sexta-feira, 7 de março de 2008

Catch up - part 2


Another "part 2" post, how original... Well, lately my imagination's been running low, so bear with these god-awful titles...

Anyway, this time I'm just going to talk about games, since I haven't seen any new movies recently (maybe I'll see the Simpsons Movie this weekend). For some reason I don't feel like writing much lately, so I'm just going to resume my gaming experiences. Don't expect full reviews.

Medal of Honor: Airborne


The MoH series has quite a past. It started as a couple of pretty decent FPS's on the original Playstation, and then made the jump to the PC with the classic MOH: Allied Assault, a game that was an instant hit partly due to the simply amazing Omaha Beach level. It was if the movie Saving Private Ryan had come alive or something, and you could play it! Fucking awesome... Then the development team ran away to make the Call of Duty franchise and probably all of you know the rest. Poor, uninspired games, both for the PC and 128bit consoles flooded the market just to put more money in EA's pockets and put the MoH name to shame...

But wait, for all was not lost! In fact, after playing the demo, I had high expectations about Airborne, the first next-gen MoH game. The possibility of landing anywhere on the battlefield and the upgradeable weapons sounded like awesome additions to a, otherwise, stagnant series. Unfortunately, as usual, it all turned out to be less impressive than it sounded...

Yes, you can land almost anywhere, but that's not so awesome as one might think. The fact that you can see the whole level right from the start somehow takes that sense of discovery away, and after you're on the ground it's pretty much like the CoD levels where you have multiple objectives. It's a good addiction, don't get me wrong, but it's not the next big thing.

And the upgradable weapons... There are awesome, useful, upgrades, like scopes and bigger magazines, but I was fucking disappointed when I killed dozens of Nazi soldiers just to get a fucking bayonet for my shotgun (it's useless to go melee, anyway, since just a hit from those fuckers takes away more energy than a whole clip of bullets) or a grenade launcher for my rifle.

About the structure of the game and the gameplay itself, there are other things I don't like. For instance, unlike in pretty much every CoD, and specially CoD 4 (yeah, I know, different setting, but they're still similar games), where your partners play a big role, here it looks like you're winning the war alone.. We usually have a handful of allies by our side, but they're fucking useless since they are barely able to kill anything and we end up doing all the dirty work by ourselves. Yeah, I know, this is a game, we are the stars, but fuck it, this is not a one-man war, it was the biggest fucking conflict in history!

Also, what the fuck where they thinking when they made the last levels of the game? Putting you against Nazi super-soldiers wearing gas-masks (to scare us? Because there's no smoke or gas grenades or anything), armed with MG 42's. Oh yeah, that's right, the fuckers shoot MG 42's! Not, not mounted ones, they shoot them just like that, like they're holding regular machine-guns. And not only that, they take 20 or more bullets to die, depending on your gun. OMFG! Are they, like, genetically altered or something? Is this Return to Castle Wolfenstein all over again? And what kind of idea was that, making "super soldiers"? Aren't the regular ones good enough? After seeing this I wondered why Hitler himself wasn't the last boss, maybe controlling a giant robot or something...

My final verdict is, buy if if you're a nut about WWII. Otherwise, just go play CoD4, Turok or, maybe, Halo 3.

Conan


Great game. Of course I have more to say, but this is pretty much what I think of this game. An hack 'n' slash that plays a lot like God of War, the best thing I can say about it is that it's very faithful to the whole Conan universe and mythology. The barbarian is brutal, relentless and doesn't miss the chance to save imprisoned (and almost naked, including perfectly visible, and well modelled, breasts) women. Don't expect sex mini-games like in GoW, though. Talking about GoW, I dare say that Conan takes it's gameplay a step forward, with much more tactical combat.

While in Sony's game we can pretty much beat the whole thing using the same combo (or just button mashing), in Conan, somewhere around the middle of the game the enemies start to block and prevent us from grabbing them, requiring some specific and well-timed attacks to be beaten.
We can also grab the weapons of our enemies, allowing for 3 very different styles of fighting: one weapon, 2 weapons or two-handed weapons.

To sum it up, if you like GoW or just this type of action games in general, give Conan a try. It's a solid, entertaining and pretty long game that should satisfy your need for action and violence (almost forgot to mention that, this game is definitely not for kids).

Sega Rally


I wasn't planning on talking about this game, but what the heck, since I'm already at it, here it goes. Like the Nerd says: "It fucking sucks, it sucking fucks and I don't like it!". Ok, now seriously, the game is not exactly bad. In fact it's pretty good...if you can handle its gameplay, that is. The graphics are amazing, with that arcade vibe that only Sega can do; there are plenty of cars and courses to keep you entertained, and then there's the online mode, a first for the series. The only thing that could make it better would be Sega Rally 95 HD for a bonus. That and decent handling for the cars...

I won't make a huge fuss about this because it's apparently not a defect of the game, but mine instead. I say this because our dear Father K (and millions of gamers throughout the world apparently) happens to like it, but I for an instance can't seem to enjoy it. It's just not the game for me, I guess...


Anyway, lately I've been playing the most excellent Colin McRae: DiRT and let me tell ya, that's my shit! That's the kind of rally for me! The almost perfect blend between arcade and simulator, the almost photo-realistic graphics, the superb damage system of the cars, it all comes together to make what is one of the few games that I really enjoyed on my 360. One thing is to like a game, another is to genuinely feel good while playing it. Having actual fun, not just passing time. But more on that later, cause I'm not even half through it yet...

13 comentários:

The Sports Satirist disse...

There is no incentive to buy Medal of Honor after playing superior first person shooters like BioShock, FEAR, and Resistance. Conan was merely a watered down version of Heavenly Sword and the God of War games.

