Cheap Ass Gamer - Blogs - Dual Identity by zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php A current listing of cheap video games, video game sales and video game deals: CAG en Sat, 25 May 2013 22:22:15 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg Cheap Ass Gamer - Blogs - Dual Identity by zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php Galactic Civilizations 2 Diary - Failing Upward http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=25292 Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:30:48 GMT Years ago I posted (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3311)about CVG blogging diaries... Years ago I posted about CVG blogging diaries about turn-based, 4X'r Galactic Civilizations 2. And I've always wanted to do one myself, but general laziness and/or being 3 days into a game by the time I remembered usually got in the way. But last weekend, I remembered! So there, or to be exact, here.

Galactic Civilizations 2(GalCiv2) is 4x game (explore, expand, exploit and exterminate) with many variable factors for sandbox play, including multiple victory conditions, many I don’t believe in. Especially Alliances; Alliances in a game of conquest are just a stop on the way to the final throw down, let’s not have things end too early. That period where only the ones left standing are an alliance of races, where you don’t know who will break first, which partner will risk war against possibly an alliance of the others, surviving to that final round, that last cycle, I just love it.

That said, for this game I’ve decided to play on a Huge map, the 3rd largest map size, which even with a ship loaded out with the best engines, it would take weeks, possibly a month or two to cross from one side to the another. I’ve let the computer randomize not only the amount of starts, planets, habitable planets, and terraformable planets. I could land in nice galaxy with a good assortment of planets or find myself in a near deserted one with barely any worlds beyond the home systems.


Meet the Prime. Evil is cool.

GalCiv2 has 10 playable preset races along with the ability to make your own custom races, why bother conquering the galaxy unless you can do it in chiffon and sequins right? Introducing one of my custom races, the Prime. They’re “Evil” but hey it doesn’t mean they’re that bad. Yes, we’ve got an imposing mission statement: “We rise to control, to conquer all those who attempt to stand against our dominion. It is safer beneath our heel then against our fist.” But it’s mostly marketing, sounding cool is like at least 20% of being cool. Galatically speaking. Have to give my citizens something to be proud of.

So it’s Normal difficulty with 9 random opponents, computer draws from the whole bunch, premade and custom. Time to spin the wheel of fate.

Day 1


Home sweet home

Jan 1, 2227 - (In game, each turn is a week) My randomized settings have filled the loose clusters with lots of nice Planetary Quality (PQ) planets ripe for the picking. Higher PQ means more tiles for placing buildings. Everyone starts out with 3 ships: an asteroid miner, a flagship for exploring anomalies (the GalCiv2 equivalent of randomly sprinkled chance cards), and a colony ship. Everyone also gets an extra, low PQ planet in their home system; a “Mars.” Using that first colony ship on your Mars is waste of resources and time. The first phase of nearly any GalCiv2 game is the Colony Rush. Get out there and colonize planets before the AI empires take them. Time to churn out some colony ships at all costs to set up a cozy little sector of the galaxy I can call mine. I’m going to squeeze everything I can out of my people, they’re going to hate me, while I bankrupt ourselves on this Colony Rush. With enough systems under our control, we’ll be able to bounce back harder than competitors, and hopefully secure a nice lead in research and treasury to make up for any production and tech shortfalls.


Ethical Issues

Mar 1 -Sometimes when you colonize planets or just at random, you get these little ethical quandary options. Usually choosing the most evil option with net you the best bonus. Your ethical alignment isn’t set in stone until you research “Xeno Ethics “ and even then the most evil civ can buy their way into good graces. But ethical alignment is one of the many ways other civs size you up. Evil pals with evil and good usually doesn’t, usually. Money can solve a lot of problems. And for a +49% PQ bonus to an already nice planet, I can stomach a whole lot of evil.

Aug 22 - With my economy in the tank and unhappy population, I’ve gotten my first warning from the game. Tanking your economy will force all production to stop as your repay your debts. An unhappy populous negates some racial and political bonuses, also happy people reproduce more which is more tax revenue, so the double edged sword is really sliding close to my neck right now.

Oct 1 - Every quarter the game pops out a report with the top ranked Civs. I’m currently ranked 8th out of 9 discovered. Not very good.

Nov 1 - I’ve colonized a planet with a natural 26 PQ. It’s like living next door to heaven, but without being in the same property tax bracket, But, ethical quandary card time: there is a civil war between hives of sentient bugs on my nice new heaven world? Hmm, bring peace at cost to morale (mine is so low right now, really not in my best interest), stay out of their way and take a production hit, or exterminate them. EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE.


Space UN gets more stuff done then real UN

Jan 1, 2228 – Every New Year the United Planets meets. It’s basically the UN of all the major discovered races voting on things. Vote power is determined by territory. Rulings can shape the game for good or for bad, sometimes for years, sometimes for the span of the game. And I can tell right away these bastards are going to stomp all over my fun. And oh look, I’m 9/10 of most powerful civs… Gotta turn this around soon. I’m hemorrhaging money way to quickly, I can’t even afford to build the buildings in my planet build queues except on my homeworld but I must have more planets!

Mar 1 – Well the Drath Legion have snuck right up and stolen my Mars. The Drath Legion are jerks, setting up wars through manipulation and diplomacy, but they’re “Good” jerks. The loss of my Mars is a minor thorn in my side right now, I should be able to culturally flip the planet to my side since it’s right next to my territory, but with my populace so unhappy, it might take some time. Wait too long and it might become a permanent foothold right on my doorstep.

Mar 22 – And it’s mine, didn’t even have to lift a finger. That didn’t take long. For how unhappy my people are, the Drath populous must be especially pissed at their leaders for them to want to come over.

Apr 8 - And who is that taking planets in my front yard? It’s the Krynn Consulate, neutral jerks who are damn good at espionage and diplomacy. The planet they’ve colonized is not as close as to the homeworld, as the one the Drath took but it’s still in my yard.

May 1 – Out of debt!

Jun 22 – And just like that, all easily colonizable planets within visible range are now gone. There are some worlds still out there, but they require techs which are too far up the tech tree for me right now. Time to focus on getting that jump start I think I missed.

Jan 1 2229 – Another year already? Another law passed, this time enforcing “neutral ground” aka when war is declared all active warships from both sides will be forced out of enemy territory. It’s a good defensive law, maintain strong borders and you’ll never have to worry about a 1 week decimation, but for attackers it can very annoying.

Aug 1 – While still bottom of the barrel, my empire has jumped 9.5 billion in population this past year. More tax revenue coming my way. My economy and morale is picking up, but I’m still running at only 38% of total production capacity. I’m getting worried, my post Colony Rush bounce has fallen flat I think. It’s quiet, hostility-wise, a bit of trade occurring around me, various powers taking hold and defining their territories. The Kyrnn have a nice string of planets running through my territory and while I can’t do anything about it now, I don’t want them to be the beginning of my end. If I can’t be strong, I need to at least appear strong, so I’ve started developing technology to build the bare bones of a military.

Jan 8 2230 – Well a random event has spun the Yor Collective (Affably evil non-organic lifeforms with a “Kill-all-meatsacks” outlook on life) and the Terran Alliance (Cunning diplomatic do-gooding bastards, sorta like Star Trek’s Federation) into war. This should blow right by me. Hopefully.

