12/15/2010

Cataclysm so far

Here is a quick review of my impressions of the latest World of Warcraft expansion.

Talents
I find the talent trees to be fun to level - the alternating “talent-ability-talent” leveling path is fun and interesting, even though some classes feel more boring than others. Some talents are still mandatory. The initial level 10 ability makes classes more diverse and specialized early on. 4/5

Reshaped zones
Orgrimmar: Awesome. there are now more than one fully-featured zones, the city seems alive and is probably the most changed city. 5/5

Ashenvale: Cool zone on the Horde side, with lots of fighting going on, phasing, simili-cutscenes. I tried a bit on the Alliance side, nice change of pace there too. 4/5

Desolace: The northern part isn’t changed much, but a forest popped out in the middle and is vibrant. The unchanged part do feel out of place. 3.5/5

Feralas: I’ve only touched a bit of Feralas, but the added Alliance camps help a lot. 4/5 so far.

Durotar: A zone I found utterly boring just got better. The flooded parts are nice, my only gripe is the clearly visible difference between “old” and “new”. 4/5

Shadowfang Keep: An old favorite has slightly changed. It’ll remain a favorite, as it’s just as fun. 4/5

Deadmines: Completely changed enemies and bosses, and there are nice touches here and there. I had a lot of fun doing this instance. 5/5

Stormwind: Mostly cosmetic changes. The new Dwarven district is much better, some textures have been improved, and the cemetery area is really beautiful. 4/5

Flight in old Azeroth
This is clearly one of the best feature of the game. 5/5

New Zones

Hyjal: I haven’t been able to touch many new zones, but this one is fun! The only few frustrating quests give a great reward (cool pets and blues). The story is great, and you feel like you’re actually doing something thanks to phasing. 4.5/5

Vashjir: I won’t rate this zone, I can just say it’s beautiful. I’ll skip it for now, and my next level 80’ll go there for sure!

Gilneas (Worgen starting zone): The starting area is moody. I felt like I was playing Ravenloft Online (if such a game existed, don’t look for it!). The story is nice, too, with a cool cutscene; you gradually become a Worgen, which is a nice touch. The area feels a bit overly serious, and the few laughs you get thus feel “out of place”. A friend of mine found quests to be boring, but I believe if you take the time to read the texts, you’ll enjoy the story much more.

Still, it didn’t reach my expectations. 3.5/5

Goblin starting zone: Kezan and the Lost Isles are some of the most fun I had in WoW yet. It’s really funny. I mean, you get a car, a radio and idea-giving potions! Phasing is used efficiently as well. Best starting zone? Probably. Although the next one is a contender… 5/5

Echo Isles: Not really a new area, but finally Trolls have their own starting area! And it is cool too! You get some close-up time with Voljin (troll leader) and the story presents the Horde’s inner troubles. It is a nice introduction to Horde politics, and the area feels alive. It is shorter than the Goblin’s zone, is less funny, but it feels more epic and heroic. 5/5

Dungeons
So far, I haven’t been able to enter any Cataclysm dungeon. I found the entrance to the Throne of the Tides, only to face a 40 minutes wait. Oh well, I hope it changes soon!

PVP
While leveling, PVP is really hectic. In my experience, some classes have some trouble surviving in some brackets, even with 5-level brackets. The experience feels unbalanced; a rogue managed to kill my level 42 decently geared Priest while I had a shield on by simply stunning me, then killed me before I could recover. And that’s with a full, Disciline Power Shield, and a full health bar, and a HoT on, in a 1 vs 1 situation. Yup. I’m bitter about it! So until I see how PVP fares at level 85, I’ll give a 2/5 for balance issues, but a 4/5 for the wise decision to divide bracket and give more battleground choices at lower levels.

Loot
Most quest loot looks the same, though some of the new gear, even at low levels, looks nice. 2.5/5

12/09/2010

Games of the decade

Halo
This game is undoubtedly one of the most influential games of the decade. It has single-handedly secured the original Xbox a place in gamers’ homes and has spawned multiple sequels of various quality. Most notably, this year’s Halo Reach is apparently a very good game, after the somewhat uninteresting Halo: OSTD. The game created a nice mythology involving the Covenant and the Flood, as well as making Master Chief one of today’s most well recognized video game character.

God of War
God of War is Sony’s successful franchise that rivals Halo in terms of popularity (somewhat) and quality. I for one was never a fan of the story, which is a shame, since the game is a quality brawler-adventure set in mythological times. No GoW on console so far has been badly reviewed, and it has inspired action games, some subtly (Darksiders), others not so subtly (Dante’s Inferno).

