Hotline Miami review

Okay, so I really didn’t know what to expect from this game only having the trailer and people’s tweets to go off of, but I’ll show you the trailer and let you make your own assumptions and draw your own ideas about it, then we’ll to the review.

If that wasn’t enough to make your head tilt to the side in a sort of "Whaaaaat?" gesture, then you’re a better person than I. However, I spent the $10 on Steam and downloaded the game. It’s amazing. You can quote me on that. It. Is. Amazing.

While it may not look like much, the game is a cleverly constructed piece of top-down shooting and crazy story. You may not understand it right away, but it is just enough to keep you from going, “Is this game just killing people randomly?” If it was, there would honestly be no real lasting appeal or motivation to continue playing after you got tired of it the first time.

Fortunately for us, the game has an eerie sort of Stanley Kubrick/QuentinTarantino thing going on that is both disconcerting and incredibly hypnotic. The music is just the right kind of late 80s lazy with a creepy indie vibe to it that makes you cringe but also entranced. Honestly, the game is a cross between one of their movies and “Super Meat Boy.”

This game is not for the faint of heart.

The game expects you to die and even encourages you not to give up. I found myself not frustrated or angry when I got killed, but motivated to do better and to keep trying. It does a wonderful job of teaching you that none of the situations in the game are impossible, only that they require a solid bit of thinking.

You’re able to shoot, stab, cleave, throw, punch and crush people to death. But be warned, every shot and hit is a one-shot-kill, even to you so there’s no stand-offs and there’s no way to charge into a room guns blazing without feeling like you’ll get mowed down yourself. You have to be smart in how you tackle certain situations.

Luckily, you’re able to move the screen a bit to see what’s ahead, if only a little. But the biggest help are the masks. The main character, a nameless man who is killing all of these people at the behest of mysterious voicemails on his phone, goes to each job with a rubber-animal mask on his head.

You can unlock new masks that have different powers. Some make throwing weapons automatically lethal, others make it so that dogs don’t attack you or display certain secrets spread throughout the missions.

It’s not an overly complex game, and there’s not a lot to talk about because you truly have to experience it for yourself. It’s worth the $10 and it has a lot of replayability because at the end of each level your score is tallied and calculated off of your combinations and creativity of kills. That, and the secrets and unlockable masks are fun to get.

Yeah, this is a pretty accurate description of the game in a single frame.

This game could have been done wrong in so many ways, but it’s so good that I’m thankful to find an indie game that shows the ability to remake an old type of gameplay and make it fresh and innovative. If you haven’t played it yet, you really should. It’s only just been released, so there will be bugs, but if you have the patience and the will, you’ll really have fun with “Hotline Miami.” It's a 10/10 throwback to crazy arcade games with an interesting story to keep you going.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter review

While Electronic Arts’ franchise pre-dates “Call of Duty,” it doesn’t seem to even come close to the quality of its younger competitor anymore. “Medal of Honor Warfighter” tells you exactly what kind of game it is when you open the box and you find that the multiplayer disc is on top and the single player campaign disc is on the bottom.

Basically, that says the developers put very little work into the single-player campaign, and the multiplayer is where the game shines. Writing that statement makes my soul ache because, goodness gracious, the multiplayer is not well put together. I’ll talk about that first since that’s what EA wants you to focus on first when you buy the game.

The main menu for multiplayer? Awful, confusing, cluttered with information and downright annoying. I can’t even begin to go into detail because, honestly, I played several hours of it and didn’t even venture past just finding the Team Deathmatch option and jumping into it.

A player has a team of about five or six classes to choose from, each from a different country. The more point and kills you rack up as a class, the more you can unlock other countries and weapons. This is kind of silly since none of the countries have any sort of advantage over each other and the weapons can all be altered and customized, but none of them have more firepower than another.

This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense since sometimes it’ll feel like an opponent’s gun will just utterly destroy you before you even get close to killing them. I’ve unloaded entire clipsinto people and they haven’t died only to find myself shot twice at full-health and get killed.

None of this is made up for by the terrible maps, the often useless streak-perks such as mortar barrages or helicopter spawns and the utterly baffling discrepancy of the graphics from multiplayer and single player. Honestly, the textures are always behind when loading and it looks like an entirely different game at times when you play online rather than offline.

