In Third Person

A personal look into video games, the video game industry and video game culture.

Silent Night

Posted by Jet
Sunday, February 28, 2010
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Image from Legendary Hackers

Despite all the negative things I've said about Silent Hill: Homecoming over these last few posts, I was ready to let all that slide. I was already over half way done the game, and I thought I could put up with the game's faults for a few more hours for the sake of completing it. That will never happen now. Or ever.

In my last Silent Hill post, I said I would continue playing it until the game committed a heinous act against fun. It just did.


I played the game for about half an hour just now, and I got to the puzzle pictured above. The only picture I could find was of the completed puzzle. When you start out, the pieces are all scrambled and you have to slide them around the space to create that emblem. No big deal, right? These types of puzzles have been in thousands of video games before, and can usually be beaten if you slide the pieces around enough. Not this time. I tried it over and over again, but there was one piece in particular that would be stuck on the opposite end of the board. I normally don't have the patience for these types of puzzles in games, so the moment I get stuck, I hit a guide.

To my horror, the very first step in every guide I found said to move the double block in the top right hand corner one space to the left. I looked at my screen and realized that my screen didn't have a double block in that position. I watched video solutions on YouTube and realized that my blocks were laid out completely differently from what everybody else got.

Dude, what?

So in fact, the puzzle the game gave me really was impossible to beat. I did more research on this, and apparently I'm not alone. This IGN forum user ran into the exact same problem as me. The only solution for her? Restart the game from the last save point. In this GameSpot thread, user peetowser said he wasted 3 hours of his life trying to solve this glitched puzzle until he realized it was broken. When he reloaded it, it worked fine. For those forum users, maybe their tolerance towards the game's deficiencies are higher than mine. But for me, this game ends right here. I've been force-feeding this experience to myself since the beginning, and if the game requires me to go back 30 minutes into the game just so the puzzle pieces can reset, it can go to hell. I am not giving that game any more of my time.

Even if I pass that, there's a chance that the game's next set of puzzles might glitch out for them too, just like it did for these people. Just like with Fight Night Round 4, I refuse to support games that are broken to the point that they actually prevent you from finishing them. I don't have any immediate plans on checking out any of the other entries in the Silent Hill series, but if they're as janky as this, I'll dedicate my gaming time towards other things.

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Knoxx'd Out

Posted by Jet
Saturday, February 27, 2010
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Image from VG Chartz

With not much going on in my life right now, I spent most of today in my basement completing The Secret Armory of General Knoxx. I know, this is the third Knoxx post in as many days, but now that I've beaten the main quest and most of the side missions, I'm ready to write down some final impressions of the DLC.

As mentioned in my first two posts, this DLC starts out ludicrously hard. If you just completed playthrough 1, or have a maxed out level 50 character on playthrough 2, you will die in the beginning. A lot. I got destroyed by the very first bad guy I saw, and continued to be dominated throughout most of the experience by flying drones. I can see a lot of people giving up on this DLC at the start, but if you can tough it out, you'll be rewarded with a really good add-on.

If you're starting this DLC in between level 35 and 50, then your experience will vary wildly. My brother is level 43, and this was how I found out that General Knoxx does not scale to your character. If you play with a level 43 character in playthrough 1, you will demolish everything in your path. If you play with a level 43 character in playthrough 2, you literally wouldn't stand a chance against anything.

For me, the moment I hit the jail level was where the experience finally came into its own. The jail level was easily my favourite part of the DLC because I felt that level captures Borderlands at its best. Yes, that's half-way through the DLC, but at this point regular encounters were tough, but fair. From that point on, it played just like you would hope it would. You get to shoot lots of guys, level up your character, and there are no shortage of big-time guns (elemental ones in particular).

Image from Scrawl FX

The ending to General Knoxx was much more satisfying than the main game. Without spoiling it, the boss fight is much better (and still tough) and the payoff is much improved (and exciting).

The only major aspect of this DLC I haven't tried yet is the ultimate boss. There is a level 64 boss that is practically impossible to beat by yourself, but with a party, you may stand a chance. If you beat the boss, you will have a chance to get some of the best guns in the game. The boss will never go away, so you can take a crack at it as many times as you want.

For 800 MS points, you get a lot of content from The Secret Armory of General Knoxx. Lots of new gear, quests, missions and a raised level cap are more than enough motivation for someone who just beat the game to go back to Borderlands. Playing through the main quest and the side missions will take you approximately 8-12 hours, which is very good considering the price. Just be warned that if your character is in the low 40's, you won't find a playthrough that fits for you and if you're coming into it maxed out, you're in for a rough start.

