It's not every day I get to play a wii game for any length of time, so I figured write ups for Dante and Bioshock could wait a day or two. Almost out of the blue, I was invited to a Tatsunoko vs Capcom tournament at a friend of a friends house, and as a result came into contact with the game having missed out entirely on the bias the gamer web inevitably provides on a game. The result was pleasant, to say the least. Far less tournament than semi-organized get together hinged on a fighting game, I was allowed ample time to play and observe the game being played without the hostile environment true competition usually demands.
In the same vein as Capcom's previous efforts with Marvel, TvC is a totally over the top look at a make believe conflict between martial artists, super heroes, giant robots, succubi, samurai and even a photo journalist. If the game has a plot I don't know it because we only played vs mode, but there is no post fight dialogue, and the instruction booklet includes only basic bios. The games introduction is similarly vague, presenting a bright and colorful mashup of all the characters shouting and posing in front of starburst and hyperspace backgrounds to an infectuous j-pop rhythm that haunts you long after you're done listening to it but little else. This sort of presentation permeats the entire product, with characters flashing and glowing and shouting and posing before even the most simplistic of actions. This manifests most comically in the games combo counter, which often reports a two to three hit combo of jabs has delivered something on the order of 4.76 billion damage.
The gameplay takes a similar "less is more" attitude towards execution with few characters having to execute more than a qcf or dp to accomplish any of their moves. If your character does have a more complex notation in their movelist, its probably some situationally specific or otherwise overpowered technique that they just don't want you whipping out at the drop of a dragon punch motion (i'm looking at you Karas). The knee jerk impression is that the whole game is some sort of MvC2 light because of the big VS in the title, but its far more kin to Rival Schools. That is to say, besides super jumps and dashes, the combat never gets truly bonkers until somebody expels some super meter. There's tagging, partner assists, air combos, and a guilty gear style combo breaker, but its all very low rent in terms of raw devastation.
The super moves, on the other hand, take center stage at all times. Coming in level one and three variations, your single objective in battle is landing any other move and linking it into a super, and then doing it again, and again. Because a great many of them are single hit all or nothing type affairs and even less are safe on block, very few of them have true fire and forget use. If you want to win, you need to learn some combos. The good news is, with the exception of a select few everyone in the game can do a basic weak to hard chain into a super. Once you get that down you can start styling it up with assists to pressure, or mid combo partner swaps, or even Baroque cancelled juggle strings, but none of those mean anything when your opponent pulls a lvl3 combo off a jab and takes 75% of your life away.
Not to say that's a bad thing. There's really no way to highlight the hyper cinematic nature of the Tatsunoko guys combat repetoires without laying it all on bodacious super moves. Projectiles and sword slashes are one thing, but if you want Gold Lightan to pull out somebody's soul and still call it balanced it has to be a glorified cinema. Then once you've got the giant zippo lighter pulling out souls, it only makes sense to have the little maid robot mopping up tsunami sized tidal waves and the vampire firing homing missiles from her wings. And lets be honest, isn't that the sort of absurdity a crossover game like this needs?
In short, TvC is not going to light your world on fire unless you've never played one of Capcom's Marvel games and you have a penchant for 20 year old japanese cartoons. As much of a japanophile as I once was, I can still only say with confidence that I knew maybe half of the Tatsunoko cast. Similarily, the Capcom side is full of guys who aren't exactly classics (The guy from the crappy Onimusha?) or even traditional fighter fare (PTX). But that shouldn't scare you away from it, especially if you own a Wii and love fighting games because there aren't a lot of other options. Extra content wise, the game doesn't seem like it offers a whole lot besides providing a vehicle for these characters to beat the snot out of each other, but that alone should keep you entertained for quite a while.
-F.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
PSN vs XBOX Live!
