Halo Wars demo preview

Name: Halo Wars
System/s: Xbox 360
Developers: Ensemble Studios
Release Date: 3/3/2009


PC users often say "RTS games don't work on consoles," I would like to start by saying, I really don't believe that, any game can work on any console, only if done right. Something like Medal of Honor: Heros proved that the PSP could do a First Person Shooter...

Anyways, the Halo series is one of my favorite, and I've sunk many hours into playing the games. Bungie, the developers of Halo are like old friends to me though, developing a few of my other favorite games, Myth I, Myth II, Oni. Myth was my favorite RTS, and possible my favorite game ever, so when an RTS of Halo was announced, I was excited, even after a cannon-destroying trailer, I still cut them some slack. I heard that it was being developed not by Bungie, but by Ensemble Studios, which I also didn't mind, hearing how famous they were.

[Myth II, by Bungie, 1998]

When I finally saw the game in action I was let down though, as it seemed to really be a RTS with Halo stamped on top of it. A lot of stuff in the game really made it seem not like Halo, from the videos and I was a bit skeptical. I stopped caring about the game, and heard there would be a demo, and a day before the demo came out or so, my Xbox 360 died, which made me have to wait until recently to try the demo.

The game starts off with a tutorial led by perhaps one of the most generic voice actors I've ever heard, they walk you through a lot of parts of playing the game, but they don't tell you some important stuff. Also, you can't skip any dialog in the tutorial, making it very annoying if you understand something early.

The actual game starts with some pretty pre-rendered cutscenes, but the story seems very generic, which is sad, because the Halo universe really interested me, and I read almost all the books, and played the games, so it had to be really bland and unoriginal to throw me off.

[Some fighting in Halo Wars]

The gameplay is really simple, however it works, I had no problems at all controlling any units or playing the game, to me it was as easy to control as any other RTS, no matter what the platform. Everything worked the way it should, but there wasn't a lot of options, and compared to some other RTSes I've played, it was quite simple. Simple isn't a bad thing however, as it didn't drag on as much as some RTSes.

The problem is that you don't have to worry about resources as they are infinite, and you can only build in select areas, so it boils down to something more along the lines of chess, with strategy only in how you move, rather then how you use the environment to your advantage.

This in general wouldn't be much of a problem if the actual combat was more interesting, but as it stands, it revolves around selecting all your units and telling them to attack. Really, I wish there was some skill involved other then that. Myth showed that controlling units in itself was a possible skill, and when they've taken away so much else in this game, it would be nice to have other parts of the game that make up for it.

[One of the Pre-Rendered cutscenes]

Some might say "Well, this was an experiment for RTS games on the consoles!" Well, they might be right, but what about games like the Original Halo? That revolutionized consoles FPSes, no matter how you look at it: Suddenly there was a ton of console FPSes, and they all started to have Halo's mechanics. And the original Halo was a much better, and more interesting game, which is a shame, because everything was there for this game to be a really amazing game, they just didn't put things in the right places.

Overall, this game came off to me as bland, boring, uninspired, and just not that interesting. Sure everything works, and some might say that's a feat in itself, but for me, I will wait for a console RTS, that not only works, but is worth playing through.

Jon God thinks Bungie should reacquire the rights to Myth, and make a forth game.

Killzone 2 Demo preview

Name: Killzone 2
System/s: PS3
Developer: Guerilla Games
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: 2/27/09

Okay, first off, I need to say this: I loved the first game, sure it had it's problems, but I really enjoyed it. The gaming media destroyed the first game, with scores like 5-7/10, which I found completely unfair. Last time I checked my single player time along spent in that game was like 120 hours or something.

I bought Killzone: Liberation for the PSP, and liked it as well, it wasn't as good, but still quite a bit of fun. I only beat it once, but it took me quite a while, and I found all the secrets while beating it.

When the first Killzone 2 trailer was shown, I was amazed, but I already knew it was not real, because I got into Killzone after the trailer for the second was released. The developers said to wait, and that we wouldn't be disappointed, and then after some years of silence, during E3 2007, the first real trailer was shown, and it blew everyone away. Since then numerous vidoes, screenshots and info has come out about the game, but a few months ago, I cut myself off from all the info, because I'd rather be surprised.

I was a bit worried about Killzone 2, because they took some changes to the formula of the first game, which I liked. Also, reviewers didn't like the first game, so I was worried this wouldn't do well critically, and disappoint the people who liked the first, however, now that I have my hands on the demo, I will say what I feel about it.

First off, I will try to get this out of the way. The game is pretty. So pretty, like so so so very pretty. Try to imagine that, and it's better then you are imagining. The game wowed me a lot more then Gears of War, and Metal Gear Solid 4, which is saying something, considering those are the best graphic'd games that I've played so far. The graphics are just, really good, like unbelievably good.

Not only are the graphics good, but so is the art direction and atmosphere. I loved the gritty feeling of the first game, and although it's a little less gritty, it still has the same feeling, which is good, also, the Helgast return, as one of my favorite game villains ever. The atmosphere is like no other game I've played, unlike almost all FPSes, it feels like you couls die at any moment, and you're not a super-hero. you're just some guy, and when there's twenty guys that are trying to kill you, it doesn't feel like you can just rush them, instead, you really feel in danger. If you thought you've played an intense FPS before, you haven't seen anything.

