Category Archives: Game Reviews

The Niantic Project

Posted by on November 28, 2012 No comments

As much as I am on the Internet and paying attention to trends and games, this one blew right past me. I only learned about Ingress while on one of these work trips and a work buddy started talking about his Android friends (the phone users, not actual androids) who were playing. I thought, “Hey, I am an Android user! I should be playing this!” So I set out to learn about The Niantic Project.

A few months ago Google came out with a fun app called Field Trip. This app runs in the background of your phone and alerts you when you are near something historical or interesting. I get a kick out of it sometimes when I am driving around and find out I am near the largest ball of twine, or the location where George Washington’s third horse is buried. Little did I know that it would lead to their new Augmented Reality game called Ingress.

Augmented reality apps have been around for a while now, but none of them actually held any value past a good “Yup, that’s a thing!” You use your phones camera or GPS to tell where you are and your phone displays something virtually where you are physically. For the most part it was only for just that, to view something. Google stepped it up a notch with Ingress. You aren’t just viewing things anymore, you are
interacting with them and everyone else around you. Under the guise of “The Niantic Project” which is the secret organization behind Ingress.

Two warring factions are fighting for the well being of mankind. A crack in the universe has caused something called Exotic Matter (XM) to leak into our plane of existence.  Much of it was concentrated around Portals. These portals can be hacked and linked up to other portals to create a field. This field is a protective barrier that covers those who live under it. Got all that? So using the software on my phone, I can go to a portal location, which is only visible on the software, and hack that portal for my given side. By
hacking it, I have the chance to gain some equipment:

  • Resonators – Attached to portals to extend their range and link to other portals.
  • Bursters – Weapons used to attack other resonators.
  • Shields – Protective devices that can attach to portals to prevent damage from attacking factions.
  • Portal Keys – A virtual link to a specific portal
  • Media – Documents and pictures pertaining to the origins of the portals and XM

Resonators come in various levels (1-8) and can only be used at the level you have reached. (if you are level 4, you can use any item L1 to L4). Each portal can hold 8 total resonators, and their combined level averaged is the level of the portal. An unclaimed portal has no level, while one with all level 5 resonators is a level 5. Depending on the total of the level of resonators, that portal may be able to link to another portal. There are plenty of charts out there to show the distances.  Resonators degrade 10% of their energy each day and need to be recharged if they are to stay active.

Bursters also come in levels and can only be used by their respective level user. It’s a simple 360 degree bomb that takes out enemy resonators. The higher the level, the more damage.

 

 

Shields can be attached to portals, like resonators, and can deflect some of the damage from Bursters. Up to 4 shields can be added to a portal, and as of now, I have only seen 3 types of shields.

 

 

Portal Keys are interesting. They give you a link to the specific portal you have hacked. This link can show you it’s status, allow you to remotely recharge the resonators, and they give you a way to link a portal over a great distance. If you are trying to link to a portal that is out of range of your local map, you need it’s key. From what I have been able to tell, hacking a portal may “Steal” it’s key from its owner, same with destroying all of the resonators.

Media objects are just some documents that lend to the over arching back story. I have managed to collect 4 if them.

 

 

Using these tools, you can add the “Mind Units” of a covered area to your factions totals. The factions are:

  • Enlightened – The group who feel that the portals are part of the greater good and look to use them to influence mankind to their way.
  • Resistance – Those who want to keep free will and mankind away from influence from outside sources.

Now, there is a larger story going on that hasn’t yet been released. The Website NianticProject.com has been leaking out documents and videos that tell us there is something much bigger coming. I guess we will have to wait and see what that is.

I am currently on the side of the resistance. Time will tell how it ends up for us.

Visiting Boston in the 1770’s

Posted by on November 8, 2012 No comments

You may have guessed by now that I am a huge Assassin’s creed fan.  So needless to say the new Assassin’s Creed III was on my “OMG I HAVE TO OWN THIS” list.  After a little prodding from a friend (ok, it didn’t take much prodding) I ordered the limited edition of the game.  The perks were just too much to pass up!

