Taking Gangstas Back Into Space with Saints Row: The Third's New DLC

Even though Genkibowl VII was a disappointment to many last month, THQ and Volition are back with another set of DLC missions with Gangstas in Space. The big difference this time that this pack is actual story missions than activities seen in Genkibowl. The length of beating them is still the same as you'll be done with Gangstas in Space in a hour or two. This does not have any relation to the main campaign, but you star in a new movie directed by Andy Zhen. Your sidekick is a girl named Jenny playing as Kwilanna as the director gives her a tough time as if she is just an extra throughout the DLC. The missions themselves are scenes from the movie being shot and they are only three of them, hence why this DLC is over right away. Most of the scenes do take in Steelport as you blast away the army, alien intruders, and even alien spaceships to save Jenny. Like Genkibowl, Gangstas in Space does come in its own trophies and the unfortunate thing about them compared to Genkibowl is that you can't replay the missions with the same character over again if you missed a trophy or two (a patch will come out that will resolve that soon) . For trophy whores, better have a second character ready just in case you skipped getting one of them even though most of them are simple and can be beaten normally. The one achievement/trophy you'll likely miss the first time around is the collectable one as there are collectables spread throughout the movie set to get.

There is some other nice touches about Gangstas in Space. A film grain is used for the most of the missions giving it that feeling that you're actually shooting a movie. Also, the trademark humor the game has been known for is still intact from the cutscenes and even the trophies such as the "Do A Barrel Roll!" one. Additionally, I loved the usage of music in this DLC as it is the generic movie type of soundtrack you would hear when watching a summer blockbuster and it works in a game like this. The unlockables are not that bad and probably not gonna be used again when roaming around, but you get a spaceship, a new homie, and new laser weapons. Despite all of that, Gangstas in Space is seven bucks and for one hour or two of content, seven bucks is still too much for some, but this is better than Genkibowl because of the fact these are actual missions with a storyline. Hopefully next month's DLC (I think this is the last one planned) is even better than the two out now.

The Ocarina of Time's "Ganonless" Glitch

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As if The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a broken game already if you have seen the numerous speedruns of it over the years, there is a completely new glitch that was discovered just last weekend that skips the whole finale of the game. It is known as the "Ganonless" glitch and it requires some insane stuff for it to happen that I can't even describe here. It has been known that the game can be beaten in under a hour using the RBA route (aka random bottle adventure I think), but with this huge glitch, things are definitely gonna pick up now in the world of OOT speedrunning. You do the trade quest as normal, but there is lots of bottles, bugs, and fish involved that I can't even explain how that is done either (oh yeah bombs and deku nuts too). Along with that, you have to beat Dodongo's Cavern without getting the stone which is where the glitch has to go down. The ending is even crazier being all broken as I'll let the video above show that. It is still amazing to me that there are still glitches discovered so many years later after their initial release.

Hands-On with Mass Effect 3's Co-Op Demo

The online co-op half of the Mass Effect 3 Demo has been out for nearly a week even though everyone was able to access it by last Friday. It is no surprise that this co-op is a wave-based survival mode, but with the Mass Effect twists, it turned out better than I thought. I was going to write it off as just another Horde mode, but you can tell BioWare took their sweet time making it as a legit multiplayer mode than another tacked on bullet point to sell more copies. There are two maps to play in this demo as one takes place in a Noverian base while is at a more urbanized environment. Even for a demo, there is tons of replay value with the amount of unlockables you can get and it provides a good taste of the action in the final game.

One of the major reasons that co-op is more deeper than what people expected is the amount of characters you can play as and level them up. For the demo, you start as humans with the variety of classes the franchise has been known for from Soldier, Vanguard, Engineer, etc. As you buy starter/veteran packs with credits earned from playing matches, you gain more characters of different races, weapon modifications, extra health/ammo items, and more. A Turian Soldier for example would have different powers and stats than a human soldier, so BioWare did a good job of mixing things up with their races and classes so they don't feel one-dimensional. Leveling them up is the same traditional Mass Effect fashion with powers and stats along with the new branching trees introduced in this game when you reach level four with certain abilities. However, there are multiple characters with different classes to mess around with compared to customizing what the campaign gives you. It is also easy to level up quickly in this demo as a long game can guarantee that especially when you are just starting out.

