http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJbAT1wzS8U
Author: Andrew Allen
Ah, good evening, Dear Reader. Even though “Talking To Games” is a new feature, I enjoyed the hell out of writing it, and I think you all got a kick from reading it, so I’m doing it again. Hit the jump to see what happens when I sit down for a fireside chat with “Batman: Arkham City.” Hit it. Hit it now. You’re not hitting it if you’re reading this. Stop reading this and hit the jump. Stop it. Seriously, it’s not cool, hit the jump. Just go ahead and click the button. It’s right there, I know you see…
Hello, Dear Reader. Yes, it’s me again, you know I can’t stay away from you for long. Today we’re launching a new series on Padinga. It’s called “Talking To Games.” In it, we will…uh, talk to games. The title really did the heavy lifting there. My feeling is, we argue and debate about video games constantly in our daily lives, and yet we often forget to go back to the source, and ask the game itself to give an accounting for its behavior. I mean the game is standing right there while you trash-talk it, maybe it should have a…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-T2I6sEsrY
“Dragon Age 2” came out this week, and it’s great. Smart people say so. It was made by a studio with an impeccable reputation for deft, almost delicate gamecraft. It features a rich story, high adventure, bloodbath combat, deep character leveling, and a bevy of side-quests on top of an already-meaty normal campaign. It is, almost without question, an incredibly good game. The problem is, there isn’t the slightest chance I’m going to purchase it. The very idea of “Dragon Age 2” produces, in my mind, a lurching sense of ennui. Sigh, yeah let’s go save some idiot from a…
You probably haven’t played “Dead Space 2’s” multiplayer offering, even if you own the damned thing. I don’t entirely blame you; for one thing, it’s hard as hell to join a game unless your NAT is so open that it borders on whorish promiscuity. For another, it’s getting terrible reviews almost across the board, even (or especially) from publications that are otherwise lauding the game to the high heavens. People are saying it’s perfunctory, tacked-on, and shallow. And they’re absolutely wrong. Read on for the straight dope.
I’m not sure how it happened, but I own a copy of “Bulletstorm.” I went into Best Buy dead set on acquiring “Killzone 3,” and I can only assume that Cliffy B ambushed me with a handkerchief full of chloroform, dragged my unconscious body to the checkout, and demanded a copy of his game be given to “this pussy right here.” Now ignoring the fact that I’m pressing assault charges for a moment, I have to grudgingly concede that ol’ Cliffy has proved his worth yet again. There are few games I’d like to hate more than “Bulletstorm.” I mean,…
I couldn’t believe it, but “Dragon Age II” actually has a demo out now. This is an unusual move for AAA RPGs; how are you going to summarize the experience you’re offering in a couple of minutes? Still, Bioware has an odd fondness for this stuff (remember that “Mass Effect 2” demo that came out light-years after the actual game?), they like to toss you demos just to prove they can. I dig that. Plus which, “Dragon Age II” is a big change-up. We all know this. The original was the yin to “Mass Effect’s” yang, a proud dinosaur that…
It’s been a little while since I did a “Versus” piece, mainly because I like to be genuinely conflicted about a subject before I undertake it. If either end of the pendulum swing comes up shallow, if I can’t manipulate my emotions to a rabid fervor on both ends of the topic, then it just isn’t worth doing. Fortunately, we have an ideal subject in the upcoming “Duke Nukem Forever.” In case you don’t know the rules, it’s very simple: I take both sides of an issue and blather incoherently until I’m exhausted. Then you examine the rubble and tell…
Old habits die hard. There’s a full five seconds between me hearing the words “PS3 exclusive” and remembering not to be disappointed. Sometimes it’s much worse. I spent days reading about the “Killzone 3” multiplayer beta before I took note of the black monolith sitting next to my television, and recalled suddenly that it had some function besides Blu Rays. Not that talk of “Killzone” gets me particularly excited. Like PS3’s other attempt at a console-exclusive shooter that anyone cares about, “Resistance,” it’s a franchise adrift in Epic Games-aping machismo, floating free without a really great piece of iconic art…
I…adore…”F.E.A.R.” This is a fact about myself. I don’t know how that game series got itself so ingratiated into my system, but it’s in there now and nothing will ever get it out. I’ve played every expansion pack, and conquered the original and its sequel on every conceivable difficulty; I’ve even beaten the original without dying. I play these babies into the ground, mostly because I’m in love with their crazy blend of Asian horror and SWAT team corridor shooter aesthetics. So, of course, I made a B-line for the “F.E.A.R. 3” booth at E3 last year, and I’ve been…
