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Ben’s Week In Review: October 10

Extremely busy weekend for me, but not for game reasons. Anyway, I'll explain more in a bit.

I hope people get excited for Resistance 3

I guess I'm in the minority when I say I love both Resistance games. The first was the only fantastic game available for the launch of the PlayStation 3, and I recall being immensely impressed with it. Then, although many didn't like the changes they made for the sequel, I loved that, too. The single-player campaign was awesome; even more epic in scope and even more entertaining. Yeah, I know they changed the control scheme a bit but I think it worked exceedingly well, and I even I liked the 60-player option for online multiplayer. And yeah, we won't get Hale back , but I never really thought he was crucial to the series, anyway. I'm just super excited that the third title is on the way, although I have a feeling it may be overshadowed. We'll have already had Killzone 3 , after all, not to mention Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops .

That all being said, I know the competition in the FPS genre is stupid high but unless I miss my guess, Insomniac is a damn talented studio, and they make damn good games. To me, Resistance is just plain top-quality fun from start to finish and I don't expect anything less from the next entry.

Okay, so it's coming…now, is it any good?

I think we all have to believe Gearbox when they say they're "dead sure" that Duke Nukem Forever will arrive next year. The game has been seen, previewed, detailed, and explained, and the designers have said they're basically done. Maybe nothing can stop it now. However, we'll have to shift from the "wow, I can't believe it's actually coming!" revelation to the "…but how good will it be?" mentality. I don't think anyone has seen enough to be sure of the final outcome and while Gearbox is competent, I'm not 100% convinced. And just for a moment, let's examine the expectations…what are they, really? I suppose one could make the argument that after 13 years, if it isn't the greatest thing we've ever seen, it'll be considered a failure. But I'm not so sure that's accurate. I think many have forgotten about it and in truth, I think a lot of people believe it'll flop hardcore.

What do you think? Where does the hype stand? Super high or super low? Personally, I'm just hoping for a game worth playing; I don't need the second coming. Duke's attitude, atmosphere and mood should be enough for me, provided they do it correctly.

Personal gaming update

I found time to complete Halo: Reach and I'm plenty happy with the experience. It's definitely the best entry of the series and really was fantastic; my only complaint might be the lack of boss fights, but I think we've gotten too attached to such encounters over the years. Even so, I would've preferred that over wave after wave of tough enemies at the end, as I've seen Bungie do that a few too many times. Still, I had a ton of fun and I'm glad I played it. I'm only a few chapters from the end of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and I really love Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light . I play that on and off. I've decided to pass on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (just isn't my thing) and I'm obviously going to pass on Quantum Theory . Just a big fat "oops" there.

This week, look for reviews for Medal of Honor , FIFA 11 , Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock , and if I can get to it, ZHP for the PSP, which I have a download code for now. I might see Vanquish early, too.

But just an FYI: as I said above, it's a busy weekend for me. A friend I've known since 1st grade is getting married so of course I'm in the wedding party. This means I already did the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner today and it's an all-day extravaganza tomorrow; gotta help transport the arbor they're getting married under, have to help the other groomsmen set out the chairs and flowers, then it's off to get dressed, get shipped out for pictures at different places, then the ceremony, then the reception…not to mention the brunch on Monday. So…if you don't see the updates at the normal time tomorrow night, it's just because I'm not back yet. Fair warning.

Now, I have to go learn how to tie a bow tie. …no human being can do this sh**. LOL

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Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
13 years ago

Oh, and in case anyone cares, I have completed War & Peace. That includes both epilogues of the 1600 page novel and some author notes. I loved it. 🙂

Tolstoy was a genius.

Riku994
Riku994
13 years ago

I think this is the first time I've seen you have the first comment on an article. Then again I don't read EVERY article… I'm currently very bored, don't mind me. (I expect many thumbs downs for this)

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
13 years ago

It's double the length of Anna Karenina… Holy… I'll get to it next year sometime. But yeah, Tolstoy was great.