Yes, there is environmental destruction and sometimes it actually helps.

The only redeeming quality of multiplayer is the fireteam system. The game pairs you up with a partner on your team so that there are four teams of two, and by sticking with that individual you can get extra points from their kills and success and vice versa.

It’s a neat little idea about making you care about what happens to your team and working together. Honestly, it reminded me a little of “Ghost Recon: Future Soldier,” just not well done.

A friend and I played together and the saddest thing we found was that if we stayed in a single building on a couple of the maps, we could actually cover each other and camp the entire match, racking up enough points to almost be the best team for the whole game.

He said, and I quote, “This game makes me so depressed I want to just finish this can of Pringles while we play.” That about sums up multiplayer: a depressed person sitting in the dark playing “Warfighter” and eating and entire can of Pringles.

Multiplayer in a nutshell: the graphics are not as good as single player, the modes are not that enjoyable, the weapons and classes really don’t make a difference, the streak perks don’t make that much of a difference and are useless on certain maps, the maps are poorly constructed and frustrating, and none of it is made up for by the fireteam system that is only just slightly rewarding.

And now we move to single player. What’s to say about this other than it tries too hard to be a “Call of Duty” or the “Battlefield 3”-style campaign and it obviously isn’t.

The prologue mission is eerily like the ending scene in the recently made “A-Team” movie. There’s another mission that is eerily similar in beginning objectives to the gulag mission in “Modern Warfare 2” and I’ll be damned if that is the best of all the shooting missions.

I’m going to be honest here and say that the two driving missions, a chase sequence and an escape one, are the best missions in the game. Let me repeat that. TWO DRIVING MISSIONS ARE THE BEST MISSIONS IN A FIRST-PERSON-SHOOTER GAME.

Either they’re the best because they’re first person too and you really feel the urgency in each scene by looking through the car as you would normally, or just by the fact that they’re structured very well and control excellently.

Lookout! It's a bad copy of another game! Oh wait, it's us.

Other than that, the sound design is superb and the door-breaching is kind of fun, but when that’s your main check-out-how-awesome-this-game-mechanic-is thing, you’re in trouble. Especially when one of your missions is literally to fire a single shot at someone. I kid you not, the mission is literally to shoot one person and it takes about five minutes.

Also, the cutscenes are…iffy. The character models are not pretty to look at and I really don’t care about any of them, not even the main soldier characters. I’m also confused about the man who is actually structuring all of the missions himself because he’s just some guy in a room with a laptop and computer screens. Is there no structure to the army anymore or can any man with a network of intelligence agents just send special forces troops anywhere in the world?

At first, I wanted to give the game a 7 because, frankly, it is a game and it does run. However, I can’t in good conscience give it anything above a 6. Maybe a 5.5 out of 10. It’s just honestly not that good. I felt bad for spending money on it. I really did. This game is definitely something not to go out and buy right away. Wait for it to go down to $30 or something and then give it about an hour and a half’s worth of thought before you go into the local game store. And ask the clerk’s opinion as well.

From reporter to salesperson: the potential fall of games journalism

 [Ed. note: this article has been edited to remove an error of fact.]

Games journalism is a scary place to be right now.

Not in the sort of way that makes hopeful writers run away and choose a new career, but in the way that makes trained writers uneasy and question what it is they do with the words they write.

Robert Florence, a columnist for Eurogamer, wrote an editorial piece on Wednesday criticizing some of the behavior of his fellow games journalists. He noted that some bite quite regularly at the chance to win free games, consoles and other merchandise from PR representatives out of various development houses, particularly in a contest held on Twitter.

This is the image that drove Florence to voice his controversial opinion.

I must admit that I am guilty of the rush for swag at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Comic Con and other such conventions. I also accept the criticism that participating in that type of behavior brings, and have been stirred to rethink what it means to be a games journalist.

It is the duty of a journalist in any field to report the news, and in our case critique art, and remain objective above all else. Going to E3 and snagging a bunch of free lanyards and flash drives branded with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” on them and then writing about what a great demo the game had is not a perfect example of journalistic integrity.

