Serious Sam 3 BFE (XBLA)
Developed By: Croteam
Published By: Devolver Digital
Date of Release: October 17, 2012
Price: 1200 MSP
All of Sam's usual foes are here from the cyclopian Gnaar to the Scythian Witch-Harpy, all gloriously rendered on the Serious Engine 3.5 with style to spare! Also returning are signature weapons such as the rocket launcher, double barrel shotgun, and the chaingun, with piles of new toys added in the mix to help you unleash Armageddon on your enemies.
The gameplay experience is literally ripped out of the 90's with sprawling levels to explore, plenty of enemies to kill, and no one holding your hand and showing you where to go. SS3:BFE is a big-boy's FPS, so time to ditch the diapers and man up! Another thing: you can SAVE YOUR GAME. The usual autosave system is present, however you can actually open the menu and choose "Save Game". It's a mystical and advanced technique thought lost in days of checkpoints and consolization, but SS3:BFE pulls it off perfectly!
Of course no Serious Sam experience would be complete without a crapton of extras, and SS3:BFE delivers! Right off the bat you have a lengthy single player campaign, local splitscreen co-op and deathmatch, online co-op and deathmatch, AND survival mode. Add to that a metric crapton of tweakability, where graphic sound and control settings can be edited to your every whim. You can even swap out the blood and gibs for nommy showers of candy! Yum!
I can honestly say that Serious Sam 3: BFE is the best FPS experience I have had in years, and that's saying quite a bit, what with the recent releases of RAGE and Duke Nukem Forever and Bulletstorm. If your on the fence, take my advice and buy it. Buy 3 copies! Fork Parker will thank you!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Doom 3 BFG Edition Review
Doom 3 BEG Edition
Developed By: id Software
Published By: Bethesda Softworks
Date of Release: October 16, 2012
Price: $29.99(PC)/$39.99(Xbox 360/PS3)
Doom 3... Has it really been 7 years since it ripped its way into the PC gaming world? I remember it like it was yesterday. Now, my first experience with Doom 3 was less than ideal. A family friend had bought the game to play herself, but found it to be a bit too frightening. So the brand new barely played copy of Doom 3 was passed on to me, and I proceeded to try and play through it on my measly Athlon XP with 256mb of ram and a 128mb GeForce FX5200. At 640x480 and low settings I barely got 20fps, but it still kept me on the edge of my seat. As time went by I managed to get my hands on some better hardware, and was able to experience Doom 3 the way it was meant to be played.
Of course now that we've hit the 20th anniversary of the Doom franchise, computers and game consoles are a bit more advanced. Sure, there have been many ports of the various Doom games to consoles, but nearly all of them have disappointed in one way or another. However with Doom 3 BFG Edition, things have changed. Not only do you get the full uncut Doom 3 and its expansion pack Resurrection of Evil, you also get pixel-perfect ports of The Ultimate Doom, and Doom II with its newly added episode No Rest For the Living, as well as a new episode for Doom 3! With Doom 3, none of the graphical detail or level architecture had to be sacrificed this time around (unlike the chopped to pieces ports for the original Xbox).
In fact, the original rendering system has been improved from the ground up with better lighting, and silky smooth constant 60 fps gameplay on normal monitors or televisions, and 120fps support for the 3d monitors and Head Mounted Displays that support it! The gameplay itself has also been streamlined slightly with a new armor-mounted flashlight which eliminates the need to choose between being able to see and being able to frag the hordes of hellspawn that stand in your way. All of the classic weapons are still available to find along the way, from the reliable shotgun to the always-classic BFG 9000. (That's Big F*cking Gun for those who don't know!)
When you get back to the original Doom games, nothing has really changed other than the addition of achievements/trophies, however if there had been any tinkering with them it just wouldn't have felt right. At first glance The Ultimate Doom and Doom II may seem a simple affair by today's standards, with their deceptively simple gameplay. However looks can be deceiving, as the classic Doom titles are known for their twisted mazelike corridors. Gamers who are used to the linear games of today could find themselves lost for hours in a level, searching for the next keycard. In the era that Doom was released the length of a game was provided by actual gameplay, and not by artificially padding the experience with cutscenes every 3 seconds.
