Mass Effect 2

A solid sequel which improves upon the original in almost every way. I say ‘almost’ because instead of improving the planetary exploration so that it didn’t suck, they basically excised it altogether. That said, the combat is far better just by virtue of taking pointers from Gears of War. The enemies do far more than just bumrush you now – they take cover, and they try to flank you if the battefield allows for it. There’s also some decent enemy variety, between the different merc squadrons you come up against as well as species-based traits. I found myself deploying skills manually a lot more often than I did in ME1, too – switching your ammo powerups and weapons around depending on the situation makes a big difference, especially if you’re playing on harder difficulties (I finished the game on Veteran).

The sidequests are also better in general, partly because of the combat improvements and partly because Bioware put some effort into designing quests that didn’t take place in the same three prefab bases.

So yeah, two thumbs up from me, especially if the first game disappointed you.

Just Cause 2

I picked this up during the recent Steam summer sale, since I had heard good things about it. At first, I was trying to figure out why it was so hard to get around, as well as why I was dying so much.

And then I figured out how to use the slingshot + parachute combo, and the game suddenly clicked, and became pretty great.

You can cross vast distances just by chaining slingshots – it’s pretty exhilarating to be honest. The grappling hook and parachute are the core of this game in many ways – you can use them to engage and disengage from battles on your own terms, to drag enemies out of cover, pull enemies down from high perches, and generally to demonstrate your general superiority. The game is basically about causing chaos, and the game responds to your actions by throwing tougher and tougher enemies at you the more chaos you cause. I’m playing on Normal and the toughest enemy so far has been a helicopter, but even those are a piece of cake if you grapple to them and throw the pilot out of the cockpit. Oddly enough, getting bumrushed by multiple soldiers is actually more dangerous to my health than helicopters, mainly because a lot of your fighting tends to be done out in the open.

Really, though, my only complaint with the game is that the side missions are a bit uneven. Some of them are interesting at first – blow up a bunch of rockets and then hijack a jet to blow up another one as it lifts off, hijack a car and drive it to a safe house…and then they start to repeat, and I get a whiff of Assassin’s Creed deja vu.

Bayonetta

This was the first game I bought for my 360, and it’s everything I would have expected. You can play it NG-style with a dodge button and no lock-on, or you can play it DMC-style with the lock-on button and using the jump button to dodge. Dodging, of course, plays a major role in the game, allowing you to slow down time when timed just right. Combined with the fact that most of your attacks don’t put the enemies in hitstun, this means the best strategy is generally to fight aggressively, and then dodge at the last possible second to activate Witch Time. It’s something that takes a bit of getting used to, but I’m having a lot of fun doing it.

Some of the fighting arenas are also pretty great setpieces – fighting on a giant building that’s falling through the air, fighting across the walls and ceiling of a church…pretty spectacular.

The only qualm I have so far is the QTEs that seem to randomly pop up in cutscenes, but they’re easy to do for the most part, so I’m not going to complain too much. The ones that you do as special finishers are easy enough to do and they’re great to look at, so I have no complaints there.

Backlog Blues

Unfortunately my backlog has only gotten longer since I last wrote about this stuff…Metroid Other M, Monster Hunter Tri, Thief Deadly Shadows and both Max Payne games have been added to it (damn you Steam sales, damn you to hell). At some point I’m going to have to buy a bunker and stay in there until my backlog is empty…

In the meantime, have some moonwalking Hazama.

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  Great sequel, although somewhat easier than the first game. That said, it had some great set pieces (the battle on the train was particularly entertaining) and the final boss was a lot more fun than UC1’s. Definitely worth a buy if you own a PS3, but you probably knew that already.
• Sonic and Sega All-stars Racing
  This game honestly surprised me. It’s a Mario Kart clone through and through, but it’s a pretty good one. Decent selection of tracks, and although there are a few too many Sonic characters, there are a few interesting nostalgia Sega picks like Opa-Opa, Bonanza Bros, Alex Kidd and of course Ryo from Shenmue. The balance could be better (right now it looks like flying characters are at a disadvantage while bike characters are overpowered) but it’s still rather fun to play.
• Crysis
  Pretty damn fun. The first half of the game lets you tackle your objectives in a fairly open-ended manner, while the second half ramps up the difficulty and throws tons of gunfights at you. Both are good fun, although the vehicle sections have some pretty annoying controls (VTOL sequence, I’m looking at you). And of course, the game looks gorgeous. I’d recommend not getting the Steam version if you have a 64-bit OS, though – for some reason it doesn’t include the 64-bit binary. On top of that the game occasionally just runs like a dog on my admittedly pretty good PC. Given that Warhead runs so much better I have no idea why the first game is such a hardware hog.
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
  I’ve said pretty much everything I wanted to say about this game over at the Orochinagi forums and I don’t feel like typing it all up again, so here’s a link to the relevant thread for you to read.
• Sonic 4: Episode One
  The more I see of this game the less it interests me. So much for classic Sonic – what we’re getting is Sonic Rush Adventure in HD with crappy physics and speed boosters up the arse. I’ll stick to my copy of Sonic CD for my classic Sonic fix, thanks.

