Monday, December 15, 2008
Left 4 Dead
Finally played it last week. I tried playing through "No Mercy" with the first party I found. Two of them dropped out, and after we failed the in-hospital segment, the last human player dropped as well. While having four humans proved entertaining (even if only one of them had a mic), having just one flesh-and-blood ally wasn't as much fun, and I didn't even last a minute playing it on my own.
I was able to play all the way through "Blood Harvest" with three other humans, and while the last portion was very exciting, it all felt very similar to the previous scenario. The scenery changed, but the enemies didn't, and the environmental differences weren't drastic enough to change the nature of the combat to an appreciable degree.
Then I played Versus, and I was in love. We started as The Infected, and I a Hunter. It took me a bit to get the hang of it, but once I did, I was pouncing survivors left and right. I kind of hate the Belcher or whatever it's called, and the Smoker isn't much good to me either, but that Hunter is the business. I spawned as a Tank at the end of the scenario (this was Blood Harvest again), but I didn't like that much, either.
Altogether, I enjoyed the game, but I can see that it's pretty thin for me; fighting the AI infected isn't entertaining to me. Someone's going to tell me to ratchet up the difficulty, but challenge isn't what's lacking here, it's variety. Zombies do not make everything better to me. Ninja swords, maybe. High-powered explosives, destructible surfaces, energy weapons, and other things, sure, they can make things better, but zombies? Stupid enemies who rush you constantly? I never understood the nerd attraction to them, but they don't do it for me, and without that, there just isn't enough in this game to do it for me, either. Enjoy it while it lasts, zombie fans. I think I'm going to have to go back to Call of Duty 4 for my multiplayer jollies.
I was able to play all the way through "Blood Harvest" with three other humans, and while the last portion was very exciting, it all felt very similar to the previous scenario. The scenery changed, but the enemies didn't, and the environmental differences weren't drastic enough to change the nature of the combat to an appreciable degree.
Then I played Versus, and I was in love. We started as The Infected, and I a Hunter. It took me a bit to get the hang of it, but once I did, I was pouncing survivors left and right. I kind of hate the Belcher or whatever it's called, and the Smoker isn't much good to me either, but that Hunter is the business. I spawned as a Tank at the end of the scenario (this was Blood Harvest again), but I didn't like that much, either.
Altogether, I enjoyed the game, but I can see that it's pretty thin for me; fighting the AI infected isn't entertaining to me. Someone's going to tell me to ratchet up the difficulty, but challenge isn't what's lacking here, it's variety. Zombies do not make everything better to me. Ninja swords, maybe. High-powered explosives, destructible surfaces, energy weapons, and other things, sure, they can make things better, but zombies? Stupid enemies who rush you constantly? I never understood the nerd attraction to them, but they don't do it for me, and without that, there just isn't enough in this game to do it for me, either. Enjoy it while it lasts, zombie fans. I think I'm going to have to go back to Call of Duty 4 for my multiplayer jollies.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Living on the edge
I know I'm a little behind regarding new games (probably due to me not owning a "no-longer-next-but-now-current-gen" console), and I should have spotted it earlier, but yesterday was the first time I played Mirror's Edge. Not even the full, game, only the demo, but still...
And boy, was I blown away. Even on a smallish SD television, it was completely awesome. Not only did it look great, it's fun as hell to play. After only a couple of minutes, you find yourself jumping around everywhere almost without a pause, and it feels pretty kickass. It's somewhat like the feeling I got when trying Assassin's Creed for the first time.
I could go on and on about how much I like the environment the game takes place in, or pretty much every other aspect I could taste during the demo, but I think I'll save that for a future post about the game when I'm done with the full thing. So I'll rather go back to listening to "Still Alive" (NO, not the Portal one, the one sung by Lisa Miskovsky for my new addiction :D ).
Oh and I can't wait for one of my friend to come around with his PS3 to play the demo again, but on my 40" HDTV. THAT will be a treat!
And boy, was I blown away. Even on a smallish SD television, it was completely awesome. Not only did it look great, it's fun as hell to play. After only a couple of minutes, you find yourself jumping around everywhere almost without a pause, and it feels pretty kickass. It's somewhat like the feeling I got when trying Assassin's Creed for the first time.
