Red Dead Redemption

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 04-23-2010

Posted in Editorials

Red Dead Redemption is an upcoming release I’m really looking forward to. The game is being developed by Rockstar, the makers of Grand Theft Auto, and features a Western look and feel to the sandbox experience I’ve come to love with Grand Theft Auto. There is a real need for a solid Western title and Red Dead Redemption is looking poised to fill that need.

I have general expectations on what a single-player experience will bring and that’s rather consistent across every game. What has really caught my attention are the multiplayer aspects of this title. In addition to the typical Deathmatch modes, we’ll get a mode called Free Roam which allows you to jump into the game and effectively do what you want. You can roam the area, terrorize unsuspecting people passing by, bring those terrorizing to justice, form a posse of up to 8 players, or just roam the countryside admiring the view.

This is definitely a day one purchase for me. I am an absolute Grand Theft Auto junkie, simply because I can enjoy the game for hours without progressing the story at all. And Red Dead Redemption seems to be an extension of that set in the Wild West. I can’t wait.

What I Want From Gears of War 3

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 04-23-2010

Posted in Editorials

By now I’m sure you’ve seen the announcement and trailer for Gears of War 3. It promises to be one epic conclusion to the Gears of War story. For me, Gears of War has become very much like Halo, dull and boring. I really enjoyed the first title but found the second to be little more than a few new levels with the same gameplay experience. I still enjoyed the experience of Gears of War 2, as I’ve always been a fan of their cover system, even if it’s been dated.

I’m hoping for so much more when it comes to Gears of War 3. I want a great story to complete the experience. This is quite simply the most important aspect of the title. Without that, what’s the point? We’ve had a great graphical experience in both of the previous titles. We’ve seen gameplay advances, in the first at least. What we need is a great story, something that captures you from the start and is meaningful throughout. Take a page from BioWare, please. At the end of the day, and let’s just be honest, Gears of War 3 will get great reviews simply because of it’s name. Like it or not, that’s how it works. Hype can, and often does, carry a weak game. If Gears of War 3 doesn’t provide an amazing story, it will most certainly be a flop in my eyes.

GameFly or Blockbuster?

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 04-21-2010

Posted in Editorials

GameFly or Blockbuster; who provides the best game rental service? With the growing number of passable video game titles, it’s becoming more and more expensive to stay up on our favorite pastime. Both GameFly and Blockbuster offer video game rental services that attempt to fill this need, but which is the better service?

I grew up with Blockbuster. I couldn’t begin to estimate how many times I’ve visited the store whether it be for movies or video games. Throughout that time, in the neighborhood of 15 years, I grew a real love/hate relationship with the company. I’ve always enjoyed video games and movies and really appreciated the opportunity to so easily have access to them. What always pissed me off were the late fees and the sometimes lack of selection or availability.

As you can imagine, when I discovered Netflix I was immediately hooked and to this day maintain a subscription to the service. Netflix beats the pants off of Blockbuster’s movie rental service in every way. You’d think I would have immediately fallen in love with GameFly when I first heard of it. Well, I actually did, until I subscribed to the service. At this time, over a year ago, GameFly was still somewhat in it’s infancy as a company. Netflix has spoiled me with amazing selection, availability, and wait times of a single business day. If the movie is shipped today, I will absolutely get it tomorrow. GameFly, on the other hand, had a great selection but very low availability, unless you knew how to work the queue system, and a shipping time of days. If a few release came out on a Tuesday, I’d be lucky to get it by Friday, lucky. I unsubscribed pretty quickly.

Only 2 months ago I decided to check back in on GameFly as they had opened more distribution centers and I figured had better availability by now. Knowing how to get new games, I was able to get the new releases shipped the day they came out and in some cases the Monday before. The shipping times had gotten better, but it’s still no Netflix. The average was 2 business days for me. I did have some issues, such as one release coming in the mail but missing the actual game itself. That was annoying, after having waited 4 days for it to come in the first place. As I began to pick up World of Warcraft again, I unsubscribed to GameFly.

Well, now I’m looking into the various offerings and wondering which makes the most sense. With my experiences with GameFly, I feel like I pretty much understand what I’m getting with that service. It’s $23/month for 2 titles out, decent shipping times, some potential for longer waits if it has to come from a distant distribution center, and a good selection of titles. On the other hand, you have Blockbuster. I stopped by my local Blockbuster to get information about the GamePass program, since so little is available on their website. It’s $15 for the first month, then $22/mo after that, includes 1 title out, is exclusive to the store you start it at, and it’s entirely in-person. I went through the racks in the store and their availability of new releases was actually pretty good.