As for the backlog, now that I’ve beaten Crysis, this is what’s left:

1. Crysis Warhead
2. Deus Ex
3. PoP Warrior Within
4. PoP The Two Thrones
5. PoP (2008)
6. Resident Evil 5 (STILL looking for someone to play this co-op with me…)
7. God Hand (got to the third area, promptly got my ass handed to me)

• Added some more titles to my backlog thanks to Steam holiday sales: Mirror’s Edge and the last two titles of the PoP trilogy (as well as the newest one).
• Immediately removed Mirror’s Edge from my backlog because I beat it in 3 days
• Removed Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword from my list after beating it over Thanksgiving weekend.

More significantly, I upgraded my PC pretty much as far as I think I can take it – swapped out my old Core 2 Duo E6750 for a Core 2 Quad Q9650, which is about as fast as I can take it without buying one of the ridiculously priced Core 2 Extreme models. More cores certainly make a huge difference in games like Left 4 Dead 2, and to a lesser extent in Team Fortress 2. I also replaced my 8800GTS 512 with a GTX275, which has helped with some of the more graphic intensive games that I’m still working through (like Lost Planet). I also needed a new power supply for the new card, so I grabbed a simple 650W Antec one.

Just those three parts set me back a fair amount, so much so that I think my next ‘upgrade’ will probably involve just building a new box so I can get in on all the awesome i5/i7 action.

That said, I’m tempted to download the Crysis demo again to see how well these new parts hold up.

(Because I completed it, not because I got fed up with it)

And no, I’m probably not going to buy any of the DLC, since the game itself didn’t impress me that much to begin with. And I don’t think I’ll be missing anything…not with the backlog that I have.

Just to give you an idea of what I need to work through, here’s a list of stuff I’ve bought but have yet to finish, in rough order of ‘completeness’:

Beyond Good & Evil (PC) – just about at the end
Fallout 3 (PC) – about to head to Rivet City, but I have no idea how far that is in the game
God Hand (PS2) – cleared the first area
Company of Heroes + Opposing Fronts (PC) – 3 missions into the Normandy campaign
Fallout (PC) – yes, the original, fresh off GOG.com
Descent & Descent II (PC) – ditto
Resident Evil 5 (PC) – freshly purchased, played two missions in co-op
Oboro Muramasa (Wii) – beat one level

So yeah, wish me luck, I guess.

Games that have been knocked off the list due to completion:

• Devil May Cry 4 – Beat it on Devil Hunter, although honestly I don’t think I’m really done with it yet. I can’t say that I’ve really mastered any aspect of the game (except maybe Nero’s Devil Buster but it’s LOL EZ anyway).
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams – I’ve gotten all my C ranks and unlocked the true ending to the game, so it’s leaving the list. I’ll still keep trying for A ranks and better scores from time to time, though (it’s a freaking score attack game – who wouldn’t). Maybe I’ll put some footage up here when I try it out.
• Zack & Wiki – I’ve beaten the main story quest, but I haven’t found any of the hidden treasures yet. Still, that’s good enough for me for now.
• Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition – Beat it shortly after my last list of doom post. I’ve fiddled around a bit with the other modes (the Ada side missions and the Mercenaries minigame) but I haven’t gone back to the game yet.

Games still being played:

• Super Mario Galaxy – Would you believe I’m still stuck on that one Luigi purple coin mission?
• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin – Really haven’t touched it at all.
• Sonic Rush Adventure - That last Sol Emerald is a bitch.
• Mass Effect – I’ve just finished up the Noveria story quests. It seems that there really aren’t that many main story quests which is a little alarming, but I’ll see what happens. I’ve started to get a good feel for my final opinion on the game, too…and it’s a little uneven.
• Beyond Good & Evil – Still fun – I’m right after the part where Pey’j gets kidnapped (spoiler).

Games that were started and beaten over the course of the month:

• Metal Gear Solid – Great boss fights, great sneaking areas, terrible gun controls, WALL OF PLOT is annoying.
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance – Boss fights are somewhat less great, sneaking is much more fun, gun controls are better, WALL OF PLOT is still annoying.

New entries on the list:

• Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence – Not too far in. I can’t say I’ve gotten the hang of CQC yet – for some reason every time I try to grab someone from behind I end up throwing them and setting off an alarm.
• Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword – this is surprisingly good for a handheld conversion of Ninja Gaiden. There are some cutbacks (simplified combos, only one melee weapon and two ranged weapons) but otherwise it’s fast and furious just like the console versions.
• Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – my first PS3 game! Think Gears of War crossed with Resident Evil 4 with a minimal bit of Tomb Raider splashed in for good measure. Very polished and slick – nothing to complain about so far.
• Bionic Commando: Rearmed – I never played the NES version, but even so this game is pretty cool. While the levels and bosses themselves are pretty well-designed, I particularly like the Portal-style Challenge Rooms.

