Final Fantasy XIII – 8.5/10

So I’ve been a little late getting this review. Yeah, well I’m nearing the last week of undergraduate classes so I’ve been busy. So, on with the review…

Final Fantasy XIII takes place in a world called “Cocoon”, where people live every day under the watchful eye of the “Fal’Cie” (think Greek’s deities, or the people’s “keepers”). Cocoon is somewhat of a paradise, with every aspect of people’s live taken care. This world is encased in a shell, hovering above the unknown land of Pulse, where wild creatures roam and uncivilized tribes want war with the peaceful land of Cocoon. The story itself is very interesting, with good characters and a focused narrative. The gameplay itself is solid, but doesn’t bring anything new to the JRPG table, other than its unique and fun battle system.

Some could say FFXIII is a striped-down RPG, and while I acknowledge some criticisms of that to be perfectly true, that doesn’t make the game “bad” or less fun than any of the previous installments. Yes, towns are gone. Yes, customizable characters are gone (at least for the first half of the game), yes NPCs that you can talk to are gone (for the most part), but FFXIII is a game with a mission: to drag you into its world and not let go. It doesn’t have staples of the genre, but it certainly has staples of Final Fantasy: an engrossing storyline, larger than life characters, an epic mission, a plot to destroy and save the world. It’s all here. And while it seems a little empty where all the other characteristics are missing, FFXIII is a very streamlined experience. You never get bored wandering from town to town, the story is focused and there is always something new and exciting going on, and the characters are fun and entertaining. While it lacks the depths of previous Final Fantasies it makes up for it by having a focused and rich narrative. That said, the game is very linear, Lightning (the main heroine) mainly has the option to stray off the pre-definied path, and you’ll be in for “hallway after hallway”, or so to say. For all this back and forth, I still had fun, and its certainly a good RPG…

An example of flashy and fun combat.

True, it doesn’t change the rules of JRPG, certainly not RPGs in general. It could even be said FFXIII isn’t an RPG at all, but an interactive movie with a battle system. All these are valid criticisms. But that doesn’t mean FFXIII isn’t fun, and it definitely makes strides forwards in storytelling. FFXIII doesn’t bring a lot new to the table, but it does solidify game’s as viable storytelling mediums. That being said, the game isn’t just one long movie, there is plenty to do…eventually, and the game itself is fun to play, thanks to its unique battle system, which luckily doesn’t get boring 40 hours in.

The production values for FFXIII are certainly high, being beautiful scene after scene, and transitioning seamlessly to “cutscenes” (which look just like the game itself). The music, while not composed by Nobou Uematsu this time (Masashi Hamauzu takes on the duty , is very good. And while not the best in the series, it definitely has its moments. The characters are fun and endearing, the story elements are all there, and the gameplay is solid and fun.

The RPG elements it does have it does well. The “level up” system has been streamlined into a hybrid of FFXII gambits and  FFX sphere grid. Battles are quick, dynamic and fun, and can even be challenging at some points. The “Paradigm system” is a unique twist on RPG battles that allows you to assign “Roles” to your characters which act accordingly. For example, having a medic in your party, they will heal you whenever you loose HP. A “Ravager” (think mage) will dish out the most damage per second with magic he or she can, while a “Commando” will physically attack. The player can switch roles on the fly, and after battle can upgrade each character roles by investing Cyrstarium Points, similar to “leveling up”. This allows characters to learn new skills and gain more stat points (like more hit points, magic points, defense, strength, ect). Each character starts with only 3 roles but eventually is able to learn and upgrade all six (Ravager, Commando, Medic, Sentinel, saboteur, and Synergist).

Although somewhat lacking in traditional RPG fare, FFXIII’s storytelling is leaps and bounds above other similar JRPGs, and while it doesn’t offer the best RPG experience, it has its moments and is definitely fun to watch and play.

PROS:

+ Great Battle System

+Great Storyline/Storytelling

+Memorable main cast

CONS:

-Lacking traditional RPG staples (towns, NPCs, etc)

-Very linear

Final Fantasy XIII impressions, Review to come soon

Hey all, finished God of War III recently (two playthroughs and most trophies) so I decided to delve into a very long JRPG. Of course, this has been out for about a month now, but up until recently, haven’t had the time to devote to an RPG. Now that I’m playing, and about 20 hours in, I have some impressions. May be a while until I write my full review, since I hear this game is very long, but I just wanted to post some impressions and deny all the bad press this game is getting.

