Finally Gave In and Bought RAGE, Plus Streaming Equipment
When you enter Datablitz and see a game you want so bad that only costs P 1,850 and actually have the money in hand, I couldn't resist anymore. I finally bought RAGE on my Xbox 360 while I was looking around for some cheap streaming equipment. Yes, our streaming will become a regular thing now since all three of us can stream. So look out for that.
Why the urge to get RAGE?
I've been hyped for the game since it was released and it's a new title coming from id Software. Since another game that I was hyped for was coming out on the same day as RAGE, I had to make a choice - Dark Souls or RAGE? When the day came, I decided on Dark Souls and frankly I don't regret it one bit. Awesome game, but it doesn't mean I didn't want RAGE. After Dark Souls, all those triple A titles that I was planning to get where also coming out so I had to skip on RAGE yet again. Now I had the chance to get it, so I did in a heartbeat.
RAGE is the latest title for the creators who started the whole First Person Shooter genre. id Software created classic titles such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake. With RAGE being the next title years after those classics, I had to play id Software's latest.
I'm 4 hours into the game now and it's really a great game so far. The shooting is very solid but what I really appreciate is the character models in the game. From the bandits and mutants you face to the people you meet in wellsprings, everything feels so dynamic. With enemies, they put a lot of detail on enemy reactions on how they get shot, especially specific parts like on the arm or leg. The friendly people you meet are not the regular stiff NPC that will give you a job to do or just simple has something to say. How they move when they talk to you brings out their personality which is slowly becoming a standard in games.
RAGE is the first released retail game using id Softwares new game engine id Tech 5. Of course, visually, the game looks amazing. You'd think the loading time would be pretty long with the kind of graphics RAGE has but it's actually fast. Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a way longer loading time. So far I'm hooked in RAGE. People say the game was good but too short for their taste. People tend to forget this is still a First Person Shooter, not an RPG hitting 100 hours. We'll see if what they say is true with the length of RAGE.
Cheap Streaming Equipment, Gotta Start Somewhere...
When I got home I pretty much went to work on setting up my streaming equipment. Arlie and I bought the same capture device Migoy got. We're using component cables so we could play at 720p display when recording. Playing on Standard Definition was definitely not an option.
Took awhile and had some issues here and there, but I finally got it working. Testing the stream was next, and since I had a new game to play, RAGE was the first test. My first four hours of the game was streamed lived awhile ago and so far the stream was smooth all throughout.
It was always part of the plan to include online streaming to TMG, we just needed extra research on how it can be done. Now we finally got it running and will become a regular thing now. Since Arlie Migoy and I can now stream, you'll see either one of us on the TMG channel streaming our gaming sessions. So I'm expecting the channel to be Live most of the time.
Streaming quality will improve in time as we get better equipment and stronger bandwidth. How I wish we could have crazy bandwidth and a PVR- HD capture device for streaming, but we got to start somewhere. When you see us online, come visit the stream and let's all have a good time. The small stream video on the side of the home page is set on auto play, so if you here sounds all of a sudden when visiting, don't freak out. Stream is just Live. We'll be working on a schedule so that there won't be any conflicts.
Weekend, what are you playing?
Half-way through January and the weekend right after the first Friday the 13th of 2012. Superstitions my butt! Let’s play some video games! So what are you playing this weekend?
Migoy: Played some Elevator Action Deluxe Co-Op, Marvel vs Capcom 2 and then some Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 with the cousins. The left sticks of both my controllers have begun to rub out due to all the fighting game violence. After all that multiplayer action I did a bit of story progress in Grand Theft Auto IV on our live channel.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq_aNzHi2NU[/youtube]
Quash: A whole lot of League of Legends. The game is just damn addicting. I'm at level 21 and for some reason I just love playing support characters. Screw kills, I want the team to win!
Bought Rage for my Xbox 360(3 discs lol) today, at the same time bought some streaming equipment. Hopefully I can get everything working so I can play my first playthrough live.
