Tag Archive: video games


RUMOR: The Simpsons Arcade Game Coming to XBLA

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November 29, 2011

THE BUZZ: XBLAFans.com, known for breaking the first news about Gotham City Impostors and Alan Wake: Night Springs is back for a downloadable trifecta as they have come across evidence that early 90s arcade classic beat ‘em up The Simpsons may be ported sooner rather than later to XBLA. This information comes after they found out that the Australian Ratings Board recently reviewed the game and are citing Backbone Entertainment as the developer.

The original arcade game, released in 1991, revolved around you playing as one of four Simpsons in a race to save Maggie who has been kidnapped by Mr. Burns and Smithers. The first video game ever revolving around the now pop culture icons had action very similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 arcade game, which was also a Konami product.

EGM’S TAKE: Konami just had a poll on their Facebook page where they asked fans which of their arcade classics they would like to see put on consoles and The Simpsons won by a staggering amount. Also, if Backbone has indeed been brought on as a developer to tweak the game possibly, they have a long history of producing quality downloadable titles and would be a perfect match to re-fit the arcade game for XBLA or even touch it up in the vein that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time was a couple of years ago with new graphics and dubbed Re-Shelled. On top of this, an iOS version of The Simpsons was made in 2009 and sold very well and Konami has been in the market of making XBLA ports of their classic arcade games recently including the X-Men arcade game and the aforementioned remake of TMNT: Turtles in Time, so it seems all evidence is pointing to this being a very strong possibility although nothing truly concrete has surfaced yet. I for one though would buy this day one if it is true and hope we can get something more solid in the coming days from Konami or Backbone to confirm this development.

What do you folks think? Would you drop $10 on a port of this classic arcade game? How do you feel about Konami bringing back these classic arcade games as downloads on consoles? Did you ever play the original The Simpsons arcade game? Let us know with comments below!

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EGM Review: EyePet and Friends

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November 9, 2011

If only cute could be made to kill

Over the years, the handy virtual pet has offered many children the chance of owning a fantastic creature without having to clean up the mess. I remember when I was younger and I was suckered into the Tamagotchi craze. After a thrilling two hours, I was bored and gave it to my sister. A few hours more, she was bored and gave it to her best friend. And thus it continued, until half the neighborhood had a hand at raising this virtual creature that, because it wasn’t real, no one felt the need to be responsible for. And so now, many years later, we’ve seen this virtual-pet genre evolve to the point that we’ve got motion-control gimmick games that basically serve the same purpose. And so, with that, we’re looking at the second iteration of Sony’s virtual-pet time- and money-waster in EyePet & Friends.

The entire premise is that the player receives a creature that looks more like a Mogwai from Gremlins more than any real creature, and you earn points by playing with it or by playing against a friend and their Gizmo lookalike in various games. Honestly, the creatures are cute, but this game has as much appeal as a root canal. The only real positive is that at least if these critters get wet or eat after midnight, they don’t turn into horrific little monsters. If you’re planning on getting this for your children, don’t. Get a real pet, like a dog or a cat. It might make more of a mess, but your kids will thank you years down the road and might actually learn some responsibility from having to take care of the animal. All EyePet & Friends does is waste their time and offer the tiniest amount of entertainment value I think I’ve ever seen in a game.

On top of being absolutely pointless, the game actually also has a lot of technical flaws that make it even more of a gaming abomination. The responsiveness with the PS Move, which is required to play the game, is hit or miss, and you’ll often find yourself having to repeat the same simple motions over and over again just to get the creature to do a trick. Again, if I’m going to put this much time and effort into teaching something, I’d rather it be a real animal that’ll probably learn faster and respond better than these balls of fluff do on my TV.

And speaking of your TV, the entire “game world” is really just a reproduction of what the PS Eye sees with the critters superimposed over the image—but with what looks like a blue static filter over the screen the entire time. This filter ended up giving me a headache after a half hour, because even if you find a way to focus on your EyePet, they take up 10 percent of the screen at best. Sony was trying to bridge a gap between the real world and the fantasy world, but instead they should have just kept it in the fantasy world and actually provided some backgrounds to play with the creature in. Again, this is just another reason you should “keep it real.”

