Amazing Spider-man Game Mini-review

The Amazing Spider-Man: The Game, is based on the new movie of the same name. It’s not a typical remake of the movie in game form either, it actually serves as a sequel. The events are tied to the events of the movie, and takes place a few months after the movie.

I will say, right out the door, that this game was better than the movie(Although, to be fair, it kinda would have to be right?) and is currently the best spider-man game I have ever played(taking the title away from Ultimate Spider-man game)

The first thing you are going to notice is that the graphics are eye explodingly beautiful! The attention to detail cannot be praised enough, and it feels more like a movie, than the actual movie!

Everything from the lens flares, to the window reflections, to the level of shine on cars! Even the water reflects so perfectly! I haven’t seen a game achieve this level of awesomeness in their graphics, since the last Uncharted game.

The controls are also top notch, and works well! They kind of have to, since the entire control mechanics is taken right from the much praised Arkham BATMAN games. In fact, much of the entire game plays like an Arkham game, with Spiderman instead of batman. Translation: Kick ass!

The DLC is where the game is lacking. I would love to have seen some campaign DLC. Mini-missions and so forth. Instead, I got Stan Lee swinging around gathering Pages, a few different “Be the bad guy and tear shit up” and of course, a spider-man inspired game of  Snake.

I would much rather have gotten a “Rhino is rampaging through time Square: Save the citizens and stop his carnage!” mission, or a “Vulture has been spotted above the city!” or some more Black Cat!

On the upside, while I am not looking forward to the movie Amazing Spider-Man 2, I am anxiously awaiting its game!

 

Related articles

• ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ coming to Wii U next spring (theverge.com)
• ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’: Shailene Woodley Confirmed As Mary Jane For Next Two Sequels (screencrave.com)
• Mary Jane Confirmed for ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’? (comicvine.com)

Ultimate Spider-man for PS2 – Retro Review

In my last blog entry, I gave a Retro Review of Spider-man: The Game, in honor of the recently released movie. In keeping with that id, I decided to dig into the crate-o-games yet again, and pull out another PS2 classic based on your favorite web-head: Ultimate Spider-Man!

To begin with, this game has aged REALLY well. The game is 7 years old, and plays really well!

One of the first things you will notice about the game, is the graphics. They are amazing! However, to be honest, Cell shaded graphics are always going to look amazing. Cell shaded games from 7 years ago, are going to look as good as cell shaded games from today. Still, the Cell Shading style fits well with the game, since it’s based on a comic series, and not any type of movie.

So, since I was impressed with the graphics, I tackled the controls. To my surprise, the controls were actually quite responsive. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, and could definitely use a little refining, but compared to the controls in Spider-Man: The game, they were a work of art. Sure, it needed some work, but I was able to play it with minimal frustration toward the controls.

The sound too was great! Everything from the voice acting to the sound effects helped add the comic feel to the game experience.

One thing that was nice, was the fact that your webs had to catch onto buildings in order to swing. This might not seem like a big thing in todays age, but the Spider-man games were notorious for just letting your webs stick to the clouds. You could swing all over the city, even if you were higher than any of the other buildings in the vicinity.

When all is said and done, this game is a treasure! It’s aged well, and upon replaying it, was actually better than I remembered it being!

Spider-Man: The Game – PS2 Retro Review

Cover art (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With the recent release of the Amazing Spider-Man movie, and the subsequent release of its video-game Tie-in, I decided to dig into my old game chest. This time around I dusted off an old Classic, Spider-Man: The Game. It’s based on the movie with Tobey Maguire.

When I originally played this game, I remember thinking how badly it sucked, and how horrible the controls were. However, over time I told myself, how I must have been mistaken. How could the game be as bad as I remember it, when everyone in the gaming community loved this game to pieces! Clearly, I was mistaken! Years have passed, and I never broke it out again, until now!

First, let me just say, that for an early PS2 game release, the graphics are astounding! It’s has lens flares, and isn’t even very choppy, which is unusual for a PS2 game as well. Overall, in terms of graphics, this game was incredible! True, the models weren’t that great, but they were passable.

