Pick 5: Franchises that need a reboot
With the release of DmC this week, it was only fitting to place this week's Pick 5 about reboots. Which franchise deserves a reset? Successful or forgotten, there are titles that we wish their developers could just toss everything and recreate it. Here are five video games that need a reboot..
Turok
Remember the N64 version of Turok? Turok: Dinosaur Hunter? I'm not sure about you guys but this game was one of my personal favorites during the N64 era. Released in 1997, this game was named a Doom clone, but I don't think Doom had Raptors spawning right in front of you. In a span of 6 years, the Turok franchise spawn four sequels:Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Turok: Rage Wars, Turok 3: Oblivion, and Turok: Evolution. As the series moved forward, it slowly lost its edge and became a standard shooter.
Fast forward to 2008, we find Turok, a reboot of the series for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. But it fell head first to the ground and never got back up. Turok, which is actually based on  a comic book series of the same name, still has a lot of potential. An FPS dinosaur hunter with Far Cry 3 quality would come out as a day one purchase in my book, granted that I get to fight a T-Rex with a bow and tons of exploding arrows on hand. You never know, a second reboot might be the charm.
Xenogears
Back in the Playstation one days,  JRPGs were everywhere! Just like how FPS are today. Wild Arms, Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy, Tales of Destiny, Legend of Mana, Legend of Dragoon, oh I can go on and on. While I could simple say any of those titles mentioned deserve a reboot, one title sticks when I think about a JRPG reboot, and that is Xenogears. A true classic and one game that I could replay over and over.
Aside from the great sprite animation that blended well with the 3D graphics, what drew me in the most was the game's martial arts combat system, which allows players to make combos and discover new skills when applying the right combination. These mechanics were also used during the mech battles when the characters pilot their mechs called "Gears", which served as a whole different take on the combat. It was a great system and to this day I still hope to find an RPG similar to that style.
Xenogears was first released for Playstation in 1998, and it was only until 2002 when another title emerged, but not as a sequel, but as a "spiritual successor". Xenosaga trilogy was revealed and is a re-imagining of the Xenogears universe. Sadly nothing about Xenosaga got my attention. It was a different game, I quickly lost interest and did not even bother with the second and third game. It was successful though to a certain extent, but development stopped when the trilogy was complete.
They had a good thing with Xenogears, and if they reboot Xenogears and not go through the Xenosaga route, I can see it being a more successful franchise.
Resident Evil
Well this was a no brainer. Resident Evil. A franchise that defined the survival horror genre. First released in 1996 on the PlayStation, Resident Evil was one of the few games that would make you jump while playing. Everybody remembers the first cut-scene when Chris encounters his first zombie. This is a classic franchise that just kept growing after each title release. But sadly, Resident Evil evolved into a more action-oriented franchise. Exhibit A: The Resident Evil movies, Exhibit B: Resident Evil 6. Resident Evil slowly exited the survival horror genre and quickly jumped into the lines of action adventure and third person shooter.
The evolution was noticeable during Resident Evil 4, the first Resident Evil game that abandoned the still camera method of past games, and replaced it with an over the shoulder camera. Plus, no more zombies. Then Resident Evil 5 came and introduced co-op for the first time. Again, no traditional zombies, and had gameplay that was more about the action than anything else. Then the evolution was complete. The Resident Evil franchise has finally transformed itself into a non-resident evil  game in Resident Evil 6, with all the Hollywood explosions and mindless shooting that would make any of those Resident Evil movie directors proud. Don't get me started with the story.
This franchise screams for a reboot. Go back to your roots Capcom. Get the story close to at least  sane levels, and Get this generation of gamers a good scare for once. Capcom has clearly ran out of ideas with their latest entries, and it only makes sense to just start over.
Baldur's Gate
Before Bioware paired up with EA, they were once known as the creators Baldur's Gate. This fantasy RPG is a true PC classic. The first game was released back in 1998 and I still remember my love of the magic missile spell and the amazing feature of pausing combat by simply pressing a button in order to plan out your moves. From the release of the first game all the way up to 2001, Bioware has released an expansion for the original game, a sequel, and an expansion for the sequel.
From there, Bioware moved on, and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was born. With a new developer on hand, they tried to make something different with Dark Alliance, and it became an action RPG game  similar to Diablo. The hack and slash did well enough to earn itself a sequel, but after that, no more Baldur's Gate game. The last game with Baldur's Gate in its title was Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 released in 2004. It has been nearly a decade since we got another Baldur's Gate game and it's a shame really. Atari released Enhanced editions of the first two games last year, but no true sequel until now. With the big success of Dragon Age (successor to the Baldur's Gate franchise since they share the same gameplay mechanics), I think Bioware should really consider Baldur's Gate again.
Crash Bandicoot
PlayStation One's original mascot in my eyes, Crash Bandicoot is one game that needs to return. Crash Bandicoot first appeared in 1996 under the now famous developers Naughty Dog ( Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, The Last of Us), this platformer was one of  my favorites growing up. It was no Mario, but it's definitely Sony's best in that genre. From 1996 - 2008, 7  main Crash Bandicoot titles were made, with the last four titles not developed by Naughty Dog. Spin-offs like Crash Team Racing and other titles brought the franchise to other genres, but they were nothing compared to the original three.
The last  game released was Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2, which is an iOS title released by Activision. Why the sudden disappearance? I'm not too sure, but I'm sure it has something to do with legal rights to the series. Hopefully a miracle happens, and we see Crash make a glorious comeback. I'm still holding the torch demanding Sony to include Crash Bandicoot in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. The game just seems wrong without him.
