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My latest Two Bits to share,
November 2008:
Holiday Games 2008:
Some First Thoughts.
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So it's the first week of November and we already have a new president
elect. Keep in mind that I work very hard
to keep this site as nonpolitical and entertainment-exclusive as possible, so I'm
not about to make this into a political editorial. However, you've heard
it everywhere in October and I hope you don't mind hearing it one more
time, in hindsight; I hope you voted, now more than
ever. It's bad enough to not vote in a presidential election though this
time around; you could've been a part of history. If you're glad about
who won, you could've been one of the people who made it so. While it's
fair to say some people are upset with who won, you did at least vote,
right? Personally, I've always felt that
there should be some record of someone voting, and if they did
not, they don't get to complain about anything for four
years. I know it sounds bizarre though it would sure get more people to
the polls, wouldn't it? Given
how passive aggressive some people are these days, they'd leave skid
marks to the polls if that law was passed. Though I don't want to make
this site into a political one, so I digress...
In the far less serious world of entertainment, November is a major month
for another reason: game releases. Much like summer movies, this is the
month when a whole slew of games are released just in time for the
holiday shopping rush. While some games are waiting
to come out until just under the wire in early December, no less than a
dozen heavily hyped games are about to be released this very month. Here's
some first thoughts for the biggest of them. If you're interested, feel free to use the handy order links I've
included...presuming you haven't jumped the gun and preordered them
already!
 By next week you'll probably be busy playing Mirror's Edge. The
sales pitch for this game is that not unlike Portal, the lead
character isn't armed. They're a sort of "postal carrier" of the future,
delivering packages in a world where a military force controls the
streets with an iron fist. So your character gets deliveries to where
they need to go, via rooftop to rooftop. Sure, fanboys of the game
Portal may not like the comparison, though you know what I mean: in a world
where most games have only one rule ---shoot everything moving--- this
is another "puzzle" game, not unlike Portal, where some thought
is required. I'm looking very forward to this game and I'm
getting it right away.
 Just last week I played the Xbox demo to Tomb Raider Underworld.
This is the first Tomb Raider with a totally revamped game
engine, and I was looking forward to seeing what the game designers did
here. From a game play perspective the game hasn't changed much; climb
and jump up and down precarious ruins and ancient tombs to "raid," and
try not to get Lara killed in the process. It's the added detail, via
next generation game system technology, which sells the sequel. Have Lara roll
away from enemies and she gets slowly covered in dirt and
whatnot; dive into the water and it washes away with a wet "sheen"
on Lara, which gradually fades away as she "dries off." It sounds like a simple
detail yet it adds to the realism. Lara is also a lot more expressive in
this game; she's come a long way from the original Playstation One
"doll" which bobbed its inanimate face as it talked. Personally I felt
the demo was too short though it left you wanting more, which I guess is
the point. However as for the game itself; there's an early reference to
the arch villainess from the prior game (Tomb Raider Legend) which I
guess means this continues that story, so get it if you want to know how
that story concludes.
 One of the most controversial games this season is Mortal Kombat
Versus DC Universe. The bottom line for this game is: the MK series
is known to be M for Mature, and this is T for Teen. While I'm not a fan
of the "Saw" movie series; imagine if that movie series was suddenly made
PG-13 because someone wanted to add the cast of Smallville.
This is exactly like that; the latest Mortal Kombat, rated T for Teen. I'm guessing that DC Comics wouldn't
give the rights to the characters unless the game didn't
gore the heroes to death like most Mortal Kombat games. I can see why;
nobody wants to see their favorite superhero die a bloody painful death.
Yet doesn't that negate the whole worth of this idea? It's like saying
you want a zombie movie, yet in order to appeal to the comic book aged
kids; the zombies won't be dead and will instead just look really tired.
While on the subject, though; how cool would this idea have been back in
the day, when the game was still 2D and the characters were actual live
actors playing each role? At the time, they probably could've cast Christopher Reeve as Superman and Michael Keaton as Batman. That
game would've rocked, T-for-Teen or not. This game...well, well have to
wait and see.
 Prince of Persia is a tough call for me. The "Sands of Time"
trilogy has ended and that means...no more time travel powers? I don't
know how that will pan out, if that's true. Sure this new prince has a
cool "gauntlet" and apparently a magical female ally, though without the
way-cool option to rewind time if you make a goof, I don't know how this
game will succeed. You can't introduce a popular game element and then
say "That was the old story the new one doesn't have that." However;
that's a game coming out in December so maybe I just haven't read enough
about the game yet. Maybe his sorceress-style friend could have time
rewind powers?
 Sonic
Unleashed...whoa, talk about re-inventing the series with this one.
The prior Sonic the Hedgehog game for Xbox 360 and PS3 was so
horrible; many critics gave it a one star review. So they attempt to up
the ante with...evil Sonic? Well, not exactly. The idea here is that
Eggman zaps Sonic with a ray that makes him into a "werehog" of sorts.
Too bad I already saw this "hero becomes monster" story in the Jak &
Daxter game series. The werewolf element is also a bit too familiar to
the recent Zelda to not see this as a pretty tired cliché. Not to
nitpick the idea to death, though what about Sonic's super speed? Didn't
he see the "werewolf way" coming at him, and if so, why didn't he just
run? For that matter; if Eggman wanted to make an evil Sonic, why didn't
the result look like his prior attempt at the same thing, "Shadow the
Hedgehog"...? It's a confusing storyline, and frankly I don't see how a
monster sonic is going to improve gameplay unless monster Sonic is
super-fast or something. Then again, the kids really want this one for
the holidays, so at least it has that much going for it.
Not to be outdone, there are a slew of big name sequels coming out,
ranging from Gears of War 2 to Resistance 2 and just
recently, Fallout 3. I'm not trying to snub these games as much
as humbly not mention the obvious. The fan base for each of these games
is so strong there's no point in acknowledging these sequel's releases.
Any negative comments (if any) would lead to a flame war; any positive
comments would lead to little more than a "Well, duh" from the fanboys.
So yes I know these games are out, though forgive me for not adding
order links to games you've probably already pre-ordered almost half a
year ago!
Of course, all the above games will be reviewed in their appropriate
game system review pages on this site, once the game is available. All
we know for now is that there are more than enough reasons to keep
playing games this holiday season. Whether these games will be award
winning or just passable is anyone's guess for now.
As Always: I'm Techtite,
and these are My Two Bits...
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