Diablo III Beta

Yes, Diablo 3 bitches

So, my first post after what seems to be a lightyear. And yes I've decided for this place to be my archives. Let's get started shall we? Number one on the latest in the gaming industry is that the Diablo 3 beta is up! And that means thousands of mice around the world are suffering a fate worth than death. I remember my first time playing Diablo, it was Diablo 2 in fact. Never really got around to playing the first one but then again I was born in 1990 a far cry from those who were hardcore fans of the title. As I was saying, the first time I layed my hands on Diablo was with my cousin. We brought our laptops out to the dining area and set up base on the dinner table. After finishing the game the first time we delved into the hex editor and had even more fun with the game. There's just something about killing things in Diablo, that fatal click to the neck. Anyway, the beta is out and I didn't get an invite *sadface* I only opted into the beta after I found out it was out. I hate public closed betas when I don't get invited. Don't call it a "public" closed beta if it's going to be closed! Alright, enough with the bitching, and on to the beta impressions. Yes I managed to deduce a few things from watching the same videos over and over again alright?

Launcher

Blizzard has clearly implemented it's trademark battle.net into the community features and vastly improved upon already brilliant ideas. For one, online play seems to be very smooth, whether this has got to do with the net-coding or what not, there seems to be minimal to almost no lag at all in any of the cooperative play videos I've watched. There was no IRL money auctioning in the beta sadly, would have liked to see more of that. The beta is limited in the sense you can play the story up to when you defeat the Skeleton King. From what I've seen in terms of the classes, everything seems to be balanced pretty nicely and the scaling of skills with your levels are even better. No more irritating google searches for barb builds. Didn't see much on runes and I'm not even sure if they're in the beta or not but you would think they'd have put them in to be tested. Graphics are top notch of course. I mean the previous game was built when I was still swimming around the super bowl aimlessly. It's nice though, to see such a beautiful game paired with entertaining gameplay. I for one, am really looking forward to playing this in the near future, and if I do get into the beta, I'll be jumping for joy like a little girl opening her present on Christmas to find a summer edition ken set beaming up at her. Not that that's ever happened to me though.....>_>

From this...

...to this (Y)

Sold

Back to blogging

I think I'm going to start blogging again as I have really nothing better to do. So I should update the blog with something later tonight ;)

Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves

Nathan Drake wakes up to find himself bleeding profusely in a train dangling off a cliff in the mountains of Nepal. With only seconds, which seem like a lifetime, to escape his impending doom Nathan quickly climbs upward towards the front tram. As he reaches what he thinks was sanctuary, it starts to fall slowly off the cliff. Holding the wound in his gut, he starts running towards the front and just before it completely disappears into the thick mist below, he manages to leap towards the cliff. Grabbing the edge, he pulls himself up and collapses with a sigh of relief.

 And that's just the tutorial.

In my personal opinion, the top 'dogs' at Naughty 'God's' (see what I did there? :P) really outdid themselves with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, I mean Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was already a huge success in itself but this was like adding chocolate syrup, strawberries and some premium grade icing onto a cake that sits on top of some Chocolate Indulgence and no I'm not exaggerating. I'm not just jumping on the bandwagon here and stating how awesome this game is just because everyone else is doing it, no no no, Uncharted 2 has definitely become a staple example of how games in this gen should be. From the graphics, to the gameplay, to the musical scores and right down to the voice acting, everything is done right. 

The graphics in game are jaw dropping, everything was built to detail and the inclusion of Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) gives objects and surroundings the ability to stand out which gives a nice little boost in the eye candy department. Lighting and shadows were also done brilliantly as can be seen when the player transitions from a sunlit area to some shade. 

Gameplay has been amped up quite a bit since the last game as NG has emphasized a lot on vertical opportunities where the player can effortlessly scale decaying buildings to lay waste to enemies below. This gives the player more choices in how they want to go about completing a chapter. In most of the chapters you'll find yourself with an AI driven partner in the form of some fresh faces and even some old friends, helping you complete puzzles or maneuver the rough terrain. Puzzles in Uncharted 2 are pretty much more straight forward then they were in Uncharted 1, that's not saying much seeing as how they were particularly easy back then too. 

Platforming has never been more fun with the compliments of smooth animations and the witty remarks made by Nate and the gang. The animations on the characters are top notch, it gives the player the feeling that Nate is really hurt. Also if he's carrying something, the weight of the object can be conveyed to the player through Nate's reactions/animations. I say platforming in Uncharted 2 is fun mainly because Nate goes wherever you want him to go, no "invisible wall" bullshit here. 

Lost Planet 2 Demo on 24th September

Finally, after months of waiting PS3 owners will get the chance to try out the Lost Planet 2 demo that was previously thought to be a 360 exclusive. However, the video interview from Playstation Blog proved otherwise where the demo was being played on the PS3 behind Chris Kramer and Chris Morell while the interview was going on.


The demo will be available to download from PSN on the 24th of September.


Source: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/09/lost-planet-2-co-op-demo-coming-to-psn-september-2/

Sony at TGS '09

Sony is heading to TGS '09 with a pretty heavy lineup in tow. These are some of the games reported to make an appearance and by the looks of it, that's one heft lineup. However, whether most of these games are playable or not is left to be untold.