The worst part of the entire game, though, may come from the announcer who explains everything you can do with the EyePet. The man’s disturbingly unbridled enthusiasm for this virtual mongrel would put most game-show announcers to shame. Being forced to hear him explain every toy, activity, and feature of the EyePet made me want to jam pencils in my ears.

It has been a long time since I had such an abysmal gaming experience, and I cannot, in good faith, recommend this to anyone. Again, get your kid a real pet or watch as the money you spent on EyePet & Friends gets turned around by your kid as a traded-in game at a GameStop or Best Buy for something that might actually hold their interest for more than 15 minutes. This game doesn’t even deserve to be on the shelf and should start in the bargain bin—and that’s going easy on it. Bottom line: It doesn’t get worse than this, folks—at least I hope not.

SUMMARY: Like any other virtual pet: You’ll question why you even bothered in the first place.

  • THE GOOD: Creatures are cute as can be
  • THE BAD: Long load times and an announcer who makes you want to stab things in your ear
  • THE UGLY: Reminiscent of the Tamagotchi craze—and that’s not a good thing

SCORE: 1.0

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2K Announced Justin Verlander as Cover Boy for MLB 2K12

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THE BUZZ: 2K Games announced today that their cover boy for MLB 2K12 is the front runner for the 2011 Cy Young Award and a strong candidate to be the first League MVP since 1992 to be a pitcher (Dennis Eckersley, Oakland Athletics), Detroit Tigers’ number one starter Justin Verlander.

“Justin’s amazing performance this season speaks for itself, between his second career no-hitter and leading the league in virtually every pitching category, I can’t think of anyone else but Justin Verlander to serve as the face of Major League Baseball 2K12, ” said Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports on the decision.

Verlander led the Tigers to the ALCS before falling to the Texas Rangers. In the regular season, Verlander led the majors with 24 wins against 5 losses with a 2.40 ERA this year in 251 innings pitched and an almost unheard of .920 WHIP. He threw four complete games, including two shutouts, one of them being his second career no-hitter.

“It’s a dream come true to be on the cover of Major League Baseball 2K12,” added Verlander. “I’ve worked closely with 2K Sports on the MLB 2K series since 2007, and I couldn’t be more excited to continue my relationship with such a great baseball game.”

EGM’S TAKE: Verlander is clearly one of, if not the most, dominate pitchers in baseball and was an easy choice to name him the cover boy for 2K. The big question that arises now though is who will grace the cover of MLB 12: The Show, which has emerged as the more quality franchise even though it’s a Sony exclusive, with Verlander off the table? To check out the reveal trailer for the game, scroll down!

What do you guys think Justin Verlander making the cover? Are you bigger fans of 2K or the Show? Let us know with comments below!

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Hands-On: Lollipop Chainsaw

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And you thought YOUR high school was tough

Suda51 loves nothing more than to parody American culture as well as mix in some musical aspects to his games and so a lot of the elements to his upcoming hack ‘n’ slash zombie fest Lollipop Chainsaw should come as no surprise. Described as sex, blood, and rock ‘n’ roll, Lollipop Chainsaw follows one Juliet Starling, a former cheerleader of San Romero High School (named such in tribute to the father of modern zombie culture, George A. Romero) and how she must put down many of her former classmates who have been turned into the walking undead. With the help of several unturned, including her boyfriend who now lives as a disembodied head (imagine Ash from Evil Dead, but the “infection” went A LOT further) attached by a chain to Juliet’s waste and provides advice, Juliet must get to the bottom of this zombie outbreak. Let the Buffy the Vampire Slayer parallels commence!

Seriously though, I had a chance to grab Juliet’s preferred weapon of choice, her chainsaw, and dive headlong into the first level of Lollipop Chainsaw a short time ago. In terms of gameplay, although the premise is very different, it feels very similar to another Suda51 game in No More Heroes and so fans of that series should appreciate the ability to just pick up and play Lollipop Chainsaw from the get go. Aside from her chainsaw, Juliet can also shake her pom-poms and perform various cheerleading acrobatics in order to stun zombie crowds and give her enough time to decapitate her zombie foes, which is the only way to put them down for good. Of course, this makes me wonder about the source of the outbreak because whenever a pretty girl shakes her pom-poms in front of me, I admit I become pretty stunned and single-minded in my thinking patterns as well.

