Playing for Fun

Playing games should always be about having fun. I remember reading that the worst thing a game can do is to make you feel like you wasted your time.

I totally agree with that but unfortunately that sometimes means achievements. Or in this case, trophies.

A game can be fun but in the end if I failed to make any progress during that time I would feel like I wasted my time. Like when I’m about to power down the console and realized I didn’t make a new save file, the feeling of wasted effort comes creeping in. It could be a brutally hard action game or an adventure game with a devilish puzzle (Cing).

It could also be a second play through when I need to locate every emblem (RE) or collectible (TLoU) in the game. By then, I would need the help of a guide because I obviously couldn’t locate every bit in my first play through. The problem is the more dependent I’m on the guide, the less fun the experience becomes. I don’t play by my normal instincts anymore and the constant need to check the guide breaks any mood the game creates.

In the end, I don’t feel like I wasted my time because I achieved something. Did I have fun? Probably not as much as I would like to. 

Guns Not Included

Love them or hate them there is no denying that downloadable content (DLC) is here to stay in the gaming scene. What kind of content constituted as being okay to be released as DLC and what content is absolutely necessary to the core experience that should not be released separately as DLC? For a game like Dead Rising 2, i can certainly live without the additional costumes and raised attributes as the game is already filled with enough costumes and apparel in the basic game.

Prologue/epilogue episodes like in Dead Rising 2, LA noire, RE5 or Lords of Shadow? Again nice to have but like an issue 0 to a comic book series not absolutely necessary to experience the core story. A trio of guns from a shooter game ? Now that's a big no-no especially when it's a tough shooter like Vanquish. Three weapons in Vanquish were pulled from the game and released as a Pre-order bonus from selected stores during the game initial release. Playing the game without them is like playing handicap though you can certainly finish the game, removing these guns significantly alters the difficulty of the game. I had no choice but to begrudgedly purchase this from the PSN store recently but it wasn't like Dead Rising 2 where I enjoyed the game so much to the point I didn't mind spending an extra dollar on the game's DLC.

What's your reluctant DLC buy?

Blowing It Out of the Waters

I knew Uncharted was a great game but i didn't expect it to be a technical marvel on such a beastly machine like the ps3. Apart from the initial loading time when booting the game there is virtually no loading time on this game not even when you die and have to restart from a checkpoint. The game runs seamlessly from one part to another without the need of any data installed onto the hard disk, how did naughty dog pull off such a feat?

The best part is probably the no loading time when you view cutscene on the bonus gallery which Resident Evil 5 despite coming one year later couldn't do.

Desperate to Kill

One of the trophies I'm still short of in Resident Evil 5 is the 150 kills on Desperate Escape. Just the other weekend I played this DLC with a friend offline and both of our combined kills tally doesn't even cross the mark, never mind single-handedly. Ok maybe he's a little new to this level and we were both trying to get use to the split-screen but the experience did little to boost my confidence of achieving this trophy.

Nevertheless I gave it another go with an AI-controlled Josh a couple days only to get stuck on Veteran mode at the beginning because I couldn't save my AI from the swarm of chainsaw majinis and big man majinis. A quick change back to Normal mode and I was rocking my way to 150 kills with Jill armed to the teeth and an AI Josh serving as extra storage. I remember earning the trophy just before the final siege and when that was over, I was just 2 short of 200 kills. Now I just got to find someone crazy enough to do it all over again with me on Professional mode for the last DLC trophy.

Evil Dead Rising

Being a longtime fan of the Resident Evil series I have always long for the series to be more like Dead Rising (more zombies) but Capcom has been adamant that the series is not going in that direction even with the technology available to them. Resident Evil 5 could easily had more zombies per screen and in fact, it did at one time if you go back and watch the early trailers prior to the game release.

Playing Chop Till You Drop over the weekend made me realise more Dead rising in Resident Evil could be a good thing but more Evil in Dead Rising certainly is not. Confused yet? As Capcom was making changes to the original Dead Rising for the Nintendo Wii, the developers placed a greater emphasis on the firearms possibly to stress on the ease and precision of the Wii controls as previously demonstrated in RE4 Wii Edition.