I spy with my little eye LOST PLANET 2! Probably a PS3 demo finally?


• PS3
1. FIFA 10
2. Lost Planet 2
3. Shin Sangoku Musou MULTI RAID Special
4. Pro Evo 2010
5. Final Fantasy XIII
6. FRONT MISSION EVOLVED
7. Bayonetta
8. Gran Turismo 5
9. Uncharted 2
10. God of War III
11. Infamous
12. Heavy Rain
13. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time
14. Quantum Theory
15. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
16. Tekken 6
17. Dragon Ball Rising Blast
18. Assassin's Creed II


• PSP
19. Persona 3 Portable
20. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 Special
21. MGS: Peace Walker
22. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
23. Valkyria Chronicles 2
24. Phantasy Star Portable 3
25. Gran Turismo
26. Minna no Sukkiri
27. Minna no Tennis Portable
28. Jigen Kairou
29. Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
30. SOCOM: US Navy Seals Portable
31. BLEACK Soul Carnival 2
32. MotorStorm Raging Ice
33. LittleBigPlanet
34. Undead Knights
35. God Eater


Via: Kotaku

Batman : Arkham Asylum

I can't remember the last time I've played a batman game. In fact, I think I never did. I was always too busy preoccupied swinging from building to building or clawing the guts out of some poor soul. Or maybe it was on a platform I didn't own. Yea that might be it. Anyway, having played the game the whole way through, I found it to be simply amazing. Now I'm not the type of gamer who goes back to collect stuff after finishing the game but every time you collect a hidden item be it a Riddler Trophy or Patient Interview, new information pertaining to the existence of Batman's foes becomes available. Character bios start to unlock along with the twisted stories and interviews that has taken place in Arkham Asylum.


I was really impressed with the graphics the game had to offer. I was also interested in the moody atmosphere it was giving off. For one, the buildings looked decrepit which gave the humble abode a rather grunged outlook which worked really well despite the fact that the size of Arkham Asylum was on par with Singapore. Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but I was impressed with the size of the place. I supposed they had to make it as big as it is if the whole game were to take place in only that area(I would have liked to drive up the side of Wayne Tower though)but hey, I'm not complaining.


The game starts out with Batman on his way to Arkham Asylum with Joker apprehended. As soon as they arrive, Batman feels uneasy as the Joker gave himself without a fight, almost willingly, which would obviously arouse suspicion in anyone. I mean come on, it's the Joker we're talking about. Moving on, Batman accompanies the guards who are transferring Joker to his cell. On the way, you meet a very familiar face and a set of teeth you wouldn't want to be within 10 feet of. The transfer goes smoothly until one of the guards decides that it isn't wise to allow Batman to go any further as it will "agitate the other inmates" at that moment Joker decides its time to stop his little charade and claims to have control of the entire asylum. Apparently, Joker's goons were transferred to Arkham Asylum when a fire "mysteriously" broke out in BlackGate Prison. Harley Quinn had also played apart in the Jokers takeover. The actual game starts out here, which is pretty linear.

"I have your scent Batman"

A nice little addition to the game are the riddles that the Riddler has left scattered all over Arkham Asylum. Most of the riddles, if not all of them have references to Batman's other adversaries. Some of them include the likes of Two-Face, The Penguin and Clayface, there was also a nice little cameo of Ras' Al Ghul where you can find his corpse in Dr. Young's office. However, If you re-visit the office later in the game, Ras Al Ghul's body bag has been unzipped and his body is missing, showing that he once again resurrected and escaped, such a shame, and you thought he was gone for good this time. I haven't even heard of The Great White and Black Mask right up till I discovered their bios in game and looked them up on the Internet. Solving each and every riddle gave me a sense of satisfaction after I realized I actually accomplished a collection challenge without any "online" help. Not to say they were easy, but because I was actually interested in solving them. There are other things to collect however, such as Patient Interview Recordings which reveal more of a patients personality and Riddler Trophies. There is also the case of The Spirit of Arkham which needs to be solved. It chronicles the stories of Amadeus Arkham up till his death and it's the world's greatest detective's job to find out what happened to him.




"Where would you find my home sweet home?"


The Scarecrow also makes an appearance and puts a nice little twist in gameplay which I found rather interesting. Croc's Lair was also a nice little thrill ride for me. The FreeFlow combat system was excellent and didn't get old no matter how many times I mashed that punch button. There was something about hearing the bones crunch every time the final blow was dealt. The gadgets were also fun to play around with, especially during parts where taking down goons stealthily was the only option if I didn't want to be filled with more holes than swiss cheese. Setting up the scene for a triple takedown while zip lining through the window at an unsuspecting henchmen right in the kisser with those killer boots is something you can only experience in this game. A number of ways could be used to dispatch unsuspecting foes. For example, throwing them of a ledge if its high enough just to knock them out, if not dangle them off the ledge by their ankles. Apparently Batman's code of "never to kill" applies here too but its good all the same.




"That has GOT to hurt"

Till next time, I leave you with a very disturbing interview tape with the Riddler, enjoy(if you can).

"Easily doctor. It's not my baby" - The Riddler