360 Gamer POV on Heavy Rain

Finally the PS3 has an exclusive that can actually rival the competition. At least that is what it seems from playing the demo for Heavy Rain the other day. I have never played a game like this and really all I can say is that I was hooked and left wanting more. I am not going to go in to much detail because I think Brian T. did a good job at doing that, but I just wanted to briefly touch on my feelings about what is to come.

Being a person who heavily favors the 360 over the PS3, I found the controls to be a little difficult. Not so much as to how they were set up, but since a lot of the game is controlled by timed button pushing, it becomes a little difficult if you do not have the layout of the controller memorized. So I found myself hitting the wrong button from time to time but it was never a devastating problem. It is a little weird with some of the other button combinations but after a couple of tries it was fairly easy to pick up on.

I played through the Detective Shelby scenario 2 times and both times were different. Each time it started and ended the same; it was the content in the middle that was different. The first time I played through I angered the hooker and she would not talk to me about her son. It wasn’t because I was trying to anger her; it was just my inability to push the correct button. The second time through I again pissed her off but was able to lay a guilt trip on her at the last second, which got her to talk. I am pretty sure that if I played through a third time I can make her talk without any anger or any form of guilt, therefore giving one single scenario three possible forms of gameplay. Not to mention that once you get her to talk you begin to ask different questions depending on which button you push. If this were to follow suite with the first half of the scene, then you are looking at up to 6 different ways to play one particular scene, hypothetically of course.

This seems to make the replay of value of this game very high. Talking with Brian T. he said that in order to get the full experience it is recommended by Quantic Dream to play through the game a few times due to the changing content depending on how the game is played and because of alternate endings. The big question for me is; is it a buyer or renter? Well I can say that I am going to rent it through Gamefly first and give it some good playing time. If I absolutely need to have it I will eventually buy it, but I think that playing through it a few times will be more than enough to satisfy me. Later on I most likely will pick it up when the price is down to $20 or $30.

From a heavy 360 gamer this is definitely a game to play even though it is exclusive to the PS3. It may be difficult to pick up on the controls at first, but once you do I think that there will be no disappointment. After almost losing my PS3 I think it is time that I blow the dust off of it and give it the fair shake it deserves. Besides Heavy Rain, I know that I am getting Super Street Fighter IV (solely to kick Brian T.’s ass) and Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3 (only because the PS3 version is in 1080p and the 360 version is in 720p) this year. So at least I will have 3 games for the console compared to the many that I own for the 360. Comment and let us know what you all thought of the demo.

-Brian R.

Heavy Rain Demo Review

Heavy Rain has easily been one of the most anticipated games for the PS3 since it's debut showing at E3 in 2006. With it's release just 11 days away, Sony has finally released a demo to the general public on PSN. I just finished playing it, and I'm eager to write about it.First of all, this game is not going to appeal to a lot of people once they have a chance to sit down and play it. The game is essentially a playable movie where you control the most minute actions of whatever character you are playing as (there are four playable characters). Most games have you running and shooting things or flipping switches to advance the story and gameplay, but Heavy Rain instead has you do minor tasks like retrieve items from your pocket, knock on doors, and simply talk to people. It sounds silly, but the game does a good job at utilizing the controller to make you feel like somewhat of a puppeteer. Control can be especially disorienting at first since you have to hold R2 to walk while you guide yourself with the left analog stick. By the end of the demo I'd gotten a pretty solid grip on the controls, but I could still feel that they were going to take some getting used to...they're unique to say the least.

If you played Indigo Prophecy (PS2, XBOX), then you already have a good idea what this game is about. In fact, Heavy Rain already appears to almost be a sort of "re-imagining" of Indigo Prophecy. Besides the obvious gameplay and story/tone/theme similarities, there are smaller comparisons to be made like the measuring of rain (Heavy Rain) vs. snow (Indigo Prophecy) throughout the story. Those who played through Indigo Prophecy know that Quantic Dream dropped the ball with the second half, and it would appear as though they're trying to get it right this time around. And so far, I'd say they've succeeded. The entire point of this game is to get you wrapped up in an intense and completely bizarre story that consists of multiple entwining character paths. Don't bother trying to get an idea of what's going on from the trailers, this is a story so involved that playing through the two sequences available in the demo will still leave you with no real idea of what's happening. That's not a bad thing though, as things are interesting enough to keep you frantically curious as to what is going to happen next. Heavy Rain is a game that once you start, you're going to have no choice but to finish.

Of course the graphics are worth mentioning and yes, they are fantastic. You're not going to forget you're playing a video game, but the character models are very detailed. I must admit though, they're not as mind-blowing as I would have expected. The textures and character models are unbelievably detailed, but I honestly feel that facial movements, and hell most "movement" in the game, could have used a bit more work if they're really wanted to impress. I think that a more realistic physics engine would have complimented the realistic graphics better. Just a minor gripe, but those hoping that Heavy Rain would be a visual revolution for gaming are no doubt going to be a little let down. The rest of the production work is top-notch with a wonderfully subtle soundtrack and universally solid voice-work.