And that’s it for August!

It just occurred to me that my Wii backlog is basically empty now (except for Galaxy). Any Wii game recommendations? Keep in mind that I’m a lonely bastard who plays games by himself all the time.

Games that have been knocked off the list due to completion:

• Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition – well, Dante’s route on normal anyway. I’ve started a Vergil playthrough, but it’s more like something I can do if I’m in the mood. With this I can finally claim to have beaten a DMC game!

And that’s the only game I managed to beat last month.

• Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition – Still on Mission 5-2.
• Zack & Wiki – No progress here either.
• Super Mario Galaxy – Took a few stabs at clearing that Luigi coin mission, and the closest I came was 80-something coins before my reflexes failed me.
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams – I set my sights a little lower and decided to go for all C-ranks first so I could unlock the true ending to the game. Unfortunately this is easier said than done because some of the side missions are really fucking stupid.
• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin – Gathering dust. For some reason I simply can’t bring myself to finish that particular mission.
• Sonic Rush Adventure – Set a few more personal records in time attack, but otherwise nothing else. I’ve noticed that the physics in this game are quite broken (at least as far as Sonic games go).
• Mass Effect – I’ve unlocked my character’s specialised class (went for Shock Trooper) and after spending ages on sidequests I’ve finally started on the main story quests again. Still pretty good so far – the universe is interesting, and conversations with the supporting characters tend to reveal some interesting nuances over time.
• Beyond Good & Evil – Played a bit more. This feels like a Zelda game with most of the tedium/treating the player like he’s five years old stripped out. So far, having a lot of fun with it.

The only “new” entries on the list?

• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction – Nostalgia got to me after the Diablo III announcement. I’m rebuilding my old Zeal/Fanaticism Paladin (boring build, I know, but it was the first D2 character I ever made). In addition I’m playing a summoning Necromancer for playing online with PenPen.
• Devil May Cry 4 – So far it’s definitely easier than both Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3, but still rather fun. The Devil Bringer isn’t quite as interesting to me as the instant rev and other frame-specific moves like Table Hopper and the instant Exceed, which are the main source of depth in Nero’s play style.

Stay tuned for next month’s update, when I reveal pretty much the same list with no changes whatsoever!

Games that have been knocked off the list due to completion:

• Psychonauts – I didn’t get all the scavenger hunt items, etc, but I was level 50 by the time I hit the final boss, and he didn’t give me much trouble.
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – Excellent game, but that final boss was far less challenging than the platforming area that led up to him.

Updated progress for the remaining items:

• Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition – No progress made. Haven’t touched my PS2 in a while, actually.
• Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition – Mission 5-2. @#%@ Regenerators.
• Zack & Wiki – No progress made. I don’t expect any will be made for a while, actually…
• Super Mario Galaxy – No progress made. That Luigi purple coin mission is really hard if you just bumrush it without any planning (like I tend to do)
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams – Finished the main story on both sides (not that it was hard, there being only 3 levels on each side and a common final level + boss fight). But I always try to play platformers to completion, so my next target is A-ranking everything. Yes, that includes that music mission in Memory Forest, a mission whose designer really needs to be shot.
• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin – I, uh, played a few more turns of mission 13. Still haven’t beaten it.
• Sonic Rush Adventure – I’ve been doing more time attack runs than Sol Emerald hunting, if you get my drift.

New entries on the list:

• Mass Effect – Level 20, just picked up Liara T’Soni. I’m playing as a Soldier, and will be going for a Paragon rating, like the goody-two-shoes that I am.
• Beyond Good & Evil – I actually haven’t gotten very far in this game because of a weird bug that causes my framerate to drop like a stone when I’m in the overworld. Just to remind you all, this is a 2003 game having problems running on a 2006 video card.

• Psychonauts (I put some effort into beating it this past weekend, and finally reached the endgame…I had to skip a lot of optional stuff to do it though)
• Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (I’m at about 60% completion)
• Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (level 15, right after beating Vergil for the second time)
• Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (mission 3-1…which is proving to be annoyingly long. Oh, and I have almost no ammo left)
• Zack & Wiki (the last puzzle is so ridiculously hard)
• Super Mario Galaxy (technically I’ve ‘beaten’ this game already, but I need to get one…last…star!)
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (2 levels in on each side)
• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (I’m on mission 13 of the campaign but for some reason I can’t bring myself to finish it)
• Sonic Rush Adventure (Blaze’ last Sol Emerald is giving me trouble)

This is not a state of affairs that I’m particularly happy with, given that there are other high-profile releases coming up that I’d like to devote my time to…in particular Mass Effect drops at the end of the month, and the PC version of Devil May Cry 4 arrives next month.

So much gaming to do, so little time :(