The Legend That is Spyro the Dragon

I want to talk about one classic title that truly got me into video games. Yes I had been gaming before then, but the 1998 release of Spyro the Dragon for the PS1 might be one of my favorite games of all time. It had it all, action, adventure, and great storyline. The object of the first game was to help the other dragon’s in each realm be set free from there stone prison. When set free they would either give you good advice or some cheesy yet funny tagline. Each realm had its own theme and unique enemy types. I strongly remember the desert area in which you fought vultures and arabic themed creatures. Spyro had is own arsenal of attacks that he could use against enemies too. This was uncommon for most games during the 90’s. He had his charge, fire, and bodyslam attacks that would get him across each level. You felt as if you could take on anyone or anything that the game threw at you. From the creepy Scarecrow boss to that crazy wizard level, Spyro had it all.

Made by Insomniac Games, Spyro delivered every aspect of what gaming should be. It was fun, and one of those games you could play everyday. Something about collecting gems to spend on realms or finding secrets areas to save the other dragons made it for me. By the way, who else sometimes couldn’t catch the guy holding the eggs? Being a 90’s game you come to expect crappy graphics and a cheesy story. At the time Spyro didn’t have that. If anything it was the complete opposite. Im sure anyone can agree that it was also a challenging game. Spyro’s enemies didn’t just lay down and die for you. Yes, the frog type enemies were idiotic and would run from whereas others would attack on spot. . Oh and who didn’t love Spyro’s little sidekick Sparx? 

Everyone has probably ran this topic to the ground. Maybe others thought Spyro was a terrible game. But for me it was much more than that. It was my childhood, and Im not the type of person to forget that. It made me want to try other video games. Yeah these days I have other favorites, Mass Effect, Halo, etc, but Spyro was so different from so many other games. Maybe that’s why it stood out for me. It’s been some time since I last played the game. I fell out of Sony awhile ago, and never decided to try it again. Who knows, I may wander onto Spyro again one day in the future. Me, my childhood self, and Spyro the Dragon. 

Did you ever own Spyro? Leave a comment below about your likes or dislikes about the game. 

What’s So Amazing? – The Amazing Spiderman Game

SPOILERS BELOW! IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME AND DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ANY IN GAME DETAILS PLEASE DO NOT READ!

Like every other Spiderman game to date it is destined to, well … suck. It’s like the Madden curse for superheroes. Why the developers would purposely strive to make bad gameplay decisions, thinking it was good is strange to me. The open world feel is fun, but gets really old very quickly. The Amazing Spiderman game did this too, but added some “better” qualities to it’s experience. Set a few months after the ending to the movie, you are once again thrown into the shoes of Peter Parker aka Spiderman. Oscorp has fallen into a a disaster zone in which a bunch of crazed science experiments are released. They’re some weird animal/human hybrids infecting the city by biting people. Like most movie game tie ins they tend to really get everything wrong. Although with this title, Beenox did a wonderful job adding in some of Spidey’s most notorious criminals. Villains like Scorpion, Rhino, Lizard, and even Iguana. 

Not all good things come out from this. The biggest issue was the lame boss battles. They didn’t feel like boss fights in the first place. A few jump away from major attack and go in for a flurry of punches and they’re out cold. Every enemy you encounter in the games seems like they take the same amount of damage. Of course they had to add giant mech battles into the fray also. Who doesn’t love annoying robot battles, right? Another irritating factor with this title is the camera angles. I felt more like throwing up at times instead of punching bad guys in the face. Spidey’s movement on ceilings was extremely nauseating. Oh and Beenox, where did you get your stealth ideas from, the Dark Knight himself? If you have played any of the Arkham titles you’ll notice the huge similarity between the stealth takedown approach they took. And to add an even more Batmanesque feel, they added tearing of Spiderman’s suit during intense fighting moments. Bruce Wayne would be so upset, then drop kick Spiderman for stealing his ideas. Replay value is also an issue for this game. It’s a very short campaign and so far no dlc missions. Flying around the city only takes so much before you rip the disc from your xbox and begin playing another game. 

