Ben-DutkaBig week with two big reviews, and Dead Space 2 in just a few days…
We have to forget Duke's past
So it seems that Duke Nukem Forever really is coming out this year; it now has an official release date . When I was writing that article, I was thinking about how I should approach the review… We can't possibly factor in 13 years worth of expectations, can we? I mean, if I did that, the game would probably have to get a 5 regardless of how great it is; the expectations, anticipation, and overall hype for over a decade is incalculable. Therefore, we just have to forget that it ever happened. We have to forget that "Did Not Finish" helped to spawn the term, "vaporware." I know it seems impossible, but if we don't go into this thing with a completely blank slate, I have a bad feeling we're destined to be disappointed. From what I've seen of the game thus far, it does look interesting, and it should certainly have plenty of that Duke flavor and attitude. It's what matters most.
Really, all we need is a competent FPS with all the atmosphere and style we'd expect from a next-gen Duke Nukem . I think that'd be quite enough and besides, let's not forget that Gearbox says the single-player campaign is a good 15 hours. At least, that's what they claim. And you know, I can't remember the last shooter that took that long to beat. So I'm looking forward to DNF and turning a blind eye to every last rumor and piece of speculation that has been showing up since the late '90s.
So glad we're all grown up now
Honestly, if Heavy Rain had failed, it would've been the most disappointing occurrence of this generation for me. I was so worried it would flop and subsequently prove we gamers haven't grown up; that all we really want is Call of Duty , that nobody who plays video games appreciates a good story and a progressive, innovative form of interaction. And you can tell that David Cage is happy ; he has every right to be satisfied. On the flip side, the failure of Alan Wake either says something about the Xbox 360 userbase (and I think it does), or it simply means it wasn't quite as good as Heavy Rain (and it wasn't). I want games like that to succeed, so we can actually watch the industry move forward. If I'm Cage, I know that I can take the next step and I'll likely be rewarded for it, and that must be a good feeling.
Personal gaming update
It was a pretty amazing week: both LittleBigPlanet 2 and Mass Effect 2 are well worth most anyone's time and yet, I'm not that interested in either. I recognize the greatness of both, of course, but I won't be spending a great deal of time with LBP2, and I've already explained my stance on ME2. This week, I'll be reviewing Dead Space 2 and Hyperdimension Neptunia , and I fully intend to play and complete Visceral's latest. As for Neptunia , that's a definite wait-and-see situation. In the meantime, before Killzone 3 drops in a month, I'm finally pushing through Gran Turismo 5 . I'm only Lv. 14 with like 540,000 credits, but I should have my Super license this week and I've done a lot of the Special events. The game's amazing but Arnold has long since explained that, so I won't bother. 😉
For the record, I just gave up on Fable III . If you want to know why, just check the last two Week in Reviews. I finally got to the point where I realized I disliked the combat and what's worse, battles are essentially worthless. It's the Facebook of RPGs; it's more about social stuff than anything else. So that got traded in and while I don't necessarily regret the 25 hours I put into it (I so tried to like it), I also don't regret not finishing it. I just didn't care enough. No, the next RPG for me is Dragon Age II , which I'm almost certain I'll really enjoy.
By the way, I will reserve judgment on the freshly confirmed Final Fantasy XIII-2 until I hear about the gameplay. For the record, I do like Lightning, just because she finally got interesting in the latter half of FFXIII. We'll have to hope, I guess…
DNF sure looks fun but the bad graphic is a huge minus.
If Heavy Rain had failed, then there would be no inspiration for innovation in the future.
But we're all glad it didn't.
Personal Update:
My gaming time has been cut down massively due to the need to watch anime now.
Haven't had the time to play GT5 and I'm in deep s*** now that my LBP2 is coming in a couple of days.
Damn Macross Frontier and Bakuman………..
And by the way, does anyone know how to get the "Penniless" trophy in GT5?
It requires you to spend all your credit and I don't know how.
