Insights
from Tan
| I’m Not Ready To Review Mass Effect 3 Yet (added 15-Mar-12) |
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Now let me tell you why: [Spoiler Warning] I’m actually waiting for the other shoe to drop. If you’ve kept up with the various reactions in gaming forums, you probably already know how much of a disappointment the ending is. Between the plot inconsistencies, lack of closure, abruptness of it all and the illusion of a choice in the fate of the galaxy, it leaves a lot to be desired. If this was just one game, I could shake it off and just trade the damn game in. However, I’ve invested time with this character since 2007 across three games and multiple playthroughs. I don’t want to chalk this game up as another Dragon Age 2, or simply conclude that EA’s influence has further tainted what was once my favorite game developer. So I have to remain optimistic that there’s a grand plan in place to give this trilogy the fan service and send off it deserves. There seems to be a tight campaign to keep the lid on any official word or reaction from BioWare itself. It feels planned, with small hints dropping like crumbs to starving fans. Perhaps this is merely marketing ploy to allow the European and Japanese markets to swell with sales before all hell breaks loose. I honestly don’t know. So before the word is given, I’ll list off a few scenarios that I could see happening. Ok, sure the whole “Normandy crew expand into a new civilization and evolve over a million years to become the Protheans” is a stretch but it has been done before in science fiction to usually good effect. It would be a cool idea and would fit nicely with the end scene where the old man and grandson talk about “the Shepard”. It would also give some credence as to why the Catalyst looked like that boy Shepard tried to save on Earth in the beginning. What better way to ensure a conditioned emotional reaction for Shepard to make sure the plan goes through than to appeal to him on a personal level. This idea also helps with the Prothean beacon/Shepard thing as well. Or, even more radically, it’s both the indoctrination theory AND the Normandy/Prothean angle. How cool would that be? In any case, I’ll wait for BioWare to respond before I review this game. I have to know if this is a finished product or not. If it isn’t, then a review would only be partially accurate. If it is, then it certainly won’t be a favourable review I can tell you that. And now I wait… |
| Review: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Xbox 360 (added 27-Feb-12) |
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If I had to describe this game to someone in a single sentence, I suppose I’d say it’s the demo, rinsed and repeated, about twenty-five to thirty times over. Reveal the map, loot, button mash enemies and move on. Throw in dozens of fetch quests and you’ve pretty much got this one nailed. How this differs from other games in the genre, is that you don’t really care why or how it get’s done, just as long as it does. The MMORPG background and ambitions of this team are clear. When you take the social aspect out of an MMO, you have nothing left but an empty, soulless game of repetition. Pros: Cons: Overall, this is a solid game but far from what they advertised it to be. A safe first entry for a new company that’s looking into the MMO genre as it’s next big project. Even the all-star team put together to build this, couldn’t shake the lonely, empty MMO feeling. The two hundred hours of gameplay? Please. Even if you didn’t fast travel I don’t think you could even hit half of that unless you spent many hours just mindlessly wandering with no direction. I fully explored the map, hit the level forty cap, leaving only a dozen or so fetch quests unfinished and I only hit seventy hours or so. While it was an OK experience, there isn’t any replay value. It’s a game that caters to a certain player and unfortunately, I wasn’t it. |
| Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Demo (added 26-Jan-12) |
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With all of the media surrounding this game, you’d think I’d have a better idea of what it’s all about. Truth is, screenshots and videos just don’t do this title justice. Here’s a few points I wanted to jot down for future consideration: What this game boils down to, is a safe first entry by a new studio which takes traits that have worked successfully in other games and adds its own personality and style to it. It doesn’t rock the boat for RPGs but should give us a good, fun game that I’m eagerly looking forward to. |
| Review: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars – Xbox 360 (added 04-Jan-12) |
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In gaming, change can sometimes be good. Other times not so much. A game like this that has such a long and storied trove of history to draw from, can flourish on “more of the same”. I can sum up my review by saying the best parts of this game are those that are familiar. The tried and true platforming/building/collecting. While I can appreciate that the “RTS-lite” portions are there to help bring the galaxy-wide scope of war into the game, more often than not it was repetitive and tedious. Something needing to get past to enjoy “the good” once more. Pros: Cons: The fact that I haven’t watched the animated series, didn’t affect how much fun this game is. In many ways it’s the same solid, addictive gameplay as with previous games. That isn’t a bad thing when you consider how good these games truly are and how accessible they are to kids and adults alike. Even though the RTS elements dropped my review score, the rest of the game is good enough to overcome any hesitation I may have in recommending it. If you find these types of levels fun as well, then all the better. |
| Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Xbox 360 (added 28-Nov-11) |
