First Strike Podcast: Episode 7- Masters of the Universe

Last Strike: Red Steel 2

This week I finished up Red Steel 2 so it's time for a Last Strike review on the subject. For those who don't know what the game is, it's an action game set as a Japanese Western that relies heavily on the wii motion controls. My overall experience with the game was enjoyable but there are certain things that just irk me about the game.

First what I liked about the game:
The wii motion controls are actually very smooth and feel pretty natural. It's easy to use and doesn't mistake your intentions. There were some slight problems with the game considering my vertical slash a stab but that did not occur frequently and was hardly a game breaker.

The game is fun, for what there is to do. The game is especially fun as soon as you unlock your full arsenal of moves. Then you have a lot of options when dealing with different situations.

And now, what I disliked:
The game has little content. There are 6 types of enemies other than bosses and the challenge mode involves replaying the campaign. The campaign is fun but that's all there is to do and since it's linear, there is very little replay value.

The game is too easy. On medium difficulty I got through most encounters without even getting hit and with the introduction of "the cobra" even the final boss went down in two hits. The move variety is good but some moves are so much better than others you won't want to use your entire arsenal of moves.

So overall:
The game is fun and the controls work, but there is little to work with and some of the moves are hideously overpowered so you won't want to use anything else. I would rent the game instead of buying it as the game is short and easy enough to be beaten in one or two days and you probably won't want to go back.

Last Strike: Cave Story

Every so often I used to pick up Cave Story and play a little, but this year in Digital Imaging class I was fortunate enough to have nothing to do, and what a better way to spend my time than by playing Cave Story. Today therefore marks the day where I in fact completed the game with the Good Ending (I'm going for True Ending next week). I do not think it needs to be said but Cave Story really is a fantastic game and it is hard to believe it is indie. All components of it are just simply so on top. Cave Story I believe truly shows how anyone can still make not just a game, but a game that is AAA and has that originality component to it. So lets go into a little more detail on what makes Cave Story so amazing.

Blast From the Past: Battlezone

This week's blast from the past is an old game called Battlezone.

The game is a fictional version of the space race between the USSR and the USA. Where each side attempt to claim ownership of different planets by occupying them with army forces. You are a marine and can fight for either side of the conflict. Depending on what side you play for you will get different vehicles but the sides are essentially balanced.

Battlezone is a tactical first person shooter. You fight by getting into a vehicle (you can shoot while on foot but it is very ineffective) of some sort, usually a tank of varying degree of toughness or an artillery platform. From inside that vehicle you can more around and shoot other vehicles or give orders to vehicles around. You can deploy turrets to guard strategic locations or air drop supplies for your troops. Once the vehicle you are in is destroyed you are ejected from the wreckage and you walk around the map, looking for another vehicle. You can of course just grab the one of your nearby NPC allies. They won't object.

The picture on the right is a screenshot on Mars. At the top left of the screen is a list of all your available troops. From there you can issue commands to said troops. At the bottom left of the screen is the 3d map, showing the terrain and any vehicles in the vicinity. At the bottom right is your health bar, split into shield and armor. Shield is easy to repair while armor is much harder to fix. The list beside that are the weapons available to your vehicle. Most vehicles have more than one weapon to add diversity to the battle.

I say the game is a strategic first person shooter since a large part of the game is about commanding team mates. By yourself, you are not very effective so you need to create the correct vehicles for your allies. If there is a choke-point you are likely going to have to defend, build turrets and deploy them there. Have artillery back up the turrets and then be ready to airlift supplies when they run low. If you need to attack the enemy, order some of your troops to follow you and lead the assault. By yourself you won't be able to accomplish much.

After several missions on the moon, the enemy team will "up the ante" and try to colonize mars. After Mars, Venus is the next target. I do not know where the space race goes after Venus as that is the furthest I have gotten in the game. I'm talking about this game because it introduced me to the first person shooter genre and got me to play more first person shooter games. Unfortunately the game is now hard to find and won't install on windows Vista or 7, so replaying the game is not going to be easy. The game itself was incredibly fun though so I hope I can find a way to do so soon.

First Strike Podcast: Episode 6- Your Pre-Paid Addiction

More on Guild Wars 2: This Time PvP

More information about Guild Wars 2 was revealed this week and this time around we'll be concentrating on the PvP aspect of the game.