So there’s been a bevy of new demos out recently, and that’s always fun. I’ve taken the time to play through what I considered to be the most imporant ones, “Bulletstorm” and “Crysis 2,” and I thought I’d drop some knowledge on you about what I thought. Brace yourself to be opinion-ed. Bulletstorm It makes me feel dirty to admit it, but I actually really enjoyed this. I have several legitimate grievances against “Bulletstorm” before I even play it, and they are the following: (hit the jump to read)
So I’ve logged some time with “Dead Space 2,” and I thought I’d stop by and give you a bullet-point on what occurs to me so far. -It’s still not scary to me. And this is something I will never understand. I am the biggest wimp in the world, I love being frightened and it easy to do. Something about “Dead Space’s” intense gore and constant firefights just dulls the nerves that would induce a fear response from me. I encountered this over-stimulation in the original, which reviews are now calling “minimalist” by comparison to its younger brother, so the…
Massive coup today, people. Huge news. The war is over, and Xbox won. For a while there, it seemed like Playstation was starting to edge out the old Microsoft Machine for quality, exclusive titles, but at last the tide of battle has turned. I don’t see how Sony can hope to return from the series of crushing blows just handsomely delivered from Bill Gates’ own knuckle-dusters. Are you ready for the big news? Are you ready for the revelation? Here it comes. I’m dropping the bombs. The “Crysis 2” multi-player demo is now available, only on Xbox Live. Boom. Like,…
Just got a press release from Valve. Looks like those special PS3 Steam functions we kept hearing about are as follows:
Have you heard of “Raskulls,” Dear Reader? Oh, have you heard of it? It needs to go straight to the top of your “to do” list this instant. This charming little Arcade romp, developed by Halfbrick Studios, is part puzzler, part platformer, and part racer! I don’t know that anyone was pining for that concoction, I know I wasn’t, but when it comes together you can’t believe it’s never been done before. This is exactly the kind of high-yield, low-overhead gaming genius that XBLA has been so good at promoting.
Terrible news, Dear Reader. News that would be sad if it wasn’t so bitterly, horribly funny in a twisted way. The kind of news that reminds you there really is a Devil in Hell, and he really does want to ruin your birthday party. What news is that, you ask? Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, the developer of “Rock Band” and “Dance Central” was sold to an investment group…for fifty dollars. Fifty. The price of a month-old video game. Viacom, meanwhile, made some sweet tax break cheese off the back end, because of course they did. That’s just…
Game of the Year Lists are, of course, a common anomaly around these parts, perhaps even trite. Still, I just couldn’t go on without throwing two pennies at you, Dear Reader. So brace yourself for my 2010 Top Ten Games:
My father is a car enthusiast, but he has an unusual take on the pastime. Most grease monkeys look back to the past for the glory days, but he doesn’t. “Cars are better now than they ever have been,” he would always insist, citing their expanding functionality, reliability, and aesthetic beauty (he could elaborate more intelligently than I). I think this is the way I feel about video games. I love the Super NES as much as the next guy, but I don’t lament the times gone by and yearn to return to 16 bit graphics. HD gaming with 5.1…
Dear “Fallout 3” fans: I get it. I finally get it. Oddly, though, it was not “Fallout 3” itself that did it, but its younger cousin, “Fallout: New Vegas.” Developed by Obsidian software, “Vegas” stands on the shoulders of greatness to achieve a level of quality it doesn’t really deserve, but it has one crucial thing in its favor: locale. Let’s face it, the bombed-out, perma-gray remains of Washington D.C. are downright depressing, and if the game is failing to pull you in already, the bleak nature of its setting may become the proverbial straw on the camel’s back. I…
So, the Supreme Court is going to hear some people argue about video games tomorrow. Governor Schwarzeneggar implemented a ban on the sale of violent games to minors in 2005 which was overturned as unconstitutional, and now the question on the floor is whether that decision will be upheld. Should it be against the law to sell a violent video game to a minor? No, it shouldn’t. But even if it should, this is not the law to do it. This piece of legislation is a covert war on our art form, an attempt to preemptively deny game developers the…
