Not much out there this week, but that’s ok because the next couple of weeks will bring a bevy of new games to your doorstep. Let’s see, Brutal Legend finally hits the PC, a new map pack hits Halo 4, another Dynasty Warriors game releases for the PS3 and a bunch of other things I can’t bring myself to write up come out. Seriously though, you’re not missing anything important. I wouldn’t do that to you. Honest!
For me, I sent Dead Space 3 back this morning. It just wasn’t doing anything for me, so I ditched it. I’m one boss fight away from finishing Revengeance and then it’s nothing but racing and Spartan Ops until Tomb Raider comes out. Whee!
Deals
Toys R Us – Buy two of the following games, get a $30 gift card, buy one get a $10 gift card: Halo 4, Dead Space 3, Crysis 3, Angry Birds Trilogy, Call of Duty Black Ops II, Aliens: Colonial Marines, NBA 2k13, Forza Horizon.
Target – Buy two, get one on all Wii U games. Free $25 gift card with any Wii U console purchase. Buy one get one on a bunch of dance games. Get Dead Space 3 for $49.99.
Best Buy – Get Halo 4, Forza Horizon or CoD:BLOPS2 for $39.99 each. Get Dead Space 3 for $49.99. Get a 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription for $34.99.
I’m probably in the minority on this, but I’m actually looking forward to the enhanced PC port of Brutal Legend. I love Double Fine and Tim Shafer’s games, and I never got around to playing it on consoles. This worked out favourably, because it was marketed terribly and nobody knew what kind of weird action/RTS hybrid it was. Based on the demo it looked more like a God of War clone, which was fine by me either way. Since I’m going in fully aware of this, I shouldn’t have the “genre shock” most players experienced, and I heard if you get past that, it’s actually implemented pretty well.
I was in the minority that loved Brutal Legend. Reminded me of the classic Herzog Zwei mixed with that heavy heavy Metal.
I got my extra God of War fix with Dante’s Inferno and its misery inducing that people were upset this wasn’t more of the same. Why must every action game be Uncharted/Tomb Raider or God of all your Wars. Man people are boring (look up George Carlin).
If you like heavy metal at all, than you’ve got to play Brutal Legend.
As a litmus test, if you think you might grin ear to ear when you hear a UFO or Accept song blasting from a video game soundtrack, this is a game you should play.
It’s not the best game ever, it’s kind of a mess, but the writing is great and the affection for metal is genuine- not some kind of ironic nonsense.
Sold. Also, I love the musician voice actors they got, and I heard they’re also awesome.
Star Wars Pinball is out this week and has an Empire table. That’s freakin’ gold, man!
For me, Halo 4 I think, and some more Burnout/SSX once I finish Unfinished Swan, which is not really interesting me but at least it’s short. I am hoping Tomb Raider brings some awesome.
I finished Fire Emblem yesterday and not only did it go into my permanent collection, I can almost guarantee it’ll be in the top 5 for me this year. Great value for money.
I’m tempted to pick up Fire Emblem but I’m so bad at strategy games I think I’d be wasting my money.
You can get a LOT of leeway with the difficulty options. Normal is still a sweat but you can turn off permadeath; you get a choice between classic mode and another where your characters are rezzed after every combat. It’s not quite the same tension, but more playable if you suck ;).
Heck, try the eShop demo. Demo’s are well known to help boost sales ??
Finished up DmC a week or two ago and definitely enjoyed it. Not really sure I’d be motivated to try and beat extra difficulty levels or anything, but still very fun.
Have since moved on to Ni no Kuni and it’s interesting. I was surprised that many of the reviews described the story as simplistic and unbecoming of Studio Ghibli, particularly now that I’m having the oppposite experience. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a very sad Pan’s Labyrinth-esque meditation on a child retreating to a fantasy world to cope with/process the sudden death of his mother. I really like how the game weaves the troubles in his fantasy world back into the real world, which is where he ends up actually solving the various problems.
So, yeah, otherwise it’s a pretty basic old school JRPG with gorgeous animation and style. I don’t know, can’t ask for too much more.
Heh heh heh…good luck with the final boss battle on Revengeance. It is BRUTAL. Be warned that it’s one of those multi-stage things too, but the checkpoints are pretty generous. I actually can’t beat what I think is the last stage of it. I have no nanopaste, so it’s down to my piss-poor parrying ability. I’m out of town this week, but friday…it’s going down.
The game is absolutely incredible. It is the true successor to Bayonetta and Vanquish and it’s also a great Metal Gear title. It’s a VIDEO GAME in 5000 foot tall, blinking neon letters. No bullshit open world busywork disguised as “freedom” , no silly Z-grade failed screenwriter shit, no dudebro co-op. Even the DLC is truly optional. All killer, no filler. It’s the best game I’ve played in a long ass time, I’d say it’s the best game I’ve played since The Witcher 2, easily.
I’m playing on Easy, so boss fights haven’t been a problem. Heck nothing has been a problem. I’m quite enjoying the game, although not having played any MGS games since Twin Snakes leaves me with a pretty serious lack of understanding at times. Oh well, parry, rip out spine, pose awesomely, repeat.
I’m still having a very good time with Dead Space 3, excepting the first boss fight which was bullllllllshit. Remember when I said I wasn’t too thrilled with the decision to remove manual saving in favor of automatic checkpoints? Locking me into a bullet-sponge boss battle immediately *after* I banked a bunch of extra med packs and weapon upgrades will hereafter be known as Exhibit A.
Otherwise, I’ve started playing a bunch of…Pokemon LeafGreen? Yes, on my GBA, and no, I don’t have a good explanation. Just got a hankering for some old-school pokemon collecting. And boy, is it old-school! I agree that this formula could do with a thorough reinvention, but anyone who says the games haven’t evolved at all have forgotten the incredible amount of grinding these early games put you through. Pokemon Black 2 has you prepped to beat the first gym leader less than an hour after starting the game, but in LeafGreen, the only reason I could beat Brock at the 3-hour mark was because I had Squirtle on tap to hose down his smarmy Geodudes.
You are dead on there. My son has been cruising through Pokemon Black 2 and I’m like, hold up, you beat the first gym leader how soon into it?
Oh, come on, that first boss area was a giant open field with a kiting rock stuck in the middle of it. It screamed “a boss will pop out here in a few seconds, better stock up on med packs! Oh look, a Bench, how convenient!”.
BTW, why would anyone ever pay the real money for any of the micropayment crap? The game is not that hard; I’m at the end and basically have nothing to spend my minerals on (playing on Normal). I could make more guns, but the ones I have work perfectly well. You don’t even have to pay for new suits, which was a huge money sink in the 1st and 2nd Dead Space.
Change of plans; I just started Rune Factory Frontier on the Wii and I love it.
Remind me why I want new systems when there are amazing games from four years ago that I haven’t played yet?
I planted turnips and killed goblins in the same day. Life’s awesome.