Minor update

Ok, I just wanted to make a quick post to kind of sum up what you can expect from this site. I had my intro, sure, but it didn't totally say everything... and let's be honest, it was long winded.

My goal is to provide a site with a constant stream of reviews for games and movies, and maybe once in a while if something strikes me enough I can do music and comics as well. We are in a time of economic recession and I know sometimes people look for games at a good price, and may go back to older games they missed out on. I know I am that type of gamer, so I can try to focus on the "budget gamer." Sometimes reviews of a 3 year old game can praise it, but then when you go to play it now, it isn't as good as they said because things have changed in the industry since then. I will also try to post if ever I know of any good deals going on, and will also link to my own store on Amazon if ever I have a game for sale that I am reviewing.

I will also try my best to update reviews for games that may change due to patches and expansions. If a game evolves, so should a review. Read SOCOM PS3 reviews and it will say it is unplayable and needs patching, but those patches have happened. There are lots of cool free online games that are always updating as well. You get the idea.

Finally, most people like free stuff, so I will also hold contests and have prizes. All the details of which I am still working out, but I will definitely do something. At the very least I can setup discounts on my Amazon store as well.

So there you have it, what this site will be about. Let me know what YOU want though. I have my first review up as sort of a taste, what did you think? Too long? Do you want long and short versions of reviews? Do you want a grading system? What games or movies do you want reviewed? Whatever it is you're looking for, let me know and I will do my best to do so. I can take the criticism too, it's the only way I can make things better. Also, yes, I know this is just a blog for now but once things grow a bit I will try my best to make it more of a "real" site. Until then, post those comments, send those IMs and e-Mails, send that Xbox Live request...

My First Review: Wanted - Weapons of Fate

Wanted: Weapons of Fate (PS3) review 7-29-2009

Wanted was a movie based on a comic book released in 2008 to mixed reviews. Some didn't like how over the top it was or how it strayed from the comic source it came from. There is one thing that those that cared could agree on though, it would make a really sweet video game. One problem though, 99% of games based on comic books or movies suck, and this is based on BOTH. Well, I say that, while flawed, this is that 1% that's enjoyable.

For this review I played the Playstation 3 version of the game. I own a 360 and usually get multiplatform games for it, but I had an extra copy from my store (more on that later) that was going unsold and I figured I could use the Trophies (you will learn that I am an achievement/trophy whore that will try to get as many as I can). More on the differences between the two system versions and trophies later on.

So why is this the 1%? What makes it different? Well, first of all they were smart and did not rush the game to make sure it was out in time for a theatrical or DVD release. They waited until the game was done and ready before putting it out there and it shows. The game is very similar to other 3rd person action games like Gears of War or even the other “movie game” Stranglehold. You run around and shoot people or do instant close combat kills. Instead of having you recreate the events of the movie it is actually a sequel of sorts starting right after the end of the movie and going from there, although there are some flashbacks where you play as your father in various missions throughout his career. You can take cover like Gears of War, and although a bit uninspired there, it just leads to a lot of fun that lets you enjoy while you're furthering the story. You can also do “bullet time” type moves where you can shoot bullets out of the air like in the movie and can do the signature bullet curving as well. And as with most games of this type, to do these cool moves you have to build up a meter and each one uses up a different amount of the meter. Again, it may not be the most innovative, but they are going with the philosophy of “if it ain't broke don't fix it.” The developers at GRIN decided to take aspects of various games that work, and put them together into a game that is very enjoyable to play for fans of the movie. On a side note, for fans of the comic you can unlock and use the costume used in that as well, but it comes later in the game which there isn't as much left to it.

Which brings me to my next point: completion time. This is not a long game. There are 3 difficulty levels; Pussy, Assassin, and Killer. Killer was initially locked, so I started on Assassin and made it through the game in roughly 6 hours. I didn't have much trouble getting through most of it, but I enjoyed it the whole time. Some may see this short time as a good thing, some bad. It means the story doesn't drag and it means that the gameplay doesn't get stale, but it also means that if you're looking for a long game, you won't get it here. On the plus side for longevity though, there are a bunch of unlockables and alternate modes. As I mentioned before, the hardest difficulty is something that is initially locked, but you can earn it by completely the game on Assassin (the equivalent of “normal” in other games). On top of that, you also unlock Headshot Mode where you have to get a certain number of headshots before completing a level or it will restart. There is also close combat mode which you have to do a certain number of close combat kills, much like how Headshot mode works. So, if going for a new challenge in a game you've already completed is something you look for, this game has it. If not, and you feel you've already seen what you care about, keep that in mind. On top of the modes you can also unlock alternate characters to play as such as Cross, The Immortal, or even your old boss. These characters do not play any different at all, do not have any different animations or voice work, but it's something different at least.

Speaking of voice work, it is top notch in this game. They couldn't get James McAvoy or Morgan Freeman to do their voices in the game, but the people that they got did a damn fine job or sounding a lot like them, especially the guy playing Wesley. The rest of the characters are well done with some other actors coming from the movie such as Terence Stamp and Common. The likenesses are very close as well, which helps even more when hearing a voice. Overall great presentation to the game that isn't too heavy on the cut-scenes so you can just enjoy the gameplay, but enough to break it up a bit to prevent it from being monotonous.