The sound was great! How could it not be? Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe lend their voice talents to the game, to help give it that authentic spidey movie feel. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, they tossed in Bruce Campbell as the Narrator/tour guide, just to bump the game up to cult status. The music and sound effects were brilliant, and quite realistic. However, it was slightly dated, but again, I can’t stress this enough: It’s from the PS2 and is 10 years old!

That was the good stuff.

The controls were just as bad as I remember. I mean horrible! However, it should be noted, that most games released during that video game era had horrible controls. Still, this is worse than most of those. It could have been a much smoother experience, especially since the PS2 controller is virtually identical to the PS3 controller. I see no reason, why they couldn’t take the time to make a smooth control scheme like games have today!

In terms of difficulty, it wasn’t as hard as I remember it being, however the game is by no means a cakewalk. It is difficult, and at time frustratingly so, although I feel a lot of that has to do with the controls. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I would find myself stuck to a wall, clinging there, while being shot at.

Still, the game has some level of fun factor, especially if you are an avid spidey fan, and with the new spider-man reboot being out, it might be fun to flash back to the original.

WoW + Expansion packs on sale NOW

Blizzard is having a sale, this week only on their hit MMORPG World of Warcraft. So, if you haven’t played it, but have been wanting to, this would be the time to do it! Even if you do play, but you are behind on the expansion packs, now would be the time to pick them up!

Each expansion pack is only 10 bucks(And Burning Crusade is now considered part of the core game, just in case you hadn’t heard). The core game is only 10 bucks as well, which means that you can get the complete World of Warcraft experience for 30 bucks! That’s the kind of deal that not even a Goblin could pass up! However, you better act quick cause this sale lasts this week only and ends on July 9th, 2012.

Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock review

What’s the worst game ever released? Up until today I would have said E.T. for the Atari 2600, a game that I am sure most people who have had the chance or misfortune to play it, would agree is quite bad.

However, today I played a game that actually outbads ET in the stinker department! The game is Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, and the game sucks so much ass that it isn’t even remotely funny!

Let me say up front, that I am a huge Doctor Who Fan! I have loved Doctor Who for as far back as I can remember, and while not a huge fan of Matt Smith‘s portrayal of the Doctor, I still watch it, because it’s Doctor Who! What I am getting at, is that there isn’t much they could do, that would turn me away from the good doctor.

A few years back, they released a series of episodic point and click adventure games, centered around Matt Smith’s Doctor and “Amy Pond“. I loved those games! So, when “The Eternity Clock” was released, I picked that up. Now, normally, I won’t touch a game unless it has a Demo, because I am a careful game shopper, but again, this was the Doctor, and I loved the other games!

First off, this game is NOTHING like the episodic series! So, if that’s what you are expecting, sorry to disappoint. The game plays kind of like a side scroller game, with some puzzle solving and stealth elements.

Allow me to go into further detail.

When I say Puzzle solving, I mean very basic puzzles, they aren’t creative, and just seems kind of forced. They don’t offer much of a challenge in of themselves, the challenge is working against an impossible time limit, that requires perfect execution of the puzzle. Normally not a bad thing in a game, except that you have to also realise that this game has some horrible controls! Aiming your sonic screwdriver is not very accurate, and many times will take a few tries to acquire a target, which takes away precious seconds, which is essential when you are working against a very demanding clock.

Now, I also said it had stealth elements, but let me clarify. Have you ever played Splinter Cell for the mobile phone? It’s very much like that. Crouch and sneak up behind enemies and disable them. Press up at darkened doorways to step into them and not get seen. run past the search lights that just go back and forth.

That’s the stealth im talking about. Basically the game plays like a bad cell phone game.

That being said, in terms of graphics? The graphics are horrible! Especially when compared to the years older episodic games! One would think they would have improved the graphics instead of worsening them.

The sound? That is actually pretty damn good! It has the actual actors reprising their characters roles, and the music is of course very whoish. Everything audiowise screams Doctor who!

Overall however, I would say the game is garbage, and just like ET, took a good IP and managed to turn it into a steaming pile. Bad graphics, horrible controls, ridiculous time requirements(Combined with the controls) and chock full of bugs!

