1P Start

Usually my favorite pre-orders are either exclusive downloads or toys of some sort. Hey, I’m a huge toy collector. It looks like while I won’t be getting my toy, Halo: ODST will have a really cool exclusive only available at some retailers. It’s Sargent Major Avery Johnson!

Yep, everyone’s favorite rip off of an Aliens character is returning from the dead (oh really if you haven’t beaten Halo 3 yet, it’s your own damned fault) to be an exclusive downloadable character for play in a new multiplayer mode. The mode is called Firefight mode. Firefight riffs on the super popular (and perhaps the only reason to play Gears of War multiplayer) mode that pits players against wave after wave of enemy A.I. controlled characters. The Halo spin on the mode is that different skulls are activated for different waves, thereby creating interesting (and hopefully) fun variation on the multiplayer mode.

Who wouldn’t want a chance to be the cigar chomping Avery? I’m guessing that this exclusive will push a few more sales than other types of lesser pre-order exclusives. I know I want the guy, so hopefully I’ll remember to pre-order it before it’s too late. I might not have a job, but the wife knows that anything Halo is a must have because I have no willpower and I’m dumb. Hey, at least I’m man enough to admit it.

While I was a little worried about Ghostbusters, the game had some decent buzz going around it and the fact that the original cast was returning helped dissipate any building fears. I managed to find it at Sam’s Club for cheaper than regular retail, so I new I had to get it.

Cleverly taking place in 1991, Ghostbusters has you steeping into the shoes of a new recruit. I really like the fact the game is placed in ‘91. It leaves enough room for a third movie to take place now and to (even better) explain why the Ghostbusters don’t look old and fat. The new recruit doesn’t have a name, doesn’t spout dialog, and is the plainest white guy ever. Man, they could have made him Hispanic to make him at least slightly interesting. It works somehow though, because it feels like you’re in the movie while the regular team of Ghostbusters do their thing.

The story is fun, but the only problem that I have with it is that you retread a lot of what happens in previous films. It’s fun fighting the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and all, yet by the time you hit the museum seen in the beginning of the first flick you wonder if anything really new is going to happen. Then again, perhaps if everything was %100 new it might have veered into something that didn’t work.

Before this turns into an actual review though, I’ve got to play a lot more. As fun as it is, I don’t think that will be a problem.

Version Played: Xbox 360

At this summer’s E3 Aliens vs. Predator was shown off at Sega’s booth. It shows a lot of promise with impressive graphics and the standard three story modes found in previous Aliens vs. Predator games, which is exactly what I’m looking for.

As excited as I am about a new Aliens vs. Predator game, I was really looking forward to Aliens: Colonial Marines game. I love Predators and all, but I like the straight up fight between humans and Aliens without the intervention of the super hunter Predators. According to 1up.com the game from Gearbox Studios is still coming out… someday. Aliens vs. Predator is due to come out sometime in 2010 (we really have to wait a year? Lame!) and Aliens: Colonial Marines will come out sometime after that. I just want to put it out there that I hate waiting. It’s not like I’m getting any younger here.

For those of you who need some Aliens action on the go, there’s a DS version in the works by a Developer who is not Gearbox. I don’t know how excited I could get about an Aliens game on the DS, except if it was a turn based stratagy game. Oh please let it be a turned based strategy game! Okay, I’m sure it won’t be but I at least had to beg a little bit. You can’t fault me for trying, can you?

So after the cool news at E3 that there would be a Left 4 Dead sequel (which we all figured was going to happen anyway), a bunch of whiners that have no lives complained about it and even put up a petition. Valve has now responded to the petition by saying:

“Doing a sequel in one year is new for Valve. But providing ongoing support for our titles after the initial launch isn’t - it has been part of our philosophy since Half-Life was released ten and half years ago,” said Valve president Gabe Newell in a statement to Kotaku. “We see no reason to change that and will continue to support the over three million customers in the L4D community.”

Now, one of the concerns is that the sequel will split the community. So? Doesn’t that happen to every online game? Some people play Call of Duty Modern Warfare and some play Call of Duty World At War, but you can always switch discs if you want. And is the Left 4 Dead community to tightly knit that they can’t play other games? No, it’s just a bunch of other people who will annoying you 9 times out of 10. My advice to the petition makers is to relax and think about other things. Your petition isn’t going to stop a company from releasing a game.

Thanks to: Kotaku

I suppose as someone who was completely obsessed with the original Left 4 Dead that I should put forward my thoughts on the sequel, apply named at the moment Left 4 Dead 2.

While I am excited overall, the news from E3 that the sequel was coming so soon after we got the first installment has caused some mixed feelings for me. The first is that I’m really going to miss the original survivors. I’ve played through the four episodes so many times that I became attached to them, as silly as that may sound.