Demo Impressions: Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Asura's Wrath
If you haven't notice, a playable demo for Asura's Wrath and Final Fantasy 13-2 just came out a few days ago on the PS3 and Xbox 360.I gave the two demo's a try on my Xbox 360 to see if any of the two games play any good. One was pretty good and was at least an hour long while the other just left me confused.
Asura's Wrath
Let's start with Asura's Wrath. I'll be honest, I was not pleased one bit. The demo gave me the impression that the game is just one big QTE(Quick Time Events) sequence. The demo provided two fights - One was with this giant fatass and the other involved a one-on-one fight with Asura and his mentor on the moon.
The fight with the fatass was a huge QTE sequence than a boss itself (Not sure if it was a boss really). QTE is short for Quick Time Events; this feature is seen in games like God of War or Heavy Rain where the player is tasked to press certain inputs during a scene(for example, pressing the X button rapidly when the character is lifting a boulder). The fight included some lock-on projectile firing but aside from that, it's just a huge fight scene where you have to press a certain input when the game tells you to.
The next fight with the mentor in the moon gave me a better sense on how the gameplay feels like. Those QTE again are present during the start but then pick up when the opponent brings out his sword. It then felt like games such as Devil May Cry or Bayonetta but minus the flashy moves. You have one button to do light attacks and another button for heavy. No combinations can be done from what I can tell and mashing the hell out of the light and heavy attack was all I need when I saw an opening. There's a red bar on top of the screen that when filled can do a burst move which can be triggered by the RT or R2. This pretty much ended the fight. A wild scene happens and of course it being a demo, they end the demo before the fight was about to end.
The first fight in Asura's Wrath felt like Capcom showing the games visuals more than gameplay. The second fight was more in gameplay but still not that much. It was more on those QTE and those over the top battles that felt like Dragon Ball Z all over again. This is of course a demo and maybe the game comes out better in the full game, but demo's are there to see if the game is for you or not. For me, it didn't hit the right spot. It really feels like its going to be a game that you would rather spend watching than actually playing.
Final Fantasy XIII-2
To be honest, I'm not looking forward to this game at all. but the demo showed that the game improved to some extent. Wasn't impressed with Final Fantasy XIII overall but I will say this - XIII has the best gameplay and graphics in any Final Fantasy out now, everything else though just let the game down. I won't go on how I was disappointed with the first game don't worry, on to the demo.
The demo was pretty lengthy. When the demo ended, my in-game time was at 1 hour and 11 minutes. The demo starts with the fight shown over and over during E3 and other events when Square shows off the game. A fight between an invisible giant with an arm as the target. A tutorial pops up asking if I want an explanation on Paradigm Shifts(gameplay), since I played the first game I said no and started the battle. What was cool is that the gameplay felt exactly the same which is perfect. One of the things they got right in XIII was the gameplay and I was pleased to see that everything felt intact. I easily picked up the game quick and before I knew it, the boss was down. Then what a coincidence, QTE happens to finish the boss. A new feature that I wished they did not add. The inputs required in the QTE were very simple compared to Asura's Wrath. When the inputs were done correctly the boss was down and the demo fast forward in the story and placed me in a part of the game where I can explore.
Changes seen in the demo
The second part of the demo is really where I spent my one hour on. Serah and Noel was on an excavation site and is tasked to deal with Atlus. The starting area of the excavation site had a lot of NPC to converse with, something that was hardly present in the first game. As I was moving around exploring the area, I then head to the menu screen to see the changes done with progressing your character. Crystarium is still present but felt simplified. Instead of picking where to go through the Crystarium in the first game, XIII-2 makes you chose which class to level up. Each time you spend CP(experience Points) on a certain class, that class levels up and your stats increase. At the same time, when you reach a certain level in that class, you learn skills like froststrike for example. I wished they sticked with the old Crystarium, but SquareEnix has this tendency of moving forward and always changing things up.