The demo lets you play as the grizzled, broken-down, asthma-inflicted detective Curt Shelby and drug-addicted FBI agent Norman Jayden as they pursue two completely separate paths while tracking a serial killer known as "The Origami Killer". Both characters offered very different experiences. Shelby's scenario has an action sequence that plays out very similarly to the action sequences from Indigo Prophecy. Fights mostly consist of attacking, blocking, and counterattacking via timed button presses and analog stick movements. It's definitely interesting and you can tell that the aim was for you to feel like you're "acting out" many of the actions through various controller uses. Jayden's scenario focused on the use of his special glasses and glove which give him the Terminator-style ability to analyze people and environmental objects while combing a murder scene for clues. For example, you can analyze DNA on an object and have full visual access to that person's "file" within the FBI's database. I actually enjoyed the investigating and exploring quite a bit, though pressing R1 constantly to scan the environment for clues will no doubt eventually get tiresome.

Unfortunately, the demo is fairly short, so that's about all there is to write about. If you can get into the controls, you'll get into Heavy Rain. Even if you don't get into the controls, you'll probably still be sucked in by the story and interesting cast of characters. This game is another definite try before you buy, so I recommend checking out the demo for yourself if you have the chance. I'm curious to hear what other people think about it, especially those who didn't know what to expect from Quantic Dream. As for me, I love story-driven games so this is a must-buy on the 23rd.

-Brian T.

A Penny for your Thoughts

Yesterday my wife and I decided to rearrange our living room. We wall mounted the TV again and did it right by running all of the cords through the wall and ceiling. But when I moved my PS3 I heard something inside of it and I have caught my 2 year old son sticking stuff, mainly change, in the CD loading slot before. Already the anxiety had set in. I was so upset I picked up the PS3 and started shaking the shit out of it to try and get whatever it was out; real smart huh?

I then proceeded to turn it on for some idiotic reason and it turned on but you then heard this load grinding gears noise since whatever was in there had managed to lodge itself in the gears which spin the disc. I just kept thinking to myself over and over again that there is no way I am going to get this fixed or get a new one if it is totally broke. Now I am sure by now that someone reading this is thinking that I should have called Sony by now and set up to get it serviced. Well I did, but I was still uncertain of doing that at the moment because honestly my pocketbook can’t afford a $150 repair.

Finally I am at a point of no other options but to call Sony. After explaining everything to them, they basically tell me to take the console and throw it away if it is not working. Why you ask; because if you send anything in to be repaired and there is a foreign object in the bluray drive they will not repair the console and simply return it to you unfixed, still containing whatever it is that might be lodged in there. What, are you kidding me! How is it that it would cost more to me as a consumer to go and buy a new console as opposed to having the bluray drive replaced if it is unfixable? Were they trying to tell me that the bluray drive itself costs more than the whole PS3 unit as a whole? I doubt it, but like every retailer out there they see it as an opportunity to make me as the consumer go out and spend another $350 on a new PS3 instead of spending maybe $150 on repairing the one I already own. It is nothing more than a scam of a marketing ploy.

At this point I had no option but to try and fix it myself. What could it hurt, because even if I totally screwed it up I wouldn’t be out anything right? After some research on the internet and thanks to YouTube I found some good videos about dismantling the PS3 and the bluray drive. The hardest part was finding the necessary torque bolt to remove the initial screw to take the casing off the PS3. From there it was a breeze and luckily for you guys I took pictures.

This first picture is what the unit looks like with the outer casing removed.

Next you have to remove 7 screws to remove the inner casing that holds the CPU and bluray drive in place.

Here you can see the CPU and the bluray drive on the right. The bluray drive is not screwed in, so you can pick it up and disconnect the ribbon wire from the underside to completely remove it from the console.

Once that is out you need to flip it over and there you can see the motherboard for the bluray drive.

The next step is to unscrew the six screws on the bottom of the drive to remove the motherboard and the casing for the optical drive of the bluray player. Also you need to unhook all of the ribbon wires from the motherboard itself to completely remove it.

Once the casing is off you are left with the optical drive itself. At this point you are only 4 screws away from opening it entirely.

Now that it is opened you can clean the lens or remove a 1962 penny from your bluray drive, which may cause the gears of the drive to jam, whichever suites you best.

From here you just work in reverse to put everything back together.
Now mind you I have no computer repair experience at all. This is the first time I have ever done something like this and if I must say it was pretty easy. As long as you can follow directions you should not have a problem if you were in a similar situation. All together it took me about 30 minutes from start to finish, and now my PS3 is in full working order again. Long story short, I have a working PS3 again and I saved myself the cost of a new system. Thanks Sony for being a bunch of greedy a-holes and forcing me into a position to fix it myself.

-Brian R.