By the way, what is the deal with your hatred towards EA?

blackh0le69 disse...

I think is actually one of the few people that still supports ea in the forum we visit.. yet again, I think.

I am so sega rally fan... you can´t even imagine, still, I have to give it up, this new sega rally.. meh!

Arcades for the win!

NebachadnezzaR disse...

Ah, Bioshock! I knew I was forgetting a great recent FPS but I just couldn't remember...

As for Conan, it's not as epic as GoW2, but to call it a watered down version is a little derogatory, I think, considering that it introduces it's own ideas and that, let's face it, the GoW style of games is the obvious choice when making a Conan game. It's a bit like criticising an Indiana Jones game for being just a Tomb Raider clone, when in fact an IJ game can't be of any other style.

About EA, you already know my opinion about them, I already explained it in your blog, but you're being a little picky, aren't you? I say this because, judging from this post alone you can't tell whether I like EA or not. I merely stated a fact, the last MoH games were purely commercial products, games to make money. I didn't say if I agree with it or not, I just said that that's what happened.

But yes, I hate EA, you must be confusing me with someone else, blackhole.

And yes, arcades for the win! Maybe we'll play some Sega Rally arcade in the next PTGamers meeting :D

The Sports Satirist disse...

Just because a game has elements of another game doesn't mean that it can't be better. Uncharted was a Tomb Raider clone, but it was much better than any Tomb Raider game. Playing through Conan was like playing through Heavily Sword and God of War without the fun. Conan had stale gameplay and awful art direction. The only bright spot was the nudity.

Since your hatred towards EA is strong, I am presuming that you have no interest in playing Rock Band, Army of Two, The Orange Box, Madden, Crysis, and The Lord of the Rings games. Is that right?

blackh0le69 disse...

Oh yes, I was really confusing... you know what I posted on that ptgamers forum a days ago funnyman?

"I hope that everyone that talks shit about EA gets burned while trying to play skate, crysis, army of two, dead space, boogie, fifa 08... ".

Ps: I have to start training then neba, but I dont think we're going to have our meeting in anytime soon ..

NebachadnezzaR disse...

Different opinions, I guess. I know I had lots of fun with Conan and I even read a comment from one guy saying that, unlike with GoW, he was already playing Conan for the 2nd time, so for him it's actually better than GoW.

And I totally disagree about the art direction. In fact one of the things I loved was the fact that they went for an art direction faithful to the Conan universe, instead of just the usual high fantasy stuff.

And talking about Uncharted, it's not as good as the best Tomb Raider games, but once again it's just a matter of different opinions, I guess...

About EA, I'm getting somewhat tired of talking about them, but since you're a good fella and I value your input, I'm going to answer your question. My hatred towards EA is not strong to the point of fanaticism. No one pays me to hate them. In fact maybe "hate" isn't the appropriate word. I merely disapprove of their policies, that's all.

Given this it would be stupid to keep myself from enjoying their good games (because I have no problem admitting that they do have good games, though less then half of their whole catalogue, I dare say).

About the games you've mentioned in particular, I have absolutely no interest in playing Rock Band or Madden (don't forget that I'm European, I prefer the other type of football). Army of Two seems somewhat interesting, but still hasn't caught my attention.

About the Orange Box and Crysys, I look past the EA logo and only see Valve and Crytech, two companies I respect, and about the LotR games...

The Two Towers and Return of the King were pretty good, but The Third Age and Tactics were so awful... Once again, mere commercial products to make more money off a franchise.

blackh0le69 disse...

Shit I didn´t mention all of those games lool!

I just say this because most people criticise their police of only relying on their annual series and not improving them, and this year, they've totally gave those guys a kick in the ass.

Tons of new Ip's, lots of innovation in the sports series, and even in nfs (although it sucked).

Anyway, I used to agree with you, but right now, specially after playing Skate, Fifa 08 and Nba 08 (which, like nfs, also sucks) I cant defend that point of view.

Unknown disse...

i told ya dirt was teh shizz nune. ya gotta bring yer x360 to my crib once again so we can play no hate on tha 1080i hd man.

peace out holla holla get dolla

The Sports Satirist disse...

You like EA games, but you hate EA. Is that correct Neba?
I am lost.

By the way, what the hell is PT Gamers?

NebachadnezzaR disse...

Indeed, Dirt iz da shizz Fredy. Gotta pass by your crib sometime, but carrying the 360 is no small feat.

Funnyman, is it so hard to understand? I hate EA's policies, but I enjoy some (few) of their games, simple as that.

The world is not black and white, funnyman, it's all shades of grey (uhhh, I'm getting philosophical here)

PTGamers is a website, probably the largest Portuguese site about games. There's a large community there, of which both me and blackhole are part of. Also for 2 and a half years I worked with the site reviewing games, so that site means a lot to me.

blackh0le69 disse...

It's actually the biggest portuguese videogames site, and in my personal opinion (no fanboy thoughts here) is one of the bests in the world.

They just miss one bringing us some more news, specially because their short on members (only three post news.. and one of them is rarely doing it right now).

The Sports Satirist disse...

This is the first time I have heard someone say that they like games from that company, but they hate the policies of that company. That was why I was confused. I usually associate positive things when a company is responsible for enjoyable games.

fatherkrishna disse...

Another stellar post Nuno! Solid stuff!

I too loathe the policies of EA (they contributed to the death of the Dreamcast after all...)

But I have no problem playing their games!

I did read something quite sinister about them using online games to rape your personal data and buying preferences, without you knowing too...

Having said that, I'm quick to believe conspiracy theory! LOL!