I could go on and on about how much I like the environment the game takes place in, or pretty much every other aspect I could taste during the demo, but I think I'll save that for a future post about the game when I'm done with the full thing. So I'll rather go back to listening to "Still Alive" (NO, not the Portal one, the one sung by Lisa Miskovsky for my new addiction :D ).
Oh and I can't wait for one of my friend to come around with his PS3 to play the demo again, but on my 40" HDTV. THAT will be a treat!
Labels: first-person, game
Sunday, December 7, 2008
The Top 10 Broken Crap Fighting Game Bosses of All Time
This post is for all the fighting game players out there who have ever had to invest in replacement controllers that were destroyed in a fit of rage because you just couldn't beat that one impossible boss that you could swear was omnipotent. I too, have felt your pain. Many times have I expressed my negative sentiments for overpowered bosses by cursing the gods in anger and asserting my superiority over my controller for its insubordination. The following is a list of those broken crap bosses that provoked my aggression, from the least frustrating to the most ridiculous:
10. Shin M.Bison - Street Fighter Alpha 3
This guy isn't so bad until he uses the X-Ism super exclusive to him; the Mega Psycho Crusher. This is a screen-filling super that decimates your entire life bar in one fell swoop, and the CPU just happens to be smart enough to use it as a counter attack in most cases. His other attacks don't have nearly as much priority, thankfully, which makes him manageable in comparison to the other guys on this list.
9. Baiken - Guilty Gear
Baiken is a one armed, one eyed samurai chick, but don't let these handicaps fool you. She will kick your ass all over her stage and stain her sword with your blood. She literally has many tricks up her sleeve, which allows her to deal damage in a big way. Her specials have insane priority, and she practically has an infinite number of ways to set up her most damaging combos, but then again, even her smallest combos inflict ludicrous amounts of damage. She's a blast to fight with provided you can meet the requirements to do so.
8. Zankuro - Samurai Spirits/Shodown III
Zankuro is probably the coolest samurai to grace a fighting game ever. As if his towering presence wasn't intimidating enough, this guy's normal attacks do incredulous amounts of damage, and even if your attack was to come out first, he could perform one of his specials at the last possible second and it would still counter your attack. He has tremendous reach with his sword, and his heavy slash attack is faster than anyone else's in the game, so in a sense, the fight is over well before it starts. This battle will truly test your patience.
7. Omega Rugal Bernstein - The King of Fighters '98/2002
Rugal is adept at picking you off at a distance with his incredible amount of projectile attacks, namely the Kaiser Wave, which is a screen filling special that must be rolled through or jumped over at the last possible minute. And just when you get close enough to mount an offense, Rugal will simply perform his classic Genocide Cutter anti-air, which has godlike priority over every single special and Desperation Move in the entire game, to send you flying across the screen, forcing you to play his little keep-away game all over again. However, his priority and projectile attacks would actually be manageable if it weren't for the amount of damage they inflict when they score a successful hit, coupled with Rugal's extreme defenses against your own attacks and combos, which is really what makes this battle so irritating. Perseverance is key, here.
6. Magneto - X-Men: Children of the Atom
Magneto is, perhaps, the only opponent in CotA that actually requires some strategy to dispatch effectively. Normally all you have to do is spam the same combo over and over again, like any versus series game, but Magneto doesn't even give you the chance to get in close enough to set one up. He has two unblockable techniques, one special, one super, and they are both frustrating as hell for you. This guy can also generate a force field around himself to nullify your attacks altogether, which lasts a little too long for its own good. If you can't beat this guy, don't sweat it, just turn the game off and say fuck it.
5. Igniz - The King of Fighters 2001
I hate this guy. Supposedly there's some weakness in the A.I. you can exploit, but I never found out what it was. He has a standard projectile attack that negates and passes through other special and super projectiles, and has priority over everything else in general. He has an infinite combo that he can and will use against you whenever he feels like it. His DMs may as well be instant kills, which still doesn't say anything about the rape his SDM opens up when he lands it. This guy literally is broken crap because there's just no strategy you can implement that is effective against his brokenness.
