GameTrailers TV hosted a Pre-E3 special last night showing off trailers for some of the hottest games of the show from Killzone 3, which is basically more Killzone in more diverse settings, Gran Turismo 5 (More of the same video-wise), Devil's Third (Itagaki's new game which I approve), and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. I will focus more on TFU2 here because its another Star Wars trailer that is pretty good, but it doesn't mean the game will be good when it comes out on October 26th. Assuming the first one was okay as it could of been better, the second one hopes to improve it even though the story seems kind of crazy already playing as a Starkiller clone (Spoilers - This takes place after the good ending of TFU where Starkiller did die) going after Darth Vader. The trailer above is very movie-like quality with the CG because of the crazy action, but seeing that replicated in the final game remains to be seen. It is surely better than any of the prequels alone because Starkiller is just a wrecking machine, but I'm still worried as mentioned already. Like many people, LucasArts might as well make this to a CG movie than just a game, but I guess I could be wrong on October 26th.
UPDATE...
The new cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic showed up today and once again these trailers are pretty movie-like in terms of getting fans pretty excited, but it is not really representative of the game at the end of the day. Sure, there are numerous classes shown there, but just don't expect the same animations in BioWare's MMORPG as seen in this crazy trailer as if the last E3 trailer was crazy enough with numerous Jedis and Sith battling. So yeah, the hype with these cinematic trailers will please Star Wars fans and eager players putting more hours into another MMO as if WOW is not enough for them.
Since Tony Hawk Ride was a bust and yet they are still making a sequel (to be shown at E3 in a couple days likely), you can obviously make your Ride board useful than just the game by making it to an actual skateboard. Yeah that idea seems too easy to think of, but at least it is still a good skating video.
It was inevitable that DJ Hero 2 will show up at E3 next week and releasing this fall for the three major consoles. Even though the trailer above seems kind of silly (dudes singing Lady Gaga may scare some peeps), it is still pretty much DJ Hero with more modes and now vocals supporting mics for whichever console you're using. I didn't really read in-depth with how gameplay will change other than additional multiplayer modes since that was the first game was missing. It is still the mashup fest of two songs as expected as different artists will be featured in the game like Deadmau5, but it is going to be hard trying to top Daft Punk's appearance in the first game. The featured mix in the trailer which is Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" vs. Deadmau5's "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" and it is also downloadable on the first DJ Hero for free until Monday, so if you have not gotten around to downloading that, don't hesitate because its free whether you like Gaga or not (Its a pretty good mix personally). DJ Hero 2 is out this fall and it will be tough competition for that with Rock Band 3 out around the same time reinventing the wheel, but maybe it can be a preference of music of which to buy if you have to choose one or the other (There's also Def Jam Rapstar, which I'm really curious about as I will mention something about that next week during E3). In the meantime, enjoy a new mix for DJ Hero 2 in full below...
I didn't know an exclusive multiplayer demo of Transformers: War of Cybertron rolled out earlier this week on Xbox Live till tonight, so I got around to watch some demo videos wandering if it is worth it when it comes out at the end of this month. So far, the multiplayer seems decently fun with deathmatch and territory-like modes (your typical multiplayer modes you expect out of something like this). Then again, it is the Autobots and Decepticons going at it in these maps, which is crazy stuff at first. From what I seen, it looks like it could be cool and it is already way better than the movie games, which sucked as expected. It is probably worth a rental for both the campaign and even the multiplayer because it is something worth playing for like a month as people will eventually go back to the other competitive shooters like Modern Warfare 2 and other shooters that have been on top of the XBL charts. We'll see how Transformers: War of Cybertron will pan out soon enough, but I think its something worth checking out to get the stink off those "horrible" movies. You never know, this could be the "Batman: Arkham Asylum" for this franchise in terms of being a phenomenal game that could set up future games.
So Blogger got better templates to mess around with and its finally time my blog gets a makeover as if it is some reboot or something. Good thing I changed it up in time for E3 too next week as there will be some updates on that. We'll see how things go as the post-undergraduate life begins for me next week. In the meantime, enjoy a song...
Well I haven't blogged here in a month, but I'm now done with college (graduating this Sunday) and I guess I can do this thing for a bit more especially E3 being next week (Note - My Super Mario Galaxy 2 Review will be up after E3 and also pending if I 100% the game by then too). Then again, the show pretty much started with previews after previews of some of the big games for the upcoming year before the floor opens. I will be a stream monster for the big three press conferences on Monday and Tuesday, so expect recaps of those after they're done as Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are saving the big guns for them (Natal, 3DS, Move, more first-party stuff, etc.). In the meantime, with these all previews and trailers rolling out before the show, its a good time to present my three games of the show before the show even starts in no particular order.
