Freemantim's thoughts and reviews of games

It has been several months since I last posted anything here and for any regular readers I apologize.  I've been busy with real world work, but I've also become a regular contributor to VGBlogger.com.  But since it is a new year I wanted to take a moment and write about some of the new tech I've recently started using as well as some of the new gaming goodness that will be available next month.

First off Christmas was a pretty good time for all the gamers in my house.  My kids got iPods and Just Dance 3 for the Wii (which is something that I find enjoyable to watch, but almost impossible to play with my own "white man" sense of coordination) and I got Skyrim.  The other big game-friendly tech that showed up at Christmas time was Sony's new PlayStation 3D Display.  All I can say is wow.  The image on the display is absolutely amazing.

I typically have my PS3 hooked up to a 42" Westinghouse, which is sadly showing inevitable signs of decay and poor health.  Which is a shame since the TV is only four years old.  The HDMI ports on the big unit are dead, the TV tuner seems to be on the fritz, and the menu system doesn't seem to keep the settings I've adjusted.  Fortunately, Santa delivered the 3D display this year and so I found myself clearing off a desk next to my entertainment console where the new beautiful display sits.  While the viewing space is only 24" diagonally, I find that sitting in my desk chair (at a desk no less) I have the perfect distance and center "sweet spot" for watching all that is pushed out from the screen.

Okay.  I'm sorta getting ahead of myself though.  The PlayStation 3D Display is Sony's newly released panel with gaming as the core focus.  In the box is one pair of active shutter glasses, a 5' HDMI cable and of course the display and base (oh and a copy of Motorstorm Apocalypse).  Set up took less than five minutes, put the display into the base, connect the HDMI cable and fire up the PS3.  The display itself is a marvel to look at, a super high gloss front, thin, like super thin.  I'm blown away by how thin the display is compared to my chunky Westinghouse.  Speakers are built into the sides of the display and a sub woofer is built into the back.  There are 2 HDMI ports as well as 1 component cable for a total 3 inputs and a 3.5 mm headphone jack for audio out.

Turning on the display is a bit of a design flaw.  The power buttons, menu and volume buttons are on the back of the speaker on the right side.  The same side that the HDMI cable connects at.  I found that turning the display on or adjusting the volume, I would have to be careful not to bump the HDMI cable (it's kinda freaky to see the pristine image suddenly flash green and jumble and then reset back to pristine all by accidentally bumping the HDMI cable while attempting to adjust the volume).  That being said, Sony has coincidentally release an update to their PlayStation Blu-ray remote.  While the remote isn't included, I would strongly recommend picking it up (but more on that in a bit).

So the PS3 is hooked up, the display is on, how does it look playing games?  The first thing I noticed was just how much sharper items on the XMB look.  Trophies look better, installed game icon's look sharper, everything looks cleaner.  Now maybe that's because even at 1080p the screen real estate is that much smaller, and thus things look better, but I'd guess that the 3D display just has more going on to make the images look that much better.

Since Motorstorm Apocalypse was included in the box, I fired that up first.  I got a second pair of glasses with the display because one of the coolest features touted by Sony is the SimulView technology.  Basically it allows the 3D display to send a full screen 2D image to one set of glasses while sending a second 2D image to the other set of glasses so that instead of having a split screen two player local experience, each player gets a full screen view of their game.  This works really well with Motorstorm Apocalypse.  Turning off the Simulview, I switched to a single player 3D experience and the game really gives a great sense of depth and scope to the massive destruction that all of the races are centered around.

One of the cool things about PlayStation 3 games is the simple fact that lots of them had 3D capabilities that were enabled after firmware 3.30 was pushed out to the PS3.  Because of that I was able to sample 3D on a fair amount of games in my back catalog.  Super Stardust HD, Pain, Wipeout HD, were just a few downloadable games I gave a 3D go at.  Pain only has 3D enabled during a bowling section, which is fun and definitely takes advantage of the 3D display, it is nothing worth gushing over.  Wipeout HD in 3D is fairly impressive, except for the fact that everything is moving so fast the 3D effect is lost in the blurring speed of all that is going on.  Super Stardust HD is amazing.  The game displays at so many depths of field at the same time, all the while asteroids and ships and explosions are careening about giving a true feast for the eyes.

As far as disc based games go I've played a fairly wide range of titles to see just how well the display responds.  MLB 11 The Show is really awesome with 3D enabled.  Batting in 3D, you get a really great sense of when the ball is crossing the plate.  The rest of the game is fun to see the stadiums come to life with 3D.  A greater sense of how different each field really is and how that can impact a home run being just a double, depending on where the ball is hit.

Killzone 3 and Resistance 3 both support 3D output.  Killzone 3 also supports SimulView for two player local co-op.  As of right now Resistance 3 does not support SimulView, but hopefully Insomniac has a patch to add the feature at some point in the future.  Both games look awesome in 3D.  One aspect I hadn't even considered before playing a first person shooter in 3D was the simple fact that a game in 3D would actually give the effect of looking down a gun barrel and feel real!  Of course the environments pop and add a greater depth of field in both but the effect of a gun barrel sticking out in front of my nose was truly an experience I hadn't considered before.