Side Note: My son was nowhere near my PS3 yesterday. So I have no idea how long that penny had been sitting in the bluray drive before it finally dislodged and caused some damage. It is kind of funny if you ask me, but if I had to guess it had been in there for at least a week while I was watching movies and playing LittleBigPlanet.

Another Year, Another Chance for my PS3

Seeing the great debate beginning to brew over this next gen console subject, I can’t just sit on the sidelines and let this one go. If my opinion matters one bit I would say that next gen consoles overall have been a failure, but don’t take that out of context though. There are great games, enhanced graphics, and better game control; but if we look at the hardware associated with the Wii, PS3, and 360, we can see that there have been letdowns with all three systems.

Like Brian T. said the Wii is nothing more than a glorified GameCube. It is a GameCube with motion control. For a long time now I have felt that the Wii was nothing more than a test; a test to see how the public would accept a new form of gameplay. Unfortunately it is widely accepted by all demographics from young to old, to people who really don’t even play video games; therefore causing Nintendo to continue pushing this console. There also is a serious lack of quality software support for this system but yet I can guarantee that Nintendo is raking in the cash, and because of that there is no need on Nintendo’s part to change a thing at the moment.

Then we have the 360. Overall we are looking at a pretty good system. They have support through other social networking communities such as Facebook and Twitter, along with a great library of games. There online service is above average and you can see that paying for the service definitely makes it worth the $50 per year. What the system lacks is the dependent hardware to run the console. System hardware failures plague the console with the Red Rings of Death and the E74 error code. Like Brian T. said too, it is ridiculous to spend $300 - $400 on the system then have to go spend another $100 on a wireless network adapter to get online. You would think since networking technology is not advanced rocket science; it would be built in the system or made affordable at least, but once again the system makes money even with its flaws, so why change what in terms of profits is not broken.

Finally there is the PS3. Let me say I have been let down by this system from the time I got mine and more so then the latter two. One of the biggest disappointments for this system is the lack of software that is available for the system. If you need someone to blame for this you can thank Sony for not providing the training and information that was needed for these developers to program the games. I can see how these game developers did not want to spend the money to train programmers to write for this system when they could just release it on a more popular, easier to work with system like the 360. To this day I still do not own a PS3 game. There hasn’t been a game yet exclusive to the system that I feel I need to have, and if there is a game that is multi-platform I always get it for the 360. But before you can complain about the software I think it is only fair to look at the system itself. We are in the 4th generation with the PS3. If you go here you can see a chart of all the different PS3’s and what hardware they contained.

It’s seems to me the PS3 has taken steps back instead of moving forward to try and provide a better product to their consumers. Look at the 360 for example. They have increased their hard drive space, replaced their original processors with better ones, and added more services to system. The PS3 has removed the flash card reader, removed backwards compatibility, reduce the number of USB slots, and taken away the removable hard drive. So how do they justify the price of the system? Sure they increased the hard drive space, but they removed everything else. No wonder we have seen a price drop in recent months.

That is not all that lets me down with the PS3. The PS Network; now there is a joke if I’ve ever seen one. Sure it is free, but what do you gain by having a free service: lag, poor support, and limited connectivity. If I was partial solely to the PS3 I would be more than happy to pay for my online service to ensure excellent service. Also I need to mention Home. What a waste of time and effort there. If I wanted to participate in something of that nature I would go and play The Sims. At least that way I wouldn’t be subjected to endless advertising. Plus it is completely annoying trying to have a conversation because it is a pain in the ass to type everything when 95% of the people don’t have headsets. Tell me why is there no Bluetooth headset included with the system? This is similar to Microsoft not having Wi-Fi built in to the system. Why not include something that probably costs them pennies to make compared to the $100 it costs us to buy it. When is enough, enough?

Where are we left as gamers when the companies that we support seem to not really care to support their consumers? And it is not only Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony; it is the software companies that support the consoles too. If you read my earlier blog “Diamonds Last Forever” you can see how I talked about there being a lack of games on next gen consoles that take gaming to the next level. There are no revolutionary or breakthrough games on any of the 3 major consoles today. Gaming has reached a standstill in some respects. Hopefully with the introduction of Natal we will see a shift in gaming. We will see what next gen gaming should be and hopefully get everything we should be getting out of these consoles. I know though that a magic wand shaped like an ice cream cone will not be the answer to this. It will be yet another let down from Sony. Maybe they finally realized this and that is why the date has been pushed back so that way they can try and save some face. Let me know what you think and how you feel about today’s gaming companies.

-Brian R.

video game pms

I'm in a bad mood. I'm taking a break from the insanely frustrating process of trying to get my 360 online to set up a Live account. To keep it short, because of the layout of my house and electronics, I have to use Internet Connection Sharing through the PC in my room to get my 360 online which may require me to change my router's IP address which is way more work than it should be. Microsoft's greed once again finds a way to piss me off. I mean, seriously guys...the fucking Wii has built-in Wifi, yet I have to buy a $100 proprietary brand adapter to get the 360 to do this? FUCK YOU.

