Brief Mercenaries 2 Impressions

So let's dive right in, what do I like about it so far? The explosions are fun to watch and the carnage is over-the-top just how I wanted it. What am I not digging about it? The graphics so far have been lackluster, the aiming kind of annoys me, and I exhausted myself on the Training missions thinking I could be a bad ass and beat all of them on the hardest difficulty. Turns out not so, in fact I want to see some footage of the developers doing it, see when you go to do these missions you have to place a side bet with your cohort, so not only do you get mad because you failed but then you realize you're also losing precious money. The pistol training got me ticked the most, the right analog stick aims so loosely and trying to be precise with a pistol was never and will never be what Mercenaries is about. So why is it there? So far I've yet to ever want to pick up a pistol in the game, you know why? Because there are RPG-7s and AK 47s and M16s, that's why. I need to spend a lot more time with the game which I will, but so far it's an alright experience, I'm enjoying it as much as I enjoyed the first one. For those keeping score, I had a bit of fun with the first one but recognized it was style over substance.

Castle Crashers: It's Got A Deer That Shoots Rrhea'!

This week I embarked on putting my time and money towards Castle Crashers, it's finally been released after being kicked around and being shown for about 3 years. If you ever grew up when arcades were still around and remember plunking lots of quarters into some of the great 4-player beat em' ups like TMNT, X-Men, and The Simpsons then you'll feel right at home here.

At its heart Castle Crashers is a 4-player Beat Em' Up with some light RPG elements to it. There's 20 levels that you and hopefully 3 other people will be marching through. If you don't have some people to invite over, you can find people to play with over XBL. You and your respective friends or strangers that you've just met over Live will move from left to right beating the crap out of the onslaughts of enemies that are thrown your way. Each Knight is imbued with his respective power, whether it be poison, fire, ice, or lightning. So as you're fighting you can use magic, your blade or a combination of the two, and as you level up more and more you'll gain more combos. If you level up during a level afterwards you get to pour some that XP into Strength, Magic, Agility, and Health. Those may or may not be the exact names, I can't recall at this moment but you get the idea. The game is very addictive and you'll constantly be wanting to level up your character, as well as finding new weapons that enemies drop while moving around the levels. There are 20 additional characters to unlock and level up as well. There are also 26 Animal Orbs to find and collect throughout the levels, you bring them along with you and they imbue your character with either more health, more defense, quickness through water, higher jumping, all sorts of things that you'll want to play around with.

Past the main game you can also play offline or online two mini-games, there's the Arena and All You Can Quaff. The Arena is pretty self-explanatory, you either fight one another or if you run in solo you fight waves and waves of enemies. It's fun and I've heard getting far into it by yourself nets you some hidden items. Then there's All You Can Quaff which plays sort of like the mini-games that were between some levels in The Simpsons Arcade game, you mash two buttons repeatedly to eat the food in front of your Knight, then press another button to ring a bell and have a new dish thrown in front of your character. You keep going until you eat a certain amount of food. It's fun but apparently I lack my old button mashing skills, against the CPU I'm fine, but I tried a few Ranked matches online and always came in 2nd. It's not the games fault but it was frustrating. I probably won't play it too much as I'd like to keep my X and Y buttons intact for as long as possible.

Finally I feel I have to mention some issues with the game that I'm sure in the coming weeks will be patched and completely gone, still I want to throw them out there in case it may deter anyone from picking it up right away. Right now it's difficult to find and jump straight into an Online game, and once you do find one sometimes you may not even get through an entire level before the game freezes up. Lastly, there's been some save issues where the save file gets corrupted or it just doesn't save for you, so you might exit the game and return the next day to find that your LVL30 Knight is back to LVL15 or whatever the case may be. Like I said, The Behemoth realizes these issues and is already on the case to patch them up and make them a thing of the past.

So what's the verdict on the game? Well, I wouldn't outright tell everyone I know to go drop $15 dollars on this game, but I in no way dislike the game and would say just skip it altogether. I recommend that you get the Trial version and see where you stand on it. If you're like me and grew up playing all those quarter eating Beat Em' Ups chances are you'll be crazy in love with this game, if you've never had those nostalgia pangs you might walk away feeling better with $15 still in your pocket. At the end of the day, it's a wonderful game and one that will be even better once it gets the patch treatment.

Final Verdict: Trial It

Tackling Castle Crashers and Bionic Commando Rearmed

Hello everyone, just writing in to let everyone know I am still gaming and do plan on throwing down further reviews, later this weekend expect to see Castle Crashers or Bionic Commando Rearmed thrown up, maybe both if time permits. I've been very busy as of late writing lots of C++ code, so I ask any who may be a fan of this little blog to stick it out and keep checking in. There will be updates, and I will do my best to keep you all entertained and informed. I hit my first benchmark of over 100 views! Next up, 200!