  • Along with a copy of the game, Assassins Creed III Limited Edition contains the essential items for gamers to ignite the American Revolution:
  • A stunning 9.44-Inch Assassin statue featuring Connor poised to strike with tomahawk and hidden blade
  • An embroidered 28-Inch x 48-Inch Assassins Creed-inspired colonial flag
  • A 3-Inch x 3.25-Inch sturdy metal belt buckle to proudly proclaim your allegiance to the Assassins
  • George Washington’s Notebook, a unique look into Washington’s life that also includes Assassins Creed III concept art

The flag is now hanging on the wall at my desk at work and the statue is right by the TV.  Of course, there was a small delay in getting this to me.  Some sort of storm or something.  UPS apparently has a hard time driving 2 hours when it’s a week after a huge storm.  (I don’t want to rant too much, but UPS sucks sometimes.) Needless to say, I was without the game for a week after release.  To alleviate my woes, I signed up for RedBox and rented the game to get me through the weekend.

All that aside, the game is beautiful.  It’s everything you could want from a colonial AC game.  I love touring around Boston and seeing sights that I have seen in modern day.  The story is great and really has me questioning the motives of the last few games (In a good way).  Sadly there are still quite a few bugs in the game.  Nothing gamebreaking but a few things here and there that really take me out of the experience and potentially have me cussing up a storm.  The usual “Stupid Ezio” moments of jumping to the wrong place or to my death are replaced with “Stupid Connor”.

Most of all I just love the sight seeing!

So if you were wondering where I was, Ill be in Boston, circa 1770’s, for a few more Days/Weeks.

Evochron Mercenary and other Space Sim’s

Posted by on October 30, 2012 No comments

20121030-113314.jpgAs you could probably tell from my earlier post, I have had a recent re-fascination with space sims. Like I mentioned, this had to do with the recent announcement of Star Citizen, the new game by Chris Roberts. (Which got totally funded and it looks amazing, BTW) Since we have at least 12 months before we are able to play anything in Star Citizen, I have been browsing around for a decent space sim to fill the void until then. This led me to quite a few titles like Freespace: The Moddening, Galaxy On Fire 2, and Evochron Mercenary.

Most of my friends told me to look at Freespace since there were a TON of mods for it and it could do all of what I saw looking for. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. I was looking for an up to date modern style space sim. Like if someone updated X-wing vs. Tie Fighter. Freespace looks like someone tried to put a coat of polish on Decent. It almost looks pretty, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. The only interesting thing about it that looked cool was that you could mod the heck out if it and there are versions for every type of sci-fi genre you could want. There is even a Wing Commander mod that it really good, but not quite there. At least, it’s not what I was looking for.

20121030-113352.jpgFor my mobile needs I found Galaxy on Fire 2. For an iPad game, it’s pretty damn cool. I like the idea that I can take a good space sim with me when I am away from home. The graphics are good and the story is the right balance of campy and fun. It’s not a cockpit view, so that part makes me sad, but I guess that’s what you can do at the mobile level. It’s worth a check out if you have a mobile device. (it’s on iOS and Android). It reminds me a lot of the game Freespace, which I also reinstalled to give a second run.

20121030-113525.jpgWanting to go full blown sim on my PC, I started looking at what was out there and came across Evochron Mercenary. EM is a independent game created by ONE guy, who has been working on the engine for the last 13 years. The bones of the game are amazing. It’s absolutely stunning in how it looks and runs. The physics are spot on for how a ship would work in space. Unfortunately, it lacks polish. The learning curve is VERY steep and can be daunting at times. There are some of the campaign missions that make you re-think how you have to do a space dogfight just due to the realism of the physics. The other downside is the equipment management. I have yet to find anything that tells me that one item is better than another except its level or class. The standard gamer in me tells me that I want the highest class/level equipment. But that’s not always the case. I may not need a class 10 engine while I am running a mining quest.