Feb 1 – I’ve begun research and production on Influence starbases. These project culture/territory and are the weapon in cultural takeover. I’m hoping to propaganda hug the Kyrnn worlds in “my” territory into revolt so they “flip” over to my side. Kyrnn specialize in spies and influence, I just hope they haven’t researched those techs yet. Damn, they have, but they were amenable to selling them to me. Now I just have to culture hug them harder than they can resist.

Mar 8 – And now the Krynn have decided to take on the Altarian Resistance, another batch of goody two-shoes who are really good at getting others to come to their aid. Yes, get yourselves embroiled in a little war, no I don’t mind one bit, I’ll just keep out of it and mind my own business.

Mar 15 – The Dominion of Korx, Frengi basically, have come to me begging for aid. Guess my handful of cheap-o fighters is giving me a bit of boost in Galactic standings. The Korx are bit wary of the alarming growth and dominion of the Terrans. I’ll give them a payout of 100bc (billion credits the games standard of currency), should give them nice thoughts of me.

Mar 22 – The Krynn are feeling like big man on campus for some reason, as they’ve now declared war on 2/3rds of the galaxy.

Apr 15 – And now the Yor have come begging in their war with the Terrans. Here’s 100bc, go fight your own damn war. I’m still trying to get back on my feet. And now my first major threat The Kyrnn have come to me demanding one of my planets. It’s mine. No deal jerks. Better idea, research treaty and some money. Makes you happy yes? Good. Not getting my planet.


Feeling a bit strangled

Jul 1 2231 - I’m being walked all over from all sides, foundering, trying to find a foothold. Time to forge some more treaties and open trade routes if I don’t want to become a footnote in someone else's history books.

Nov 1 – I was finally able to ramp up my total production to 100%, first time since back in 2227. In my efforts to flip the Krynn planets in my territory, I’ve flipped some planets belonging to the custom race Ascendry. These worlds require exotic colonization techs to utilize fully; basically I’ve got great planets I can’t use and a new drain on my economy. Bye-bye 100% production.

Apr 22, 2233 – Things are looking up, by a hair. The major powers are warring all around me, giving me enough room to eke out an existence, but despite my good starting point, I really fumbled the colony rush bounce back. I’m vastly outpaced in all factors. That hair was the random event of finding a Ranger class ship. It’s not much, but enough to keep others off my doorstep for now.

Jun 22 – Thanks to a random event, and not spending time and money I don’t have on espionage, I’m now in a war with the Terran Alliance, one of many races in a war against them. I can only hope distance, and all that other attention keeps me safe from them for now.

Nov 1, 2234 – The galaxy is at war against the Terrans. Usually the good guys everyone wants to pal along with, their taste for bit of the old galactic domination has put even other “good” races against them. I can’t even buy or trade my way to peace with them riding on the high horse of overwhelming superiority. I’ve been gifted 2 more Lucky Rangers by the random event generator, so I’ve got just enough of a stick to hit them on the nose when they come sniffing around. With my economy in semi-check I’ve started a small espionage operation, mainly to keep myself out of situations like the one I’m now.

Jun 1, 2236 – I’ve been swamped in my research plans by the Jagged Knife, a random event where worlds belonging to several races “revolt” and form their own minor race. And of course I lost my arm into the galactic south. Now I’ll be forced to invade my own former planets just to get back on course. On the other hand, this leaves some worlds formerly belonging to others ripe for the pickings.


Warbomb, WarBOMB, War-bob-omb

Mar 1, 2237 – I’ve recovered my lost worlds from the Jagged Knife, but the random event generator has decided I wasn’t being picked on enough and thrown me into a war with the Altarian Resistance. The Altarian’s not too long ago came around to me for handouts in their own war with Terrans, and have now decided to muck up my plan to slowly control over the galactic center. Time to roll out my first hopefully battle ready ships: The Warbomb Mk1. They’re not much in terms of offense, but their strong defense and relative ease to build means hopefully I’ll have the makings of fleet soon, when the first one rolls off the line in 3-4 weeks.

Sept 8 – With my new Warbombs smacking around their marauders, the Terrans are keen to rethink war. I settle for peace and 1000bc it’s not much, but damn not having to watch my southern borders is a welcome relief.

Nov 1 – I’ve negotiated peace with the Altarians as well. While less of an outright threat then the Terrans, they were becoming a larger nuisance due to proximity to my empire. Still the Terrans remain the greatest threat even in peace time. I’ve got to start a culture war against them, dismantle their economy planet by planet. Open warfare would doom my fragile hold on the center. But not tonight, tomorrow.

Day 2


Kinda better

Nov 8 – The Terrans control the entire galactic south with bit of the center, and Jagged Knife worlds dot a good portion of galactic south. The Jagged Knife being a minor race, I can attack and conquer them with pretty much impunity. With the Terrans I have to advance a force of influence starbases into their worlds so as to culture hug them to “flip” over to my side, and I’ve got to do it while buttering up their government so as to not fall into another war with them. Bribes and propaganda, best friends.

Mar 1, 2238 - In a freak move, the robotic Yor have surrendered, and to me?! I’ve now got a nice bright selection of new planets to deal with, right after they’ve tipped my economy south of course.

Mar 8, 2239 - The Yor surrender flopped my economy initially but flipped it right back. I forgot that unlike invading their worlds myself, they came full of native tax payers. Not long after that the Kyrnn, persistent thorns in my side, surrendered to the Terrans, leaving the galaxy with 3 major Powers, the Terrans, the Altarians, and me. I’m teching and building hard, trying to bring all these worlds in line, keep them happy and at the same time, culture flip as many worlds as I can while keeping the Altarians and Terrans in engaged in their fruitless war against each other. Technically I have the largest territory, but I’m also surrounded on nearly all sides. I’ve got to start work on researching techs for the next generation of ships to add to my military bluster. My Warbombs can still do some damage, but they are vastly outnumbered.

Jul 22 – I find myself pacing around the war room, err my living room. I just don’t know if I’ll have enough time. Enough time to take all the little Terran and minor race worlds that dot across my territory. Enough time to bring my starbases up to full defenses. Enough time to bring all my worlds up to war footing. Enough time to finish researching all the techs need for my next planned stage of warfare. Enough time before the next war begins. My empire is so large, yet I feel it’s made of sand; it’ll just slip right through my fingers if I try to hold it tight. I can only keep buttering up the Altarians and the Terrans with 100bc bribes before so long. I know the random event generator is just waiting to screw me over.

Apr 15, 2240 – Greed did me in this time, not random chance. I didn’t figure one little minor race would be allied with the last two other major powers at war. Well, damn they were. I wasn’t quite ready for this, so I’ve upgraded my Warbomb design with the techs I’ve got under my belt. This falls a bit short of my initial plans but it’ll have to do for now.

