• 23Dec 09

  My Final Blog for Gamespot

  Yes, the title says it all. No, I'm not gonna be one of those people who are quitting Gamespot altogether because I'll still be around to comment, look on forums, read reviews, etc.

  But I'm going to finish blogging here as there is not much purpose for me here anymore since most of my friends have left and it's getting rather boring around here. So this will be the last one I'll make. I'm sorry to disappoint everyone but I know that I've had some good times here making these blogs no matter how good or bad they were and my fellow readers commenting them.

  Well, it's the end of the line for me. But if you want to keep up to date with me, check me out on Twitter and Facebook if you wish.

  My blogs will now be on my Wordpress account and I've just made a few end of the year blogs that I wish for all of you to check out:

  • Part One: The Bad Stuff
  • Part Two: The Good Stuff (Various things + Movies)
  • Part Three: The Good Stuff (Anime)
  • Part Four: The Good Stuff (Video Games + Conclusion)

  So that's about it other than I hope you all have a happy holiday and I'll see you all later.

  

  This is Matty saying... Goodbye.

  (This blog is dedicated to my readers and friends who gave me support and enjoyment on this website for the past few years.)

  • Posted Dec 23, 2009 5:23 pm PT
  • Category: General
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• 25Nov 09

  A few things to say + Monthy Pick ups + Some random things

  Hey everyone, how are you all?

  Just gonna make this blog and I'm gonna say this right off the bat that I probably won't be doing much blogging here anymore as I used to because it's getting a little boring here and most of my readers has left (for their own reasons) but I still have you guys which is great and for that I'm gonna lead you all to my Wordpress blog, where I'll be doing most of my blogs there in the future and beyond.

  Also with that said, I have two blogs that I've posted recently so check them out....

  • Top Ten Most Overrated Games
  • My Thoughts on No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise and Kane & Lynch 2

  So please check them out if you can. Now let's move on to this month's Pick-Ups!

  

  Mangas: Black Cat (Vol. 1) and Welcome to the NHK (Vol. 1 + 2)
  Games: Cursed Mountain and Spectrobes: Origins on the Wii (Special Thanks to Madman for sending them to me) and Half-Minute Hero on the PSP (US Import)
  Magazines: Official Nintendo Magazine and Hyper Poster Book
  Full Metal Alchemist Complete Best Soundtrack and 2010 Calender
  Nintendo "Power to the Players" Sticker

  
  (Sorry for the shaky image)

  Trigun "Vash the Stampede" Poster
  Full Metal Alchemist Wall Scroll

  Not pictured:
  -Borderlands "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" DLC
  -LIT (Wiiware)
  -Bomberman Blast (DSiWare)
  -Tekken 6: Limited Edition (without Arcade stick)

  Now with the pick-ups out of the way, now onto something random...

  

  Now, when it was announced, I was not looking forward to Assassin's Creed 2, mainly because I was extremely disappointed with the first one. But I have gotten around to renting it and I did play it (for at least an hour) and all I can say is that it is better than the first one but not much different to change the core experience which may not seem like a bad thing for those who adored the original but could be bad if I went more deeper in the game but I can't really say too much as I didn't play any more due to other things. So, I'd say if you'd like the first one, get this one. If you didn't (like me), give it a rent and/or possibly wait for a price drop.

  Now about Assassin's Creed 2, Ubisoft said the most biased thing that they demand for high scores on this game which I think it's really dumb and just shows on how desperate they are wanting to sell this game but I guess they won't be happy if they see this review by Destructoid.

  

  On a more recent note involving anime as I've finished watching Berserk recently. Despite it's age, it's an excellent series overall with a dark but engaging story, great set of characters (but there's only 3 that are the most important than the rest), solid facial designs, great background designs, bloody action scenes, detailed stillshots and unconventional but amazing music score to set the show overall.

  While there are bad factors about Berserk are some dislikable characters and some animation flaws but the biggest one of all was the ending

  *Spoiler alert* It ends abruptly by fading the white at one fatal scene invovling God's Hand with no explanation whatsoever *End spoiler*

  The ending was so annoying I still think about it to this day, I believe you're suppose to use your imagination on what happened and/or just read the manga, but it's still a shame that due to the show's limited budget and impressive work that it ended up in a disappointment, but I'd still say give it a watch if you like medieval fantasy, violence and gore with a really good story.

