Weekend Tour of Duty
As I sit here this morning, coffee in hand and attemping to find something of personal value to this blog I find N-O-T-H-I-N-G. More anime fandom posts from Kotaku? Yelch. Nope! Giant Bomb? Yeah, you’re great we cant cop anything else from you. 1up, you’re just a copy of Kotaku minus the anime fanboism. We used to be friends but not anymore. Heck I’m not even sure if rich and myself even listen to your podcast. Sorry Garnet Lee.
So what’s going on? It’s the “holiday season, yeah you know that season. The one that started the day after “Christmas”. I can say that I spent my weekend smoking some meat in the back yard (picture proof not posted) and made my own BBQ spice recipe. It turned out great. While waiting around I managed to sneak in some Killzone 2 and Beatles Rock Band. Killzone was a tad bit tricker as I got stuck on the ATAC. The hint was to shoot some wing things off (clearly I listened) I did. But not the right things/wings but not bing.com. After about 30 attempt this thing was just flat out destroying me everytime. I’d waste all my bullets and missles, it got so bad I’m shooting at it with the REVOLVER. ARGH. >.<
At that point I told myself, what the hell am I doing. Machine off. There’s no way I’ll have to stop the game on a MEDIUM setting. Am I really that out of practice on shooters? Yeah, I am. It’s ok but still. It’s like riding a bike right? So what do I do?
And I come up with this truly awful yet all too common video on youtube:
Anyways yeah. That’s really stinking easy. Shoot the blue lazors, hit with missle’s, and get trophy for beating it in under 1 minute 30. Check. Check. Check. So was this better than a anime cosplay jrpgINSANELOVE post on Kotaku? Yeah. Why do I even go there anymore?
Friday Night Horror Corner SAW
SAW directed by James Wan The first of, I believe 6 films so far. This video was a sledgehammer to the knees of old school wannabe crap horror we have been used to lately. Saw was the first horror movie that didn’t make you afraid of the protagonist. He wasn’t a scary superhuman entity following you around with a knife after a sorority hump festival in the woods. The movie made you afraid of your choices, would I kill my friend to save my own life, could I be given a new life? It made you think if you were worthy of that new life. But that also begs the question, when you watch the movie who did you sympathize with. Who was your anti-hero? Did you root for the cops to find the bad guy did it make you feel bad to root for the bad guy. Instead of trying to scare you with clowns popping out of sewers this movie scared you with your own dark inner feelings. It made you question yourself and what you were capable of to live.
The immediate impact of this movie was a good frightening show with plenty of entertainment value. The long term impact included 6 more movies and a slew of other torture horror or as its now called torture porn. Torture porn not to be confused with actual pornography, this became a genre of horror which spawned movies from Japan and Germany. The genre confused and confounded the horror community bringing them closer to the quality of movie they had been begging for since the early 90’s.
If you haven’t seen this movie yet your living under a rock and you should go see it. Grab a bucket of beer and a can of popcorn and rent this one tonight.
You won’t be disappointed, sleep deprived maybe but not disappointed.
The Last Guardian TGS 09 Trailer
Damn….I want this….
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker demo!
That’s right, thanks to IGN, we got a demo for the next MGS game on the PSP via TGS 2009…..Metal Gear junkies, like myself, check out destructoid in case you have trouble getting it to run.
GBU Game Review for Scribblenauts (DS)
Here’s a little Nintendo DS number that was quite the industry darling, some heavy flaws are keeping it from keeping that status though. I wanna give it a 10 for it’s concept, but I gotta go with a 7 for the final execution.
The Good – Cute puzzler on the DS, when it works is quite addictive. Here’s the selling point, type in a word, as long as it’s not a copyright, vulgar or whatever, and bam, it shows up on the screen. Type in ‘low rider’, poof, there it is…..’minotaur’, there’s a monster….’god’…well, you get the idea. There are a ton of puzzles that range from simple, eg. kids are trick or treating, type in ‘candy’ and give it to them, you’ve beaten puzzle. Then there’s the ridiculously complex ones that involve doors, levers, etc….I won’t even try to describe the scenarios cuz they don’t make much sense. But it’s alot of fun…again, when things work. It’s a pretty amazing concept.