Last edited by Snaaaake on 1/22/2011 10:05:43 PM
I had to do a lot of buying and selling to work the price just right to go penniless. Try to work up to an even number of credits and look for a car at that price, that could be the fastest way to get it.
i got that in the beginning, buy the used roadster and add the chip on it. you'll have zero credits by then. if you really want it easily, just make a copy of your gt5 save file on a flash drive or something, start a new game, get the used roadster plus the chip(1000 credits). then once you get it, copy restore your old file back to your ps3.
Last edited by johnld on 1/23/2011 12:01:01 AM
Anyone wanting the penniless trophy; Donate them all to me. I need about two billion of them for that old Ferrari (330 P4).
All your penny are belong to me!
I will definitely go into DUKE NUKEM with a clean slate. the last time i played a nukem game i was just a young pup, so it is only fair now as an adult to expect nothing and take in what it has to offer when it finally arrives.
P.G.U – finally getting through my back logging of games that i missed out on because of work, no t.v etc etc. im about 10 hours into AC BROTHERHOOD and i think it is great, having a ball, enjoy the fact that you rebuilding rome. i found the music in this instalment is awesome. it really suits what is happening well.
i also picked up a pre owned copy of uncharted 2 for 34 bucks (as i have only played half way through it.) so im looking forward to tackling that next.
preowned copy of uncharted 2, shame on you. it was 25 bucks new a few weeks ago at walmart online.
nah, i'm just playin around. anyway, uncharted 2 was amazing and i cant wait for uncharted 3.
Not that it's a big deal either way since I'm buying it on Tuesday anyways, but are you by chance reviewing Two Worlds Two?
Can't wait for dead space 2. That one is gonna be fun! Just finished the first bout 2-3 weeks ago. Perfect timing becauae I'm really excited for the second!
thats another one on my back logging hit list. i have played it before for like 4 hours, and thought it was great.
Yes, I'd like to review Two Worlds II.
Nice… Cant wait. I'm picking it over mass affect 2, just for now, because I like the time period, setting and theme better, as you had mentioned in your MA2 review. Hopefully it'll be my rpg fix until DA2.
I guess the big factor for me is the MP. Don't get me wrong I love SP rpg' oblivion is one of my favorites as well as DA, but I was really looking forward too sacred 2, and although I had fun with it, I couldn't finish it. But it along with baldurs gate, even the champions, games were always fun to play with some buddies. Although they were more dungeon crawlers.
Anyways looking forward to the review.
@ big railer
its Mass Effect and ME2 for short. not affect and MA2.
oh I was ask about this
Yep your right. I'll get it right next time… Mass Effect 2! Their we're all happy I got it right now.
Yakuza 4 and Mortal Kombat 9.
Those are the highlights of this week.
All hail the Duke. DNF should be fun at any rate, and I agree there is no sense in expecting that the wait should make it completely out of the friggin world, it will after all be a multiplat FPS. Back when Duke went 3D (a lot of people forget it was a lame side scroller first) there weren't a lot of great FPS around.
I'm working on finishing the first Dead Space now, I really can't think of a smoother production in survival horror anywhere. Looking forward to that DS2 review Benstradamus.
I TRULY TRULY hope Neptunia comes out good, but I have massive doubts that it is for me. Its good to be an RPG lover right now though, ME2, then Dragon Age II, and if Neptunia can deliver then a good JRPG would really top things off. Failing that, I know Ar Tonelico 3 will produce 🙂
I'll have the new Ar Tonelico this week, too, but it's embargoed until February 21.
Edit: What I mean is, I should have the preview build this week.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 1/22/2011 11:40:12 PM
@Ben,
Nice, Ar Tonelico Quoga and HyperDimension Neptunia are on my list for this year. Looking forward to preview/reviews of each.
I don't know what to think of the new Duke game. It's a wait and see for me.
GT5 is great, no doubt.