Leaning on the firearms revealed just how different these two games really are, the zombies in Dead Rising doesn't react to gun shots with the same realism as in Resident Evil. Sometimes when I'm going to a leg shot to follow up with a melee attack, they end up dying in an instance instead. From getting shot in the knee! The guns in Dead Rising also doesn't feel as accurately portrayed as they are in the Resident Evil series making me loathe the gun shooting even more. As such I try to go about my zombie killing by any other possible way but that has proven difficult at times as you just can't charge into the mob of zombie blocking your way. Sometimes in order to make a path to the next store where you could possibly find another melee weapon you have to shoot your way though the mob.

When Love and Hate Collide

I'm still undecided whether I like Silent Hill Homecoming or not, it's frustrating at times while being bearable for most of the time. One thing's for sure, it's not good enough of a game for me to upgrade my korean version to the region 1 version when I passed up Play-asia recent re-stock of the title.

The flashlight for the game is so bad that I sometimes have to switch it on and off using the shortcut button just to make sure it's turned on. Then again maybe the developer were trying to achieve a more realistic lighting and darkness effect like what the early Resident Evil 5 trailer promised. Maybe this is what a real cheap flashlight will look like I'm not sure. The high definition graphics is nice but by making most of the background object interactive via Havok physic, everything just end up looking crude and far bigger than they should. The meticulous art direction of Team Silent past games is never honoured, though I find Homecoming vision of the Otherworld a bit more to my disliking than the real world of Shepherd's Glen.

As for the region 1 version, I never really have that great of a Silent Hill collection to begin with anyway though I would like to add it's still better than some pathetic 'collection' put together just with copies of konami palace reprints. I guess I can live up with this korean version, I would rather put my money and effort into looking for the Silent Hill 4 The Room still missing from my collection right now.

A Fighter's Blues

Since i have yet to play Yakuza 3 and got so bored of playing RE5 again, i decided it's about time to give Madworld another try. What a difference it was from when i first played the game back in July last year, the faults i have with the game are still there but Madworld does make a pretty good brawler especially when you compared the fighting with yakuza 3. Frankly when i first play the game i wasn't expecting a brawling game but Madworld is exactly that, Just Jack doesn't have a whole lot of different moves to take down his enemies nor does he dodge very gracefully away from attack but his impact moves and finishers are thoroughly satisfying. In the end I have come to accept that Jack just moves and attack a lot more like Kazuma rather than what I'm accustomed to with Dante and Nero.

The camera is still horrible, picking up weapons and facing your opponents is a nightmare especially when the game locks down the camera angle in certain situation but at least the game looks pretty even in 480i. The production design is pretty impressive for an action game where it's usually an afterthought but Madworld is good enough to make you take the time to stop and admire. The game is reportedly only 5 to 6 hours long so there should be no problems playing it till finish this time since i already can't wait to get back to playing it again. Maybe it was the longing to play yakuza 3 that has led me to back to Madworld but the game has got my undivided attention right now, at a time when I have nothing else better to play. Well at least until next month when i should have a bounty full of cool new games to play.

March Madness II

Right about this time last year I was experiencing my march madness where my spending just went up the roof for Resident Evil 5 and all other things RE-lated. This year things are not much different and i'm sure you will agree if you are an avid ps3 user with the slew of great ps3 games out this month. While i'm feeling the pinch myself, it's less apparent here seeing that i never developed much of any liking for RPG games and also i have always been much more of a devil may cry guy.

Most of the damage would have to be attributed to my trip to Singapore later this month and also my sister trip to US where i hope to score a couple of good bargains back. These aren't exactly new games which you will learn about over the coming few weeks but it should keep me busy until summer when Capcom's big sequels are out. With no sign of Yakuza 3 region 1 in sight yet, I still haven't figure out if i should continue to wait it out and add it onto my already long shopping list.

Day One No More

Yakuza 3 is scheduled for release tomorrow and i came to a decision not to make it a first-day purchase anymore. No, it's not because of the lack of hostess side-mission or the games i have unfinished as that is something i have learnt to come to terms with as an adult gamer. This has more to do with me being content with still playing Resident Evil 5 DLC while the prospect of getting some new games next month intrigued me enough to put off getting Yakuza 3 for now.

I do anticipate having to cope with my friends playing and finishing the game before I do but I realised I would still get the last laugh when i finally finished Yakuza 2 before starting Yakuza 3 in a haste like i would have now.

