Video Games Archives » Page 3 of 3

Top Video Game of 2009

Published by Adam on December 18, 2009

At the risk of being predictable, I thought late December seemed like a good time to list some of my favorite things of 2009. First up is my favorite video game of the year: Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Available for Xbox 360, PS3 & PC; $50 — For Xbox 360, PS3 & PC; $50

Before you spring off your computer chair in outrage, please keep in mind that I am a mere mortal who can’t afford (and doesn’t have time) to play every single great game that comes out. Another disclaimer: I’m a long-time Batman fan.

Then again, maybe my fervor for all things Dark Knight improves my credibility. You have no idea how long I’ve waited to play an actually good Batman game. I’ve played a lot of them, and this is probably the best one since the SNES game based on the animated series. And even that wasn’t really a classic.

So what makes Arkham Asylum different? The production value, for one thing. The story has a great comic book feel, including a plethora of Gotham’s supporting characters and dastardly villains, all while keeping the dark, brooding mood of the recent Chris Nolan movies. In addition, developer Rocksteady tapped the voice cast from the classic ’90s cartoon, including Mark Hamill as the Joker and Kevin Conroy as Batman. Add in some brooding music and a creepy atmosphere best described as BioShock Lite (in a good way), and you’ve got one heck of an engrossing game.

My biggest fear going into Arkham Asylum was the setting. An entire game in a prison? I expected to be bored with my surroundings in an hour. However, Rocksteady proved me wrong, stretching the seemingly one-note setting to include monster vines and fear-toxin fantasies. I should also note that the Alcatraz-like prison is massive, rewarding exploration with Riddler trophies hidden throughout the island.

Of course, I was also worried about the gameplay itself. Previous Batman games have failed mostly due to an overemphasis on hand-to-hand combat and clunky, button-mashing controls. But for Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady opted to go all Prince of Persia / Splinter Cell on us, providing Batman with an arsenal of moves and gadgets to take out criminals with stealth and style. Oh, and by the way, they got the beat ’em up stuff right too, with an excellent combo system that really captured the smooth, no-nonsense fighting tactics of the caped crusader.

Really, my only complaint about Arkham is the camera system. It’s not terrible, and works most of the time, but it’s so closely zoomed in on Batman that the game world gets a little claustrophobic. I understand that, in most of the movies, Batman couldn’t turn his head without shifting his entire body, but come on! Here’s hoping they get it right in the just-announced sequel.

Even with its (minor) flaws, Arkham Asylum unleashed the fun more than any other video game I played this year. If you haven’t had a chance to visit Joker and his friends yet, I urge you to head up the river immediately.

Stay tuned for my top music picks of 2009.

Never-Ending Games Sound Good, Hard to Finish

Published by Adam on August 28, 2009

When I’m thinking about buying a game, one of the things I usually pay attention to in reviews is how many hours it will probably take me to beat a game’s single-player adventure mode. My criteria used to be, “the longer the better,” but now I’m starting to reconsider.

Video games, of course, have to last longer than movies. I mean, you’re paying $40 more for a game than a DVD, and most of the time you’re not going to play the single-player component of the game more than once.

But let’s take a game like Tales of Vesperia, a Japanese role-playing game for the Xbox 360, which I finally beat the other day. According to my save file, I clocked in 61+ hours playing the game. Sure, some might say that means the game takes 2-3 days, a week tops. But let’s be serious, anyone who can play 61 hours in less than a week doesn’t have a job, and actually might be undead, considering they don’t require sleep. For real humans with other things happening in their lives, 61 hours could mean 9 months to a year, assuming they don’t lose interest. You could make an entire baby in that amount of time!

Sure, a year of gameplay seems like a great value. But the problem with video games is they’re released all the f***ing time! About a month or two after buying Tales, I made the mistake of picking up Fallout 3. Not a mistake because Fallout 3 is a bad game. On the contrary, it’s probably one of the best titles this generation of consoles. But it is also really really long if you take the time to explore the world and do all the side quests. And they actually release EXPANSIONS for this game. If only I had the time! I finally beat Tales this week due to guilt inflicted from ordering Batman: Arkham Asylum.

So is the solution shorter games? Yes and no. As a writer, I would never tell a game developer to put a cap on their creativity. But there is something to say for smart editing. In many of the super-long games I’ve played, there have been sections of repetitive battling and/or boring treasure hunts. These are the parts where the gamer starts to lose interest. Why not chop the 25 hours of fat and keep the 35 hours of meat?

Personally, I like to be left wanting more. Not so much more that I feel ripped off. But when the credits roll, I want to feel hungry for the sequel, not glad it’s finally over.

