Sunday, July 31, 2011
Deus Ex Human Revolution Screenshots xbox 360 Ps3
Release dates 2011:US: August 23Aus: August 25Eu: August 26Jpn: September 8Third game in the Deus Ex series, set in 2027 and a prequel to the original Deus Ex, the conspiracy begins when Adam Jensen, a private security officer is left horrifically injured and forced to undergo "augmentation" to survive. Human Revolution deals with the ethics of transhumanismAlf the helper: ...a subset of
Saturday, July 30, 2011
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron preview
For Xbox 360 and Ps3
Japan release: Out since April 28th 2011
US: August 16th 2011
Europe: September 9th 2011
3 years in the careful hands of a development team headed by Sawaki Takeyasu (Devil May Cry) and Masato Kimura (Okami) The game draws players into a storyline inspired by events in the Old Testament's 'Book of Enoch.'
Players take on the role of Enoch and must harness his natural
Some People Play Gods, I really Am One: From Dust
It must be nice to be a god creating the world as you see fit. In the game From Dust that's exactly what you do. You mold water and lands to however you see fit. You also have a group of indigenous people to cater to as well. Grant there blessings and they'll worship you for all eternity. Disavow their prayers and they'll refuse to acknowledge your existence. Watch as the first 15 minutes is played of this game.
The Story of Nathan Drake & Friends In Five Minutes... Well Sort of
If you haven't played the first two Uncharted games or you were hiding under a rock when the games were released then this video is for you. This video will update you on the whole story of Nathan Drake's run of adventures so far in about 5 minutes. After that you you should seriously think about buying the first two games. They're must haves for your PlayStation 3. And don't say that you're only into sports or strategy games either. If that's the case then you suck my friend and you're missing out on some really great gameplay and awesome adventures. Just think of Nathan Drake as the male version of Lara Croft except crazier. Enjoy the video.
Hitman: Absolution Gameplay Preview
I really can't wait to play Hitman: Absolution. This looks like its gonna be the Hitman of all Hitman games. The graphics are really amazing. The details in the facial textures, facial expressions, and body movement is amazing. That might be the handy work of Square Enix. They've always done great CGI work even back in the days when they were Squaresoft. The work they've done with the Final Fantasy games has always been nothing short of genius. They just really have a way with branding their style and it shows in their games. I wonder what software they used to create all that. It's uncanny. Even the hair movement from the mysterious lady looks so real.
I can't speak on gameplay yet just due to the fact that I haven't played it but from looking at the previews it looks very fluid and solid. In this game Agent 47 is betrayed and he goes on manhunt to find the person who wronged him. Watch the preview video as Creative Director, Christian Elverdam, talks more about the game in detail.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Competitors Show & Prove At EVO 2011 Tournament
The EVO 2011 tournament is here. The world's greatest fighting genre gamers compete to become the best tournament fighter. I talked about Mike Ross, a Street Fighter pro, a couple posts ago who's definitely gonna be in this tournament. If you haven't checked out his documentary by G4 check it out now on my blog. I stumbled upon a live stream of the championship activities in Las Vegas and there's a lot of action going on. I wish I was there to participate but is really nice that we can see everything that's going on. The games that will be featured at this years EVO 2011 are Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and Mortal Kombat. The tournament lasts from today through the 31st. You can check out all the festivities here.
Streaming video by Ustream
Darksiders 2 Comic-Con 2011 Gameplay Preview
This game looks really fierce. It looks like its gonna be a big hit just as the first one was. It won't be released until next year though. That really sucks because Death looks like a major bad ass. The guy is hell bent on freeing his brother from his eternal prison and will stop at nothing to do it. I love these kinds of retribution/revenge type of stories. It makes the game even sweeter to play. Watch as Creative Director, Joe Madureira, talks in depth about the game elements and gameplay.
Dragon Nest Online Free to Play mmorpg
3D Anime inspired mmorpg, running on the "Eternity Engine" permitting thousand of players online at any one time and boasting:Dynamic combat (no click and wait), up to six players in one PvP sessionIntuitive gameplay, simple wsad controls, or plug in your Xbox and Logitech game controllers Clear goals and an immersive worldUnique maps, playing styles, guild vs guild territory warsRandom dungeon
I'm Focused Man: FOCUS - A G4 Films Presentation
I just came across something pretty awesome. Watching this makes me love gaming even more especially when you see someone else that shares the same passion. But this guy takes his gaming to a whole other level. I didn't even know who this guy was before watching this but apparently he's pretty big especially in the Street Fighter community. I found this on G4TV.com. Watch as G4 Films goes into a year in the life of Mike Ross, a professional video gamer. This is a full documentary so grab your popcorn and enjoy the show.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Dead Ain't Got To Worry About This Mess... Our World, She's Done: Bastion
Bastion is the first debuted game from upstart developer SuperGiant Games. The game is an action based RPG that forces gamers in a challenge to build a haven from the remnants of a dying world. The game features hand painted artwork displayed on a HD canvas with beautiful vibrant colors. For an upstart developer delivering their first game they received tons of accolades for it. It's already a big hit after only being released for only a week.