Bad boss fights, and lame stealth missions aside there are some good gameplay choices for Spiderman. The new web rush mode is awesome when traveling around the city. I felt truly like Spidey when I was zipping around on my web. Collectibles were also fun seeking out. There are 400 comic pages to collect, and suits to capture around Manhattan. It’s always cool to run around as black suited Spiderman with less Tobey being such a nerd. Beenox also added in some killer fighting moves to up the badass factor for Spiderman. He is so quick around enemies and the web retreat feature gets you out of sticky situations. i didn’t get to play as him, but as a pre order bonus you could play as Stan Lee and also Rhino had a mini game. 

This was the best Spiderman game to date for me. I still have many disappointments with it, but it was decent. I am really hoping just as they did with the Batman games make a Spiderman game darker and more real for the player. Lets have fingers crossed for the future of superhero games. I recommend Red Boxing this title, and who knows you may end up enjoying it and want to buy.

Did The Amazing Spiderman game AMAZE you? Voice off in the comments below and feel free to like this article while your at it! 

What’s all the Rage?

Rage, the first person shooter developed by id software. To me this game is … OK. Set in a post apocolyptic/futuristic world. Rage delivers an exciting adventure with guns, gore, and …. racing? Of course, racing in a FPS is all the rage these days. See what I did there? Yeah lame I know, but the racing or should I say traveling in the game is by all means atrocious. Borderlands attempted it, and not everyone can pull off this concept. Pretty much the story takes off as you are awakened from a deep cryogenic slumber for a couple years. You are then put into this wasteland of a world filled with bandits, marauders, and psychopaths. Armed to the teeth in an array of weapons you are to take on these baddies any way that seems fit. Oh and did I mention boomerangs? If it isn’t cool enough to throw them at enemies how does decapitation sound to you. It’s an interesting take on a side weapon for a game. The game does have many ups and downs. I’ve already mentioned the racing, but to me another flaw is the AI. Enemies seem generic and lifeless. The boss fights are also the same way. The simple find your weapon used to defeat the boss and fire. Reload and find again three more times. One thing I did enjoy was a major voice acting spot. Mr. John friggin Goodman adds his take on the character Dan Hagar. I don’t know if this is an ode to his role on Roseanne or not, but he adds a nice touch to the game. 

 

I had high hopes for this game before it’s release. What really got my attention was the dazzling graphics engine. While in combat it feels almost too real sometimes, well if Earth was an apocolyptic wasteland. The gore level is raised pretty high as well. Bullets feel like they’re actually doing something to the enemies in a gruesome fashion. The campaign storyline really threw me off though. It was as if I didn’t pay too much attention to the story and just wanted to kill things. It’s a total let down to have a game do that to me. I want the storyline to envelope me in every way possible. 

 

This was also developed by Bethesda. They are really stuck on this theme choice. Although I give them props for giving me a more eerie feeling while playing the game. Every room seemed lonely and desolate to me. I was just waiting every second for an enemy to jump out and begin firing. I like that in video games and also why I really enjoyed Fallout 3. All in all Rage has tremendous graphics and concept choices. Yes the storyline is weak and so is some of the games elements, but I can’t say that it entirely sucked. I recommend picking it up anyways since it’s dirt cheap at local game shops. 

Did you enjoy Rage? Leave a comment below!

Brink is Broke

So much hype was with this game. The unique customization, the rpg shooter element, and explosive campaign. I remember reading an article before the game was released showcasing the games “freeflow” movement style. Like parkouring off buildings isn’t cool? Pfft.. I was so excited for this games release! Even had the pre order down for the Doom theme pack.  What really drew me in the game was the customization options. I am a sucker for creating an in game character that no one else has. It’s just something that is a pretty interesting concept.