So I’m sure you’ve heard by now, FFXIII is very linear. So linear that many people don’t like it. Yes, there are no towns, the NPCs are there but not really interactive, and the story is very linearly progressed. It’s a lot of straightforward paths of battle-cutscene-battle-cutscene with limited freedom. Sounds kinda sad, don’t it? Well, yes, I’m disappointed they didn’t keep all the aspects from the other Final Fantasy games, but honestly, I can see why they made the game so linear. The story is very focused and never is dull. Something exciting is always happening, and because of that the characters go through a lot of interesting situations. So, yes, FFXIII is very linear and you have little control over the experience itself, but its one of those games where your “along for the ride”. Kinda like Uncharted 2. Its fun to just watch and see what happens. So, no, you don’t get to customize your character as much as you would like, you don’t get to explore nooks and crannys of towns, complete random sidequests given by random strangers, and you can’t just randomly run around the world map for an hour and half looking for new areas and fighting monsters that you’re not supposed to be fighting yet, but is it really worse of?

A little. But not enough to hinder the game. The game’s straightforward, but its also very focused. I never loose interest in this game. It’s very addictive and you’ve got to see what happens next. You can tell they wished to put in more there, but didn’t have the time or resources. You can tell there’s some stuff the developers would’ve loved to add, but they were focused on making a great RPG experience. So we don’t have towns anymore. Yeah, kinda sad, but all in all I’m not disappointed since the rest of the game is so good. All in all, FFXIII is different from the other games in the series in some aspects, but the same in others. It is the most focused Final Fantasy to date, and while not the best one, definitely a step in an interesting direction for the genre, good or bad. Because lets face it, RPGs are grasping for new things nowadays with all the technology we have now. Every game is adding RPG elements and classic RPGs are kinda loosing the edge. Final Fantasy XIII spits in the face of those comments and says “hey, we’re sticking with what we do best”, which is telling a great story while serving up an enjoyable game. And that’s really all fans can ask for.

God of War III – 9.0/10

God of War III is probably one of the most anticipated games this year for the PS3, maybe all console in general. But does it live up to the gross over-abundance of hype? Yes and no.

God of War III is a very polished game. Its noticeable from the very beginning. The combat system is perfectly balanced, the puzzles are not too hard but not too easy, and the bosses are epic without being cheap or overbearing. The advantages of perfecting the God of War formula over the past two titles in the series are apparent. And, completely from a game-play standpoint, GOW3 is definitely the best in the series. However, something feels off while you play. It may be that the perfect formula is wearing off on its audience, the mechanics being rehashed over and over by numerous copycats. God of War III doesn’t seem as memorable as the first two sometimes, partly because the novelty of ripping a foe’s body apart has wore off. But that doesn’t mean its not fun: God of War is easily the most fun game of this year, and while not as epic as the first two (at least at the beginning of the game), it is certainly the most fun to play.

Boss fights are epic an awesome.

Sony Santa Monica didn’t rewrite the mechanics of the game, but they did add enough new and exciting features to make veterans keep playing. The Blades are back (with a new name), and all the lovely bloody combos you could perform last game return. Some new features, such as being able to grab enemies and use them as a shield while charging are a welcome (and fun) addition. Grappling enemies is a lot more dynamic and fun this time, too. While the last game forced you to get right next to an enemy to grab him, in GOW3 you can hold L1 and hit O (the grab button) to hurl your weapon at an enemy and perform a weapon-specific grab-attack. The Blades, for example, allow you to grab the enemy with one of your blades and then shoulder-charge into them, which is very useful for closing the gap. The Claws of Hades (a new and awesome weapon) allows you to rip souls out of your target to fight for you (yes, this is very cool).

Another addition to the combat is 3 new and unique weapons, all with their own magic attached to them and fighting style. You can get Kratos to change weapons on-the-fly and even mid-combo by tapping the corresponding directional buttons. This makes for an exciting move-list that the player can experiment around with by using different weapon combinations. Each weapon has its own distinct feel and uses. The Claws of Hades, for example, are ranged similar to the Blades, but have different attack mechanics, allowing you to throw foes around easier and grab them in the air, as well as some exciting crowd-control moves. The Gauntlets, which we’ve all seen in the demo and trailer, work exactly how they look. They’re give Kratos an excuse to pound enemies to a glorious pulp before finishing them off. The Gauntlets aren’t fast, but they sure do hit hard, and also have a couple more versatile moves in store should you choose to upgrade them.

