Co-Op Critics | 2014 June

June 30, 2014 In Uncategorized

First Impressions– Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

The last Transformers game that I spent a good amount of time with was 2010’s Transformers: War for Cybertron. I had a lot of fun with it, and especially enjoyed the campaign co-op. High Moon Studios’ received solid reviews on two of their three Transformers games, so there were certainly some questions about how developer Edge of Reality would handle the next entry in the franchise, Rise of the Dark Spark.

After spending a few hours with the game, this new installment feels similar to War for Cybertron, and the little I played of its two sequels. In short, it’s a fun third-person action game that pretty much nails the whole transforming part. One click of a button switches from vehicle to robot mode, and the combat controls are pretty easy to pick up as well.

I like the loadout mechanics of the game so far. You unlock new weapons and upgrades as you go along, which lends a measure of customization to the game. And because the main storyline switches back and forth between Autobots and Decepticons, you get to play with a variety of characters.

In the video of an early Decepticon mission below, you’ll see me alternating between looking like I know what I’m doing and looking like I’m playing with my eyes closed. Enjoy.

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June 27, 2014 In Uncategorized

E3 2014: What I’m Most Excited About (Part 3)–Splatoon

There was a lot of what Nintendo showed this year at E3 that got me excited, but Splatoon is the game that stands out the most. Not only is Splatoon a new IP, but it’s a multiplayer shooter that is appropriate for all ages and features some very clever new mechanics.

I chalk my excitement for Splatoon up to how well Nintendo showcased the game at E3 this year. They gave the game enough time in the spotlight for people to really understand what its about.

Splatoon at first glance is a very “kiddy” game with cute aesthetics and seemingly simplified gameplay. But as soon as you start to dig a little deeper, you see that the game is a brilliant twist on third-person shooter games. You win matches by covering a greater portion of the map with your team’s colored ink. So the emphasis is on controlling geography as opposed to “killing” opponents. And because the characters are squid-like humanoids, their ability to swim in the ink that covers the map adds a great twist to ammo refilling and navigation. You’re faster when you’re swimming, and swimming provides cover. You can cover walls with ink to allow you to climb up them and reach higher vantage points. You can sneak up on enemies and pop out just long enough to take them down. It really adds a more dynamic layer to the basic third-person shooter template.

I’ve said before that I really enjoyed Nintendo’s approach to E3 this year, and putting the developers up front to talk about the games they’re making was a great move. Splatoon looks like a ton of fun, and I can’t wait to play it with my kids.

June 16, 2014 In Uncategorized

Why the DESTINY “alpha” might be my Game of the Year (so far)

The short version of my feelings on the upcoming Bungie game DESTINY after spending a weekend playing the “alpha” on PS4: it surpassed my expectations in almost every way.

The long version requires some preliminary explanation. First of all, let’s talk about MMO’s, because while Bungie may dance around the term all they want, DESTINY fits most of the criteria for an MMO. One could probably quibble with how “massive” the player count truly is, so perhaps we can properly call it a Moderately Multiplayer Online game? At any rate, for years I’ve been intrigued by the gameplay and social elements of MMO’s but never spent much time with them because I’ve never really been a PC gamer (blame my lifelong allegiance to the Mac, I suppose) and consequently don’t truly feel comfortable with mouse and keyboard controls for games. Even when I’ve tried an MMO on a console, like DCUO, it’s been a lackluster experience primarily because the gamepad controls feel awkward and unsatisfying.

So an MMO whose action is the very familiar “left trigger, then right trigger” mechanic I’ve learned through years of console shooters seems tailor-made for me. That brings us to the second element that appealed to me: loot. Like most gamers, I cannot deny being ready to hit that lever for my pellet of food when it comes to well-designed loot systems. A great deal of my enjoyment of both BORDERLANDS and DIABLO is due to the cycle of equip-kill-drop-evaluate-equip they employ, especially when done in an attractive and compelling art style.

The third aspect of DESTINY that hooked me? Grouping for co-operative play requires only 3 people. Now, I recognize that this fact actually is a negative for some, but as a 41-year old dadgamer who’s watched his circle of gaming friends dwindle over the years as life has gotten in the way, I’m thrilled to know that if I can just find 2 other people I can meet the game’s challenges on equal terms. And while there is a competitive mode available in DESTINY with a more robust 6v6 population, it’s the co-operative play that holds the most allure for me.

