Posts Tagged ‘xbla

26
Sep
09

Review: Zombie Apocalypse

By Mark Hill Leave a Comment
Categories: Editorials, Games and Reviews
Tags: , ,


Video games have given us many different way to re-dead the un-undead: first person shooting, third person shooting, beating the shit out of them with things in a mall, tower-defending against them with plants, and even typing them to death. Now, just when I though the zombie-killing resource was tapped dry, a whole fun, new way to re-plant the walking dead has emerged: the top-down, dual stick shooter.

Zombie Apocalypse is the name of said game, and it’s great. It holds up to four players on and off-line, has seven differently themed worlds spanning 55 level that are full of corpse-ruining environmental hazards such as incinerators, downed-chopper rotor blades, and barrels of explosives to help the gore flow along the way. There are some great pickupable weapons like flame throwers, shotguns, and RPGs, but the best thing is your ever-ready chainsaw which never runs out, and never fails to finish the job. The dangerous part is just getting close enough to your enemies to use it.

This game borrows many different elements from great games that have come before it, but it puts them all together in a nice, neat, bloody package. However, I only recommend buying this game if you have other people you plan on playing it with, because it wouldn’t be worth the $10 if you were just going to fly solo.

23
Sep
09

A Date With The Undead

By Mark Hill 1 Comment
Categories: Editorials and Games
Tags: , ,


I’m really looking forward to downloading and playing Zombie Apocalypse on XBLA tonight. The GF and I have been having great times playing (and beating last night) I MAD3 A GAEM WITH ZOMBIES 1N IT!!!1 the last few weeks, and I think we are ready to take it to the next level.

I’m sure the Konami-kreated Apocalypse won’t have the same goofy charm or catchy rockabilly song to play along to, but what it loses in that stuff, it will definitely gain in production value.

Hopefully it won’t just be more of the same for nine extra dollars, but like my grandma always said, “You can never have too many dual-stick, top-down, zombie shooters on your console.”

30
Aug
09

Review: Shadow Complex

By Russ Crandall Leave a Comment
Categories: Games and Reviews
Tags: ,


It’s hard to believe that I started this game only four days ago.

This summer is filled with $10 and $15 XBLA games, and I’d be hard pressed to find a game that gives you more content for your dollars than Shadow Complex. Maybe Battlefield 1943. Anyway, the campaign alone takes about 10 hours to complete, and that’s not including the inevitable replays (there is so much hidden content that I don’t even want to get into it) as well as a “Proving Grounds” challenge pack that I haven’t even tried out yet.

The story has many parallels to Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – you have an initial scene in which you are all powered up, and then you lose everything (in this case, you start as a different character after the intro) and have to earn your bad-assed-ness one upgrade at a time. The storyline itself is pretty shallow (stop/kill bad guys) but that’s not where the game shines (hint: it’s in the exploring and controls). The levels are split between woodsy outdoor romps and indoor secret base romps, and everything looks great. Your characters moves in 2D but in a 3D environment, and the camera pans in and out as necessary and really gives the game a dramatic turn. The controls are pitch perfect, with the exception of having to shoot enemies that are in the back/foreground. That’s never really worked in any 2D game, though.

This game does so many things right. First of all, had I known this was an upgrade-fest like Super Metroid right off the bat, I would have been more hesitant before starting. Those kinds of games always feel so daunting to me, like I’ll never be able to get everything. This game’s map system and level design actually make exploring and upgrading simple and fun, and I was able to find 90% of the items without having to consult any online guide at all. The upgrades come gradually, and by the end everything feels natural and fun. The game tracks your stats, and compares you against your friends as you play. It’s pretty fun to try and score more headshots than somebody on your friends list, and to track your progress as you work towards it.

All in all, this is a game that nobody should miss. Usually, when advising someone on XBLA games, I always say to get Castlevania: Symphony of the Night because it’s well worth $10 and is one of my favorite exploring games. Shadow Complex may have just taken that title.

22
Jul
09

Do XBLA Games Feel More Expensive To You?

