Shamoozal.com - Smorgas Board

New Year. Still plenty of games to get through.

Max Payne 3 (PC) - 1/6

I'm kind of conflicted on this one. I hated the style of the game. The story and especially the shaky cam/weird post processing effects during cutscenes, which ranged from slightly annoying to 'zee goggles, zey do nothing!!!'. Still, I had a lot of fun shooting everyone in the face in slow motion, and there are a few good empowering moments scattered throughout. Parts where you are on a zipline or a food cart dispatching goons left and right were great. Also, the bit at the end with the grenade launcher, blowing up everything in your way was really satisfying. I just wish it felt more like a Max Payne game in spirit. I kind of wished Max went out in a blaze of glory instead of walking away into the sunset like an action hero.

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Red Steel 2

Kind of crazy how far this "series" went. It was a pretty awful FPS at the Wii's launch, and then the follow up was this really stylized, sword and gun play beat 'em up. At least that's how I started thinking about it. It reminded me of a 3D Double Dragon in a very loose sense.

I really enjoyed the hell out of this. I thought it was well designed, and while at first is challenging, the sword play gets pretty satisfying. When they introduce the waves of armored guys coming at you, I thought my arm was gonna fall off from swinging the remote so hard. But you eventually find your sweet spot, and after a while I was kicking ass. You cannot waggle in this. They will kill you if you do. That said I did have plenty of times when my remote just flipped out for no reason. The aiming reticule would go haywire on the screen, and at times blocking specific attacks simply would not respond to the way I was holding the controller. I had to awkwardly twist my arm to get the sword to do what it was supposed to do. This seemed to only happen when I was actually being taught HOW to block which made for an unfortunate introduction to the mechanic. I'm willing to say that it was my particular remote though?

The other down side was that the game felt padded. There was at least one whole totally unnecessary section of the game where all I did was basically kill squads of bad guys with no real objectives. I was ready for it to be over towards the end. The level design isn't all that amazing either, but it was functional.

Still I had a blast playing it, and found myself looking forward to having time to sit down with it. It's a shame it did not sell as well as it did on the Wii because I think its a really unique game that took advantage of what the Wii has to offer. Ok I'm done talking about this now. Good bye.

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Swear to me.

I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Japanese people (who aren't Platinum Games) made a really good cover based shooter. The story, while really cheesy, hits the right spots emotionally. There are a surprising number of unique bosses and the world is really interesting. I think I loved it. It never takes itself too seriously either. I think a lot of my shooter fatigue has to do with all these games that go super serious from start to end. Gears, Halo and COD all do this shit and I hate it. This game is like a fun summer blockbuster. Big Bo was awesome, even though I totally screwed him over by not getting my trust with the french robot high enough. BIG BOOOOOOOOO!

Super ridiculous dumb videogamey summer action movie fun. There should be more shooters like this.

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Always hear good things about Binary Domain. Wanted to snag it on Steam/Amazon sales but I know my machine won't run it. Maybe it'll pop up on a GameFly sale for super cheap at some point. Even if I don't play it, it's nice to know Sega proper created a game that can go toe to toe with the big Western dev releases, even if it was a bomb.

Anyway time to start my list.

Star Fox 64 (N64) 1/11/13
Ninja Commando (NEO) 1/12/13

I got a new N64 analog stick the other day from Amazon and wanted to test it out so I picked Star Fox 64. First off this game is still so awesome. Took a few minutes to adjust but I'm surprised how much muscle memory I had with this game. Was able to go through the hard path. I did make some bad mistakes (lost wings, some team members died towards the end, I died on the Star Wolf TWICE and Andross twice) but I still made it through. What a great ride. Also, the stick is so good. It's pretty much a Gamecube style control stick in N64 form. You just swap it out with the one in there. Works and feels great.

Also played some arcade games last night. I would love to have been able to add NAM 1975 to the list but apparently when you die on the final boss it's Game Over for good. Weird for a coin op game. That game was awesome though. Kind of like Cabal if anyone remembers that one.

So then I tried out Ninja Commando. This game was absurd. It's a top down shooter but more along the lines of something like Commando or Gun.Smoke than Ikaruga. It's about three Ninjas that travel to different points in time to stop the bad guy from ruining the time line. So you're fighting cavemen, dinosaurs, ninjas, chinese warriors, and world war 2 soldiers. It's pretty ridiculous, but I enjoyed myself.

finally finished kid icarus for the 3DS. its a meaty game with plenty of shit to do. i think my experience suffered a bit as i'm a lefty and had to use the buttons to control Pit. i just didnt get the same level of control as the nub. still it hell of a lot of fun.

