Tag Archives: Darksiders

A Glut Of Games

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It’s no secret that I still love games, and still play and buy them regularly, but recently I’m up to my neck in them. First up was Darksiders which I wrote about in a previous entry, and it really is a fantastic game, but I’m stuck at a save point where I have a tricky fight before I can get any further, and after dying umpteen times it’s been relegated to the games shelves until I can be bothered to try again.

I picked up Forza Motorsport 3 on the cheap at the end of an online January sale and got stuck into it, and it’s a great racing game. I’ve always like the Forza series, they seem to find a great balance between realism and fun, and 3 is no different. There are an enormous number of cars to choose from as your career progresses, and as always with Forza, an insane amount of customisation options. As well as being able to change and tweak every part of the internal workings and chassis, there are the famous aesthetics options too. The Forza car editor has no equal when it comes to custom decals and paint jobs, and the inclusion of the storefront (which enables players to buy and sell customised cars and paint jobs) means that everyone has access to them. I’ve still got a long way to go in the career mode, but it’s a gorgeous looking game and I’m so pleased they managed to keep it all running at a silky-smooth 60FPS. If you can pick it up for under thirty quid (easily done online) then do it if you’re at all into racing games.

A friend of mine has been singing the praises of the next game for months, and I finally gave in and decided to have a look at what all the fuss was about. Tatsunoko Vs Capcom is the latest in the ‘Vs’ series from Capcom, which now that I think back has been going for years, and includes some cracking games. Marvel Vs Capcom 1 & 2, SNK Vs Capcom 1, 2 and Chaos, X-Men Vs Streetfighter to name but a few, but new on the scene is Tatsunoko Vs Capcom. Tatsunoko is the Japanese cartoon house which won’t be overly familiar to most people, unless they’re old enough to remember the ‘Battle Of The Planets’ cartoons in the early 80s. In Japan it was known as Kagaku Ninja Tai Gacchaman (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman), and was a far different cartoon (violence and transgenderism being common themes), but it still provides some of the characters for the game, along with other less well-known series. Surprisingly it’s a Wii-only release, but I kinda like that, it’s a reason to use my dust-collecting console at the very least. The gameplay is excellent, proper ‘Vs’ style fighting with over the top super moves, tag play and all manner of intricacies to work out. There’s a decent roster of characters with both sides well-represented, just don’t let the fact that you may not know many of the Tatsunoko cast put you off. Capcom have covered all bases with characters ranging from the stalwarts (Ryu, Chun Li) right through to some you might not to expect to see (Frank West from Dead Rising and a giant mech from Lost Planet spring to mind). It’s well worth a buy for anyone fond of Capcom 2D fighters, but even moreso if you like the ‘Vs’ games. It’s out today, although I luckily got mine yesterday after nattering to the guys working in a local indy games shop and them telling me they were breaking the release date. I was weak, I bought it, and I’m very glad I did. You should do the same.

Tatsunoko wasn’t the only game I was surprised to be playing yesterday. Some time ago I wrote about the beta of MAG and how I enjoyed it, so much so in fact that I pre-ordered the game. Shopto had both the normal and collectors editions of the game, but I didn’t want to pay the extra five pounds for an extra outfit in the game and some themes, so I stuck with the cheaper option. The game’s released today, but Shopto being the efficient little elves they are, they got it to me yesterday (in fact the postman needed a signature, so signed it himself and wrote ‘signed for it, hope that’s ok, Postie’ on it – I have a great postman!). I opened it up and found the steelbook collectors edition inside too, ideal! I didn’t want to pay extra for it, but if they’re going to give it to me for free then who am I to argue?! I’ve only had time to play one mission so far, but initial impressions are good, it feels far snappier and more inclined to hit the person I’m aiming at, rather than the lagfest the beta could be at times.

I need to get these games out of my system before April when the clocks go forward and I get my evenings out with the dog back again, and there are still a few more to come before then too.

Snowbound – MAG & Darksiders

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It snowed more than it has down this way for a long time over the last week or so, which meant I had to take a couple of days off from work. My car got completely iced up – even the locks, I couldn’t get my key in – and the roads were like an ice rink, there’s no way I’m risking it for the sake of work. Luckily, I found a great way to spend the time off. Once the house was thoroughly cleaned and tidied that is…

Games. Lots of games. Or more accurately, a lot of time spent playing them. First up was the Beta version of MAG for the PS3. The game’s been in closed beta for a long time, and last week was the developer’s chance to stress test it with a free download for anyone who wanted it. MAG stands for Massive Action Game in this case and is a 1st-Person shooter, but with one departure from the norm with its scale. Battles in MAG go up to 128 vs 128 based on huge maps, and I have to say, it does it pretty well. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, FPS games are everywhere now and for every decent one there’s a ton of average ones, but I’m impressed with this one. The teams are split into platoons, which are in turn split into squads of eight people. Each squad has a leader who can issue orders, and they in turn get their orders from the platoon leaders and so on. It’s a proper chain of command and works well.

Players have a fair amount of customisation options, and each loadout is customisable too, so it’s easy to make a few setups of snipers, heavies, medics, engineers etc. The levelling works well, although it feels like a bit of an uphill battle to start with. Once you hit level 10 (on the beta) at least, new game types are unlocked, and at 15 you get your first leadership qualifications. I was trying to remember what it reminds me of for ages, and I’ve realised now that it was Battlefield 1942/Vietnam/2 for the PC. It’s a decent game, I think I’ll definitely get the full thing once it’s released, but I can see it being one of those where you need to invest a lot of time to get the most out of. As a FPS it’s not spectacular, it doesn’t do anything new, but the marriage of RPG-style character progression and the sense of ‘team’ is brilliant.

On top of that I also managed to snag myself the first new game on release day since Modern Warfare 2 I think, and treated myself to Darksiders. I’ll confess I didn’t really know anything about it up until about a month ago, but my friend’s constant rambling and eulogising meant I took notice and got excited about it too. The first time I saw video of it I was pretty unimpressed, it just looked like any other generic hack’n'slash, and I had my fears about it right until I started playing. The premise this time is that as War (capital W, one of the Four Horsemen) you’re duped into thinking the final battle between Heaven and Hell has started, and start kicking-off on Earth. The long and short of it is that you piss off the powers that be (sorry, ‘The Council’) and get banished to Earth, sans powers, to put things right and find out what’s going on.

The game is gorgeous both aurally and to look at, and the presentation just ooozes (yeah, three ‘o’s) class and attention to detail. If I had to give it a label I think I’d go with God Of War meets Zelda. Free-flowing combat involving big blades and the softer parts of enemies is the order of the day, combined with proper, old-fashioned, Zelda-style dungeons. I say dungeons, but as anyone who’s played a Zelda game knows, it doesn’t necessarily mean dank, dripping stone walls underground. I’m about five hours in so far and I’m loving every minute. I love some of the stats it gives you, such as total amount of demon blood spilled so far measured in gallons – classy. If you like the brawling and slashing you get from something like God Of War or Devil May Cry, and the exploration-with-inevitable-boss-encounter style of the Zelda series, I can’t recommend it enough. There’s a teeny bit of screen-tear with the 360 version I have, which apparently isn’t present in the PS3 one, but it’s nothing like enough to detract from the game.