With the BFG releases of The Ultimate Doom and Doom II, every little detail from the wonderfully pixellated sprite graphics, pumping MIDI buttrock soundtrack, and all around ass-kicking style of the originals have been preserved perfectly. The controls are superbly mapped out to take advantage of the dual analogs on the consoles, which makes circle-strafing a breeze. The PC versions have also been upgraded with full WASD controls as well as mouse turning. These are is truly excellent ports of a pair of genre-defining games, and if you have never played these titles in their original forms you owe it to yourself as an FPS fan to try them out.
Doom 3 BFG Edition is definitely an epic package, and should be considered the del-facto collection of all things Doom that id Software has crafted over the years. Some fans may bemoan the lack of Final Doom and The Master Levels, however they were never actually developed by id themselves, they were fan works compiled and published officially. No matter if you are a console gamer or a PC gamer, you should seriously pick up this package. It is the definitive way to experience the Doom saga, and an all around good value. Hopefully if Doom 3 BFG Edition is a success then we'll see id and Bethesda release a similar compilation for their other famous series, Quake. But for now kick back, dig out your BFG, and keep on fraggin!
Developed By: id Software
Published By: Bethesda Softworks
Date of Release: October 16, 2012
Price: $29.99(PC)/$39.99(Xbox 360/PS3)
Doom 3... Has it really been 7 years since it ripped its way into the PC gaming world? I remember it like it was yesterday. Now, my first experience with Doom 3 was less than ideal. A family friend had bought the game to play herself, but found it to be a bit too frightening. So the brand new barely played copy of Doom 3 was passed on to me, and I proceeded to try and play through it on my measly Athlon XP with 256mb of ram and a 128mb GeForce FX5200. At 640x480 and low settings I barely got 20fps, but it still kept me on the edge of my seat. As time went by I managed to get my hands on some better hardware, and was able to experience Doom 3 the way it was meant to be played.
Of course now that we've hit the 20th anniversary of the Doom franchise, computers and game consoles are a bit more advanced. Sure, there have been many ports of the various Doom games to consoles, but nearly all of them have disappointed in one way or another. However with Doom 3 BFG Edition, things have changed. Not only do you get the full uncut Doom 3 and its expansion pack Resurrection of Evil, you also get pixel-perfect ports of The Ultimate Doom, and Doom II with its newly added episode No Rest For the Living, as well as a new episode for Doom 3! With Doom 3, none of the graphical detail or level architecture had to be sacrificed this time around (unlike the chopped to pieces ports for the original Xbox).
In fact, the original rendering system has been improved from the ground up with better lighting, and silky smooth constant 60 fps gameplay on normal monitors or televisions, and 120fps support for the 3d monitors and Head Mounted Displays that support it! The gameplay itself has also been streamlined slightly with a new armor-mounted flashlight which eliminates the need to choose between being able to see and being able to frag the hordes of hellspawn that stand in your way. All of the classic weapons are still available to find along the way, from the reliable shotgun to the always-classic BFG 9000. (That's Big F*cking Gun for those who don't know!)
When you get back to the original Doom games, nothing has really changed other than the addition of achievements/trophies, however if there had been any tinkering with them it just wouldn't have felt right. At first glance The Ultimate Doom and Doom II may seem a simple affair by today's standards, with their deceptively simple gameplay. However looks can be deceiving, as the classic Doom titles are known for their twisted mazelike corridors. Gamers who are used to the linear games of today could find themselves lost for hours in a level, searching for the next keycard. In the era that Doom was released the length of a game was provided by actual gameplay, and not by artificially padding the experience with cutscenes every 3 seconds.
With the BFG releases of The Ultimate Doom and Doom II, every little detail from the wonderfully pixellated sprite graphics, pumping MIDI buttrock soundtrack, and all around ass-kicking style of the originals have been preserved perfectly. The controls are superbly mapped out to take advantage of the dual analogs on the consoles, which makes circle-strafing a breeze. The PC versions have also been upgraded with full WASD controls as well as mouse turning. These are is truly excellent ports of a pair of genre-defining games, and if you have never played these titles in their original forms you owe it to yourself as an FPS fan to try them out.
