Top 3 Cooperative Games

John and I continue our top 3 lists with cooperative games we have played. While listening to this while editing I'm surprised we didn't put Resident Evil 5 on the list or even an honorable mention. Oh well I'll still stand by the list we made up. anyway enjoy the video and if you have your own list or stories for cooperative games we would love to read them.

Top 3 Competitive Multiplayer Shooters

John and I sat down and recorded a couple of top 3 lists. We came up with the topics off the top of our heads, which to me is more fun than having to spend hours looking back at our personal gaming history and instead we thought up our most memorable games. The first video is our top 3 Competitive Multiplayer Shooters, and the next list will be our top 3 cooperative games.

Our Top 3 Games of All Time

About a Year ago I got Steve, Arthel and I to sit down and record our favorite games of all time. I finally got around to editing it and making a video out of it (nothing fancy just a slideshow of box art). While its been a year I can say my list has not changed, I can't say if Steve's and Arthel's lists are still the same but if they really want to, they can update this post with a more recent opinion.

For those that don't have the time to watch the video our top 3 games are:

Steve:
3. God of War 3 (PS3)
2. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube)
1. Uncharted (The Series) (PS3)

Arthel:

3. Demon's Souls (PS3)
2. Pokemon Gold (Game Boy Color)
1. Uncharted 2 (PS3)

James:

3. Dwarf Fortress (PC)
2. Harvest Moon Back to Nature (PS1)
1. Tales of Symphonia (GameCube)

My Dwarf Fortress Story

The video below contains my Dwarf Fortress story. It's the story that I tell my friends when explaining why I play Dwarf Fortress and why they should give it a second glance.



If you're wondering what's up with the screenshots being a bit out of place, it's because I took enough screenshots to fill 5 minutes out of 8.5 and I didn't have any other ideas of shots to take without spending a couple hours with the game.


If you want to learn more about Dwarf Fortress check out it's website:
http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/

and it's wiki:
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Main_Page

If your interested in playing or learning to play, check out the Lazy Newb Pack which comes with tilesets to make the game more graphic friendly and utilities to make Dwarf Fortress more user friendly. It helped me get into the game.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59026.0

Naughty Bear Review

Naughty as in bad

Liked

Some Humor: You’ll get some chuckles out of the things that are going on. Stuff like choking a teddy bear with a phone or the fact that they named a zombie teddy bear Geebus.

Hated

Sea Sick: the Frame rate in Naughty Bear is poor. It gets distracting and it just gets worse when you start killing the other bears.

Boring: Naughty Bear Gets boring fast, the deaths and screams of the other bears become a dull throb in the back of your head as you think what game you’re gonna play next.

You know what fuck the list of pros and cons. The bottom line here is Naughty Bear is not a good game. The Frame rate is Disgustingly bad, the camera is shit, the game can’t keep up with its self and freezes up when to much is happening (which is often towards the end of the game), and in the end a big waste of time. It’s a interesting concept but poorly executed, this game would be hard for me to recommend to anyone even if the price was ten dollars. Just pass this one up or wait till its 3 bucks.

2.0/10 SHIT

I played all the main story missions, a handful of the challenges, and a few matches in multiplayer.

Split/Second Demo

Like many people, I got the chance to play the Split/Second demo when it came to Xbox Live market place, and let me say it’s badass.

Loved

Explosions- Every two feet there is something you can trigger to explode to try and take out your opponents in front of you, each explosion is always fun to watch, and nothing is more fun than watching your opponents crash or you narrowly making it out of an explosion.

Multi-path- I played the demo fifteen times the first day it came out, and each race felt different and had enough different paths to make one map a blast to play over and over.

Disliked

Behind Me- You can’t trigger explosions behind you… which felt a little odd.

I really like the demo for Split/Second and I pretty much hate racing games. I can’t wait for this game to come out on May 18th 2010.

Burnout Paradise

I know this is late to review, but I just bought and started playing this game last week...

I had played a Burnout game about 4 or 5 years ago and loved all of it. I just recently started to play Burnout Paradise and I like it a lot.

In the last game I played, in the main mode there was just a world map and you would select which events you wanted to do. While racing, or crashing, there would be a set track like most racers. It was fun and I enjoyed it while I was able to play it. In this new Burnout, it has a free roam feature that lets you explore Paradise City (and the Paradise Island DLC) and discover what there is to find. I personally like this feature over the way Burnout used to be. Also, while in a race or event, you still have that freedom. There are no more walls with arrows or some kind of barricade that tells you which way you are supposed to go; you go whichever way you like.

I don't know what the online play was like in previous Burnout games, but I think the online play is great in this one. It has a constant flow of information on what records you're friends have broken and what streets they now own. If you want to go online with other racers, you can access a menu that appears while you are free roaming. You don't have to press pause or go back to the main menu. The connection is, if not instant, almost instantly and you don't have to wait in a lobby or anything. There are also quite a few challenges/events to enjoy and compete in when playing online with a few friends.

I have read a few things about this game online. Some people say that it is extremely realistic. The only things to me that are "extremely" realistic are the crashes and the sound of the engines. When you crash or wreck your vehicle, the game will most likely go into slow motion and show you all the crinkles, bending, and smashing of the car. Depending on how you crash, you will see pieces of metal and rubber flying everywhere. The wheels will come off and if you crash into something sideways, your car may even start wrapping around what you crashed into. The engines do sound realistic, but when you are on a straight a way, if you are holding the throttle the whole time the car will continue to shift up, and up, and up. It doesn't stop unless you start to slow down or the alternative, which would be crashing/wrecking.

