Halo 3 - More Fun than Expected

Anyone who's been reading this blog for a while will no doubt know by now that I am not a fan of shooters in general - whether they be first person or third person. Lately, of course, the majority of these games have been going online, which lessens their appeal to me even farther. I do believe too many games are completely replacing one aspect of gaming I really enjoyed in the past - personal, side-by-side gaming with your friends - with online play, instead of allowing both types of multiplayer gaming to play nice together.

I've been frustrated recently with games such as Burnout Paradise, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Fable II and others, because they completely replace the split-screen co-op of times past and focus 100% on the online game modes that pit you against a seemingly infinite pool of strangers. Why can't my friend join me as a henchman in Fable II by sitting on the sofa next to me? Why can't I play two-player co-op against a friend in these racing games, which traditionally include such a feature? One of the excuses I've heard from various people on a myriad of different gaming forums out there is that rendering two game screens can't be handled by the hardware. This, my friends, is complete and utter BS. Wipeout HD renders split-screen flawlessly at rather high FPS. Then we have Halo 3, which renders not only two, but up to four game screens at once on your TV.

I've recently gotten into Halo 3 (finally, right?). My brother and I have been playing it a bit, in a few long play sessions. We have hardly touched the campaign, we've mostly been playing online. We decided to invite a couple other friends over this past weekend to give four-player a go. The result? A night of the most fun I've had in years playing multiplayer. Absolutely no online mode in any game I have ever played even compares to having four friends in the same room play together on the same Xbox 360 and same TV. Sure, we were playing online most of the time, but the fact remains, we could have played offline in a similar manner, as well.

This, my intrepid blog readers, is what might get me into shooters - split-screen co-op - since hardly any other genre supports this feature these days. More developers in all genres should take a lesson from the relatively few games that make use of split-screen modes. It doesn't have to be four players, like Halo 3, just two players will do. That at least gives the game some merit for those of us who still enjoy face-to-face competition and actually, you know, having a life while playing games. I know, I know, its hard to wrap your head around. Sit down, take a deep breath, everything will be alright.

Now, my preference is obvious. This does not, however, mean that I despise online gaming and hope it goes the way of the dodo. I realize there's a good portion of gamers that are accustomed to that now and it wouldn't be logical for developers to cut that out entirely - it should be a staple of most genres these days. But, so should split-screen co-op - that's my point. I mentioned earlier that I feel developers should strike a happy medium. Make split-screen and online gaming work together in the same game environment. Again, Halo 3 is an excellent example of this. You can design and play custom games offline or online. If you're solo and want to play multiplayer, you can do that. If you've got friends you want to invite over to play with you (online or offline) you can do that too, everyone else doesn't have to sit out while they watch a single person play the game.

I realize this is probably all too much to hope for in the present gaming environment, but a guy can get all nostalgic about the days playing Secret of Mana or Midnight Club with a friend in the same room, can't he? My apologies if this post rehashes some things about split-screen game play I've discussed numerous times before, but I wanted to point out how much fun we had with Halo 3 over the weekend, and how it trumps anything I've done with solely online play in recent memory.

Halo 3 for the First TIme

GameFly finally decided to send me Halo 3, even though its been sitting in the top spot on my queue since I bought my Xbox 360. There's only one reason I wanted it - to actually give me a game I can play together with a friend in the same room. Considering racing games (here's looking at you Burnout Paradise and Midnight Club: Los Angeles) have been letting me down recently when it comes to that aspect of a multi-player experience, I had to turn to one of my less favorite genres.

Even though I'm not all that fond of FPS titles, I do have great memories of playing Golden Eye on the N64 with a bunch of friends back in the day. I've even played the first two Halo games for a little bit on other friends' consoles, and they were fun to play together.

So, my brother came over yesterday and we played Halo 3 for about seven hours straight, barely breaking to eat dinner. We started out playing against each other one-on-one, but quickly moved to the online "basic training" and, eventually to full five-on-five team play. It was actually a lot of fun. Naturally, we had voice chat muted because I can't stand to listen to everyone else tell us what kind of noobs we are and where we can go stuff it. But, we did enjoy trash talking people behind their backs. And, believe it or not, as noobish as we were, we were rarely the worst people in our respective games.

I also like the fact that Halo 3 has a co-op story mode. I really wish more games in all genres would consider this feature, it really does make things a lot more fun and interesting. I think I might keep this game around a while, perhaps even buying it from GameFly if I get myself another $5 off coupon in the near future.

Post of the Day: 2.6.2009

How to make a portal gun replica. Hot girl not included.

Biding My Time

I'll be quite blunt, the one game this year I would say I bought my Xbox 360 for is Star Ocean: The Last Hope, due out later this month (2/24 to be exact). I absolutely loved the previous game for the PS2, its one of my favorite RPGs ever.