There is a finite set of enemy waves players have to beat to complete the mission. For the demo, they are set at ten, which didn't seem much, but these games go longer than you think (almost a hour if you go deep). Hopefully the wave count can be customized in the matchmaking options of the final game. There are also difficulty settings that are significantly different in terms of the enemy count and types of enemies they throw at you as Bronze is the easiest, Silver is basically normal difficulty, and Gold is the hardest. Even on bronze difficulty, beating the ten waves with a full team of four is not a cakewalk as one wrong move will lead to failure. Teamwork in general is a key factor in beating these missions as going nuts without any sort of a gameplan is a bad idea especially with enemies that can kill you fast. At some waves, another objective would open up for players to complete than just clearing out objectives. These range from getting to certain chokepoints of the map to hack software or killing specific targets. More objectives just add along for things to get done while enemies are still out there to kill you, which is a good thing.

As far as the gameplay is concerned, it is still Mass Effect, but with more human controlled players in a certain area. Being that it is online co-op, the power and weapon wheels are not used since you can't stop the game during an online match, so you have to rely on quick commands to switch weapons, use powers, and items. It is highly recommended that the group you play with for this mode is diverse in terms of the classes as going in with four soldiers or four vanguards for example is not a good idea. The various classes are still true to themselves as they were in the campaign as having a variety of them in one map definitely helps. An engineer for instance would use drones in certain parts of the map to mow down enemies while soldiers and vanguards can finish the job with their damaging powers up close. Players can be revived if they're down, but can be curb stomped or bled out if you don't come in time to rescue them. Playing the maps with a varied group of classes does prove that co-op Mass Effect works as they have their roles to complete the mission.

Even though it is another wave-based survival mode at its core, Mass Effect 3's online co-op is actually fun to play especially with a group of players that use a variety of classes. There is a ton of replay value that can be as much as the competitive multiplayer juggernauts out now with the amount of characters and classes you can play as. The maps feel fine just by the demo so far as it is crazy seeing an Atlas mech roam around a small indoor environment at times. However, I hope the online matchmaking improves as load times can be long going in and out of games in the final game. Even when not finding matches, the load times are longer than normal even going back to the multiplayer menu. All of being that said, this is Mass Effect multiplayer done right as I don't think a versus mode would work out as well as this co-op, but who knows. We'll see if the online co-op still holds up when Mass Effect 3 is out in two weeks on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.

Hands-On with Street Fighter X Tekken

I finally played Street Fighter X Tekken for the first time last night at Wednesday Night Fights. The build Capcom had there last night didn't have the boss characters Jin, Bison, Ogre, and Akuma and it was also the PS3 version too with three of the exclusive characters playable. This is also I think the first time SoCal folks can mess around with the gem system in a public setting too. The game has been getting mixed reactions with all the systems introduced, gems, and certain characters not being in the roster, but you never know when you actually play the game than just watching it. With that mentality in mind, I actually had a fun time once I was able to get some basic stuff going.

Having knowledge of both franchises is not really a requirement, but it is preferable to have even though it is still a 2D Street Fighter game at its core. The Tekken characters also can be a little daunting to play at first especially if you look at their command lists that are filled with unique normal moves along with their special moves. I do say however that Capcom did a great job translating these characters to a 2D space as they are able to retain most of what made them great in Tekken from their combo strings along with mixing in core Street Fighter mechanics. The juggle and bound mechanics from Tekken are also in there in some form as once you pull off combos going with those in mind, it is cool stuff and makes "feel yourself" as the cool kids would say in the fighting game world. The Street Fighter characters are pretty much intact from previous games (specifically the SF4 series), but once you kick in the new systems introduced in Cross Tekken, the game is way different than you think.

