Gamesugar

March 5, 2010

Demo Report – Patchwork Heroes

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 2:12 pm

Patchwork Heroes
While the demo for Patchwork Heroes only offers up three of the game’s warship sabotaging missions, it’s clear after the very first that few games could ever hope to occupy so little space on a memorystick while offering so much of what has been missing from the Sony diet.

Take the weight of the bloated development cycles and money invested in offering more of the same experiences, only in higher definition for a pack of clapping seals hungry for mediocrity, and lose all connection to that misguided faith as this tiny demo offers up more charm, heart, tactile pleasure, control freedom, and divine spark than should be possible from the hollowed out husk of the great beast that once ruled this industry with an iron fist, and still kinda likes to think it does.

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January 15, 2010

Catching Up With Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 7:13 pm

Disgaea 2 - Dark Hero Days
Many moons ago, or last September, Disgaea 2 made the move over to the PSP, at which time I had every intention of reviewing the game. I remember being in a state I’ll call endless rush review mode, which I wouldn’t recommend not only because it stretches the limits of one’s sanity, but also because it opens a dark dimension where every game can be condensed into a few paragraphs of cohesion and then be done with – not a fun place to be for the writer, the reader, and more importantly for the gamer.

As it turns out that review never came together anyway, mostly because trying to take it all in and sum the experience up with some clever lines made me cry. And though that sounds like a bad thing, it really has been good for me and my relationship with the game.

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January 10, 2010

Review – Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 3:59 pm

Kenka Bancho Badass Rumble
Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble wears its intentions in the title, which works well since its sleeves are busy flapping in the wind from the force of the blows it works to put in the player’s face. Like a few other games this year, it aims to be the Bancho of power fantasy gaming, but unlike so many other contenders it also comes with a balance of humor, sub-culture, and pacing that gives it the upper-hand for an uppercut.

It’s a game I very much want to enjoy as much as the previous paragraph suggests I should. But against the enthusiasm of friends and other editors, there are fundamental flaws that make any long term affection difficult even while elements of the experience demand attention.

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January 6, 2010

Being The Boss – MGS Peace Walker

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 1:55 pm

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
I recently took a run through the English demo for Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker – English being the key draw since I’ve already run through the demo released during the Tokyo Game Show a few times. For all the talk of control schemes, the demo offers two – shooter type and action type – which switch camera controls between the directional and face buttons of the PSP to allow for left or right handed controls.

I went with shooter type, not because it necessarily fit my grip better, but because switching the hand responsible for the camera really isn’t that big a deal to me. Negotiating 3D space in any game is a bitch with no ideal solution on the horizon, especially on a handheld and with a game that involves stealth and taking in as much of your surroundings as possible. MGS is a tricky beast to design controls for, but a certain amount of patience makes it workable – though I’m not sure how quick I’ll ever be at it.

Having already played through the obstacle course, and eluded men wearing bright jackets in the jungle, my return visit was entirely about the English translation of the cinematic sequences.

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December 29, 2009

Demo Report – Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman! 2

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:13 am

Badman 2
It’s a good snowy day to check in on NIS’ recent demo release for (I’m only going to type the title in its entirety once) Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman! 2 – Time to Tighten up Security!

The demo revisits the expected experience, inviting me in for a nice cup of tea with its superbly simplistic layout and interface, promptly frustrating me to no end with scenarios worthy of NIS serving as the publisher – this isn’t a bad thing, I just have zero patience and need a game like this to remind me to chill out every so often. At times this is slightly soul-crushing, but I believe there’s something important in the lesson.

Part of me would like more time to layout a perfectly planned dungeon, but the game finds its mark in presenting an imperative to dig furiously before the heroes arrive, therein watching well laid plans turn to waste and delivering a slap in the face to think harder while working faster. I’m sure there’s plenty of people providing strategies far greater than the Swiss cheese dungeons that keep failing me, but I’m determined to figure this out on my own.

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