4. Magaki - The King of Fighters XI
This little shit is broken garbage. He can have like, eight projectiles on screen at once, projectiles that can and will cross you up if you don't anticipate their direction, his LDM is a screen-filling super that has priority over everything, does outlandish amounts of chip damage when blocked, and may as well be an instant kill otherwise. If you manage to get in close enough to deal any real damage to this bastard, he has an invincible multi-hit explosion attack that covers the area in front of him that hits for major damage, and sends you flying across the screen, just like Rugal's Genocide Cutter. Avoid this guy at all costs, he's taken the fun out of the game for me many times.
3. Goenitz - The King of Fighters '96
We're entering the top three broken crap bosses now. Goenitz is one of them. Many people believe this guy is actually the penultimate broken boss, but I'm not giving him the satisfaction. For starters, his DMs are normal specials. He loves to just walk up to you until you're cornered so he can spam his Yamidouko unblockable grab, which does like, 25% damage. But, what makes him so cheap are his tornadoes. This guy can erect a vertical tornado in four different places on the screen, and he spams them with impunity. And when I say vertical, I mean these tornadoes extend from the bottom of your screen all the way up to the top, they can't be jumped over. And he can TELEPORT. He plays the most dangerous game of keep-away in fighting game history. After a while, you will have memorized his signature taunt, "Koku desu ka?", meaning, "Right here?", whenever he erects these tornadoes. Its fun attempting to bypass these tornadoes for a time, but after a while, it becomes too difficult to keep your cool. Goenitz is classic broken crap.
2. Shin Shishioh/King Leo - Neogeo Battle Coliseum
Shin Shishioh is one of my favorite characters of all time, so major kudos to SNK for creating him. His first appearance was in a little known game called Savage Reign, where there was a selectable version of the character called King Lion, or Kage Shishioh, and an unplayable(without a secret code) final boss version called King Leo, or Shin Shishioh. He has since returned after a 12 year hiatus in Neogeo Battle Coliseum, and he's back with a vengeance baby. Shin Shishioh has two exclusive moves that King Lion does not possess; the Hunter Killer, and the King Upper, and various properties on his other specials are different as well. In particular, his Beast Blow hits LOW, meaning it cannot be blocked from a standing position at all, and he will use it to completely pass through mid and high level projectiles unharmed. His fierce Earth Chopper is completely unblockable, and can OTG if you don't quick recover after a knockdown. The Hunter Killer is an extremely fast horizontal kick attack that he uses to hit you out of slow start-up specials and supers, but the big kicker is that it doubles as an overhead. You can imagine how difficult it becomes to remember to block his Beast Blow in a crouched position and the Hunter Killer in a standing one after a while. And the King Upper is a vertical projectile attack that does 50% damage if all three hits connect. This guy is seriously one of the coolest guys ever, and fighting him is a true test of your skills as a warrior. King Lion owns you for free.
1. Shin Akuma - Street Fighter Alpha 2/Street Fighter Alpha 3/Capcom vs. SNK 2/SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos
And last but not least, Shin Akuma takes his rightful place at the top of this list for being THE original broken crap boss designed to test your skills. His double aerial Zankuu Hadouken attack is easily one of the cheapest attacks in fighting game history, his Shungokusatsu, or Instant Hell Murder super art is usually enhanced in some way to make it even more devastating than regular Akuma's, and he's always so fast that he can pull a combo out of his ass at any moment. Shin Akuma easily earns his place on this list for being such a classic character, and I don't think he'll be dethroned anytime soon. Long live Shin Akuma!
10. Shin M.Bison - Street Fighter Alpha 3
This guy isn't so bad until he uses the X-Ism super exclusive to him; the Mega Psycho Crusher. This is a screen-filling super that decimates your entire life bar in one fell swoop, and the CPU just happens to be smart enough to use it as a counter attack in most cases. His other attacks don't have nearly as much priority, thankfully, which makes him manageable in comparison to the other guys on this list.
9. Baiken - Guilty Gear
Baiken is a one armed, one eyed samurai chick, but don't let these handicaps fool you. She will kick your ass all over her stage and stain her sword with your blood. She literally has many tricks up her sleeve, which allows her to deal damage in a big way. Her specials have insane priority, and she practically has an infinite number of ways to set up her most damaging combos, but then again, even her smallest combos inflict ludicrous amounts of damage. She's a blast to fight with provided you can meet the requirements to do so.
