Archive for April, 2009
DEMOlition: Red Faction: Guerrilla (XBL)
Apr 30th
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our first DEMOlition article here on Silicon Sasquatch! Our hope is to analyze recent game demos and offer a preview of the content presented in a given title. While we’d never pass a final judgment on a game based only on its demo, the fact is game companies hand the general public a piece of their work to recruit consumers still on the fence about a pending, or newly available, release. Because demos might be the only opportunity for many gamers to get a hands-on experience with the game, what’s in the demo matters quite a lot. Thus, we’ll be offering our professional comments, criticisms and questions of just what gamers might expect a complete game to offer based on its demo content. We hope you enjoy the format and find these to be genuinely useful. Feel free to send us your comments and criticisms via the comment system.
Let's call this a "Coversplosion"
Red Faction: Guerrilla (RFG) is a third-person action title set on Mars and the third entry in THQ and Volition, Inc.’s Red Faction series. It’s been nearly seven years since Red Faction II, the last game in the series, and since then Volition has been hard at work perfecting its new game engine in an attempt to revolutionize environmental destruction in videogames.
Players enter the 10 minute-long demo as protagonist Alec Mason in a rather spacious but sectioned-off demo map — straying too far will invoke the wrath of a game over screen.
Even so, the assorted set pieces, ranging from granite buildings to explosive metal tanks, fit the Mars aesthetic well. This certainly is a large demo to explore, and subsequent play-throughs nearly always result in discovering something new to blow up. To think this is just one tiny slice of the full game is quite encouraging. Read the rest of this entry »
Daily Recap: April 28, 2009
Apr 28th
Alas, C-3PO; BioWare just doesn’t understand.
Today’s update focuses on BioWare’s controversial stance on homosexuality and the brouhaha that resulted on the Star Wars: The Old Republic forums. While the matter has more or less been resolved, the question still remains: How should gender issues be handled in a community-driven online game/gaming setting?
Co-op Review: Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)
Apr 28th
Editor’s Note: We’re trying out a new approach to major game reviews here at Silicon Sasquatch: The Co-op Review. Because Resident Evil 5 was designed to be played cooperatively (and because Nick and Aaron played through the game several times over Xbox Live) it serves as a great opportunity to give this collaborative review style a test-drive. Let us know what you think in the comments section!
It’s gotta be tough to work at Capcom these days. After all, it’s a nigh-insurmountable task to create the latest and greatest blockbuster action game in a market flooded with big names like Halo, Gears of War, Resistance and Call of Duty. But when you’re the developers responsible for the one game that arguably gave rise to the latest generation of action gaming — Resident Evil 4 — you’ve got to feel that burden more than anyone else.
But the day of judgment is finally here: Resident Evil 5 (RE5) has hit store shelves all over the world. But skepticism is not unexpected, as every fan must be asking the same question of him/herself: “What are you buyin’?”
Well, here’s the good news: Resident Evil 5 has a robust selection of things on sale, stranger! Aside from a couple of quirks and the inexcusable omission of a certain creepy trenchcoat-wearing arms dealer, this is the sequel almost every Resident Evil fan has been hoping for.
Review: Fable II: Knothole Island DLC (XBL)
Apr 28th
Color me disappointed.
Knothole Island, the first DLC released for last year’s acclaimed Fable II, isn’t exactly what I was expecting. It’s especially disconcerting considering the impact that Fable II’s introductory form left on me.
Let me put it like this: If the core content of the original release was a satisfying four-star dinner, then Knothole Island is an insufficient sno cone dessert — bright and colorful, but not much more than dressed-up frozen water sold at a premium.
Still, the expansion has something to offer to the obsessive-compulsive Fable fans who’ve been wanting an out for their previous mistakes, as well as a few new duds along the way.