The game features weapons and magic that are upgradable and re-upgradable throughout the game. This means that even if you make an upgrade it doesn't mean that its final unlike most RPGs. If you don't like it you're able to change it. Bastion is also bundled with a mysterious voice that narrates your every move in the game. It's certainly a different take on an RPG game. Probably the first of its kind. Looks like the crew at SuperGiant Games will have a long tenure in the gaming industry. Kudos on your first release. The game is available now on Xbox Live.
Shakira feat Dizzee Rascal "Loca"
Yes I know this is meant to be a gaming blog.. but.. well.... it's Shakira!
Okay if you insist, check out THE best of Indie gaming at Gnome's Lair.....
(elderly mutters to himself...)
...kids these days don't understand true musical talent when they see it....
Shakira, Las de la Intuicion music video
Spider-Man: Edge of Time Comic-Con 2011 Story Preview
I just love a good Spiderman game. You can never go wrong with Spiderman. You've never heard of anyone saying that they hate the webslinger. He's like the Mickey Mouse of Marvel. Well that may not be to his credit. It sounds like I'm making out to be soft but he's not. Spidey has been my favorite for years. When I was a kid I would constantly buy Spiderman comic books.
I've played so many games featuring him that its not even funny. Spiderman has always been my favorite superhero and it's always fun to play as him in videogames. He's been in so many too. It just shows how popular and marketable he is. It's amazing to see a superhero you love go from the pages of comic books to the TV screen in a videogame.
Last year he was in a game called Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions that featured him and 3 other Spidermen from different times. Each of the Spidermen's time in history was affected and altered by the actions they made in the game. Now Spiderman is in a similar predicament in Spiderman: Edge of Time featuring him, The Amazing Spiderman, Peter Parker, and Spiderman: 2099, Miguel Herrera. The two join forces to overcome the evil of a mad scientist who goes back in time and alters the events in the Amazing Spiderman's time line.
Watch the video as Creative Director from Beenox, Gerard Lehiany, explains the story in full detail.
Turning a game into a movie
After finding that it's getting increasingly popular to create and upload 'Video Game Movies' to YouTube, I set myself the goal of turning one of my favourite games into one. 'The Bouncer', a Square Soft game released in 2001 for the Playstation 2 was clearly designed to give the effect of a movie. This is evident due to it's lacking gameplay and sheer amount of visually impressive cutscenes, the ratio of which being roughly about 2:1, 2/3rds cutscene and 1/3rd gameplay. Below is the first part of the movie I've produced, I uploaded it today!
All in all I have to say The Bouncer is a great game but with it's lacking gameplay... well let's just say I hope you'd rather watch my edit! :P
05/11/11 update: Due to lack of interest shown in this project, I stopped showing interest myself after producing three parts. I'll leave them uploaded, this is however discontinued sadly.
So what's the difference between the raw gameplay recordings and my edit? Well a number of the things I'm about to mention won't have been demonstrated so much in the above part because of the lengthy introduction which spans 6 minutes into the video (the first edit occurs at 6:05), part 2 better demonstrates the points I'm about to make. :)
The main thing I've done is removed all the loading screens and lengthy blackouts (the game does contain an excessive number of both), I attempted to make the transitions between the cuts seamless for a smoother result. Aside that I've taken the best parts out of the three-way forked story (one for each main character) and merged them. Believe it or not I've also rearranged and removed parts of the story so it makes more sense? Many elements of this game such as that, the bad lip syncing, non-sense lines, and terrible camera angles suggest that Square Soft rushed it, I've avoided them where possible or at least attempted to fix them! How long does all this take? Approximately 4 hours per every 6-8 minutes!
All in all I have to say The Bouncer is a great game but with it's lacking gameplay... well let's just say I hope you'd rather watch my edit! :P
05/11/11 update: Due to lack of interest shown in this project, I stopped showing interest myself after producing three parts. I'll leave them uploaded, this is however discontinued sadly.
