Tag: resident evil

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Reviews Video Games

Batman in the (nut)house

Given all the hoohaa going round the Internet at the moment over Batman: Arkham Asylum, I figured I should at least try the demo.

Was I blown away. First of all, Rocksteady’s approach to making a demo really hit the nail on the head. Whereas The Force Unleashed‘s demo made the game out to be too fiddly to bother with, and Resident Evil 5‘s demo dropped me in the middle of a firefight with no explanation of the controls, Arkham Asylum starts at the beginning of the game with a light tutorial that teaches you the basics of combat, stealth, and the totally awesome “Detective Mode”.

I’m not a huge comic reader, but the game really captures the “Dark Knight” mode of Batman that I like. It’s about being a high-tech, enigmatic, tenebrous badass. He’s Sam Fisher without the handholding of the US government.

The combat is fluid and dynamic, the “Detective mode” adds an interesting dimension to the game, and the stealth system beats the pants off anything I’ve played before. This is definitely high on my must-play list.

Categories
Reviews Video Games

Minor videogame update

I’ve been a bit slack in the video game department lately. Well, slack may not be the right word, but I certainly haven’t stopped playing.

I’ve played a lot of Rock Band 2 since my return from Phenomenon. I’m very happy with the gameplay changes – playing solo in “Tour” mode, challenges and so forth make for a much richer experience. I’ve also dumped a ton of cash on DLC for the game, so I’m not anywhere near to being bored with it.

I also like the extended experience you get by linking to rockband.com. I think it’s very clever marketing, and am seriously considering getting miniatures made of my band members when I’m happy with the way I’ve styled the models. Stroke my vanity visit my profile, and feel free to link me if you have an RB account.

In other news, I downloaded a couple of demos recently (thanks to the purchase of a 120GB hard drive).

Resident Evil 5 is a really poor demo. You’re dropped in the middle of a firefight with zero instruction and expected to survive. I’m assured that the gameplay is not as impenetrable as the demo shows, so I’m willing to give it a second chance.

Red Faction sounds really good in review, but neither of my regular approaches to FPS (super stealth, or gung ho) seemed to work. Again, not sure if I’ll bother with the game.

Crackdown, on the other hand doesn’t seem quite so bad. I know the game’s pretty much been and gone, but I can’t afford to ride the wave the whole time. While I’m not generally a fan of sandbox games, this one seems to encourage my “can’t be fucked” approach to things. It worked in Fallout 3, and I think it may work enough to justify a purchase for Crackdown.

Finally, I’m beginning to feel the urge to play Jade Empire again. Well, since I already own it, I won’t have to spend any money…

What are you guys into these days?