Friday, September 03, 2004
The beginning of the end of all my money/time
Could I be looking forward to Burnout 3 any more than I am? I suppose it's possible. I could have gotten Burnout 2 when it came out, instead of a couple of months ago; maybe I'd have been anticipating it for even longer then. Or maybe, the game could be $20 for some random reason, like many other games coming out this season. Really though, my anticipation and expectations are about as high as they're going to get. The game has so far gotten probably the most unanimously great reviews of any game this year (game of the month from EGM, OPM, OXM, and XBN, a 9/10 from GMR, and a 9.5 from IGN), and, save Halo 2 and possibly GTA:SA, it will probably stay that way. And of course I wouldn't usually get excited for or buy a game exclusively on hype, but it's gotten so much unanimous love (and most reviewers have made it a point to say that the whole office was in agreement), and I love the last game in the series so, that I have no reason not to pre-order the shit out of it.
Playing Burnout 2 yesterday (and possibly for the last time ever), I realized one of the reasons that the game is deceptively deep, and therefore great. Take, for example, powersliding in the game. Most racing games have it, but in Burnout it's essential to great times later in the game, and is executed very intuitively. The thing is, as I learnt the hard way last night, even if you know how to powerslide and your opponent doesn't, it means nothing if you're out of practice. Meaning, being able to powerslide successfully and being able to powerslide like a pro makes a big difference. This is true for all of the racing components of the game; there aren't that many of them, but they all have enough subtleties to make them a lot deeper than you'd initially think. And of course Burnout 3 will take all this to the next level with aftertouch control, online play and blah blah blah you get the point. There isn't too much point to this post, I just want to express my excitement as much as possible. And get used to it, as I'm sure a good percentage of the next few weeks posts will tie in to the game somehow.
One pretty interesting thing I did notice is that all of the games I have pre-ordered/plan on buying this fall come from different genres, and pretty much span every one. I've got an FPS, an RPG, a third-person action adventure, a racing game, a sports game, a fighting game, a stealth game, a platformer, an open-ended action game, and a puzzle game. So either I have fantastically diverse tastes in games, or there are actually great games of all shapes and sizes coming out. Or both. Either way, I shall soon be very poor.
Playing Burnout 2 yesterday (and possibly for the last time ever), I realized one of the reasons that the game is deceptively deep, and therefore great. Take, for example, powersliding in the game. Most racing games have it, but in Burnout it's essential to great times later in the game, and is executed very intuitively. The thing is, as I learnt the hard way last night, even if you know how to powerslide and your opponent doesn't, it means nothing if you're out of practice. Meaning, being able to powerslide successfully and being able to powerslide like a pro makes a big difference. This is true for all of the racing components of the game; there aren't that many of them, but they all have enough subtleties to make them a lot deeper than you'd initially think. And of course Burnout 3 will take all this to the next level with aftertouch control, online play and blah blah blah you get the point. There isn't too much point to this post, I just want to express my excitement as much as possible. And get used to it, as I'm sure a good percentage of the next few weeks posts will tie in to the game somehow.
One pretty interesting thing I did notice is that all of the games I have pre-ordered/plan on buying this fall come from different genres, and pretty much span every one. I've got an FPS, an RPG, a third-person action adventure, a racing game, a sports game, a fighting game, a stealth game, a platformer, an open-ended action game, and a puzzle game. So either I have fantastically diverse tastes in games, or there are actually great games of all shapes and sizes coming out. Or both. Either way, I shall soon be very poor.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
'Lions and monkeys and draculas, oh my!' or 'Is there a Softball Hell?'
So, let me tell you about a little place I call Softball Heaven. Well, not so much a place, as a game. An NES game, and one of the best, and most outlandish ones I've ever played. This little wonder of programming and design basically jacks the RBI Baseball engine with no regrets, and drops a wondrous world of woodland animals, not-so-woodland animals, monsters, and guys named Anton right over it.
