So, we are into a New Year.
I’m looking forward to it. I am taking three courses to finish off my degree at UW: Classical Mechanics and Special Relativity, Linear Optimization, and Science Fiction.
I’ve also got an XBox 360 now with about a month of XBox Live and the following games:
Borderlands w/ all four expansions
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Grand Theft Auto 4
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Bioshock 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Alan Wake
Forza Motorsport
Red Dead Redemption
It is certainly nice to have access to consistently good console games. The DS has plenty of fun Flash-like games but nothing truly epic (until Golden Sun: Dark Dawn came out recently).
The Wii has been lacklustre lately. Since I softmodded my Wii, I have the opportunity to play every game that comes out, so I’ve downloaded quite a bit and played quite a bit. Here are some quick thoughts:
Goldeneye: This remake was amazing, fun and provided a unique blend of action, stealth, and even quick time events. The modified story was excellent and the entire experience was awesome. Like I said in an earlier post, the absence of bots in the multiplayer was a problem, as the levels can be too sprawling for two or even four people. Still, an excellent game.
Metroid: Other M: Many reviewers seem to be very keen on this new style that Metroid has taken since the Metroid Prime trilogy and so I was kind of excited about the new game. I am a fan of the 2D Metroid games and thought that Other M would be of great quality as a result.
It is very disappointing. There are many times when you are locked into visor mode with no indication of what you should be looking for. The first time that this happened involved looking around in a pitch black room for some tiny creatures who were eating in the dark. You also had to focus on them for a few seconds before it even acknowledged that they were a target. Later, you are in a vast grassy plain looking for something. The something that you were supposed to see was a small patch of green blood amidst the green grass. At this point, I am playing through as a matter of obligation…bring back the Metroid Prime style games please. The boss battles were epic and the story was always engaging without being too in your face. Also, there were no Daddy issues. Samus is better when she is silent.
Epic Kirby: Jeff Cannata had this in his Top Ten of 2010. It doesn’t belong. It has a certain charm and is very stylish with the patterns and textures and whatnot, but it is so easy to play that there is no challenge. It is such a bland platformer…and with the Wii as the go-to system for platformers, that is a problem.
Donkey Kong Country Returns: Now, when it comes to platformers, this game is like an instruction manual on how to make good platformers. It brings back everything you ever loved from the previous Donkey Kong Country titles, but introduces some new mechanics and level types as well. Each type a new mechanic is introduced, you are run through an appropriate tutorial level that isn’t blatantly instructional. Later in the game, these mechanics are superbly used for very challenging levels. It was a joy to play and collecting all the KONG letters and puzzle pieces was an extremely fun challenge. Great game and it reminds us that Retro Studios is one of Nintendo’s best developers (they developed Metroid Prime too).
Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles: On rails shooters are fun, but this game was like trying to play through the Blair Witch Project. If the screen is meant to be the eyes of the character, then the Resident Evil characters have some serious neck problems as their heads swing around wildly and are seemingly always on a slant.
Epic Mickey: I love Disney but this game is far from epic. Weak combat and the whole paint versus thinner mechanic is grossly oversold. I do love seeing old Disney properties again and all the animated Disney clips are quaint. Still, not fabulous.
Loking forward to playing 360. So far, Assassin’s Creed is amazing and the combat is loads of fun. Not entirely in favour of context sensitive buttons, but I can deal. Borderlands is so awesome. I love it.
More updates later.
Happy ‘Start of 2011’ Everyone!