By Russ Crandall 1 Comment
Categories: Cheapskate and Games
Tags:


I took the picture above from this article which states that the average price of XBLA games has risen $1.74 since the Xbox 360 first launched.

Personally, I had noticed that XBLA prices have been pretty high lately, but I had chocked that up to the fine, fine quality of XBLA games we’ve seen lately. $15 for Battlefield 1943 doesn’t seem high, but is a game like Sorry! Sliders really worth $10? Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was only $10 when it came out in 2007, but Banjo-Kazooie costs $15? And finally, the TMNT arcade game was a glorious $5, but TMNT IV is going to cost $15, which seems a little ridiculous. What do you think?

06
Apr
09

It’s All About The Hamiltons, Baby

By Mark Hill 1 Comment
Categories: Cheapskate, Editorials and Games
Tags: , , ,


Regardless of the tepid-at-best reviews, I was 100% planning on buying Puzzle Quest: Galcatrix whenever it was going to finally come out on XBLA, which turned out to be this week. That is, until I found that it comes with a 1600 point, a.k.a. $20, price tag. Now I’ll wait until it become the XBLA Deal of the Week.

That’s just a little too much for me, especially since the first Penny Arcade Adventure is only $10 right now, and also the fact that I can buy the game for my fresh new DSi for only five bucks more on Amazon.

04
Feb
09

Demotopia! The Maw

By Mark Hill 2 Comments
Categories: Demotopia!, Editorials, Games and Reviews
Tags: ,


The Maw is an independent game on XBLA that has you playing as a little alien boy with a gelatinous, tooth-filled little friend that you control with a leash while he runs around and eats everything is sight. Whenever the little guy eats something, he’ll either grow bigger, or take on the characteristics of what he just consumed, and you use these characteristics to progress through the game. For example, at the end of the demo, you have to eat these lizards made out of lava so the Maw can breath fire and burn through these Venus Flytrap-looking plants. Common sense. The demo ends after that, but I assume that by the end, the Maw grows to epic proportions and somehow helps the alien kid get back to his own planet. Or maybe it was Earth all along.

The game looks good and won a PAX independant game award an all, but is it worth your hard-earned 800 MS points? If you’re a 27 year old man that likes action and shooting in his games, probably not. But if you have a little niece or something, maybe it is. Check out the free demo and decide for yourself.

01
Feb
09

Threevue Review: Braid

By Threevue.com Staff Leave a Comment
Categories: Games and Reviews
Tags: ,


We’re catching up on some reviews that we didn’t get to during the holiday rush. Better late than never!

Mark:
In a world where massive, graphics intensive, multi-million dollar budgeted games dominate that playing field, any site that would pick a short, 2D side-scroller as its game of the year would have to be completely nuts. Well you know what? If you don’t completely, 100%, unconditionally agree with everything you read/hear on Threevue, then you are the one that is completely nuts.

Braid is a nowadays-rare game that combines thoughtful storytelling with gameplay mechanics that are unique and stay fresh throughout. Every puzzle you come across in this game is something new, and just when you think you have them all figured out, it throws a whole new idea at you. Visually, it’s beautiful. With the colorful, impressionistic art style scenery and the quirky characters, it’s almost as fun to watch as it is to play.

If you fancy yourself a fan of all types of games, this is an experience that you must try. You’re not going to shoot any big guns, you’re not going to pwn any n00bs, but you are going to find yourself gaining a different outlook on just how good a low-budget, independant game can be. If you don’t even own a console yet, go buy an Xbox 360, and download this game. You won’t regret it.

96/100

Russ:
I’m a sucker for frugal gaming. I scourge the wastelands of bargain bins trying to find any semblance of decency amidst garbage sports and racing games. So when I say that this 4-hour game is worth every cent of your $15, you’ve gotta know that I loved Braid.

