Review: Street Fighter X Tekken (Special Edition)

Posted on March 20, 2012 by geelw

Platform: Xbox 360 (also on PS3)

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

# of Players: 1 – 4

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A-

Capcom’s Versus fighters have a definite appeal to gamers that crave taking their favorite characters from different media and pitting them against each other in some truly outrageous battles and in terms of reinventing that particular wheel, Street Fighter X Tekken may be their best game to date. Although the Xbox 360 version is sorely missing the offline tag-team mode found in the PS3 version, there’s absolutely no reason to miss out on this game if you’re a huge fan of either franchise. From the outstanding visuals and animation to the excellent tutorials that will get any new player into the game with ease, this one’s a no-brainer for fighting games fans. Sure, there are some quibbles with the total number of unlocked characters versus who’s available as paid DLC, but this is one of those games where if you’re hooked in, you probably won’t mind paying a bit extra for even more fun.

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Review: Tales of Graces f

Posted on March 19, 2012 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Namco Tales Studio LTD.

Publisher: Namco Bandai

# of Players: 1 – 4

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A

While heavy on the JRPG 101 clichés (even borrowing from previous games in the popular series), Tales of Graces f manages to be a stellar, addictive chunk of gaming goodness thanks to a lightning fast combat system, a fairly engaging cast of characters and a healthy dose of old school charm that keeps the hours flying by. Right from the beginning, you can clearly see and feel Namco Tales Studios’ commitment to making this the best Tales game possible and for the most part, they’ve succeeded. As the game is an enhanced update of the Japan-only Wii game Tales of Graces (with even more content and a few notorious bugs fixed), it’s not shooting for the stars in terms of overly detailed HD visuals at all. What you get is a very pretty looking game with a whole lot of things to do that doesn’t set any new genre standards, but manages to have enough variety to keep you dialed in until the wee hours.

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F1 2012 “Games vs Reality” Trailer: For Some, It’s Not By The Hair Of Your Simmy-Sim-Sim

Posted on March 18, 2012 by geelw

Some diehard Formula One aficionados want ANY game with the F1 license to be nothing but as real as possible with no sort of leeway given to novice players. That’s a fine way to lure in that select few who can deal with this type of driving game, but it makes selling that game outside that audience a slim to none chance. Granted, a full-on arcade experience is a no-go for those that crave a game that’s not going to be a floor it and win every race experience, and I’m one of those who dislikes racers that take too much effort away from actual gameplay. Codemasters seems to have solved some of these issues with F1 2012, although if you’re REALLY picky, the game’s September release comes when the actual F! season is pretty much over. Hey, you can’t expect the team to bust out a game BEFORE the season like EA Sports does with the Madden games, as there are a great deal of variables involved and a rushed to market game isn’t actually good for much unless you’re collecting coasters. Sure, F1 201o and 2011 weren’t flawless, but the dev team is definitely getting better and better each year they have the license (and I’m all for that)…

BioWare Doesn’t Need To Do A Damn Thing About Mass Effect 3’s Ending…

Posted on March 15, 2012 by geelw

Look, fans are GREAT to have, but I’m sure SOMEWHERE at BioWare, the team poring over all the hate mail feels every negative creak and groan is worse than driving a car full of sugared-up seven-year old kids to the mall on a hot Saturday afternoon. I wonder how many of these people going on and on about wanting an ending they’d LIKE would have done back in the day about books like Camille, Great Expectations, Lord Jim or even The Diary of Anne Frank.

Feh. I say strap all those folks down and force them to watch The Hidden II on a loop for a week until they see exactly what a bad ending is…

Still, I have to at least give some of these guys and gals a hearty handclasp for using this otherwise needless beef to raise money for charity. These people may not get that alternate ending they crave so dearly, but some very deserving kids out there will get to enjoy their lives a little bit more (and that’s always a good thing)…

DiRT Showdown “Massive Damage” Trailer: Now, THAT’S More Like It (Almost)…

Posted on March 14, 2012 by geelw

OK, I said this a while back, but once again, I’m officially retiring Test Drive: Eve of Destruction as my go-to demolition derby fix once DiRT Showdown is released. Still, while this latest work in-progress trailer shows off some cool stuff, I’m wanting a bit more of a damage model that’s closer to actual derby stuff and the damage model found in Bugbear’s FlatOut games while not straying too far into Burnout territory. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the later Burnout games at all in terms of stuff wrecking up pretty good. However, there’s a great balance between realism and arcade that Monster Games nailed almost perfectly in Eve of Destruction back on the PS2 and Xbox that’s hard to explain unless you’ve played it or seen it in action. Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that Codemasters can knock it out of the park. Well, even further than they have so far…