PGU: Okay, so I spent a lot of time with ME2 this week. I decided to go ahead and finish it off (and spontaneously I decided to write up a user-review even though I initially didn't want to) I had all of the loyalty missions 100% and all of the expansion packs finished. As for the downloadables, I liked Lair of the Shadow Broker the best. Overlord started slow, but had a rather sad and emotionally gripping ending–I didn't entirely enjoy the spacecraft stuff.. it was sort of ME1 throw-back but less important; though, it was fun running over the fauna =p Kasumi's mission started good, but then went goofy.
And FYI to everyone who finishes the game. It lets you keep playing. Bioware took the time to even update all of the crew members with the experience, so you can engage in dialogue with them about it… good stuff….
So Kelly Chambers loved that I saved her like from the Collector's. She ended up slipping me a private email to meet with me that night in my Captain's Cabin…..
Okay, so I now have some major beef now with Bioware.
I knew there was going to be some sort of sexual encounter.. I do usually stay on top of gaming news. BUt instead of having a legitimately realistic romantic encounter–as the achievement suggests– with intimate sentiments that would be meaningful. Like a scene that would be much more implicit than explicit was more of what I expected; instead, I invite Kelly up and without any dialogue or any legitimate premise for the conclusion. Wearing lingerie she straight up goes right into a highly provocative dance against the wall waving her butt in my face while I sat there with a button contexting me to press it for "MORE" …. I immediately exited the game so I don't really know where things were going from there. Is this their idea of a legitimate and tasteful"romantic encounter"? A game that had done such a good job on believable emotional intelligent discussion got reduced so quickly to this..
-end of rant-
Anyway, I uphold the sanctity of marriage, and I can't feel right about engaging in entertainment like that…( I don't look at porn)
Thankfully, it's a choice within the game.
Sigh, oh well. I don't think I can ever look at the seemingly modest and astute bridge secretary, Kelly Chambers, in the same light again.
Maybe you should have put a spoiler alert at the beginning of your review.
Sorry, Techie. I didn't think I was revealing too much. But even then, I hope I didn't ruin nothing for you.
Fully agree with your stance on Heavy Rain Ben.
I'm really looking forward to Killzone 3, I'm not usually that into FPS's but Killzone 2 was excellent, and heaps of fun to play online.
The section about "So glad we're all grown up now" was spot on Ben. I couldn't agree more with you there.
I've been playing Sly Cooper, Deathspank and Auditorium HD. I finished Sly 1,Sly 2, and the mini games, and I'm about 30% through Sly 3.
With LBP2, Brutal Legend and now ME2 on the way, I'm going to have a lot of gaming ahead of me. I might start Brutal Legend first since it's the shortest.
A friend of mine just got a ps3 with GT5 and I loaned him Heavy Rain to play. I thought it was kind of cool that the first two games he played were game of the year winners here at PSXE.
i platinumed all 3 sly cooper games. i cant believe i dismissed those as kiddie games. i mean the first one, you can only take a maximum of 3 hits before you died. i liked how the first game was pretty linear but the following are basically open world. i'm still not a fan of collectibles though but i'm glad they removed those from the trophy requirements at least partially for the second game and completely from the third. all 3 games were great, kinda wished they sticked with one voice actress for carmelita though. although as i was going through sly 3 i remembered that these games were released a long time ago.
I agree with you on the removal of the clue bottles and being tied to trophies. The games get better as you go, but so far, Sly 2 seemed to have tougher gameplay. I platinumed 1 and 2, so I'm sure I'll have the third as well.
Scratch that, my LBP2 Collector's Edition has just arrived!!
But slightly disappointed that the Sackboy plush toy isn't as cute as the actual Sackboy.
i love little big planet 2. the game is so sweet. i have finished the story mode all the way through and have about 70% of the prize bubbles. i love playing that game so far. been playing a few levels with jawknee, and that was some good teamwork.
i have been playing spiderman shattered dimensions. the controls are very frustrating but overall the game is fun. i dont think i would pay more than $20 for it though.