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Swear to me.

Finished Lollipop Chainsaw tonight. The game was probably around 5 - 6 hours, which is actually like my sweet spot these days. I really liked it. Felt a lot like a spiritual successor to No More Heroes in that it plays nearly identical, and has awesome bosses. It cuts out the minigames/over world type shit and just gets right to the meat.

It is by no means perfect, but there's something about Suda's now considered old school feeling action games. I still think his writing is awful, but I think that's because he is writing in what he thinks appeals to Americans but it's not really how anyone talks. Fun overall story and idea though.

DmC was actually really good! Unfortunately, it's not the best Devil may Cry by a long shot, but it's still a damn good action game. Combos are fun to pull off and it looks great. There's some annoying platforming bits, and the story is stupid. Bosses aren't terribly great either, but at least they try and keep it interesting. The combat pretty much redeems this game.

And I beat Bayonetta on 360. Bought it a while ago and played through to the last 2 missions or so. It only took me an hour or so to wrap it up. This is why stuff like DmC will never ever bother me. The awesome action guys at Capcom are mostly at Platinum now, and there is no shortage of Platinum action games this year. Metal Gear Rising is in a few weeks and Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2 will probably be out this year as well.

I've been playing Fallout New Vegas like a maniac this week, so that will probably be up here soon. The DLC for that game is incredible! The only one I played so far that I didn't love was the one with the native tribes fighting in the canyon. Got so much crazy gear from Lonesome Road and Dead Money.

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New Super Mario Bros. U. 1/23/12

I found myself at Bowser's Castle and had a rough time getting to fight the bastard. Bowser Jr. was getting in my way of collecting the coins and I'd get halfway through the level and die. Of course I made a few mistakes by trying to rush it at one point and nearly lost 20 men on that level. I beat Bowser on the first try but found it tougher to get to him collecting the coins! Of course I'm still trying to unlock stages and stuff but I finally beat this after putting it off. I just didn't want to beat this in the first week of owning it.
Trying to tackle ZombiU and Skyward Sword since my Wii crapped out on trying to play the last Zelda. I must beat two games before Fire Emblem comes out on the 3DS!

1. F.E.A.R
2. The Cave

Fear sucked. Will not be installing the other games in that series.

Just beat The Cave today. Pretty solid adventure game from Double Fine, but the controls could have been better. Right now I'm going back through the game with a different set of characters.

i played Fear when it first came out. at that time i may have been just wowed by the graphics which were pretty awesome at that time. i havent played it in forever though. i remember thinking the voice acting was pretty terrible.

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Swear to me.

Yeah, I don't think it aged very well. Although the combat was pretty satisfying, I think that is the only reason why I finished it.

DmC - PC

Marathon session complete.

Definitely Ninja Theory's best game yet. Controls are responsive, combos flow into each other. Combat has nowhere near the amount of depth as the past games; this is basically a good Heavenly Sword. You have normal attacks, heavy (red) weapons, light (blue) weapons, and ranged attacks. The enemies that need to be dealt with in a specific way are color coded so you know which weapon to use. You get 2 heavy weapons and 2 light weapons to choose from, but it doesn't really matter which of them you choose. Some enemies towards the very end require a different ranged attack, but it's not much of an issue.

Most of the enemies are just fodder for you to combo on, which is a series staple, and they managed to make a few harder types that were fun. I don't remember the names, but the ones with the circular saw hands, the ones that charge you, and the quick guys that teleport were a good time. Most of the bosses were entertaining, excluding the biggest one. That fight might as well have not happened.

Platforming sections are where the game shines graphically, but are almost entirely brain dead level design up until the very, very end, and it's hardly different then. You just jump through a laid out path as the world around you gets all deformed. Grapple points are frequent in between the jumps, and all you do then is hold one of the triggers and hit a button. Don't have to aim or swing, it just happens. It's a little harder than platforming in that colorful Prince of Persia game that came out a few years ago.

The game is really great looking when you're in limbo, which is where all the the crazy shit happens. Outside of limbo, it looks like a plain Unreal Engine game. Character animation is great, as expected from Ninja Theory, and the voice work was solid throughout. Story was kind of turdy, but Dante was fine. His attitude is sold more through subtle animations than through those awful lines you'll see in the trailers.

