Tonight I will be posting a short Progression Rate for my experience thus far in ODST; similar to the one I did for Marvel Ultimate Alliance II. Look back to Warp 9ttomorow around the 1:00pm mark to find out where I'm at, what I think of the game so far as well as short grades for certain features. If I can leave you with one statement that sums up ODST it would be: I'm thoroughly pleased.
It's confirmed, Super Street Fighter IV will hit shelves next Spring. It will be a stand alone "revamp" product, meaning it will be a retail game. However, Capcom has yet to confirm a price. With Street Fighter IV garnering some of this years highest praise (meta score of 93%) it makes complete sense for the venerable developer to "Shoryuken" us with an all new SFIV installation...in less than a year, by the way.
All in all, if your a fan of SFIV your going to be extremely happy with this announcement. Anytime Street Fighter news hits, it's as if the world goes into a fury of fan-boy indulgence and in return the "internets" go up in flames. Here's to the joy of another retail game I'm going to be purchasing! Until Spring 2010......
Yup, Capcom is at it again. Recently leaked images of a "new version" of Street Fighter IV is soon to hit...well, that's what the rumors are saying.
"Eight shots have been posted by French site JV247... because when things leak out ahead of schedule, it's either going to be France or Germany. OK, fine, I'm generalizing, I've certainly seen leaks out of Norway... but it's almost always Europe. I swear, it's like they're totally lawless over there when it comes to this stuff. But enough about that. The game will also feature T.Hawk as a playable character. Additionally, these screenshots match up with a list of supposed features compiled by EventHubs last week, which specifically mentions both of these new characters, along with other existing characters like Dee Jay, Dudley, Ibuki, Makoto, Adon, Cody, and Guy. Another new character named Hakan is also listed in the EventHubs article. Assuming this releae will find its way back into arcades, this would also be a good time for Capcom to put the console-only characters from SFIV into the arcade release, giving that version Dan, Fei Long, Cammy, Sakura, and so on. But there's no real platform information out there yet, so we'll have to hold tight to see what the release plans are."
"Gameplay changes are said to include two Ultras per character, the return of bonus stages, and more. Of course, this is all totally unverified, but with the images coming out and sort of backing up the list, I guess I'm willing to put a little stock in it." Jeff Gertsman of GiantBomb
That, my friends is one of the new characters: Juri. Now, we all know this could be a fabricated story done for publicity by Capcom (it wouldnt be the first time something like this has happened) but in all honesty, I would love to see DJ back in the mix and if the only way to make this happen is to repackage a newer "version-ed" SFIV than by all means do it!
A quick little news glyph here: Pre-orders for the 1,000 pound gorilla known as Halo: ODST have officially topped 1.35 million...and that's just in the United States! As reported by one of my favorite sites VGCharts:
PROGRESSION RATE:
Picture this: You're in the Octagon with thousands of die-hard UFC fans looking on. Bruce Buffer has just announced your introduction and you are anxiously ready to fight one of the top fighters in the world. Across from you stands a menacing giant in Brock Lesnar. He too awaits the start of an epic battle where both competitors are drooling over the chance to pound the other into submission. Than the bell rings and the next thing you know Lesnar is coming at you ferociously with tenacity and the will to actually kill you in his eyes.
Fear not, you are born for this moment. You've trained for this particular moment and you are willing to do whatever it takes to put Lesnar on his back. As Lesnar approaches, you quickly block his charge and when you gather yourself, you unleash a solid punch to the side of his head. Dazed and confused you follow-up your punch with a vicious kick to the left side of his chin. His mouthpiece flies three to four feet from which he stands and he loses consciousness the second he hits the mat with blood pouring out of his face. The next thing you know, the fight is stopped and you have just become the Heavyweight Champion.
It's hard to deny that MMA has become the most popular form of fighting this world has ever seen. Dana White and the UFC have finally come out with a game that shows the gamer they are serious about the gaming industry. Six other attempts at this have come up lame. This year’s version is as real as it has gotten in the short franchise history. You can choose to fight as one of the 100 fighters available or create your own fighter to climb the ranks. Bruce Buffer joins Mike Goldberg, Joe Rogan, referee Mario Yamasaki, official ring girls and legendary corner-men to give the player an experience like no other. UFC has the help from THQ and developer Yuke's to make this one of the best fighting games to this date.
The fighting system is top notch thanks to the tutorial recommended for the new user. It goes through every move available and makes you understand how each kick, punch and grapples before allowing you to proceed. Skip the tutorial and you’re faced to just button mashing and almost always losing when you are unexpectedly caught off guard and knocked out. The grappling technique is amazing; using the right analog stick is used as a clutch to gaining upper ground and taking your opponent down to a position of submission. You are either going to be successful by something the user does or does not do. If you strike and are caught off guard, the computer will take advantage and you will pay the consequences.
