Who wants some Wang?

Greetings everyone! As you may or may not have heard the 3D Realms game Shadow Warrior is getting a remake by Flying Wild Hog, the developer behind Hard Reset. FWH as a gesture of good will had decided to release Shadow Warrior on steam for free for a limited time but they have since changed their minds and keep it permanently free! Shadow Warrior was originally released in 1997 and while it suffered scrutiny for being a racially insensitive title, it was a very fun and excited action game that is sure to please any old school Duke Nukem fan. So head on over to steam and download that sucker. Banzai

Double Fine's 2nd Kickstarter project: Massive Chalice

So Double Fine is at it again with Kickstarter.  This time around, it looks like they want to make Fire Emblem it seems, so that's awesome.  Schafer and company still have the best Kickstarter pitch videos, so make sure to check it out.  Check here for the Kickstarter page.

Humble Indie Bundle 8

Check it out here at: https://www.humblebundle.com/

Humble sales are always a great way to get a ton of games and help support charity.

This bundle includes: 

-Little Inferno

-Awesomenauts + exclusive chicken skin

-Capsized

-Thomas Was Alone

-Dear Esther

if you pay more than the average customer (at time of writing $5.68) you also get:

-Hotline Miami

-Proteus

All the games come with steam keys, and most come with the soundtrack (no Hotline Miami though)

This sale goes till June 11th, so grab it while you can!

Review: Resident Evil: Revelations

It’s pretty rare this day and age to get upscaled ports from portable systems to consoles. While prettier graphics and refined controls are to be expected, it can be hard to say if this creates a definitively better experience. Case in point, Revelations certainly makes the jump for the most part on a technical level, but conceptual details for how a game is built for a portable console make playing it an odd experience.

The story for the game is par for the course when it comes to a Resident Evil game: evil terrorist organization has new virus and wants to do bad stuff, and you must stop them. There are a few minor (and very obvious) plot twists, but nothing franchise shattering. In fact, there aren’t any real large implications to the narrative as a whole when it relates to the series, making for a relatively self-contained experience. Most of the main game has you playing as series veteran Jill Valentine with newcomer partner Parker Luciani, while occasionally shifting to other characters during flashbacks and the like. Much of Resident Evil’s B-level writing heritage is prominently on display here with cringeworthy one-liners being uttered at alarming rates. Characters are utterly flat or downright annoying, as is the case with newcomer duo Keith and Quint.

Hope this not Chris Gun...

Gameplay feels somewhat like a cross between Resident Evil 4, 5 and 6, retaining the now series style of over-the-shoulder third person shooting action. The twin-stick setup of consoles is taken advantage of to a great degree, allowing for fluid movement while aiming, something the series has only really pulled off well in 6. The option is available to play with a style closer to RE 4 and 5, where you’re rooted to the spot whilst aiming, but will end up being a handicap in most cases. Combat moves at a somewhat decidedly slow pace, as shooting for weakpoints help to conserve ammo. Only in a few cases during the main campaign will you ever be swarmed by multiple enemies. In most cases you’ll have an AI partner present through most of the game, but this is barely noticeable as they’ll do no real damage, cause any threat, or even take damage at all. A dodge mechanic is present in the game as well, but is difficult to pull off reliably.

The main campaign spans over the course of 12 chapters, usually comprising of 2 to 3 parts per chapter.  A typical playthrough is somewhere between 8 to 12 hours, depending of difficulty. This is perhaps where the most notable portable feel is had, as the game makes constant breaks in the gameplay and narrative to checkpoint a chapter or switch points of view. If RE6 was guilty for having their gameplay segments go on for too long, Revelations ends up being on the other end of that spectrum. The game goes so far as to have small video viginettes proclaiming “Last time, on Resident Evil: Revelations,” as if I have the memory span of a goldfish. I know that they’re in there for the 3DS experience that was made for more bite-sized chunks of gaming, but on a console game they just feel disjointed and largely out of place.

Just in case you forgot what happened five minutes ago...

Graphics are also a bit of an odd spot when it comes to this transition. Character models for the most party look pretty good in most cases, but will suffer from some muddy textures time to time. Environments will also look pixelated or low-res in some cases as well. Sound design has made the jump well for the most part when it comes to SFX, although the music is largely forgettable. A few odd graphical glitches are present in the game, particularly elevator doors like to jump while being used. Loading screens and doors are also suspiciously rampant throughout the experience.

As for being a much-touted “return to form” for the RE franchise, it’s hard to say. Puzzles are practically non-existent. Resource management does feel like more of an issue than past games, but made so only because of mandatory caps on how many weapons you can carry and ammunition bag limits. Item boxes are back, allowing you to swap mid-mission what kind of loadout you use, and customization to weapons feels very solid, finding parts to make tailored guns. Combat for the large part feels solid, albeit somewhat desolate when compared to 5 or 6. Having much of the game take place on a deserted ship does more to introduce scares to Resident Evil than we’ve seen in a decade. There are a few other staples here too, such as bonus weapons being unlocked depending on clear conditions, and the presence of Raid Mode being a throwback to classic Mercenaries.

After beating the game, some players may elect to replay on a higher difficulty setting, or choose the New Game+ option to carry over equipment. Another option for people who enjoy the combat is Raid Mode. Unlike RE 4 5 and 6’s Mercenaries mode, Raid Mode has a more decidedly linear feel, as compared to the priors sprawling arena modes. Chapters from the main game are reformatted to create challenge runs to get to the end of the level, all while encounter more and tougher enemies. An overarching RPG system is present while in Raid Mode: Your profile will gain levels, you’ll unlock currency to buy more weapons and upgrades, and you’ll unlock more characters to play with, each with their own unique traits and abilities. Raid Mode also allows for online co-op play as well. This has probably the most substantial that a bonus mode has ever been in a Resident Evil game, and really helps to create some longevity for the title as a whole.