No, no, no, its not that kind of post, this actually has NOTHING to do with online multiplayer. This is my shout out to the masses , to air my complaints about the PSN. I, for once, have some extra cheddar in my pocket and I figured I've thrown so much money at Microsoft and none at Sony that its time to give the PSN a shot. So I power up, sign in , and start browsing.
I go through some of the newer games, but I see theres only a text description; so I back track and go to some games put up a few months ago......same thing. Just to be sure I wasnt completely "dense and retarded" I went into the PSOne classics section, still just text descriptions. Granted there is box art for the various titles but thats it, no screen shots, no trailers, not even a link to a demo (thats in a separate section.) Now if Sony can rip off the Achievement system with trophies, can't they at least steal some ideas from the market place?
Now don't get me wrong, the actual layout of the PSN Marketplace is *MUCH* better then the one on live! but when you get to a game on the live marketplace there are links to download the full version, download the demo, screen shots, down load additional content, and when available trailers! The one thing I love other then the basic layout of the PSN is things cost $4.99 not 400 "points" The Wii uses points as well, but points are a penny a piece so its forgivable.
So After 45 minutes of going through the PSN store, finding a name and description that didnt seem toooooooo stupid, I'd go to google and IGN and look up some info, and move on. And after 45 minutes was up , I decided to write this in leui of buying aything.
For the few of you out there who havent seen both, here are some pix, I picked Iron Man because I watched the movie again the other day and I knew it was on both systems. Please note Iron man DOES NOT SHOW UP IN THE GAME LIST ON PSN, ONLY THE DEMO SECTION /screaming.
So which one looks like it provides more content and info for the selected game?
Also, despite my recent PS3 game play time Sony says I still have ZERO trophies /wrists
~Malenko aka LLiNRAC
I go through some of the newer games, but I see theres only a text description; so I back track and go to some games put up a few months ago......same thing. Just to be sure I wasnt completely "dense and retarded" I went into the PSOne classics section, still just text descriptions. Granted there is box art for the various titles but thats it, no screen shots, no trailers, not even a link to a demo (thats in a separate section.) Now if Sony can rip off the Achievement system with trophies, can't they at least steal some ideas from the market place?
Now don't get me wrong, the actual layout of the PSN Marketplace is *MUCH* better then the one on live! but when you get to a game on the live marketplace there are links to download the full version, download the demo, screen shots, down load additional content, and when available trailers! The one thing I love other then the basic layout of the PSN is things cost $4.99 not 400 "points" The Wii uses points as well, but points are a penny a piece so its forgivable.
So After 45 minutes of going through the PSN store, finding a name and description that didnt seem toooooooo stupid, I'd go to google and IGN and look up some info, and move on. And after 45 minutes was up , I decided to write this in leui of buying aything.
For the few of you out there who havent seen both, here are some pix, I picked Iron Man because I watched the movie again the other day and I knew it was on both systems. Please note Iron man DOES NOT SHOW UP IN THE GAME LIST ON PSN, ONLY THE DEMO SECTION /screaming.
So which one looks like it provides more content and info for the selected game?
Also, despite my recent PS3 game play time Sony says I still have ZERO trophies /wrists
~Malenko aka LLiNRAC
Monday, February 8, 2010
Games I might actually buy
I figured on this, the eve of my first video game purchase of the year, I would take a look at what games have actually earned the right to my 60 dollars a pop, and why. This way, at the end of the year I can look back and reflect on what I actually thought I wanted to play, and what I did. You see, for the longest time (all my life) I've been a horrible hoarder of video games, burning countless dollars on games I only enjoyed for a week, a month, and in some cases not at all. About 6 months ago a friend of mine turned me on to Gamefly, and I've never looked back. Post Gamefly subscription, I've bought only 4 games, Bionic Commando, Batman, Tekken, and something else I'm not remembering. Point is, in the 2k10 the increasingly crooked publishers are gonna have to earn my $60 so lets see whose already won my heart.
We can start with the sure things, which are mostly sequels to games that have earned a place in my heart, in order of awesome.
