Review #73: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

 Likely the best in the trilogy.

 And here we have Nathan Drake's latest adventure, and probably the best one yet. Although the story is a bit formulaic, bad guy wants to find ancient city which holds ancient treasure that can probably be used for evil and Nate must race to find it before they do, the new bad guys are the best ones yet. Marlowe is the first female villain in the series, and she's more cunning and threatening than Navarro or Lazarevic. Talbot also works as a better lackey than Flynn or Eddy were. Character banter during gameplay remains as one of the series high points.
 Most of the gameplay remains the same, but some stuff has been changed. Melee has been changed for a third time, Square still works as your basic attack, but enemies are now a bit more resilient and may counterattack more often, making you use Triangle to dodge. The new gimmicks are Circle, which now grabs the enemy and context-sensitive attacks, say you are mashing Square near a bottle, Drake may grab the bottle and smash it on the enemy. The change is a bit odd, as melee was fine in Uncharted 2, but many new scenes now leave Drake unarmed, as to have showcase this new system, there's even a new enemy type, the Brute, who can sustain a lot of bullet wounds but will fall to punches more easily. The circle button also adds some annoyances as you may try to roll or take cover, but if an enemy is close, Nate will prioritize grabbing him.

 For some reason, Naughty Dog saw fit to remove the ability to change the shoulder camera while aiming, it's a bit baffling as it was fairly inoffensive even if you needn't use it all that often. New to his arsenal, by timing Triangle, Nate can hurl back grenades, eventually this feature becomes quite useful in latter levels. For the first time in the series, the game actually has hard puzzles. While most still have you switching to Nate's notebook to check for hints, these puzzles will actually make you think.
 Uncharted 2 had some amazing setpieces, like the Train level or the car chase, Uncharted 3 blows them out of the water. All of them are completely over the top and memorable, not to mention very unique. There's a Ship level that you must first invade, while waves rock it back and forth.... and then it sinks and you have to traverse it horizontally. There's a new car chase with horses involved. And there are plenty, plenty more. It's true, sometimes they feel a bit out of place, but the pay off is so satisfying that you won't mind the excuses the game pulls in order to get Nate to those places.

 Multiplayer returns, and it's just as good as Uncharted 2's. The shop system, for multiplayer also returns, and new to the series is offline co-op. Offline co-op is relegated to a couple of mini-missions though. Sadly, a lot of the Single player extras are gone, no more funny filters, Mirror World, Zero Gravity or skins. Regardless, besides the Single Player skins, who really cared about the other extras?

 Uncharted 2 looks amazing, and somehow, somehow, Naughty Dog managed to make this game look even better. Characters look even more detailed than before, there are more little details, like the way Nate reacts when colliding with objects added just to show off. Even getting wet looks better. This game is pure eye candy, no other game looks this good. The music remains just as good, and voice acting is still top-notch. Uncharted 3's presentation is not easily matched, as every field in the audiovisual department is outstanding.

 Uncharted 3 is a fantastic game to end the series. While I wasn't a fan of the new melee system, everything else is spot on. And even though the game is an audiovisual masterpiece, a game is not good if the gameplay is not good, luckily, this game is fun to play, and it's unique and incredible setpieces are easily worth at least one playthrough. For PS3 owners, this is a must-have.
 9 out of 10.

Now Playing: Anarchy Reigns

 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

 I just started this game, and it's amazing. It's so much fun, and visceral. I love how every move has weight behind it, makes the resulting blow so much more satisfying. The only negative is the multiplayer. There's no offline, and this is a fighting game. A fighting game with no offline multiplayer. What where they thinking? And the online community is dead. DEAD. Sad part is, I played against bots, and multiplayer is so much fun, goddammit Sega. What's the point of buying the Bayonetta DLC, which I heavily considered since I'm liking the game so much, if I can only use her against bots? Dammit, Sega.

Now Playing: Breath of Fire IV

 So far so good.