One complaint is the maneuvering is sometimes difficult to understand. There are a lot of combination's you can throw at a fighter and they have to be done in a pretty precise way or you will again be caught off guard and dropped to the ground where winning the fight is extremely difficult.
There are many modes to the game in which you can fight in an exhibition or classic match, train or start and finish a career. The classic match mode puts you in the place of a fighter of your choice in a past classic fight. Play as George St. Pierre against BJ Penn to relive the greatness of the match. The create-a-fighter mode is a very nice feature that allows you to start from the beginning and move your way up to fight for the title. The career mode is great but for the first time in my life I want less save points as it seems to save every other minute and disrupts the flow of the game. The game-play can sometimes be slow to the point you find yourself doing other things while waiting for the match to load up but once it does pop up you won't be left unsatisfied.
The graphics are pretty much dead-on, Anderson Silva looks like Anderson Silva. Tito Ortiz looks like Tito Ortiz. Chuck Liddell looks like Chuck Liddell minus the beer gut he sports in real life. Cuts and bruises mysteriously vanish between rounds and the blood splatter is left for more to be desired. There is no ring entrance; fighters just appear in the ring ready to fight. This is one spot where I wish they put more time in, as the UFC fighters entrance is a very exciting gimmick in real life.
As mentioned before, Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg are the voices of the UFC. They do a great job commentating on the fight and give facts about the fighters that fit perfectly in the game-play. If a fighter is getting a beat down, they will say it and add interesting tidbits to the current state of the fight.
In conclusion, this is purely a fun and fascinating game. It is as real as a fighting game can get up to this point and look for next year’s edition to clean up in the areas it needs improvement. The question is, can you put in the time this game needs to become one of the top fighters in the world?
UFC UNDISPUTED GETS A 8.0 OUT OF 10
-Written by Jeff Nelsen-
-GAME HARD-
Here we are, year 2010. The first John Madden Football game was published way back in 1989. Ever since, there have been a number of these games upgrading every year to perfect the world of gaming in sports. The obvious argument with buying the Madden game is why should I buy this year’s game? What new features will push me over the threshold to purchase this year’s edition? Well, it really depends on the buyer. If you are ONLY looking for great game play that allows you to dictate the whole game, you can stick with last year’s game because that is what you will get from every game for the updated console. If you are looking for not only great game play, but the many extras that go into a Madden game you won't be disappointed to say the least. The bottom line here is this, you buy this game, you get more than your moneys' worth.
Another nice feature to the game is The Extra Point. The Extra Point is a weekly wrap-up show starring Fran Charles and Alex Flanagan, highlighting the previous week’s games, showing the updated standings and previewing the upcoming week’s match-ups. This makes the game even more realistic and shying away from the arcade style game EA Sports has shown in the past.
This year’s edition is run by announcers Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond. These two give the game an even more realistic edge but did find that Collinsworth picked up where John Madden left off by saying some truly dumb things at inopportune times. However, both Collinsworth and Hammond do an excellent job commenting on events that are actually happening on the field. At times in the past, Madden or Summerall would comment on plays that did not relate whatsoever to the event at hand.
I can't really formulate words right now, but I will say this: Patrick Swayze was one of the most influential actors of our time...You will be missed Patrick.
Here's whats going on in the World of Video Games...More to come throughout the day:
I'll keep this post brief (my specialty) and let the video footage do the talking. First up is a game called Shank and should be on everyone's radar if you haven't heard of it yet. With a unique art style, plenty of blood, and some comedic relief thrown in, this continues to show progress. I guess you could call it an updated and overhauled Double Dragon - I mean seriously updated. To me it seems like a cross of The Dishwasher and Double Dragon. According to their twitter, a platform has not been announced yet but my bet would be XBLA and PSN. For more info and some very nice wallpaper, head over to the dev blog. Notice in the footage how most of the bad guys are named Brock? Yup, that's right anyone named Brock is an automatically deemed a badass so it looks like you have your work cut out for you cleaning up these mean streets.
After playing Batman: Arkham Asylum for the past few days I wanted to quickly run down my feelings on the game. This game has not only taken me by surprise but has completely "wowed" me from the opening cut scene. I'm going to steer very clear from giving away any spoilers but I am going to talk about two specific things I found most intriguing:
Having never, and I mean never, played a stealth game before (well, a dedicated stealth game like Splinter Cell for example) I can honestly say I am now hooked. I love being able to creep in the shadows, stalking my prey to the point where i get that "butterfly" feeling in my stomach due to the aggregated anticipation of a surprise attack. The stealth aspect of Batman: AA has been seamlessly implemented into the game play and makes for one hell of a good time.