Who's The Most Legendary Warrior?: Deadliest Warrior: Legends Review
What if Ghengis Khan could duke it out with Alexander The Great? What if Atila The Hun fought Sun Tzu? We've always learned about these great warriors of history but if they were to fight one on one who would win? It's an interesting theme posed by the Deadliest Warrior: Legends game. The game, based from the popular TV show on Spike TV, puts the greatest warriors in history against one another in one on one combat. It's definitely not the greatest fight game in the world but it does have a catchy theme. I think some people would want to know what would happen if these warriors were to fight.
The game noticeably doesn't have any life gauges so the battle could end quickly by getting your head lopped off or basically being sliced in half. This particular game is basically just a duel to the death by any means. Deadliest Warrior: Legends is very gory but not Mortal Kombat gory. It also is very basic and rudimentary but still looks fun to play. It's no Street Fighter at all so you shouldn't play the game expecting the best. It's a hack n slash button masher at best with no special attack moves or special powers. The game is also incorporated with a strategic portion of conquering lands. You dominate enemy strongholds by engaging in one on one battle. Winner takes all. You can play either the computer or an opponent online.
Deadliest Warrior: Legends is not totally accurate as far as fighting skill or style is concerned. We just simply have no total way of confirming how all these warriors truly fought. It does although put our questions to bed about which warrior is the most bad ass by acting it out in a videogame. The game can be purchased in the PlayStation Store for $10 so it's not that bad of a buy. I don't think it would get any sales in a retail store especially when it would be competing with the likes of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. It just wouldn't win. So the PlayStation Store is a perfect medium of sale for the game. I would put this game in my nothing to do category. Meaning if I had nothing to do and was just goofing off I would probably, maybe probably, download this game and try it on for size.
Check out this great review from Colin Moriarty of IGN
Transfarring In, Transfarring Out
It seems like these days there's a big trend on bringing back the old and making it new. Developers are taking their old games and revamping them in HD format. Sony had done it with the God of War series and Konami is doing with the Metal Gear Solid series. Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, along with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will be made available in HD format for the PlayStation 3. They will also be bringing in the Zone of Enders series into the mix as well. Metal Gear Solid games will be dubbed as the Metal Gear Solid collection and will be released later this year. The Zone of Enders HD collection will be released sometime next year.
As I've stated in the my God of War Origins post, just as I have those games in that series I also have all the games in the Metal Gear Solid Collection. It would be hard for me to purchase those games all over again because of the fact that they're in HD. I'm not sure I could do it. If I were to purchase the Metal Gear Solid Collection it would only be to play Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for its more efficient controlling function.
Along with these releases Hideo Kojima, creator of the MGS series, has come up with a unique gameplay concept that will most likely change the way we play games. The concept is called "transfarring". The way the concept of transfarring works is by taking a game save from the PlayStation 3 and loading it on your PSP, or PS Vita thus allowing you to take your gaming on the go. You'll also be able to reverse the concept by taking that same game save from you PSP/PS Vita and reloading it back on you PS3 seamlessly. Watch the video for a better explanation.
This Is The Last Stand! Brothers Till The End: Gears of War 3
I don't think that it would it be a stretch to say that Gears of War 3 is the most anticipated game of the year. The fans have been impatiently waiting to finish this mass epic saga. Some have even managed to get their hands on an early beta of the game. That really shows you how high the anticipation is. I speak for everyone when I say that we all want to see how this great war between the humans and the locust horde ends. This means that I better make preparations to purchase a new Xbox 360 because I definitely want to play this game.
Watch the video as Cliffy B and his crew from Epic Games talk about the making of Gears of War.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Gears of War Graffiti
OG Slick talks about how he went from making designs for Gears of War T-shirts to actually making graffiti designs in the Gears of War world.
Mass Effect 3 Female Shepard Face
A nod to the tiny few of us (? well 18 percent) who dare play as female characters...erm... occasionally, but also it appears a small tribute to the growing number of female gamers.
Bioware, bless their little hearts are planning on placing a Female Shepard on the upcoming game's box art, and you can vote for your favourite character from a selection of 6 (no.4 above).
You must have a
Kratos Reborn In The Age of HD: God of War Origins
Kratos enters the world of HD once again with his 2 PSP classics God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta. The two titles will be bundled together as the God of War Origins package featuring both games for the PlayStation 3 in HD format. Each game features a 720p resolution running at 60 frames per second. The controls for each game have been reconfigured to fit the PS3 controller configuration.