Rock Band 3 - One of the more impressive games to expect to be a contender to be best of show next week is Harmonix's next big entry in their Rock Band franchise, which is well Rock Band 3. It looks like the extra year off letting spin-offs like The Beatles and Green Day do the work was worth it as they are going the extra mile in attempt to revitalize the rhythm game genre, which they made popular again. The obvious new addition is a fifth instrument, which is the keyboard, adding a whole new dimension to the game as I'm very curious how it will turn out when the final version is in shelves. Other additions such as the revamped career mode, Pro difficulties for all of the instruments seems like it is going in the right direction. I'm already expecting RB3 to be my return to the genre after almost two years off of owning one of these damn games with plastic instruments as it comes out this fall.
Mortal Kombat (reboot) - This has been a crazy week for Mortal Kombat fans from the teaser of a possible movie that will likely be greenlighted due to the word of mouf from the internets to this trailer of the new game. This is a reboot of the legendary franchise still by Ed Boon and his team of people, but now WB is publishing it and its good news for fans. It is already making a good impression because it is bringing back truly to its 2D roots of gameplay with no 3D shenanigans or gimmicky fatalities. It is more bringing back to what Mortal Kombat was meant to be in the first place: violent, gory, simple, and fun. Most of the characters in the game are from the original series of games and it is best it stayed that way roster-wise. From the trailer, some elements from the recent games are there like air combos and other things, but it is 2D MK at its finest. It is coming out next year and fans are already pumped for MK to become relevant again in the fighting game genre, but I'm sure serious fighting game fans that play competitively won't care, but MK is all about being fun and casual.
I expect Marvel vs. Capcom 3 to have a huge showing next week even though it won't get game of the show honors. The new trailer shows the characters revealed so far as well as Dante and Deadpool going at it. Some of the big boys of the fighting game community will be there to try it out as I'm looking forward to see what they think of it so far. Has it gone too simplified like Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, or some of that Marvel 2 is still there for us to be excited about? If Dante and Deadpool are playable, how will they crossover to the fighting game world gameplay wise? It is still my most anticipated game for now even though it is out next year as well.
That's it for now... more from E3 next week party people!
Street Fighter IV not only brought back the legendary franchise to amazing success, it made fighting games famous again as the community is now as strong as it ever was before. It was only a matter of time when Capcom decided to expand upon what the original game started by adding more of everything while balancing out what was in before. Super Street Fighter IV is that answer as a significant upgrade and enough to make the vanilla game obsolete. All the additions from the ten new characters, new prologues and endings for the arcade mode, and the new online modes all for 40 dollars make this arguably the best deal of the year for anyone that is interested in Street Fighter. Last year's best fighting game just got a whole lot better and there is enough for newcomers, veterans, and the competitive community as Super Street Fighter IV is just that good.
With the ten new characters, the character roster is now at an astounding number of 35. Only two of them of completely new characters, which are Juri and Hakan. Juri is the first Korean character to appear in a Street Fighter game as her style is pretty unique with dive kicks, fireballs, and even a custom combo ultra. Hakan is perhaps the most weird character in the franchise with his oiling up gimmick. His Turkish wrestling style is also unlike anything we have seen in past Street Fighter games as well. Along with Juri and Hakan, eight characters from previous games make their return in Super. Dee Jay and T. Hawk from Super Turbo, Cody, Guy, Adon from the Alpha series, and Dudley, Makoto, and Ibuki from the Street Fighter III series all make their returns. All these new characters made the translation to Super very well as they play pretty close to their previous incarnations. Of course those who were serious with the Street Fighter III characters from 3rd Strike would have to readjust their game with those characters since this still does not have parries like those games had.
The core fighting mechanics didn't really change that much in Super Street Fighter IV as it still plays like vanilla SF4 with the focus attack, the EX meters, and the ultra combos. The main addition though to the core gameplay though is that all of the 35 characters get a second ultra at their disposal in which they have to choose which one to stick with at the character select screen. These second ultras can be as much as a game changer with their first ultras as if they change up the character matchups dramatically. Ryu for example has his second ultra, the Metsu Shoryuken, which eliminates his FADC Ultra 1 combo as a viable option, but is now more dangerous up close and deal even more big damage with his new ultra. More characters even have more setups and combos that can lead up to their Ultras, which makes more useful than just throwing them out praying they will hit. Other than the second ultras, it is the little changes that count towards balancing the game from vanilla SF4, such as Sagat's Tiger Uppercut damage being nerfed even though he has a new Angry Scar move that would increase damage on his next one. Super SF4 is still as simple to play for newcomers to hop in, but still deep enough for tournament players to grasp learning all the matchups and executing some new tricks.