8. Zankuro - Samurai Spirits/Shodown III
Zankuro is probably the coolest samurai to grace a fighting game ever. As if his towering presence wasn't intimidating enough, this guy's normal attacks do incredulous amounts of damage, and even if your attack was to come out first, he could perform one of his specials at the last possible second and it would still counter your attack. He has tremendous reach with his sword, and his heavy slash attack is faster than anyone else's in the game, so in a sense, the fight is over well before it starts. This battle will truly test your patience.
7. Omega Rugal Bernstein - The King of Fighters '98/2002
Rugal is adept at picking you off at a distance with his incredible amount of projectile attacks, namely the Kaiser Wave, which is a screen filling special that must be rolled through or jumped over at the last possible minute. And just when you get close enough to mount an offense, Rugal will simply perform his classic Genocide Cutter anti-air, which has godlike priority over every single special and Desperation Move in the entire game, to send you flying across the screen, forcing you to play his little keep-away game all over again. However, his priority and projectile attacks would actually be manageable if it weren't for the amount of damage they inflict when they score a successful hit, coupled with Rugal's extreme defenses against your own attacks and combos, which is really what makes this battle so irritating. Perseverance is key, here.
6. Magneto - X-Men: Children of the Atom
Magneto is, perhaps, the only opponent in CotA that actually requires some strategy to dispatch effectively. Normally all you have to do is spam the same combo over and over again, like any versus series game, but Magneto doesn't even give you the chance to get in close enough to set one up. He has two unblockable techniques, one special, one super, and they are both frustrating as hell for you. This guy can also generate a force field around himself to nullify your attacks altogether, which lasts a little too long for its own good. If you can't beat this guy, don't sweat it, just turn the game off and say fuck it.
5. Igniz - The King of Fighters 2001
I hate this guy. Supposedly there's some weakness in the A.I. you can exploit, but I never found out what it was. He has a standard projectile attack that negates and passes through other special and super projectiles, and has priority over everything else in general. He has an infinite combo that he can and will use against you whenever he feels like it. His DMs may as well be instant kills, which still doesn't say anything about the rape his SDM opens up when he lands it. This guy literally is broken crap because there's just no strategy you can implement that is effective against his brokenness.
4. Magaki - The King of Fighters XI
This little shit is broken garbage. He can have like, eight projectiles on screen at once, projectiles that can and will cross you up if you don't anticipate their direction, his LDM is a screen-filling super that has priority over everything, does outlandish amounts of chip damage when blocked, and may as well be an instant kill otherwise. If you manage to get in close enough to deal any real damage to this bastard, he has an invincible multi-hit explosion attack that covers the area in front of him that hits for major damage, and sends you flying across the screen, just like Rugal's Genocide Cutter. Avoid this guy at all costs, he's taken the fun out of the game for me many times.
3. Goenitz - The King of Fighters '96
We're entering the top three broken crap bosses now. Goenitz is one of them. Many people believe this guy is actually the penultimate broken boss, but I'm not giving him the satisfaction. For starters, his DMs are normal specials. He loves to just walk up to you until you're cornered so he can spam his Yamidouko unblockable grab, which does like, 25% damage. But, what makes him so cheap are his tornadoes. This guy can erect a vertical tornado in four different places on the screen, and he spams them with impunity. And when I say vertical, I mean these tornadoes extend from the bottom of your screen all the way up to the top, they can't be jumped over. And he can TELEPORT. He plays the most dangerous game of keep-away in fighting game history. After a while, you will have memorized his signature taunt, "Koku desu ka?", meaning, "Right here?", whenever he erects these tornadoes. Its fun attempting to bypass these tornadoes for a time, but after a while, it becomes too difficult to keep your cool. Goenitz is classic broken crap.
2. Shin Shishioh/King Leo - Neogeo Battle Coliseum
Shin Shishioh is one of my favorite characters of all time, so major kudos to SNK for creating him. His first appearance was in a little known game called Savage Reign, where there was a selectable version of the character called King Lion, or Kage Shishioh, and an unplayable(without a secret code) final boss version called King Leo, or Shin Shishioh. He has since returned after a 12 year hiatus in Neogeo Battle Coliseum, and he's back with a vengeance baby. Shin Shishioh has two exclusive moves that King Lion does not possess; the Hunter Killer, and the King Upper, and various properties on his other specials are different as well. In particular, his Beast Blow hits LOW, meaning it cannot be blocked from a standing position at all, and he will use it to completely pass through mid and high level projectiles unharmed. His fierce Earth Chopper is completely unblockable, and can OTG if you don't quick recover after a knockdown. The Hunter Killer is an extremely fast horizontal kick attack that he uses to hit you out of slow start-up specials and supers, but the big kicker is that it doubles as an overhead. You can imagine how difficult it becomes to remember to block his Beast Blow in a crouched position and the Hunter Killer in a standing one after a while. And the King Upper is a vertical projectile attack that does 50% damage if all three hits connect. This guy is seriously one of the coolest guys ever, and fighting him is a true test of your skills as a warrior. King Lion owns you for free.
