scrappy JDevL

The DevLs Wishlist 2009 : DJ Indiana Jones

The game companies may have started to learn their lesson this year, as they aren’t trying to release every game possible in the 3 month holiday season window. However, there’s still more than enough to get excited about. Here’s what has my attention through the end of the year and to start 2010.

MUST BUYS

DJ Hero (Oct 27 - X360, PS3, Wii)

I’m getting on this bandwagon early even though I originally laughed at the idea of a DJ music game, but once videos started showing the execution, the fun factor cannot be denied. You look even more ridiculous using the turntable controller than a plastic guitar, but the soundtrack is solid and the downloadable support for new music will be at least as good as Guitar Hero has been. I historically hate giving money to Activision, but there’s no competition with this flavor of music and there won’t be since FreeStyleGames looks like they have nailed it on the first try.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Oct 13 - PS3 Only)

Action-adventure has evolved into my favorite genre of games in the past couple of years due sheerly due to their fun factor. Uncharted takes all the lessons learned from the Tomb Raider series, speeds up and polishes the gameplay, and inherits the true spirit of the Indiana Jones movies. As great as Uncharted 1 was, initial reviews of Uncharted 2 are saying that the developers at Naughty Dog have outdone themselves. Uncharted 2 should play like the best popcorn action movies of all time, and provide some unique thrills of its own. It’s a PS3 exclusive and easily the best exclusive title on any of the systems this year, I have no issues putting it above any of the other games on this list this season.

Batman: Arkham Asylum (Out Now - X360, PS3, PC)

This game has been out for a while now, but is my game of the year leader at this point. It captures everything I love about the Dark Knight - detective work, brutal hand-to-hand combat, pitch perfect voice acting (including the true voice of the Joker), gritty atmosphere, great set pieces for each of the major villains. This game is the benchmark for comic book video games going forward and is the surprise hit of the year.

CAN’T MISS

Borderlands (Oct 20 - X360, PS3, PC)

A bazillion guns may sound like an exaggeration, but there really are more weapons in Borderlands than anything you’ve ever seen before. I played this game at PAX and fell in love with its style and action. Fast paced shooting combined with role-playing elements for building up your character to travel through its Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic setting. If everything holds up come review time, Gearbox may be the next great developer to watch.

Brutal Legend (Oct 13 - X360, PS3)

Someone finally decided to create a universe based on the over-the-top artwork of the most classic of heavy metal album covers. Not just someone, but arguably the most creative and funny game designer in history, Tim Schafer, who decided to combine his efforts with the voice-acting of Jack Black. All the pieces are in place for an entertaining adventure into awesomeness that is sure to melt faces while it combines several styles of gameplay into the most unique game of the year.

Modern Warfare 2 (Nov 10 - X360, PS3, PC)

Call of Duty is an institution in this current generation of gaming. It has dethroned Halo, and Modern Warfare was an instant classic. The sequel may just seem like more of the same in the very saturated first-person shooter genre, and with Infinity Ward at the helm, that would be worth the price alone. It’s not that simple though, there aren’t many companies that take as much pride in their product as Infinity Ward, and the trailers for this game have been nothing short of breath taking. Everyone who just failed at trying to catch the first game in terms of quality of gameplay and attention to detail is just waiting to see where the new benchmark is after the dust clears from this masterpiece.

I NEED A BIGGER WALLET

Unless I hit the lottery, I probably won’t be seeing these great games until a price drop.

• Assassin’s Creed 2 - (Nov 17 - X360, PS3, PC)
• Ratchet & Clank Future - (Oct 27 - PS3)
• Dragon Age: Origins - (Nov 3 - X360, PC)
• New Super Mario Bros Wii - (Nov 15 - Wii)
• Left 4 Dead 2 - (Nov 17 - X360, PC)
• Halo 3: ODST - (Out Now - X360)
• Demon’s Souls - (Out Now - PS3)

CHRISTMAS IN FEBRUARY

Get ready for the best 1st quarter in video game history with these upcoming AAA titles. Dates may change a bit.

• Feb 01 - Mass Effect 2 - X360, PS3
• Feb 09 - Dante’s Inferno - X360, PS3
• Feb 09 - Bioshock 2 - X360, PS3
• Feb 23 - Splinter Cell: Conviction - X360, PS3
• Feb 23 - Lost Planet 2 - X360, PS3
• Mar 02 - Bad Company 2 - X360, PS3
• Mar 31 - God of War 3 - PS3

Gaming Bits .005: Look Behind You! It's a Three-Headed Worm!