Sept 15 – My old Warbombs did fine up against the last gen ships the Altarains and the Terrans had floating around near my borders, but up against their latest and greatest they are just speed bumps on the road to invasion. I held out though, and the Warbomb Mk2 design rolled out and held up, and when one couldn’t cut it, a fleet of two would clean up just fine. At the first chance I sued for peace with the Altarians. In my book they’re the lesser of threats, even with a breather for them to catch back up. For that chance at temporary peace they were willing to give up all their holdings in the Galactic North. On a whim I did it again; I tried the same thing with the Terrans. And it actually worked. They weren’t as willing to give up much territory, but I’ve nearly relegated them and the Altarians to their own corners of the galaxy. So now they’re back to fighting each other, just the way I like it.

Jan 1, 2241 – While going through the com screen I discovered I was still at war with the minor race The Jagged Knife. They were willing to trade some techs and a single planet for peace. I didn’t even know they were still around. So I took it, and a planet deep in the shrouded Galactic South popped up aka Terran territory. A planet deep in former and soon to be enemy territory with a PQ of 20? Yes please. Once I get up and running, might just have to invade the remaining Jagged Knife planets in surrounding Terran territory and give them some real nightmares. But not now, work tomorrow.

Day 3

Jul 1 – I have apparently bored the random event generator with my slow preparations, so it has thrown me into war with the Altarians again. At least the onset of war has flipped some planets over to my side. The war goes well so far, and since they were already at war with the Terrans I have some temporary allies. At the very least we’re shooting at the same people for the time being. And it’s a good thing too, apparently after their disastrous last war with me, they’ve switched from lasers to missiles on their next generation of ships. If I had walked blind into this I might have watched as my entire forces went through the shredder. So for now, the Altarians, tomorrow perhaps I’ll be knocking on Terra’s doorstep.


Now I'm playing with power!

Sept 1 – I’ve finished design work on my largest, fastest deadliest ship design yet, the Vestas. It’s twice as fast as anything I have cleaning up the galaxy, and four times as fast as anything anyone else is fielding. Once these puppies start rolling off the lines, I can switch over from simple containment of the Altarians to invasion.


Yes! I win for once! No peace treaties for this guy!

Dec 1 – The Vestas’ swoop down on defense fleets unprepared, they are unmatched and only the beginning. Headlong into the invasion, their fleets smashed, worlds falling, the Altarians give up the ghost as my iron heel looms overhead. And they actually surrendered to me! Time to reorganize their worlds for war production and kick this into the final phase: The Invasion of Earth.

Day 4


Maybe I should have gone with "The Xenocide?"

Mar 8, 2242 - I've been cleaning the remaining minor races off the map. The Jagged Knife holdings in the Galactic South behind enemy lines have been a prime plum for me. But now my final masterpiece of war has rolled off the assembly lines of my forgeworld: The Ender. A huge class hull, coupled with the best weaponry, and defenses researchable along with enough engines to let it fly circles around the enemy. It will spearhead the assaults and still be able to save the slower troop transports from being picked off all in one turn.

Apr 22 - It is the eve of war. In a few weeks time my fleet will be in position. I'm been almost unwilling to take this last step, to begin the end game. For all too long to the Terrans have been my enemy, for the longest of time they were that unreachable height of economic strength, military power, and empire to be feared. Now I encircle them like a noose. This galaxy is mine except for the bit of corner they rattle about in.

Jun 1 - Most wars most final wars end up not being battles of titans, like I hope them to be, but slaughters. The Terrans had shown greater forces before, forces I had feared were the herald of a stronger deadlier home defense, alas I have swooped down on the Terran and found them lacking. I took Earth first, and spread outward like a blooming flower. Their military forces are gone, and all their remaining worlds are in open revolt. I fear they will surrender soon, robbing me of these final moments of comeuppance.

Aug 15 - The war is over. There was no surrender, unlike all others, they held on beyond hope and I chased down every last holdout. Total victory. So what’s next? Data! Charts and graphs ahoy!

Post Game


Data is oh so sexy

Like any good strat/sim game, GalCiv is bountiful in its end game summary. Charts, graphs, data! And it’s pretty clear in one aspect: though the Yor were bungling about worse then I was, their surrender to me saved my ass. That infusion of happy, revenue producing worlds catapulted me into a true Galactic power, until that happened I was just an also-ran in the Terran Altarian struggle for Galactic dominance. I knew I had screwed up my Colony Rush, but figured I could work my way out it, but if the Yor had surrendered to someone else, or just let themselves be outright conquered it would have been my defeat. I wouldn’t have had the production and research might to produce the Warbomb Mk.2 and would most likely have bankrupted trying to support a larger but weaker fleet in the face of total war.

Well I found this entire process to be quite fun, even if this game wasn't one of my best or more exciting, so maybe I'll do more of these. ]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=25292 Ummm.... I kinda lost track of this.... http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=23219 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:27:34 GMT *Well this year, like most years I went to PAX Prime.* And like most years I brought back some... Well this year, like most years I went to PAX Prime. And like most years I brought back some codes. Gathered them up, and BAM forgot about it.

So yeah, just came across them. And sure enough there is some League of Legends codes. People really love that game. People sign up for CAG just to DM me months, sometimes years later asking if still have any good ones. So um yeah. CODES. First come, first served.

TF2 Purity Fist - A Deus Ex: HR style arm for The Heavy.
  • WLFBV-366JH-M5EGG
  • CZ93F-6VG60-YQ9YR
Spiral Knights - Prime Bombhead Mask
  • ACEM-FNJ4
  • ARE9-CQNE
  • ACDX-EX4T
Bloodline Champions - Starter Edition and $5 of Bloodcoins. Register Key at http://register.bloodlinechampions.com
  • WYBAU46JTWUT8VRD
  • RDHQMWWF4KDVKG35
League of Legends
  • PAX Sivir - WVUG6WAMVTQC
  • PAX Sivir - 94ECF9L6D3FA
  • Riot Nasus - QX4EKAGWDN2D
Atlas Hosting
]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=23219 <![CDATA[GTA V - I don't have the hype]]> http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22891 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:49:34 GMT Have you seen the GTA V Trailer?



Grand Theft Auto V... yeah... I'm not interested in it.

Maybe it's because I never played much of GTA San Andreas. Sure I pretty much beat Vice City and I played far to much of GTA IV (Good gods Roman's annoying voice is near forever burned into my brain), but screwing around in GTA has always been for more enjoyable and humorous to me then 90% of the actual missions.

Look, I don't know why I never played San Andreas, though I do remember being a little burned out after Vice City. Fact is, when I saw the second Vice City trailer I was sprung. I dunno, maybe I watched too much Miami Vice as a kid (seeing the Miami Vice Show at Universal Studios as kid actually blew my mind, or so my relatives tell me.)


Whenever "I ran" comes up on my iPod while I'm driving, it takes me right back to this

I was interested in GTA IV because it was NY. A city I love, digitally reproduced to wreck havoc in. Truth be told, had GTA V been a return to Vice City, I don't know if I'd be any less not enthused. It's not the city, it's not the era, it's the game. I didn't slug through annoying races, tailing missions, and clunky shootouts because I enjoyed the story. I did it to unlock more of the map, and get access to more interesting vehicles. I did the boring stuff to get the fun.