Anyway, as we progressed through the level and took down classmate after classmate and even a math teacher mini-boss, the thing that was most evident was that this game has Suda51’s style written all over it. Big explosions of light and sound punctuated the climb of my combo counter climb higher and higher as I slay undead foe after undead foe. And along with the fountains of blood from the neck stumps of recently beheaded enemies, if I was able to “get in the zone” with Juliet by hitting a high enough combo, all the blood would turn into hearts and firework sparkles while my chainsaw became supercharged with one-hit knockout power. This obviously allowed me to mow down my enemies much quicker and just roll through the hallways of San Romero High.

Another interesting note about the style is that the game has at times a bit of a B-movie feel to it, again paying tribute to the good ol’ days of zombie films. This could be because of the work Dawn of the Dead screenwriter James Gunn has contributed to the game as he has been more than open about his joy in working on this game with Warner Bros. and Suda51 on his personal website and to us in the media. Along with James Gunn, top of the line voice actress Tara Strong has been confirmed as the voice of Juliet and who may best be known for Raven in Teen Titans, Batgirl in Batman: The Animated Series, Bubbles in The Powerpuff Girls, Harley Quinn in Batman: Arkham City, and has even been rumored, but never confirmed, to have done the voice of Bowser Jr. in Super Mario Sunshine.

After enough slaying of the hoi polloi zombie, that I might add is done in your more standard “shuffling” type that only really starts to speed up when Juliet gets within chomping range, we made it to the school gymnasium. Oh Juliet attended many a pep rally here in her preferred zombie bashing outfit, her cheer uniform, but now it has been taken over by a zombified Metal Goth named Zed, the first of many high school class stereotypes we are due to see in the game, who hates Juliet and her establishment supporting ways. Here is where we really get out first taste of the rock ‘n’ roll as Zed’s primary forms of attack deal with sound speakers and amplified sound waves that rush towards Juliet after Zed shouts some nasty things into his unholy microphone. You’ll look to mute Zed for good, but only after fighting him in several stages, where you get to see his true power as he literally pulls himself back together after several rounds, and this is all in just the first level.

Although we’re still lacking a lot of the major story details and what other classes we could expect to take on in this high school from hell, one thing is for sure: if you’re a fan of Suda51’s other work, then this game should be right up your alley.  Lollipop Chainsaw is expected right now to hack out a spot for itself on store shelves sometime in March 2012.

Are you folks Suda51 fans? Are you looking forward to Lollipop Chainsaw? What do you think of all the parodies that will be seen in Lollipop Chainsaw? What else do you think we might see in Lollipop Chainsaw? Let us know your thoughts on this game with comments below!

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EGM Review: The Cursed Crusade

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The Crusade isn’t the only thing that got cursed

The Cursed Crusade revolves around the idea that those who commit heinous crimes against their fellow men—whether in the name of God or not—see their bloodline marked for generations, and that their descent to hell is guaranteed. So when Templar Jean de Bayle fights in the Third Crusade, his bloodline’s tainted, and death stalks him for the rest of his days. Years later, his son, young Denz de Bayle, struggles with his family’s curse and learns that by possibly collecting artifacts of Christ like the Crown of Thorns or a piece of the Crucifix, he might be able to remove the taint from his family.

But in order to find an excuse to get to Jerusalem, he—like his father before him—decides to sign up for the Fourth Crusade. As young Denz, you befriend a Spanish mercenary also tainted by the curse, and the two of you begin your secret mission to save your souls while also uncovering the sinister plot of the men behind the Fourth Crusade—and learn that Jerusalem may be farther off than originally thought.

The best part about The Cursed Crusade is the same thing that makes the Assassin’s Creed series so riveting—it finds a way to bend true history to its own tale. The game’s primarily set against key moments in the Fourth Crusade, like the conquering of Zara in Croatia in 1202 as a favor to the Venetians to fund the Crusaders’ warships and the subsequent conquering of Constantinople later in 1204, permanently dividing the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. All the while, de Bayle and his Spanish friend attempt to stave off hell’s attempts on their souls while looking for the artifacts that could save them from eternal damnation.