So Microsoft is on today's shit list for me, how about Sony? Well, it would appear that yesterday they delayed the release of their still-nameless motion controller. Am I mad about that? No, I don't really care...at all. All this did is remind me how stupid Sony has been this generation. Year after year they keep making mistakes from botched launches, to ridiculous amounts of PS3 upgrades/downgrades, to the completely useless PSP Go, to the hilariously underwhelming Playstation Home. The list goes on. Sony already has one failed peripheral on the market with the PS3 Eye. Why introduce another one that is just essentially another Wii remote controller?

I own a Wii, a PS3, and a 360. Everybody always argues which console is better, which has the best/worst games, etc. People are too quick to pledge allegiance to a console or company these days. Despite the success Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have all had over the past few years, I don't think any one of them has actually done a good job and provided an overall positive experience.

Nintendo beat the shit out of Sony and Microsoft this generation with a repackaged Gamecube. Creative, yet shrewd as hell, they found a way to offer a new twist on the last generation that ended up being a lot more fun than the competition offered at the time of it's launch. Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn't know the meaning of quality control and allowed their console to be overrun with shovelware because it kept units flying off the shelves. Because of this, many truly awesome Wii titles were lost in a sea of bullshit and suffered sales so poor that 3rd party developers are ceasing to make hardcore titles. And there's the mostly terrible online experience. And there's the failure to support external hard drives (the SD card update "solution" is bullshit). And Wii Motion Plus should technically be free for us suckers who paid $40 dollars for remotes that should have had 1:1 tracking in the first place. Sony is stupid, but Nintendo is greedy and oblivious.

Sony finally saw the PS3 come out on top last year. A handful of 1st party exclusives like Infamous and Uncharted 2 really gave the console some footing and developers are finally, kind of...mostly getting the hang of programming for the console. Other than those positives, you can refer to all the bullshit mistakes Sony has made in the paragraphs above. The motion controller will fail because everybody already owns a Nintendo Wii, and guess what? We're all bored with it. If Sony thinks they've got the sequel to the Wii on their hands, they are wrong. Find a way to fix support for the PS3 Eye and PSP Go before you rush another expensive piece of technology on the market...

I mentioned Nintendo being greedy, but obviously the greed crown really belongs to Microsoft. The 360 has had the steadiest level of success despite manufacturing hands-down, the absolute least reliable game console in the past 20 years. Many people own beat-up, dusty NES consoles that work better than their 360's. Microsoft's business model is obvious in the way they handle the 360. Moreso than any other console, it is a financial vacuum and they still aren't that reliable. But whatever, I've spent too much time writing this. I guess I should go figure out how I can get my Live account set up so I can throw some more cash at Microsoft...

-Brian T.

Tree Hugging Hippy Crap

I don’t know if anyone takes the time to actually read our blog but if you do kudos to you. So if you do then you probably remember a blog from about a month ago, give or take, that Brian T. wrote about in regards to a game on the PS Network titled Flower. For days all I heard at work was how amazing the game is and how I need to go buy it. Then he continues on to say that it is such an awesome game that he can’t even describe it to me that I should just go and buy it. So I did and let me say I am pissed that I wasted fucking $10.

Where should I start with this crap? First there is not excitement. You float around like a fairy traveling from flower to flower, and once you get to a flower I guess you use your magic fairy dust to make it bloom. Please note that one of the selling points for Brian T. was that every flower that opened there was the pluck of a guitar string. Wow talk about fun. Eventually you continue spreading fairy dust until you make the grand poomba of all blooming objects come to life, a tree. Second this game might be fun if you were 12 years old, had a vagina between your legs, and your room was painted pink and decorated with hello kitty fatheads. It’s fortunate for me that I have none of these things, making me have zero interest in this game. According to Brian T. you can find magic flowers in every level that will unlock trophies; but who the hell wants to keep floating around as a pedal of a flower for any given amount of time looking for the special magic flowers. Not me. I could barely choke my way through the first level from start to finish let alone waste anymore time looking for these mystical flowers hidden throughout the levels.

Even right now as I am writing this he is standing over my shoulder arguing with me about how “peaceful” the game is and that I am looking at it in the wrong light. Boo hoo because when I play a game there is nothing more peaceful then blowing some assholes head off with my ACR in Modern Warfare 2. I need some real action in a game, not this boring tree hugging waste of time that you get with Flower. I guess in order to enjoy this game you must either need be extremely stressed out and don’t want the aggravation of playing a real game, or you need to stoned, really stoned. Neither of those things happens for me. I can say that visually the game does look good, and it is probably the best use I have ever seen of the Sixaxis controller. But if you are looking for some real excitement in a game, I need to inform you that you won’t find it with Flower.