The arcade mode remains unchanged, other than new prologues and endings for all characters, with eight stages against the computer with some characters getting new rival battles and then culminating with Seth unless you perform specific things to fight Akuma or Gouken after defeating Seth, who is not as bad as he was in vanilla SF4 as a last boss. The versus and training modes are pretty self-explanatory being there for your needs. The trials return from vanilla as well, but the other challenge modes like time attack and survival are gone, which you have to unlock colors and taunts for everyone a different way that is much easier just by playing as those characters a certain amount of times. Bonus stages also make a return from past games as they basically the Street Fighter II ones redone with the current graphics with the car smashing and barrel breaking. The major improvement in the mode department though for Super from vanilla is going online as there are more options of how to play along with various community features too. The online play now consists of your normal ranked matches, but the endless battle and team battle modes are new and necessary additions if you are tired of just playing ranked matches. The lack of a player match is somewhat weird, but it is still in endless battle, which is basically your quarter match style approach of two guys fighting while people have to wait in line just like the arcades. Team battle is pretty straightforward with a Pokemon approach as there are opportunities to OCV (one character victory) a whole team. The online play for the most part has improved with better matchmaking as you don't need to search around a selection of matches anymore compared to vanilla and the the game does a good job of managing lag if things get out of hand. The last major feature that has improved is the replay channel as it is pretty much a YouTube of sorts for Street Fighter watching matches you recorded as well as other ones too as there are specific channels dedicated to certain characters, so you see how others would play those characters as well as learning what to do and not do in certain situations.
Graphically, Super Street Fighter IV does not look much different from the original game as the same style is still being used, but the new characters look great with their transition from their previous appearances. The prologues and endings are still done in anime style, but most of them are stilled, which is a minor gripe. The presentation does get an overhaul though with better looking menus showcasing the characters along with other things being streamlined like the titles and icons, which also make a return from vanilla SF4. The new stages though look beautiful and give the game more diversity like the Construction stage that is reminiscent of Final Fight, and an African stage that takes place during a solar eclipse with animals as well, but the old stages are still in and as good looking as they were before. Most of the soundtrack is also intact too in Super, but now everyone has their background theme song that sound similar to their original tune back in their glory days. These character themes can finally be played during normal fights now just by turning on the arranged music if you're tired of the normal music in the stages, which they still sound just as good. The character voices also can be customized just like the last game with English and Japanese voices as even with the new characters, their English voices can be hit and miss, so it is still preferable to all with the Japanese voices even though Cody in English is better than Japanese as an example. I also don't mind the new announcer too, but the "Indestructible" theme song is gone in which some are sad about that.
Super Street Fighter IV is everything you could of asked for that was missing in the original game. More characters are in which range from some of your favorites from past games. Various character tweaks to balance out the gameplay this time around are for the better as Capcom did a job for the most part of making this fair with no one character dominating as low-tier characters struggle to get things going as each character still be dangerous in their own way. The story is not as bad going through arcade mode with the various characters as the endings make somewhat sense for some. The online experience, however, is improved significantly with more modes like endless and team battles and community features with the replay channel that will keep players busy for weeks, months, and maybe even years especially with each character getting their own ranking level along with your own overall ranking. The amazing thing is that all of this is 40 dollars as you could not ask for a better deal for that. Even if at standard price, it is still worth it even though most of the game is a year older. If you are at least interested in Street Fighter or fighting games at the slightest bit, Super Street Fighter IV comes under the highest recommendation as you could not thought Capcom can make it better, but they did, which is truly an amazing feat for today's standards.
Score = 10/10
Pros:
10 new characters and they're as much fun to play as the original cast. There is always someone in that roster that will fit your playstyle.
The gameplay changes like various balance tweaks and the addition of the second ultras make things way more deeper learning the matchups.
The online experience has significantly improved with more modes, better matchmaking, and replays.
Graphics and music remain unchanged, but the new tracks and improved presentation are superb too.
Cons:
Uhhh... none unless you're not a fan of Street Fighter or the genre at all.