Okay I got the game. Excited jumping in place moment for 5 sec. Oh made by Bethesda? This is even sweeter. I turn on my Xbox and start playing. Cool start up screen. Very futuristic and modern. Oh I can customize my guy like they said? AWESOME! After deciding on what game mode to play I enter my first match. Like being hit with a 747 I am in an instant stupor. This isn’t like it was supposed to be? The controls are clunky, moving sucks, and the enemies are as acting as if they’ve been binge drinking for days. Even my bot teammates are acting stupid. No campaign storyline??? I found out that the campaign really isn’t campaign. It’s just a bunch of random objectives rinse and repeated multiple times with different maps. WHY BETHESDA?! You promised me a parkouring futuristic rpg shooter with awesome gameplay. Instead I got a drunken house party video game. I felt like Einstein in a room full of chimps. Yeah let me just turn up the difficulty on the bots. Yeah bad idea. The auto aim feature is ruthless with this game. Just like Black Ops bots they will kill you. No matter how well you play.

2 hours had gone by. Frustration has set in big time and I have tried so hard to enjoy this game. Brink may be one of my most hated games of all time. Everything about it made me angry. GameAngry?  Dumb pun or not this is def not a game anyone should pick up. It’s just a misleading pile of garbage, and thats putting it nicely.

Did you play Brink and want to put your head through a wall? Leave a comment or like this blog.

Missing a Note – Guitar Hero by T.J. Napier

The era of Guitar Hero was a grand and mystical time. The player was given the ability to actually play an instrument even though they didn’t know a single note. The 5 plastic buttons lining the guitar controller put you in the drivers seat at being a rockstar within the game. The feeling of actually playing a song and the virtual crowd cheering was an amazing feeling. Unless you were a Guitar Hero prodigy you instantly started on Easy mode. Slowly learning fret patterns to gain more and more experience with the game. As soon as you knew it you were playing on Hard and eventually on Expert difficulties. Getting as high of a score as you could and trying to stay in the green for the entire song. As a long time Guitar Hero gamer I was easily addicted. No I cant beat Through the Fire and Flames on Expert, but thats okay with me. Its more about having fun and enjoying the game itself.

Going through Guitar Hero 1, 2, and 3 made me appreciate the series even more. Then came …. Metallica, Aerosmith, and Van Halen. Yes Guitar Hero : Metallica was amazing, but the direction GH was taking was really disappointing. They were recycling games left and right trying to get a game released every couple of months. With other music based games like Rock Band and Rocksmith, the GH franchise never stood a chance after GH 3. Game after game made me lose the excitement I had from the earlier games of the series. Plus the songs were lame as hell. Even putting an online marketplace which made buying songs easier and …. expensive. Costing 160 MP for each song was ridiculous to me. I went back and forth from GH to Rock Band, and both games got old real fast.

What happened to my love for GH you ask? I still love the game don’t get me wrong. Yes there are major things they need to fix, and thats why they stopped making them for some years now. I am really hoping a future GH game will be released. One with a fresh story mode based campaign and awesome song choice. RIP Guitar Hero. Maybe we will meet again sometime in the future.

Did you worship Guitar Hero? Leave your comment below.

The Sad Story of Dragon’s Dogma

What can I say about this Capcom based game? From early gameplay footage and reviews I knew what I was getting into with this one. It looks like an exceptional video game. I myself isn’t much of a Capcom guy, but I wanted to give this one a shot. It had a mythological feel to it. Fighting giant trolls, dragons of course, and the infamous chimera. Anyone else get an elder scrolls vibe? Being in third person also gave the game a good vibe. When May rolled around I immediately went to pick it up. It was tough because Ghost Recon was released on the same day. My mind was set though, Dragon’s Dogma was the game to play.

The beginning of the game was fantastic. Having to fight goblins and then harpies. Not herpes people… I knew what you were thinking :P. Then suddenly… the chimera busts into the room attacking everything in sight. One of the mechanics I loved with the game was the ability to grapple onto my giant foes. Holding on for dear life meant either life or a quick and crucial drain to my health bar. After putting up my dukes with the beast I came out victorious. Then ….. this is where it all ended for me.