From the 1st game, it was clear that the Player vs Environment and the Player vs Player game modes did not mesh very well. One needed a fully upgraded character to fight successfully in Player vs Player combat and it was difficult to reconcile skill balance for both modes simultaneously. In Guild Wars 2 PvP and PvE modes will be split. However, you will be freely able to take your PvE character and PvP with him/her. Thus there is no need to create new characters solely for PvP.

Now, when talking about PvP in Guild Wars 2 we need to make clear what mode we are talking about. Guild Wars 2 will have 2different modes of PvP one of which is World vs World (WvW) and the other being Competitive Player vs Player (C. PvP).

Lets start by talking about the mode that is easiest to understand Competitive PvP. C. PvP is a balanced PvP mode similar to the mode currently used in Guild Wars 1. Any character entering C. PvP will automatically be given the max statistics and have all skills unlocked. In C. PvP it is possible to have balanced fights between players of any level, race, and profession in different balanced situations (1v1, 4v4, etc). This mode allows players to test whether or not they like how a race or profession will blend before fully leveling up their character and it allows for victory based primarily on skill. Tournaments will be held in this mode to decide which players and teams are the best skill wise in their own world.

World vs World PvP is similar to the PvP in Aion. Players from one server or "world" as we call them will fight against players from a different "world". In Aion the servers are split into different persistent worlds that allow Elyos or Asmodian characters only; then two of those "worlds" fight it out in the Abyss for control of certain fortresses and territories which give each "world" a certain benefit. Guild Wars 2 WvW will be similar in that there will be different "worlds" fighting each other for victory. Also like Aion or WoW PvP, in GW2 WvW levels and statistics of individual characters are not equalized so higher level players are at an advantage, which means leveling up the character you take into WvW is very important.

Each week, three different "worlds" will be chosen to compete in WvW. This will create an area specifically for WvW. Each world starts with a certain number of Castles, Mines, Sawmills, Mercenary Camps, and Villages. Then each world battles for control of the other team's resources. At the end of the week, the team controlling the most resources will be declared the victor and receive certain benefits for their own world. Each player acts as an individual in the conflict so they may chose to individually attack supply caravans traveling from the locations or to form a party with others in order to take over an outpost. Taking over each type of outpost will hurt the other types of outposts. For example, taking over a Sawmill will make it harder to repair the door of a Castle so the Castle will be easier to take over. Taking over Mercenary Camps reduces the number of NPCs stationed at each outpost that world controls, making those outposts easier to take over.

I'll keep you posted when more information arrives.

First Strike: 3D Dot Game Heroes

Atlus recently has sent me a review copy of 3D Dot Game Heroes so I figured I would share a bit of my experience with it. To begin, 3D Dot Game Heroes is exactly how it looks, like a 3D version of Zelda. So really the only question is, does the game bring enough innovative and uniqueness to this "Zelda upgrade" to make it not seem like a copy and cop out.

The game is really structured like The Legend of Zelda for the NES. You begin, a hero, with a sword (though yours is bigger) and you have to go from dungeon to dungeon collection orbs (Link to the Past anyone?). The dungeons are tile based (in that each room is square) and in the first dungeon, the hero even collects a boomerang. So by now you must be thinking, why don't I just play the NES version, and this is how I want to defend 3D Dot Game Heroes, the game brings a sort of orginality to the mix. I will say the first dungeon is pretty standard but there is a lot more exploration in this game in addition to the fact that further dungeons become for challenging, present different magic elements, and have a more worldly feel to it. What I mean by that is there is that element of going to towns to collect information, increasing sword powers, etc. It is a lot more of a world experience than a dungeon hopping adventure. All in all though it really is a The Legend of Zelda upgrade with new dungeons, but that is not necessairly a bad thing.

Right now I think the gaming industry is going through "Re-Retrozation", it is not the playing of old games, but the modern day franchises going back to their roots, i.e. Megaman 9 and 10, New Super Mario Bros. (and Wii), and the 2d Castlevania. Its the idea to use new technology with old retro classics to bring about a good game. And I think 3D Dot Game Heroes balances that perfectly. It does not totally copy Zelda (original level design and mostly original gameplay) and adds a modern age twist to it.

So for now, I would say that 3D Dot Game Heroes is a-go. A Last Strike will be coming later this week.

First Strike Podcast: Episode 5 - Something About a Reach Around