-Brian R.

dark void - self explanatory

So who's excited for Dark Void? Anyone? I'm going to guess that you're not. I know I'm not. Hell, even Capcom, the publisher of the game, isn't excited. Not only have they pushed the release date back right before releasing the demo, but they publicly stated in an interview with Kotaku that "Our experience...has demonstrated the difficulty of outsourcing the development of new titles to overseas companies." Because of the failure of Bionic Commando, and the impending failure of Dark Void, Capcom have stripped all original title development rights from their western studios and will only allow them to work on sequels, dlc, etc. while the Japanese teams handle new IPs. Wow...that's pretty harsh. I mean, Bionic Commando bombed pretty hard, but the fact that they've already given up on Dark Void before it's release is a huge statement...so how bad is this game?

The first thing I noticed upon starting the demo up is that the protagonist looks a lot like Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series. And then he talked...and guess what? They are voiced by the same fucking guy, Nolan North. Are you kidding me? Not only did they to create the most generic-looking guy they could, but they still found a way to make him look like Nathan Drake and, hell, just to seal the deal he even has the same voice. Smooth move...I'm sure no one will ever catch that. I probably don't even have to say it, but yes, they also have nearly identical personalities too. But let's move along to the gameplay.The above image looks like it could have been taken from Dead Space, another exaomple of this game's identity crisis. Dark Void actually focuses on both aerial combat and exploration, as well as Gears of War style "hide behind an obstruction and shoot until all the bad guys are dead" action. Flying around on your Rocketeer jetpack sucks. Aiming is even worse. It's not fun and I never feel like I'm flying...I feel like I'm floating wildly through the air. Nathan Drake/Dark Void guy can yell "whoo hoo!" as much as he wants, but there is nothing exciting about flying in this game. You'll be glad when you shoot down all the generic robot sentries out of sky so you can get on the ground and fight.

So when you're on the ground you have a big gun and you shoot aliens. I have nothing good to say about this aspect of the game either. The cover mechanic is pointless because the enemies are too retarded to pose a threat. Speaking of the enemies, for a second I thought I was playing a really shitty version of Metroid Prime 3. Yeah, if Metroid Prime on the Wii got raped by Gears of War, and then Warhawk for PS3 flew overhead and took a massive shit all over everything. That's pretty much how I would describe this game. I know it's just a demo, but why the fuck any developer would waste their time and money working on this uninspired garbage is beyond me. Make sure you don't make the same mistake.

-Brian T.

flower POWER!!!

I feel as though the world of gaming journalism, as well as the gaming community have all let me down. Apparently, a little game called Flower was released in the Playstation Store on February of this year and nobody thought to tell me. To be fair, the only thing I really cared about on February 2nd was the imminent release of Street Fighter 4 so I'm sure I had tunnel vision when it came to games that didn't have hadoukens. I can easily see how this title could slip by unnoticed, forever forgotten by all but a small few...but I refuse to let that happen. This game is fucking amazing and everyone with a PS3 should play it at least once.I was watching the X-play Video Game Awards show last night and I kept seeing this game nominated for different awards. I thought to myself "How the hell is this game getting nominated for so many awards when I've never read or heard a single review on it?" I remember seeing it in the Playstation Store while browsing and I vaguely remember seeing a screenshot when Game Informer previewed it earlier this year in the DLC column, but that's it. So I decided to go ahead and just download it on a whim.

Wow. I literally started laughing to myself within 10 minutes of playing this game because it was blowing my mind. The question "Are video games art?" has been answered and the answer is a strong, confident FUCK YES. All you essentially do is control the wind using the Sixaxis controller and any button of your choice as you blow petals off of flowers in vast, richly-detailed natural environments. When you blow a petal off of a flower, it blooms and you accumulate more petals onto your windstream. The more flowers you cause to bloom, the more life is restored to the world. If this sounds like an extremely abstract description of the fantastic Okami (PS2/Wii), then I guess you would be far off. And the comparison is a welcome one. The visuals are quite often awe-inducing. The music is phenomenal and works in many ways like the game REZ (DC/PS2) where your actions in the game directly control the music. For example, whenever you pick up a petal a chime or a piano note may play. Continue picking up strings of petals and you will add entire arrangements to the music that are always perfectly in time and perfectly in tune.

There is one drawback that may turn some people off from this game though and I should probably address it. Like many original downloadable titles, this game is short. Apparently you can complete the game and unlock all the trophies in under 5 hours of play. I find this to be completely justifiable considering the price is only $9.99. Most new games are $59.99 and give you an average of 20 hours of play, so in actuality you're getting a pretty awesome deal. I used this same reasoning to convince everyone I knew to download the WiiWare game Lost Winds. Trust me, you won't be complaining about the price or length once you actually sit down and play it and can appreciate what this game is all about.

I know I'm almost a year late on this one, but better late than never. Go download and play Flower right now. I gotta go try to squeeze a few minutes of play in before work...