I wonder if anyone else feels this way about the GTA series. ]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22891 The Best Game of PAX Prime 2011: AirMech http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22520 Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:06:38 GMT *I saw a lot of games at PAX.* Big games from the big companies and small games from the Indies.... I saw a lot of games at PAX. Big games from the big companies and small games from the Indies. But nothing blew my socks off like AirMech.



Airmech is a RTS hybrid game from Carbon Games where you control a Fighter jet that transforms into a giant robot. A JET THAT TURNS INTO A ROBOT (MovieBob echo-y voice here). Look kids, while it may not have been the first anime I saw, Robotech's Macross Saga pretty much ignited my love of mecha and anime. And this game is also a RTS, once of my absolute favorite genres, AirMech got double love from me right away. After playing it for a 5 minutes, I was sprung. The art style is rocking a StarCraft meets cell shaded look.

Yes, calling AirMech the best game of PAX is completely and totally biased but hey, it's my best game of PAX.


Gameplay

Ok, so you control the titular AirMech able to transform from Jet to Robot at will. Jet mode is used to primarily ferry your units from your bases (and attack the enemy AirMech) around while Robot mode lets you wade into the thick of battle with a shield and sword. Your goal is to capture all of the enemy's bases while preventing the same from happening to you. While you have a variety of units: tanks, bikes, repair trucks and turrets, only the easily killed soldiers can capture bases. And they do it pretty quick, an undefended base, even deep in enemy territory is ripe for a soldier dropped by AirMech to open a second front.


Tutorial/Walkthrough

You earn credits and experience as you play allowing you to unlock different AirMechs, units and pilots. Pilots grant different bonuses, some empower your army, some your AirMech. Play types so far are Team, FFA, and a Survival mode.

Release platform is PC, but AirMech was designed for, and plays naturally with a controller. Hopefully Carbon Games lines up a deal with a publisher and this great game comes to XBLA/PSN.

Seriously, I cannot thank Carbon Games enough, playing it and chatting with the developers on the PAX expo floor was amazing. It was enough to know that there were devs out there making a game I didn't know I was passionate about till I stumbled by their booth. It's like they picked my brain for my favorite things. It's even more amazing I got into the Alpha and I'm able to get even more time with their great game.

Right now AirMech is still in Alpha, and if you are interested in registering an account in hopes of getting in the next round of testing please use my referral link: Sign up Here

yes, you saw these videos on Kotaku... I need a video camera... and a real gig... also deadlines... seriously it's been 4 weeks since PAX...

Starhawk, AirMech. Hell Yeah.
]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22520 PAX Prime 2011: The SONY Corner http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22433 Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:00:44 GMT I played each and every game at the SONY booths at PAX. Even the ones I wasn't all that interested in. Why? Shameless truth here: to get entered in a raffle. A raffle in which I won a Resistance graphic novel I might add, so it paid off I guess.

SONY brought Uncharted 3, Starhawk, Twisted Metal, Resistance 3, and Rachet & Clank All 4 One to the expo hall floor.

Uncharted 3: U3's booth was a theater modeled after an old timey aircraft hanger with an adjacent area for hands on with the multiplayer. Inside the theater attendees were demoed a section of the Uncharted 3's single player, where Drake tries to board the cargo plane. Lots of explosions, loud, lots of fun. The hands on multiplayer was a map I hadn't seen in the Uncharted 3 MP Beta. An Arabian looking ruin with a sandstorm that came in half way through the match and reduced visibility in the outside areas to a couple of feet. Overall, nothing that new or exciting, but I think if you need help making a decision on whether to buy Uncharted 3, you need to play Uncharted 2.



Starhawk: Simply a big circle of multiplayer stations, the Starhawk booth was all about getting hands on the gameplay and a try at build-and-battle. The third person over the shoulder view is closer then Warhawk's but doesn't impede. The ability to throw down walls, turrets, and vehicle spawns is neat, but I can't help wanting a "Classic" mode with build-and-battle disabled to recapture the feel of Warhawk. I'm not dismissing build-and-battle though. I'm sure a couple of hours under the belt and I'll wonder how I played around it. The RTS turtle in me is looking forward to building intensely fortified bases...

Resistance 3: The big Olly Moss designed logo dominated the play area. What was at PAX didn't seem any different then the R3 Beta that was on PSN. Truth be told, I'm not excited about Resistance 3. My excitement for single player left me while playing Resistance 2, and the multiplayer, while decent just doesn't grab me. That's just me though. It R3 is your bag, I'm sure you'll enjoy.



Ratchet & Clank All 4 One: Unlike the other booths, the R&C A4O area had couches. Sweet plush comfortable couches and and extra plush carpets. So that's a 1+ right there. Anyway it's R&C, it's 4 player. Look elsewhere for a diehard R&C fan, I barely acknowledge the series, but A4O is beyond decent, it's fun. If you've got a family or just seem to be the designated "hang out" place, A4O might be a good addition to your gaming library, assuming you've got 4 controllers of course.

Twisted Metal: The line for Twisted Metal wrapped around the booth. Apparently I'm not the only fan of crazy car combat. The PAX demo was a big multiplayer team match: Dolls vs. Clowns. My choice of vehicles wasn't exactly conductive to trying to remember the controls: Motorcycle, Big Rig with trailer, and Helicopter. If you enjoyed Twisted Metal Black, you'll enjoy this. The environments look great and are filled with tons of things to blow up, short cuts and just insane stuff to do jumps off of. The latex masks that were being handed out were definitely creepy.


]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22433 PAX Prime 2011: Gotham City Impostors and Lollipop Chainsaw http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22382 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:57:48 GMT *The WB Interactive Booth was a crazy spiral of lines. *Batman Arkham City, Bastion, Dungeons and... The WB Interactive Booth was a crazy spiral of lines. Batman Arkham City, Bastion, Dungeons and Dragons Online, some Harry Potter game, Gotham City Impostors and Lollipop Chainsaw.

I skipped the Arkham City lines because: Hey, I played Arkham Asylum and I know they're not going to intentionally screw up the sequel. All I knew of Gotham City Impostors (GCI) and Lollipop Chainsaw before PAX was that GCI looked like a knockoff TF2 with Batman, and Lollipop looked like a remake for the west of Oneechanbara. If you can't tell, the italics imply derision.



Lollipop Chainsaw is a lot like Oneechanbara, but not in a cheap budget title bad way, but an awesome rainbows and pom-poms way. The first thing I noticed was the rumble of the chainsaw. Every time you swing the chainsaw, you get a nice hit of feedback rumble that only increases when you're pulling off special moves with it. My favorite move has to be the bisection vertical slice, from crotch to crown that showers out gratuitous rainbows.

I really dig the way the game moves and can't wait to find out more about what the "Rock and Roll Lords" (What the booth person called them) have to do with the Zombie Outbreak. The humor seems on spot, James Gunn and Suda 51 are involved after all. Lollipop Chainsaw is definitely on my radar now, and hey and any game that gives out foam chainsaws at PAX can't be all bad.