The Bad – Aww man, here we go….controls baby, when you get to the tough puzzles, they’re beyond weak. The stylus is used to move your character, type in the names of what you wanna use, drag and drop said items, etc. Now let that sink in, think of the small DS screens and all the troubles and conflicts that can arise, which do happen. Why they couldn’t just program the d-pad for movement like every other 2D game is beyond me. Your little guy is clumsy and sometimes just knocks over things you put in place when you click/drag for movement(he also auto jumps,blah), or you’ll click on the wrong thing, or….it…just…sux. While I’ve spent alot of time with the game and had a ton of fun, the harder the puzzles, the more pronounced these flaws become, which is a shame, this game deserves better.
The Ugly – The fact that this game probably won’t get the classic status that it should have cuz of it’s flaws. It’s been mentioned that it might come to other platforms, I’d love to see this on 360/PS3/PC, where I can use a keyboard for typing and a controller to move my guy and have precise movement…..I would give that a 10.
Sony @ TGS 2009
If you anybody keeps up on the big boy game blogs like we do, yall would know that the Tokyo Game Show is going on right now. And as usual there’s some big announcements, while we probably won’t be going nuts on it the way we did for E3, there’s some cool things worth mentioning.
–First, a special Final Fantasy XIII themed PS3 with a 250GB hard drive. Sure, the game is coming out for both the PS3 and Xbox360, but I think FF fans always associated the series with the Playstation brand, after FF7 of course. Shipping 12/17 in Japan, no word on if it’ll hit here stateside.
–Motion Controller updates. Looks like it’s coming Spring 2010. Not only new games will be utilizing the new tech, but a bunch of older games will be patched with motion control enhancements. Games like Little Big Planet and Resident Evil 5 for example. If handled right, I think this can be a cool peripheral. While not the be all end all interface it is on the Wii, which I never thought was a good idea(and with the amount of time we put into the Wii, proves that correct), it does make for a cool option once in awhile. Not only do you have physical feedback(something that worries me about Natal), but in combination with the Playstation camera(Eye), the interface knows where you are in 3D space. It could lead to some unique gaming experiences….now let’s hope the price is right.
God Of War Collection comes with the God Of War III demo!
Can I get a hell yeah?! Reading on joystiq, it was confirmed by Sony that the God Of War Collection will include a download voucher for the GoWIII demo they showed at E3, so Kratos’ Krackheads like myself will get a taste of the new sequel early. We reported on this a few podcasts back, it was only a rumor that the demo would come with the Collection disc, then shot down, covering their butts in case in couldn’t happen I guess, and now it’s back on for realz. Can’t wait to get the taste as well as play through the first two games again in HD glory. I almost fired up the PS2 recently, after gettin hyped watching Clash of the Gods on the History Channel, just to play my old copies. I think greek mythology is very cool, and the GoW games throw you right in the middle of these stories, so watching that program gave me the Kratos itch……but I think I can hold off till Nov. 10th, when the God Of War Collection ships. 🙂
Well Mel Gibson IS Australian…
Yes yes, we’re Mad Max fans around these parts but this one is a little too wild to believe. A hugedust storm is taking over parts of Sydney Australia. It’s blanketing the sky with a Red haze!
What i’m finding so amazing about this article are the user comments.
“Mick told ABC Online: “In Sydney’s south-western suburbs I’ve just woken up to a glowing red window! Thought it was Armageddon! Either that or South Korea [sic] had nuked us!”
Should this event happen anywhere in America it would be a catastrophe however in Sydney it’s SOP. “Meanwhile, schools are still open and parents are being told to send their children to school unless they have asthma or other breathing problems.” Kids, see that omnious red sky, that roaring gush of wind and the forboding thumbing noise coming various bodies parts and even bodies heading this way saying “braaaains” Don’t worry. Unless you have asthema that is. Chop chop.
GBU Game Review for Batman:Arkham Asylum (Xbox360)
Could it be? A super hero based title that hangs with the triple-A big boys? Since I feel this game is a 9/10, I’d say so. I played this joint on the xbox360, it’s also out for PS3 and PC.