Bioshock 2 - Undoubtedly purchased tomorrow, Bioshock 1 was hands down one of the greatest shooters I've ever played. The new one promises a continued single plot in a setting I love and multiplayer with a plot and advancement options. That is not to say they couldn't blow it spectacularly, but if they don't? Whoo wee.
Batman Arkham Asylum 2 - If it wasn't the best game of last year, Batman certainly was the most suprisingly good game of last year. Why? Well, because batman games suck. Superhero games suck. Somehow Batman Arkham Asylum was a good game, and it was a good batman game, and it had replay value, and it was by a relative unknown. Seriously, Rocksteady could make a game about ponies and I would give it a shot. I still play Arkham 1 to this day, their next trip back to the nut house is a sure buy.
Fallout: New Vegas - Like Arkham, the Fallout followup gets a bye. Not so much because Fallout 3 was so just that awesome (even though it was), I am just a titantic Fallout fanboy. As long as they don't do anything cripplingly stupid with the premise, this is a guaranteed win.
Crackdown 2 - The legends say Crackdown 1 got a raw deal because it got packaged with the Halo 3 multiplayer demo, but I came to the Xbox 360 party late and hate Halo, so all I know is that Crackdown is a horribly shortsighted and awesome game. Even with a new and unproved development studio, more orb hunting, and a stupid mutant zombie plot, CD2 promises more super powered roof top hijinx, structured missions, and four player co-op. What could possibly go wrong?
Dead Rising 2 - Crackdown 2 and Dead Rising 2 are pretty much in the same boat, each were early exclusives in the 360's life, each one presented some new concepts that turned sandbox gaming on its ass, and each one is getting a sequel shoved out this year from a new staff. The difference is, Crackdown had almost nothing but room for improvement, Dead Rising however has a lot more to lose. Its almost guaranteed they are going to "fix" the save mechanic because current generation gamers just can't handle it, and the multiplayer is certainly not going in the direction I'd like it to, but they're promising weapon combination on the fly like motorcycles mounted with chainsaws, so there's going to be some gold to be mined for sure.
And in the runner up category;
Alan Wake - This game looks like everything Alone in the Dark wanted to be, which would be a pretty fantastic deal if they got it right. I'm a sucker for cerebral games, brain over brawn and all that. But the track record is not good. Not since the death of Sierra.
Split Second - Every once in a while a racing game comes along that isn't exactly the same as every other racing game out there. Split Second may be the one. Or it may be as boring as the later burnouts. We'll see.
-F.
We can start with the sure things, which are mostly sequels to games that have earned a place in my heart, in order of awesome.
Bioshock 2 - Undoubtedly purchased tomorrow, Bioshock 1 was hands down one of the greatest shooters I've ever played. The new one promises a continued single plot in a setting I love and multiplayer with a plot and advancement options. That is not to say they couldn't blow it spectacularly, but if they don't? Whoo wee.
Batman Arkham Asylum 2 - If it wasn't the best game of last year, Batman certainly was the most suprisingly good game of last year. Why? Well, because batman games suck. Superhero games suck. Somehow Batman Arkham Asylum was a good game, and it was a good batman game, and it had replay value, and it was by a relative unknown. Seriously, Rocksteady could make a game about ponies and I would give it a shot. I still play Arkham 1 to this day, their next trip back to the nut house is a sure buy.
Fallout: New Vegas - Like Arkham, the Fallout followup gets a bye. Not so much because Fallout 3 was so just that awesome (even though it was), I am just a titantic Fallout fanboy. As long as they don't do anything cripplingly stupid with the premise, this is a guaranteed win.
Crackdown 2 - The legends say Crackdown 1 got a raw deal because it got packaged with the Halo 3 multiplayer demo, but I came to the Xbox 360 party late and hate Halo, so all I know is that Crackdown is a horribly shortsighted and awesome game. Even with a new and unproved development studio, more orb hunting, and a stupid mutant zombie plot, CD2 promises more super powered roof top hijinx, structured missions, and four player co-op. What could possibly go wrong?