There are plenty of moments in this game that will stay with me for a while, but reading and re-reading the storybook intros for every level probably stick with me the most. It’s some deep, challenging stuff, and I found myself applying the author’s sentiments to my own past experiences. That kind of shit don’t happen in Cabella’s, son. The gameplay wasn’t super-tight but that’s forgivable, and the puzzles are mind-benders that I quickly forgot, which means that when I play this game again a year or two from now, I’ll be able to re-live the experience all over again. I can’t wait.

94/100

Tyler:
The moment that I knew Braid was going to be an exceptional game was when I read the book that has the line about the Princess’ braid slapping Tim in the face as she turned to leave. It’s a line that comes soon after you first access the books  and it made me think hard about just how personal this game was for the man who made it. Maybe something like that really happened to Jonathan Blow, maybe it didn’t. Who knows? The fact that he leaves the game in such an abstract way is just another reason that I love it.

Touches like these are what make me so enamored with Braid. Its qualities are directly opposed to the qualities of all the crap games out there; uninspired games that do nothing but diminish the art form that Video Games could be. At no point does Braid use a gimmick to substitute for good gameplay. I wish that it was the introduction to video games for everyone, that critics of the medium would play it fully so that they could understand the spectrum games cover and that this caliber of game is carried on so that games become as legitimate as film and music in the future.

98/100

25
Oct
08

Just a Little Anectdote About Mega Man 9

By Tyler Miller 2 Comments
Categories: Games
Tags: , , ,

Downloaded Mega Man 9 today after listening to last week’s RFGO! but I’ve got so many other games to play that I feel like an ass for not blasting some Robot Masters.
Anyways, the funny thing is that I went to download it and it took literally 1 second to complete. It was pretty funny. I hit confirm, and then it was done, the game was on my hard drive. Sort of funny considering how Mark and where pulling our hair out waiting for the COD5 beta to transfer. I forsee an 8bit COD that you can play on your watch.

24
Oct
08

Portal: Still Alive – Worth It For Some

By Tyler Miller Leave a Comment
Categories: Games and News
Tags: , ,

Well, look who sneaked in to the living room while Mommy Dead Space and Daddy COD5 Beta were “watching TV on the couch.” Where did you come from, little fella? Haven’t really seen you for, what, about a year now right? What’s new? Oh! You go some new levels and a complete list of new achievements? Well, well. My little boy is all grown up, isn’t he?

Seriously though, you can download Portal: Still Alive as DLC for the 360 right now. Nothing like being able to instantly purchase and play the best game of last year! If you have the Orange Box, you might want to hold off unless you feel like you really want to try the 18 bonus challenges. I got it because I knew I’d like to have Portal on my HDD for all eternity. I still think that it is the ultimate tech demo for non-gamers to see. Most everyone just says it’s “Confusing”. Whatever, I got it right off the bat.

19
Sep
08

My Gripes: Download Stopped Edition

By Mark Hill 7 Comments
Categories: Editorials, Games, Internet and My Gripes
Tags: ,


I come forth today to gripe about that fact that Xbox Live stops any download I have in progress when I play another game online. Case in point: Earlier today I started to download the Frack-sure Fracture demo, and I thought I would pass the time with some COD4 action. But as soon as the multiplayer stats up, I get a “bleep” window telling me that my demo has stopped.

This may not be as big of a deal to most as me, but the majority of gaming I do is online, and I hate having to choose from one activity or the other. I understand why it might be like this: bandwidth, connection, etc., but it still bugs the shit out of me.

13
Aug
08

10 minutes with Super Joe and Nathan Spencer

By Tyler Miller 2 Comments
Categories: Games
Tags: ,

Oooohhh. It’s so good. I know there is a lot of competition out there as far as XBLA games go right at the moment, but I have to say that the first 10 minutes with this game has sucked me in more than GeoWars 2 or even Braid. And that is saying a lot.

So far, everything about this game is perfect. Except for the load times, those are a bit longer than a 2.5D game needs to be. WTFuck Grin? It’s okay, I can overlook it for the tight controls, slick UI and fresh coat of retrolicious paint you slapped on this game.