Overall I am happy with the game. I have kind of reached a stand still on the campaign since its REALLY hard and could use a wingman. The Multiplayer side of the house is a little barren of folks playing so finding someone to help can be tough. Of the few times I have tried though, I did manage to find someone and it makes a HUGE difference.

In the meantime I will continue to wait and yearn for Star Citizen.

What are you (Wanting) to play?!

Posted by on October 16, 2012 No comments

It’s been awhile since I have done a good “What are you playing” post so I thought it was about time to bring it back.  Now, you may notice the difference in the title, and with good cause.  If you have been listening to the Retro-Nick podcast that we have been doing, you may have a feel for the types of games that I enjoy.  One of those types of games is the Space-Sim.  I have loved the space sim since space sim’s started to get big.  The concept of flying around in open space, exploring, dogfighting, etc. It’s all awesome.

One of the biggest Space Sim’s out there was a series called Wing Commander.  There is something about the story based saga that led me down the career path of Commander Blair that just made me feel like it was my story.  When the Tigers Claw was destroyed, I was devastated. (if you played, you know).

So when I heard that Chris Roberts, the creator of the WC games, was working on a new game, I got excited.  The best part about it is that it’s the game I have always wanted to play!

Wing Commander Cockpit

Let me explain that last bit.  I love space games in general.  the physics, the concept, everything.  I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, and nearly every other space adventure show/movie. (still struggling with Babylon 5) The idea that a game could allow me to experience that myself, instead of just watch it, is amazing.  A great example of this was in the early beta of a game called Star Wars Galaxies.  The beta was for the space combat portion of the game where you could pilot ships like the X-wing, and YT-1300 (look it up).  My friends and I were in a YT-1300 and I was piloting.  One friend was navigating, one in the Turret, and one running around the ship repairing damage that was happening in the fight we were in.  The experience was outstanding.

Sadly, the actual game didn’t live up to the initial experience.  Those of you who played SWG, know that Sony Online broke all the best parts of the game while emphasizing all the crap.

Chris Roberts is a gamer.  He knows what we want because that’s what HE wants.  I have faith that this will be the Go-To space sim game.  Go check it out!  http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/

In the meantime, I have been brushing up on my space skills by re-installing Freelancer on the PC, playing Galaxy On Fire on the iPad, and I just picked up Evochron Mercenary, on Steam.  I am waiting for my Saitek X52 Flight Control System to arrive today.

Oh, and a little Borderlands 2 to mix it up.

What are YOU playing?

PAXEast 2012

Posted by on April 12, 2012 1 comment

I am back from PAXEast 2012 and I have a few days of recoup before I have to head out on another business trip! (oh the life of a jetsetter #notreally).  I wanted to throw out some thoughts on PAXEast before I had to run off again, and I am finally awake enough to do so!

First of all, PAXEast has gotten HUGE!!!!!!! (Seriously, it could use some more exclamation marks, it’s that huge.)  They expanded this year to include more of the convention center.  So much so that I didn’t even find some of the show floor until Sunday, because it was hidden behind some of the crazy big displays.  I followed my basic rule of “No standing in a line for 2 hours to see a demo/trailer that I can just watch on Monday”. Which means, or course, I hardly got to see any of the good demos on the show floor.  Seriously, if I can’t see the demo from outside your booth, I am not going to waste 2 hours of my con to watch 5 min of footage!

Aside from all of that, there were some great things to see there!  Borderlands 2 looks amazing as usual.  Assassin’s Creed 3 was there, but the only thing they had on the outside of the booth was the same trailers we have already seen.  Those were my two big finds.  Lots of small booths and little games to see, but I think it was a bit overwhelming due to the glut of booths and the overpowering of some of the big names.  Farcry actually has a bus!  A FULL BUS!