 It's a funny story(Not really) I have with this game. Back when I was a Nintendo 64 kid, I used to see BoF IV ads on magazines, and I was enthralled by the art. I really wanted to play it. Fast forward 10 or so years, and I find out it was out on PC. I download it, and while I play I learn that the PC version wouldn't work after certain scenes, and it happened to a lot of people. I prayed that I wouldn't be one of them. I was.
 And now, here I am, with the PS1 version, and... so far so good. I'm playing on the PS3, in an HD TV, which means the graphics looks hideous, but I already got used to them. And even if it doesn't look pretty, the animation is still top-notch, Capcom really knew how to make and animate sprites back then. Oh, Capcom, now you just remind me of someone that I used to know.

Entry number 201 Special: Worst 10 games of Last Gen

 Well, since waiting for entry number 300 would leave me way deeper into the next gen, I'll do this now. The worst games I've played this generation. Truth be told, I handpick my games, so most of the time I get good games. Most of the time.

 Number 10) Metroid: Other M

 Ah! The game that kickstarted my blog, Other M. Honestly, as a game, it's not ALL that bad. It wasn't a good game by any means, but considering the rest of the games I had to remind myself of, it isn't all that bad. my biggest complaint was it's huge identity crisis, the game just didn't know what it wanted to be, with conflicting gameplay elements. Oh, and the story was awful.

 Number 9) Bionic Commando

 Your bionic arm holds the spirit of your dead wife, I think I don't need to say more. But if I  had to? It was gritty for the sake of being dark and edgy, and it had loads upon loads of invisible walls that killed you on the spot, it was so annoying. If you give me a Bionic Arm that works as a hookshot, I'd like to have fun swinging around, not having my character drop down dead due to "poisonous gas".

 Number 8) Rayman Raving Rabbids

 As much as people love to bash the Wii, I love it. If you were in the know, it had more than a couple of new games. Despite all that, I hate most motion controls, which is why I don't know why I bought this game. Actually, I know, I wanted a Party Game. This one was boring, repetitive and dumb. Still, it is functional, which is why it's not lower on the list, plus, the Rabbids were a fantastic creation. Until Ubisoft decided to exploit them....

 Number 7) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up

 Hey there, Ubisoft, we meet again! This game is nothing but broken promises. It was supposed to celebrate the Idon'trememberwhatnumberth anniversary of TMNT, and as such they were gonna give us an all-star cast. Speaking of all-star cast, it was being developed by people that had worked in both Smash Bros and Team Ninja. It was gonna play like Smash-Bros, but have a deeper fighting system. It was supposed to be a good game. The all-star cast? Just 16 characters. Of those 16, 4 are Wii-exclusives, PS2 players only get 12 characters. Of those 16 characters, 3 are Rabbids. Yes, Rabbids in a TMNT game celebrating an anniversary of the series. The turtle ninja-Rabbid could've been a nice little bonus, had the cast being larger and had the game not had 3 of them. Oh, and not every character gets an alternate costume, there are not alternate colors either, so you have to go by colored auras. Really. As for the game itself, it just wasn't much fun, the fighting just doesn't feel quite right, controls were needlessly complex, and it was supposed to be an Smash Bros game! TMNT: Smash-Up might not have been a terrible game, but fans of the franchise, like me, were so excited about it, and Ubisoft screwed it up so badly.

 Number 6) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

 A movie-licensed game from a franchise I'm not even a fan of? What was I thinking!? To be fair, I had read the reviews, but as much as video-reviews said it was bad, it looked like my kind of game. Arcadey, fast-paced and simple to play. Turned out into a borefest. I'm not one to complain about the length of a game, but I was just begging for this game to end. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes it so boring, but it's just a lifeless game. Lifeless.

 Number 5) SBK: Snowboard Kids

 I've never like racing games much. As a kid, I was a N64 kid, but while my friends loved Mario Kart and Diddy Kong Racing, those were but rentals for me. Snowboard Kids? I rented it more than a couple of times before convincing my parents to buy it for me, and I loved it. Everything about the game was fantastic. Sadly, I never came upon the sequel... And then, I learned of a DS sequel. I just had to had it. And it was so bad. The game now tries for a more realistic approach(As realistic as you can get when a character has hair standing about a head over.. his own head) and characters now have serious storylines, because we needed them. The courses just feel completely lifeless, the character redesigns are just as lifeless and generic, long gone are the charming big-nosed characters from before. And the gameplay? The CPU, all three of them love to gang up on you. They will never, ever, use items against each other, oh no, they have a vendetta against the player. Playing this game and unlocking stuff quickly becomes frustrating, if only the game had a bit of what made the previous game so good....