What about you? Got any games in mind that are in dire need of a reboot? Hit the comments below.
New 7-minute Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance trailer, demo dated
Konami just released a new trailer for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance showing Raiden take a drive in the highway then suddenly pursued by the cops. It's 7-minutes long and shows a good amount of gameplay. Together with the release of this trailer, they also gave a date for the demo to be released on PSN and Xbox Live.
The western demo for this hack and slash Metal Gear spin-off  is coming on January 22. The demo is set during the first part of the game to give a sense of the gameplay and their main character Raiden, who seems like a completely different character from when we last saw him in MGS4.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is coming out on February 19 for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
[Source: Gamespot]
Out this week: DmC, Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt
This week marks the start of the New Year for gaming. First big title to be released is Ninja Theory's DmC. Also, if you need one more reason to revisit Pandora, the next DLC for Borderlands 2 is set to be released this week.
DmC: Devil May Cry
DmC is set in a parallel universe in the Devil May Cry series, but in short, this is a reboot. A reboot with a new look for Dante but with the good old gameplay seen in previous titles. The hack and slash beat 'em up is out on January 15 for NA, and january 17 for Japan, but for us? We get it on Wednesday. Datablitz announced via their Facebook page that DmC will be available on January 16.
Pre-ordering the game through Datablitz is still available, but the offer only lasts until the 15th. If you pre-order, you get a Dante shirt, a cellphone case for your iPhone, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note II (What?), and three DLC packs.
These DLC packs are the Bone Pack, Gold Pack, and Samurai Pack:
The Samurai Pack gives a new samurai weapon skin for Dante's axe, scythe , and shotgun. You even get additional orbs to use at the start of the game to upgrade or purchase items or skills.
The Bone pack is another skin set that transforms Dante's weapons in crafted bone weapons. You also get an Orb Harvester character ability that allows the player to gather orbs faster.
Last but not least, the gold pack. It gives yet another skin that turns Dante's axe, scythe, and shotgun into gold. You will also earn the item finder character perk that assists players in finding hidden items.
Datablitz has not given the price for DmC, but they did give a price range from P1,900 - P2100. The game will be released on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (region-free), with the PC version to be released on a later date.
Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt
The third DLC for Borderlands 2 is Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt. This is a campaign add-on which Gearbox highly suggest players to tackle once they finished the game or hit level 30. Included in the DLC will be new missions, new zone, new skins, new enemies, and of course more loot. It will cost you $9.99/ 800 MS points, or free if you purchased the season pass. It will be available for download on January 15.
Oh, and just in case you missed it...
Anarchy Reigns
The online multiplayer beat 'em up is now available in the Philippines. The game is priced at P1,395 for both PS3 and Xbox360 at Datablitz. Thanks to this game coming out in Japan months ago, we have quite a cheap game that's considered "new" to most gamers.
If you want to see what else is coming in the coming weeks, check out our Q1 2013 post that lists all the big titles coming in the first three months of the year.
Monday Impressions: Battlefield 3 campaign
I've heard good things about Battlefield 3. Even though I'm not the biggest FPS fan, I can see why people like it. I also see how different of a game it is compared to the recent Call of Duty games. However, all these good things are in the multiplayer aspect. The campaign... not so much.
Ok, so after I got BF3 as a birthday gift from my friends (you guys are awesome), a bit of time passed before I even tried out the game. I blame having zero hype. Before BF3 was released, I thought it looked fantastic running the Frostbite 2 engine and I did enjoy the older Battlefield games. Having heard from multiple sources that BF3's campaign mode was (for lack of a better word) 'shit', I would still blindly, but staunchly defend it, giving the game my benefit of the doubt. I like to believe that if you want to shit on franchise or series, one has to properly experience said franchise/series for at least a significant amount of time before calling it shite.
So after God knows how long, I finally sat down and played the damn game. After hours of updates, the game finally runs. I go into the campaign mode. Here's my experience.
Sad to say, I never booted up BF3's campaign mode since. The multiplayer seems really good (again, I'm not a huge FPS buff so bare with me) plus the graphics and sound are fantastic. I did hear the story that DICE (responsible for the Frostbite and Frostbite 2 engine, plus the Bad Company games which I like) handled the multiplayer aspect while the campaign was outsourced to Not-DICE. Such a missed opportunity for EA. Activision may be the devil in the realm of videogame publishers but they can make a damn good campaign mode in their shooters.
Is it worth a try?
Hell yeah, it is. If multiplayer shooters are your thing then that may be enough to tickle your trigger happy fancy. BF3 has gotten a butt load of updates for the multiplayer mode. All that and the heavy following that it still has should be more than enough for the average FPS fan. But if online is not your thing and you're thinking of getting this for the "story".. don't.
PSP Multi-Functional Bag
As I said in my most latest Recent Buys post, I got me a PSP bag.
It was on sale at ToyKingdom for 250php and having only a dinky PSP foam case from Japan Home Center, I thought to myself "what the heck".
The bag sports a removable padded flap with 2 bands to hold your PSP. The flap has some Velcro on the side and the bag has 2 layers where you can stick the flap to. One being on the very bottom and the other being in the middle of the bag space. The top cover has a zippered mesh pocket and a Velcro sealed pocket on the inside of the bag by the back end. Included with the bag is a shoulder strap that you can clip on the outside rings on the bag so you can tote your PSP bag hands free.
The box says that the bag is for the PSP 2000 and 3000 models but if you got one of them fat PSP 1000s, you're good. I found it funny that the box shows a Region 2 mark on it's side. I doubt bags are region locked so no worries there.
