Ben-DutkaIt was a nice fall day today, so I got the car detailed, got some brunch, shot some hoops, and oh yeah, played a bunch more of Assassin's Creed II . …that has nothing to do with the weather, but I wanted to toss that in. 😉
Ninja Theory finally said it
We PS3 fans love our exclusives. If I was going to rank the best games of the generation thus far, four of the top five would be exclusive to Sony's console, and the top three would be Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , Uncharted 2: Among Thieves , and Killzone 2 . And next year, I'm relatively certain that both Gran Turismo 5 and God of War III will knock Gears of War 2 out of the top five and then it'll be all PS3 exclusives. It won't include Heavenly Sword but that remains one of my favorite games; it was such a tremendous accomplishment just in terms of technical achievement. The acting was some of the best I've ever seen, and syncing the words with the lips…? Nigh on perfect, and it usually isn't in games. But as Ninja Theory said, there's a lot of pressure involved in producing an exclusive title. Especially back in 2007, when the designer must've been really pressed to make the most out of the PS3.
That's the thing with exclusives. Not only do you have to make it amazing so you make a good profit – you're eliminating many millions of potential sales by ignoring the other platforms – but if it flops, the repercussions likely reach beyond what we might expect. I can't imagine being in one of those studios going, "damn, we better do this right or we're in trouble ." You know?
I'm a little concerned about the Kane & Lynch sequel
First of all, the original was barely average and while I do have confidence that the sequel should be better…I'm not so sure. After seeing the two viral promo videos for Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days , only one question came into my head: "Are we looking at another video game that might rely only on shock value in order to generate decent sales?" Thing is, when it's about growth and pushing the envelope in the areas of technicals and artistry, that makes perfect sense for an advancing industry. But those videos really only make me wince and then I wonder, "wait, why is this interesting? Why do I even want to be watching this?" It's not that I don't applaud the originality – that security cam footage idea works for a game like this – but it wasn't the presentation that caused the first title to trip and stumble. It was the gameplay. If Eidos didn't address that, than those uncomfortable cut-scenes may be the only reason slightly intrigued consumers might spring for the purchase.
Please don't let this happen, Square-Enix or Eidos or whoever you are now. Sequels can really be very impressive and far superior to the original game, and if they can execute such a significant quality leap, I'm all for it. But don't just give us a cinematic experience chock full of questionable content and just assume that'll be enough to carry it through. Thankfully, we don't see a lot of this in the industry but you never know…
Personal gaming update
I knew there was no chance I'd be able to finish Dragon Age: Origins before I had to review Assassin's Creed II , and I also knew after about an hour of the latter that I'd have to finish it before going back to Dragon Age . However, I swear that I will, 'cuz I've finally found an RPG I really love and I still have to wait another four months for Final Fantasy XIII . ACII is so damn awesome that it's tough to put it down; I love how you really have to understand how everything works in order for you to be fully effective. Guards don't always act the same way; that's the point of your Notoriety meter. If it's low, you can just walk on by 'em without any issue. I totally forgot this when trying to take down an assassination target; I was saying to myself, "how the hell am I supposed to do this with all these guards around?" It took a while for me to realize that it didn't matter because my Notoriety was almost non-existent. I just don't like how Throwing Knives are apparently always seen so you can't really do it totally incognito, and I think that's kinda wrong.
But other than that, the game rules in every sense of the word. I get to build up my own villa with funds, like you would do with property in other games. I get to have armor and weapon upgrades and stuff. It's just bad-ass . I think the only game I missed this year that I really need to play is Resident Evil 5 , so that goes on the Christmas list. Until then…it's all about ACII and Origins . 🙂
"Please don't let this happen, Square-Enix or Eidos or whoever you are now." haha, classic
Hmmm Personal gaming update: my PS3… won't turn on… AC2 is stuck inside… WHY ME!!!
I really understand the issues Devs have with making exclusives but really hadn't taken it to heart until now, it must really hurt for Devs to stay loyal to a console.
A friend of mine says he doesn't like DA:Origins and is giving me her copy so im gonna get to try that and hopefully it'll be as kick*ss as Ben says and as Arnolds review stated.
Funny how when the weathers nice games seem a tad more attractive to me. ^_^
dragon age is one of the games with bad ads
the game dose not even look like them
but if you like RPGs its a good game
Bummer dude…. That's why I always take the disk out of the game if it freezes, or when I turn it off.
you take the disc out of the game? brain fart?