Shams
Shams
13 years ago

Makes for good dinner table conversation, Ben 😉 Lovely ladies is always a nice bonus at a friend's wedding.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
13 years ago

A "lovely lady" who can talk War and Peace…?

You must not live in this world. 😉


Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 10/10/2010 12:27:17 AM

Shams
Shams
13 years ago

Can't say that i've read Tolstoy. But i have been to weddings 😉

Shams
Shams
13 years ago

And you never know what might spark conversation…unless one only goes for bimbos, in which case, I agree, Leo probably wouldn't be of much help.

Ergi
Ergi
13 years ago

Which version did you read Ben I´m starting the Oxford version soon (which is about 1300 pages), reading The Divine comedy right now. Sure hope there ain´t too much difference between versions.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
13 years ago

Not sure which version.

SolidFantasy
SolidFantasy
13 years ago

Any sign of a Peace Walker review to come?

sawao_yamanaka
sawao_yamanaka
13 years ago

If you're not sold on it by now don't buy it.

SolidFantasy
SolidFantasy
13 years ago

I already bought it and I really like it. I was just curious as to what Ben and Arnold thought about it. After all it is a full cannon MGS on a handheld console!

spiderboi
spiderboi
13 years ago

No reviews necessary for Peacewalker. It's a definite buy, I assure you. It goes along the ranks of FF7:Crisis Core, GoW:Chains of Olympus and others.

Jawknee
Jawknee
13 years ago

You can read my review in the PSP user reviews. 🙂

Temjin001
Temjin001
13 years ago

I look forward to R3. Steep competition these days for FPS's, but the last two Resistance games were good enough for me to confidently make time to shoot it out in R3 when it arrives.

I don't know what to think of Duke, honestly. His game was great back in his hey-day, but I dunno know. I'm staying neutral with it.

Enslaved's last chapter (pre-epilogue) was quite awesome, it definitely ended strong. It was just awesome enough to raise my overall impression of the game.

Over the last week I spent the bulk of my gaming time with Enslaved (yeah, I had to go 360 on it because of the reviews) I managed to do a quicker format PSXe review for it. I don't have Ben's job and the time to do full length reviews like the professionals do so I just used a bullet-point format and an overall summary. Hopefully it'll be popping up soon in the user reviews 😉

I decided SC: COnviction wasn't worth my time. It's good quality, but something about the SC series seems to have lost my affection over the last few years… and man what's with the f-bomb dropping every other second in that game? Worse than KZ2.

After beating Enslaved I took that rental right back to give Lost Odyssey a try before my Game Pass expires. I needed to test the waters to see if it was worth it before buying it used.
And I have to say, the little of what I've played, LO comes off as extremely traditional JRPG. It nearly seems like exactly what all of you FF13 gamers really wanted (format-wise). It's definitely dated in a few ways, but it's old-school japanese RPG goodness that spans a rare 4-disc journey making it a fairly unique offering for this gen of quality RPG's. I think I see why Ben like's it so much.

I have some heavier school work to do for this next week so gaming is going to get gimped a bit.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 10/9/2010 11:36:58 PM

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
13 years ago

LO is awesome. Plain and simple.

And user review approved. 🙂

TEG3SH
TEG3SH
13 years ago

Lost Odyssey hands down best JRPG. this Gen, believe me u wont be disappointed

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
13 years ago

As much as I complain about the second Resistance game, and the reputed changes to the third, I love the second and have no doubt that I'll feel the same way about the third. I mean, how can I not, it's probably my favourite gaming franchise (this fact aided by it also being my first). But I also think that R3 will be overlooked by many as being less than Killzone, Halo, CoD, MoH, merely because it seems to be aiming for a more story and mythology-based audience.

I'd love to see them pull off an 80-player mode, as well as a more involved co-op experience. Maybe having additional story elements within it. Eh, Insomniac can pull it off.

As for Dukey, he's going to need to get good review scores for me to look into picking up DNF. It'll be good old-fashioned, crass humour wrapped in a rather mediocre skin is my guess, but I'll try to keep my hopes up.