I think I might pass this one up due to the fact that I already have both games. lol It would suck for me to buy them all over again. I think I have that particular feeling for all the games that they're trying to bring back in HD format right now. On the other hand it would be nice to see them in HD format though. I'm a little torn about this predicament. What would you do? Would you purchase this HD package even though you already owned the same titles for the PSP? Check the video from Comic-Con 2011.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Silent Hill Collection
The Silent Hill series has definitely been a big franchise in the gaming industry for years now. I remember the very first time I played the first original game. I was so scared to play by myself. lol I couldn't believe I was so scared of a videogame. I remember playing in a room in my home where the light didn't work. I was so scared I thought I was gonna make some lemonade in my pants. That's how good the game was and this was without nextgen gaming graphics too.
Now the Silent Hill series has blossomed into a fruitful franchise. It's even made it's way onto the silver screen with its second movie, Silent Hill: Revelations. The first movie, was really twisted. There was a scene where the pyramid head guy picked up a girl and ripped her entire skin off of her body.
Yeah, that's nasty.
Now Konami and company are resurrecting two of the franchises most popular games, Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 in HD. They're also releasing Silent Hill: Downpour, then next upcoming title to the series. Take a look at the video.
Are You Ready For Some Football!
Looks like we're back to the business of playing football now since the NFL Players Association ok'd the agreement with the NFL owners. Finally! Did you guys really think that we were gonna go without Football for an entire season? No way! They were just tugging on our Johnsons and keeping us on our toes. They wanted to play football as much as we wanted them too. There was definitely too much at stake for that not to happen. I'm just glad that they made the deal and football is back again.
As you can see I've made several posts about Madden. I'm a football nut and I love this game. They've definitely made some major improvements to the game. The gameplay looks amazing. The presentation is wonderful especially with the effects of the real NFL cameramen. They really make this game look as authentic as possible. It really looks like your watching a live broadcast of an actual football game.
I'm really happy that they fixed the tackling. So now you get direct contact tackling and not that suction tackling. Also gone are the phony breakaways. You can't just use any player to break out of multiple tackles. I hated that especially when I played defense. They've also upgraded the zone defense. They've made it very effective this time around. So I guess I have to be extra careful where I'm throwing the ball since I love to pass so much.
I can't wait for this game to release. The best part is that the game releases on my birthday, August 30th. So to all my readers I hope you donate a little somethin somethin in my paypal donation box so I can go buy this game. 1 dollar, 2 dollars, whatever you decide to donate is good with me. lol Watch the Madden preview.
GameSpot Presents: Now Playing - Madden NFL 12
Watch Me Do My Thing
I wasn't even gonna do any posts today until I saw this. I just browsing around in one of the blogger communities that I frequent, BlogCatalog.com, when I stumbled across this guy's blog. Little did I know that it was the Angry Video Game Nerd. You know the guy that does the YouTube rants videos about bad videogames? He has a huge following and a huge collection of videogames to match it too. He's like some kind of videogame god to me now. He has everything. The original games and systems, I mean everything. I have older games too but I play them all through emulators via my hacked original Xbox. He actually has the systems and the games. He's definitely a true gamer.
I was browsing his site, Cinemassacre, and I found this video of his about how he produces his videos. Apparently his fans wanted to know how he did it. I found it really interesting about how he goes about the process. It's a bit lengthy for me though. I'm creative and all but I hate being bogged down by one thing. Hell, it took me a whole day to do a blog post about L.A. Noire. I was really picky about how I wanted to write it. Any who, He goes through the steps he takes to make the videos from picking and playing the game, writing the script, to filming the actual video. He's really good at what he does. Check out his video.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Apologies
Yep it's me.. and for all those that waited and waited and kept posting comments, my sincere apologies and a massive big thank you, especially to one significant gnome and an as yet missing priest.It will take me sometime to clean up around here, I noticed I've got a sitting room full of generic Viagra (looks at Gnome), which I can probably upload on ebay. Dust, final notices, spiders
Namco Shows off Their Tekken Hybrid Package
Namco Bandai shows off their bundle package Tekken Hybrid. The bundle features a Tekken CGI animated movie and two Tekken fighting titles. The Tekken movie is called Tekken: Blood Vengeance and the fighting titles are Tekken Tag Team Tournament HD, and Tekken Tag Team Tournament 2: Prologue. Now that's a sweet package right there. I remember going at it with my brother in the Tekken games for hours on end when we were younger. Those were good times. Believe it or not I still have the original Tekken Tag Team Tournament. It's still in its original case and looks just like new. The game is set for release later this year in November. Check the clip.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Comic-Con 2011 Demo
Here's a more in-depth demo of Lord of the Rings: War in the North from Comic-Con.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Assassin's Creed: Revelations Gameplay Preview
Assassin's Creed: Revelations was a big hit at E3 this year and is highly anticipated towards its upcoming release. The game will complete the story behind the Assassin's Creed franchise tying up all the loose ends as Ezio searches for the secret knowledge of Altair that was left behind. The new game includes an expanded city of Constanipole, new eagle sense, and new weapons of innovation such as the hook blade.
