Almost...but not quite

This weeks Chanticleer features my top 10 games of the year list. The year of the dolphin was filled with tons of great games, and so many terrific titles did not make the list. In todays update, I want to list several more quality games from 2007 that should not be missed.

Playstation 3

Heavenly Sword: Heavenly Sword is a brilliant Ninja Gaiden clone that features beautiful graphics and fantastic combat control. The games downfall lies in length, but give Heavenly Sword a rental this holiday season. You'll be glad you did.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction: Ratchet & Clank make their PS3 debut in a big way. Insomniac delivered a strong quality title that fans of the series would be crazy to miss.

Xbox 360

Crackdown: Crackdown took sandbox style gameplay to the next level when it released back in Feburary. Another short but sweet game, Crackdown promoted user metagames to extend replay value. The game is my absolute favorite cooperative experience of the year.

Nintendo Wii

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition: One of the greatest games of 2005, Resident Evil 4 returns to the Nintendo Wii complete with an updated control scheme. Capcom's thirller serves as one of the greatest games on Nintendo's newest console, and also gives the system a strong mature rated title.

Gamers have many reasons to be thankful

With Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaching, the concept of giving thanks to those you appreciate becomes very important. In this entry, I want to give my thanks to a few people that made this year in gaming so special. The year started off rocky, but amazing fall lineups turned the tide and made this one of the most memorable times for gaming in history.




First of all, I want to thank the shotgun. First-person-shooter games took the gaming world by storm this year, and it's all thanks to our double-barreled friend. Bioshock, Halo 3, Crysis, The Orange Box and Call of Duty 4 are all examples of games that will be talked about generations into the future. Shooter fans really had no time to rest this year, and now have the ammo they need to keep them busy until next Thanksgiving.



My next round of applause goes to the goomba. No matter how many times I stomp on your head you come back to make me smile. Smiling was about all I could do while playing the newest entry in the goomba... I mean Mario series. Super Mario Galaxy takes platforming to a new level with intricate level design and the fan-service that Nintendo die-hards crave to see. The game is personally my favorite release of the year, which is quite an honor considering all of the quality games that came out.



A big, enormous, mega-sized applause goes to developer Agetec for bringing Fire Pro Wrestling Returns to the US. In a world filled to the brim with horrible wrestling games, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns delivers exactly what grappling fans want and then some. Japanese gamers (and American importers) have had the luxury of playing the game for over 15 years now. Agetec did the right thing, and hopefully the game will generate enough sales to make their good deed payoff.



Realtime Worlds makes me thankful for games that encourage cooperative gameplay. The studio created quite a buzz with Crackdown earlier this year, which featured full online cooperative. RTW took coop one step further by allowing each player to be anywhere in the city at anytime. Many coop games of old forced players to stick together, which limited what you could do. The result was one of the best multiplayer games this generation, and proof that cooperative games need to feature online play.

In addition to the above category, a small thanks to the Halo 3 beta for helping to generate hype for Crackdown. The Halo beta was made available to anyone that purchased Crackdown, and that sold plenty of copies to people that did not know what the hell they were buying. So thanks Halo, you made a lot of people realize what they could have been missing.



Finally, I want to thank Rockstar Games for delaying Grand Theft Auto IV to March of 2008. This year was so packed with games that we needed something to be pushed back, and our friends over the pond obliged. Thank you Rockstar, and please fix all of the framerate problems that were evident in early builds of the game. Please?

There are many reasons for gamers to have a smile on their face this holiday season. The Thanksgiving break will allow us all to catch up on our growing backlogs, or enjoy some of the past hits that we cannot stop thinking about. Happy Thanksgiving and happy gaming.

Shoot to the stars

Today is a big day for Wii owners across the nation as Super Mario Galaxy is now on store shelves. Galaxy is the first big Wii game to hit the console since its release last November. The game boasts visuals that push Nintendo's console to a new level, as well as the fantastic gameplay you would expect from a Mario title.

The atmosphere of the game is unlike anything you have experienced from a previous Mario game. The space setting forces you to deal with the law of gravity in addition to the standard Mario enemies.

The aspect of the game that I am most excited about is the return of popular power-ups like the fire flower. Super Mario 3 was known for the many transformation items that you could get, and that ultimately kept the game fresh during future replays. The return of the airships also have me giddy.

