Hey all.
So I was going to start posting for God Hand (Really, I was) but instead, I decided that I'm going to do something special for October. Seeing how October is the scariest month of the year, I'm going to make it "Zombie Month" here at Press Start. So for the whole month of October, I'll be playing games that involve zombies. Games like House of the Dead 2, Resident Evil 5, Dead Rising, Left 4 Dead, and a few special others. This means it's going to be a busy month but I swear I will get through it unscathed or turned into a zombie, whichever comes first.
Because of this, I'm delaying the God Hand posts so there isn't a gap of other games between them.
I'll have a video up in celebration of Zombie Month up soon before October hits. :)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Batman: Arkham Asylum Impressions
Batman: Arkham Asylum Impression
So the game has been out for a few weeks now so I think I'll give me impressions of the game. Don't worry, there's no
spoilers as far as the story goes.
So, this goes without saying but, this game is incredible. While there are minor flaws, this game lived up to the hype, and exceeded my expectations. Definitely one of the best games I've ever played.
Now I could go on and on for hours on end about this game but I'll just talk about a few things to keep things short and save all my rambling for a full review.
The story makes this game feel right at home in the Batman comic book universe. Dark, gritty, and holds true to what Batman is all about; taking down maniacal criminals through his wits and brains rather than brute strength. The story involves Batman returning Joker to Arkham Asylum but once Joker is inside, everything goes awry, the Joker breaks free, and it turns out that his plan all along was to take control of Arkham Asylum. Now with Arkham Asylum under Joker's control and no way for Batman to escape, he's forced to stop Joker. But the story goes much deeper than that but I won't say any more. Let's just say there's a lot of interesting surprises to be had.
Another great thing is the use of villains. While only a few villains make it for the show, there's a lot of references, objects, and other tidbits to most of the Batman villains. A lot of homages get payed to like seeing Scarface, finding Penguin's umbrella, seeing the block of ice Mr. Freeze was held in, and so forth which is a really nice touch. Even the less popular villains like Calander Man, Prometheus, and Hush get mentioned.
The gameplay is where the game hits its high notes though. The freeflow combat system is pretty cool and finding ways to maximize your combos is always fun. I do admit though that it does get a bit repititious and the auto-targetting can be annoying when you're not hitting the enemy you want to. But the stealth parts, oh my. This game shines brilliantly when it comes to the stealth scenes where you have to take down enemies silently. Sneaking up behind them or luring them into traps
is really fun and making the last few standing enemies terrified is genuinely satisfying. There's also enough different layouts when the stealth scenes take place to make each one different from the last. The Joker also makes comments
throughout which are amusing. And of course, to add to the gameplay, Batman has a slew of gadgets at his disposal from batarangs, to a zip line, to explosive gel which all can be used in various ways to take down the enemies.
I think that's pretty much it but I do want to mention one more thing, which I also mentioned in my "demo impressions" post. The voice acting is top notch. Now that you get to hear the full script, it's just awesome hearing some of my favourite
voices from the old cartoon series here. Mark Hamill did an astounding job as Joker and I can't imagine anyone else doing a better job. Kevin Conrow as Batman fits perfectly as well as the voice actress who makes her return as Ivy and Harley.
This game is a definite must buy in my book. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't like this game but I'm sure there's a few
people out there. Still, it's an awesome game and at the very least, rent it to give it a go.
Anyway, I'll leave it at that. Whenever I get around to doing a "Press Start" for Batman: Arkham Asylum, you'll get my full thoughts on it all.
So the game has been out for a few weeks now so I think I'll give me impressions of the game. Don't worry, there's no
spoilers as far as the story goes.
So, this goes without saying but, this game is incredible. While there are minor flaws, this game lived up to the hype, and exceeded my expectations. Definitely one of the best games I've ever played.
Now I could go on and on for hours on end about this game but I'll just talk about a few things to keep things short and save all my rambling for a full review.
The story makes this game feel right at home in the Batman comic book universe. Dark, gritty, and holds true to what Batman is all about; taking down maniacal criminals through his wits and brains rather than brute strength. The story involves Batman returning Joker to Arkham Asylum but once Joker is inside, everything goes awry, the Joker breaks free, and it turns out that his plan all along was to take control of Arkham Asylum. Now with Arkham Asylum under Joker's control and no way for Batman to escape, he's forced to stop Joker. But the story goes much deeper than that but I won't say any more. Let's just say there's a lot of interesting surprises to be had.
