During E3 2011, a game called Overstrike was announced via non-gameplay trailer. While details never really surfaced, we were able to surmise that Overstrike had something to do with a team of super-spies, dripping with personality, kicking all kinds of ass amidst colorful backdrops; think Team Fortress 2 meets Borderlands. Nary a shred of information regarding Overstrike released from that day until now. Unfortunately, humor and personality doesn't sell games, or so some of these companies think.
Overstrike has been cannibalized into Fuse, a shell of its former self that puts the focus on third-person shooting action and completely strips every endearing part of the source material. Insomniac Games what the fuck are you thinking? You've taken a new IP that had tons of buzz and made it a grey-brown shoot-and-snore fest. Oh but you can use different types of ammo and work as a team of four players! And what? That's nothing we haven't seen before, in fact it's something we see almost every damn day. Witty dialogue, colorful locales, characters with real personality and a sense of humor? Something gamers rarely see. So what happened? Did the boys at EA drop the hammer on your mockups, squeezing out every inch of life to fit their standards?
Obviously, I'm pissed off about this. Feels like I just finished playing Inversion, one of the most lifeless games I've played in a while, but it looks like Fuse is challenging for that title. Take a look at the Overstrike trailer above and the Fuse trailer below and tell me: do you think these changes have been made for the better?
In case you may not have heard, Shank 2 has released! As I toil away here at work, I am imagining what it would be like to put on the bandana (and chainsaw, and machete, and shotgun, and pistols, etc) again. Just the thought is making me glow like a New Jersian guido.
The original Shank was a wild romp of blood, weaponry, and style; three things that rank highly on my food chart of consumable dopeness. Look for a review up here very soon, but in the mean time you should probably play it yourself. With better visuals, more ridiculous scenarios, outrageous costumes, and tightened gameplay, I think Shank 2 will be worth your $10.
The past two weekends were spent by many gamers perusing the worlds of Star Wars: The Old Republic though 'beta' invites distributed by EA. The term beta applies loosely, this was more of a server stress test than anything else, with the floodgates open to just about anyone to get in the world and create a Sith, Jedi, or otherwise. Invitations were given away liberally; with just about every major gaming website having thousands to throw at its faithful, so you know BioWare and EA were in straight up 'COME AT ME' mode.
Both weekends found the servers to be thoroughly slammed, as you can imagine. Many servers were open for the first weekend, and most of them had queues of up to 45 minutes before entry, or so we were told by the server information panel from within the client. A server I found which stated to have an 11 minute wait let me through the turnstile in under a minute, so take those queue times with a grain of salt. The second weekend's invites, which I believe were randomly distributed only by EA, featured about a quarter of the servers that were available on the first weekend, and what I would assume to be a quarter or less of the players invited to play during that initial weekend, though the servers were still heavily populated. Despite the sheer amount of players allowed to brandish blasters and lightsabers, the game experience was not adversely affected. Lag was minimal, crashes and server boots were non-existent, and the game zipped along as well as it possible could on my severely dated PC.
Multiplayer conversations: fun and competitve
The Old Republic is very well polished, as it should be a mere two weeks from release. As MMOs tend to go, SWTOR borrows much of its core basics from World of Warcraft, the gold standard of the genre, but makes many noticeable improvements. The most obvious, and well documented change, is the strong focus placed on storytelling. Cut scenes grab you and don't often let go, as the mix of character expressions, superb voice acting, and dialogue choices do well to keep the player involved. Of course if you're in a rush, you can hastily move these scenes along by tapping the spacebar, but why would you want to do that? There is much to learn about the deep world of the Old Republic, so take your time and enjoy.
As mentioned, the voice acting is a pleasure to listen to, and cut above much of what I've heard from any game on the market let alone an MMO. Most if not all NPCs are voiced, and I don't know if I heard the same voice actor twice between quest NPCs. To put this in perspective, a game as massive as Skyrim (which I've been a slave to in the past few weeks) has a total of maybe 20 unique voice actors. Though I'll never understand why the Empire's denizens have snazzy English accents, while most Republic characters are unaccented. Oh well.
I would like to speak on the graphics, but I'm running a 3-year old GPU and CPU on a like-aged motherboard with 3GB of RAM. Crippled much? Third time is certainly not a charm when it comes to PC tech. Though despite my elderly specs, The Old Republic ran respectably, after turning most graphical sliders to the lowest setting, of course. Even still, the game ran smoothly without looking like Rancor feces, so fear not if you're in dire need of a system upgrade. Just be sure you have the latest drivers for your video card, as my neglect of driver update was a source of frequent BSODs before I realized what the issue was. Enough tech talk though, let me tell you a bit about the characters I had the pleasure of playing.