Worms 2: Armageddon
Easily the game of the week was Worms 2: Armageddon. The version they should have released the first time. Unfortunately, the tight restrictions of file size around the first release date pretty much crippled that game. This version, however, is Worms in all its fully arsenaled glory. Everything has been polished, the smoke effects are well done, the customization options for your worms are a nice touch, and the vertical levels definitely mix up the map variety. Canceling out of the 5 second wait when it’s your turn seems to be the only quirky issue, we had 3 accidental deaths from that in our first multiplayer round. I was surprised to see that the achievements were so hardcore. I thought there’d be one or two quick wins from our first few rounds online, but no such luck. Casual fans of the first Worms probably won’t find enough new here to warrant the purchase unless you have friends that are actively playing it. However, if you held off on the first, this is the one to get and you should talk all of your friends into it. Drop a donkey on ‘em.

Trine
I was blown away by the Trine demo. Physics puzzles set in a fantasy world with a witty narrator, plus an absolutely gorgeous game engine. I grabbed it off of Steam but I’m going to wait and purchase the full version on the 360 since it’s $30 on Steam and $20 on the consoles. $30 just seems a bit steep. The 360 version isn’t available yet, but I’ll wait for some quality achievement points.

Adventure gaming is back
While I was logged into Steam, I went ahead and played the intro to Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. Just needed to confirm that it was indeed Monkey Island, and it was. I’ll play through it this weekend. These are brand new episodes from the original developers, but LucasArts is actually doing a release of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition which is where I got hooked on adventure gaming originally. In all the Monkey Island news I got confused that all of them were going to be available on the Xbox 360, but it looks like only the remake is going to be on that console. Tales is going to stick to WiiWare and the PC. After I get through Chapter 1, I’m going to turn my attention to the Sam & Max Save the World that was released on Xbox LIVE recently. I’ve never played a game in that series, but from the hype around its humor I’ve decided I need to finally check it out.

Buy Now!
One of my top 3 Xbox Live Arcade games, N+, is on sale this week. Any fan of platforming needs to have this in their collection. Plus, NINJAS! They are still cool, right?

Gaming Bits .004: Rock my idTech

Rock Band 2
Had our first Rock Band night in about two months. We had to keep it small to keep from flexing the walls at the duplex, but it’s always good to break out the Ion Drum Rocker and mic stand and to get serious with the fake band. Smooth Criminal was played multiple times, unfortunately for the drummer. Minds were blown (he’s sorry) by @craigtsns during Master Exploder. For the first time, Don’t Stop Believing wasn’t butchered, because female singers can imitate Steve Perry so much better. Our goal of picking a song for the Pepsi Rock Band Video Challenge was a failure, I still think EndeverafteR - I Wanna Be Your Man is our best song, but it’s not well known enough. Surprisingly, No Doubt - Sunday Morning had the most crowd participation. Next time, we’ll be trying Rock Band outside on the deck to see how many neighbors we can annoy. In DLC news this week, band #4 of my top 5 showed up with a solid selection by Thrice - Image of the Invisible. Screamed that one as soon as I got home from work.

Zeno Clash
I was waiting for the price drop and it finally happened over the weekend when the bizarre first-person brawler, Zeno Clash, went on sale. I’ve only played through the prologue to this point, but it’s pretty much as weird and brutal as expected, so I couldn’t be more satisfied with my decision. Now I feel bad for not forking over the full $20, but thank you Valve once again for the Steam client. My impulse decisions are no match for your accessible digital downloads.

Progress
Not much going on this week as far as milestones. After the 20k gamerscore mark, I’ve been kinda burnt out in general. I’m still pushing through on both Ghostbusters and Red Faction: Guerrilla which shouldn’t say anything about the quality of either game. Ghostbusters continues to be an entertaining experience just as a fan, and Red Faction keeps giving me some solid thrills. I think the summer weather is finally starting to get my attention, so I probably won’t make any serious progress until a stormy weekend pops up. There’s nothing pressing yet on the new releases front to make me rush through these games, that will change as we get closer to the fall and the threats of too many new releases refocuses my attention.

Curious
Reviews of Overlord II are getting enticing. The consensus is that its as solid as the original and that its more of the same. Then, I got to thinking, I’d like more of the same, as long as it’s evil. I’m going to push through and wait for a price drop to the $30 range as I bit the bullet too early on the first one. I could also satisfy the craving by actually finishing the first one, but that last level is punishingly difficult and glitchy.

My will wasn’t quite as strong when it came to Grand Slam Tennis on the Wii. I’ll get my hands on the MotionPlus racket next week when it arrives at my door. The office Wii just became a lot more dangerous to work next to.

Reaction
Sad to see that The Conduit is what we all expected, solid control mechanics on a completely generic shooter. Good try to all involved, but that may have been the last gasp of the Wii to capture my attention to a genre I’d rather play on another system.

