Nintendo's hardcore problem (Muthafucka)

Last week, I hung out with the guys (and girls) from our little collective here for some post-school gaming fun. After a quick drumming in Street fighter 4, (on me by Dustin) and before another Halo 3 torture session (as I like to call them) we moved to House of the Dead: Overkill. After reading the write up about the game Dustin did a while ago and with many comments to the effects of "J., you've got to play this game." I said "sure."


And wow.......

While the settings of the game, a nod to corny B-Movie-type backdrops and laughable dialog, I have to say that I'm almost offended by the portrayal of one Detective Isaac Washington. Not to say that the game is racist, but very racially insensitive and stereotypical. I held my head in shame as Mr. Washington dropped the phrase "muthafucka" like it was 1989 and NWA's 'Straight out of Compton' just came out. While comical in it's attempt to recreate Sam Jackson's Muthafucka delivery, I speculated whether Nintendo could be turning a corner. And 'turning a corner' meaning making a U-turn in the middle of a highway. Here's what I thought out loud.......

"This is Nintendo's new deal. Fanboys bitch about there being no games geared towards the hardcore player on the system, here's the answer."

With this and Madworld, also a very violent, very not 'typical' Wii centered game, Nintendo is saying "Look! We are making hardcore games. Now get off our backs! We're counting money." But, with this possible answer the mounting fanbase that feels left out of the fun with more.....adult themed games, could Nintendo shoot themselves in the foot? The Wii appeal is that it's NOT like "video games." You can pick up and play without getting into a deep story. It's something that your mom can play. It's something that your kids can play with little objectionable content. Could the big N go too far in the other direction? I don't know. Moms and dads could pick this one up (And they will. After working in retail, I can tell you that parents do not read ratings on games), figuring that 'it has to be ok, it's for the Wii' and get a big surprise at the dinner table when little Johnny drops more F-bombs than 50 Cent.

I'll leave it at this: I feel like this could be a bad trend in gaming. With now two kind of high profile games playing with stereotypes to various degrees,if left unquestioned, this could get ugly. I'm not sure if I'm still offended by the game. It's themes and dialog are more eye rollingly bad then we really need to get Jessie Jackson involved. Jessie isn't working. He could use the work.

To end this, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, is House of the Dead: Overkill summed up in 4 minutes. I feel that this kind of says it all. NSFW for f'ing sure......


another random quote from me after playing: "Wow. We really need to do better. We've got a black president now......."


J.

DEMO-LITION: Resident Evil 5

Yes, the RE5 demo is finally here, at least on the 360. Poor J is going to have to wait until Feb 2nd to sink his teeth into this demo on PS3. Of course, I’m lucky to play it myself; my brother, Patrick has experienced the Red Rings of Death on his 360 for the second time and he has had a customer service nightmare. More on that later… At any rate, he’s been borrowing my 360 as much as possible, so only today was I able to get my system back to download and try the Resident Evil 5 goodness.

More like creepiness!

I’ve only played a little, so consider these very initial impressions. On the upside, they’re mostly spoiler-free, but then again, so is the demo. The game plays almost identically to Resident Evil 4, and I’m not complaining about that! Apparently, there’s a control scheme that plays a bit more like Gears of War style, but I didn’t try that out in my initial play through. Although two-player co-op is available for either online or offline split screen, I only played single player. Hopefully I can get Dustin or one of my other buddies to try two player with me soon.

It’s all good though, because Sheva is a competent partner, who fights well on her own, gives you items you need when you need them and generally works better than almost any other AI assistant I’ve seen in a game. You’ll have to return the favor though, and watch her back, give her ammo and healing items when she needs it, and not leave her out to dry.

Even without playing on an HDTV, the game is beautiful. There was some small text at the beginning of the demo, but thankfully a microscope is not needed to read it when playing on normal resolution televisions. Characters are incredibly well-rendered and so is the varying atmosphere, which changes from dismal to almost blinding sunlight. The graphics are so good that the transition to cut scenes to gameplay is not noticeable. Throughout the game, there’s so much detail everywhere.

Once again, the infected are not quite zombies at all, but not exactly like the “Plagas” in RE4 either. They’re quite similar to the townspeople you encountered before, but when they get their hands on you, they choke you and you must rotate the control stick wildly to get free. The longer it takes, the closer they draw you in, and their mouths… Well, it’s not pretty and is very freaky. Like the Plagas, they carry weapons, but this time you can shoot them out of their hands (though shooting a bottle only broke it, making it no less deadly).

The controls are intuitive for the most part. I didn’t quite get used to changing weapons or items on the fly, which now does not pause the game and go to a separate menu while you do it. It really adds some hecticness to everything, which may be why I had trouble mastering it. Other than that, running, shooting, reloading, taking knife swipes and calling for Sheva are all very similar to RE4, thus pretty easy to master.

There are some new moves this time around. While things like jumping out of windows when you’re near them are done with a button press like last time, fallen enemies’ heads can be stomped on with a similarly-cued press of the X button. Sheva was able to kick some enemies, though I’m not sure if you can do that whenever, or only when a mob closes in tight. Another interesting thing was that I could hurt stunned enemies; after shooting them, an X button would pop up and Chris would deliver a strong blow that sent the enemy reeling even further, or would knock them across the room—where they then could have their heads stomped in.