World of Warcraft
How can one even think that this is not one of the games of the decade? Each month, more than ten millions (now 12 millions) are paying 15 bucks to play a game that is six years old. Few games have ever had such lasting success. This game is the reason so many companies try to make an MMO, and also the reason why no subscription-based MMO has succeeded so far. With the revamp of Azeroth that came in Cataclysm, it is likely the game will still be live for a few years. At least.

GTA IV
Maybe other games in the series would be more deserving of the title (like San Andreas, perhaps?), but there is no doubt that this series has redefined “open world”. These action games are notoriously violent, which is a shame, since it obfuscates the fact that it has a great story, great characters and a lot of cinematic values.

Little Big Planet
While this one may not have the same impact as others on this list, LBP’s Sackboy has somewhat become the de facto mascot for Sony, a feat not achieved since… well, maybe Master Chief for the Xbox? Maybe? But it also showed that people LOVE to create. Try some of the user-created levels, and you’ll see how deep the game is! My personal favorite was a recreation of Gradius’ first level! Absolutely stunning.

Gears of War
Gears of War is to 3rd person shooters what Halo is to FPS. It has quality graphics and diverse combat, as well as a dynamic and cinematic cover system. Shooting stuff shouldn’t be this fun!

Call of Duty
One of the most successful franchise of recent memory. It is the more “realistic” of the shooters, as it is set in our own world. Pick your favorite: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2 or Black Ops, all share a very addictive and popular multiplayer. It is highly refined, and while it is not my personal choice, the series’ quality and impact cannot be denied.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Uncharted is one of Sony’s series, one that has you playing a movie. Really, even the most cinematic games on this list are far behind this game! Forget the shooting and the platforming (which are great, to be honest), it’s the characters and the script that are king here.

Persona 3
The previous game had you play a movie. This one has you play an anime series! This game is so amazing, even the turn-based fights stand out. This game is more story than gameplay, you’ll immerse yourself in that cool world where you play a Japanese teen fighting shadows. Plot, characters, and more plot! Pick your version: the PS2 FES version, which introduces a whole new chapter, or the PSP version that allows you to play as a female character, complete with new dialogues and the like.

Street Fighter IV
Thank this game for the 2D fighter revival! Definitely a game that revived a whole genre, whereas developers seemed stuck in 3-D borefests like DOA and SoulCalibur (the latest entries of both series were really disappointing. Has DOA evolved since its Dreamcast days? I think not). Of course, I’m more a fan of BlazBlue, but that’s simply a matter of personal preferences.

Assassin’s Creed
This one is more touchy, as the first game was far from perfect. Yet it launched an amazing new series, and the second game has corrected most of the flaws of the first one. But even in the original, it has some of the most satisfying kills, and it boasts one of the most gorgeous open-world.

Other games that should be on this list:

Oblivion, Mass Effect, Metroid Prime, Mario Galaxy, Resident Evil 4, Guitar Hero. I’m sure I forgot a few other games that definitely should be here, I’ll add to that later!

11/30/2010

A review: Castlevania Lords of Shadows

After many attempts at making a 3D Castlevania, did Konami finally made one right?

When I tried the demo for the first time, I had no real idea what to expect. I had not been following it closely, to be honest. So when I started flailing around like a Gothic Kratos with hair, my first thoughts were “oh my Gods, this is GoW with vampires”. And apparently, given the many comments I read all over the Net, I am not alone to think that.

Except I didn’t see this as an inherently bad thing. I’m no God of War fan, but my concerns are not with the gameplay. So I decided to pick the game up.

You play as Gabriel Belmont as you undertake a quest that will eventually lead you to fight the titular Lords of Shadows in order to remake the God Mask and allow souls to, once more, reach heaven. Along the way, you will have to fight using whip, magic, daggers and holy water, along with a few new interesting weapons. But battle is not the only activity you’ll indulge in: you’ll have a fair share of platforming to do, you’ll ride many beasts such as trolls and giant spiders, and solve many puzzles, some of which are clever. If puzzles are not your thing, don’t worry, as you can always choose to grab the hint scroll at the cost of losing the experience bonus for the puzzle.

The game is linear, divided into chapters further divided into levels in a mostly arbitrary way (three chapters for the Vampire castle? was one not enough?). You can always go back, to find upgrades you couldn’t access previously, or you can plow forward, but the game is quite long, longer than most off today’s action adventure games.

