Vanquish- "At A Glance"

Sega and Platinum Games is due to release its fast-paced sci-fi shooter Vanquish on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next month. The game is headed by Shinji Mikami who is better known for his work with the Resident Evil, Devil May Cry and Bayonetta series. A good thing because I cringed when I first saw Sega of America's brand on the game. The company has not had a great track record in recent years after nearly killing its mascot Sonic the Hedgehog and various Marvel movie based games. The demo is now available and thankfully rendered all my previous fears null and void. The story revolves around the lead character Sam, grumbly voice and all just like we now have to accept for all male heroes in games these days, as part of a US faction fighting Russia for control of the world's fast-depleting energy sources. Sam is outfitted with a high-tech battle suit that allows him to quickly dash between covers, along the battlefield, or slow down time for dead-eye targeting of enemy units. The demo starts off in the midst of a long metal corridor during the game's first act. Sam maneuvers quite smoothly though the control configuration takes time to get used to. Again like in Quantum Theory, firing is handled by one trigger while reloading is done with the other and the only configuration change you can make is whether you use the bumpers or trigger buttons to do this. I miss the old set-up of reloading with the square of X button, but that is just me. Dashing is controlled by the other trigger/bumper pending on your weapon setup so that also takes time to get acquainted with. Still it is pretty freakin' sweet to hit the dash button while standing still to make Sam take a smoke break in the heat of battle. The action starts fast and furious with swarms of Russian enemy units attacking you and your fellow squad members. If teammates fall in battle, you have the ability to revive them but they do little to help you win matches as far as I can see in the brief demo. The greatest thing about the battle suit Sam wears is the "AR mode." If you are low on health, time slows automatically to allow you the chance to get your ass to cover and away from danger. Once the bots are killed, you fight a boss, a crawler mech that transforms after the first round into a walker drone. The game is easy enough to figure out what to do next but at times the quick-time fight moments for big hits to enemies are frustrating. The boss battle has the chance to do one or more of these though I only experienced one thus far. The prompt was to twist the joystick in a clockwise or counter-clockwise motion though it makes no distinction which stick is which so you will likely miss the first two attempts to figure out the right answer. Despite these few flaws, Vanquish is looking like a great buy for gamers and a beautiful game to boot though I constantly get the vibe I'm playing something like P.N.03 but...good. Later, gamers!

Quantum Theory- "At A Glance"

The demo for Tecmo's new multiplatform release Quantum Theory is now up for download and here it is "At A Glance." The story isn't really all that clear even from the demo. Apparently, two factions are fighting due to a living tower becoming active by some diablos-somethin' force. A member of each faction, a burly dude and slender chic, enters the tower but must combine forces to make their way up to the top while fighting the demonic creatures. The game plays like a direct clone of Gears of War or any other cover-based shooter out there. The thing that sets QT apart is it's partner system. You can literally throw the girl at enemies for powerful strikes or sync awesome combos for maximum damage. The demo showcases a single long corridor of the tower where cover can grow and change due to the tower being alive so strategic movement is crucial. The session ends with a boss battle that is made harder than need be by the destructable cover and less-than-high health your burly soldier can muster. Thus far, it is hard to give the game proper kudos for the few things it has going for it but at the end of the day, QT is just Gears without the detail or quality experience. For whatever reason, you fire with one trigger and reload with the other. It just feels awkward with the rest of the control setup in which cover is easily entered and exited with a single button. The one thing I can't forgive, the unchangeable controls and annoying mechanics aside, is the voice of the main hero. Did Christian Bale's grumbly Batman set the standard for all male heroes to have the save deep and raspy voice with no emotion or tonal variance? Maybe it is just me. I'll be taking a look at SEGA of America's Vanquish later this week as well so look for the next post soon. Later, gamers!

Lair of the Shadow Broker

The newest Mass Effect 2 DLC was finally released yesterday and oh how it was worth the 800 points. Lair of the Shadow Broker is a heavy piece of action and fan service. It is likely one of the hardest missions to undertake as well. On the plus side, not only are you able to further your romantic relationship with Liara (if you were faithful and selected her at least), but you can cruise around Illium in a cab chase while dodging traffic. It is hard for me to get more in depth with anything on this package without fear of revealing too much for those who haven't tangled with it yet. Add-on content is a beautiful thing which allows players the chance to revisit their games with new material and an expanded story, but more importantly, it is a means to which developers can test out new concepts and ideas that may be featured in greater detail in later games. If you can help it at all, don't read the achievements for this DLC and just play the mission through. The extra gamer points are easy enough to secure and basically involve completing the mission and accessing terminals on the level map. It takes about two hours or so including the dialogue sequences so be prepared for a nice time back out in space with the Normandy gang. Later, gamers!

