Platinum Report: DmC: Devil May Cry

I got the platinum for DmC: Devil May Cry. I had been looking forward to playing this game for a long time and let me tell you I was not disappointed! Here are some of my thoughts on the game.

First of all, let me address the issue of the reboot/Dante redesign. Like many hardcore Devil May Cry fans I was skeptical about Capcom’s decision to redesign the DmC characters and reboot the series, but I figured as long as the combat and gameplay were top notch I would enjoy the game just fine.

Once I had the game in hand and started playing, I actually started to appreciate the reboot. The newly redesigned DmC world is a world parallel to our own, but the twist is that demons are controlling the populace with subliminal messages and media propaganda. So you spend the game fighting demons and eventually face Mundus, whose appearance and role in the series has been completely revamped. Plot-wise the game draws elements from Devil May Cry 1 and 3 and I think it really sets the foundation for future successful DmC sequels.

In terms of the combat, this game offers the same addictive gameplay that is expected of a Devil May Cry game. Most of Dante’s signature moves and weapons are back, which makes the combat instantly recognizable. The problem for me and most fans of the series is that the difficulty this time around has been severely reduced. I think that maybe the developers were trying to keep this game from being overly difficult so as not to scare away new players to the series. To give you an idea of the difficulty reduction (and this is entirely my opinion), I would say that playing DmC on ‘Dante Must Die’ mode is easier than playing Devil May Cry 4 on ‘Son of Sparda’ mode. While the game is easier this time around there is still challenge to be had on the upper difficulties should you wish to attempt them. DmC isn’t as brutal as past Devil May Cry games, which may be a plus or negative for you depending how much of a gamer you are.

Surprisingly, the shining star in this game is the level design. The game offers some of the most creative levels and backdrops I’ve seen in a while, there are even some fun platforming sections that do a good job of breaking up the combat. DmC also has great bosses, some of which I found genuinely disturbing my first time through the game.

All in all, I liked this game a lot. Sure there are things that I would like to see changed for DmC2, but I am just happy that Devil May Cry is back and getting the attention it deserves. To me, this game will always be the king of the hack ‘n slash genre.

Twisted Metal game review

When I think of vehicular combat, I think of Twisted Metal. The original Twisted Metal for PS1 is a game that I would play religiously, so I was very happy to see this series finally have a presence on PS3. Is the new Twisted Metal as fun, addictive and ground breaking as the original back in the day?

This new game takes everything you like about Twisted Metal and upgrades it. The graphics look great, the driving and handling are smooth and the online modes are a blast to play. However, fans of the series will notice right that many of their favorite characters and vehicles are missing. Instead, there are only 3 actual drivers that drive all the different cars. Aside from that there is a good variety of vehicles to choose from. You might want a vehicle that is slower but has strong armor, or you might choose a sports car with weak armor and employ hit and run tactics. Your personal preference and play style will dictate what cars you are able to be successful with. There’s even a helicopter!

The single player story in this game is kind of short, especially when you consider that there is only one storyline instead of the multiple storylines and endings that past games had. Instead, you are treated to one story that covers the events of 3 participants in the Twisted Metal tournament. The cut scenes are live action and are very well done – I wish more games would do this! As part of the story mode you will engage in several very fun boss encounters, and if you are truly hardcore you can attempt to beat the story line on Hard or Twisted mode for a very formidable challenge.

The single player is fun and all, but in all honesty you will probably beat the game 2 or 3 times before you get sick of story mode. This is a game that was designed for multiplayer local and online play, and that’s probably where you’ll spend the majority of your time. There are lots of different game types, including death match, hunted, last man standing and a ‘capture the flag’ type game called nuke. The lobby screens are pretty well designed and the game has some fun features for online play including clan and party support. Playing this game online is a freakin’ blast but not without it’s networking issues. In my time playing online I have had some problems getting into lobbies, mid-game disconnections and freezing. The game has already been patched twice and online stability was improved greatly by the second patch, so I’m sure that the developers will have a lot of these networking issues solved soon enough. The good news is that the game is so fun to play that it’s easy to forgive a hiccup or two with the network.