I left the safe area of the site and entered the area infected with monsters. In the first game, monsters are seen on the screen as you explore, now its sorta like a random encounter. As you walk around, monsters appear near you all of a sudden and to engage them, they either attack you or you attack them with X. If you attack them quick enough, you'll get a pre-emptive strike which makes you attack first really. After the first random battle, I was introduced with the weird feature of having monsters as your third character. Yes, the third slot in your party of three will be infested with monsters. Think Pokemon, but Final Fantasy style.
It's like a third character with the ability to shapeshift really. Compared to Noel and Serah that has multiple classes to shift through, each monster only has one. You can bring three monsters into a fight, and you can change between the three monsters just like how you switch classes for the other two characters. It's pretty interesting since each monster has different stats and abilities. At the same time, you level them up individually and can only level if using specific items which are dropped after a fight. Only way to earn new monsters is to fight them and hope to earn them after the end of the fight. No Pokeball sorry. When a monster is defeated and turns into a crystal, you got yourself a new monster to work with. While the concept is interesting, I still would prefer just a third character in the game.
As I explored the ruins a bit more and after a few fights and tampering with the progression of my character/monsters, I noticed I was enjoying myself. There were a couple of side quests open to me which is a huge deal for me. The biggest problem with the first game is that there was nothing during the first half of the game where I can derail myself out of the main quest for a while and just do something else. It was ride that you could not stop going forward. The fact that they showed sidequests in the demo showed me that they understand that it was missing in the first game.
Exploring a bit more, I find myself fighting Atlus once again. After defeating him, the demo ended with a trailer of the game(Hinting DLC for the game). I actually liked the demo given. Did it get me interested in the game? A bit. One thing for sure though, the game overall feels better compared to the first. Still not sure if I want to play the continuation of Final Fantasy XIII's story which to me got even more confusing. Sorry, the first game just ruined it for me.
If you're worried about the changes in gameplay, don't be. Everything feels perfect in that department. While the Crystarium is different and Square giving us monsters as the third playable character, it was still fun in the end. Fans of Final Fantasy XIII will definitely be pleased with the sequel when it hits at the end of Jan.
This is my impressions of when I played the demo of these two games. Give these demo's a try for yourself and give me your thoughts and if you think otherwise. Migoy played the Asura's Wrath demo on our live feed so check that out when you can in our video archives.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be out on January 31, 2012 for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Asura's Wrath is coming on February 21, 2012 for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Dead Space 1 and 2 75% off on Steam
Thanks to Steam's christmas sale last year, checking the Steam store has become somewhat part of my everyday ritual when I log in the net. Today I just noticed that Steam is having a weekend sale for Dead Space 1 and 2. If you haven't played the Dead Space series, its good to start now. For both games, it will only cost you $12(around 500 pesos).
What a coincidence though, an amazing game going 75% off on the first friday the 13th of 2012. Nice one Steam.
Dead Space is the franchise keeping survival horror alive for me. Compared to other genre's, survival horror has the least amount of games coming out each year. I don't remember any new survival horrors that are worth mentioning aside from Dead Space 2 which was a great sequel by the way. It would have been the new Silent Hill, but that was push to 2012. Hopefully we see good ones this year. If there are any horror games last year that was really good , hit the comments.
Head over the Steam store to see the deal for yourself, 75% off is a steal.
The Darkness II Demo Coming Soon
A demo for The Darkness II, the first person shooter with tentacles helping you out, will be ready to download on January 17, January 24, and January 25.
The announcement was made on their site. Xbox Live Gold members get first dibs on the demo on January 17, a week before the rest of the platforms.
Xbox Live Silver members, Playstation Network NA, and Steam will be getting the demo on the 24th, then Playstation Network Europe and Asia get the demo the next day.
The Darkness II is coming out on February 7, 2012 in North America, with the rest of world getting the game on February 10, 2012.
More demo's to trip on. Anybody excited for this game? Still need to give the first game a try before even considering this.
What an idea how The Darkness II looks? Check out the gruesome trailer from last year's E3.