This Week in Video Games
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
The fall video game season has begun. And with it will come a rush of new titles just about every week. This is one of those weeks. Even though LittleBigPlanet was pushed back a week to the 28th, see still have a crowded week. Here are the big players:
Monday (Oct. 20)
Dead Space (PC)
Midnight Club: Los Angeles (PS3, 360)
Wii Music (Wii)
Tuesday (Oct. 21)
Fable II (360)
Far Cry 2 (PC, PS3, 360)
BioShock (PS3)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, 360)
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)
Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant (PSP)
Eternal Sonata (PS3)
Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP)
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (DS, PS2, PS3, Wii, 360)
I can tell you that I’m already well on my way to falling in love with Fable II. Also, for those of you with only a PS3 to game on, be sure to give some consideration to BioShock and Eternal Sonata. Both of which have shown up on the 360, and I vouch for them. Good times to be had there.
Sorry to those of you that was hoping to see the sequel to the smash hit Barbie’s Horse Adventures show up on the list, but I had to cut it off somewhere. Still, that’s out there if you are interested in seeing Barbie have adventures with her horse. Apparently, they are having a riding camp this time. I’m sure that will be a Game of The Year contender for sure.
It only get crazier from here out, too. Next week will see LittleBigPlanet, and the week after is Gears of War 2. But let’s take it one week at a time. What have you picked up, or plan on picking up?
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Currently, I’m about 8-9 hours into Fable II. I’m loving every minute of it. Taking my time, trying to find and experience everything I can. I was psyched about the first Fable, but ultimately felt burned by how limited it felt. However, with Fable II, everything seems a lot more free and interesting. Still not perfect, as I have some issues with things such as the lack of a mini-map, and poor co-op implementation. But still, it’s pretty solid up to this point.
Also, for those of you that didn’t get Orange Box, if you have a 360 you can now pick up Portal: Still Alive from XBLA. It’s the original game plus extra maps. It’s a bit pricey at $15, but it’s totally worth it for players that have yet to experience Portal. For those of us that have played it, we get screwed out of the opportunity to play the new maps, unless we buy the new version of the game.
Fable 2 is awesome but i did not get the LE and now miss out on the Mjolnir Armor…..
I plan on picking up Spiderman Web of Shadows
My friend is going to get Fable 2 this week, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to check it out.
Having spent way too much money recently, I won’t be buying any new games until November 11th. What comes out on Nov. 11th, you ask? Mirror’s Edge. I think the game looks freaking awesome, and I think the only thing that could keep me away would be insanely horrible reviews.
I am also really looking forward to the new Prince of Persia. I love the “illustrated” art style of the game, and I love that it doesn’t just look gritty, muddy, and brown. It actually has a lot of color. It also doesn’t hurt that I loved all three of the PoP games from the last console generation.
Banjo Kazooie looks like it could be fun as well. I might pick it up for my birthday in late November.
As for right now, I am just starting my second play through of Mass Effect. I finished the game for the first time a couple days ago, and I absolutely had a blast the whole time I was playing it. The story is great, the combat is great, and the characters are also a big standout, especially if you take the time to fully explore all the dialogue options. The voice acting in Mass Effect is stellar. I have a couple of other older games that I had been playing recently (like Crackdown and Burnout Paradise), but once I started in on Mass Effect, I haven’t wanted to play anything else. The sci-fi geek in me couldn’t be any more enthralled with this game. :D
I got the LE version of the game, S.N.W., but I got one of the copies that was missing the DLC card inside. So I haven’t got my Mjolnir armor or the Energy Sword.
Web of Shadows is getting ripped on reviews. It was looking promising, but now I need to see if it’s just an understated game, or if it’s a Superman-esque flop.
Polygon: My current list is now Gears 2, Banjo Kazooie, and Left 4 Dead. But Mirror’s Edge DOES look damn cool.
Mass Effect was cool, but it was no KOTOR. :)
I’m playing Dead Space right now. Is actually quite good it has the over the shoulder third person feel kind of like Resident Evil 4, but its kind of like Alien in story.
next week I’m going to pick up Bioshock. I’ve been waiting a long time for it to come out on PS3.
BioShock is definitely worth it, IMO. And Dead Space looks awesome, but it’s far too horror genre for me.
Speaking of KOTOR, I couldn’t give a crap about the new KOTOR MMO they just announced. Give me another awesome single-player game, not a stupid MMO that I will never play. :(
I’m right there with you Poly. That Bioware KOTOR MMO had been rumored for a long time, but I just kept trying to pretend it wasn’t true. I have absolutely ZERO interest in MMOs of any kind. I just can’t get behind paying monthly for a game I’ve already had to purchase at the store, not to mention the constant feeling of obligation (to play the game) I would have because I paid for the month and would feel like I need to get my money’s worth. I’m actually really pissed off about it and as a result I will never play that game. Ever.