I won't really break down the gameplay systems in Cross Tekken as they have been explained in other forms if you have been following the game since its announcement. I was able to understand the simple mechanics from doing cross rush combos, but I didn't mess around with the gems that much along with the advanced tag combo mechanics either. Those can be saved for when I play the final game having actual time to myself figuring them out. With the limited time going last night, I didn't want to all be crazy coming up with some gem customization and trying advanced/linked combos out. As Seth Killian said in the Level Up stream last night, Cross Tekken is not another Street Fighter IV as you have to grasp the new systems to be successful and its true. Throwing has bad range even though ticking them can work if your opponent can not tech, which was the case for me at times. I was playing Guile and Paul throughout the night as I can only play keep away as Guile to a certain extent with his projectile game. When mixing up overheads with the chain combos, Guile is a way different character than his SF4 iteration being more offensive than people expect him to be. I rocked Paul as one of my mains from the Tekken games and he is what I expected in Cross Tekken. He is slow and powerful once he gets going especially nailing his strings and wall bounce combos via his EX Phoenix Smasher. He is able to go through projectiles with certain special moves, but I wasn't able to do advanced as the Level Up Your Game guys demonstrated in their video below. For the most part Guile did the work especially I'm able to combo his Sonic Hurricane super after a Paul cross rush combo. Meter management was not in my mind throughout the night as once I have meter, I'm using it on wakeup situations and finishing combos. Paul's Shredder Kicks for example is not as good as a wake up option as they should be (not really a get off move as Ryu and Ken's dragon punches can be). Meter does become useful when doing tag cancel combos and cross art supers with both characters.

After playing it last night, I was finally sold on Street Fighter X Tekken. The game is more fun than I thought and the potential of what sheninegans players can come up with increased tenfold. I didn't play the other modes like the regular 2v2 mode and the chaotic Scramble node as seen on the Level Up stream last night, but it seems that people are hyped about it from a fun factor perspective. Team tournaments can be potentially crazy with two players controlling two separate characters, but the core 1v1 fighting is still gonna be serious time for the majority of people. I'm very impressed how the Tekken characters turned out to the point they're arguably more fun to play despite the learning curve with their daunting move lists, but once you learn them, they are filled with more options than what the Street Fighter characters dream of. Sure, you can still resort to fundamentals with the SF cast, but you have to eventually play the game the way it was designed. It is only three more weeks till the final game gets released, but now I know that this is a fighting game that you can't write off.

Hands-On with the Mass Effect 3 Demo

After numerous leaks of the script filled with storyline spoilers and even a beta on the 360, the Mass Effect 3 demo is finally out for its platforms. People have been playing it since Friday due to early access from certain sites and territories, but the official release was yesterday. I will only cover the campaign section of the demo as the co-op is locked for me till Friday even though some can play that early as of yesterday. Out of the gate, you'll be asked to make an Origin account if you don't have one no matter which version you play. Hopefully PC owners can transfer their saves from past games to ME3 since Origin is the only service that will have it (sorry Steam folks). Anyway, the single-player sections are what we seen before from preview events and whatnot, so those that have been following the game hardcore know what to expect. Like last year's demo for the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2, this is a lengthy one that spans two missions, one taking place at Earth as the Reaper invasion starts and the later section in a Salarian base. There are lots of choices to play this demo as with the final game from classes and other customization options. The video above for instance was played in action mode, meaning you skip the dialogue sections and go straight into the action. If you want to play it normally, pick role-playing mode as it is the Mass Effect you have been playing since 2007 with both dialogue trees of choices and combat stretches.

