Uncharted 2 Beta Code Winners

The contest had way more entries than I was expecting, and after some careful counting I realize I only have 10 codes to give away. Well I have picked the winners and they are as follows:


heehaw212

nmee
weflyhigher
team1reflex
racmaster00
jar2061
coolplayer026
evosanc123
thatenglishdude
viper358

Each of the winners need to send me a private message on the forums. I will then respond to that message with your beta code. You can get a link to my Forum Account on the Contest Thread -- it's in the first post. I'm doing it this way to make sure everyone who won is active, so I don't send the codes to anyone who won't see this. If after two days there are still some winners who have yet to send me a message, then I will pick others from the thread at random.

Brad

Community Blog (school) - Infamous Review

Find other reviews over in the Reviews Forum.

Infamous

by school

Sucker Punch Productions has a pedigree for making great, stylish and kid-friendly platforming games. This history is shown in their newest game, inFamous, which pins you as an electrically themed superhero. The platforming and style are still present but now there is a larger focus on combat and more mature themes. inFamous has what it takes to be another great game from Sucker Punch but isn't without it's small, niggling issues.

The story of inFamous revolves around Cole, a bike messenger with a knack for urban exploration, Trish, his now ex-girlfriend and Zeke, a longtime friend. At the start of the game Cole explains that he was delivering a package that exploded, destroying parts of Empire City and killing Trish's sister. He is soon thereafter labeled as a terrorist by the citizens for causing the blast. This label was not the only thing gained from the blast though, Cole also gains the ability to shoot bolts of electricity from his hand. A few more events occur that place Cole in the custody of an agent named Moya, who promises to get himself and friends out of the city if he restores power to it and finds her husband/co-worker, John.

While the main premise of the story is somewhat trite, it is presented in an interesting fashion. All major cut scenes are shown in the style of a comic book with voice over accompaniment by Cole. There is very little dialogue, inFamous instead ops for narration by Cole to tell the story, which is well delivered in a gravely tone that, while sometimes feels forced, fits with the darker themes. The game ends with a fairly clever twist although slightly unsatisfactorily, with what seems to be a set up for a sequel. The main issue with the story stem the moral choices. The moral choices are presented terribly and are very contrived. Nearly every choice, which the game calls Karma Moments, is spelled out in an insulting fashion that assumes the player wouldn't know which was evil and which was good. The choices made have very little affect on what happens in the story overall, even the seemingly major decisions have the same end result. For the most part, the only differences in the story is a small, post-credits cut scene at the end of the game.

Something choices make a large impact on is the open-world city, Empire City. If Cole is good, the city will start to look cleaner, NPCs will fight with him, and the sky will have a pleasant blue tone. But if Cole is evil, the city will look dirty, the NPCs will attack him, and the sky will have an ominous red tone. It is a fantastic design choice that makes it feel like the city is responding to the chosen play-style and creating the feel of a real city. Also, as an electric based character, you must draw from the city to restore your energy. While this continues the interesting dynamic between Cole and the city, it can sometimes be hard to quickly decipher what you can drain energy from.

Thankfully, the standard electric bolt ability does not use the any of the energy you can store. The other attacks, that vary from sticky electric grenades to summoning lightening storms, do use varying amount of energy depending on the amount of damage done. Gaining new powers come via returning power to a section of the city and each power can be upgraded by spending experience points. EXP is gained by taking down foes or finding collectibles. The game smartly rewards you with more EXP for using your powers in creative ways. For example, if you blast an enemy into the air with the shockwave ability and then kill him on the way down with the electric bolt you will get a bonus ten EXP on top of the standard amount for taking out that enemy. The collectibles are done very smartly by being shown on the mini-map and providing noticeable benefits such as increasing the amount of energy you can store. It removes any tediousness from finding things but doesn't tell you, hight-wise, exactly where it is, thus still promoting the fun of exploration.b

The exploration and finding collectibles wouldn't be as fun if it wasn't for the platforming and ease of navigation. As Cole was an urban explorer before the blast, he can easily climb buildings and navigate around the city. The platforming has a very lock-on feel. Cole will grab onto things if he is in the general area of them. The lock-on nature provides great flow to the platforming, making it fast and easy to navigate through the world but sometimes it can feel like it locks onto elements in the world too much, especially when trying to go down to street level. Also, when climbing up the camera will stay directly behind Cole's back, making it hard to see where you can jump up to next. It slows down the movement when you have to adjust the camera to see where you need to go.

Both the platforming elements and the electrical powers are heavily used in the missions. There are main story, side, and free form missions. The main story missions further the story along and are fairly varied. They mostly consist of going below ground into the sewers to restore the power. While this is a fairly linear experience with very little choice in tactics, there are some missions that are very dynamic in the ways you can handle them. For example, there is a mission where Cole must take out a group of enemies in a courtyard-like area. Blazing in with full force is a viable choice but the game allows a more tactical play-type by climbing up a building, surveying the area and then attacking. Being able to out maneuver and surprise the enemy makes the missions much more fun and rewarding. Furthermore, the ample checkpoints allow you to feel comfortable trying out new ways of playing. But there are some missions that don't do this such as any of the multitude of missions where you are given an electrical floor to stand on and waves of enemies are sent your way. This basically creates a turret sequence that becomes incredibly boring, with mindless shooting. Furthermore, in the last district there are a few enemies that are not only absurdly overpowered but also invisible. Luckily, their numbers are few. Also, at the end of each district there will be a boss fight, but the bosses are mediocre at best because of their very simplistic nature and short, repetitive attack patterns.