I attended the show with a friend and Podcast Co-Host, RetroNick, so there was lots of visits to the Retro Gaming rooms.  After all these years I learned that if you have a second controller hooked up while playing Duck Hunt, you can control the duck!  Also, I apparently can identify the sound of the atari 2600 game Surround from across the room.  You guys remember how hard Space Ace was?

The Table Top area was also kind of screwed up.  Last year there were tables everywhere and you could pop down and play whatever you liked.  This year the Magic folks and the D&D folks had ½ the room reserved for their games.  So you would go in and see tons of tables open, but couldn’t sit unless you were playing an “Authorized” game.  The open gaming area was very small and always packed.

The main theme of the con, at least from our point of view would have to be Mass Effect.  Tons of great Cosplayers from ME there. The panel was great with awesome information, and the chance to sit and talk with some of the writers was outstanding.  I swung by one of the rooms and just asked about the time of their signing and the person I asked was the lead writer for Mordin.  We talked about the script and choices.  Big highlight to my trip.

Overall, great trip.  Looking forward to next year!

If you want to see some of the various media I took at PAX, check out these links!
Walkthrough of the PAX East floor

Mass Effect Photo Set
PAX East Photo set

Working through the Trilogy (again)

Posted by on March 26, 2012 No comments

Lately I have been suffering a little PTMED (Post Traumatic Mass Effect Depression, it’s a thing).  I tried to go play some Old Republic, but found myself too distracted with all of the huge range of emotions I experienced with my playthrough of ME3.  (Note, still liked the ending).  As I have mentioned before, I never did a second playthrough, only the single story, and single save.  The quick recap about this meant that I was able to experience the whole story in a very unique way.  It didn’t get convoluted with alternate choices or multiple stories.  (Not that there is anything wrong with that, just not what I wanted to do).  I have now experienced the whole story, and I loved it.

So, what do you do with a story you just finished and loved?  You experience it again!  I made the decision to run through the whole story again, starting at Mass Effect 1, and working through the whole trilogy.  I experienced a small snag in this though.  My ME1 disk went missing!  I had pre-ordered and bought the collectors tin for ME1 and had the tin, and the bonus discs…..but no game disk!  I checked with Gamestop and they wanted $30 for a pre-owned copy (WTF!!!).  Amazon had new Platinum editions for $19 (UPDATE, it’s $16 now!!!) with prime shipping so that’s how I went.  It arrived on Friday.

To accompany this epic playthrough I also splurged and purchased the N7 branded G155 Personal Gaming Environment.  I have a number of trips coming up that may end up with me in a place that might get boring. (assuming I don’t get out and take pictures.) So I picked up this case so I could take a 360 with me.  I will probably have a post about the case after I get it wit photos and such.

So, I am now 10 hours into Mass Effect 1 and the experience is amazing.  First off, it’s VERY difficult to transition from ME3 controls down to ME1, you can tell they improved on quite a bit.  Outside of that, though, it’s been outstanding.  It feels like one of those movies where I have been transported back in time and given the opportunity to make new choices, knowing what I know now!  My favorite moment so far was meeting Wrex for the first time (again) with the Dialogue

Wrex: Do I know you human?

Me: * Not yet
* You will
* Shut Up

For those that are curious, I am playing through as BroShep.  My first was with FemShep, and my Romance options were ME1: Liara (Duh), ME2: Garrus (Comedy Option), and ME3: Traynor (Stress Relief).  I would be happy to explain these if you ask, but I think I know how I will steer things this time around.  I will certainly keep you updated on the progress both here and on Twitter.

The new Retro (Wait what?): Braid

Posted by on March 22, 2012 No comments

Also featured at http://www.retronick.com

You got Retro in my Next Gen!  Well you got Next Gen in my Retro!!

Stop stop, you’re both right!  I want to talk a moment about a current gen game that brings the classic retro style that we all know and love.  This one is about….Braid.

