While the Yakuza: Of The End hype machine is in full swing for it's 2011 release date, Western gamers can look forward to a different chapter in the Yakuza series early next year. Yakuza 4 will finally have run its way through the localization steps, and according to Sega, will not have as much content cut out as Yakuza 3. It's been a long time to wait since Yakuza 4's early 2010 release in Japan, but hopefully it will be worth it.
And what better way to get excited about 4's delayed release than with an old white man giving you the skinny on the nightlife, hostesses, and all around gangsta of being a yakuza.
"These guys are so tough, they don't even use umbrellas. And that's saying something."
Urgh.
Sega of America must have missed the memo that people play the Yakuza series because they enjoy the immersion into the Japanese culture and lifestyle. Why would they use an old, English speaking man as opposed to a Japanese narrator, I don't know. Maybe they're trying to expand the audience past the niche of gamers with a strong interest in Japan. This voice-over makes the game sound more like a spaghetti western than a Japanese crime drama.
Fortunately, we all know Yakuza 4 will be heavy on the Japanese tip, as with previous entries, only giving you the option of subtitles and forgoing English dubs. Saving money or preserving the experience? I'd like to think the latter, but you never know.
Castlevania is one of the most prolific titles of our generation. Yet depending on who you ask, the series has staled of late. No matter who you ask, it's a universal truth that the Belmont clan's quest to slay Dracula and his minions has never successfully made the jump from pixels to polygons. Fans of the series were hoping that Konami could, with Hideo Kojima's stamp of approval, turn their floundering franchise into something grand, worthy of the Vampire Killer's history. Does Castlevania: Lords of Shadow live up to the legacy, or is it a miserable little pile of secrets?
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has intrigued me for a while. I think it's fair to it's got the attention of of both fans of the series and newcomers alike, and why not? Slick graphics, in-depth and lengthy gameplay, and a strong history backing it, sort of. The original Deus Ex is a legendary, ground-breaking game, but the series has since lost some of the people who have made it so good. The sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War, was still good, but gets flak from many fans and journalists as taking the series in the wrong direction.
It looks like Human Revolution is doing it's damnedest to change the mind of Invisible War's detractors. The latest trailer shows a substantial amount of gameplay, and most of the game's four pillars in action. These pillars represent different ways you can progress through the story; combat, stealth, hacking, and social intereation. The combat looks on point. The weapons shown in the trailer seem to do a little of everything; silenced pistols, EMP grenades, an area-of-effect stun gun (?), and a laser that goes through walls for God's sake. Also, arm swords. Hell yeah. We also see a bit of the upgrade system in action, as protagonist Adam Jensen combines a revolver with something else to create a fucking hand cannon. Sweet.
Stealth is shown, but not much. Adam goes see-through to get past some laser detection security, and to sneak up on a couple unassuming enemies. We don't see him use his stealth to overcome an entire area or mission, but I suppose that would take too long. Hacking is used on a few occasions, with Adam hacking a security drone to turn on its allies, and also using a mini-game to complete some sort of objective. No sign of any social interaction to complete objectives, but as the first meaty chunk of Human Revolution gameplay, do we really wanna see lots of talking? I think the choice to show people getting blown up was the right call. However when the social aspect comes into play, we can be relieved to know that the voice acting seems top notch.
If you choose to explore all four pillars of gameplay, there's over 40 hours of Revolution to be found. Should you stick with the basics of combat and stealth, you'll still find a more than respectable 25 hours of play. A deep, sexy experience, coupled with multiple endings and different ways to play reaffirms the belief that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is one to keep your eyes on.
Why am I such a fanboy for The Last Story? Probably because it looks incredible (for a Wii game), the battles occur in real time, the character design is fresh and interesting, it's headed by the legendary creator of the Final Fantasy series Hironobu Sakaguchi, and to add an extra touch of omgwtfawesomesaus, the equally amazing Nobuo Uematsu is handling the music. Yes, the same Nobuo Uematsu that's composed every almost damn Final Fantasy game ever released. I have an inkling that this game is going to be good.
Andriasang has a great round up of The Last Story's features and modes, including competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. They also talk story, skills, abilities, magic, and even the newly announced Wii bundle. If you're just hearing about this game now, or you're not completely sure about if it'll be a worthy purchase for your Wii, check the details and prepare to preorder.
Oh, my bad, did I say preorder? The Last Story hasn't been announced to Western release yet. Let's go Nintendo, you're making us fanboys a little nervous.
I think I would actually consider moving to South Korea to play Rockman Online. The first trailer raised all sorts of questions, and looked incredibly dope. Now there's a second trailer that makes the game look even doper, as if that's even possible! Well, it is, and it's being done, right here, right now.
