Blomiclum

Image courtesy http://beta.myresistance.net/en-us/GameInfo?game=R2

Resistance 2 is the follow up to the PS3 hit Resistance: Fall of Man (a game which I really enjoyed). With the announcement of a 3rd resistance on the way, I decided to give this sequel a go. Resistance:Fall of Man and Resistance 2 have you following Nathan Hale, an American soldier infected with an alien virus in the 1950’s (Resistance: Fall of Man, being its predecessor, was set in WWII), though in an alternate reality.  In this world, Earth is being invaded by an alien force, hell bent on destroying civilization and converting humansinto aliens.

Resistance plays out like every good first person shooter should. Game play is seamless and fluid, and with a menagerie of guns and grenades, provides plenty of fun. Each gun also harbors a second ability, effectively doubling your arsenal in some cases. Whether it be a Gatling gun, or an alien blaster, I found it easy to enjoy all of the weapons provided to you in this game. As always, I don’t want to go too far into the storyline to prevent any spoilers, but this is another story that’s easy to follow, and draws you in.

Additionally, throughout the game you can find Intel Documents, which in most cases provide more background to the story, and details not gleaned through game play otherwise.  In my case, I fought to try and find every document, as I found the information interesting, adding to the storyline, and at the same time not necessary in understanding the story, so if I missed one, it was only a minor annoyance, and not an inconvenience.

Now for the negatives. One drawback I found was that throughout the game, you are limited to two weapons at a time. This forces you to make annoying choices between what you have available, which in some cases can end up being 3 or 4 guns, each loaded to capacity. On the one hand, this forces you to think ahead to upcoming battles (i.e. one for sharp-shooting, and another for taking down crowds) but has the downside of taking a little fun out of the game (who wants to be ‘forced’ into using a weapon simply due to lack of capacity?). One thing you will notice is if you end up finding a specific gun, like a shot-gun or a sniper rifle just at a check-point, it is often a good indication of situations you are about to find yourself involved in. Rarely will you find yourself picking one up on the basis that you are out of ammo (unless its a rocket-launcher, as you find them on a as needed basis, with far-and-few in between).

The other drawback I found was even on an easy setting, I died a lot.  Thankfully, there are plenty of checkpoints that serve as save points for you, but this does little to reduce the frustration generated by some of the game situations. Some mobs have a one-hit-kill (*cough* talking to you chameleon alien thing *cough*), which if you don’t see it fast enough ends with you taking a quick trip back to the check-point.  Other times, it may be a matter of beating a clock in a timed event, or knowing what the storyline expects you to do before something blows up.

Overall, I enjoyed the game. As a direct sequel to Fall of Man, it was fun to pick up and follow the steps of Nathan Hale again. If you played Fall of Man and enjoyed it, be sure it give this a play through. I give this game my stamp of approval.

The darkness is one of those cases of an oldy but a goodie.  I had bought it a long time ago, but it lost out to a new game at the time (I think it was Fallout 3).  However, with the recent news of a sequel on the way, I decided to go back and find a copy of the game and finish it off.  I’m glad I did.

The darkness plays out as a supernatural mob-revenge story.  You play the game as Jackie Estacado.  Jackie is the unfortunate recipient of a demonic possession in the works, thanks to the actions of his grandfather.   I honestly can’t go into the story line as even a little bit would give most of it away, but let’s leave it at I felt for the guy and his misfortunes.  For those not in the loop, the story and game are based upon a comic of the same name. Although I had never heard of it before, I am tempted to go pick up a few copies, to see the differences between the game and the comic.

The fun part of the game is choosing between just straight up shooting someone, or using your demonic powers for all of the good stuff.  At the height of your power, you have the choice between demonic snakes who can chew peoples faces off and eat their hearts, a pair of demonic guns, more demonics in the shape of an arm which you can use to slap the crap out of stuff, and finally a nether vortex of sorts, which sucks objects and people to a single point crushing/killing everything.  Each has its uses, and sometimes you are required to use those abilities to move things along.  The demonic powers can be toggled on and off, and have their limits.  The powers can only be used so much before you have to seek out a dark area where-in the demonic snakes refill your darkness pool.  Standing in light areas with your powers toggled reduces your pool.  No pool, no powers, leaving you with just whatever guns you have collected to fend for yourself with.