Sometimes it can be very difficult reporting on video games without being influenced by PR reps because those are the people that deliver information to press from developers. 

Games journalists don't call up Ken Levine or Cliff Blezinski and ask how the latest project is coming along. A public relations expert compiles the necessary information for optimum potential audience excitement, and they tell these figureheads of big games what they can and cannot say to which media outlets.

Now that the Internet has made it so simple for so many avid gamers to become freelance games journalists, and a select few have garnered enough of an audience to warrant the stream of free games and swag from PR teams, it seems to have turned into a mad dash to fluff up the most popular games in an attempt to get free stuff.

I'm just afraid that video games journalism in on its way to becoming the largest public relations effort in recent history. A branch of journalism that serves only to hype and fluff, and never to call out or criticize.

It's important for those of us writing about these games to remember that journalism is not gushing about your favorite franchise and talking trash on those games you don't like. And the ability to spell and form grammatically correct sentences is another important requirement that many seem to forget.

Let's not sell the games we love. Let's not let ourselves be used by the people helping to create them. Let's use our voices to make the medium better by saying what is true, and not what is expected.

Zynga has massive lay-offs

Yep, that's right. Zynga has again laid-off in large numbers. This time, the company has released some 100 employees, or more if the tweets about the situation are correct, and gave them 2 hours to vacate the offices of their Austin studio.

Not only that, they did this during the Apple press conference that was occurring at the same time. Many think that this was done to avoid major press coverage of the issue.

Now, is it questionable to lay-off so many employees and think that no one would notice that suddenly about 100 free agents would enter the market place? Slightly. Also, it's pretty odd to do it during a press conference that most digital and gaming media would be watching carefully.

Do we know for sure that Zynga intended to keep this on the down-low so that no one would find out? No, we do not know this for sure, nor do we want to start pointing fingers at the company and call them out for "clandestine management practices."


For all anyone knows, the company could have fully intended to make a statement about it and happily answer questions. The Vault does not know if the employees were given notice ahead of time and today was the day they were given two hours to clear out.

From the look of Twitter and many other sites who are covering the event as it happens, it does seem to be a rather unexpected move by the company that no one anticipated.

Granted, the company has been doing less than stellar since they went public some months ago, the stock not being picked up as successfully as the company hoped. This might be due to the claims that the company threatened to fire its employees who still held company stock and refused to give it up since that was their method of compensation for their work.

What is certain is that the company, like many others in the game industry, are suffering large bouts of lay-offs that are putting many out of work. Obsidian Entertainment let go much of its own workforce a few months ago. THQ even did lay-offs during one of E3.

This is not an isolated incident, but the fact that so many are rapidly and angrily posting about does merit some looking into. Should more details arise, we'll try to keep you up to date.

For those taking the gaming industry seriously as a place of employment, this is a good hard look at it right now. This is not a frequent occurrence, but you have to be prepared for every eventuality.

UPDATE: Zynga Boston has "shuttered its doors."

Resident Evil 6 Review

These two look familiar...

Zombies, zombies, & even more zombies! This is just only a fraction of what the latest iteration of the “Resident Evil” franchise throws at you in an attempt to separate you from the undead.

“Resident Evil 6” is by far the most ambitious of the whole series. Sporting not one, not two, but four different campaigns to play through, each with their own style

The question is though, with four different campaigns, is it enough content to make the game a great one?
The answer is a yes and no. The game has a lot of content to play with, but by the time you complete two of the three campaigns, you find the third stretches on and your only goal is to finish the third as quick as you can to unlock the fourth story.


That’s the only bad part of the story mode. The story itself is seen through the eyes of Leon, Chris & newcomer Jake. Leon’s story is a nod to classic “RE” games with a more horror feel to it.

Spooky!

Dark environments, few herbs, and even fewer bullets all the while there are tons of zombies trying to feast on you. Chris's story has more of an “RE5” vibe. Its straight shoot'em-up against a new type of enemy called the J'avo who can mutate any lost limbs in to new weapons.

Sadly though, this is the one story that lacks a little compared to the rest. It’s largely due to the focus on shooting but it’s still good enough to play through.

