PAX Impressions Round Up

So here’s a bunch of games I played at PAX accompanied by some brief observations. I’ll try and make this quick. GO!

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii): This one probably deserves its own post, but since it came out today anyway, I don’t have anything to say you can’t read in any full review. Long story short, it’s a 2D side scrolling action game from the good folks that brought you Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire. One thing that sets it apart from most Wii games is that it’s beautiful. All the characters are well-animated, hand drawn sprites, and the backgrounds look like 3D paintings. I want it.

Gran Turismo (PSP): OMG! Portable Gran Turismo! If you have the tiny hobbit hands required to effectively enjoy PSP games, you are so in luck. Personally, I look at the PSP as more of a delivery system for crippling arthritis than an actual gaming device, so I think I’m going to have to pass on this one. Honestly though, this is truly a portable Gran Turismo and that’s definitely impressive.

Little Big Planet (PSP): I love LBP on PS3 and this seems to be a very solid translation of that. From what I’ve heard, there’s no simultaneous multiplayer in the portable version which is a damn shame since that’s probably my favorite part of the game. I’m not sure what the portable version will offer to keep it from being redundant to owners of the PS3 game, but it definitely looks like a solid product so far. And since the game doesn’t demand lengthy play sessions, I can almost imagine wrapping my mitts around that vile device long enough to play it.

Katamari Forever (PS3): This is such a weird series. The original game was so wildly original in its presentation and concept, but every successive entry fails to innovate in the slightest. This new one is definitely fun, but aside from a few new graphical overlays such as cel-shading that give the game a new look, there doesn’t appear to be much of anything new here. The demo level could have been from any of the previous Katamari games, and a lot of the objects you pick up are repeats too. More like Katamari Whatever! Am I right, people!? High Five.

Lego Rock Band (all consoles): I just watched this one, because waiting in line to play it seemed pointless. It’s family-safe Rock Band for parents who don’t want their kids to play regular Rock Band because they might hear some devil worshipping rock singer cuss a swear (which they edit out of RB tracks anyway) I guess I don’t really get what this is even for, but it isn’t really for me, is it? It has Lego people dancing around in the background, and the little note jewels are now little Lego bricks. Wheeee.

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS): The new DS Zelda game is basically like the last DS Zelda game, except instead of riding around on a boat, Link now rides around in a train. The previous DS Zelda, Phantom Hourglass, is probably my least favoritest (is so a word) Zelda game and still one of the only Zeldas I haven’t finished. The dungeon portion of the demo featured some new puzzle elements where you control a second character (one of the big knights from Hourglass) and those segments seemed OK, if kind of unremarkable. The train portion of the demo, however, was completely dull. The train controls just like the boat did in Hourglass, except it’s obviously on rails. There was a boss battle in a cave which was also boring. Ho. Hum.

Mass Effect 2 (360): Didn’t get to play it because the lines were so long, but mere words cannot express how much I want this game. That is all.

Brutal Legend (PS3/360): Another game with long lines that forced me to just be a spectator. What I saw though was mostly reassuring. While I occasionally enjoy Jack Black’s work in Tenacious D, I mostly just find him kind of annoying. What I’ve seen from Brutal Legend so far has been really promising though, and definitely more in the realm of JB’s character from Tenacious D. Also, the game is designed by Tim Schafer who has been responsible for some of my favorite games ever, and Brutal Legend is just dripping with his trademark style. The combat looks pretty stock, but there are apparently several different types of game going on here, including Pikmin style strategy. Long story short: Tim Fuckin’ Schafer. Want.

Tim Schafer is the coolest guy you know.

And that’s it for now! There are a few more but I grow tired of this. Check back soon for my PAX impressions wrap-up where I’ll discuss New Super Mario Bros Wii, the new Ace Attorney game, and probably a few more I forgot to mention in this post. Maybe tomorrow? Or the next day? Whenever.

PAX impressions: God of War 3

I’ve been accused on multiple occasions of “hating fun” because I don’t usually enjoy big summer blockbuster movies like “Transformers” and “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li.” The reason I don’t typically like these movies doesn’t have anything to do with me being smarter than you (although I probably am), it’s because I prefer to get my cinematic action fix from video games instead. Why just watch a giant robot punch a dinosaur, when you can commit android on thunder lizard-hate-crimes yourself? This is why I will never (ever) see the G.I. Joe movie, but I’ll still be able to get excited over big-budget, crowd-pleasing, murder-fests like the God of War games.

If you’ve somehow avoided playing any of the previous God of War games, they’re essentially rage simulators. The basic concept is that you play as a very angry dude named Kratos who explores mythical Greece and its associated underworlds and what have you. The locales are filled to the brim with monsters and ghouls who are all extraordinarily murderable. In terms of pure adrenaline fueled, sugar-high style action games, they don’t really get much better, and God of War 3 seems to carry on the tradition nicely.

The demo on display at PAX was primarily a demonstration of how technology can still impress even in this jaded age. The previous God of War games already looked better than the majority of PS2 games, and GoW3 is a great showpiece for the PS3 hardware as well. In fact, Sony’s booth in general seemed to support the PS3 as a profoundly powerful machine. The big demo’s they were showing at PAX included GoW3, Heavy Rain, and Uncharted 2, and they were all some of the most beautiful looking games I’ve ever seen. At least Sony’s first-party developers have figured out the hardware anyway.

To call GoW beautiful is a bit misleading, since its beauty is of the violent and bloody variety. During my brief demo (about 15 minutes) I had the pleasure of gutting a giant Antelope/Lion/Snake beast, manually removing a Cyclops’s eye, and decapitating some guy and using his severed head as a mystical flashlight. The violence is absurd and way over the top, but it fits the God of War vibe pretty well. If you’re playing these games for subtlety, you’re doing it wrong. Speaking of the creatures, I was really impressed by the monster designs. The whole game has kind of a late 80’s metal album cover aesthetic to it. The Antelope/Lion/Snake beast is a perfect example of how a stupid idea can be visually translated into something ridiculously kickass. In this case, the monster’s neck roared at me. So I tore off one of its own horns and plunged it into one of its faces. So cool.

Generally speaking though, God of War 3 hasn’t advanced the actual gameplay much at all. The game has a very familiar feel to it, though I felt like things just moved and controlled a little bit more smoothly. The old games were already pretty slick in this regard so it’s probably for the best they didn’t change much. The real innovation in these games comes from level designs, and the big set piece boss battles. The demo on display seemed to definitely follow the God of War tradition of never letting you be bored, which if carried through the rest of the game, will be more than enough.

Overall, I was really impressed with this demo. I’ve never really considered myself a huge God of War fan (in fact I’ve barely touched GoW2) but this demo has excited me enough that I kind of want to pick up the PS3 God of War collection that comes out in November, despite it’s dopey cover art which features no fewer than FOUR (4) uses of the God of War logo. In other news, I’m a consumer whore.

(wait...what game was this again?)

video courtesy of Gamevideos.com