Gamesugar

February 4, 2011

Review – Dead Space 2

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 3:38 pm

Dead Space 2
Sometimes the front page is swallowed up by an array of posts about Japanese videogames, and that’s how you, the reader, can know that I will appear and offer relief by instead discussing a game that involves science, shooting, and outer space. Thus, we will now discuss Dead Space 2.

Visceral Games’ sequel opens three years after the end of Dead Space; Isaac Clarke is confined to a mental institution where the necromorphs have mysteriously returned. The opening sequence here is meticulously designed both as tutorial and introduction; Isaac is left to stumble through the halls, bound in a straight-jacket, frantically evading monsters and trying to get to safety. The sequence introduces the player to each of the Dead Space conventions as Isaac scavenges his key tools from machinery throughout the hospital, including a new plasma cutter cobbled together from a flashlight and surgical laser.

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January 23, 2011

Catching up with the Brotherhood

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood
It’s not easy to get behind a franchise that has made the decision to go annual. The knowledge that the machinery has aligned specifically to bludgeon every last dollar out of the property (and the consumer) is grave in its implications. As an adherent to the existing systems for emulating assassins and their creeds, Ubisoft’s decision to Call-of-Dutyerize Assassin’s Creed was, for me, an ominous sign; the gong of some distant bell signalling the end of all things, save a string of uninspired sequels.

Then, of course, there was the multiplayer. One recalls the dial-it-in multiplayer solutions for traditionally single-player games like Bioshock and Metroid Prime and would be forgiven for groaning audibly. Equally, the human capacity to defy carefully crafted mechanics and break multiplayer game design is well known. Surely, Assassin’s Creed would have no chance of maintaining a mechanic based on careful stealth and patience among the multiplayer community.

Rarely is being wrong so satisfying.

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January 18, 2011

Leaked Screenshots Unveil Terrifying X-Douche

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 5:16 pm

X-Men: Destiny
The destiny you’ve always fantasized about is to play a horrible Jersey Shore reject with the mutant power of extreme douchery, if leaked screenshots from X-Men: Destiny are to be believed.

You can check out a selection of art and screenshots at Comics Alliance, featuring an X-Bro apparently ripped directly from the pages of Modern Design Cliches: 101 Bags, Tattoos, and Beard Styles, who appears strangely out of place as he battles alongside elaborate, brightly colored heroes in his wife-beater. One recalls the original design for Cole in inFamous 2 and thinks “Well, I guess that wasn’t so bad, after all.”

December 22, 2010

Your Wednesday Dose of Zen

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 2:07 pm

Arcana Heart 3
Arc System Works is bringing another dose of elaborately costumed female fighting to home consoles in Japan with Arcana Heart 3 hitting the 360 and PS3 there on January 13th.

I rather enjoyed the one dose available on the PlayStation 2 here, and at no extra charge gained an anecdote involving an gamestore employee convinced that surely Kingdom Hearts was what we meant to say, but no in fact, Hearts differ from Highlanders in that there can be more than one.

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December 17, 2010

Treasure Hunting

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 1:52 pm

Treasure Hunting
Hori is fishing for interest in the ultimate accessory for Treasure fans. This proposed Radiant Silvergun arcade stick aims to replicate the arcade on Japanese 360’s when the game hits XBLA, assuming Hori gets enough pre-order interest to put it into production between now and January 4th. Keep in mind it will set you back 13,500 Yen, which I’m led to believe currently works out to just over $160 USD.

I suppose one could justify the purchase based on that being what a Saturn copy of the game could cost at times, but loving Treasure can often be an expensive affair any way you slice it. On the doubleplus good side of life, we get Radiant Silvergun next year too, I remain ridiculously happy about that.

If you’re tempted, you can pay Hori a visit for more info.

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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