Philoking.comfrom Jason Burns’ perspective…

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare has been a blast to play!  In fact, the one major downside of the game is how short the single player campaign is.   So I started over on veteran with the intention of getting the mile high club achievement rumored to be almost impossible. 

I am about halfway through this difficulty mode and it could be one of the most frustrating in my FPS gaming career.  I’ve died a 100 times to make one checkpoint and its figuratively and literally a long slow crawl from level to level.  The game has enough variety and required concentration to keep it interesting but sometimes its like sticking hot pencils in your eyes to make any progress.

So my question is…has ANYBODY reached the unlockable mile high mission at the end of Veteran game completion?  Will I find myself entirely disappointed after working so hard to get there?  At some point, I have to return the game to its owner ( thanks Leif! ) and I would love to get some feedback from those of you that have tried to make it.

Kiss Kiss,

 
Dawngrrl Gametart

In my quest for the next 360 game, I decided to check out a few of the demos available on Live before buying the 3 top February 5th releases; the Devil May Cry 4, Turok, and Spiderwick.  Though Spiderwick wasn’t available for download, it made the choice no less natural, because after a few minutes into Devil May Cry 4, the choice is made.    Worthy of note, I am a series virgin, so my immediate interest in the game has no story or character loyalty.   Incidentally, my choice is no reflection on Turok, it too captured my attention, and it certainly has a place on my dance card.    During our short jig, I instantly became engaged in play, although the controls were far from intuitive and the uber sensitive camera on the right analog will take some work to get used to, the dinos are way cool and I’ve no doubt Turok will be a fully enjoyable FPS that delivers some killer Jurassic action. 

There is a fine balance in the art of video production when your audience scales out to such a wide spectrum.  Every game type has many different tones, flavors, and styles that speak to a gamer just as much, if not more so, then its story or categorized genre.  This "game personality" attracts people as uniquely as whether your a leg or chest guy, or if you prefer "tomato" or "tomahto".  It simply becomes what turns you on most, in a game.    From the demo alone, DMC4 will attract many of us regardless of anatomical penchants or pronunciation preferences, because it walks that very fine line of blood flying action and intriguing adventurous strategy.   The flashy carnage somehow touches on a comic book "kapow", in a pristinely elegant way that removes even the slightest hint of corniness. 

Having no history with the predecessors main squeeze, Dante, I can easily say that Capcom delivers a fantastic new character with Nero (though I understand you’ll get plenty of Dante play later on in the game) who strikes a delicious balance of his own with spectacular flair yet sublimely virile making him remarkably sexy for us gamer grrls and a fitting character for you manly men to virtually become.

I can’t wait to play through and get the rest of the story!  I will post the full review sometime later this month, but in the meantime, I feel pretty sure Devil May Cry 4 is going to be a home run, so if you’re like me (waiting for your next 360 thrill), pick it up, play along with me, and let me know what you think! 

Kiss Kiss,

Dawngrrl Gametart

I am in one of those uncomfortable phases where I don’t have a new heartthrob title to finish.  Aside from my staple Halo 3 matches, I finished Mass Effect and At Worlds End, and have been trying a few different games, desperately seeking something to get attached to.    The Boy Genius happened to pick up Kingdom Under Fire (MS gaming studios & Blueside) last week at the MS store so I was pretty excited to check it out.  Today was my third attempt at trying to like it, hoping it’s personality would grow on me.  Unfortunately we haven’t clicked well enough to develop much of a relationship. 

Some of the screen shots images and videos I’ve peeked at certainly we’re beautiful and unique, and though the first territory is lush and filled with imaginative fantasy theme eye candy, I’m still in it.  The game progression is like one of those dreams where your running down a never-ending hallway, no right or left turns, no changes in your direction, leaving you feeling powerless and bored and beginning to stare at the color of your ceiling wondering about a change…"hmmmm…beige.."   You essentially stay on a path indefinitely, running (sluggishly) forward until you come upon a pack of baddies, mow them down, which I am sure you can do with your eyes closed, and then continue on to the same, and so on, and so on.   At least those baddies, along with the drops, are quite eclectic and help save you from mind numbing boredom.  From little shop of horrors, to armed and dangerous Geico geckos, to hulking troll like creatures, at least you get to best lots of interesting foes.  Without a doubt the worst thing about Circle of Doom is the cludgy game play; the chirpy movement freezes slightly at times and it takes much too long to reharness the controls after certain action events.   This takes second seat only to the worst camera control ever.  In any game.  Ever.  Its so bad it should not even be an option.   Your control doesn’t persist, i.e., as soon as you let go, it wobbles back into its original place like a sea sick buoy. 

There is some good in the game, its just a shame that the bad outweighs it so heavily.   The collectibles, inventory, and weapon and armor scheme are pretty cool, at least they are commonly in line with standards.  You equip, you level up, you get new gear, and you can synthesize items.  This morphs an item to its next stage of evolution and can only be done at iconic stations (paganish icon statues) that allows you to pick the price weighed by your chance of synthesis success, i.e., 100% chance of success will cost you X number of gold, or if you’re feeling lucky you can save some duckets with a lessor success rate.  

You may be wondering why I haven’t mentioned the character selection or the story.  What story?    Lacking in narrative or even inplay story line leaves you further dulled by the games repetition.  Even initial character creation has no detailed story, choosing your race is entirely about aesthetics or the random method of "close your eyes and press A".

Sad really.  I keep finding screen shots of what *looks* like totally fly game play.  I just don’t think I’ll ever get there without falling asleep at the controller.

Kiss kiss,

Dawngrrl Gametart