What is great about the game is the diversity; the game experience during chapter 10 is not the same as the one in chapter 2. Sure, you still fight using mostly combos and magic, but the enemy variety, the tone of the game, the kind of puzzles and platforming you have to do make it seem always new. And the levels - the levels are absolutely gorgeous. The first part has you making you way through ancient ruins covered by forests, the second has you exploring this amazing Vampire castle and the third one… let’s just say it manages to top off the castle, which I thought couldn’t be done.

The story is more hit and miss; it feels simple, and sometimes the narration (done by Patrick Stewart) feels superfluous or badly written, but the backstory of it all is amazing. You feel like the journey is actually taking its toll on poor Gabriel. The voice acting is OK too, sometimes it feels like Patrick Stewart’s script is really poor, though, and it seems no one pronounces Marie’s name correctly (neither like Mary or like the French Marie…).

In my mind, this is one of the year’s finest. Aside from the script, the only flaw I can notice is the lack of camera control, which can sometimes lead to cheap hits. But Gabriel has good defensive moves, so even these can be easily avoided, and the problems are limited to a very few battles.

Sadly, the game will remain in memory for the incredible amount of hate it seems to create from some very vocal Castlevania fan. It has been accused of being a “cash hit” (supposedly the name Castlevania would have been added very late in the game’s development, which I doubt), of not being a true “Castlevania” (because you don’t fight Dracula) even though some other recent games, such as Portaits of Ruins on DS have distanced themselves even more from the core Castlevania experience (character fighting only with magic?).

Yet at its core, the game retains everything that makes a good Castlevania game: vampire hunting, lots of zombies, skeletons and other ghoulish freaks, amazing bosses, vampire-killing whips.

Finally, some people have complained about the lack of Castlevania-ity in the early game, as you fight trolls, goblins and the like. I don’t know why they forget so easily that a lot of Castlevania games involved monsters not typically associated with vampires, like Medusa, mermans, lizardmen, harpies, and so on. Frankly, people like to complain. Don’t listen to them. LoS is a great game, one that would have been hailed as an achievement had Kratos never used a whip-like weapon in the first place. Because no matter what, that’s the only thing both games have in common!

11/04/2010

Games to look forward to and others

Call of Duty: Black Ops. The follow-up to the ultra-popular Modern Warfare 2, this is no doubt the game to get to satiate your frag thirst. If you’re tired of Halo: Reach already and can’t wait for Killzone 3, this one is not to miss.
(I actually found MW2 to be a bit underwhelming, yet there is no denying that the franchise’s popularity ensures you’ll get plenty of people to headshot!)

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. This is not AC3, and neither it is AC2. More like AC2.5. You play again as Enzio, the assassin from the previous entry, and this time, you build your own assassin’s guild! Plus, multiplayer!

Batman: Arkham City. Another sequel, this one follows up on the stellar stealth-action Arkham Asylum. Expect more classic Batman Villains, more Batman references that you can throw a batarang at, and more action/stealth in a really creepy Gotham.

Farther down the road…

Metal Gear Solid: Rising. This time, you play as cybernetics-enhanced Raiden instead of good ol’ Snake. Despite the game’s focus on a more action-oriented character, it has been confirmed that once again, it is possible to finish the game without killing anyone. Plus, the sword mechanic looks pretty sweet!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Huge cast of characters, cool graphics, simple but deep gameplay à la Street Fighter IV, insane super moves, what more can you ask for? Of course, everyone’s favorite is NOT going to be in the final roster, so expect a lot of trolling (or is it trollage?). Still, a cast so varied is rare in a fighter, and this one will no doubt eclipse my current favorite, BlazBlue Continuum Shift.

Disgaea 4. More weird humor, more insane leveling, more of everything in a sequel that may be Nippon Ichi Software's last... apparently, the Japanese developer's business is not going so well, despite the fact that the Disgaea franchise seems quite popular (for a niche game anyway!). Sprites are going to be HD this time around. Since we can expect NIS to put everything they got into this latest effort, this will assuredly be either an awesome swan song, or another entry in a great and continuing series.

Games to check out NOW!

Castlevania Lords of Shadow. Disclaimer: this game is NOT like, well, 95% of the other games in the series. It is much closer to the awesome Simon’s Quest, as you do more exploring in the “Vania” part than in the “Castle” (i.e. more outside trekking). The game’s not terribly original: look for ideas borrowed from God of War, Prince of Persia, Shadow of the Colossus, Zelda and Dante’s Inferno. Yet they are meshed together quite well, in one of the most visually appealing game of 2010.