God of War 3 has some excellent new weapons.

This brings me to the upgrade system, which, if you’re familiar with the past two titles, is identical. You gain red orbs from battle (extra for higher combos) and invest them in upgrading your weapons and items. Each weapon has five or so levels that each grant them extra strength and new moves. There are also three unique items that Kratos comes across throughout the game, both useful for combat and solving puzzles. Returning is the bow, which no longer depletes the magic gauge but a separate gauge called the “item gauge” specifically for item powers which regenerates over time. Like health and magic gauges, this gauge can also be extended by finding special items in chests.

Graphically, God of War III pushes the Playstation 3 to its limits–and you can tell. Every feature of Kratos’ character is rendered beautifully, as well as a gorgeous background and amazing levels that move while you are atop them. The beginning of the game is particularly noteworthy is Gaia, a giant Titan who climbs Mount Olympus, all while Kratos is doing battle with minons on her back. This “level” is all rendered dynamically, and the Titan sways and moves as you guide Kratos on top of it. All the epic God of War music you know and love returns, from the legendary main theme to the exciting battle music. The sound effects also are top-notch. There is nothing, production-wise, you could say that God Of War III got wrong, and it all comes together to amount to a pretty amazing experience.

See that Titan in the background? Yep, all in real-time.

That being said, I can’t help but feel like I’ve done all this before. While GOW3 makes considerable imporvements to the series and polishes the game mechanics to a mirror sheen, the course feels all too familiar. Kratos longs for revenge, killing everything that stands in his way while battling gods. Not that this isn’t exciting in its own right, but GOW3 doesn’t really add anything new to the series, albeit combat and gameplay improvements. But that’s really all that can be said about GOW3–it is a giant improvement from the past titles in the series, but doesn’t push the action genre forward so noticeably than the past two titles have. I know this sounds like such a rail on an otherwise great game, but its really not. Yes, GOW3 doesn’t take any chances with its formula or makes giant leaps in the action/hack-n-slash genre as its predecessors, but it is an excellent game, and a damn fun one at that. Truly, God of War III is a game anyone in their right mind needs to play right now. If anyone has questions on what a masterpiece action game looks like, look no further than God of War III.

PROS:
+Beautiful Graphics
+Awesome and fun combat, easily the best in the series
+Amazing production values
+Epic conclusion to the God of War trilogy

CONS:
-Sometimes seems like you’ve done all this before

Dante’s Inferno – 8.5/10

I’m going to start this review by getting something out of the way quickly: Dante’s Inferno is very similar to God of War. Very, very, similar. It has a similar “feel”, the controls are very much the same, and it often plays quite exactly the same. That being said, Dante’s Inferno is a great game in its own right, and, while it does bear a striking resemblance to the God of War series, it gets the GoW “formula” completely right. Bear in mind that I’m not scoring or reviewing this game based on its likeness to the God of War series (like I see so many others doing), but instead taking it for what it is, at face value. No comparisons to certain other games or whatnot. This is the Dante’s Inferno review for the game Dante’s Inferno: completely standalone. That said, here’s the review:

Dante’s Inferno isn’t a particularly complex game. It involves hitting a combination of buttons to perform awesome moves. You are Dante, a returning crusader whose one and only love, Beatrice, has fallen into Satan’s hands. Being the stand-up guy he is, Dante decides to fight his way through Hell to rescue his lost love. Throughout the game, you wield death’s scythe and a magical cross to fight demons and sinners through all nine circles of hell.

The level design is top notch.

The level design in Dante’s Inferno is top notch, with each level of hell consisting of its own motif. Lust, for example, is strewn with depictions of genitalia and sex. Gluttony is modeled after the human gastrointestinal tract. And greed is lined with gold and machinery depicting industry, wealth, and power.
Each circle introduces its own enemies, as well. Gluttony has humongous fatty humanoid monsters, greed has two-sided hoarder-wasters that sling coins at you, and heresy has occultist heretics that use magic to attack you, to name a few. These enemies aren’t only housed in their corresponding circle. After you see them for the first time, you’ll surely meet them again in upcoming circles, giving the game a nice amount of enemies to fight. Of course, you have your standard fiends which are usually in the form of corpses with swords and spears, but you have some other varieties of your standard enemy (like flaming ones and exploding ones, for example). Demons are your mid-level enemies, who are black satyr-looking beasts with large swords. All in all, the level and enemy design in Dante’s Inferno are both excellent.