Jake's is a mix-up of both Leon’s & Chris's. Since he is Wesker’s son, there is a focus on melee combat which is easily the best melee combat in the series. His story revolves around him and Sherry being chased around the globe by Neo-Umbrella.

Ada's story is just a kind of behind the scenes to the other three characters, but it is one of the most enjoyable thanks largely to the stealth and her trusty grapple gun. Each character has a fraction of the story and playing all clears up the whole picture.

The gameplay is still reminiscent of the “RE4” and “RE5” style but with some tweaks. Players can now dodge to all sides of their own accord without needing a quick-time-event. This comes in handy now that enemies run, jump, and shoot at you in every level.

On that note QTEs are back and now there a more of them. There is almost one for everything which is nice, but can make you feel flustered having to to push them or dodge every couple of seconds.

Another addition is that the inventory system has been simplified to be able to switch to any weapon or item on the fly. Generally, everything has been streamlined to deal with fast paced action that leaves little time to just sift through your items.

Partners are now invincible and smarter than in previous games. They will actually avoid danger and come to your aid when you need it. Capcom has listened to the fans criticism after the fiasco known as Sheva. Overall the gameplay is good enough to keep you enticed throughout the game.

The graphics look okay considering they’re still running on the same engine as “RE5”. Characters do look a bit more detailed than its predecessor. At times it has kind of a glossy feel which may not mix with the zombie ooze fest, but overall it’s not too bad on the eyes.

Ada looks prepped for some serious action.

 The soundtrack is perfectly in tune with game. It helps add tension when you hear an unwound piano being slammed as you’re being overpowered by the hordes. It also varies from character to character. Leon’s has more horror type instruments playing while Jake & Chris have heavy drums and orchestra melodies to go with the action. Ada has a kind of cat-sleuth vibe to it with soft melodies. With all the differences. The music still manages to hit the right note at the right time.

All in all, “Resident Evil 6” is a good game, not the great game we were hoping for but a good game none the less. Despite the, at times, lackluster story and streamlined gun-battle segments, It is still worthy of the price tag. That’s why I have to give “Resident Evil 6” a 7/10. Now "get the hell out of here!!" (That's the most overused line in the game.)

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Wii U: too much money and too many promises?

Look! Shiny...

I know it was last month when this information came out, but it bears discussion. The Wii U's launch line-up has been announced and so has the price tag.

For $300 you get the Wii U console with an 8 GB hard drive and a gamepad. The $350 Premium Bundle comes with a console, a controller, an HDMI cable, power cradles for your gamepad, a 32 GB HDD and a subscription to Nintendo Network Premium, which offers 10% discounts on downloadable software, according to G4's article.

Not only that, but the system launch date has also been revealed. November 18th, 2012 will be what I call "The Big Show." Nintendo will have to put up or shut up at this point, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how it's going to do.

After playing with the Wii U twice, at PAX and E3, I've decided that I rather like the system. I've enjoyed everything I've played on it, and I admit that the novelty of playing on a controller directly is appealing since I live in a home where the TV is used by multiple people.

But, the entire industry isn't enamored with the system. They might be impressed, but some are still skeptical.

Check out this quote from Adam Sessler that was strung out over several of his tweets during September following the announcements about the Wii U:

"The novelty of playing on the gamepad screen is way too overstated. This 'assurance' on the launch line-up is deadly. This is their chance to make the best case for themselves. If they were so willing to show a substance-free trailer for 'Bayonetta 2' why not do the same for Zelda? Right now their best angle with the hardcore are promises, they needed more. The pricing makes the casual market much harder. I realize they didn't price the gamepad stand-alone. But is there any reason to have a second one? To clarify: I have great affection for Nintendo. my observations come from a place of concern. $350 is a fine price for core gamers, but Nintendo isn't making a strong case."

To an extent, he's correct. The price tag is high, even for Nintendo, which flaunted it's $250 price tag years ago with the Wii. That was part of the selling point and the mass appeal of the system.