Geometry Wars 2: Started Recreational, Ended Kinda Medical

Here I am taking on another big XBLA title, this being the sequel to Geometry Wars. If you've never been, Geometry Wars is the kind of game that will hook you with its gameplay and suck you in with its trippy visuals. These same visuals will also draw anyone else who happens to be in the room as they'll wonder what in the hell is going on, if you're even playing a game, and if you are how you're still classified as alive through all the shapes, sparks, and wild colors that are abound.

So how do you play it? It's quite simple, the left stick controls your ship, the right control stick shoots your gun depending in what direction you're pressing it, and the left and right triggers are bombs if you're getting swamped and just need some help so that you don't die and lose a life.

The original was highly addictive and the sequel asks for 800 MS Points but throws down 6 different modes. Let's discuss them briefly.

Deadline throws you into the pit with three minutes and infinite lives and you just perform and keep playing and honing those three minutes to perfection if possible. King has you jumping from safe zone to safe zone, the only areas you can fire from, and these zones only exist for so long so you must traverse space dodging enemies and getting into that next safe zone. Evolved is the game mode that you were given in the first game, you earn lives and bombs at certain score intervals and you go until you can go no longer. Pacifism has you flying around with no weapons at all, but rather explosive gates that you fly through, and you do such until you die. This is probably my favorite especially when throwing on a favorite album of mine, I can sit and play it for hours. Waves has waves of ships flying horizontally or vertically at you, and it continues to build and build so you have to be quick at eliminating the old waves or clearing holes in the waves to dodge around in. Finally there's Sequence which is a sequence of 20 stages, each a predetermined pattern of enemies, and you see how far into the sequence you can get, whether you live through it all or die you see what your final score is.

This game also has 4 player local competitive and co-operative modes, haven't had a chance to try them out yet, but I've heard it's insanely fun and addictive just like the single player stuff.

There are a few new enemies, but one of the bigger nuances is the addition of Geoms, which enemies drop when killed. This is your multiplier and until you've lost all your lives you get to hold onto it, this provides a much different way of playing the game. In the first game you just had to kill and dodge, now you're asked to still do that but also risk yourself a lot more to collect the glorious Geoms which will disappear after a certain amount of time. Basically, you could be amazing at playing it the old way but you'll always be beat by someone who maybe can't survive as long but knows how to collect Geoms successfully. The final layer is the online leaderboards, if you have a bunch of friends who have this game, the leaderboards will keep you coming back for more and more, so that you can snag those almighty bragging rights. Also while you're playing any given mode in the upper right corner is the next persons score who's ahead of you, so you're always glancing at it and trying your best to survive just a little bit longer to beat that persons score. 800 Points was a very fair price for this game that could last you as long as many $60 retail games out there on the market.

Geometry Wars 2 is a satisfying, frenetic, twitchy, and addictive game thanks to its onslaught of enemies, crazy HD vector visuals that will put you into a trance, and 6 modes of fun with plenty of lasting appeal locally and online. Get it for yourself first, then branch out and play with others locally or try and smear your best friends score for kicks.

Final Verdict: Buy

Braid: Journey Through Time (Of My Life)

So here's my first XBLA review, and what a doozy I have chosen. Braid is a cross between the platforming of Super Mario Bros., the puzzles of something like The Incredible Machine, and some time turning twists depending on which world you are in. The game revolves around Tim, who is searching for a Princess, before entering each world you're given a few pieces of text to read. This isn't your regular guy saves Princess routine here. The text talks upon relationships, and that line everyone walks when in one. Tim has made a mistake of some sort, it's never outright said, but Tim learns his lesson but unfortunately the damage is irreversible. While the story is brief, there's just the right amount of it and it keeps you hooked. You feel for Tim and you're left wondering what's going to happen.

The gameplay here is fun and engaging and also at some points can hurt your noodle. In each world the object is to collect 12 puzzle pieces, by putting these puzzles together it's the only real way to gain closure and see the Epilogue. The first world Time and Forgiveness plays out like a standard platform game with the ability to rewind time if you die. But even in this world you'll find a few puzzle pieces that have brilliant solutions on how to obtain them. The second world is Time and Mystery, this world has certain objects that are unaffected by rewinding time and the puzzles revolve around that. The third world is Time and Place, this is one of my favorite worlds, here time is linked to your movement in the world, as you move left time is moving backwards, and as you run to the right time is lurking forward. Some very cool and difficult puzzles here as well. The fourth world is Time and Decision, here after you've performed something, if you rewind time back to before you did it, there exists a shadowy version of yourself who will go and do what you just did, so in this world there are some very clever clone type puzzles. Things that require two people to accomplish, yourself and your shadowy former self. The final world Hesitance, provides Tim with a magical ring that you can place at any time and surrounding it is a bubble in which time is slowed down to a crawl. I found the final world to be the most difficult and it made me scratch my brain a few times.

The game has beautiful backdrops that appear to be hand painted, the little characters all animate well and the the game has an amazing soundtrack, one that I will be looking out for if it's ever made available. I can definitely see myself doing work and listening to the soundtrack, very serene at times, very moody at others. Great instrumental stuff. It definitely captures that feel of Tim's quest to find the Princess.