Body type and hair style customization options suck, but who cares when you can look like this?
My first character was a human Smuggler, chosen to play alongside my roommates Soldier. There's no job a blaster can't handle, right Han? The Smuggler combines an interesting mix of cover-based play with big firepower to handle opponents. I didn't encounter many melee opponents, which would be a Smuggler's bane, so the class seemed a little overpowered in the early going. The cover system is supposed to allow you to avoid incoming blaster fire, but I don't know if that's 100% the case. Whether it be bad timing, latency, or pre-launch blues, I'm pretty sure I took damage more than a few times while hiding behind cover. Certain attacks - many of the powerful ones - can only be launched while in cover, so the Smuggler is assed out if he's caught in the open; not good if an enemy gets the jump on you in PvP.
The Smuggler's early quest line revolved around chasing down and recovering his stolen ship, which is the Smuggler's second best friend, next to credits. It was an interesting chain of quests, and quite fun to play a morally 'bluish-gray' character without feeling bad about it. This was the only character I was able to take to the advanced class, available at level 10. I chose to be a Scoundrel, who has the help of stealth and meds to survive many a tricky situation. I feel as if Gunslinger, the more firepower driven advanced class, would have been more fun, though perhaps I did not play deep enough into the Scoundrel to appreciate his wide range of abilities.
Sing-along with the Sith Inquisitor
My second character was a pureblood Sith Inquisitor, played in part by my girlfriend who logged more time in The Old Republic than any other game not named Civilization. The Inquisitor mixed a bit of melee with dark Force powers, clearing enemies with a couple of lightning attacks when the vibroblade just wouldn't cut it. While I was able to successfully solo groups of same-level enemies with the other classes I played, the Inquisitor didn't quite seem up to that task. In addition, the class quest line seemed to move noticeably slower than other classes. For these reasons, I chose to cut my experience with the Inquisitor a bit short, though I was later assured that the Inquisitor becomes a powerhouse with an excellent story a bit later in the game, so those early woes may pay off if you stick with it.
Third was the Chiss Bounty Hunter, a class I really enjoyed using in brief at New York Comic Con earlier in the year. Much like the Inquisitor, the Bounty Hunter seemed to have a case of early level blues when it came to combat. Granted he survived much longer than the aforementioned Sith, his early combat options simply were not compelling. A few of his precious abilities at the low levels were damage-over-time, attacks that I personally choose to avoid at all costs unless fighting higher level competition. This meant using the same few attacks over and over again, in addition to the standard auto attack: it wore thin. Though with experience playing a later level Powertech - a Bounty Hunter advanced class - I can say that it gets better. Though at what point, I'm not sure.
The Bounty Hunter's quests may have been the best of the bunch, with a couple of early twists and some Mandalorian chasing to keep things interesting. In addition, the Bounty Hunter may have the best of all companions I was able to sample. You see, companions are NPCs that assist you on your journey, making life easier in a plethora of ways. Help in combat, crafting, and selling goods when you're overburdened, companions are a game-changing addition. The Bounty Hunter's initial companion, Mako, is a stark difference to the hunter. A bit more animated and bubbly than you're used to seeing in scenes that feature Boba and (the vastly inferior) Jango, Mako adds a fresh voice to the Bounty Hunter's daily operations, without becoming annoying or overbearing. The early worries I had with the Bounty Hunter's combat shortnesses was remedied by his awesome story.
Never negotiate with a Bounty Hunter
Finally, I dabbled with a Miralukan Jedi Consular, the Republic's parallel to the Inquisitor. In comparison, the Consular seemed much more powerful than the Inquisitor from the start, with a few beefy melee attacks to go along with some short-ranged Force powers. Ripping a chunk of rock from the ground to hurdle at an enemies face was quite pleasing. Also, for whatever reason, I received a shocking amount of green loot upon defeating enemies, which means my Padawan looked a bit more respectable in the early going, as opposed to the 'crazy guy in pajamas' look. For these reasons I enjoyed doing battle with the Consular. Unfortunately, I can't speak much on the story arc for this class, due to my time being cut short. It was a busy pair of weekends outside of my self-contained gaming den, which sadly limited my time with The Old Republic. Though at the point I had to bail, it seems like the Consular's quests were moving in a great direction.