One thing that struck me is that ammo seems to be in lower quantities than ever. Sometimes the only way I’d survive is when Sheva would toss me some ammo. Of course, this could have to do with my nerves on my first play through, but I wouldn’t be surprised if ammo (and health) has to be rationed carefully between Sheva and Chris. If one of the characters dies, it’s game over, so it’s a good idea to keep Sheva covered. If one of the characters takes too much damage, they can be revived and rescued Left 4 Dead style. Also like L4D, teamwork will definitely be a major aspect of gameplay—albeit to a smaller scale. In one of the levels, I had Chris boost Sheva across a roof, then covered her (unsuccessfully I might add, until I realized I had a sniper rifle) as she walked down and around and unlocked a gate that impeded progress. From what I understand, puzzles like these are plentiful in the game.

Overall, I didn’t make it very far. Mainly because in the two levels available, one had a chainsaw guy, the other had his new older brother, a giant axe guy. Both can kill you pretty quick. Sure, I fought back, but it was pretty much game over really quick. But what I played was enough to get a taste, and develop a hunger for more. Like any Resident Evil game, things always start out tough until you can acclimate yourself to what happens and how to best combat it. I look forward to mastering the areas of the demo while waiting for March to roll around, and am even more excited about the prospect of playing through a Resident Evil game with a friend for the first time.

I’ve also downloaded the FEAR 2 demo, so maybe I’ll have another DEMO-LITION up soon. Additionally, my brother Patrick has been writing up a guest piece on his experiences with Microsoft Xbox Customer Service that may be enlightening and helpful to those of us that will almost certainly deal with them again in the future.

Max

Taking Zombies out Co-op Style!

With Halloween not too far behind us and me just having finished the Max Brooks’ masterpieces The Zombie Survival Guide and its pseudo-sequel, World War Z, I’ve had zombies on the brain. Since the original Resident Evil and House of the Dead games, zombies have been antagonists and cannon fodder in many a video game since, with gamers having satisfying results killing swarms of undead. (My brother is playing Fallout 3 and tells me one of the cool things about the game is that the mutant enemies look a lot like zombies). And so, with new games coming at us from all sides, it’s inevitable that some of them feature shambling corpses out to eat our brains.

However, this time around, there are a couple offerings that capitalize on what makes zombie movies so awesome: co-operation. What’s cooler than seeing a group of survivors working together to hold their own against onslaught after onslaught of undead? Both Left 4 Dead and Resident Evil 5 will feature online co-op for their main games, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

Left 4 Dead

In Left 4 Dead you control one of four survivors. Each one has a specialty and team work is desperately needed if you plan to survive the attacks of the undead. You’ll need all the teamwork you can muster, as the zombies in the game are anywhere but in pre-determined locations, allowing you to get used to the scares. No, in Left 4 Dead, zombies manifest randomly in the levels, meaning you’ll never know where or when you’ll be attacked. This is worth the price of admission alone for me. Not only that, zombies are everywhere and can come at you at any minute. Because of this, it’s not a good idea to run and gun carelessly ahead of the group. In L4D, you’ll have to establish team tactics to work through each fight, all the while being careful not to accidentally shoot a fellow survivor. This gets tricky when quarters get tight, like crossing a rope bridge or working your way through derailed subway cars. Teamwork also comes in handy for rescuing beleaguered teammates who are overrun by zombies, or being dragged away by certain members of the undead with enormously long, snakelike tails. You’ll also have to rely on team members for healing, or the occasional pick-me-up. It looks like making it through the game is anything but easy, so it’ll be good to have not only one person watching your back, but three.

Resident Evil 5

While we won’t be seeing RE5 until the middle of March of next year, I know it’s on the top of just about everyone’s “Must Have Games in 2009” list. One of the things that makes RE5 so exciting is that it features online co-op via a partner for Chris Redfield, a woman named Sheva, who can be controlled by another player online. The two will work together in fighting off the “not-quite-zombie” infected townspeople that fill the game. They can do a co-operative attack moves if players can pull off the timing, and also both players will be able to keep track of one another at all times, so if things get too hectic for one of them, coming to help won’t be a scavenger hunt. Keeping each other alive will be essential, as if one of the characters dies, it’s Game Over. Another important aspect of the co-operative play in the game will involve sending one character off to accomplish something to continue progress through the game. For example, there is a part where Chris boosts Sheva across a roof so she can go down and unlock a door from the other side. All the while of course, infected townsfolk are out for blood and the two characters will have to fight them off to succeed, one from a distance, and one up close and personal.

It’s really great to see teamwork aspect of zombie-crisis movies make its way to the interactive medium. The zombie apocalypse is something we definitely shouldn’t face alone, but something friends should join forces to combat, to kill, strategize, and scream with one another!

By the by, the Left 4 Dead demo has just become available online now on Xbox Live, and includes multiplayer. Booyah!

Max