Raid Mode adds a lot of replay value and ups the combat by a considerable degree

At the end of the day, I’m sort of hard pressed to say if I recommend Revelations. The game feels better paced and and enjoyable than the mediocre 6, but doesn’t really innovate to make it better than 4 or 5. Plus, It still feels like a portable side-story than main numbered franchise. If you desperately need your Biohazard fix, it’s not a bad place to look, especially discounted at $50. Worth a rental at the least to see if this is your bag, but I wouldn’t hold it against anyone for skipping.

The Future of Used Games?

Hey everyone, I thought I would start off today by bringing up a topic that has gotten a lot of attention since the unveiling of the Xbox one, or as we've come to call it the Xbone. The topic I am talking about is of course the concern of the longevity that used games have. Buying used games has always been a nice alternative to people who own consoles to buy a game that they aren't sure about and play it at a discounted price. If the game isn't up to the gamer's particular standards they can trade it back in. It seems like a simple process however: the inclusion of online passes, retailer versus developer and publisher income, always online drm, day one dlc, pre-order bonuses etc. has made the process more tedious and more questionable as to what is and isn't acceptable from all ends of the business. Recently it was revealed that the Xbox one would, this rumor hasn't been confirmed or denied, put up a pay wall to actively block the ability to buy or rent used games. As a direct result many gamers have taken issue with Microsoft's new policy and currently there are petitions and tweets going toward Sony and it's employees from gamers pushing them to not go forward with their used game detection system on the PlayStation 4.

 I am against the banning and blocking of used game sales but two of my favorite game journalists have directly opposing views on the matter. Totalbiscuit has recently made two videos explaining and arguing his viewpoint that used games are something that hurts publishers, their developers and need to be done away with. On the other hand Jimquisition has also put out a video recently, although he has addressed this issue many times in the past, stating how killing the used game market would ultimately carry negative repercussions to game industry and how it is wrong to block used games. I was curious what people think about this situation. Both videos are right here, Biscuit first and Jim second.

Summercast - 5/28/13

The first in what will hopefully be a summer podcast series.  On the couch is myself, DJ and Trey, as we go to town on the Xbox One.  Music is "Days of Summer V2" from the Thieves of Fate OC Remix Album

-=Download Podcast=-

Angry Joe's Xbox One rant

One of the funnier opinions about the upcoming console the Xbox one. They don't call him Angry Joe for nothing.

Cast photos for VGR

 

 

Super late post, but here's a look at UNCG's Radio booth where VGR was done for the spring.

Xbox One: presentation afterthoughts

It’s been roughly two days since the unveiling of the Xbox One, just enough time to let the announcement be processed and consumed by most around the net.  Interpretations by most have not been favorable to say the least.  While some may claim it to be a typical case of the gaming media being in an echo chamber of negativity, it all keeps coming back around to a very simple truth of the press conference itself:

The announcement was not for gamers.

In some ways this isn’t surprising.  We’ve seen the Xbox 360 shift its intended usage from blade-swapping game machine to blocky ad-delivery Netflix box.  The Xbox One continues Microsoft’s grand plan to dominate and control every facet of media in the living room, hoping that one day all consumers will have open floor space for their cameras whilst you integrate your surface to whatever smartglass app happens to coincide with the program on the screen.  It’s an ambitious goal for sure.  But for hardcore gamers and even mild gamer aficionados alike, this isn’t what we want to hear.

Hard to think I’d quote John Riccitiello, but his recent article at Kotaku says it best:

“The first and most obvious of these pitfalls is if Sony or Microsoft forgets who brought them to the dance in the first place. Gamers.”

At this time, the only attractive features gamers have seen about this console is the console specs, which end up being largely in line with Sony’s PS4 and dwarfing the WiiU, all standard stuff like an 8 core cpu with a 64-bit architecture, 8 gigs of ram, an AMD gpu, 500 gigs of onboard storage, etc.  This and an actual look at the box and controller all are positives in the books for gamers, but thats about it when it comes to the presentation.  Everything else being shown off if you go back and look at the conference are exclusive deals for TV content and Kinect functionality.  

What’s been worse has been almost all the info being presented after the conference that Microsoft of course would not present up front.  Always Online isn’t as bad as was speculated, like kicking you out of a game if the connection drops, but the Xbox One does need to check in online, what’s being speculated at least once every 24 hours.  Used games are somewhere between a small licensing fee and having to rebuy the entire game every time.  Live accounts still have a premium feature, which does share over the One and 360, but will no doubt be required for online gaming and probably other online services like Netflix.  Kinect is bundled with every system and is required to use the console, and will always be on, even if the console isn’t in use.

All of these “features” just serve to fragment the consumer base for a new console.  Gamers would rather see software.  Software is what sells a system, and Forza, Call of Duty and Quantum Break aren’t nearly enough to sell this monolith on its own.  The onus is now on Microsoft to make a phenomenal presentation at E3 in terms.  Comparatively,  Sony is still riding a wave of goodwill of presenting first, as well as advertise the ease of publishing for third-party devs and indie publishers.  Rest assured,  E3 this year will be very interesting, as we haven’t seen a true presentation for a new console generation for years now.

If I had to make a choice now though, Sony is looking far more attractive than Microsoft.

Bioshock Infinite Retrospective

Here's a quick retrospective of Bioshock: Infinite that some of our VGR and Pixel Loadout people help me put together for school.  Spoilers ensue, so make sure you've played the game.