Reviews - by Jason - February 25, 2010 - 01:17 UTC - Be first to Comment!
Bioshock will always hold a special place in my heart, as my number 2 favourite game of all time. Well, until it gets knocked off by something better. So, knowing how epic the first one was, how excited do you think I was for the second? Well, admittedly I wasn’t very excited, at first. I feared it would tarnish that beautiful memory that the first game had. But did it? I suppose it’s a good question, so lets find out!
The story is arguably one of the most important parts of Bioshock, and the same is true for the sequel. Bioshock 2takes place ten years after the events of the first game, so Rapture is starting to have some problems; well, more problems. Over the ten years, no-one has been repairing Rapture, so the place is falling apart. Not only that, the inhabitants are adapting: they’ve been splicing for so long, they’re now a lot stronger than they were previously. Thankfully, you take the role of a Big Daddy; not just any Big Daddy either, but Subject Delta, the fourth prototype Big Daddy, but the first to be successfully ‘bound’ to a Little Sister. The Little Sister in this case is Eleanor, whom you will spend the game trying to hunt down, as without her, you’re weak and useless.
Being a Big Daddy, you’d think you are ultra-powerful, but this is not the case. I mentioned before that the splicers are stronger, they’re also smarter and a whole deal more dangerous. As you’re also the first successful prototype, you’re not as strong as the Big Daddies you knew in the first title. Apart from that, because you’re also away from Eleanor, you’re weaker still. What this means is…well, you’re about as strong as Jack from the first game.
Actually, speaking of Jack; you’ll see a decent amount of mentions to him throughout your play through, if you’re paying attention. You’ll also see and hear mentions to the plot of the first game, as well as many of the characters. In this way, the stories come together quite well, but if you haven’t played the first, you’ll spoil Bioshock for yourself, which would be a damned shame.
In terms of actual changes, the AI has been tweaked, there’s a few new plasmids and weapons (but they are just ‘different’ versions of the ones in the first title), most of the tonics are the same, and there’s two new enemy types; the Big Sister, a very fast equivalent of the Big Daddy, who will not hesitate to use plasmids on you or kick you in the face; and the Brute Splicer, whom reminds me greatly of the Tank in Left 4 Dead. The Big Sister was a little disappointing to me. Firstly, the sound she makes when she’s coming makes my head ache, secondly, her appearance is all too scripted; I would have preferred a little looseness in her arrival. Still, she is bad ass and does beat the heck out of you.
The weapons are fun; you can fiddle around with the three different ammo types for each weapon, or working out which Power to the People machines you want to use, as you can’t upgrade all of your weapons. But really, what is best about these weapons? Rocket spears. Let me say that slowly. Rocket. Spears. These babies get stuck in splicers, launch them around them room, lighting stuff on fire until finally they explode. Every game should have these, and I mean every single one. I want these bad boys in Viva Pinata. You want Trouble in Paradise? That’s what rocket spears will make for you, little pinata punks.
Another awesome thing that was added was the ‘Cyclone Trap’ plasmid. You’ll have some fun with this guy. What it does is set a trap on the floor which throws enemies into the air. Cool, I guess, right? The part that makes it awesome is a bit more than that; you can use other plasmids to power up Cyclone Trap (once you’ve obtained Cyclone Trap 2 or higher). Now, it can be used to throw enemies into the air the electrocute them, freeze them, cover them with bugs, whatever! If you can do it with a plasmid, you can do it with a Cyclone Trap infusion, and fun times will be had by all.
The little sister sections of the game were a little annoying for me, personally. When you find a corpse to take ADAM from, you’ll need to prepare the room in a fairly ‘tower defense’ style. As soon as you put her down, splicers will constantly invade the room until she’s finished gathering or you’re dead, either or. Just be prepared, ok?
