Although most of the announcements at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) were a bit boring, there was one that peaked everyone’s interest: OnLive.  Why is it such a hot topic?  Well, if they are successful, it could possibly lead to a unified game console future and put all of the Xboxes, Playstations, and Wiis into the gutter.  With all the debate regarding digital distribution vs. disks, could OnLive prove the deciding victor?

So what exactly is OnLive?  Think NetFlix movie streaming, but for video games.  OnLive is a video game on-demand subscription service that allows you to instantly buy and rent titles in the comfort of your own home.  What’s so special about this service is that all of the games are hosted on OnLive’s powerful servers, while the game content is streamed to you over the Internet.  Unlike services like Xbox Live, which requires you to have a the software and hardware locally, everything is executed online.  Anything you see on the screen, every button you push is transmitted back and forth to you via the Internet.  Since the games are streamed, you no longer have to deal with discs, lengthy downloads, software installations, or annoying driver updates to enjoy your favorite games.  The best part about this is that you can play high-end games on basically any entry-level hardware.   Since all of the processing are done on the remote OnLive servers, you can play power hungry games like Crysis in full 720p resolution on any old Pentium II desktop.  There’s no longer a need to drop a pretty penny for the top of the line video card.  Not only is it compatible with your PC, it will also work with your television and even Macs.
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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: gdc, onlive, streaming

For the next installment of the outstanding series of multiplayer-focused Battlefield games, it seems EA and DICE wanted  to make something different.  While the cell-shaded, cartoony look and 3rd person perspective are what first catch the eye, it’s the “free to play” business model, with revenue gained solely via advertising and microtransactions, that make it truly unique.

Despite what the game’s producers may say, the simple look and approachable gameplay do indeed offer a much more casual-friendly experience.  The incredibly low hardware requirements mean that most computers will be able to run it without a serious upgrade.  Five second spawn times, infinite ammo and limited weapon choice make it quite approachable for any gamer used to the mouse and keyboard.  The downside of this approachable nature is that character class distinction is rather lacking among the game’s three classes.  You seem to have more options in customizing your character’s appearance than actual gameplay abilities, with numerous store-bought clothing and emote options at your disposal.

On the flip side, battles are incredibly fun and frenetic, frequently occurring around the game’s flag capture points.  Death leaves you with just enough time to check your stats and catch your breath.  Before you know it you’re back in on the action, thanks in part to the game’s automatic spawning system that does a decent job sending you back relatively close to the action.  The AI system also does a good job of making sure you aren’t constantly ambushed by spawn campers, like in Battlefield 2 when your side was pushed back to a single capture point.  Vehicles, such as tanks, jeeps and planes, are present on most maps, but their awkward controls and tame firepower make them much less important than in the more realistic Battlefield games of the past.  The game also takes a cue from the Halo series, with automatic matchmaking, based on player skill.  No server lists to navigate and refresh, just quick access to instant action.

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: battlefield, beta

So why am I excited about this release?  Well… it’s Street Fighter 4, duh.  Even though the number 4 suggests that this the 4th game in the series, it’s really the 12th if you count all the iterations of SFI, SFII, SF Alpha, and SFIII.  Don’t get me started on that crappy Street Fighter 2010.  History aside, this entry proves to be just as epic as its previous legacies.  Let’s just hope that Capcom doesn’t repeat history and release a Street Fighter 4 Ultra Special Hyper Championship Edition to further confuse the hell out of us.

To be honest, when the first SFIV teasers were unveiled, it really wasn’t my cup of tea.  What was the deal with all the ink swirls and why did they keep Chun Li’s thunder thighs?  But as you play the final game, you start to realize how genius this art style really is.  For the first time, you can vividly see and feel all the pain induced from every punch, kick, and fireball.  From their over-the-top facial expressions, to the contorting bodies, you know that they’re in for a world of hurt.  In previous games, the 2-D character models seemed very copied and pasted into each level.  But because of the new 3-D engine, each character appears more dynamic and is more well integrated into the scenery.  Literally adding a new dimension to the visuals.  If you preferred the more gritty 2-D nature of SFIII, you might be disappointed.  But I can assure you that the game-play will surely change your mind.