Dead Rising 2 - Crackdown 2 and Dead Rising 2 are pretty much in the same boat, each were early exclusives in the 360's life, each one presented some new concepts that turned sandbox gaming on its ass, and each one is getting a sequel shoved out this year from a new staff. The difference is, Crackdown had almost nothing but room for improvement, Dead Rising however has a lot more to lose. Its almost guaranteed they are going to "fix" the save mechanic because current generation gamers just can't handle it, and the multiplayer is certainly not going in the direction I'd like it to, but they're promising weapon combination on the fly like motorcycles mounted with chainsaws, so there's going to be some gold to be mined for sure.
And in the runner up category;
Alan Wake - This game looks like everything Alone in the Dark wanted to be, which would be a pretty fantastic deal if they got it right. I'm a sucker for cerebral games, brain over brawn and all that. But the track record is not good. Not since the death of Sierra.
Split Second - Every once in a while a racing game comes along that isn't exactly the same as every other racing game out there. Split Second may be the one. Or it may be as boring as the later burnouts. We'll see.
-F.
Friday, February 5, 2010
"Trouble In Your Digital World?" The No More Heroes 2 Review
About 4 hours into No More Heroes 2, one realizes that this is more than a game, it's a parody of gaming itself. It's not quite as blatant as last summer's Matt Hazard game, but it's there, and it's hilarious.
Again, the player is thrust into the persona of Travis Touchdown, former reigning champion of the United Assassins' Association and resident of Santa Destroy California. However, it's three years later, Travis has lost his rank, and his best friend from the first game and he's ready to do some killing.
The game plays like the original. The player tilts the remote up or down for either high or low attacks. The A button is then pressed to swing the beam katana. This is nice because the player is not left swinging the Wii remote around the with reckless abandon, breaking furniture and maiming spouses. The B button kicks and initiates grappling moves. The analog stick on the nunchuck guides Travis and the Z button locks on to enemies. It's easily the smoothest, most accurately controlled game for Wii.
There are some fundamental difference between NMH 1 and 2. The driving segments are gone now, replaced with a might handy map that lets Travis skip to places of interest. This works very well, as the actual driving in the first one never really contributed to the plot (except for a few key missions) and just took time away from fighting. The job missions are back, but this time, they're all played as 8-bit video games. (The sound of Travis blowing into a cartridge can be heard before Travis starts one of these missions). As you climb the ladder of the U.A.A. again, this time you can be challenged from below. This brings a really interesting dynamic to the game. In the first of these fights, you face off against a school girl who has a crush on Travis. I don't want to give too much away, but it involved deadly bubbles, a two sided beam katana that shoots out of a recorder, and some really really really bad poetry. Needless to say, while making the plot slightly more serious, the game still keeps its sense of humor in tact.
The video game parodies itself and the genre constantly. Aside from the 8-bit mini games, giant chainsaw wielding guys ask "Trouble in your digital world?" sympathetically before taking a big swing at Travis. Travis himself can play a video game on his TV called Bizarre Jerry 5 where scantily dressed anime girls shoot at aliens 1942 style. There's an intro movie for Bizarre Jerry that intentionally makes no sense whatsoever, and by doing this delivers a lot of laughs. In his first interaction with Sylvia (his "love" interest from the first game), Travis and she argue about plot and continuity. Travis of course wants the audience to know what's gone on over the last three years, while Sylvia maintains that most of the audience is playing this as a stand alone game and could care less about what happened in the first game. One thing is certain though, in the three years since NMH 1, Travis's cat Jeanne has gotten fat. Morbidly obese fat. There are a series of mini games that help the cat exercise and lose weight. Could this be a dig at the Wii fit?