But, in the meantime, and since I've finished all the games I really wanted to play (except Tales of Vesperia, which I might as well not even start now), I'm playing a few non-RPGs to pass my time and expand my gaming horizons.

I have Tomb Raider Underworld in from GameFly and I've played that a bit, I also have Midnight Club: Los Angeles, which I've played quite extensively the last few days. I have the 360 version of Bioshock sitting idly by waiting for some screen time, as well. As if that wasn't enough, finally decided to use some of my left over Microsoft spacebucks and buy Portal: Still Alive. I played Portal through once on the PS3 quite a while ago and loved it, now I'm ready for another, more in-depth play through.

So...hopefully I'll be done with all or most of that by the end of the month and can delve face-first into SO4. I'm sure that game will then consume my soul for the foreseeable future, assuming it lives up to expectations.

A Disturbing Trend

As far as racing games goes, in the past I had always been a huge Gran Turismo fan, getting heavily involved in the last three iterations of the franchise (not including Gran Turismo 5: Prologue). Lately though, with a full version of Gran Turismo 5 in limbo somewhere, I've turned my attention to other, more arcade-style racers for high-speed thrills.

I really loved Burnout Paradise. I love it so much, in fact, that I want to purchase it again for the Xbox 360 (and get rid of it on my PS3). Its cheap and its definitely worth it. Only problem - no two-player split-screen. That's a huge issue for me, even though the game has great solo and online experiences.

While Burnout Paradise does what it sets out to do very well, I've always been a fan of customization. This is why the Midnight Club series has been one of my favorites since the original game. My friends and I would sit and play for hours just chasing each other across the city, forming races every so often. We explored, we tested shortcuts, we had a great time. Midnight Club: Los Angeles, the latest in that series, seems to continue many of the things I've come to love about the series. Excellent customization options, a nice variety of cars, thrilling high-speed races through crowded downtown streets - the entire experience seems to be here. Except, once more, no two-player split-screen.

I find it hard to give these two games a full thumbs-up approval without this most important feature. Too many games these days are getting away from the face-to-face aspect of playing games. Do these developers not realize that, many times, that is what made the game fun? You can sit and trash-talk and have a good ol' time with buddies in the same room. Its so much more fun than playing against random (usually rude) people online. It seems these days first-person shooters are the only games that allow split-screen co-op play.

This brings me to another argument against split-screen that I've seen many people bring up - the graphics are so intense these days that the systems just can't handle rendering two copies of the same game at the same time. This is a false assumption. Like I mentioned, FPS titles are still going strong with two- to four-player co-op and many of these are some of the most graphically stunning games available. Why can an FPS do it and not a racing game? My theory is that the developers are just plain lazy or don't care. Either that, or the publisher rushes them and doesn't care about split-screen so it doesn't get included in the final product.

Either way it sucks. I will never pay full price for a racing game that lacks this feature. Never. Twenty bucks or less for Burnout Paradise is great, but there's no way I would have paid $60 for it a year ago when it first came out simply for this fact.

Demo Impressions: Mirror's Edge

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'm not big into FPS games, or, really, any type of shooters. But, Mirror's Edge seems different somehow. I played through the demo a couple times this past weekend and actually enjoyed it. The story seemed to grab me right from the start - a city strictly controlled by a para-military organization and runners, like our heroine Faith, working for the average Joe.

The initial game play slowly works you into the complex, fluid movements that Faith can perform. The environments were very clean and detailed. The "runner vision" that Faith has available to her lets you easily see interactive objects such as doors, pipes, planks, etc. Those usually give you a direction to venture to achieve your goal, especially since you need to decide quickly in many situations.

Parts of the control scheme seem a bit clunky, especially trying to turn 180 degrees and jump to another object in quick succession, but, I'm sure, with time and practice things like that will smooth out. It was also kind of difficult, given the first-person perspective, to figure out where to land and how to jump over things such as barbed wire from a distance, like they put you through in the tutorial. After that, however, things get more fun and exciting.

You get to play through a simple mission, once you've gone through the tutorial stage, which has you following another runner around a rooftop training course, copying her actions. The mission begins easily enough with you performing simple actions to get to your destination. However, about half way through, cops are hot on your tail and you have to either evade them (my preferred method) or fight them. At one point, there's way too many to fight, even. There was an area that was a bit difficult, mostly because the way to go wasn't immediately clear and I had to run around quite a bit. In those situations the "runner vision" really could use some better intuitiveness (is that a word?). In fact, "runner vision" shouldn't only show interactive objects, but should show a variety of objects that Faith would concentrate on when trying to find the way out of a situation - open doors or fences, fences that require you to leap over or climb under, and the like. Given that there's quite the clutter on some of those rooftops, you can't always see the quickest way out and have to explore a bit, to your own detriment.