 Number 4) Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosions XL

 Now we are getting into the truly awful stuff. Luckily this game was a gift from a friend(Hope you ain't reading this!), but it was still on my "to get" list. Reviews make this game seem somewhat decent. It's not. This is a Smash Bros. clone, and like every clone, it's not even half as good. What makes this game so bad is the gameplay. It's just awful. The hit detection is wonky, character movement and the attacks themselves are equally wonky. And the physics are just awful. It's like nothing has weight to it. It's hard to explain, but it's very, very wonky. It also has more than a fair share of glitches. The worst part is that the developers really tried, and you can tell from all their preview videos and the amount of content and modes they packed into the game. But sadly, the gameplay is just awful. And I heard that the PS3/X360 version is even worse, with many lock ups and freezes.

 Number 3) Lunar Dragon Song

 Ubisoft, why do you do this to me?(Actually, they only published the game). Lunar is a series I like a lot. I liked Lunar 1 a bit, and Lunar 2 is among my favorite RPGs ever. Lunar: DS was one of the games that enticed me on getting a DS(luckily, not one of the main factors, which actually delivered quite nicely). The villain name has my name, Ignatius, just what could go wrong? Besides the fact that you don't even get to fight him, even though he is implied to be very powerful, and instead just falls to his death. But that's not the worst of it, the worst of it is the gameplay. How about this being an RPG where you don't get to aim your attacks? Oh no, the CPU chooses for you. Want to focus the enemy that can destroy your armor? Tough luck. Oh yeah, there are enemies that can break your equipment with one attack, who the hell thought that was a good idea? And you have to choose between getting money or experience from fights, not both. Because that was too mainstream. And running? You know, moving faster, since walking is usually slow and boring? RUNNING CONSUMES HP. RUNNING ON THE OVERWORLD, TOWNS OR DUNGEONS CONSUMES HP FROM THE ENTIRE PARTY. WHO CAME UP WITH THIS?! And after you drop to about 20% of your HP, you can't run anymore. It's no wonder that any hope for a revival died with this game. Even though they ported the first game(Again) to the PSP later.

 Number 2) Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law

 Phoenix Wright is one of my favorite videogame series of all time, so when I heard that Capcom reskinned it as a Birdman game, I just had to get it. Even the 9 bucks I paid for it were too much. The game tries oh so hard to be funny, I can tell that it tries, but it falls on it's face every single time. And this is a very text-heavy game, it lives and dies by the quality of the writing. And it's terrible. Lots of times, what you must present makes no sense. The game tells you to find the lies in the testimony, like Phoenix Wright, but a lot of times you just have to present whatever item they just mentioned, in order for them to expand their testimony. And let's assume that you actually find it funny, which you won't, the game, the whole game lasts as long as just one case from a Phoenix Wright game. What the hell!? This is one game I had no fun playing At all.

 Number 1) Windy X Windam

 I knew that this game was terrible. But... I had been following the game ever since it had first been announced. It looked like a Guilty Gear clone, in the character design department, but I didn't really mind, and I love fighters and I wouldn't mind a new DS fighting game. Then, they announced that Izuna and Shino, from Legend of the Unemployed Ninja: Izuna 1 and 2 were gonna be guests! Then the Japanese rom came out and I played it... and it was terrible. The graphics are hideous, sprites are stiff and lack frames everywhere, I always stand by "Gameplay over Graphics", but man, these sprites look very, very cheap. And even if it looked good, or even decent, which it doesn't. Even if it was any fun, which it isn't. The controls are broken. They don't work, they are sloppy and very poorly implemented, special moves don't go off most of the time. Playing through the game is an exercise in frustration. The most important thing in a fighting game are the controls, they have to be responsive, they have to be spot-on. This game doesn't have that. It doesn't even make up for being so awful to play by being pretty, because it's not. Every move looks a couple of frames short.
 And despite all that, I still bought it. I had a bit of hope that playing it on a DS would make it better. Maybe the emulator was skipping frames or something. It wasn't. This game is the Dragon Ball Z Taiketsu of the last generation, it's so bad... it's terrible and should be avoided by everyone.