What? I didn’t mention the bugs? Those are there a plenty, which adds to the frustration! Cutscenes won’t start when they should, thus causing the game to be unable to continue unless you restart, and the restart locations are few and far between! Not only that, but during the one player game, occasionally River will become unresponsive and just stand there, not follow or engage in any interactions. It’s almost as if this game wasn’t beta tested. Kind of like they rushed to produce a sub-par game, stuff it in a box, and say “Hey who fans! We have this wet turd that you will love, because it says Doctor Who on it!”.

On top of ALL this, the game developers are apparently quite confident that Who fans will eat up anything with Doctor Who stamped on it, that they plan on making this a series of games! This one being the first. Will they be as bad? I don’t know, to be honest, I won’t even give them a try.

One thing I did learn from this, is do not, under any circumstance buy a game without a demo, even when you are fairly sure you will love it!

Thanks for ruining Doctor Who for me Supermassive Games!

Related articles

• Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock review (digitaltrends.com)
• ‘Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock’ Review (gamerant.com)
• Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock (workgamesleep.wordpress.com)

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Image via Wikipedia

It’s been awhile since my last blog post, and by awhile I mean a few months. Rest assured though, that Iam not dead. In fact, I am not even slightly ill, though I did have a rough day with a BBQ pit, but that’s a story for another time.

So, where have I been, I like to imagine that you are asking your monitor right now, and in response I will answer.

You see, that last few months have been a gamers wet dream come true. Games have been popping up left and right, trying to get on the shelves, so that they can make it under your tree.

These aren’t small games either. These are big name titles! We are talking about powerhouses here! Games like Uncharted 3, Modern Warfare 3, payday, Battlefield 3 and Infamous: Festival of blood. Huge titles, that I have been looking forward to, and thus had to play.

The biggest release though has got to be Star Wars: The Old Republic! Chances are you have heard of this, even if you aren’t into Online gaming. It’s a highly anticipated chapter of the old republic game series, and if you aren’t familiar with that aspect of the star wars era, I strongly urge you to pick up Knights of the Old republic.

The game is made by Bioware, which also made the popular Knights of the Old Republic games, as well as Dragons Age and Mass Effect, and as such is similar in some aspects to all of them! The game has moral choices that Bioware is famous for, as well as easy to navigate conversation trees.

Bottom line: Is the game good? This is a dificult thing to answer. Do you like Star Wars? Do you like Bioware games? Do you like MMORPGs? If you answered yes, to any of those questions, then the answer is: Yes! The game rocks on so many levels!

However, like in all MMORPGs you get Trolls and basically childish dumbasses who come onto the general chat and become an annoyance. They tend to type in all caps, about how the game sucks and how much better the last game they played was.  They like to belittle anyone who plays the game differently from them. Not leveling fast enough? You are a N00B who doesn’t know how to play the game. Level too fast? You are a cheat or a haxx0r. Best case scenario, is you are rushing too fast through the game. They want to control your playtime! You don’t PvP, then you suck. You RP, then you suck. Luckily though, the game has an ignore feature, that doesn’t seem to have a limit to the ammount of names it can hold.

The trolls are a common occurance in any MMORPG though, and shouldn’t push you away from an exceptional game though!

Another thing I should mention is, that the game is very story driven, which for me is great! since I play a game to experience a story, not to rush through and see how fast I can level up and gather phat lewtz.

The game is also fully voice acted. Meaning, that every NPC you talk to will speak to you! Some don’t speak galactic english though, so you will need to read subtitles. However, this full on voice acting helps imerse you into the star wars universe like never before.

Personally, I think this is the best MMORPG on the market currently. Sure, there are other good ones, but this title has made me forget all about them. The player base leaves a lot to be desired though, however the server I ended up playing on, might have just attracted more dicks and douches than other servers. Maybe, that’s what I get for choosing a server simply because it had Darth in the name.