The Earth section of the demo is basically the tutorial for the final game teaching you the basic controls. Combat has been vastly improved as Shepard has more moves at his disposal against the opposition. In other words, the combat feels more like a conventional third-person shooter with the addition of evasive rolls and better melee attacks yet it keeps that Mass Effect style. The combat wheel is also intact from past games along with quick commands for certain powers. My Vanguard playthrough for example already has the charge move introduced from Mass Effect 2 as well as pull and shockwave. If you played the games with other classes like Soldier and Sentinel, they will feel the same way as they have been in the past with no significant changes. One of the changes I noticed for ME3 is the health system as it is more Halo-like with shields and health bars (instead of one health bar). I didn't mind this change at all since it is not much of a difference to the past games. Another big change I noticed when leveling up my stats during the second part of the demo is its own branching tree of upgrades. Powers and abilities can be upgraded normally when leveling up, but when it splits off into two separate paths, you have a decision to make which specific stats (duration or more damage) you prefer to go with. This is a change I welcome since specific class playthroughs are not going to be as one-dimensional as they were from the past two games and more RPG-like customization options is a good thing to encourage replay value. With all of that being said, the combat feels fine to me as the additions to ME3 are worth it.

The enemy A.I. has improved even on normal difficulty as going guns blazing is not a good idea. For example, I accidentally biotic charged in an enemy wave of Ceberus guys and then paid for it by dying as I tried to get back in cover. Being tactical and using cover is there for a reason, so use it to your advantage. Even while in cover, it is not as safe as you think as enemies will figure out ways to still hit you and even flank in certain areas. Your squadmates, Liara and Garrus in the second part of the demo, however are useful as they do their part to help you out in combat sections. They are not as useless as say the first Mass Effect, but they have their roles in the action and you can still use tactical commands in case of a sticky situation.

Since this is a demo, the framerate will hitch up at heated times especially on the PS3 version. We'll see in the final game if that remains to be true as the 360 version above seems to be fine. The graphics are generally the same too for the most part from what I seen and the sound is as top notch as it has been throughout the franchise. You can tell that BioWare spent a good chunk of time making the non-human characters like Wrex and Garrus look great. The humans themselves are debatable design-wise especially with Ashley, but that can be saved for another time.

I had a good time with the Mass Effect 3 demo as it makes more ready for the final game dealing with the new additions now than later. I'm also ready to see how the story will play out since this is the finale of a trilogy and with my Mass Effect 2 save of everyone being alive, I won't be missing anything big. The 360 version of the demo does have Kinect controls as I guess they are okay to have, but not a necessity since barking orders normally with a controller is still fine. As mentioned earlier, I can't play the multiplayer/co-op yet till Friday, so expect impressions of that next week. I like the new gameplay additions so far from the improved combat and certain customization changes even though there wasn't much dialogue choice in the demo and its probably a smart thing to save those for the final game. The game has gone gold too, meaning BioWare is done with the game and the wait till March 6 for Shepard to save the galaxy is not long now.

Hold up... Tron Legacy in Kingdom Hearts?

Square-Enix released a new trailer from Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance for the 3DS and it is filled with spoilers everywhere a month before it comes out at Japan (You are warned! - Footage from the main two games are in this clip). What struck out for me, well its the first time I seen it, is Tron Legacy stuff in a Kingdom Hearts game. I think this is replacing the original Tron content for the rest of the franchise and the characters from the movie make cameo appearances from the protagonist, Olivia Wilde's character, and Jeff Bridges too. In terms of the spoilers, main story stuff is revealed if you can understand what in the world is going on as I expect Nomura to screw things somehow. He also said in some interview that it is some prologue for Kingdom Hearts III, whenever they decide to make that game. Anyway, Kingdom Hearts 3D should be coming out later this year stateside coinciding with the franchise's 10th anniversary.

Prepare to get Rick-Rolled on Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone as Harmonix finally delivers arguably their most requested song for Rock Band 3 DLC today with Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." There are other songs out today as well like Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," but getting rick-rolled is the main highlight of the bunch.

Oh... as for the rest of the week on this blog, expect hands-on impressions of the Mass Effect 3 demo and Street Fighter X Tekken as I hope to play that at Wednesday Night Fights tomorrow night.