Personal Update:
So, I finished Heavenly Sword again the other day, and well, I found it lacking. The review is up if anyone is interested in going deeper. Right now I've got my sister playing through Heavy Rain, and she's having a ball. I'll be posting a review of it too when she finishes. I finally passed March in Valkyria Chronicles 2, which is a relief. And when we've finished HR I'll be going back to GTA: Episodes, with maybe a little bit of Demon's Souls on the side. And I picked up FFX-2 the other day for $20 and now I'll look for the first game.
I finished Anna Karenina on Wednesday, and really enjoyed it. If I had to make a gripe, it would be that I feel as if Levin played far too large a role. I also reread Cat's Cradle, because I needed something simpler and it is hilarious and have now moved onto Possession by A.S. Byatt.
Outside of that, work is still work and life is still life. I'll be heading up to the city on Friday. I've got to get the timing belt on my car replaced, and I'll also be looking out for MoH and Enslaved.
I think that that's everything.
Peace.

P.S. Ben, enjoy the wedding. I never do…

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
13 years ago

Levin was Tolstoy. At the end, that part where it gets extremely philosophical, it's Tolstoy's own thought process on paper. He almost has to have that in his books; War and Peace is like that, too. In the latter, he likes to talk about free will vs. necessity/inevitability, but that's as the narrator.


Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 10/10/2010 12:26:51 AM

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
13 years ago

I know that Levin was a self-portrait, but I just felt that a lot of the parts about the farming was derivative to the tone of the novel. I did like the explanation behind the thought processes though and the continuance of that sounds interesting.

One thing that I really enjoyed was the way the end of the seventh part was written and the way it turned into, almost a stream of consciousness, with Anna. Just brilliant.

Fane1024
Fane1024
13 years ago

Loved Possession. Must re-read it. The movie's also pretty good.

Shams
Shams
13 years ago

Although i'm not very much a novel-reader, i did a favor for friend by reading Siddartha by Herman Hesse and writing a paper on it, and i remember stream of consciousness was the main central topic of the book.

Basically, Siddartha seeks enlightenment. He leaves life as a prince to become an ascetic, and his best-friend and childhood companion Govinda tags along. Gautama Buddah, whom he seeks, is finally met by them, and imparts his wisdom by saying everything they must learn must be learned from the "stream". Siddartha finds nothing to learn through teachers and rituals, even after meeting Buddha. So then he leaves the life of ascetism for a life of worldy pursuits of business, love, and then gambling, and debauchery. He becomes successful, but tired from a meaningless game of life, symbolized by Samasara, a gambling game, he resigns from it as a hermit and lives by a "stream". At some point, the "stream" begins to talk to him.

Later his finds out his former love is dying and she leaves behind him a son. He takes a ride with a boat man, who again draws his attention to the "stream" or the river, and how it teaches all things. So after he returns with his son, his child hood friend, Govinda meets him, too.

The son grows up, and as an impatient youth, leaves Siddartha, and Govinda questions his passiveness, and Siddartha seeing himself in his son, remarks that he, too, must live life and learn to listen to the "stream" from which all things speak, time, present, and future. The story ends by Govinda bearing witness to the Buddha-hood of Siddartha.

To me, the talking stream represented the stream of consciousness, and the moral of story was that the stream of consciousness, which is true source of enlightenment can only be sought while living life, and no amount of book-reading, study, teachers, or ritual can substitute that, although it can very likely begin from there.

CharlesD
CharlesD
13 years ago

maybe one day when i complete some other books on the kindle I'll tackle War and Peace but it seems quite a ways off at this point 😉

Jed
Jed
13 years ago

I don't know how any fan of FPS games could not be excited for Resistance 3. It was the first game I bought for PS3, the day before PS3 came out, and loved it. And Resistance 2 was amazing. I didn't like only carrying only 2 weapons, but that was my only gripe. Otherwise it was fantastic, especially the Jedi like powers at the end.

I'm more excited for R3 than any other shooter. Insomniac is just brilliant.

I hope Duke Nukem is just as much fun as the old games on PC, but I do have my doubts If it gets good reviews it's a no-brainer. I loved mowing down those pigs!