The gameplay doesn't quite feel like the first game, as it is a lot smoother, (The first game felt like a train ride, in terms of jerkiness) and the guns no longer have secondary fire. Also, you can punch and jump, which is a new. But overall how does it feel? Satisfying, this is one of the most satsifying games I've played in a long time, with gunshots actually feeling like they mean something, ragdoll physics working perfectly, and hit reaction being second to none. The gunplay works really well overall, though I haven't gotten use to not just going into fully automatic when shooting, because it really lowers your accuracy. In generally, I could find little to complain about, save the 2 weapon system; in which you get one infinite ammo pistol, and whatever other weapon you want. I wish you could pick and choose 2 different weapons, but alas.

Musically, it does justice to the other games in the series, with it's orchestrated soundtrack, which fits perfectly, and sound even better then the first 2 game's soundtracks. Other sounds, like gunfire, and explosions are exactly what you want to hear, feeling as satisfying as they should, and perfect for how they are used.

The voice acting however was the worst section in the demo, with a lot worse voice acting then the previous two games, and a different voice actor for one of the main characters, which didn't sound very similar. The characters sound generic, and bland, which is a shame, because it could have been a lot better. However, on the plus side, they don't sound like they are, for some reason, having a great time, while being shot at. (Haze, Gears of War, Halo)

The AI from what I saw was really good, surprising me with flanks and other strategies, it will be fun to see it in other circumstances. The friendly AI wasn't as good as enemy AI, but wasn't completely useless either. Nothing more to say really.

It was hard to get a grip on what was going on in the short demo, but knowing the first two games, it will be a pretty good sci-fi story, and I look forward to playing through it.

Killzone 2 has pretty extreme hype, and from the demo, I feel it has more then lived up to it for me. I can't explain the game better then just saying "Find a way to play it yourself"


I wish my PS3 was working, so I could enjoy the game when it comes out...

Resistance Retribution preview

Name: Resistance: Retribution
Systems/s: PSP
Developer: Sony Bend Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: March 17th, 2009

Ah Resistance, the first game (Resistance: Fall of Man) was a launch game for the PS3 system, and was the highest rated, and biggest seller of the launch line up. It has since gone on to sell 3.29 million copies, and was considered the first 'must buy' of the PS3's library.

I bought a PS3 after playing Resistance: Fall of Man, I was planning to anyways, but after I finally played it, I realized I needed a PS3. I really liked the game a beat it many times, solo, and cooperatively. I later played it online, collected most of the secrets, and played it spilt screen. In short, I liked the game quite a bit. I got into Resistance 2 beta, and was initially very happy with it, but after a while, I realized I didn't really like it too much, so I was surprised when the full game was a lot better (Which I have yet to beat, or play all that much).

A while back there was a rumor of a PSP Resistance title, and I really wanted it to be true, however the rumor was all but shot down, then a few years later, woe and behold, Resistance: Retribution. From the first time I saw this game, I knew it would be a purchase (Day 1 if I had more money). After seeing some screenshots, the auto-aim, and third person made me a little wary, but it was still #2 of my most anticipated games.

Now I finally got my hands on a demo of the game, here's what I think. First off, it's really pretty, you can't deny it. It is the best graphiced portable game I've ever seen; and I've seen God of War: Chains of Olympus, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Sometimes it really reminded me graphically of the PS3 game, Resistance: Fall of Man, and that's amazing for a handheld title.

The gameplay is different from the other Resistance titles, where the others are FPS games, this is a third person shooter. In the two other Resistance games you play as an American solder named Nathan Hale, and in this game you play as a British solder named James Grayson.

Overall the gameplay is like a mixture of Syphon Filter (Another title by the company behind this) and Resistance: Fall of Man. Considering the PSP Syphon Filter games are generally regarded as some of the best games on PSP, this is not exactly a bad thing, however I think what they chose to keep from the Syphon Filter games and what they got rid of is a little strange. You can't manually wall press or crouch anymore, it's all controlled by the new cover system, which automatically kicks in when there are enemies near by, and you are close to cover. The cover system however does work quite well, which surprised me, because it didn't sound like a good idea when I first heard of it.

Confession: I hate lock on shooting. In any game where lock on is used, I try to turn it off right away. I thought Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron was ruined by the lock on. When I first heard this game contained lock-on I was pretty worried, but upon hitting the options screen in the demo, I found that it could be turned off, and I played through the demo with it turned off. However, after beating the demo, I tried it again, but with lock-on turned on, and I have to say, this is the best, or one of the best lock-on system I've seen in any game, which is saying something.

The controls were pretty good, and they get a buy from me for including analog aiming (I wont play PSP games that require button aiming). However I wished I could change two buttons, when I found that you can't change the button configuration, which was kind of strange because the Syphon Filter games had this. Overall, there's not much to complain about here.

Having played the demo without lock-on, I found it extremely hard, with me dying multiple times at each check point, which I thought was good, because it was a nice challenge, but upon my second play-through with lock-on, the game seemed very easy, to the point of me being very rarely really hurt. I think the difficulty system is fine however, which is probably strange considering what you just read, but I justify it by the fact that the first Resistance game was quite hard, with me dying a load of times trying to beat it. As for the easiness, I can suggest this to gamers who don't generally play shooters on PSP because the brilliant lock-on system is great for gamers new to PSP shooters.

The voice acting was alright, out of the four people that talked in the demo, I think three of them sounded great, and one sounded passable. The main character seemed likable, and I can't wait to learn more about him. The music was generally good, with some seeming a bit too techno-y for this game, and others sounding spot on, and really nice on the ears.

Overall, I was a bit worried, but very excited for this game, and it has lived up to my expectations so far.


The demo can be obtained by pre-ordering the game.