Fun, Pricy Times Ahead for Wii Owners

Published by Adam on April 25, 2009

For some reason, good Wii games seem to come in spurts. Near the console’s launch there was a nice bunch, including Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda, Metroid and Paper Mario. Months later, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart were released. And then it felt like there was nothing for a long while.

Ladies and gentleman, I’m happy to report that I think we may be entering another short-term Wii boom.

Yesterday, I got my hands on a surreal new racing game called ExciteBots. It truly is something else. In the game, you take transformer-like bots resembling various animals, including frogs, bats and grasshoppers. And you do off-road stunt racing with them. It’s super fast and you get lots of airtime, and that’s only the beginning. The developer included several extremely random-seeming mini games in the midst of each race. For example, you might have to kick a giant soccer ball into a net, hit a baseball, or even bowl over some pins. If you pull it off, you get points and an encouraging message. Some of the challenges are even more eccentric. My favorite is tapping out a rhythm on a tambourine. If you pull it off, the game rewards you with the message “Nice tambourine!”

Writing about ExciteBots doesn’t do the game justice, and in fact probably makes it sound like the most complicated racing game ever. On the contrary, the motion controls (yes, the Wii Wheel is supported) are great, and the game developers somehow made most of the diversions intuitive. It’s kind of like Mario Galaxy in that sense. What feels simple on the controller creates something totally fantastic on the screen.

OK, so I know what you’re saying. That’s just one game. How can I say this is the beginning of a spurt of fun Wii games?

First of all, it’s rude to interupt in the middle of an article. Shame on you. But the answer is that Wii gamers soon will have a new accessory on their hands, called the Motion Plus. The device hooks into the Wii controller, and makes the motion controls even more precise. Currently, the controller can register only turn movements — it doesn’t know when you’re raising or lowering the controller vertically, or sliding it side to side. Motion Plus changes all that. In July, Nintendo will release a sequel to Wii Sports, called Wii Sports Resort. The package includes a lot of cool new minigames that weren’t possible before, including frisbee throwing, jet skiing and sword fighting.

Better, Electronic Arts — famous for its sports games — is designing its new Tiger Woods golf game especially for the Motion Plus. The company also has a new tennis game called Grand Slam Tennis that may prove to be equally ace. Both hit stores in June, and Tiger Woods will come packaged with the Motion Plus.

You can probably tell I’m excited. But there is something about this whole situation that I must bitch about a little. Why does Nintendo insist upon releasing seemingly must-have accessories for its gaming systems every few months? The company has convinced everyone they have the least expensive console. But the reality is you’ve got to buy extra controllers ($40 per remote, $20 per nunchuck), a balance board ($90 with Wii fit), a “classic” controller or two ($20 each), a wheel for each controller ($10), and now multiple Motion Plus accessories. ($20). Those Nintendo guys are pretty sneaky!

1 Comment

Fish & Video Games

Published by Adam on January 6, 2009

Hey, it’s 2009. That’s pretty cool.

I vacationed to St. Michael’s, MD last week and ate fish. I also took a bunch of photos. You can see parts of these pics displayed prominently at the top of every page of this website. Oh, and yes, I did some writing on what hopefully will turn out to be my next novel. Made a lot of good progress; it’s all really starting to come together.

I picked up a couple new video games: Fallout 3 for Xbox 360 and Boom Blox for the Wii. I was intrigued by Fallout 3 because you get to explore a post-apocalyptic Washington, DC. Also, there were ads for the game were plastered all over Metro Center station here in the capital. After a few hours of play, I found the game itself to be just as cool as the premise, though I admit I was a trifle overwhelmed initially. Fallout presents the player with an astonishing amount of choice. And I’m not talking about choosing to beat up a bad guy rather than sneaking around him. I mean, like, choosing to help, rob blind and/or blow up an entire settlement. Usually when I play an adventure game like this, I like to try and do as much as possible — do all the optional side-quests, read all the dialog, etc. But I think I’ve come to terms that there’s no way in hell I can do that in this game.

Boom Blox isn’t nearly as open-ended an experience, as it’s a puzzle game. But its use of the Wii’s motion controls makes it a blast, no pun intended. The game — which was developed by Steven Spielberg — is kind of like a virtual Jenga, except the goal is generally to knock the blocks down, and you can do more than pull blocks (baseball, anyone?). And there’s like 300 challenges, too.

So yeah, if you’re of the gaming set, check them out. If not, well, I’ll try to write about something else next time.

1 Comment

Category: Video Games

Top Video Game of 2009

Never-Ending Games Sound Good, Hard to Finish

Fun, Pricy Times Ahead for Wii Owners

Fish & Video Games

Search