Gotham City Impostors (GCI) was another surprise. Definitely not TF2 with Batman skins. Body type determines speed and health (And probably other stuff, but hey, I only knows what I was tolds), weapons and items are freely equip-able by all. I liked how items actually provided effects, the cape lets you glide, roller skates increase movement, the grappling hook grapples... Yes, it's a team based shooter. CTF, Control Point, and all the familiar modes will probably be in there. What makes this different from the hordes of other downloadable team based shooter clones, isn't the Batman-themed window dressing. It's that GCI is actually decent.

It looks nice, plays nice, and offers a fair deal of customization. I'd go as far to say that GCI could have stood on it's own without the Batman-theme. Though I'm sure someone in management would tell me; with an established IP to base it on, the game is guaranteed to sell at a certain level.
]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22382 PAX Prime 2011 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22364 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:46:51 GMT *Has it been a year already? *It seems like just yesterday I was getting over my 2010 Post-PAX... Has it been a year already? It seems like just yesterday I was getting over my 2010 Post-PAX depression and bug. And here I am again: tired, exhausted and hopefully not that sick.



I have to admit, this year wasn't really feeling "it." Sure, during the con I definitely felt the PAX spirit, but not that sugary sweet rush that leads to a Post-PAX crash. Maybe I've gotten jaded, maybe I've gotten older, or just maybe it was the dearth of swag and abundance of lines.

Sure, there has always been lines at PAX, but they just seemed to be everywhere this year. Of course it doesn't help they were mostly for closed off theater-type booths, and/or guided gameplay booths.

King of Lines? While the lines at the WB (Batman Arkham City, Gotham City Impostors, Lolipop Chainsaw, LOTR: Online), Capcom (Resident Evil, Street Figher, Street Fighter, STREET FIGHTER), and League of Legends booths certainly took up a lion share of aisle space, I feel that the wait for the folks checking out the offerings of Bethesda (Rage and Skyrim) and Bioware (Mass Effect 3 and SWTOR) deserve the crown.

Onlive and Firefall were the big sponsors of PAX 2011. Onlive giving away consoles (I picked up two!), and Firefall with possibly the largest floor space with the plushest carpet. I think Onlive went as far as to buy up the projector screens for the Queue room in the mornings since there were no line games and silly web videos this year.

I did win my share of raffles this year. From Sony, a Resistance Graphic Novel. From Newegg, a 1TB 7200rpm HDD. From the Escapist Panel, LoadingReadyRun Season 5 dvd signed by the panelists (My winning ticket: Dracula from Castlevania). My free copy of Borderlands 2 isn't exactly a prize, but I'm sure everyone at the Gearbox Panel felt like winners.

There will be more PAX blogs from me later this week. While I might not have the haul I've pulled in previous years, I'm still sorting swag and hope to have some codes to give out.

PAX 2011 Album
]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=22364 Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=21724 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 23:48:32 GMT *I am not a Castlevania fan by most definitions.* My Castlevania experience is limited to two... I am not a Castlevania fan by most definitions. My Castlevania experience is limited to two games: Symphony of the Night, which I’ve played and replayed possibly more than any other game save solitaire and the recent Lords of Shadow.



Lords of Shadow has been likened to a God of War clone. I can’t speak to that since I quit the original GOW and the GOW psp demo both about 10 minutes in. I liked and enjoyed most of Lords of Shadow, so let’s get the gimmies out of the way:

The story of LoS is a reboot of the Castlevania mythos and can be boiled down to Dead Wife Issues. The pacing is fairly quick and saves the game from being too long at the expense of the some of the characters and locales.

The standard combat is easy to grasp and rather enjoyable, the chain whip performs well in 3D and most of the combos, magic attacks and sub-weapons are useful and provide nice flourishes. The usage of mounts felt a bit excessive because of an unequal dispersion in the story. Puzzles in LoS are mostly skippable but you loose out on some XP which is a neat option.

Environmentally speaking, it’s steeped in rich gothic detail and no slouch on enemy design and variety. Some beasts are downright horrifying which makes killing them all the more pleasurable. Sound design is full and rich (chains sound like chains, giant killer werewolves sound like giant killer werewolves) and the music adds to the gothic atmosphere but lacks that X factor that turns good music into memorable music.


I really hated this part

The game would be pretty great overall if it wasn’t for the Titan boss battles. The battles follow the formula of stun, climb, bash away at the shiny part, and repeat until done. In writing this sounds pretty easy, but in the moment it can get hectic. The frustration during one Titan battle led me to quit playing LoS for 6 months. I don’t quit easily. And before I quit, I hit up gamefaqs. And I still died, and died, and the little help text would flash up telling me what to do, and I screamed at the game that that was what was getting me killed! I wised up and just looked up the fight on youtube when I started playing again. I was only able to grit my way through the last Titan with a guide and knowing I was that close to beating the damn game.

Where Lords of Shadow really shines is in the voice acting. The story is told on the motif of a book and having Patrick Stewart as the character Zobek narrating the beginning of each level lends the story weight and dignity. If you watched Stargate Universe you’ll recognize Robert Carlyle (Doctor Rush) as hero Gabriel Belmont. Carlyle gives Gabriel a heart heavy weariness and loss while striding forward with determination. I often commented that Dr. Rush seemed like he had Dead Wife Issues he did, along with handicapped girlfriend issues . All of the VA work is stellar and sells the story with aplomb.



Overall: $27-30 It’s a good single player game outside of my Titan experience but beyond beating the game and/or getting all the trophies/achievements there isn’t anything to come back to. The two DLC packs fill the details between the ending and the epilogue.



Sometimes I wonder; when Dr. Rush goes to sleep on Destiny does he dream of Lords of Shadow?
]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=21724 In which zenprime writes a doll blog http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=21358 Sun, 01 May 2011 05:17:31 GMT You drove me to this. It was alright before, I had an outlet. I could just peruse Chuplayer's doll blogs and I had no need to do it myself. I could be fine without it.

But you know what happened to them. And before I knew it, the need grew. And one day I just knew I had to have one. I have a doll now. Thanks guys. It's all your fault.


This is what you made me do

Not really. My mother gave it to me because she had doubles. She has a collection of Little Apple Dolls and mistakenly ebay'd one she already had.

It's kinda my fault she started collecting them. Creepy-cool white faced dolls with jet black hair coupled with gothic-lolita style, I knew it was right up her alley when I got her one for Mother's Day years ago.

The articulation is basic: arms move at the shoulder, legs move at the pelvis, head turns. Each of the dolls comes with an apple they can hold, pins to stick into the apple, some come with kubuki-esk masks, and a little book explaining it's story and it's relation to the other dolls and blah blah blah. The text is tiny and the story is probably all dark 'n edgy and crap, I could care less. I have a creepy cool doll now.



That's not a mask, this is apparently the only red doll in the series

I don't plan on buying any of these for myself at all in the future. Much too big and I'll be inheriting my mother's collection anyway. But I can't help feeling I've passed a tipping point though. I've read most of Rozen Maiden, skimmed the doll section at Hobby Link Japan more then trice, even thought real hard when a Volks Dollfie Dream Saber Lily was on sale for a ridiculous cheap price on Amazon way back when. Seriously... a ridiculous price.