LittleBigMidget
LittleBigMidget
13 years ago

PGU: I just got The episodes from Liberty City and I'm LOVING it! Its awesome. I'm two trophies away from the Assassins Creed 2 platinum, but the feathers are a pain in the ass.

Jed
Jed
13 years ago

Tere is a way tobe able to tell how many feathers are left in each part of each city. I think it's towards the end of the DNA strand in the pause menu. It makes it a lot easier. And remember to use eagle vision!!!

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
13 years ago

I want R3.
I'm also hoping that DN is going to wind up being good.

My personal update:
I'm about 63% in on GTA-4 & it's taken all my free time, with 83 hours in it so far. Love it & can't wait to get those 2 extra Gay Tony & The Lost & The Damned episodes.

So far out of all the games I've played this year, my most 3 favorite games have been(not in any order)
GTA4, The Saboteur, & Infamous.

www
www
13 years ago

Same, I'm getting them GTA Episodes.

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
13 years ago

Oh BTW, I can't wait for Ben's review on MOH too.

Ergi
Ergi
13 years ago

looking forward to MOH review as well, but also to the FIFA 11 review as I'm probably one of the few football/soccer fans around here. Correct me if i'm wrong though hehe.

www
www
13 years ago

No am also a big football or soccer if I should say on an american site….fan!

Cavan1
Cavan1
13 years ago

like a true brit, i got fifa first day it came out, since 2001, ive been a pes fan, but in this day and age not having the licenses and having rubbish online play is just too bad now, and fifa have really pulled up their socks and has been the better game now for a few years, but pes ruled on the ps2! lol


Last edited by Cavan1 on 10/10/2010 5:52:10 AM

Ergi
Ergi
13 years ago

Yeah i was a fan of PES over Fifa also, untill Fifa 08.

www
www
13 years ago

Yea PES was great on the PS2, the problem is that it still looks like a PS2 port on this generation of consoles. Fifa is still the better game imo.

www
www
13 years ago

About time for that FIFA 11 review, not like I need the review badly cause am getting it regardless, I can't go a whole year without soccer but I can without COD though. But I just want to see a sweet review score from PSXE on Metacritic. So far 1UP is the most embarrassing site awarding such a spectacular game 75, they look ridiculous seeing as every other site had it 80+, with the majority being in the 90s. It's funny when sites want to stand out with such stupid scores.

Anyway I'm not checking for MOH, R3 or any other fps for that matter, what MW did this generation, has made ALL other fps' to me feel like imitations. I'd love to get Black OPS sometime later but no fps for me this year. No matter how hard other devs try MW2 already did it.

I'm looking forward to getting Mass Effect 2 on 360, looking to pick up some old games, the new upcoming games don't really interest me except GT5 though.


Last edited by www on 10/10/2010 5:16:00 AM

Ergi
Ergi
13 years ago

I know, 1UP says it would like Fifa to make the huge leap that Madden made. I don't play Madden, but I know Fifa made a huge leap with Fifa 08. And they have just improved from there.

Ergi
Ergi
13 years ago

There's also some invalid arguments in the 1UP review, "While I didn't personally encounter any serious issues during my time with the game, I won't assume they're not there not after last year's endless list of issues in Manager Mode". That's some force fed sophism right there, assuming there are issues when you didn't find them yet because there were issues last year. Ok…
But we're getting off topic here.


Last edited by Ergi on 10/10/2010 5:55:06 AM

www
www
13 years ago

That 1UP review was just insulting, I didn't bother reading it, they might have just wanted some attention. Yes FIFA 11 has some few bugs but 1UP didn't even mention that, their main gripe was that it didn't make a huge leap, which is silly considering the Personality+ and the new gameplay.

Godslim
Godslim
13 years ago

hey www havent seen u in a while 🙂

ValdiPS3
ValdiPS3
13 years ago

well resistence is a exclusive series of the PS3, and i always support exclusives,that being sad i need your help guys, i want to buy the resistence 2, but i need to know or need to play the 1 one?? the second is a big improvement over the first??

