Let's cover some Crysis 2 first. I was really happy with Crysis 2. Being a majority console gamer, I never played the original Crysis so I can't compare the two. I've read complaints that Crysis 2 was less open then the original but I didn't notice it. It definitely was not a corridor shooter by any means. There were some cramped spaces but a lot of the game was spent in open combat. The options presented to you are excellent. You enter a lot of battles from a raised vantage point. From there you can whip out your tac visor and mark enemies and ammo ahead of time, making them easier to spot and kill when the action gets going. Or, you can do what I did, which is cloak yourself, kill a couple guys, hide to build up energy, cloak again, kill again, rinse, repeat. Hell, there were whole parts of the game you can cloak and hide your way through without killing anyone. I like those kind of options in my games. Games should allow you to play the way you want instead of trying to mold the player to the game and Crysis does that very well.
It's a very pretty game too. One of the things Crysis was known for was graphical prowess and Crysis 2 does not disappoint. Scenery is lush and bright, buildings are sharp and well lit, enemies are very repetitive though. I honestly only remember fighting maybe 10 different enemies the entire game. It had a lot of deja vu moments as I shot and killed the same enemies in similar venues over and over again. It's probably the biggest fault of the game. Definitely not a deal breaker though.
The online play was really fun. I didn't spend a lot of time with it, but it was a unique enough experience that I didn't get bored at all. There is a lot more strategy involved then with standard shooters. The ability to cloak adds a nice level of subterfuge to the game. I found my best strategy was cloak, uncloak, shotgun. I was running a 4:1 kill ratio which, for me, is phenomenal.
Now to move on to one of the more anticipated titles of the year, Mortal Kombat. This is, I believe, the ninth game in the MK series. In the past they've taken some interesting paths with the franchise, a lot of them negative, but the word on the street was this game was going to bring the franchise back to its roots. I was one of the skeptical ones going in. The last game with MK in the title, MK vs. DC, left a bad taste in my mouth. After reading reactions and reviews though, I found myself excited enough to buy it and it was not a mistake. Mortal Kombat is fantastic. It's high speed, visceral combat at its finest. The game seriously harkens back to it's roots with some absolutely disgusting fatalities. The shock factor is back for Mortal Kombat in a big way.
Shocking fatalities alone would not make this game great. They've really changed the gameplay the right way in every direction. This is a much faster MK game. The character variety is excellent and devoid of any complete stinkers. They've trimmed a lot of the unnecessary fat from the roster. X-Ray attacks are awesome and brutal. The challenge tower is a nice time consuming addition. Some of the challenges later in the tower are tough, and it will take time and skill to climb it. The best addition has to be story mode. Instead of just tourney style combat, the story mode thrusts you into the narrative of Mortal Kombat, fighting predetermined battles on your way to unraveling the mystery of the tournament and Shao Kahn. The writing is nothing to get too excited about, but the mode itself is a very welcome addition to a genre that is generally devoid of any story.
Haven't had a chance to play online yet but I will soon. I want to work on learning some of the fighters before I take it to the internet to get my ass handed to me. I'll report on it some more with my next update.
Last game I want to talk about here is Outland. Outland is the most beautiful game I've seen on the XBLA. It's a very old school feeling platformer with some combat mixed in, but it's the graphics that will draw you in. I know graphics don't make a game great, but they can take a good game and put it over the top and that is what is going on with Outland. The most interesting part of the gameplay is the Ikaruga-esque color changing to absorb and attack enemies. At a later point in the game you gain the ability to switch between red and blue at will. When you are red you absorb red and damage blue and when you are blue you absorb blue and damage red. Makes perfect sense, right? There are parts of the game that involve dodging and absorbing projectiles, which makes a nice break from slash, slash, slash sword combat. I don't say this much, but Outland is a game worth checking out just for the style and graphics alone. The gameplay is what makes it worth buying though.
That's pretty much it for this update. Next time I look forward to discussing Mortal Kombat's online play, and more on Outland as I work my way through it. Look for another top 10 list between updates this time. Not sure of the subject yet but I'll come up with something.
No comments:
Post a Comment