No Wayne It's Luka

In an effort to clear some valuable hard disk space on my ps3, I went back to playing Lost Planet shortly after finishing Dead Rising 2. I lost my save game file a while back after updating the patch for the game so in a way, I was starting anew again. It wasn't a big loss as Lost Planet had hardly anything to unlock upon completion something uncommon for a Capcom game.

The most worthwhile was the character Luka which you could unlock for play in the online campaign as well as in the story campaign, an exclusive addition to the ps3 version. In order to unlock her you would have to locate all the hidden target marks for any one of the difficulty modes. I decided to try and do so when I started playing the game again so I had to go back and re-do all the earlier missions I cleared. What I initially thought would be a pretty quick affair turned into a long obsessive hunt as I was more consumed with finding these target marks than enjoying the game. When I finally did locate all the target marks and unlock Luka, there was a huge sigh of relief but then a quick realisation of what's the point. The cut-scenes of the game are unaffected by this change and also the viewpoint of the game doesn't really show off the character model very well. Oh well at least I achieved a new unlockable this time around and can proceed to delete the game data off my hard drive.

Unforeseeable Headache

If there is one thing that connect me to my feminine side is my low tolerance for maps in video games. It's not that I don't like them but I hardly ever put them to good use, most of the time I prefer to rely on my good memory to guide me through the game world. It helps with the immersion of the game though certain games like Silent Hill make great use of the maps, automatically noting down the locked doors and riddles so you feel that the map is actually contributing to the game.

Last week after clearing a backlog of Dead Rising games, I decided to finally get started on Metroid Prime Trilogy. What I didn't expected was to suffer motion sickness from playing the game, the thought never occurred to me from the time I purchased the game until now. To come this far from my great hunt for the game and bragging about it on my blog, only to give up now because I couldn't stomach first-person shooter was a real shame. I started to think maybe I overdid it over the weekend and intend to slowly ease myself into the game from now hopefully overcoming this problem over time. The map system in Metroid is a big help usually 3D map are a nuisance for me but Metroid's map really help me to keep track of my bearings and avoid any unnecessary backtracking. After all I'm monitoring my minutes in the game so I really can't afford to wander around aimlessly without making any progress. I managed about 35 minutes today and really thought I just about reach my limit for the day. Only time will tell if I can endure more given enough exposure to first-person games but the likes of Goldeneye will certainly have to wait.

The Other Way Around

Just as I suspected, I managed to finish Dead Rising 2 before finishing the first Dead Rising (though I made quick work of finishing that one too a couple of days later). The Wii port of Dead Rising is indeed made longer by the gameplay changes implemented and as such there is little reason to go back to it unlike Dead Rising 2. It started to dawn on me just how much content was removed from the original when Capcom ported it to the Wii so aside from the missing psychopaths I'm not sure if there were multiple endings to the original Dead Rising. The ending I achieved felt like the true ending of Dead Rising though there were plenty of surprises along the way.

I'm pretty glad I finished the first Dead Rising because I lost interest after awhile and it was just sitting there idle at one point. Then I even contemplated of selling it but couldn't bring myself to do it. It took the Dead Rising 2 to finally get me playing the Wii game again though it was supposed to have been the other way around.

Is Losing Any Different?

Is there any difference in losing by a big margin and narrowly losing? Some people tend not to think so but just ask the Cleveland Cavaliers who made NBA history by losing to the Los Angeles Lakers by 55 points. There's no doubt of the emotional damage inflicted by this recent loss as the Cavaliers were already left in shambles after last summer's Decision by The Chosen One.

Whenever I don't make it to first position in the Terror Is Reality gameshow, I find the loss more difficult to accept when the victor has a wide margin of victory over me. Coming in second is hardly a consolation when there is such a disparity in points and possibly skill though I'm not sure how the other two contestants feel. I can tolerate losing by a few points or at the last minute rather than the game being decided already minutes before it's even over.

I felt a great relief when I achieved the TK's favourite trophy for winning all 9 types of matches as I read too much into other players' frustration at earning that trophy. That affected me negatively as I began to anticipate similar frustration before it even happened but thankfully it didn't. I did win a few games at the last second or by a narrow margin but there was more to do with a lack of familiarity with the match. Once the burden of the trophy is gone, I definitely enjoyed the game a lot more and in the process, won some of these matches by a wide margin too. The only question remains is whether I should continue to play these TIR matches having achieved all the TIR trophies.

It's a Madworld on TIR

One of the nice thing about Terror is Reality is the in-game narration, it eliminate the need of online chat which might be a little awkward as you are usually paired with strangers. It reminds me a lot of Platinum Games' Madworld which also places the player in a sadistically violent game show.

Everything is pretty much set up nicely for the players in ranked match so all you need to do is just log into the server. The lack of control can be a little frustrating at times because you can only play what ever matches randomly assigned to you, there is no option to practise and get better at the certain games. There is also no way of knowing how much money you have accumulated over your TIR match in order to lock the hidden costumes. Bottom line is if you are going to concentrate on playing TIR matches instead of the main game you are bound to get frustrated sooner or later.

