• 23Aug 08

  On Too Human and Gamespot's Reviewer Inadequacy

  First off, I'd like to say hello to any of my friends who actually read my blogs. I've been gone for almost all of the summer, so I haven't been able to write very much. It's nice to get back into a regular routine here at home though.

  But enough small talk. I should probably make it clear that I haven't put much weight into Gamespot's reviews since the Gerstmann incident. I learned to get over it and use the reviews as a tiny bit of insight, but rely more heavily on demos, a collection of many reviewers, and friends' opinions. I was able to look past the 10 given to the fun but nowhere near perfect GTA 4. I was even able to look past the 10 given to the Metal Gear Solid 4, the latest entry in what is, in my opinion, one of the most overrated gaming series in history. But this 5.5 on Too Human blows my mind.

  Let's set some things aside right now. Yes, the camera can be obnoxious sometimes. Yes, the game is short. (I finished one playthrough, looking for all side areas, in about 12 hours.) No, the story isn't all that appealing. But I'm really questioning whether Kevin VanOrd even played the game. To call it "too...frustrating to recommend" is HIGHLY overstated. The levels are big, but frankly I'm not sure why you'd be walking around when there AREN'T enemies. (KVO apparently decided to do so, making me wonder if he's looking for reasons to hate this game.)

  Another of his complaints was that the status effects last too long, and that many will kill you since finding health is near impossible. I died a few times from poisoning and such, but those were times that I was already down below 50% health and had already broken the numerous containers (that usually hold health or money) that skirt most of the battlefield. The graphics are better than "decent," I've only experienced one minor glitch in my 20 total hours of play, and complaints about Baldur's "woosh and clank" noises are really trivial. I'd like to give KVO the benefit of the doubt and say that the ludicrous 5.5 score is due mainly to the fact that he expected the world from Too Human and didn't get what he was looking for, but I also feel that would be naive of me.

  I urge everyone to give the game at least a rental. The demo is also a good length, and gives you a good feel for how the game plays out. If you go into the game expecting what the game is, a dungeon crawler with unbelievable amounts of loot (many of the items look stunning, by the way), you'll really appreciate what Too Human has to offer. Look for a review soon, once I've played the game a bit more and with all of the other classes.

  • Posted Aug 23, 2008 12:20 pm GMT
  • Category: Rant
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• 3Jun 08

  Insignificant Post Number One: Rock Band

  This is clearly not a full blog. I just wanted to put it out there for anybody else on my friends list that has Rock Band: If any of you like Disturbed, the new pack is totally worth the download. The songs are great, and the expert drum parts are INSANE....loooots of bass.

  • Posted Jun 3, 2008 5:01 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 15May 08

  The Equalizer: aka Mario Kart Wii

  Ok, by now most of us who own a Wii, or know somebody who has one, have played the new Mario Kart game. I'll go out on a limb and say most of us also probably really enjoyed the game, as it's never been a series to disappoint. However, much complaining has been done about how the new game, like others before it, is extremely unbalanced this time around due to the items. The point I'd like to now drive home is again about the lack of balance, but not so much due to the items, but the courses themselves.

  This issue really only became apparent to me when I began playing online. I enjoyed it for a little while, until Wario's Gold Mine began getting spammed, and I was treated to courses like Moonview Highway over and over again. For that reason, these are the two I'm going to go at for this blog. First off, Wario's Gold Mine.

  To start off, let me preface by saying that my issue isn't so much with the track itself, though its lack of rails for the majority of the course is absolutely devious. My problem is that in the handful of times I've played online, there has been at least one person every time who picked this track in voting, including the times right after finishing that very course. Frankly, I don't want to play the same course over and over again, and I don't know many people who do. But because the track is selected at random from those tracks voted on, I once found myself racing in the mine for 3 out of 5 races. Please, find a new favorite track, or pick random.

  My second gripe is with Moonview Highway. For those who haven't played this game yet, imagine Toad's Turnpike from the N64 which was actually a very fun course. Now take those cars that you had to avoid and make them completely unavoidable by allowing them to change lanes with less than a split second's notice. I don't care how good you think you are, when you're in an open lane and a car decides to jump to your lane with no warning, there's absolutely nothing you can do but clench your teeth and hope you manage to get out of the way. And this isn't the exception; it's pretty much the rule. I must've been hit at least 6 or 7 times in the last race I played. The other thing I noticed was that it seemed like one person got extremely lucky each time I played and managed to get out ahead of the pack at the beginning of the race. Thus, while everyone else was in a giant cluster(f bomb) not far out of the gate, this player could be much less reckless, fearing only the odd spiny shell, which strangely enough didn't surface much.

  The overall feeling that I'm getting from this game is that in being more ridiculous with its new courses, it's leveled the playing field 10 times better than any game before it. There was always the element of luck before, but now even a strong victory just feels like the cards got dealt in my favor, not that I overcame some nasty red shell hits and made it to the finish line ahead of the pack. This is great for when I'm playing with my younger cousins who don't have the experience I have with gaming, as it allows them to be much more on par with me. But when I'm playing online, I don't want to cross my fingers and pull the slot machine lever hoping for a jackpot; I want my experience to weigh more heavily.

  In conclusion, please understand that I do really enjoy this game. It's great when friends come over and for playing with my family and such. I just think Nintendo may have gone a little too far this time in trying to reach out to a broader base of gamers. Then again, maybe I've just grown up a bit more.

  • Posted May 15, 2008 4:23 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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