Easy Days, Hard Nights

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game: The Review

I recently purchased "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game" through Playstation Network and I've loved every minute of it. The game combines a wide variety of all our favorite video games from the 90's (Streets of Rage, Battletoads, Super Mario World, etc) and adds some new twists to it.

For example, the navigation screen to get from level to level is layed out in the style of Super Mario World with the levels being dots connected by a path and each boss level being labeled with a sign with the number 1 through 7 on it. This brought back a lot of good memories from my childhood and made me want to play the game even more.

The next example is the battling within the levels themselves, it's just like Streets of rage and Battletoads. It's a sidescroller at an off center view which allows you to move up and down the screen while also being able to move forward and backwards.

You can also have up to 4 players playing at once and play as one of 4 main characters and a super secret hidden character! This 4 player feature brings the multi-player aspect to the table that we all love this day and age while also bringing a less over the top dramatic atmosphere to the game for not having someone's back. The nostalgia factor alone is enough to sell me on this game and suggest it to everyone I know who has a PS3.

Without further waiting, I dub thee "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game" with...

****1/2

Almost perfect, but every game has it's flaws and every game has room for improvement.

Friday, September 3, 2010

COD Black Ops Multiplayer

I really don't find COD games to require much skill to be good at, and from what I've played It only takes one shot to kill an enemy which isn't really the case in real life. I digress though, I'm here to talk about the new multi-player game modes in COD Black Ops.

You can earn currency to buy weapons and other war goods and in a new game type "Wager Match", which is a 4 person FFA, and you can wager that currency against the other players. The catch is you have to be in the top 3, if you aren't then you go bankrupt and have to join a new match and come in the top three to earn back your lost earnings.

There are different types of 'Wager Matches" and the first one is called "One In The Chamber". In this game type, each player starts with one pistol, one bullet and three lives. The object of this game is to kill your opponent and be the last one standing, but how can you kill 3 people 3 times each with just one bullet? Well in this game, every time you kill a player you gain a bullet. So, for example, if you shoot and miss your only option is to go in for a melee kill to earn your precious bullet. An interesting game type that will definitely add some super stealth to the online.

The second "Wager Match" is called "Sticks and Stones". In this game type players will have a crossbow, ballistics knife and a tomahawk at their disposal to defeat the other players. The cool feature of this game is that if you manage to kill someone with a tomahawk then you automatically bankrupt that player and they lose all of their currency. Definitely something to keep looking over your shoulder for. I forsee a large ammount of rage-quitters for this type of match.

The third type is called "Gun Game". This game type is meant to prove how proficient you are with the many weapons available in COD Black Ops. Everyone starts off with a pistol and with every kill you move up to the next powerful weapon. The first player to get through all the weapons wins the game, this seems like an easy feat but the catch is that if you get knifed by another player then you get sent back one weapon. Another reason to watch your back, but not as unforgiving as becoming totally bankrupt because of a tomahawk.

The final game type is called "Sharp Shooter". This is by far the most interesting game type I've seen so far. Each player starts off with the same randomly selected weapon and fight each other with it. Sounds easy enough, and kind of bland right? Well here's the kicker, that gun is only usable for a certain amount of time and then EVERYBODY's weapon is switched for another one and the cycle continues until the game ends. This seems like the most challenging game type as if you get a weapon change at the wrong time then you're finished. In this game type players will also earn perks for each kill and a scoring multiplier.

I really didn't have much hope for this game, but these game types sound like something I look forward to in a video game, a challenge. I'll have to see more online footage before I make a concrete decision on if I'll buy this game but so far it went from mediocre to fairly good in my mind.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Buy my stuff on eBay

Monday, August 30, 2010

Demon Soul's: The game about a hero who is dead who can still die.

I'm not even going to front. This game is the hardest game I've ever played. I don't mean hard as in puzzling or challenging, I mean hard as in if you die you lose all your souls(money in this game) unless you can get back to your body before dying again. Demon Souls does not forgive.

I have to give it to Demon Soul's though for taking a great idea and turning it into something amazing, the fighting is actually a challenge. Instead of just walking around and hacking baddies to pieces you have to actually devise a strategy. When I say this I mean that enemies do about as much damage to you as you do to them, so it's nearly impossible to be a hero and take on 3 or 4 enemies at once because you'll get slaughtered.

Another cool aspect to this game is summoning other players to your game to help you out. I recently summoned someone for the first time and it really makes a difference in beating a level and not beating a level. the only downside to this, for me at least, was that if someone you summon kills an enemy you get souls for it to. I like to work for my progress in a game, not be handed it so I found this to be slightly annoying. Sure, i end up having all these souls because of the player I summoned but when they leave I doubt I'll be able to get that far in the level again and, heaven forbid, if i die doubt I'll be able to get those souls back.

****-
Overall i give this game a 4/5 stars on the elite5n4k3 scale. It's a very challenging game and a first play through can be frustrating to most people, but if you stick with it and come up with a strategy you WILL be rewarded for your hard work.

-elite5n4k3