There’s a lot to like about the new Twisted Metal. Battles are fast-paced, look great from a graphical perspective and are full of destruction. There are also some nice details that really round out the package, such as being able to design custom skins for your vehicles (via the Twisted Metal web site) and custom soundtrack support! I think this is definitely worth a purchase. It’s one of those games that has a simple premise, but when you start getting into it you are treated to a game that is deceptively complex and rich with strategy and tactics. Oh, and Sweet Tooth can morph into a robot and fly!

Who will enjoy this game?

• Fans of classic Twisted Metal games
• People with an appetite for destruction
• People who enjoy playing online but would like a break from FPS/TPS shooters
• Social gamers

Random Video Game guitar covers

Adon’s theme

Dr. Mario victory theme

Platinum Update

It dawned on me that I haven’t gotten around to posting about a couple platinum trophies I got recently: Red Dead Redemption and Demon’s Souls! Here are some thoughts.

Red Dead Redemption is a great game. The single player mode has a great story, a huge world to explore and an immersive atmosphere that really pulls you into the game. I am not even really a fan of cowboys/Westerns and I really liked this game. I liked it so much that once I had finished the story I decided I wanted to platinum the game. The single player trophies were very manageable if not easy but then I jumped into multiplayer mode. I found the multiplayer modes to be fun but many of the trophies themselves are very time-consuming to get. For example, grinding your character up to experience level 50 takes way too much time, so much so that I got completely sick of the game and stopped playing entirely. Months later, I found myself monitoring Rockstar’s Twitter account looking for triple XP announcements and thanks to that I was finally able to to grind my character up to level 50. All in all, this is a great game and the online component is very fun, especially with all the newly added online modes. Just be prepared for a grind if you are looking for that platinum trophy.

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Demon’s Souls is a game that I was unsure of when I first bought it but quickly became my favorite PS3 game. Seriously, there are so many awesome things about this game. It is one of the most atmospheric games I’ve ever played and because of that there are some very tense moments. At times, this game had me screaming obscenities at my TV in anger, but I loved every minute of it. It’s difficult to describe, but Demon’s Souls is a really satisfying experience. It’s an old-school type of game in that memorization and trial and error are pretty much required to make it through. It wasn’t easy but I am very proud to finally have this platinum after many, many playthroughs. See you on Dark Souls!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (PS3) Review

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a fun game. It’s fast-paced, colorful and it’s got a great and varied character roster. But does it live up to all its hype? Let’s find out.

When I first fired up this game, I went through the roster and was really happy to see some of my favorite video game and comic book characters. I think Capcom did a great job with the character selection, aside from some glaringly obvious omissions (hint: rhymes with ‘Shmega Shman’). The graphics, character models and stage backgrounds look really awesome; this game looks really great. That’s all well and good, but aesthetic value alone will not hold hardcore fans’ attention for long if the gameplay is not good. Thankfully the gameplay is as good as you’d expect; the combat is very deep and combos and various other commands are quite easy to do. The core gameplay is strong. I have a blast playing this game, especially locally with friends.

In this game the majority of the characters have the same basic combo structure: you can combo from your lightest attack up to your heavy attack and go into a launcher if you want to. The air combos work in a similar way, and feature the ability to switch in one of your other characters in the middle of an air combo, thereby extending your combo. There are exceptions, of course (for example, Hulk cannot combo his medium attack into his heavy attack. You can only combo from L > H or L > M), but for the most part I feel like the combo system was designed with a “pick up and play” style in mind. I think its good that the combos are standardized in this way, it allows me to feel more comfortable picking different characters that I might not be as familiar with. This game also features a system called “advancing guard”, that can help you defend against aggressive players. I like this feature and find it quite helpful. Briefly touching upon the music – it’s really catchy and well done. Those annoyed by the quirky soundtrack of MvC2 will be pleased with the audio this time around. The remix of Zero’s theme from Mega Man X2 stands out in my mind as being particularly stellar.

