Bulletstorm Review

Game:  Bulletstorm
Year (s):  2011
Company:  dev.  People Can Fly, a division of Epic Games
pub.  Electronic Arts
Engine:  Unreal Engine 3.5
Type:  First-Person Shooter
Metacritic Score:  82
My Score:  So fucking awesome it will fucking murder your dick-tits, you douche-dildo.

Price (as of June 8, 2012)

Regular price on Steam:  $19.99
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $8.50

Game Time: ~10 hours for the campaign, first time on default

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmKWbOIk1M0


Plot

Grayson "Gray" Hunt and his team were the premier death squad of General Serrano.  On one mission, they find out their targets were civilians.  Gray then leads his team, over a course of years and alcoholism, in a crusade against Serrano.  This crusade leaves Gray, Serrano, and a few others stranded on what was a tourist planet,now turned savage from radiation.


People Can Fly, and Profanity

People Can Fly was on my shitlist.  Painkiller (by the time I played it) was buggy and dated.  They were bought by Epic afterwards, and have redeemed themselves.  The language in this game is extremely profane.  So profane that it is laughable, and at times, nonsensical.  Part of this is due to the fact that People Can Fly are Polish, and didn't fully understand the impact of the language used.


Performance

I'm getting tired of seeing Unreal Engine 3.X, but it's still viable and solid.  I hit only one minor glitch.

Bulletstorm uses Games For Windows Live (GFWL).  I have had problems with this before, but on launch I was logged-in automatically and everything ran fine.  There are GFWL trophies that can be earned, but no achievements on Steam.


Combat/Gameplay

Most of the weapons are standard, with a few creative ones thrown in.  They are all fun to use.  Weapons have primary ammo and super-powerful charge shot ammo.  Additionally you can kick enemies or draw them closer with a lasso-like tool.

Points are rewarded by merit.  Standard shots are worth little, but creative death methods are worth more.  Impale a man on a cactus.  Kill someone that's on fire while you're intoxicated.  Go on, earn it.

In the campaign, points are used to buy weapon upgrades and ammo.  In the Echo game type, points are a way to measure skill against other players on the leaderboards.  


Voice Actors

Steve Blum is the main character.  He's a busy man, and you'll recognize him from Rage, Half-Life 2, or any number of other projects.  Jennifer Hale plays Trishka (her voice sounds familiar; she's done a lot of different things).


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

Two DLC have been released, neither of which add much.  For PC, these are only available through GFWL Marketplace.

A sequel was planned, but unfortunately cancelled.  Epic stated piracy and a poorer review for the PC version as reasons.  Epic further said that it sold well (over one millions copies) but not amazing, and that People Can Fly has been assigned to a project that is a better fit.


Final Thoughts

The Good:  It's rare that a shooter is this much pure fun, or will make you laugh out loud.

The Bad:  It is what is now the standard length for the genre, with no legacy.  Multiplayer is co-op only.

The Verdict:  This game is hilarious, fast-paced, and chock-full of sheer badassery.  I recommend it.  

Medal of Honor Review

Game:  Medal of Honor
Year (s):  2010
Company:  dev. Danger Close, DICE (multiplayer only)  
            pub.  Electronic Arts
Engine:  Unreal Engine 3 (singleplayer), Frostbite 1.5 (multiplayer)
Type:  First-Person Shooter
Metacritic Score:  72
My Score:  I just took a shit that leveled a house

Price (as of May 27, 2012)

Regular price on Steam:  $19.99
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $9.99

Game Time: 5 hours, first time, on default. 

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1njQT9kJaM

See Also

Call of Duty 4 Review:  http://fpsandmtg.blogspot.com/2012/03/call-of-duty-4-modern-warfare.html


Plot

You play the role of a handful of different US soldiers, fighting Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan.  Things go boom.  Bullets go zoom.  The Colonel and the General will argue again soon.  Welcome to this half-assed cartoon.


Engines

There's nothing new to say about an Unreal engine. 