Unfortunately, once you look past the story, you see a very unpolished game. Whether it’s characters blinking in and out of existence during cutscenes or getting caught against invisible barriers in the middle of open roads, calling the game “unpolished” may actually be going easy on it. On top of this, the combat’s very hit or miss, as the enemy AI—even on the “Nightmare” difficulty—is simple enough that all you need to do is constantly parry their attacks with a click of the right trigger before going in for your button-mashing combo. The only difference on the harder difficulties is that the game tries to overwhelm your character with more and more enemies that can absorb more hits—but they don’t actually get any smarter. And, like in most hack-n-slashers, even though the game offers the chance to unlock various combos that mix the myriad shields and weapons you’ll collect on your journey, you can just mash light and heavy attack and get the desired results.

The overall aesthetics disappoint as well—the character design, death and blood animations, and scenery all have last-generation graphics written all over them. Couple this with OK music and horrible voice acting, and this game’s tough to listen to and even tougher to look at. Like my sister after Christmas dinner when she’s had a couple of glasses of wine. Ugh. Nasty. What a mess.

Sure, the game offers a little replay value with a bevy of collectibles in each level, but why would you want to replay something that you shouldn’t even want to play once? The Cursed Crusade lives up to its name, because this budget title is cursed to end up in its own personal hell: the bargain bin.

SUMMARY: An interesting twist on a historical setting—but far too many technical shortcomings to make it worth your time.

  • THE GOOD: Story fits into its historical setting
  • THE BAD: Glitch-riddled, repetitive action
  • THE UGLY: The majority of the game’s animations

SCORE: 4.0

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EGM Review: Kinect Sports: Season Two

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The defending champ looks for a repeat

When Kinect launched last year, several titles showed off the possibility of the peripheral, but few had the lasting appeal of Kinect Sports. Fun when played individually—but truly appreciated with a group of friends—the game made a clear, lasting impression on the casual market. Now, Microsoft looks to see if they can reel in soccer moms again with Kinect Sports: Season Two. American football, baseball, golf, darts, tennis, and skiing are all featured in this newest iteration—and if you thought you broke a sweat before, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

I tried out football first—and it was easily the most grueling, as I had to run in place for receptions and kick returns. On top of this, I had to get down under center; standing signaled my virtual center to hike the ball. Though I had a lot of fun playing offense, I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I could’ve also played defense instead of just watching the box score to see how my AI opponent did during its possession. But when it comes to picking-up, throwing, and kicking motions, the game’s almost more exciting than a real-life pick-six.

Moving to baseball, I tried my hand at a home-run-derby-style minigame before stepping into the batter’s box for a couple of quick two-inning games. Again, a lot of running was involved, as I beat out ground balls for infield singles whenever I couldn’t drive the ball into the gap or over the fence. But there was just one problem: The game seemed to have issue with my swing—because of my power-hitting demeanor, I have a big leg kick. Anyone who’s hit the diamond in real life knows that the leg kick comes first, but I guess I have a few too many moving parts in my stroke, and I’d sometimes trigger the swing a couple of seconds too early. Once I reined in my herky-jerky motion, though, the game worked a lot better.

Darts was a lot less involved physically—but also much more frustrating, because I just couldn’t seem to get my shots lined up correctly. It was also the only game where I couldn’t even beat the Rookie CPU, because I’d always just miss my mark. Skiing was also relatively simple, as I leaned left and right to make it through the series of slalom gates, but I had a lot more fun with the obstacle course, since that was a lot more involved—I jumped, ducked, and swerved on a much more regular basis.

Tennis wasn’t very involving, either, since the game controls all of your lateral movements. You’ve just got to focus on your swing, whether it’s a forehand or a backhand. In fact, the best part of tennis might’ve actually been the hot chick doing the tutorial tennis video!

Finally, it was time to hit the links, and this was the first golf game I’ve ever played where the putting mechanic worked so well that I actually ended up with a score under par. Between my practice swings, my caddy offering advice, and the Kinect sensor picking up my movements precisely, I started to realize why some people actually enjoy playing a sport that’s so horribly boring to watch on TV.

All in all, each game’s quite polished, and the sensor bar does its job throughout—which, to me, is the most critical element of a Kinect game. My only concern is that Season Two could lose its luster in single-player, so you’ll need to rely on the Xbox Live challenge mode, where you and your pals try to one-up your best scores, or get really obsessed with the new calorie counter. Also, hearing a British dude talk about American football felt weird, but I can forgive that because of the awesome licensed music. All in all, Kinect Sports: Season Two is a worthy successor to the first—and easily the premiere casual Kinect experience.

