G-pinions

Really, I just haven't had a lot to say. As you've no doubt gleaned from my stalwart co-writer Tom, moving can suck for your gaming life, especially when your games are all packed away. Mine thankfully arrived with me, as I drove Out West instead of flew (I can't afford those pricey aeromobiles that Tom flits around in), but it's still been a headache organizing things to the point where I feel comfortable plopping down in front of Lost Planet for a spell.

Regarding said wayward terrestrial sphere, I've definitely enjoyed the time I've put into the game thus far. It's really a very simple action/adventure game at heart; linear levels capped with a boss, action over puzzles, and a thoroughly uninteresting story. That said, it's paced extraordinarily well and makes good use of the gameplay variety that's offered.

You'll do a lot of running around snowy cities, snowy fields and snowy caves (and ice cold factories!), shooting at swarms of pretty aliens, human snow pirates and the occasional giant moth. The structure of the bigger shootouts allow for some decent experimenting, as you usually have a few different weapons, grenades and mechs at your disposal, and a fancy pants grappling hook to whip around the environment with.

The methodical pace of the game (read: slow movement) takes a bit of getting used to, but it works well with the sensitivity of the aiming mechanic and the general exploration of the ultimately small levels. It's definitely gratifying to make it out of a firefight with plenty of health and ammo left, and by that same token if you have to use every last bullet to down a boss you'll feel a nice sense of accomplishment. It would of been nice if they had added some sort of upgrade mechanic to the weapons you use most over time (ala Ratchet & Clank 2+3), but they're well balanced so I suppose I shouldn't rock the boat.

I'm also really looking forward to Crackdown in a couple of weeks. The demo was a very hearty taste, but I've held off playing it further until the final game so I get to keep my leveled character and get some nerd points for my work. I found the co-op mechanic to be a bit disappointing to the narrative aspect of the game as you don't actually have to work together to get things accomplished (and usually end up half the city away from one another), but being able to muck around in an urban sandbox with a buddy is definitely something that's been worth the wait.

Tom and I were discussing game design philosophy over a bout of LP multiplayer tonight, and decided that while all games need co-op, very few actually need multiplayer. Games like Lost Planet and Saint's Row have fairly robust multiplayer features which are fun for a few hours, but most online communities die off after a couple of months and it just becomes frustrating that the development time wasn't spent polishing or lengthening the heart of the game. I was thrilled when they announced that there wouldn't be multiplayer in Bioshock; it would just be completely unnecessary, and a complete waste of resources.

It should also be mentioned that this whole Killzone 2 thing is getting way out of hand. It's inevitable that it's coming out, Sony needs a great exclusive shooter, it's reasonable that we'd expect it this year. These things we know. The whole goddamn ridiculous rumor mill that Luke Smith (1up) started in his blog and finally Ryan Bowling (Sony) shut down about a KZ2 GDC appearance and demo, well it's become a stupidly large ordeal. Luke is allowed to make all the guesses and do all the rumor-mongering he wants as long as it's in his blog. That has nothing to do with his news reporting skills (that's another topic entirely, of which Tom is surely dying to tell you about). More importantly, every other website should have done their own research and gotten their own answers before writing stories that purple monkey dishwashered into what could be perceived as fact. Now everyone in the gaming media looks a jackass, and only have themselves to blame. Then again, perhaps the gamers are at fault for being the type of group that rewards bullshitting your way into a story just to feast on tiny nuggets of info that can further fuel an asinine console war. I'd love to talk about my expectations for the game and whether it could actually be good or compete whatsoever with Halo, etc., but that's apparently a discussion we're not even at yet. I hate everyone.