Mortal Kombat Nine.
MK1 : really good
MKII : fantastic
U/MK3/T : pretty good
MK4/Gold : sucks (in 3D!)
MK Deadly Alliance: different
MK Deception: same as alliance
MK Armageddon: Trilogy version of the last 2
MK vs DC: hated it! (2 snaps down in a Z formation)
So that brings us to 9, simply titled Mortal Kombat. How do you ruin a fantastic game? You give your boss characters flashing orange/yellow invincibility frames......lots of them. Now the AI is kinda dumb in this game when it comes to the bosses and I guess this was their way of "balancing". Even though I hate the way the way you have to fight the bosses, I cant help but love this game. Its really hard to beat up Kintaro, they made him look way too cute, like a kitten.
Kontent. There is just so much stuff to unlock. Everyone has a hidden fatality, hidden bablity, second costume, and more. Real endings are back when you finish "arcade" mode. A Krypt stuffed with concept (Im not going to keep doing the K thing) art, how to do the 2nd fatality, music, speed paintings, and over all just a bunch a really neat stuff. Beating the pretty awesome story mode unlocks 2 more characters to play, and on top of that there's the Challenge tower. The challenge tower is also known as the gimmick tower because its 300 gimmick matches, as you play up the tower you unlock additional Test your Sight/Might/Luck/etc mini games to play, and finishing the tower gets you both an achievement and a 3rd costume for Mileena.
Speaking of the Challenge tower that brings me to my next point, game modes.
Arcade, Fatality Trainer, Online,King of the Hill, Story, Tag Tower, Tutorial, and the earlier mentioned mini-games. There is a ton to do, and all of it is pretty fun to do. Well, maybe not online, its still pretty crappy due to lag and what not. Still its running better then the PSN is right now (/burn). I REALLY dont like the trend EA started with the use this code to play online (aka fuck whoever buys this game if you ever trade it in) and I'm very dissappointed WB games decided to do it too.
I will never 1k this game, The "mastering everyone" achievement is the deal breaker. In order to master a character, you have to do a buncha of trivial stuff, like 100 "alities" 150 Xrays, 100 wins, 10k pints of blood......all very doable, but the last thing you need to do is 24 hours of actual character usage. That means it would require like 28 days of real time (read: 672 hours) of actual playing. I think that roughly means 2 1/2 RRoDs in order to get it. I've had the game a week and play with Scorpion religiously and I still haven't "mastered" him.
Lastly, Im mega pissed at Gamestop. I pre-ordered the Tournament Edition from them expecting the stick, the game, and Scorpion. I got Ermac and they told me go outside and play hide and go fuck myself and that "Classic Ermac is rare because he only came with the special and tourny edition games" yet they wouldnt trade me codes.
Finish him!
~M
PS: Finally, Johnny Cage can cunt punch the chicks!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Weathering the Bulletstorm
It would take a game as absurd as Bulletstorm to reawaken my cold dead interest in the fps genre. Though entirely straightforward and absolutely unwavering in its commitment to totally random totally nonsensical engagements with way too many enemies, the game itself is very consistent and entertaining.
For starters, the scenario is ridiculous. Granted, every shooter plot involves one totally ill equipped and outgunned guy surviving all manner of death and destruction as he kills a planetful of increasingly dangerous and well trained soldiers and then some how having trouble murdering the single individual at the heart of it all. Somehow, by adding patentedly ridiculous dialogue and a battleground that's basically a Michael Bay movie in progress, Bulletstorm strikes a tone that speaks directly to that fast car driving, sun glass wearing, action hero we all have deep down.
Pile on top of that the skill shot system, which is the game closest equivalent to complexity, judging your every action. Not only is every element of your killing efficiency judged, your ability to respond to quick time events, and even look at important events in the background is graded too. You can never really afford to ignore those snarky little point pop ups either because without skill points, you'll find yourself with a collection bulletless (and funless) guns.
As much as I hate shooters in general these days, there's really nothing wrong with Bulletstorm. It sticks to its formula without trying to inject puzzles, rpg elements, stealth missions, or some other flow defusing cliche, and with the exception of one or two obnoxious sniping segments (we're supposed to believe a drunk is a better sniper than a robot?) the game never slows down or lets up. Sure, it could be a little longer or a little more ambitious, but at no point did I feel like Storm was too short or more importantly cut short. I could see being upset over a $60 purchase if I had no interest in multiplayer, but people who play shooters and don't expect to play multiplayer are like video game mormons.
I did give "Anarchy" mode a whirl one night, but EA's new online pass gamestop cockblock strategy kept me from really getting involved. In any event, you get a gold star People Can Fly. You single handedly rescued my Bioshock 2 disc from the basement, and put Crysis 2 in my gamefly queue after I'd sworn of FPS' forever.
In other news, MK comes out tomorrow and thats a heap of bad news for Bioshock 2, Alan Wake, Red Dead and every other game lying around my living room hoping to be played. Best Buy strong armed me into buying Portal 2, but I can't see myself playing that unless a co-op buddy is online, then again Portal is amazing. Tough decisions lie ahead.
Speaking of, I jumped on MvC3 yesterday on a whim and HOLY SHIT did I get my ass rocked. I don't know if I'm just that much worse of if the internet went and got that much better, I have no idea how I got that much crappier in such a short time (what, 2 weeks?). We'll see how I stack up in person on Wednesday.
