E3 2010: Sony Impressions

Last one...After the unexpected domination of Nintendo at their conference, Sony's turn at bat was surprisingly disappointing. Not as bad as Microsoft's waste of space, but still pretty underwhelming. This mainly had to do with Sony not reveling anything that everyone was already aware of. There's still some games worth discussing though.

Killzone 3: I'm not sure what sets the Killzone series apart from other shooters on the market other than it being the only shooter franchise of any value on the Playstation systems. Everyone seems to be really excited for this one and I don't see much reason why. It looks pretty and some of the action is intense, but I have to say that don't like the Playstation controller for standard shooters, I'd much rather play it on X-Box...see I don't completely hate my 360....

The Sly Collection: I'm kinda pissed that Sony didn't dwell on this outside of an announcement that it was coming and it would in 3-D and be compatible with the Plystation move. The Sly Cooper series will be getting the God of War treatment by having it PS2 entries scaled to HD and released in a PS3 collection. I loved the Sly series and I can't wait for fourth entry in the series, but being able to play the older titles on the PS3 with thorphy support will be a the things that dreams are made of. The best part is that more of this collections are rumored to be coming. Keeping my fingers crossed for a Ratchet and Clank collection...

Playstation Move: Mircosoft's motion control device had a name change in the last year. Sony's device was just lucky enough to get a name. Like Kinect, the Move doesn't look any different or better than what was shown off last year. It offers full 1:1 motion control which is on par with what Wii motion plus can do and while the devices line-up of games is a lot less rip-offy than Kinect's offerings, they still aren't interesting enough to warrant a look. Sure, I think the Move is stronger than what the Wii offers, I just don't think the Market is there for it. The thing will launch this launch this September and there are bunch of different add-on devices to go with it.

Sorcery: Good job Sony! You made a Harry Potter game for the Move that looks even less interesting than they do.

Heroes on the Move: The idea behind this is somewhat intriguing. The game's a crossover between Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, and Jak & Daxter and uses the Move to pull off attacks. from what was shown in the trailers, it looks like all the characters the do are their most basic attacks: Sly swings his cane, Ratchet swings his wrench, etc. I love two of the franchises on display here (piss off Jax...), so if I ever do get a Move, I'll have something to check out.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta: I knew that although God of War III is the final game in the series timeline, the franchise was just gonna do a Metal Gear Solid and release a bunch of games that take place at different points in the series history. This one takes place between the first and second game as Kratos is getting use to position as the new God of War. I don't have a PSP yet and I would have preferred that GOW III turely would have been the last of the franchise, but I might play this one.

Little Big Planet 2: I didn't like the first game, it came free with my PS3 (along with the amazing Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time) and just didn't live up to the hype and success that the franchise has garnered. The sequel looks like it could be an improvement. There's more customization options (no shock there), and the series is make a jump to cover more game genres than just platformers, so this one could be worth a look.

Portal 2: Like everyone else, I love Portal and although I want more, I don't really care for the notion of a full blown sequel. The first game was an independent masterpiece, taking a small idea an pushing it to its limits and working with little resources the development team had to its max. The sequel is getting a bigger team and seems to be going for the whole bigger is better idea that games stupidly fall for.

Final Fantasy XIV Online: I finally completed Final Fantasy XIII a few weeks ago, but that doesn't mean I'm icthing for more and it certainly doesn't mean I want that more to be an online game. I didn't like FF XI because it was online and my stance has changed here...didn't i say that last year? Oh well...

Gran Turismo 5: Again, I don't really have much interesting in racing outside of Mario Kart and Burnout so Gran Tursimo is pretty much a moot point to me. Looks really pretty though. Its stated for release nest year but given the infamous delays of the last game, I'm only interested in seeing rather or not it actually comes out.

Infamous 2: Infamous is on my list of Playstation exclusives that I need to play now that I own a PS3. Even though I haven't played that, I can't really say I'm excited for this and its for its for the dumbest reason...I can't stand Cole's new character design...his hair looks so damn out of place. Anyway the game's developer Sucker Punch also develops the Sly Cooper series and it goes without saying that I'd rather they make a new Sly game than new Infamous.

Twisted Metal: I've never played a game in this series before, but it looks cool, like a twisted version of Mario Kart. Not much was shown apart from some muliti player modes, but I could get into this.

And so E3 2010 ends...