The Good – Awesome 3rd person adventure that juggles many gaming styles. Obviously you play as Batman, who captures the Joker, while transporting him to Arkham Asylum, Joker gets loose and has sinister plans in place, taking over the asylum and trying to put Batman through a night of hell. It’s got a great story and awesome voice acting, written by the guy who used to write the animated series, and voiced by the same actors as well. The fighting system is simple to control but deep in it’s execution, stealth is there but never overbearing. So if you don’t like stealth(I do though), you’ll be fine since these portions aren’t long and nowhere near as deep and challenging as a Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell. There’s a detective mode to get your sleuth on, the view changes to where you can see enemies behind walls(x-ray style), hidden pathways, and important objectives. All of Batman’s signature gadgets are here, from the batarang, to the grappling hook, to a very cool hacking device, all gets unlocked along the way. There’s a great upgrade system that lets you update your fight skills, gadget abilities and so on. Fighting and finding the Riddler’s hidden stuff helps to build this up, achievement junkies will feel right at home. The graphics are superb, I was always impressed and couldn’t wait to see next portion of the island or the next signature villain. All in all, a tight package with great gameplay, a lengthy campaign, well done pacing, and lots of cool extras and challenges worth unlocking.
The Bad – Some of the boss battles, there’s a pattern with the first one you get down, which is cool….but then the next battle, it’s like the same thing but against 2 bosses at once(which is cool too), then the next battle, same thing but with regular enemies in addition to the two, and so son…it’s a little repetitive and less imaginative that what the rest of this great game offers, at least they’re not ridiculously difficult. Some of the level design choices are little too ‘gamey’, alot of gargoyles to swing from in the weirdest places for example. You may be inclined to leave detective mode on for too much of the time(which you don’t have to), this makes you miss alot of the awesome art direction in the graphics.
The Ugly – Some of the character design choices, they’re way too diesel, IE, roided up beyond Vince McMahon proportions….I mean, Batman’s biceps are as big as his head, whoa jeebus!
Patch 3.2.2 notes
Sorry for the afk. I was away over the weekend. Aparently the new patch for World of Warcraft is coming out. Patch 3.2.2. I totally spaced on soloing onyxia on the paladin so i’m a tad bit miffed about that one. Oh well. Here’s the insanely long list
World of Warcraft PTR Patch 3.2.2
The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html
The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/
The Brood Mother Returns
After years of lurking in her lair battling the many brave adventurers who travelled from afar to challenge her, Onyxia returns stronger than before to commemorate World of Warcraft’s five-year anniversary.
- Onyxia has been scaled to offer new challenges to level 80 players and is now available for testing in 10- and 25-player modes.
- Adjusted for modern raiding, but with the fundamental experience of fighting the Brood Mother still in effect, including the horrors of her Deep Breaths!
- Onyxia will now drop level 80 item versions of some classic loot items from the level 60 encounter.
- Brood of Onyxia, a very rare 310%-speed mount modeled after Onyxia herself will be available for the luckiest of challengers.
General
- Armor Penetration Rating: The amount of armor penetration gained per point of this rating has been reduced by 12%.
- Copied Test Realm characters will no longer be copied with their achievement history in order to better facilitate the character copy process.
PvP
Battlegrounds
- Players level 11 and higher will now always see a daily Battleground quest, as the quest giver will only offer daily quests for a Battleground in which a player is eligible to participate according to level bracket (i.e. players levels 11-20 will always be offered a Warsong Gulch daily quest, while players levels 11-50 will be offered either an Arathi Basin or a Warsong Gulch daily quest, etc.).
Death Knight
Pets
- Gnaw: This death knight ghoul ability now has a 1-minute cooldown.
Blood
- Heart Strike: Secondary targets of Heart Strike now take half as much damage.
- Subversion: Now also increases the critical strike chance of Scourge Strike by 3/6/9%.
- Vampiric Blood: Cooldown reduced to 1 minute and duration reduced to 10 seconds.
Frost
- Threat of Thassarian now also causes Rune Strike to use both weapons when dual-wielding.
- Unbreakable Armor: Cooldown reduced to 1 minute and changed back to granting 25% additional armor while active instead of flat damage reduction based on armor. The amount of strength granted has been reduced to 10%.
- Frost Presence: The damage reduction granted by this ability has been increased from 5% to 8%.
Unholy
- Bone Shield: This ability now has 3 charges instead of 4. Cooldown reduced to 1 minute.
- Dirge: This talent no longer grants additional runic power from using Obliterate.
Druid
Balance
- Moonkin Form: This form now also reduces the damage the druid takes while stunned by 15%.
- Typhoon: The daze duration has been increased from 3 seconds to 6 seconds.