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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: capcom, fighting, sfiv

The 8-bit video game era of the late 80′s and early 90′s was an important period in gaming.  Where intuitive game design and refined controls were still at very early stages of development.  It was a time of cheat codes, Game Genie, and Nintendo game tip hotlines.  Most of all, it was a time of rose tinted nostalgia.  And although it’s easy to see all the inherent flaws of those games now, it’s hard to forget all the moments of joy they brought.

Retro Game Challenge (or GameCenter CX: Arino’s Challenge, as it’s known in Japan) tries to recapture that magical feeling again by simulating the 1980′s through a series of fictional NES-era (Famicon) games.  By some odd twist of fate, you are sent back in time to 1984 to complete a series of game challenges by a Japanese game show host named Arino.  The time warp changes your character to a younger version of you and Young Arino is also there to offer guidance as your fellow couch buddy.  Each fictional game offers a linear set of 4 distinct challenges ranging from the very easy (beat level 5) to more moderate challenges (score 250,000 points using the same continue).  Arino also periodically buys monthly game magazines, complete with helpful tips and tricks, sneak peaks at upcoming games and release dates, and even phony EGM-style game editors like Dan Sock (Dan Shoe) and Johnny England (John Davidson).

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DS, retro

You may have heard that the federal deadline for the digital television transition has been postponed until June 2009.  However, a lot of the local channels are still beginning their digital only transmissions in just a little less than a week from now.  So what does this mean to you?  Starting Feb. 17th, you may start seeing static on your favorite television channels if you don’t have the right equipment.  If you’re a bit worried about the digital conversion read on to see what you can do to save yourself from the the white fuzz.

Digital to Analog Converter Box

If you are currently watching your beloved shows through an old tube TV hooked up to antennae, you’ll definitely need to look into purchasing a digital converter box.  These boxes essentially take the incoming digital signals and converts it to an analog output so that your old TV can view it.  This is by far the most cost effective choice since these boxes are quite affordable and typically rang from $30-$60.  On top of that, the federal government is offering two $40 rebates towards the purchase of a digital converter box.  You have until March 31^st to apply for these rebates, so do it soon.   If the struggling economy isn’t treating you very well, this is the way to go.

Cable/Satellite TV

Believe it or not, cable TV subscribers will be affected by this transition as well.  If you have a standard cable subscription without a digital cable box, you’ll need to pony up the extra cash and upgrade to the digital service.  Fear not though since this digital upgrade can enhance your TV watching pleasures if you tack on features like DVR and movies on demand.  The digital service is typically $10-$15 more than your standard cable service depending on your provider.  Satellite subscribers shouldn’t need to worry about upgrading anything since most, if not all satellite receivers accept digital signals anyway.

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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cable, digital transition, hdtv, satellite

The Cinematic or Cutscene. Story devices such as pre-rendered or in-game cutscenes are just about as old as gaming itself.  They control the pacing of a game and can portray important story elements in ways the game may not be fully able to, such as complicated action sequences or emotional set pieces.  They also tend to restrict player involvement, which can be useful when large portions of data are needed to play the next area of the game.  Mission briefings in military FPS or RTS games like Gears of War use these breaks to feed you with objectives and background intel, while enormous amounts of texture data are piped in behind the scenes, keeping the actual downtime to a minimum.

Ridiculously Long Elevator Ride. Although similar in nature to the previously mentioned lengthy hallway, this techique differs slightly in that these more blatant transitions do not usually require any player action whist in the load screen. Portal had many such elevator rides, with one after every puzzle. Some games choose to use this time to also convey some story elements, such as was the case in the Metroid Prime series. Likewise, Mass Effect was famous for it’s incredibly long elevator rides, but also supplemented the trip with relevant radio broadcasts pertaining to some of the player’s more recent endeavors. Another similar technique is the laughably long, door-opening animation, found in early Resident Evil games and many other 3D action titles. The animation for opening a desk drawer or treasure chest could even give the game a split second to process whatever random loot you happen to find in that hidden stash.

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: gamedev

With the phenomenal sales of the original PS1 and PS2, Sony was once way ahead of the curve.  So it’s come to be quite a disappointment to see the PS3 limping along this generation.  When Ken Kuturagi unveiled the PS3 back in 2005, it was touted as the most powerful and revolutionary gaming system ever made.  Apparently, all that power and revolution didn’t mean squat.  Looking at the December 2008 sales figures, we can see that the Wii completely outsold the PS3 almost 3:1, with the Xbox 360 outselling almost 2:1.