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
13 years ago

While I personally felt that Fall of Man was the better game, the quality of the second cannot be denied. I wouldn't say that it is necessarily essential to play the first, but it certainly is preferential, as it gives you that little bit more insight into the Chimeran invasion. Although both follow Nathan Hale, pretty much consecutively, there are only a few ties between the stories.

I always say to follow a franchise as religiously as you can, but if it is that much harder to track down a copy of Fall of Man, feel free to play Resistance 2. Or, if you have a PSP, track down Resistance: Retribution. It acts as a sort of bridge between the two major titles, while leaning more towards the style of the first.

Okay, I'm gabbling. Simply: It's better to have both, but you should be alright if you choose to play only the second, particularly if you are used to modern shooters. The first is more old-school.
Peace.

ValdiPS3
ValdiPS3
13 years ago

okay, thank you Lawless, i will buy Resistence 2, and probaly the resistence 3.

johnld
johnld
13 years ago

just a heads up, resistance 2 is on sale at toys r us for 30. just find a best buy and price match.

Cavan1
Cavan1
13 years ago

ive always loved the two resistance games, esp the first one as i had my ps3 on european launch day it was the only thing i played. For R3 to be successful, it needs good timing, last time out it came out when call of duty, socom, and killzone came out, and alot of people didnt bother with it, it needs to come out either before this years fps comes out, or a while after, for examlpe if they woukd of dropped it in june, it might of sold well as not many good games were out in the summer, seems all games want to be out for christmas, but in england everyone at christmas just buys fifa/pes call of duty, and this year GT5 and that will be it, so i hope it does well as the games are always very very good, i hope it sells well.

aaronisbla
aaronisbla
13 years ago

Too bad you're skipping on LOS, that ending was pretty damn awesome and worth it

Maiq The Liar
Maiq The Liar
13 years ago

I just cant wait till fallout new vegas is released, bloody love fallout games!

Alienange
Alienange
13 years ago

It's coming… And we will gamble the nights away! Or kill the winner. One of the two.

AntDC
AntDC
13 years ago

Unless they've radically changed DNF since it's inception 13 or whatever years ago I don't think it'll really stand up to todays shooters at all. Games have changed a lot in the last decade and I'm not sure how people would react to a modern day Duke. Maybe they can pull it off, although until I play it I'm gonna remain sceptical…

Anonymous
Anonymous
13 years ago

well ben all i can say is I CAN'T WAIT FOR RESISTANCE 3!!! I may that i'm not really in to shooter but the only exceptions are Resistance, Bioshock, Killzone and The Halo searies. So Duke Nukem is coming out will i be damned anyways i can't wait for Borderlands GOTY to come so i can try the demo for D.N.

Personal Gaming Update
well i did again i changed my name one last time i now go by infamousgodV2_0 i've been playing WWE SmackDown vs Raw 10, Uncharted and Red Dead Redemption. Can't wait till the end of the month busy gaming time for me The Sims 3 and WWE SD! Vs Raw 11 all release in one day. one last thing @ LV i sent u a friend request the other day add me when you get a chance.

Snaaaake
Snaaaake
13 years ago

I've never played any Resistance game and since R2 was 2 years ago and there's whole lot more new FPS, I don't think I'll have the time and effort to go to R2.
Personal Update:
Ok, Plat my GOWIII and I couldn't be happier about it. I moved on to Demon's Souls..
I'm still in the first castle and I'm already dying.
The game's difficulty comes from the strictness and realistic gameplay.
Every move you do cost stamina and you die easily, that's very realistic indeed.
What I don't like is that if I'm just an average dude with average physical attribute, I'm in a fight that average dude usually can't win. Fighting 3 guys at once is no problem but 2 in front and 1 at the back?

I'll play a bit more of it and get used to it, after all, Demon's Souls just give you an ultimatum," Get better or die"

By the way Ben, I hope you catch the flower 😉


Last edited by Snaaaake on 10/10/2010 8:33:10 AM

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