Feral Combat
- Infected Wounds: The debuff generated by this talent no longer stacks and instead causes the full effect with a single application.
- Predatory Strikes: This talent now also causes the druid’s finishing moves to provide a 7/13/20% chance per combo point to make the next Nature spell with a cast time below 10 seconds instant cast.
Hunter
Beast Mastery
- The Beast Within: The duration of this talent has been reduced to 10 seconds. In addition, hunters with this talent will do 10% additional damage at all times.
- Bestial Wrath: The duration of this talent has been reduced to 10 seconds.
Mage
Arcane
- Arcane Blast: The buff from using this ability now stacks up to 4 times instead of 3, and each application increases mana cost by 175% instead of 200%. In addition, the duration of the buff has been reduced to 6 seconds.
- Arcane Missiles: Casting this spell while both Missile Barrage and Clearcasting are active will cause only Missile Barrage to be consumed.
- Missile Barrage: The effect from triggering this talent now removes the mana cost of Arcane Missiles. In addition, the chance for Arcane Blast to trigger this talent is now 8/16/24/32/40%. All other listed spells continue to have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to trigger it. This talent no longer has a chance to be triggered when spells miss.
Fire
Combustion: This talent now also increases the critical strike damage bonus of Fire spells by 50% while it is active. In addition, Living Bomb periodic ticks will no longer interact with the count or the charges on the talent.
Paladin
Protection
- Righteous Fury: The bonus threat from Holy spells caused by this talent has been reduced from 90% to 80%.
- Ardent Defender: This talent now reduces damage taken below 35% health by 7/13/20% instead of 10/20/30%.
- Blessing of Sanctuary: This blessing now grants 10% strength in addition to its current effects. Also, the strength and stamina bonuses from this blessing will no longer be lost when Blessing of Kings is removed.
- Judgements of the Just: The reduction in cooldown to Hammer of Justice provided by this talent has been reduced to 5/10 seconds instead of 10/20 seconds.
- Touched by the Light: This talent now provides 20/40/60% of the paladin’s strength as spell power instead of 10/20/30% of the paladin’s stamina.
Retribution
- Seal of Command: This ability now chains to strike up to 2 additional targets when it is triggered by an attack that can only strike a single target.
- Seal of Corruption and Seal of Vengeance: These seals will now only use the debuff stacks generated by the attacking paladin to determine the damage done by the seal and by the judgement.
Priest
Shadow
- Improved Spirit Tap: Mind Flay periodic critical strikes now have a 50% chance to trigger this talent.
- Twisted Faith now grants spell power equal to 4/8/12/16/20% of spirit, up from 2/4/6/8/10%.
Rogue
- Envenom’s scaling has been increased from 7% to 9% of attack power per combo point.
- Fan of Knives: The damage done by this ability has been reduced by 30%.
Assassination
- Master Poisoner: No longer increases the Deadly Poison application rate following a successful Envenom and instead now provides a 33/66/100% chance of preventing Envenom from consuming Deadly Poison.
Combat
- Throwing Specialization: This talent no longer causes Fan of Knives to interrupt spellcasting.
Subtlety
- Honor Among Thieves: A 1-second cooldown is now enforced on how often a rogue can gain combo points from his party via this talent.
Shaman
- Cleansing Totem: No longer pulses instantly when dropped.
- Flame Shock: The duration of all ranks has been increased by 6 seconds.
- Lava Burst: This ability no longer ever consumes a Flame Shock debuff off of the target.
Elemental Combat
- Shamanism: Your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells gain an additional 3/6/9/12/15% and your Lava Burst gains an additional 4/8/12/16/20% of your bonus damage effects.
Enhancement
- Earthen Power: No longer causes Earthbind to pulse a persistent snare immunity aura. It does still remove snares from allies as an instant pulse, but there is no lingering immunity. Earthen Power now also brings Earth Shock’s melee attack speed reduction up to -15%/-20% (with 1 or 2 points in it, respectively).
Warrior
Arms
- Sword Specialization: Now has a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to proc an extra attack, up from 1/2/3/4/5%.
Protection
- Critical Block: This talent now grants a 20/40/60% chance to block double the normal amount instead of 10/20/30%.