While the game has side quests you can do as you come across them, they add little value to the game, more just kind of show Jackie’s interaction with people, and make you feel good.  If anything, it allows you to get a little more game play for your money, and offers up more hearts for your snakes to eat (they be hungry little buggers).  While the story line is rather narrow, and gameplay rather simple once you get the hang of all the demon powers, I still think it was enjoyable.  Sometimes an easy play through is what the gamer seeks.  And for the used price of $7.99 (GO Gamestop!), I have no regrets.  If you have 20 hours free, and want something easy, go find a used game store and search for it.  I’m sure you won’t regret it. Keep in mind you have until later this year before the sequel comes out, so hop to it.  No one ever likes having to play the first game before they can truly enjoy the sequel.

Image courtesy http://www.demons-souls.com/home.html

Demon Souls is by far one of the most challenging yet beautiful games I have ever played.  Gritty and dark, the game has a a medieval feel, with otherworldy elements.  The premise of the game is a dark evil mist has fallen over a world, bringing with it unspeakable horrors and demons.  Your job? Bang shit till it breaks and send those demon’s packing.  Or join the demons, either way.  One of the main draws of this game was it’s unforgiving difficulty and challenge.  Dying will cause you to return to the beginning of a stage (respawns and all).  Dying also causes you to only be able to reach a ¾ max amount of health until you defeat a boss.  You can choose your armor and weapon’s, whichever feels best for your game play.  You can be a leather wearing fast attacking character, who only has 2-3 hits before they die, or you could be a plate wearing tank, though with restricted movements. Item weight and your carrying limitations have to be carefully watched as the more you are burdened, the slower and less dexterous you become.

Again, visually, this game was amazing, with a great sound track to go along with it. Atlus (the games Developers) has plenty to be proud of with this game.  I also have to give it to them with their creative online/multiplayer system.  As part of the game, you cannot play a cooperative round with a friend.  It’s meant to be completely solo. You can, however, get the chance to communicate with other players on that stage. You can choose to leave “messages” on the ground which can then be viewed by other people playing Demon’s Souls with an online connection.  By choosing to approve of the message, the other player can become stronger again (if they are at the ¾ health limitation), or the messages can be words of warning to other players about upcoming surprises.  It is possible to accept help from other players should someone be on the same stage as you and not have completed that particular part (sorry, no over geared friends running you through).  Conversely, during online play, you will see the message “A Dark Phantom has invaded” as well as the players online ID.  This means a player has chosen to invade the realms of others in an attempt to kill you in pvp battle.  You can only be invaded when you have 100% health, such as the time right after you defeat a boss.  If you defeat the invading player, you gain demon souls (the currency of the game).  The reason for invading are for special souls that can be used to return you to 100%, or for crafting purposes.

Souls are garnered through defeating demons and bosses.  That said, there are two types of currency…the hero’s souls you gain from defeating players and demon’s, and demon’s souls.  Demon’s souls are more of a running tally, when you die you lose these and they are left at the spot you died.  If you can get to that spot and recover the souls, you get it them all back, however, if you die a second time before recovering it, you lose them permanently. Hero souls, however, can be turned in for demon souls, or special abilities.  These you will not lose if you should die.  That said, there is a strategy to it all.  You want to make sure you never stockpile too much, as you run the risk of losing it.  As I mentioned before, souls can be used to purchase abilities, but also level up your character.

Another interesting feature is an upgrade system for your weapons achieved by collecting materials garnered from drops off of creatures.  Each weapon usually has about 5 different qualities you can add, with the final weapons usually being the hardest to create.  The one thing to be careful of is certain supplies are limited per play through, so you have to choose wisely with upgrades.  In addition to these weapons you can craft, there also exist unique weapons that can be found throughout your adventure, or crafted through the use of special demon’s souls.  Although some weapons are extremely powerful, I found some of the crafted ones worked best when ones game play style was taken into consideration.

Finally, some game events are affected by your soul tendency.  Soul tendency is a reflection of your actions in the game.  Choose to kill NPCs, die a lot, frequently invade other realms and you develop a dark tendency.  Live more then you die, save or help NPCs, and defeat bosses and you earn a light tendency.  Certain events can only occur when you have a specific tendency level.

Overall, I enjoyed this game immensely.  It’s difficulty provided plenty of challenge, but it was a nice change of pace to have the constant challenge.  The bosses were no more challenging then the other events of the game, which made it more enjoyable, as there wasn’t a sudden impossible increase in game difficulty.  If you have a temper or little patience, this game is not for you.  This game definitely earned my seal of approval, and if you have any interest, go pick it up.  It is currently a PS3 greatest hit, so it can be picked up for around $20, and with a non-direct sequel slated for the end of this year, it will be worth your time.

Relshes verdict: Stamp of Approval