* Wii — 2,150,000
* Xbox 360 — 1,440,000
* PlayStation 3 — 726,000

Sony needs to do some damage control, and they need to do it fast.  Here are some suggestions to make 2009, the year of the Playstation.

PS3 Price Drop
Since there’s no way for the PS3 to compete with the Wii, the best that they can do right now is fight for 2nd place.  With the current recession, it’s obviously not a good idea to be the most expensive system on the market.  With the PS3 models retailing at $399 and $499, it’s much more expensive than the Xbox 360 at $199, $299, and $399.  Sony justifies this price difference due to the built-in blu-ray player capabilities, but it appears the general public is still quite happy with their DVDs and can’t justify paying the extra premium for this feature.  To top it off, most PS3 versions of a game often look worse than its Xbox counterpart.  So why pay more when its competitor is providing a better gaming experience at a lower price?  Sony needs to drop the price to $299 to simply compete with the Xbox 360.
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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2009, microsoft, ps3, sony, xbox

Dead Rising (Xbox360)

You, trapped in a mall with thousands of zombies and the freedom to use practically anything as a weapon.  It’s no wonder we haven’t seen this game concept done earlier.  The zombie playground idea could be applied to almost anywhere too. Amusement park, airport, or even a small, open-world town would all be great locales.  Throw in a bunch more interactive objects for creative, new ways to kill the walking dead and you’re all set.  Oh yeah, how about some online co-op, please?

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

It’s the brilliant, Wii, point-and-click adventure that was a critically success, but a retail failure.  Sadly, we probably won’t ever see a sequel any time soon.  Some of the later puzzles were down right diabolical, but when you finally did figure it out, that “eureka” moment was pure magic.  The cute, lovable animations, the multiple solutions, and the clever use of items and enemies all worked to create an experience that could only be compared to the days of playing an old-school, LucasArts adventure game.  More of the same is all I ask.

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DS, pcgaming, ps3, PSP, wii, xbox360

Out of all the games out this holiday season, this is what I’ve been pouring most of my hours into.  It’s gotten to the point in which other epics, like Fallout 3 and Little Big Planet, are simply neglected and collecting dust.  There’s something about the original Street Fighter II formula that makes it so fun and addicting.  Capcom must have an entire division that is solely dedicated to appeal to our nostalgic appetites.  These re-releases are certainly easy money for Capcom, but at least they know how to do them right.

HD Remix is the same game from 14 years ago except with a major face lift.  The original fighting game engine are still intact while all of the graphics have been redone with gorgeous high resolution sprites.  Udon Comics has done an extraordinary job recreating the characters in beautiful Hi Def.  The once pixelated and blocky textures are now smooth and extremely detailed.  Nothing is left to the imagination anymore since all of the character models are finely illustrated with minute detail.  There is an option to play the game with the classic visuals, but it’s definitely an eye sore to view those outdated graphics on the HD screen.

Although the detail in the character models and backgrounds are superb, the animation department is not up to par.  Because Capcom wanted to keep the core mechanics of the original game, all of the animation frame counts have been preserved.  Unfortunately, this results with every move looking jerky and abrupt when performed.  With the low resolution sprites, this problem was not nearly as noticeable in the original game.  But the upgraded visuals expose holes in the animation that doesn’t look as smooth as it should be.
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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: capcom, hdremix, psn, sf2, xboxlive

The gamble that Bethesda made in acquiring the rights from Interplay seems to be paying off. The fanatical outcry from the incredibly vocal Fallout fans has died down. The game is finally out and available for the masses to judge for themselves. And yet, as I log yet another hour in this wonderfully crafted, post-apocalyptic vision of Washington D.C., heading into the credits of my second playthrough, it’s apparent that the game lives up to every bit of the hype and then some.