Am I surprised that I liked it? Honestly, I am! I thought I would detest this game! Simply because of my past experiences with Star Wars: Galaxies, which has got to be one of the worst games of all time! I was afraid The Old Republic was going to be similar to that. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

This is NOT a review, simply an endorsement. If this had been a review, I would have discussed the companions, the fact that you get your own ship, and I would have went on about how you can fly to iconic planets, Like Hoth and Tatooine. I however did not, because this is not a review. It’s just me, saying you really should try this game out. Even if you have a crappy older computer. One of the most amazing things about this game, is the fact that it will run on most machines. If you have a semi-modern computer, odds are you can run it. Maybe not at the highest setting, but you should still be able to run, and run it smoothly at the lowest setting.

Related articles

• Star Wars: the Old Republic Launches (games.slashdot.org)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic attracts crowds, server queues require Jedi patience (venturebeat.com)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic explodes with up to 1.5 million pre-release players (digitaltrends.com)

6 things Ruining Video Games for me

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Video Games have been around for a long time. Since I have been old enough to retain memories, I have been playing video games. It’s something that I love doing, and has helped me and many others on so many different levels. However, recently the video game industry has been slowly pushing me away, with new trends. Ideas to make more and more money, and to slap the consumer/gamer in the face. Trends such as —

DLC Rip-Offs
This is probably the thing the video game industry has been doing that pisses me off the most! They take a newly finished and fully completed game. Look at it, decide it kicks so much ass, that they will just chop out parts of the game, sell the now partial game for full retail price, and then announce the rest of the game, that you already paid for, can be purchased as DLC!

 basically, they charge you an extra 5 bucks or so, in order to play an “Extra” level. Usually these “DLCs” clearly were ripped from the game, because they are mentioned in the game. Take for instance LA Noir, it mentions in your journal at one point, that you are investigating your third case in your current dept, despite the fact, that it’s only your second case. Why? because the DLC with the case before it, wasn’t released yet.

The worst offender is Alan Wake, which is a game, without a fucking ending! Apparently, they were going to sell extra “chapters” which presumably would finish the story, however not all the planned chapters came out, because nobody was willing to give them the ransom money they demanded to see the rest of the story. So, people who bought the game and played through it, pretty much are fucked since it’s a game without a fucking ending.

Not all DLC is bad though! Take GTA IV, Red Dead Redemption and — Well, im sure there’s another one that I just can’t think of off-hand. These games actually make DLC that I am more than happy to buy. They sell you a complete game! It’s long, and complete without missing missions and plot holes that leave you scratching your head. Then they release DLC that tells ANOTHER story. Almost like expansion packs! In fact, I would go so far as to call them expansion packs! These are good DLC items! I applaud Rockstar for this behavior. Not so much for the LA Noir DLC though. You guys are slacking there in my opinion.

Console Exclusive DLC
When a game is released on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, many times one of the consoles will end up getting a console exclusive DLC; usually in the form of a mission, level, case or something along those lines.

Now, this doesn’t really have any particular effect on me personally, since if one system has an exclusive mission or whatever, I will just buy it for that console. However, not everyone has that option. Which is what pisses me off. The people who buy the game on the PS3 or X360 pay almost the exact same amount as each other. So, why the hell don’t they get the same fucking content as the other console players?

I am sure it is due to the console company paying extra for the right to those exclusive bonus items, but in the end it fucks the games fans over who didn’t get it on the console with the exclusive. It may not be favoritism, but it sure as hell seems like it sometimes.

Game Passes
When a game comes out, they sometimes also sell in the console DLC store, Passes. There’s two kinds of passes as far as I can tell. One is a good kind, the other pisses me off to no end. The good kind? It gives you access to all the DLC released for that game at a discounted price. So, if you know you want to get all the DLC for a particular game(IE; L.A. Noir), then buying that pass is a good idea.

The bad kind of pass is when a game with Online competitive play is released. They will cap your online level advancements to some ridiculously low-level, and then sell a “Pass” that will allow you to advance beyond that level. If you chose not to buy the pass, you can of course continue playing online, but you will be a really low-level, and not end up with access to all the advanced perks that everyone else is using to kick your ass, because yes, even if you can’t advance in levels, you will still play against people who bought the pass and can gain more levels.

Granted, occasionally, this pass is available for free, if you buy the game new, and before the code in the box expires. otherwise, you are pretty much fucked!

