Review: Just Cause 2 [PS3]

WOW! There IS a first Just Cause!

Do you remember the latest Bionic Commando? Do you remember how awesome it looked to swing around with a grappling hook in 3D? And do you remember how that turned out? Well, lucky for us Avalanche Studios payed attention and gave us Just Cause 2. Oh, and note this review is actually short.. it looked longer when I originally typed it on my iPod Touch.

NPD’s: February 2010

Are you kidding me?!

[Edit: Remember, not every retail outlet sends their numbers to NPD.]

I am late on this one, I am aware of that, but given I was sick at the time, and then it slipped my mind, I’m hoping I’ll be forgiven and you will still take a peek. I don’t just give numbers, I like to give my opinions on things as well. So let’s dive into February’s NPD numbers shall we? Let’s start with console numbers:

XBox 360-     422 thousand (up 27%)
Wii-                398 thousand (down 15%)
PS3-               360 thousand (up 30%)
PS2-               102 thousand (up 143%)

I’m still here.

Normally, I have a post every day or two, and yet, it’s been a week. So I thought I would let everyone know I am still here, and I am still busy with stuff for the blog. 🙂

News: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 VIPs getting new maps

That’s right, new maps. Well, not really.

On the BFBC2 blog last night, DICE said on March 30th, new VIP maps were coming to combat “mapathy”. These will be available to people who either purchased BFBC2 new or purchased a VIP pass from the PSN or XBL Marketplace. The two maps aren’t really “new” though, it’s simply a Rush map (Arica Harbor) getting introduced into Conquest mode, and a Conquest map (Laguna Alta) will now be playable in Rush mode.

Hmmmm… March 30th sounds aweful familiar. Seems another game set in modern warfare (2) is getting a map pack the same day. Oh, but yeah, they have to pay for their’s. 😉

On a serious note, my only problem with this competition, because let’s face it, EA/DICE really is trying to butt heads with the machine that is Activision/IW, is the fact that these maps aren’t NEW. I have no qualms with the way they are doing the VIP thing, it’s awesome, but *if* I was a fan of both games, I’d probably be buying the new maps from MW2 because they are NEW.

DICE did say they have more VIP content planned (look forward to the next set of Conquest and Rush map reversals), as well as some paid content with other updates. This leads me to wonder if some the following might be added: new weapons, gear, gadgets, badges, vehicles, insignias, game modes. I will welcome, and pay, for any of this content. That being said, bring on the VIP treatment, DICE, and keep it coming.

-Sobær

[Editor’s Note: It is really hard trying to do a news story from work. I have no way to access the information, as 99.99999% of all gaming sites are blocked. Except Gamestop. And Gameciety.]

Review: Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing [PS3]

He's to fast on foot....

Intro
Kart games come and go with most people not paying attention, unless it’s Mario Kart. Mario Kart has been the king of kart games since the inception of the genre. I have played quite a few different kart style games, and none have the same effect on me like Mario Kart does, so I thought maybe it was because I’m not a fan of the different movies and games that these kart racers use as a theme. Crash Bandicoot, Diddy Kong Racing, M&M, the list goes on. Then a Sonic/SEGA themed kart racer comes out.

Again, not the biggest Sonic fan, so I thought I wouldn’t like this. Hell, I wouldn’t of even played it had me and a friend not been goofing off and playing the demo. But we actually kind of liked it. So I figured I would give it a rent, and let my kid play it too. On a small personal note, he has pretty much been grounded since I got it, so that never happened before I sent it back sadly. So, here’s a short and sweet review of the game.

Editorial: SOCOM 4 and My Thoughts

The gentlemen at Zipper Interactive are the founding fathers of the SOCOM series. It was recently announced that Zipper is working on SOCOM 4. SOCOM 2 is held on a pedastool by SOCOM vets as the definitive tactical shooter game ever made. Those same veterans will also tell you the series started going downhill afterward. Larger maps and vehicles are cited as some of the main reasons for the downhill slide of SOCOM’s on the PS2. Then SOCOM: Confrontation was announced, with a new developer.

