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
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Big whoop, wanna wrestle about it?
Ugh, the things I do to be a gamerscore whore. After I threw my 10,000th (thats OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!!!) jab in Fight Night Round 5 errrr Champion, I Fired up the old SmackDown VS RAWs (2007 and 2008 since I already 1K'ed 2009 and 2010.)
Painful. Thankfully I had all the super shitty achievements done and just had to mop up. I don't even wanna rent/borrow/whatever SmackDown VS Raw 2011 (not just because John Cena Penis is on the cover again either) I'm sure its just as terrible as these. I might just take a day or two break from the whoring and get my ass handed to me in some Marvel VS Capcom 3 Online. I read they are patching it and nerfing the Sentinel.
I only have 1 more achievement I can get in Fight Night without buying an online access code, so that game will never get 1K'ed (my buddy Pat offered me his code, but Im still torn on using it or not)
My turn to quick blitz games:
TMNT (1989 arcade): Still a blast, get it if you have friends and or are as old as me and remember dropping a shit ton of quarters into the arcade machines.
Xmen: Man I used to drop all my spare change into the giant 6 player version of this at Vince's Batting Cages; if I would have saved up my money back then I could have bought this 100 times over. PS I hate "Play this game with 5 other people at the same time" bullshit achievements.
Carcassonne - Prolly the dumbest game I ever got, I'd ask for a refund but Microsoft gave it to me for free...I still think I overpaid.
Pinball FX/FX2 - The free upgrade is awesome, Im waiting for the price of gas to go down so I can afford to buy the Marvel expansion tables. I was a Wolverine mark before you ever heard of Hugh Jackman. That reminds me, I need to DL the expansion for MAU2
~M.
shit, almost forgot; 18043 to go. Im way ahead of pace, so its time to slack and pull it off at the last minute.
Painful. Thankfully I had all the super shitty achievements done and just had to mop up. I don't even wanna rent/borrow/whatever SmackDown VS Raw 2011 (not just because John Cena Penis is on the cover again either) I'm sure its just as terrible as these. I might just take a day or two break from the whoring and get my ass handed to me in some Marvel VS Capcom 3 Online. I read they are patching it and nerfing the Sentinel.
I only have 1 more achievement I can get in Fight Night without buying an online access code, so that game will never get 1K'ed (my buddy Pat offered me his code, but Im still torn on using it or not)
My turn to quick blitz games:
TMNT (1989 arcade): Still a blast, get it if you have friends and or are as old as me and remember dropping a shit ton of quarters into the arcade machines.
Xmen: Man I used to drop all my spare change into the giant 6 player version of this at Vince's Batting Cages; if I would have saved up my money back then I could have bought this 100 times over. PS I hate "Play this game with 5 other people at the same time" bullshit achievements.
Carcassonne - Prolly the dumbest game I ever got, I'd ask for a refund but Microsoft gave it to me for free...I still think I overpaid.
Pinball FX/FX2 - The free upgrade is awesome, Im waiting for the price of gas to go down so I can afford to buy the Marvel expansion tables. I was a Wolverine mark before you ever heard of Hugh Jackman. That reminds me, I need to DL the expansion for MAU2
~M.
shit, almost forgot; 18043 to go. Im way ahead of pace, so its time to slack and pull it off at the last minute.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Been a while, since I gon' messed things up just like I always do.
Had to look at my gamercard to see what I been up to. Turns out not much. But that must mean I'm being a good parent, right?
Brutal Legend - I don't know what all the genre snowjob complaints were. It takes like 2 minutes to find out this game is not an action game. My first tip? The combat is terrible.
Castlevania HD - Yeah I'm back. Whatever. Overpriced DLC be damned, I like to grind. We'll see if the faq ever gets updated again (hint: it won't!)
Dead Rising 2 - Never has accidentally erasing a save game resulted in more joy. Oh no, I'll have to murder all those zombies again with those custom weapons, what infernal suffering!
Final Fantasy XIII - Guess what? I finally gave up on this turd sandwich. Maybe if I. . ha ha ha no. This game sucks.
Force Unleashed 2 - /sad face
Limbo - Hands down the best damned murder a small child in the dark forest simulator I've ever played.
Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Whats not to like? Well, okay, there's a lot not to like. But all in all, a solid entry. Unless you like endings. Or music. Or characters that aren't Sentinel or Dante.
Red Dead Redemption - Boy is this game good. Like, really good. Like, paid actual money for it good. Why does Rockstar keep beating gritty urban GTAs into the ground when the formula works so much better every where else. Can you imagine this with space ships and laser sounds? pew pew vroom zwoop!
Scott Pilgrim - Legit beat'm up. Finally took it down. Shame about the online multi though. I know, it had to be out in time for the movie but c'mon, Facebook has proven we don't want to see our friends in person. Don't force your vile social experiment on me Ubisoft.