The Nintendo World Store in New York had a Galaxy release celebration last night. Thousands of people attended the event, which gave gamers the first opportunity to buy the critically acclaimed game. Event goers also got plenty of free swag to make their trip worthwhile.

Check out The Chanticleer over the next few weeks for the final verdict on Super Mario Galaxy. Until then, check out the opening to the game.

Hidden gems are the best

I am excited for the next week for two main reasons. First and foremost, the release of Super Mario Galaxy will rock the gaming world with the platform goodness that we all love. I will talk all about Super Mario Galaxy in next weeks blog.

This week is dedicated to the other reason I can't wait for November 12th to arrive, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns for Playstation 2.

Fire Pro Wrestling, created by Spike, is one of the most enjoyable series of games I have ever played. The series began in 1989 with the release of Fire Pro Wrestling Combination Tag for the PC Engine. Fire Pro has gained the support of the japanese gaming audience with each installment, but only two games have reached the United States (Fire Pro Wresting 1 and 2 for the Gameboy Advance).

The game features 2-d graphics that look decades old, but don't count the title out because of visuals. Fire Pro features the best gameplay, the most incredible animations and the deepest customization options of any wrestling game to date. It also boasts the biggest roster of wrestlers in a game; featuring around a dozen federations to choose from.

Final Fire Pro Wrestling marks the return of the series to American shores, and at a budget price of 20 dollars to boot. I urge any fan of wrestling or fighting games to give it a shot. The graphics might be simple, but the gameplay delivers in spades.

And that is what really matters.

Below is the Agetec(the US translator) trailer of Final Fire Pro Wrestling.

Length isn't everything

This past weekend the hype of Super Mario Galaxy hit me like a ton of bricks. I had always anticipated the game, but with just two weeks left to go the realization of the next installment in platform perfection left me excited. I have long been a fan of the Mario games, with Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 being three of the most amazing games I have ever played.

With literally a mountain of work that needed to be done, I did what any Nintendo fanboy would do: Download Super Mario 64 from the Wii's Virtual Console. I grinned ear-to-ear as the trademark "It's a me! Mario!" filled the room. I had planned to atleast play the game again before the release of Galaxy, but knew I would not have the time to fully complete the game.

Boy was I wrong.

It took me just over 13 hours to go through the game, which is extremely short compared to how I remembered. Obviously I had played through before and knew where everything was with little trouble, but 13 hours is still very short for what is one of the greatest games of all time.

This got me thinking. Does a games length define just how good that game is?

Two recent releases of fantastic games met critcism due to length. Bioshock and Heavenly Sword are two of the best titles released this year, and the major problem that many reviewers had were length related. Some of these reviewers also neglected to hold these games in the high standing they deserve due to this.

I actually read on many forums about gamers skipping these two blockbusters because they were "short".

I'm here to tell you that game length DOES NOT MATTER.

I have played through Bioshock two times, and the games length is fine. If the game was any longer it would wear thin.

The answer is for developers to find that perfect balance. It sounds simple enough does it not?

Games like Super Mario 64 and Bioshock both represent the perfect length for their respective genres. A platformer or shooter over 20 hours is bound to become repetitive in a hurry.

Don't get me wrong, I love my RPGs to be 40+ hours. They are designed to be that long, however, and the story is usually deep enough to carry the game the distance.

The moral of this post is to never ever skip a game based on length. Some of the best games ever made can be beaten on a weekend. Rentals work fine as well. Just don't miss out!

Smashapalooza

I know that it has been delayed until next year, but I simply cannot get Super Smash Bros. Brawl off of my mind. The game is going to be the ultimate Nintendo fan-service experience.



The sheer number of options that have been added to the game is surreal. The network play is what I'm looking forward to the most. Hopefully the developer will use the extra time to smooth out the net code.

The Subspace Emissary is going to huge as well. The single player modes in the previous installments have always lacked in the adventure aspect. The games length will definitely benefit from each character having their own unique adventure to play through.

Speaking of characters, Brawl has the best cast of any Smash game to date. The additions of both Sonic and Solid Snake are huge, and prove that Nintendo will look to third parties in order to boost the games roster. The two characters that I really want to see are Mega Man and Captain Falcon. Mega Man has been one of my all time favorite gaming characters, and I really think that he should be in the game. Capcom deserves to have at least one character in the game due to their strong relationship with Nintendo. Captain Falcon on the other hand is a staple Smash character that needs to return.

