Monday, August 30, 2010

Top Down Perspective 30 - 08 - 10

Top Down Perspective 30 - 08 - 10

This week Nathan starts us off with some talk on older PC games and moves into the XBLA version of Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Sean picks up from there and rolls into some Shank and Monopoly. Jon finishes off with more Scott Pilgrim.

On the news side, Microsoft strictly watching Halo: Reach pirates and is sending out beta testing kits for its new Kinect peripheral. Sony slows down sales on the new modding chip and chooses not to release the new Kingdom Hearts game on their PSP Go. Death Spank gets an incredibly early sequel and the new Xbox 360 Dashboard and Avatars are leaked.

Loot of the Week

I picked up a TON this week. I'm going to write about it all!

Alpha Bounce
This was the first game I ever picked up for the DSiWare. I found an article over at IGN that updates weekly with micro reviews for each DSiWare title. I basically ran through that seeing which ones they liked (or loved) and decided if the price point sounded alright. I believe this was 500 points and they really loved it. It's a traditional brick break game with some RPG elements (specifically a loot system). I definitely see myself playing this game a lot.

Escapee Go!
This was another of the DSiWare games I found from the IGN article and mainly bought because they "liked it" and it was 200 points. I find the $2 price point very appealing, that's basically pocket change and even if the game sucks, oh well. I haven't played much of it yet but the premise I got from the first level sounds interesting. Looking forward to diving more into it on the way to PAX.

Don't Cross the Line
This was the last DSiWare game I picked up this week. It's the most puzzle oriented considering it's literally a series of variations on one logic puzzle. You need to connect like images without letting your connecting lines cross - hence the name. It's very straight forward and the number of different levels make this an easy steal for $2. The one downside I find with it is the lack or a quick restart to each level.

Gunpey
I'll be honest; I know nothing about this game besides that it got some average reviews from almost everyone. I just found it for $3 and the box art immediately drew me in. The concept of a simple puzzle game developed by Q Entertainment is what sold me though. Considering the fact I'm going on a series of trips soon, it was an easy choice. I am really looking forward to playing it.


Ultimate Board Game Collection
I have no idea if this is really the ultimate in board game collections. I highly doubt it is. The fact alone that it doesn't have Scrabble is criminal, but it does have Go so there you are. It was $5 and I could really go for some Go (see what I did there?).


Shank
I am very much enjoying this game and feel that it's worth the 1200 Microsoft Point price. There is a great single player campaign and the fact that the co-op has its own prequel campaign is great. Co-op specific bosses and some great silhouetted moments are amongst my favorite parts to this game. I'll probably run through it again on hard to get every last achievement.

I've decided to start doing a "winner" or "prize pick" section to these each week. The prize pick (maybe "choice pick"?) will always be at the end and will be either the item I had the best time with, or maybe spent the longest with. It may also be the purchase I'm most interested in and haven't even tried out yet. I'll go about explaining them each time they come up.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game
My love for achievements made me wait for this game to finally come to the XBLA and I'm glad I did because they are easy. I've played through the game three times now and I'm already on my fourth and awaiting my fifth. Really great game, can't say that enough. Despite the numerous bugs I've found it still remains incredibly charming. There is so much detail in this game and the fact that it came out for 800 was amazing.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Gamerscore Update: 29/08/10

This week was mainly downloadable games and the total stands at 74 585.

Shank
This was an overall good game and, though I'm not done the main campaign, the achievements are coming in quite regularly. The majority of them are from beating each of the single player bosses so I'll get those at some points. I currently have 80 of them and since there's one for 1000 kills and beating it on hard, I'm pretty sure I could S-rank this game.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game
I am loving this game and the fact that the achievements are quite easy. I've beaten it three times already and plan to do it another two times to wrap up one more of the achievements. I currently have 170 points in it.

Monopoly
This is where the points really came rolling in this week. I have 480 points in it so far and that was around five hours of play. I should note that three of these hours I had another TV on so I could watch something else because Monopoly is SLOW. Most of the points seem relatively easy, and considering all of this game seems to be pure chance, I think I can get another hundred or so just by having it on in the background. I don't plan to spend too much more time with it however.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Everything about this is awesome

This game is my pick for the best movie tie-in game ever. It is so fun and there is so much detail in this (especially if you follow the comics and the creator).

First Impressions: Shank


  • Wonderful art style
  • Very fluid movement and combo systems
  • The co-op has its own campaign which is a great feature
  • Doing some of the co-op combos are very tricky - I have yet to figure out just how exactly I was pulling any of them off
  • This game is a hard Mature rating
  • Nice silhouette moment in the first level of the co-op
  • Long load times

Monday, August 23, 2010

Top Down Perspective 23 - 08 - 10

Top Down Perspective 23 - 08 - 10

Nathan starts us off with some Fallout 3 and moves into Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. Sean also shares his time with K&L2 along with X-Men Origins Wolverine, Bioshock 2 and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Jon wraps us up with Adventure Island, more of his usual old games and one very obscure Mario game at the end.