“Halo: Reach” is seriously a great game. It brings the franchise so close to perfection that it’s almost scary, precisely shaving away every extraneous inch of fat and building up the core of what already worked. Bungie’s passion for online ranking has finally been checked against the need to positively reinforce its community, weapon balance is so sharp that even the freaking shotgun is useful, matchmaking playlists let you cut right to the heart of the experience you want to have, and the Armor Abilities keep everything from going stale. And the Warthog still loves to fishtail, God bless it.…
If you’re going to release something, fine. If you AREN’T going to release something, fine. But don’t tell me you WILL release something, and then NOT release the something you said you would release when you SAID you’d RELEASE IT! I’m looking around. Maybe I’m not looking in the right spot. No, I’ve looked everywhere. I’m pretty sure I don’t see “Left 4 Dead 2: The Sacrifice,” cloaked in virginal robes, waiting for me to whisk it away. I’m all saddled up here, and I’ve got no maiden to deflower. Okay…that is the strangest metaphor for DLC any human being…
Blegh. I’m sure you’ve seen Dante’s “new look” for the upcoming “Devil May Cry” reboot, stylishly titled “DMC” (oh, I see what you did there). Ninja Theory, the new Western developer who is vomiting all over this venerable franchise as we speak, has responded to such accusations with some “Breakfast Club” style temper tantrums about what is and is not cool. “…what was cool 12 years ago…isn’t cool anymore. If Dante, dressed as he was, walked into any bar outside of Tokyo, he’d get laughed out,” says Tameem Antoniades, the creative director at Ninja Theory, who even now…
So, word got out today that “Medal of Honor” has caved to the pressure to rename the playable Taliban characters in the multiplayer mode. Can I be frank with you here? I’m disappointed. Not because I thought putting the Taliban in the game was okay, mind you, but because of what that action implies about the status of video games in our culture. I’m continually frustrated by how little respect the outside world thinks we deserve, and how poorly they mask their contempt for who we are and what we believe. It was incredibly poor taste for Electronic Arts to…
Just got word from Valve about their new DLC, “The Sacrifice.” It’s slated for release October 5th, although the language suggests it could get pushed if need be. This is really a unique DLC package in that they’re releasing it both for the original and “L4D2,” although each edition is a separate download. And, as if they read my mind, they’re also tossing “No Mercy” into the L4D2 fold as a bonus, complete with all the sequel’s special infected and items. Valve describes it as “Zoey with a chainsaw.” There’s also a new kind of finale, wherein one member of…
I’ve had a few days with “Halo: Reach,” during which I’ve put some pretty good hours into it. I’ve conquered the campaign (co-operatively), I’ve played around in Forge, gotten ranked in the Arena, duked it out in Firefight, and hit up every permutation of Matchmaking I can imagine. Let me go through and tell you what I think so far: 1. The New Ranking System is Amazing. I’ve long felt that “Halo 3” was over-punishing in its ranking system, effectively turning Matchmaking into a relentless, palm-sweat inducing report card. The game felt more like work than fun as you inched…
And so we arrive, yet again, on the advent of a “Halo” release from the esteemed Bungie. Of course, it’s a somewhat sentimental moment, because they’ve made it perfectly clear that “Reach” is the end of the line for them, the last hurrah, the final waltz. Seeing these guys walk away from Master Chief is a little bit like watching Jordan quit basketball: you have a profound sense that disorder has gained a foothold in the world, that things are not as they should be. I confess, I sit up late at night, wondering how it will feel to hear…
Valve was kind enough to fire me off some co-op photos of “Portal 2” from PAX. As per my conversations with Valve at E3, “Portal 2” will incorporate a co-op mode where two players assume the roles of robots armed with portal guns. This will be a completely separate campaign from the single player mode, and they promise it will be much more challenging in order to correct for the increase in portal potential. Sounds awesome, as always. I don’t mean to give Valve free press or anything, but these kids are unstoppable.
Someone had to think of it eventually. Someone had to look at demos—one of the purest, most noble inventions of the past console generation—and figure out a way to milk for some extra change. Along comes “Dead Rising: Subject Zero,” the first, I’m sure, in a radical new wave of demos you actually pay for. I hope you enjoyed your free demos, because I don’t know how much longer they’ll be around. They call it a “prequel,” but about the only thing that separates this thing from a large-form demo (which do exist) is the ability to earn Achievements. Yipee.…