Lack of Originality
Come on people! Enough with the sequels. I know you want to play it safe, but release some new fucking titles already! It works sometimes you know! If it didn’t we would all be playing Mario Brothers 26 right now. Sure, sometimes you get a stinker like Alan Wake, but other times you get a masterpiece like Heavy Rain.

Don’t get me wrong! I fucking love sequels, I am hoping and pleading for a Red Dead Redemption sequel, or a new Splinter Cell game. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to experience the thrill of a new adventure with a new character! After all, there’s only so many sequels a man can take!

Cookie Cutter Games
Sure, I could have fit this into the Lack of Originality category. I simply decided not to. The reason? That’s simple! See, to me, it’s a big enough annoyance, to warrant its own category.

So, what do I mean by Cookie Cutter exactly? Games that are way too similar. Games like rhythm Games(See below), Matching block puzzle games, shooting bubble puzzle games and so on! However, the worst offender I believe is todays current First Person Shooters. The majority of them take place in modern settings, and located in the middle east. So, the backgrounds pretty much all look-alike, sure some might have varying stages of realism, but at a glance they are all pretty much identical. There’s also the first person view, but that totally doesn’t count, because it’s a first person shooter. What does count however is the lack of healthbar that they all seem to have adopted. Instead of health, most FPS games just get redder and redder around the edges of the screen to show how much damage you have, and then you hide for a bit, and you are good to go.

Yes, the red edges health meter was cool when I first saw it. After a few million dozen times, it started getting old. Just because something worked for one company, doesn’t mean every single FPS from that point forward needs to adopt the same health meter. Come up with your own shit! Make the game your own, instead of a Modern Warfare carbon copy! Sure, it might not sell as well, but at least you will be your own game and not a “Modern Warfare Clone”.

While FPS titles maybe the worst offenders, they are far from the only offender. Take a look at MMORPGs. a good majority of them are identical to World Of Warcraft. Why? Probably because WoW is so insanely popular, that it would be a safe bet, that if yer playing their game, that you also are playing World of Warcraft, and maybe this is their way of making you feel at home. I don’t know, but it’s annoying. If I wanted to play WoW, I would be playing WoW, not some copycat that charges the same amount. Basically, if I am looking for an MMORPG and NOT going to Wow, Which most likely I have heard of, since it is clearly the most popular MMORPG out at the time of this writing, then there is a good chance that I want something different from what WoW provides!

Rhythm Games and their add-ons.
The rhythm game genre, is the only game genre I detest. I am not a huge fan of sport games, but will occasionally play them. I will never play a rhythm game. Does this make the genre horrible? Well, it kind of does, at least for me. I am fully aware that many people love this particular genre. For me, it just makes no sense. I don’t see where the enjoyment of pushing buttons to the beat of a song becomes interesting. I used to tap my pencil to the rhythm of songs in school, and I never thought to myself that this is so fucking exciting, it should be a video game.

My hatred for the genre is beside the point. What bugs me is the massive amounts of this genre that’s out there. Seriously, how many fucking rhythm games do you need? It get’s worse too! Everyone of those fucking rhythm games, releases an busload of DLC that consists of new songs to tap to the beat of. Since this shit is easy as fuck to produce, they go ape-shit and just start cranking out DLC like it was going out of style.

It eventually gets to the point, that I don’t even bother checking the “What’s new?” in the online console store, because I know it will be jammed with millions of rhythm DLC titles.

Most likely there’s more that is making the video game industry seem less interesting to me, but off-hand I can’t think of any. I’ll get back to ya!

UPDATE: I thought of some more, and have updated this list from 4, to 6 things ruining video games for me!

Inside the mind of an MMORPG Soloist

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For many people, when they hear the words “Solo” and “MMORPG” used together in the same sentence, they tend to go bat-shit insane. They react as if someone just said their momma wore combat boots! It’s actually quite scary. However, Scary or not, Let me be clear on one thing: I am an MMORPG Soloist. Let the Bat-shittery commence!

Wait for the crazies to settle down. Wait for it.