Love the fact that Heavy Rain has got a lot of attention. Very well deserved. Bodes well for the future as you say.
LBP2 and Dead Space 2 don't interest me at the moment. Will pick up Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 next week when it arrives in Australia.
Duke Nukem Forever is a solid 7.9 for me. Nothing in the last 5 years has changed that in my opinion! 🙂
I'm never going to buy another Final Fantasy game this generation. One bitten twice shy!
PGU:
I am 10 hours into Nier and it's a wonderful game. Can't say enough about the music. It's a game with character!
Loved Nier.
liked Nier.
The most important thing about any review is to forget the expectations and hype. So far as I'm concerned, it MUST be reviewed solely on the merits and failings of the game, not on what the developers and press have been saying about it since its unveiling. DNF is going to be much harder due to the ridiculous development period, but it is really no different. So long as it is a smooth, slick and engaging experience it should be rewarded, but if it is a carbon copy of every other FPS out there, or has lacklustre gameplay, then it deserves to be ripped to shreds.
Heavy Rain was a revolution, not an evolution. It was a necessary step for games to take, and the risk that Quantic Dream took paid off in spades. Whatever their next project is, I look forward to it immensely.
Personal Update:
Picked up Brutal Legend new for $20. However it turns out, you can't really go wrong for that price. Also playing Demon's Souls, and I'm over halfway through it. Time for a cruch, I think, so that I can finish both it and Dead Space before I can pick up DS2. Once that's out of the way, it becomes a marathon of KZ, with 1, 2 and 3 on the cards.
Also still plugging away at Middlemarch. I can't work out why it's taking me so long to read it, and that frustrates me.
I also went to check on my car on the weekend. The cosmetic damage is fixed, so now it heads off to the mechanic to find the oil leak and the root cause of the misfiring, and if all goes well, I should have it back by the weekend. Can't wait.
Peace.
PGU:
Finally upgraded my HDD to 250 gigs, picked up my LBP2 CE Friday, so i'm playing that,and LBP1, with a little DC Universe here and there.
only reason why AW sold so poorly is because publishers still dont know how to date there games properly!
you have a new IP which has been in development hell up against some of the industries biggest games!
how the hell was a unknown IP suppose to compete with PoP, RDR one of the industries most popular developers!
not to mention split second and blur.
i mean its like zonda trying to enter the supercar club against Ferrari and lambo.
only reason there still with us is because, well, come on who makes a car as crazy as that!?
if a turtle is going to win the race against the cheetah than it needs to be different, offer something the others cant.
alan wake did none of that, it was a freaking fantastic game but it simply was not different enough to stand out.
than it had the handicap of being a phsycological thriller, allot of people are not interested by those things.
if it was a mindless third person shooter than it would of had a decent chance.
50 bucks says alan wake would of done so much better if M$ released it in a quiet month, instead of the fullest month of the year!
one gazillion dollars says that Alan wake would have done so much better if only…
….it had released exclusive to the PS3.
Yeah, we're like that!
unless it released in a better time frame it would of made no difference!
actually, no it would of sold worse because the 360 had no exclusives since ME2 where the ps3 had MAG and MNR to enjoy.
remedy did not exactly help themselves either with the long development time, lack of info, it being a new IP, and the genre not many people like psychological thrillers.
the gameplay is what hurt it most though, it got really boring really quickly.
as a story its a fantastic game, but as a game to have fun its really boring.
Anonymous Cowherd,
The reason that AW sold so terribly on the 360 and Heavy Rain sold so very well on the PS3 is simple demographics. YOu should know that already, it's been discussed and reported here and elsewhere. On average the PS3 gamer is the older of the gamers on 360/PS3. The Wii doesn't even register on this scale since so many are bought by parents for kids skewing the numbers horribly.