SUMMARY: A worthy successor to the first—and easily the premiere casual Kinect experience.

  • THE GOOD: Six new sports in the vein of the original Kinect Sports
  • THE BAD: Some motions—especially in American football and baseball
  • THE UGLY: Several of the sport-tutorial video models (not tennis girl, though—she’s hot!)

SCORE: 7.0

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EGM Review: MotionSports Adrenaline

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Won’t get your adrenaline pumping

The MotionSports series is Ubisoft’s attempt to give gamers a more realistic alternative to the Kinect Sports offerings while also providing a variety of different sports. Since Kinect Sports took a cue from several of the original MotionSports games and added football and skiing to their gamut of minigames this year, MotionSports decided to go a step further with Adrenaline and focus on extreme sports: mountain-climbing, kite-surfing, wingsuit-gliding, mountain-biking, kayaking, and the return of skiing. Most of the sports revolve around racing to a certain point—or, in a style more in line with Kinect Adventures, collecting various coins as you tumble down a given path.

Unfortunately, much like the original MotionSports, Adrenaline has its share of problems—and most of them lie in the fact that the sensory response just isn’t very accurate. And even more unfortunate is that instead of fixing the motion responses from the first game, Ubisoft toned down the player’s involvement to a series of cheap, basic leaning movements—and they still couldn’t get it right.

I also just have to shake my head at the game’s shameless Degree deodorant sponsorship and their “Adrenaline” line of products. Product placement in games doesn’t bother me when it’s subtle—the Verizon phones or Energizer batteries throughout Alan Wake being a prime example. After all, it’s not like you had Alan saying every five seconds, “When I need to dispose of nasty shadow creatures, I reach for Energizer to power my flashlights.” But when Adrenaline comes off as more of a subliminal commercial than a worthwhile game, that crosses a clear line for me.

One of the game’s few saving graces comes with some of the character customization. Since you can’t use your traditional Xbox 360 Avatar, you choose a base model for a character and then dress him or her up as you see fit. You can also unlock gear that boosts certain abilities as you progress by collecting “Adrenaline points” after each successful minigame run.

But that positive’s a lone buoy in the dark sea of negativity that is Motion Sports: Adrenaline. Since the events are so simplified, you lose out on a lot of potential fun—most just feel like rip-offs of other, superior, Kinect games. To not even come up with a sixth new sport and just port over the skiing experience from the first game just shows the lack of effort that seems to have gone into this title. Wingsuit-gliding and kayaking require a minimal amount of movement on your part, and you feel more like you’re just falling whenever you play—one through the air, the other through cheesy splash effects. Mountain-biking, skiing, and kite-sailing are solid enough, but since they’re on-rails and only require occasional leaning to turn, they, too, make you feel like much of the control’s been removed from the player. The only event that I remotely enjoyed in terms of controls was mountain-climbing, which requires you to actually reach in different directions and pull yourself upward. But even that felt oversimplified, with only a couple of paths laid out for you to choose from.

If it isn’t clear by now, let me say it directly: MotionSports: Adrenaline feels rushed, unfinished, and unpolished. Sure, Kinect might offer a few worthwhile casual-gaming experiences—but this isn’t one of them.

SUMMARY: Kinect offers a few worthwhile casual-gaming experiences—but this isn’t one of them.

  • THE GOOD: Several sports we haven’t seen in any form on any console before
  • THE BAD: Poor motion sensory in many instances
  • THE UGLY: Seemingly sold its soul to Degree deodorant

SCORE: 3.0

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Assassin’s Creed Encyclopedia Coming Same Day as Revelations

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Like having access to Altair’s library

For many people, what makes Assassin’s Creed so great is how it molds the story it wants to tell around actual real world events from history. In this way, Assassin’s Creed has written its own special history that parallels our own. But it can get a little confusing after a while as well just trying to keep things like who all the Borgias are straight and what the differences are between a Turkish Flanged Mace and a Florentine Mace. Well, with their fourth game in the series in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations about to come out, there is a lot more history to Assassin’s Creed than even a lot of us diehards may realize and so Ubisoft is getting ready to release the Assassin’s Creed Encyclopedia.