I’m also a little iffy on how much they’ll add. My biggest complaint about the first game was that it was a 40 dollar game at 60 bucks. Sure it had a lot of fun packed into it, but it certainly was a fairly bare bones game. But what worked about it was that the limited options made it more of a pure experience. If there were dozens of different weapons and lots of different enemy types, it might have severely watered down the zombie killing purity of the game.

No matter what though, I have a feeling that I’ll get the game and I’ll love it. I have faith that Valve knows what they are doing and will add just enough to the game without diluting the experience. I’ve read that people are petitioning the game and that’s just stupid. Have some faith that Left 4 Dead 2 will be a great experience and don’t be a whiny crybaby for once in your life.

I was a huge Wallace and Gromit fan from back in the day, but I kind of fell behind the ball on their adventures. Still, they have a soft spot in my heart so when the opportunity came for me to review the first downloadable installment of the Wallace and Gromit game on Xbox Live by Telltale Games, I jumped on it.

Wallace and Gromit: Fright of the Bumblees starts out suitably wacky. Wallace, the goofy inventor, and Gromit, his faithful canine friend, need 50 gallons of honey in one night, but that’s far more than their bees can possibly produce. Their efforts to get more honey gets the ball rolling for their adventure. The story itself is reminiscent of other Wallace and Gromit adventures and the dialog truly captures the humor found in their previous outings.

All the action is the fairly simple “point and click” action found in adventure games. If you’ve never played an adventure game you basically have to click around in the environment until you activate something, pick something up, or use an item on something to make it work. It may not sound very fun from my pathetic description, but there’s nothing better than solving a puzzle in an adventure game. In Fright of the Bumble Bees, the puzzles aren’t overly difficult, yet they should offer enough challenge to be rewarding. There was enough variety to keep me from getting bored as well. I particularly liked the end sequence where… well I don’t want to spoil it.

One thing that I really liked was that you took turns playing both Wallace and Gromit. I wasn’t particularly interested in playing as Wallace, because let’s face it I’m here for Gromit, but his reactions to events and his dialogue really turned me around. And playing as Gromit? Awesome!

The controls themselves are a little clunky at times. I’ll blame this on the fact that “point and clicking” is best with a mouse and not on an Xbox 360 controller. Still, the inventory management was effective and it was very easy to use items with elements in the environments. My only other issue with the game is that I encountered a few audio bugs that took me out of the game play, but nothing that impeded my progress. There was also a few video stuttering issues at times. Hopefully a patch can take care of these sorts of issues.

Since this is an episodic game, it ends before the entire story is truly over. Thankfully, it gave me enough to feel satisfied while making me want to play the next episode to find out what happens next.

My verdict is that Wallace and Gromit: Fright of the Bumblebees first installment is a great purchase for anyone who loves Wallace and Gromit or enjoys an adventure game.

If you haven’t gotten enough Halo after the real time stratagy action of Halo Wars, or the upcoming Halo: ODST, or even the sporadic map releases for Halo 3, there’s yet another Halo game coming out in 2010. The first trailer is out and you can check it out here:

So from the beginning we know the end? It looks like this newest Halo game is going to take place during the Fall of Reach, which happens before the first Halo: Combat Evolved game takes place. Spoilers! The planet Reach falls to the Covenant and gets glasses. Oh yeah almost everyone dies.

So are you looking forward to another Halo game? As much as I like the Halo Universe… I’m kind of having my fill. I don’t want to retread what has gone on before over and over. I’d like a true sequel, please. Also, I’m hoping that someday Bungie will be able to make a non-Halo game. What else do they have in store for us?

Either way, I’m hoping this is a first person shooter and not an RTS. The first one was fine, but again I had my fill of that and I’m not ready for another one. Oh well, I guess time will only tell. We always have to be needlessly teased about these kinds of things until the true details are out. Until then, speculate away and haters hate and fans get excited.

While Rockband may not have a true sequel coming out (the Beatles game is kind of an extension), Guitar Hero 5 eventual release is building up steam. Now the full list of artists is available who will have at least one song in the game. We’re still waiting on the list of songs, but this will do for now.

There are a lot of artists who have already seen their work in a music game, but there are a few here worth noting that we haven’t gotten before. I’m particularly excited about the Queen and Bowie team up. You know it’s going to be “Under Pressure”, it’s not like they did many more songs than that.

Full list after the break:

(more…)

Hey kids, Wallace and Gromit Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees is now available online for your enjoyment. Hopefully I’ll be able to review it shortly.

The full press release is after the more tag.

