Best known for their work on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, From Software created Ninja Blade before that; a Ninja Gaiden inspired chopsocky game exclusive to the Xbox 360. If you don’t remember it, that’s cool, cause it came and went within the blink of an eye. For years, I patiently waited until it hit the bottom of the bargain bin before picking it up. After finding it brand new for $5, I decided to take the bait.
To say that Disney Infinity is simply a knock-off of Skylanders is rather disingenuous. The toys may work in a similar fashion at a base level, though the actual gameplay experience is quite different. There’s also a level of nuance with the figurines and discs that goes beyond the groundwork laid by Activision. But are these differences enough to justify going with one over the other?
Grand Theft Auto may have created the open world genre, though it’s clearly not the only game in town anymore. Since the release of GTA IV, the genre has been taken to new heights by the likes of Assassin’s Creed, Batman’s Arkham games, Saint’s Row, Infamous and many more. Despite my ambivalence towards Red Dead Redemption, I respect the fact that it progressed the open world formula in a number of meaningful ways.
With so many new components to draw from, what influence would they have on Grand Theft Auto V? Based on the final product, not much. The latest installment in the series feels like Rockstar ignored the work of others and continued down their own path to make things bigger and better. Can’t necessarily blame them for it, as this is another fine effort from the pioneers of the open world genre.
Continue reading
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron has been a game I’ve been meaning to play for quite some time. It first caught my eye with its arresting visual flair, though the mixed reviews kept me at bay until I could grab it on the cheap. A few months back, it hit rock bottom on Xbox Live, as it was on sale for a paltry $3. Having played a little bit of it now, I’m not sure if the game was worth the wait.
The free-to-play business model is something that fighting games are beginning to dabble in. Tekken Revolution was the first out of the gate, which provided a smaller Tekken experience that limited the number of times you could access each mode. Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Core Fighters takes a different approach by primarily gating characters instead. Does this approach provide a less scummy experience?
The sensation of power that came with using Parker’s hammer for the first time was awesome. I don’t know what space age technology or magic is packed into it, but it breaks stuff really well. With it, you can topple any building in the game, which is probably a lot more fun than it should be. During the few hours I’ve put into the game, the most fun I had with it was though aimlessly traversing through Mars, while destroying every building I came across.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is still one of the best and hottest fighting games around. If you’re a beginner-level player and are looking to improve your skills, my Kickstart Guide on Splitkick might be the boost you need!
Check out the Kickstart Guide to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Of the big titles this generation that I had on my to-do list, Red Dead Redemption has stuck out like a sore thumb. Having won over 160 game of the year awards (according to the cover art of my game of the year edition), it’s one of those must-play titles that I just never made time for. Why? Well, partly because of my general aversion to long games, and partly because of my general aversion to anything western-themed. If it weren’t so critically acclaimed, I probably wouldn’t have made any time for it at all. Better late than never, right?
Up until recently, I’ve been fairly dismissive of Disney Infinity. Not to say that I didn’t care, as I enjoy both Disney and Skylanders. However, I didn’t put in any time to look into what this was. I simply assumed it would be a more expensive version of Activision’s toy juggernaut. Upon further investigation, this actually looks really cool and unique.
In Third Person 