Super Street Fighter 4 - You know if you take financial and competitive commitment out of the equation, this games not half bad. Then its just that game where you get to rub oil on people and fire them into walls with the power of your thigh muscles.
Up next, bulletstorm is on the way, and I've finally got a reason to return to Rapture. Will mortal kombat ever come out? Am I actually considering not buying Portal 2? All this and more whenever Thom forces me to write on this thing again!
-F.
Brutal Legend - I don't know what all the genre snowjob complaints were. It takes like 2 minutes to find out this game is not an action game. My first tip? The combat is terrible.
Castlevania HD - Yeah I'm back. Whatever. Overpriced DLC be damned, I like to grind. We'll see if the faq ever gets updated again (hint: it won't!)
Dead Rising 2 - Never has accidentally erasing a save game resulted in more joy. Oh no, I'll have to murder all those zombies again with those custom weapons, what infernal suffering!
Final Fantasy XIII - Guess what? I finally gave up on this turd sandwich. Maybe if I. . ha ha ha no. This game sucks.
Force Unleashed 2 - /sad face
Limbo - Hands down the best damned murder a small child in the dark forest simulator I've ever played.
Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Whats not to like? Well, okay, there's a lot not to like. But all in all, a solid entry. Unless you like endings. Or music. Or characters that aren't Sentinel or Dante.
Red Dead Redemption - Boy is this game good. Like, really good. Like, paid actual money for it good. Why does Rockstar keep beating gritty urban GTAs into the ground when the formula works so much better every where else. Can you imagine this with space ships and laser sounds? pew pew vroom zwoop!
Scott Pilgrim - Legit beat'm up. Finally took it down. Shame about the online multi though. I know, it had to be out in time for the movie but c'mon, Facebook has proven we don't want to see our friends in person. Don't force your vile social experiment on me Ubisoft.
Super Street Fighter 4 - You know if you take financial and competitive commitment out of the equation, this games not half bad. Then its just that game where you get to rub oil on people and fire them into walls with the power of your thigh muscles.
Up next, bulletstorm is on the way, and I've finally got a reason to return to Rapture. Will mortal kombat ever come out? Am I actually considering not buying Portal 2? All this and more whenever Thom forces me to write on this thing again!
-F.
Big whoop, wanna fight about it?
Fight Night Champion.
I like the new name, I kind of like the new mechanics of the game. I'm on the fence about the blatant racism though. I mean when you got called "white bread" in Hitman it was kinda funny. But when all the white guys in prison are tatted up skinheads calling them "crackers" seems a little over the top. Spoiler: The white guys cheat in the prison fights and stomp a mud hole in you after you win the first fight. Fuckin' crackers.
I'll be honest, the story mode is a joke. SPOILERS: I mean the story itself is laughable, but the actual mode can be done in a couple of hours and it's just a string of gimmick fights. Prison fight, amateur fight, untimed spar, don't let the cut on your eye get worse, left hand only,etc,etc I only went through the mode for the easy achievements. And they were easy. Hey, I'm in operation 100k, what did you expect?
Legacy mode is where its at. Start a new boxing career and see what you can do with it. Get XP to build up your boxer skills, play training games to boost your stats, balance all that with rest and promoting yourself all while trying to retire as the Greatest Of All Time(GOAT). My only real complaint with this mode is getting flash KO'ed my Marvin Haggler on the first punch of the fight. Even Glass Joe can take a couple shots to the face (that's what she said) before going down (that's what he said). If you arent into all that , theres the classic Fight Now option, where you can match up boxers from all eras in the "sweet science". If you suck at boxing, just be Lennox Lewis and jab your way to victory.
I couldn't play the online mode, its a used copy and EA doesnt think I should be allowed to play without giving them $10 even though I already pay Micro$haft for the right to do so.
Keep them gloves up kiddos,
~M
PS: 19,813 points to go. Think I'll make it?
I like the new name, I kind of like the new mechanics of the game. I'm on the fence about the blatant racism though. I mean when you got called "white bread" in Hitman it was kinda funny. But when all the white guys in prison are tatted up skinheads calling them "crackers" seems a little over the top. Spoiler: The white guys cheat in the prison fights and stomp a mud hole in you after you win the first fight. Fuckin' crackers.
I'll be honest, the story mode is a joke. SPOILERS: I mean the story itself is laughable, but the actual mode can be done in a couple of hours and it's just a string of gimmick fights. Prison fight, amateur fight, untimed spar, don't let the cut on your eye get worse, left hand only,etc,etc I only went through the mode for the easy achievements. And they were easy. Hey, I'm in operation 100k, what did you expect?