Yes, you can ride these.

The combat works surprisingly well. It is simple, yes, but it is visceral and rewarding. Combos are easy to pull off, and while not very “complex” like other action games, the combat itself is very fun. Dante can upgrade his scythe and cross by using “souls” he collects from killing enemies. These upgrades unlock new powers and abilities that make Dante even more of a badass. Upgrades can be upgraded in “levels”. That is to say, you can’t spend your souls on a certain upgrade until you reach that “level” in your holy or unholy (cross and scythe, respectively) path. This makes for an interesting mechanic. As, when you play, you’ll have the option to “Punish” or “Absolve” certain enemies and characters (sinners that you find in hell). When you choose to punish, you gain some experience for your unholy level, and when you choose to absolve, you gain experience for you holy level. When you reach a new level, you unlock new skills and abilities that you can spend souls to acquire. Although simplistic, Dante’s Inferno combat and upgrade system offer pure, simple fun in their design. You find yourself excited to level up your unholy or holy path to get to try out those new scythe or cross attacks. And the attacks are rewarding to pull off. You’ll have plenty of moments when you think (or exclaim) “cool” as you perform some awesome chain of attacks and then finish off with Dante quite literally ripping an opponent in half. The boss battles are pretty cool, too. And while some are your typical hack-n-slash fare, some have a pretty cool edge too them. The bosses themselves are usually massive, and even when the battle isn’t particularly creative in its execution, the battles always feel very epic.

You're gonna be in for some pretty epic boss fights.

Dante’s Inferno does feature quick-time events. You’ll find yourself hitting buttons corresponding to on-screen prompts fairly often. And, while this does get annoying sometimes, doesn’t detract from the overall experience. My only gripe is that the game uses “mash the O button” (or the B button on Xbox360) for just about everything. So, yes, you’ll be hitting the O button a lot.

The soundtrack for Dante’s Inferno fits nicely with Hell. Its a combination of eerie and epic tracks that are well scored for fighting through the Inferno. The sound design is perfect for the type of game this is, from moaning souls to the slicing of human (or inhuman) flesh. It really adds a lot to the environment and gives Hell more depth.

The story itself is straightforward but rewarding. One might expect some throwaway storyline from a game like this, but Dante’s Inferno offers a well-written tale about love, loss and sacrifice. While its not particularly original or amazing, it is quite epic and never feels like it is written to simply justify the action. Its a nice tale and offers incentive to finish the game (not to say that the combat isn’t enough already).

Dante’s Inferno does have its flaws, however. It isn’t perfect. It often gets frustrating at times, and, while it does offer plenty of save points, sometimes it throws things at you that you have to reply over and over to get right. It does have checkpoints, and in the beginning of the game, is fairly generous of where they are placed, by the end it puts them farther and farther apart. It also contains some puzzles, none of which are too difficult, and some minor platforming. Most of the platforming is fine and easy, but some is somewhat annoying. Especially some sequences that require quick-time-events. Fail those, and you will game over. And although you don’t have to start back at your last save, and usually get into the action right before the QTE, it really does break up the pacing sometimes. And while this is a minor gripe, a fast-past game like this sometimes getting bogged down by undeserved deaths gets annoying.

Other than some annoying quick-time events and some minor camera issues, Dante’s Inferno performs pretty well for an action game. Some later levels aren’t as meticulously designed as the initial ones and fighting the same enemies over and over may loose its steam for some people, but Dante’s Inferno is sure a fun game. And that’s about all I can really ask for.

PROS:
+ Great, hack-n-slash fun
+ Awesome enemy and level design
+ Straightforward, but interesting story

CONS:
- Quick-time events are sometimes annoying
- Some sequences can get frustrating
- Minor camera issues

The Real Truth from a Color-blind gamer

I’ve recently been enjoying Bioshock 2 on my new ever-so-amazing Velocity Micro Z90. I beat it yesterday, and I must say, it was pretty good. A lot better than I expected. This lead me to, as I always do after beating a game, browse some gaming-related forums to see people’s opinions on the title. As usual, there were lovers and haters and everyone in between. Anywho, to my dismay, I stumbled across an article on Negative Gamer that was bitching about how Bioshock 2 wasn’t “colorblind accessible”. Now, I’ve been color blind all my life (obviously, that’s how it works), but only found out a couple years back. I’m red-green color blind, I believe somewhat of a minor case, but I still can’t see any of the damn numbers in those damn tests (alright, I can see the 25, but that’s seriously it).