Frostbite has been used exclusively for Medal of Honor and Battlefield titles, and in one Need for Speed game.  I can't comment further because it was confined to the multiplayer.  Due to what I call a bonehead decision, the multiplayer not only has a different developer and engine, but also requires a separate download and a (non-Steam) player registration.  


Combat/Gameplay

You may have noticed the See Also was for a different game; it's because they're twins in gameplay.  They even share most of the weapons.

Your teammates are invincible, and with Wolverine-like healing powers, you are too.  Your teammates yell out enemy positions, so you could be amazing at the game while stoned.  Vehicles segments are poorly presented, and probably the only time you might get killed.  AI is insipid.  With no challenge, there isn't anything for the adults in the room to appreciate. 


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

I had the Wikipedia page open.  I could have been professional and added that information here, but I didn't.  Medal of Honor is such a Candyland shooter that I choose to believe any of its bastard offspring, and all the developers, were killed in one of the many, many, in-game airstrikes. 


Final Thoughts

The Good:  My favorite part of the game was, by far, the logo for Danger Close during the game initialization load.  The credits were satisfactory.

The Bad:  Everything else.  This game is insultingly short; with no immersion, no challenge, and nothing done particularly well.  If you get this as a gift, donate it to Good Will. 

Serious Sam: The Second Encounter Review

This blog has been sparse lately.  I've been busy playing Darksiders (it's like a Zelda game) and some old Nintendo stuff.  Also, it's nice out.  Anyway.

Game:  Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
Year (s):  2002 (original), 2010 (HD)
Company:  dev.  Crpteam
            pub.  Devolver Digital
Engine:  Serious Engine (original), Serious Engine 3 (HD)
Type:  First-Person Shooter

Price (as of May 24, 2012)

Regular price on Steam:  $19.99
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $4.75

Game Time: 9 hours, first time on easy

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udq8Bhswiyc

See Also

The First Encounter Review:  http://fpsandmtg.blogspot.com/2011/06/serious-sam-first-encounter-review.html


Plot

Second Encounter starts off with Sam's ship crashing to Earth.  He must travel through time to activate a backup ship, fighting Mental's minions the whole way. 


Combat/Gameplay

This continues the style of old-school corridor battles interspersed with huge open areas and an onslaught of enemies.  The environments are more varied for a couple of reasons.  First, the game isn't confined to desert, as parts take place in medieval Europe and the Mayan jungle.  Second, Croteam experimented quite a bit with active area features.  Ice, jump pads, wind, traps... there's even a room that is, basically, a rotating clothes dryer full of death. 

The Second Encounter also featured a few other adjustments.  The game is broken in to three episodes, and a handful of new weapons spice things up (there are new enemies too). 

I played this game one notch lower than default.  It was quick and easy, but some of that may result from the hours spent playing The First Encounter and BFE, or from the better arsenal of weapons. 


Final Thoughts

I prefer this game over the first, but they are both essentially the same Quake 2/Unreal Gold style of gameplay (with more enemies and a touch of humor).  If you're looking to shoot stuff, find keys, hunt for secrets, and not have to think, this one is amusing. 

That being said, the gameplay isn't for everyone, and can border on mindless.  I recommend Serious Sam 3: BFE for anyone new to Serious Sam. 

Year In Review: 2004

Year in Review: 2004

Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and Unreal Tournament 2004 were all great, so I thought It'd see what else happened in '04. It turns out I've never heard of most of the games. I'm going to mention titles I'm familiar with, or at least heard of, and ignore the rest.

I used this list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first-person_shooters as a reference. Dates are the initial release, and may apply to PC, consoles, or both. Alphabetically:

Doom 3

This paired a brand-new graphics engine with horror elements to reboot the Doom series in a fast-paced, visceral bloodbath. A masterpiece.

Far Cry

Far Cry is best known for enourmousenvironments allowing for one of the first open-world experiences. Slick AI and realistic jungle cat-and-mouse gameplay begat one of the most difficult shooters I've ever played. This is the first game from Crytek.

Half-Life 2

The award-winning Half-Life was followed by the award-wining Half-Life 2. The new Source engine had the best graphics of the time, and still looks good eight years later. This game excelled at pacing and level design, and was quite engaging.