One of the most recent titles to come out that I've probably spent the most time on while playing in 3D has been Batman Arkham City.  With over 20 hours playing in 3D I found myself impressed with how the world pops, and the various levels of field depth add to the overall immersion of the game.  My one complaint about Batman Arkham City was the initial darkness of the game.  When the active shutter glasses kick in, a dark hue plays across my field of vision.  Since most of Arkham City is played in dark alleys or dim lit buildings, I had to adjust both the level of brightness and the level of 3D being pushed out.  Once I found the sweet spot I found that I my time the game world quickly added up.

Two things I'd like to note before closing this post.  First off, I wish that developers would all figure out a way to allow for adjustments in how strong the 3D is displayed in the same section of the menu structure.  Some games would only allow for adjustments at the main menu and thus testing to see if a level was too intense couldn't be discovered without loading the game, "testing the waters" and then hoping all the way back to the main menu to adjust if necessary.  Other games allow for adjustments directly in the thick of action, which is much easier to adjust the level of intensity without losing the flow of game play.

The second closing comment I have is regarding the lack of remote control.  Since the display doesn't come with a remote, one of the first things I did was look to replace my original PlayStation Blu-ray remote.  Of course the original only remote only worked with the PS3 and not with any TVs because it only communicated via bluetooth.  The new remote connects via bluetooth and infrared and adds some additional buttons (to switch control between PS3, TV and Amp) as well as volume and channel control.  Since I don't have a cable box hooked up to the display (and there is no TV tuner built in) the channel control doesn't add any benefit, but the volume control is an absolute must in my opinion, so that you don't end up screwing up the HDMI connection as you reach behind the panel to adjust the levels.  One of the other nice enhancements on the remote is the circle directional button.  On the old remote, the directional buttons felt loose and would sometimes lead the cursor to move in the wrong direction (up instead of left for example).  With the new remote, the directional buttons almost click and have a slight snappy push back when navigating on screen menus.  The new remote is a tad longer, but is thinner and feels good even though there are additional buttons placed across the surface.  The one thing keeping the remote from being perfect is the lack of backlit buttons, but for just about $20, the remote is more than capable given all that it can control.

As a person who spends a pretty large amount of time in front of displays (both at work and at home gaming) I have to say that the new PlayStation 3D Display is just short of spectacular.  The sounds produced are good and the visuals (both 3D and non) are a feast for the eyes.  The price is incredibly good as well right now.  Best Buy is listing it at $299, Amazon is listing it for $399.  Depending on the store, the package is still incredibly good.  A pair of glasses included, an HDMI cable, plus a game.  Sony has been promoting 3D as one of the incredible features that the PS3 is capable of, and now has given gamers a truly affordable way to get a feature that really does enhance the overall gaming experience.

Check back next month as the new tech continues to roll out.  I'll be giving a review of the new Wireless Stereo Headset once my order from Amazon arrives, as well the new PlayStation Vita as soon as that becomes available.
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This Tuesday marks the release of Insomniac Games latest title, Resistance 3.  As a way to build excitement for their latest shooter, Insomniac and Sony have released a bundle pack of the first two PlayStation 3 titles in a Dual Pack collection.  Both games were titles that I was aware of but had never really any strong desire to play.  That is until this teaser trailer for Resistance 3 came out.


I'm not sure what suddenly made me really excited for the franchise.  Perhaps the desolation, or the weariness trapped in these folk's face or the droning pulse of the fantastic "Masters of War" cover.  Something clicked.  I was faced with a double edge sword of wanting to learn more about the series but didn't want to read any spoilers.  Of course since Fall of Man was a PS3 launch title all sorts of stuff has been written.  When Resistance 2 came out many fans of the original were disappointed.  Having avoided much of the Internet's impressions of the game I finally took to playing the series last week.

As I mentioned above Resistance Fall of Man was a launch title for the PS3 back in November 2006.  As a fan of pretty much every type of game, I've played my fair share of first person shooters.  I'm not a big fan of the Call of Duty stuff, or any standard military shooter for that matter.  I prefer shooters with a little more imagination, the little man going against the odds a la Half-Life, or Half-Life 2 (gee go figure where my blog icon comes from?).  I find myself enjoying FPSs that tend be a bit more fantastical, like Killzone or Borderlands or anything else that doesn't necessarily fly in your face at a hundred miles a second yelling at you to "Go Go Go".  Additionally I prefer to play games that tell a story and aren't just a second thought put in place to satisfy a small crowd while focusing solely on mindless multi-player deathmatch.

