With Bioshock Infinite just a few weeks away, we reminisce on our experiences with the franchise and our dreams for the future. Mat and Jason are generally unimpressed with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate. Also, Jett explains why he thinks The Unfinished Swan is better than Journey.
Jett – In Third Person
Jason – Downstab
Mat – Biff Bam Pop
War doesn’t always have to be presented in the style of Call of Duty. It doesn’t have to be about first person shooting. Or summer-blockbuster action. Or earning perks by playing endless amounts of team death match. It’s easy to hate on the military theme in video games because of ‘Call of Duty syndrome’, but there’s still room for military games to innovate. Valkyria Chronicles, released early in the PlayStation 3’s life-cycle, is easily the most unique military game of this generation.
Since its release, Fire Emblem: Awakening has been tough to track down in stores. Though I’ve heard reports of the game being under-shipped, there’s also the fact that it’s really good. I enjoyed it so much that I beat it twice before finalizing my review for Splitkick. If you can find it, the game is definitely worth tracking down!
I responded to the news of a Bioshock sequel with disgust. The original was such a magical experience for me and one that concluded in a way that made a sequel unnecessary. However, I can’t blame 2K for not wanting to leave money on the table in order to maintain artistic integrity. With that said, I think I would have handled the thought of a sequel if it came from the right place. On paper, Bioshock 2 totally didn’t. Some of its selling points included:
“Return to Rapture!”
“Play as a Big Daddy!”
“Now with multiplayer!”
“…oh yeah, it’s also not made by the original creators, who ended up making the true successor to Bioshock.”
Due to its existence being blatantly rooted in focus groups and business executive boardrooms, I avoided this like the plague. However, with Bioshock Infinite on the way, and a Bioshock-themed episode of The Recurring Bosscast scheduled for the very near future, I figured that playing at least a bit of Bioshock 2 would be worth it for the sake of the show.
PC coverage is not my forte, but the catastrophe of Sim City‘s launch is nothing short of epic. At the very least, it’s worth following up on this as it was the Bosscast Topic of the Week on the last episode of The Recurring Bosscast. Since launch, the game has royally upset many consumers who can’t play the game at all due to a extreme lack of servers that the game needs to support players. It’s gotten to the point where Amazon.com has currently stopped selling digital versions of the game, EA has stopped advertising the game, and they’re trying to make good with their consumers by offering them a free title later on.
For many years, Fan Expo has been the definitive Canadian nerd experience. Recently, Hobby Star Marketing announced that the event would now also encompass sports. As a life-long fan of sports, I’m pumped to get to celebrate both at the same time. However, the reaction among the Fan Expo faithful doesn’t appear to be as enthusiastic.
During our deep dive into Sim City, we conclude that Godzilla solves everything. We’re also the last to comment on the PlayStation 4 reveal. Beyond that, stick around for the healthy discussions around Crysis 3, Capcom Arcade Cabinet, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and the mysterious object Mat bit into in his Tim Horton’s sandwich.
Jett –In Third Person
Jason – Downstab
Mat – Biff Bam Pop
By night, I am a video games writer for In Third Person, and Splitkick. By day, I work as a project manager in the advertising industry. I’ve always wondered when my work life would manifest itself into a video game, and it turns out that time is now. Campaign: The Game by Insolita Studios is arguably the first advertising agency simulator. While I wasn’t expecting this to be a true-to-life representation of my everyday life, I was curious to see how successful it would be as a video game.
Steff is the biggest Harry Potter fan I know. She’s read all the books. She owns all of the movies. She’s brought me to platform 9 3/4 in England. She can even claim that the actor that plays Draco Malfoy was totally checking her out when they met for a photo-op a few years back at Fan Expo. I’m still a bit bitter about that last part, but I digress.
When we saw Wonderbook: Book of Spells at Sony’s E3 2012 press conference, she made it clear to me that this was something she needed to play someday. Having been a good girl this year, she received it from Santa for Christmas. Though I didn’t play much of it myself, I did watch her play a bunch of it. Was it as magical of an experience as its source material would imply?
The Earth is screwed. Or at least that’s how things seem when you boot up Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon. Our planet has been attack by a giant race of ant-like aliens, and it’s up to you and the Earth Defense Force to stomp them out.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: this is not a triple-A title. Nor does it have any ambitions of being such. It’s budget price and low-quality production values clearly indicate that notion. With that said, B-movie experiences can be enjoyable in their own way (I’m looking at you, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand). Does Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon provide a fun experience at a budget price?
In Third Person 