Lafayette Reynolds from Tru Blood Quotes
As we’ve talked about on our podcast quite a few times we’re big time fans of the Tru-Blood Tv show on Showtime. And our, and so shoul yours, favorite character is Lafayette. While doing my daily internet search I stumbled across a good page for quotes. Heck, I think the link says it all. http://holdtheaids.com/Lafayette_Quotes/
Ha ha. Great use of a domain name!
So yeah..favorite’s are:
I don’t run a layaway program and I aint interested in instituting one and “Oooh lover, you gonna make me clutch my pearls!” ha ha. They really stepped up that show this year although the finale left somethign to be desired. Rich and I will talk about it on the next podcast.
and some more memorable ones. 🙂
Aint much difference between a vampire and a budan sausage, cept for the blood
Aint nothing free in my world!
All you gotta do is say hold the aids
Bitch you come in my house you gonna eat my food the way I fucken make it
Boyfriend you are so not a duke!
Bring it on hooker, I was all parish in highschool.
Don’t blame the Ferrari just because you can’t drive.
Don’t let nothing get you down, it’s the only way to live.
Everything on your god damned table got aids
Faggots been breeding your cows, raising your chickens, even brewing your beer long before I walked my sexy ass up in this mutherfucker
Here, suck on this, it’ll make you feel lots better.
How else am I gonna get ahead in this po-dunk town?
Wii Price Drop?
Looks like it peeps. The blogs like Kotaku are getting the same kinds of rumors and circular scans they got right before the recent PS3 and 360 price drops. It seems like it’s gonna be happening by the end of September, the same setup(Nintendo Wii with Wii Sports) will be dropping 50 bux, which puts it at a cool $199.99. Exciting? Well, keeping my douchebag quotient to a minimum, I CAN get an xbox360 arcade for the same price….just sayin…
Modern Warfare 2-themed Xbox360
I just read on joystiq, another 360 bundle is coming our way. Themed after the latest Call of Duty that’s coming soon, Modern Warfare 2, also shipping with a 250GB hard drive(!), 2 wireless controllers, and of course a copy of Modern Warfare 2, for $399. Maybe this is where that 250GB 360 rumor came from that we reported on many podcast moons ago. But it looks like Microsoft won’t be making that huge hard drive available separately anytime soon, they probably wanna gauge the demand, but since they’re screwing us on the 120gig’s price, I’d think it’s kinda hard to do that. Anyways, this awesome sounding limited edition package drops when the game does, 11/10/09, available for pre-order now.
Halo 3: ODST 360 Bundle
The homies that run the very awesome kotaku.com is reporting on a new 360 bundle. Slated for the PAL territories(european I guess), it looks like they’ll be getting a box full of wonderful which would include a 360 Elite, copies of Halo 3 and Halo 3:ODST, and access to the Halo: Reach beta, that would be the next Halo title that we know nothing about just yet. No word yet as to whether this sweet bundle of joy is hitting here in the states.
Premium Fallout 3 360 theme for free, if…
….you bought all 5 of the Fallout 3 DLC expansions. On October 1st, Microsoft will be sending out a token to those cats who showed Fallout 3 that extra love, or let it make you it’s ho (like me!). On it’s own the theme is 240 Microsoft points on the Xbox Live Marketplace, which translates to 3 bux real ends I think….I dunno, I like the themes and all, but dang M$, that is steep. 
Source: destructoid.com
27th Podcast!
We continue the holiday shopping review of the PS3. Uncharted 2, Ninja Gaiden, Ratchet and Clank and God of War re-release. We also talk some batman archum asylum, beatles rock band, and the movie 9. Which we still dont know what its abotu. Join us for the 27_podcast 27_podcast 27_podcast
Xbox 360 Holiday 2009 Release
We spoke a little about this on the 26th podcast and I wanted to post some of the notes we had from the podcast. Not too much to add really other than we’re excited but here are the details of the Xbox only releases for the Holiday season as of today. Here goes nothing….
Halo 3 Odst
Release Date September 22nd
On 9/22 Halo 3: ODST will be released it is a new, stand-alone expansion to the Halo saga that lets players experience the events leading up to the epic story told in Halo 3 through the eyes of an entirely new character the ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper), as they search for clues leading to the whereabouts of their scattered squad and the motivations behind the Covenant’s invasion of New Mombasa. The game adds a new dimension to an all-encompassing universe that gamers around the world have known and loved since the release of the first Halo game in late 2001.