I’ll play a good game, no matter what style it is. I just don’t think the style of gameplay that Bioware is good at will work in an MMO setting. But I’m not going to ignore a game just because it is an MMO or has additional fees. You can’t tell me that people that dedicate hundreds of hours to WoW aren’t getting their money’s worth. They totally are. Now, whether or not I would ultimately have the time for a game like that if it turned out to be a smashing success is another thing entirely.
Anyway, it’s not as if they would be making a KOTOR 3 if they weren’t making this MMO. It’s been how many years since the first KOTOR? Bioware is all about doing different things. They had a chance to do a KOTOR sequel and passed it on to Obsidian. They’ve had years to do one since then. Sequels aren’t really their thing. They passed NWN2 on to Obsidian as well. So if they want to try something new in an MMO, by all means, more power to them. Would I prefer a straight up KOTOR 3? Hell yeah. But I didn’t expect it would happen, with or without the MMO.
@Saberj
What kind of playability does bioshock have in terms of replay and hours of game play? I’ve been waiting to try it for a long time. but I’m trying to decide if its a rent or a buy. I’ve bought a few games lately that I only got 6 to 8 hours of play out of (damn you Force Unleashed!!).
Just call me TheDoctorSaberJ!
It’s not that I think that a KOTOR MMO would be a bad game. I actually think there’s plenty of potential there. I just know I don’t have the time or the inclination to play one constantly. I have enough difficulty finding time for all the normal games I want to play. I also really don’t want to pay monthly for something like that, even if I had the time for it. I just know I would feel like “I want to play this other game, but I’ve already paid for this MMO, so I should continue playing it instead.”
So I’m sort of a combination of you two guys….
On another note, I didn’t really like the first Gears of War, so I’m not getting the second one.
On another….another note…..Dead Space is “far too horror genre” for SaberJ, yet he is getting Left 4 Dead? I mean, both games have the word “dead” in the title and feature a severed hand on their cover, so they must share something in common, right? ;)
On yet another, another…..another…..
The thing I’m looking forward to the most about Mirror’s Edge is the ability to play through the entire game without using a weapon. I just think that is an amusingly ironic feature for a game that will be sold as a first person “shooter”. Plus, I think it will be much more challenging and rewarding trying to play the game that way. :D
Bioshock is about 12-14 hours long with very little replayability. The only thing that vaguely urged me to try playing again was the fact that I wanted the achievement for beating it on a higher difficulty. Ultimately, that wasn’t worth it. The other thing was that there was a ‘good’ ending (Save all the little sisters) and a ‘bad’ ending (Don’t save all the little sisters). They both offer different gifts during the story, and a different ending.
Have you seen Dead Space? The game relies on creeping you the hell out. It’s very gory, very “jump out and scare you in the still of space. Left 4 Dead is a fast paced zombie shoot-em up played with up to 4 players. Hardly a similar experience, even if they both have horror elements. BioShock is actually closer to Dead Space than L4D
bioshock little replayability? So why release it a year later if it has little replayability? No offense but I do not see that as a valid argument
Because there are people on the PS3 that haven’t played it at all?
Would you like to make a argument to my statement based on a little less conjecture? Have you even played the game? You offered little evidence either way in your statement. Besides, that wasn’t an argument I made, it was an answer to a question. Re-playability is generally related to things like multiple branching stories paths, multiplayer, unlockables, etc. None of those items are present in the game, save the two separate endings. That amounts to a different video at the end of the game. That is probably enough to make the biggest fans replay, but not random people.
The reason I didn’t comment further was I believed your point was incorrect. But let’s try to be nice in this so just to avoid a message figjht I’ll answer you response point by point ok?
1. I’ve played the game, on the 360 where it was released a YEAR ago, if people wanted to play it they would have found a way even if they didn’t have a PS3, I mean you’ve at least played part of it before right?
2, Re-playability can be applied to games that are either Re-makes or Re-releases as those who so desperately wanted to play the game would have found a way.
3. If it was not a replayable version of the game, 2k would not even have released it on the PS3 if it thought it’s customers would just say that they should have gotten more.
No offense but what were you expecting Bioshock 2? I doubt they would release new stuff exclusively for the PS3 when it was such a hit for Microsoft.
I apologize for not making a previously valid argument and hope this did not sound too douche-baggery.