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Like the first game, Crash 2 has also been taking up space on my PS3 hard drive since January. The only reason I shelled out some cash for more Naughty Dog garbage after being tortured by the first Crash game is because a lot of people informed me that the second game is a huge improvement over the first. I kinda have to agree, Crash 2 is the typical sequel that tries to fix any issues that plagued its original outing and...well...at least it's better than the first one. Crash 2 sets the standard in terms of how most of the latter non-Naughty Dog produced sequels would play out. They fixed the saving problem that destroyed the first game and kinda improved the level design, so I was actually able to finish this one. Crash can now slide, giving him a lower attack than the spin, and he can also pull off a belly flop. The world map has been replaced with a warp room, featuring five levels and a lift to the boss (or next floor if the boss is defeated). The bosses can't be fought again, but since they're barely challenging and not very good, it's no big lost.

There's more emphasis on collecting gems, whether by breaking all the crates in a stage, following a secret path or completing the Death Route, which are naturally full of nitro, TNT, pits, spikes and all kinds of devious hazards. I didn't do any of this. Like the first game, there are plenty of cheap deaths and stupid game play concepts. The god awful warthog riding stages have been replaced with baby polar bear riding stages that are only a tad less awful, and there are stages where Crash can ride motorised surfboards and jetpacks, which also suffer from poor controls. I think the problem with some of this may have to do with the fact that game doesn't use the analog stick, it uses the D-pad. Sure, the levels aren't fully 3D in the sense that you can't go that far to the left or right, but I think the controls might feel a little more responsive and less clunky if used the stick. This game is at least somewhat enjoyable, but I'm not going to look into the third game anytime soon as I'm convinced that Naughty Dog doesn't have much talent for platformers.

Crash Bandicoot

I lived in a Nintendo household growing up and didn't acquire a non-Nintendo system until 2004, when I got my PS2. There was a huge backlog of PS1 titles that I missed and with the PS3's downloadable service, I'm able to check out what I've been missing. Crash Bandicoot was the Playstation's Mario equivalent, back when it was pretty much required for all systems to have one. It was made by Naughty Dog, the same people who would go on to make the those tolerable Jak and Daxter games. The Crash series went on without them and people have been complaining that the series was better in their care, but taking on their initial outing with the Bandicoot, I found a game that wasn't even worth completing! This game has been taking up space on my PS3's hard drive since early January, and while I normally won't talk about something on this blog without completing it (or in the case of stuff I already owned - replaying it), This game is just too unplayable to warrant even that.

Crash Bandicoot is a like a 3D Super Mario World or Donkey Kong Country. In fact, it's kinda what Mario 64 would have been like it had just took Mario World and put it in 3D. The gameplay is simplistic and kinda enjoyable, barely complicated at all. However the level designs are just pure shit and feature tons of cheap deaths and this is greatly elevated by the fact that it's in 3D and the camera is low. The controls are stiff and feature some of the clunkiest jumping I've seen in a platformer and combining this with poor level design and low camera turns stage progression into a nightmarish game of trail and error. Even when the game shows presents the action from a 2D perspective, the ledges are rarely more than one block wide, so if you happen to accidentally move up or down, you're likely dead. Then there are the stages where Crash rides a Warthog and dies when the damn thing runs into the tiniest little pebble on the ground...and the shit controls don't make that any better.

But you know, even with all that the game wouldn't be too much trouble to muscle through if it wasn't for the game's truly fatal flaw. The greatest problem in a game filled with annoyances is that it simply won't let you save. To save your progress or get a password, you can either complete a Tawna bonus stage and you can only do a bonus area once per level, so if you want to save again you'll actually need to find another level with a bonus area and of course the game doesn't inform you of what stages have them and if they've been completed. The other method of saving is to get a gem. That option is ruined by the fact that you must destroy all boxes in a stage without dying to get a gem and I've already covered how horrendous the levels are. It's a shame, if I was simply allowed to save when I wanted, I would have at least been able to persist to the game's end, but now it just left me wondering how this series ever got off the ground.

Jak 3 (Review)

Right off the bat, Jak 3 is loads better than Jak 2. This statement feels odd for me because Jak 3 doesn't really fix any of the major problems from the previous game. At least unlike Jak 2, this game doesn't add any more painful problems in addition to what's caused frustration in the past. I find it relatively shocking that Naughty Dog has pretty much let any and almost all criticisms of the first two titles go unnoticed. The only thing that got some form of improvement here was the slight (and I mean slight) increase in checkpoints and the less crowded Haven City which was a hell of a lot easier to traverse now.