Fall of Man supposes an alternate history to that of our own.  Instead of World War II happening, an alien force has wiped out most of the eastern hemisphere. You play as Nathan Hale, a soldier that has mysterious ties to the invading plague known as The Chimera.  Hale is infected with the virus that has wiped out most of humanity (or at least Europe and Russia) but somehow survived and due to his exposure is now able to face insurmountable odds, battle the Chimera and live while troops all around fall like so many red shirts on an away mission.

The first thing that struck me as I started Fall of Man was just how much it feels like an early PS3 title.  The environments are built with a level of detail that when compared to PS2 titles would seem amazingly rich.  Compared to PS3 titles now and the game oozes freshman status.  Building models have plenty of detail, but character animations are very static.  There are very few times when another character is on screen, looking directly at the player camera and talking.  When this does occur, the voice work barely matches the mouth and facial movements.  To get around this early console development limitation, most of the narrative is delivered through voice over work and animated cut-scenes.  Debris that would be almost overdone in newer titles starts to flesh out the world, but only seems to really become apparent in later levels.

Insomniac Games are known for the wide array of weapons in their games.  Fall of Man continues that tradition with standard military assault rifles, sniper rifles, alien rifles, and then some big guns.  The Chimeran Bullseye has an alt fire mode that tags an enemy and then all ammo fired after it is tagged will course correct and find the target.  The Auger is another great weapon that fires through walls or other obstacles to hit their mark.  Hedgehog grenades explode in a shower of large stakes.  Weapon play is very good and one of the key things to Fall of Man is Hale carries all of the weapons once he's come across them.  The weapon wheel is something that should be put in more games.  Sure it seems silly that one person would be able to carry 9 or more weapons and all the associated ammo, but it is a video game.  A video game about shooting aliens mutated from humans.

I bring this up because Resistance 2 does not have the weapon wheel.  Resistance 2 (R2) picks up basically from the end cut scene in Fall of Man.  A brief VTOL (Vertical Take Off/Landing) ride later and suddenly the action picks up and never stops.  As I mentioned above, Fall of Man felt very obviously like a freshman launch title for the PS3.  Resistance 2 sheds that feeling in a major way.  Battles are vast, huge in scope and visually jaw dropping.  The story picks up with The Chimeran forces now making their way to the United States and quickly spreading the virus to eradicate humanity in the Western Hemisphere.  Interestingly, while Europe and Russia are devistated by the Chimera, US isolationist policy has kept our troops out of battle and seemingly allow science and man to build up defenses to combat the impending invasion.

Of course defenses are broken and every level show homes destroyed, cities crushed and the only humanity left are the ones running along side Hale fighting off the overwhelming odds of the Chimera.  One mantra I've always been told with writing is show don't tell.  Meaning convey the message in action over direct exposition.  R2 still has semi-hidden intel scattered throughout the levels, but a lot more story is revealed through cut scenes, voice over during battles and my favorite, radio broadcasts.  The battles and pace of the game are metered with large waves of enemies and then quiet (almost eerily quiet) calm, allowing the player to reflect on the devastation brought by the Chimera.  Most levels have an area where a radio can be found that triggers a broadcast coming from Philadelphia.  The broadcast can be overlooked or missed as the sound from the radios doesn't travel  very far, but the human story that unfolds is so rich.  The desperation emitted from Henry Stillman during these radio broadcasts point out just how badly the Chimeran forces have destroyed the US.  Thinking back I'm sure that I've missed one or two of these gems and I am tempted to replay the game just to find out if I did indeed miss any.

The problem with going back through the game to find if I did miss any broadcasts, is that I would have to go back and play through the game again.  Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but my overall experience is that the game overdoes the grandiose at almost every turn.  First off without a weapon wheel I found myself struggling at times to finish off waves of enemies that swarm in large fast numbers.  Second, most sections of battle put you in combat with one or two squad mates.  The problem with that is they can be stone cold stupid.  Waves of Chimera run at you and your squad will stand facing the direction the Chimera come from and don't turn to face any that got past them.  I encountered two very specific moments where this happened.  Once a room with three other commandos were waiting for the trigger to occur for them to attack the impending rush, but apparently that trigger never fired because I fought off ravaging hordes of Chimera, their bodies bumping into and over the commandos, and not one of them fired a damn shot.  Such a disappointment.

Add to the broken AI for squad mates, the sheer number of Chimera rushing at you at any one time is just mind boggling.  Sure I don't mind one type of enemy in large numbers coming at me.  But add two, three, or SIX types all at once, oh and also add in the new special "Predator" type Chameleon that one hit kills you charging through the other six types of bad guys and you are faced with insta death and respawn on a highly frustrating level.  Fortunately R2 has a more liberal checkpoint system.  Sadly I had to find out how quickly the game could load from checkpoints more often than I would've liked.

