Bioshock 2

I recently finished Bioshock 2 and I'd like to review it for the world. Hopefully this will help you decide if picking up the game is worth it or not. In my case, it was worth it. I'll try not to compare Bioshock 2 to the first game, since it's not really a direct sequel. When I like to review or describe games, I have 3 categories, Graphics, Gameplay and Story. A good game has 2 of these, a great game has all 3.
Graphics
I was not disappointed at all with the graphics of Bioshock 2. They're smooth as silk and very very rarely were there jitters. The water effects are fantastic, and the fire/lightning/environmental effects, stellar. Seeing Rapture from actually under-water was a breathtaking experience. You get the magnitude of the city when you're actually walking on the sea floor, and looking up to surface-scrapers (Get it?). There were occasions though, where the graphic quality was a tad blurred, and I had to wait a few seconds for the high-res feel to come back to the textures and meshes. But those instances were few and far apart. Overall, I give Graphics a solid: 9
Gameplay
This is where Bioshock 2 really shines. The use of the Drill, weapons and plasmids. Hacking and mind-controlling. Dashing and ducking. Charging and guarding. All these things made the gameplay of Bioshock 2 a sheer dream. I had so much fun playing and finding new ways to vanquish foes or guard little sisters. The combination of weapons and plasmids was genius. Without needing to switch between using one or the other, one can hold an enemy still with one plasmid while pummeling them to death with the drill, or any number of weapons. A favorite thing I found to do, was set up cyclone traps, have telekineses ready and toss enemies all around the room. Never did I find a fight to be boring or repetitive. Each was a challenge, but not impossible. Gameplay gets a glorious 9.5.
Story
The story of Bioshock 2 is different than the first one, and has little to do with it. However, playing through the first game does give you little connections between the two, but the story is different enough to where you won't be 100% lost. I recommend playing the first one though, both for the connections and because the first game was a fantastic game as well....anyway, on to the story.
You play as subject Delta, the first Big Daddy assigned to a little sister. Without giving too much away, you are on a mission to save your little sister from "Sofia Lamb" raptures new semi-ruler, semi-psychopath. Throughout the game, you find audiotapes explaining how she came into power, who she meets, etc. Through these audio tapes you hear about the story in the first game, with the civil war and revolution and etc. etc. etc. No spoilers here! Without listening to the Audio tapes though, the story is not all that clear...Which is unfortunate, since sometimes you won't find Audio tapes and you may miss some key elements. The story is quite intriguing, but I believe it could have been better. Perhaps giving more history, or making you hear stuff about Sofia Lamb, rather than just finding them in tapes. Not all of us are exploring types, so we may not find it all. I give the Story an 8. Good, not great.

Brief Summary
Graphics: 9
Gameplay: 9.5
Story: 8


Total:

Heavy Rain Demo

I got a chance to play the Heavy Rain demo. A new psychological thriller/mystery game, from Quantic Dream, creators of the Indigo Prophecies, Heavy Rain is an interesting game built around a serial killer known as the 'Origami Killer'. The game has you play as 4 different characters, all relating, in some way, to the killer.

On to the demo. The demo allows you to play two scenes. First scene is with a Private Detective, Shelby. It first drops you in as Detective Shelby, looking for a girl named Lauren, whose son was a victim of the Origami Killer. What first seemed like tedious events, the game uses the right-stick and face buttons to perform tasks. The very first thing you do, is tilt the stick left to open a car door. Then you move with the R2 button and tilting the left stick. It takes some getting used to, but it's not that difficult. Small tasks, like searching for an inhaler, seem like wastes of time, but it REALLY gets you immersed in the character. One such event, (after finding the girl) has you in a huge asthma attack and you're patting your coat trying to find your inhaler. Because I was so immersed, I felt tense just trying to find it.

Combat in the game is all based on QTEs (quick timing events), like "hit X now" or you have 2 seconds to hit Triangle. While this seems not-that-great, it's actually quite fun, and in these earlier stages, it wasn't much of a challenge, though I did mess up once or twice. The best part, (I believe) is that you can mess up these events without facing a "Game Over" screen. The effects of messing up do play a part on cinematic, how much story you get, etc. i.e. In a fight, I first kicked ass, but took a couple punches. The cinematic that followed shows my character with a cut on his head and a slightly bleeding nose, and my character was acting all tough like he kicked ass (because he did).  Next play-through of the demo, I wanted to see what happened if I lost. I purposely got the shit kicked out of me. Failed all the events and let some time-out. My character was battered and bruised and bleeding out both nostrils and talking like he got the shit kicked out of him. And just when I thought it couldn't get cooler, he walked with a limp for the rest of the scene. Now THAT is awesome.