Painkiller

Painkiller is one of the few contenders in the sparse old-school shooter market. This first game in the series had some of the largest bosses I've ever seen, along with hordes of monsters. A cult following continues to play and develop Painkiller titles (the most recent from February 2012) using the same engine and gameplay as this. The developer, People Can Fly, was purchased by Epic in 2007.

Star Wars: Battlefront

This game is noteworthy for supporting an unprecedented number of players and/or bots on team assault maps.

Unreal Tournament 2004

UT 2k4 was easy to LAN and had tons of game types and maps (further bolstered by fan-made content) . Balanced level design and solid bot support helped balance teams and allow a single player to rock out. Unreal Engines 2.0/2.5 were ubiquitously licensed by gaming and simulation developers.

Other Games

Here's a short list of '04 titles that I haven't played but sounded familiar: Halo 2, a Call of Duty title, Counter Strike: Source, a Goldeneye 007 game, a Medal of Honor game, Thief: Deadly Shadows (the final release from Ion Storm), and a Tribes game.

The odds and ends aren't all blockbusters, but I still think 2004 was a great year for the genre. There have been few decisions in my life as difficult as, “Should I get Doom 3, or Half-Life 2?”

Max Payne 2 Review

Game:  Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Year (s):  2003
Company:  dev. Remedy Entertainment
            pub.  Rockstar Games
Engine:  MaxFX 2.0
Type:  Third-Person Shooter

Price (as of April 20, 2012)

Regular price on Steam:  $9.99 (or $15 the first two Max Payne games)
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $50+

Game Time:  about six hours

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLNO4oq2bx8

See Also

Max Payne Review:  http://fpsandmtg.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html


Plot

There's a power struggle going on between nefarious bosses, and Max is set up to take the fall.  Mona Sax is included as a half-ass love interest; other characters also return.  Cutscenes are still done in the form of graphic novels, but there is NONE of the over-the-top similes and metaphors that made the original Max Payne story so entertaining.  I hypothesize a different writer.


Engine and Gameplay

MaxFX 2.0 looks like the original MaxFX.  It was acceptable for 2003, but terrible compared to the engines of 2004. 

Gameplay, and most (perhaps all, it's been a while) of the weapons are the same.  The player is required to play on the easiest setting before doing anything else, so the game goes faster, and the iconic bullet-time mechanic isn't as big a part of the game. 


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

Max Payne 3 is due out in 2012, set in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  It is being developed solely by Rockstar, without the original writer of the series.  The game will use RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine).  Personally, I think the name of the engine is dastardly slander against id's Tech 5 engine used in RAGE.  Or, at least, confusing. 


Final Thoughts

If you have the Max Payne bundle, this game offers more of the same, but without any humor, or much plot.  While it clearly is not, this comes across as a third-party expansion.  The first Max Payne was pretty sweet, and this is... not much worth the time.  I wouldn't highly recommend this one. 

Quake 3 Arena Review

Game:  Quake 3 Arena
Year (s):  1999 (original), 2000 (expansion)
Company:  dev.  id Software
            pub.  Activision
Engine:  id Tech 3
Type:  First-Person Shooter, multi-player emphasis

Price (as of April 13, 2012)

Regular price on Steam:  $19.99 (includes expansion)
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (used, with shipping):  ~$20 for original + expansion


Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmdNTj2rTOs


Plot... or not, that's ok too.

There is no plot, and the single-player campaign is purely a death-match tournament.  The only continuity to other games are Space Marine characters from Doom, Stogg from Quake 2, and some familiar weapons and scenery.   


Graphics

id Tech 3 looks a whole lot like id Tech 2 (the Quake and Quake 2 engine) that had been new only a couple years previous.  It's definitely dated, with hard edges and polygonal-based everything.  id released the source code for id Tech 3 in 2005. 


