Leveling Down

Street Fighter IV (360) – Is the game serious? Am I supposed to go through all Challenge modes with every single character if I want to get all the titles/badges? Dang that’s going to take forever. I’m doing Time Trials now, and it doesn’t make sense to me that if I lose to opponent 14 with time remaining, I can’t continue. It’s Time Trial, not Survival mode after all. -_-

Mercenaries 2 (360) – Heard the game was sort of glitchy, but for $9.99 at Best Buy this week it was cheap enough to throw into my backlog.

The Orange Box (PC) – I wanted to pick up Team Fortress 2 for the PC since it continues to keep getting new content and maps, but didn’t want to pay $20 for it. I was hoping Valve would put it on sale on Steam for half price like they did with Left 4 Dead, but when I found it for The Orange Box for $15 at Circuit City during its liquidation this past weekend, I sprang for it. Then what happens? Team Fortress 2 goes on sale for $10 during the week right after I just bought Orange Box. I would have preferred to just buy that instead but what can you do.

Company of Heroes (PC) – Also at the same Circuit City liquidation, I was able to find Company of Heroes Collector’s Edition for a little under $10. I remember playing this game years ago but lost my copy so I sprang for it again. I can’t really remember the mechanics behind it, but I certainly enjoyed it. I figure it’ll be good training for Dawn of War 2.

Infinite Undiscovery (360) – The majority of my gaming time for the last month has been spent playing this title, but now that I’m on the hardest difficulty playthrough, there is light at the end of the tunnel! I’m putting together a guide to Infinity mode as I play through it as well.

Infinite Undiscovery is worth a look for 360 Japanese RPG fans, but maybe not for the Japanese RPG initiate.

I’ve been playing this game for over a month now, but what can I say – it’s a Japanese RPG and I only get a couple hours each night to play video games. So, I’ve been slowly making my way along, and have spent about 40 hours total on the game: 20 hours to beat it on Normal difficulty and then another 20 to beat it on Hard difficulty. I actually beat the game on Hard difficulty a little under 10 hours because I raced through it, skipping all cutscenes and optional quests, but then had to put in another 10 hours to gear up and grind to beat the optional end-game dungeon. I’m currently playing the game on the hardest mode, Infinity, and I’m about 10 hours in but it’s going ultra slow because enemies are a lot stronger and I’m trying to nab the last few Achievements I didn’t get on the previous times through. At my current rate it’ll take me probably another 30 hours or so to beat, which means I’ll have ended up spending over 80 hours to get the 1000 Achievement points for this game. Some may wonder if it’s worth it, and my only response is that depends on how much of a Japanese RPG fan you are. I actually enjoyed the game more on subsequent playthroughs – meaning either the game is just more fun to play once you know what to expect or the cutscenes kind of bored me and I skipped them all the second and third time around.

Good
- combat system is fun and a lot more action packed than a typical Japanese RPG
- crafting is intuitive and you can make some really cool gear with it
- several difficulty levels extend replayability

Bad
- storyline takes a while to pick up
- actual game length is pretty short for a Japanese RPG: about 15-20 hours
- not a game that is easily accessible by those that have never played a Japanese RPG before

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Far Cry 2 flew under the radar last year, but does it deserve a try?

Last fall was a huge season for gamers. A bunch of huge titles hit the stores, including (but not limited to) Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Fallout 3, Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, etc. With the huge glut of titles, most gamers didn’t get to play all the big titles, and a lot of smaller titles went completely unnoticed. One such title that I always wanted to try out was Far Cry 2 developed by Ubisoft Montreal. It is now almost March and I finally got to start it even though it was released last October! Hit the jump for my initial impressions of the game.

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To celebrate the new free Scout update on the PC version of Team Fortress II, Valve has put it on sale for $9.99 on Steam from now until Friday. This new update brings new weapons, maps, and 35 Achievements for the Scout class alone! Expect others classes to follow. Also of note is the new Dawn of War II game on sale for $35.90 as part of GoGamer’s Madness sale. Ugh…my backlog now extends to PC games too -_-

Team Fortress II [$9.99 Steam]
Warhammer 40k Dawn of War II [$35.90 w/ free shipping GoGamer]

I have this game in my backlog already but haven’t had a chance to get to it yet. Great deal though. It’s supposedly more enjoyable than Grand Theft Auto IV because it has lots of amusing over the top missions and it supports 2-player co-op.