Entry number 200 Special: Top 10 games of Last Gen

 Well, another generation is over and everyone is talking about the favorite Last Gen moments. Also, with this entry I hit 200 entries, so it was time for another Top 10.
 Number 10)

 From the mastermind Suda 51 comes Lollipop Chainsaw, his first real HD game. Yeah, there was Shadows of the Damned, but his input there was not as pronounced as it is here. This game just reeks of Suda 51, Juliette Starling is one badass zombie hunter, and the rest of the cast, both bosses and allies are just as zany as her. It also helps that it's a blast to play. While it is a bit short, there's loads of unlockables and collectibles, plus, the game lends itself to repeated playthroughs.

 Number 9)

 Speaking of short, Journey lasts barely two hours, but they were two of the most awe-inspiring hours of my life. It really is that good. Be it the beautiful vistas, the way the characters journey(pun intended) through the various landscapes or it's minimalist storytelling, this game will leave some kind of lasting impression on you. And what a game it is.

 Number 8)

 Batman Arkham City is one of the few games this generation that didn't try to rip you off. There were a couple of DLC released, but they were mostly cosmetic, and the one piece of Story-related content actually felt like real DLC and not something that was taken off the game while it was being developed. It's also a fantastic game in it's own right. Everything Arkham Asylum had, this game doubles. There's so much more to do, to find, even easter eggs that only the most hardcore of Batman fans would notice. Speaking of Batman fans, the story, while a bit simple and straight forward, is straight out of a comic book, it's that good. But the game's crowning achievement is how it makes you feel as Batman, it's hard to explain, but few things are as pleasing as taking down a huge crowd of enemies, with them not even knowing where Batman is, freaking out as they get taken out one by one.

 Number 7)

 Square-Enix might not be the company that they used to be. They may have ruined Final Fantasy forever. But as much as they failed on the HD consoles, they released numerous decent-to-great RPGs on the DS. Above all of them lies The World ends with You, one of the most unique RPGs out there. While it has a bit of a SMT vibe, taking place in modern-day Shibuya, and if Neku wants to live, he has to complete certain tasks, part of a game of death. You grow stronger both by fighting and by eating food, which you must digest. Armor takes the form of clothes, regular clothes, and accesories like watches or earrings. Plus, the combat system would take too long to explain, but it's as unique as it is fun. This game is a reminder that Square-Enix can still produce quality games, if only they tried.

 Number 6)

 Present day Gearbox has become a bit of a shadow of it's former self. Borderlands 2 is a DLC cow/rip-off, heck, even the GOTY edition doesn't contain all it's DLC. Aliens is a really bad game that also gave way to numerous rumors about how Gearbox might've scammed Sega. Regardless, before becoming that, they created Bordelands, one of the best games this generation had to offer. Basically, it's Diablo 2 meets and FPS. And it works, fantastically if I may say so. And having couch Co-Op is just genious.

 Number 5)

 As many screw-ups as Capcom has done in the last few years, Tatsunoko VS Capcom remains as a reminder of just how awesome they used to be. TvC should've never seen the light of the day in USA, as getting the rights to every Tatsunoko character should've been very expensive and very complicated. But Capcom pulled through. Not only that, one character was lost as they could not attain the rights, so what did Capcom do? 5 completely new characters. As for the game itself, you might consider it the foundation upon which MvC 3 built upon. Still, TvC remains a superior game. It's a blast to play, and it doesn't have any sort of comeback mechanic, but adds a fantastic mechanic named Baroque, that basically makes it so that there's no infinites in the game, as long as you sacrifice some red health. The cast of characters was also incredibly diverse, something that MvC 3 didn't get right(3 DMC characters? 4 Resident Evil characters?), and MvC 3 has a larger roster!