Now, I’ve not mentioned the multiplayer yet, but I’ll mention it now. It’s alright, it’s not awesome. People (read; idiots) thought that Bioshockneeded multiplayer, that somehow, without it it wasn’t a beautifully crafted work of art. They’re wrong. Bioshock is one of the greatest games ever made, and it’s all single player. Anyway. There’s a bunch of modes, from standard deathmatch, team deathmatch to an adapted version of Capture the Flag, called “Capture the Sister” and more. My main problem with the multiplayer is that it’s really nothing new, nothing groundbreaking. It’s fun, but it’ll wear off. Actually, my gripe with the multiplayer is two things, and they’re sort of linked together. Firstly is the lag, I don’t know how the matchmaking works, but I constantly am in ridiculously laggy games which make it very hard to kill people. Secondly, the multiplayer continually freezes my 360. It’s happened around five times and I’m not the only person it’s happening to. Still, using plasmids against online players is fun, and running around in a Big Daddy suit is also very fun. But, the fun does wear off. Maybe the DLC will help if it adds new achievements? Who knows.
Overview:
Bioshock 2 is a great game, no doubt about it. My main problem with the game is the question “Why?” I don’t understand why it needed to be made, when Bioshock was such a solid, individual experience. Still, whilst this game doesn’t bring a whole lot new, it’s still a fantastic play. From fun weapons, dual wielding plasmids and weapons, and adapting traps to certain situations. The game is very fun, and they’ve fixed some problems from Bioshock that tarnished an otherwise perfect surface, which is awesome to see. Multiplayer has been added to appease the fans, but in the end, I think you’ll agree that the online experience is a little flat.
Score: 9.0 – Awesome
Features, Reviews - by Jason - January 3, 2010 - 23:00 UTC - 1 Comment
I’ll be the first to say that when I went into the preview event for Darksiders way back when, I was only a little aware of the game. I’d been tracking it’s progress, as I do for many games, but I was still flying relatively blind. After the event though, my eyes were opened to something wonderful which I wasn’t fully expecting. How does the full release of Darksiders actually pull up then? Does it belong in gaming heaven, or will it fall into the dark side…rs…of my gaming shelf?
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Reviews - by Jason - December 24, 2009 - 23:02 UTC - Be first to Comment!
Band Hero is an interesting one for me. I love rhythm games, but I…well, hate is a strong word; I dislike pop music, I’m more of a rock fan. So where exactly does Band Hero fall in regards to the others? Actually, the title itself is confusing. I mean, if Band Hero is about bands, what was Guitar Hero: World Tour? Anyway, I’ll let you sort it out….I still think it should be Pop Hero…bah. I’m splitting hairs.
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Reviews - by Tamizander - December 1, 2009 - 16:50 UTC - Be first to Comment!
Each week, staff member Tamizander takes a look at one of the lowest-selling and lowest-rated XLB Indie games. This combination should produce a game that belongs in the ‘Community Trash’, but it also may unearth a gem that needs to be salvaged and recycled. The views expressed in the ‘Community Trash’ articles are solely those of the writer and do not collectively express the views of Xbox|Insider.
I’m back again this week with another dip into the trash pile to find some Community Trash for you, my loyal readers. Yes, I know I’ve only done one column already, but if you’re already back, I’m going to call you loyal. Yes, twice means loyal in my book. Two dates equals marriage. Hell, I think that people should share cars after one date. I digress… This week, I’m reviewing XBL Indie game Fireworks Spectacular. This game was developed by XNA developer GoVids and was released at the start of September. I’m not usually easy to please, but the fact that ‘spectacular’ was in the name got my fingers twitching for some amazing fireworks action.
Yeah…no.
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Reviews - by Tamizander - November 20, 2009 - 03:43 UTC - 2 Comments
I was in heaven back in the early 90s. Back then, adventure games were running rampant and providing the best entertainment. Recently, we’ve been reintroduced to the genre with the amazing Sam and Max series and Monkey Island games. Now, I know that adventure games aren’t FPS or even open world RPG games, but they do provide an excellent distraction to the bevy of cookie cutter shooters. When I heard about Axel and Pixel, a new IP from Silver Wish Games and 2K Play, I wanted to check it out. More so than any other genre, it’s hard to break into adventure games. Unfortunately, it’s when the game attempts to mix other genres into the gameplay that the game starts to break down and become confused.