Destroyed Beauty

There’s just something about the meticulous attention to detail of Fallout 3, how the environment was lovingly created and just as lovingly destroyed, that gives it that personality that is so rare to find in games. The Fallout series has always had a brilliant art style, mixing old 1950′s-inspired culture with the futuristic technology of tomorrow. With Fallout 3, Bethesda truly outdid themselves by presenting a world of hauntingly beautiful structures that spell a cautionary tale of nuclear war at every turn. Every corner of the game’s world is enriched in amazing little touches; torn-down walls, pieced together suits of armor made of shopping carts and old tires, tons of humorous, fake products and advertisements. There are even a handful of in-game radio station broadcasts with a wonderful selection of music from the ’40s and ’50s that help in immersing you in the alternate-history dystopia that the series is known for.

The characters themselves offer an incredibly rich selection of voice-acted dialog, whether or not you recognize the Liam Neesons or Malcolm McDonalds of the bunch. And just like Oblivion, there are naturally some repeats here and there (for example, three ghouls outside a vault all had the same exact voice and slightly different thing to say), but it’s never quite as noticeable, possibly due to the smaller amount of settlements and survivors that the Fallout setting lends itself to.

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bethesda, pcgaming, ps3, xbox360

When Home was first announced, Sony had built up a lot of hype for this service.  First of all, it’s absolutely free and it provided a full 3-D interactive experience to online gaming.  Also, did I mention it was free?  However, after the long delay, it seemed that Home’s momentum has slowed down.  It has definitely lost its steam that it gained a couple years ago.  Plus, with the recent release of the new Xbox experience, will Home provide the revolutionary gaming experience that Sony promised?

So what is PlayStation Home?  Home is essentially a virtual online 3-D space that allows you to meet up and socialize with other PS3 users.  You can chat, dance, flirt, and also play games with them.  It’s basically the Sims meet Second Life, in which you create a personal avatar to traverse through the virtual realm.  Like Second Life, Home also serves as a breeding ground for advertisements.  Everywhere you go, there are large monitors that constantly loops movie and video game trailers.  There’s even a movie theater that you can enter just to watch game trailers.  Since its a free service, I suppose this is how Sony had to find some way to make money back.

Starting Home, you are immediately introduced to create an avatar.  The avatar creation tool is much more robust than the Xbox 360′s, but I’m not convinced if that it’s a good thing.  For a beginner, Home provides so many options that it can be quite intimidating for a non-core player.  Just customizing the face alone has hundreds of possibilities if you factor things like cheeks, forehead, and chin structures.  On top of that, all of these features can be adjusted with a grid that allows you to adjust the dimensions of your head.  Call me lazy, but it got to the point where I stopped caring and just picked a preset character model.
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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: home, playstation3, psn

Your gut is probably bulging the size of a bowling ball after stuffing yourself with turkey the last few days.  Don’t worry, there’s help.  I can show you plenty of games that can help you lose the holiday weight right in the comfort of your home.  Just make sure that you’re not pounding down donuts and hamburgers while playing these games.

Wii Sports
The ever popular Wii Sports comes bundled with a number of mini-games that include Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing.  These mini-games feel more like tech-demos, but is very fun and intuitive for first time Wii players.  Most newcomers will burn a lot of calories since they will be standing and exerting all of their energy in every swing.  However, once you learn the gameplay nuances, you’ll end up slouching in your couch and lazily flicking your wrist effortlessly to get the same results.  Hopefully Wii Sports will be used as a template for other Mario Sports games.  Give use Mario Tennis already!

Wii Fit
This is the pinnacle of all fitness games.  Do not…I repeat…do not buy Wii Fit expecting it to be a game.  It’s more like a fitness program than anything else.  The main thing that stands Wii fit apart from other fitness games is the balance board.  Not only is the board used for exercising, it also measures your weight, balance, and body mass index (BMI).  Typically, BMI tells you if you’re underweight, normal, or obese.  However, if Wii Fit calls you a fat-ass, keep in mind that it doesn’t count other factors like your body type and muscle mass so it’s very misleading.  I only found that the Yoga and Strength training to be particularly useful since it does a good job working out your core.  However, the Aerobic exercises are pure garbage since running in one place doesn’t make your blood pumping enough to be effective.  The beauty of Wii Fit is that it keeps track of all your progress, so you can clearly see how much improvement you’ve made.  Just keep in mind that the balance board only works if you weigh less than 350lbs.  If you weigh more than that… it’s probably a good idea to get a gym pass.
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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fat, fitness, turkey, wii

Sleepy Gamer is thankful for.. bite-sized game experiences.