No More Heroes 2 does comedy well but also, strangely enough, walks the tightrope into dramatic territory. Moody cinematics of Sylvia explaining the plot between missions set a great tone for game. The music in these scenes recall shades of Angelo Badalamenti's dark score from the old TV show Twin Peaks. Travis conveys his feelings of loss in a quote the both sums up his dark emotions and the silliness of the whole affair: "Everyone deals with grief differently, Some people fuck at funerals, I cut heads off."
Again, the player is thrust into the persona of Travis Touchdown, former reigning champion of the United Assassins' Association and resident of Santa Destroy California. However, it's three years later, Travis has lost his rank, and his best friend from the first game and he's ready to do some killing.
The game plays like the original. The player tilts the remote up or down for either high or low attacks. The A button is then pressed to swing the beam katana. This is nice because the player is not left swinging the Wii remote around the with reckless abandon, breaking furniture and maiming spouses. The B button kicks and initiates grappling moves. The analog stick on the nunchuck guides Travis and the Z button locks on to enemies. It's easily the smoothest, most accurately controlled game for Wii.
There are some fundamental difference between NMH 1 and 2. The driving segments are gone now, replaced with a might handy map that lets Travis skip to places of interest. This works very well, as the actual driving in the first one never really contributed to the plot (except for a few key missions) and just took time away from fighting. The job missions are back, but this time, they're all played as 8-bit video games. (The sound of Travis blowing into a cartridge can be heard before Travis starts one of these missions). As you climb the ladder of the U.A.A. again, this time you can be challenged from below. This brings a really interesting dynamic to the game. In the first of these fights, you face off against a school girl who has a crush on Travis. I don't want to give too much away, but it involved deadly bubbles, a two sided beam katana that shoots out of a recorder, and some really really really bad poetry. Needless to say, while making the plot slightly more serious, the game still keeps its sense of humor in tact.
The video game parodies itself and the genre constantly. Aside from the 8-bit mini games, giant chainsaw wielding guys ask "Trouble in your digital world?" sympathetically before taking a big swing at Travis. Travis himself can play a video game on his TV called Bizarre Jerry 5 where scantily dressed anime girls shoot at aliens 1942 style. There's an intro movie for Bizarre Jerry that intentionally makes no sense whatsoever, and by doing this delivers a lot of laughs. In his first interaction with Sylvia (his "love" interest from the first game), Travis and she argue about plot and continuity. Travis of course wants the audience to know what's gone on over the last three years, while Sylvia maintains that most of the audience is playing this as a stand alone game and could care less about what happened in the first game. One thing is certain though, in the three years since NMH 1, Travis's cat Jeanne has gotten fat. Morbidly obese fat. There are a series of mini games that help the cat exercise and lose weight. Could this be a dig at the Wii fit?
No More Heroes 2 does comedy well but also, strangely enough, walks the tightrope into dramatic territory. Moody cinematics of Sylvia explaining the plot between missions set a great tone for game. The music in these scenes recall shades of Angelo Badalamenti's dark score from the old TV show Twin Peaks. Travis conveys his feelings of loss in a quote the both sums up his dark emotions and the silliness of the whole affair: "Everyone deals with grief differently, Some people fuck at funerals, I cut heads off."
Thursday, February 4, 2010
First Impressions: Bayonetta
So, it stands to reason that Hideki Kamiya (the father of Devil May Cry) saw what Capcom did with Devil May Cry 4 (or any of them since the original, if you think about it) and decided he knew what was best for that style of game. Lots of people have tried to "fix" dmc before. More weapons, higher combo counts, bigger monsters, you name it. Bayonetta, at first glance anyway, matches all those bets and raises them one gigantic dose of sex appeal.
You see, in the few hours I've had with the game I have pummelled scores of enemies with fists and feet, blasted them apart with pistols and shotguns (somehow) attached to my appendages and even summoned gigantic hair-dog demons to do my bidding but despite the spectacle of it all, it all feels very secondary to the sexy. Cinematically she subdues enemies with leg locked face rides, boob grazes, and spread eagle gunshots, then in gameplay she gets more naked with each combo hit, the final blow often delivered entirely in the nude. She switches her heels with every flick of the analog stick, blows seductive kisses at magical barriers, and kicks her foes right in the balls before strapping them into gigantic iron maidens and guillotines. And that's just within the first three missions.
