Metroid Prime 3: Corruption -- Initial Impression.

From the rapture of BioShock we move on to the game that's supposed to represent that Nintendo hasn't forgotten the core gamer, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Wii. The game is the final entry in the Retro Studios' Metroid Prime trilogy. Supposedly Nintendo and Retro Studios have heard the complaints of too much backtracking and overly hard gameplay that were leveled at the previous title in the trilogy Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. I'll be looking to see just how much they've dealt with those issues. The game is also being sold as having the best first person shooter controls ever. That's a rather bold claim. From my initial play time I have to say that they posses a clear learning curve and it's too early to comment on the controls being the best I've ever used in a first person shooter. A couple things did stand out in the time I've spent with the game. First off, there is voice in a Nintendo game. It's actually quite strange. You're so used to Nintendo games avoiding the use of voice that it's just bizarre hearing this much of it. Secondly, the love it or loathe it scanning of the first two games is front and center once again in Corruption. If you want the full story, you'll have to scan every last little thing from doors to bosses and everything in between. It's made worse by the token system, but more on that later...

BioShock -- The Story and Final Opinion.

I have fully completed BioShock with all achievements unlocked. The previous entry covered the great dynamic gameplay. This one covers the story. BioShock is the story of Rapture, Adam and Eve, Big Daddies and Little Sisters. The story is predominantly told through taped messages from the inhabitants of the city. The more thorough the player is, the more he's rewarded with the full story. These recordings are a brilliant device in the hands of the makers of the game. Every last one of them manages to be very revealing as well as exceptionally entertaining. Thanks to the game's great writing and voice acting. There isn't a single throwaway one in the bunch. The game is also rather smart being steeped in allusions to literature. Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism takes center stage in the tale. With major characters inspired by those appearing in Atlus Shrugged and The Fountainhead. And to a lesser extent the game is inspired by both Percy Shelley's Prometheus Unbound and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus. The game's story is one of the most well told in the whole of gaming, but it's not entirely perfect. From the good ending side of the issue, things work well. The motivations of the player character make sense. From the bad ending side, they don't make as much sense. It's a small distraction in an otherwise great story. I've already covered how the gameplay is pretty much perfect in the previous entry. And I touched on how the city of Rapture comes off as a character itself. How it inspires in the player the desire to explore every last nook and out of the way place. Just because how brilliant the level design is in both the layout and the art direction. The game captures a true sense of time. Rapture is a city frozen in time. BioShock manages to capture this feeling just about better than any other game I can think of. It does this with period art design, but also period music, and even a way of speaking. If you've ever seen a movie from the 1930s or 1940s the people have a different way of speaking, a different vocal delivery, and you'll know what I'm talking about. This is captured perfectly in BioShock. The music is probably the biggest contributing factor. It's an utterly brilliant choice. Every last track. But special mention should be given to Billie Holiday's God Bless the Child. It scarily almost seems written for BioShock, it's that fitting. The original score is  also no slouch. It works wonderfully with the game and in the transitions between the score and the soundtrack. BioShock is the clear front-runner for Game of the Year 2007. I'm thoroughly impressed with the game and I'm going to go all the way and give it a 10. BioShock is the kind of experience that renews one's faith in video games. It's that good.

BioShock -- Four Points To Creating Dynamic Gameplay.

I have completed the first playthrough of BioShock having saved every Little Sister and received what has to be considered the good ending. So how did BioShock fair in kicking off the season? Quite smashingly I'd have to say. It has an exceptionally dynamic feeling. This dynamic feeling is at the very core of BioShock's gameplay. That's due to the developer's use of four aspects in their design. Those four aspects are weapons, plasmids, enemy AI, and level design. The weapons in the game are very much representative of all the standards. You have the wrench for melee, a pistol, machine-gun, grenade launcher, crossbow, and flame-thrower. What's different and dynamic here is the varied types of ammo each weapon can hold. Each weapon beyond the wrench can hold three ammo types. Plasmids allow for special powers beyond your weaponry very much in the vein of magic in a role playing game. The Plasmids are Incinerate, Electro Bolt, Winter Blast, Enrage, Target Dummy, Insect Swarm, Hypnotize Big Daddy, Security Bullseye, Cyclone Trap, and Telekinesis. They go beyond their role playing game magic counterparts because of how the enemy AI reacts to their uses. Incinerate would just be a fireball with damage over time aspects in another genre but within BioShock the chaos that ensues when it's used on or near multiple enemies somehow makes for a far more dynamic feel. And it's because of the enemy AI. How they react to even what type of weapon you're using against them and how they react to being hit by each ammo or plasmid type. Running around on fire looking for water to put themselves out. Not finding any and running over an oil spill igniting it which sets another enemy on fire. Realizing they're not going to live and making a last ditch effort to take you with them by charging and trying to latch on to you. While the other enemy on fire stumbles off into the range of a security camera causing it to relase the security drones. This is fostered by the level design. There are pools of water and oil spills and security cameras and other environmental factors all over the place that go into always making sure there are numerous ways to deal with any given situation. You have to take into account the surroundings, the enemy type, the weapons and ammo, and plasmids. And you have to be able to adjust on the fly to all the chaos that results. Not to mention other enemies  and Big Daddies entering the fray at any given time.  It all adds up to provide one of the most dynamic gameplay experiences I've ever had. The gameplay is pure fun and greatness. Which is saying a lot coming from a genre renowned for flipping switches and strafe and shoot through to the end. But the gameplay isn't the only charm to be found in BioShock, the story really shines despite a misstep here or there, but that's for next time...