So, which makes more sense? With GameFly, you’ll get 2 titles for the price of 1 at Blockbuster. But, you’ll have instant access at Blockbuster instead of waiting days, and even a week in some cases, with GameFly. With GameFly, you’ll support an up and coming business that simply focuses on gamers, and effectively help put those final nails in Blockbuster’s proverbial coffin for all of those years of late fees. I haven’t made up my mind yet and I’d really like to get some feedback. Do you use one of these services? If so, what do you think, as an active customer, about the service?

Blur Multiplayer Beta

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 04-20-2010

Posted in Previews

I spent some time with the Blur multiplayer beta last night and figured I’d share a few thoughts. Blur is a combat racing title set in an urban environment. It feels very much like a cross between Burnout Paradise and Mario Kart. The goal is simple, finish first by any means necessary.

On your way to the front of the pack you’ll need to use your power-ups to disrupt your opponents. There are a variety of power-ups, from typical offensive weapons to defensive abilities to protect your position. In my limited play time I have not discovered the ins and outs of every power-up but the diversity felt good with a nice balance of offensive and defensive abilities.

The first thing I want to understand in any racing title is how the cars feel, how they handle, and what the physics are like. The driving in Blur feels very much like Burnout Paradise to me. There is a lack of precision in Blur, compared to what you’ll find in a game like Forza 3. I think that’s very much expected and frankly it works a lot better this way. I can’t imagine trying to keep track of the simulation in Forza 3 in addition to everything else going on in Blur. Overall, I really enjoyed how the cars felt in Blur. The handling was good and didn’t require so much attention that it takes away from the rest of the gameplay experience.

When I think of the title Blur, I think of fast-paced action. A crucial aspect to achieving that goal is how the game delivers a sense of speed. It’s no Burnout Paradise in this regard, which I felt was a little too far over the top anyway, but it really fits well in the Blur universe. Blur gives a great sense of speed which only provides a heightened level of action. The cars feel and sound fast. The end result ties in perfectly to delivering fast-paced action.

After playing the multiplayer beta of Blur, I went from slightly interested to eager anticipation of this title. Expect a full review shortly after the launch on May 25th.

Splinter Cell: Conviction

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 04-17-2010

Posted in Editorials

I’ve been working my way through Splinter Cell: Conviction this week. The first few nights I would play a mission and then move over to some Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Last night, however, I couldn’t put it down. I put in a good 5 hours last night and loved every minute of it.

I had a moment of just “WOW!” during one sequence early on in my session. There’s a scene where you’re infiltrating a building. You come in through the top of the building and I found myself standing at a doorway. I peeked under the door and found a half dozen guards in a well lit environment. With stealth in mind, this is seemingly a tough instance to get through. I looked to my right and noticed a window. So I jumped out the window and strafed across the ledge to the other room. I marked two of the enemies, equipped my remote mines, opened a window towards the back of the room, and prepared to take down the house. I tossed a mine against the wall where I had opened the window and performed an execute on the two marked targets. As soon as that happened, the rest of the guards were alerted to my position. I strafed down the ledge a bit to get out of my known position. Once the guards came to the window, I detonated the mine. As the remaining guards closed in on my position, I performed hand to hand take downs on them, as they fell from the window. With the room clear, I jumped into the room from the window ledge, and moved forward.

Now that was an awesome sequence to the game and one that really got me hooked. Once you learn to think about alternative routes that aren’t glaringly obvious, the game really opens up for you. Since then, I’ve had a number of similar experiences. So many instances of just amazing fun.

Battlefield is an Experience

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 04-16-2010

Posted in Editorials

I played more of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 last night and really enjoyed myself. Let’s face it, Battlefield competes directly with Modern Warfare 2. Modern Warfare 2 is a great game and the single player was amazingly fun. But Battlefield’s multiplayer experience destroys Modern Warfare 2. I’ve always referred to the multiplayer in Modern Warfare 2 as perfect for those with ADHD. It’s basically like this: spawn, shoot, die. Rinse and repeat for about 15 minutes and that’s about it. It all happens so fast it just becomes dizzying after awhile.

Battlefield feels far more realistic. Sure, you still die, and as a newbie myself, I’m dying a lot. But what happens between deaths feels so much more involved and important. I sent Kevin, co-founder of Console Racing Review, an email this morning about my experience last night:

I had a pretty awesome match in BF and literally had a “whoa” moment. I was defending a flag position, took out a few foot soldiers, had a dude on an ATV roll up on me and we had a little firefight. Neither of us died and we ended up finding cover. I was in the corner of a building and everything started to shake. I peeked out around the wall, half of which had been blown away in an earlier battle, and saw a tank rolling towards the flag. I quickly strolled backwards into the corner, kind of scared and thinking about my next move. The tank saw me and blasted the building. The building shook, dust was falling all around me, and all of a sudden the wall behind me was gone. My jaw dropped and I busted ass to the next room for cover. Before I could reach the doorway I was killed by the gunner.

