamers will be pleased with the difficulty. Specially the Challenge Rooms scattered through the game (which you can access from the main menu once you’ve unlocked them). They truly are challenge rooms. They’re simply a scenario you’re presented with and your objective is to get through it as quickly as possible. Based on your time, you get a rating between 1 and 5 stars. And if you can beat the time of the creator of the level, you get a nice badge to show that you’re the king.
The game also supports a multiplayer mode which I’m keen to try out. Swinging around like a bunch of monkeys trying to shoot each other with powerups dropping all over the show sounds like the formula for fun, if you ask me. And doing it all in a gorgeous looking environment like the one BCR presents to you, it can only be a pleasure to play.
The overall feel of the game can be summed up into one word, “Complete”. It doesn’t feel as if there’s
anything wanting from the title. You’re never left feeling “I wish they did that”, or “It would have been nice if they added feature <insert feature here> to the game”. This game is well-rounded, well-executed and well-everythingelse.
The only negative thing about the game, is not about the game itself. It’s about the state of current gaming affairs. Most gamers are used to being spoonfed when it comes to gaming and difficulty settings that rarely challenge. In this regard, BCR is every bit as difficult as the original was. It’s not an impossible game at all, but the try-try-again nature of it is going to frustrate more than a few gamers. And proof of this is already spreading across the internet with people moaning about how difficult it is.
But in my books, that just seals the deal. Capcom wasn’t scared to stay true to the original game. They stuck to their guns (and experimental arms), and produced a proper re-make of a classic, loved game. If you’re feeling a) up for a challenge, b) nostalgic, c) in the mood for something fun or d) a really good game, give Bionic Commando Rearmed a try. I’d recommend it on any platform it’s available on. Even though the PC version is $5 more expensive than the console versions, I’d still say it’s a steal for the amount of game you get for your money. It more than outweighs the price.
So get swinging, rolling, shooting and jumpi running and get your copy of Bionic Commando Rearmed. It’s charms will grow on anybody and will have you coming back for more punishment =)
So I thought after searching through the many themes available on Xbox live that it is such a huge task to find a decent looking free theme. So why not provide the community with a little help by providing a Best Free theme of the month. If you dont agree with me please post a comment or send me a mail as I always welcome suggestions.
Read the rest of this entry »
In a turn of events that totally surprised me i bought a total of 11 games in the past week. This is split into the following categories , 4 XBLA Games and 7 normal games. While i never buy this many games at one time , this time i had to make a exception because i was really falling behind with Xbox gaming recently.Also the 7 normal Xbox games I bought were not for me but for my brother who I have been trying to get a bit more involved in gaming.
Ok so time for a quick run through the XBLA games that I have played so far and what I have enjoyed or not enjoyed. As soon as i get a chance to play the normal xbox games I will hit the blog with another post.
XBLA Games
Braid
This game really caught me off guard ,what MS usually does is when a new or heavy hitting game comes out its basically advertised all over the dashboard. While this is a nice way to advertise it usually annoys me because the games are usually not that good. When I saw that ad for braid I definitely did not want to download it.
After googling a bit more info for the game I decided to at least get the demo and see how it looks. This is where the game surprised me for the second time at +-140mb for a demo I was a hoping that the game might at least be above average. After finally downloading the game and playing the demo all I can say is wow.
Each level is beautifully painted and every puzzle is unique , while this is a bold claim after the purchasing the game i can definitely say that this is true. On top of that if you enjoy a platform puzzler then you will really enjoy these puzzles as they require a bit of thought on the players side. A very innovative thing i saw in the game was the use of paintings, these paintings are created by the player after picking up pieces of the painting through the stage. Once completed or even partially completed the player can actually use the paintings canvas and painting it self as part of the environment.
The picture above is an exapmle of how the story is told , in between each level the player find these books which explains abit more of the story as you progress. Sharp eyed players will notice that this is not the only way the story is told , the other means is through the paintings that the player collects and build.
It also pretty obvious that the roots of this game stem from the original mario games. While the creators have tried to not make it too obvious the little mario ‘gems’ found around the world complement the game to make it perfect and add a little humor to the game as well.
The image below taken from the official site describes perfectly some of the mechanics used in the game.
Also if by now you still have not bought the game , make sure that you go and get it , its worth every MS point 
.
Geometory Wars 2
This is the second game that i bought and without a doubt one of the better games available on the XBLA.
