Guess the rumor has been proven true! On December 22nd, the level and costume kits will hit the PSN. The primary pack, the premium level kit, available the low, low price of $5.99, has a wealth of objects, including five new levels and a costume -- the cannibal -- along with almost two hundred objects, materials, switches, decorations, stickers, music tracks, a new background, and of course, the highly-anticipated water environment! Just an amazing deal for your $5.99. This will be one to get for sure.
The costumes seem neat as well. The big pack includes "Sack" Sparrow (haw haw), Elizabeth Swan, Will Turner, Captain Barbossa, Tia Dalma, and the squidy Davy Jones. Seperately each are $1.99, or save 50% off and get all for $5.99 in the pack. Not too bad for the costume collector.
Below video shows off the costumes (just love the Davy Jones and Jack Sparrow!) and levels that mimic some of the scenes from the movie series:
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Mirror's Edge Pickup
I had initially written about Mirror's Edge over a year ago, having played its demo fresh out at the time. I decided not to get it at release after some mixed reviews. But I found a used copy on the cheap, and decided to give it a fair shake.
I'm having fun, but it's certainly at a cost. There are sections that are really tough, especially where guys are shooting at you. It feels deeply unfair that all you can do is run away as five guys mow you down with shotguns. The particular shotgun section took me a good twenty tries to finish, and try as I might I could not get past without killing them, which I feel is a little contrary to how the game works.
However, during the complicated platforming across rooftops, the game is a blast. Especially the time trials, the feeling of racing from building to building is a lot of fun. The sense of speed and danger is in your face, and each fall and failure due to oncoming train is a real jolt.
I probably would have been a little miffed buying this game for full price, especially given its relatively short story mode, but at a bargain price, it's worth plowing through some of the frustrating parts to get to those great expanses of uninhabited rooftops.
I'm having fun, but it's certainly at a cost. There are sections that are really tough, especially where guys are shooting at you. It feels deeply unfair that all you can do is run away as five guys mow you down with shotguns. The particular shotgun section took me a good twenty tries to finish, and try as I might I could not get past without killing them, which I feel is a little contrary to how the game works.
However, during the complicated platforming across rooftops, the game is a blast. Especially the time trials, the feeling of racing from building to building is a lot of fun. The sense of speed and danger is in your face, and each fall and failure due to oncoming train is a real jolt.
I probably would have been a little miffed buying this game for full price, especially given its relatively short story mode, but at a bargain price, it's worth plowing through some of the frustrating parts to get to those great expanses of uninhabited rooftops.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy
The last micro-expansion for Sins of a Solar Empire, Diplomacy, has been announced for some time, but it's recently become available for pre-order. And, as a reward, anyone who pre-orders can play the beta. Which certainly makes the deal sweeter. The expansion is supposed to expand upon the relationships one can create with other players, CPU and human players alike. A new envoy ship provides special abilities that affect your standing with one faction or another. Should prove to add interesting options for those less inclined to total war.
Rumors of New Pirates DLC for LittleBigPlanet
There are rumors of a new DLC pack coming for LittleBigPlanet. New levels, new trophies, and water! The community will be pleased to have real water, if the rumors are to be believed. I'm just looking forward to some fun new levels to play from the MM crew. No word on a release date, still unconfirmed at this point.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Plants vs. Zombies
Man I need some kind of TD tag. With my past forays into stand-alone titles like Pixeljunk Monsters, Defense Grid: The Awakening, and of course the original Warcraft III TD maps, it's maybe my most-played game type.
Plants vs. Zombies has been my most recent pickup. For $9.99 on Steam, I think it's certainly worth it. While not strictly a tower defense game, it has enough of a strategy feel to push all my buttons.
Graphically, the game is simple. Low res, but workable. Thankfully, the cartoony feel of the plants and zombies allow me to overcome my deep-seated fear of the undead and play the game, even at night!
