Amy Hennig comes across as either impervious to apparent failure or so charmingly resilient to roadblocks that we can’t help but be impressed.
Described by Ben Fritz for the LA Times, Hennig is “In charge of all creative decisions, including writing, casting and design” for Naughty Dog. Big job, but for Naughty Dog’s Amy Hennig, she’s learned how to manage, well, everything. Continue Reading
The recent surge in facial recognition technology hasn’t affected the price of video games in the least. Neither has the fact that we haven’t seen a new console release since 2005. So why are we still handing over $60 for a mint game? Well, for a couple reasons. Continue Reading
L.A. Noire may be the epitome of cool in video gaming. From the opening trailer, it seems as if Rockstar has emulated the best of Francis Ford Copolla and Martin Scorsese. Now, if this game has found a way to infuse Quentin Tarantino’s badassery, well, we won’t be putting down the controller for quite some time.
We especially like the way the trailer starts off. It’s engaging; it reminds us of our winters in the city. The car headlights warming the roads, the snow gently falling amidst the skyscrapers, and music fit for a nice glass of scotch and a cigar. Rockstar is maturing.
Rockstar’s 2010 release, Red Dead Redemption, showed us that they can create a character we can empathize with. Sure, running around the streets of Liberty City was a riot, but riding the Texas dirt trails as John Marston brought a whole new level of appreciation for game design.
If Rockstar can not only duplicate their previous success, but can build upon it another character worth living vicariously through, this may just be the game we talk about another six months from now.
L.A. Noire releases tonight (May 17th) at midnight at select locations.
Naming a video game F.E.A.R. sets the bar high immediately. At the least, the game better be scary as hell. At the most, the game absorbs the titular noun to become the industry standard. And while more players appear to value the original over the sequel, it’s violently clear, this time around, that Day 1 Studios is doing everything in their power to scare the shit out of us.
Like bringing in John Carpenter (Escape from L.A., Big Trouble in Little China). Also of note, Rob Zombie produced a re-creation of Carpenter’s Halloween, and Rob Zombie is the exponential infinitive of scary shit.Continue Reading
Killzone 3 is like the attractive woman you hook up with that’s twenty pounds heavier than your norm. You’ll feel a little guilty for liking the experience, but you don’t hate it enough to not do it again. And again.
Glitchoris BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)
Play it. Really. It’s a fun and quick game. Just don’t drop a good amount of cash on it. For about a four-hour play through time, more than about $30 is too much. Continue Reading
Can’t we get past all this mage against templar business? No? Ok, well then let’s just blow the whole place to hell.
Glitchoris BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)
Like every great band that evolves with age, we have DA2 that has morphed into a tighter DNA strain. Except, some of the content squeezed out by the sequel is what left us in awe in Origins. However, Bioware’s DA2 is clearly the best story so far this year, especially in the Fantasy-RPG genre. Buy it, play it, and exploit it in later comparisons. Think of the Dragon Age series as Martin Scorsese films: it might take a while to win Game of the Year, but each installment is going to be a blockbuster in its own right. Continue Reading
DA2 is your ex-girlfriend’s hot roommate who you just bumped into at the neighborhood Starbucks. You talk a little bit, realize there’s a spark, then two nights later you are making out on your couch. Even if you really liked your ex-girlfriend when you were together, you somehow forgot what it’s like to be with a good kisser. Oh, and the night is not over yet…
Prepare the blood splatters! Seriously. Kill a few darkspawn and apparently everybody looks like they stood shopside at a meat grinder. But that’s ok – because that’s why we play Dragon Age. It’s not all about the glory; sometimes it’s about the mass amount of blood flying through the air. How it doesn’t annoy the characters is beyond me – I think I’d be continually wiping the blood out of my eyes.
If Church from Red vs Blue taught us anything, it’s that in order to truly hate somebody, you must learn to hate them on a personal level. None of this stereotyping bullshit; we need to experience the individual interaction of external conflict. Killzone 3 pits ranking officer Narville against Rico Velasquez in a battle of authority versus code, respectively. Apparently everybody hates the shit out of Velasquez from the earlier installments, but Glitchoris has taken a liking to the gritty and oft-times go-fuck-yourself-ery of Rico. Continue Reading
Dead Space 2 plays like the film Shutter Island - except Isaac Clarke isn’t tripping nearly the balls that Leonardo DiCaprio does.
Glitchoris BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)
The game has its moments. The first thirty minutes inundate the player with perplexing shadowscapes, creepy-assed sounds, and freaky necromorphs. Then the last ten hours basically do the same thing. I recommend, in order to get the full effect, that you play in short bursts so that your short-term memory doesn’t help you in the pathways. Because if you sit and play for anything longer than about 20 minutes, the predictability overpowers the scare factor. Continue Reading