I enjoyed Fall of Man because of the sense of discovery and unraveling a mystery at my own pace.  It was basically me as Hale (which felt like playing as a hero without the bravado) fighting enemies at a pace that was controllable.  Resistance 2 takes a different view of Hale.  He speaks with a machismo found in dude-bro shooters.  Fall of Man felt like it was clearly set in the 50s with little in the way of modern or futuristic weaponry or body armor.  Resistance 2 environmentally is still set in the distant past, but that's about it.  Apparently when the rest of the world is being devastated by an alien scourge, US scientists are given a research boost to advance military weaponry and personal communications to levels found in today's military.  The idea of show don't tell is almost brought to full realization, but instead of showing with lots of flashy cut scenes or static intel to be discovered, story is related to the player through commando voice communication.  While it works, the sound is still a little off putting, as the audio comes across as if being heard through distant radio waves with squawks and crackles even when the person speaking is standing directly in front of you.

I liked Hale, or the idea that he represented in Fall of Man but I found myself disliking him more and more as the game progressed in R2.  His interactions with the other commandos seems selfish and uncharacteristic to what I had projected his personality to be from Fall of Man.  Fortunately (and while yes this is a spoiler--it is  a spoiler that even Insomniac has openly stated) Hale is killed by one of your dude-bro commandos, Joseph Capelli.  Capelli, like Hale, is one of the few humans to survive the exposure of the Chimeran virus and even admits earlier in the game that he should've died in a crash but his regeneration kicked in at the last minute to save him.  My guess is Hale will return in Resistance 3 much to Capelli's potential demise.

This is what irks me about the story up to this point.  Hale and Capelli, plus other commandos, are all known as Sentinels because of their resistance to the Chimeran virus.  It makes them capable of sustaining all sorts of damage and regenerate health.  This is all fine and dandy as a game concept.  In fact the history and research presented by another central character introduced a the beginning of R2, Doctor Malikov, is completely fascinating.  I just wish more of that was the focus of the game.  Instead it is relegated to cut scenes, hidden intel, or even to a broader extent a web based promotional game that teased and helped build a lot of the story before the game was originally released.  Sadly the web based stuff is exposition that can be easily overlooked if you are an average game player who only wants to shoot things.

A comment was made to me on Twitter about how much R2 seems like Half-Life 2.  I can see how some comparison could be made, but overall HL2 beats R2 in spades with storytelling and pacing.  It is curious though how much I find Fall of Man to be a close attempt at being the PlayStation 3's Halo.  The female narrator/guide, the various aliens with more advanced combat routines, the almost gleeful chatter from said aliens when they die.  All remind me of Halo.  The fact that Fall of Man even had story mode co-op really touches on that title trying so hard to be a Halo game.  Sadly though a lot of the stuff that made Fall of Man good were overlooked in R2.  It is almost as if Fall of Man tried to be Halo and R2 tried to be Gears of War.  Too much dude-bro.  Too many over the top epic battle set pieces.

Now that's not to say that I didn't like R2.  I enjoyed a lot of the game.  Survival horror elements creep in and really give a sense that all of humanity is gone and the only things left are mindless Chimeran converts swarming to take the next prey.  Tension is built to some degree by the lack of weapon wheel.  You have to make sure every shot counts.  Attention to environmental detail is top notch.  Debris and textures never feel  like you are looking at the same ten re-used objects. Navigation through levels is linear to a point, but never feel like a narrow corridor.  Weapons are scattered throughout often hinting that a new battle is about to being.  The key to progression I found was making sure you have the best weapon to get through the forthcoming battle.

Playing through R2 was a chore at times.  But well worth the experience of learning more about the Chimera and their past.  If you are a fan of story driven games, both Resistance games are worth playing through.  Just be ready to die, respawn, die, respawn until you figure out the best approach to many encounters.  Insomniac Games knows how to make rich worlds with interesting characters.  I may not like every character they have created in the Resistance series so far, but the world is deep enough to really make me look forward to Tuesday's release of Resistance 3.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5515197958704179689-4929855658899942373?l=ps3-freemantim.blogspot.comhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FreemantimsGamingThoughtsAndReviews/~4/Cgze5aczQyE

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With Summer almost at an end I find myself looking forward to several upcoming titles.  Uncharted 3, Skyrim, Rage, Resistance 3, Batman Arkham City, Assassin's Creed Revelation and holy crap this list just keeps getting longer and longer the more I think about upcoming games.  I'm a bit of a gaming completionist.  Yes I love gaming to collect trophies (although my hobby looks like a tiny pebble compared to some folks), but I'm a completionist more in the sense that once I've started a game for a story I want to continue playing new games that continue a storyline.

In 2009 Ubisoft published Assassin's Creed 2 to much acclaim and accolade.  It was certain well deserved.  The game play was refined from the first title, the story was rich and intriguing, and it was a game that I absolutely couldn't put down once I opened it on Christmas morning that year.  In the summer of 2010, Ubisoft announced that they would be releasing the followup to AC2 that fall with Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.  In the announcement, the only thing in announcement, hell in all of the announcements up until almost a week before the game was released, was how ACB had a fantastic multiplayer mode.  Very little was said about the continuing saga of Ezio.  The end of AC2 was such a dramatic cliffhanger that all the talk of multiplayer and no mention of the single player story frankly turned my own excitement into a meager flicker, relegated to the column of well I'll either get the game at Christmas from someone outside my immediate family or wait for the price to drop.