1. Shin Akuma - Street Fighter Alpha 2/Street Fighter Alpha 3/Capcom vs. SNK 2/SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos
And last but not least, Shin Akuma takes his rightful place at the top of this list for being THE original broken crap boss designed to test your skills. His double aerial Zankuu Hadouken attack is easily one of the cheapest attacks in fighting game history, his Shungokusatsu, or Instant Hell Murder super art is usually enhanced in some way to make it even more devastating than regular Akuma's, and he's always so fast that he can pull a combo out of his ass at any moment. Shin Akuma easily earns his place on this list for being such a classic character, and I don't think he'll be dethroned anytime soon. Long live Shin Akuma!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Deck the halls, bitches
Well, 'tis the season or so they say, though I've never felt jolly around the holidays so much as I come down with seasonal affective disorder. But the video gaming industry has never looked better than it does this holiday season, which is definitely something to feel good about because this year's hottest new games are worth their weight in silver and gold.
Don't just deck the halls, deck your friends too! The fighting game front is finally starting to make a comeback, with titles like Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which despite its criticisms, can be a blast to play with your friends. Street Fighter IV is all the rage these days it seems, but SNK's working King of Fighters title may just be enough to break Capcom's chokehold on the genre once it hits arcades here before long, which I'm eagerly anticipating. Namco's Tekken 6 is shaping up to be something truly promising, and while some people's hatred for Namco's "scams" discourages them from playing their games, Tekken is an awesome contributor to the 3D fighting arena, so if your arcade has it, pump a few quarters into it, your opinion may just change. So dust off those older titles like Capcom vs. SNK 2, SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos, and Neogeo Battle Coliseum, because its time for Street Fighter III to step aside!
Persona 4 will be hitting store shelves on December 9th, and having gotten into the MegaTen games myself here recently, I can certainly recommend this title to any serious RPG player out there looking for something different outside the realm of Final Fantasy.
The only front I can honestly say is still lacking is the action/adventure genre. Games like Mirror's Edge and Tomb Raider: Underworld are refreshing new additions to the genre, but as a whole, it just doesn't have as much to offer you as you might think. Devil May Cry 4 is still the best action title I've played on a next-gen platform, and I'm not sure if that will change anytime soon, so keep your eyes peeled for something that truly stands out.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!
Don't just deck the halls, deck your friends too! The fighting game front is finally starting to make a comeback, with titles like Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which despite its criticisms, can be a blast to play with your friends. Street Fighter IV is all the rage these days it seems, but SNK's working King of Fighters title may just be enough to break Capcom's chokehold on the genre once it hits arcades here before long, which I'm eagerly anticipating. Namco's Tekken 6 is shaping up to be something truly promising, and while some people's hatred for Namco's "scams" discourages them from playing their games, Tekken is an awesome contributor to the 3D fighting arena, so if your arcade has it, pump a few quarters into it, your opinion may just change. So dust off those older titles like Capcom vs. SNK 2, SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos, and Neogeo Battle Coliseum, because its time for Street Fighter III to step aside!
Persona 4 will be hitting store shelves on December 9th, and having gotten into the MegaTen games myself here recently, I can certainly recommend this title to any serious RPG player out there looking for something different outside the realm of Final Fantasy.
The only front I can honestly say is still lacking is the action/adventure genre. Games like Mirror's Edge and Tomb Raider: Underworld are refreshing new additions to the genre, but as a whole, it just doesn't have as much to offer you as you might think. Devil May Cry 4 is still the best action title I've played on a next-gen platform, and I'm not sure if that will change anytime soon, so keep your eyes peeled for something that truly stands out.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!
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