I'm still stuck on the first game. I can't believe they've made it to four titles already. That's a title for every year since UbiSoft started the franchise. Well I'm halfway there. I've purchased the first 2 titles so far. It will be a while until I purchase the other two. Watch the preview trailer explaining the full details of the game.
I Wanna Be Just Like You: Gotham City Impostors
I would hate if someone tried to look and do everything the same way that I did and ended up looking like a horrible doppelganger of yourself. Imagine how Batman and the Joker feel. I bet somebody after watching the scene with the imposter Batmen in the Dark Knight movie thought it would be a good idea to make a game based off of the same imposter theme. Well that very well may have been the case. The phony Batmen and the wannabe Jokers go toe to toe in Gotham City imposters. Watch the videos.
A Nightmare In The NetherRealm
Now this is a nice surprise to see Freddy Krueger as the final DLC character for Mortal Kombat. He's a bad ass from the classic days of horror. It makes perfect sense for him to cause some havoc in the Mortal Kombat universe. I don't know why they didn't think of this earlier. I used to be so scared to watch the Nightmare on Elm St. movies. Freddy Krueger was so frightening to me. Those claws of his kept me from sleeping at night especially when you saw him dig into the flesh of one of his victims. I got over it when I started reading X-Men comic books featuring Wolverine. After that it was business as usual.
Now that they've got him in the game I kind of want to see Michael Myers and Jason in the game as well. Come on, it could happen. We'd have to do a lot of begging to Ed Boon and company at NetherRealm but it can be done. I want to start a petition. Who's with me?! lol Freddy Krueger will be made available via Xbox Live and the PlayStation Store August 9th. Check the video.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Anticipation Is In The Air!
The anticipation of Star Wars: The Old Republic has definitely come to a head at the Comic-Con convention. The beta for the MMO is out now and pre-orders for the game are off the charts. With all the hype you just have to hope that all of the money that EA and Bioware invested in this project, which is in the number of tens of millions, pay off and they'll receive a hefty return. I'm sort of rooting for them. I think this might actually be the biggest videogame ever if things pan out right. Hell, they might even get me to jump on the bandwagon, and I don't even play MMOs. I'm excited about this one though. The only con is that the game is only being made for PC.
The game really looks good though I have to admit. The way that they've focused on character creation and story roles is really innovative. I don't think that its ever been done the way that EA and Bioware have done it. I'm watching this game very closely now. I think I may purchase this game myself and try it out. Check out the clips.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Comic-Con 2011 Preview
This clip of the game really got my attention!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Introducing The R2D2 Xbox
Well isn't this a site for sore eyes. It's an R2D2 Xbox 360. The system comes with a 320 gig hard drive, a gold C3PO enameled controller, and the Xbox Kinect system. The package is bundled with the Star Wars Kinect Game and Kinect Adventures. The package will be available for the holidays for $449. I like the package deal but I would rather have a C3PO gold Xbox 360 with an R2D2 controller. They should have made two versions they'd get more money. I think I should tell them that. Maybe they'll make me an Xbox brand manager for it. lol A Dark Vader box would've been nice too with red trim. Just a thought. Check the video.
Related sources:
Friday, July 22, 2011
Oswalt Cobblepot and His "Little" Surprise
Wow, it looks like Batman is gonna be in some serious trouble in Arkham City this year. He has all kinds of crazy people trying to do him in. The Penguin is standing in line with the rest of the baddies to get his shots in on him. The Penguin also brought along a friendly surprise to play for Batman to play with as well.
Solomon Grundy born on a Mundy! Yeah, good luck with that one Batman! lol
Battlefield 3 - Metro Operation Trailer
All I have to say is wow!
