More New Reviews

My reviews of Crusty Demons and Loco Roco are up.

New Review

My review of Prey is up at G4.

I think there's a reference to Daniel Day-Lewis' dramatic monologue from the end of Last of the Mohicans in the video review. And some MC Hammer jokes.

Read the review here.

Defcon

Platform: PC
Publisher: Introversion
Review Type: Looky
Version: Video


Defcon is no Falken's Maze. Nope, this baby is Global Thermonuclear War -- the game that WOPR was so keen to play with Matthew Broderick in War Games. Okay, so it's not an official license like that old Colecovision game. Maybe Introversion will have to slap one of those overly cautious disclaimers on their packaging like the one you see on Dead Rising. It's not like "zombies in a mall" and "Norad war sim" are patentable concepts. At least I hope not.

1up Video Page

Rhythm Heaven

Platform: GameBoy Advance
Publisher: Nintendo
Review Type: Looky
Version: Video


The GBA's getting some great back-to-basics games. On top of the the flood of ultra-simple titles being published under the Bit Generations label, we're getting more love from the creators of Wario Ware, Inc. By now it's safe to assume that their visual style -- a mix of hand-drawn toons, old school chunkiness and cultural cut and paste is a sort of signature. What ever it is, I'm down 100% with what these guys are going for. Give me more.

Also, damn you guys for making me want to fork over for that sweet Famicom Micro. I just got my DS Lite and now you want me to sidegrade?

Video here

Ninety-Nine Nights

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Microsoft
Review Type: Touchy
Version: Retail

So it looks like Mizuguchi is backing way from Ninety-Nine Nights. He told Gamasutra, "Some games I watch, very deeply. But some games just have my credit as executive producer." But the game isn't the steaming turd that some are making out to be. It's more like a fossilized turd, buffed to a glimmering shine. On the outside it's very pretty. But at the core its still pretty crappy.

Thing is, the characters and the settings look great. Sure, they're clad in outrageous and improbably armor -- the kind that would get you axed in a George R. R. Martin book. But you know how it is in Asia; everybody wears their parade blues onto the battlefield. It's the kind of cosplay crap that Final Fantasy fans eat up. I don't mind the stuff so much, so long as there's a decent story to back it up. I've heard that this game has a decent Rashomon-type structure -- one that looks at the battlefield from both sides. Too bad the tale is told in shrill, stilted voice-over. I swear, some of the talent they tap for these games use the same inflection that most folks use for their outgoing voice mail message.

Don't know if I'll ever check out the different sides of the story though. The missions in the game are way too long. God forbid you die half an our into one -- which you most likely will because the bosses are cheaply strong.

The rest of Ninety-Nine Nights' problems are small, but they swarm you, like the death of a thousand cuts. Anemic in-game instructions, stupid friendly army men and dozen other tiny, but lame oversights drain the fun from this petrified log.

Guess this is one of the games Mizuguchi wasn't watching. Or maybe he's more an idea man than a detail sweater.

Bully

Platform: PlayStation 2
Publisher: Rockstar
Review Type: Looky
Version: Trailer


Rockstar has been sitting on Bully for a while now. There was some early backlash against the game, before anybody really knew what it was about. The sharp commentary that served as a subtext for the Grand Theft Auto games looks to be front and center in Bully. At least that's the impression that the game's trailer gives. I've got a feeling that Rockstar might surprise people with this one. It could be that Bully winds up being one of the first M-rated games that offers mature content by way of scathing social critique.

Still no word on Mike Patton's rumored involvement on the soundtrack, though.

IGN Trailer download
You Tube Trailer
Official site

Homestar

Platform: PSP
Publisher: Sega
Review Type: Looky
Version: Screens


Homestar Runner already has his own game. Homestar is one of those "non-games" that the kids have been complaining about so much lately. You know, carts and discs that go into your consoles, but don't force you score points or save princesses. Some let you make music. Some help you cook Japanese food. Homestar is a pictoral guide to the night sky.

A pretty nifty bit of software, I'd say. And the screenshots look NASA-Image-of-the-Day purty.

Official Site
Screen Shots at Game Watch

Thanks to Doom_Bringer at NeoGAF for the heads up.

Ship Simulator 2006

Platform: PC
Publisher: Lighthouse Interactive
Review Type: Looky
Version: Trailer


My first impulse was to chuckle at the tense, cinematic music that accompanies the New York Harbor trailer for Ship Simulator. You can practically hear Harrison Ford screaming, "Get off my tugboat!" Since I haven't actually played an honest-to-God simulator in quite a long time, I assumed that most of the action in these kinds games comes from player screw ups. But it turns out that Ship Simulator has missions such as races, rescues and towing. Players can also create their own goals -- which could result in some very creative user concepts.

Still, I find the idealized view of New York harbor -- sunny, clean and underpopulated -- somehow naive. Maybe that's why people so many folks digs games like Grand Theft Auto so much -- they recreate the squalor of the modern metropolis life as faithfully as they recreate the landmarks.

Ship Simulator: New York Harbor trailer @ Gametrailers
Official site

Dead Rising

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Capcom
Review Type: Touchy
Version: Demo


There's a difference between GTA clones and other sandbox games. GTA clones do little to change the core gameplay of Grand Theft Auto 3. They may add features, but they very rarely change things up in a way that significantly alters the way the game is played. Dead Rising, by chosing the zombie-infested mall over the gangster mileu, is fundamentally different. There's no punishment for killing zombies and no need for wanted levels or police interference. Combat is a true free for all with no consequences to halfheartedly shirk. There are no GTA style do-overs, returning you to the streets as if nothing ever happened. You either kill zombies and survive or you die.

Dead Rising's setting is a brilliant choice for the sandbox genre because the zombie story, especially the George Romero take on the legend, is about nihilsm. These people are better off dead and as a survivor of the zombie apocolypse you're helping them get dead again. The Dawn of the Dead zombie is a metaphor for the sleepwalking consumer, the opinionless and the impotent. They're pretty harmless one at a time, but when you get them in a crowd they can shuffle you into a corner and tear you limb from limb.

I guess it's all a matter of fantasy. Grand Theft Auto is about the fantasy of strength and lawlessness. It's a self-centered fantasy where the rest of the world is in the way. Dead Rising, and all the great zombie tales that have come before it, has a sort of revolution and dissent at their core. And that's why I'll always dig them more.

I realize I haven't talked much about the actual game. I've played through the demo available on Xbox Live Arcade at least a dozen times. There's quite a bit to this game. I'll be posting more about it very soon.

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