I love the occasional 50-60 hour RPG experience as much as the next guy, but sometimes it’s nice to just sit down and play a game for 5-10 minutes.  Thankfully, there are a host of games that are just perfect for that situation.  Geometry Wars 2, Pac-man C.E., and Pixel Junk Eden all possess great “pick up & play” appeal.  Smaller, casual games also provide another great benefit.  They’re great “wind you down” games for that last bit of gaming at the end of the day, or even right before bed.  Nothing like a 2-hour Peggle session when you can’t sleep at 3 in the morning.

Sleepy Gamer is thankful for.. save anywhere.

You weren’t always able to save your game at anytime in console games.  True, some games still stick to the antiquated concept of the artificially increased challenge that rigid save points bring, but the vast majority have moved past this.  Now we’re free to save our game every five steps and abuse quick save/load to our heart’s content.  Ridiculously long dungeons are finally a thing of the past.  Now you’re playing with power.. and it doesn’t involve holding the reset button while turning off the power.

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: co-op, netflix

Be sure to check out Part I for the Wii and PS3 breakdowns.

Xbox 360

None of the current consoles have fragmented the consumer experience more than the Xbox 360.  One could argue that the tiered offering of the of Xbox 360 line of consoles was designed to appeal to a broad range of gamers, from the very casual to the hardest of hardcore.  Unfortunately, most of the omitted features in the lower end models tend to be components you’ll regret buying piecemeal at a later date.  To make things a bit clearer, the Xbox 360 breakdown will be done in two separate parts, based on what Xbox 360 model you “jump in” with.

First things first, let’s get the common stuff out of the way.  Every Xbox 360 system comes with one wireless controller, and supports up to a maximum of 4 controllers at a once.  Each additional wireless controller costs $50, or if you prefer (although I’m not sure why anyone would want to), $40 for wired controllers that plug in via the USB ports.  Like the Wii’s wiimotes, the wireless gamepads also require either a steady supply of AA batteries or you could spring for a set of rechargeable battery packs made specifically for the controllers themselves.  The battery packs can cost as much as $15 a piece, and the charger itself can be bought as a USB “Plug & Play” cord for $20, or as an AC adapter plug-in “Quick Charge Kit” that comes with one battery pack and charges 2 rechargeable packs at once, all for $30.

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ps3, wii, xbox360

You just got yourself a 50″ HDTV and you’re thinking, man … isn’t life grand?  You never felt so good watching Miss Congeniality on your crisp 1080p display until… you raise the volume.  As good as the picture looks, most tvs have really crappy speakers.  It is time, my friend, to look into getting a home theater system.

Surround Sound Basics
Surround sound can be a very confusing purchase.  Just looking at the specifications can be a daunting task.  Here’s a quick glossary guide that explains some typical terms that you’ll need to know when buying a home theater system.

Receiver – Unit that decodes and amplifies the sound coming out of your speakers.
Satellite Speakers – These are the speakers that are connected to your receiver.  There are actually 3 types of speaker drivers: tweeters, mid-range, and subwoofer.
Tweeter – Produces the high frequency sounds.    Think how Mickey Mouse sounds like.
Subwoofer – Produces low frequency sounds.  Think Barry White.
Mid-Range – Produces all the sounds in between the tweeter and subwoofer.
Surround Channels – This refers to the number of speakers your surround sound system is capable of.  So a 5.1 system supports 5 satellite speakers with an additional subwoofer.  The .1 refers to the subwoofer.
Watts – Refers to the measurement of power that the receiver is capable to produce.  More watts usually equates to a louder sound system.
Ohms – Measures the resistance in the flow of electricity.  The more ohms, the more resistance it will cause.  You want this number to be low.

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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 101, home theater, sound, speakers

Just thinking about the Dreamcast brings back lots of fond memories.  Witnessing the red swirl as you powered it on, you knew that there was something special about it.   This was the first system that truly felt “next gen”.  The thought of playing an arcade-perfect Marvel vs. Capcom at the comfort of your home was simply marvelous.  Resident Evil sent chills down my spine as I was blasting zombies away in beautiful real-time graphics.  So, where did it all go wrong?