The gameplay is varied, if a little shallow. There are a huge amount of towers, from pea shooters to watermelon catapults, wall-nuts (get it?) and spiky hedges. Night-time modes and aquatic hazards add a little complexity. But it's never difficult to see what you need to do, although there are a few strategies beyond just building a ton of crap to get in the way of zombies.
There are also endless varieties of mini-games, puzzle modes, and the main adventure mode. Heck, there's even a zen garden where you can grow all sorts of little plants.
Definitely getting my money's worth out of this title. If you enjoy strategy games, it's worth checking out.
Plants vs. Zombies has been my most recent pickup. For $9.99 on Steam, I think it's certainly worth it. While not strictly a tower defense game, it has enough of a strategy feel to push all my buttons.
Graphically, the game is simple. Low res, but workable. Thankfully, the cartoony feel of the plants and zombies allow me to overcome my deep-seated fear of the undead and play the game, even at night!
The gameplay is varied, if a little shallow. There are a huge amount of towers, from pea shooters to watermelon catapults, wall-nuts (get it?) and spiky hedges. Night-time modes and aquatic hazards add a little complexity. But it's never difficult to see what you need to do, although there are a few strategies beyond just building a ton of crap to get in the way of zombies.
There are also endless varieties of mini-games, puzzle modes, and the main adventure mode. Heck, there's even a zen garden where you can grow all sorts of little plants.
Definitely getting my money's worth out of this title. If you enjoy strategy games, it's worth checking out.
Zelda Spirit Tracks Reviews
Holding off on picking up The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks -- gotta leave something on the Christmas list! But by all that I've seen, the game is pretty good. Kotaku has a pretty good roundup of reviews, all generally positive. The Metacritic score is 87. And Gamestop has some pretty good things to say.
It doesn't seem like a blockbuster to drop everything and go get, but it is a good follow-up to Phantom Hourglass and a worthy entry to the Legend of Zelda series. Cool with me.
It doesn't seem like a blockbuster to drop everything and go get, but it is a good follow-up to Phantom Hourglass and a worthy entry to the Legend of Zelda series. Cool with me.
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Fiction of Resolution as Innovation
I recently read an article on Kotaku, an interview with EA CEO John Riccitiello. The conversation echoed another discussion I'd had recently, in which I'd argued how more pixels can never equal more fun.
HDTV manufacturers and Monster Cable would like you to believe that to have any fun in gaming you need a hugely expensive high-def 240Hz 3D display coated in the blood of your enemies with gold-plated cables wrapped in baby seal skin. But Riccitiello and I both believe that that increased resolution is not true innovation.
Nintendo has gotten a lot of criticism for not going high-def, cheaping out and not standing up to par with their competitors in the visual department. But as I think about the most innovative games I've played over the past two years, not a single one of them has involved amazing new graphical wizardry as a key innovation.
LittleBigPlanet has pushed the boundaries of what we see as a game community. While modding has been around on the PC for a long time, Media Molecule showed just what an easily accessible toolkit could make on a console. And the charm of the dressable Sackboys rivals that of the Mario gang -- even those cute little baby ones!
Naughty Dog has shown with Uncharted 2 that you don't need to go out to a movie theatre to experience a blockbuster experience. More than anything, Uncharted 2 has made environments that react the way you think they should, with physical interactions that make sense, from desks breaking to buildings falling down, all while you're in the middle of the action. Not to mention the intense and believable characters and their expert voice actors.
And as far as cinematic experiences go, Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of the best. Kojima and crew are borderline megalomaniacs, and yes it looked good, but the greatest resolution was in the range of emotion drawn from the characters in the game, especially the haggard and drawn Solid Snake. Knowing he goes to his death, the old warrior again takes the world upon his shoulders, and you feel his weariness -- quite literally in some gameplay sequences.