Bullet and Brain

Part of the fear within the resident evil games has always been how scarce it is to stock up ammunition against the undead. I remember how that fear eventually led to obsession in the early PSOne games as i spend more and more time organising and arranging the inventory in my item box. Of course that all changed in RE4 where the enemies sometimes drop ammunition in addition to the ones found in crates and barrels.

In Lost in Nightmares there isn't enough time to create that sort of fear but the developers did squeeze in a segment where you and your partner are stripped of your weapon and have to make it out of the area by using your wits and cunning to outsmart the executioners. Sure it sounds cliche as hell and it certainly feels like the way but having a live partner makes the sequence a lot more enjoyable that it looks. It's the sort of puzzle that reviewers have always found fault with and it's probably no different here but that has always bit part of the appeal of the series to me. It is either scary nor smart but sometimes a hint of nostalgia is all it takes to me smile.

The Undead Diaries

For resident evil 5, Capcom delivered hollywood quality cinematics to go with the tried and true gameplay of re4. So it's of little surprise that the new dlc 'lost of nightmares' doesn't contain any new spectacular custcenes instead relying on the traditional notes and diaries to drive the story. After all assembling the mo-cap actors and crew for the little amount of work involved here wouldn't not have been worthwhile for capcom but that's just fine with me. For one thing i thought the original resident evil 5 placed a little too much emphasis on the production of the cutscenes to the point where they devoted the entire behind-the-scenes disc to the making of it. The production design and art direction of the 'lost in nightmare' chapter takes center stage here, delivering creepy atmosphere that were sorely missed in the original resident evil 5. This is how resident evil 5 should be, where solid visuals and gameplay takes precedence over everything else.

When The STARS Align

You can probably tell I was very excited to play new DLC content for Resident Evil 5 but what i haven't count on was getting hooked on playing the mercenaries reunion game instead. You see playing co-op on the original story campaign of resident evil 5 has got me a bit reluctant to play the new 'lost in nightmares' by myself and since i have not managed to catch hold of any of my friends for a co-op session, all that was left was to brush up my zombie-slaying skills on mercenaries. Not that i mind, i left half of the characters and levels in the original mercenaries mode untouched for the chance to go back at it again so now seems like a fitting time to pick up where i left off.

Having familiar faces like Barry and Rebecca joining the fray certainly didn't hurt either. This STARS reunion was a long time coming but it's been worth the wait.

Midnight Attack

Since I don't live in the US, it's hard to tell when exactly a product will be made available on Playstation Network even if i know the release date. Obviously i can't be logging on when the clock strikes midnight upon the day of release as we are roughly ahead by 12 hours. That's why it's important for me to log on today as soon as i can to see if the Heavy Rain demo is available for download, after all this is the last week of PSN updates before the re5 dlc is release on PSN next week.

Come next week i will still be away from work on the 18th so hopefully this will get me better prepared as to what time to log on to PSN to purchase those dlc.

Evil Now Has a Voice

I gave myself an early treat this chinese new year when i finally bought the official sony bluetooth headset for my playstation3. Despite constant urging from my friends since we started on the operation flashpoint 2 campaign, i didn't see that game as one worthy for me to spend any more money on especially since i have never made good use of any of my past nintendo peripherals. While that has not change, i did buy headset because i knew i didn't have enough time to get another game before Yakuza 3 ships and also i thought it would compliment my re5 dlc purchase rather nicely later this month.

With my PSN store credit in place and my new headset, i'm all ready to take a trip down memory lane when the 'lost in nightmare' episode is unleashed. It would be fun to reminisce about the series with long-time fans over the headset as the new episode promises to conjure up all sorts of old memories.

Ready, Aim ..... Misfire.

Despite having both RE Chronicles, i have never experience the game on multi-player mode before. Playing RE5 co-op with a friend is an entirely different experience as you hardly ever notice how good your partner's aim is except at the end of the level when the statistics are revealed. The truck chase when you and your partner are hoisted to the vehicle's guns firing at incoming vehicles does offer a similar experience to the RE Chronicles game on the Wii. You share the same viewpoint from the back of the truck as your partner, and things can get really distracting when you start to notice where your partner is aiming at. I was never really good at this chapter, in fact i downright dread it but beating it with a live partner has got me curious to try the Chronicles games on multi-player too.