I don't need another to thing to collect to go along with myriad toys, figures, and Gundam models I already restrain myself from buying at the drop of a hat.
]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=21358 Picked up the Helghast Sniper Figure http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20841 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:56:21 GMT *When the Playstation Blog* announced the Killzone 3 Helghast Edition would come with a half... When the Playstation Blog announced the Killzone 3 Helghast Edition would come with a half cloaked Helghast Sniper figure I knew a regular edition would come eventually.

Yesterday they announced that the first series containing the Helghast Sniper and the Assault Infantry were available. So today after work I headed down to my local comic shop to pick one up.


Please forgive all my crappy iTouch photos

He was pretty tough to get out of the packaging with the hidden twist-tie under the cloak and all that damn plastic in the way.

The sniper is jointed at the ankle, hips, waist, shoulder, biceps, elbows, and wrists. No neck or knee joints. Waist and hips joints are very stiff (Didn't realize the waist moved till I noticed the seam). The cloak is flexible and bendy front to back except for hood. All of the exposed surface is detailed as it should be, but areas obscured by the cloak and other flaps are plain underneath. He comes with the one weapon, the sniper's signature VC32 rifle.

In a perfect world, the Sniper would be as detailed, flexible and poseable as a Revoltech or S.H. Figuarts. But for a fan like me it's fine placeholder till we get better toys.



Bigger and bulkier, and certainly unflexabile next to a figma. But he's also that nice little reminder of all the hours I had fun playing "PING! Headshot" in Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 online. The sniper and his rifle is certain to get around for more cheesy photos with my toys.


]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20841 PAX 2010 Swag Code Give Away http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=16624 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 03:16:28 GMT Well there was more waiting for me today then I expected but it's here.

Coupon Codes
  • $5 off Direct2Drive, good until 9/30 Min $15 purchase - code: PAX
  • 15% off Astro Headsets on astrogaming.com - code: PAX15
  • 15% off select Rosewill items on newegg.com/PAX2010 - code: PAX2010RW15
  • $10 off on antec.com/store - code: ANTECVIP
  • Free website hosting for a year. AtlasNetworks.us/PAX2010 - code: PAX2010
Free Weapon code for Blacklight: Tango Down. Good for the XBLA or PC versions - code: E3F6crAS5u

Single Use Codes - First come first served!

25% off on Logitech.com - code: 4m4bidbyt
6 Free issues of CPU Magazine cpumag.com/6issue - code: 1680 (I don't know if this is single use or not)
Dungeons & Dragons Online Store 500 Points - code: QC34J7JPYXTAAJQNQWKQXTL9Y
Hawx2 PS3 Stars and Stripes Pack - code: F2P-6MXL-M8D7-DCA8-BFVW
God of War: Ghost of Sparta PSP Demo - code: LG66-LMBP-N9A9

League of Legends Limited Edition Skin for Champion Jax (I think it's CTS)
  • SAME2273DH4J3UYY
  • SZHEPE7E48DFC2BZ
OnLive (Expire 9/20)
  • Red Faction Guerrilla 50% off playpass - code: LJNQYTBN
  • 50% off any playpass, any game - code: ZNYMNPNE
Fallen Earth MMO Free 30 Day Keys - FallenEarth.com/SWAG
  • LKQVY-4CT3M-PELHF-D9WND
  • GXDJC-NC4K3-J7ZGU-NJE3Y
Lord of the Rings Online Store 500 free Turbine Points
  • 42FELKWXCFN2PFZLL7YLJAMTJ
  • 42J9FEZMLKA7924M7Z4XQD2EK
  • 427HYW9TWFFK7W3YZXN2R23WA
  • 42PD7TY4ACFJT4XPHHREJ2DC9

Beta Codes
Rift Beta Codes (www.riftgame.com/BetaSignup)
  • YCZTU5PQ7GHVVG6QYMCY
  • XM7PZG2VKEH889PSRQXT
  • UUHWUZCXKNJZASEVRHGA
  • XZMGY2EEBSDYE9EGVSJ2
  • HMMZNXCMTGMHYTZ2RP6M
End of Nations Beta Codes (www.endofnations.com/BetaSignup)
  • 9A6MTEVTV2F4NKKCSUT9
  • UWSSGEXT5EPFKKYGS8HF
  • FD7U8EPYNTCCJZECMK96
  • 4XKHQQFMGRMRUWDNHRSG
  • GB2BDZFFXEKS8M4HYXVE
  • ZMVQNJPWNAECJSGD6EYK
  • VBPSBAVXCRVQ3ZVADUMY
  • CPTA6EFFQGXQEJ5D7V8T
  • QH7UEXUAGCRZPTM9EUYH
What you've all been waiting for!

Prize Pack PA Game


Prize Pack SackBoy


I know you want these. But you can't have them both. But how do you win one? I'll be randomly selecting 1 winner for each prize pack from everyone who posts in the contest thread, just post which prize pack you want to win: PA Game or SackBoy. Here are the Rules:
  1. You can only enter to win 1 of the packs. Putting both names in your comment voids your entry.
  2. You can only post once. Additional post voids your entry.
  3. Contest runs from now, until 7:00PM Pacific 10:00PM Eastern on Friday September 17th, 2010.
  4. I'll randomly select the winners and PM them on Saturday September 18th.
Oh and to prevent whining later, all shirts are size Large. Good Luck to all.
]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=16624 PAX Prime 2010 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=16605 Mon, 13 Sep 2010 02:22:56 GMT *PAX 2010 was my third PAX*, my second time attending all 3 days, and second case of catching a... PAX 2010 was my third PAX, my second time attending all 3 days, and second case of catching a convention disease. I swear if it's not the exhaustion, it has to be all the subway I end up eating at PAX. Still 2010 was an amazing PAX: I saw more booths then ever, went to more panels, got a load of swag, and walked my ass off. Didn't find the time to have someone teach me D&D though.



This year on the expo floor Valve's Portal 2 had stiff competition for the King of Lines crown: Bioware's DragonAge 2, Bethesda's Brink, Warner Bros.' Mortal Kombat, and Gearbox's Duke Nukem Forever.

In the end I'd have to call it a three way tie between Portal 2, DragonAge 2 and Duke Nukem Forever simply because their booths were just about entirely closed off theaters. You could at least least see the game play of Brink and Mortal Kombat without wasting hours of precious PAX time in lines. This trend towards just using closed off theaters really bugs me. I hate not even being able to get a peak. It's like a barrier against entry for all but the diehard fans willing to give up the chance to try the hundreds of other things to do at PAX.