Overall, though, I'll definitely be giving this a rental, just because its different than most games in the FPS genre. I definitely suggest trying out the demo, which is up on the PSN and XBM right now.

Game Status Update: Nov. 1, 2008

I'm considering doing one of these "status updates" every month, much like several other gaming blogs. Its basically a list of what I've tried, what I'm playing completely through, what I've decided I'm completely skipping, etc. Depending how things go, I may do this bi-weekly, but I've got a lot of games to play and Wrath of the Lich King coming out this month so...perhaps monthly is the way to go.

Games I've tried and will likely not finish for various reasons: Eternal Sonata, Metal Gear Solid 4 (yes, yes, cry me a river).

Games I'm currently playing and intend to finish: LittleBigPlanet ("finish" as in, at least clear the developer-made levels), Tales of the Abyss.

Games I don't intend to play for quite some time: Tomb Raider: Underworld, Fallout 3 (more tears, let me have them).

Games I intend to play through: Valkyria Chronicles, Star Ocean: First Departure, Rock Band 2, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Persona 4, Bioshock, Mirror's Edge.

Games I intend to try if/when I get a 360: Fable II, Tales of Vesperia, Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant, Mass Effect.

Game the will likely take up most of my play time and cause me to not get any of the above games finished: Wrath of the Lich King.

And, there you have it. If I had to put two games (besides WotLK) at the top of my list to play this holiday season, it would most likely be Valkyria Chronicles and Persona 4.

Bioshock Demo Impressions

One of the first things I did when I got home yesterday afternoon was to download the Bioshock demo onto my PS3. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting much. First off, I'm not a big FPS fan. Secondly, demos of FPS games I've tried out in the past didn't do a whole lot to change my mind about the genre. Perhaps this is because most FPS games concentrate too heavily on some sort of multi-player or online aspect and not enough on one of my favorite part of games - the story.

But, because I've heard so many good things about Bioshock, I decided to give the demo a shot. What I played through last night was surprisingly deep (pun not intended, so hush) and immersive. It really drew me into the demo so much I felt I was playing a full copy of the game. The atmosphere the game presents almost right off the bat is unlike anything I've really seen in a game before, especially not the FPS genre. I was thinking the whole time, "This would make an awesome RPG". The environments bring out your imagination and make you believe something like this underwater dystopian city of Rapture could really have happened. The whole 1940s/50s feel to everything is just icing on the cake that is the look and feel of the game.

The controls were easier to grasp than I would have imagined, because most FPS games are unnecessarily complex. The left trigger buttons are for activating and using your "powers", the right are for physical weapons. The four face buttons are equally simple in their use for in-game actions. The audio just added to the immersion, playing tunes from the middle part of last century and providing eerie voices for the more unfortunate citizens of Rapture, as well as diary entries from when the city was a safe haven. Your constant companion, a survivor of the devastation, is with you always, guiding you through what is a game tutorial, but it doesn't feel like one.

And, need I remind you again, this is only the demo. I look forward to playing the entire game in the not-too-distant future. Unfortunately, there are way too many games coming out in the next couple months that I'm unsure when I'll get around to picking this one up.

Its Been Too Long...

I've taken a rather lengthy hiatus, as you might have noticed. Its not really from a lack of information or lack of wanting to blog about said information. I was a bit disenchanted by the recent news that Sony's current generation console is losing its predecessor's status as the console to own if you're an RPG fan. To be quite honest, the XBox 360 is securing more RPG exclusives and has a wider variety of content than the PS3 could ever dream of at this point. (No, constant FPS games that are each slightly different but pretty much all the same does not count.)

To add gas to the fire, it was just announced that the 360 version of Rock Band 2 would be released before the PS3 version. This continues the downward trend of Sony's consoles. While some of this might not necessarily be Sony's fault entirely, a lot of it is, as well.

So, rumor has it that the 360 will be seeing a price cut here soon. I'm going to try my best to get one before the end of the year. There's too many RPGs available and soon to be available that I just can't pass it up.

Losing Hope in Sony

Let's get straight to the point. I realize Sony used to have a stance that they would not pay for exclusive titles, however this is going to come back and bite them in unpleasant places. Sony needs to get the frak on the ball, hop off the bandwagon of crappy FPS titles, and start focusing on matching their previous generation's quality and variety of games.

From what I'm seeing lately, the 360 is knocking the PS3 firmly on its behind in more ways than one and its highly depressing for someone who, like many other people I'm sure, purchased the console assuming it would carry its predecessor's weight.

I'm watching you, Sony...I'm watching you...