History in the Making
Towards the later part of the 90s, Sega was in a rut.  With the previous blunders of the Sega CD and 32X, Sega’s current console, the Saturn, was on the verge of yet another failure.  Despite some modest success in Japan, the Saturn only sold a mere 9 million units worldwide.  In comparison, the original Sony PlayStation dominated the sales charts with over 100 million units sold.  The public was starting to lose faith in Sega, and they needed a way to revitalize the Sega name.  Towards the end of the Saturn lifecycle, Sega had a secret project with 2 of their internal groups.  With one group in Japan, and the other in the U.S, they would be competing against each other to develop a new console system.  In the end, Sega crowned the Japanese team the victor, and thus the Dreamcast was born.

Revolutionary Specs
At the time, the Dreamcast specs were unparalleled.  Powered by a powerful 200MHz 128-bit Hitachi SH4 processor, 16MB of RAM, and a 12x GD-ROM drive, it was capable of crunching a whopping 7 million polygons per second.  To provide a different perspective, the original PlayStation only featured a 33MHz 32-bit MIPS processor, 2MB of RAM, and a 2x CD-ROM drive only capable of processing 360,000 polygons per second.  Clearly, nothing came close to the Dreamcast power.  What’s even more impressive was that it came boxed with a 56k modem.  You may scoff at the thought of dial-up Internet, but back then, playing games online was something simply ahead of its time.  Online game play was always a PC commodity up until the Dreamcast, since no prior consoles offered anything like it.  Contrary to prior beliefs, it was actually Sega who pioneered console online gameplay, not Microsoft.
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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dreamcast, Features, Flashback, sega

In the spirits of Halloween, this post is dedicated to 4 scary video game moments that I’ve experienced.  I was originally going to do 5, but I couldn’t think of a 5th moment that scared the crap out of me without listing the same game franchise twice.  Plus, it’s Friday, so I deserve to be lazy.  =)  Enjoy and have a safe, and happy Halloween!

Resident Evil 2

Eternal Darkness
It has been hours since you last saved your game.  You’ve slain countless undead foes, traveled thousands of years, and gathered all of the Ancient’s artifacts.  The only thing’s left is to defeat Pious, the maniacal guardian who’s bent on ending all of humanity as we know it.  Moments before reaching the final boss and saving the world, you encounter… “Disc Read Error”.  At this point, you’re screaming out loud, “This can’t be happening!”  Just when you’re about to throw your Gamecube out the window, it resumes like nothing happened.  You then realized that the game was messing with you all along.  Good one Nintendo… bravo.
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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bioshock, eternal darkness, feature, halloween, resident evil, scary, silent hill, survival horror

Upon receiving a beta key for Resistance 2, I was really eager to rush home and download the beta.  However, after 3.5 hours for 2GB download, in addition to the 10 minute install, plus another 15 minutes for an update, I was finally ready to play.  So is this game worth that 4 hour wait?  Read on.

Beta Basics
Just to clarify, this beta only provides the multi-player feature.  You won’t get a sneak peak at the single player campaign until you buy it.  Starting the beta, you’re introduced to 2 game play options: Cooperative and Competitive.  In the cooperative mode, you have the choice to play online or offline with friends.  This mode allows casual fun play without affecting your ranking stats.  The competitive mode is where the meat of the game is focused on.  Similar to Call of Duty’s “Perks”, Resistance 2 has the “Berserks/Loadout” system.  As you gain more experience and rank up, you can unlock additional “Berserks/Loadout” that enhance your abilities.  The default beserks/loadouts provide small enhancements like upgraded radar or electric burst shots.  But leveling up will provide much better abilities, such as force fields or healing rings, that will help keep you alive longer.

The main appeal that Resistance 2 has over other shooters are the 60 player skirmishes.  When you jump into a 60 player battle, things can get really chaotic.  The first time I jumped in, my average lifespan was less than 10 seconds.  However, as you get more accustomed to the map layout, you’ll realize how grand and epic these matches are.  It’s quite exhilarating when there’s a stand-off between the two factions fighting on opposite sides of the ravine.  One side is desperately defending the beacon, while the other is trying to overtake it.  The whole beauty of this is that this grand experience is practically lag-free, so any deaths that you encounter is because of your own noob skills.

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© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beta, first impressions, ps3, resistance 2