~Will
1> I’ve beat it. I have a 360, not a PS3. If you don’t have a 360, and don’t play DRM heavy games on the PC, I don’t see how you are going to play it any other way.
I think you are completely lost as to what we are talking about here. I’m not complaining about it being re-released. I was simply answering the question as to whether the length was decent and whether or not it had re-playability. Read Schwein’s comment above. He asked how long the game was, and if it had replayability to warrant a buy. He wasn’t asking if it was worth a purchase if you’ve already played it.
In any case, I totally would not buy it again for a new system, if that’s the point you’re getting at. If I haven’t owned it before, then yeah, I would get it if I had a PS3.
SaberJ, I was mostly trying to make a funny statement about the similar covers for the two games rather than comparing them outright. Dead Space does look pretty creepy, but I think that Left 4 Dead will also have its moments.
Regardless, System Shock 2 was a much creepier game than these three combined. That game actually manages to stress you out little by little as you play, building up a sinister stmosphere. It is a pretty difficult game, but it takes you a while to actually figure that out as it is sneaky about it. You can play for a long time thinking that you are doing well, only to realize that you did something a long way back to screw yourself over. System Shock 2 feels like the game is actively working against you. It seems like it doesn’t want you to win. If you don’t play well, it is very possible to fail.
Most modern games seem just the opposite, actively trying to help you reach the end. You might make some decisions that will cause some minor inconveniences, but most of the time they end up just being a slight bump in the road to the end of the game.
It takes some of the teeth out of the experience. You don’t get as stressed out if you can just reload your last save and keep going. It’s quite a different matter when you basically have to restart the game because your choices have made it virtually impossible to continue on in your current state.
Whether this is a good thing or not (and whether you enjoy it) is a different issue. I think that games are much more forgiving than they used to be, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s never fun if you get so frustrated with a game that you completely stop playing it midway through, no matter the reason. Getting through a complete story usually feels satisfying. Plus, you feel like you got more of your money’s worth out of a game if you finish it, rather than stopping partway through.
Bioshock is still a great game, and so is System Shock 2. They are just different experiences, despite having several similarities (such as “audio logs” and similar types of “powers”). I enjoyed getting my teeth periodically kicked in during System Shock 2, but it’s not for everybody. It could definitely be a frustrating experience, enough to make some people hate the game. However, I think that having those “teeth” and the distinct possibility of actual failure made SS2 a much scarier game. It also doesn’t hurt that it had zombie monkey things.
Hmmmm……that was a fun little tangent. :)
I loved Barbie’s Horse Adventure
I’m definitely not a “teeth getting kicked in” type of gamer. I loved the difficulty of Bioshock. Perfect.
I’m sort of in the middle as far as difficulty goes. I like a game that challenges me somewhat because it’s more fulfilling when you get past a particularly challenging part. However, there are some games that take the difficulty thing a bit too far, just to be known as a difficult game. For example, I haven’t played Ninja Gaiden 2, and I am reluctant to try it because of its reputation as being super-difficult.
I know a guy who is playing Dead Space on a 52″ HDTV and surround sound, with the lights off. He says it’s the best gaming experience he’s ever had.
I liked what I played of Fable, but eventually got bored with. I’m really tempted to get Fable 2, so do you think I should?
Hell, I still need to really play Bioshock.
Sorry for the double post, but I forgot to add,
Polygon, I’m with you on the KOTOR MMO. Although I love KOTOR enough to maybe try out my first MMMO experience :) I want a single player KOTOR dammit!
And KOTOR 2 was like Empire, leaving us hanging!
dammit again
I’d compare KOTOR 2 to something more along the lines of Phantom Menace, actually. Very disappointing and hollow.
I wasn’t a big fan of Fable. But with Fable 2, I’ve got close to 20 hours in so far. It’s pretty solid, IMO.
I really want to play Dead Space, but don’t have the right platform. Guess I’ll have to settle for Resident Evil 4.
I will second the praise for Dead Space I just finished my first play through in HD and it was amazing. Smooth controls and gameplay and a great story that moves fast. I’m actually thinking about going through it again on hard. I actually was playing with a friend over last night and she was getting so jumpy and creeped out from watching that I had to turn it off.
So yeah if you’re looking for a sci-fi/horror game it totally delivers.
Everyone here should play World of Goo. In fact, every gamer should play World of Goo, whether they are a “casual” gamer or “hardcore”. It’s smart, slick, imaginative, witty, and addictive as hell. It’s available on WiiWare for $15 and on the PC for $20, and let me tell you that it is worth every single penny. Every single puzzle brings something new to the table, and it never gets old. I can’t believe it was made by only a couple of guys. I hope they get to continue making games, because they’ve got some serious talent.