Braid is a side scrolling game created as an indi project by a developer named Jonathan Blow.  JB took the initiative on himself and solely funded the Braid project with the idea of creating a classic style game with high artistic value.  Using $200,000 of his own money, he did just that.
In Aug of 2008, Braid was released on the Xbox Live Arcade platform.  Since then it has taken off on all platforms now.  It’s even been featured on the Humble Indie Bundle a few times.

But what is it?

Braid tells the story of a young man working to rescue his girlfriend from a horrible monster.  To do this he uses various skills and tools to master the art of time and space.  He can rewind time to fix mistakes and move objects to solve puzzles.  Each world he visits presents new challenges that he may or may not need tools from a different world to solve.  To your average player, this may seem like a copy of many other classic games like Prince of Persia, or even the various Mario games.  (Yes, your princess IS in another castle)

What sets Braid apart from these other games is really in the artistic presentation.  The artwork is very stylized and beautiful.  Even more so than the visuals, the music was outstanding.  I almost found myself using Braid as a way to relax because the music was so soothing.  I am not even kidding about that.  If you doubt me, listen to yourself. (link to Magnatune, embeds below)

Personally, I enjoyed the hell out of Braid.  I bought it on XBLA and couldn’t stop playing it.  I picked up the Humble Bundle and now I play it on my PC.  I highly suggest it to any gamer who appreciates the art of the game as well as the art of the world.

You can find a demo version of Braid at http://www.playgreenhouse.com/

The Mass Ending Effect

Posted by on March 19, 2012 5 comments

Its done.

3 years of playing Mass Effect have come to a close.  I finished Mass Effect 3 last night.  I have managed to avoid all of the spoilers and got to judge the ending on my own.  I will do my best to make this spoiler free, or at least make it so you have to do something special to see the spoilers.  I love WordPress.  I looked for a spoiler plugin to handle that sort of thing and Boom!  So Spoilers are marked, click to read if you want. (It should be noted that the Spoiler tags ONLY work if you view on the site.  If you are reading Via RSS feed, I marked the paragraphs that are spoiler-ific)

As I had mentioned in my Single Playthrough post, I have been playing Mass Effect using only the Auto-saves and one single story.  If I made a decision, I stuck to it. No regrets.  This was the story I played with in Mass Effect 3.

To Address all those who are complaining about the ending.  I really have only one thing to say.  If you don’t like the ending, go make your own epic story arc video game and make the ending you want.  Seriously.  I enjoyed the ending as it was. the roller coaster of the game WAS the ending.  Mass Effect 3 WAS the ending of the story.  The last 20 min of the game was just the, the last 20 min of a 40+ hour ending of a 3 year game.  If you are complaining about the “ending” of the game, then you didn’t do it right.  That’s not Bioware’s fault.

Many people are complaining that the ending should have encompassed all of the decisions.  Now think about this.  ME3 accounted for decisions made in ME1 and ME2.

Spoiler: For example, in Mass Effect 1:

In ME1, I let Kaiden die.  Because of this, Ashely was the crew member that was brought through to ME3.  There was story in ME3 that specifically was aimed at Ashley.  It affected my missions and the conversations between the crew.

Spoiler: And then in Mass Effect 2:

I will tell you that I lost quite a few people at the end of Mass Effect 2.  I started ME3 without Thane, Grunt, or Jack.  They gave their lives at the collector base and that’s just how it was.  Their names are etched on the Normandy’s wall and they will be remembered.  Without them in the game I didn’t have many conversations that some of my friends had.  Other interactions between crew members were different, and my friends didn’t see them, because those crew were missing.