I've only beaten the game last night, so I will definitely run through it again at some point. The ending is ambiguous so I won't spill my interpretation of it, but I am curious to read the others out there. I'm not sure what the creator Jonathan Blow has next up his sleeve, and I know he's issued some complaints with the Microsoft certification process, but I really hope this is not the end for him. He's already said he won't be doing more levels or a sequel for Braid, but I hope a few years from now there's something new of his to be played. From what I heard the development team on this game was 2 people, and you would never be able to tell from playing it. It's got a heart and soul to it and goes beyond the expectations of what an XBLA game can be.

Braid : 2008 ::Portal : 2007. While the two games are nothing alike, I feel that analogy must be made, if you sat down and played Portal and it sucked you in for the brief story and unique gameplay and left you wanting more, then Braid will do that for you this year.

Final Verdict:Buy

Soul Calibur IV: Boner Factory

So maybe when you first saw Yoda and Vader, you thought let's gather up the family and button mash each other and have a grand old time. Well, Mom, Dad, be ready to ponder why every female has the largest possible milk mountains known to man in the polygonal realm and get ready to cover little Susie's eyes as she wonders if that's what she's to look like as she grows up, and speaking of growing, Little Timmy just grew a pair in the process. As far as I know this is the first time feeding bottles this size have hit the PS3, but I know for a fact that the 360 audience has seen hood ornaments like these before. If you've ever popped in a Team Ninja game then you know what I'm talking about. But I must say as I stood before Ivy, her sword/whip in hand, I wondered if she knew that right below her face were two Zeppelins primed and ready to race.

So beyond the chest physics is the game any good? Yes, I'm happy to say very good. You're given a choice of 33 characters if my math is exactly right, which it may not be, but also given the chance to create as many fighters that you would like. While the creation system isn't that chock full of items, there may be enough to craft some characters you wish had been placed into the game. Perhaps you could craft a normal looking female and write up a back story of how she entered the Soul Calibur universe to unleash upon the women and men of the land and undo the deeds of the evil plastic surgeon. Or you could go the complete opposite route and edit a pre-existing character, so many of you will probably pick your favorite vixen and toss her into the ring sans the skimpy clothes she already had.

There's Story mode which is self-explanatory, you run through 5 stages each containing a couple of opponents and then you're granted with an ending cutscene and a sentence or two of text, plot shouldn't be why you pick this game up. There's Arcade mode which is also fun. I spent the majority of my time in the Tower of Lost Souls, which has you fighting special battles to gain rewards. At first you may only go up but once at LVL 20, you can then descend as well. Don't worry, there really isn't a visual castle you're running around in, more menu selecting and then battling. You can play some characters with a button-mashing panache or you can sit down and learn the actual moves, either way you'll have fun. The other cool part is that these rewards are pieces of equipment which you then throw on and get better or different statistics or special traits. Stuff like more health, or a poison touch on the end of your weapon that drains the enemies health after striking them with it. That may seem like something that would offset the balance and flow of the fights, but in the Tower of Lost Souls you're asked to sometimes fight 6-8 people with only 2-3 characters and they also have these sorts of attributes and a health bar that goes beyond the normal amount.

The new addition to the fighting system is the Soul Gauge and the ability to do a Critical Finish. Your Soul Gauge starts out green in a match and while you obviously want to block you don't want to just sit there blocking all day, so to prevent this your Soul Gauge may go from green to red, in which your armor may break off or if it goes red and flashes, your opponent can instantly finish you off with a Critical Finish. It's a Teen rated game so don't expect fatalities like in Mortal Kombat, in fact if you're fighting someone who knows what they're doing these shouldn't come up in battle all that often. It keeps the fights frenetic and fast paced.

Finally rounding out the package is online play over XBL, you get thrown into a little party of 4 and as in the old arcade days, the winner stays on to keep fighting, the loser watches the next fight until his turn comes up again. I didn't experience any lag and this also will give the game some extra legs once you finish the Tower, see every characters ending, and don't have anyone beside you to fight.

I was really hoping the SC Universe would encompass even more well known big screen characters, but if it's any consolation every female comes strapped with Thelma & Louise. That's right, when it came to reviewing a game like this, I had to throw down the euphemisms. You all would have done the same. My job here is done.

Final Verdict: Buy

Soul Calibur IV: Still Alive

Not a full review or anything yet, still need some more play time but this is more a post to prove that I haven't croaked and neither has the Soul Calibur series. I'm really digging the latest entry after being disappointed in Soul Calibur III. I'll write up more on the latest when I get the time, not sure where all my time is going and has gone. But if you really want a notion of where my review will head, it's looking to be a buy. I haven't had this much fun with a fighting game in a long while. I'm playing the 360 version so I got Yoda, who I'm not finding that great an addition to the SC universe. I tried him out but from here on out in my playing I'll be sticking to the classic and new SC additions sans people crawling out from the Star Wars universe. More to come later....