And as a bonus, we get to see the game in action. High quality captured video of my man Zero and X kicking some reploid ass. Did I mention the Mega Man X series used to be my joint? I used to speed run the stages, finessing the hell out of whatever Sigma was throwing at me. It saddens me deeply to watch Zero and X sluggishly maneuvered by the lame on the controller. Skill son, do you have it?!
This lovely revival would make me extremely pleased if it wasn't a South Korean exclusive. Come on, people, port it over! In the mean time, we're stuck with Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe. Yeah, I'll play Universe (not sure about Legends yet), but I will make sweet geek love to Rockman Online, repeatedly.
We've seen X, Zero, Axel, sweet Mega Man and Proto Man redesigns, Sting Chameleon, Air Man and Pharaoh Man. What the hell is going on?! I have no idea how these universes are colliding, but I care not. I just want to play. Give me this game, now.
Make yourself feel like crap for not being South Korean by looking at some Rockman Online assets at The Mega Man Network (via Capcom-Unity).
Fallout is an amazing universe, inhabited by interesting stories, intriguing decisions, and characters so complex, they defy natural laws. In all honesty though, Fallout: New Vegas was a bit of a cop-out. Not to say it was bad, clearly it wasn't, but as the pundits put it, it didn't distinguish itself from its over-shadowing big brother. To inject new life into the experience, I propose the next Fallout be based in a relatively unscathed and rapidly rebuilt Tokyo. Three things people dig; the post-apocalypse, Neo Tokyo, and zombies. The latter, will be omitted on terms of overuse, unless you consider ghouls as zombies, you insensitive bastard.
Picture this: when the bombs fall, Tokyo, thinking far enough ahead to minimize the damage, deploys an experimental energy shield over the city. Having been tested successfully with non-WMD class armaments, as well as low grade nuclear weapons, the shield was only able to mitigate the destruction wrought upon Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures by the unprecedented megatons. Buildings are destroyed, ways of life are drastically changed, adversity and hardship reign, but the town is better off than its Western counterparts.
As one of the Far East's most sought after hubs, New Tokyo is a city-state ruled by corruption, false senses of justice, and in brief instances, the genuine compassion for fellow man. The "shielded" areas, which are technically unscathed, are few and far between, predominantly operated by the rich, the powerful, and those who have told the right things to the right people. The meat of New Tokyo consists of varying degrees of damaged sections, ranging from the working class, militia-contained neighborhoods, to ragged, crime infested slums. Areas where the shield fully gave out serve as your token wasteland, offering little more than a compromising avenue between districts that have seen better days. Though as adventures tend to go, the explorer who risks his well being to search the wasteland is always well rewarded, one way or another.
Down on luck, out of money, and on the bad side of some very angry people, you escape your troubles aboard a junk that provides uninsured freight and ferry from a port of the scandalous and unsavory Macau, where you once found a decent living on the wrong half of the law. Cramped away on the lower confines of the ship that would make human trafficking look luxurious, and in transit for what feels like weeks, something suddenly jars you from your hazy trance. You feel a bump, and a hear a a creaking pulse run through the ship. Your trip was one of the favorable, you hit land, and have safely arrived in New Tokyo. So you thought. Before your eyes half of the ship dematerializes in a crackle of yellow energy, leaving only neon embers and a broken junk rapidly sinking into the unseasonably warm irradiated waters of the black night.
You come to on a gravelly beach, the orange sun piercing your dry eyes like a wooden skewer. Your vision is blurred, your ears are ringing, and your brain is beating like a hangover you've never felt. You stand up and stumble aimlessly, sightlessly. As you slowly regain your bearings, you realize looters have stripped you down to your tattered jeans and punctured wife-beater, taking your meager belongings of value and memory. Confused, your dim senses are caught off guard by a man who shoves a dismembered finger, complete with gold wedding band, into your chest, and collapses on you.
"50 million caps.. Lee Joon.. Kabuki City.. Go..!"
Before you can even react to the shock of a detached finger, the man coughs a bucket of blood on your only shirt, and fades to black. No possessions, no directions, no one in sight, and no where to go. You have nothing, except for a severed finger, your slowly sobering wit, and a lead on 50 million. So pick your name, adjust your appearance, and pick a direction to walk, because you have a lot of decisions to make and a lot of questions that need to be answered.
People Can Fly and Epic Games' newest project is something called Bulletstorm, a slick little number that adds a dimension of style and skill to the typical FPS mold, rewarding you for finishing your enemies in the most amazing and ridiculous ways. Cliffy B hopes this addition will endear Bulletstorm to the refined FPS gamer, and if that won't reel 'em in, the lowbrow humor will!
In its favor, Bulletstorm features a great art style, lovingly detailed, beautifully rendered locales, and hectic action which focuses not only on putting your target down, but humiliating them, and doing it with flair. Also, giant machines and giant dinosaurs. If the two come together at any point, this could obviously be a candidate for game of the year.