If I didn't already pre-order this baby back in July, I would be pre-ordering right now. I came away from my time with Star Wars: The Old Republic extremely impressed; it's one of the primary reasons I'll be upgrading my ancient gaming rig in the next month or so. I planned on using this stress test as a field to reap my primary character of choice, though I still can't make a decision. Each class feels exciting and nuanced, and each have a unique and dynamic string of quests and companions to keep the game fresh, even after you've created 5 other alts. Early access begins on December 15, with the game releasing on December 20. I'm frothing at the mouth with anticipation of the date.
I finally got an opportunity to play Star Wars: The Old Republic, much to my joy. BioWare's latest take on the Star Wars universe just happens to be one of my most anticipated games in a winter season jam-packed with quality titles, so you can guess how excited I was for this hands on. Though I played both PvE and PvP, this article will focus mostly on PvP. I don't think I can convey an adequate measure of the PvE aspect due to a few factors: limited time, lack of party or companions, and starting from an incredibly low level, which veteran MMO players know to be one of the slowest parts of the game. So without further ado, let's talk player vs. player!
While waiting the 30 minute queue, I befriended a fellow World of Warcraft alumni who was just ahead of me on line. Our two-man party made its way toward the entry of SWTOR's massive PC complex, which easily housed at least 30 stations running the game at max settings. As the last two to make it into the current session, we couldn't really choose which class we played, as classes were predetermined by which station you manned. My compatriot took control of the Gunslinger, an advanced Smuggler class who dual-wields blasters and comes equipped with a variety of tricks. After he was seated, I was informed by the helpful staff - who don't head count especially well - that there were no more available stations and I would have to wait until the next session. Nuts, but I made the best of my time by observing the Gunslinger in action.
The players of this current session were dropped into a match of Huttball; The Old Republic's official sport, which lead writer Daniel Erickson described as football almost exactly, complete with player positions for the classes. The match is between two teams of 8, on a playing field littered with an assortment of traps and pitfalls. I spotted vents of highly damaging fire, movement slowing pits of acid, and high-pressure air vents which propel the player into the air and has a chance of dropping you into one of the aforementioned death traps. At the beginning of the match, a ball spawns in the middle of the field. The first to touch the ball becomes the carrier, and is tasked to deliver the ball into the opposing team's base, which acts as an end zone. If you kill the man with the ball, you become the carrier. As the carrier, you can attack and use skills as normal, and can also pass the ball off to a teammate in case the pressure of having the entire opposing team's crosshairs on you is too much to bear. A single team can consist of both Republic and Empire combatants, but only same faction players can party to enter the war zone together. It pays, however, to know your team. A lightly armored Jedi Sage may not be who you want attempting to blitz the opponent's end zone. The Sith Warrior makes a strong running back, due in part to good defensive capabilities and Force Leap, an attack that propels the player at his target, who is in the direction of the end zone, ideally. A Jedi Consular, in addition to healing, can use an area-of-effect Force Push which can keep melee heat off of the ball runner. Huttball is one instance where working with the enemy can be beneficial.
As Huttball ended, players shuffled out of BioWare's brief abode of bliss with mostly all positive reactions. After watching the entire preceding match, I was electrically charged to get on the mouse and keys. As the first person in, I had pick of the litter among the classes. Boba Fett fanboy that I am, I chose to play a Bounty Hunter, which is a class I was leaning toward to start my adventure in The Old Republic anyway. The real decision came between advanced Bounty Hunter classes: Mercenary, ranged DPS dynamo akin to Jango Fett, or Powertech, defensive juggernaut akin to Boba. My choice was simple. I always thought Jango was a bitch anyway. Once the players were set, we were thrust into the Alderaan war zone, which played a bit like a 'territories' game type. Teams began play away from the battlefield, and mounted speeders to be automatically flown to one of three turrets of their choice. After a short period spent to capture the turret, it would fall under your faction's control, and begin firing on the opposing faction's transport ship, which is chilling in low orbit. The more turrets you hold, the sooner your faction will win.
In the Alderaan war zone, my Powertech was impressive, raking an 11:3 kill-to-death ratio. He chipped away at enemy health from distance with wrist-mounted rockets and his trusty blaster, and when the enemy got up close and personal they were greeted by a flamethrower and a rocket punch to the teeth. It took about 2 or 3 enemies to take the Powertech down, a testament to his defensive capabilities, especially with his shield buff active. I would usually stay at a distance from the turret and attempt to pick off the Republic do-gooders, usually pulling them away from their objective one at a time, which is where the Powertech excels it seems. I made a point of asking every Old Republic staffer which class they preferred playing as, and the response was surprisingly well spread out. Not once did I receive the same answer, which means either there is incredible character balance, or those dudes are very well trained to tell players what we want to hear. According to Mr. Erickson, 6 of the 8 playable classes can be played as either tanks or healers, meaning you won't often find a shortage of two of the most important in-game roles.