There can be zero doubt that the gamers on the PS3 are on average older, and therefore more mature/grown up than those typical on the 360. Hence more cerebral games sell better on the PS3. It's as simple as 2+2=4.
One word counter's your whole reply….
"BULLSH*T"
and im the one speaking BS?
____________________,
HUH? I'm the one talking BS?
NO, I guess you haven't talked to your own mirror lately.
Your new motto: "Clueless is as clueless does"
Duke nukem and dead space 2 arent my type of games so i'm not inclined to buy them. i got interested in buying mass effect 2 but i decided to get it when it gets cheaper since i have 2 more unopened games to go through.
PGU: i'm going through castlevania right now and to tell the truth, i have no inclination to play it at all. of course i'm going to beat it but i only play it as much as i did enslaved. I platinumed enslaved right before castlevania. theres a few things thats bothering me about castlevania, mainly that my lifebar doesnt restore when i die and chapter starts.
I really want to get littlebigplanet 2, mass effect 2, and yakuza 3 at best buy. since i still had assassins creed brotherhood and star ocean, i decided to pass on that. im planning to just buy littlebigplanet 2 when it gets cheaper along with yakuza 4. killzone 3 is definite day 1 though. i need to cut get rid of this backlog so i can buy other games but once killzone 3 comes out, thats the only game i have until i finish campaign on elite and max out on multiplayer.
I'm hope that DNF is going to be good, & not the disappointment that MindJack turned out to be(although I still want it unlike my women… cheap & used).
My own personal gaming update,
Due to one of my usual Tri-annual "Big Game Hunting" Safari's, I haven't been able to play a game in the last 3 weeks. But so far during my hunt, I bagged 14 PS3 trophies for my wall….
Overlord, Singularity, Blazing Angels 2: Secret Mission of WWII, Demon Souls, Fairytale Fights, Full Auto 2,
MAG, Dante's Inferno, Neir, Army of Two: 40th Day, Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands, Vampire Rain: Altered Species, and Wolfenstein.
Plus I just picked up ME2 new with free DLC card for my bot-box.
I also mounted a 5-pronged attack on games for some of my other consoles too,
PS2-33 games, PSX-7, PSP-8, 360-8, Xbox-15, Wii-8 (still need the console though), DS-8, and Sega Game Gear-8 games.
There's still quite a few current PS3 gems out there that I'm chomping at the bit to play, such as RRD, HR, etc, but I haven't bought them yet as I'm hopefully awaiting patiently for their GOTY copies to release so that I'll have any & all disc already included DLC inside, for my collections(plus I don't buy DLC).
And while on my hunt, I was also able to do a search & rescue for some retro consoles & hand-held's I've wanted to resuscitate from flat-lining in someone's, attic, basement, garage, storage shed, or trash & junk pile….
Telestar Alpha console
Sega Game Gear
1 GameBoy Pocket (dark blue)
2 GamBoy Avance's (1 powder blue-1 cream white)
1 GameBoy Advance "SP" (platinum)
1 DS (dark metallic blue)
and I also bought Onlive's mini-console & controller
And while still in my hunt, I also tried to pick up the 7-11 LBP & KZ special holographic Slurpee cups, but no none to be found so far, although I did manage to get their holographic MMA, MOH, & AC Brotherhood cups.
I was also on the hunt for an Intellevision, Colecovision & my other 3-amigo's, the Atari 2600, 5200, & 7600, But once I received the "Onlive" console(along with buying their optional composite cable pack(w/specialized console-end plug), I sadly found out that I still can't frigging hook it up, due to me having a 7 year old Sharp 32" "SD" TV that has no HDMI or composite cable inputs, so now I HAVE to upbruptly end my Safari hunt in order to concentrate on getting the very best deal on a 47" to 50" 1080p/120to 600 mhz HDTV w/ 3 to 4 HDMI imputs, over the next few week just to hold me over till the 3DTV's drop way down in price & hopefully glasses-less.