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The game starts on a positive note. Your character, in the tradition of the series being a prisoner, is in the midst of determining their ultimate fate when destiny comes calling in a big way. Those first ten or so hours of vulnerability as an untested warrior/thief/mage are both exciting and new as you struggle to overcome difficult challenges and get a handle on the game itself. The next twenty or thirty are spent with a goal in mind, taking some chances and planning your character’s development. The next twenty hours or so after that are about wrapping up business and getting serious into long-term character leveling based on the first few dozen hours and what skills you feel you need to improve. After that it becomes a routine of same ‘ole, same ‘ole. So with 130+ hours under my belt, a level 57 character, the head of all factions and all achievements earned, here is my list of pros and cons for Skyrim: Pros: Cons: Despite the lopsidedness of my list, I really think this is a good game. Not a great game mind you but a good one. A solid, familiar feeling entry in the Elder Scrolls series that doesn’t quite feel like an evolution as it does an improvement. Perhaps that’s because Skyrim and Oblivion are on the same system. Or maybe because of how much of Oblivion and Fallout 3 are mixed into this game. Only time will tell if patches and extra content can bring this game to a level of greatness it currently has the potential for. |
| Remembering Steve Jobs (added 07-Oct-11) |
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It’s been a couple of days since Steve’s passing and I’ve had some time to think about the tangible effect this man has had on my life. I don’t own a Mac, iPod, iPhone or anything from Apple. I never have. Perhaps that seems a bit hard to believe but I’ve never been interested in the iCulture or Apple’s hardware design philosophy. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fine Apple products out there. They just haven’t made anything I felt I really wanted or needed. I also fully realize and respect the impact he has had on the entertainment industry at large. With a career spanning several decades, he has certainly had a hand in just about everything. Before I became addicted to Age of Empires, Neverwinter Nights, all things id Software or anything on a Windows operating system for that matter, there were the Apple II systems we had at school. Games like Lemonade Stand and Jeopardy! presented both an edutainment experience as well as an eye opener into something different from Pac-Man, Galaga or even Super Mario. I doubt a lot of younger gamers today could appreciate these old games as much as those of us who played them when they were new. If not for the nostalgia and the smile it brings to my face, I doubt even I could patiently wait while the 5.25″ floppy drive does its machine gun/broken cash register/electric can opener cacophony of noise or keep a cheat sheet of commands next to the loud, clicky, typewriter-esque keyboard. All of that just to play games with long load times, primitive graphics (by today’s standards) and simple music and audio. The thing to remember though, is that back then we didn’t just play the games, we worked the hardware. At a time when having two buttons on an arcade game brought 200% more fun and action to the flashy graphics and ear rocking sounds, the loading, clicking and patience of PC gaming gave way to games of depth and complexity like Ultima or Wizardry which share qualities with games thirty years newer. Simpler games like Lemonade Stand, introduced many young kids like myself to basic economics and decision making. So while my typing skills have eroded due to bad habits since those classes in elementary school so many years ago, my love of gaming on PCs still thrives. Thanks Steve for helping to open my eyes to gaming that doesn’t involve quarters or analog sticks. Steve Jobs 1955-2011 |
| Celebrating Imagic’s 30th Anniversary (added 16-Jul-11) |
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To say they were aggressive when entering the market is an understatement. However, they matched their business savvy approach with a philosophy of making games which few third party companies since have been able to match. One aspect of that philosophy that I greatly admire, was their decision to use the strengths of each game system’s hardware to maximize the potential of each title. Even if it was a multi-platform release. While that is still being done to some extent today, no one has taken it to the same level Imagic did. Even now I own and play multiple copies of games like Demon Attack, Cosmic Ark, Atlantis etc. Each game system presents each game differently. Enough to warrant owning it on multiple platforms due to technical and gameplay differences which in some cases almost seem like totally different games altogether. Many of their games, particularly the Intellivision ones, were masterful technical achievements in game design. Use of colours, backgrounds and animations raised the bar while others sought a more tangible sense of realism through simulation. While they sailed the trends of the day in many genres including developing variations of popular games, they also broke new ground with games like Microsurgeon, expanded the potential of others with titles like Truckin’ and even created the first ever sequel to a title (Atlantis) with Cosmic Ark. As a collector, I also appreciate the effort in creating a unique product easily identified through artwork, packaging and design. Cartridges have a handy grip plate on the end, cases had open bottoms to save from torn box lids, inner trays made from plastic to help the boxes keep their shape and colour coded bands for each game system. While the industry at that time ran wild with packaging variations, Imagic kept a single format for most of their products which have both survived the test of time and look better on a shelf than most of the competition of the day. Overall it lends a feeling of professionalism and well thought out design that gamers and collectors alike can enjoy. Despite all that, they were ultimately a victim of the game crash which sent the entire industry into a lurch. I believe that many of the positive things I’ve mentioned were what convinced Activision to buy the rights to many of their games when Imagic went under. Perhaps they had seen the legacy left behind as something worth saving or maybe potential for licenses to develop into sequels. In any case, even thirty years later, you can still find some Imagic games in Activision compilations for systems like the PC/MAC, PS2 and PSP. So this Sunday if you’re feeling a bit nostalgic for some fantastic classic gaming, celebrate Imagic’s 30th birthday with one of their many great titles! |