BioShock -- Recovering From the Glitch.

I was enjoying BioShock until I hit a glitch. A glitch that breaks the achievement aspect to the game. You see, I had managed to kill and save or harvest four Big Daddy and Little Sister combinations on the second level of the game. The problem is the game lists only three Big Daddy and Little Sister combinations for that level. Something in the glitch allows for repeat combinations. The game counts any repeat kills and saves or harvests and allows you to play on. But when it comes time for the end of the level check in which the game will see if you've left any combinations still roaming around and warn you that it's not a good idea as the game will get considerably harder and you're going to need to be prepared for it by getting the ADAM from the combination. I failed this end of level check even though I had four combinations recorded. What does that mean if the game still works and allows you to play on? It means the achievement for dealing with all the Big Daddy and Little Sisters combinations will not register. Luckily the game keeps the main save and the autosave separated and I was able to go back to the autosave at the start of the level in question. I then was able to play through the level again this time making sure to deal with the combinations at different locations within the level as to insure no repeats. The first time through I had managed to kill three of them in one location within the level. If you fail the end of level check and get the warning message about the combinations still roaming the level I would strongly advise starting the level over and rectifying the situation unless you don't care about missing the achievement. It's better to be aware and only lose a couple hours than it would be to go through the full game only to find yourself as Peach would say 'You sir, are fucked!'.

BioShock -- Initial Impression.

The game that kicks off the fall season arrives near the end of summer. That title is BioShock for the Xbox 360 and the PC. But let's be honest, nobody cares about the PC version. BioShock is a first person shooter come survival horror game that's advertised as more than that. Sort of a thinking man's first person shooter. The game is reported to allow for freedom in character development and promises numerous ways around and through any combat situation. The story is also being promoted as a major aspect to the game in a genre where story is mostly irrelevant. The story is supposed to present the player with a few moral dilemmas. In my brief playtime with BioShock I've been able to see that the game looks absolutely beautiful and that the sound design is amazing. The game controls perfectly at this point. The setting of Rapture is a great design. It draws the player in and provides great desire to explore.  The story starts off teasingly strong as you want to find out what's going on within Rapture and this is even before the morality has come into play. The game isn't perfect already though. The hacking minigame leaves a lot to be desired, but more on that later. As it stands now BioShock looks to be an early Game of the Year contender and a rather ripping start to the season. But of course all of that could change. But will it? Only one way to find out...

Another Summer, More Procrastination.

I guess I better get cracking... That's how I ended the last entry. As you might have been able to discern from this entry's title I haven't exactly made much progress. I haven't started anything from the backlog. None of the many RPGs waiting to be played. All this time in the summer doldrums and nothing to say for it except I went through Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda III: A Link to the Past on the Virtual Console. Productive? No. Fun? Yes. I went through the arcade version of Golden Axe on Xbox Live Arcade. I'm even making matters worse for myself. I added Shining in the Darkness to my Wii Channels and Super Metroid hits on Monday. I'll buy that one also. SEGA announced today that the classic Landstalker will be hitting the VC soon. I'll have to get that one. Same thing with Hudson and their Neutopia which is supposed to hit the VC in August.

I've been playing Phantasy Star Universe of course. Going on over nine-hundred hours on that one. We're currently hunting the rare creature known as the Jaggo Acte so Magus and Neo can get the ax drop and I can get the fireworks room decoration. Collectively we've fought fifteen of the little buggers and have one ax to show for it. VGL PSU players 1, Jaggo Acte 14...

Nintendo has taken a few steps towards 2005 with their Wii based Metroid Prime 3: Corruption promotion. I appreciate Nintendo getting online, but boy is it ever slow and painful. With the Wii System Update 3.0U you now have a digital clock in the middle of the main Wii channel menu and the Wii reset Internet browser glitch has been fixed. As well as the post update Internet setting reset glitch for Wii LAN Adapter users. It's good to see them actually fixing things. But the big thing about this update is you can now go into the Wii Ware section of the Wii Shop Channel and download a Metroid Prime 3 preview channel. Yes, it shows up as a channel in the Wii Channel Menu. It's a not so cleverly disguised front end hiding a browser that connects to a website where you're able to stream crappy low resolution videos showing off different aspects of Metroid Prime 3. It's better than nothing, isn't it? It does show how cool Metroid Prime 3 seems to be. But it does make me wonder just how serious Nintendo is regarding online still. Is this the best we'll get? Is the Wii's internal memory just too small to do anything more than this? Will the gap between the Wii and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 be as massive as I suspect it will be in three years? Will the masses Nintendo is aiming for and apparently hitting even care?