Since I avoid crazy long lines, I did get my chance at plenty of other things:
  • Hunted: The Demon's Forge - This looks really nice. A co-op fantasy hack and slash with a Elf archer and a Human solider. Watching their hand held shields break to pieces as they take damage is a nice touch.
  • Outland - This shooter-platformer hybrid is based on Ikaruga style gameplay with an art style that seems to reference Mayan designs.
  • Assassins Creed Brotherhood - More Assassin's Creed with a focus on multiplayer and story were you recruit and order your own band of Assassins.
  • Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 - LIMB DAMAGE! TFU2 looks like it's going to be great single player adventure.
  • TRON: Evolution - While the Wii versions look, well Wii-ish, the 360 and PS3 versions have really captured the look and style seen in the promos from the movie. Gameplay... ehh, don't expect much. What's really nice is the TRON controllers. They just look awesome in the dark.
  • Killzone 3 - Get your ass back to Helgan. The new jetpack is fun and good for more then just platforming. Larger squads for online multiplayer with the same level design attention towards vertical battles as well as horizontal that KZ2 had.
  • Fallout New Vegas - It's an improved Fallout 3. Any opinion, thoughts or insight you have about Fallout 3 applies to New Vegas.
  • End of Nations - A MMO RTS. I think what they're going for is to do for RTS what MAG did for FPS.
  • Dead Rising 2 - Zombies! Duct Tape! Capcom franchise wackiness! You already know if you like this.
  • Nexuiz - A Quake Arena style FPS with Unreal Tournament style mutators. While the production values are high, has a generic feel overall.
  • Gran Turismo 5 - It's everything you expect from GT5.
  • InFamous 2 - Old Cole is back! Graphics appear smoother, effects a bit shinier. Some new nasty swamp baddies to take down. Despite all they showed, they were also tight lipped on any real news.
  • PlayStation Move - Much improved from when I got my hands on it last year. The light gun attachment is really sweet looking. Didn't see any real killer apps for yet, but the one Move game I wanted to try: Sorcery, wasn't at PAX.
  • Microsoft Kinect - It's odd, to be sure, I only tried a couple of games and not having direct tactile feedback is unsettling. During some 2 player games I felt as if my motions weren't being registered. Dance Central though... Seriously popular. Ladies Love Dance Central. The Dance Central main stage and booths in the Kinect area always had a crowds.
  • NBA Jam - Most of the fun is in using the Wiimote during dunks. Didn't see the 360 or PS3 versions.
  • SpyParty - Holy crap even though it's still using placeholder assets it's an amazing concept in game form. I can hardly explain SpyParty myself, hell even seeing it played it's sorta hard to follow unless you RTFM.
  • Shibuya - I'm a sucker for quirky falling block games. The hook is assigning the colors to the falling blocks to set up combos. It's a $2 iOS game, and I bought it right after PAX. (Even though I was getting my first iPod when the new Touch came out later that week...)
  • Drumskulls - Use those plastic drum controllers to kill zombies! It's a idea, and hopefully will mature into a good game.
  • Firefall - There are always plenty of MMOs at PAX, but Firefall caught my eye because it was a shooter with switchable perspective (3rd and 1st), big mecha backpacks, and very colorful.
Last year I found myself with large amounts of downtime between the times the expo hall closed (6pm) and when the convention closed for the night (2am). This year I was scrambling for every free minute I had due to all the various panels that caught my interest.


  • X-Play Live was neat. The cast of X-Play sat down to tell some stories, answer some questions, and had Carmine hand over a check for Child's Play from the Carmine Lives/Must Die promotion.
  • InFamous 2 panel was largely about the prototyping and work on the Cole character pre-InFamous 1. We did get to see some new footage, and got more shirts.
  • LoadingReadyRun was packed. Last year their panel was pretty much a ghost town. Lots of laughs and a sneak peak at upcoming videos. I actually ran into Graham and Kathleen twice around PAX.
  • Pitch Your Game Idea - One of PAX's best panels. The joke ideas are so great that when someone pitches a serious idea it actually feels out of place.
  • Cannon Fodder - Stephen Totilo and N'Gai Croal present the list of the 10 best videogames ever and everyone has something to say about the choices folks in the industry make. I even made a passionate case for Homeworld's inclusion!
Beyond attending panels I also attended the Capcom Greene's Hardware Dead Rising 2 event on Friday night and the Sega community party at Gameworks on Saturday night. Capcom's Dead Rising 2 event was okay, it was pretty much an empty storefront they crammed full of misc. junk, some 360 demo stations and fed us pizza and soda.

The Sega event was really what I expect a nice community event to be like: They gave us run of Gameworks with free 2 hour game cards, set up buffets just about everywhere, and gave everyone 2 free drink tickets. There was neat silent raffle, though I didn't when any thing I did walk out with a spiffy Sega hoodie.



Even though Gameworks had plenty of distractions, I ended up spending my night in a back corner on the second floor handing out with the GamesRadar TalkRadar crew, Dam Amrich aka OneOfSwords from Activision, and a bunch of gamers who like free drinks. Everyone got on mic at least once. Bad stories and jokes were told. The TalkRadar Mac died, and we had to record another podcast. A nosebleed, spilled drinks, shouting, arguing, cheering, a Bayonetta cosplayer... I'm amazed SEGA didn't throw us all out halfway through the night.

Swag-wise, it seems there was less shirts this year (I still brought home a respectable amount and I'm keeping 7) but there was still a fair share of buttons, codes, flyers and sometimes even games being handed out. I do have to thank Symbiote Studios for the free Ninja Symbiote when I identified myself as a CAG (They have a CAG blog).



Overall it was a great PAX. I'm kinda sad I missed out on "Of Dice and Men," the Wil Wheaton panel (again!) and all of the PAX concerts but you can't see all of PAX without a time machine. If you have the chance to attend PAX Prime or PAX East: GO.


I know, you're dying to know just what I'm giving away this year. I have a small hill of codes and coupons to give out and I'll be doing that in my PAX 2010 giveaway blog which will be up later this evening/early next morning. You'll also have a chance to win a PAX Swag prize pack. Here's a sneak peek at both of them:




]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=16605 PAX Prime 2010 Last second Pre-PAX blog http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=16472 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:11:00 GMT


For the next 3 days I'm going to be PAXing my ever fucking head off. Besides breaking my feet on the Expo Hall floor, I'll be attending panels and events, and tweeting and twitpicing throughout the entire convention. I hope to get some micro blogs in here and there but no promises.

As always look for my Post-PAX blogs for all my impressions, pictures, and all the codes I bring back to share with CAG.

follow me on
]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=16472 Video Game Masochism: Final Fantasy XIII http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=16287 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:25:22 GMT Image: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c34/zenprime/CAG%20Blog/01_Final_Fantasy_XIII_Logo.jpg ...


Final Fantasy XIII. Yeah. To call it polarizing is like calling an iceberg cold. Doesn't do it justice. You can’t go into a discussion of FF13 without thinking about what’s been said; its gorgeous graphics, its linear path, its shallow story, and its dynamic battle system.

Did I like FF13? Nope. That isn’t the real question. The real question is why I sunk over 46 hours into beating a game I didn’t like. It wasn’t about trophies, or beating the bad guy, or even finding out if our brave heroes manage to save the day. I just had to be done with it as totally as I could.

Call it Video Game Masochism.

Why did I buy it? It was $20 new at Best Buy thanks to a Reward Zone deal. $20 for a game with such a stigma attached to it, I was curious. Could it live up to all the great reviews, and all the horrendous ones at the same time? Curiosity and cats, you know what they say.

Final Fantasy XIII is a Final Fantasy game stripped to the bone.

Most of the story actually takes place before the main action of the game, and is presented through largely non-playable flashbacks as you progress. It’s actually better explained by reading the datalog after each of the flashback events you just witnessed if you want to make heads or tails of what’s going on. The flashbacks are a necessity as they set the stage of the “just what the hell is going on” that game first drops you into.