| Review: Dragon Age II – PS3 (added 14-Mar-11) |
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To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. I suppose that’s what you get for pissing out a sequel sixteen months after the original. It may work for some genres but good RPGs need more time than that. Along with being disappointed and somewhat bitter, I’m also surprised. When the PR machine was rolling, they made it seem like it was going to be quite different from Origins and Awakenings. The truth is, in many ways it never changed at all. Otherwise I would have given it a much lower score because that familiarity and those few sparks of BioWare greatness I saw were what kept me playing. Pros: Cons: I could probably extend that “Cons” list a bit but why bother? You get the point by now. This is a rushed product that’s only a shell of its previous self and I hope they put more time and effort into III before Dragon Age becomes the next yearly Madden franchise for Electronic Arts. |
| Review: Divinity II: Ego Draconis – Xbox 360 (added 07-Mar-11) |
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I started playing this game with low expectations and finished it with the opinion that it’s easily among my favorite RPGs for the Xbox 360 yet. Better than Gothic 4: Arcania, better than Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements, better than Risen. better than Fable II and certainly better than the recent Two Worlds II. Pros: Cons: If you enjoy western RPGs, you should really give this one a go. Good story, hack ‘n’ slash gameplay and exploration. What more could a player want? |
| Review: Two Worlds II – Xbox 360 (added 07-Feb-11) |
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I have a lot of gripes with this game. Most of them stem from broken promises made about gameplay, the lack of extensive exploration and issues with multiplayer. Ah yes multiplayer. I played through the adventure mode solo and I was able to start a village. That’s the extent of my experience. I was never able to connect to any server on any game mode despite multiple tries every time I fired up my X360. My internet connection is fine, my router settings fine, my X360 settings also fine. Every other game for the Xbox 360 I own works perfectly with Xbox Live. I’ve read some indications elsewhere on possible “solutions” and whatnot. To be honest, I won’t change my network settings for one single game that won’t play nice on XBL. It’s just not worth it. Pros: Cons: ——– What you end up with here is a large expansion pack worth of gameplay that has been stretched into a full game. It’s an odd combination of brilliant design and beautiful scenery with terrible voice acting and tedious questing. There’s no doubt in my mind that the first game is still much better than this. The things I liked the most were removed in favour of building “just another average RPG”. If I hadn’t played the first game, I’d probably be less disappointed. Or if I had waited and picked this up for $19.99 or less. I know this developer has the potential to make truly great games. I just hope they get the chance to prove it again but in their own style without catering to their critics. |
As a fan of the original Two Worlds, I was excited when I had first heard about this game. Despite the mostly unfair criticism the developer faced for the first title, they soldiered on and made another. Unfortunately, they decided to change the game so much, based on that criticism, that it bears little resemblance to the original. Some people may applaud this because they disliked the first game so much but for a game that continues the exploits of the same character, it completely broke up the feeling of connection from one adventure to the other.| Review: Top Gear Rally – Nintendo 64 (added 02-Jan-11) |
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Games like Top Gear Rally pushed the edge of what realistic racing games were capable of at the time. Realistic physics, vehicles that perform and handle differently, even weather and other effects. But that innovation didn’t come without sacrifice. The truth is, this is a fun game in short spurts until it gets boring after a few laps of empty terrain. Oddly enough, the gameplay and mechanics of racing have aged considerably well. So much so that it reminds me of “second tier” racing games of today. The handling and responsiveness not unlike the Dirt series or RalliSport Challenge. When you factor the game’s age (published in 1997), it’s a landmark accomplishment and a real shame that the short-lived Boss Game Studios didn’t develope more games like this. Pros: Cons: If it weren’t for the paint editor, I wouldn’t have been as generous with my score. Good physics, controls and overall gameplay aren’t enough when the tracks are very desolate and empty. Fortunately ripping around these tracks in a car with a custom paint job amps up the fun factor for me. In fact, sometimes I’ll spend an hour in the paint shop for every twenty minutes of actual driving. In any case, this is a good example of an arcade/sim hybrid on the N64 that rally fans shouldn’t be without. |
It has been an interesting experience reviewing N64 racing games simultaneously. Despite being few in number, they vary so greatly from one developer to another that it’s easy to forget they are all on the same game system. Some of these titles are fun and totally unrealistic, while others are challenging and yet boring at the same time.