Another great thing is the use of villains. While only a few villains make it for the show, there's a lot of references, objects, and other tidbits to most of the Batman villains. A lot of homages get payed to like seeing Scarface, finding Penguin's umbrella, seeing the block of ice Mr. Freeze was held in, and so forth which is a really nice touch. Even the less popular villains like Calander Man, Prometheus, and Hush get mentioned.
The gameplay is where the game hits its high notes though. The freeflow combat system is pretty cool and finding ways to maximize your combos is always fun. I do admit though that it does get a bit repititious and the auto-targetting can be annoying when you're not hitting the enemy you want to. But the stealth parts, oh my. This game shines brilliantly when it comes to the stealth scenes where you have to take down enemies silently. Sneaking up behind them or luring them into traps
is really fun and making the last few standing enemies terrified is genuinely satisfying. There's also enough different layouts when the stealth scenes take place to make each one different from the last. The Joker also makes comments
throughout which are amusing. And of course, to add to the gameplay, Batman has a slew of gadgets at his disposal from batarangs, to a zip line, to explosive gel which all can be used in various ways to take down the enemies.
I think that's pretty much it but I do want to mention one more thing, which I also mentioned in my "demo impressions" post. The voice acting is top notch. Now that you get to hear the full script, it's just awesome hearing some of my favourite
voices from the old cartoon series here. Mark Hamill did an astounding job as Joker and I can't imagine anyone else doing a better job. Kevin Conrow as Batman fits perfectly as well as the voice actress who makes her return as Ivy and Harley.
This game is a definite must buy in my book. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't like this game but I'm sure there's a few
people out there. Still, it's an awesome game and at the very least, rent it to give it a go.
Anyway, I'll leave it at that. Whenever I get around to doing a "Press Start" for Batman: Arkham Asylum, you'll get my full thoughts on it all.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Movie Quickie: Inglourious Basterds
I saw this awhile ago actually but I haven't bothered with a post about it until now.
So Inglourious Basterds, directed by the talented Quinten Tarantino and starring Brad Pitt whose really the only big name in the movie (though Mike Myers makes a small appearance) is a pretty interesting movie. Basically, it's about a group of of guys (Most of them Americans, a couple of them are Germans) who drop down into France with a goal of killing Nazis.
Now, the one thing I'd like to note is that the trailers shown for this movie lead you to believe something it is actually not. You would think that the movie is just a ridiculous action flick with people dying every moment but it's nothing like that. In fact, there's quite a story that gets told which you wouldn't have guessed.
The movie is broken up into chapters, switching back and forth between the Basterds and another plot featuring a Jewish woman who makes her way into German-occupied France. With that, the chapters with the Basterds are action filled while the chapters with the woman are story heavy until the last chapter which the two stories combine. I'm not going into any details for spoilers sake.
So with that said, you kind of get moments where things are moving slowly and aren't as interesting (assuming you're not interested in the story) and other moments that are filled with bullets and blood.
Speaking of bullets and blood, the scenes with the Basterds are great. The action sequences are tastefully done like a cerain shootout and a scene including the "Bear Jew" he beats a guy to a pulp with a baseball bat. They also show scenes where the Basterds are cutting off the scalps of the Nazis and you see brains. Aldo (Brad Pitt's character) also does this thing with Nazis he lets go where he takes out his knife and carves a deep swastika symbol on the person's forward and you can actually hear the knife digging into the head.
Anyway, Inglourious Basterds and a great movie. It does have some boring moments when the Basterds aren't in the scene but if you were as interested in the story as much as I was, you won't have that kind of problem. It's worth a watch. I'd give it an 8/10.
So Inglourious Basterds, directed by the talented Quinten Tarantino and starring Brad Pitt whose really the only big name in the movie (though Mike Myers makes a small appearance) is a pretty interesting movie. Basically, it's about a group of of guys (Most of them Americans, a couple of them are Germans) who drop down into France with a goal of killing Nazis.
Now, the one thing I'd like to note is that the trailers shown for this movie lead you to believe something it is actually not. You would think that the movie is just a ridiculous action flick with people dying every moment but it's nothing like that. In fact, there's quite a story that gets told which you wouldn't have guessed.