Finally, and most importantly: I’m a huge sci-fi nerd. If nothing else, Bungie has a proven track record of creating a rich and deep science fiction setting for its games. Heck, the mythology and universe of the HALO games kept me much more invested in that franchise than the gameplay ever did. So the story elements in DESTINY that have been released so far, the design of the characters, weapons, & vehicles, and the environments I’ve seen and those I’ve only glimpsed in trailers all line up perfectly with my taste and interest.

Now, all of those factors raised my expectations (and, to be honest, probably had me ready to overlook plenty of flaws) before I started playing. So when the alpha kicked off, I created a Hunter class character, jumped in, and… LOVED the gameplay. The shooting felt great. The melee attacks were SO satisfying. My character moved well, and hopping on a hover bike to get around the outdoor environment was actually fun. Early enemies were dispatched easily enough to build my confidence, and then boss fights were challenging enough to make me appreciate their defeat. I was, frankly, thrilled to find exactly what I was looking for in DESTINY. I eagerly await the beta in July, and the full release of the game in September. I no longer am disappointed by the games that have moved into 2015, because my gaming time in the last 5 months of 2014 is spoken for.

I realize I haven’t even talked about how gorgeous it is, or how good it sounds, or the sheer nerd glee I felt when Lance Reddick’s voice kicked in at one point. (I even liked Peter Dinklage’s work as your AI companion, although I can certainly see why some folks feel he’s been a bit too flat.) Take a look at a trailer for the game. Look at some screenshots. And then give me a shout in September, and we’ll take on the universe together.

June 13, 2014 In Uncategorized

E3 2014: What I’m Most Excited About (Part 2)–Bloodborne

The other day I talked about the new Crackdown as the first of my top three E3 announcements. The next one on my list came from Sony’s E3 presentation, and it’s the thing I’m most excited about coming out of E3.

Sony finally revealed “Project Beast” at E3 2014, and it wasn’t the Demon’s Souls successor that some were thinking developer From Software was working on. Project Beast is actually Bloodborne, a very Lovecraftian-looking, gothic horror game that is definitely inspired by Demon’s Souls, but not beholden to it. Check out the trailer:

Now, that trailer doesn’t show any gameplay, but we have seen this leaked footage from the game in action, with a nice breakdown by YouTube user VaatiVidya:

Between the world and creature design, Bloodborne certainly has the markings of a From Software game. But watching the main character wielding a shotgun also says this is a pretty stark departure from what we know the Souls series to be. it was further confirmed that there are no shields in Bloodborne, so the emphasis is clearly on having more dynamic, fast-paced combat.

I know some may disappointed that Bloodborne isn’t more of a direct Demon’s Souls sequel, but I could not be more excited. As a horror fan, the world design is right up my alley. And as a fan of the Souls games, I’m still playing Dark Souls 2 and we know we’ll get more in that series moving forward. Having a sister series begin with Bloodborne would be awesome, and the game looks to be offering something that you can’t get in the current Souls games.

I am VERY excited about this one.

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June 12, 2014 In Uncategorized

Nintendo Takes E3 Coverage Into Their Own Hands With Treehouse Live

I’ve been watching Nintendo’s E3 presence over the past couple days, and it’s really kind of fascinating. In addition to eschewing the traditional press conference again this year, Nintendo has taken a unique approach both to their digital event and to their ongoing presence at E3. And it signals big changes ahead for how games are marketed by publishers and covered by enthusiast press.

As far as Nintendo’s Digital Event, instead of just showing games (which they certainly did), they decided to give you a look into the creative process with the developers making some of the upcoming games for WiiU and 3DS. The digital event felt almost like a documentary, and really stood out from what Sony, Microsoft and the other big publishers were doing. It didn’t change the fact that most of the games we saw are coming in 2015, but it was an interesting approach nonetheless, and the response to it seems pretty positive overall.

What is much more interesting though is the Nintendo Treehouse, which is basically a continuous stream of interviews and game demos, featuring everything from sit downs with Reggie Fils-Aime to new game reveals to in-depth looks into the changes in the new Super Smash Bros. game. In the course of three days, Nintendo was scheduled to stream over 20 hours of Treehouse Live.

Wired’s Chris Kohler made the astute observation that the positive response to Treehouse Live is another step in publishers replacing enthusiast press with their own direct marketing.

This kicked off an interesting discussion on twitter, which you can read here.

I happen to agree with Kohler’s assessment, and if that is what ends up happening, the gaming media has absolutely no one to blame but themselves.

Currently, the majority of games coverage from enthusiast sites comes in one of two flavors: barely edited press releases and marketing speak that might as well come directly from the publishers themselves (and often does), or jaded fanboy ranting about how everything sucks. And here’s the thing–people are sick of it.