Set to drop the same day as Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, the Encyclopedia is the must have for every diehard Assassin’s Creed fan as you can have the entire history of the franchise up to this point at your fingertips. Along with all this information, you’ll also get never before seen art to go along with many of the entries as well as a running list in various categories like weapons, Templars, and Assassins. And it’s all opened up with a foreword by Gears of War’s Cliff Bleszinski talking about how important franchises like Assassin’s Creed is for gaming as a modern medium.

Be warned though, as tempting as it might be to just start reading the Encyclopedia from front to back, there are spoilers for both the animated short Embers, also being released on the same day as the game, November 15th, as well as for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations itself. So if you want to learn just what happens to Ezio and experience it like it is meant to, by playing the game, then I recommend you play Revelations first, then watch Embers, THEN read the Assassin’s Creed: Encyclopedia in order to keep all the surprises best in tact.

The best way in order to get the Assassin’s Creed: Encyclopedia would be to go through Ubisoft themselves by going to http://shop.ubi.com and picking it up on November 15th along with your Signature Edition copy of the game that comes with the Embers animated short.

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Hands-On: Saints Row: The Third

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Originally Published: October 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

We love Rim Jobs

There are a lot of games out there that take themselves too seriously. Everything is about saving the world from this or protecting people from that. Rarely do you get a game like Saints Row: The Third that just doesn’t give a crap about any of that and whose main purpose is to just give the gamer as many tools as possible to blow stuff up. It was for this reason that I was drooling like Homer Simpson over barbecue for the chance to go hands on with this game and it looks to deliver in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

The story starts with the Saints, now international celebrities after having driven out the Ultor Corporation in Saints 2 from Stilwater. Deciding to rob a bank, they do it how any other superstar celebrity criminals would do it: dressed as their most recognizable face, Johnny Gat. Thing is though that they aren’t the only gang in town anymore and a collection of several other gangs calling themselves the Syndicate have moved in and kicked the Saints out. After some spectacular action sequences that would put Nathan Drake or any of those other “heroes” out there to shame, you find yourself, the leader of the Saints, in Steelport, ready to get some revenge on those who knocked you down a few pegs and to set up shop in this glorious new little town on the river.

From the second you press start, Saints Row: The Third is the most over-the-top third-person action game you will ever play. Volition and THQ have pulled out all the stops, some in questionable taste for those more politically correct gamers I’m sure, to make this the craziest game you’re ever going to play as long as you don’t mind the sometimes infantile humor. Which I don’t. From riding shotgun in a helicopter and raining rocket launcher death down onto your enemies (I love rocket launchers) to running naked through a mansion, drugged and barely cohesive, but still aware enough to break enemy necks as you work way through the…impressed…crowd (you’re packing in more ways than one!), every mission is challenged by the last to up the insanity.

But even beyond the main story missions, there is so much stuff to do on the side in Steelport that you’ll be able to have every carnal gaming desire satiated and then some. From performing various wrestling maneuvers when mugging unsuspecting citizens to having to drive a tiger, (yes, an actual tiger) around to keep it happy and from mauling your face off, every aspect of the game is designed to keep you laughing and to drive you to keep playing because you can’t wait to see what new line it will cross next. And it crosses A LOT of lines.

Besides the tongue-in-cheek humor throughout the game though, like the auto body shop “Rim Jobs” where you can not only pimp your ride with spoilers, decals, and the like, but also with kneecapping Ben-Hur like chariot spikes to destroy the tires of enemy vehicles or just mow down the populace, there is also spoofs on other games and media franchises, like the Tron based levels you’ll take part in when going against the hacking Deckers gang. Truly no one and nothing is safe if Saints Row thinks it’ll get a rise (figuratively, maybe literally) out of the user.

I’m not even close to scratching the surface though of all that there is in this game. Beyond the three main gangs you have to face, we also saw for the first time STAG, a government sanctioned military faction looking to destroy all gang activity and with STAG comes some Grade A military hardware like fighter jets and tanks and more rocket launchers to up the destructive ante. But if you really want some interesting vehicles, then pre-ordering the game gets you the Professor Genki pack, which includes the Genki-mobile. Professor Genki is a world famous (in the Saints’ world anyway) Japanese game show host that wears a jumpsuit, cape, and giant cathead. Unsuspecting contestants (which you will be one of later in the game) must work their way through Genki’s treacherous maze full of flame and electrical traps for cash and prizes while also avoiding his machine gun wielding furry dressed henchman. Back to the car though. It handles and looks like an ice cream truck, but it has a cannon on top that sucks in pedestrians and uses them as ammo. So really it’s just your average, run of the mill, man-apult.