I'm not some catholic prude or asexual misanthrope who will never know a woman's touch. I've long awaited the day my many perversions and my long term hobby would join forces against the boredom monster (See: Onechanbara), but Bayonetta just goes about it all wrong. Its one thing to just slap an unrealistic set of assets on your heroine (every female lead since Lara Croft), or throw misguided innuendo into an otherwise unrelated affair (GoW, GTA), or even try to pass off a shoddy half developed game as a sexual experience (rrxx, doax), those things are fairly typical these days. Yet no matter how good I feel about tearing bosses in two, finding well hidden secrets, and unleashing new combo strats in Bayonetta, I have to roll my eyes while she strokes her guns across her face, or makes some glib remark about enemies wanting to touch her.
Maybe this would work a lot better if Bayonetta herself didn't look so unattractively ridiculous, even better if there was a plot / premise reason to her acting like a hardass one second and a hoebag the next. Like, if there's a flashback coming up that just says she had to spend the dark ages casting spells on gentlemen in whorehouses, or that being sexy somehow gives her power I'll be fine, but she's decended from a coven of witches who dressed in nothing but habits and hung out in hidden temples. Every other character in the game is conservative and straight laced (to a point), even her evil twin rival sister whatever character (who happens to be a tall leggy blonde), so why is Bayonetta all throwing off her clothes and firing guns between her legs all the time? Is it because she's the ugly sister? Did daddy like her best? So frustrating.
Still, I can't argue gameplay wise that its a perfectly valid member of the DMC wannabe family and its clear Kamiya has a better understanding of it's genetic make up than most. Last night I unlocked a totally unexpected katana to bolster the already over-abundant array of killing techniques, and with all the question marks and things left to kill, it seems like the game is just chock full of content. I just wish I didn't have to wade through so much ineffective sexuality to get to it.
-F.
You see, in the few hours I've had with the game I have pummelled scores of enemies with fists and feet, blasted them apart with pistols and shotguns (somehow) attached to my appendages and even summoned gigantic hair-dog demons to do my bidding but despite the spectacle of it all, it all feels very secondary to the sexy. Cinematically she subdues enemies with leg locked face rides, boob grazes, and spread eagle gunshots, then in gameplay she gets more naked with each combo hit, the final blow often delivered entirely in the nude. She switches her heels with every flick of the analog stick, blows seductive kisses at magical barriers, and kicks her foes right in the balls before strapping them into gigantic iron maidens and guillotines. And that's just within the first three missions.
I'm not some catholic prude or asexual misanthrope who will never know a woman's touch. I've long awaited the day my many perversions and my long term hobby would join forces against the boredom monster (See: Onechanbara), but Bayonetta just goes about it all wrong. Its one thing to just slap an unrealistic set of assets on your heroine (every female lead since Lara Croft), or throw misguided innuendo into an otherwise unrelated affair (GoW, GTA), or even try to pass off a shoddy half developed game as a sexual experience (rrxx, doax), those things are fairly typical these days. Yet no matter how good I feel about tearing bosses in two, finding well hidden secrets, and unleashing new combo strats in Bayonetta, I have to roll my eyes while she strokes her guns across her face, or makes some glib remark about enemies wanting to touch her.
Maybe this would work a lot better if Bayonetta herself didn't look so unattractively ridiculous, even better if there was a plot / premise reason to her acting like a hardass one second and a hoebag the next. Like, if there's a flashback coming up that just says she had to spend the dark ages casting spells on gentlemen in whorehouses, or that being sexy somehow gives her power I'll be fine, but she's decended from a coven of witches who dressed in nothing but habits and hung out in hidden temples. Every other character in the game is conservative and straight laced (to a point), even her evil twin rival sister whatever character (who happens to be a tall leggy blonde), so why is Bayonetta all throwing off her clothes and firing guns between her legs all the time? Is it because she's the ugly sister? Did daddy like her best? So frustrating.
