The stars aligned this afternoon and I was able to sit down and watch the entire Microsoft E3 2014 Media Briefing live from the comfort of my own home.
The kids were told to play outside, so that meant the room was mine alone. Currerbell1847 was close by, as I had the directive to tell her “when something Halo” came on.
Ladies and gentlemen something Halo did come on, and with Continue reading →
Some exciting news I found over at Sal’s site (HaloFanForLife) – 343 Industries has a new Creative Director, and his name is Tim Longo (Jr.).
That’s right – the Tim Longo.
What? Never heard of him you say? Well, neither had I. But it turns out I have enjoyed some of his work…
Previously he was Creative Director of a little game called Star Wars: Republic Commando which was (in my opinion) one of the best Star Wars games ever made – not only because its story was so well done but it was a good FPS in its own right.
The game had fantastic squad mechanic, where you could order the other members of your team to make a coordinated effort to … well, the Wikipedia entry does a better job of explaining:
The game features some gameplay elements that resemble features in other first-person shooters, including Metroid Prime, and Halo. The heads-up display (HUD) in the game resembles the Metroid Prime helmet display and the player sees the world through visor. The usage of health and recharging shields, as well as the general combat gameplay, resemble styles seen in Halo.
An unusual feature is that blood from enemies (or lubricant fluid in the case of mechanical opponents) dispatched at close quarters that will splash onto the helmet visor, can slightly obstruct vision until an energy-based “windshield wiper” cleans it off at intervals of a few seconds.
The squadmate order system allows the player general tactical control over the three NPC squadmates that round out the four-man commando team. The order system resembles a simplified version of the context-based command menus seen in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear.
Many objects in the game environment will highlight when the crosshair is placed over them. The player can then press the use key to issue an order automatically associated with the object; for example, a sealed door may highlight with a synchronized team breach-and-clear command, or a computer console might give have a “slice” (computer hacking) command, while a pile of cargo boxes suitable for a cover position with good vantage may provide a “take up Sniper/Anti-Armor position” command. Where possible, the squadmates will usually take their preferred roles (sniper, demolitions and technical). The player can also order the squad to move to secure any position (wherever the crosshair is pointed), or perform search-and-destroy. Also, there are orders to command the squadmates to group up or spread out according to the player’s discretion for the situation.
Now read that again, but read it thinking about how all this goodness could be brought to the next Halo.
See what I mean?
The potential is exciting – not that the exact mechanics of Republic Commando have to make there way to Halo, but that perhaps part of the great experience that Commando offered would come to the land of Forerunners and Firefights.
(I thought it worth mentioning that Tim Longo was also Creative Director/Franchise Director on the recent Tomb Raider reboot, and while I haven’t personally played the game I’ve heard good things.)
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Originally posted at GameSpot on July 21, 2008
In honor of my first new emblem in nearly three years (watching some of the E3 coverage live for one day), I thought I’d do something I’ve never done before – weigh in on the games at E3 that I’m excited about.
While this is something that everyone else is doing as well, it’s still fresh for me – so here we go in alphabetical order:
Crysis Warhead
Since I have chosen to by food instead of a new computer, I haven’t been able to play the first Crysis game; and I probably won’t get to this one anytime soon. Still, based on reviews and just how the game looks it’s one I definitely want to get to someday.
Empire: Total War
This is a no-brainer for me. The Total War series is an all-time favorite, and I’ve been hooked sinceShogun: Total War. Naval battles and guns – the series time-line keeps moving forward. Will it ever come to present-day I wonder? Whatever the answer, I’m happy in the past.
Fable 2
I enjoyed Fable: The Lost Chapters quite a bit – so a bigger, better version is always a good thing. There’s been a lot of talk about having your pet dog run around with you. I have nothing against owning a dog, but will it really be this amazing game play experience to have an animal with you all the time? Dog or not, I’m looking forward to fun game play and a good story from Fable 2.
Far Cry 2
Much like Half-Life, this is a highly rated FPS series that I just haven’t been able to play yet. Will I get around to Far Cry 2 before the inevitable third installment rolls around? Time will tell.
Flower
With all the explosions and gun shots going off around me in these other games, it will be nice to stroll around the grassy fields for a while. I see this game in the same vein as Flow; who knows when I’ll be able to play Playstation games, but I’ll look for this title when I can.