New Campaign, New Hero, New Tactics
Halo 3: ODST allows players to explore dangerous new ground, search the dark, abandoned streets of New Mombasa for clues, and fight back against the Covenant invasion from multiple perspectives. Dropping in as “the rookie,” a new member of an elite squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST) sent into New Mombasa on a classified recon mission, you’ll be armed with specialized weaponry and upgraded technology, including silenced weapons and a VISR enhanced vision mode. Separated from your squad, you’ll have to scour the city for clues in order to learn what happened to Buck, Dare, Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo. As you collect new clues, you’ll experience the story from their perspectives, fighting through the occupied city hours earlier.
- Halo 3: ODST contains 1,750 new Xbox LIVE achievement points, as well as new weapons, technology and an invite to join the Halo: Reach beta in 2010.
- Stand-alone expansion to Halo 3 that doesn’t require ownership of the previous game to play.
- New campaign, hero and tactics from the Halo universe as players take on the role of a rookie in the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers sent into New Mombasa.
- 4-player co-op “Firefight” mode offers a whole new way to play Halo with friends both via system link and over Xbox LIVE.
- Along with all the existing Halo 3 maps, ODST contains three new multiplayer Halo 3 maps: Heretic, Longshore, and Citadel.
- New game modes such as single-player season mode which puts you through a completely personalized racing calendar includes 200+ different events, including Circuit, Oval, Drag, Drift and Timed Events.
- Something to match every car lover’s dream including more than 400 fully customizable and tunable cars from over 50 of the world¿s leading manufacturers and 100+ international tracks.
- Look and feel of a modern racing game built from the ground up using with the most advanced physics models, artificial intelligence and damage calculations.
- Gameplay assists including auto-braking, gameplay rewind and auto-tuning that cater to how each individual drives and evolves with you over time as your skills increase.
- In-game elements such as Livery Editor, Auction House and Deep Tuning Garage that along with content via Xbox LIVE, allow players to express their car passion through user-generated content.
Release Date October 29th
Grand Theft Auto IV’s second downloadable episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime. As Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (aka “Gay Tony”), players will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price.
Grand Theft Auto IV‘s The Ballad of Gay Tony will sashay into stores on October 29th as part of the Episodes from Liberty City retail disc. While hog ridin’ formed the draw of GTA IV‘s most recent DLC episode, The Lost and Damned, it appears that the sparkly nightlife and parachuting out of helicopters is what you’ll find described with enthusiasm on the back of the box.
GBU Game Review for God Of War 1 & 2 (PS2)
In honor of these incredible games coming to the PS3 in updated form later this year, here’s how they stick out in my mind. I’m just gonna lump them together since it’s a continuing story and whatever can be said about part 1, can be said about part 2, obviously with bigger and better additions. Each one gets a 9/10 from me.
The Good – If you like hack-n-slash third person adventures of the triple A variety, look no further than this series. First, the story is captivating, channeling greek god myths and the like to get it’s narrative across, told through excellent CG cutscenes as well as in-game cutscenes, what’s here is compelling from beginning to end. You play as Kratos, the most bad ass of the spartans, seeking revenge on the God of War, fighting greek gods and monsters along the way, eventually becoming the God Of War yourself, but oh no, the quest is quite finished yet, hence the sequel and the eventual GoWIII. Top notch PS2 graphics spawn great looking characters, enemies, environments and so on….when part 2 came out, I thought, OK, it looks like part 1, no biggie since it looked great, but switching back and forth really showed how much better 2 looked. More enemies onscreen, more detail and levels that are incredibly huge and epic, so much so that in some areas the camera pulls away revealing everything and Kratos becomes but a spot on the screen, it was breathtaking at the time(especially for the PS2). Great audio, orchestral theatrical quality music doesn’t get old and really pumps you up during battles, voice acting is also great and convincing and adds alot to the storytelling. And what keeps a homie coming back, the awesome gameplay…there’s only a few examples of games that actually make you feel bad ass with little effort, this being one of them of course, the level of violence on the deserving enemies just cement that fact. The fighting is combo based, but it’s just so easy to go in and start wreckin shop, that’s not to say that it’s a straight button masher, but the games won’t shrug you off if you’re new to it, and it’s incredibly rewarding if you take the time to learn some of the stuff, basically there’s plenty here for noobs, and plenty for the experts. Some level puzzles help to break up the action and keeps things fresh so you don’t burn out with too much fighting. Weapons upgrade system that makes you work for it but also opens up more and more moves as you move along. Magic attacks (can be upgraded as well) mixes in seamlessly with the fighting adding to your ass kicking repertoire. Some quick time events, mainly during boss battles, hardly ever get in the way and they reward you with health and such sometimes, they also add to the bad assness sometimes(tap a button to continually slam a door on someone’s head? HELL YEAH!). Can you tell I really love these games? 🙂
The Bad – There’s not much I can really say in this category, but for review’s sake, I’ll nitpick a little. Quick time events, you either love em or hate em, or like me, don’t mind much as long as they don’t get in the way. As mentioned, GoW has em. Difficulty isn’t an issue, if it is, the game takes note and offers to go to easy mode for you, though if you can’t figure out a puzzle, difficulty setting doesn’t make a difference and to the internets you go. Part 1 could’ve been a bit longer(took me like 8hrs my 1st time through), but part 2 fixes that(took me like 20hrs my 1st time through). There’s no camera control, but you don’t really need it, the games are smart about where to angle the views, keeping things cinematic without hampering the gameplay, but I’ll catch myself hitting the right stick sometimes out of habit.