Spoiler: So, in Mass Effect 3:

Wrex was in charge of the Krogans, Miranda helped me with the Cerbrus base, Tali helped me with the Geth, and a number of other main story plots were altered due to my decisions in the other games.  When it came to the ending.  I looked at my options and weighed them with the other decisions I have made.  I went with the Synthesis ending, simply because it was the best option for letting the people I fought for survive in the best way possible.  I knew before I even attacked the reapers, I was not planning on living.  Shepard’s job was to do the best by her people.  When I met with my crew on Earth, just before the final push, I was saying goodbye.  That was my closure.  Those people were there because of the decisions I made.

Spoiler free version: It wasn’t just about picking a path in the last 20 min of the game, it was about the entire journey. The ending of the game was DAYS long, not 20 min.
So, like I said, if you are unhappy with the ending, Go make yourself a multi-tiered epic video game and write your own ending.  Bioware did right by me.

Of Websites and Podcasts And things

Posted by on March 14, 2012 No comments

For the past few weeks I have been helping a friend work on his website.  He was using an old Blogger site to post some incredible works and I knew that WordPress would help him get some better exposure and have a better design.  So, having done some work on mine, and Sarah’s site, I thought I would lend a hand.  So now I present to you, RetroNick.com!  It’s a retro style gaming site where Nick talks about his collection of classic games and even some discussion on current games.

You may notice that in honor of the site relaunch, there is an inaugural podcast along with it!  That’s right, the gang here decided to start up a podcast!  The podcast is going to be mainly game oriented (with various antics, of course) but a lot of comparing new to old and how the industry is.

Well, we hope, that is.

Odds are it’s just going to be a bunch of guys drinking and talking about games.  Only recorded.  So check out RetroNick’s new site and maybe give the Podcast a listen!

The Single Play-through.

Posted by on March 7, 2012 2 comments

The long awaited trilogy ender Mass Effect 3 came out yesterday.  I picked up my copy from GameStop, pausing quickly to ensure the cover is set to FemShep, came home and got everything ready.  I set about migrating over my save games from the previous ME games, just as I had done before.  Thankfully, it didn’t take long since I only have the single character, the single play through.  One run, one set of decisions, one story….my Shepard story.

Mass Effect is one of those epic adventures that BioWare has created to have a bazillion different choices along the way and different outcomes.  They do this to increase the playability of the game.  It’s a great idea and it makes the game full of possibilities.  The problem I have with this is that the story is not done yet.  I haven’t reached the end.

People have told me that it’s like reading a book more than once, or watching your favorite movie again.  The difference being that, when I do that, it’s the same story.  It hasn’t changed, branched off, turned evil.  All of the decisions in the book/movie are the ones I enjoyed and delight in experiencing because they still lead in the direction of the ending.

Mass Effect allows you to change the path you take to the ending so drastically that it could be considered (and often is) a different story.  This isn’t so bad except that I knew that it wasn’t over yet.  Mass Effect 3 is supposed to be the ending we are all waiting for.

Imagine if you will, you are watching Star Wars: Episode IV.  The first watch through is great, you are rooting for this young do-gooder Luke who flirts with Leia, crys over his aunt and uncles deaths and then goes off and helps the rebels win against the evil empire.  Now, say you watch it again, only this time, Luke abandons his aunt and uncle, flirts with Chewbacca, sells out Han Solo to Jabba, and steals the Falcon to use on the Death Star run to blow up the Death Star, only to demand money from the rebels to do so.

Now you have to wait till Empire Strikes back comes out.  You are now invested in two very different story lines.  Yes, you can play them individually, but when it comes to an important decision in the next installment, The good side was ok, but the bad was so much fun and OH MY GOD WHAT DO I PICK?!?!?!

By playing through just the once, from 2007, when ME1 came out, to now, I have had one story.  My Shepard story.  I lived with my decisions, be they good or bad, I have made my choices, and lost a few people.  When I wander around the ship, I get flashbacks to events that happened there.  They are not muddled with other play-throughs, they are the memories of Shepard, they are my memories.  No confusion, no regrets.

Now, I need to get back, apparently the world needs saving…..again.