The movie is broken up into chapters, switching back and forth between the Basterds and another plot featuring a Jewish woman who makes her way into German-occupied France. With that, the chapters with the Basterds are action filled while the chapters with the woman are story heavy until the last chapter which the two stories combine. I'm not going into any details for spoilers sake.
So with that said, you kind of get moments where things are moving slowly and aren't as interesting (assuming you're not interested in the story) and other moments that are filled with bullets and blood.
Speaking of bullets and blood, the scenes with the Basterds are great. The action sequences are tastefully done like a cerain shootout and a scene including the "Bear Jew" he beats a guy to a pulp with a baseball bat. They also show scenes where the Basterds are cutting off the scalps of the Nazis and you see brains. Aldo (Brad Pitt's character) also does this thing with Nazis he lets go where he takes out his knife and carves a deep swastika symbol on the person's forward and you can actually hear the knife digging into the head.
Anyway, Inglourious Basterds and a great movie. It does have some boring moments when the Basterds aren't in the scene but if you were as interested in the story as much as I was, you won't have that kind of problem. It's worth a watch. I'd give it an 8/10.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Updates are coming... eventually.
Alright, so I know it's been awhile since I've posted especially for Press Start. I posted for God Hand more than half a month ago and yet there's still no journal posts for it.
Well, the honest answer is that I've been occupied playing other games and have been lazy when it comes to posting. I'll sit down and start to write something up but I'll suddenly decide to do something else. It's not that I don't care or anything, it just takes awhile to actually make a post for Press Start and I find myself wanting to play a game or watch a video or such.
My 360 stopped working at the beginning of August and I recently got it back a week or so ago so I've been catching up on a lot of missed online SF4, Gears 2, and COD4 matches. I also bought Batman: Arkham Asylum the day of release and have been putting a lot of hours into it. I'll probably write something about it in a later post.
I've also picked up a nasty addiction to Beatmania IIDX. I've been going through the PS2 games (Happy Sky, DistorteD, Gold, Troopers), and just been having a blast. I've been playing for a little over a month and I'm up to doing level 8s on Hyper but I'm starting to run through 9s and 10s. And once I get my Pop'n Music ASC, I'll be playing that even more. I also got my hands on the Rock Band 2 special edition last weekend and I've been playing that a bit. While I'm not a huge Rock Band fan (I preferred Guitar Hero, and even then only 1-3), I thought I would add it to my music game collection. Though honestly, I prefer Bemani games over any other music games.
So does this mean it's game over for Press Start? Most certainly not. While I'm not actually making the posts, I'm still playing through God Hand and recording the footage. So I suppose I'm doing half the work which is better than no work at all. But this is good because when I do start posting for Press Start, it'll be a nice steady stream of posts without much gaps.
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try my best to get Press Start entries going within the week or so.
Well, the honest answer is that I've been occupied playing other games and have been lazy when it comes to posting. I'll sit down and start to write something up but I'll suddenly decide to do something else. It's not that I don't care or anything, it just takes awhile to actually make a post for Press Start and I find myself wanting to play a game or watch a video or such.
My 360 stopped working at the beginning of August and I recently got it back a week or so ago so I've been catching up on a lot of missed online SF4, Gears 2, and COD4 matches. I also bought Batman: Arkham Asylum the day of release and have been putting a lot of hours into it. I'll probably write something about it in a later post.
I've also picked up a nasty addiction to Beatmania IIDX. I've been going through the PS2 games (Happy Sky, DistorteD, Gold, Troopers), and just been having a blast. I've been playing for a little over a month and I'm up to doing level 8s on Hyper but I'm starting to run through 9s and 10s. And once I get my Pop'n Music ASC, I'll be playing that even more. I also got my hands on the Rock Band 2 special edition last weekend and I've been playing that a bit. While I'm not a huge Rock Band fan (I preferred Guitar Hero, and even then only 1-3), I thought I would add it to my music game collection. Though honestly, I prefer Bemani games over any other music games.
So does this mean it's game over for Press Start? Most certainly not. While I'm not actually making the posts, I'm still playing through God Hand and recording the footage. So I suppose I'm doing half the work which is better than no work at all. But this is good because when I do start posting for Press Start, it'll be a nice steady stream of posts without much gaps.
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try my best to get Press Start entries going within the week or so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
