Ben-DutkaNot much going on this week but we did shoot our fourth PSXE show and the third is in the process of being approved. 🙂
Bioshock Infinite: Game of the Year 2012?
It's my second most wanted game behind Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and every time I see it, I just get more excited. Did you see that amazing GTTV presentation ? I mean, holy sh** . I know a lot of people around here aren't super huge Bioshock fans but I am; I loved the first and I loved the second and to be honest, despite what many fans and critics say, I can't really place one above the other. They're a little different but they remain fantastic for various reasons; they always feel like the perfect combination of role-playing and first-person shooter. Now you know why I'm looking forward to Deus Ex: Human Revolution . 😉
Anyway, those 14 minutes of gameplay for Infinite gave me all-new respect for the developers at Irrational, because they're artistic geniuses over there. And can you believe what they're getting out of that Unreal Engine? Jeebus. For the sake of discussion, though, what might challenge this game for Game of the Year in 2012? Any ideas?
Don't pass on Limbo just 'cuz it came from the XBLA
Braid came across, too, and I think we're all glad it did. I still say the PSN has the best selection of downloadable exclusives as nothing tops Flower , echochrome , Joe Danger , Wipeout HD , Journey (just guessing at the last, but it's a safe guess), etc., but even so, Limbo looks great. I've been wanting to play it ever since it came out last year. The only reason I didn't is because I kept getting sidetracked with work and other games. But I'll have a review for this one when it arrives and I'm definitely hoping for an original, engaging adventure. I actually haven't played a downloadable title through to completion since Joe Danger and I'm sorta missing my mini-game fix. That's what I call downloadables, btw.
Oh, and while we're on the subject, can somebody get Hothead Games to make Joe Danger 2 . Please ?
Personal gaming update
I continue to savor inFamous 2 and I actually have a lot of fun with Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon . It's stupid and not very polished but somehow, it remains good fun and I find myself going back to play it every now and then. It's better with friends, though. As for titles on the horizon, the only one I see is Catherine , but I remain concerned that it'll fail miserably in this country . Bear in mind that I have my own reservations about the game but I sincerely hope it turns out well, and I further hope it's another Atlus hit. Remember 3D Dot Game Heroes ? They thought that one would sell like 25,000 copies in the US and it ended up selling over 300,000 or something like that.
For the upcoming PSXE Shows, I tackle subjects like Call of Duty (and why it's not the game's fault), the idea of reviewers being "bribed" by little gifts, the rising cost of game development, and oh yes, a look at my Final Fantasy collection and my thoughts on what Square Enix needs to do.
If you missed Episode #2, you can always catch it in the Home Community Theater. Right now, we're expecting Episode #3 to debut on July 21 but I'll let you know if the date changes. Don't worry; we'll have another party! 🙂
kinda is, the combat just felt too simplistic, not enough depth and variation.
everything else in ME2 is so well fleshed out, it feels like it was designed by itself and perfected, but the gameplay feels like it was plucked out of another game and just dropped in.
really felt out of place.
the repetitiveness did not help either, i mean your fighting pretty much the same enemies for the entire game!
everything else feels so perfect, they just need to give the combat the same detail and attention they gave everything else, then it will finally be the game it could and should be.
3D Dot Heroes isn't as great as some say. With Catherine coming up I'm thinking Atlus may need some help getting back to its roots of great rpgs.
How great do some people say it is?
I didn't particularly enjoy it either – the nostalgia factor wore away faster than I thought it would 🙁
@ Underdog15 – You don't read reviews?
3D Dot Heroes is pretty great, but yeah the nostalgia wears off. I think I got frustrated at the fire temple and rage quit. But it's still such a fun and unique title that it stays in the collection and I'm glad I own it.
That's exactly it WorldEnds. The gameplay is frustrating. It reminds us of the old days, true, but the old days are gone because that kind of gameplay is exhausting. It's all there was back then, but we've moved on. I'd rather be playing my Sacred 2 than another frustratingly aimless walk through 3D Heroes.
I'm glad I have it too, but when it comes to Atlus, I want something like Etrian Odyssey or Persona on my PS3. Not some throwback to the limited gameplay of yesteryear.
@Alienage
That didn't really do a good job of answering my question. I was more after what level of goodness/greatness you think it should be at.
