February 2006

A small part of me wants World of Warcraft

February 7, 2006

News / by Wayne Phinney Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Yet I have difficulty bringing myself to pay $15 a month for one game. Of course, it would likely be the only game I would play for some time, but given how many unplayed games I have sitting on my shelf, it just doesn’t seem like the best idea.

I suppose part of it is that I find online gaming to not be as fun as it should be due to there being so many immature gamers out there. Online gamer ruins things for me and is why I play single player almost exclusively.

For those World of Warcraft players out there, why should I consider picking up this game? As I said, a part of me wants to, but a part of me doesn’t. Is it really worth it? Would I make the transition from being a former die-hard Diablo II player to this pretty easily? Should I just wait until October for the expansion?

Fellow Snackbarians… what should this gamer divided amongst himself do?

Metroid Fusion

February 6, 2006

Game Boy Advance / Reviews / by Monoxide Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Ah, [i]Metroid Fusion[/i]. A well done 2D sequel to [i]Super Metroid[/i]. This game had seen more hype than any other game to hit a Game Boy system. Did it deserve it? Well… lets get to that.

The minute I picked up the game and put it in my GBA, a feeling of nostalgia overcame me. It had everything [i]Super Metroid[/i] had, plus more. I couldn’t get past the fact that I was playing a brand new [i]Metroid[/i] game. I felt like I had warped 10 years into the past.

That night, I played it for 5 straight hours. The only problem was, I beat it in those 5 straight hours. The game was undeniably short. It felt like I had just been teased out of an epic gaming experience. The feeling soon passed, as I started playing again 4 days later. The game boasts 4 separate endings, each of which I’m determined to get.

Now, as far as the game itself. Graphics are excellent. They’ve actually improved on the look of Super Metroid, without making it different, if that makes any sense. The changes are subtle, but there, and they’re good. You see most of the major graphical changes later in the game, with moves such as the Screw Attack, which looks considerably better than it did in Super Metroid. Other than a few new animations to go with Samus’s new found abilities, it’s on-par with its predecessor, and that’s the way it should be. The sound of the game makes great use of the GBA’s otherwise limited sound capabilities. They did a nice job with that.

On to the gameplay. If you haven’t played a 2D [i]Metroid[/i] before, this will all be new to you, and you’ll enjoy it all the way through. If you have played the older [i]Metroid[/i]s, you’ll notice an overall feeling of Linearity throughout the game. You have a Commanding Officer, and discussions through him allow some character development of Samus and her past. I thought that was a nice touch, except for the fact that your CO actually commands you around. It doesn’t have the explore-until-you-find-a-new-door objective, but rather objectives given specifically through the CO. It turns out to be a rather nice system, after you get used to it.

Overall, [i]Metroid Fusion[/i] is a great addition to the [i]Metroid[/i] series of games. Though it was a little short, the game is so enjoyable that most people don’t have a problem playing through it again. Aside from the replay value, it’s an extremely well polished game. I recommend it to anyone who owns a GBA.

Parappa M-I-Xing live!

February 6, 2006

News / by Joe Teed Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Someone has decided to put on a live Parappa performance as a marketing project. I don’t know how many of you remember Parappa, but it was an oddball game that became an instant classic and really did a lot for the whole “rythm game” genre.

Check it out here:
[url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/25/parappa-the-rapper-live-performance/]Parappa Live[/url] (via Joystiq)

Spider-Man 2

February 6, 2006

PlayStation 2 / Reviews / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

In the weeks since [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] the movie was released, I’ve heard some very good things about [i]Spider-Man 2[/i], the game. People have boasted that it is one of the better movie-based video games to come out in a while, and with the recent [i]Chronicles of Riddick[/i], I felt that movie-based games were starting to make a turn for the better. Sadly enough, as I played into [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] for the Playstation 2, I found that it is a very repetitive game, has fairly dull game play, and really doesn’t look too good in the end.

Like you would expect, [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] the game is based off the most recent [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] movie. The game loosely follows the movie’s storyline, so if you want to see the movie, then it would be best to wait and play this game after seeing the movie. Even so, [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] alters parts of the story. In addition to Doctor Octopus, you will also have to fight other enemies of Spider-Man like Mysterio, Shocker, and Rhino. It also adds in other things fans of Spider-Man will recognize, and even alters one of the movie’s most important parts, most likely to keep you in costume as out-of-costume Peter Parker really can’t do a whole lot.

The game’s best feature is the web-swinging system. [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] takes place across Manhattan Island, and let’s you swing throughout the entire city. [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] actually takes some elements from games like [i]Grand Theft Auto 3[/i] and [i]Tony Hawk’s Underground[/i]. Like in [i]Grand Theft Auto 3[/i], you can go anywhere on the island without a loading screen getting in your way, and like [i]Tony Hawk’s Underground[/i], you can receive missions from various people along the streets of New York City. Although instead of a car or a skateboard, you use your trusty webbing to swing across New York City, and for the most part, it works really well and is the most enjoyable thing about [i]Spider-Man 2[/i].

