The Prettiest Episode

[fishbang]

The weekend edition of In-Game Chat is available now (http://ingamechat.net/audio/IGC20081107.mp3).

Every so often we find that gaming news and important headlines are so blessedly scarce that we can avoid them almost entirely and can instead spend a whole show focused on subjective concerns. But this is usually a spring or summer affair, the second half of the year being amply supplied with current and upcoming releases. We’ve done our part for this meeting, sure. Scott and I love the added value of the Mirror’s Edge time trial, Daniel is the first among the hosts to take a swing at the Left 4 Dead pre-order demo, and Jeremy suspects he’s finally closing in on his old man in Fallout.

We really like ordered and orderly discussion of well researched topics, but sometimes, in an effort to avoid repetition, we have no choice but to surrender to word association or stream of consciousness to develop a flow. Today’s flow, for whatever reason, had something to do with Cliffy B and the 360’s prettiest games. Apropos of almost nothing, I swear.

For this writing I’d like to include one last note on the shameless self-promotion of our final LIVE broadcast on Monday the 10th. We continue to tap-dance all over this subject not because it marks the end of our singular, original format (IGC was once all-live), but because it marks the beginning of the Colony of Gamers community Child’s Play drive. We are very fond of this event, and we hope for the sake of charity that you can indulge our goading one last time. Charity is good for the soul, but in the event you’ve misplaced yours, we aim to make it worth your while.

intro - Ace Combat 5, game over
outro - Ghost Recon, anthem

[Iron Past]

Whoa, if you didn't like Gears, I don't think I can listen anymore.

I'm kidding, of course. Personally, I liked it alot, and as for online play I enjoyed the hell out of it until I realized things like the sniper rifle were usless because of lag and I was getting murdered because of poor matchmaking. But you guys are enjoying Fallout 3 far more than I am, so there's different tastes, obviously.

As far as Gears 2, I don't know if by now any of you've played it, but it's... Gears of War. If you didn't like the first because of the core mechanics, you won't like this one. If the controls and color pallet and some of the technical aspects were what turned you off, then I think there's something here for you to like. Everything's tighter, there's somewhat of a story, and what I played of multi was great. Bots are a nice addition, and Horde is awesome.

[Psykoboy2]

You're exactly right. I went through the whole campaign in one sitting over night. Still haven't gone to bed yet.

Man, if you thought the color was drab, dark, brown, and ugly....just wait till you get the story. It isn't bad, but it actually matches the color palette.

I've gotten only a tiny taste of Horde mode. I like that. I've never been a fan of the multiplayer in Gears, but 5 people working together to take on the AI enemy - sure thing, let me at it.

[kropotkin]

I'm liking GoW2 at the moment and that's hardly surprising since I played both the Xbox 360 and PC versions. The new title adds a lot to multiplayer which they seemed to have fixed now from the previous game. The original had massive lag issues which rendered it almost unplayable.

I say give it a chance, you might be surprised.

[Calgar99]

The first pretty game for me was fight night round 3. My friend had a 360 before me and he had just downloaded the demo. Watchin Hopkins and Jones jr. in all their animated beaut for the first time was jaw dropping.

[Variable Gear]

I say give it a chance, you might be surprised.
Which is what I did, and I fucking love Gears 2. Horde mode is awesome!

[Ravenlock]

Whoa whoa whoa, you got "an" email for the mailbox? I've sent you guys at least 3 rambling nonsense mails over the last month or so and I assumed you just had too many to ever get to them! Or, I think I've sent three. Maybe it was one. I dunno, I was tired. Anyhow, the important part of the last one was that the new Klonoa game you guys mentioned a week or two back is actually a Wii exclusive, and it's a remake of Door to Phantomile (the original PS1 game), and it looks really sweet. So now I've said that here, so there's no need to read it on air. ;)

As for Gears... yeah, it did nothing for me either, I'm with Daniel on this. I tried playing the PC port... the art style completely turns me off, and as you guys have noted in the past, the dudes Cliffy B wants to make games about and hang out with are pretty much the last dudes on the planet I want to play games about or become. "Wow, you're a giant asshole with a chainsaw on his gun, fighting with your asshole buddies for a really ugly, dreary world I don't really care to save. Nope, no thanks." I never did get to try the co-op, that might've made the difference for me gameplay-wise, but I couldn't have been more turned off by the aesthetic if they'd tried.

In fact, I distinctly remember when it came out thinking "Oh, shit, please don't do this to Unreal Tournament", because I loved UT, UT2003 and UT2004 (which I still have on my hard drive) and the preview tech for UT3 looked fantastic. And sure enough, when it came out, the tech was fantastic, but they'd completely shitted up the aesthetic. "So long color, it's a grey and brown dystopia now, baby! Only with hoverboards and War of the Worlds alien walkers!" ...Why? "Because they're extreeeeme! Chainsaws on guns woooooooooooo!"