The Collector’s Edition sports the following:
- Saints Row 2 Game
- Saints Row 2 Embossed Tin
- Saints Row 2 Money Clip
- Double-Sided Game Poster/Map
- Exclusive Art Book
- Silver Bullet Shaped 512 MB USB Thumb Drive

Saints Row 2 Collector’s Edition 360/PS3 [$34.98 Amazon]

Yes, I know that Sagat is arguably the best character in the game, but I don’t care. I need all the help I can get!

I picked up Street Fighter IV at launch last Tuesday, and have spent some time playing it. At first I was getting my butt kicked in the first few games I played online, and actually felt overwhelmed with the game thinking I couldn’t handle the kids these days. Part of the reason was because I didn’t want to play Ryu or Ken like everyone else, so I tried to learn Chun Li. I tried her out at a party I went to Friday night, but she didn’t do too hot. I felt like she needed to do so much work to do damage to the opponent. After talking/playing with my friend who’s been playing Street Fighter IV in the arcades for a while now, I tried out Sagat. The difference between Chun Li and Sagat was like night and day. With Chun Li I felt like I was just running around trying to get little kicks in here and there and slowly wearing away at my opponent’s life, but Sagat felt like a tank – slow, but outputting tons of damage. I realized the power of Sagat at the party that night, and have since gone on to do much better online with him.

Of the dozen or so ranked matches I played so far, it broke down about so: 2 Sagat, 2 Akuma, 1 Gouken, 5 Ken, 1 Dan, 1 Rufus, 1 Zangief, 1 Blanka, 1 Guile. Mostly shotos, although I’m surprised no one chose Ryu at all. The Dan player was a Japanese player, and when he was about to lose he disconnected. I think disconnectors still get a loss in the game so I don’t know why he did it – maybe to rob me of a win? Now that I’m actually winning some, I’m feeling pretty good about myself and the game. What a difference actually winning online makes!

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Are Avatar’s six Achievements really worth 1000 points if they can all be unlocked in a minute?

I’ve managed to score a 50k+ Gamerscore in my years with the 360. And while that pales in comparison to the guys with 6 digit Gamerscores, it still sometimes manages to illicit some responses from players in online matches (both good and bad). But what is the point of the Gamerpoint score anyway? In this discussion topic, cmfl3x and I will discuss our thoughts on the implementation of Microsoft’s Achievement system and this new site we joined called TrueAchievements.com.

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Xbox 360
3 Month Live Gold Starter Pack [$24.99 Best Buy]
13 Month Live Gold Card [$38.99 Amazon] [$39.99 Newegg]
Assassin’s Creed [$23.99 Amazon]
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts [$29.99 Amazon] [$29.99 Gamestop]
BioShock [$23.99 Amazon]
Braid [800 points (about $10) Xbox.com]
Call of Duty 4 GOTY Edition [$49.99 Amazon] [$49.99 Best Buy]
Call of Duty: World at War [$49.99 Target]
Dead Space [$39.99 Target]
Far Cry 2 [$29.99 Newegg]
Grand Theft Auto IV [$27.99 Newegg]
Guitar Hero World Tour [$41.99 Newegg]
Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit [$169.99 Newegg] [$169.99 Best Buy] [$169.99 Gamestop]
Halo 3 Legendary Edition [$39.99 Newegg]
Left 4 Dead [$39.99 Target]
LEGO Indiana Jones [$39.99 Newegg]
Mercenaries 2 [$9.99 Best Buy - Reward Zone (free membership)]
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe [$39.99 Target]
Prince of Persia [$39.99 Target]
Quantum of Solace [$26.99 Newegg]
Rock Band 2 [$39.99 Best Buy - Reward Zone (free membership)]
Saints Row 2 [$49.99 Best Buy]
Saints Row 2 Collectors’ Edition [$47.99 Newegg]
Shaun White Snowboarding [$39.99 Target]
Tom Clancy’s EndWar [$26.99 Newegg] [$49.99 Target]
Tomb Raider: Underworld [$34.99 Newegg]

Playstation 3
Call of Duty 4 GOTY Edition [$49.99 Amazon] [$49.99 Best Buy]
Call of Duty: World at War [$49.99 Amazon] [$49.99 Gamestop]
Dead Space [$39.99 Target]
Fallout 3 [$46.99 Amazon] [$46.99 Newegg]
Guitar Hero World Tour [$37.99 Newegg]
Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit [$169.99 Best Buy] [$169.99 Gamestop]
Little Big Planet [$46.99 Newegg]
Metal Gear Solid 4 [$39.99 Amazon] [$39.99 Newegg]
Midnight Club: Lost Angeles [$44.49 Amazon]
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe [$39.99 Target]
MotorStorm 2: Pacific Rift [$37.99 Newegg]
Prince of Persia [$39.99 Target]
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [$41.99 Amazon] [$36.99 Newegg]
Saints Row 2 [$49.99 Best Buy]
Shaun White Snowboarding [$39.99 Target]
Tom Clancy’s End War [$49.99 Target]

