Just Dance 3 vs. Dance Central 2 - Soundtrack Battle!

This year's fall battle of rhythm games contains two dance franchises that follow a similar rivalry between the big plastic instrument games four years ago. Both Just Dance 3 and Dance Central 2 are out this month to compete for your dollars, but even though the games are different in terms of how dancing is handled. Just Dance 3 continues this mega popular franchise as it is now coming to all three platforms instead of only the Wii. Its a Kinect only on the Xbox 360 while Move controls are mandatory on the Playstation 3 version. Obviously being on all three consoles means it will sell better than Dance Central 2 easily and arguably one of the big selling games this holiday season, but it doesn't mean its the better game. Harmonix's Dance Central 2 is what I call the "Rock Band 2" of dance games improving everything and including what is missing in this sequel to the Kinect's most successful game so far. The dance routines are getting better and more accurate to music videos of certain songs unlike Just Dance 3 where it is the same old mindless moves that don't make sense. Anyway, this post is about comparing the soundtracks, which is the most important part to decide who would win this battle as the better dancing game.



Just Dance 3's soundtrack is the best of the franchise being a mix of new and old classic stuff. One advantage in terms of certain songs making this game compared to Dance Central 2 is LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem." The downside to this is definitely a lack of shuffling in the preview footage above, which is disappointing. Recent hits range from Katy Perry's "California Gurls" (One of the spokespersons advertising this game with exclusive DLC again at retailers I think), Taio Cruz's "Dynamite," Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You," and more. There is a lack of infamous songs compared to the competition as there are some personal favorites in here I approve of like A-ha, Janelle Monae, Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous," and others. The soundtrack at the end of the day for Just Dance 3 is just another collection of tunes to dance to. The full list is here if you see some choices I didn't mention here you like.

Dance Central 2's soundtrack on the other hand is filled with banger after banger that has influenced the dance scene as if Harmonix knows what's up when it comes to song choices (they have been for the Rock Band games). Its a great mix of classic and modern songs that I know people are down to dance into at their homes. The old-school stuff that is in this game are basically the quintessential songs you expect to hear at parties and get things popping at the clubs. Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" (shoutouts to Pat 112), "The Humpty Dance," "Baby Got Back," and "What is Love?" are just some of the classics that are in this sequel. As far as modern radio hits are concerned, "Like a G6," "Rude Boy" by Rihanna, Flo Rida's "The Club Can't Handle Me," Gaga's "Born This Way," and more made it to the final disc. Even house favorites "Sexy Chick" by David Guetta and "Sandstorm" (yeah that DDR classic) will be awesome times as well. Slower songs such as B.o.B's " Nothin' On You" and "Grenade" by Bruno Mars are questionable, but I guess they offer a different change of pace if you're into that. Even though the whole soundtrack hasn't been revealed yet, you can still look here for what else made it to Dance Central 2. In Harmonix tradition, all songs from Dance Central 1 can be exported in the new one for a cheap fee as well as all DLC is also supported too, meaning you can have more than a hundred songs at your disposal when it comes out.

The soundtrack battle is pretty much no contest as Dance Central 2 easily wins it over Just Dance 3 due to the crazy amount of bangers and not a lot of filler (misses). Who knows how Ubisoft will handle downloadable songs for Just Dance 3 on 360 and PS3 if they have a monthly schedule planned out as I know for sure Harmonix, the kings of DLC, will be able to pump out new songs for weeks and months to come. If you have a 360, definitely go with Dance Central 2 for your dancing game of choice as long as you have a Kinect. PS3 or Wii-only owners will be fine with Just Dance 3 filling that void.

A Day Into the Battlefield 3 Multiplayer Beta...

The Battlefield 3 multiplayer beta finally came out for everyone (360, PS3, PC) yesterday and been enjoying it despite how limited it is. For those who don't know, this beta features one map and one mode, which are Operation Metro and Rush respectively. Rush mode has pretty much became the primary multiplayer game for the franchise as of late as the goals have been the same and a single match can take pretty long to finish. Basically the point of rush is that the attacking team has to destroy sets of MCOM stations to progress through the map while the defenders prevent them from doing so. The lives count will reset for the attackers back to 100 when they destroy one set of MCOMs. As a team-based mode, rush still works fine even though people just wanna play it as if its team deathmatch racking up lots of kills while people like me would rather go for the win getting the objectives done. The class system is still present here with assault, engineer, support, and recon classes to choose from as they have their own perks. Personally, I have been going with engineer since I like the assault rifle they give you for both sides (M4A1 with red dot sight for example when attacking).