Games to avoid NOW!

Fable 3. As anyone who read my other articles may have noticed, I am not a huge fan of Fable 1 and 2. Sadly, the game has been even more dumbed down. Instead of the awesome action-RPG series that it could have been, we get an action game in a world where you interact with people by farting and belching, and where killing hundreds of people has no more consequence than eradicating the whole Goomba population. Play only if you somehow fall into the ranks of the series’ fans or if you really liked the previous two entries’ sense of humor (which, at this point and in my humble opinion, remains the only redeeming quality to the series).

10/13/2010

Patch 4.0.1 is LIVE!

Here it is, the patch introducing the whole new leveling and talent system is on the live servers. I sure am not the one who played the most with this patch, but here are my impressions so far:

- Talent trees are not equal! The Priest talent trees is one of the best designed so far, in my opinion at least, while the Elemental and Restoration Shamans are just ok. I tried a bit Fury Warrior, and let me tell you that I'm pretty sure it will liven up my level 30-something experience. Same goes for Paladin, my low-level paladin got a few new spells, meaning I won't have to make 1-button spams anymore!
- Instant battleground! I tried three battlegrounds, all first-tier, and got absolutely no wait. I think this is due to the fact that BGs may now be region-wide (instead of battelgroups-wide), or maybe just the influx of players eager to test their abilities.
- Soloing is now incredibly easy as a Discipline priest (you read that right!). I kill mobs in two spells, sometimes three. I have plenty of mana, and I got a few nice boosts overall.
- Low-level battlegrounds are completely unbalanced. I mean, off-the-charts unbalanced. Stealth is perfect, rogues can kill me in a matter of two or three seconds even with my PW: Shield on. Hunters are just as badass as before, maybe even a bit more. Druids rule the capture the flag to a whole new degree. But then, I played on Alliance side. Alliance has a bad rep when it comes to PVP…
- It’ll be harder than I expected to go back to my older characters! Really, with the number of alts I run, it’ll be a challenge to find a new rotation for everyone.

I had no issue during the installation, and I totally expected the increased downtime. People who complained either are new to this (more than I!) or are simply unrealistic; most patch days have long delays, and this was one hell of a patch!

10/08/2010

Patch 4.0.1 and what it brings

I went ahead and played on the Public Test Realms of WoW to test the upcoming patch, the one that’ll bring some of the cataclysmic changes to the game (pun intended).

With it comes changes to the interface: the map can track multiple things at the same time, which is convenient; your spellbook contains all of your class’s abilities, even those you have not learned; it indicates when you can get it. The talent overhaul has come, and it seems nice. My early fears seem far away now: the trees (at least those I saw) seem nice and, while I don’t think it’ll herald a new era of diversity, at least gives you something to really look for; most talents are at least useful or interesting. When you won’t gain a new talent, you’ll gain a new ability, so if you’re like me, and have a character in progress but still a good way before level 80, you’re likely to lose some of the spells or abilities you currently have, only to gain them back later.

While this may hurt some players who are unaware of the coming changes (and may log next week only to realize they’ve lost some spells), this will make a much nicer progression, since almost every level will bring something new, either a brand new spell (ranks have been done away with) or a talent point. The downside of this is that there are no “awesome levels”, with a cluster of abilities (like level 20 for most classes).



Otherwise, all Cataclysm changes are due, well, on Cataclysm release, December 7th. You won’t find the ability to fly in Azeroth, new dungeons, new quests or reshaped zones in 4.0.1, though you’ll experience the coming of the Cataclysm and of Deathwing, thanks to intermittent earthquakes. I’m disappointed I couldn’t try a Dwarf Shaman just for the fun of it, or a Troll Druid, but I’ll spend so much time tinkering my new talents for my 8+ alts that I probably won’t notice time flying away!


10/05/2010

My other blog

Hi,

Go to http://theoryoftheunknown.blogspot.com/
to see my new blog. It's about anything. Really: politics, religion, culture, entertainment, science, economics, the news, war (what is it good for?), peace, literature, and so on. Just no videogames (although posts about, say, a law targeting videogame, censorship, violence, etc., may be published in both blogs. Who knows?)
It’s a blog about my thoughts, mostly when I’m irritated by some people’s ignorance and close-mindedness, or when I read something worthwhile or that makes me think.