Having been sent to a customization screen I had to create my own character. What? Didn’t I just have a character a little bit ago? Was that a demo I just played? So many questions and little answers with this game! I finally made what I wanted my character to look like. I guess that’s where my game started. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy some prologues, but that one was just strange. It’s like any other game today. They give you all the best stuff at the beginning only to take it away in a matter of minutes. A prime example is the cough* Batman series. For me the game completely changed direction after the prologue. I was a weak level one character with really no objective to do anything. Where do I go, and why do I keep DYING?!!! If you enjoyed Dark Souls then your gonna like this one. Die, die, and did I mention die. When is this gonna be fun like it did for me in the beginning? Everything seem clunky and out of place. After defeating a few more mini bosses I was over the entire experience.

Overall the game was just no fun after the beginning. I was really disappointed that I couldn’t get into it more. Unlike Skyrim I didn’t have the constant joy of finding new dungeons to explore and the threat of every creature I encounter. This was just a lame Gearsesque .. (yeah i just made that up) feeling to it.

Feel free to leave comments if or if not you have already played the game.

Diablo 3 makes me sad sometimes …

Don’t get me wrong, Diablo 3 is an amazing game. The class based systems and skill trees are awesome, and each character is unique in every way. When I first got the game I immediately jumped on the witch doctor class. Being able to summon creatures from the depths of hell was badass. The storyline to me though was …. mediocre. To find out that the campaign itself didn’t last too long and finally accepting the fact that you just start over again on a harder difficulty was foreign to me. No other game modes? No pvp battles? The anger was soon at it’s boiling point. i took a short hiatus from the game for some time. Eventually I found myself on Diablo slaying the minions of hell once again. I made my way to Hell difficulty only to completely stop. The urge to keep playing was growing thin. What is the point of playing? Better loot and gear? Im good. To me rinse and repeating the campaign 4 times is no fun. Honestly it’s pretty lame and boring. I know Blizzard has taken a lot of heat for the release of the game and all the bugs it had. Then came the hacks, and the delay of the real world money auction house. God forbid I ask for a “horde” mode type game mode. I would take that any day! I am just upset at the direction they took for the game. Replay value goes down the toilet with Diablo 3. Maybe mix things up and please, please throw in a king of the kill game type! i think that would be so cool. All in all Diablo 3 is a game that is great, but easily forgotten.

Photo source: Wikipedia.org

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Thoughts on Minecraft for the Xbox 360

When I first saw the game Minecraft in action I thought I had been on an acid trip. The graphics were garbage, overall gameplay seemed clunky, and the game itself was just plain stupid. I have never been much of a PC gamer until last year. Minecraft was never on my top games to play list. I know it had the hype and popularity, but why waste my time playing if I am going to hate it. Until this year I witnessed the crossover from PC to platform for the overly hyped Minecraft. I decided one day to finally jump on the wagon and play the game. The download was quick and instantly I was sucked into the game. My landscape filled with luscious greenery and pristine mountains. Creeks filled the pixelated valleys and the various blocky creatures roamed the countryside. I had nothing and it was hard to focus on what objective was against me. I soon walked up to the nearest tree and began pummeling away at the bark only to find it exploding and dropping a rotating cubic figure hovering above the ground. I was delighted to pick it up and continue scavenging. In my head I knew I was in trouble. How could I have been so stupid to NOT play this game?! Its so much fun! Yes, its simple. Yet this simplicity is captivating. It’s nothing I have ever played before. Before I knew it I was living in my cabin/castle villa living the good life. Escaping the outside from zombies and creepers was magical. Overall I was very satisfied with my purchase and the adventure Minecraft gave me. Replay value is great and playing with friends on XBL is even better. This is a must have in my book!

Picture source: Wired.co.uk

 

Welcome to my blog!

Hello fellow bloggers/twitter friends. This is @NappieT and decided to start my own blog. It will be mostly game reviews or thoughts on games. Also may throw in some movie buzz and other goodies from the web. ENJOY!