If they are going to promise good things for hardcore gamers, they are digging themselves into a hole if they don't deliver after launch. Take a look at the titles that are slotted for release:

• 007 Legends
• Aliens: Colonial Marines
• Assassin's Creed 3
• Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition
• Ben 10: Omniverse
• Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
• Darksiders 2
• Disney Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two
• EA Sports FIFA Soccer 13
• Family Party: 30 Great Games
• Funky Barn
• Game & Wario
• Game Party Champions
• Jeopardy
• Jett Tailfin
• Just Dance 4
• Lego City Undercover
• Madden NFL 13
• Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth
• Mass Effect 3
• Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
• Nano Assault Neo
• NBA 2K13
• New Super Mario Bros. U
• Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
• Nintendo Land
• Pikmin 3
• Rabbids Land
• Rapala Pro Bass Fishing
• Rayman Legends
• Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game
• Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
• Scribblenauts Unlimited
• Sing Party
• Skylanders Giants
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
• Sports Connection
• Tank! Tank! Tank!
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2
• Toki Tori 2
• Transformers Prime
• Trine 2 Director's Cut
• Warrios Orochi 3 Hyper
• Wheel of Fortune
• Wii Fit U
• WipeOut 3
• The Wonderful 101
• Your Shape Fitness Evolved
• ZombiU
• Zumba Fitness Core 

That's a lot of games. Even for Nintendo. If you remember the Wii release, there were hardly any games to choose from. It seems like they're trying to pull out all of the stops to get hype for the system, especially since Sony and Microsoft are still behind on releasing their next-gen consoles.

The speed at which Nintendo is doing this could hurt them in the end. There's nothing wrong with perfecting things so that they perform well at launch.

What do you think about the launch titles and the price tag? Is this Nintendo's way of competing against the hardcore market that Sony and Microsoft have taken from them so long ago? Or is this a literal cost-of-living adjustment for Nintendo considering the amount of new tech and work they've put into the system and games?

Well those price tags are bright enough, but are they too high?

Dishonored review

Watch out for tallboys. They'll spot you from a mile away.

 It's raining. He's been standing on the stone wall for at least three minutes watching the guard patrol, waiting for the right moment to teleport behind him, subdue him and hide the body.

He'll have to be quick though, that gun tower is going to spot Corvo if he stays too long in the open. Thankfully, the bone charm will help him knock the guard out in half a second.

He's stopped now. He's...peeing. Ew.

Now's Corvo's chance. He Blinks behind him, wraps his arms around the man's neck and knocks him out. Possessing one of the plague rats by the wall, Corvo sneaks into one of the drain grates and breaches the walls of the previously impenetrable stronghold.

Will he slaughter the men within using his sword and gun? Or will stealth rule with a crossbow and sleep darts?

That's "Dishonored" in a nutshell. The game blends stealth, tactical combat and investigative puzzle solving in a delightfully sinful revenge story.

After playing the game at this year's Penny Arcade Expo, I was a little worried because the demo was so overwhelming that I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Thankfully, the game itself is so rewarding that I'm pleased to announce it is as good as it looks. But, it really is an acquired taste and requires a lot of patience.

The story of "Dishonored" sees Corvo, the bodyguard of the Empress and the character that players take control of, framed for a murder that he was powerless to stop, as well as the kidnapping of the Empress's daughter, Lady Emily. Corvo must clear his name, find Emily and take his revenge on those who used him as their patsy. All the while, the kingdom is in turmoil due to a deadly plague that threatens to overtake the capital city.

Because there's a lot of game here, I'll focus more on gameplay because the story is actually pretty good and I'm afraid I might give away important plot points if I talk about it too much. Suffice it to say, though, that I will make some comments on certain gameplay elements that might tell you how certain missions could end, but I will try and be as vague as possible.

That is a creepy mask.

The trailers love to show all of the blood and gore that can cascade across your screen in a symphony of screams and chilling expressions from Corvo's victims.

Using a duel wielding system, the game allows you to have a power or ranged weapon in Corvo's off-hand, and his sword in the right.

Similar to "Assassin's Creed," the crossbow can be used for stealthy ranged kills, and his pistol for loud and satisfying blasts of death. Of course, the crossbow can be fitted with non-lethal darts which can incapacitate rather than kill if you're encountering a lot of innocent bystanders who might give away your position. Or if you're not into the whole, "slaughter everything that moves" mind-set.