Understatement of the year.

When you want to play this game single player, there is not much to do. You can play arcade mode at various difficulty levels and view the character endings. I found the endings to be disappointing for the most part, they consist of two images and several lines of text. Some of the endings are better than others and feature cameos from Marvel and Capcom characters that did not make it in the game as playable characters. When you get bored with that, you can tackle Mission Mode, which are combo challenges. There were many Missions that were challenging for me and took many tries. When I finally did them, it felt very satisfying in a way I don’t get from many games. These are fun but can get boring fast, and I’m sure there are players that have no interest in this at all. The game also features a good training mode for you to practice your combos. You have many options in this mode, including AI and block settings and the ability to record actions to the dummy character. Pretty standard stuff but necessary if you want to get good at this game. I just wish the single player modes had more to do, like time trial or survival modes. Capcom attempted to add some more single player content via “Shadow Mode” DLC, where you fight AI opponents programmed to play like Capcom employees or pro players. But it’s lame, it’s just really lame – you can hardly tell that it’s any different than the game’s default AI settings. Some more single player content would have gone a long way for me with this game.

An example of a license card.

Most players who get this game will get sick of single player very quickly and start playing online. The online play is pretty standard if not a little bare bones. You can have player lobbies with up to 8 people, but there is no spectator mode so if you are waiting to play you literally have to stare at the lobby screen until it’s your turn. This basically kept me from participating in any lobbies with more than 2 players; I hate waiting, especially if I can’t even watch the fight that’s going on. Ranked mode is a lot better. You can choose to a degree who you want to fight: people ranked higher or at the same level as you. This mode is quite fun, but like any competitive game, certain characters will be favorites and you will see them repeatedly. If you are a competitive gamer this is where you will spend the majority of your time with this game. I am disappointed to see that the replay channel feature from Super Street Fighter IV is gone. I really enjoyed that feature. In its place you have what is called a “license card”, which keeps track of all your wins/losses, player statistics, as well as a play style rating that I’ve yet to really figure out. It’s very prominent on the player card and looks like a circle with triangles emanating from the center of the circle and is supposed to represent your personal play style.

I have a couple gripes with the game. I dislike that there is no way to break a combo. Combos are easy to do compared to other fighting games and if you get caught in one, you have little choice but to sit and watch and hope your opponent drops their combo. I find that this adds an element of frustration to the game. I think the new Mortal Kombat game got this feature right with their Kombo Breaker system: you can break your opponent’s combo at the cost of super meter. While I do like many of the gameplay features like advancing guard, dial-a-combos and on the ground attacks, I do feel like this game is quite unbalanced. Certain characters are much better or worse than others, and I think that Capcom felt that since this is a “vs.” game it gives them license to have a slightly unbalanced game. As I said earlier, the best characters will always rise to the top. If you don’t mind seeing similar characters or teams repeatedly online then this will not be an issue for you. I also have to mention “X-Factor”. X-Factor basically allows you to make a comeback in a match. You can use it once per match, and it makes your characters stronger (depending on certain in-game variables) and can really swing a close match in your favor. You will either love it or hate it. Personally, I like it because I am sort of an average player and I feel like it has helped me win games I otherwise would have lost. I bring it up here because there are many MvC3 players who hate this feature with a passion. I suppose I can’t really blame them, it sort of ruins the rhythm of a match when an already powerful character gets a big x-factor boost and you’re forced to go on the defensive or see your win go out the window.

Personally, I’ve been playing this game since its release and have had a blast with it. I plan on getting the platinum trophy for it, but once I do that I will move on to Mortal Kombat and may not really play this game again. It just does not have the staying-power of other Capcom fighting games like Super Street Fighter IV. All in all, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is fun to play. If you’re a fan of fighting games you will certainly have fun with this game… at least for a little while.