Halo Wars
It’s Halo. It’s war. It’s Halo Wars. I think that pretty much sums it up.
James Bond: Quantum of Solace
Just because I haven’t finished James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing doesn’t mean I can’t want another Bond game! While most of the games involving 007 have been misses, the hits (such as GoldenEye) have been big ones. Let’s hope Quantum is one of them.
Lord of the Rings: Conquest
What’s that? You’re taking the Star Wars Battlefront formula and putting it in the Lord of the Rings universe? I think I’m in some sort of dork heaven right now…seriously, this is easily one of the best games I’ve played – and it isn’t out yet! Yep, it’s that good – I can already tell.
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Two words: tactical nukes. I may still get around to the first Merc game, but if I land on this game before so much the better.
Mirror’s Edge
Seems to be some buzz around this one; I do think it looks like an interesting concept but I wonder how truly “free” it is. Can you go anywhere, or is that just an illusion as you move along a linear path? And is that even a bad thing? With anything new, there’s always plenty of room to screw it up – but I’m going to look on the bright side and say this game will turn out just fine.
Prince of Persia
Played Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time; still need to go through the last two-thirds of the modern trilogy. This game is supposed to be completely separate from these three games, so I’m interested to see what will be different. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s an acrobatic Prince looking to save his kingdom (and himself) from certain destruction…which doesn’t sound very different at all. It’s a good formula, however, so we’ll see what happens.
Pure
While I’ve had the privilege to play several fantastic racing games (Burnout 3, Project Gotham Racing 2, Rallisport Challenge, etc.), off-road games seem to have a less stellar track record. Pure looks to change all that, and the videos look amazing.
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
The first Puzzle Questis great, and this is the next one. The first one is good, so this will be good. I think with iron-clad logic like that, it’s hard to argue.
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
There is no denying that Bioware puts out quality RPGs (A little game called Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, for example). I’m assuming the same type of quality will shine through in this game, and the unique idea of Sonic in a RPG on the DS looks very interesting. For those reasons, this one should be good.
Sonic Unleashed
And the Sonic love continues. Truth be told, I haven’t really played the big blue hedgehog since mySonic & Knucklesdays – but those were good days. I’m hoping this game will bring Sonic to prominence in 3-D, because I have yet to see a reason to make the transition.
Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Battles
At last, all the lightsaber battles I had using my old plastic bat during my childhood will finally pay off! Hopefully the moves you make will transfer to the screen smoothly; to have such a sweet concept fall short would be nothing less then the dark side at work.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
An original storyline coupled with amazing game play and graphics? (WARNING: Tired catch-phrase from the Star Wars Universe about to be used!) The force is strong with this one…
Street Fighter IV
I can remember wishing for a Sega Genesis, and the only game I wanted was Street Fighter II: Championship Edition. That wish was granted, and Street Fighter remains my favorite fighting franchise. I want this one to be good – I won’t get to it for a while, but for the good Street Fighter name I want it to do well.
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.K.
I’ve always been a little wary of flight sims on consoles; but they keep getting closer to the mark and this game could be the best yet. I wonder how this game will stack up against the Ace Combat series?
There it is, my take on what I’m looking forward to from E3 2008. This doesn’t cover everything, and who knows when I’ll actually be playing these games, but they all have great potential.
Potential for what? What else – potential to rock!
Post tenebras lux
Originally posted at GameSpot on March 3, 2008
Being thankful isn’t something I do enough of. I know it’s cliché, but I need to strive at being more aware of the blessings I enjoy each and every day.
This is no different when it comes to video games, and I want take time out with this blog to review what an amazing 4-5 months it’s been in my gaming world.
Due to the generosity of family at Christmas and our tax return, I’ve been able to advance more in my game library is these past few months than I have in quite a while:
Xbox:
Chessmaster
Forza Motorsport
Jade Empire: Limited Edition
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders
Project Gotham Racing 2
Project: Snowblind
Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow
DS:
Astro Boy: Omega Factor (GBA)
Diner Dash: Sizzle and Serve
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Mario Kart DS
Mario Party DS
New Super Mario Brothers
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Risk / Battleship / Clue (GBA)
Star Fox Command
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA)
TMNT (GBA)
Uno / Skipbo / Uno Freefall
Hardware:
Nintendo DS Lite (2)
Fanatec Speedster 3 Forceshock Xbox Racing Wheel
I look at this list with a sense of awe and intimidation, both excited about the purchases but wondering how I’m going to find time for all of them.