Legacy mode is where its at. Start a new boxing career and see what you can do with it. Get XP to build up your boxer skills, play training games to boost your stats, balance all that with rest and promoting yourself all while trying to retire as the Greatest Of All Time(GOAT). My only real complaint with this mode is getting flash KO'ed my Marvin Haggler on the first punch of the fight. Even Glass Joe can take a couple shots to the face (that's what she said) before going down (that's what he said). If you arent into all that , theres the classic Fight Now option, where you can match up boxers from all eras in the "sweet science". If you suck at boxing, just be Lennox Lewis and jab your way to victory.
I couldn't play the online mode, its a used copy and EA doesnt think I should be allowed to play without giving them $10 even though I already pay Micro$haft for the right to do so.
Keep them gloves up kiddos,
~M
PS: 19,813 points to go. Think I'll make it?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
And then he ran me over with his pink bike.
Two days in a row? no waiz! yes waiz.
So I had Dead Rising 2 on PS3, and all I could do was play solo, because no one I know has a PS3 and uses it to play games. Thanks to the debbil, aka GameStop I traded Dead Rising 2 PS3 and $20 for Dead Rising 2 on xbox360, hilarity ensued.
This is just a quick pro tip before I get started. If you're playing with someone and you want their weapons and don't wanna play with them anymore, just save. It kicks them out and they drop their gear; way to bug fix capcom! In their defense, its only been what, six months?
At first we tried to keep the story going, but that's just not all that fun. Kill more zombies and make neat weapons, or run across the mall to stop someone from breaking into slot machines? Yeah, that kill 72,000 zombie achievement isn't gonna earn itself. So after about 2 1/2 hours of making knifed boxing gloves and lightsabres (lightsabers?) out of flashlights and gems , numerous zombies felt our wrath! There is a douche-bag on a motorcycle (with chainsaws) that will put a hurtin on ya pretty early in the game. We lucked out and he got stuck in a corner, Fenix took him out after I revived him with a rotten hamburger.......lol. In case you're curious about the title, right before we quit for the night, Fenix ran me over while riding a little girl's pink bike and it was HILAROUS, I couldn't even be mad. I think it was my pink hat and super hero boots that made him want to do it.
I did play a LITTLE Castlevania:Lords of Shadow..... it doesn't rip off god of war like everyone says, it rips off Dante's Inferno...which ripped off God Of War. So far, I like it, but it doesn't feel like Castlevania to me (it feels like the other 2 games I mentioned). Patrick Stewart is awesome as the narrator and the game has some of the most beautiful backgrounds Ive ever seen. I totally peeked at the cheevies...... why does every game maker think we want to scavenger hunt in every game? 50 life gems, 50 light gems, 500 agility orbs.....ooops, wrong game for that last one.
Small update on operation 100k: 20,343 to go. At this pace I'll make it, but I'll need a metric ton of new games.
~M.
So I had Dead Rising 2 on PS3, and all I could do was play solo, because no one I know has a PS3 and uses it to play games. Thanks to the debbil, aka GameStop I traded Dead Rising 2 PS3 and $20 for Dead Rising 2 on xbox360, hilarity ensued.
This is just a quick pro tip before I get started. If you're playing with someone and you want their weapons and don't wanna play with them anymore, just save. It kicks them out and they drop their gear; way to bug fix capcom! In their defense, its only been what, six months?
At first we tried to keep the story going, but that's just not all that fun. Kill more zombies and make neat weapons, or run across the mall to stop someone from breaking into slot machines? Yeah, that kill 72,000 zombie achievement isn't gonna earn itself. So after about 2 1/2 hours of making knifed boxing gloves and lightsabres (lightsabers?) out of flashlights and gems , numerous zombies felt our wrath! There is a douche-bag on a motorcycle (with chainsaws) that will put a hurtin on ya pretty early in the game. We lucked out and he got stuck in a corner, Fenix took him out after I revived him with a rotten hamburger.......lol. In case you're curious about the title, right before we quit for the night, Fenix ran me over while riding a little girl's pink bike and it was HILAROUS, I couldn't even be mad. I think it was my pink hat and super hero boots that made him want to do it.
I did play a LITTLE Castlevania:Lords of Shadow..... it doesn't rip off god of war like everyone says, it rips off Dante's Inferno...which ripped off God Of War. So far, I like it, but it doesn't feel like Castlevania to me (it feels like the other 2 games I mentioned). Patrick Stewart is awesome as the narrator and the game has some of the most beautiful backgrounds Ive ever seen. I totally peeked at the cheevies...... why does every game maker think we want to scavenger hunt in every game? 50 life gems, 50 light gems, 500 agility orbs.....ooops, wrong game for that last one.
Small update on operation 100k: 20,343 to go. At this pace I'll make it, but I'll need a metric ton of new games.
~M.
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