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When Die Hard Fans Go Wrong

Posted by Jet
Friday, February 26, 2010
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Image from Kotaku

I normally pay no mind to video game related petitions. They're usually stupid demands made by and supported by equally stupid gamers. But I couldn't help but discuss this recent petition related to Sonic 4. To be fair, not everyone in the petition is in support of it, and some people are there just to make fun of them like I'm about to.

The petition statement:
Fans of the sonic series are like most sega fans, we want their old games brought back to the glory days when sega was pretty much the power in video games. Seeing the gameplay of sonic 4 has made many of us realize what we already knew, Sonic 4 will simply not be anywhere near as good as the original sonic games. Either way, We will decide to finally show sega what the fans truly want. A real sonic 4, as long as sonic 4 stays the way it is, we will not buy it, we will in fact buy sonic 1 on release in protest of sonic 4, till we end up with a re tool, or change, we want sonic in hd, not sonic RUSH HD. We will not buy a future sonic game, till we get a true successor to sonic 1/2
There are a number of ridiculous things I can point out about this flawed argument, from the fact that we've only really seen 5 seconds of actual gameplay, to the fact that no people outside of Sega have played it, or that Sonic Rush kind of is the same thing as Sonic 1 (and is kind of good), or that Sonic 4 kind of is Sega's attempt to recapture the feel of Sonic 1. But I won't point those out. What I will point out is...

WHY ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW SEGA HOW MUCH YOU DISLIKE ONE OF THEIR GAMES BY BUYING ONE OF THEIR GAMES!?

You're still giving them money, whether you buy Sonic 1 or 4. Sega wins either way and your stupid cause is more meaningless than it already is.

As bonus material, I decided to post some choice comments from the petition below. Enjoy.
Name: Andie Key on Feb 18, 2010
Comments: I had hope for the game, even after the trailer. Turns out the gameplay and game truly is crap. I won't be tricked again SEGA (looks at you unleashed)

Name: Garnet M. on Feb 19, 2010
Comments: its just a 2d sonic game gears of war is much better anyway

Name: Goog on Feb 19, 2010
Comments: If it even gets one score 8.5 I call BS SONIC 4 is TERRIBLE

Name: Sonic 92 on Feb 20, 2010
Comments: I am a fan of the Sonic games, I am very unhappy that Sega has made Sonic 4 the way that they have. I urge you sega, do not release the game as is. I will pray you do the right thing.

Name: Anonymous on Feb 21, 2010
Comments: yo dis looks like a game ud get at micky DS yo

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Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: I Take It For A Ride

Posted by Jet
Thursday, February 25, 2010
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Image from Games On Smash

A few weeks ago, I vented my thoughts on the possibility of me purchasing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. I was interested in the game, but maybe not enough for me to buy it. However, it was also an opportunity as a core Wii owner to show the world that I will buy hardcore games if companies put them out on the platform. This moral dilemma also hit me shortly before I lost my job. With all of the things stacked against it, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom seemed out of my grasp for the time being.

With my final severance check arriving in the mail a few days ago, I figured that I owe it to myself to have one last hurrah. Was it worth all the fuss that went on in my head, or did it just leave me salty?

As someone who didn't really get into Marvel vs. Capcom 2, it's a bit of a surprise to me how well I've transitioned into Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. The MvC 2 experience just felt excessive for me. There were too many characters to learn, too many characters you have to manage at once, too many gameplay systems, the game was too fast and combos required too much twitch skill for me to pull off. There are many people who play MvC 2 on a much more casual level, but playing it that way didn't feel very satisfying for me. TvC is toned down just enough for me to grasp without losing the frantic fun. Instead of 3-on-3 matches, they're 2-on-2. The game's pace is slightly slower. For me specifically, I can pick this up and still feel like I'm doing something. Right away, I got a general feel for the fighting system and was able to perform some decent combos and hyper combo set-ups.

Image from End Sights

Playing TvC made me realize that the TvC style of play is what I was really looking for in BlazBlue. BlazBlue is a pretty good fighting game in its own right, but the barrier to entry for me is far too high because of all the command inputs you have to learn. Every single character has unique button commands for every single special move, which is a lot more effort than I would like to put into a fighting game at this time. TvC sticks to the standard Capcom control conventions so that players that played the original Street Fighter II can jump right in.

I don't say this very often about Wii games, but the graphics are gorgeous. The art style does a lot to overcome the inherent weaknesses in the Wii's graphical capability. Backgrounds are well done and the cell-shaded characters look and move great. Hyper combo animations in particular are about as zany and flashy as you would hope for in a "Versus" game. On my 42" plasma, the characters look a bit jaggy up close, but if I sit about 10 feet away from my TV, it looks awesome. The only other downside is that I feel the game could look a bit sharper. While there are a lot of colours, the colours don't pop out as I think they should.