Based on the original Geometry Wars with a whole lot of extra oomph added to give it that extra kick needed to make it survive in this competitive market.
The number of features and improvements added to the game are tremendous and it really show. For starters the game is now fully HD compliant , so when playing it at higher resolutions the graphics are not distorted at all. Quite a few new enemy ships have been added and the original enemy ship designs have been redone to complete the new look to the game.
By far the biggest change to the game is the addition of the new game modes. With 5 new modes + co-op play (versuses or co-op) there is a ton of fun to be had with this game.
Modes Include :
If you are looking for a great co-op game this is definitely it , just keep in mind this is a game for the persistent and challengers. If you give up easily you will really not enjoy this game as the difficulty at times can be quite steep. But if i could convince my siblings who hated the first geometry wars with a passion to play this version then i don’t think many people will have a problem getting hooked to this game.
If ever you are online and want to hit a game of GW2 send me a message and we can get some gaming on.
~stalkerh
No, the topic isn’t about what’s going on in my head (although that description is close), it’s about space. The final frontier. The uncharted territory. The rest of the universe for the human race, a mere speck of life in the milky way.
There are quite a lot of games that play off in space or has something to do with space and alien worlds. I guess a reason for that would be because of the unknowiness (that’s a word for the 2009 dictionary right there) of space. It allows developers free reign on the story they want to weave. And for the most part, it works well. But some games should have been kept from escaping out of the earthly atmosphere, for the story just doesn’t gel well enough.
Surprised I was then (and a bit apprehensive), when I heard the next hack-n-slash game from Gas-Powered Games that will run under the “_____-Siege” banner, was going to space. I was (and am) a huge fan of the Dungeon Siege series. I spent hours upon hours playing the game attempting to finish it man-alone with no party and no pack-mule. It was a fun and engaging game. So what could space offer this series ?
I followed the development of the game closely and salvaged any information on it that I could. And the news was pleasant, to say the least. Space Siege promised to be a new innovation on the old hack-n-slash mechanics. So I promptly downloaded the demo when it was released a few days ago and I set out to see first-hand if the game would match the news.
And the short answer would be, yes it does. The first thing I noticed while playing, was how “clean” the game looks. It could have been the settings I was running it on, but I didn’t have so much as a hint of any jaggy edges, texture artifacts or graphical glitches. The game looks and feels solid. Which makes it a joy to play. Also, the control system is not overly complicated and access to everything is laid out in a neat manner which is easy to learn.
Combat is handled in a straight-forward manner (hold down fire button while pointing at enemy) and the player’s special abilities are useful in tight quarters. Some of the abilities result in an interaction between player and enemy models a la cinema flair style, which is rarely seen in hack-n-slash games. It’s a neat little touch that gives the game it’s own personality. It remains to be seen how the special abilities scale up when the character advances levels. So too will the core of the game play. Where the player needs to decide if he / she wishes to upgrade their character with cybernetic enhancements at the cost of humanity.
Playing through the demo, it’s not clear if there are any consequences in which path the player decides to take. So it will be interesting to see how this mechanic is brought into play.
The story I cannot comment on much for the demo is quite short, but so far it seems to be a promising plot. Enough to make me want the game now =)
The game is set for release on the 22nd of August. A date you should mark on your calendar if this type of game is up your alley. It looks to bring some new ideas to the table and offer a fresh breath of life to the Siege series of games. It’s a game I’m definitely looking forward to playing.
The debate rages on daily if not hourly somewhere in this world and I’m pretty sure at this very second you will start the very same debate. What is the best gaming platform ?
While the short answer is that it comes down to personal choice, Microsoft has stepped up to the challenge and provided the means to put this to an end. They recently announced that Games For Windows Live would be free to all PC users and that they would be able to challenge gamers on the 360. While this is not a new feature, the cost that was attached to owning a Games for windows Live Gold account has been dropped.
Coupled with this, they have now announced that gamers on the XBOX360 with silver accounts (the ones that can’t play multiplayer but can do everything else) can play certain games that have been released on the games for windows live platform. This means that there’s no reason for all XBOX and PC gamers to not step up to the challenge and beat the living daylights out of each other.
While it must be stressed that this was announced as a time limited offer (so make the most of it), I am very sure that we will be seeing this kind of service from Microsoft in the next few months leading up to the release of their new dashboard for the 360.
As always Iam up for the challenge. If you have a games for windows live account or a live account, my gamer tag is humanstalker. Send me an invite and we can game some time.