| Review: MRC Multi-Racing Championship – Nintendo 64 (added 17-Dec-10) |
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It is unfortunate that as such a short game and sacrificing visuals for other aspects make this an average game at best. It could have been a fantastic game had they put more effort into it or even made a sequel based on the mechanics of this one. Pros: Cons: A solid and fun racer in short spurts, it has its ups and downs. While I do feel that there was a lot of wasted potential here, it’s still a better effort than many of the N64′s small library of racing games. An average game if you can find it cheap, the ever-changing track surfaces, multiplayer and nice controls make it worth a buy if you can find it cheap enough. |
Since I just finished a V-Rally 99 review for the same system, it’s very obvious the differences from the generational leap that racing games took in the late nineties. Two or three years made a big difference in game design and innovation but despite that, MRC is still the better game compared to V-Rally for its control alone.| Review: V-Rally Edition ’99 – Nintendo 64 (added 17-Dec-10) |
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With improved graphics and analog stick support, it is a bit better than the PS1 version. Those improvements along with the widescreen option using s-video, make it a good looking game for its age. Pros: Cons: Overall, this is a mediocre rally racing title. Given how few of these games are on the N64, it’s a half-joke to say it’s one of the best. There are much better rallying games on this system so look elsewhere. |
This is a Nintendo 64 port of the PC version of this game. If you’ve read my review of the | Review: NBA Jam Tournament Edition – Sega Genesis (added 17-Dec-10) |
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Slightly improved from the regular NBA Jam and with more options than the arcade version, this is the one to own. A high-flying, action packed, over-the-top two on two basketball game that you don’t even need to like basketball to enjoy. Now that’s an achievement in design and presentation! Pros: Cons: Even though I’m not a basketball fan and have never watched a single NBA game, I enjoy this game tremendously. It’s fast-paced action and gravity defying dunking is irresistible when the Sega Genesis is in the living room. This is a gamer’s game. Meaning if you enjoy games then pick this title up, regardless of whether you like the sport or not. It’s just that fun! |
Of the 700 games in my trimmed down permanent collection which span a thirty-three year period, only 27 of them are sports games not including racing. Needless to say it takes a very special sports title to worm its way onto my shelf, even more so to be a regularly played game on any given system.| Review: Lotus II R.E.C.S. – Sega Genesis (added 17-Dec-10) |
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What makes this game different and in my opinion superior, is its Race Environment Construction System. Basically it’s a track generator where you choose the frequency of obstacles, length, difficulty, hills, curves and even location. A long snowstorm track, a curvy alien course, a hilly desert locale, a flooded valley are just a small sampling of the variety here. But that’s not all, there are excellent features of each track meant to make things difficult but also fun. Including ice patches, side winds, turbo zones, flooded lanes, oncoming traffic and others depending on which track you are using. This kind of diversity gives this game more replay value than just about any racer on the Genesis I’ve played. Pros: Cons: While there are a few cues taken from other games like Outrun, this title stands on its own as a fun and laid back racer that has aged remarkably well. Kick back, tinker with the track generator, put some tunes on in the background and enjoy the special effects. If you’re looking for a fun arcade racer on the Genesis with a nice mix of features and gameplay, this is it. |
Despite how much I love a good racing game, I find very few of them in the 16-bit era. With games like Outlander or Chase H.Q. mixing action with racing, why would you settle for merely zipping around a dull course with a few bumps and curves?
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