Gaming with Buzzman

[Twigg4075]

i was okay with it, but then again i didnt want some big experience

i saw the single player as little more than an expansive tutorial, in preparation for the multiplayer.

Yeah, unfortunately for a lot of people like me that is exactly what I think IW made it ti be as well. They catered their game towards the MP crowd and made the campaign an afterthought. They also included a level that they thought would be super controversial and figured that would be enough to carry the single player. Far from it. A lot of people love the cinematic campaigns of the previous CoD games. MW2 was a huge disappointment for it's length (or lack therof) alone.

They obviously almost completely cater to their MP fanbase. Just look at all the sophmoric call signs you can unlock. Blunt Trauma, Joint Ops, High Command. Oh IW, you are so clever.

[Juggernaut]

if you could just sell the multiplayer mode for 55 bucks and sell the reg game for 60, id bet 90% of the people would buy the mp only mode.

[Twigg4075]

if you could just sell the multiplayer mode for 55 bucks and sell the reg game for 60, id bet 90% of the people would buy the mp only mode.

I don't know about 90%, maybe 70, but I see your point.

[Buzzman]

World at War campaign on Hardened with that music and voice acting = da bomb.

[Maynard]

MW2 MP was good at best. no way was the game a 10. It short SP mode and glitchy MP mode make it no more than an 8 for me

[Buzzman]

Yea like I said, I wont review a heavy MP game until at least a month of playing it to truly see how well it holds up.

[Maynard]

which is almost impossible. i would have agreed with a 10 when MW2 came out...maybe a 9.5 since i think no game is perfect. But there was no way for you or anyone to dispute a high score when that game came out.

those glitches were not really known until later and then when they fixed stuff via patch they opened up more glitches that were even worse

[Twigg4075]

which is almost impossible. i would have agreed with a 10 when MW2 came out...maybe a 9.5 since i think no game is perfect. But there was no way for you or anyone to dispute a high score when that game came out.

those glitches were not really known until later and then when they fixed stuff via patch they opened up more glitches that were even worse

Great point. The MW2 hype train didn't start to wear off until maybe two months after release when people started realizing it was just CoD4 with a fresh coat of paint and a few new perks. Not to mention the glitches.

Of course for a ton of people it still hasn't worn off. I can't even fathom how people can still play that game religiously to this day. My wife is one of them. It's not that good!

[Buzzman]

The new scoring system is set up with the following:

Retail Games:
10 | The game is nearly flawless and one of the best of the year. Instant Buy!
9 | The game dominates at what it wants to be, but some flaws hold it back. First Discount Buy!
8 | The game has a great story or game play, while the other is average. Its a good game for a good value. Lowest Discount Buy!
7 | The game is fun but has a lot of minor problems that add up or one big problem that holds it back. Rent with a chance of purchase!
6 | The game is good for its one playthrough and no looking back. Rental!
5 | The game is good for fans of character/license/and or genre. Your Choice!
1-4 | The game sucks. Avoidable!

Arcade Games:
5 | The game is very fun, has a great length, high replay value, and worth your buck. Instant Buy!
4 | The game is fun, but is missing one of the three main factors of a 5. Discounted Buy!
3 | The game is great for one good run through with the chance of returning when you have forgotten about it. Your choice!
2 | Only worth your time for $5 tag or less.
1 | Not worth your time even if it were for free.

[Twigg4075]

The new scoring system is set up with the following:

Hey bro, I was wondering of you could also do a Buy Price thing like Shipwreck over at CAG does. Especially with you being a thrifty guy (mostly like myself) it would be cool to know what you think the game is worth or what you think is a good price to snatch a game at. Because we all know most games aren't worth anywhere near the launch $60 price tags.

[Buzzman]

will do.

[Buzzman]

Is there anything anyone wants me to look more into with a review?

Its basically broken down into this

Game Title (system, release date, developer, game genre, price I bought the game at)

Graphics: Setting/Environment, Character Appearances
Sound: Voice Acting, Items, Surroundings
Gameplay: Story, Controls/gameplay, Side gameplay(like a points system or unique feature), characters, and I'm combining lasting appeal into it now.
Final Comments: A Quick recap and final opinion. Usually short and sweet.

Quick bullets of likes and dislikes

Final Score & Recommended Price Value


Maybe I should have a quick comparison section and compare it to a game I think it similar in play with to give a better idea if you'd like it. IDK still thinking quite a bit.

[Twigg4075]

Personally I think everything about the reviews are pretty awesome. Besides adding a Buy Price I think you're golden.

The presentation and format are top notch.

[Buzzman]

inFAMOUS



Release Date: May 26, 2009
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Game Type: Sandbox Action Adventure
Price Paid: $30

Graphics: 8.5

While you’re never given the opportunity to explore Empire City before the mass destruction caused from the mysterious ray sphere, it was probably a good thing. Observing the city while it was in a state of chaos and without hope made the choices you make that much more noticeable. Play as a good man, with the citizens ahead of yourself, and you could watch the city come back to life with cleaner streets, posters of you everywhere, and have them come to you when in need of your help. But if you choose to be bad, the city will fall into more chaos, and the people will respond harshly to your appearances.

The characters looked good with a lot of them having the appearance that matched their personality. At times though, the movements of them felt like there was very low gravity and every little movement feeling a bit too jumpy and quick.