…in frustration. Or in fear. Or surprise. What am I on about ? The new Alone in the Dark (AITD) game.
I was (and still am) a huge fan of the first AITD game back in 1992. The game was a breakthrough for it’s time (the first 3D survival horror game ever). The atmosphere and sense of dread you felt while walking through the spooky mansion on creaking floorboards, through rooms emitting funny sounds and passages and caves that left you feeling cold was absolutely incredible. This wasn’t a game. It was an experience. The way your heart beat wildly as you prepare to enter a new room not knowing what’s waiting inside. How your body tensed up if your character was in a tight spot and you had to get him out or die unceremoniously. And the fact that the sound was done to perfection, even allowing it to be played on a PC speaker, all contributed to the game being one of the best for it’s time, and all time for that matter. Playing the game today your first impression might be to throw up when looking at the graphics, but underneath all those polygons, lies a game that will draw you in.
1994 and 1995 saw the release of two more sequels to the game. Alone in the Dark 2 and Alone in the Dark 3 respectively. Both of which carried on the same flourish of atmosphere, game play and sense of anticipation. I added these to my collection and love replaying them from time to time when I’m feeling a bit nostalgic. Then, in 2001 AITD made the move to a new engine. Utilizing a mixture of 3D and 2D techniques that allowed the game to successfully imagine the use of a flashlight in it’s dark scenes. But I was left wanting when I played it. Gone was the atmosphere drenched environments I became so familiar with. In it’s place, was a Resident Evil-ish game. Not to say that it was a bad game, it just didn’t feel like Alone in the Dark. And taking the environments into consideration, the game could just have been called “Dark”.
Approaching 2008 then, I wasn’t too enthusiastic upon hearing of a new AITD game. If the last was anything to go by, we’d be moving still further away from the core of what made AITD stand out on it’s own. And after playing the new game, I’m left with mixed feelings.
The very first thing I noticed, was the graphics are pretty damn good. Most of the current generation bells and whistles are included in the engine and it runs very smooth. One up for the win column then. And then you’re introduced to a new mechanic. One that has never been used before (that I’m aware of and I could be wrong). When in first person mode, you can blink the character’s eyes. Holding down the button, will of course present you with a black screen. At the start of the game, your character is groggy for some reason, with blurry vision. Blinking his eyes, will clear his vision. “Hey, that’s neat”, I thought. But then it went ape. Having to blink the character’s eyes every two steps, it became a chore rather than a mechanic extremely fast. Some tip-ex here and there, and it’s been moved to the lose column. I would have felt much more comfortable if the player blinked his own eyes in a situation where his vision blurs the entire time. This would have brought across the feeling of helplessness you’re supposed to feel in this game. The feeling of “C’mon man, open your eyes!!!! I can’t see wtf I’m doing! There’s something making funny noises in your pants!”. Thank goodness that blinking only lasts for the first few minutes, although I don’t know if it’s going to make a return later in the game. Here’s hoping it won’t.
After the initial “intro” sequence when the player starts to get into the game, one would think that it becomes easier to play. Well the unfortunate truth is, the annoyances just keep popping up. One of the major gripes I’ve had with the game so far (one which has cost a lot of love to be lost between me and the game), is the viewing system. You can alternate between first person view (FPV) or an outside view (OSV – the camera is fixed at a certain point in the room / area you’re in and you see your character from a distance). I have no problem with either of the two views, but I do have a problem with the game deciding which I should use. Frequently I’d switch to FPV to move about more accurately and view my surroundings properly. When all of a sudden the game would switch me back to OSV. Switching back to FPV would result in the same happening again. Walking around a bit and switching will allow me to stay in FPV for a while, until the engine deems it better to be in OSV again. A NOOOI YING! Isn’t this supposed to be the player’s choice ?
Focusing on something other than the camera then, let’s look at the inventory system. Quite innovative I have to admit. Accessing your inventory sees your character opening his jacket and looking down, with everything he’s picked up positioned inside the pockets of his jacket, pants and in holsters on his belt. Add to that the fact that you can combine most items as you see fit, the recipe for something special starts to form. Combine duct-tape with an explosive bottle of liquid and throw the resulting object towards an enemy. It will stick and now you can have your fun trying to hit the bottle to make him go up in flames. Add the double-sided duct-tape to a glow-stick and throw it against the ceiling to illuminate an area. Lighter and mosquito spray anybody ? Duct-tape + flashlight + two-handed weapon ? It all makes for some interesting game play, but of course there has to be something wrong with such an idea. And in this case it would be the control of it all.