-Brian T

Nobody Likes Sloppy Seconds

I wonder if writing a review for a demo is even appropriate but I just find it awfully convenient that the demo happened to be released a few short days after the reviews of the original Left 4 Dead. Like I had said before L4D has solid gameplay. Unfortunately I think that was the problem with the development of the original L4d; they focused too much on the engine and gameplay and focused way too little on content. I had hoped that with L4D2 they would have realized their shortcomings with the original and would take a potentially good game that just fell short, and improve on it. I think it would be easy because the workings were there, but they just needed to add a little TLC.

I was getting excited as the anticipation to play the demo grew as it was downloading. I feel you should all know that there I really want to like this game, there are just certain factors of the game itself that hold me back. So the demo starts and the opening clip gets me even more excited, but then for me it all goes to shit. It starts flashing all of the things to expect with L4D2. NEW CHARACTERS, 5 NEW CAMPAIGNS, and NEW GAMEPLAY MODES; wow I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a game of the year edition of the original Left 4 Dead with the extra download content all in one. But wait there was none of that fucking promised download content. Why, because it was turned in to a new Left for Dead. Then the disappointment starts to brew. So I begin the demo and instantly I feel that I am playing the original game again. No zoom on weapons, same run and gun, and same bullshit. Where’s the new guns, the new style of gameplay, where was anything new. Eventually I came across an assault rifle, which I couldn’t zoom with surprisingly, unless if maybe I was just pushing the right stick in wrong. They added melee weapons, which were fucking useless when being attacked by a horde of zombies but once you pick up a melee weapon, you lose your pistol. That was just fucking gay and stupid. So really what is new? They couldn’t have just made some map packs available and offer a download for a gun pack.

I know I know that this is just a fucking demo. But if I were Valve I think that since I already have a critically acclaimed game, I would not need to offer a demo to show off what can be found in the original. You would think that they would want to give a sneak peak at what is to come. Maybe not put all their fucking cards on the table, but just enough to get people whet. That is why I think they really do not have much to offer, or I could be completely wrong and the full release of the game will make me eat my words. Either way I am still going to give the full game a try because part of me still wants to like this game. I am curious to know what everyone else thinks of the demo so far, or hear any opinions that you might have in regards to Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2, which is set to release on November 17.

-Brian R.

Nobody Likes to be Ass Fucked

So I was just going to let Brian have the Left 4 Dead blog but with it being Halloween and all, and with my hate being so great for this game, I cannot resist. The problem is where do I start; and do I even fucking waste the time giving credit where credit is due?

I suppose I will start with the good, what little bit there is. Left 4 Dead has solid gameplay and controls. There you go, that is it.

What, were you expecting more? Like what about how the zombies constantly generate in a new place every time. Are you fucking kidding me? Is it mentally fucking possible to even remember where each zombie would generate from considering the mass amount that flock you at any given moment. Come on we are not playing Mario Brothers on the NES anymore. We have advanced enough to make sure that there is enough content in a game anymore to make it almost impossible to remember where enemies come from, regardless if it is random or not. Right or wrong, and that alone is not the only shit that was weak as hell in the game though.

Next we have the major lack of weaponry and the similarity and repetitiveness of every goddamn level. Does anyone remember in Clerks 2 when Randal described the story of the Lord of the Rings in about 1 minute? Well I will do the same but in about 10 seconds. Here we go. We start at the beginning, fill our ammo and fight for a health pack if we are playing co-op, regardless if you are out of health and almost dead, start running and shooting, and finally get to the last door, hopefully before some asshole closes it on you, and then repeat again. Fun right? Then there are the weapons. Talk about a huge let down, only 4 weapons and some grenades. Fuck the fact that the weapons are upgradeable; a fucking Uzi is a fucking Uzi. And really we should say that there are only 3 guns because who really tries to use the sniper rifle when you are being gang raped by a hundred zombies. Because of that this is how Left 4 Dead made me feel, gang raped for $60 worth of bullshit.

But we were all taught that we should learn from our mistakes. Hopefully Valve got this same life lesson at one point in time. In less than 3 weeks Left 4 Dead 2 will hit the shelves. Will I buy it though? No, but I am definitely going to rent it. I believe that everyone should get a second chance. Like I said the gameplay and controls were real good. If they add more weapons and change up the levels a little, then I think that Valve will have a real solid game on their hands. Lastly I didn’t think I should bring this up but should I mention that fact that Left 4 Dead 2 is probably nothing more than promised DLC for the original Left 4 Dead. Who else feels like this is a gang rapping? Let me know by commenting back.

-Brian R.

Zombies Ate my Neighbors

I was 8 years old when my Dad showed me Night of the Living Dead. I had never experienced actual fear until that point in my life. When I went to go to sleep that night all I could think about was what I would do if there was a zombie outbreak. Since then I have fallen in love with most things zombie related. A lot of people have. And because of this, zombies are popping up all over the place. And people are eating up all the bullshit. Anything with a zombie on it is automatic gold these days it seems. Though not as trendy and topical as vampires, the general consensus is that zombies are "in" right now. And leading the zombie army on the video game front is the wildly popular Left 4 Dead and soon to be released sequel.