The story itself is ill-suited for an RPG because it forces the elimination of the openness of a RPG. This unsuitable match of story and gametype is the very root of FF13’s problems. It necessitates that your characters remove themselves from ordinary RPG situations like traveling to towns and talking to npcs. Towns and NPCs flesh out a gameworld, their inane background chatter and sidequests root the world in its reality. What you’re left with is just about a one way dungeon crawl. I call it a dungeon crawl because without towns, without true side-quests, without people in general, all you do is hunker down and plod through. After awhile it feels claustrophobic. You just want to see it to open up, to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I had often read in reviews that about 2/3s of the way into FF13, the world opened up and there was a lot more to do. That opening up a huge map with some areas spiraling off of it. That lot more to do? Optional monster hunting missions. Yeah. Did I really want to spend another 10+ hours wrestling with the battle system while running down dead ends or circuitous paths for fun? Nope. Back on path, hunker down, pray it’s almost over.



The characters aren’t much to write home about. You’ve met them all before, I’m sure. Lightning, the main character is a gender flipped Cloud from FF7. But without FF7’s supporting cast and being a female in an RPG, she falls flat. Rule 151 of The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Clichés is especially apt:
Quote:
151. Gender Equality Addendum (Rynn Rule)
In the unlikely event that the main character of the game is female, she will not be involved in any romantic subplot whatsoever beyond getting hit on by shopkeepers.
Not that there any shopkeepers to talk too. Don't expect much here, and all the reveals are face-palming-ly obvious before they get to them.

The battle system is its own unique pile of headaches. There are 6 predefined roles (attacker, mage, healer, buffer, de-buffer, and damage sponge) each character can take, and before battle you set up formations essentially. Each formation defines what role which character will take, and during battle you switch on the fly between formations. You only have absolute control over a preselected character during these battles, and even then the auto battle option is usually the quickest and safest option for deciding what to do. If your ‘leader’ character dies, it’s game over. The teammate AI is at best decent. I found myself at several rage inducing deaths where I watched my designated healer top off the other teammate instead of saving the leader who had the lowest hit points. What’s just as worse are the area of effect spells and attacks. You have no control over where your characters are as they spin, dance and leap around the battlefield and watching them sit idly by as an obvious AOE spell targeted at one takes out everyone else in close proximity is beyond frustrating.

I must say, FF13 is the only game where I’ve ever played where I’ve come that close to throwing my controller in anger. And not over a mid boss, boss, or even the final bosses. It would be parties of regular mook enemies. Three or four of the same enemy would be just fine and easily dispatched, but add one more, and I’d find myself at game over time and time again. The battle system left me so frustrated at times, even late into the game, that I felt I didn’t understand how the game wanted me to play it, and I would wonder just how I gotten so far doing things so wrong.

During the story each of the characters learns a character specific summon. As you probably seen from the trailers, they can fight alongside you or be transformed into vehicles. They’re useless. Completely. You can easily beat the game without them. The damage they do isn’t noticeable as much better then what you already dish out, and you can only use the summon of the designated leader in a battle. It’s a dirty tease. The summons feel forced, only there to make the game more “Final Fantasy-ish.” The only time they and their frivolous transformations serve a purpose is during a FMV. If they weren’t really useless, the game did a poor job of explaining how to use them.



I’m not saying the game isn’t some sort of visual feast for the eyes. Yes there is plenty to see. And it looks glorious in HD. I just have to nitpick on the clothes. Neon piping on military uniforms? Soldiers who look like armored frogmen… at a rave? Is anyone else getting nostalgic for suits of armor and wizardly robes?

Overall the entire effort might have been conveyed better as a movie. And even then, you would still need to read the linear notes. I could go on for ages about my experience with FF13, but I lack the words to properly explain it all, or at least the money to hash it all out over drinks with all of you. ]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=16287 Playstation Move Event Seattle http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=13857 Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:55:59 GMT On Thursday night I attended the Sony PlayStation Move event in Seattle. Held in the Sole Repair... On Thursday night I attended the Sony PlayStation Move event in Seattle. Held in the Sole Repair Shop in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. There were plenty of people in attendance wanting to get their chance to try the PlayStation Move. We reached capacity early on and there was a good share of folks waiting to take the place of anyone who decided to leave early, even those looking to take a smoke break.

Just a word of warning, these aren't the best of pictures: a dark bar, a new cameraphone and an old point and shoot do not the best pictures make.


Sony had six PS3 slim stations up showing off 4 upcoming PlayStation Move games: Slider*(PSN), Motion Fighter*(BD), Sports Champions (BD) and Move Party (BD) as well Move tech demos.
*I was informed these are still working titles.

The PlayStation Move controller feels solid and light in the hand, I didn't feel any tendency for it to slip out. The sphere on the end which changes colors to aid motion tracking surprisingly isn't rigid, but soft and easily squish-able.


The PlayStation Move tech demos where basic; augmented reality, moving objects in 3D, painting, 3d object sculpting and what I can only describe as a clockwork marionette. The tech demos were incredibly responsive, showing off the ability to not only track two Move controllers at once, but also head tracking and still receive input beyond the range of the PlayStation Eye camera. In some of the demos the glowing sphere at the end of the controller would be replaced with whatever you were manipulating on screen, making it seem you were really flailing around a paddle, sword or paintbrush instead of a controller.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get hands on with Move Party or Sports Champions, but from what I saw they were Move versions of familiar Wii standards. The minigames from Move Party that were shown were bug swatting, painting specific shapes and cutting and styling hair. For Sports Champions I saw table tennis.


I did get to try Slider and Motion Fighter. The best way to describe Slider would be to call it downhill slalom in Tokyo on an office chair. It has a quirky sense of humor and was fun but a bit difficult to play (more on this in a bit). There are two characters: a glasses wearing detective and a secretary who has a resemblance to Chun-li.


Motion Fighter is backstreet boxing game. It utilizes two PlayStation Move controlers to pound your opponent unconscious. It was a great looking game despite being pre-alpha code and only 20% complete. The actual moves where easy to pull off and only I really had difficulty trying to headbutt my opponent. While head tracking wasn't active in this game (or any other I tried) the developer showcasing Motion Fighter told me it was in the works for this game so you could duck and escape punches without using the controllers at all.

The only real negative I noticed while playing Slider and Motion Fighter was the lag. The devs were honest about it and said it was an issue they were well informed of and were still working on. I was told the lag isn't a hardware issue with the PlayStation Move but a software one. The tech demos were lag free so by the time I see it again at PAX Prime hopefully the games will be too.

Overall it was a great event. I had fun chatting with people there and getting a chance to speak to the devs and try out their games. I really enjoyed Motion Fighter. Of course the free food and open bar were greatly appreciated. Copies of MLB 10 the Show for PS3 and PSP, rare Mod Nation Racers Hats and a special Mod Nation Racers PS3 Slim with a 120gb HDD were raffled off to the crowd. While I didn't win anything, I was among the first 100 there and received a PlayStation Move t-shirt.


I love going to PlayStation events and always recommend that if there is one within driving distance of where you live you should try to go. ]]> zenprime http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=13857