 Number 4)

 Back in the PS2 era, there were two games that I loved: Gundam: Federation VS ZEON and Gundam VS Z Gundam. There were fast-paced, arcadey games with an emphasis on fighting. Needless to say, these games felt as if they had been made for me. Fast forward to this generation, I learn of Gundam Extreme VS just weeks away from the PS3 port, and I spent every day looking at videos and looking up information on the game. I bought it at launch and paid over 150(Sent from Japan+Buying through a third party... Latin America sucks and I didn't have my own card, sue me). And I don't regret it one bit. This game has EVERYTHING I want in game. Huge character roster(Over 60 different units), emphasis on fighting, Sword fighting, Arcadey gameplay, easy to pick up and play and lots of stuff to do. There are around 50 different stages just in Arcade Mode, but there are 200 different Missions in, well, Mission mode. I love this game. And the entirety of last year I spent it lurking the forums, waiting for news of a PS3 port of the sequel, Full Boost(Has over 90 units!)... well, it was finally announced a couple of months ago and I can't wait, heck, it might top my number 1 game....

 Number 3)

 The Orcs and Elves saga, which includes the equally awesome Doom RPG and Doom RPG II, are the perfect mobile games. They lend themselves to portability perfectly. Orcs and Elves on the DS is an upgraded port of a mobile game, the graphics were redone(And now look amazing) and a couple of new areas. What remained the same, however, was the fantastic gameplay. Basically, everything takes one turn, moving, attacking, etc. But enemies can't move until you move.While it may sound boring, it actually moves pretty fast, movement is done in tiles, just like Pokemon games, and you move at the same pace, thing is, until you make a move, the enemies can't move. This, plus the Save whenever you want is what makes it so portable-friendly, you can literally stop playing at a moment's notice and resume right where you were. And it's also very, very fun. I easily finished it over 15 times, both the Mobile and DS versions, and they never grow old. Never.

 Number 2)

 The one game that defined this generation for me was No More Heroes. It's also the game that introduced me to my favorite video-game director, Suda 51. The game is no technical masterpiece, there's slowdown in the shoddily implemented overworld, sometimes getting money before each match requires repeating certain tasks, and sometimes it's easy to tell that the game has some technical limitations when it comes to moving around. Despite all that, despite ALL that, the game oozes with personality. The main character, Travis Touchdown, is a star all by himself, and the 10 assassin's he must fight are all incredibly unique. Each one gets a long introduction and a death cutscene, and just those two makes every boss oh so memorable. While Motion controls on some of the side activities are a bit lame, everything that's involved in fighting is perfect. Slashing with the wiimote to perform a finishing move is impossibly satisfying, you really won't understand just how good it feels until you play the PS3 version and get stuck with the analog sticks, unless you use Move. There no games like No More Heroes, sure, action games with swords are a dime a dozen, but none have the same style and personality this one has. The only one that comes close is Lollipop Chainsaw.

 Number 1)

 If you like Fighting Games, it really doesn't get any better than this. Huge amount of characters(Over 50!) with only a couple of clones, and most of them have more than a few different moves. It also has the right kind of fanservice, every character from the series makes a return in here. Well, except Gunjack, which was really just Jack III, Kuma 1(Who'd be just Kuma 2), King 1(Who'd be just King 2) and Armor King 1, but no one really cares about them as they were replaced by identical characters. I digress, this game is a celebration of everything that is Tekken. It contains the tried and true fighting mechanics that have been perfected over the course of more than 6 games, and it brings back the much loved, and missed, tag mechanics. Don't want to learn two characters? You can just pick 1 character, with an extended life bar. The only complaint to be had, is that the customization options have been a bit streamlined since Tekken 6, this means that Gloves and body wear are one item and Feet and Legs are another one, not a real loss anyways.
 Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is as close to perfection as you can get, when it comes to Fighting Games. Plus, it's my favorite game of the last generation. I really don't know how to end this. Bye.

Now Playing: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

 Uncharted was really bad. Uncharted 2 was really good. Uncharted 3 is already off to a great start.

 And this is why I now refrain from watching as many trailers as I can: I didn't know Chloe would be back. Seeing her again was a great surprise. Just had to get that off my chest, heh. Anyways, I don't have much to say: Up to chapter six, so far it's pretty good. The story follows the formula of the previous two games, big baddie wants a certain thing that's found in a land of legend, Drake must race to get there first, bla bla bla. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but a bit formulaic. Characters are as good as always, they probably noticed that these exchanges during gameplay were one of the series strongest points, as you already start with two companions.
 Gameplay-wise, I haven't noticed any particular improvements, not that they were needed as the last game got them almost right. Haven't had much perilous platforming so I haven't tested it with jumps, but young Drake's segment going through the roofs felt silky smooth.
 Bottom line: It's looking mighty promising, I'm gonna get back to it after I get home from the U.