But about the “article” on Negative Gamer. Now, I know they’re trying to inform the general population here, but it really doesn’t work like that. If you looked over the article (or at least the pictures), you’ll notice that a color-blind person sees completely different things when playing the hacking mini-game in Bioshock 2. Well, theoretically, then, you would assume that Color Blind people would not be able to differentiate between the first picture and the one below it. As in, the picture for “red-green” people should look identical to the original, unaltered picture, right? Wrong. I can plainly say that there is a difference. A big one. And, oh yeah, I can play the hacking mini-game just fine. And I can see the colors, too! *gasp*

Apparently, color-blind gamers see the world in 'poop brown'

Looks like whoever wrote this used some shitty Photoshop filter to alter the picture for “non-color vision”. Well, sorry, but it didn’t work. Its not like I’m mad, I’m just kind of bothered by the fact that people assume color blind people cannot plainly distinguish between two colors. The simple fact is: we can. Just not colors that are similar shades. The colors on the Bioshock hacking mini-game are vibrant and very distinct, they are easily distinguishable to my eyes. I’m sure some color blind gamers out there have trouble, but its just rude and ignorant to assume all people with color blindness see the world in black and white (which I’ve been asked on numerous occasions, by the way).

Well, that was somewhat of a rant, wasn’t it? Well, yes it was, but there is a point in all of this. One being that people shouldn’t listen to everything they hear on the internet, especially from people who make up reasons to bitch about a great game like Bioshock 2 by citing lack of “color-blind accessibility”. That’s complete bullshit. And most color-blind gamers can probably tell the difference, anyway.

What’s the other, you ask? It’s that developers have they’re own goddamn rights and if they want to release a game that color-blind people have no fucking chance of playing, then far be it from me (or random people who write articles on the internet) to say no. If they want to give color-blind gamers some nice accessibility options, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s fine too. But I (and most color blind gamers) won’t be buying it. That’s 6% of their market right there. If they want to take that chance, it’s up to them. But the main idea here is: it is up to them. We don’t have a say. We can whine and complain all we want, but at the end of the day, if the publisher/developer thinks that adding a color-blind mode is best for business, then they’ll do it, otherwise, they won’t. Pure and simple.

I hope that was (somewhat) informative and educational. I am color-blind, and I haven’t had that much problem with video games in general. I’m also very glad that developers don’t feel pressured to make game’s especially for us, because that’s just silly. If they they want to add some extra options when people plead nicely (without complaining) then they will, because that’s how they make money, by listening to their fans. If not, it’s their prerogative. It bothers me that some people dumb-down the explanation of color-blindness to either “the world’s in black-and-white” or “red and green appear as an ugly shade of brown” (look here for an amusing article with pictures). Oh well, such is life. Lack of understanding and such. Hope you learned something about people with color deficiency today, or at least, aren’t so quick to judge us. Oh, and whenever someone brings up some stupid sissy-ass excuse to bash a game like “its not colorblind accessible” you should call them a whiny bitch and leave.

That’s all for today. Until next time…

Game Review – Mass Effect 2 – 9.5/10

Mass Effect 2…
What can be said that hasn’t already. I’m sure most people already know enough about this game to make a proper judgment of whether or not to buy it. I’m sure many have read of or heard of many reasons to play this game. Well, today you’ll hear another.

If you’ve played the original Mass Effect then you may want to stop reading here and drive to the store to pick it up immediately. Yes, it is that important. I’m diverting you from my site to buy a game. Now, go.

If you’re still here it either means you don’t have access to a vehicle, are too lazy, its late at night when you’re reading this and nothing is open, you don’t have the money, or you haven’t played the first game. First, if you haven’t played the first game, go do that now. Come back when you’re done. It is well worth your money even now, and you can probably get it for like $20. If you fall into any of the other categories, I shall expand one why you should buy this game at the most immediate opportunity.

Alright, so assuming everyone has played the first game at this point, I’m going to launch into a comparison. You’re commander Shepard is back, and he or she is ready to save the galaxy…so here we go:
Firstly, the combat is much, much better. Its fun, challenging, and very satisfying. It feels a lot more like a shooter than it did in the past. You’re combat is much more tactical this time around, focusing less on character stats and dice rolls to quick thinking, reflexes, and making the most of your powers. That said, you can still pause combat any time you want, a helpful tool to plan which abilities you want to use on which enemies and who or what you need to take down first. If you had any gripes about the combat in the first game, the issues are completely resolved.