If you think I'm about to suck this game's dick and sing it's praises, you're wrong. I honestly don't see what the big deal is. I will say up front that I have only had about a half hour with the PC version. I'd been super excited to check it out for months and when I finally got the opportunity, I was completely underwhelmed. It was just an FPS. The zombies were intense, but there was nothing truly scary. It was fast and...uh...there were a lot of zombies onscreen at once. But no matter what, I always felt like I was constantly just spinning in circles firing blindly at the ridiculous masses of zombies.

There's nothing that makes Left 4 Dead feel like legit zombie survival experience. Throwing a ton of zombies at me isn't going to scare me any more than if I was being swarmed by a hundred of anything. If 100 chickens were running at me, I would be equally scared. Personally I think that the Nazi Zombie mode in Call of Duty: World at War is the best zombie survival game I have ever played. In Nazi Zombies you're holed up in some small area fighting off waves of zombies as you rebuild barriers over windows and try to upgrade your guns.. You're fighting for your survival in a place you can't escape from..kinda sounds like Night of the Living Dead actually. Or Dawn of the Dead. Or Day of the Dead. And that's the way it should feel. Left 4 Dead has you running and gunning through a lot of zombie infested cities...kind of like Land of the Dead. And you know what? Nobody likes Land of the Dead better than Night, Dawn, or Day.

Essentially Left 4 Dead and Nazi Zombies are doing the same thing. You have four maps to choose from. You can play with 3 other people online. You fight waves of zombies with various guns. Unfortunately I never felt like I was up against a zombie horde in Left 4 Dead. I felt like I was shooting a bunch of zombies trying to get to the end of a level. Little things make a difference as well. For example, Left 4 Dead technically has 8 weapons whereas, depending on the map, you'll have at least 15 weapons available in Nazi Zombies. Left 4 Dead gives you infinite ammo on your pistol and you can dual wield them as well. There's no infinite ammo in Nazi Zombies so you always feel that every shot counts. Nazi Zombies is basically a mini game and it's better than Left 4 Dead.

I can't be the only person who has figured this out. Anyone agree? Disagree? Are you planning on picking up Left 4 Dead 2? Comment or tweet us and let me know! Also check back later in the week because I'm gonna be playing the hell out of surprise halloween themed game for a special review!

-Brian T

and suddenly our blog name makes sense...

Hi, I'm Brian Tasch. I'm a Steet Fighter fanboy. I have Ryu tattooed on my arm. I own just about every Street Fighter game released in the US, as well as a few imports. I will buy anything SF related...comics, clothes, manga, posters, action figures, anime, controllers, and yes, the 1998 JCVD Street Fighter movie. I love Street Fighter more than a person should love a game. If the disc for SF4 had a bigger hole in the middle, I would probably try to fuck it. So I'm sure you can imagine my excitement at the official announcement of Super Street Fighter 4.

First off, let me say that anybody who didn't expect Capcom to release another version of SF4 is a fool. Either that or they've never played a Japanese fighting game before. Every Street Fighter has at least 3 upgrades/sequels...even the shitty EX series. Hell nearly every fighting game in general has at least 1 or 2 incremental upgrades. Depending on the franchise, a lot of these games don't get released in America...but that still doesn't change the fact that truly competitive fighters are designed to be tweaked and rebalanced. I honestly don't understand why people are so up in arms about SSF4. Why would you NOT want more characters, backgrounds, ultras, and moves? Why would you not want shitty characters to get better or overpowered characters/moves to be nerfed? How many of you would honestly choose Street Fighter 3: New Generation over Street Fighter 3 Third Strike? Probably none of you. So for all the complaining people are doing, I don't really see the downside to having another Street Fighter game be released.

People are going to find a way to complain about anything they can, but let's be honest: Super Street Fighter 4 is probably the best direct upgrade to a numbered SF game...ever. It took 4 versions of SF2 to add 8 characters and we're getting at least 8 in the very first sequel. There are going to be 33 characters in SSF4...that's INSANE. Alpha 3 is the only SF game with more characters on it's roster with 36 fighters, but it still took Capcom 3 years and 3 versions of the game to get there. Add to that necessary balance tweaks (which believe it or not, ALL fighters need), new moves and ultras, new backgrounds and music, better online, bonus stages, and new challenges and you've got an amazing retail upgrade to one of the best fighters ever made. How can you possibly complain?

