Skate 2 Demo Thoughts - rabbit221

Okay. When you tell me party mode, I think "XBL Party, that must = Online play." Tricky, tricky Skate 2. *sigh* Where to begin on this utter disappointment of a 2nd installment. First of all, the only things that are new in this demo that weren't in the first one are 1. You can finally walk. They kind of make a joke about it when they introduce it but seriously, why was this not included in the first one? I feel like the developers of this game are currently laughing at me. 2. You can move objects around to set up lines such as moving a ramp in front of a rail to do a grind or moving a ramp to get to a higher spot as they show you in the demo. That's it. Nothing else is introduced. How do you expect people to be amped about a second installment when all you show them is a few ramps, a little skate park and two new things that don't entirely change the way the game is played. I feel like they patched the first one, downgraded the graphics and threw it back to us. The graphics are horrible compared to the first one. I remember skating around in the first skate just to take in everything and admire how good it looks. Now I play the second skate and the graphics have somehow devolved. Alot of people are commenting on how good it looks in HD. Guess what. I don't have an HDTV. Also, I HATE games that are developed for HD so us suckers with non-hi-def tvs have to squint and kill our eyes by trying to read their goddamn text. It looks like a mediocre Xbox game; Chronicles of Riddick has this game beat by miles. The demo didn't even introduce me to any new moves even though they show some in the video. The create a character they introduce you too also has to be one of the most slap-dash create-a-whatever I've ever seen. No matter how you much you work on your character, you're gonna look fuck-ass ugly. You can even create chicks in the new skate, but trust me, I tried, you don't wanna see that. Anyway, over this demo is pretty disappointing. I think I'll stick to my first skate, where I don't forget I'm playing a 360 game.

Skate 2 Demo Quick First Impressions - rabbit221

Coming from someone who played the SHIT out of the first skate, I have to say it seems like the create a character that they give you in the demo is awful slap-dash. I know, I know it's a demo but damn. I can't help but feel this game looks WAY shittier than skate. I feel like they've given us a game worthy of the first Xbox. More to come later. Just thought'd I throw my immediate thoughts out there.

God of War 3 Trailer Impressions- Jaws98

God of War and God of War 2 were masterpieces. They were the best looking games at the time, had both great gameplay and fun puzzles, and contained an amazing story of Kratos and his revenge against the gods.

I have beat both of them and scrounged the Internet for any information on the third installment. After I beat God of War 2 I was extremely disappointed by the cliffhanger ending. It left many questions unanswered. So when I heard the news of a trailer being shown on Spike's Video Game Awards I was looking forward to finally see what changes have come to Kratos on his debut on the PS3. So when the trailer was finally online I analyzed it frame by frame just to see what some might have missed.

The God of War 3 debut trailer


00:14- Kratos seems to be fighting a centaur with a spear. If you have missed this I would also like to point out that he walked on the wall. It didn't look like a cutscene so maybe its a new feature? I also noticed that this time he actually pulled out his blades. In past games the blades of Athens just appear in his hands when he is using them. But in this he actually pulls them out.

00:17- He is fighting a giant rock monster. Maybe the ones from God of War 2? It could just as easily be a different type of Cyclops. It looks like its not a quick time event. In the background you see a mountain. Maybe its Mount Olympus?

00:19- It looks like he is smashing a barrier with power fists with lions on them. And it looks like its part of a boss. If you pause the video and look in the background you should see a animal like creature. Maybe in the game you have to get the weapon to actually get through that part?

00:20- It looks like Kratos is climbing a moving tree (maybe a big boss) and the harpies are its lifeline. Also you should notice that before Kratos jumped he was hitting a soft spot. Maybe you can actually link attacks by hitting different enemies without the need for a quick time event.

00:22- Kratos is standing with his 'power fists'. It looks like they just leveled up.

00:23- Kratos is fighting a giant cyclops (bigger then the older ones) with a club. Kratos didn't attack its eyes like the older God of Wars. So maybe this is a different type of Cyclops as well. The handlers from God of War 2 are missing. Maybe they have found another creature?

00:24- Kratos is fighting over 20 skeleton monsters (the ones you can't destroy until you actually perform the finishing move). He manages to throw them all away using a special move. Maybe a different type of Rage of the Titans or Gods move? If you just pause it on 00:26 you should see that Kratos is using the 'Power Fists'.

00:27- Kratos throws away the Harpies wings.All together I noticed that the background was all gray clouds and bland forests (maybe it has been cut for the trailer). Also I noticed that in the beginning Kratos says "My Vengeance is everything". It sounds like that he has been betrayed by someone (and I'm not just talking about Zeus). I was wondering where all the titans are. Since he supposedly has allied himself with them they should be helping him. Maybe the Titans betray him. In the end Kratos says, "Everything must come to an end". It sounds like what David Jaffe (developer of God of War 2) about how God of War 3 will explain why there are no more Greek myths was true. The graphics have been amazingly improved and this trailer was from a year before. So expect a more beautiful game in 2009.