From what I noticed so far, people do love to go abuse prone no matter which side they're on whether if they are sniping because they're rocking the recon class or just simply hiding from the opposition to surprise them. Most of the time you'll be wandering how you got killed because you didn't see it coming at all, which is expected for multiplayer shooters being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Of course in typical Battlefield fashion, there is a leveling up system to unlock more weapons, ribbons and awards to collect when achieving certain tasks, and so on if you played any AAA first-person shooter in recent memory. Performance wise, this beta definitely lives up the name of being a beta with weird glitches. Being stuck on the terrain, not jump vaulting when you're supposed to do so, certain controls stop working for a second or two, and texture pop-in are just some of the issues I noticed with the beta in one day so far. In addition, the game will sometime freeze whenever a PSN friend window pops off, which is infuriating too. Other than that, the Battlefield 3 beta still performs functionally with no framerate hitches (still 30 frames per second folks).

The beta ends on October 10 for everyone and PC folks can somehow play the Caspian Border map as well, which features some vehicles to mess around with (Operation Metro doesn't have vehicles at all). At least EA and DICE are finally able to get some version of Battlefield 3 to everyone's hands unlike a certain franchise that only did one beta (cough, Call of Duty, cough). Then again, they have been pushing out betas for all Battlefield games lately (the Bad Company games and this one) to test out online performance rather than fix exploiting tactics since the game is out on October 25. Shooter fans (no matter which team you're repping) should give it a shot before it ends in two weeks.

The New SSX Continues to Defy Reality...

If you don't know by now, the first quarter of 2012 starts off with a bang for me with the new SSX. Here's the newest trailer, which is pretty much just another montage of snowboarders launching off big ramps doing spin tricks like no other (and the occasional glide seen back in the debut trailer).

Saving The Internet Now On Blu-Ray... The Child of Eden (PS3) Review

Note - I haven't tried the Move controls myself or seen this version in 3D yet, so don't expect my exact thoughts on those.

Child of Eden has been out for several months on the Xbox 360 with Kinect support. Now the same spiritual successor to Rez, one of my favorite games of all-time, created by Q?Entertainment is out for the Playstation 3 with some added exclusive features that only the PS3 is capable of. Instead of Kinect, this version is also playable with the Playstation Move controller and its able to be displayed in 3D if you have a 3DTV. Other than that, its the same visual spectacle like the 360 version with amazing sound design as expected from the minds behind Rez, Lumines, and Space Channel 5. Luckily it is priced at 40 dollars compared to the standard retail price because of how short it is. PS3-only owners that want a new Move game and something beautiful to show off 3D technology should not pass Child of Eden up.

As a successor to Rez, Child of Eden plays and is structured like that masterpiece from beginning to end. The story may be weird at first, but pretty simple to understand. Lumi from Genki Rockets seems to be enjoying a normal day inside Eden until a virus corrupts the garden as it is up to you save Lumi and Eden, the internet in other words according to the game. Also similar to Rez, the game is five stages long and can be beaten in a hour or two. However, these five stages (archives in their words) are filled with amazing environments and colors containing different themes. These themes basically describe the stage names themselves as if they have more of a meaning than you think of once you play through them. An example of this is witnessing an evolution of a whale to a phoenix in the coincidentally called evolution archive. Other environments players transverse from range from a garden to an industrial-like setting filled with themed sound effects.

The core on-rails shooter gameplay hasn't changed significantly from Rez, but the difference in Child of Eden is having two types of main weapons to take out enemies. The blue lock-on laser is what we seen from Rez, but the purple tracer is a rapid fire laser that is essential to survival being the only way to avoid enemy fire. Even though the majority of enemies can be taken out by lock-on, some enemies have to be destroyed by the tracer before they fire purple balls for damage as if its something straight out of Ikaruga. There is also the all clear weapon called the euphoria that can be used especially in certain situations like avoiding damage. Boss battles are also a plenty as well, which are not that hard to defeat. Even though Child of Eden can be beaten in a single sitting, it is harder than Rez the first time through even on normal difficulty. My only problem with the campaign structure is if you don't get a high enough rank in certain archives, you have to play them again at least one more time to unlock the later archives. Speaking of ranking, Child of Eden's scoring system is way different than Rez where keeping in sync with the beat of the music by perfect octa-locks is the key to get high scores. Percentage of purification is also another factor with scoring as taking out every enemy in a level is crucial to getting more than three stars.