I ended up waiting for the price to drop.  So for my birthday this year I picked up a new copy of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.  The end of AC2 was a distant cloudy image, but the second I started up ACB I thought, hey I remember this.  I remember how I got here.  Just as many reviews stated last year when ACB was finally released and ground through the many review and media outlets, the game picks up immediately from where AC2 finishes.

Gaming and muscle memory are a funny thing.  You play something for 20 to 30 hours, and your hands instinctively just know what to do.  Even after a year and a half of not playing AC2, my hands just picked up on how to move and attack and jump and manipulate the camera.  Of course this could be put back on the developers of the game, making additional refinements to an almost perfect game play mechanic.  When something works, don't break it by changing shit.  Instead, the fine team from Ubisoft enhanced the game play by making combat work better.  Or so most people would say.  Yes you play and assassin.  Yes you kill people because you are an assassin.  But the hook of the game is that you sneak around and assassinate folks typically in a one on one scenario.  The "enhancement" to combat in ACB was to fix the moments where many, many, MANY, (too many?) guards would rush around you and (if you were lucky) you could fend some off,  take down the guards eventually, or escape.  This didn't happen too often in AC2, but there were definitely some times (intentionally of course for trophies) where the odds were stacked against the player in a combat system that wouldn't necessarily help the player.  If I wanted to play a game like that, I'd play <a href="http://ps3-freemantim.blogspot.com/2009/09/replay-value.html">Batman Arkham Asylum, God of War, Bayonetta, Darksiders, Enslaved, or Wolverine, hell any game with the combat built for such overwhelming odds stacked against you knowing that you are a badass and you can handle hordes swarming against you.

Mind you the combat isn't bad in Brotherhood, it just isn't an "enhancement" that I felt was necessary.  Sure you can dodge enemies that you see are coming up from behind swinging a broadsword or mace, but as I mention above, I enjoyed the stealthy bits, the moving across the city on rooftops, avoiding combat over directly confronting guards.  But because Ubisoft "fixed" or "enhanced" the combat to allow for better group battles, the game tends to force you to have to play that way.  Fortunately my muscle memory learned really quickly how to use the medicine that Ezio carries if I was ever caught in a battle that felt a bit over the top with too many overly armored guards with big swords or long pointy spears (I'm sure there is some hidden joke here about what those guards are compensating for).

Anyway, Brotherhood picks up immediately from the end of AC2 and quickly unfolds more layers to the crazy twisting past of Templars and Assassins, all via the ancestral bloodlines viewed through the DNA of Desmond Miles with technology stolen from Abstergo.  Makes sense right?  So much of this game is tied to historical events skewed with artistic flair to make any conspiracy theorist question whether any of the events could have actually happened.  Of course it is just a game, so many of the key moments that are tied to historical events are played with an over-the-top, OMG, I can't believe I just did that style of play.  Sneaking through actual landmarks in Rome is amazingly realized in Brotherhood.  Parkour jumping, climbing, and swinging through rafters of old abandoned cathedrals, hidden temples and lavish palaces revive that spark of joy I had playing AC2.  Unfortunately Brotherhood takes place in Rome.  Only in Rome.  There are a few flashbacks of Ezio as a younger man in Florence, but the rest of the time the game is set in Rome.  That's not a bad thing, but to me, there was nothing that really distinguished one part of the city from the next.  The map and the way point marker system was something I used more often than I felt I should have needed to in order to get around.  All the buildings felt the same.  Sure there are more open expanses to ride around on a horse this time, but you can't parkour leap from building to building on a horse.

I guess what I'm getting at is that while I have enjoyed my time with ACB, it just doesn't leave me with the same gamecrush that AC2 gave me.  Combat in Brotherhood is okay, but adds a little more of what I don't want to experience.  The world, while richly designed, detailed and beautifully rendered, just felt too samey from one part of the map to the other.  The overall experience was worthwhile but I just wish there was less of some game bits and more of others.  Fortunately I came to Brotherhood looking for a continuation of the great story told from AC2 and the game delivers.  Delivers to such a degree that I uncontrollably, yet completely under my control with no other choice, had to finish the game.  Finished the game with a crazier, "can't wait to play the next game" cliff hanger ending.

