Gamesugar

December 18, 2010

Nanosuits, etc.

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 3:50 pm

Crysis 2
Important warning: if you’re concerned about the welfare of your face, stop now and go do something else. If you feel you may need your face for later, leave your computer and do not return. Gamesugar accepts no responsibility for the possibility that your face may be blown off by the force of the following trailer for Crysis 2.

If there was any doubt that an urban sprawl would offer infinitely more intriguing options for the wielder of the nanosuit than the original jungle, it’s been washed away in a flood of images depicting the player kicking cars, hurling aliens off ledges and bounding across rooftops at super speed. Crysis 2 appears to be shaping up into a defining FPS experience, and if you dare risk the safety of your own face, you can check out the most recent trailer after the break.

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December 10, 2010

Review – Dead Nation

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 8:59 am

Dead Nation
Last week Sony delivered unto us Dead Nation, the latest entry in the increasingly swamped “Kill a crapload of zombies” market. When we talk about the popularity of zombie games (and movies, TV shows, and probably Halloween prosthetics), there’s a joke in there somewhere about a spreading infection, but I’ll save you a groan and not make it.

Dead Nation takes the form of a top-down shoot-‘em-up, as appears to be the pattern for a number of recent small digital releases. You’ll choose a male or female character to fight through the zombie ravaged city in an effort to retrieve the apparently important body of Patient Zero and hopefully formulate a cure. There’s a story to be had here, though the product may have been better off without it. Rarely would I champion the cause for less narrative, but this story is a strange half-measure that seems to exist only to showcase some (admittedly sharp) artwork. Told through brief interludes between missions, it describes the journey of your character through the zombie wasteland in such thin detail that it may as well not bother at all. Your character has lines, but they exist only to tell you what your objective is, not because you’re actually a person with thoughts—and since the objective is always the same (get from point A to point B), this is entirely superfluous.

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December 5, 2010

The Best Game of Never – The Devil’s Robot

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 8:24 pm


In our continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and—er, no, that’s something else. In our continuing mission to bring you the latest best most amusing video game nonsense, we here at Gamesugar offer you our latest discovery: the best game you never played.

We first discovered the existence of The Devil’s Robot (Check out the cartridge!) in an advertisement in the back of an obscure comic book published in August of 1993. As internet demagogues of some repute, we sent out word that we were seeking a copy of this mysterious artifact, and it was not long before one of our loyal subjects responded. Apparently only distributed for six days in 1993, The Devil’s Robot is an RPG/Action/Platforming/Racer that sees the protagonist, SCIENCEMAN, navigating a post-apocalyptic wasteland, evading the attacks of the Devil’s Robot. The object of the game is to acquire the knowledge and artifacts to finally build SCIENCEMAN’s own terrifying robot construct to destroy the devil.

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November 30, 2010

Review – Auditorium HD

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 8:55 am


Having grown out of a flash game, Auditorium has perhaps hit the big time with this high-definition console release, and it’s not difficult to see why. A curious puzzling experience that’s as interesting to listen to and look at as it is to play, Auditorium HD brings an entirely unique sensory experience to players.

The objective is simple: move the colored light into the appropriately colored receptacle. The path (and later, color) of the light can be changed through the use of a number of spherical pieces afforded to the player in each stage. By changing the position and size of these spheres, the light can be directed to fill the appropriate receptacles, completing the stage and unlocking further stages. Auditorium supports the PlayStation Move controller, but I reviewed with the standard controller.

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November 18, 2010

Review – Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 8:22 pm

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
I’m riding on the back of a long-dead dragon, the size of a skyscraper, animated through dark necromancy and thundering through the sky. I’m clawing my way up the massive spine, balancing precariously when it rears its head and tries to shake me loose. I slip, and pull the right trigger just in time to jam my ridiculous crucifix-weapon into the bone and save myself from the fall—and this is about the time when it hits me just how much I like this game.

This is the last of three titanic boss encounters in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow; battles that have seen me scaling massive creatures in elaborate platforming puzzles. Like many elements of this game, this may draw comparisons to the defining hack-and-slasher, God of War, and these aren’t unwarranted. Castlevania, when considered piece by piece, is a wholly derivative affair, but as happens so rarely, it manages to provide a unique and worthy experience all the same.

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November 10, 2010

Review – Fable III

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 9:02 am


The design imperative represented in most games on the market is simple, and nigh-universal: give the player one thing to do, and develop and fortify this mechanic until it is strong enough to engage the player for the bulk of the experience. The addition of the odd mini-game (driving a tank in Gears of War, for example) serves to break up the action, but the focus of the design is still to provide a mechanic that can be successfully repeated for the entire game without becoming tedious.

Fable III represents the opposite extreme, and an entirely alternative design philosophy. Here is a game that provides a myriad of game options, with the caveat that each is relatively simplistic. The effect is that Fable III feels like a game made up of mini-games; an exploration mini-game, a finance mini-game, a combat mini-game, a social mini-game, and so on. The dilemma lies in whether players will find the sheer number of these mini-games to be sufficiently engaging as to offset the fundamental simplicity of the mechanics.

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November 4, 2010

Return of the Review – Vanquish

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 5:15 pm

Vanquish
In my capacity as a Sugarperson, I really only serve two functions: sometimes I manufacture prettiness in an effort to make it appear that the site was not, in fact, designed in my basement, and other times I play games, and then I tell you about them. This is one of those times. As tasks go, it is not the worst one could hope for. In fact, the only way it could be better is if it caused the numbers on my bank account to increase, or perhaps if writing overly long sentences made me irresistible to nerd girls.

Vanquish is a game that, upon playing, I was compelled to fulfill this second duty; to write words and deliver them to you, so that you might understand their meaning. Accordingly, in addition to our regular review of Vanquish, I am here to provide a rare second opinion. Let’s begin: if anyone tells you that Vanquish is not worth playing, your duty is clear. Cut this person out of your life forever, as this person is a liar who wishes only misfortune upon you. If, after taking this action, you still doubt the value of Vanquish, I suggest the following: visit youtube, and search for “Casshern.” When you come to the inevitable realization that “There should be a videogame of this,” return here, and I will present to you, Vanquish.

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