Fable III -- Initial Impression.

I have been sitting on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II came out the same day, but I've decided to go with Fable III as my next game. Fable III was developed by Lionhead Studios and has been published by Microsoft Game Studios. Fable III takes place fifty years after the events of Fable II and has you playing as the offspring of the hero character of Fable II. It's no secret at this point that you're out to become the king and you achieve this roughly halfway through the game. After that the focus shifts to you attempting to keep the promises you made on the road to becoming king. This shift in focus was put in the game presumably to keep things fresh. From what I've played so far the starting half of the game still pretty much comes off just like Fable II albeit with some rather extensive streamlining to the menus and the like. If you want to check the map, equip or compare weapon stats, change outfits, check the quest list or the like, you'll need to go to the sanctuary. Which just happens to be accessed by pressing start, you know, like a menu. The difference being the sanctuary is an actual location, it means you wander around to different rooms to access everything else you would have done in a menu previously. Fable II's menus were a pain in the ass to navigate and scrolling through the hundreds of items you were carrying around took too long. Fable III's sanctuary for the most part makes things much easier to deal with. It's still not the most intuitive menu system but it's definitely an improvement. Fable II seemed like a game that was about to crash. It just felt unstable. Fable III feels even more like it's going to crash at any moment. I've experienced buggy quests and enemy AI that just seems to shut off. Fable II turned out to be one of the best games of its year, largely in part to its wonderful sense of humor. That sense of humor is clearly in place for Fable III. I just hope the engine works well enough for me to see it through...

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley -- All-in-One.

Well, two out of three isn't bad. I have completed Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley for the Xbox 360. Comic Jumper was developed by Twisted Pixel Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Comic Jumper is Twisted Pixel's third game following The Maw and 'Splosion Man. Comic Jumper is an action game in the vein of Contra and Gunstar Heroes. A mix of mild platforming, basic melee attacks, eight-way right stick aiming for the shooting in the main action. With there being some third-person reticule controlled shooting while maintaining control over the character sections as well as what amounts to basic scrolling shooter segments. It's a total hodgepodge of styles. And that right there is the problem. It tries to do way too much without really doing any of them well. The game's graphics are great. The comics you jump into provide a wealth of different art styles. The music and sound effects are strong and follow the same sort of comic nature found in Twisted Pixel's previous games. Comic Jumper's biggest strength lies in Twisted Pixel's comic voice. It's a funny game. But I actually found the humor to start to grate on me as I became more disappointed with the combat. I just didn't enjoy the combat in this game. It wasn't at all fun for me. The production values for the game are really high. You can tell a lot of care and effort went into the production of the game. It just didn't click for me. I'll definately be interested in what comes next for Twisted Pixel, I just hoped they're jumping to a new genre. I'm giving Comic Jumper a 7.

Costume Quest -- All-in-One.

I have completed the Xbox 360 version of Costume Quest. The game was developed by Double Fine Productions and published by THQ. Costume Quest is one part adventure, one part role-playing game. It's an adventure in that there is a decent amount of focus on exploring and tool based advancement. The role-playing comes in with the combat. Which features basic turn based RPG mechanics. You can use a normal attack, or a special attack that is charged up by two rounds of normal attacks. There is a single augmentation slot that makes use of stamps you'll find throughout the world that allow you to add more attack power, health points, higher chance to dodge attacks, and the like. That's it. It's very basic stuff. The game's graphics are absolutely adorable and feature great style. The music has that wonderful hokey quality of cheap horror films of the 1950's. Costume Quest is very much focused on the nostalgia of Halloween. It's a charmingly funny tale that acts as a love letter to Halloween. A great deal of the appeal of the game plays off of how fondly you remember Halloween. I love Halloween so the game tickles all of the best bits of nostalgia associated with it. If you're one of those soulless people who doesn't really care for Halloween then Costume Quest is probably not going to have any charm as the actual gameplay elements while entirely solid are very basic. The charm of the characters and story carry the game. I'm giving Costume Quest an 8.5.