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed Revelations will complete the stories woven from Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed 2, and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.  Of course they've also announced that ACR will include multiplayer again.  Admittedly I have not played any of the multiplayer in Brotherhood, but that's not why I wanted the game and it's not the reason I'm looking forward to Revelations.  I hear the multiplayer is good, but I can wait for a price drop, or someone to give it to me before finding out what revelations are revealed in the next and final chapter of Ezio and Altair and the continuing saga of Desmond Miles. https://blogger.goog.../~4/vxY8Ci7ez6Y

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Traditionally summer is the slow period for new games.  There are pluses and minuses to this tradition.  On the upside it is usually nice out and if you don't have the "new hotness" that you must play, well maybe you'll end up getting some exercise and a nice tan.  On the downside no new games are coming out to play and thus by virtue of nothing else to play, you end up going outside and getting some exercise and a nice tan.



Alternatively, you've got a huge glut of games over last winter and because nothing new (or good) has come out recently, you find yourself finally getting through that pile of shame.  The last few weeks have been a bit of all of the above for me.  I keep finding games that I've almost finished (or have "finished" in the story sense of the game--but need to clean up a few more trophies to get the ever illusive Platinum),  Add to the picking and choosing of older titles, I've won a game or two, got a game for my birthday and my son has found a gem worth playing that he borrowed from our library.


I can say that I typically enjoy all types of games, Action, Adventure, First Person Shooters, RPGs and occasionally a sports game.  Seeing that it is summer and the thick of our Nation's pastime, baseball, I decided to give MLB 11 The Show another swing (pun intended of course).  I'm from Detroit.  I don't follow sports all that closely, but given the chance to go see a Tiger's game, or Red Wings game or the Lion's, I'd accept in an instant (Basketball doesn't count--is that really a sport?).  Sports games intimidate me.  I'm not sure why.  I understand the basic mechanics of the sports, but the big titles all seem to want to add Manager functions, Dynasties, full seasons, playoffs, championships.  I don't care about that stuff.  I just want to play the game.  My first attempt at playing <a href="http://www.theshownation.com/">MLB 11 The Show back in April ended abruptly after 3 innings with me giving up 9 runs to some team I don't recall and all of batting attempts ending as strike outs.  Sports games look awesome, but learning how to play them, and play them successfully are different ballgames (again pun intended).


I put MLB 11 in last week and figured I'd give it another shot.  I picked Exhibition Match.  Easy.  One game.  I can survive that.  I pick The Tigers, I pick Comerica Park.  Yet somehow the game threw me for a loop.  The opposing team was the San Francisco Giants.  Even though we were playing in Comerica Park the game decided that the Giants were the home team.  Huh?  The entire crowd in Comerica Park is decked out in Giants fan gear.  Seriously?  To add insult to injury when I finally managed to get a triple and get into scoring position the entire stadium booed.  The whole experience just felt wrong.  Comerica Park is where The Tiger's call home.  Such a disconnect.  How can a stadium can look as good as it does, faithfully recreate the ball park, but then queer the whole experience by booing what should be the home team?  After a fierce battle at the pitching mound I ended up winning the Exhibition match.  Learning how to interpret the game and get a better feel for the controls, I find myself wanting to go back and play the game a bit more frequently.

One of the really cool things that MLB 11 does is the Challenge of the Week.  Each week the game pits you as the League's hottest batter against the hottest pitcher.  Each hit you get increases your point multipler so the incentive is to keep getting hits for a homerun of a score (pun intended of course).  The catch to the Challenge of the Week is that only the first attempt is free.  Any subsequent attempts are unlocked by buying attempts in bulk.  Devious.  Just like crack.  We'll give you the first hit for free but then you need to buy if you want more.  The best part is the additional attempts are cheap.  A quarter will get you 5 more attempts.  Who can't afford spending a quarter right?  So far I've avoided the temptation, but with weekly and monthly prizes awarded I can see how some folks who are really into the finest game ever created (Baseball--not necessarily MLB 11) would easily put down extra money for a chance at winning fame and fortune from playing a video game.


Summer typically means spending time outside, enjoying nature while it is nice out.  Seeing a baseball game with the kids.  In true gamer geek fashion I find myself enjoying spending time in front of my TV and playing a sports game in the dark without having to deal with the crowds, traffic, parking and price of a beer and a hot dog.  MLB 11 is really a great way to enjoy baseball without all the associated baggage.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5515197958704179689-2452820306861306409?l=ps3-freemantim.blogspot.comhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FreemantimsGamingThoughtsAndReviews/~4/cYRteYYTVNw

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Just a quick note to say that PixelJunk Shooter 2 is on sale this week.  Shooter 1 was one of my favorite games from the tail end of 2009.  The music, the visual style and the subtle humor all went a long way to making a great game.  While the challenge ramped up toward the end, the game never reached the point of making you want to through your controller through the TV like other PIxelJunk games are want to do.



Earlier this year Q Games released their first true sequel to any of their PixelJunk games with Shooter 2.  The game continued the story from the fantastic cliffhanger ending of Shooter 1, but added some new components in the form of online battle modes as well as new forms of liquid death.