(more…)

I’ve got the perfect combination of cheapness and unemployment to make getting new games a fantasy. However, I stopped at the Sears Grand in town that’s going out of business. It’s really no surprise that Sears couldn’t turn a K-Mart into a successful business, but I digress. All of their games are going for 40% off and they had a rather good selection. Here’s what I picked up, despite the fact that I shouldn’t be spending any money:

Tom Clancy’s HAWX - PS3 - Original Price $60, I paid $36

I’ve heard good things about this game and I’ve heard bad things. I’m a nut for airplane combat and this game looked gorgeous and played pretty well in the demo version that I tried out. For 36 bucks it was impossible to pass up.

Advance Wars Days of Ruin - Nintendo DS - Original Price $30, I paid $18

I love turn based strategy games. I hate that RTS games have almost replaced them on the gaming landscape, but there’s still some good ones out there. I haven’t played any of the Advance Wars games and always heard good things about them. This game is pretty good, but it is a little too simplistic for my taste and the characters constantly blabbing back and forth is a little annoying. Still, it’s got a lot of cool things going for it and the dialogue is pretty entertaining at times.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise - Xbox 360 - Original Price $30, I paid $18

I got this for the wife. Totally for her. Not for me at all…

I’ve been living under a gaming rock. I had no idea that Rock Band was coming out in portable form, but it is under the title of Rock Band Unplugged. Now the interesting part is that the set list has nine songs that are exclusive to the game for a limited time, meaning they should become available on regular Rock Band. What are they?

Audioslave - “Gasoline”
Black Tide - “Show Me the Way”
Freezepop - “Less Talk More Rokk”
Tenacious D - “Rock Your Socks”
3 Doors Down - “Kryptonite”
Alice in Chains - “Would?”
Blink 182 - “What’s My Age Again”
Jackson 5 - “ABC”
Jethro Tull - “Aqualung”

Yeah, there’s some real must haves in here. You can’t go wrong with Tenacious D, though there are other songs I’d rather play by them. I’m really excited for “Would” and yes, I’d love “ABC” just for the casual crowd fun factor. As far as the actual portable version of Rock Band? Meh. I prefer my pretend instruments to be large and attached to a huge TV, thank you.

(more…)

Yeah, yeah this is old. Well guess what? I haven’t been able to play Left 4 Dead in at least 17 days, so I finally got my sweaty nerd hands wrapped around my Xbox 360 controller last night and on Live to play me some of the “new” online mode.

First of all, Kudos to both Valve and Microsoft for making Survival Mode free. Sure it’s not a huge update and one that should have shipped in the game, but it’s big enough that they could have tried to unfairly squeeze us out of the cash.

I managed to play a few rounds of survival and my conclusions are that it would be a lot more fun playing with actual friends instead of complete randoms. Co-op survival of this kind needs to be with friends who are willing to talk to each other to make it through the waves of zombies as opposed to dudes that will just run off on their own. The other thing that I noticed right off the bat was that the Left 4 Dead survival mode is no Gears of War 2 Horde Mode. There doesn’t seem to be enough breaks for the survivors to reorganize and have some actual hope of surviving. Yes, the point of the mode is to throw wave after wave of zombies at you, but the quiet parts in a horror movie or an action movie help lend even more drama to the proceedings.

Overall, the mode brings added life to the game which was needed. It seems fun enough and I look forward to checking it out more to get me my Zombie Genocidist achievement (currently over halfway there!).

Telltale games recently wrote in to let me know that the Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures demo is available on PC. If you’re curious as to what the game looks like you can see a clip here:

(more…)

I’ve spent more time on Halo Wars and I believe I have a better opinion on the game. I’m confident that if you’re a Halo fan, then you should like Halo Wars. The online co-op is really fun, especially since I only really like building bases and researching tech so my buddy can just go and kick some serious ass. I do wish there were more missions for the co-op/story mode though, it seems a bit on the short side.

(more…)

I recently picked up the Halo Wars limited edition for the rather high sum of eighty bucks the other night. Like I’ve said before, I’m not a big RTS fan, but I’m a huge Halo fan so this was a must buy. It didn’t hurt that I had Best Buy Reward Zone money and a gift card left over for Christmas, either.

I haven’t played the game long enough to really give a full review, but while it is fairly fun and I love, love the cut scenes it’s friggen frustrating that I can’t select or set aside squads to fight on more than one front. Also as an RTS newb, I get a bit of a panic attack when there’s too much going on at once. I’m more of a slow strategy thinker… damn you kids and your RTS games. In my day all combat took place in turns on hexagons!

Anyway, let’s take a look at the extras found in the limited edition.

(more…)