Dead Rising 2 -- Final Opinion.

I've completed Dead Rising 2 with the full one-thousand points. It took numerous playthroughs to accomplish. The game doesn't have an in-game timer but if I had to estimate it would be around seventy plus hours. The game's basic mechanic revolves around replaying the game but even then it's rather surprising it takes that much time or maybe I'm just not remembering the effort put forth for the original Dead Rising correctly. Either way you're not going to put in such a major amount of effort on a title that's lackluster. Dead Rising 2 is a great game. Not a perfect game by any means, but a great game. A game that's more refined than the original while offering up everything that made the original what it was. Dead Rising's story as pure cheesy goodness and Dead Rising 2's story retains that cheesiness. Chuck Greene's adventure through Fortune City is every bit as entertaining as Frank West's adventure through the mall in the original. As far as gameplay mechanics are concerned, the controls feel improved over the original. They're tighter and a lot more responsive. The survivor AI is so improved as to make the difference night and day. Graphically the game is also improved. More zombies on screen at once and the world is filled with more detail. There seems to be far more to look at and notice in Dead Rising 2. Musically the game doesn't really feature any sort of standout tracks. Everything is just there. What's there is appropriate for what's on screen. Dead Rising 2 does have a few flaws. Mostly dealing with the psychopaths, the game's bosses. They are all conceptually sound, and a few of them are rather inspired in design. The problem comes in some awful hit detection and some cheap use of invulnerability frames. In the hit detection, you're literally swinging right through them. Do a jump kick and you literally go through the enemy? And when you do hit them, they get an extreme number of frames where they can't be hit again. Another area that's flawed concerns the case files and the timing. A timer appears on screen under each case or scoop. You only have so long to find them and deal with them. That sound fair. It is fair. I took my time and got a few things done while a case was active. I went to deal with the active case and had plenty of time. I deal with it and it moves on to the next case, but it then reveals that the timer was for the whole run of cases in that chapter. Not just 6-1 for example. But 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, and 6-4. I had no way of completing the following cases because it decided to switch things up on me. This is happens rather late in the game and I found it to be truly cheap and annoying. The game also features some rather long loading times while transitioning between areas. Those issues aside, Dead Rising 2 is great fun on the whole. I enjoyed the rather long time I spent with the game. I'm giving Dead Rising 2 a 9. I'm looking forward to Dead Rising: Case West. I'm sitting on Castlevania, and The Force Unleashed 2 and Fable 3 are out Tuesday. What to do...

Dead Rising 2 -- Initial Impression.

This initial impression is a tad later than usual as Magus and I went on the first night to round up all the online versus achievements. That would be weeks ago now. I also started playing the game in earnest a couple days ago. Dead Rising 2 is Capcom's follow-up to the first original IP hit for this generation of consoles. Dead Rising 2 was developed by the former Blue Castle Games and published by Capcom. I say former because they've been acquired by Capcom and have been rebranded Capcom Vancouver. Not bad for a company that had only developed a couple of baseball titles. What am I expecting from Dead Rising 2? More of the same really. The same restart the story with earned experience and moves learned game concept. I'm expecting the same multiple playthroughs for story, achievements, and messing around. I'm expecting to have to deal with the same tight deadlines for the case files. The same when to do what aspect of the gameplay to get it all done. I'm expecting to kill a stadium's worth of zombies and more. I'm expecting the same B-level cheese, in the best possible way. From the time I've spent with the game thus far I can say all of that is intact. The game looks great. Fortune City is full of eye candy wherever you happen to be looking. The survivor AI has been vastly improved. You're no longer having to fight the survivors every step of the way to get them to do anything. They're able to fend for themselves and do what they're told. It seems that most of the technical issues of the original have been solved. The game looks to be an improvement on the really solid original from a technical perspective. We'll save the heart and soul comparisons for the final opinion...