Disc is No Good

In the wake of Rockstars' announcement of their previously Microsoft exclusive DLC content coming to the ps3, it seems like everyone is cashing in on DLC these days. A while back i made the decision to purchase the RE5 DLC on Playstation Network instead of the disc version. My reasoning was the timing of the release as the DLC was debuting on the PSN roughly a month before the retail disc version would be available in stores.

What i failed to realised then was this was all referring to the US release dates as the Japanese will be getting their retail disc version, Alternative Edition in stores the same day as the DLC debut in the US Playstation Network. The only problem was the DLC content will be spread out over the course of two weeks, with the second episode debuting two weeks after the first. I initially thought that this would be a great idea as i can devote all my attention on one episode before moving on to the next but this presents a problem when i'm planning to play with my friends who are getting the Asia or Japanese disc version. Being the impatient gamer that i am, waiting for my RE5 Collector's Edition to arrive last year was one painful experience. Story of my life, looks like it's all set to repeat itself with the release of RE5 Alternative Edition this year.

The Square Peg

Darkside Chronicles brought back a lot of fond memories, i knew even before i begin that i would be revisting these old games really soon but what i didn't count on was having the urge to play UC and RE4 again. During its height a few weeks back, i was playing as many as six RE games on different system and the process has made my progress on RE2 really slow. After all RE2 could be finished on one sitting and here i am, having started before i finish Darkside Chronicles but have yet to finish both ClaireA/LeonB scenario. Part of that was also because the newer RE games tend to swap the square and circle buttons around for the run and gun commands. So in an effort not to confuse myself, i refrain from playing RE2 whenever i'm close to playing RE5 and that has been quite often as of late. Over time i seems to have developed a dexterity over these controls so swapping around has been less and less of a problem.

Maybe i should attempt to finish RE2 in one sitting like back in those days when i was trying to unlock the gatling gun and unlimited ammo.

Don't Panic

One of the first things i did when i got the calender for the new year was marked down the dates when the RE5 DLC would be released. Then taking into account how long my last order from Play-asia took to finally reached me, i estimated what's the latest date i have to place an order for the Playstation Network Card should it indeed take another 3 weeks to reach me again. At that point, the PSN card looks readily available at Play-asia so i didn't have to take into account any additional time for PA to stock and ship the item to me. Next thing i know, PA finished their supply of PSN cards and needed 2 to 4 weeks to ship it, causing me to panic and placed my order much sooner than originally expected. After all, if PA does take the maximum 4 weeks to ship it out and local postal service does experience its usual holiday season delay then the PSN card will not get to me in time.

Turns out all that panic was for nothing as PA probably still have some cards in stock and promptly shipped out my order the very next day. So here i am with my PSN card of $20 value in hand and the DLC is still roughly a month's away from release. Do i key-in and activate the code now or should i wait until it's close to the DLC release date? Does these thing have an expiry date or worst, a time limit i have to spent everything after i activate it?

The Golden Question

RE5 is about to receive some upgrades in the form of new levels and additional costume pack for future replays. Naturally i hit a bump when Capcom decided to do the fans (and not to mention their bank account) a favour by releasing these additions as both DLC and a new ' Gold Edition' disc. I initially wanted to get the Gold Edition but quickly realised i was runnng out of space, even the recent Darkside Chronicles required a bit of moving around before it eventually found a home. Factor in the how much i have already spent on RE5 and pretty soon, the DLC looked like a far safer option. My fanboy nature of being picky has paid off this time as my copy of RE5 is indeed region 1 so there should be no issue whether or not i will be able to download these beauties when they arrived on PSN. Best of all, the DLC content will be released first before the Gold Edition arrives in stores about a month later so the golden question remains is how much Capcom will be charging for these DLC?

Darker Side of the Void

I have this attachment to demos of games i liked even long after i have finished the actual game. It's quite fascinating to go back and view the demos to see if they changed anything over the course of the final stages in the development. Then there is the darker side to demo disc where hackers will crack the disc to uncover all these things that never made in to the final game. Of course i'm referring to beta that shipped on demo disc where storage space is rarely an issue. In this digital age, i don't know if downloadable demo will still contain all these hidden treasure dumped onto the disc.

Not that it make things any easier as i still have my RE5 demo which i just boot up today to see if the online servers for the co-op mode still works. Surprisingly the servers are still active and i could easily find other gamers to co-op on the two demo levels. Looks like i will just have to find something else to delete in order to make room for the Dark Void demo that due to be out this week.