Daily Recap: April 27, 2009
Apr 27th
We’re coming up on the big summer blockbuster season for games, and E3 2009′s looming on the horizon with all the shameless glitz of its heyday, so it’s comforting to have a manageable news trickle. Today’s news deals with a wrestler, some world warriors, a few dozen superheroes and one creative game developer who’s embarking on a personal journey.
Rough-and-tumble actor Mickey Rourke, most recently nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his stellar performance in The Wrestler, is set to star in Rogue Warrior, based roughly on the real-life experiences of Navy SEAL Richard “Demo Dick” Marcinko. Developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Bethesda, the game places the player in Marcinko’s shoes as he investigates a North Korean ballistic missile program and unearths a conspiracy of some sort. Rebellion’s track record is relatively spotty, having been tasked with a number of high-profile game ports and adaptations to platforms like the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, but the potential for a game based on such a hard-hitting true story and portrayed by a talent like Rourke’s is high.
The Backlog, Vol. 3 – Love and Basketball edition
Apr 24th
No, not that movie.
It feels a lot like that. (Photo by Bruce Ely/The Oregonian)
I’m slowly coming back into the fold as a Portland Trail Blazers fan after hearing some really exciting things. The thought of a mostly young team making such a strong effort this season has got me eager to see what the future holds.
Unfortunately, the Houston Rockets don’t seem to share my enthusiasm, as they’re currently making the Blazers’ lives a living hell. But hey, at least I can seek respite in my recently repaired Xbox 360!
Daily Recap: April 24, 2009
Apr 24th
Oh TGIF, you used to be so great.
Welcome to Friday, dear readers. The weekend is upon us, but that hasn’t stopped a veritible flood of gaming news from materializing today.
What happened? Well: GameFly’s mad at the postal service (not the band, mind you), Final Fantasy XIII is kinda/sorta like Chrono Cross, Hideo Kojima is so like the best person ever, Champions Online has a release date and Midway just might live to develop another day. Full stories after the break, with a delicious Ghostbusters-related treat at the end of the post.
Review: Left 4 Dead DLC (PC)
Apr 24th
Left 4 Dead (L4D) is still the paramount zombie apocalypse videogame — there are no contenders, no second place awards. It’s a frenetic, hair-trigger suicide mission into an infected wasteland that doses players with relentless fun.
Even five months after its release, the original Campaign mode continues to be both exciting and trying, while Versus still turns up the intensity by forcing players to alternate between the roles of survivor and infected.
But despite the release version’s polish, there was always some tiny element missing, something teased but never fully delivered: unadulterated intensity free from the stairstep pacing of the campaign. The strongest moments of L4D lay in its massive NPC crescendos, where a horde of the undead claw, vomit, smash, strangle and pounce to ensure every survivor is indeed, left for dead.
Valve finally realized it could hack all of that terror and confusion into one sanguine slab of gameplay, resulting in the recently added DLC pack.
Daily Recap: April 23, 2009
Apr 23rd
Mr. Bubbles would be proud
Considering today’s wealth of BioShock 2 information pouring out from every single videogame-related webpage on the internet, The Silicon Sasquatch is officially renaming April 23 “BioShock Press Day.”
I think we can all expect that future sequels of the franchise will continue to be unveiled on April 23, from now until the end of time — or until BioShock: Big Daddy’s Beach Volleyball Blast 3 comes out and we give up gaming forever.
More news after the break.
Overview: Nintendo DSi
Apr 23rd
Progress is as progress does, and three years after the launch of the Nintendo DS Lite the gaming world welcomes its newest addition: the Nintendo DSi – an even thinner, sexier and more advanced handheld console than the last iteration.
Welcome to dual screen gaming, 3.0.
Not even a month into its release and the DSi has already smashed the DS Lite’s initial sales figures twice-over. Obviously there are enough curious consumers out there eager to experience a DS for the first time, or diehards simply willing to upgrade their old systems for the next big thing. But for the uninformed, what’s the DSi really all about? Read on for a breakdown of Nintendo’s latest portable powerhouse.