Doom 3 BFG Edition is definitely an epic package, and should be considered the del-facto collection of all things Doom that id Software has crafted over the years. Some fans may bemoan the lack of Final Doom and The Master Levels, however they were never actually developed by id themselves, they were fan works compiled and published officially. No matter if you are a console gamer or a PC gamer, you should seriously pick up this package. It is the definitive way to experience the Doom saga, and an all around good value. Hopefully if Doom 3 BFG Edition is a success then we'll see id and Bethesda release a similar compilation for their other famous series, Quake. But for now kick back, dig out your BFG, and keep on fraggin!
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Serious Sam 3: Jewel of The Nile (DLC) Review
Serious Sam 3: Jewel of The Nile (DLC)
Developed By: Croteam
Published By: Devolver Digital
Sales are in Support of: Fork Parker's Mustache Implant
Date of Release: October 16, 2012
Price: $9.99
Well here we are in October of 2012, just a month shy of the massively kick-asstastic Serious Sam 3:BFE's first anniversary. And what a kicking rad ride it has been, what with saving the world, kicking massive amounts of Mental Minion ass, fragging the bajeezus out of Ugh-Zan IV, and turning on all those generators to activate the Timelock. However things are not always quite as they seem, and when we rejoin our hero this time it seems he has quite a bit of unfinished business. Serious Business.
As it turns out in the first few minutes of Serious Sam 3: Jewel of The Nile, there is a failsafe override keeping the Timelock from fully activating. So it of course falls to our titular hero to once again save the day, all while continuing to paint the sandy canvas of Egypt red with his enemies blood. This DLC spans a total of 3 massive levels, and stars quite a few weapons that were only available as hidden secrets in the main campaign. Sam also gets a sweet fireaxe now instead of his old sledgehammer, so even if you run out of ammo you can still keep feeding the corpsepile.
Alltogether it took me a solid 3 hours to plow through the new missions, however I didn't poke around too much to look for secrets. Depending on your playstyle it could take you upwards of 4-5 hours if you stop to smell the roses. That's in solo play however, I'm sure a co-op team could storm the gates in record time, but where's the goddamn fun if you rush it? With Jewel of The Nile you have some awesomely brutal mobs of enemies to contend with, decently devious puzzles to solve, and plenty of sweet goodies to collect. Add a stack of new achievements into the mix, and this DLC shapes up to be well worth your ten bucks. So what are you waiting for? Time to get serious again!
Developed By: Croteam
Published By: Devolver Digital
Sales are in Support of: Fork Parker's Mustache Implant
Date of Release: October 16, 2012
Price: $9.99
Well here we are in October of 2012, just a month shy of the massively kick-asstastic Serious Sam 3:BFE's first anniversary. And what a kicking rad ride it has been, what with saving the world, kicking massive amounts of Mental Minion ass, fragging the bajeezus out of Ugh-Zan IV, and turning on all those generators to activate the Timelock. However things are not always quite as they seem, and when we rejoin our hero this time it seems he has quite a bit of unfinished business. Serious Business.
As it turns out in the first few minutes of Serious Sam 3: Jewel of The Nile, there is a failsafe override keeping the Timelock from fully activating. So it of course falls to our titular hero to once again save the day, all while continuing to paint the sandy canvas of Egypt red with his enemies blood. This DLC spans a total of 3 massive levels, and stars quite a few weapons that were only available as hidden secrets in the main campaign. Sam also gets a sweet fireaxe now instead of his old sledgehammer, so even if you run out of ammo you can still keep feeding the corpsepile.