The Ugly – Medusas, check….Ogres, check….Hydras, check…most of these greek mythology monsters aren’t pretty, that’s for sure.
GBU Game Review For Fable 2
If you like RPG’s and own a 360, you have this game. Lets just put that out there.You’ve also most likely played this game but, if you have not, and fall into the category then please go purchase this right now. The game ran the gamut of emotions from pure joy to points where you just flat out feel ripped off. If you said it’s a 90, I’d agree. We spoke about this being the case for Star Wars Force unleashed…so..I was hoping for the DLC to fix some of these issues and it’s yet to be seen since I didn’t play it. But from what we read it has not. So it goes.
Good: Depth of game. This game has incredible story lines. Almost all are universally engaging. The chain through westcliff was one of the most intense moments of gaming in Fable 2. You start out running through a heavily infested bandit camp only to have to go through a dungeon call Howling Hall and end up at The Crucible fable 2’s equivlient of the Arena. In Westcliff there is also a quest where you can give 5000 gold to a NPC to build up the town. After Completing another quest in game, forgetting which one exactly but it’s near the end, when you come back the town’s completely changed. This is where fable 2 really kicks it into high gear. Seeing the world change around you like this is just amazing. The characters also within the world really start to act differently. I cannot stress how these little features really made the game so much more engaging for me. Another feature is you being able to buy houses and stalls in game. You can raise the price of rent or just leave it be. Your actions causing you to swing to a more Evil or Good. I choose evil which at first seems fun but it becomes hard to complete quests due to everyone running away from you. The horns also look quite silly. I really wish I turned more into a demon rather than some motley looking sad pathetic half horned fool. You can easily change this by drinking a bajillion potions to turn back to good. Your Demon Doors are there in all their glory as well as achievements by the truck load. I seriously don’t see how feasable it is to get the completed part of this game without sinking hundreds of hours into game play. It’s a fun game but not THAT fun. Gold is a non-issue about halfway into the game. Buy up Bowerstone and any house you can. Along with potions to bring you back to life. That’s about all you spend it on. When you stop playing you acrew gold but it’s a fixed amount. Max is 1.5 MILLION.
Bad: Not giving stats to the items you get. You essentially find an outfit you like and never ever get rid of it. I mostly wore the Will User outfit. The same with weapons, the Daichi,or the Maelstrom although there are more upgrades depending on what type of character you are. The female model is god awful. It’s mean but unless I kept up the strictest diet (yes you can eat fatty foods and make a fatty) my girl turned into something hideous. There’s a part where you can get a sex change later in the game. I made my choice.
Ugly: Make the world virtually seamless. Enough with the kings quest loading types. We should be far beyond this with currently technology like Mass Effect or Obvilion. The end of the game. What a joke. The lead up was fantastic only to get to the end and have to do nothing. It’s a joke because the choices are so freaking obvious. Why do I need gold when, when I stop playing I acrew 1.5 million in a matter of days. To eat food or drink potions you have to pause the game. The game menu really needs to be redone. Only Mass Effect exceeding in slowing down your gaming more than this game.
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