With so much going for it already, why does it seem that People Can Fly and Epic are trying much too hard to give the game an edgy, shit-talking personality? "You scared the dick off me", "son of a dick", and "strap that dildo on" are just some of the choice one-liners heard, a true homage to the art of video game writing. The banter between characters seems to stay at this level of human regression throughout. So one must ask oneself, can I sit through six to eight hours of mind-numbing chatter about dicks, dildos, farting, et al? I have a hard enough time getting through 30 minutes of South Park.
These script choices makes me question what kind of audience Bulletstorm is aimed toward. Growing up, games like Duke Nukem 3D andShadow Warrior cracked me up with their use of random swear words, urinating, farting, and adult themes. Though as a teenager at the time, things of that sort appealed to my childish sense of humor. Now, in my late 20s, the fart jokes and cursing for the sake of cursing don't have the same draw. I don't want to say this decision is alienating mature gamers, because I'm sure most will play Bulletstorm regardless, on the strength of the game itself, but the target demographic most definitely has to be a younger crowd. More specifically, the kid who's on the limited edition Halo: Reach Xbox 360 paid for by mum, who at 2am insults everyone in his Team Slayer game with all the cuss words in his narrow vernacular. That's the type of person who hears "what the dick" and has a revelation to start using the phrase with his friends in the school yard the next day.
I guess I'm a fickle gamer; some decisions that most don't even notice can rub me the wrong way. I had a hard time playing more than 20 minutes of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West because I couldn't deal with controlling a Jersey Shore reject. I have a feeling I'll have a similar problem with Bulletstorm, because the substance of a well written story and script is infinitely more appealing than saying dick 12 times in a under a minute. Yet in its vast beauty, and it's potential for insane fun, I fear I may have to suffer through the writing of pre-pubescent, rage-repressed, Halo Matchmaking momma's boys.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the threequel many of us have been patiently waiting on for a decade, has finally set a release date in stone; February 15th, 2011. That's kinda soonish, and I think I just creamed myself.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, Capcom is hitting us upside the head with the contents of MvC3's Special Edition, which ain't looking too bad. In the box, you'll find:
Steelbook case enclosure
A 12-page prologue comic by Marvel writer Frank Tieri, plus official art and a curated selection of fan art
1-month Subscription to Marvel Digital Comics, providing unlimited online access to Marvel content
2 Playable DLC Characters Shuma Gorath and Jill Valentine
Not the best collectors edition we've seen, but it's not the worst price either, sitting pretty at $69.99. So for the collectors out there, the extra Hamilton might be a relatively low price to pay for some goods. Oh and did you see the part about the two new characters, Jill and Shuma Gorath? Shuma MF Gorath, that's my dude. I'm pretty sure we'll have footage of these two in action by week's end.
Now let's offset the hard facts from Capcom with some flaccid speculation, which will probably never come true no matter how hard you hold your breath. Joystiq has caught word from a "source", who's probably a 16 year old, drunk on Four Loko in his mom's basement, that there are still 18 characters which have yet to be revealed for Marvel vs. Capcom 3. That would bring the grand total up to 48 playables, which is more like MvC2's 56, and a ballpark we'd expect for a game of this caliber. The rumor names:
War Machine (Iron Man color swap)
Taskmaster
Hsien-Ko
Storm
Megaman (Megaman EXE color swap)
Ultron
Squirrel Girl
Hawkeye
Mike Haggar
Misty Knight
Spider-woman
Strider
Frank West (Chuck Greene color swap)
Tessa
Iron Fist
Red Arremer
Thanos
Victor Delacroix
Amatsu-Mikaboshi
Soki (Samanosuke color swap)
There are plenty of wtf characters among the list to make you doubt it's validity (Squirrel Girl? Really?), but Capcom is well known for pulling names out of the trash bin for the series. On the flip side, some of those names make too much sense, and in one case, there's even leaked proof.
Grain of salt, temper expectations, this is probably a big fat lie, blah blah blah. I wouldn't be surprised if a few of these characters were released as DLC or maybe unlockables, but I highly doubt we'll see 'em all. Prove me wrong, Capcom!
Transformers: The War for Cybertron was a surprisingly good game, that brought much enjoyment to Team OBG through it's campaign and competitive multiplayer modes. There is reason for excitement then, since Hasbro has announced High Moon Studios are on board for the sequel, set for 2012.
I can't turn down Transformers beating the Energon out of each other, especially during Cybertron's gritty civil war. It will be interesting to see where High Moon takes the sequel, as the end of War for Cybertron seemed to set the stage for Generation 1. I have faith that Transformer nerds everywhere will be pleased, and this sequel will make up for the disappointfest that is Michael Bay's Transformers.
Post script: Activision, I can understand overpricing for Call of Duty DLC, for the prices you're charging for War for Cybertron DLC is criminal. Fix that, kthx.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 5:48PM 
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