The scary thing for the enthusiast press is that publishers are now starting to refine their marketing approaches to seem a lot less market-y. What Nintendo is doing with Treehouse Live is essentially what you would want any enthusiast outlet to be doing in terms of E3 coverage–bringing on developers to showcase games and talking to them about the development process. With this approach, the outlet providing the best coverage of Nintendo this week is–Nintendo.

And why wouldn’t they take matters into their own hands? Outside of the small amount of praise they’ve received around Mario Kart 8, Nintendo has taken an absolute beating from the gaming media since the original Wii was dubbed a casual games machine. They never got a fair shake with the WiiU, and the constant stream of negativity certainly hasn’t helped their efforts to right the WiiU’s ship. And this is a company who had the best selling console in 2013 with the 3DS. So with their Nintendo Directs and things like Treehouse Live, Nintendo is doing a much better job of controlling their message.

Microsoft already has Major Nelson, but don’t think for a moment they aren’t strategizing how they can take further control of their public perception after the how the gaming media has shredded them since last year’s Xbox One unveiling.

Sony is currently in the good graces of the gaming media, but that could change in a heartbeat (just ask Microsoft).

Make no mistake, the gaming media creates the narrative around the gaming industry and the “console war” the same way CNN and Fox create their own news. Right now, the narrative is that Sony is “winning,” but that Microsoft may have turned a corner with their focus on games at E3. The narrative on Nintendo in the gaming press is that they are finally showing some of the games they need to, but it may be too little, too late.

My long-winded point is this–the enthusiast press is now going to have to justify their continued existence by providing coverage and games discussion that is different from what consumers can get from publishers themselves or message board fanboys. Publishers are becoming more savvy in their use of new media to market their own games and connect with gamers, and Treehouse Live is a shining example of it. If game journalism doesn’t grow up soon, it may become obsolete.

June 11, 2014 In Uncategorized

E3 2014: What I’m Excited About (Part 1)–New Crackdown!

Last week I made my wish list, and now the E3 press briefings for Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are behind us. While it looks like only one of my wishes are coming true, there were some things from each conference that I’m really excited about/ In the next few posts, I’ll highlight some of them.

First up, let’s talk about my one wish that came true. We are getting a new Crackdown. Here’s the new trailer:

It doesn’t look like the MMO I was hoping for, but from the look of the trailer, it’s going to be big. There were a number of encouraging things in the trailer, even if it didn’t feature any gameplay. First off, we see the leader of the Los Muertos gang in this new city, which means the gangs from the original Crackdown are back. The trailer also leaned heavily on the concept of cooperative play, as the agents are all working together to make an assault on the gang boss’ headquarters. The big moment in the trailer certainly suggests there will be some destructibility in the environments, which would be a great addition to the gameplay.

Perhaps most exciting though, was the fact that this game is not being called Crackdown 3. Whether it’s a complete reboot or not, I like the idea of giving the series a fresh start on the new platform, and it suggests this could be an ongoing franchise moving forward.

The only thing that bummed me out was there were no Freaks in the video, which means it looks like the franchise is moving away from the concepts introduced in Crackdown 2. That’s probably a good thing, as Sunset Overdrive is using a similar concept, but I actually enjoyed the Freaks in Crackdown 2. Remember them?

I am really looking forward to learning more about Crackdown, who is developing it, and getting some idea of when we’ll see it. My gut tells me it won’t be until 2016. In the meantime, I would love to see a port of the original Crackdown (and maybe even Crackdown 2) for the Xbox One. I wouldn’t even care if they gave it the full HD treatment, as the cartoonish style holds up better than a lot of last gen games. I just want to dive into that world again–soon. Here’s a great fan-made trailer for the original, in case you forgot how much fun it was. There’s a lot of great ideas that the series doesn’t get credit for, like the voice of the Agency who is constantly commenting on your actions in the games.

June 6, 2014 In Uncategorized

My Ridiculous E3 2014 Wishlist

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is next week, and we are all bracing for the dog and pony shows, the buzzword-laden marketing promises, and CGI glimpses of games that will be arriving two years from now.

For gamers, E3 is both exciting and frustrating at the same time, as there will inevitably be some pleasant surprises, but they’ll be wrapped in a whole lotta nonsense.

We all have our hopes and dreams though, and each of us has an E3 wish list for the big three (Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony) that we would love to see become a reality. I know that my E3 wishlist is pretty far-fetched, but it’s fun to think about anyway. So without further ado, here is something I would love to see from each of the big three at E3 this year.