-F.
For starters, the scenario is ridiculous. Granted, every shooter plot involves one totally ill equipped and outgunned guy surviving all manner of death and destruction as he kills a planetful of increasingly dangerous and well trained soldiers and then some how having trouble murdering the single individual at the heart of it all. Somehow, by adding patentedly ridiculous dialogue and a battleground that's basically a Michael Bay movie in progress, Bulletstorm strikes a tone that speaks directly to that fast car driving, sun glass wearing, action hero we all have deep down.
Pile on top of that the skill shot system, which is the game closest equivalent to complexity, judging your every action. Not only is every element of your killing efficiency judged, your ability to respond to quick time events, and even look at important events in the background is graded too. You can never really afford to ignore those snarky little point pop ups either because without skill points, you'll find yourself with a collection bulletless (and funless) guns.
As much as I hate shooters in general these days, there's really nothing wrong with Bulletstorm. It sticks to its formula without trying to inject puzzles, rpg elements, stealth missions, or some other flow defusing cliche, and with the exception of one or two obnoxious sniping segments (we're supposed to believe a drunk is a better sniper than a robot?) the game never slows down or lets up. Sure, it could be a little longer or a little more ambitious, but at no point did I feel like Storm was too short or more importantly cut short. I could see being upset over a $60 purchase if I had no interest in multiplayer, but people who play shooters and don't expect to play multiplayer are like video game mormons.
I did give "Anarchy" mode a whirl one night, but EA's new online pass gamestop cockblock strategy kept me from really getting involved. In any event, you get a gold star People Can Fly. You single handedly rescued my Bioshock 2 disc from the basement, and put Crysis 2 in my gamefly queue after I'd sworn of FPS' forever.
In other news, MK comes out tomorrow and thats a heap of bad news for Bioshock 2, Alan Wake, Red Dead and every other game lying around my living room hoping to be played. Best Buy strong armed me into buying Portal 2, but I can't see myself playing that unless a co-op buddy is online, then again Portal is amazing. Tough decisions lie ahead.
Speaking of, I jumped on MvC3 yesterday on a whim and HOLY SHIT did I get my ass rocked. I don't know if I'm just that much worse of if the internet went and got that much better, I have no idea how I got that much crappier in such a short time (what, 2 weeks?). We'll see how I stack up in person on Wednesday.
-F.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
I cant think of a clever title.
So after playing both WWE All-Stars and WWE Smack-down vs Raw 2011 I needed a break from crappy games and achievement whoring....... Castle Crashers.
This is one of, if not the only game, I spent 1200 M$ points on and didn't regret. I know I missed the sale a few months back, but hey I didn't have the cheddar and buying a point card on a Best Buy credit card @ 26%APR isn't a smart thing to do.
Anyways, back to Castle Crashers. I've only played single player, I feel the need to level up my guys a little before going on line and doing what ever it is you do online with this game. I am in love with the graphics, even though they mostly reek of "flash game" the animation is both well done and fluid. My ONLY gripe so far is the music, its very MIDI-esque and repetitive. The controls are tight and responsive and I cant wait to get my fight stick back from a co-worker and play this shit ARCADE style. Sadly enough Ive only saved 1 princess and only unlocked 1 character (the grey knight). I don't mind the grind when its fun.
Before I forget, Fenix and I are making steady progress through a co-op play through of Dead Rising 2. I'm up over level 20 and suck a lot less. I still have no idea where anything is in the mall, which makes this game pretty realistic, because I don't know my way around the Mall down the street from my house. We're trying to get the "co-op" story achievement (at least I am) and the "Save Bug" is really annoying.
I still have just a ball hair under 18,000 gamerscore to get by the end of the year and I'll be honest I dont think I'm gonna make it. Not from lack of ability, but because Mortal Kombat 9 comes out in 2 weeks and I see myself playing the ever loving shit out of that for a WHILE. MvC3 is already collecting dust :/
Stay frosty,
~M
This is one of, if not the only game, I spent 1200 M$ points on and didn't regret. I know I missed the sale a few months back, but hey I didn't have the cheddar and buying a point card on a Best Buy credit card @ 26%APR isn't a smart thing to do.
Anyways, back to Castle Crashers. I've only played single player, I feel the need to level up my guys a little before going on line and doing what ever it is you do online with this game. I am in love with the graphics, even though they mostly reek of "flash game" the animation is both well done and fluid. My ONLY gripe so far is the music, its very MIDI-esque and repetitive. The controls are tight and responsive and I cant wait to get my fight stick back from a co-worker and play this shit ARCADE style. Sadly enough Ive only saved 1 princess and only unlocked 1 character (the grey knight). I don't mind the grind when its fun.
Before I forget, Fenix and I are making steady progress through a co-op play through of Dead Rising 2. I'm up over level 20 and suck a lot less. I still have no idea where anything is in the mall, which makes this game pretty realistic, because I don't know my way around the Mall down the street from my house. We're trying to get the "co-op" story achievement (at least I am) and the "Save Bug" is really annoying.
I still have just a ball hair under 18,000 gamerscore to get by the end of the year and I'll be honest I dont think I'm gonna make it. Not from lack of ability, but because Mortal Kombat 9 comes out in 2 weeks and I see myself playing the ever loving shit out of that for a WHILE. MvC3 is already collecting dust :/
Stay frosty,
~M
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