Gamescon is going on this week in Germany and we get news such as Mortal Kombat getting real time updates when launched, Microsoft announcing Flight and Mass Effect 2 heading to PS3s. THQ bumps up their online play to $10 and begins development on a tablet peripheral on the Wii, Microsoft also announces a list of games coming to Windows Mobile 7.

Loot of the Week

This week was packed with games old and new!

Street Fighter 4
I constantly heard good things about this game and, though I'm no where near as competitive as the core audience for these games, I always wanted to play it. I have only put it on once so far and choose to turn on the anyone-can-jump-in-and-play-you-whenever feature which was a huge mistake since. I'm really bad at this game.

Bioshock 2
I am really enjoying this game, it feels great and the controls are smooth. I played through the first one far too long after it was out but did enjoy it. I'm only about four hours into this game so I am planning on wrapping that up soon.


X-Men Origins: Wolverine
This was a game I got in a three for $25 deal (along with Street Fighter 4 and Bioshock 2) and ran through it completely this week. I mainly picked it up after enjoying Singularity so much and wanting to try out some more from Raven Software. I love the references those guys put in their games. For the most part this game was great but it dragged on near the end.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
This was last week's XBLA release and the final item in Microsoft's Summer of Arcade '10. I ran through it completely in the local co-op with a friend and really enjoyed it. There are some, surprisingly, really good set pieces in that game. I do recommend it and I can't wait for the announced DLC.

Nintendo Points
I bought these to finally use on my DSi. I am hoping to pick up some DSiWare games before my plan trip to PAX this year. I'm currently looking at games like Divergent Shift and Chronos Twins. Hopefully I can find something good to occupy me. It's ridiculous that your points can't be used on both the Wii and the DSi.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Gamerscore Update 21/08/10

This week was good for points. I picked up several games since last weekend and earned around 1 300 points.

Gamerscore total is at 73 455.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
This was the big release this week and though I ran through it twice (once alone and again in coop) I can't bring myself to like it. I got 545 points out of it and almost all of it is from the main campaign. I don't have much interest in the multiplayer but I may jump into it for a few more achievements.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
This was the final release in the 2010 Summer of Arcade and it is really fun. I only got Limbo and this from the series this year so it wasn't the best. I got 175 points in this game, missing only one of the achievements. The last one is collecting all the relics, artifacts and weapons so it will definitely take some time.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
This was the game that got me the most points this week. I got 595 points in the game and I'm on the fourth level out of the five in total. Most of them come from killing a certain number of people in different ways. I'm quite enjoying it and I really like Raven Software. I plan to finish it which will get me another 100 points or so.

Singularity
I only got another 30 points in this. I finished up some multiplayer stuff and decided against doing a play through on hard. I had to move on to other games.

Bioshock 2
I got 10 points in this. I only played about 15 minutes so I can't really talk about it yet.

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - E3 Trailer

I can not wait for this game, it's so close!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Top Down Perspective 16 - 08 - 10

Top Down Perspective 16 - 08 - 10

Once again we have Dustin here to fill in a fourth chair. He talks about his time with Star Craft 2. Nathan gets into detail about Wet, Peggle, Fallout 3 and a bit much on Spy Fiction. Jon talks Ducktales and Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game. And Sean wraps up with more Singularity and Split/Second.

Duke Nukem Forever might not be dead as well as the outcome of the Penny Arcade game series as discussed this week. Warren Spectre talks a new Ducktales game and Irrational Games announces Bioshock Infinite along with revealing a trailer for the game. Insane EVE Online hijinks go down, a Castle Crashers arcade cabinet will be at PAX, RAGE gets a release date and more are discussed in this week’s TDP!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

First Impressions: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

This will be ongoing as I take part in the first bit of the game. I am playing it on the 360, hopefully things don't lock up.
  • Great start screen menu music
  • It has it's own in game achievements menu (love it when games do this)
  • Reloading takes way too long
  • Visuals are great
  • Progressing really fast, this is a short game
  • So many enemies

Monday, August 16, 2010

Loot of the Week

It's Sunday again (actually is 12:40 in the morning on Monday but that's close enough!) so let's talk about what I picked up this week.

Split/Second
This is a racing game that focuses heavily on blowing up and destroying the track you're competing on. What makes it so cool is just how many different ways there are to cause explosions and destroy the other competitors. One of my favorite moments was causing a dam to blow and crush four cars in front of me as I stole first place. I will say this though: the AI is mad cheap and can cause the latter half of the game to be a drag, this might be a rent (read some reviews!).

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #13
This is a series I enjoy quite a bit. It follows Peter Parker in his high school days and features some team ups with Ice Man and the Human Torch. This one in particular is dealing with a kidnapping and some body switching and is a good lead up for what is sure to be some cool events.

The Walking Dead #76
I cannot get enough of these. It has to be my favorite on going series right now; to the point that I open it up and start reading on my walk home. This issue is quite good in terms of dealing with the main character psychological situation. It however leads to a great cliff hanger to what will hopefully be some great character development next month.

Daytripper #9
I can't say much about this issue since I haven't read it yet. I really enjoy the series though. It follows an obituary writer depicting specific moments of his life. What makes it so interesting though is that at the end of each book, our main character dies in some form or another.