Review #72: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

 This is how you do a sequel.

 Uncharted 1 was awful. The production values were there, but the gameplay just didn't live up to it. Uncharted 2 fixes most of Uncharted 1's issues while expanding on ever redeeming quality Uncharted 1 had. The end result is a vastly superior game.
 Among Thieves takes up a little while after Uncharted 1, although there are no references to it what so ever. The game starts you up right about the middle of the story, with a wounded Drake being in a perilous situation, as he gets through it he recounts how he got there. Basically, there's an artifact, a dagger, that is said to be the key to opening Shambala, a hidden land, and the bad guy, who happens to have an accent like Uncharted 1's villain, wants it. There are plenty of similarities to Uncharted 1's story, a moment when Drake wants to call it quits, an ally in need of rescuing, a villain with an accent that learns how to get to the item he needs through Nathan, former humans turned inhuman enemies and a few others. The story is much better told this time, though, and there are many more supporting characters than in Uncharted 1, and they are all as likeable as the cast from UC1 were. Heck, most of the game, Drake will have at least one companion, and the exchanges between both are pure gold.

 My biggest gripe with Uncharted 1's gameplay was it's control, well, that's gone. Mostly. Movement has been tightened quite nicely, and doesn't feel as floaty. It's still not perfect, as a couple of jumps will make you feel as if it was the controls fault. And it probably was. The exploring segments are much better as well, Nathan will no longer prompt you towards deadly jumps, so if you mess up, it's completely your fault. There are a couple of puzzles too, and they are much more engaging and involved than Uncharted 1's, they are still pretty easy, but they are more fun. Attention to detail has been paid even to Drake's journal, as you can flip through the pages(When looking for hints for the puzzle) and see Nate's hilarious notes. Lastly, treasures return, and it's 100 instead of 60 now, although the game is just as linear as it used to be. Not that being linear is a bad thing.
 Combat is also better. Drake takes cover in a much smarter manner, and getting in and out of cover is much tighter as well. Enemies don't soak up as much damage as they used to be, at least not early in the game, and later when they do, it's at least explained by them having tons of armor on top. Every weapon returns alongside a couple of new ones. There are also special weapons, like a Riot Shield, a Minigun and gasoline tanks that you can throw and shoot them in the air to make them explode. Another complaint I had was that the game felt like you were going from shooting arena to shooting arena. While there are still a couple of those, they are not as heavy populated as before. The best feature, however, is that grenade distance is no longer controlled by motion controls, thank god. Even blindfire was enhanced, now you get a reticule so it's easier to aim at an area while doing so. I take it back, the best feature are the new set pieces. Many a times the game mixes the platforming with the shooting sections, making them much more exciting and fun. The train level is probably the standout moment of the game, but there are many more, like the car chase when you need to jump from car to car as you shoot your enemies, who are also on cars, really cool stuff.

 Presentation is downright fantastic. Gone is the plastic look that skin had in Uncharted 1, and everything is even more detailed. And details are everywhere, Drake and allies getting covered in snow while rolling around on it, getting wet too. There are physics applied to everything, so if you walk across it, Drake's body will push it. The soundtrack and voice acting is on par with Uncharted 1, and that's not a bad thing at all. Series newcomers are voiced just as well. What makes it even better is the dialogue, especially every character that gets to accompany Nathan, as the banter is fantastic.
 After you are done with the game, there are a multitude of stuff to unlock, from alternate skins for Nathan, to get-certain-weapon-whenever-you-want to even alternate filters or modes(Mirror World and Flip world are back). There's also a multiplayer component, but I had a bit of trouble finding matches. Regardless, Multiplayer is surprisingly fun, getting the acrobatics a gunplay into multiplayer arenas actually works quite well.
 Uncharted 1 is awful, it's just very hard to like. Uncharted 2 takes the redeeming qualities from it's predecessor and fixes everything that was wrong with it, ending up with an all around great game.
 8 out of 10.