This game looks amazing. Hopefully they don't change anything about the gameplay since that is near perfect.

I Want a Sega Mega Drive For Christmas! - rabbit221

Found this on Kotaku. It's dated but goddamn. Look closely. Look REAL close.



Don't see it yet? Try the second headline.

TIME Magazine's Top Ten Videogames of 2008 VERY Laughable - rabbit221

Yes. You read that right. TIME. When I think about TIME magazine, oh yeah, I fuckin' think videogame gurus. Yeah, just take a look at that list and you tell me they should do that every year. What the FUCK was this guy smokin' when he came up with this list (or at least about the second part of it). Spore? An iPhone game???

See for yourself.

House of the Dead: Overkill LOL - rabbit221

Wow. I must be behind the times on this one, although I thought I heard about it on TalkRadar. The Wii continues to amaze me by getting away with graphics WORSE than the N64. This is the least next-gen console ever to be called "next-gen." If anything, it seems as if Nintendo took a step back in time with this poor excuse for a console. I believe I heard this trailer on one of the episodes of TR but I had no idea it was THIS BAD. It honestly sounds like a preview for a bad porno. And if they're trying to pitch this to you as a good thing. . . . Nintendo has lost their goddamn mind.

But then again we already knew that. Case and point; Wii Music.

Trailer courtesy of GT as you can see. (I don't know if this is bad for me to be ripping off their trailers but I guess it's free addy for them, right? Right?)

Quick LOTR Conquest Tidbit - rabbit221

Water will kill you. Water up to your knees. Water in a cup. Water from a faucet. Even the goddamn TROLL will die if a molecule of water touches it.

Whoever decided this should be castrated and fired. In that order.

LOTR Conquest: Multiplayer Rant (This Game Is Horrible) - rabbit221

So I was finally able to pull myself away from the multiplayer of this demo to sit down and write about it. I know, I know, we talked about how awful the game is and how awful the voices are and how it looks like the PSX shit and then pitched it to EA and Pandemic. Thankfully, you don't have to deal with the voices as much while playing the multiplayer portion. But that's where it stops. The awful, unbalanced gameplay is still there and so are the awful, AWFUL graphics that belong the PS2. But. BUT. For some reason, playing this with other humans while bitching about how terrible the game is while being complete assholes to everyone else is quite entertaining. Clearly though, that's not what the game was made for.

The multiplayer portion lets you play on two maps; one is some sort of castle/keep deal and the other is a hobbit village of sorts (I'm not a huge LOTR fan so if those are important places or have names, I apologize). The maps are decent but nothing spectacular. Clearly, though, nothing in this game is all that great to look at. A major issue for me is that on these maps, Ents and Trolls are supposedly placed in certain spawn points, and all you have to do is walk up to them and it prompt you to take over. Too bad that the game doesn't tell you ANYTHING about this and you have to figure it out yourself, usually in the way of getting stomped or having your face smashed in by one or the other. Once you find them and learn how to use them, you realize that they are far, FAR overpowered. While they have two powerful hit attacks, the A button will heal yourself, and if used correctly, these things become practically invincible. You best bet at taking them down is with 2 or 3 scouts climbing onto its back in quick succession, that is if you don't get taken out by one of the Ents/Trolls massive arcing swings. That can possibly kill you in one hit if you have anything but full health.

On to the actual multiplayer game play. Running around acting like an asshole is always fun. But, I did actually try to play the game the way it's meant to be played. It's not that great. The game's biggest problem is that the classes are WAY unbalanced. A warrior can run into any fight and pretty much be guaranteed a kill or two. It's an extremely overpowered class and if you find yourself fighting one, there IS no hope. The mage is another unbalanced class. You can put up a shield that deflects any ranged attacks, and you can heal yourself and others. The archer is a fairly decent class. With a mix of ranged attacks, you can deal a fair amount of damage, but your close range combat is limited to a puny ass kick. The last class that's available is the Scout. This is possibly the worst class to play, but the most fun to be an asshole with. You have the ability to cloak, although it's extremely limited and for a very short amount of time. Your only attack worth a shit is the one hit kill from behind while cloaked. That is if you can find the millimeter of space behind an enemy where the attack actually WORKS. Your other pro is that you're the only person that can climb atop an Ent or Troll and deal some serious damage to it.

Another thing that makes the game almost unplayable are the ridiculous camera angles and the positions the camera will take sometimes, making it impossible to see your enemy and 9 times out of 10 resulting in your death. And it's been discussed plenty of times before but the graphics. . . . Why can't people HARNESS the power of the 360 and PS3? It would seem like an easy enough task. This is another game that will go down the shitter and hopefully be forgotten by anyone who's ever played it and will teach EA and Pandemic a lesson. Throwing the name of something popular on a game does not make up for a shitty and lackluster experience. If they intend to charge $60 for this game, I'll be very, VERY surprised.