What I think is one of the coolest parts of the PvP experience is the level playing field that BioWare has created. Players can PvP beginning at level 10, and the war zones are built with players ranging from the entry level of 10 to the level cap of 50. Base stats are evened out, so a level 10 and level 50 may have the same amount of base HP and other attributes, meaning the polar opposites could technically stand toe-to-toe, with the fight going either way. Of course, the level 50 will have superior equipment and a wider range of abilities to use, so there is still an advantage for he who has invested more time into the game, but the lackadaisical end-game PvPer will be punished. Some players may not agree with this aspect of the design, but I think it solves more problems than it creates, so consider me a fan.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is gonna be hot fiiiiiiire. I cannot wait to spend a good portion of my winter humiliating would-be Jedi who cower behind the false sense of security provided by a lightsaber. If battling other players ain't your thing don't worry, it appears SW:TOR will have something for everyone. With 50 man years worth or writing in the story how could it not? Unique storylines for each class means you'll have to play with all 8 to truly experience all The Old Republic has to offer. December 20 cannot come soon enough.
This fall's somewhat-but-not-quite similar military shooters are vying for your attention (and money). As much as people like to believe that these two games can coexist, they simply cannot. They are too much alike. Have you ever walked down the street and spotted someone who looks sort of like you? At the moment where the two of you glance at each other, the intergalactic threads of time and space begin to unravel and bolts of plasma rain down upon the ethereal plane; instant enemies. Yep, that's exactly what happens each time a copy of Modern Warfare 3 crosses paths with Battlefield 3.
One releases in a few days, one in a few weeks, but both have released newish 'launch' trailers to get you hyped up and get your wallet open. So readers, where will your money go, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3 or both? Personally, I could go either way, but will probably buy Modern Warfare 3, as more friends of mine will be throwing their money at Activision as opposed to EA.
The saga of Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer has been a sweet harmony of he said she said discord, where some media outlets kept saying “yup!” others maintained a solid stance of “nope.” As of last night, the fans have finally received a solid word from the Twitter of Mass Effect overlord Casey Hudson himself.
Fans, rejoice! Or don’t. Multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 brings the series’ downward spiral to a to a fitting anti-climax. Mass Effect embraced RPG elements and a more deliberate pace of gameplay. Mass Effect 2 stripped away much of that RPG feeling and replaced it with tighter shooting mechanics, bringing the game more in line with titles such as Gears of War and its ilk. The additions to Mass Effect 3 include continued idiot-proofing, an increased focus on melee combat, and now, multiplayer. This post on the BioWare forums from a team staffer has all the details, but let’s touch on some of the points.
So what exactly will the multiplayer of Mass Effect 3 entail? What’s been detailed at this point is four player online co-op (no mention of local), where players will “fight to liberate key territories from enemy control.” Sounds a bit like the increasingly popular horde mode, done ME style. Dashing the hopes of the uninspired, it’s been confirmed that you will NOT be playing your Commander Shepard in multiplayer, nor will you use the likes of Garrus, Thane, Liara, or any other occupants of the Normandy who play a large role in campaign. Instead, you will create a character through different combinations of class and race, combining skills and racial traits with your allies to wreck shop. Customization details are limited at this point, however players will level up, characters will progress, and weapons will be upgraded.
Expanding on the omnipresence of decisions and consequences throughout the series, Mass Effect 3 features something called “Galactic Readiness” which comes into play in the campaign, specifically when engaging the Galaxy at War mode. While not tied specifically to multiplayer, Galaxy at War will pool much of Shepard’s actions and decisions to calculate Galactic Readiness, which will no doubt culminate at the end-game, where the free galaxy will most likely do war with the Reapers. There are several ways to impact your Galactic Readiness, with multiplayer being one of many. BioWare has stated multiplayer is NOT a necessity, so in the event you do not play nice with others (or you just plain suck), your Shepard's story will not be altered.