Gamerscore Update: 16/08/10

This week was two games mostly, however there was an extensive amount played of both of these.

Total gamerscore stands at: 72 100

Singularity
I finished this game and enjoyed it vastly. I currently have 765 points in it. What really surprised me is how much I enjoyed the multiplayer as well. I was content with just running through it once and being done with it there but I heard the online was good so I gave it a chance. I really like it. So much in fact that I have almost all the class-specific achievements for the multiplayer. I have a couple more online ones to get and I think I'll just back in for a run on hard to get a few more. I might even S-rank this game.

Split/Second
This was a new one to me and I ran through all of it in about three days. Granted these days consisted of about 4-6 hours of gameplay straight. I got 455 points in the game and I feel I'm done with it. Like the reviews have said, it puts it best foot forward early and the AI cheats a TON. With that, there aren't many online achievements to keep me staying with it. The main ones are reaching certain ranks but with the number of games I played and where I ended up in the rankings - that's more time than I want to commit.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

He-Man is always great

I just started up Split/Second and upon using one of my event triggers I unlocked an achievement. What makes this so note worthy is the name of the achievement: I Have The Power. References to He-Man are always great.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Top Down Perspective 09 - 08 - 10

Top Down Perspective 09 - 08 - 10

Due to technical difficulties, we ended up losing the last ten minutes of the podcast.

This week we bring on a special guest and get in some brief talk on Starcraft 2. Nathan and Sean talk a bit more about The Signal as well as get into depth on Singularity. Jon finishes us up with some Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.

Pokemon Black and White will have exclusively new pokemon until you beat the game. NHL 11 releases a TON of DLC before the game is out. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood’s multiplayer demo can only be obtained by preordering it through GameStop and much more is discussed this week!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Loot of the Week

It's Sunday and as I wait for some Tales of Vesperia video walkthroughs to load and enjoy some great Tested.com video features I figured I should show what I picked up this week. There was a lot.

Chew trade 1 & 2
This is a series of comics by writer John Layman and artist Rob Guillory about Tony Chu, a cop, who has an unusual psychic power. He is a Cibopath, a person that gets visions when they eat food. With this power and the writers bizarre sense of humor, the comic is a great read. Can't recommend it enough and now is the time to get into it before filming begins on the television series.

Kick-Ass (Blu-ray)
If any of you follow my podcast (Top Down Perspective) then you know I'm a huge fan of this movie and that it came out this week on dvd/blu-ray. I picked it up on the first day and watched it twice since then. Still a great movie and I'm told that the fact Lionsgate did the disc is a good thing? Can't recommend this movie enough.

James and the Giant Peach (Blu-ray)
This was an old movie from the 90s that never got ported onto blu-ray over the past few years that this media format has taken off. I'll be honest, this was more of an impulse buy as my friend gave me a $10 off coupon and his excitement increased mine. Still haven't watched it yet but do enjoy the film.


Singularity (360)

The last this from this week was an Xbox 360 copy of Singularity. This came out a couple weeks ago but I was so busy with other games that I wasn't able to find time to grab it. I've already jumped into it and am enjoying it quite a bit. For a more detailed break down of the game, stay tuned for my podcast in the next few days.

Gamerscore Update: 07/08/10

Alright, another week has gone by and another week's worth of points has been gained.

Current total is 70 980. This is about 400 points more than last time, let's see where those came from.

Clash of the Titans
This game isn't that great for points, by finishing the game I got 365 points. This was around eight hours of play - and repetitive and terrible play at that. Most of the points were for just completing each of the chapters and a few were for getting some quick time events perfect a few times. Getting any more points would require some grinding with the combat. Considering that 99% of the game is repetitive combat, I couldn't come to do any more.

Singularity
I only have 100 points in this so far. The majority of them seem like weapon based ones, specifically were you need a certain number of kills with each. I'm definitely enjoying my time with it so far. I also hear the multiplayer is quite fun so I'll definitely check that out at some points.

Tales of Vesperia
I finally got back into this never ending RPG. Just as fun as I remember but I still have a ton of stuff left to do in it. As it is an RPG, the points are terrible, I only got 30 since I got back into it and that was around 12 hours of game play.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Top Down Perspective 03/08/10

Top Down Perspective 03 - 08 - 10

Nathan kicks us off with some of his Limbo wrap up, The Club and the Kane & Lynch 2 demo. He and Sean also discuss their opinions on Clash of the Titans and Alan Wake’s first piece of DLC: The Signal. Sean also brings up some of the Darkness and more on Wanted: Weapons of Fate. Jon wraps us up with Klonoa 2 and Dragon Quest 9.

When it comes to news we talk about punishing people in Halo: Reach, Sony Lifestyle and just how excited we are about The Tester season 2. Valve decides to help out other developers and Kick-Ass is now out on DVD/BD so go buy it!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

First Impressions: Singularity

Ongoing as I play through the first bit:
  • Way similar to Bioshock in terms of themes and feel
  • Friggin' jump scares
  • Damn monsters don't die very easily
  • Dismemberment is great
  • Handles nicely
  • The Seeker is very fun to use but doesn't turn enough to be incredibly useful