As for me, I wasn't frustrated ever. I platinumed it fairly quickly. The last trophy I needed was for surviving 10 hours in Spelunker mode (one hit K/O to you). I had already beaten the whole game on Spelunker mode within 6-7 hours. I basically had to let my PS3 run for a couple hours while I went to a meeting to finish up.
@World
That fire level is confusing if you think about having to zigg-zagg through the level. It's actually just one giant circle. It just happens to weave.
Anyways, super easy game, full of nostalgia. For what it is and what it is meant to be, it is fantastic. It's not like it's meant to rival Uncharted or something.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 7/10/2011 4:29:41 PM
The only title that I think can dream of competing with Infinite must be Mass Effect 3. But frankly, Infinite looks to be completely in a league of it's own.
Yeah ME3 is the only game I think of, but Infinite might just be a another Bioshock 1 experience…and if so, well hot damn…move over ME3. Either way, both are going to be played D1.
why are the HOME parties always on Thursday? i have class that night till 9pm… wish it were on a Wednesday, Saturday or even Sunday… oh well, cant be apart of everything i guess … education comes first ^_^
The Home events are always on Thursdays because Home updates content on Thursday which makes Thursday evening the first evening when a new video is available.
Highlander already answered. 🙂
for me the last guardian will be the game to beat next year.
man i still haven't checked out episode 2 yet i'll have to go home later & watch it.
PGU i've spent the last few evenings playin resident evil 2 i bought from the PS store man 13 years later that game still rocks!
Last edited by TheCanadianGuy on 7/10/2011 10:50:28 AM
Just started playing Infamous 2, of course I love it. Just a few issues that I had with the first game, but who cares I still love it.
That girl that wants you to be bad is so damn annoying…
What issues? I have played through the game 3 times and I have found the game is an improvement over the first in every way.
Three times? Damn wish I had that much free time!
Well the story is a bit iffy. I just have a problem believing that people would be walking around the city like nothing is wrong when there are monsters and militia freaks all over the city doing crazy stuff, and also knowing that there is something destroying everything in it's path that is headed your way.
Wouldn't people either be fleeing the city or hiding in their houses? Instead of playing drums on some trash cans in the street for quarters?
Also, Coles climbing can be a bit too sticky, but once again, it works 95% of the time so it's just minor things.
And like I stated before, that chick is waaay over the top sorta ghetto like, and is a bit annoying.
Also at first I hated Cole's voice but now I kinda like it.
And the last thing is… I feel there have been way too many segments where I'm just fighting tons and tons of enemies. I would rather have enemies placed in creative ways where I can take them out different ways, then just enter a zone with 50 militia dudes just shooting at me. Sorta felt like Prototype.
But again, it will probably end up being my favorite game of the generation, just little gripes.
It's a great game and I'm enjoying it thoroughly ,but, I'm finding it just a more polished InFamous with a continued storyline not a GOTY. Targeting is wonky and with the faster conduits I'm finding it's tricky to hit them very quickly. The "stickyness" of Cole can be quite maddening especially in the heat of battle. He will stick to things you don't want him to and then wont mount a ladder or a pole from the ground to save his neck! It's even caused me to completely miss a pole and end up dead in the water…grr… Thank goodness for autosave! 🙂 Overall a great game ,but, not groundbreaking like LA Noire. Jus' my .02
I didn't want to be too picky with the sticky climbing because I can imagine it's real hard to get those physics down, but yeah man it's so damn hard to jump on a ladder! Shouldn't that be easier than jumping on wall?
Infamous has been my favorite game of the generation. But not because the story was amazing, cause the graphics were incredible or cause the gameplay was one of a kind, but just because I found myself having way more fun with it than any other game.
It was a great length and I thought it was nicely balanced. I loved being able to have cool powers that sorta acted like shooting a gun, with the zoom in targeting some of the powers had. Then it had cool platforming elements and the way the missions and the battles were put together, they actually felt like mini-levels instead of how I think they feel in any other sandbox game.
The side missions were fun and finding the shards and dead drops was nice and challenging when the game was over. But never while I was playing it was I in awe, in the same way Bioshock, MGS4, LBP or Uncharted made me feel.
It sorta felt like Resistance. Resistance has always been a solid game, but in my opinion never even close to being a GOTY candidate.