Sonic 4: Episode One -- All-in-One.

Sonic 4: Episode One marks the return to the Genesis style of Sonic the Hedgehog games. It's been sixteen long years since Sonic & Knuckles hit the Genesis in 1994. The game was developed by Dimps Corporation and published by SEGA. I should say up front that the Sonic fan-base is one of the most vocal and embarrassingly idiotic fan-bases in gaming. They don't even know what they want anymore and whatever SEGA was to do they couldn't win for even trying. Sonic 4 isn't exactly like the Sonic games on the Genesis. What sane person would actually expect it to be? Dimps has included the lock-on homing attack from Sonic Adventure and beyond. It works well enough but it does change the gameplay quite a bit. Chaning enemies together to reach alternate paths and the like. Sonic 4: Episode One might as well have been called Sonic Remix. The game consists of four zones each with three acts and a seperated boss battle. Splash Hill Zone is a remake of the original game's Green Hill Zone while Lost Labyrinth is a remake of the Labyrinth Zone. And Casino Street Zone is a remake of Sonic 2's Casino Night Zone and Mad Gear Zone is a remake of Metropolis Zone. Each zone contains the same motif, enemies, and bosses from the originals. The final zone is called the E.G.G. Station Zone and is a boss rush topped off by Sonic 2's final boss battle with a twist. The boss battles have been reworked to include some surprises. They play out the same as the originals until you've taken half their life then they reveal their new tricks and change things up on you. The game's special stages harken back to the original game's special stages. Only with a slight twist. This time you're turning the maze to guide Sonic to the Chaos Emeralds. I have to say I found these special stages to be the best and most fun in the entire series. Graphically the game looks great. The game is true HD with widescreen and 720p. The graphics are detailed and super crisp and clean. I've been reading a lot of dissatisfaction with the music. I however actually liked the music a lot. I found it fitting and entirely Sonic sounding. The physics in the game take some getting used to. Once you adjust you'll find an entirely playable and fun game. If you're going to get so caught up in how this title isn't exactly how you remember Sonic on the Genesis then you should probably just skip the game entirely. If you're able to think rationally and enjoy a game for what it is instead of bitching about what it isn't, you might find Sonic 4 well worth it. I really enjoyed the game. I do have to say how refreshing it was to only have Sonic and Robotnik. And they don't even speak. Not a single word uttered in the entire game. Hopefully Joe Average Gamer doesn't hear the din of the bitching Sonic fan-base and the title sells well enough to see the future episodes as I'd be in for more. I'm giving Sonic 4: Episode One an 8.5.

DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue -- All-in-One.

I have completed DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue for the Xbox 360 with the full two-hundred points. Pretty much just like the first game it took roughly twelve hours to complete. DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue is really just more of the same. The same great visuals and audio. The same great spherical world gimmick. The same fun gameplay with a slight shift based on more enemies having ranged attacks. And best of all the same great humor that somehow manages to remain funny from start to finish. It pretty much boils down to if you liked the first game, you'll like the second game. If you weren't impressed with the first game, nothing about the second game will change your mind at all. I enjoy the gameplay and humor enough that I'd love to see another DeathSpank title. I'm giving DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue a 9.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 -- Final Opinion.