Cole’s powers uses electricity and boy do they look good when he uses them. The electric shock that you use the most throughout the game is very satisfying after you go apeshit on a group of enemies. Then you have an electric storm that rains down and rips apart anything in its path; truly a great site. The developers of any Star Wars game needs to take notes because this is exactly what they should have in mind. I felt like a Jedi a lot while playing.

Being an open world game, it does a magnificent job of rarely having to load except after a few major cutscenes. With that will come obvious glitches, but none are real concerns. You’ll occasionally have a car pop in and out or having you or another being appearing inside a wall. Sort of like a wall that doesn’t act like one is there.

Last Note: Some of the best parts of the game are the graphic novel-like cutscenes. They showed more emotion and art detail then the in-game cutscenes. For as great as they were, they’re two few of them. Next game needs to make use out of it more. (2nd picture shows you an example of this)



Sound: 9

The voice acting here is top notch. While Cole seems to have the rough bad-ass marine voice, when he’s presented with a moral dilemma or in a rage of emotions, you hear it, giving you a connection with the character. The games main protagonist Kessler voice matches his “evil sorta crazy” madman, and its not till the end that you hear another side of him. Your best friend Zeke, is a bit of leech, but provides enough funny lines that you can forgive his presence. One of the game’s neatest features was live action news broadcasts about the updates on the city and the resistance fighters. I wish it would have had more of it.

With the powers you have, comes the sound. Nothing is a complete standout, but what can expect when the only weapons you have is electricity. You hear a zap and out comes a wave of it. When you fall from buildings you can hear the wind. What really stands out is the city itself. Its in a civil war with the gangs and the citizens and you can hear in the distance the gunfire and screams, having people run up to you and ask for your help. inFAMOUS really set a standard from now on in that department.

The music wasn’t plenty but it was mainly used when the game wanted you to fall apart with difficult situations such as a storm of gang members or bosses after you. It was good, but there just wasn’t enough of it in the game for it to be a factor.



Gameplay: 9.5

The story if inFAMOUS is the origin story of the superhero Cole MacGrath. It starts off a little slow after the explosion having to learn to use your powers and get the city running again, but once the villain Kessler gets involved, it starts to build up into one giant conclusion that pays off in a big way. You learn a lot about Cole, why he was given these powers, the responsibility that comes with him, and the fate he was bound to escape, but while it leaves off with one story finished, it opens up another one far more bigger.

The gameplay is spectacular. There are no guns here; just electricity. You aim like it’s a gun, but instead you shoot out waves of electricity that is deadly to your enemy. As you play, you unlock more powers such as shockwave, power balls, and electric rain. All are very easy to use and interface friendly. Some of your powers require more electricity then inside you, so after using them you need to refill your bar up by draining the electricity out of the numerous objects found around the city. Once you unlock the ability to glide and grind, the city is your playground. Use the wires and train tracks to travel fast and use your glide to jump to another wire and keep your movement non-stop. It can be challenging but the payoff is satisfying.

The climbing on the other hand is a bit too good. Anything you see is yours to climb. It’s a great feature in an open world game and they perfected it here. In fact its so good that it annoys me sometimes because I’ll climb something I didn’t want to. If I drop and jump off a building I found myself grabbing a wire or grabbing the ledge right back where I started. Never would I believe something like that could happen, but the real question I need to ask is would I rather it be too good or too bad. Very simple answer.

The game has a mini-RPG level up system with your powers. By completing missions, killing enemies, and dealing with the citizens around you, experience is gained. With that experience you can buy upgrades for you powers. They range from doing more damage to earning energy for accurate hits. Some of the powers are only unlocked by having a certain karma level.

You earn good karma by choosing the morally right choice when presented to you. You earn bad karma by choosing the morally wrong choice. While it’s a nice feature, they didn’t do a great job with it. Only minor things are changed within the actual story. With the actual good vs. bad, none of the situations are tempting enough to choose the bad side unless you purposely want to be bad. Not once in the game did I feel like I went out of my way to make the right choice.



Lasting Appeal: 9

Hours Played: 32
Game Difficulty: 8
Trophy Difficulty: 7.5

Sucker Punch did a great job to keep you playing their game. The actually story was a nice solid length. Factor in all the side missions where you rid sections of the city from crime, collecting all the blast shards to collect around the city, and finding all the dead drop calls that have a prequel story scattered across roof tops, and you have around 40+ hours of gaming.

The trophies are all pretty obtainable on the first run-through. None of them will give you fits except the one where you have to complete all the stunts. Obviously you will need a 2nd playthrough to collect the ones that require the opposite karma choice you did in the first run, but all of them seem achievable without a large amount of time and repeat.



Final Comments:

inFAMOUS is one of the best games the PS3 has to offer. It should be what every open world games want to be. The ability to create such a lively pen world city is a giant feat that countless others tried but failed, but inFAMOUS isn’t one of them. Hopefully it’s the start of a franchise and universe that gets better with age and brings more great adventures like this one. You know what you see out of superhero movies, the 2nd (because they aren’t held back by the origin story) are always bigger and better.

Right to the point:
+ The story
+ The open world city
+ The gameplay
- Repetitive enemies
- Karma meter
- Climbing glitches

Final Score: 9/10
Recommended Price: $30

[Twigg4075]

See, now that's a game I would actually recommend a buy price of at least $50. You got 32 hours of game play out of it? I'm guessing that was only one playthrough?