It's hard to explain it, you would assume since it's my favorite game then that would automatically mean that it would be my GOTY. But it isn't and it is at the same time. It is because the fun factor in it was a 10+ but graphically and story wise it was somewhere around a 7.
While games like MGS4 and Uncharted had fun factors of 9.5 and graphics and story of 9.5 in my opinion.
So it's that thing where you don't know if fun factor ultimately trumps a good story and pretty graphics too, when the fun factor is almost as good.
Also let me say that Infamous 2 doesn't look that much better graphically, I realize that the more I play it. The physics with the buildings collapsing or those first 10 minutes was a lot better, but if you compare screenshots, they aren't too different.
Last edited by Fabi on 7/10/2011 2:52:31 PM
I'm telling you guys, pop the first infamous in and try it for five minutes, you'll see Cole's stick factor has had a major reduction. A certain amount has to be there or the mechanic won't work, but it's still better this time around.
I did, and it isn't that big of a difference. It's better, but it still happens a lot, like we said, especially when trying to jump on a ladder.
The story was quite good in my opinion. As far as people going on about their lives, people in war torn parts of the world try and do it all the time. Besides, not sure how realistic you want a game like inFamous to be. The very notion of a man running around shooting lightening bolts out of his hands is absurd in and of itself.
Stickiness wasn't a problem for me. Targeting your jumps correctly seemed to help with that and as World said, they improved it in 2. Quite a bit in my opinion.
I can agree with you about Nix. She was kind of annoying but not enough to take points away from the overall game. I thought her attitude was convincing and I liked her interactions with Kuo.
Fighting enemies was largely the same in 2 as it was 1 except in 2 they allow more opportunity for stealth attacks. To catch your enemy off guard. I don't know, well just have to agree to disagree. This game got nit picked way too much by people and it deserves more praise than it's getting. It may not win GOTY with the critics but it's certainly the most fun and enjoyable experience I have had all year.
As for the graphics not being much better, I don't mean to be rude but you need to get your eyes checked or get a new TV because they are way better than the first installment. The jump was as drastic as Drakes Fortune was to Among Thieves. Seriously, I really don't understand how you can dispute that fact. It's not a matter of opinion. Your opinion maybe that you didn't like the graphics but cannot state that there wasn't a huge improvement as far as fidelity goes as if it is a matter of fact. It just isn't.
Last edited by Jawknee on 7/10/2011 6:59:12 PM
That's because you aren't very good at climbing. I haven't played Infamous 2 yet but I've never had any problems at all sticking to something I didn't want to stick to. I know how to control Cole to make sure he does what I want him to, people who usually gripe about controls aren't very good with them.
No disrespect or anything.
Of course the whole thing about Cole shooting lighting is already crazy, but you at least try to conceive how people would react to him doing that, and the NPCs react in a way real people would react.
And have you been to these bad parts in the world? People aren't walking around like nothing dancing around or playing drums.
Go to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico D.F. and see if people are walking around like nothing in the middle of the nite in the bad parts.
Anyway, you know what I mean. That doesn't make the game any less fun, I'm just saying things like that will always stay in the back of your mind if you're the kind of player I am.
And about getting my eyes checked… I'm not the only one that thinks so. It's a jump, but it's not a leap.
Now you can have a different opinion in what a jump and leap are, and I think that is more the problem here.
You think it's a leap, I think it's a jump.
@Clam -I'm awesome at climbing. I've been doing it since I was a kid. Cole is very sticky. It's not like I'm saying it breaks the damn game for me, but come on, there is nothing wrong with finding faults with games. I'm as good a gamer as you are, and have great reflexes and have been gaming as long as you, or longer. I'm sure everyone has experienced Cole sticking to something they didn't want to. Pretty much every review has stated this.
Nobody is saying it's a bad game. I think you guys are so paranoid about trolls that when someone has small gripes about games, you automatically categorize it has hating on the game. I've said it a million times, it's my favorite game this generation! But that doesn't mean it doesn't have it's faults.
Last edited by Fabi on 7/10/2011 10:59:12 PM
I've never said anything about people hating the game because of a few gripes with it, but why is it others are having a problem with controlling Cole when I'm not? I know it has a bit of a magnet effect but I know where I can and cannot land with how the magnet will reach onto things, I'm not saying this just to lie and prove others wrong I'm saying this because I've never had a problem and I'm being 100% truthful here.