The credits have rolled on Phantasy Star Portable 2 for the PSP but that's only the beginning. I have a lot more game left to experience. Mostly in multiplayer. Phantasy Star Portable 2 is rather technically impressive. Especially after coming off the X360 version of Phantasy Star Universe. The graphics on the PSP are amazing for a handheld online hack and slash dungeon crawler. The new music is on par with that of Phantasy Star Universe so it's rather good, but not Phantasy Star Online great. The game controls absolutely fine as well. Again nothing is lost coming off of the X360 Phantasy Star Universe. The story picks up years after the events of Phantasy Star Universe and goes off in its own direction with a handful of cameos here and there. The story is heavily anime inspired and plays mostly for laughs and is a step up from that of Phantasy Star Universe. There are three aspects of the game that really make Phantasy Star Portable shine. First of all, the online works wonderfully. It's fully functional and works with ease. Which is great considering the online is really the heart of the title. The second aspect is how they've streamlined and trimmed the fat from Phantasy Star Universe and have added concepts from Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Zero resulting in an all around better game. Third, all of the content is there on the disc and accessible from the start. Nothing is being doled out in the illusion of a massively multiplayer game. We're able to play at our own pace and we're constantly progressing. We're not sitting at imposed level caps. We're not just spinning our wheels. It feels like we're constantly making progress, because we are. Phantasy Star Portable 2 is a great return to form and is probably the game Phantasy Star Universe should have been. I'm giving Phantasy Star Portable 2 a 9.

Halo Reach -- Final Opinion.

I've been busy since my last update but I have been making progress even if it doesn't seem that way. I've all but completed Halo Reach. I have a few nights left of playing online multiplayer to grind out the credits to be able to earn the final achievement for the full one-thousand. Halo Reach is Bungie's last official Halo title and I'm sure they feel they've sent the series over to its new caretakers with a bang. And for the most part I'd agree with them. Certain aspects of the title are truly flawed however. But first lets deal with the good stuff. The Halo series has never looked better. The graphics are great looking. The frame rate is solid. And there is more going on in any given scene than ever before. The story of Halo Reach is actually really well done. But there is a problem inherent in most prequels. You know what's going to happen. And if you've played the series and have paid attention you'll have enough of an idea to have any emotional impact severely lessened. I really liked the story while Magus, the guy I co-oped the campaign with, kept cracking jokes and mocked crying. But who really plays Halo for the story? That's right, the bulk of the series is still represented by the online aspects. There again for the most part everything is improved as far as the actual gameplay. The addition of the equipment load outs adds some surprising strategy to the intense action of multiplayer. Having to deal with a guy with a jet pack, shield, or cloaking device, and any combination of really changes things up. The actual gameplay pretty much remains as fun as it ever was. So where are the flaws? You might have noticed I didn't comment on the music before. I'd have to say this is Marty O'Donnell's weakest effort. While the epic cinematic score is as good as ever the addition of some funky rock tracks throughout the action leaves me cold. The other real flaw comes from the online matchmaking. If you want the achievements you'll be forced to earn credits toward one. And it's bad that it's a truly large grind. But it's made infinitely worse by the fact that Bungie won't allow you to play the game you want to play. The game you actually bought the title for. To really earn credits you have to play public matchmaking games. Private games dole out obscenely minimal credits as to make them not an option. We're talking seventy versus eight-hundred towards a goal of four-hundred and fifty thousand. Now playing with the public isn't always bad. But it's compounded by Bungie forcing you to use their matchmaking system which has you playing through a bunch of variants on a general game type. I just want to play slayer, Halo's basic deathmatch. I want slayer. I don't want oddball or swat or infection or any other goofy annoyance. I just want to run around and shoot people for credits with all the available weapons and equipment. Matchmaking has a voting system. So you'll pretty much never get what you want even if it does show up. And you have no other recourse. You're stuck going wherever the mob takes you playing what you have no interest in. Bungie is forcing you jump through their hoops. I find it to be truly annoying and a truly awful flaw. The biggest flaw in the game though is the new spawning system. You spawn on other characters. Which means you could relatively spawn anywhere. Like next to a cliff with a fatal fall or at the far end of the map. But more often than not, it means you'll be spawning under fire. I've never been spawn-killed so much in my life. I've probably been spawn-killed more in Halo Reach than the entirety of Halo 2, Halo 3, and SOCOM 1-2. The spawning system is fully broken. Halo Reach is a tough title to come up with a numerical score for. On one hand the game is still very fun and it has impeccable production values. On the other it provides a great deal of frustration and it has some glaring mistakes as I see them. I'm giving Halo Reach an 8.