Awesome biotic powers are back...

The storytelling of the game is just as exciting as it was the first time around. You shape your future, and its even more apparent now than ever, as you can import your save games from ME1. The choices you made in the first game take effect in the second game, giving each player a tailored experience which connects you even more with the world around you and the emotionality of the main characters. The conversation wheel is back and just as ingenious as ever, making you have virtually dynamic control over the course of conversations, including Paragon (good) and Renegade (evil) options. Also included is a new interrupt command, which you can command Shepard to interrupt another character mid-speech and make a surprising Paragon or Renegade action. These can do anything from make an upcoming battle easily to stopping an ally from killing an innocent in cold blood. All in all, the way Mass Effect 2 tells its story is its strong suit. It is completely different for each player and all the choices you make. The number of variations of the game are astronomical.

The storyline is a lot darker, and as such, you'll meet some intriguing characters

The planet exploration via Mako is gone. It is replaced by a Scanning mini-game that is sometimes dull, but ultimately addictive. This is where you find resources you use on upgrades. Upgrades are used to improve or unlock new weapons and abilities. The inventory system is completely gone and replaced by a “loadout” where you can choose your party’s gear (based on which upgrades you have chosen) at the beginning of a mission. If this sounds like a step back from the RPG genre, its not. It just streamlines the experience.

The side-quests are so much better now, too. Not only does every side quest not take place in an identical warehouse (like ME1), some of them even have story significance. The most memorable of all the missions are most definitely your allies’ loyalty missions. These basically are special missions each party member would like you to go on. Completing these not only gains you the loyalty of the party member (and a new ability), but it also greatly fleshes out the character’s back-story and makes your team much more interesting. The conversation’s with Mordin (a Salarian scientist) during his loyalty mission have among the best, most interesting dialogue in the game.

Mordin is just one of the many interesting characters ME2 has to offer

Mass Effect 2 is an excellent game that anyone in their right mind should play. It sets a new standard for RPGs in general, in that it absorbs the player in its worlds and makes each decision seem like the fate of the universe could hang in the balance. And that’s a great feeling.

PROS:
+Great, engaging story with great characters and a memorable world
+Unbounded replay value — you can play the game thousands of times and never have the exact same experience.
+Excellent, tactical combat
+Great voice acting and dialogue

CONS:
-Scanning mini-game is boring (but not necessary)
-Long loading times

S3 plan re-activate!

Hey folks (whoever you are). I’ve decided to restart this long-dead blog in light of recent gaming tends to feed you my two cents. To start, I’m going to be reviewing both Mass Effect 2 and Dante’s Inferno, two new titles for the new year.
Look for both soon!

Semester Wrap

The lack of reviews by and large is due to the inescapable fact that the semester is almost over, exams approach swiftly, and I am busting my ass to finish up all my assignments before Winter Break. Believe you me, though, reviews will soon follow, as I plan on spending my 3-4 week break siting at home and playing the newest hot releases.

I’m playing Valkyria Chronicles right now, so expect a review in the coming weeks. Soon after, I’ll (finally) get my hands of Gears of War 2 and have a review for that shortly, as well. Apart from those two titles, I’m sure I’ll be picking up an array of other releases to give you my two cents on.

Oh, and just for the record. I finished Fallout 3. It took me around 50 hours, but I finally finished. The ending was disappointing to say the least, but the game is still worth picking up.

Until next time, kiddies.

Game Review – Fallout 3 – 9.0/10

Fallout — probably the most anticipated game of this Fall, save Gears of War 2. While many reviews have come out recently adoring it, I’m here to give a third-party, hype-free, I’ve-never-played-oblivion opinion.

For what it’s worth, Fallout 3 is immense. Its also a little scary. At first. Now, in the Bethesda massive rpg universe, ‘at first’ means the first ten hours. So be sure to want something to do for a while, because Fallout will be a loooooooong game. I’m about 25 hours in, haven’t finished it, but I think I’m well in enough to have review. I am a college student, I don’t have unlimited free time, so I can’t finish a 40-50 hour game over the weekend like some of you.