Even though you can get missions from civilians, you will probably spend most of your time doing the missions assigned to you by the game. The game divides these missions into different chapters, and once you complete all these objectives, they go into the next chapter. There are three different types of mission usually assigned to you. The most common is the “hero point” goal, while the other two are either buy a certain upgrade or complete a goal to drive the story along. In the end though, most of these missions will get very repetitive, especially the hero point goal. The missions that drive the story can get old fast, as they usually have you either getting to a certain point before time runs out, or following Black Cat until she stops, or getting to the top of the building to take pictures. The point is, almost any mission will have you swinging across the city going from this building to the next, which is sad, because it ends up hurting the best part of the game to the point where it gets as old as the missions do. Occasionally though, a mission will get interesting, like missions that have you exploring a fun house or navigating an obstacle course.

Of course, the hero point goals are even more tedious than the other missions. Usually, the game will ask you to get a number of hero points. These don’t take a real long time to complete, as the other missions give you a hefty amount of hero points, but the bad part about these objectives is that as soon as you reach the goal, the game starts the next chapter, which gives you another handful of points. Another bad thing about the hero point goals is that usually, you will have to go around town helping people who see trouble going on, which adds even more to the repetitive scale.

It doesn’t help that there are only a handful of missions you can receive from pedestrians. They are somewhat enjoyable the first or second time, but after doing them all (which won’t take long), you’ll probably get bored. There are other ways to get hero points other than helping civilians, of course, they don’t stray too far from the other missions. You can do assignments for the Daily Bugle or deliver pizzas, but these don’t stray too far from the “swing here and come back” missions we’ve already come to love in this game.

[i]Spider-Man 2[/i] does have its fair share of boss fights. As mentioned before, you fight many enemies from the Spider-Man comics, as well as the main villain from the movie, Doc Ock. However, these boss fights can get a little dull. They aren’t incredibly challenging, and once you figure out the pattern the boss goes in, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with them. It doesn’t help that bosses are pretty random. The game doesn’t really incorporate them into the story very well, aside from Doctor Octopus, and it just throws them in and has them terrorize the place without much explanation of where they came from.

The combat system is a mixed bag of good and bad. On the good side, you can purchase many different attacks to use on enemies. The combo system works great and there is a good variety of attacks to use, provided you purchase them with hero points. On the bad side, the game is prone to button mashing. You can easily take out enemies simple by pushing the punch button in rapid succession, and unless you refuse to simply button mash, the multiple attacks to choose from can become useless and wasted hero points. Sometimes, enemies will block your attacks, but all you really have to do there is press the dodge button, then counter-attack them and beat the daylights out of them while still on the ground. There can be times where enemies will overwhelm you, and that’s when button mashing becomes futile, but this is on rare occasions. There is also “spider-reflex mode,” but this is essentially the “bullet time” we’ve all come to love, and like most games that use this, you will end up not using it a whole lot.

The graphics are yet another mixed bag. I don’t know what the story is on the Gamecube or Xbox versions, but [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] looks awful on the Playstation 2. Generally, things look all right from a far-off perspective, but it’s when you get up close when things get ugly. Character models look horribly blocky and jagged. When they talk, their lips don’t move, and when they move, they can start to twitch and spasm out of control. Because of this, cut scenes look pretty bad, not that it matters, since the game lets you skip over cut scenes, and if you’ve seen the movie, then you can simply skip over these without much worry. When the camera is far off, buildings and people look fairly good, although they leave a little to be desired, but in the end, the graphics could have been done so much better. The frame rate keeps up with the game fairly well, especially when swinging through the city. Spider-Man is probably the best-looking character in the game, whereas the main characters like Peter Parker and Otto Octavius look slightly like the real thing but not exactly, and the pedestrians look horrible.

Tobey Maguire and other actors voice their respecting characters. The dialogue is a little funky in [i]Spider-Man 2[/i]. Spider-Man usually says quirky little lines that sound pretty lame in the end. He seems to step out of the shy little nerdy character the movie sets up and into a more sarcastic tone, like the old comic books and animated series presents. Most of the dialogue coming from pedestrians, which mainly consists of asking for help, sounds weird as well, mainly because they sound like they are straight out of the old comic books. The music sounds pretty good, and is similar to what was in the first Spider-Man game and music from the movie. Bruce Campbell returns as the helping guide, and offers his sarcastic rambling throughout the game’s tutorial. It’s really up to the player to decide whether or not he is tolerable. The way he presents help throughout the game is unique, but there are probably some who find his presentation annoying to no ends.