But I still have to keep my old SD hooked up too, just so I can continue to play any of those older games that won't work on a HD, such as those older light gun games
I also got a ton of retro gaming accessories, and 6 novels based on the videos games of RE, Halo, Transformers, Myst, & another 2 for the Divinci Code.
BTW, I also picked up a really cool car-art book based on the Playstation's Grand Turismo called "The cars of Gran Turismo".
It tells about & shows off 40 favorite Gran Turismo cars, photographed in rich color & detail, interior & engine shots never seen before, in-depth profiles of 40 of the coolest cars in Gran Turismo, many not available in the USA, a exploration of how Gran Turismo has fueled world-wide interest in high=performance cars, from high-priced exotic to tiny Japanse microcars, accurate specs & performance data, and driving impressions.
It's a really cool book & if you're a real Gran Turismo fanatic, it's well worth picking up.
It normally lists for $14.95US or $23.95CAN, but right now, you can just hit the "buy it now" button at eBay for only $1.95 brand new, plus $5.95 for S&H. And, if you want more than 1 book to give out as gifts, just add another $1 for each added book.
Right as of this very moment, it says that they still have over "10" books available……
You can pick up "The Cars Of Gran Turismo" right here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250412932096&_trksid=e11010.m204&_trkparms=algo%3DSI%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BCR%26otn%3D8&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:MOTORS:1348
I'm more interested in a two worlds II review than anything else right now. Some reviews have already been released by other sites and while they are less than stellar, the ps3 version on metacritic is holding an 80 right now, which gives me a little hope for it.
One review said it had over 70 hours of gameplay, which also gives me hope. It definitely looks like my kind of rpg, just hope the game is actually up to snuff. Can't wait for Ben's review.
PGU
Argh! WKC has me hooked again! There are a tone of tropies I want to get, a couple of the Georama armor sets I want and rebirth my character. So I'm grinding my way through the quests. That's pretty much it this week, it's been busy and quiet otherwise.
Definitely looking forward to Neptunia and Ar Tonelico Quoga. Mass Effect 2 has my attention now, so I may use the PlayStation Plus full game trial to see what all the fuss is about.
Just remember Highlander, the first hour of ME2 will only tell you so much about the full experience 😉
Though, that's not say ME2's beginning events aren't exciting. It did have an unanticipated introduction. I'd imagine that one hour in will get you somewhere into first mission after the tutorial.
Oh I know Temjin, I just want to see whether I like the game's aesthetic and system. If I do, and the reviews are all positive it makes it easier to throw $60 at it.
I fear DNF may only appeal to those who remember what happened 13 years ago. He's definitely a cool character, but will the gameplay be appealing or will it come across as dated? Too many questions for it to be a day one for me.
AlienAge, I think we are completely on the same page on this one. I am afraid that this simply be a by the numbers contemporary shooter but skinned with some of the style and humor from the original. A re-skinned shooter is what it is – a reskinned shooter. DNF needs to be (ought to be) something more than that. I don't know whether to be hopeful or not, but I have the same worry as you that the game will lean too heavily on references to the old game and anachronistic humor.
It's true. There's a fear that the game will be embarrassing for old timers and too generic for newer gamers.
You know, I hope we're wrong though. I hope we get something really crazy good. I mean Duke certainly deserves it.
Am lvl 21 a spec and lvl 10 b spec on gt5.
I know you guys will thumb me down but I am seriously dissappointed with GT5. It has so many "scratch my head and ask why they did that" issues. My main gripe is the exp.
I am at level 30. It took me racing all the races and amassing 2,200,000 exp just to get here. Now to get from 30 to 40, I will need another 14,000,000 exp with nothing left to do in the game except endurance races that I will not be doing.
They seriously jacked up the game. I just bought the Ferrari F10, spent 10,000,000 on that car and it won't even let me go into A-spec or B-spec with it. It gives me the message that the car can only be used in a Ferrari one make race. WTH!!!
What do you guys think?