Cataclysm-Yes I'm one of THOSE people... I get it.
Halo:Reach-After playing the beta they really seemed to add some strategic depth to the Halo 3 while not killing the built in fun factor of running around and blowing up your friends. It is strategic without being over strategic. I like that. Also the graphics are leaps ahead of Halo 3 in my opinion, and really optimized for 1080p... finally.
Scott Pilgrim-This goes here because... well read the damn comics they are so huge in video game references and nudges and jokes that the game they are putting up as a download later (with the movie) is gonna be hilarious. Plus the retro SNES look is brilliant for the series.
But finally on to the games I came to talk about. The first game I got recently I wanted to talk about was Singularity, a game that isn't getting as much press as I think it deserves. I played it on the Xbox 360. The game is brilliant. It has a deep engaging "alternate history" story centering around the Cold War, and Russia finding an element that allowed for some crazy stuff, but it sort of imploded without anyone outside the project knowing much more about it then a name. You are in charge of an American deployment sent to investigate a huge emp surge on an island known as a location of an old Russian lab. Well, an apparent Singularity was opened during experiments with this new element (an isotope of E-99). This allows manipulation of time. Your character gets involved in things not only in 2010 (current date in game) but also 1955. He finds he is put into the middle of both conflicts, and havoc obviously ensues.
The game plays out beautifully. It is a first person shooter with a very nice set of weapons even early on. The E-99 weapons have really cool properties (a self guided missile for instance) that have strategic purpose in the story. It feels good, and is based on the unreal engine 3 so if you have played any fps with that engine you know what your in for.
The story plays out in a number of ways. This is borrowed heavily from Bioshock... So heavy in fact many reviewers (myself included) have seen the ties so deep that we can't help but mention its kind of ripping it off, but in the best way possible. Tons of audio diaries and interactive places in the environment allow you to unravel as much or as little of the story as you want. It is a great way to do it, and I'm personally glad to see more fps games taking this route.
The game is a fun ride so far and I can't wait to get time to take more of the ride. I'm a big fan of war conspiracy stories AND of alternate history style stories, so I'm very excited for this.
Now I also bought Red Dead Redemption. This game is getting a great deal of coverage, and for good reason. I'm gonna assume everyone reading has played at least a little bit of GTA IV so I won't go to deep into mechanics. The game is a wild west story of a man backed into a corner. John Marston is taken away from his wife and children, and told he has to hunt down his old gang members and kill them before he will be allowed to see them again.
The first thing about this game is how RICH it is. It is jaw dropping. The views you get of the west are beautiful. Rockstar out did themselves this time, and I love every second. You feel transported to the south west seen in such great films as Outlaw Josey Wales and the Dollar series. If your a fan of those style of movies your gonna love stepping into that world. Everything is picture perfect.
And lets be honest, No game review would be without a Starcraft 2 review.... And I have my own to give. I'm a Starcraft fan. The original RTS was well balanced, perfect, with a HUGE learning curve if you wanted to take on true greats. Starcraft 2:Wings of Liberty is the reboot of the series after over a decade. Even the opening cinematic makes a joke, with Tychus Findlay getting out of prison, stating at the end if he was ready for another job that it was "About damn time" letting a little of Blizzards humor out.
The game is REALLY pushing multiplayer, putting battle.net 2.0 at the forefront. And it is a great system. Allowing gamers from WoW and SC2 talk in between games easily is amazing, and allows a sense of communities to be establish, letting hardcore players of both play both without feeling disconnected so they can always get asked to raid or asked if they wanna play a match in either game. It is a genious business decision for blizzard, and a great saving grace for us gamers. (Yes I know that xfire and steam already do this but building it into the game for Blizzard makes this connection happen for everyone, no third party stuff required, meaning EVERYONE in game has it, no barrier for entry...).
Now that doesn't build a good game. And let me say this. An RTS is a delicate beast. It is a game hinging on balancing units. How many resources to make them, how much space they take up, time to build them, and how many steps you have to go to even get the ability to make them is huge. The battles play out as a sort of high tech chess or rock paper scissors match. Some units are better versus others.
Three races are balanced on play style in the multi-player, and each has strengths and weakness. Terran is the forefront of the campaign, so I'll talk about the pros and cons of it first. They are the middle ground. They have strong upper tech trees, are not to expensive, but not super cheap. The upgrades are a huge part and offer good buffs. These when compared to the other two races are obvious. Protoss is the high tech race. The race with the biggest learning curve, they require tight resource management cause everything is more expensive then the other two, but each unit is that much stronger. In a 1on1 fight versus the "mirror unit" of the other race, Protoss will win. But there is the problem, they can not build large armies as quickly and can be easily overwhelmed by Terran and of course.... The Zerg. The Zerg is the "bug" race of Starcraft, and are the purest idea of strength in numbers. MMO players that play open world PvP have heard the term that originated in Starcraft. Zergs build weak units, but can build more units quicker then any other race, so your goal is to be cranking out TONS of units as soon as possible. It is a great balancing act that many have dove into full force.
And the multiplayer is just as good, and just as deep, as playing chess... if you know, bishop to a-3 meant you shot an alien in the face. It is deep in strategy, but the campaign offers a slow build up. It is only the Terran but gives you a GREAT view of what is in store in multiplayer.
Now if your not a fan of competitive multi-player... Don't bother with Starcraft 2... Because well lets face it, this is the most competitive game on the planet. South Korea in fact has 4 television channels that where and to my knowledge still are dedicated to professional Starcraft players.... A game that came out 12 years ago is being televised and players are being payed. Competition is huge. The new battle.net system though keeps it in check. After a few placement rounds it places you in a ladder of similair skilled players so your not getting beaten by a pro in Korea...
And the ONE con I have with the game is this... The units are almost TO similair to the old ones. There are some huge changes don't get me wrong, but marines/zealots/zerglings are still the same thing. Battleships and Carriers are still ruling the skies. Thor is a beefed up Goliath, and immortals are the more balanced answer to the Dragoon. It is very similair... Which means if your a Starcraft player your gonna feel at home, but if your where not be prepared to get beat while your learning. But don't worry, it is a very pretty loss to watch happen.
But all in all, the balance is there, the graphics are beautiful on a good system, it runs silky smooth, and the big draw of the game for me, multiplayer, is spot on. The campaign has some great humor and ties in the story of the Queen of Blades (Kerrigan) from brood war and brings Raynor back... Drowning his sorrows with a little whiskey, and being forced to get back into the fight he thought he left. It is a deep game, and really should be played.
So all in all, all three games I'd highly suggested picking up if you have some extra cash. If you'd like to play SC2 with me add me. My battle.net is drewsipher@gmail.com
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