That’s what makes Battlefield an experience and not just a run and gun shooter.

A Few New Games

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 04-14-2010

Posted in Editorials

I’m back to some console games after a 2 month love affair with World of Warcraft. The one big problem with WoW, for me at least, is that it’s an all or nothing thing. When I have my WoW phases I pretty much only have enough gaming time and interest to play it, and nothing more. As it often happens, I get bored or burnt out of it after a few months and go back to console games.

Yesterday I visited my local Gamestop with a bunch of older games I have no interest in playing again. I walked out with Splinter Cell: Conviction, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and a pre-order for Red Dead Redemption. I wasn’t able to spent a lot of time in these just yet, but I’m really digging Splinter Cell so far. There are a bunch of seriously innovative aspects to the game and the stealth mechanic is just awesome. Only 2 missions in, but enjoying it so far. With Battlefield, I had even less time, only a single multiplayer match, but I think I’m going to dig it.

I’m still due for a Mass Effect 2 review and I will get back to finishing that game up. I had put in a good ~27 hours before WoW sucked me back in, and I absolutely plan to finish it. I also picked up Forza 3 the other night for some quick and fun racing action.

Stay tuned, I’ll have reviews coming soon!

Dirt 2 Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 02-04-2010

Posted in Reviews

Colin McRae: Dirt was an unexpected thrill ride for me. From the beautiful menu system to the exceptional feel of rally racing on the edge, I couldn’t get enough of Dirt. I had not experienced a rally game prior to Dirt and I really just soaked everything up about that game. When I heard a sequel was on the way, I was very excited, and I was extremely surprised by the result.

Dirt 2 has been one of my most cherished experiences for as long as I’ve been playing video games. I absolutely love this game. It’s not perfect but as a fan of racing, in any style or capacity, you’ll be hard pressed to find another title that exceeds the racing experience you get in Dirt 2.

Career Mode employs a progression experience through the single player campaign that takes you to various locations across the globe to compete. As you complete events, you gain experience points that unlock more events and locations as you level up. There are a variety of event modes to compete in along the way, from traditional rally racing to buggies and trophy trucks to lap-based races around short circuits. Unfortunately, there’s not as much traditional rally racing as I would have liked. I certainly appreciate the variety, and a game of only rally racing events would not have had the replay value Dirt 2 does, but giving it a more prominent focus would have been more interesting to me.

Throughout the campaign you’ll travel from location to location in your RV, which is where the navigation takes place. In one corner you’ll find the events you can participate in, in another you’ll find access to multiplayer. Step outside of your RV and you’ll see the sights of the country you happen to be in at the moment. Codemasters provided another innovative menu system with Dirt 2 and this one really gives you a sense of traveling the world while racing for the win.

As you progress through the ranks, you’ll be constantly rewarded with bonus money and liveries. Dirt 2 does a good job of rewarding you early and often. I didn’t feel the rewards were all that interesting. Sure, the bonus money was great as it afforded me the opportunity to buy new cars and outfit them with the required upgrades to compete in higher level events. The rest felt like novelty items that were there just to be there, not really to effect the racing or give you purpose to work to collect them.

The visual appeal of this title is nearly perfect. The environments are as detailed as anything you’ve seen. It’s hard to appreciate the detail put into the game as you fly by it, but if you take a moment to look at the stadiums and towns you race through you’ll see the stunning detail put into each one. The lighting and shadows in the game really add a nice touch of realism, as does the motion of the puddles of water along the trails.

Dirt 2 provides a progression system for the multiplayer experience as well. What you do in each the single player and multiplayer modes are exclusive. That feeling of starting over in terms of experience points really put me off. I’ve put in some significant time in single player where I’m currently a level 46. I’ve raced a few times in multiplayer, but only enough to be in the single digits for my level. While the multiplayer mode offers a great experience, practically seamless from the single player experience, I’ll probably reserve putting any real time into it unless a friend or CRR reader wants to jump into a game.

Dirt 2 is a great racing experience, regardless of the style of racing you’re primarily interested in. I was never much of a rally fan until Dirt, and Dirt 2 only further strengthened that stance. The Career Mode will provide many hours of fast paced, wheel to wheel, racing excitement and is easily worth the purchase. Couple that with a deep and finely tuned multiplayer experience and you’ve got a racing title sure to provide countless hours of fun.

Rating: 9.2

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game purchased by Skeptical Gamer.

Mass Effect 2 “Epicness” Confirmed

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 02-01-2010

Posted in Editorials

Electronic Arts issued a press release on Friday that starts with, “40 perfect scores. 2 million units. One pop culture phenomenon. BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that Mass Effect™ 2 has sold-in over two million units worldwide in its first week of release.”