As I mentioned before, the major additions to the PS3 version of Child of Eden are Move controls and 3D support. At first, two Move controllers would be required to play due to the Kinect controls requiring both hands to play. It turns out that one Move controller is enough as you still lock-on with the pointer and then flick your wrist to fire. The tracer is mapped to the Move's trigger button as you hold it down while pointing at the screen to eliminate enemy fire while euphoria is a simple Move button press compared to having both hands in the air on Kinect for the 360 version. The standard controller still works fine if you played Rez before as both control options have their advantages and weaknesses. Unfortunately, I personally haven't tried the Move controls because I don't have a Move controller to give a full opinion of how they feel compare to playing it with a controller, but whenever I get one, I'll update the review with my thoughts. The same thing goes for the game having 3D support as I haven't seen the game on a 3DTV yet.

As expected for a spiritual successor to Rez, Child of Eden is a visual, beautiful spectacle as the graphics are simply amazing. Diverse environments throughout the five stages, some FMV-like cutscenes with Lumi, and runs at a smooth, consistent 60 frames per second. Sometimes, there might be too much going on with the game screen in certain areas to the point you'll miss an enemy to get 100% purification, but it is a matter of being quick with the lock-on and recognizing patterns even though it is a minor gripe. There are a ton of Rez references from certain bosses and sound effects too. The sound design is no slouch either considering its Q? Entertainment, masters of implementing rhythm into multiple genres. Even though its just Genki Rockets songs throughout the game, the way they were implemented is what makes Child of Eden that special. If that band is not your cup of tea, then you'll probably pass on this game even though personally its tolerable for anyone to enjoy and listen to.

There is arguably nothing like Child of Eden especially in the current generation of consoles. As a successor to Rez, it definitely lives up to the title even though of course it is not as groundbreaking. Comparing whether or not it is better than Rez is another story to be debated on a later time, but I'm still glad Rez lives on with Child of Eden. In addition, its another game that makes the whole "games as art" category since it is one beautiful, visual spectacle (or some would say a crazy visualizer). The game's length is obviously short and can be beaten in a hour or two, but there is enough replay value from an unlockable harder difficulty, a bonus challenge level, other collectables to get, and online leaderboards if you want to get compete for high scores. The PS3 version's Move controls and 3D support might be enough to be the better version, but you can make an argument for the 360 version being cheaper now and having Kinect support. Child of Eden seems catered for a niche crowd having that sleeper hit identity, but it is one immersive experience players can't miss out on since its now out for both 360 and PS3.

Score = 9/10

Pros:

• As a spiritual successor to Rez, it definitely lives up that title
• Another amazing, beautiful, visual spectacle by Q? Entertainment
• Still one of the best in the biz regarding sound design - superb implementation of Genki Rockets songs
• Move controls/3D support
• Even though you can breeze through the game with skills from Rez, the scoring system is deeper than you think once you get the timing of perfect octa-locks down.
• Enough replay value for players to keep going despite how short it is.

Cons:

• As similar to Rez, the game is pretty short (a hour or two long)
• Campaign structure could of been better since you have to replay levels again to unlock later levels because of performing well ranking-wise when you're playing the campaign the first time through.

EA's Syndicate Reboot + Skrillex = A Cool Debut Trailer

The long awaited Syndicate reboot by EA has been known for a while, but finally the interwebs get the read and see what it is all about. Yeah, its another shooter with RPG elements (Oh wait that's Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which is the obvious comparison as of late, but less brown), but count on Starbreeze to deliver the goods since they know what's up with shooters for years. Plus, you might as well add some dubstep to your debut trailer to get people excited too (how fitting its a completely new Skrillex song called "Syndicate" - nice one EA). There should be a ton of previews rolling out now in all the major game sites if you want to know more about Syndicate, which is slated to come out on February 21, 2012 for the 360 PS3, and PC.

Some New Last Guardian Footage...

One of the biggest no shows at this year's Tokyo Game Show was Sony's The Last Guardian, the next game from the developers of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. The HD collection featuring the two games I just mentioned came out this week and it looks like this extra trailer for this new game is from the disc. Most of the footage is what we seen already, but there's some new stuff as well. The Last Guardian is still on track for a release sometime next year.

Battlefield 3 Has 99 Problems, But a B**** Ain't One...

The full ad for Battlefield 3 came out today featuring Jay-Z's "99 Problems" and its pulling no punches that they want you to get this over Call of Duty: MW3 just by the usage of air quotes. I already said many times this game looks amazing and now everyone will be able to try it out with this week's multiplayer beta release. Its out Tuesday for Origin folks and owners of the Medal of Honor Limited Edition. Everyone else gets it on Thursday on PC, Playstation Store, and the Xbox Live Marketplace till the beta ends on October 10. Expect my hands-on impressions of that soon as Battlefield 3 is less than a month away folks!