I’m gonna be honest with you all: at first, I didn’t really care for Fallout 3. I mean, yeah, it was fun, I liked it alright, but it was by no means 9/10 material. It was above average for me. This is because the combat felt a little clunky, the world was just too massive for me to know what to do with, and it seemed like it was way too open-ended for its own good. I didn’t know how to fight, what to do next, where to go, who to talk to. With a game like this, it doesn’t like to ‘lead’ you anywhere, you just kinda gotta do something yourself. There’s no ‘right’ thing to do, you just do. And maybe find a quest and complete it. Because of this, Fallout 3 was hard for me to get into. I didn’t have clear objectives, I didn’t know where I should be venturing to and where to avoid (I’m an old-school rpg player, and back in the day there were some places you just aren’t supposed to go to yet). That and the fact that EVERY action you take has an effect on your enviroment. Be sure not to ‘accidently’ steal anything from someone’s house while their looking, because they will hurt you. And if you hurt them, the whole town will kill you. And if that’s your only save file, you’re screwed. This happened to me once, but I learned my lesson.

Ah, the open wasteland...

That being said, the problem I have with the game is that it gives you limitless freedom all the time. There are no rules. But something bad will happen if you do some things sometimes. Because of that, you’re unsure of what you are ‘supposed’ to be doing.

But, once you get over the fact that Fallout works like the real world — shot at someone, and he’ll shoot back, steal and you will be run out of town — and play accordingly, you’ll be alright. The fact that its easy to screw your game up so frickin’ much with one wrong move is scary — at first. Ok, its scary all the time, but its the price that this game had to pay for being so frickin’ immense.

That single gripe aside, Fallout 3 is an amazing game. Not really amazing in the sense that it has super-high production values, great storyline, great graphics, characters, gameplay mechanics, etc. No…it doesn’t really do anything new with any of that stuff. But its great because its so frickin’ huge. You can do whatever you want and really build your character any way you see fit. The brilliance of Fallout 3 is that it gives you so much freedom. Sometimes you don’t know what to do with it, but once you see the ruins of D.C. for the first time, you’ll realize how great an idea for a game this was. Because, frankly, its damn fun to play.

The combat isn’t perfect, but its enjoyable. At first, it will seem clunky. You won’t know what to do. You’ll have a 10mm pistol and a hunting rifle and be going up against three super mutants with assault rifles. It’ll seem like you’re screwed. At first, you will be screwed…you’re arsenal isn’t too realized until a while into the game. But once you get your first Chinese Assault Rifle and shotgun, you’ll realize that combat isn’t so bad. The beginning of the game really shows of how clunky the system can be. It’s FPS sometimes, which isn’t too amazingly responsive,  and RPG-inspired, pause time and choose your attack carefully — called VATS. At first, the game will seem like you’ll need VATS and you will be fighting in it extensively. FPSing will be the death of you. It’ll seem like you just go in cover, wait for your AP to recharge, then pop out, go into VATS and take alot of headshots. This will be true when you have a pistol and a rifle. But sooner or later, you’re arsenal will grow, and you’ll find that combat is exciting and rewarding. You’ll amass a huge amount of weapons, you’ll get a dog, and most of all you’ll be able to blow a super mutants head off with a carefully placed assault rifle barrage to the head. It’s a lovely sight, watching a big mutant go all rag-doll physics on you after you blow their face off. That, above all, is the most rewarding aspect of this game.

Meet VATS - in Fallout 3, this is your best friend.

As you gain more skills,  weapons, and equiment, combat becomes more fun and entertaining. The enemy AI is still terribly pitiful, but it would be too much of a difficulty trying to deal with a smart enemy in a game that is an RPG first and and FPS second. Given this fact, everything else just falls together. Once you accept the fact that you are playing an RPG in which your primary objective is to explore the world around you, you’ll love it. I frequently found myself taking a detour from my quest path to explore old, abandoned buildings and mysterious settlements. Most of the time these just have more enemies and equipment, but sometimes, you’ll find even more quests to take on.

Fallout 3 is not a game for everyone, though. Those with short attention spans or people who like gaming for a sparse half an hour a day: this game is not for you. This is more geared toward the old-school, hardcore gamer who loves getting each and everything out of their game. If that is your mindset, Fallout 3 is just loaded with content that’ll make you keep coming back for more. It never really gets old, and at time is seems too immense. Just remember: its a game, you can always come back to it.