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Reviews - by Jason - November 19, 2009 - 03:40 UTC - 2 Comments
Call of Duty is another series that has been special to my heart. Multiplayer-wise, they are close to the top of the game (if not the top), and there’s not many people who don’t have their own little Call of Duty 4 kill/death story to share with their friends. In short, all of the Call of Duty games have a wonderful multiplayer that can be a massive time-sink. So, how does the newest addition to the highly acclaimed series live up to the hype that’s been thrust upon it?
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Reviews - by Tamizander - November 17, 2009 - 19:38 UTC - 1 Comment
There’s got to be something said for a game that gives you all of the joy of a table top card game, but removes all the frustration of keeping cards and finding a large enough space to play. Panzer General: Allied Assault is the most recent addition in the long line of Panzer General games, dating back to 1994. While it is notable that none of the Panzer General games were originally table top card games, this turned based series still holds the spirit and gameplay of that genre. This time around, developer Petroglyph Games and publisher Ubisoft deliver an experience that should satisfy fans of the Panzer General series and entertain fans of table top card games. However, the snail’s pace speed may deter some fans from staying for the full ride.
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Reviews - by Tamizander - November 17, 2009 - 19:34 UTC - Be first to Comment!
Each week, staff member Tamizander takes a look at one of the lowest-selling and lowest-rated XLB Indie games. This combination should produce a game that belongs in the ‘Community Trash’, but it also may unearth a gem that needs to be salvaged and recycled. The views expressed in the ‘Community Trash’ articles are solely those of the writer and do not collectively express the views of Xbox|Insider.
When tackling my first ‘Community Trash’ article, I wasn’t sure of the first community game to play and review. Let’s admit it, Indie Games aren’t the most popular games, nor are they the most well known games. There are some that stand out, like Avatar Golf, which gain popularity due to amazing gameplay and low price (Indie games are often only 160 MSPTs). Reviewing one of those games would have been easy. I don’t go for easy – I enjoy digging deep. I wanted to learn more about the Indie games the community doesn’t buy, and rates poorly. That’s when I stumbled upon Crazy Coins, a coin catching game developed by ByteMaster (aka Kevin D. Wolf from Florida, USA). Full Story
Reviews - by Jason - November 16, 2009 - 04:49 UTC - Be first to Comment!
The entire Grand Theft Auto series has always been a classic and more importantly, a personal favourite of mine. I can remember eagerly playing it against my brother on a Token Ring network, managing all of 10mbps. Top-down and pixelated as hell, it was just damned fun. The series has changed many times since then, changing to 3D for starters in Grand Theft Auto 3, giving the character a name in Vice City and looking at some more “RPG” elements in San Andreas. Finally we arrive at Grand Theft Auto 4, a big change even by the series standards. Whilst the more serious nature of the game didn’t really appeal to me personally, it was still a marvel in story-telling (which is always something special to see). Then the story was expanded, a good move by Rockstar. Episodes From Liberty City brings us both of the new stories on one disk; Johnny from the Lost MC in The Lost and Damned, and Luis in Ballad of Gay Tony.
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Reviews - by Tamizander - October 27, 2009 - 20:00 UTC - Be first to Comment!
I’ve always been a fan of video games created from an existing I.P., especially one from television. More than companion pieces, they should enhance the experience in some way, or at least give hours of unbridled fun featuring your favorite characters. I was pleasantly pleased when developer Double Six announced a South Park arcade game and I was further titillated when discovered that it was a tower defense game. In recent times, tower defense games have had a major surge in popularity, despite being around the internets for years. While South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! doesn’t bring a complete overhaul to the genre, it does mix the crude humor of the television series with amazing co-op gameplay. Unfortunately, the single player experience left me wanting more, and feeling a bit bored.
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