Some things on the horizon, some things out now, some thoughts:
Halo 3: Recon
OK, I’ve mentioned before my issues with Halo. I always dug the space opera story, and the Master Chief as a playable character. I love the control scheme - it’s so simple yet to effective - and the various elements that go into the games, the driving, the flying, the shooting, etc.
But the gameplay has always been from the first person perspective, a perspective that, for whatever reason, always makes me dizzy when I play it. I have played through Halo 1 and 3 - usually in small bursts, between 15 and 30 minutes. Yes, it is as annoying as it sounds.
Anyway. The new Halo expansion, called Halo 3: Recon, was recently revealed by MS and Bungie at the Tokyo Game Show. It looks to be a prequel of sorts, giving us a new story from the perspective of an orbital drop trooper just before the events of Halo 3.
Presumably this means more first-person gameplay. I can’t fault MS and Bungie for going with what works for them. I just would love a third-person perspective Halo game!
And, to be honest, I do feel like there’s more they could be doing, even in first-person. A lot of people had speculated that this new Halo game might have been a squad-based shooter and I would have loved to have seen that. So much of Halo is “rush in and keep shooting,” I think having a squad and maybe introducing some more tactical and stealth elements to the game would have given it a nice twist. Imagine Rainbow Six Vegas, in the Halo world?
Instead, it looks to be more Halo, just with a different lead character. Still, if the story is on par with the rest of Halo - and it’s of suitable length in comparison to price, meaning they either treat it as an expansion pack and price it as such (10 hours or less, $30) or treat it as a full game (20 hours or more, $60) then I’ll probably be tempted to pick this up… and continue to play in short bursts. Sigh.
Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO
Ugh. I was really hoping the rumours of BioWare’s new Star Wars game being an MMO were not true - I just wanted a nice, in-depth RPG experience. Something I could play on my XBox 360. But it looks like Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a full-fledged “online world” PC game, complete with subscription pricing and all that crap. What a colossal disappointment. Big time pass, thanks but no thanks.
UPDATE: Since I first starting writing my notes for this post, EA have said they’re considering ways to get this onto consoles. That piques my interest, but still, I already pay for Live, so they’re gonna have to find a way to do it without charging me anything extra!
Rock Band 2 free tracks
Hey, speaking of colossal disappointments, how about those 20 free songs for Rock Band 2? Unsurprisingly, they’re 20 bands you’ve never heard of. Hooray. I don’t want to complain because free is free, and for the artists involved - assuming these are real bands and not more Harmonix make-believe bands - it’s a great way for them to get people to hear their music. I just thought that they’d include a half-dozen or so “big name” bands and songs to make me want to download this. I’m not gonna get it “just because it’s free.” I don’t need 20 songs I don’t want to play clogging up my hard drive or my set list. Some familiar songs would have been incentive to get it and even try some of the unknown stuff. Now? I don’t think I’ll bother.
Guitar Hero World Tour Release
So, it’s out. Reviews seem generally positive; not surprising, since this formula should be pretty much nailed down at this point.
I’m generally impressed with the final setlist; a few too many tracks that are also in RB2, though. So that 86 songs is really more like 70, but that’s still a good-sized library of new stuff.
I’m surprised they haven’t announced a more aggressive download system. They’ve announced a pack of songs available on release - a few classic rock songs - as well as an upcoming Oasis pack (with the rest of Oasis’ latest album coming in 2009) and the already-available Metallica album. And that’s all. Meanwhile Rock Band continues to release songs every week (at least three, often more).
I didn’t expect them to have 100 tracks ready to go or anything, but I would have expected some sort of “we will have regular downloads” announcement. Hasn’t happened yet, though.
Meanwhile, I’m still waiting to read a few more reviews of the new guitar to see if I want to pick it up, as I still only have one (early reports have the drums being problematic). Either way, this will likely be a couple months off the radar, because once I’ve played through Rock Band 2, I’ll probably want a short break from rhythm games.
Fallout 3
I said a month or so back I was intrigued by this game, but wasn’t sure entirely sure if it was for me. Well, now I’m sure. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive - all the things I thought made the game sound cool in the previews are just as good in the gameplay, according to what I’ve read. Frankly, the game sounds incredible.
Perhaps more importantly, it can be played in either first or third-person view! A welcome relief to one who suffers from nausea when playing FPS games like me. Although I hear the first-person view is better, if it means I can play it longer, I’ll probably stick with third-person.
Unfortunately a new game isn’t in the budget so I’ll have to find a couple games to trade in for it; thankfully, it sounds like one of the “good bang for your buck” games, in that you’ve probably getting at least 30 hours of gameplay, and possibly as much as 100, for your $60.
So, I’ll try and get myself and some games into EB this week, because I am definitely looking forward to trying it out!
NBA Live 09 and NBA 2K9
I love the NBA, obviously, so you’d think my love of basketball video games would be correspondingly obvious.
Yet, it’s not.
I used to, that’s for sure, but lately, I find - like most sports games - the NBA games have become too complex, too difficult… too real, if you will. I mean, I appreciate the efforts of the developers to make them like that, but for casual gamers, it’s just not as fun anymore. It takes too long to master the controls and learn the effective plays, and the de-emphasis on fast-breaking and one-on-one play have taken a lot of enjoyment out of them.
I don’t want an NBA Jam-style arcade game, but you know, I want to be able to grab a rebound and run a fast break; I want to be able to drain a shot in a guy’s eye; I don’t want every single possession to be a struggle.
With all that in mind, obviously, I approached the demos of Live 09 and 2K9 with a HUGE amount of trepidation.
2K9, unfortunately, was more of the same… too difficult to score, impossible to turn the corner on anyone. No fun at all.
However, there is some potential in Live 09… For one thing, shooting is mapped to a button, not the analog stick (I’ll never understand the thinking there). That in itself made the controls much, much easier. But second… it wasn’t impossible to score! I hit jump shots, and even beat my man to the hoop a couple times (admittedly, using Kobe Bryant).
Furthermore, though I didn’t see this aspect in my demo play-through, reading the reviews I see some in-game training for play calling is provided, including basic pick and rolls. That’s something that sounds helpful.
I also thought the graphics were better than 2K9’s.
Is it enough to make me buy it? Doubtful, though if I didn’t have Rock Band 2 to finish and Fallout 3 on my radar, I’d seriously think about it. Maybe I’ll put it on the Christmas list or wait for it to come down in price in the spring.
Tags:
Fallout 3,
Halo 3 Recon
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