The side missions and free form missions are given by citizens in the area. The side missions clear a part of the city from the occupying gang, allowing you and the citizens to roam the area without fear of attack. Some of the side missions can get a repetitive by the end of the game but the ones that highlight the strength of the platforming stay fun throughout. The free form missions come in the form of citizens coming up to you and telling you they need help. This is not a clearly defined mission like the other two categories and feels much organic and freely formed. An example of this would be a citizen calling out Cole's name saying they had been robbed and pointing in a direction. If you go in that direction you will see the guilty party and can do whatever you wish. These free form missions add to the vibe of the city, again, making it feel more believable and real.

InFamous has fantastic platforming, combat, city design and presentation but isn't without its pitfalls. The story is somewhat trite, a select few missions get boring and tedious, the camera can be fussy at times, the choices have little meaning, and some enemies have questionable attributes. While inFamous might not be another great game from Sucker Punch, it is a solid and immensely fun game that makes you want to come back for more.

Keep up the good work.

Brad

Grin's "Terminator Salvation" sold more than their "Bionic Commando".

27k sold in May for Bionic Commando. Across both platforms too I believe.

What the hell is wrong with people?

I worry more and more about the sales of Bayonetta and the future of Platinum Games.

Brad

This is the Bayonetta trailer Sega doesn't want you to watch!

**This video was removed as politely requested by Sega**


This is the leaked trailer that Sega keeps taking off Youtube and gaming sites. Watch it while you still can.

Things I learned from this trailer.

1) There will be a motorcycle driving sequence in the game. During "Verse 3" to be exact. This could be good or bad.
2) That motorcycle is started with a middle finger.
3) Hair centipede is summoned.
4) There appears to be a timed sequence with some QTE in it. ACK!
5) "Xbox Live" tag on the end of the trailer. Do all single player games have this?
6) It appears she can use "Witch Time"(slow-mo activated after a perfect dodge) to stop enemy projectiles and send them back at the enemy.
7) She seemed to get really series and have a "Super Saiyan" moment when her "daughter" was being attacked.
8) The trailers and Kamiya keep stressing the importance of the "balance" she is trying to keep between good and evil.
9) "Orphaned. Exiled. Imprisoned."
10) "A child of impure blood". She might be only a half witch or something.
11) Story seems VERY prominent in this game. There may be more story in just the trailers of Bayonetta than the entire first Devil May Cry. Also, Platinum Games seems to be very protective of it.

and of course...

12) You can add "in bed." to pretty much anything Bayonetta ever says and have great results.


Brad

Uncharted 2 Beta Contest: Watch or die!

Follow this link to the contest thread.


Brad

Live Recording Tonight - Show 118

We will be recording live Show 118. This is the first normal show since a few weeks due to E3.
Tune in tonight as we go over what we've been playing, new news, and talk about the community.

See you tonight,
David

Listen to Hideki Kamiya break down a 2 minutue trailer in 20 minutes.

Pretty hilarious.

Found this over at the Platinum Games blog. I'm impressed by just how much of the development process they are revealing over on their site. Especially for a Japanese company. Bookmark that sheeet!


Brad

This is Borderlands: You be the judge.

Nick and I both saw this game behind closed doors. I'm picking this up day one, and Nick thought the game looked pretty "meh". I've been frustrated because there has not been much footage released for this game lately, but that has changed. Watch these trailers and then read these facts:

1. 4 player online co-op.
2. Post apocalyptic open world environment.
3. Diablo style random loot system with rarity levels and unique items. A million guns w00t!
4. Unique monsters with fat loot drops.
5. Enemy/loot scaling when new players enter the world, Diablo 2 style.
6. Class based character set-up.
7. Skill tree ability/level up system.
8. Multi-person vehicles with Double Dash style driving/gunning swap while driving! WEEE!

I want to know what you think.

Brad

The truth about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow!

...and the real Castlevania game Konami failed to mention at E3 2009.

What the hell happened to THIS game?



This trailer was presented by Koji Igarashi last year at the Tokyo Game Show. The trailer shows us a few things.

1. Alucard, star of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is apparently in the game.

2. The game is to be released Xbox360 and PS3. (This could mean XBLA/PSN)

3. This is a CG cinematic. No confirmation of whether this game is 3d or 2d can be confirmed.

4. This is NOT the same game as Lords of Shadow, the MercurySteam developed game shown at E3 this year.


No mention of this game was made at E3 2009. I foresee two possible scenarios why:

1. This game was a 3d Castlevania game that was canceled in favor of slapping the Castlevania name on the MecurySteam IP, Lords of Shadow. This could have been a decision made by Konami after terrible reception of the shitty Wii fighting game, Castlevania: Judgement.