  Well, that's it for now. Take Care everybody.

  • Posted Nov 25, 2009 11:49 pm PT
  • Category: General
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• 16Nov 09

  Closing Thoughts: Borderlands + Modern Warfare 2

  Well, I was originally going to do a blog about games that I wanted at the start of 2010 (not for Christmas because that's been done to death) but I need to get this out of the way before I start to forget about them

  So let's get onto it, I'm talking about two hyped FPS, one that is resonably hyped while the other is overhyped. But let's start with the reasonably hyped one first and the one that I was looking out for.

  

  Borderlands. When I first heard about the game, I didn't really care about at first but then when they announced the change in the art-$tyle, I got curious. After seeing a couple of videos about the game, I got into it even more as on how it'll play out, how it looks, etc.When I finally got my hands on it, I was really into it, although one or two games were distracting me from finishing the game though

  But now that I have finally finished it, all I've gotta say that this is my choice for the BEST FPS of 2009, period.

  Almost everything about this game was solid. Solid graphics (despite some texture loading), sound, gameplay and length is indeed the original IP that Gearbox has given to us and has done it well. The whole bada$$ yet rough feel of the world was great, picking up loot, different characters with different abilities to choose from (I chose the Hunter ) and new weapons is addicting and plenty of missions to do (both main and side quest) gave the game a whole lot of depth as well as the game is very balanced on being a First-Person Shooter crossed with an RPG, especially when it comes to leveling up.

  But does it mean the game is perfect? No. There are some flaws I have with the game that I will mention. First of all, as of being an FPS/RPG, I could have expected a good story since it follows in the RPG and while it does have a basic premise on what the game is, which is about a bunch of vault hunters on a planet trying to find the big vault to seek it's vast riches but no one believes them, The disappointing part about the story is that it's not very deep at all and the craptastic ending doesn't help either. It's not a total game killer at all but they could have put some effort into this game with a more in-depth story as of being a part-RPG that is.

  Another problem I had is one that I knew it was coming, as Gearbox stated that there will be over "a million type of guns". I knew from the start that it was going to be a joke and I was right, they're basically the same kind of guns you get, a Pistol, Revolver, SMG, Assualt Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launchers, etc. So it's no surprise in the end but what makes them different is what components that the guns have, like an SMG has a corrossive toxic component with a 267 Damage rate and 78% Accuracy rate, so at least that's something good so you can change around different weapons and sell or drop the ones you don't want and go with that, although it would have been nice if there was a customisable gun-maker, so you can collect all the parts and build something entirely from scratch but there's nothing like that in the game which isn't a big problem but it would have been nice for the creative types.

  Another problem I had was the wonky enemy AI, sometimes they notice you and sometimes they don't, it's kinda random but at least it's tolerable though. But my biggest complaint about the game is the end boss, the hit detection and glitches from the end boss is so weird especially when you're hiding in the smallest cover as possible, you'll still get hit from the wind waves or laser, it's so stupid. The gitches on the other hand are even as dumb but not as problematic as the end bosses laser can go through the biggest cover you can find yet you won't get it. I think they kinda rushed this part a bit which is kinda annoying but still playable.

  So all in all, despite the (somewhat nit-picky) problems I've stated, Borderlands is an amazing game that every FPS or Action-RPG fan should play. If you have a 360, PS3 or PC, get it. I know I should have mentioned the Co-Op feature but I never got to try that out though, so sorry about that. I'll give my final score at the end of the blog as we go to the next game which is the overhyped one that I've rented.

  

  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I've stated many times that I wasn't gonna buy this game for certain reasons and not just the whole "I'm not buying it because Activision is Evil" thing but I believed the first one was overrated, not that I'm saying it's bad but it's go so much high scores that when I played and finished the game, I had no idea why. But I think the whole reason why people praised it is because of it's multiplayer component, which I think it's rather biased because if think if a game (especially if it's an FPS) is focused more on the multiplayer rather than the single-player campaign (which while it had epic moments, it was rather short), then I would clarify that game as 'unbalanced'. Why? If you put more effort into Multiplayer than Single-player, then the game should have been a multiplayer exclusive from the start (like Warhawk on the PS3) especially for a hyped game like COD4.