That’s the problem with my gaming hobby – I’m acquiring games faster than I can play through them.
I’m not the first person to have this problem, nor will I be the last – and as far as problems go, I think having an abundance of games is probably the best kind to have.
Post tenebras lux
Originally posted at GameSpot on November 19, 2007
(Or, recent thoughts I’ve been meaning to get in here but haven’t had the time.)
These are not in order of importance, just simply how they’ve come into my brain:
Able to see World in Conflict over at my brother-in-law’s house a few weeks ago – the game was just as amazing as the GameSpot review made it out to be. The first thing that struck me was the graphics – stunning. The detail of the terrain, weather effects, lighting, and the smoothness at which the game ran was fantastic. True, he has a state-of-the-art PC that can handle the heavy load – but even at a lower resolution things would have looked great. The level he showed me also had some fun game play, which kept things moving with good voice acting and high drama. All that being said, it was a treat to see what’s currently out there as far as high-quality RTS.
On that same PC, he booted up Medieval II: Total War for me as well. Shogun Total War is one of my all-time favorite games, and I eventually hope to own the entire Total War series. Until then, however, this small taste will have to tide me over. Simply put, I can’t wait. It’s worth noting, however, that this game (from what I could tell) was more of what I was used to playing Shogun, just beefed up and expanded. That’s not to take away from the game at all – in fact, I see it as a compliment. I hope to spend many future hours with Medieval II and the whole series.
A few memories of old Tom Clancy games. My brother-in-law had the gold edition of the first Rainbow Six – a title I used to own – with all his other games. I never could really get into that game. If I had to nail it down, it probably was because I wasn’t that good at it. All the planning, all the map points, all the trial and error – it just didn’t add up to a fun experience. It came down to me executing a well-laid plan – and then doing just as well without said plan and shooting anything that moved.
I had to take back Band of Brothers. I appreciate the need to be realistic, but having the characters swear at least once every sentence made me pop and game out and take it right back to the store. To be fair, the first sequence in the game drops you right in the middle of a battle, and there’s no doubt a heavy amount of loud swearing would be taking place in that situation. Also, to be fair, I’m a father now – and I can’t have that crap on in the background. It’s too bad – I was really looking forward to getting into that game for awhile.
Currently playing Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, and I’m stuck at the second battle against Gothmog. I know I’ll re-visit this thought when I finish the game, but it’s not really “fun” to play. I love the source material, but that’s what carries me through. On its own, I would have stopped playing a while ago. There are some perks that stick out, and I’m glad I’ve been able to see them: 1.) Fighting (or playing as) the Balrog was sweet. His animation is done extremely well; I really feel like he’s a powerful enemy when he steps up to the plate. 2.) A sense of “being there.” Oh, it doesn’t happen a lot in the game – but when the sunset hits the wall of Helm’s Deep just right, I feel like I’m in the movie. 3.) Since the characters are the same models used in The Two Towers and Return of the King, I feel like I’m playing with weather-worn friends when they show up. I played as those characters for hours on the other games, so there’s a “welcome back” feeling when they join my party for a battle in The Third Age.
Unfortunately, a strong feeling of being boxed in by the game, big differences in difficulty from one second to the next, and a weak story (with Tolkien’s literature as a backdrop? How could they have a weak story?!) crush any of these small joys from making it a fun game. Will I ever finish it? Yes. Will I ever play it again? No.
We had a couple over this past Friday and they brought the Wii. I’ve been able to play the Wii at several friends’ houses’ and I really enjoy the console. I mean, you’ve got to love a gaming system that makes bowling that fun. My wife and I were also able to introduce them to Halo, and that was a lot of fun as well. I love that moment when someone says, “Well, we better get going…what time is it…12:40!? Just one of the many reasons why I enjoy this form of entertainment.
Warmed up Fable: The Lost Chapters and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: Substance this past weekend. Not really playing, just looking around. I wandered around a little in Fable, and watched the cut scenes from MGS2. I don’t have the time to play these games through again at this point, but a little remembrance tour always makes me feel good.
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