09
Aug
08

Review: Penny Arcade Adventures -Episode 1- On The Rain-slick Precipice Of Darkness

By Tyler Miller Leave a Comment
Categories: Games and Reviews
Tags: ,

I hate my TV. It’s that 34 inch Magnetbox’s fault for making my least favorite thing about PAAE1OTRSPOD even worse. Reading. The text is redonculously small, and when played on a CRT television, the game is hard to see when viewed at more than three feet away. This is compounded by the fact that there is a metric Fuck-Ton of text in Precipice. Good news – the writing is hilarious, so at least you can enjoy the cataract inducing squint-fest ( at least for me).

Also, get ready to do some serious backtracking, Metroid Prime style.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, the rest of the game is pretty darn great. The style is turn-based RPG so if that is not your cup of tee, just skip on to the next post on the site.

Continue reading ‘Review: Penny Arcade Adventures -Episode 1- On The Rain-slick Precipice Of Darkness’

06
Aug
08

Premature Review: XBLA’s Braid

By Mark Hill 2 Comments
Categories: Editorials, Games and Reviews
Tags: ,


There were only two things I knew about the new XBLA game Braid before I downloaded it: 1) I didn’t know anything about it, and 2) It was $15. I did download it, though, and now I know three things about it: 1) I still know very little about it, 2) it was $15, and 3) it’s awesome.

I’ve only played through the first few levels of the picturesque platformer, but I really like it. It’s like a very melancholy Super Mario Bros., complete with an interned princess who is in a perpetual state of being in another castle. It’s also very difficult, and requires you to radically alter your thinking in order to complete the puzzling objectives.

I highly recommend that everyone at least check out the demo, but so far, it’s been 15 bucks well spent.

06
Aug
08

Review: 1942 Joint Strike

By Tyler Miller 2 Comments
Categories: Editorials, Games and Reviews
Tags: ,

If you are bat-shit crazy enough to ask yourself the question “Does Tyler really like the 1942 series?”, then you need to go HERE.

Done?

M’kay. Take all of what you just read and bump it up a half letter grade for a complete graphics overhaul and inventive 2 Player additions and you there you have 1942: Joint Strike. At it’s core, this is the exact same game as it’s predecessors. Swarming enemies with differing abilities/attacks, reflexive movement and dodging requirements, quick strategery to gain decisive power-ups and massive boss battles all come in for a smooth landing with this renovation of the series. The main focal point of this game are the graphics though.

Joint Strike is exactly the kind of update you want to see one of you favorite games become. Since the original was rooted in a graphically realistic domain such as the Pacific Theater (unlike Pac-Man CE’s infinite electronic maze-scape) , 1942:JS benefits beautifully from the washed out detailing it has received.

Problems? Fine, if you want to be fair and evenhanded, there were a few gripes I had about the game. One thing is that I couldn’t find one single game open for mutiplayer. Not one! That’s a shame. This game is meant to be played with another person, it’s even in the title! I couldn’t beat the 4th level alone, so look me up if you’re feeling the need…. the NEED FORawww forget it.

Also, the game was less a vertical shooter as it was a perpendicular shooter. Since the screen of most every good shmup is taller than it is wide, the dimensions of the gamespace feel a little contorted on in the widescreen format. If only you could turn the image 90 degrees clockwise and stand your $2000 Bravia on it’s side like the champs do for Ikaruga.

Overall, one of my favorite games to hit XBLA since Cloning Clyde.

JK

05
Aug
08

I Still Don’t See What It Has To Do With Geometry

By Mark Hill 3 Comments
Categories: Editorials and Games
Tags: ,


As we speak I type, I’m downloading Geometry Wars Evolved 2 over XBLA. I played and enjoyed the first one, although I could never understand how some people were able to achieve some of the scores they came up with. (Wow, download complete already. That was fast.)

I heard this new one was really good, and added a lot of variety that the first one didn’t have. If anyone else gets it, let me know so we can get some hot, geometric mulitplayer going. Oh, wait, it doesn’t have online multiplayer you say? Strike one, GWE2.

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