His powers include teleportation, slowing down time and even possessing small animals and people like a ghost. I found that the most useful power allowed me to see through walls and locate living beings up to a certain distance as well as their lines of sight -a necessary power when playing the stealthy route. There's also a uniquely satisfying power that summons swarms of ravenous rats which devour your foes in seconds. It's also really gross to watch.

Bone charms, small collectible items found throughout the ruins and safes of "Dishonored," grant small stat boosts. I find these extremely helpful and like to tweak the ones I have for my specific play style.

Of course, that means the other four dozen charms are utterly useless to me. Why would I want one that grants me mana if I drink from faucets when I have one that gives me increased mana regeneration when using potions? Well, I might run out of potions but that's beside the point.

The Runes that Corvo finds scattered around the game world similarly allow him to level up his powers and make them more effective or powerful.

These runes and bone charms provide a basic leveling system without actually leveling up. What's interesting is that, apparently, you can play the entire game without taking any more powers than the one you're forced to have due to a plot device.

I think it's interesting that the developers actually give you the option to make Corvo a mystical assassin or a man who relies on his own physical prowess. Not only that, but it appears you can go the entire game without killing a single person.

Um, OW!

How is this possible when you're supposed to get revenge on those who wronged you? Well by finding the non-lethal solutions to every assassination, of course. These courses of action are longer and much more complicated than outright killing the target, but who wants to fight through hordes of guards or ruin a perfectly good masked ball when you can get some poetic justice instead?

The non-lethal methods really change the game from a tale of bloody revenge into "The Count of Monte Cristo" with magic and plague and less treasure chests full of gold.

You can upgrade Corvo's arsenal and tools by spending the cash you find toward the technical genius of the awkwardly-perverted Piero. I call him perverted because I saw him peeking through a keyhole at a chick taking a bath. No joke, you can find him doing that.

While he might be weird and creepy, Piero can upgrade your boots to make them less noisy for sneaking, amplify the range of your weapons, and even up your carrying capacity of certain ammunition.

The real impressive stuff in "Dishonored" is the multitude of ways you can go about accomplishing your missions and reaching your objectives. Seriously, it's mind boggling. I'd go halfway through a mission before I saw a place that a rat could fit through if I possessed it and would have made my whole journey that much easier if I just looked down.

During the mission I played at PAX, it took me a few minutes to get into the target's greenhouse on his roof. When I played it at home, I teleported to the roof, then just bypassed the guards on the ground and inside the house and was in and out with the target in a manner of seconds. Seriously, I was astonished at how the game changed now that I knew what I was doing.

Graphically, the game is fun to look at. "Dishonored" looks like City 17 from "Half-Life 2" had a baby with Albion from "Fable 3." Honestly, if anyone else can think of a better comparison than that, I demand to hear it.

Some of the textures leave a bit to be desired and you can often see the game trying to play catch-up while rendering, but nothing's perfect.

The facial expressions on the people are actually pretty impressive, but I've seen better looking character models.

Honestly, the game is good looking, but that's not the point. The game itself is more about the gameplay than how it looks.

I haven't run into any bugs, no crashes or anything, but often times you'll see someone's sword go through a wall when they turn or an NPC not know how to walk around something rather than in to it. Again, nothing's perfect.

This is just a really mean way to kill someone.

My biggest gripe with the game is one of the same ones that I had with "Deus Ex: Human Revolution." I often get a little overwhelmed by the amount of choice you'll have in regards to paths and stealth routes.

I sometimes spend an hour trying to do something a certain way, only to find on the way out that there was a freaking door just out of sight that would have taken me right where I wanted to go.

Also, the first-person perspective took some getting used to with all of the climbing and jumping. I often found myself trying to climb a ledge and be right under it and bump into it rather than climb it. Just a little frustrating.

Combat is simple for a first-person game with Bethesda's focus on precision when it comes to melee weapons. People who aren't familiar with "Fallout" or an "Elder Scrolls" title will struggle a little.

All-in-all, I give the game a 9 out of 10. It's not perfect, but I really, really like it. I think I was expecting more exploration and a little more "umph." It is also disappointingly short. I'm not sure if I expected such a long game because of what Bethesda produces so often, but about 9 missions is a little too few for my taste here. The game delivers well, but it just doesn't seem like it's gone the distance.