What the hell is going on at id? I was shocked when the company was bought earlier in the week. Relieved when it wasn’t Activision. Confused when it wasn’t EA. And finally intrigued when it was Bethesda’s parent company. Letting id focus on the tech behind games like Fallout, and letting Bethesda focus on the story/gameplay elements seems like a killer mix. Always glad to see more serious and strong partnerships out there to keep things interesting in the industry. However, someone needs to calm John Carmack down about the iPhone. I don’t need another crappy version of DOOM or Quake (or Hexen or Commander Keen). You don’t need to release games on there every few months, focus your efforts to push the technology of our games further than it can go. Push Epic to do the same. That’s your biggest strength and potential benefit to gaming. I don’t doubt the potential success of gaming on the iPhone or other mobile platforms, but it’s a waste of one of our greatest talents. Between that and his rocket science, he may have completely moved on this time. (I don’t care if he deserves it, I’m a selfish fan)

Gaming Bits .002: Burnout's Back

Burnout Paradise: Big Surf Island
Oh, Burnout. Will you ever stop being fun? I ended up buying the new Big Surf Island DLC. I Did a few of the ridiculous jumps and decided I needed to go back to the mainland to unlock the rest of the cars and finish up my license. Nothing against Big Surf Island, but I don’t feel like I deserve the vacation before I fully complete the main game. Gotta figure out how in the hell I’m going to get the online achievements though, need to remind a few friends just how unbelievable it is that this game is $19.99. I’d play full price for it again. It’s pretty much flawless.

Red Faction: Guerrilla
The debate I’ve been having all week between picking up Prototype or Red Faction was finally settled once reviews started rolling in for Prototype.  I underestimated just how open world Red Faction was going to be, so I’m still adjusting and hoping for more mission variety than what I’ve run across so far. I’m spending way too much time collecting scrap to build up to better weapons, but those new weapons look like they’ll open up some appealing gameplay options. Rocket launchers may compliment this physics engine quite nicely. The one solid part of the open world gameplay that I didn’t count on though, is that the vehicles are a lot of fun to use. I expected only shooting and explosions on foot, so being able to trigger explosions as I drive away is a welcome bonus. Sorry Prototype, although I do appreciate the fact that you can elbow drop a tank it just goes to show that realistic building explosions trump mindless superpowers and gore.

Art Style: PiCTOBiTS
Insomnia got the best of me recently, so I passed the time with Pictobits. The only DSiWare game worth paying for at the moment (after you use your free points on WarioWare and Bird & Beans). Unlocked a few more stages and beat my first dark stage. The difficult ramps up pretty quickly, but it definitely teases you to replay each level one more time to try and beat it. I learn a few new tricks each session it seems. I also love the fact that Bowser is my nemesis in that game. Seems fitting.

Plants vs Zombies
I finally gave into Peggle, so I thought PopCap Games deserved the benefit of the doubt on their latest game. I’m not one for tower defense games, but it seems like Plants vs Zombies simplified the formula enough that it isn’t as stressful as the others that I’ve tried. The sense of humor definitely got me through the initial levels, but the variety of zombies is what’s carrying me into the later levels. Well worth the $10.

Gaming Bits .001

Gaming recap from the past weekend

inFAMOUS

Wrapped up Sucker Punch’s open-world action game as the anti-hero. Being evil is so much easier than being good. I’m about 2/3 of the way through as a hero since I was playing them at the same time, but being evil just became more fun as it required less thought and skill. I will finish the game and clear the streets as a real hero, which is a huge testament to this great PS3 exclusive. I’d still only give it an 8/10 since it’s not all that unique and crashed on me more than once. I really enjoyed exploring Empire City and parkour-ing my way from building to building. Not to mention the fact that I purchased the soundtrack, and adored the comic book style cutscenes. For a PS3 game to keep my interest away from my Xbox LIVE Gamerscore for multiple weeks, it must have the total package, and inFAMOUS was firing on all cylinders.

Red Faction: Guerrilla (demo)

As long as the story or characters are halfway interesting, this game is should tide me over until Bad Company 2 comes out. I had very low expectations for this game, but its high Metacritic score peaked my interest to download the demo. After I collapsed my first building by blowing up only its support beams to have it fall on top of enemies, my wallet started itching. Still trying to decide if it will be a Gamefly rental or a purchase later this week.

1 vs 100 (beta)

Played 30 minutes of an extended play round in the 1 vs 100 beta. It was frustrating to not be able to start at the beginning of the round, but we had a good time once we got in from question #4 on. Really interested to see how Xbox Primetime works out, but I can see getting a few trivia happy friends together to try and win prizes down the road.