Believe the hype, Mass Effect 2 is a stunning experience more typically associated with a major motion picture than a video game. I’ve been playing Mass Effect 2 quite a bit over the last week and have put in 15 hours so far. As everyone should, I’m definitely taking my time with this title. I’m visiting every system, scanning every planet, talking to every NPC, and exploring every open-world environment available.

I’m not ready to review the title just yet, but it’s safe to say it’s the best game I’ve played in a very long time. I’m actually looking forward to a second play-through with a different background, class, and a purposeful selection of dialogue choices. Stay tuned as my review will be available in the coming weeks.

Forza 3 Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 01-27-2010

Posted in Reviews

Forza 3 was one of my most anticipated games of 2009. I’ve always been a fan of simulation racing experiences, such as the previous titles and the Gran Turismo series. I was looking forward to a refresh of the Forza series and this game didn’t disappoint.

Forza 3 is what you expect it to be. It comes with over 400 cars, all recreated in stunning detail. It is packed with over 100 track variations of all styles. It offers an exceptional career mode of progression and a multiplayer experience matched by few others.

Stepping into career mode will offer you dozens of hours of gameplay. Each season is measured by the length of a weekend series that is associated with the current season. Between each weekend race, which is often every other weekend, you choose shorter series to compete in. As you progress through these races you earn experience points as a driver and in each specific car, which entitles you to discounted upgrades in the upgrade shop. Along with the experience points, you earn credits which allow you to purchase and upgrade your cars for competition.

I’ve enjoyed my experience through the career mode to this point. There is a lot of variety in the cars you acquire and race with. At each driver level, you are given a car by a manufacturer. Unlike past titles to incorporate a similar feature, you’re not being given something from the mid ‘70s. For example, as you progress through the mid to upper 20s, you’ll receive a Ferrari or two and a very nice Lamborghini. I was pleasantly surprised that you’re often given cars that you can immediately jump into and use in your next race. Again, unlike other titles that have had a similar mechanic.

A complaint I have with the career mode is that sometimes it feels tedious. The weekend series are where the action is, without question. Sometimes the races in-between those events feels like an unnecessary filler. I’m not sure what you do to combat this and Forza 3 is certainly not the first racing title to have this problem, but it’s worth mentioning.

At face value, Forza 3 is what you would expect from a triple-A racing title on a modern console. Where the game truly shines is in the details. Turn 10 Studios has done an exceptional job in creating a true driving experience. Too often, racing titles lack variety in the way the various cars feel while driving them to their limits. You’ll really feel the difference between driving the Audi R8 and Corvette Z06. Forza 3 brings that experience to life.

Another major advancement Forza 3 brings to the table is the accessibility of playing with the standard controller. While I have used the Microsoft Wheel, I more often opt for the controller. I was really impressed by the default settings for how the controller input translates to how your car acts on the track. I’ve played a lot of racers and sometimes the default settings for the standard controller just simply don’t work (I’m looking at you Need for Speed: SHIFT). It feels like Turn 10 Studios put some serious effort into making the standard controller a viable input device for enjoying the game.

Accessibility seems to have been a focal point with Forza 3. There are a number of features available that will give even the most novice of racers an enjoyable experience. You have the standard assists, such as braking, traction control, and so forth. The racing line, colored specifically to whether you should be accelerating, maintaining speed, or braking, makes an appearance. All of these options can be disabled if you’d like.

The biggest assist that aides in accessibility would be the rewind feature. The feature itself has been in other games, with a similar implementation in DiRT 2. However, in Forza 3 the feature is prominently available throughout your driving experience, not just when you’ve completely destroyed your car. Hit a car in front of you? Rewind. Took a ride in the grass coming out of a turn? Rewind. I think you get the picture. While I agree the feature is useful, as I’ve used it a number of times myself, I think there should be some form of penalty or limitation with using it. I do think it can help a driver learn the track and become effective in that case. However, I can easily see it becoming a crutch for many novice drivers out there. I’d like to see the feature disappear as your progression moves forward.

The multiplayer experience in Forza 3 is solid. It’s not game changing, which is something I want to see in a racing title, but it does provide extended enjoyment once you’ve mastered the single player experience. A gripe I have with Forza 3’s multiplayer, among many other titles, is that the game caters to those who want to run time trials in order to find themselves on a leaderboard. I want to reward racing times, wins, and other metrics that involve more than one car on the track. That’s an absolute need in my opinion, and Forza 3 doesn’t deliver in that regard.

Overall, I’m really enjoying this game. I’ve already put in dozens of hours and will likely put in hundreds over time. I’m roughly half way through the single player career, with only a few hundred XP until driver level 30. With some minor quirks I hope get addressed in a future title, Forza 3 is easily the best racing experience available today. If you enjoy simulation racing, you’ve already got this game. Even if you’re not a huge fan of simulation racing, you owe it to yourself to give it a spin.

Rating: 9.5

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game purchased by Skeptical Gamer.

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