Clumsy is the only way I can describe it. I felt like a fumbling fool trying to combine items, attempting to make him release a certain item and use another or just to actually make him use the one I want. I’m not sure how this compares to the XBOX version. Once I’ve played through the game, I will most definitely play it through again with my own XBOX controller. Just so I can get a complete view of what the game is like and give it a fair summary. And to maybe better understand some of the design decisions.
Also, similar to the previous game, the freedom you had in the first three games are non-existent. Sure, you can proceed in any way you want. Locked door in the way ? Burn it. Or shoot out the lock. Or bash it with a fire extinguisher. You have freedom in that way, but not to go where you want and re-visit areas. I suppose they did it because you don’t need to re-visit areas and the game is supposed to feel cinematic. Like you’re playing a movie. But it would have been nice to feel a bit more like you’re not just following a deliberate path.
So all I’ve said so far is pretty negative. Does the game have any positives you might wonder. Yes is the short answer. But they are unfortunately outweighed by the bad.
Fire is basically at the core of the game. Enemies need to be burned in order for them to stay defeated. Also, fire spreads as it would in real life. Along the walls, ceiling, rugs start burning, furniture and it’s quite disconcerting if you’re caught in the middle of it. Some pieces of furniture you can pick up (small chairs for example) and hold it close to a flame to ignite it. It then serves you as a source of light for darker areas. It makes for a nice change in game play from most games.
The cinematic feel of the game also had quite a bit of work put into it, it would seem. Climbing on the outside of a torn apart building with explosions launching debris at you from below, more debris falling at you from the top all promising to knock you off your carefully chosen perch. It adds that heart-stopping feeling to the game. And the game is quite forgiving if you die as well. You don’t need to replay loads of game time. The game is divided into nice sized chunks of game play and you’ll start at the beginning of the one you’re busy with. In a word, it’s pleasant.
For anybody who’s not a hardcore fan of the series, I’d advise caution when considering buying this title. My forever continuing obsession with tea leaves tells me this isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. It does provide survival horror fans with enough of a game to keep them hooked and interested, but the controls and the engine deciding what view for you to use will probably make the game unpopular with most. But still, if the developers release a patch here and there to address these issues or somehow smooth them out, this game should be in every gamer’s collection. It’s really not a bad game at all. I suppose for most it’s just not a good game…. yet =)
Microsoft has just blown my mind with regards to the amount of features they have added to the XBOX360 over the past year or so. But all those features are small in comparison to the features announced in the E3 press conference.
Perseverance is a quality not present in many gamers and it just goes to show the ones that do persevere are just suckers for punishment.
Take for example the XBOX360 achievement points. While many people complain that this is just an ego tool that gamers use for boasting, it should rather be used to measure a person’s perseverance.
Recently Ninja Gaiden 2 was released for the XBOX360 and the achievement list really pushes the game to the max. At a total of 60 achievements, it’s not the easiest set of achievements by far. Nor is it the longest. The difficult part to achieving all these achievements is that you have to complete the game using a single weapon only, multiple times and on all difficulties.
Based on the number of weapons and difficulty settings, the shortest number of times to complete the game is 10 times at least (3 x Difficulty + 7 x Weapons ). Any gamer that can play a game that many times deserves my respect. But on the higher difficulties I would even give up out of sheer frustration as this game is know for its brutal difficulty.
Using the achievements in this way, game designers allow a game to be played to its max. It also allows a gamer to appreciate all the small details that they might have missed on the first rush through the game. But is it fair to the average gamer these days to punish them in this way by making the game so difficult, that the only way they will finish it or try to get all the achievements is more of a punishment than victory. Granted that once you have finished all of those impossible tasks other games will end up feeling too easy to the gamer.
I guess this is how hardcore gamers are born. But if the only thing game designers are trying to do is breed hardcore gamers, I think we need to change this trend since most people these days are playing games for shorter periods over a longer period of time e.g. I play a games for an hour every 2 days over a 2 month period instead of 6 hours straight in one day.
Another game that they try to punish the gamer to get all the achievements is Half Life – Orange Box Episode 2. The single most difficult achievement is carrying the garden gnome from the start of the game till the end of the game and launching him in a rocket. While this is one of the coolest achievements I have ever seen, it’s as hard as nails.
Now back to finishing COD 4 on veteran. Keep the punishment coming.
~Jameel
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