I'm assuming you have the YLOD. You may be able to eject the disc if you're quick and press the eject button right after you press the power button and before the system realizes it has the YLOD error.
You may need to turn the power switch off and then on before you try this maneuver.
I managed to rescue Uncharted 2. Good luck.
Pardone me its a she who's giving me DA:origins ^_^ (TYPO)
yeah haze is a good example of screwing up and losing everything. i really want to play ACII but i will have to wait til after the holidays.
im having a lot of problems with my tv and i think soon i will have to get a new one. i dont like this one enough to pay to fix it. maybe ill give it to a friend and tell him to fix it so he can play ps3 in hi def.
Last edited by frylock25 on 11/21/2009 11:36:28 PM
HAZE I loved that game! hahaha
you may have but not a lot of people did, it flopped and the dev i believe went under.
Naztycuts, you should give me some of what you smoke man!
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 11/22/2009 4:34:02 AM
hey dont diss haze it may be buggy but its a brilliant game.
I was seriously joking guys!
Beat DA:O today actually. It was great. That is all…
Should get origins. . . Just started with FFXII and i am lovin it so far. . . AFTER I get the G.O.W Collection.
Hope MediaMolecule or some other Sony dev pick up Heavenly Sword and give it an awesome sequel
Naughty Dog? =P lol
yus!
Seriously though, Sony has a lot of talented devs. They could use the guys who did GOW for psp.
MediaMolecule could do it…easily!
But yeah, let's just pray someone picks it up
I can't believe Kai will be lost and forgotten…what an awesome character
Another developer would be needed to continue Heavenly Sword?
Obviously SCE Studios Santa Monica is the most suitable out of all studio in the world.
Last edited by Snaaaake on 11/22/2009 3:14:15 AM
love assassins creed 2 i havent had so much fun with a game since…… well ACIT.
as for the guards it depends which city your in, once you get the cape in a particular city (Florence i think) they are more tolerant to your actions.
only thing i wish they added is a 2 person lock on mode.
you have 2 assassin blades now, but can only lock on and assassinate 1.
whats the point of having 2 blades when 99.99% of the time you can only use one?
best part being this gives me some serious vertigo, the church in Florence HOLY SH*T!
You can assassinate 2 easily. Altair explains it in the Codex he made for the design of the second.
You just have to be in reach of both targets.
Locking-on doesn't make a difference.
You can Assassinate 2 targets at once from the air too, thats cool to watch.
I LOVVVVVVE walking into those rooms with 2 chests in them, the ones with 2 guards at the door, you just walk rite up to them BAM and keep walking haha. love this game so much.
Hey, what are you talking about? Every single codex page I've found was guarded by THREE guards, not two. I just find some Courtesans and make it easy. 😉
not where the codex pages are, the treasures.
sometimes there in rooms like the codex pages with 2 guards at the entrance.
i like fighting the guards though good practice and some of the counter attacks make me piss myself laughing.
i wish you could lock onto targets from further away, because in some of the later missions you have to kill the guards before they call you out.
by the time i highlight them and kill them they have already alerted the other guards and i die.
you can only use the gun or throwing knifes if your close, so evidently the guards can see you.
whats the point of that?
if your already that close you might as well use your sword or toss them of the roof.
1 thing i hope they change for AC3 that and give is a god dam long range weapon.
nah nah nah, im talking about the rooms, that have 2 treasure chests in them.
I just got the poison…and all i can say is…. god damn i love this game!! =D
nothing better then watch a person go crazy in the middle of a crowd, floggin people left right and center.
oh oh oh oh oh oh AND the smoke bombs…
i soooooooooooo feel like a ninja turtle. dont ask why.
Last edited by Akuma_ on 11/23/2009 7:01:04 AM
i know what you mean about the locking on…..
the first assassins tomb, i wanted to drop down and kill 2 guards. but it wouldnt let me lock on, so i kept dropping down in between ALL of the guards and get busted.
Assassins Creed was the first game I bought for my PS3 and Heavenly Sword was the second. I'm surely getting Assassins Creed 2, just don't know if by this holiday season.
As for Heavenly Sword I would love see a sequel, It was the first exclusive game that made me love my PS3. Its one of those great unappreciated games that had an amazing emotional story and graphics that still hold up in todays standards.