Ok, I am assuming the lunatics had time to calm down, so I will continue.

Why do people get so worked up about someone playing an MMORPG solo? I don’t know! If they want to group, more power to them. Me playing solo has absolutely no fucking affect on them, since they will be in a group and I clearly will not be. So why get all worked up? Many people will say it pisses them off because it ruins the spirit of the MMORPG, and that if you want to play Solo, then go play a Solo RPG, like an elder scrolls game or something similar. These same people also fucking love to point out the word “Multiplayer” abbreviated in MMORPG.

These same people of course, are also douchebaggy dumbshits.

“Multiplayer” means more than one person playing the game. Last I looked, there is more than one person playing the game even if I am doing it solo. multiplayer does NOT mean Grouped. If it did, clearly it would be called “Group Required Online Role Playing Game” and while GRORPG may not be as catchy as MMORPG, it would still get the point across.

Bottom line, you can enjoy the multiplayer aspect of an MMORPG without being grouped. For instance, Even though I solo I still enjoy multiplayer activities that can’t be achieved in single player games. Examples are as follows.

PvP – I like to enter not just arenas, but also if I spot a lone adventurer adventuring that’s about my level, I like to engage them in combat. I also enjoy having to watch the area, and pay attention to my surroundings in case of a surprise player attack. This couldn’t be done in a single player RPG.

Role Playing – Yeah, the OTHER abbreviation in MMORPG that douche bags tend to have no problem ignoring, since it doesn’t fit their ideal of game play. I like to take on the role of a character, and play it, interacting with others along the way. Can this be done in a single player? No! (On a side note, this is also another reason I solo. I play games for the story, and groups tend to want to rush. I like to read the quest dialog, and appreciate it. Soak it all up, so that I can get a feel for the setting, to better evolve my character. This doesn’t tend to sit well with groups who are in a rush for their epic lewtz)

Crafting & Auctioning – I like to craft things, venture to the auction house and sell my things that I have made. Also, to sell items I have found, for more than what the vendor will buy it for. It gives me an alternate way to make money.

Occasional Grouping – I like to occasionally group up with a friend who might play on the rare occasion. However, I also want to be able to play on my own, whenever I want. I just want the OPTION to include my friends in the adventure with me, not be FORCED to run with people I hardly know, just to get some quest done.

Activities – Let’s be honest here folks! MMORPGs will always be larger than a single player RPG! It will have always increasing content, and also have special holiday events. This is something that doesn’t happen in single player games. A single player game does not evolve with or without you! It does not have new quests just suddenly appear that weren’t there before or programmed to be there.

Bottom line is this: No matter how advanced a single player RPG is, it will NEVER provide the continued growth or entertainment value that an MMORPG will.

Lastly, let me just say this — You don’t like that I play solo, even though it has no effect on you? Well, Fuck you. I don’t like that you don’t Role play which DOES affect my characters enjoyment. Do you see me bitching and whining? NO! Why? because your 15 bucks a month is worth just as much as mine, and vice versa. We each pay the same, and have the right to BOTH enjoy the game that we pay for, however we see fit.

That’s all I gotta say about that.

Related articles

• Another MMORPG going Free to Play (shaideblog.com)
• World of Warcraft goes Free to Play?! (shaideblog.com)

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review

As far back as the NES days, Castlevania has been known for 2 things — Shitty graphics, and side scrolling action. The newest Castlevania game takes both and throws them out a window.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, like most newer games based on a classic franchise has decided to move from a side scroller format, to a 3D roaming setting. This gives the player more freedom, and gives them a sense of discovery while traversing and exploring their new surroundings. Plus, it’s kind of expected nowadays.

On top of the new roaming setting, the game series got injected with an extra dose of kick-ass graphics, that rival most games currently out.

Let me be blunt, and address the elephant in the room. Yes, C:LoS is a clone of the God of War game series. In fact, someone not really paying attention to what you are playing, could be forgiven for thinking it was God of War III. So, if you hate the God of War games, I am pretty sure you will hate this game. It’s kind of a given.