[i]Spider-Man 2[/i] is yet another fairly decent movie-based game, but that’s not saying much. The web-swinging system is probably the best reason to play this game, although it isn’t an incentive for a purchase since it can become old after awhile. Everything else in the game is rather repetitive and gets old very quickly, and the graphic presentation is lacking at best. [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] will probably suit many people best as a rental, especially since the game can be completed in a fairly short amount of time. In the end, [i]Spider-Man 2[/i] is fairly dull and doesn’t do much to help the movie-based stereotype out.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance

February 6, 2006

PlayStation 2 / Reviews / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

[i]Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty[/i] was released in 2001. Most gamers accepted it with open arms, being the sequel to a game that defined the stealth action genre and was one of the best games for the Playstation One. In 2002, [i]Sons of Liberty[/i] was remade for the Xbox, in the form of [i]Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance[/i]. [i]Substance[/i] added in many new features that, in truth, really should have been included in [i]Sons of Liberty[/i]. To many Playstation 2 owners, this may have seemed like a slap in the face, so Konami finally decided to release [i]Substance[/i] for the Playstation 2. Even though it is the same game as [i]Substance[/i] for the Xbox, it still seems like a slap in the face to some Playstation 2 gamers.

[i]Substance[/i] seemed perfectly at home on the Xbox since [i]Sons of Liberty[/i] was exclusive to the Playstation 2. On the Playstation 2 though, [i]Substance[/i] seems a little gimmicky, especially since it was designed to debut on another system. [i]Substance[/i] essentially has everything from [i]Sons of Liberty[/i], including the single-player Tanker/Plant campaign, and other additional options. [i]Substance[/i] differs from [i]Sons of Liberty[/i] by adding in around 500 different VR missions, as well as a rather clunky-feeling skateboarding mini-game. This makes [i]Substance[/i] seem like a waste for PS2 owners, since most people who own a PS2 and have an interest in the Metal Gear series played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i] around the time it was released.

This isn’t to say [i]Substance[/i] isn’t a good game, but since most people on the PS2 have played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i], it just makes it feel like a gimmick. If you are one of those people who never played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i], then [i]Substance[/i] is a great game, since you are getting the story-mode along with many extras players of the original didn’t receive. If you have played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i], then all you’re really getting is a couple changes, and while the VR missions are fairly enjoyable, they hardly seem worth paying the money for a game we all played a few years ago.

Like you’ve probably surmised, since [i]Substance[/i] is the remake of [i]Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty[/i], it also qualifies as the sequel to [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i] for the PS1. If you played [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i] back in 1998, then [i]Substance[/i] should feel fairly familiar to you. The biggest update in the player interface is the graphics haul, which updates [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i]’s pixilated graphics to a smoother looking form. Other than the graphics, most of the traits from [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i] have made their way back into its sequel. You control your character through a third person overhead viewpoint, using weapons in one hand and items like rations in the other hand.

It is best that a new player to [i]Substance[/i] isn’t informed of the storyline. The story takes so many twists and turns that revealing any information would reduce the impact of the cutscene or Codec transmission. [i]Substance[/i] begins with Solid Snake infiltrating a tanker with the assistance of his old friend from [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i], Otacon. The story shifts drastically from there, as any veteran Sons of Liberty player could tell you. Another important thing to know is that it is very crucial to have played [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i] before playing [i]Substance[/i]. Although you may understand some parts of the story, there are many references to Shadow Moses, Liquid Snake, and other things found in [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i] that will easily fly over the head of one who hasn’t played the prequel to [i]Sons of Liberty[/i].

The gameplay has seen some renovation from [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i], but for the most part, anyone who played the first will recognize the mechanics behind Substance easily. Substance introduces a first person gun viewpoint, which allows you to fire your gun at enemies and get clearer, more precise shots. Snake has been given a rolling technique, while Raiden has a cartwheel roll. Everything else in the game is, for the most part, rehashed from [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i].

There is a huge arsenal of new weapons at your disposal, not available in [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i]. The SOCOM handgun, Nikita missile launcher, and most of the weapons seen in [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i] make their return. [i]Substance[/i] adds in weapons such as the USP handgun, a PSG1-T sniper rifle, the AKSu-74 assault rifle, and many more. Many of the items found in [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i] return as well, such as the well-known cardboard box (which you can hide underneath), the magazine (which distracts guards with pictures of women), and the life-giving rations. [i]Substance[/i] also includes a new way of approaching your objective, by adding in the M9 tranquilizer pistol, and a tranquilizer version of the PSG1 sniper rifle. These allow you to take out enemies by putting them to sleep rather than killing or knocking them out.