Alright, so clearly there is a lot of mission variety and things to do in Saints Row: The Third. I’m having sensory overload just going back over this stuff and I only saw about 40% of the campaign. There is a lot more to this game than hysterical situations and zany characters though. You also have choices. As in other Saints games, you want two things from this world, money and respect. Money lets you buy things from tricking out your various headquarters to upgrading weapons, while respect is where the RPG leveling up elements sneak into this game. Each time you level up, you unlock access to new perks like increasing your cash flow from some of the businesses you’ll “protect” for a fee to being able to dual wield your pistols. The more crazy stuff you do while on a mission or out in the world, the more respect and money you’ll earn and so like everything else in this game, you are encouraged from the get go to just go wild and do whatever you feel like because the more insane it is, the bigger the reward. Have I mentioned my love of rocket launchers by the way?

Keeping in with the small RPG elements, we see a return of the robust customization system for your main character. With the crazier and more insane outfits offering you more respect, you might just be tempted to go gallivanting around Steelport in that S&M leather suit or in those long flowing pimp robes you’ve had your eye on for quite some time. You could also get inspiration from your friends because the game sees a return of co-op as well. Being able to see them dressed in zany outfits might inspire you some, but it can also help you on those tougher missions. Volition stresses the game was designed to be more of a co-op experience because the more people laughing at the same crazy situation only makes it funnier, but trust me in saying it doesn’t penalize you for playing the game alone and is still just as damn funny.

And if your mind wasn’t already melted from everything I’ve already described, we also saw the debut of a new mode to replace the traditional versus multiplayer from the previous Saints Row games. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to have your mind (and maybe other body parts) blown in Whored Mode. Yes, Saints Row: The Third will feature their take on Horde mode where you will face wave after wave of gangster, pimp, deviant, midget, prostitute and any other insane foe you may face in the game in hopes of getting the highest score possible. I’m pretty sure it has rocket launchers as well. Also, a weapon called the Penetrater that’s also available in the main game. I don’t want to talk about the Penetrater because there are some lines that I can’t cross in this preview article. Let’s just say it sums up everything Saints Row is all about in one simple melee weapon.

Honestly, there is so much in this game that I saw in the hands-on I got that I could probably keep writing for a long time, but I don’t want to spoil all the surprises. A big thing to keep in mind is if you haven’t played the previous games, you don’t have to worry because the opening cinema explains everything you need to know and then you can just jump in and have fun. If you don’t feel like taking a game too seriously, but still having a ton of fun when playing, then you’re going to definitely want to check out Saints Row: The Third. It has readily available rocket launchers.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of the previous Saints games? Are you going to pre-order for the Professor Genki pack? Will you play co-op or solo? What about the new Whored mode? Let us know your thoughts with comments below!

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EGM Review: Batman: Arkham City

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment
October 14, 2011

“Wait’ll they get a load of me…”

Comic book fans are easily some of the most rabid fans out there. Maybe it’s because of the history, maybe it’s the appeal of the characters, maybe it’s because of a lack of social skills developed in their mom’s basement, but whatever the reason, whenever something features comic book characters, the fans tear it apart. Well, good luck finding fault with this one. And trust me, being a fan myself, I tried.

Batman: Arkham City is easily the greatest fan service a comic book game could ever possibly be. Fans who had concerns over how the story line tied together or whether too many villains might be featured, need not concern themselves anymore. The way the story flows and introduces you to Hugo Strange, the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Deadshot, Zsasz, and all the other villains in Arkham City, could only be described as water it flows so smooth. The game has such a natural plot progression that your biggest problem may be just finding the time to finish it because if you do even a portion of the side quests like where you team up with Bane or simply wish to hunt for a few Riddler trophies then you’re going to be looking at a 40-50 hour experience. That’s almost unheard of for an action/adventure game, but somehow Batman: Arkham City finds a way to keep surprising you to the point where you might just start sitting on the floor so that when you keep dropping your controller it won’t fall as far. The guys at Rocksteady should be applauded for this new Batman universe they have created while also making it still feel like Batman.