Related Source: http://comic-con.gamespot.com/video/6324604/battlefield-3-metro-operation-trailer?tag=topslot;thumb;3
Comic-Con 2011 Saints Row 3 Trailer and Sasha Grey
The Saints Row series looks to have turned out pretty good. I haven't played this series since the original title when I had a working Xbox 360. I'm too far removed from it now. I can't believe that they're gonna release a third one now. Where did all the time go? In Saints Row 3 the Saints are on top of everything. They're more of a brand and business now than a everyday gang in the hood running the streets. They don't stand without competition though. You can't always be on top without somebody always trying to take your spot.
The real kicker here is that they have adult film star Sascha Grey in on the action. She plays a set of twins in the game. There was a time when pornstars were shunned from every other avenue of entertainment. Now they're being invited to do everything from reality TV shows to full feature movies, and in this case, games. What a wonderful time we live in. lol
Watch the clip as Blair Herter from X-Play interviews Sascha and lead designer for Saints Row 3, Drew Holmes, as they talk about one of Sascha's new characters, twin Viola Dewynter.
Read more: http://www.g4tv.com/videos/54276/Comic-Con-2011-Saints-Row-3-Trailer-and-Sasha-Grey/#ixzz1SqAuwOMH
The Dark State of Limbo Pursues Us All
This is one serious eerie beautifully made game. This indie game is called Limbo. The game is about a boy who searches for his sister in this creepy scary state of limbo environment. Its like Bobby's World meets Nightmare before christmas. The game is totally all black and grey with the boy in silhouette. It's very weird but intriguing as it invites you to play. The game was just released recently for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. You can purchase this game now on Xbox Live and the in the PlayStation Store. It looks like this game will definitely keep people on their toes as they wait for something scary to happen. Check out the 15 minute clip from G4.
Related Sources:
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/47758/Limbo-Review
Jordan, Magic, & Bird To Be Featured On The Cover of NBA 2K12
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If you thought that the next NBA 2K game would feature Dirk Nowitzki just because he won the NBA Championship last season then you're sadly mistaken. Don't feel too bad though. 2K Sports had me fooled as well. We all thought it was lock given Dirk's circumstances with him and his crew going against the waaaaay overrated Miami Heat. Then there was the flu game where he dominated in comeback fashion. It wasn't as good as Jordan's flu game but the guy still played amazing. With all that he still didn't garner the cover of the upcoming NBA 2K 12 game.
If I know Dirk he's not really tripping over this especially after winning the NBA Championship. I mean who would really? I know I wouldn't. It does say where you are as a player though. Shaq was able to grace cover of 2 NBA 2K games. Now that really says something about who he was as a player. You gotta wonder though if the Miami Heat had won the championship do you think that we would see LeBron, DeWayne, and Chris on the front cover of the next game? It really makes me wonder if they did this as a knock on Dirk. I would've thought he gained much respect after losing the championship to the Heat five years ago and coming back to reclaim his prize this year. To me it really shows how much of a great player he truly is.
The honor of the NBA 2K cover is once again bestowed to the great one, Michael Jordan, along with 2 other legends, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Each of the three greats will be featured on their own cover. Each player is shown in their prime with a stylized background in red which looks like they were painted on a canvas. The designs were created by Adam Larson of Adam&Co. I think most people would probably go with Jordan copy due to the fact that Jordan was the last of the 3 to retire and for the simple fact that the younger generation today is probably more familiar with his career.
Now I wonder how 2K Sports plans to play this out. Jordan got the whole enchilada last year with being featured on NBA 2K11. I'm wondering if the guys at 2K Sports plan to do full career and challenge modes with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson just as they did with Jordan. I hate to repeat this cliche but only time will tell. NBA 2K12 will be released October 4th.
Related sources:
http://www.1up.com/news/nba-2k12-cover-opts-three-legends
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/07/21/magic-and-bird-join-jordan-as-nba-2k12-cover-athletes.aspx
Thursday, July 21, 2011
There's Only Two Kinds of People In This Town, The Good & The Not So Good: L.A. Noire
I finally got my copy of L.A. Noire a couple of days ago from Gamestop. I've gotta say this game does not disappoint. The guys at RockStar have made another great game. The scenes in this game are amazing. They really take you back to the 40s. They really captured the essence of that time. I loved the title screen at the beginning of the game with the soft jazz music playing in the background. I can listen to that all day.
Most of the music was done by Andrew Hale who has worked with several artist such as India Arie, Corinne Baliey Rae, The Rolling Stones, and, Sade. I'd have to say out of all of the music the main theme really has me locked down. It really fits the theme of the game. Overall every piece of music fits the game perfectly all the way up to the chimes that let you know that there is a clue to be found.