Review: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (multiplayer only) [PS3]

DICE throws it down...

Intro:
I’ve been a casual Battlefield fan since I first played Battlefield Vietnam on PC. Then Battlefield 2. I played Battlefield: Bad Company a few times, and thought it was ok. Then I got into Call of Duty 4. Then World at War. Then SOCOM. The track kind of stops there because I had yet to find a good shooter to occupy my time after SOCOM spoiled the genre for me. Then I played the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (further noted in initials) beta. It was over at that point.

DICE didn’t just throw down the gauntlet in the FPS genre, they kicked every other shooter right in the crotch. And laughed. BF:BC2’s online play is top notch, and makes Modern Warfare 2 looks more arcadey and childish than it already looked before. This review is of the multiplayer only. I might do a shorter review of the single player. I am enjoying it, and find it more interesting than MW2’s, I will say that much.

February Goals

February is in the books! With 10 months to go, let’s see where we sit on our goals, shall we?

1. Platinum 2 games in 2010.
[none yet]
Not looking so good here yet, huh? Well, I knew this one would have a nice spread between platinums, but you never know when one could be done.

2. Reach 1,500 trophies by the end of 2010.
[I have to have 75 a month to catch my goal.]
[January end of month goal = 675]
[January end of month trophy count = 719]
[February end of month goal = 750]
[February end of month trophy count = 863]
Yeah, I’m a month ahead and then some, which is good, because it gives me room for online games and such. At first, I thought this one was going to be the hardest challenge, however, it’s starting out on a good start. But I’m trying to stack as many trophies now as possible, just in case my Gamefly account gets put back down to one game at a time.

3. Complete 10 games
[January- Fallout 3]
[February- Batman: Arkham Asylum]
[February- flOw]
[February- Aliens vs. Predator]
[February- Rogue Warrior]
[February- Heavy Rain]
I’m considering not counting fl0w, but nonetheless, I am ahead of schedule here, too. But hey, the more the merrier right? I wanted these to be realistic, but also to keep me playing, not grinding. I almost left it at 5 games like last year, but decided to push myself to do something I rarely seem to do, and finish a game. So 5 (kind of 6) out of 10 isn’t bad, with 10 months to go.

And here’s Em’s list and what she got done in Febuary.

1. Platinum/100% 2 games
[None yet]

2. Beat 3 games
[None yet]

3. Play 25 games
[January- Darksiders (PS3)]
[January- Assassin’s Creed 2 (PS3)]
[February- Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time]
[February- flOw]
[February- Flower]

4. Reach 400 trophies by the end of 2010
[February end of month trophy count = 206]
Well, after doing the math, Em has to get a little more than 19 trophies a month (19.4, technically. 😉 ). So we’ll see how next month fairs.

Well, that’s that. Things are looking good so far for the crew at Gameciety. Maybe I should make a goal for Em to write a few articles for the site. 😉 How are you kids sitting? Completing games? Playing enough games? Let us know in the comments how you are doing on those gaming resolutions!
– Sobær

Editorial: A Reviewers Integrity

Reviews are a dime-a-dozen. And people read reviews for different reasons. Some wonder if they should buy a game, so they check out some reviews. Others are curious what other people thought of the game, so they read some reviews. I fall into the latter category, especially after I review a game. I wonder if people thought the same thing as I did or not.

Review: Heavy Rain [PS3]

They are prepared!!! D:

Intro
This is one of those games that not everyone should review. I won’t get into specifics, that’s for an editorial piece. However, while I’m not “mad” that some have given this a bad score, some of the reviews just sound downright moronic, with a grain of hate, served on a dish with spoilers.

Heavy Rain IS, in fact, a game (spoiler!). It tells the story of four individuals and their pursuits to catch the Origami Killer. It is a game of intensity, choice, and story. While it has it’s flaws, most can be overlooked for what the game tries to bring to the gaming industry. While I LOVED this game, it is not perfect (spoiler, no game is), and even though I LOVED this game, I can’t justly give it an A+, though I enjoyed it more than most games I have played lately.