I've only begun to play the game but it immediately sucked me with the precise controlling, the need to save all the miners who have managed to survive the lava, stomach acid and various baddies out to kill your ship, the miner's savior, and finding the glorious diamonds hidden through each stage.  (Wow if that wasn't a run on sentence I don't know what one is!).  One of the things that I loved about Shooter 1 was the ability to record gameplay from within the game and post it to Youtube.  I wish more games did this.  Of course I had to test it out and so I've added some quick footage of my solo game play below.  






If you haven't picked up PixelJunk Shooter 2 yet (or Shooter 1 for that matter) do yourself a favor and get it this week.  Shooter 2 is on sale for 30% (or 50% for PS+ members) this week only.


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I suppose this isn't so much a sad tale but rather more of a realization that as a parent my habits can be easily, unknowingly, be passed down to my kids.


I finished LEGO Harry Potter this morning.  I realize that the game is over a year old but I finally got around to getting the platinum on the game this morning.


I had rented it when it first game out to write a review for a site (which never published it--grumble grumble) but never got the chance to clean up the last 6 or so trophies I needed for the plat.


My son borrowed it from my nephew the other day and discovered something that is the reason for this post.

When we played the game last year, my son was basically on the way to getting his first plat.  He loves all things HP, and of course LEGOS.  In game he is at 98% complete but only 69% complete as far as trophies go.


He plays on his own profile, and when I was starting to have lots of issues with my original PS3 back in the fall last year I created a PSN account for him so that I could make sure his trophies were saved.  He is autistic but most of the time (through lots of therapy) you'd never know it but there some things that really highlight his autism.  He is very cute when he plays a game and earns a trophy.  His immediate instinct is to have me to log him into the PSN (I intentionally keep the password not saved so that he doesn't play online all the time and add randoms) so that he can see his progress meter increase with any and all new trophies he earns.


He was very excited to get the HP disc from his cousin so that he could finish getting the 100% and see about finishing up for the platinum.  While at work I got a chat from him the other day saying something was wrong.  He kept telling me that the game was showing he was at 0% for trophies.  I told him that when I got home we'd figure out what was the problem.


Of course the second I got home he was anxiously waiting for me to sign him in and sync his trophies.  Sure enough the HP trophies reverted back to 69%.  So we went into the game and started his save.  The game then popped up on the screen a message that took the wind out my sails and basically destroyed my son.  The message stated that the save was not from his profile and so trophies were disabled.


I tried to explain that even though I backed up all of our saves before swapping to the new PS3 some games were a little more finicky about profile names and game save.  I told him that if he wanted to earn any more trophies he would have to delete his save (which again was at 98% complete) and start over.  His face sunk and he shrugged and then said "Maybe some other time."


Now I can understand why Sony wants to protect the trophy platform and keep it from being gamed by folks who would just trade saves to boost their levels, but what kills me is the fact that I backed up all of the saves for all of the profiles using the native XMB tools and restored using the native XMB tools and this still happens.


This isn't the first game that this has happened to him either.  He had earned his A class license in Burnout Paradise but the save wasn't recognized for him after we got the new PS3 and so he has to start all over again (which is a depressing notion from my point of view--I can't imagine what it must feel like for a 10 year old autistic kid).


I guess I'm just posting to vent a little bit about the trophy system and the hidden negatives that most people don't see.  I just wish there was a way for me to be able to keep the saves (in the future) so that he doesn't run into this problem again.  I makes me sad when a hobby that my son and I both enjoy dishes out a bit of a bitter pill to swallow.  What makes it worse is that the pill is only for my son, who is the last person I want to see hurt (well--I don't want to see my other kids hurt either).  I'm not sure if my son will delete his save and start over.  He has slowly started over in Burnout and the fact that LEGOS and Harry Potter are the bees knees to him, I think he might.  Call me a bad parent for wanting him to play games, but I'd rather see him happy doing something that isn't destructive to others and gives us a connection that will remain through both of our lives.



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L.A. Noire is the latest game from Rockstar Games and Team Bondi.  You play as Cole Phelps a decorated war hero from WWII trying to overcome some haunting events during a battle in Okinawa.  The story unfolds as you move from a Beat Patrol officer to Traffic detective, up to Homicide, then Vice and finally pushed back down as an Arson detective.  Without spoiling any more than that progression I will simply say that the story and especially the end, was one of the most satisfying narratives I've played in a long time.  I love pulp fiction.  I love noir crime novels.  This game really hits that sweet spot for me.  Rich characters, and an ever deepening, engrossing story that makes up for some of the less than perfect game mechanics.

Unlike other R* games this is very much two divergent games in one.  
First off there is the traditional R* open world sandbox game play.  You can drive around and just explore the 1947 version of L.A., find hidden golden film canisters (sadly no clip from any of the films), find historic landmarks, and stop street crimes.  The street crimes are quick distractions meant to fill out the experience from the second type of game play (more on this in a moment).  Street crimes range from car chases, foot chases, and shootouts.  Characters from the main story litter the street crimes and are a nice way to fully flesh out and tie the two styles of game play together.  R* has always been able to create rich worlds with lots of unique characters and deviant ways to distract from the main story.  Playing as a Police Detective however forces you to play as straight as possible and keeps the world from being fully taken advantage of.  For as richly detailed as the sandbox world is, once you've completed finding all of the hidden objects the world becomes boring fairly quickly.