Alltogether it took me a solid 3 hours to plow through the new missions, however I didn't poke around too much to look for secrets. Depending on your playstyle it could take you upwards of 4-5 hours if you stop to smell the roses. That's in solo play however, I'm sure a co-op team could storm the gates in record time, but where's the goddamn fun if you rush it? With Jewel of The Nile you have some awesomely brutal mobs of enemies to contend with, decently devious puzzles to solve, and plenty of sweet goodies to collect. Add a stack of new achievements into the mix, and this DLC shapes up to be well worth your ten bucks. So what are you waiting for? Time to get serious again!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire Review
The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire
Developed By: Bethesda Softworks
Published By: Zenimax
Date of Release: October 4, 2012
Price: $4.99
Ahh Skyrim... Just as I tire of trekking the endless expanses of valleys and fjords, something comes along to suck me back in to experience it's wonders again. Last time it was the massive addon pack known as Dawnguard, however this time the fare is somewhat more simplistic. That's not to say its any less majestic however, it's just on a more subtle scale this time. The expansion that I refer to is Hearthfire, and with it any hardy wanderer can build a home, and without even having to take an arrow to the knee in the process!
When I first heard about Hearthfire's homebuilding, my mind immediately turned to visions of The Sims and Minecraft in terms of construction systems. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that Hearthfire eschews any overcomplicated methods of homesteading and merely requires that you gather the supplies to build your home. After smithing any requisite hardware such as nails and hinges all you need do is choose from the blueprints what you need built, and the game handles the rest. Then it is a simple matter of furnishing your domicile with any odds and ends that you require to make your house a home. Any errands that you don't want to do yourself will be happily seen to by your steward.
I only met with a few hiccups during my experiences with Hearthfire, such as my steward suddenly flailing about like a banshee and then glitching through the wall, no amount of reloading saves could get her back out. Sadly I had to strike at her arm until she perished, and I could drag her lifeless carcass out from the space between worlds. I gave her a funeral in the lake below my manor, using my dragonfire shout to transform her canoe into a fitting pyre. I then journeyed back to Whiterun, and appointed Lydia as my new steward. Unfortunately all she seems to do is laze about the house snoozing on any available bed. Ahh well, at least she's not trashing the place in a physics-fueled maelstrom. Although I was not able to figure out how to adopt children, I can honestly say that my experiences in Hearthfire are well worth the meager asking price. I can wholeheartedly recommend this expansion to anyone who has wanted a customizable place to call their home.
Developed By: Bethesda Softworks
Published By: Zenimax
Date of Release: October 4, 2012
Price: $4.99
Ahh Skyrim... Just as I tire of trekking the endless expanses of valleys and fjords, something comes along to suck me back in to experience it's wonders again. Last time it was the massive addon pack known as Dawnguard, however this time the fare is somewhat more simplistic. That's not to say its any less majestic however, it's just on a more subtle scale this time. The expansion that I refer to is Hearthfire, and with it any hardy wanderer can build a home, and without even having to take an arrow to the knee in the process!
When I first heard about Hearthfire's homebuilding, my mind immediately turned to visions of The Sims and Minecraft in terms of construction systems. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that Hearthfire eschews any overcomplicated methods of homesteading and merely requires that you gather the supplies to build your home. After smithing any requisite hardware such as nails and hinges all you need do is choose from the blueprints what you need built, and the game handles the rest. Then it is a simple matter of furnishing your domicile with any odds and ends that you require to make your house a home. Any errands that you don't want to do yourself will be happily seen to by your steward.
I only met with a few hiccups during my experiences with Hearthfire, such as my steward suddenly flailing about like a banshee and then glitching through the wall, no amount of reloading saves could get her back out. Sadly I had to strike at her arm until she perished, and I could drag her lifeless carcass out from the space between worlds. I gave her a funeral in the lake below my manor, using my dragonfire shout to transform her canoe into a fitting pyre. I then journeyed back to Whiterun, and appointed Lydia as my new steward. Unfortunately all she seems to do is laze about the house snoozing on any available bed. Ahh well, at least she's not trashing the place in a physics-fueled maelstrom. Although I was not able to figure out how to adopt children, I can honestly say that my experiences in Hearthfire are well worth the meager asking price. I can wholeheartedly recommend this expansion to anyone who has wanted a customizable place to call their home.
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