I respect the fact that Capcom put in support for all the "main" controller options Wii users have at their disposal. You can play this Wii remote only, Wii remote and nunchuck, Gamecube controller, classic controller or with a joystick. If you want to play for real, then a joystick or classic controller are your only options. I can only imagine how much of a train-wreck this would be to play with Wii remote and nunchuck or Gamecube controller, as neither of those control setups are optimized for fighting games. If you want to play it like Smash Bros., the Wii remote only option changes the controls so that it sort of plays like it. One button is dedicated to all your normal moves and the other is dedicated to special moves. For my younger cousins who want to try this out, I think it's a great way to ease them in.

Image from G4TV

Having written down a few hundred words already without mentioning the cast is a bit of a miracle. One of the biggest points people will hold against this game is the fact that half the roster is comprised of Japanese anime characters, which you probably won't know unless you're an otaku. For me, I came into it not knowing any of the Tatsunoko people, and not even a lot of the Capcom cast. If you really need that character recognition to get into the game, then maybe this isn't for you. However, I've dabbled with all of the characters at least a bit and everyone is fun to play if you play them right.

My biggest beef with the game so far is a point of contention among many fighting game fans. Some people like to play their fighting games over and over to unlock all the characters. I hate it. You have to beat this game more than a dozen times to unlock all the characters and beat it under particular circumstances. While they're not as crazy as the stipulations in Street Fighter IV, it doesn't do anything positive for me. I don't care that I'm playing this game longer, and it doesn't really lend itself to trying out new characters. I just put the difficulty down to one star, pick Ryu and whoever I need to beat the game with and thrash the computer until the final hit of the last boss, where I bring in the other character to finish the job. Having to unlock characters just makes the first few hours of playing the game a chore to me.

I am thankful that Capcom also incorporated online play into this, which was not available in the Japanese version. Does it work as well as Street Fighter IV on XBOX Live, which isn't the greatest experience to begin with? No. When it does work, it's fine. However, I've run into a number of connection problems that I think are not so much the fault of the game, but the fault of Nintendo's poor online support. When it doesn't work, I can spend 15 minutes or more just trying to find a match, only to end up getting cut off before we can even get to the character select menu. I've also experienced matches with really unfair lag. In Street Fighter IV, I've noticed that both players are equally affected in a laggy match. However, I felt like I was at the complete mercy of lag and my opponent was playing just fine when lag did hit. Button presses would take seconds before finally being registered way too late, while my opponent beat me to a pulp.

Image from G4TV

While I would much rather tie the release of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars to a more joyous occasion other than me receiving my final severance payment in the mail, the game offers a great fighting experience for anyone willing to give it a chance on the Wii. Nintendo loyalists haven't received a good 2D fighting game on the platform since Super Street Fighter II in the early 1990s, and if this bombs like how I think it will, it may be the last one you'll get for a long time. For the love of fighting games and all that is left of "hardcore" on the Wii, pick this up.

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School of Hard Knoxx

Posted by Jet
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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Image from Brave New Gamer

After my initial lukewarm impressions to The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, I wasn't sure what I would be getting into the next time I played it. I was hoping that having reached level 51 would at least get me past the initial difficulty curve and the rest of the experience would be smooth sailing.

Nope.

General Knoxx is hard like the Rihanna song. Lance soldiers and bandits always seem to be leveled higher than you, making every gun fight a war. If you're up for a challenge, then General Knoxx will not disappoint. Shooting guys and getting better guns is as fun as it always has been in Borderlands. I just hope you come prepared with the right load-out to take on some truly tough competition.

Oddly enough, one of the first enemy types is also the most annoying and difficult. There are flying drones on the highway that gave me trouble the last time I wrote about never cease to be annoying. I actually got to a point where I seemed to be stuck in a death loop, where I would get gunned down by a number of air drones every time I re-spawn and before I even have time to react. I was "thisclose" to giving up on the game right there. After looking through message boards for advice, I was finally able to get past them by using a combination of a shock trooper class mod, a shock mod for my turret and a shock sniper rifle in unison. Never in Borderlands have I ever had to resort to such desperate tactics.

Image from Gawker

The story behind everything you do is notably better this time around. In particular, Mad Moxxi brings a lot of personality and charm to what is is you're doing. The last ninja fight wasn't nearly as bad as the first two, as I was able to drop the ninjas fairly quickly, with the exception of the boss ninja. For the most part, I am starting to warm up to it.

However, I have come to realize that The Secret Armory of General Knoxx features one extremely-annoying flaw: NO FAST-TRAVEL. I've already seen six new zones, and the only fast-travel station is at T-Bone junction. For me to continue where I last left off, I will have to trek through three different zones by vehicle and by foot, which will take at least 20-30 minutes of my time, not including any battles I'll face in between. As much as I want to continue this quest, I really don't want to have to travel across that world again.