Fortunately the second type of game play is where the game truly shines.  Of course concept of the game is to examine crime scenes, collect evidence and interrogate suspects to solve the various crimes.  What makes the game really shine is strong story and character interactions.  During interviews you are given options to believe a suspect (Truth), doubt what they are saying (Doubt), or flat out call them a liar (Lie).  The concept is sound but flawed.  If you choose Lie as an option you must have the appropriate evidence to back up your claim.  The biggest point of failure with the game is the interview concept.  At times when you pick any of the options your character will end up at times almost verbally assaulting the character which breaks up the pace of the interview.  That is my biggest gripe with the game.

Visually the facial character models can't be beat.  After watching trailers and game footage from other upcoming games (Uncharted 3) I can't help but feel that the facial animation in U3 feels completely last gen after spending so much time with LA Noire.  


The music is moody and really helps to build the noir feel. Like Red Dead Redemption, the soundtrack is available for separate purchase but sadly doesn't include some of the best in-game music sequences. I enjoy the original score composed for this game but wish there was a better way to listen to the licensed music while driving through the city. To me the best licensed music is actually the radio shows popular during the game setting. The other music reminds me too much of the tracks that loop in Fallout 3 and New Vegas (not a bad thing but they are still too similar).

One other mark that can be taken as good or bad is the game is very easy.  Combat is peppered through the missions but if you aren't good at that style of game, the particular section can be skipped (after dying a few times).  During interviews, if you botch an interview and the suspect won't talk any further, your partner will glean information elsewhere to help move the story along.  Failure is an option but it doesn't stop the progress of the story.  This is new to most games.  Sadly it also isn't handled in the best manner.  I'm reminded during moments of failure of the Price is Right sad trombone.  The game points out your failure with sound queues but continues to tell the story.  I would prefer to not have my nose rubbed in my failure by a lame sound queue.  Rather give me the summation at the end of the mission (which is very telling in what objectives you missed) and let me play that case over again to see if I can get a better outcome.  I've replayed several missions at this point over again and question what really differentiates a failure ending with a "correct--good" ending.  

Overall this is a game that should be experienced.  There are some really fantastic moments with character interactions and development.  The overarching story is well plotted with plenty of twists and call backs to early character interactions.   Plenty of stuff to do (and a good amount of DLC casework still to come).  The interview process is a nice touch (when you pick the right choice), the stories are well developed and the overall atmosphere is fantastic.  It's not my absolute favorite game I've played this year, but it is definitely one that I keep coming back to.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5515197958704179689-1943902838891337357?l=ps3-freemantim.blogspot.comhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FreemantimsGamingThoughtsAndReviews/~4/PbugFAJhDsw

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Stacking is the newest game from Double Fine and was released yesterday on the PSN.

The story revolves around a poor family who's father leaves the house to get a job and disappears.  After a few months of him disappearing the family is in financial dire straights and can't pay bills.  The debtors take the children in the family to work as slaves to pay off the debt.

You play as Charlie (the smallest "runt" of the children) who can stack into a doll one size larger than himself.  You can stack into larger and larger dolls to solve various puzzles to help free your slave bound siblings.  Each person that you stack into has it's own unique attribute which can help to solve the puzzles presented in each level.

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The story is presented as a silent film and the music that plays over the cut scenes are classic silent film type scores.  The amount of detail and polish given to the entire game is top notch.  Each section of the game has unique stackable characters to find and each puzzle has multiple ways to solve them.  Even though I love playing puzzle games, I'm not always tuned to the same level of puzzle solving that the creators of the puzzle are.  One great thing about Stacking is the ability to view hints to help solve the puzzles.  There is no penalty for unlocking a hint (at least not that I've seen so far), the only dilemma is showing self restraint versus instant gratification.  On a replay/gameplay extender front, there are unique dolls to find and stack into for each section of the game as well.  Some of these unique dolls also can viewed as a puzzle themselves as some characters are so much larger than what you'd normally be able to stack into, you will spend time trying to find the right number of dolls to stack into.


Stacking is full of charm and is a great change of pace from so many of the current games that are available to play on modern consoles.  Trophies for this game come naturally just by solving puzzles (all iterations of the puzzles of course), finding all of the unique dolls to stack into and completing the story proper.


The game is free PlayStation Plus members but has a price of $14.99 for non-members.  If you enjoyed any previous Tim Schafer and company game (Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, or Costume Quest) then this is definitely a game worth picking up.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5515197958704179689-1350805578376592350?l=ps3-freemantim.blogspot.comhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FreemantimsGamingThoughtsAndReviews/~4/gyLPv0KjXJ8

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