Even watching a JTV streamer I watch a lot he was playing IF2, and I can clearly see what he's doing wrong even though he can't see it, and he's blaming the controls. I don't know, maybe it's just me.
You might not think you're lying, but can you honestly say you have never had a problem with Cole not jumping where you want him to?
Hell, for example, yesterday I jumped off a building and under me were two power lines. I didn't want to land on either of them, I wanted to surprise the enemies under them. There was a pretty big space in between them and I tried to sneak my way down behind them and Cole AUTOMATICALLY landed on one of them. I had absolutely no say in it. The game literally told Cole, there is no way this guy wants to go to the ground, so stick to a power line!
I know what he can do too. I spent a lot of time playing the first one. But just because I know how to play it, doesn't mean Cole doesn't have a stickiness to his climbing that can sometimes mess things up.
Now if you're claiming you're the perfect gamer and you have absolutely no problems with this ever, then right on! But unless you post up a 30 minute or longer video of you jumping and climbing through the city on every single type of object without messing up. I don't believe you.
🙂
Seriously though.
Hey Ben, if youu are interested in At Vance, I am sure you would be interested in a band called The Human Abstract.
That Bioshock vid successfully blew my mind. I loved the first one, didn't play the second one though. PGU: Upgrayyyeeddd! Just bought myself a 320gb PS3 and gave my 80gb to my bro. I bought EDF:IA Friday. I agree with your review 100%. There is just something about that game that I enjoy so much. I usually can't see this many flaws in a game and still enjoy every second I play it. Well worth the $40 price tag. Found Yakuza 3 at Kmart for $15 so I couldn't pass that up. Also been playing more PSN games. Playing through Dungeon Hunter Alliance and loving it. Just beat Dead Nation as well. Anyone wanting to game shoot me a friend invite! I need some peeps to play EDF with. *cedwards7888*…Let me know you're from the PSXE community please.
Quick question: I found a place near by I can send in my PS3 to get repair should I do that or just send it in to Sony? A place said it's no more than 90 bucks for repairs.
Compare the warranty you get with the returned unit against the 90 day warranty Sony gives on the refurbs they send as replacement for dead systems. Sony's costs (in NA at least) include shipping to and from Sony, and they supply the box and packaging. Most third parties charge you extra shipping and you have to find the packaging.
@TheHighlander
When I call them tomorrow I'm going to ask about an warranty and a receipt just in case I'll go with them. As for packing and shipping it's not a problem we're in the same city. I see they got positive reviews I just want to make sure either way I get the problem fix(disc tray) and not get a refurb PS3 that has it own potential issues in the future.
Last edited by JDC80 on 7/10/2011 9:19:23 PM
I understand completely, sadly one of our PS3s died in Highlander Mansions and it turned out to have friend the GPU, so it wasn't repairable. I had to turn to Sony as a backup and a refurb is on it's way. At least it will be the same model – Phat with PS2 compatibility.
I can't wait for BioShock Infinite to come out next year. Should be an excellent game!
PGU: I finally got around to finishing BioShock 2 (and did Minerva's Den), going with the "Good" ending. Also finished Bulletstorm but ran into a glitch of some kind and didn't get the achievement for beating it on normal/easy mode (did it on normal so I should've gotten both of them).
I hopefully will be able to send my PS3 away soon to get fixed (the BR drive is kaput) because I've been keen on starting up inFamous 2 and haven't been able to play it yet.
@theHighlander
The crazy thing about my situation I had no problems with taking out and putting games in Friday afternoon when I decided to get that plat in "AC 2" later that night the game was just spinning around in the disc tray. I had positive dealings with Sony when I had to send back a console and getting it back fast(within a couple of days fast). But having my PSP going back to Sony also sucks.
YEah, I used a third party for my PSP thumbstick repair, but the PS3 went first to a third party who reflowed it but found the GPU was trashed. Sony has been pretty quick and painless in terms of the transaction and service. Plus since I returned the dead one to them, it's easier to get Sony to cooperate with deactivation. They will deactivate the dead one and any content locked to it so I can activate my new one and re-download.
The PS3 was literally OK one moment and dead the next. No indication of imminent death at all. Then it was turned on one evening, and with a yellow flash of the LED, three beeps and a flashing red LED, she was gone.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 7/12/2011 12:20:24 AM