And then Cliffy goes and bitches about how he has no PC sales thanks to piracy. No, dumbass, we didn't buy UT3 because we saw UT3 and realized we'd rather keep playing UT2004. And now UT3 is $20 on Steam and I'm still not interested. Make a game I want to play, and I'll get my wallet back out.

Ahem. Sorry, rantish. News of the Wiik: ...um, nothing. Spider-Man Web of Shadows on Wii was fun but their stupid control decisions eventually made me give it up, send it back to Gamefly and resume Fallout 3. Waggle for webswinging: fine. Fun, even! Nunchuk-waggle in different directions that it mistakes for each other all the time for two vital, very different functions (targeting and suit-changing): not fine. Pity, because otherwise the game is very solid, and even looks pretty good.

I would be getting Quantum of Solace Wii next, but apparently it is really, really, really bad (http://wii.ign.com/articles/926/926922p1.html) - like, "this game is broken, buy it under no circumstances" bad. It's a shame, I had high-ish hopes for that one. Maybe Call of Duty: WaW will handle the CoD4 engine better on Wii.

So the Wii will only get turned on for World of Goo and Mega Man 9's Endless Attack mode (which is fantastic and for $3 you should absolutely buy it for your console of choice) for awhile. Anybody who's got a DS and likes the action, though, should be playing Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. It'll kick your ass, but you'll love it while it does.

[Ravenlock]

Oh, and totally forgot to ask how the hell you can have a conversation about cel shading and nobody mentions Okami. God damn is that game beautiful.

Other cel-shaded favorites of mine: Wind Waker (yes, I liked the Celda), Ultimate Spider-Man, Viewtiful Joe. Phantom Hourglass on the DS also looked really good cel-shaded, and made me wish more DS developers would use the technique, since that's a system that actually does benefit from it on a technical level. No More Heroes used it pretty well also, but there were other things about that game that kind of turned me off aside from the art style.

[Variable Gear]

Anybody who's got a DS and likes the action, though, should be playing Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. It'll kick your ass, but you'll love it while it does.
Ravenlock, what do you think about Tower Defense games? Do you have either Lock's Quest or Ninjatown for the DS? I ask because I've been having a lot of fun with the Ninjatown demo. :)

[Ravenlock]

I also dig the Ninjatown demo, though I'm not 100% sure whether the enjoyment would last long enough for it to warrant a purchase. I usually end up playing about an hour of a Tower Defense game (which is to say, the flash-based webgames and shareware ones I've downloaded) and then I get bored with it before the endgame. But maybe there'd be enough variety in it to keep me involved.

Funny aside, I actually have a Wee Ninja (http://shop.shawnimals.com/product/wee-ninja), and got it a few years ago, back when Shawn Smith, his wife and an assistant were making them by hand in his garage. It's a pretty awesome little stuffed animal. Err, stuffed merchant of death. Whatever, I had one before they got an expanded product line and a DS game, so I'm glad the idea caught on. ;)

As for Lock's Quest, that one certainly looks interesting to me - maybe moreso than Ninjatown, since it has you building walls and directly fighting in a pseudo-action RPG style - but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Might be a Gamefly rental if the Wii front continues to be so slow.

Speaking of Gamefly, anybody got some recommendations for PSP games I should rent and try? I own God of War, GTA Liberty City Stories, Burnout Legends, Patapon, Syphon Filter Dark Mirror, and Pirates. I know there's a ton of good stuff I missed on that system (just got it this summer), but I could use some help separating wheat from chaff. I would like to try a good action RPG on it if there is one (something Diablo-ish), but am up for suggestions of any kind.

[Variable Gear]

Funny aside, I actually have a Wee Ninja (http://shop.shawnimals.com/product/wee-ninja), and got it a few years ago, back when Shawn Smith, his wife and an assistant were making them by hand in his garage. It's a pretty awesome little stuffed animal. Err, stuffed merchant of death. Whatever, I had one before they got an expanded product line and a DS game, so I'm glad the idea caught on. ;)
I'm surprised that they don't have any Wee Devils for sale. I'd like to re-enact some epic Ninjatown moments, but it's impossible. Additionally, I think I'll be buying both Lock's Quest and Ninjatown as my birthday presents, because during that time of the year very little is coming out. Well, besides that Mother 3 strategy guide...

[Ravenlock]

Good deal. Let me know how Lock's Quest turns out. :)