I forgot to look at the timer when I finished, but I'm gonna say it was around 8-9 hours on Normal. It was a total cakewalk in comparison to the other games. I died twice and only used a health item on the last boss because I couldn't figure out what to do.

So, it's fine. $20 tops.

Rocksmith

Rocksmith trophy achieve. I'll chart that up as game beaten. I also managed to level up Redneck to 100%. I just need to practice it a little more to have it mastered. I almost have Red Barchetta mastered too. I just need to get the solo to 100% which isn't that bad. I'm trying to learn Cliffs of Dover slowly one part at a time. That song's tempo is actually really fast. It feels awesome when you hit the parts though. I think the toughest part will be learning the intro and outro. One thing is for sure though, I definitely feel like I've gotten better after playing this game. It definitely forces you to play the songs right and really master your techniques.

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"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. "

It's good to see Ninja Theory has seemed to have proven everyone wrong with this game. I would like to get it when it's 20. I always wanted to be into the DMC games but they're way too hardcore for me. This sounds like something I'll be able to jump into much easier.

Marathon session indeed...

They're not that bad. God Hand is much harder and you were ready to jump into that one. DmC is definitely the most new player friendly game in that series, but I wouldn't be scared off of the older ones.

DMC3 special edition is especially pretty damn easy, I think the original version is supposed to be harder. Pretty sure I saw somewhere that they changed some difficulty settings around or something. You can continue forever in that one, it only sets you one room back if you do. There are some pretty tough bosses, but if you keep at it, you'll get it. It sucks because one of the harder bosses is the first real boss you fight.

I'm playing the HD collection right now.

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I own the original and got stuck in it very early on. I fucking loved the demo of it when it came out. I actually bought that demo (it came with RE Coce Veronica PS2 port) and played through it a ton of times before the game released. I didn't even pass the point you make it to in the demo in the full game. If I recall, I was saved outside of a boss fight with almost zero health and no extra lives. I basically needed to beat the boss fight without taking more than 2 hits and I just couldn't do it. I refused to start back where it sent me (don't remember off the top of my head) and just realized it was much more difficult of a game than I was willing to deal with.

I don't know, I always found the original game pretty intimidating too, but after beating 3 I went back to it and it wasn't too bad. The worst parts in those games are where you don't know where you are going. The levels can be pretty confusing, and the first time you play you are probably trying to avoid as many battles as possible.

Actually I still have the guide for the first one, so that was kind of useful in getting around and, to a much lesser extent, combat.

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3 in the special edition is easier than the original. I don't remember the specifics, but they rebalanced something in it.


They only proved people wrong in that it's not awful. It's the best case of what people that were turned off by the idea were expecting. I don't think you'd like it anyways, though. There's nothing interesting here and you're not going to like the story.

I never played DmC 2 or 3 but the camera in 1 drove me insane. Also most people I know who have played the game got stuck on the lava spider/scorpion or the black knight. Next time I go home I might grab my copy of the HD collection and give it another go.

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Yeah, that was like the first game in the genre and it shows. Doesn't it use static angles?Also, DMC2 doesn't exist. We don't speak of it.

Yeah it does use static angles and once you pass the invisible barrier it snaps into a new angle which completely fucked me a few times in the short amount of time that I played it.

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I haven't played Wave Race 64 in quite possibly 15 years, so I was shocked at how much muscle memory I still retained from this game. Was able to plow through the hardest setting on my second attempt. It's still fucking awesome. It's actually hard to believe this game was essentially a launch game. I mean they just nailed it right out of the gate and no one has come close since. I feel like Nintendo channeled their inner Sega for this one. Reminds of something they would have put out in the arcade from around the time. So so good.

Yeah, that game is amazing. I remember playing that game all night long at a friend's house. We pretty much stayed up all night playing it. The graphics were amazing at the time when it came out. Like on that lake level, we were blown again. Now if you go back to look at it, it hasn't aged so well. The game play is spot on still though.

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"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. "

Yeah the lake level was awesome. One of the few N64 games that actually used fog for an effect and not a crutch to keep a stable frame rate. You're right in that its an ugly game these days. If they did an HD version running at 60fps and put in 30-something courses, that would be hot shit. They don't even need to add or change anything to the game.