Terror is Real

I was pretty content with playing the story mode of Dead Rising 2 since I didn't have anyone to coop with yet and frankly I would like to see the whole story through before inviting someone into the game. I was at the beginning of Day 3 last weekend when I had to rescue a couple of survivors caught up in a poker game inside the casino. Of course they wouldn't budge from their game unless I beat them in a poker game but I didn't have enough cash to even buy into the game. I didn't want to give up these survivors so the only way I could think of raking up money without letting the game clock tick away is to earn some from the Terror is Reality game show.

As soon as I entered the tournament I was impressed by how the whole thing was set up with TK making announcements in between searching for opponents. It really helps with the loading time and the live commentary also make things a lot less awkward since you would be mostly competing with strangers. I tried out the ranked matches as I was expecting the servers to pair me up with other newcomers based on my understanding. It's certainly not the case as those combatants were clearly experienced while I was just learning how the game is played. Needless to say I end up at last spot but I still didn't have enough money to advance through the rescue mission. I thought the next match was going to be my last as it would be enough to earn my entry into the poker game but to my surprise I won the next episode with ease, beating out the competition in every match. Winning can be addictive so all week long I was thinking about getting back into the TIR circuit to win the remaining five other matches for the TK favorite trophy.

It turns out my last victory was probably a fluke as each other time since then I have been fighting hard not to end up last! The competition is pretty tough as some of these matches which I thought I would excel at are not that easy especially the shooting ones. There are plenty of incentives to keep playing on and hopefully get better at it but frustration is beginning to set in so I'm planning to focus back on the story mode which was the sole reason I got into the TIR matches at the first place. Hopefully I can find a balance between playing both modes so I don't ultimately get frustrated with the whole game.

The Great Escape

I have finished Peace Walker more than six months ago but still kept the game on my Sony PSP till this day. After the final credits have rolled, a final chapter has been revealed hinting that maybe the story isn't quite finished yet. There are still extra ops missions available but every now and again Miller will appear telling you that Zadornov has escaped from cell.

You can search and capture him again in a new mission listed under story mode and after that, nothing else happens. You spent some time building up your army nation of Militaires Sans Frontieres (Millitary Without Borders) then not long after that, Zadornov escapes from your compound again! This apparently goes on for about six times before it's all over so Zadornov must be a great escape artist or big boss really needs to invest in more security for his Militaires Sans Frontieres because Military Without Borders is starting to take a whole new different meaning now.

Wii Can't Multitask

Part of the enjoyment of Dead Rising 2 comes from improvements made to the escort mission in the game especially when compared with the Wii version. In the first game on the Nintendo Wii, you can't rescue any other survivors when engaged in an escort mission until you rescued that one survivor that's your only goal. Apparently Capcom thinks Wii users can't multi-task for making such a drastic change to the gameplay. Not only does it make the escort mission more tedious but it also make the game much longer than it originally was as you have to make separate trips from the safe house out into the mall for each time.

One of the most satisfying parts of Dead Rising is when you string together a bunch of survivors in one trip saving valuable time and effort. You can also equip your survivors with the approriate weapons turning them into valuable allies and the AI is certainly able to fend for itself in thick situations. That was one time when I had four survivors with me without knowing I was walking right into a boss fight with another psychopath lurking in the mall. Needless to say I wasn't prepared for another boss fight but luckily I had each three of the survivors equipped with a handgun to defend themselves. As soon as the introduction cutscene is over, the three survivor immediately open fire at the psychopath giving me an advantage to beat the psychopath on my first try. In another situation, I direct the survivor to stand at a safe corner while I settle my feuds with another psychopath in a motorcycle joust. The best part is you are able to carry the slow and injured survivor so none of them actually feel like a burden to you.

All this were simply not possible in the first game on the Wii, partly because the game was made from the RE4 engine and part of it were simply improvements to the game made in the sequel. It feels like this was how Dead Rising was always meant to be play and I haven't even got to the coop mode yet.

Dead Rising Redemption

I recently got Dead Rising 2 from Play asia weekly special, what you could call a rash decision as I only found out about it on the closing day of the offer. You see I have just returned from my trip to Singapore that time though I did managed to pick up Lost Planet 2 for a mere $7.50 while there. I was on a row and this weekly special on Play-asia was simply too good to be missed as these two Capcom games were only released just recently.

The first Dead Rising on the Nintendo Wii gave me fixed feelings, I felt deprived of the true greatness the game achieved on the Xbox 360 platform but yet I was grateful that Capcom even took the chance to port this wicked game onto the Wii platform. Having endured some of Dead Rising's rougher edges on the Wii platform namely the strict time clock and frequent loading time, I was able to avoid a lot of these common frustration when playing the second game on the PS3. I just don't think that would have been possible had I not "suffered" through the first game which I'm still playing through right now actually. Playing the two games has also made me appreciated the first game even more since it has not been ported to any other system, if you don't count the IPhone edition. These two games may have restored my faith on Capcom but I honestly can't say I missed Keiji Inafune departure at all though.