The next scene is more on the investigative side, with FBI agent Jayden investigating a fresh crime scene left by the killer. He uses these glasses that can trace DNA in blood samples, collect pollen from the air, check on tire tracks for make and model of cars, etc. Upon first arriving to the scene, you again, get out of a car and check it out.Small actions like pulling out your badge, pushing down to get under police tape get you into the scene faster than anything. I ended up playing through this scene twice as well. The first time, I found a few clues with the awesome glasses, like blood splatters, pollen and various details about the victim. Talked to who I needed to talk to and I only had one option left to say and that was "I'm leaving, see you back at the office." So I figured I was done. Short scene, took about 5 minutes.

Then I played it again. I payed REALLY close attention to things, and found a new area, an area that had clues like the killers tires and where he dragged the body to and from, and his footprints, all this stuff I missed the first time. Just goes to show that this game will have replay value, and a lot of it.

Lastly, they include a trailer for the game that you can only see in the Demo release....and holy crap, it's amazing. This is going to be an intense game...Really intense.

Xbox 360 Achievements and PS3 Trophies

Why?

I know this question was probably on peoples' minds back when the 360 was first announced to have 'Achievements' way long ago. But this question just recently popped up in my head today. Achievements cause me great frustration for very little payoff.

I have a few problems with Achievements and Trophies. Firstly, they only amount to bragging rights (as of now) and braggers are pricks. You could be online with someone who has 1000g/1000g points for a game, and they still suck. Because most of the time, the final achievements for games are not that difficult. You could max out a game with a fair amount of time and (sometimes) a decent amount of skill, that I believe every gamer can posses as long as they put their mind to it. So Achievements aren't really a testament to skill, but free time.

The ratio of skill to points is pretty messed up as well. Some games give out achievements (in full) for just completing the game. There aren't really enough HARD games out there as of late. A new game I just played, Bayonetta, the achievements are laughable. In 1 play through I already had 40 of 50 achievements. The next play through I got another 7, I only had to re-traces steps to get the last 3, which were just little secret areas I missed, nothing challenging at all.

If they're to be called Achievements, I want to feel like I actually achieved something. I like it when I try and try to do something, fail and fail, but I eventually get it. I have that feeling of satisfaction.

The most annoying thing though, is when I have 100% finished a game, then Downloadable content gets released. This content adds more achievements. Making my 1000/1000 score turn into a 1000/1250 score. I have OCD when it comes to my games. If I spend all that time getting the full 1000 points, I expect to keep them. Even if I DO NOT get the DLC, I still have a score of 1000/1250. Halo 3 is a prime example.

Maybe one day the gamerscore will mean something more than 'I have a lot of spare time' but as of now, it does not. By the way, copy/paste all this for trophies as well.

Excitement for February!

The Evil Pacman here!

So February is a month of awesome for gamers, with many anticipated games coming out. Biggest release this month is Bioshock 2! Complete with awesome multiplayer and the continuing storyline of the Rapture legacy. I cannot wait for such a masterpiece to be continued. If you haven't played the first one, the storyline is great and it's a must-play.

But other epic stories, new innovations, and multiplayer mayhem are also coming out this month. Dante's Inferno, where you fight through the nine layers of hell to rescue your love! How fucking romantic is that? Heavy Rain also comes out this month, and if you haven't checked that out, it's something to look forward to for suspense seekers.

Miles Edgeworth will have his own game out for the DS, which fans of the Ace Attorney series will have some more hardcore lawyer action, along with Ragnarok DS at the end of the month. Alien Vs. Predator has a promising lead in scare factor, along with some action packed fun, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has more multiplayer ground wars, although I'll personally stick to my Modern Warfare 2 addiction.

And a small RPG warm-up wouldn't hurt before the release of Final Fantasy XIII next month with Star Ocean The Last Hope International coming out for the PS3. If you weren't able to pick that game up for the Xbox 360, the International version has extras coming out that the 360 didn't, plus a Japanese voice/English subtitle option, which in my opinion, I would rather play in English, but SOTLH for the 360... was pretty bad in voice acting.

All in all, February's Bioshock 2 release will have gamers wrapped up for the month, and Dante's Inferno will be a good epic tale to embark on. Heavy Rain will be a new spin on the suspense genre, and Alien Vs. Predator will make you sleep with the lights on. Happy Gaming!

-The Evil Pacman-