Hot off the heels of Army of Two: The 40th Day, I thought I’d take a minute to write a bit about the original Army of Two. I received this game as a Christmas present this year and have put in some time with it, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on it while it’s relevant again.
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The Party is Over
Last week, Gamasutra posted an article about how at least two major retailers have begun refusing to stock Wii mini-game collections. According to Gamasutra’s Paul Hyman, he says, “Stores like Target and Best Buy have reportedly told game publishers not to even bother approaching them with collections of mini games, which they will no longer pick up.” Not to be spiteful, as I recognize that I’m not a fan of the genre and that the target audience for most mini-game collections isn’t me, but good riddance.
Super Street Fighter IV and Online Play
For the longest time, I used to wonder why pro Street Fighter IV players would bash online play so much. It seemed like every single one of them would complain about how the game doesn’t play the same online as it does locally. As an amateur player who had spent the majority of Street Fighter IV time online, I thought it worked fine. Sure, there were instances where the game would clearly slow to a crawl, but I thought that I could play this game online the same way I would locally.
However, I’ve gotten a lot better in the last few months, and I’m really starting to see what many of the pro players were complaining about. As I’m learning new techniques, combos and tactics, I’m finding more and more that they don’t consistently work online, even with a great connection.
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I Scene It Like A Zenith
I still vividly remember the moment I learned that Scene It was coming to the Xbox 360. I was watching the E3 live stream when it was revealed and I burst out laughing when I saw the ridiculous big button controller being pitched as a revolutionary step towards gaming for the masses. In my head I thought two things:
Modern Warfare 2 Review: All is Fair in Love and (Modern) War(fare)
During the early days of the World War II shooter (early 2000s), controlling a character from first person and shooting dudes was not really something I wanted to do. After games like Perfect Dark and Goldeneye sucked away hundreds of hours of my life, there wasn’t really anything out there like it that I wanted to play. None of the FPS games of that generation appealed to me and I couldn’t get a handle on playing these styles of games using dual analog sticks. Yes, that means I even missed Halo 1 and 2 in their prime. In the case of Call of Duty, I couldn’t handle a dual stick FPS and I didn’t want anything to do with WWII. Both of those elements combined for a series I had 0 interest in ever playing.
Some Thoughts on Left 4 Dead 2
Last year, the original L4D rocked my socks hard as the ultimate zombie game. Gathering up three of your friends and attempting to survive the zombie apocalypse made it one of the best multiplayer experiences ever conceived. However, many also felt the game was a bit light on content.
Just one year later (and to the surprise and dismay of some) Left 4 Dead 2 arrives in stores with five new campaigns, four new survivors and a bevy of upgrades. For the most part, I feel like Valve has this down to a science.
Some Thoughts Before The Beatles: Rock Band Drops
As a music game enthusiast, there may not be a bigger day than 09-09-09, when The Beatles: Rock Band hits store shelves. A game based around the biggest musical act in the history of music made by the guys who make my preferred rock music game of choice is guaranteed to be “full of win”. There isn’t really much to be said other than it’s Rock Band but with Beatles music.
Time For An Intervention
For the past few weeks, you’ve probably read a lot of my Street Fighter IV posts. Ever since I got an XBOX Live gold account in May, Street Fighter IV has become a huge part of my life. Besides dropping over 100 hours into the game and playing over 1600 online matches, I’ve spent a ton of time listening to Gooteck’s Street Fighter Podcast, reading the Street Fighter thread over at NeoGaf, watched any tournament videos I could on YouTube, and almost dropped $200 on a Mad Catz TE Fight Stick.
Some Thoughts On I Got Next (Short Version)
“I Got Next” is a documentary about the fighting game scene. Filmed during the Sinsation tournament earlier this year, its goal as a movie is to cover the scene and the people behind competitive fighting games. I watched the short version of the film at www.igotnextmovie.com. A longer version of the movie is due out this winter, with footage from Evo 2009.
Two Guitar Heroes For The Price Of One?
In a deal that sounds too crazy to be true, Activision is for a limited time, offering those who purchase Guitar Hero 5 can get Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free before it hits stores.
If I were a Guitar Hero fan, I’d be all over this.
Key word: “if”.
In Third Person 