Xbox achievements and PlayStation trophies

It's hours into early Saturday morning, but it has finally happened. After almost a week, I've earned my second platinum trophy on my PS3 account and I feel sort of...well, dirty. The same scenario has likely happened to most of us: we find ourselves scrolling through the list of possible achievements for the games we own all the while thinking, "Yeah, I can do that one." I only recently became an "achievement/trophy whore," and haven't really looked back since. Extra achievements in games are a necessary evil. The challenges the electronic trophies present not only ad to the playability and longevity of each game, but they grant the personal satisfaction of beating impossible odds after several hours of trial and error. I made this strip to parody my growing addiction to both 360 achievements and PS3 trophies. Every time I get a new reward for head shots or treasure hunting, I get all giddy and almost want to call up friends to tell them about my new 30 points toward my gamer score. This is dedicated to all my friends who caught the fever long before I did and were kind enough to pass it on. This Labor Day, enjoy a labor of love with your favorite game. Come back to GameOver at the end of the week to see the next new strip featuring Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Later, gamers!

Mass Effect 2 coming to PlayStation 3

It's probably the biggest and best news for PlayStation 3 owners that the previously exclusive Mass Effect trilogy is coming to the Sony console. Because BioWare is now owned by EA and looking to expand its market, the series is coming to the PS3 in January of 2011 though the first installment will likely not see a release on the system nor can it be said whether Mass Effect 3 will hold a joint release between the Xbox and PlayStation versions. The news is bittersweet for passionate Mass Effect fans, not because a popular selling title of the Xbox is going multiplatform, but the fact that the epitome of the what made the core experience of Mass Effect so great will be lost without the first game. It is hoped that the crucial decisions that made ME1 so powerful and epic will be granted to new players of the PS3 community rather than being forced into being the smeg head who killed the council and just about every other character of importance in the galaxy (rest in peace, sweet Wrex). I can believe that BioWare could take the same road as Shenmue 2, featuring a brief film version of ME1 but with interactive options to develop the story for the overall ME2 experience. It's nothing impressive but will appease fans as well as gamers who could have cared less what happened in part one to begin with. BioWare has released a teaser trailer for the launch of ME2 on PS3 on its site. Even though I love PlayStation and can look forward to the prospect of finally playing ME2 in its entirety on a single disc (rather than switching over at the start of loyalty missions and then back to disc one for the suicide mission), something just doesn't feel right without ME1 to start us off down our road to fight the Reapers. Later, gamers!

A Look at Scott Pilgrim

Until I heard about the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I'd never even known of the character or the comic books. Friends and I had to see the movie not only because of the gaming references but the fact that legendary Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright was behind the project. Having seen the film now and read some of the books, I naturally moved on to the online arcade game released around the film's debut. It is a classic style beat'em up of the River City Ransom variety but with special twists keeping it out of legal hot water. Rather than being a movie tie-in with the usual lack-luster effort, Scott Pilgrim the game is more faithful to the comic books both in looks and themes. Besides the comic roots, the game is really fun to play and for the $10 price tag, it is an essential for fans of the series or classic gaming buffs the world over. The biggest drawback to an otherwise perfect nostalgic experience is the lack of online co-operative play. Check out Scott Pilgrim for yourselves and look back to GameOver for more on the series a little later on. Later, gamers!

The PlayStation Move is like a better Wii remote

Whenever I speak to anyone about the PlayStation Move controller, they always skip the impressive technology behind the system and go straight for the throat: It's just a rip-off of the Wii remote. I can't argue against this logic because it's true even down to the advertisement photos practically taken with the same hand models, but the Move is still something I'm looking forward to for the ingenuity rather than the possible copyright infringement. I don't think I will use the controller for the games that I would otherwise enjoy with a standard controller but the sports simulators and the fighting game it will launch with are both greatly appealing endeavors for Sony. This whole situation started me thinking of how Xbox is now following with PlayStation marketing changes and techniques. The comic explains this little observation I had and hopefully not get any heavy Microsoft fans on edge. I understand that all the new innovations for the Xbox consoles were planned for in advance and the intent was not to copy Sony. I love Xbox but you know these facts are kind of true at least in some sense. Later, gamers!