Valkyria Chronicles Preview

A week and a half ago I posted about Valkyria Chronicles, with its mix of SRPG and shooter elements. I'm still really looking forward to this game, mostly because my PS3 is starved for RPG attention.

Siliconera just posted a rather informative preview of the game, and discusses the hybrid combat and flow of the game in more detail. Its a good read.

GRID and Haze Demo Impressions

This week two new demos that interested me were put up on the PlayStation Network for download - GRID and Haze.

I can't particularly justify spending $40 on the glorified demo that is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, so I was really interested in GRID. The developers promise real physics and damage as well as highly detailed cars and a realistic racing experience, much like GT5 (minus the damage, of course).

Most of the above is true, but I played each event twice and was horribly annoyed by how "loose" the cars handle. The slightest mistake and I'm sliding into the dirt and I go spinning out of control. No matter how hard I tried, unless I slowed down so far I nearly stopped, this would happen to me every time I'd go around a corner. I tried different speeds, different entrance/exit angles and everything...without fail almost every single corner I'd skid off into the dirt and spin around in circles trying to get back on the track. That's not very impressive, to be honest.

Sure, it is a demo, but the final product is close enough to release that its hard to believe they'll go back and rework the car handling. Its true, different cars might just handle different, but you would think they'd introduce you to the game with a decent handling car. If this is the case, they're only doing themselves a disservice.

I'm not big into FPS games, but I thought I'd try the Haze demo. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed it. It was easy to pick up and play and did a great job easing you into the game, especially for an FPS newbie, like myself. I might actually give Haze a rental once it comes out, but I'm not really impressed with GRID.

One thing that was consistent, however, was that they both look gorgeous. I'd recommend downloading both demos just for the eye candy alone. Haze will be gracing PS3s on May 23, while GRID will hit store shelves for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on June 3.

Valkyria Chronicles Should Be Interesting

I would probably describe myself as a "JRPG purist", if you will. My favorite genre of games is traditional Japanese-style RPGs. Bring on the cliché stories, the turn-based battles and the spikey-haired, emo heroes.

However, once you start getting into the realm of strategy RPGs, I tend to lose interest rather quickly. The game play is usually incredibly different and, in my opinion, any complex stories that the writers endeavor to build get lost in the endless grind to level up your characters and their various classes which is, in many cases, required to advance.

This isn't to say I haven't enjoyed my fair share of SRPGs, such as last year's Jeanne d'Arc, which was a great game in which the story didn't get too bogged down in endless leveling. It was balanced, if you will. What turned me off of Final Fantasy Tactics almost right out of the gate was the fact that I actually had to stop and level my characters up for a battle that occurred after roughly 15 minutes of game play. In other words, right at the very beginning of the story, I had to drop everything and do random battles to level my characters up to progress. One of the most celebrated SRPGs of all time turned me off from the entire genre, with Jeanne d'Arc being the exception.

With all that being said, I'm actually rather interested in Valkyria Chronicles, which was recently released in Japan, exclusive to the PS3. For one, RPG fans who own a PS3 are rather starved for attention - the market is saturated with FPS titles and very, very few RPGs. That alone makes me interested in any form of RPG that will be hitting the console.

On top of that, however, its rather difficult to classify Valkyria Chronicles within the atmosphere of RPGs. Its a hybrid, no doubt. At its core its a Japanese-style strategy RPG, but it includes basic JRPG elements such as turn-based battles, as well as...first person shooting. Wait, what? Check out these in-game videos, especially the first two. How interesting does that look?

Needless to say, I'm keeping my eye on this one, which is looking to be released here in North America toward the end of this year.

I'm Thinking FPS Games Aren't for Me

I got The Orange Box in from GameFly last week. The main reason I wanted this is to play Portal. Guess what? I completed Portal and really liked it. So, then I moved on to Half Life 2 and fail horribly. I don't know if its my lack of experience with FPS games, or just the fact that I have bad aim and bad problem solving skills, but I suck at that game, and that is not fun.

I'm being shot at by man and machine while I have to try to figure out what to do and where to go to advance. I die way too many times (even on easy mode, sad, I know). The control of the game really isn't an issue, as Oblivion had similar controls and I did just fine in that.

I think its more of the fact that the typical FPS game leaves the player at a disadvantage. The environment isn't controlled. In games like Portal and Oblivion, for the most part, the player can choose when, where and how to get involved in things that could end up in his untimely demise. In games like HL2 all that is decided by the game's AI, not the player, since the player is placed in situations that are difficult for him to control, but which require him to overcome to succeed.

Does that make any sense? Anyway, I'll probably give HL2 another shot before I send it back, but I did play Portal, which was the reason I rented that collection in the first place. So, mission accomplished. ;)