I mentioned before Trophies and Achievements. They are the same for both systems, and I did not get all of them, but gave it the ol' college try anyway, and I had a lot of fun for the ones I did. They have the usual ones like beating a certain “act” on the different difficulty levels which is why I did that, and then they have one for beating headshot mode, and one for close combat, so again, that's why I did those modes. In the days before achievements I probably would have just said “no thanks” and had been done with the game, but would have also complained about how short it was. These trophies kept me playing a game I enjoyed and I had fun earning them. Now I felt like it was still worth the money, and frankly had the game been any longer I probably wouldn't have wanted to go through it as many times as I did (which remember is four times). They also had some items hidden throughout the game that you could hunt down to unlock things like concept art and photos of the programmers, but I am not a fan of scavenger hunts in games, so I did not get those. For those into that though, it's there. My favorites though were they had 2 trophies setup for laughs: one where you kill your girlfriend, and one where you kill your boss. They are hidden in 2 different levels and if you find them you can take them out for the achievements. It does not affect the game in any way or unlock anything else, but funny to see that Wesley gets the last laugh in the end.

Enough with the praise though, onto the issues. I did mention game length which can go either way, but there were other things in the game I didn't care for as much. For starters, there is no option to run. For a game so much like Gears of War with the cover system, you'd think they'd also have a run/sprint move to get to places. There are times I wanted to get to cover or at least away from fire and my guy moved too slow to do so. That's not to say he feels like a turtle, but sometimes you want that extra boost. Also, I felt this weird kind of “acceleration” when aiming. What I mean is that I will have my hand steady in a certain spot on the analog stick trying to turn for example, and instead of staying at a constant speed it would start speeding up (or as I said before, accelerating) which lead to me wildly aiming way more often that I would have liked. I am not new to these kinds of games, so I know it wasn't just how I was playing. I also had found quite a few bugs for a game that was in no rush to get out. Things like bodies getting stuck in walls (including me as the player to the point where I had to reset the game) were common place as well as stuttering animations. Finally, I felt that although there was a good mix in gameplay and what you could do in the game with the curved bullets, human shields, and the occational QTE (Quick Time Event, this time full controlable more along the lines of a light gun shooter), you didn't get to do them much. The airplane level (which you can play in the demo mind you) is easily the best level of the game because it has a little bit of everything. It is very inspired with it's moveable cover (the food carts) and having to shoot your way up a plane that is going down, but most of the time the levels felt kind of the same with you going 2 or 3 levels before you could move other cover, and same for the QTEs.

Most people always ask me for my opinion on which system they should get a game for if they have more than one. The differences between the two versions of Wanted for consoles were minimal (I have not played the PC version so I can't comment on that). Having played the demo of the Xbox version I can say that the controls felt exactly the same, and load times seemed about the same as well (although that was loading off of a hard drive vs. a disc). The achievements and trophies are exactly the same on both, although the PS3 version does have the “platinum” trophy if you get them all. The PS3 does also have a short installation that is required before you can play that will take up a small portion of your hard drive space that isn't in the Xbox 360 version. Graphically (again, judging Xbox 360 demo vs. retail PS3 so could be different) they seem to be about the same with the PS3 version looking a bit brighter with more of the “bloom” effect used when it's a daytime outdoor level. Everything is minor, they are basically the same so I say go for the version that you need more achievements/trophies if you care, or which controller is most comfortable to you (or whatever is cheaper).

Overall, it's well worth playing, and now that it has been out for a bit you can get it rather cheap. In this economy saving money is always a good thing, and you could certainly spend a lot more on a worse game. The demo is also available on both the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Store. The game currently runs for less than $30 on Amazon.com.

So that's it for my first review. Thoughts? Let me know what you all would like and I will do my best to have a site you will all enjoy reading. Have any questions or comments feel free to leave comments on this blog, IM me, or send me an e-mail.

This is just the intro... for now

Taken from Dictionary.com :

hard-core

   /ˈhɑrdˈkɔr, -ˈkoʊr/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [hahrd-kawr, -kohr] Show IPA –adjective

1.	unswervingly committed; uncompromising; dedicated: a hard-core segregationist.

2.	pruriently explicit; graphically depicted: hard-core pornography.

3.	being so without apparent change or remedy; chronic: hard-core inflation; hard-core unemployment.

I choose to start my first blog with a definition of hardcore. There are multiple definitions as you can see, and I am referring to the first, not the 2nd (although there is a lot of that on the internet already and I'd make way more money with that... well, maybe not me). My blog name refers to how I am no longer among the group labeled as "hardcore gamers." I thought about making it "X-Hardcore" or "XXX-Hardcore" to make a joke... but is it worth renaming for one joke to make in the first post? I know everyone is blogging now, most of which that have nothing important to say, but a lot of things have come up in conversation with some friends lately. Are these things important? No, but oh well, who cares. These multiples conversions of me as a gamer. Not just any kind of a gamer, but a HARDCORE gamer. I have become a measurement among friends and family for various things gaming related because I am the "hardcore gamer." But I'm not anymore. I was, but now not so much. I recently lost my job and have been gaming a lot more than before, but still cannot consider myself hardcore. I think that I'm in between a hardcore gamer and a casual gamer (does that make me a tween?). These people in my life want to know my opinion on things, and I plan to use this space for just that. I will mostly do review for games (and movies, my other love in life) so now I can just tell them "go to my blog" instead of repeating myself to them all.

Why do you care? Well, I think this is an ever growing group of people. See I used to be the guy that had to buy every system as it came out (I may still own them all, but I don't rush like I used to). I used to be the guy that would import tons of games from Japan even though I have no knowledge of the Japanese language (I still import, but not anywhere near as much as I did before). I used to be the guy that would buy games that no one had ever heard of, and then praise about to them to anyone who would listen (OK, I'm still that guy). But now I'm a guy that finds himself closing in on 30 and engaged to be married, and wanting to take the time to do other things. We all have to grow up, but not totally, right?

I still have a massive game collection and will still continue to play them until my arthritic hands no longer let me (I pray that mind controllers come out by then), but which I play are changing. I know this is getting long winded, but hey, it's my first post, and things will pick up from here, I promise. Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. Hate it, love it, suggestions, what you want to see more of, less of, ANY of. Let me know, I can take it.