The daily Smash Bros. Dojo updates help to ease the pain of the recent delay. The site is updated each weekday with new information about the game. Who knows, maybe Mega Man is just an update away.

Robots and tears

This past summer, Activision sent us Transformers:The Game. I wrote a review for it, but it was not published due to fact that it did take place in the summer when we do not print. The release of the Transformers movie on DVD gave me the idea to post that review here. Below is the review in its entirety.

Transformers:The Game

The hype behind the recently released Transformers movie has taken the nation by storm. Transformers fans both young and old have flocked to theaters to see the newest big screen rendition of the popular series. A game based off of the movie was also created to coincide with the release of the motion picture. The game adaptation of Michael Bay's box office hit, however, is most certainly not more than meets the eye.

The initial challenge that gamers are presented with is choosing between controlling the Autobots or the Decepticons. The Autobot side features such Transformers staples as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee while the Decepticon story puts you behind the reigns of evil classics like Megatron, Barricade and Starscream. Both campaigns feature the robots fighting to recover the AllSpark artifact. Each choice leads you down a different storyline path complete with different levels, objectives and characters.

Unfortunately that is where the main differences between the two ends.

Each campaign is split into four main chapters that are followed by a final confrontation battle. Each level has four missions that must be completed in order to move on to the next area. These missions range from hi-speed chases to assisting other Transformers and of course the good ole fashioned robot brawl. The downside is that each mission is extremely short. In fact most gamers will be able to cruise through each mission in a matter of minutes.

Gameplay elements are shared and stay consistent throughout the game, no matter what type of Transformer you are controlling. The game features the ability to transform, which makes for one of the more interesting aspects of the game. You can use these transformations to get around the map quickly and complete missions. Each Transformer has a light and heavy ranged weapon, but these pale in comparison to the standard melee attack and become useless in later levels, as enemies will simply shrug off your fire. The melee function is almost too powerful, as you can simply pummel most foes into submission with little effort. The rest of the game controls pretty well. Locking on to enemies, maneuvering around, and jumping through the levels is spot on.

The main problem with Transformers: The Game lies in the difficulty, or lack there of. Running out of health is literally the biggest challenge in the game as each level has a staggering amount of health icons placed at every turn. Most enemies will drop health packs when defeated as well so it becomes almost impossible to run out of them. An integral part of every game is the challenge, and Transformers: The Game simply does not offer much to keep players guessing.

The game does very little to hook players visually, aside from the well constructed Transformer models. The framerate runs very smoothly in the early levels, but can stutter quite frequently later in the game when a good deal of action is taking place. Building damage and destruction is represented nicely, but can be random at times. Sometimes an entire building will fall to the ground without the character even making contact with it. Collision detection issues are not rampant though, but a little more Q and A could have prevented this entirely.

The music is nothing special and is quickly forgotten. Several voice actors from the movie such as Shia LaBeouf reprise their characters role during the games cutscenes. Most of the dialog during actual gameplay is repetitive, and ends up being more of a nuisance than a help.

Most gamers will finish both campaigns very quickly, but there are four sub missions to complete as well as five icons and 100 hidden cubes in each level. The sub missions, however, do nothing to power up your Transformers and really offer no incentive to complete. The icons and cubes do nothing to power you up either, but perfectionists will want to collect every single thing the game offers. These items do unlock special bonus content that you can view from the main menu.

Transformers: The Game falls short in almost every category, and is hard to recommend to even the most diehard fan. The mindless bashing of enemies, the lack of quality missions, and the overall short experience are all reasons to avoid the game. The bonus content is something that may appeal to fans, but it's not worth buying and playing through the game to unlock. That money and time would be better spent at the theater watching the movie.

D-

The best value EVER

Today I want to talk about the single greatest value in video games ever; The Orange Box. This five game combination features Half-Life 2(with both expansions) in all of it's glory, along with the long awaited Team Fortress 2 and a new single player experience dubbed Portal. The game ships this week for PC and Xbox 360, and will appear on the PS3 in the coming weeks.

Half-Life 2 needs no introduction. This game has been praised as one of the greatest games of all time, nabbing over 50 game-of-the-year awards. Publication PC Gamer also called the title the “Best PC Game Ever.”