Games You Just NEED To Play: Yakuza: Dead Souls

Posted on March 13, 2012 by geelw

Sure, it’s all about Mass Effect 3 for many out there, but for total goofballs like me, Sega’s just-released wild Tokyo nightmare is going to be more fitting for a few reasons. The mix of horror and humor makes for a wacky bit of balancing, but the game isn’t trying to be “serious” at all (zombies versus Japanese gangsters would make a great Takashi Miike flick, I say!). Those weird Yakuza 4 geisha club mini-games are back (enough said there) and hell, it’s just cool to support Sega and the supremely talented Yakuza team again this year, as Binary Domain was also a really nice surprise that’s worth a buy. Don’t get me wrong, though – I’m not skipping out on BioWare’s latest at all, folks. It’s just that it’ll always be around to dive into on multiple platforms (and will no doubt get some sort of reissue down the road) while this one’s a PS3 exclusive that’s only going to get a limited release and that’s that… unless there’s a Yakuza BOX on the way (note to Sega: hint, hint, hint…)

Tales of Graces f Launch Trailer: Namco Bandai’s Got Quite A Story To Tell, That’s For Sure…

Posted on March 12, 2012 by geelw

I’ve been playing this on and off for the past few days (my review copy arrived last week) and it’s quite spectacular in an old-school meets modern JRPG way. Sure, it’s packed to the gills with familiar thematic elements (an enigmatic amnesiac, two brothers separated by differing opinions and life choices, the formerly sick girl now a powerful party member, et cetera), but the fast-paced battles, tons of titles to earn for each character and the usual Tales features keep the hours peeling away. If you’re a PS3 owner and JRPG fan looking for the next big game to dive into, this one’s for you. Oh yeah, the game also lets you play with up to four friends through much of the adventure (but expect them to be spectators for a bit in some areas where the party is thinned out for plot purposes).

My full review will go up later this week (probably Friday at this point)…

Journey Launch Trailer: An Instant Classic Not To Be Missed (The Game, Not The Trailer, Silly)…

Posted on March 11, 2012 by geelw

It’s officially out on the 13th through PSN and yes, I’m urging you to give it a shot even if you’re automatically conditioned against indie games, downloadable games or quirky stuff you think you wouldn’t like based on some bias blocking your thought process and sense of wonder. Trust me when i say you’ll be awed and thrilled once you see what thatgamecompany has crafted. Journey is a game that feels ‘handmade” with its gorgously stylized visuals, simple, compelling gameplay and innovative online mode that actually makes it the safest online game to date (which should be good news to those with kids in the house who are wary about letting them play any online games). Anyway, tgc and Sony need to get this on out on the Vita and on a Blu-Ray so more PS3 owners can play it, but again, that’s all up to them. Personally, I’d spend the time and money on production of a retail version, get the word out on how great it is and see what happens..

Deadly Premonition FINALLY Hitting PS3 (At Some Point)…

Posted on March 10, 2012 by geelw

Awesome. Access Games’ outstandingly weird and polarizing horror adventure game will at some point, be headed to the PS3 in North America, according to comments made by Yasuhiro Wada at a GDC 2012 panel. In case you missed it, the US version of Red Seeds Profile (made for the PS3 and Xbox 360 overseas), was only released here as Deadly Premonition on the Xbox 360 back in 2010 to a mix of really positive or really negative reviews that marked some sort of odd tipping point to some in how games are judged.

While not the best-looking or controlling game of this generation, the offbeat characters and bizarre storyline with even weirder imagery made the game a favorite of many folks (including yours truly) that loved the off-kilter craziness on display. While Ignition Entertainment (now UTV Ignition) published the game as a budget release on the 360, no news of a US publisher has yet been announced, but you can bet that we’ll be keeping an eyeball on every publisher’s E3 lineups to see who will be bringing this one stateside. Hopefully, the low price point will be similar and the game won’t be yet another PSN-only release that those who don’t have, want or use the service will miss out on…

Max Payne 3 Cover Art Update: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow…

Posted on March 10, 2012 by geelw

Here’s the official cover image, courtesy Rockstar Games. Considering that variants of this art have already been out there for a while, it hasn’t changed too drastically… at least in terms of the color palette. Well, Max having hair in that pose is new, probably to make sure the diehards hating on the bald Max image are happier campers. You all DO know he still shaves it off in the game, right? Anyway, it’s a still really cool image. Yeah, yeah, I’m a few days late in posting this, but hey, my spam filter was hungry and I just got around to fishing out stuff that it gulped down. This was the most important thing, so it wasn’t too bad this time…