I'll have more impressions as I play through it. If you're going to buy any supplemental Borderlands content, this is the way to go. Just know what you're getting into.

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General Knoxx is Off To a Rough Start

Posted by Jet
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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Image from Destructoid

The Secret Armory of General Knoxx just hit XBOX Live and PSN and I was quick to purchase this Borderlands add-on. Unlike the other pieces of Borderlands DLC, this one brought with it a number of additions, including new zones, new guns, new vehicles, new bad guys, a bunch of new quests and most importantly, a raised level cap. With 11 more levels for my soldier to grow, I was eager to shoot more dudes and collect more guns. I've only played just over an hour of it so far, but I thought I'd share my initial impressions.

When you load up the first new zone, T-Bone Junction, a video plays that sets up the story. General Knoxx takes place after the events of the first game, and the Atlas corporation is looking to take you out. However, you still have Scooter and Marcus helping you out, as well as a mysterious ninja, who promises you access to General Knoxx's armory if you help her, which is basically the equivalent of the Vault. Story was one of the biggest weak-points in the main game, and I sort of get the impression that they're trying a bit harder to convey the story better.

Image from IGN

From here, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx started off on the wrong foot. The very first encounter you face are a pack of ninjas, which from what I gather are a big deal in this DLC. Right now, I'm not liking the ninja encounters. Part of that dislike comes from the level scaling; I'm not sure if this content scales to your character or not, but I started with a maxed-out level 50 character and the level 51 ninjas immediately wrecked me. That extra level made them way harder to kill and way easier for me to die. I died at least 4 times trying to beat the first ninja boss, which cost me almost $2 million in lost cash.

The other problem I've had with the ninja encounters is that I don't think the game engine was built for players to fight enemies that move the way the ninjas do. The ninjas are extremely quick and can move laterally almost instantly. It's really hard to do any sort of meaningful damage when they're constantly running laps around you. I was getting physically dizzy trying to keep up.

Image from IGN

The raised levels of enemies made the first few quests up until you reach Mad Moxxi really hard. Had the enemies started at the same level as me, the fights would have been much more reasonable without being too easy. But because they're all leveled higher than you possibly could have been coming into this DLC, I found myself getting owned repeatedly. During the first highway encounter, I died a number of times because I thought I could handle fighting two airborne drones in my new Monster vehicle. Nope. Then I got into a mess of a situation where I was killed just outside of a checkpoint by a lance vehicle that shot a giant shock blast. When I re-spawned, the same vehicle shot and killed me before I could even move. This happened twice in a row. Thanks for cheating me out of another $800,000. Before I had finished the fourth quest in this DLC add-on, I had lost over half of my money due to dying, which took me two playthroughs of Borderlands to save up in the first place.

I finished off my session with another ninja battle. I leveled up to 51 half way through the fight, and noticed that I was doing a bit more damage and the ninjas were having a much harder time taking me out. Unfortunately, the fight did not end fair and square. You fight the second boss ninja on top of a bridge a few hundred feet above the ground, but my boss managed to jump off the bridge herself. She lived, but the game did not know how to handle the fact that the boss was hundreds of feet below me. The ninja just zipped back and forth and I picked it off like a fish in a barrel.

I get the feeling that I'm only scratching the surface of The Secret Armory of General Knoxx so far, so I will withhold final judgment till I'm finished it. If you're looking for a new Borderlands fix, this seems to be the DLC to get so far because it raises the level cap and adds a ton of new content. Due to the unfair enemy scaling to start, the initial awkwardness of the ninja fights and at this point typical Borderlands jankyness, I'm not as high on it as I would like to be. But I'm hoping it picks up after a rough start just like the main game did.

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Living The Dream?

Posted by Jet
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Image from Geekologie

Over these past few weeks of unemployment, I have played a lot of video games. I do spend time every weekday applying for jobs, and I've even gone to a few job interviews, but I think it would be unreasonable to expect me to spend every moment awake job-hunting.

So with nowhere to go and not much to do when I'm not job-hunting, I play video games. On one hand, I have almost all the time in the world to get around to playing everything that I have that I haven't put the time into. For all the complaining I did before about not having the time to play video games, well...this is sort of what I asked for. It's fun to just hibernate in my basement and play games every now and then, but I really couldn't do this forever.

I know there are other people who literally just play video games all day. I can't live that life. There are other things I want to do. In particular, I still have career ambitions that are going nowhere and a bank account that isn't being fed anymore. The stress of not having that security does tinge all of my recent gaming sessions with a bit of guilt.

But even if I won the lottery today and finances weren't an issue, playing video games to the extreme level that some people play them kind of freaks me out. There are just other things I would like to do with my time other than play games.

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