Half-Life 2: Episode 1 was named action game of the year by Gamespy last year and for good reason. The episodic wonder was a very impressive addition to an already fantastic game. Episode 2 will also improve on the original story, with the action taking place in the beautiful White Forest outside of City 17. These two episodes combined with the original game make an experience that will last way beyond the normal time of a FPS.

Team Fortress 2 is the main element of this package and the part that most people will spend years playing. Valve has taken time to get TF2 ready, but the wait will be worth it. The class based multiplayer thriller has been deemed the online multiplayer GOTY, which is quite a compliment considering the upcoming Call of Duty 4 and Unreal Tournament III.

Portal is an interesting game mode that puts on a new spin on the puzzle genre. Players must manipulate time and space to get through levels. I am looking forward to checking this mode out simply for the new factor.

The Orange Box is filled with tons of quality and should not be missed. Circuit City will have the PC version for $37.99 on Tuesday, which is a fantastic deal. Be sure to check out my review for The Orange Box in the October 18th issue of The Chanticleer.

The aftermath

I hate to make my blog about the same game for two weeks in a row, but Halo 3 is that awesome and definitely worth the praise. By now many gamers have experienced Halo 3 in all of its glory, and I want to touch on some of the things that I enjoyed most about my experience.

The online coop mode is definitely the mode i enjoy most, because I have always been a big fan of Halo's campaign mode. I played through the original Halo in coop with probably 20 different people. I never understood why Bungie neglected to add online to Halo 2, but it was definitely worth the wait. I went through the game on legendary with two friends this past weekend, and the experience was fantastic.

The game is so short but the length actually fits a cooperative game quite well. In fact, the game resembles Gears of War in terms of total hours needed to complete. The game does enough to fulfill the story and at the same time manages to be just the right length for replayability.

I also dabbled in multiplayer for a bit, and was quite pleased with the community. Halo has always been a game where racial slurs occur within seconds of each other while playing online. However, I only encountered one of these guys in my 15 or so games, and he was quickly blocked with the lovely new mute feature.

I can already tell that I will be spending a ton of time in the theater. The sheer number of options is incredible, and the fact that you can watch and learn from previous multiplayer matches is a feature I fully expect to see in future console FPS games.



For more on Halo 3, check out the full review in this weeks issue of The Chanticleer.

Broken Halo

Halo 3 is finally out and gamers can finally finish the fight.

Unfortunatly not without some problems.

There are three versions of the game and people wanting the Limited Edition may find a cruel surprise when they open the case.



That's right, scratch-o-rama. The prongs holding both the game and the bonus disc are extremely weak. This has led to the above situation happening, which is unacceptable in my mind for a game of such magnitude.

Gaming Web sites witnessed this while opening their legendary copies this week. This IGN video shows just how bad the problem can be. Both discs are off the prongs and Hilary Goldstein even comments on how bad they are scratched. Gamevideos also has a video of their unsuccessful unboxing.

For the record, the legendary version that the press received consisted of the limited edition case in the Master Chief helmet. The legendary available to consumers comes in two seperate (and well made) dvd cases.

Thankfully some retailers have reported no problems with their copies of the limited edition. However, the problem does exist and people must decide if the extra content is worth the risk of a scratched game.

For me it's not.

Welcome

Welcome to the first entry in my blog dedicated to the world of technology and video games. Each week I will provide you with the current news from the world of gaming. I will also discuss the releases for the week and post reviews of games I have played.

A week of exciting announcements is ahead of us with the Tokyo Game Show taking place this week in Japan. Ninja Gaiden 2 has already been announced for the 360, and it looks to be just as special as the original Xbox hit. Capcom has already promised a slew of new games to be unveiled on Wednesday. I will touch on all the big announcements next week.

Tony Hawk has reason to fear as a new skateboarding game has emerged. EA has a hit on their hands with skate., which came out last Friday. The game plays very simulation style, which will please fans looking for a real skating game. The demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace helped to push hype to a new level. The innovative flick-it control scheme makes the game play more precise and fun.

A Tony Hawk Proving Ground demo was also released, and you can almost tell that the developers at Neversoft mailed it in after seeing skate. in action. The game feels extremely flat in comparison, and even has less animations than before. We'll have to see if Proving Ground can polish up in the next month. It's going to take alot to overtake the new guy.

I leave you this week with a short preview of what to expect in next weeks entry.