I'm being a little hard on Jak 3, but I actually did enjoy it. All of the problems from before are still here, but they are somewhat less frustrating than they were in the past and the game manages to be pretty fun and rewarding. The game wraps up the trilogy's storyline pretty well and the characters who are introduced are fun and probably the most fully realized characters in the series. The dialogue is less painful and forced except for Jak himself, who still sounds like a stock wannabe action hero. The game's attempts at actual humor are more successful; the cutscene that reveals the Precrussors being the highlight. Perhaps most intriguing, you can unlock commentary for a lot of the cutscenes. They're pretty interesting and shows the developers' love for their series and makes you appreciate some of the work they did. Overall though, The Jak and Daxter games really could've been handled better, but apart from Jak 2, it's a pretty fun series (overlooking some annoyances).

Jak 2 (Review)

I remember playing this when I was younger. I finished it and sorta enjoyed it, but I found it too frustrating to fully embrace so I traded it in to my game store. I just recently bought the game back and after running through the game again, I can clearly see why I gave it away before. Jak 2 is a departure from the first game in tone and in gameplay. The bright cheery world and characters are replaced with a dark distopian future and Jak himself has been transformed into a wannabe badass. The Mario 64 elements from the first game are also replaced by a pretty bad attempt at a Grand Theft Auto clone. To the game's credit, the change in tone sort of works. The story is interesting and the characters are...tolerable. Daxter is probably the highlight as his dialogue can oftentimes be hilarious, though sometimes he can off as grating.

The gameplay change, however is extremely clunky. Getting around Haven City is an unbelievable nightmare as it is, without a doubt, one of the most convoluted game environments I've ever seen. Paths diverge wildly, loop around three or four times to get from one major street to another, and are so crowded it's virtually impossible to drive through without accidentally hitting someone or something. The Krimson Guard that patrol the streets function as the GTA equivalent of cops, and the slightest bump into one of them or their vehicles brings their full ire on top of you. Vehicles are difficult to control through the tight, winding paths and they're so congested with traffic that it's easy to get your car destroyed or run into other people. Worst of all (and without question one of the worst parts of the game) are the racing missions which control poorly, are way too strict (you can die in these races), drag on longer than they have any right to, and have little to no baring on the actual storyline. I swear these races made me want to chuck my controller at the screen.

The platforming is still present but they're in their own sections outside the confines of the shitty city. The platforming sections are well-designed if often put off by the game's irritants, although the integration of guns into the Jak and Daxter formula is done better than I expected. Enemies are still in cheap as hell locations and your guns have really bad auto targeting. Also, when you die, the game remembers the ammo and power-ups you used up, but respawns all the enemies and obstacles...this is such a well thought out game. Really... someone should have playtested this game a little more. Jak 2 is a constant battle between love and hate. It has it moments, but its just too damn frustrating to truly be enjoyable.

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Review)

Jak and Daxter kicked of a trio of high profile platformer series for the Playstation 2, the latter two series being Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper. I've played the later Jak and Daxter games, but it sure took me a while to get around to playing The original outing. This game didn't really change my opinion of the series though. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's a solid platformer, but I just can not figure out why some people believe this series is better than Ratchet or Sly. The only think Jak has over Sly is writing and storyline, while the storyline manages to be the only thing to trump Ratchet (well...the PS2 entries in the series anyway). The Jak and Daxter games are just more frustrating, suffer from imprecise controls, and are just less polished...sort of.

The first game is more of standard platformer in comparison to the sequels. It's sort of a hybrid of Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64. Developer Naughty Dog gave Jak and Daxter pretty much all the same moves they gave Crash when they developed that series, while the gameplay has you going around doing various tasks to earn orbs that allow you to move on to next level a la Mario 64. While the game gets the job done, there are some things that shouldn't have made through the testing phase, such as the double jump which seems to be too specific about it's timing, a picky-ness that sent me to my death more times than necessary. Most enemies serve no other purpose than to piss you off when you're trying to do other things and the enemies are fairly often placed in cheap as hell locations. It also doesn't help that Jak has a stupid method of restoring health. He can take 3 hits before he dies, but can regain one health point by collect 50 green eco orbs that, while plentiful, oddly takes too damn long to full up and makes death seem like faster option to get your health back.

Okay, I'm being a little hard on the game... despite all this bitching, I really did enjoy this game. It just that all those annoyances really make it hard to not be a little irritated will going through it. The world Naughty Dog has created is colorful and fun to run around in. The story and characters, while not on par with the sequels, are somewhat entertaining and actually managed to make me laugh sometimes, though the game is definitely not as clever as it thinks. The game could have been developed a bit more, but it's still a solid platformer.