LOTR: Conquest (DEMO) - zabu_san impressions

Okay, first things first, I have no experience with The Star Wars Battlefront franchise or its developer Pandemic. Although, I am aware that the Battlefront was a big seller and a rather well received series by critics, I have never played the games. So when I heard about "Lord of the Rings: Conquest" (LOTR: Conquest) and its premise, I was reluctant to play it until I remember the LOTR licensed games, "LOTR: The Two Towers" and "LOTR: The Return of the King" that were released in time with the movies a few years ago. They were surprisingly solid games and supremely well done. Developed by EA with incredibly high production values and with use of the movie license, EA created an extremely, well put together movie tie-in game, a very rare feat in this industry.

So with all this in mind, I fire up the demo of LOTR: Conquest expecting the same greatness the last-gen games brought me. At the main title screen we have 2 options, Single Player (Campaign) and Multiplayer (split screen/online). Neat, online multiplayer in a demo, not the first time I have seen this available in a demo but cool nonetheless. More on this mode later though. So I click single player and see a few modes available: Training, War of the Ring, Rise of Sauron, and Instant Action. Only having access to the Training mode at this time, I proceed to enter and begin my play test.

What welcomed me was a rather bland introduction sequence introducing the back story of Sauron and the one ring. The scene is taken straight from the first movie. Then we are thrust into the world and told to choose a class. So I rotate the analog stick and press the dpad to find only one class is available at this moment, The Warrior, a rather uninspired name for the swordsman of the game. With special abilities ranging from axe throwing to a whirlwind sweep with his sword, he seems to be able to hang with the best of them right?

Well, yes and no. As the first waves of enemies are introduced, our hero is bombarded with tips from the tutorial on how to slay the beasts. After wiping those enemies out, you are given your first combo sequence, which you must complete repeatedly for the tutorial; I mean “training” to continue. Now you are given the ability to use your axe as a long range weapon. Next we reach a capture point. What lies in wait here? Oh, after gaining the control point, you’re given the option to choose a new class: Archer! I loved Legolas in the films so let’s see how this class plays.

Now as I aim for the first orc archer arrows are flying with great speed and the orcs are dropping faster than you can say, “power off.” We are treated with a slew of different arrows for the archer to play around with, fire, multi, and poison. After a short time with him we control another capture point and a new class is unlocked, a scout. Wait, a scout? Were they in the films?

Okay so I choose the scout and notice the option for “cloak”. I envelop with a mist and as the enemies draw close, they pass by and I backstab them to take them down in one hit, like it really matters. The melee combat with the scout is surprisingly quick and fun. Next you are in the middle of a huge battle between the two warring factions. As you fight to gain control a new capture point you soon find a new class, the mage.

Yes, Gandalf is in the game, so to speak. After briefly controlling the mage, I was unimpressed by the game play of the mage. He seemed incredibly overpowered and I wanted to go back to playing the scout. As you rally back to the capture point, you are greeted by none other than Sauron himself. Here you are given the option to play as a hero from the book and film, Isildur who plays like a warrior but more powerful. Once Sauron is defeated, the demo ends and you are treated to an in-game cut scene of different playgrounds and enemies you will face in the main game coming this month.

SO what was my experience with LOTR: Conquest, not very good Pandemic. I expected way better for number of reasons. This was just an absolute stinker of a video game. The graphics were sub-par, the voice were atrocious, the game play was awful (no lock on option?), and the fighting itself was weak.

With light, medium, and heavy attacks mapped to the square, triangle and circle buttons respectively, you soon come to find out, you really only need to hit with square because the enemies will die in ONE HIT!! And that’s not all; the enemies will die by one hit with ANYTHING!! What’s this, one hit with your axe kills an orc? Now I understand if they took a hit in the head, which results in a “Critical Hit” they could die in one hit, but in the leg, arm, abdomen? Unacceptable! As I started with the archer I thought to myself, surely one arrow in the leg won’t kill him, WRONG! He drops like a ton of bricks, as do the several orcs that follow. The combos are unnecessary and the projectiles as the scout or warrior are unnecessary due the one hit statue set by their power. Why are the enemies so weak?

In conclusion, this demo/game sucks; it is the second worst demo I have played following Sonic Unleashed which I will not even honor with an impression topic. Why Pandemic decided to work on this rather than a next-gen Battlefront 3, is beyond me, probably money and contractually obligated, to, not sure, either way, they should have put the manpower and money towards a better franchise and game! As for the "more on this mode later mentioned above," I refuse to play this game any further; it was at my great behest I played it 3 times for this impression...sorry I will let BHT or Jaws provide their impression.

Game Related Lady - rabbit221

Holy christ. If you thought Tomb Raider was hot before, think again.

The New Tomb Raider