Last edited by iGraves1 on 11/22/2009 2:13:15 AM
I need to pick this game up soon, on special!
Q!
"i am home"
Heavenly Sword or Assassins Creed?
The only problem I have with Kane & Lynch 2 is I wonder if it will be detrimental to advancing the acceptance of nudity and other "movie like" game qualities as art? I think if we want mainstream to accept our games' scenarios as art we must show it to them tastefully done. Not to pass judgement on games like Manhunt which was grisly (also at times shot through security cams) but tastefully done in context.
Censors want to draw a line somewhere will this give them a place?
Well lemme list my top 5 also;
PS3 EXCLUSIVES :
1. Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves
2. Metal Gear Solid 4
3. Uncharted : Drakes Fortune
4. Killzone 2
5. Infamous
MULTIPLATS
1. Modern Warfare 2
2. Fifa 10
3. Resident Evil 5
4. Tekken 6
5. Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare
Yea Ben, you REALLY NEED to play RE5!
Out of the 10 games you listed only 2 gets an order from me and that's U2 and KZ2.
And I'm happy to say that I should be getting my PS3 somewhere this week!!!!
id have to say out of what you listed i have only played 4 of them. the more i think about it, its hard for me to pick a favorite game. that being said i dont know that i can number my favorite games. if i were to make a list of my fav games this gen i would say…
MGS4, LBP, Uncharted 1 and 2, Fallout 3, Brutal Legend, Infamous, Burnout Paradise, R2
i have not played ACII yet or the new Ratchet and Clank though i do own it. i want ACII.
Oh crap, thanks for reminding me Frylock, LBP MUST replace Infamous at that no. 5 spot. It goes to show how difficult it is to list your favorites in order, I'll try not to do that again, I'd list them in no particular order like yours the next time 😉
Snaaaaaake, you mean all this time commenting on PSXE, you didn't have a PS3?
Last edited by www on 11/22/2009 7:11:30 AM
Cuz……I've been playing others PS3 all this time……….
And it's about time I get a PS3 to call my own.
Ben hurry up and play RE5 so you can see why its such a huge letdown
My top 7 ps3 exclusives:
1. Uncharted 2
2. R&CF:ACIT
3. Little big planet
4. Killzone 2
5. Infamous
6. Uncharted 1
7. mgs4
My top 5 multiplats
1. Yeah this list is much harder.
2. But i am looking forward to that game where you have the grapple hook and its like a sandbox game and stuff. I don't remeber what its called…wait yes i do, just cause 2. That game looks sooo sweet.
Lol aaronisbla, with me I enjoyed every bit,tad,piece,part,crumb,crust of Resident Evil 5 and its one of my best games this gen. So what's your issue with it, is it the tank controls? I'm tired of hearing that. My only gripe with it is that damn multiplayer DLC you need to buy, with shoulda come with it, sucks bad! Still… I love the game.
www-
RE5 to me was great! I was one of those people that bashed the tank controls after i played the demo. In fact i hated the controls so much. But if you play with a friend who is atleast as skilled as you at the game, rather than some random person online or the computer A.I. The controls are not that bad because your'e always backing eachother up! As long as your partner does what he/she is supposed to you are more than covered, and have plenty of time to run then shoot. You definately are on the defensive role though, which is frustrating at times.
all in all i loved RE5 and i actually regret not buying it. What a surprise it was!
Although the "tank controls" is a valid issue no matter how much you get tired of hearing it, thats not what bothered me the most although it is an issue.
One of my main complaints of RE4 was the scare factor wasn't there as much as the first 3 games. But it had a decent story to me and the action was pretty fun at its time.
Then RE5 comes out. I was excited about it at first. Till i find out the game has multiplayer for it. It TOTALLY ruins anything remotely scary about the game. Although its just my opinion, if anything scared you in this game, you may wanna stop while you are ahead.
Lets not even mention the horrible story that comes along with game. Gotta wonder what were they thinking on some of the parts of the game. The co op also felled like it was thrown in at the just to appeal to the masses more since its all the rage lately. I love online games but not all games need it.