The only downsides to Fallout 3 come in its design, an inherent flaw that could not be polished over no matter how hard one tries: the world is enormous. This is both the greatest draw to the game and the hardest pill to swallow. As a gamer, you grew up being told what to do and where to go, but with Fallout 3, all bets are off. The limitless freedom it gives you is both exciting and scary. You’re character’s life is completely in your hands. You don’t want to piss anyone off or say the wrong thing. One wrong move and you could be shot at by everyone in town. This feature is both amazing and frightening. When all is said and done, though, you have to play Fallout 3 with multiple save files, with your head on straight, and with no objectives in mind. Just play for the sake of playing and you’ll get the most out of it.

You're low on health, bullets screaming at you, the Super Mutant hasn't a scratch, you have enough AP for one shot, a 33% chance for a headshot, and you swoop into VATS with your lowly hunting rifle and -- this is what the best moments in Fallout 3 are made of.

The RPG elements of Fallout 3 are brilliant. Your handy PIP-BOY 3000 serves as your menu screen at your home base. It displays a multitude of information: the world map, your local map, all items your carrying, equipment, your character’s status, Skills, Perks, quests, Notes, and Radio. Everything you would ever need to know about your character is in there. You’ll spend a lot of time there too, its the central hub of the game — displaying all vital information. The RPG system, however, is just as advanced as the PIP-BOY’s features claim. You gain XP from fighting, questing, exploring, lockpicking, hacking, and the like. Anything that uses your skills grants XP. Gain enough, and you’ll level up. This isn’t just generic “increase some stats and be done” level-up, either. Fallout 3 gives the player the option to invest Skill Points in a multitude of categories to improve their skills. Not just combat skills, either. Anything from medicine to repair, explosives to science, sneaking to speech. Its all there. Other than that, you get to choose one perk per level. There are a whole slew of them, some yet discovered. They all do a variety of things, and there is no way to get them all on one play through. The perks really make this game shine, and give the player the power to really mold their character. Are you a rambo, combat-heavy player, or a smart, deliberate player? The perks can shape your character into what kind of wastelander you want to be. And not all are leveling only–some are gained only on special quests that you do throughout the game. So, it seems like Bethesda hit the RPG elements right — its got enough action to keep you interested, and enough customization to keep you playing for a long, long time. The FPS non-VATS combat system is a bit clunky at times, but this is a minor grievance when viewing this game on a whole–that is, as an RPG.

Besides the somewhat clunky FPS combat system (aside from VATS, of course, which is probably the best mechanic in the game) and the frighteningly huge world were there are infinitely many ways to screw yourself (read: your character), Fallout 3 is an amazing game that should not be missed. Anyone who has ever played a Role playing game needs to play Fallout 3. It may be “Oblivion with guns”, but is sure as hell fun.

PROS:
+Limitless Freedom
+Enormous World
+VATS
+SPECIAL/Character Building

CONS:
-Limitless Freedom
-Clunky FPS combat
-Somewhat empty characters

Final Thought:
Fallout 3 is a game that should not be missed by anyone who mildly cares where RPGs are going. It doesn’t innovate over and over, but it puts everything fun about open-ended RPGs together in one great package, leaving out the weak parts. Fallout 3 might not have the best, most interesting storyline, or the most deep, intriguing characters, but it lets the player experience post-apocalyptic D.C. the way he or she wants, and that’s what makes it stands out.

Overall: 9.0/10

Big Boss for Halloween!

Well, just thought I’d post this. Sorry it took me so long to get the pictures up. This is/was my Halloween costume this year.

If you are reading this blog, I assume you are a gamer and that this costume is instantly recognizable:

I’m Naked Snake/Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3. He’s just much easier to cosplay than Solid Snake, really. The outfit is more readily available at Army Surplus stores and such.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures:

Hiding behind the bushes on my college campus

Peeking around the corner for a...

Pop-out shot.

And of course, a series of Naked Snake pictures is not complete without a crawl shot.

For the whole album, see this link.

Anywho, just thought I’d share that with you all, because I figured (some of) you may think that was cool. I realize its a little egocentric, but seriosly, I had the urge to show them off and no one to show them off too! And if you wanna know where/how I got a hold of the various stuff necessary to the costume, just leave a comment, and I’ll be happy to respond.

Well, to let you all know…a Fallout 3 review is coming next week (or so). I would like to complete (most of) the game before reviewing it. But since its so frickin’ enormous, I may just cheat and give you a “my impressions so far” review.