2. This is a 2d Castlevania game still slated to be released for PS3/360 or possibly on the download services. If this is the case, then there is a chance it could simply be a remake of Symphony of the Night.


Lords of Shadow is NOT a real Castlevania game.

1. This was presented as a new IP developed by MercurySteam, the shitty devs behind Jericho, last year. Here is the trailer WITHOUT "Castlevania" or "Kojima Productions" attatched to it:



2. No mention of Koji Igarashi was made at the E3 2009 Konami press conference. The recent Lords of Shadow trailer absolutely did not contain the music of Michiru Yamane. And the art work in the trailer was most assuredly not that of Ayami Kojima. This has been the core team behind the Castlevania games since Symphony of the Night way back on the original Playstation. Team Igarashi is one of the most respected dev teams in the industry, and I seriously doubt Konami would have taken them off Castlevania completely.

What does this mean?

Best Scenario: They are still working on, and will eventually release, a full 2d HD sequel to Symphony of the Night on PS3 and Xbox 360. This will be a 60 dollar game that I, and many others, will happily fork over the cash for. This is what hardcore Castlevania fans want the most.

Another Awesome Scenario: A full HD remake of SotN for retail disc release. This is great too, but I would rather have a new game.

Less Awesome Scenario: Sequel or remake, the game is made for PSN/XBLA. This is the likely option, but the one that will definitely piss me off. I don't want Castlevania treated as some budget franchise that belongs on the download serviced just because the game is in 2d. If Muramasa: The Demon Blade can be released as a full retail game, there is no reason a 2d Castlevania shouldn't as well.

Shitty Scenario: Igarashi disappears off the face of the planet like Yasumi Matsuno.

Boner Scenario: Team Igarashi has taken a temporary break from Castlevania to go work on the new Zone of the Enders game.


Discuss!


Brad

There She Goes! There She Goes Again!

I have a slight issue, as some of you may know. This involves my ability to buy more than 70 Xbox 360 games... And finish roughly 8 of them. This involves the trait of mine that refuses to let me ever reach the level cap in World of Warcraft. This certain trait is responsible for why the panel for PortCon won't be finished until the night before.
I am A procrastinator.
That is not what this is necessarily about though. More specifically, let us talk about why this pertains to video games as well, which are often a procrastinators distraction rather than something they also avoid.
I love to buy every single game that comes out on the market. When I HAD a job I was able to literally purchase every singe xbox 360 game that hit the shelves. I loved it, and still love my selection of games. I take pride in actually playing them all, and the impressive amount of space the collection takes up on my bookshelf. The people that see it are jealous I own so many.
And then they ask if I have beaten most of them....
"No, Barely any."
Gasps all around. "Travis how can you not? They are staring at you! They should be haunting your dreams! You bought them to play them!"
Blah Blah Blah.
I have always been aware of how I am quick to judge. Whether it be a person, fashion, item, tv show or video game. And most of the time my judgements are quite correct.
I know when a person is being egotistical, I know when a style should not be one, I know when an item is actually useless, a tv show retarded and scripted (cough cough wipeout), and when a video game lacks any real value.
When people ask me for a game suggestion, I normally always tell them one of the best games possible to buy. I know this game exists and deserves its title because I have beaten it. The games I have not beaten, excluding Valkyria Chronicles, have at one point or another been decided as poor games, repetitive games, too simple or too hard. There is a unique balance I look for in a game. I don't think Devil May Cry 4 is the best game in the world just becuase it is hard as shit. Blue Dragon is not a great game for the art design and story are too simple. Too Human or Stranglehold are not great games for they are far too repetitive. And Vampire Rain is just crap.
While some of these might be poor examples for poopy games, I am currently in Kansas and can not necessarily look at my game collection. But I am sure you see my point. A game doesn't only need to require my purchase to give me motivation to buy it. It needs to earn it through gameplay. I give all games a chance for greatness, I do not judge on covers, I don't read reviews, I buy the games that come out and I play them. Whether or not they end up being good games is completely up to the developer. I trust one day there will be a good sonic game, maybe on day they will make a final fantasy that is once again turn based, or maybe the next paper mario won't suck balls. Either or, all games have a chance to be something I want to finish. If I don't, the fault lies in them, not me.

And in response to my MMO addiction, and not being able to achieve level cap...
I spend days of my life trying to achieve level cap, that is a little different than playing a 20 hour RPG.
Doesn't matter anyways, I am going to be a 75 Pal/War in FFXI soon anyways.
Which reminds me, all of those who say they won't play FFXI now because XIV is coming out make me sad all day. Don't look for an excuse to not play an already solid MMO. If you don't want to play it don't, if you do, do! FFXIV isn't going to stop anything from happening in the following year.


Anyways, I love you all.
-Travis

P.S. I saw a black widow the other day, that was bad ass.