Really though the biggest reason why the game is so great comes down to the variety and execution in the game play. There are a plethora of problems for Batman to solve using all of his different gadgets and abilities and unlike in Arkham Asylum where some gadgets were favored more than others, every gadget will get a workout here. Whether expertly trying to pilot your remote-controlled batarang through air ducts too small for Batman to fit through to hit a switch on the other side of a locked gate, to using your grappling hook to pull together platforms to solve tricky Penguin puzzles, every gadget will be pushed to the limit, and not to spoil anything, but there are a lot more gadgets this time around.

The gadgets are also a huge part of combat now, which is another feature that has seen a facelift. Now, via some hot key combos, Batman can whip out his grappling hook, batarangs, and other goodies on the fly and throw them in the face of unsuspecting foes to pull off some really stunning combos like using the grappling hook to pull distant thugs in for a devastating clothesline. Also, aside from the standard punches and counters and these new gadget moves, Batman has new special moves that can take foes out of the fight instantly when his combo gets high enough, catch items thrown at him and throw them back with a well-timed counter, capitalize on the tremendous environment physics to put walls and railings more to his advantage, and even unlock special crowd control moves that can even up the odds on those 30 on 1 fights that you’ll occasionally run into. Basically, if we’ve seen Batman do it in a movie or comic book before, he can do it in the game and few things feel as good as quick grappling an enemy over a banister and hearing him scream for his mommy before being knocked out.

Another aspect of the first game that has been tweaked is the leveling up, RPG elements. You start the game off with a good amount of gadgets and moves, but like in the first game, the further you progress and more stuff you do, the more gadgets and combos you unlock as it goes with the story and then upgrade as you see fit. In the end, most people should have many, if not all of the upgrades, but it does give you some options in just how you would play as Batman in order to help craft a more personal experience.

Now, for many people, the only real negatives from the first game were the linearity and Detective Mode being used as a crutch. I’m happy to say that both problems have been solved. In order to counter people wanting to stay in Detective Mode, things away from where your focus should be have become more blurred, forcing players to only use it when examining a crime scene, following a blood trail, or when scoping out a room full of thugs. The bright neon lights of Gotham also wreak havoc with Detective Mode really making sure that when you’re outdoors, you take in Gotham in all it’s downtrodden glory. The linearity has also been fixed with the bevy of previously mentioned side missions and having several objectives open at once so that you can solve cases at your own leisure, go explore for Riddler trophies, or just do what I did for the first half-hour I played the game, glide around on my cape and just take in Gotham staples like the Monarch Theater, Ace Chemicals, and Park Row.

Now, one knock might be that there is no co-op multiplayer since if you squint really tightly you might see potential for it, but the character really isn’t built for that, especially in this story. You can already play as other characters to mix things up, which the Catwoman levels are just as fun as the main game and give you a whole new look to Arkham City for the short sections you play as her by the way. But, honestly, Batman is at his best when he is the center of attention and Robin, Nightwing, Oracle, and the rest of the Bat-family are just on the sides providing occasional support from the wings. And Batman and his rogues are the biggest reason why anyone plays this game. Would anyone really play a Nightwing game with him taking on Professor Pyg? The challenge maps return, of course, and trying to work your way up the leaderboards and build the best combo is still fun and choosing different characters there works, but Batman is a loner and so the main vein of this game, which is the campaign, is in all its glory with you just focusing in and playing as Batman.

When all is said and done, throw in the amazing voice acting from Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy, Maurice LaMarche, Tara Strong, and the rest of the cast, and without giving away the brilliantly written plot (thank you Paul Dini), all I can say is that this is the single greatest comic book game I’ve ever played. It plays so well that I can easily recommend this to anyone without even thinking about it.

SUMMARY: Batman: Arkham City is easily the greatest fan service a comic book game could ever possibly be.

  • THE GOOD: The most comprehensive comic book game I’ve ever played
  • THE BAD: So many “Oh my God!” moments you keep dropping your controller
  • THE UGLY: The seedy underbelly of Gotham all in one spot

SCORE: 10

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