[i]Sons of Liberty[/i] and [i]Substance[/i] both have more updated A.I. than that of [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i]. Guards are generally more responsive, tactical, and well, smarter. This doesn’t mean that the guards are geniuses, and they are actually a little dense in the sense that you can be standing on one side of the room, them looking straight at you, and not notice you. Still, the A.I. is good for a video game, even if it seems like they are dense. A couple new features have come up with the guards. A guard’s dead body no longer disappears after a few seconds, so now players will have to stow away any dead bodies so other guards cannot find them and raise their guard. Another new feature is that some guards call in to some unseen guard to report that all is normal. If you take out one of these guards, the unseen guard will soon radio in demanding why there is no response. No response will send in a guard team to investigate. These new features add to the tactical value of the game, and keep you thinking on your feet.

The Codec device returns from [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i]. The Codec serves as a communication tool to Non-Player Characters. Codec transmissions take place with two 3-D avatars speaking with each other through audio, along with subtitles. Codec transmissions take up just about as much time as cutscenes do, and at times, can be extremely lengthy. Of course, you can skip these, but you’ll be missing out on a big part of the story. At any rate, in the end, the voice acting and story make the transmissions enjoyable to watch. The Codec also allows you to save your game, and talk with other characters to get helpful tips on the given situation. The Codec is also accompanied by the radar, which you will find on the top right corner of your screen. The radar is an important factor in Substance, as it gives you a heads up on the enemy location, and their field of vision. You can turn the radar off, but it makes the game much more challenging.

The story takes up a good portion of [i]Substance[/i]’s campaign. In fact, the cutscenes and Codec transmissions add up to a little over three hours. At times, your controller may be on the ground for a while due to the lengthiness of some cutscenes. There are some periods in some cutscenes that let you interact with the environment, but this just seems like a way to keep you on you guard. As long as you don’t mind a long, story-driven game, then [i]Substance[/i] should be no problem, but if you like gameplay over cutscene, then you may not want to give [i]Substance[/i] a try, or any [i]Metal Gear[/i] game for that matter.

The voice acting is as stellar as ever. [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i] had some of the best voice acting ever seen in a game. In fact, it was one of the first games to include a great cast of voiceovers. The [i]Sons of Liberty[/i] story includes all the original cast (save for absent characters like Naomi Hunter and Mei Ling), including David Hayter playing Snake’s gruff voice, and Pat Zimmerman as returning character Revolver Ocelot. Christopher Randolph returns as Otacon, and Quinton Flynn plays new character Raiden. Some voices sound a little cheesy, especially Snake and Ocelot. The over-the-top story makes the cheesy voiceovers fit though, and they sound really nice in the end.

Now that the [i]Sons of Liberty[/i] part is complete, we’ll go over the new parts [i]Substance[/i] adds into the mix.

The VR missions are the biggest draw of [i]Substance[/i]. There are well near 500 VR missions. If you played [i]Metal Solid VR Missions[/i] for the Playstation, then the VR missions in [i]Substance[/i] will seem fairly familiar. You pick a character, mainly from Raiden and Solid Snake, and complete various scenarios in a Virtual Reality environment. Playing through missions unlocks more missions, and completing enough missions under one character will open another character up. The VR missions are enjoyable, but they hardly seem worth buying [i]Substance[/i] for alone. Of course, if you never played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i], then [i]Substance[/i] is a perfect buy, since you get the VR missions not available in the original.

There is also another new mode available in [i]Substance[/i], mentioned earlier: Skateboarding. Unlike the VR missions though, which are actually somewhat worth a purchase, the skateboarding aspect is not worth purchase of [i]Substance[/i], mainly because it is flimsy, and just seems like a gimmick. The skateboarding in [i]Substance[/i] is based off Konami’s [i]Evolution Skateboarding[/i], which got poor reviews at release due to sluggish controls and gameplay. All the traits that made [i]Evolution Skateboarding[/i] a failure make it into [i]Substance[/i]’s skateboarding, unfortunately. It is best if the skateboarding is left alone.

Aside from the other two new game modes, there are also five different “Snake Tales” in [i]Substance[/i]. These take Substance’s Plant story and replaces Raiden with Snake, altering parts of the story of course. Keep in mind these aren’t loaded with cutscenes; in fact, there aren’t any cutscenes at all. The small story is driven by text screens mainly. The “Snake Tales” are fairly enjoyable, but again, like the VR missions, don’t warrant a purchase alone.

[i]Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance[/i] is a great game. The only problem is, everyone has played the game back in 2001. The VR missions and gimmicky skateboard modes don’t really justify a purchase from a veteran of [i]Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty[/i]. If you never played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i], then [i]Substance[/i] is perfect for you. Problem is, if you didn’t played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i] at release, then chances are, you never played [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i], which contradicts the purchase of [i]Substance[/i]. If you’ve played [i]Metal Gear Solid[/i], and for some strange reason never played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i], then [i]Substance[/i] is a worthwhile purchase. If you have played [i]Sons of Liberty[/i], and simply must play the VR missions, then rent [i]Substance[/i], play through the VR missions, and your urge should curb.

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