Low-res games have had a massive impact as well, and have really pushed the boundaries of how we acquire access to games. World of Goo and Braid are good-looking games, but hardly need high definition. Their digital-only distribution and high levels of polish and innovating control schemes prove that you don't need a big studio or really even much of a publisher relationship to put your game out there.
The success of Flower has had the same impact, and while it is a beautiful 3D game in high definition, it tugs at your heart strings, with incredible musical composition and a message that is your own to interpret.
The recent New Super Mario Brothers Wii is only the last in the line of first-party Nintendo that eschew high-def for good fun. They've brought the quality time and again, in Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Super Paper Mario, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and more. Each game has had the perfect formula of gameplay -- easy enough for everyone to pick up and play, while deep enough for veterans to master. Nintendo has somehow found that perfect balance of accessibility, innovating in the marketplace, bringing games to more gamers than ever before.
Yes, given the choice, I will choose HD where I can. But it doesn't make a game any more fun. Good graphics simply allow a game to be presented competently. Story and characterization, music and emotion, accessibility and community, and the actual game that you are playing beneath those graphics -- these are the areas where games have innovated in the past 24 months. And we will continue to see games that, while having good graphics, will create more believable and more fun games that do not depend simply upon the next graphical update.
HDTV manufacturers and Monster Cable would like you to believe that to have any fun in gaming you need a hugely expensive high-def 240Hz 3D display coated in the blood of your enemies with gold-plated cables wrapped in baby seal skin. But Riccitiello and I both believe that that increased resolution is not true innovation.
Nintendo has gotten a lot of criticism for not going high-def, cheaping out and not standing up to par with their competitors in the visual department. But as I think about the most innovative games I've played over the past two years, not a single one of them has involved amazing new graphical wizardry as a key innovation.
LittleBigPlanet has pushed the boundaries of what we see as a game community. While modding has been around on the PC for a long time, Media Molecule showed just what an easily accessible toolkit could make on a console. And the charm of the dressable Sackboys rivals that of the Mario gang -- even those cute little baby ones!
Naughty Dog has shown with Uncharted 2 that you don't need to go out to a movie theatre to experience a blockbuster experience. More than anything, Uncharted 2 has made environments that react the way you think they should, with physical interactions that make sense, from desks breaking to buildings falling down, all while you're in the middle of the action. Not to mention the intense and believable characters and their expert voice actors.
And as far as cinematic experiences go, Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of the best. Kojima and crew are borderline megalomaniacs, and yes it looked good, but the greatest resolution was in the range of emotion drawn from the characters in the game, especially the haggard and drawn Solid Snake. Knowing he goes to his death, the old warrior again takes the world upon his shoulders, and you feel his weariness -- quite literally in some gameplay sequences.
Low-res games have had a massive impact as well, and have really pushed the boundaries of how we acquire access to games. World of Goo and Braid are good-looking games, but hardly need high definition. Their digital-only distribution and high levels of polish and innovating control schemes prove that you don't need a big studio or really even much of a publisher relationship to put your game out there.
The success of Flower has had the same impact, and while it is a beautiful 3D game in high definition, it tugs at your heart strings, with incredible musical composition and a message that is your own to interpret.
The recent New Super Mario Brothers Wii is only the last in the line of first-party Nintendo that eschew high-def for good fun. They've brought the quality time and again, in Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Super Paper Mario, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and more. Each game has had the perfect formula of gameplay -- easy enough for everyone to pick up and play, while deep enough for veterans to master. Nintendo has somehow found that perfect balance of accessibility, innovating in the marketplace, bringing games to more gamers than ever before.
Yes, given the choice, I will choose HD where I can. But it doesn't make a game any more fun. Good graphics simply allow a game to be presented competently. Story and characterization, music and emotion, accessibility and community, and the actual game that you are playing beneath those graphics -- these are the areas where games have innovated in the past 24 months. And we will continue to see games that, while having good graphics, will create more believable and more fun games that do not depend simply upon the next graphical update.
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