In a nutshell, Batman captures The Joker. However, Batman feels it was all to easy and figures there's a reason behind all of this. Well, his hunch was right and the Joker escaped within the asylum; releasing all the inmates of course. You must progress through the mansion finding clues as to where the Joker is. It's through this progression that you encounter all sorts of plot twists and cut scenes (albeit short cut scenes) that make Batman: Arkham Asylum a really enjoyable game thus far.
[wiki] Mass Effect 2 takes place two years after the conclusion of Mass Effect. With the Reaper invasion stopped and Saren and the Geth defeated, Commander Shepard learns that entire human colonies are mysteriously vanishing. Teaming up with the human supremacist organization Cerberus in his investigations, Shepard will also journey across the galaxy to recruit "up to a dozen of the galaxy's most dangerous operatives" to face this new threat. Locations include the asari colony world of Illium, and Omega, a space mining station in the Terminus Systems which harbors the worst of galactic society.
Now that the formal run down is over, I want to hit on a huge feature of ME2 in regards to story line. You can transfer over your ME1 save files and use your character from ME1 as your character in ME2. However, the cool thing is...the choices you made in the first installment effect your play-through on the sequel. Cool huh? So, I guess my level 50 Renegade from ME1 won't be getting any Employee of the Month awards come the sequel. Oh well.
Here's a quick look at some of the new features implemented:
So, I thought I would be ready today to post the number one spot for upcoming Must Buy Games. I lied; something came up at work today and I have no time to post it. I'm already sure almost 100% of you know what I chose but I'll still post it tomorrow morning by 10am Eastern Time. Until then...it's back to Wolfenstein!
Someone's killing the little sisters and its up to you to find out whats going on. Players will take the role of the very first Bid Daddy ever created (as pictured above) and will be tasked with having to find all the little sisters before they are killed. The player will again have the option of choosing the fate of the Little Sisters: Harvest them or Adopt them. Either way, the outcome of the story depends on your in game decisions, so choose wisely! One quick point I would lik to point out if the fact that you now get to use the Rivet Gun and Arm Drill as seen on Big Daddy's from the first installment. This should prove interesting in how they incorporate the weapons and the different types of Plasmids (special powers) you acquire throughout the game. Oh, did I mention you can also now duel wield plasmids and weapons at the same time?
Thus far, development for Bioshock 2 has gone unscathed and pretty smooth. However, with the recent delay of the game (pushed back to 2010) one has to think that someone took a look at the build 2K Marin had done and said, "Umm, this isn't up to par." I will admit, there is a huge amount of pressure on the developers. The first game pretty much won every single award you can think of back in 2007, so you can bet that all eyes are on them! From what I have seen, things are looking extremely promising and I can't wait to explore the City of Rapture once again!
Taking place ten years after the events of the first game (and on the same fictional planet) the snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The game will center on the fictional corporation known as NEVEC (NEo-VEnus Construction) and their ongoing war to gain T-ENG (Thermal-ENerGy). Players will assume control of a group of soldiers battling the Akrid, a race of large insects native to E.D.N. III. The Akrid have expanded their armies and return much more powerful in Lost Planet 2.
Quick List of Notable Features in LP2:
Dragon Age will also offer players the ability to prioritize moral choices which directly effect the story line. Want to be a good guy, by all means. Want to be a ruthless scoundrel hell bent on bringing the world to its knees and then laughing in the face of humanity? Yes, please! To pit it more bluntly: you may save the world whether you are good or evil, but the decisions that you make in the process will change the world around you – deciding who will become King, for example, and affecting nations and races and their places in the world. So, all in all every choice you make will have repercussions that could inevitably effect the outcome of the game.
Having been announced way back at E3 2004, Dragon Age has been on a lot of peoples radar...for a very long time. One has to think that with all that development time D.A. will deliver on all fronts. I was actually lucky enough to get some hands on time with the game at this past years ('09) NY ComiCon and I have to say I was quite impressed. Visually, the game looks outstanding. However, the build I was playing was the computer version so my thoughts
are a little skewed in respect to what a CPU can pump out and what the 360 is capable of emulating. The graphics weren't what I was most impressed with though. It was the game play by far! Fighting was smooth (albeit very bloody) and felt extremely accessible right off the bat. At one point I was using a broadsword to impale multiple demons in one fell swoop. I'm sure that the controls on the 360 D-Pad will be just as streamlined as the CPU version. Speaking of swords, I was assured that it would take someone years to acquire all the loot in the game...yes!