You see, late last night my compatriot Dan and I were browsing the many games on my NES DC emulator. Having played several games of RBI where I had my five-pixel ass handed to me by Dan's triple-plays, two-base steals, and all-star fielding, I needed a fresh start. I didn't think things could get any more ridiculous than Dan's quote of the night while playing RBI, "This game is so unrealistic!", but sure enough, we stumbled upon Heaven. You start the game by picking a stage, such as cliff, forest, or field. We chose cliff. Each level has it's own slight rule variations, this one being that home runs to the right side of the level turn into doubles (and a couple other I forget). You then pick your team of... things. I chose the likes of a moblin (goblin from Zelda?), an owl, a white lion, a monkey (in overalls, of course), a mummy, a dude named Anton, an eagle, metal (a guy with heavy metal hair), the wolfman, and one more my brain probably forced me to forget. Dan went with a frog, a giant eyeball (his pitcher), a pig, a kangaroo, dracula, a racoon, a mouse, and three others.
Though we didn't figure it out until late in the game, each creature has a different power. Some can bound into the air, some can hover in the air, some can bounce along the field, etc. Also, it appears that all of your players are on the field at all times, so while you think your eyeball can hit it past the lion on first base and into the right field gap, don't underestimate the wolfman. If it's not a homerun or a pop-fly, things get kind of chaotic, with colorful, crazy creatures running this way and that. And if you do hit a home run, get ready for the celebration of your life, including fireworks, a team line-up, and flowers brought to you by a pretty lady. Pure genius. It was a good game too, I won 8-7 (only seven innings here). I don't see why they'd even consider not making a game like this for the current generation of consoles, or at least add it in as a separate mode in MVP 2005. Wouldn't you love to see a well-rendered dracula soar past a couple of strikingly realistic kangaroos to catch a fly ball, as the crowd chants "NOS-FE-RA-TU, NOS-FE-RA-TU!"? Wouldn't you pay good money to play such a game?
(I found the linked images at retardedgames.com, though they obviously have their priorities all messed up if they're featuring this game)
You see, late last night my compatriot Dan and I were browsing the many games on my NES DC emulator. Having played several games of RBI where I had my five-pixel ass handed to me by Dan's triple-plays, two-base steals, and all-star fielding, I needed a fresh start. I didn't think things could get any more ridiculous than Dan's quote of the night while playing RBI, "This game is so unrealistic!", but sure enough, we stumbled upon Heaven. You start the game by picking a stage, such as cliff, forest, or field. We chose cliff. Each level has it's own slight rule variations, this one being that home runs to the right side of the level turn into doubles (and a couple other I forget). You then pick your team of... things. I chose the likes of a moblin (goblin from Zelda?), an owl, a white lion, a monkey (in overalls, of course), a mummy, a dude named Anton, an eagle, metal (a guy with heavy metal hair), the wolfman, and one more my brain probably forced me to forget. Dan went with a frog, a giant eyeball (his pitcher), a pig, a kangaroo, dracula, a racoon, a mouse, and three others.
Though we didn't figure it out until late in the game, each creature has a different power. Some can bound into the air, some can hover in the air, some can bounce along the field, etc. Also, it appears that all of your players are on the field at all times, so while you think your eyeball can hit it past the lion on first base and into the right field gap, don't underestimate the wolfman. If it's not a homerun or a pop-fly, things get kind of chaotic, with colorful, crazy creatures running this way and that. And if you do hit a home run, get ready for the celebration of your life, including fireworks, a team line-up, and flowers brought to you by a pretty lady. Pure genius. It was a good game too, I won 8-7 (only seven innings here). I don't see why they'd even consider not making a game like this for the current generation of consoles, or at least add it in as a separate mode in MVP 2005. Wouldn't you love to see a well-rendered dracula soar past a couple of strikingly realistic kangaroos to catch a fly ball, as the crowd chants "NOS-FE-RA-TU, NOS-FE-RA-TU!"? Wouldn't you pay good money to play such a game?
(I found the linked images at retardedgames.com, though they obviously have their priorities all messed up if they're featuring this game)
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