Burnout Paradise has quite a few cars to choose from, including cars from previous games. This wide variety lets you try out Paradise City a few different ways. I have a few personal favorites that I tend to stick with. There are three different kinds of boost though. Aggression, Speed, and Stunt. You can also stick the cars in these boost categories. If you have some built up frustration, grab an aggressive car and go on some road rage. If you feel like showing off your moves and getting some style points, get into a stunt car and jump off a few ramps in a stunt event.

If you like cars, smashing stuff, and insane jumps, this could be a good game for you. I like it a lot. It's an especially great time if you can get some friends online and drive around whether it's racing, or wrecking each other all over the city.

God Of War Series and Button Mashing

I think we are all aware of the God Of War series and it's hack-n-slash game play. A lot of people love the carnage and chaos that goes on in that game, and a lot of people really don't care for it. I actually really enjoy this series (from I-III) and the story behind the character of Kratos. I also enjoy the hack-n-slash game play. I go in there and hack it up all day. Something that really gets to me though, is people accusing this game (and others like it) of being a straight up button mashers. If you share that opinion, SHUT UP and don't talk to me about it. These games are button mashers if you just feel like picking up the controller and running through the game on the easiest of modes and difficulties. I really disagree with these types of games being called button mashers because people like me know what they are doing while they are playing. I know most of the combo's, I familiarize myself with the controls of the game, and I know what I am trying to do when I am doing it! I also play the hardest difficulties first. For the most part, especially in GOW, I feel like button mashing just won't cut it when you play on the harder difficulties.

So, next time you pick up a hack-n-slash, try playing the harder difficulties first. If you succeed while button mashing your ass off the whole time, let me know. I would like to hear about it then and only then.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Demo

I tried writing this out 4 times so far... so I'm gonna try doing this differently by just listing what I liked (not much) and what I hated.

What I Liked

Execute: The execute function is basically an automatic head shot. To be able to start and execute you have to take down a guy with hand-to-hand combat, then you can mark some enemies (the number of enemies depend on the gun). The execute function is just plain fun to use. It's nice being able to clear a room in a matter of seconds without alerting anyone.

Sticky Cam: The sticky cam makes a comeback in this game and there is nothing more fun than throwing it near an enemy and blowing it up.

What I Hated

The Interrogation Scene: The demo starts out the same way as the one they showed at E3 last year. Sam Fisher needs to beat up a guy to get information from him. The problem with this scene is that it's irrelevant to the demo other than the name of some guy. The cut scene that comes afterward does a better introduction on what's going on and I don't understand why they wouldn't just start the demo there.

Not Replay Friendly: My main reason I play demos is to use it to help with the waiting for a game. But this demo makes me think before I pick it up, "Do I really want to go threw all that bullshit?" The interrogation can't be skipped and it gets boring after you realize that there are only those things you can smash the guy's face in. The cut scene can't be skipped, the tutorial is always forced on you, and then there's no one to sneak passed until I finally get into the warehouse where the things really start.

Short Demo Is Short: So once you get to the part where I feel the Demo starts there is about 5 minutes left of the demo give or take a minute depending on whether you are found or not.

Bottom Line

It really bothers me that this is the demo I have to use as a way to wait for Conviction. I tend to play a demo until a game comes out, but I won't be doing that with this. I have to go through too many things that were cool/okay the first time I played it, but they are just bullshit to get to the better part of the demo. Even when I get there, the demo ends way to soon. I think they could have had a better level to use for the demo, and they would have been better off putting this demo out at a later date, like early April. I really hope there will be a multi player demo for this game like they did with Double Agent because April 13th is to far away to wait for this game.

My Top 5 Games I Can't Wait For

5. Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver (DS)

Ah Pokemon... this series has been a small addiction of mine (and many others). Gold/Silver was one of my favorite Pokemon games, and now I can own it with better graphics, sound, new breeding techniques, and my Pokemon can follow me around (OK, that last one doesn't really matter but it's still cool). And thanks to my shitty memory, I don't remember most of the plot to the game, so it will feel somewhat new.

http://www.pokemongoldsilver.com/

4. The Grinder (Wii, PS3, X360)

Left 4 Dead with werewolves, vampires, and a slasher flick monster. How can this not be fun? The recent trailer for the game pretty much sold me the game and I'm really excited to see more of it as we get closer to its release.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grinder

3. Fallout New Vegas (PC, PS3, X360)

I loved Fallout 3. It took me a while to get into it, but I've spent more time devoted to that game than I did to my porn collection at the time. A new location and a new story with some tweaked mechanics. I'm up to pay 80 bucks for it.

http://fallout.bethsoft.com/

2. Alpha Protocol (PC, PS3, X360)

The Tag line for this game is "Your weapon is choice", and this is what has me excited to get this game. The choices in this game can be what guns you bring into battle (if any) to should I piss this guy off. The game seems to me like a load of fun with enough stuff in it to be replayable.

http://www.alphaprotocol.com/us/index.php

1. Naughty Bear (PS3, X360)

I've found out about this game not to long ago and it seems just right for me. You play as a mistreated teddy bear who lives on an island with a bunch of other teddy bears. The other bears push you to far and you decided to get even... by killing them. Each mission you have to kill a certain bear and get a certain amount of naughty points. You can easily go around with a knife or gun and just go on a killing spree, but the more creative you are the more points you get. Break the power box to a house, wait for the owner to check on it, then throw the bear into all the exposed wires from the power box and watch the points grow. Having these options can make every level be played very differently. And with the online leader boards you can compete for the number one spot or just be better then your friends. This game just seems to me like a lot of dark fun that will fill my lust for fluff.

http://www.naughtybearthegame.com/