Combat/Gameplay

Every map is a death match, and the winner is the first to reach X frags.  Guns are standard out of the Doom/Quake universe; none with secondary fire modes.  Jumping around is a great way to dodge, but otherwise the game is reflex and aim.  Knowing the level is also paramount, as certain weapons, armor, and temporary power-ups (like quad damage, or speed, etc.) can give a player a huge edge. 


Team Arena

Team Arena added a few team-based game types, the most notable being Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag.  New power-ups last until you die, and differentiate the team members.  Some of these are Scouts, who move faster, or Guardians, who have full health and armor.  Though the general interface is clumsy, Team Arena allows full bot support, letting a single-player like me kick ass alone.  Note: all bots are not created equal; some seem to be completely superior to others.


Other Neat Stuff

Sonic Mayhem did the music for Quake 3, and Front Line Assembly did the music for Team Arena. 

Quake 3 has been featured in professional gaming tournaments including QuakeCon, Cyberathlete Professional League, Electronic Sports World Cup, and others.

Fantasy author R.A. Salvatore wrote many of the bot chat lines, triggered usually by killing, or being killed by, a bot. 


Final Thoughts

This game was good when it came out, and the multiplayer emphasis was popular.  Everything since Doom has death match, so that component isn't a huge sell nowadays.  Unreal Tournament had more game types (without an expansion), balanced bots, and (via secondary-fire) more weapon diversity.  So, good game, but dated, and Unreal Tournament has more bang for the buck.  No need to rush to buy this one. 

Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 Review

Game:  Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2
Year (s):  2008 (first one), 2009 (second one)
Company:  dev.  Turtle Rock Studios, Valve Corporation
            pub.  Valve Corporation
Engine:  Source
Type:  Cooperative Multiplayer First-Person Shooter

Price (as of April 1, 2012)

Regular price on Steam:  $19.99 each
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $10-$20

Game Time:  Not Applicable

Obligatory Trailer: 

Left 4 Dead Intro:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hnnMEv7A_w
Left 4 Dead 2 Intro:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sByyd5M2vYk


Plot

Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 are both focused on four gun-toting people (unique characters in each game, though functionally the same) fighting against zombies in the greater New Orleans area.  The four progress from one wave of zombies to the next, with a climactic battle at the end of each chapter, where they hold out until they can escape.


Graphics and Turtle Rock Studios

It's the Source engine, so you know what to expect.  It was top of the line in 2004, and remains surprisingly resilient. 

Turtle Rock Studios developed the first game, and were then acquired by Valve.  Valve closed the doors of Turtle Rock's base, though they retained personnel willing to relocate from California to Washington.  Both companies (or what was left of them) then developed the second game.  For a brief span Turtle Rock Studios was named Valve South. 


Combat/Gameplay

You're limited in the number of weapons and items that you can carry.  Some health items are only temporary, and, except for the pistols, weapons have finite ammunition.  These limits give a small degree of survival horror to the game, but only just.  If you run out of health, you are restricted to your pistols and cannot move or use items until a companion helps you up.  If they take too long, you die.  Some enemies also have attacks that leave you helpless until an ally helps.  For these reasons and the sheer number of zombies, the four have to stick together to get anywhere.  Items can be used on, or given to, one another.  The AI is very well done, and I usually find my bots being much better team players than I. 

Left 4 Dead 2 adds a slew of additional multiplayer game types, the option to use melee in place of pistols, more campaign chapters, a few extra items and "special" zombies, and a bunch of new achievements. 


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

So far, just the two games and nothing in the works.


Final Thoughts

Both titles have some small amusements, like banter between characters, or references to movies.  Each chapter of a campaign, as a load screen, has a mock movie poster, complete with slogan (these can be purchased as actual posters). 

Left 4 Dead is a well-done co-op game, with solid AI to back you up.  Gameplay is identical in each chapter though, so things are pretty redundant if you are playing with bots. 

Left 4 Dead 2 adds quite a bit more to mostly end up with more of the same. 

Don't get me wrong, these are not bad games.  They are, if nothing else, quite well developed.  If my friends also owned these, I think they could be a hard option to beat for co-op gaming.  Playing them with bot companions is, though, mindless.