There are a few issues I have with this game. The first, and the biggest is the difficulty of the game. Instead of gradually increasing in difficulty, allowing you to get comfortable with the controls, C:LoS just decides to let it rip! Thankfully the first boss is easy, but since he’s a tutorial boss, that’s to be expected! After that, your next boss is fairly simple, and not too much of a complaint. The third boss however, is a gigantic pain in the ass! Now, for people who have played God of War, it might be simple, but you’ve had three fucking games to adjust to those gameplay mechanics. It’s like the developers just expected people to have already played GoW, and they feel they don’t need to slowly train you.

Controls of the game, again, an almost exact copy of GoW, so if you are used to it, you will do fine. For me though, I had an issue with the camera controls, or lack there of. This particular issue pissed me off in the GoW games as well. If I want to turn my camera around and look behind my character, I should damn well be allowed to!

Don’t get me wrong, im not saying it’s shit! It has Patrick Stewart doing the fucking voice in there, how could anyone say anything bad about it? That’s like bad mouthing the entire Enterprise crew!

What I am saying however, is that the game wasn’t that enjoyable for me. Some people will love the game to know end. In fact some people do! Like this guy, who apparently loves it so much he decided to become the main character Gabriel Belmont. Creepy? Sure! However, he clearly loves this fucking game!

Also, on the upside, the GoW games are insanely popular, and are playstation exclusives, which means Xbox only owners never had the honor to experience this ground breaking game series. So, since C:LoS is multi-platform, Xbox owners now get a chance to experience something similar to GoW.

World of Warcraft goes Free to Play?!

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MMORPGs are going Free to Play left and right! Recently Age of Conan went free to play, and even more recently City of Heroes announced it too was going free to play. Hell, there’s even talk of sony’s newest MMORPG DC Universe Online going free to play!

For good reason too! Free to Play means bigger money! Lots more people try it and get hooked on it, and end up becoming a premium member, or at the very least spend money to upgrade their character. Me for instance, I am not a big fan of monthly fees, because I am a casual gamer. What would take most MMO gamers an afternoon to accomplish, it takes me about a week. So, it makes more sense for me to slowly buy the newer content for me, as I progress up to the point to access it.

So, it’s a given! Tons of MMORPGs are going Free to Play. In fact most of them. What about World of Warcraft you ask? YES! It already has gone Free to Play – Well, Kind of anyway.

Ok, it hasn’t gone Free to Play.

What it has done however is adopt a limited Free to Play model to take the place of a 10 day trial. Now, you can play the game, and get a good feel for the game, because instead of just 10 days, you can play your character up to level 20, for free! Then, if you want to continue past level 20, just upgrade your account.

Why would World of Warcraft do this though? I mean, WoW is the MMORPG juggernaut right? The King of the hill! Other MMORPGs have to bow down to its greatness right? I mean, I will be honest and upfront here. Even I can’t deny that WoW is the most popular MMORPG on the market, and I detest WoW! Seriously, I really can’t stand the game. I used to enjoy it, and subscribed for a good many years, but then realised that the game never changed. Even the new content was the same old crap with a different name or color.

So, with it being so popular why adopt this new limited f2p/free trial model? I couldn’t say with any certainty. In fact, the only ones who really probably know are the bigwigs in charge of WoW. I can however take a wild guess.

You see, last October World of Warcraft had a staggering 12 million users. However as of January, the amount of subscribers was 11.1 million. Do the math people. In less than a year, World of Warcraft lost 1 million subscribers. So, it’s not really all that surprising that they would introduce a similar strategy to see if they could boost their numbers back up.

Will it work? Probably! As I said, I am not a fan of the game, but it’s a good beginners MMORPG. It’s not overly technical, so it’s easy to get yourself set up and gaming, even if you know nothing about gaming. So, yeah, it will probably increase their numbers! These people will try the game, get hooked, and not want to lose their spiffy level 20 character.

The big question is, will the increased numbers last? Probably not! The game has been around a long time! It’s teetering at the moment, and all it will take is one really good MMORPG to come along and give it that little nudge to push it off its throne. The upcoming Starwars MMORPG looks like it might have the power for that final nudge, however only time will tell.

As usual, I could be wrong about all of this, but I don’t think so!