The title menu was beautifully done with the night alley theme. I like how the options of the game are off to the side on a wall like silhouettes and there's a guy off in the distance looking for evidence or clues. It also meshes well with the RockStar Social Club and the PlayStation Store. It keeps everything within the game. It doesn't exit and take you somewhere else. In the PlayStation Store you can download L.A. Noire DLC content. There's a ton of goodies to get there too.
There are several other cases such as Reefer Madness, Nicholson Electroplating, A Slip of The Tongue, The Naked City, and The Consul's Car. There are other items such as suits and weapons that provide you with special abilities that will help you in your cases. So there are plenty of helpings to go around with this game that will keep you playing for hours on end.
The gameplay is amazing and kind of different for RockStar. This game wasn't like the Grand Theft Auto series where you just pulled your gun out and started shooting aimlessly. L.A. Noire consistently gives you a specific scenario for when and where to fire your weapons. You don't run around shooting everyone you see. You probably could in the game but you'd probably get a bad rating as a cop. I haven't tried it yet so I don't know. You just go about solving a particular case and you'll obviously see when its time to draw your gun.
The protagonist in Cole Phelps is very refreshing. He isn't very adept to understanding the ways of L.A. at first and he sometimes finds it hard to apply his moral gauge to different situations. As you progress through the game though he gradually catches on and proceeds accordingly. I really like his character because he doesn't always know how people in L.A. specifically are and why they're just so blase about everything. To him they have that business as usual attitude and you can see that he's fervent in stopping the madness.
RockStar could have easily created a character that was all about L.A. and knew about the politics and how people did things but they chose to go the outsider route. There's some dialog in the game in the Fallen Idol case just after the briefing Captain Leary where Cole says that he's just trying to fit in. His partner Stefan Bekowski says, "Educated, hard-working, straight as an arrow... I hate to break it to you, Cole, but you'll never fit in at Central." What Stephan said was so true because Cole does stick out from everyone else in the game due to his moral upstanding nature.
I also love Cole's back story. They show flashbacks of him during his military days through out the game. It shows more of who he is as a person. It seems like he had a rivalry with one of his war cohorts or should I say frenemy. lol Obviously there's something going on there. The flashbacks also show a strong willed Cole wanting to go to the lengths to achieve his goals. The scenes are interesting to watch.
Though the game is not linear the stories and cases are progressive and puts you on a path to eventually solving crimes. These cases are very in-depth. Nothing is what it seems. The people you talk to and interview are characters within their own right. They all have they're own distinctive characteristics about them. With that said the clues are out there you just have to pay very close attention to finding them.
What I found out in the game is that the characters can lie their asses off. lol Its kind of hard to distinguish when someone is telling the truth or not especially when they're mostly telling lies. I just finished the Fallen Idol case yesterday and not one character, so far, told the straight up honest truth. Well one did but he held back a little so that doesn't count. lol
During certain points of your interviews with the witnesses or suspects you will be given the chance to determine whether they're lying or not. There will be options on the top left corner of your screen. X is for truth, square is for doubt, and triangle is for lie. Let's just say that for the most part you'll be pressing the square and triangle buttons in this game. lol
There's a whole lot of lying going on in L.A. Noire. Even if you think they're lying you still have to ask the right questions if you want to get some answers. Then you have to be care with the accusations because they can easily turn a deaf ear in a heartbeat. The worst liar was June Ballard to me so far. She does everything that she can to throw you off the trail in the Fallen Idol case. I played that case over and over again just so I could get all my answers to her story right and I could claim a PlayStation trophy. It's amazing what RockStar did with the facial expressions of the characters. They can either really throw you off or put you on the right track given the facial expressions they make. I have to thank June Ballard for really putting me on a mind trip. lol
When you play the game Cole carries a notebook where he keeps all of his notes to every case. From there you choose what questions to ask the people that you interview. You can also use the book to make accusations towards the suspects. So for instance, you'll ask them a question and you might catch them in a lie. They'll resort to some statement towards you proving them wrong. Your notebook will present you with a list evidence to accuse them of or trump what they were talking about. It took me awhile but I learned that just because the question is at the top of the list doesn't necessarily mean that it's the first question you ask.