Still, I can't argue gameplay wise that its a perfectly valid member of the DMC wannabe family and its clear Kamiya has a better understanding of it's genetic make up than most. Last night I unlocked a totally unexpected katana to bolster the already over-abundant array of killing techniques, and with all the question marks and things left to kill, it seems like the game is just chock full of content. I just wish I didn't have to wade through so much ineffective sexuality to get to it.
-F.
God Of War III The Demo
Last night I got my hands on the God Of War III demo for the PS3. Here's a quick rundown of what happens in it.
It opens with the familiar GoW title screen: a close up of Kratos's face looking angry as ever. If the title screen sits for a while, he'll bare his teeth and growl. Kratos does not appreciate waiting to kill. There's only one option on the screen: Start Demo.
So I press start and immediately Kratos fighting 5 guys at once. Of course, they're not very tough. The first new move noticed is Kratos's battering ram move. He can pick up an enemy and run him into all of the other ones. I'd be lying if i told you it wasn't extremely fun.
Then it's on to platforming. Kratos can now grab a harpy and have it fly him over to distant platforms. Kratos tips the harpy by stabbing it about five times during the trip. Yikes. After that We get treated to another great outside fight scene with a giant character destroying a city a la God Of War I. Instead of Ares, this time it's a titan that may be Atlas from GoW II. He's getting hassled by Helios, the sun god, and his flaming chariot. Before he can be helped, Kratos has to take out some more sword wielding bad guys and a centaur. No problem.
Kratos runs up the ramp to help Atlas, but there's another problem, the first new villain we get to see from God Of War III: The Chimera. This monster has the body of a lion with goat head above the lion's head, and a snake for a tail. Oh, and if combining three vicious animals (yes goats are vicious, anyone who's been to a petting and is unfortunate enough to be holding feed in the vicinity of one knows this) isn't enough, the Chimera blows fire. The monster is about as big as a standard minotaur from the GoW series. This fight is split in to three segments. First the snake is cut off. Then the Lion's body is stabbed in the chest. After that, Kratos rips off a horn and stabs it through the head. If anything, Kratos is thorough.
After this, Kratos shoots Helios with a nearby harpoon gun. The titan catches him and crushes him. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get fight Helios, but oh well. Kratos then catches a ride on a harpy and beats up some more low level thugs. He then runs through a building and kills more goons. (This is where the battering ram is formally introduced). There's also some more ledge hanging and creeping. Kratos can speed a long ledges by moving the right analog stick in the same direction as the left. That's very helpful actually. We pass a guy who laments about his lost possessions. He'd probably lament about his crushed skull too, but Kratos throws him off the side of his house very quickly. That's just the way Kratos takes care of business.
After this Kratos lands on a veranda with a very very beat up Helios on the ground. Consider my earlier disappointment gone.
It's not going to be simple though. A group of guys with shields and spears surround Helios. Think 300. And then some sword guys and a Cyclops drop in for a big fight. The cyclops is subdued much easier than expected. Then Kratos gets to ride around him and crush the remaining swordsmen and the shield dome over Helios. The sun god is now prone. Kratos walks over which initiates a mini game that starts with a neck snapping, keeps the pace steady with some head pounding and ends with Helios's head being messily liberated from his shoulders.
This leads to the first new tool in Kratos's God of War III arsenal: The Helios Head. It shines like the Medusa head, but instead of turning enemies into stone, it reveals secret hidden doors. To use the head, the player has to push L2 and R1 at the same, an odd button combination, but I imagine I'll get used to it. Helios's head immediately reveals a hidden door. After going through the door there's a vent of air that uses the Icarus wings from GoW II. Kratos then flies through a maze wood framing avoiding fireballs. It's intense. Even more intense is the way the demo ends.