  Now the sequel is out and I've rented it on the PS3 (why not the 360 version? They were out), What do I think of it? Is it just as overhyped as the first one? Absolutely. Infinity Ward and Activision didn't do much to improve the first one and just gave us the same game with little new content which really goes to show that when you overhype a game like this, you should fulfill it because if you don't, I'm not gonna take the game seriously.

  But that doesn't mean that I hate the game though, I actually did enjoy it, but I'll mention that later as I'll get onto the bad points first...

  To start off, the story is a continuation of the first one so for those who have paid attention and enjoyed the story in COD4 will be pleased to know that it continues with some great action and epic moments, however... I do have a few problems with it. For starters, the story has way too many twists that it becomes a little ridiculous and a bit confusing, how many people in this game can betray others? It's so silly.

  Another problem is the occasional enemy placement, sometimes they'll come from behind you in certain maps of the main game and it's really annoying as you can die often when you're not careful. Some of the items are a little underused like the Night Vision Goggles, no matter how dark it is, it's still a little hard to see where your enemies are, while it's not a big problem but I would have expected something better like a thermal component in the NVG. Also the Riot Shield is useful in certain parts of the game, however you can't shoot while holding them which makes no sense to me, as it could have been better to shoot while holding the shield.

  And finally, the biggest problem I had with the game is the same I had with the first one, It's TOO DAMN SHORT! I beaten this game around about 5-6 and a 1/2 hours and this is a reason why I'm starting to have a little grudge with modern FPSs as I've said, they tend to focus too much on the multiplayer than a long and decent single-player campaign. (I can't believe I'm gonna say this) but even the single-player campaign in The Conduit on the Wii was longer than this game, Killzone 2 was longer than this game and as overhyped as that game was, at least it was balanced with a lengthy campaign mode and superb online multiplayer. I'm sorry but that's how I feel about MW2 and most FPS in general.

  But despite all the problems I've mentioned, it's still a really solid game with great epic moments in the campaign, the smoothest graphics I've ever seen, solid controls and fun online multiplayer (I only got to try one Free-for-all match and I came in 3rd ), so I may consider a buy for the multiplayer but who knows? I'm more likely gonna buy it used for certain reasons.

  So final thoughts on both of these games...

  Borderlands: An Amazing Solo experience that defies the odds with a hitch here and there but still a must buy as it is my choice for Best FPS this year. (9/10)

  Modern Warfare 2: Buy it if you're gonna play the multiplayer but rent it if you're strictly gonna play for the single-player campaign. (8.5/10)

  (I'd also like to add that $120 for MW2, it seems severly overpriced as well as COD4 Wii for $100. They should have been $20 off ($100 for MW2 and $80 for COD4 Wii) without question, imo.)

  

  When I rented Modern Warfare 2, I also got the chance to rent COD 4: MW - Reflex Edition on the Wii and Mobilized on the DS. As for Reflex Edition, it's pretty much what you'd expect for a port, it's a little downsized with the graphics to fit the system, so they are crap compared to the original versions but good for a Wii title but could have done a little better. As for controls, there are various pre-created button placements for the Wiimote + Nunchuck or you can customise it yourself (but don't expect too much customisation like in The Conduit) and you can also utilise the Wii Zapper if you wish. The gameplay is pretty much what you'd expect from COD 4 but just with Motion controls which I think it works very well. The most surprising thing about the game is it's online multiplayer, it works perfectly. No lag or anything, you just connect via Wi-Fi, you select a match, wait for others and you're in. However, there are only 10 players maximum and no Killcam like in the original, so it's a bit of a disappointment but not a total game killer though.

  (That also reminds me about MW2, if COD4 on the Wii can handle 10 players, why MW2 on the PS3 can only handle up to 8?!)

  So, if you're an exclusive Wii-owner that never played COD 4 and want a good FPS to play online, Get this game. It's well worth it despite it's setbacks and there's plenty of people online playing (seriously, I couldn't believe it).

  I'm not gonna say too much about Mobilized but I will say that it's pretty good for a FPS on the DS, amazing graphics and excellent sound quality, however if you didn't like FPS on the DS (like Metroid Prime: Hunters or the previous COD games), don't even bother.

  So, that's it for this blog (finally). Take Care everybody!

  • Posted Nov 16, 2009 4:55 am PT
  • Category: Games
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