In complete honesty, I’m worried. I always assume the worst when multiplayer is shoehorned into a single player game, and though BioWare is adamant that co-op will not detract from the single player experience, nor will it have any impact unless the player deems it so, it’s easy to be jaded. We know Shepard’s story will end with the trilogy, but perhaps BioWare is testing the water for a continued Mass Effect experience with a greater focus on multiplayer in the future. Or maybe not. Maybe EA brought the hammer down and forced multiplayer into third installment of the series in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, bolster sales, and justify the god damned online pass, which renders used sales near pointless. This announcement is still green, and Mass Effect 3 is still months away, but my fingers are crossed that BioWare and EA haven’t fucked up one of my current favorites.
What say you faithful reader, yay or nay on ME3 multiplay?
Shank was one of my favorite downloadable games released last year. The art, animation, music, and gory, stylized action was too much for me to turn down. I knew the game sold well, much deserved too, but I honestly didn't expect this: Shank 2. Fuck, yes.
Apparently, developers Klei have reworked just about everything from the ground up without sacrificing that certain je ne sais quois (see: viscera) that made the original a blast to play. Aside from added weapons and control tweaks which make the game better to play (full 360-degree shooting) there are also some logical advancements in gameplay such as the inclusion of counter-attacks and better thought out platforming. Neither of these inclusions are critical, but it's nice to know Klei is dedicated to mastering their little Southwestern gold mine of revenge. Also, co-op survival mode, because why the hell not? My only dislike thus far is that the initial trailer for Shank 2 seems very uninspired, especially considering this trailer for the original that gave me chills, yo.
Destructoid was lucky enough to spend some hands on time with Shank 2, and come away from the splatterfest with good vibes. However I need no preview, I've been sold on this sequel since August of last year. If you've yet to play the original, it be on sale for 600MSP (marked down from 1200MSP) on Xbox LIVE Arcade, so I suggest you buy the hell out of it.
Shank 2 is set for early next year on XBLA, PSN, and PC. So Klei, are we going to see a Brock Samson skin this time around?
Watch Shadows of the Damned protagonist Garcia Fucking Hotspur (his words, not mine) challenge a massive demon bird in this boss battle gameplay clip.
I come away from this chunk of action really loving the music, but this is the work of Akira Yamaoka, so of course the beats are fresh. That may be about it, as the rest of the battle is a yawn-inducing strafing and shooting affair. I was hot for Shadows of the Damned early in it's marketing cycle - mostly because of the killer combination of Suda 51, Shinji Mikami, and Yamaoka - but have since cooled on the third person action title. Not to say it doesn't have some good things going for it, because it certainly does. The light/dark gameplay mechanic sounds cool, but I could see it becoming easily tiresome. There's a nice selection of dynamic weapons housed within a shapeshifting skull named Johnson. And there's plenty of ridiculous and dirty humor being tossed around, if that's your thing.
What's the consensus on Shadows of the Damned, readers? If you're thinking it's a buy, it may be worth the preorder to secure a free copy of Yamaoka's superbly scored soundtrack, something that rarely comes up short. You better act soon though, Shadows releases this coming Tuesday, June 21.
BioWare blesses us with two lovely Star Wars: The Old Republic pieces. The game's intro cinematic is a hefty 6 minutes of troopers, scoundrels, and good old fashion lightsaber battles. In line with the earlier cinematic trailers, this one is beauty and madness combined in one tight little package, like Britney Spears. In fact, BioWare should be responsible for creating a feature length, full CG Star Wars film, that's how good these trailers have been. Ray Muzyka > George Lucas. The trailer shows how the villainous Darth Malgus comes into power, and how the Sith reclaim their home planet of Korriban.
In addition, there's a pretty good braggadocio trailer that details what exactly The Old Republic brings to the table that your current MMO of choice may not offer. Heroic battles? Personal starships? Space battles? PvP Warzones? Okay, maybe every MMO in existence already offers these things, HOWEVER! They don't have Jedi and Sith do they? Game, set, match.
I've never played Dragon Age: Origins or it's spiritual predecessor, Baldur's Gate, but for whatever reason, I felt genuinely compelled to play Dragon Age II. In situations like this, I would go back and play the previous titles to get up to speed, but in this case, time wouldn't allow it. To offset my lack of series experience, I've watched a friend play through some of Origins. I've also recruited a rogue with many years of role playing game experience, and a specialization in Dragon Age, as an advisor. We'll call her Snake. Would my party find BioWare's latest suitable for Kirkwall's history books, or would it suffer the fate of a Darkspawn?
Monday, September 17, 2012 at 4:51PM 
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