The characters were strikingly similar to their acting counterparts. Some of whom I recognized from TV shows and movies. Take a look here:
Aaron Staton aka Cole Phelps
Andrew Connelly aka Capt. James Donnelly
Ned Vaughn aka Capt. Gordon Leary
Michael McGrady aka Rusty Galloway
I was amazed at how close RockStar got to the actors facial resemblances for their characters that they played. Most games don't even come close to exact likenesses like this. I was even more impressed by the star studded cast that they had. Ok, well I mean these guys might not be A-listers here but they're just as good as them though.
I've seen Michael McGrady on TNT's gritty Southland TV show. That show is one of my favorite shows to watch. Ned Vaughn definitely has a recognizable face to me. I've seen him on various TV shows and movies. Aaron Staton has been featured on the TV shows Mad Men and The Good Wife. Andrew Connolly has a lengthy acting career as well. He has appeared in shows from ER to The Closer. The last movie he did was Water For Elephants, 2011, which featured Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. They even have John Noble, Leland Monroe in the game, who plays Dr. Walter Bishop in the popular Sci-Fi series Fringe on Fox. So all these actors are stars in their own right and RockStar couldn't have made better choices to fill their roles.
I've seen Michael McGrady on TNT's gritty Southland TV show. That show is one of my favorite shows to watch. Ned Vaughn definitely has a recognizable face to me. I've seen him on various TV shows and movies. Aaron Staton has been featured on the TV shows Mad Men and The Good Wife. Andrew Connolly has a lengthy acting career as well. He has appeared in shows from ER to The Closer. The last movie he did was Water For Elephants, 2011, which featured Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. They even have John Noble, Leland Monroe in the game, who plays Dr. Walter Bishop in the popular Sci-Fi series Fringe on Fox. So all these actors are stars in their own right and RockStar couldn't have made better choices to fill their roles.
The gun battles in the game are something I look forward to. So far I've been in about 3 gun fights in the game. There's one in Armed and Dangerous, another in Marriage Made In Heaven, and a third in Fallen Idol. Now these gun fights are fairly easy to someone who plays games like Call of Duty: Black Ops or Gears of War. They're even more easier for me who's not the greatest shot in shooters so the mechanics in this game are perfect.
Armed and Dangerous is the mission that gets you ready with using your weapons. I was really happy that this game had an auto aim feature that worked. That meant that I didn't have to work as hard to aim at my target but L.A. Noire's ability for aiming wasn't all that bad. Usually when I play shooters the sensitivity is such that its so hard for me to aim at a direct target to get an on point shot. With L.A. Noire the sensitivity for aiming is set comfortably where I don't have the shakes when I'm aiming. So all is good in that department. I still don't think that I'd be any good in a L.A. Noire multiplayer shootout though. That is if the game had such a function. lol
Armed and Dangerous is the mission that gets you ready with using your weapons. I was really happy that this game had an auto aim feature that worked. That meant that I didn't have to work as hard to aim at my target but L.A. Noire's ability for aiming wasn't all that bad. Usually when I play shooters the sensitivity is such that its so hard for me to aim at a direct target to get an on point shot. With L.A. Noire the sensitivity for aiming is set comfortably where I don't have the shakes when I'm aiming. So all is good in that department. I still don't think that I'd be any good in a L.A. Noire multiplayer shootout though. That is if the game had such a function. lol
Gun fight from Armed and Dangerous
Gun shoot out on movie set from Fallen Idol
All in all the game is perfect and then some. I couldn't be any happier with playing the game than I am now. There's only one problem that I have with the game and that would be with Cole's running. He's not the fastest guy on the block. I wish he was but he isn't. I want to at least be able to have a chance to catch the criminals when they take off running.I want to be able to use that tackle feature in the game to I can bulldoze suspect into the ground.
So far in the game two guys have took off running leaving poor Cole in the dust. Those guys were fast. One was the jewelry store owner from the Buyer Beware case, Edgar Kalou, and the other was Leroy Sabo, the owner of Ray's Cafe and also Lorna Pattison's lover in the Marriage Made In Heaven case. Both of those guys were fast. I couldn't keep up with them. lol
I only stopped Kalou because he got stopped by a car. Sabo I only stopped by shooting him down. I had to he was shooting in public. If it wasn't for those events happening those suspects would've got away. I'm just glad that the game didn't play those two events like that though. Other than that I have to tip my hat off to RockStar games and Team Bondi for making a great game. If you don't have it yet get it now people! We'll definitely be talking about this game as a classic in the upcoming years.
Related Sources:
http://lanoire.wikia.com/wiki/L.A._Noire_Wiki
http://lanoire.ign.com,
http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/16201/the-la-noire-official-soundtrack-verve-remixed-albums-now-availa.html
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