This game got some decent reviews IMO simply cuz it was the next Resident Evil game. It didn't have to reinvent the wheel but it felt like an half assed action game with no identity. All action ( mediocre at best ) with no fear inducing parts made for a bad game
Dead Space did it all MUCH better, from the controls down to the fear factor
all IMHO of course, not to be taken as fact, from a former huge fan of the RE series. Also…. THAT ending sucked ass. Rental at best, too bad i didnt know that till after i bought it.
Last edited by aaronisbla on 11/22/2009 4:26:56 PM
I agree that Resident Evil has lost the terror factor that made it so special back in the day. The tank controls never have, and still don't bother me in the least. It makes the game more frantic in my opinion which is what the game needs when you're getting swarmed by zombie wannabes. Dead Space has captured what the Resident Evil series has lost, and amplified it. I haven't finished RE5 yet, and doubt I will. But Dead Space I've finished twice now. For now I think I'll pass on future RE titles until they stop making it a straight up action game. I gave them the benefit of the doubt with RE4 since they were trying different engines and other things, which didn't help since I didn't really like that one either. RE5 is more fun than RE4, but still that's not saying very much. Bring back the horror that redefined the survival horror genre when the first one was introduced.
Last edited by Geobaldi on 11/22/2009 4:53:43 PM
Well I agree the horror factor is just not there, well I dunno maybe I forgot the name was Resident Evil cause I loved it like any other action game. Okay I'll admit am a big graphics fan, the visuals in RE5 plus the straight up action did it for me. I just can't play games like Left4Dead even if the gameplay is good, the graphics aren't all that.
Yea those first 3 REs were great, but the camera angles were awkward, then came RE4 with the shoulder view and nailed it, still remains one of the best games on the PS2 and Gamecube. Capcom didn't want to fix what's not broken with RE5, they polished it up a bit and everybody is whining, even with the tank controls is still an easy game, how about if it was made a run-and-gun type, then it'll way too easy. I coulda bet a milli bucks if Capcom changed the gameplay, another group of people would be whining, this a situation were I'm in the group that said "If it aint broke don't fix it" and we won, so sorry Capcom disappointed you, maybe they'll listen to your group next time.
i agree with the graphics being really good, probably the best multiplayer game on looks alone at the time of its release.
I can't wait to see how that engine is put to use for lost planet 2. Hopefully they polish it up some more for its release, but i was impressed with lost planet 2 demo.
I think with the tank controls complaint, most people who didnt mind it would accuse others like myself of wanted it to be more run and gun. Thats not the case though. Not to point out Dead Space again, but they implemented walking while aiming pretty well AND it retained its fear factor. Why couldn't this be the case with RE5?
I can only speak for myself on this issue, but Capcom seems like they were going for an all out action game but couldn't nail the controls so they kept it mostly the same.
But my main gripe with the game as i have said before was the storyline. I did enjoy playing it with friends but it just felt like they took a large s**t on the storyline. True, it wasnt a epic novel but damn
out of your list mate i have 8 of them!!, only ones i dont have is tek6 and RE5, never been fans of those franchises
Lol I know… The story is still dumb like RE4 but I didn't buy it to get a good story, just the visuals and realism for me.
Cavan m8, maybe you need to get Tekken 6 too, its cool.
I just bought AC2 and Dragon age: Origins, and I must say; Assassins Creed 2 is a lot of fun. I didn`t like the first, because we kind of did the same mission after mission, I just couldn`t get myself to finish it.
And Dragon Age:Origins…must say, I`ve missed a good RPG like that. But, the graphics is kinda old, really old.
Kane & Lynch 2 will fail. You can't release crap and expect people to run out and get your sequel.
Heavenly Sword, was a awesome game, really wish they would come out with a sequel on the Ps3, another game that really got overlooked was Dark Sector, very underrated IMO, Great article Ben, keep up the fantastic work!
I gave $5 for Dark Sector, although I think it's worth more I wasn't willing to offer more than they were asking for it. It was brand new so it was a good deal. I haven't finished it, but I intend to get back into it.
yeah dark sector is actually pretty good! i enjoyed the crap outta it! i payed the $60 retail for it, to see it drop dramtaically only a few months later, but i cant complain cus i enjoyed it. it needed a little more push in the story as to where it started and where it was heading, it seems alot was left out.
but for the price it is now its definately worth playing!
Thanks. And I liked Dark Sector. The other older game that doesn't get anywhere near enough credit these days is The Darkness, even though I know it's crazy outdated now.