Once Kratos gets to the top of the vent, we see Atlas again. But Kratos lunges at him like he's about to attack. The screen then goes black. Has Kratos turned on the Titans? Has he struck a secret deal with the Olympians? Or, in typical Kratos fashion, is he just going to kill everyone?
I'm betting on the last option.
It opens with the familiar GoW title screen: a close up of Kratos's face looking angry as ever. If the title screen sits for a while, he'll bare his teeth and growl. Kratos does not appreciate waiting to kill. There's only one option on the screen: Start Demo.
So I press start and immediately Kratos fighting 5 guys at once. Of course, they're not very tough. The first new move noticed is Kratos's battering ram move. He can pick up an enemy and run him into all of the other ones. I'd be lying if i told you it wasn't extremely fun.
Then it's on to platforming. Kratos can now grab a harpy and have it fly him over to distant platforms. Kratos tips the harpy by stabbing it about five times during the trip. Yikes. After that We get treated to another great outside fight scene with a giant character destroying a city a la God Of War I. Instead of Ares, this time it's a titan that may be Atlas from GoW II. He's getting hassled by Helios, the sun god, and his flaming chariot. Before he can be helped, Kratos has to take out some more sword wielding bad guys and a centaur. No problem.
Kratos runs up the ramp to help Atlas, but there's another problem, the first new villain we get to see from God Of War III: The Chimera. This monster has the body of a lion with goat head above the lion's head, and a snake for a tail. Oh, and if combining three vicious animals (yes goats are vicious, anyone who's been to a petting and is unfortunate enough to be holding feed in the vicinity of one knows this) isn't enough, the Chimera blows fire. The monster is about as big as a standard minotaur from the GoW series. This fight is split in to three segments. First the snake is cut off. Then the Lion's body is stabbed in the chest. After that, Kratos rips off a horn and stabs it through the head. If anything, Kratos is thorough.
After this, Kratos shoots Helios with a nearby harpoon gun. The titan catches him and crushes him. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get fight Helios, but oh well. Kratos then catches a ride on a harpy and beats up some more low level thugs. He then runs through a building and kills more goons. (This is where the battering ram is formally introduced). There's also some more ledge hanging and creeping. Kratos can speed a long ledges by moving the right analog stick in the same direction as the left. That's very helpful actually. We pass a guy who laments about his lost possessions. He'd probably lament about his crushed skull too, but Kratos throws him off the side of his house very quickly. That's just the way Kratos takes care of business.
After this Kratos lands on a veranda with a very very beat up Helios on the ground. Consider my earlier disappointment gone.
It's not going to be simple though. A group of guys with shields and spears surround Helios. Think 300. And then some sword guys and a Cyclops drop in for a big fight. The cyclops is subdued much easier than expected. Then Kratos gets to ride around him and crush the remaining swordsmen and the shield dome over Helios. The sun god is now prone. Kratos walks over which initiates a mini game that starts with a neck snapping, keeps the pace steady with some head pounding and ends with Helios's head being messily liberated from his shoulders.
This leads to the first new tool in Kratos's God of War III arsenal: The Helios Head. It shines like the Medusa head, but instead of turning enemies into stone, it reveals secret hidden doors. To use the head, the player has to push L2 and R1 at the same, an odd button combination, but I imagine I'll get used to it. Helios's head immediately reveals a hidden door. After going through the door there's a vent of air that uses the Icarus wings from GoW II. Kratos then flies through a maze wood framing avoiding fireballs. It's intense. Even more intense is the way the demo ends.
Once Kratos gets to the top of the vent, we see Atlas again. But Kratos lunges at him like he's about to attack. The screen then goes black. Has Kratos turned on the Titans? Has he struck a secret deal with the Olympians? Or, in typical Kratos fashion, is he just going to kill everyone?
I'm betting on the last option.
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