Microsoft–Crackdown MMO
I’ll start with Microsoft, as my wish for them is the least far-fetched of the three. I want an new Crackdown. I love the Crackdown series. The original is still one of my top five Xbox 360 games, and I was one of the few that also loved the sequel. And we all saw the Crackdown orb symbol in a pic of the Xbox One dash during the new console’s reveal. So it’s safe to say there is a new Crackdown being worked on. and there are rumors of Crackdown 3 arriving in 2016.

Here’s where I get far-fetched, though–I want a Crackdown MMO. Drawing on Crackdown 1 and 2, there could be various factions battling over control of Pacific City (The Agency, Los Muertos, Volk, Shai Gen, Cell). You could also keep the Freaks as a grunt-level threat that all factions would have to deal with. In many ways, it could be similar to what Realtime Worlds tried to do with APB. But, it would be developed by Ruffian (Crackdown 2 devs who are still around, having worked with 343 on Halo: Spartan Assault and Rare on Kinect Sports Rivals as well as their own Game of Glens).

Since this is my wish list, I would also make the game a one-time purchase, then free to play MMO for Xbox Live Gold subscribers.

Nintendo–3DS as a WiiU GamePad Replacement
I’ve talked about this before, but I feel like Nintendo is missing a great opportunity by not having more interoperability between the 3DS and the WiiU. Sony is smartly trying to bolster Vta sales by giving PS3 and PS4 owners reasons to own one, but Nintendo has not leveraged the huge install base of the 3DS (43 million worldwide and approximately 12 million in the US alone) to bolster WiiU sales. Combine that with the fact that the GamePad is what keeps the price point of the WiiU where it is, and Nintendo has even more reasons to bring the 3DS into the WiiU ecosystem.

My proposal is this: Any 3DS (regular or XL) that has a Circle Pad Pro attachment should be able to function as a WiiU GamePad. With the Circle Pad Pro attached to the 3DS, you’ve got the touchscreen, the triggers and the shoulder buttons.

Not only would this open us cross-save, cross-buy, Virtual Console library sharing and more, but it would allow Nintendo to cut the price of the WiiU by putting out a version without a GamePad. And they wouldn’t have to screw developers by removing features or upset existing owners.

There could be a $199 WiiU SKU, with a Circle Pad Pro included, or a voucher that could be used to order a free Circle Pad Pro from Nintendo’s website. They could do a 3DS XL/WiiU bundle for $399, giving consumers a compelling reason to go with Nintendo over Microsoft and Sony this holiday season. Not to mention, there are a ton of great games for both consoles right now.

While this may be the most far-fetched thing on my wish list, it makes so much sense that it hurts my brain. Just do it, Nintendo.

Sony–Free PS Now Rentals for PS+ Subscribers
I’ll preface this by saying that of the three bigs, Sony is doing a lot of things right. PlayStation Plus is fantastic. The PS4 is offering experiences that the Xbox One and WiiU aren’t. I can play a pretty darn good free MMO (DC Universe Online) on PS3 and PS4 right now, Sony is doing everything they can to bolster the Vita and they have a next-gen only exclusive in Infamous: Second Son. Of the big three, they are the only one that could strategically stay the course and be okay. (And yes, I know about Sony’s financial troubles, but those losses aren’t coming from the PlayStation division, which posted a profit this year).

The game streaming service PlayStation Now is currently in beats on both the PS3 and the PS4. From what we’ve seen and heard so far, when the service fully launches, users will be able to rent PS1, PS2 and PS3 games for one, seven or thirty days. Whether or not there will be a subscription option to access the entire library isn’t clear yet, and it seems these options will not be part of the PlayStation Plus subscription service as it is right now.

What I would love to see is for PS Plus subscribers to essentially get rental vouchers for PS Now games every month. Similar to the lending library on the Amazon Kindle, I’d like to see PS Plus subscribers get at least one free rental credit a month. Each month brings a new voucher, and the old one expires. Sony could also offer a discount to PS Plus members for additional rentals, similar to the discounts that Plus subscribers enjoy on games purchase through the PlayStation Store.

I don’t see this happening, as PS Plus users already enjoy some pretty big discounts, as well as great games every month. Even if Sony never added value to the PS Plus subscription again, what I’m getting now is more than worth it. But, if I was getting a game or two to stream from PS Now every month, I’d be more like to try out others on the service.

So, those are my E3 wishes for the big three. Here’s hoping the game genie will come along and grant at least one of them.