Obviously nothing is official in terms of pricing yet, but we have been promised that it will not go for the full $60. Realistically I see the game retailing for $30 to $40...and I'm definitely leaning toward $40. Brian mentions that he wants to see it go for $20 and cited recent GTA expansions as a price model. GTA isn't made in Japan though. Plus we're getting all new intro and ending movies for all the characters. This seems like a much more expensive expansion. The cost to not only add all the new content, but to localize the game must be taken into account as well. I'm not saying I wouldn't love to pay $20 for this game, but I would expect to pay at least $30. Also, don't think for a second that Capcom wouldn't charge you the same amount of money for a retail package SSF4 as they would if they were somehow able to make this DLC by the spring. They're trying to make money. It would cost more for Capcom to patch SF4 than it would be for them to simply add to SF4 and re-release it. The more Capcom makes off of this, the more fighters we're gonna see from them. The fact that Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is even being released in the US is a testament to that.

But you know what the best part about Super Street Fighter 4 is? Do you know what's better than new characters, new ultras, balance tweaks, bonus stages, etc? What really makes it worth it to go out and buy a brand new hard copy of this game? We will never have to listen to "Indestructible" again.

Super Street Fighter 4 is a long way away (spring 2010) so you can rest assured I'll be discussing it quite a bit as new information becomes available. For now I just wanted to tell everybody to chill out! We should be stoked for an upgrade to an already amazing game, not nitpicking and complaining. The fighting community is the biggest it has been in years and it's almost entirely because of Street Fighter 4, like it or not. Keep playing Street Fighter 4 and then go out and buy Super Street Fighter 4. And fight me and Brian. Our PSN IDs/Gamertags are along the sidebar. Do note though that I think I have a fairly annoying Bison.

In Your Face Bitches: Super Street Fighter IV

This is fucking bullshit. This was my first thought to the announcement of Super Street Fighter IV. All I could think was that Capcom was getting the breast pumps out to start milking there consumers even more in a money stricken economy. I know why they would do it, because who doesn’t like money, but as a consumer you can’t help but feel like you are getting raped in the process. Then I began to think why it wouldn’t just get released as a game add-on or expansion pack made available through DLC. So many questions came about without any answers. Then the next day came the official announcement and the releasing of some of the details of the new game. From that my demeanor started to turn from anger to anticipation.

One thing that made the official announcement of SSFIV even better was the statement made about the price. It has been said that we are not going to see a “new release” price tag on SSFIV but it will be listed at an upgrade price. Thank god because all I kept trying to figure out was, how do I explain to my wife, who hates video games by the way, that I am spending $60 on a game that I technically already have. Trust me it would be a tough sell, and with having 2 kids I don’t always have $60 at my disposal. What I would like to see is what was done with the expansion packs for Rockstar’s GTAIV. The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony were both released with a $20 price tag. To me that was a great move on their part because it allowed them to generate even more revenue off of the same game without making people second guess whether or not they should buy it. Unfortunately I do not see that happening with SSFIV, because they are not simply creating an expansion or another game based on the same workings as the original, but they are adding and changing things to hopefully make SFIV an even better game.

So how do you make a game even better? One way to start is by adding new characters. Who doesn’t fucking like new characters? It has been said that there will be up to 8 new characters added to SSFIV but the rumor mill on the internet is saying that there may be up to 10. As far as new characters announced go, they have officially announced 3, and 2 of them aren’t even new, new characters. So far there is T. Hawk and Deejay. Hooray for that considering I never even played as them before. T. Hawk to me just looks like another Zangief. Slow, huge, and strong. The videos of Deejay that I have seen look pretty awesome. He looks like he has some nice special moves along with the ability to link in some nice combos. Then there is the new, new character Juri. I haven’t seen much video showing some real game play but what I have seen is her ultra combo, and it looked fucking awesome. But I could have been blinded because her opponent was M. Bison, I love seeing M. Bison get his ass handed to him. Fuck that stupid head stomp move. Anyhow I hope to see some new characters and some old favorites added to the already large list of fighters. But who am I kidding. I know that even if there were 100 characters I would still pick Ryu every time. What can I say; he is fucking awesome and easily the best Street Fighter character of all time.

Other features and game tweaks are also expected to help change the overall appearance and feel of Street Fighter. We are going to see a balancing and reworking of every original character in Street Fighter IV. This too is awesome. Why, because I am sick and fucking tired of all those douche bags who play with Sagat and think they did something amazing when they win a match. I am sick of getting a standing strong kick to the head and half of my life being taken away. That one is for you Tats008. There is also going to be some other added features like bonus stages, new background stages updated online play, and new intros for all characters. On a final note I have also read that there is talk about how the video replay might get changed also. That was a huge letdown when they released the Championship Mode update for SF4. I was pissed when I found out they only let the top 5,000 ranked players upload videos, which basically meant almost everyone lost that option after a couple of days.

So why wouldn’t you want to buy this. It looks fucking amazing. New characters, game tweaks, video uploads, all at the low price of hopefully $30. But wait there is still one more thing, GAME LOBBIES. Now we can take the nostalgia that we all had when we were kids playing Street Fighter 2’: Champion Edition on our Sega Genesis’s with all of our friends, and now do the same from our own homes. Winner stays and loser goes, bitches.

Brian R.