Nintendo Wii
Call of Duty World at War [$39.99 Target]
Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit [$159.99 Newegg] [$169.99 Best Buy] [$169.99 Gamestop]
LEGO Indiana Jones [$39.99 Amazon] [$39.99 Newegg]
MadWorld [$39.97 Amazon Pre-Order]
Mario Party 8 [$40.99 Amazon] [$40.99 Newegg]
Mario Strikers Charged [$40.99 Newegg]
Mario Super Sluggers [$36.99 Amazon] [$36.99 Newegg]
Pokemon Battle Revolution [$40.99 Newegg]
Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party [$39.99 Amazon]
Samba De Amigo [$14.99 Amazon]
Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip [$39.99 Amazon] [$39.99 Target]
Super Mario Galaxy [$34.99 Newegg]

PC
Call of Duty: World at War [$39.99 Amazon] [$39.99 Gamestop]
Sins of a Solar Empire [$19.99 Best Buy]
Spore [$28.99 Newegg]
Spore: Galactic Edition [$36.99 Amazon] [$36.99 Newegg]

Lots of game sales this week, especially if you are a 360 owner. I don’t normally post Target weekly ads because you can’t buy the item online, and there’s no way of really doing store inventory search. But still, with so many games on sale this week maybe you’ll get lucky if you swing by your local Target. One of the best deals this week is Mercenaries 2 for $9.99 at your local Best Buy if you are a Reward Zone member. Membership is free, so it’s totally worth joining since there’s usually a couple games on sale each week only for Reward Zone members. Another big game of note is MadWorld on the Wii – coming out in a few weeks but Amazon has it at a special pre-order discount price of $40 instead of the $50 retail price. Finally, Braid is on sale for 800 MS points instead of the usual 1200 MS points this week…

Street Fighter IV – After struggling to decide whether to buy it at launch or not, I ended up going for it. The presentation in this game is amazing! Unfortunately, I’m getting my butt whooped online. Playing the AI and online is so different – you can pull off flashy combos and stuff against the AI, but against humans, it seems like it’s all about safe moves and frame advantage. I’m such a noob when it comes to this stuff, but maybe I’ll get better in time.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – cmfl3x and I have continued to make our way through the campaign, just finishing off the last two missions on the Allied campaign late last night. We must have retried each of those missions 3-4 times, as it gets pretty hard on Hard difficulty. The last Allied mission is rough – there’s a timer and we ended up destroying the last building when the timer hit 0:00 (maybe it even hit -0:01 heh). It was funny because both the Victory and then the Defeat videos started playing one right after another, but luckily we got the Victory endscreen. Talk about a close call!

Left 4 Dead – Just when I thought I was done with it, the PC version has to go on sale and I ended up picking it up. Expect a write-up with my thoughts comparing it to the 360 version at some point.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 – Never considered picking this up since it’s a PC game, but the fact that it’s tied into the Live system and has its own Achievements has me interested. Maybe I’ll wait for a price drop.

Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad – Campy Japanese zombie beat-em-up playing as a girl in a bikini sounds like it could be enjoyable as I like zombies and I like Japanese developed games. A girl in bikini doesn’t hurt either but since my wife may not like the idea of seeing me play as a scantily clad woman throughout the game I’ll hold off on this one for now.

Sins of a Solar Empire – Picked it up since it was on sale at Best Buy this week. I think it got lots of 2008 PC game of the year awards, so I’m curious to check it out. Supposedly it’s a cross between an RTS and a Civilization game, but in space. I’m not the biggest space strategy gamer, but maybe this one will turn out ok for me.

Prince of Persia looks phenomenal, but where’s the gameplay?

Surprisingly, Prince of Persia is one of the worst games I’ve played that I can remember. Usually when I buy games, it’s under the impression that it will at least be decent, and get maybe a B or so in my book. But Prince of Persia just doesn’t cut it. Here’s a game that has great presentation, but gameplay that is the perhaps the worst I’ve played in a long time. The ironic thing is that this is the first time in a while where I’m not complaining about a game for being too short. In fact, with Prince of Persia, I just wanted to be done with it because of how bored I got. Read on for my reasons why.

Good
- alluring cel-shaded graphics look
- oodles of dialogue
- pleasant level design

Bad
- lack of gameplay
- lack of an interesting story
- frustrating collectathon gameplay

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