Red Faction Recap

I spent the past week or so romping through Mars playing Red Faction Guerrilla on the PS3 and overall had a good time with it. The story was severely lacking, especially since so much could have been done with the rebellion taking place on the red planet; but the good news is that the game itself brings the fun.

Taking out whole buildings using only a sledgehammer is some of the most fun I've had in a game in a long time, but you're not limited to a hammer you have a variety of weapon at your disposal. Destruction is made easy with rocket launchers, mechs, tanks, remote mines and all sorts of goodies that will allow you to take down any structure you see standing. If you don't like the way an apartment building looks, tear it down! The game won't puish you for needless destruction!

This brings me to one of my biggest issues aside from a lack of an involved story: though there is a penalty for killing civilians, there's no real consequence for it. City morale can be gained back faster than those recently killed can lose their body heat. This takes away from the realism of leading a rebellion on Mars--wait, did I just comment on the realism of taking leading a rebellion on Mars? Who cares? This is a fantasy! Let the bloodshed continue!

While Red Faction Guerrilla will never be mistaken for a deep game story-wise, the fun of running amok while taking out the Earth Defense Force will make you forget that this is nothing more than a fantastic sandbox. The shooting is fine, the driving is good enough, but what the game boils down to is busting up buildings and watching them fall.

Overall, I'm glad I purchased Red Faction Guerrilla, but I'll say right now it's not going to be a permanent member of my collection. It's worth a play, and a purchase if you can get it for less than $40, but even breaking shit can get kind of old when you don't care about the world or any of the characters.

A Weekend With inFamous

This week the PS3 saw two exclusive retail releases in Sucker Punch's inFamous and NIS America's Cross Edge and I had the pleasure of receiving them both in the mail this Saturday afternoon. Great news, but I had to decide which game to open up and which one finds a place on my shelf to be returned to when the weather is hotter. And as you may be able to infer from the title, Cross Edge is on my game shelf sitting next to unopened copies of Valkyria Chronicles and Disgaea 3.

Now on to the meat.

So I spent the majority of my Saturday and Sunday playing the hot new Sony exclusive and I'm going to say it was well worth not getting anything done. The game starts with a bang (literally!) as you're set in the middle of a disaster area known as Empire City as soon as you hit start on the title screen not fulling knowing what has happened to the city around you; but the one thing that is for sure is that you need to make your way out. As you escape what is seemingly the epicenter of the blast you witnessed at the title screen you're introduced to the first of three districts you will either work to conquer or reclaim as the gravel-voiced protagonist Cole MacGrath. The fate of Empire city is in your hands as you have developed the ability to harness and manipulate electricity in a variety of unique ways. Cole has an effective arsenal at his disposal, which only grows in power as you progress through missions at your leisure.

I decided to live out my dreams of becoming a superhero, so I walked the path of the righteous and defend Empire city from drugged up thugs and crazy homeless men thus far. In what I would estimate is roughly 2/3 of the story progression I have encountered countless minions of evil and some great complementary characters. The city itself is a character as it is in shambles after you start your journey. The more good deeds I did for citizens and police in specific districts, the more land I reclaimed for the people to conduct their lives safely. The safer the land, the better the city started looking as trash was cleaned up and life started to get as close to normal as a quarantined city recovering from a large explosion can be. Along with the rejuvenation cane the support of the people who once labeled me a terrorist. Initially I was assaulted verbally and threatened by people on the street, but once they saw the work I was doing I became the belle of the ball! The same people who wished I was dead are now flashing pictures of me as I go by and supporting my fights with lesser enemies by throwing rocks at them as distractions. You really feel a part of the city as the people rally behind you.

As for how the game play, you can tell these guys made the Sly Cooper games for the PS2. You can climb on anything you see and it controls as smooth as butter. Your primary lightning attack controls like a third person action shooter and the further your progress, the cooler your abilities come. Whether you're jumping from the tops of buildings bringing down the thunder on some fools or grinding the rails as you zap nearby enemies the game never stops being fun and never reaches any significant level of frustration. The variety of missions will keep you from feeling like you're repeating yourself and the rewards for completing your missions will give you a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

All in all this is a good looking game that performs exceptionally well with absolutely no loading times. The comic book style cut scenes compliment the stylized character art and give you the feeling of playing through a graphic novel. The character voices are well acted and the dialogue never feels cheesy or forced.

inFamous is the perfect cure for the summertime blues and a must buy if you own a PS3. The trophies are awarded in such a manner that encourages you to play through multiple times as there are morality specific choices that can't be repeated. I have a feeling playing as a bad Cole will result in a far different experience than my good Cole has produced so far, so I'll be back for seconds when this play through is up.

Everything Old is New Again!

Today, when I got home from a long day of class, I was greeted by the smiling face of an Amazon.com box on my doorstep holding my brand new baby: a DUALSHOCK 3 controller. I then happily tore into the box to unearth my new controller. I (after taking this picture, of course) immediately opened the plastic fortress that protected this beauty from my greasy, dirty hands and, instead of popping in a compatible PS3 game, I got down to the nitty gritty and put in Tales of the Abyss for the PS2. I was worried that my shiny new controller wouldn't work with my old PS2 games, so my first task was to see if my concerns were unfounded.

Thankfully, any doubts that I had faded away once I initiated a battle and felt a familiar tingle in my hands. At first I almost didn't notice it. I still have rumble in my Xbox 360 controllers, but it's been over a year since I felt the gentle buzz of a PlayStation controller in my hands. The sensation of rumble just felt right and subtlety adds to the gameplay experience. The DUALSHOCK 3 also feels as if it can deliver more subtle rumbles to give a more authentic feel to your on screen experience. While playing MLB 08: The Show (PS3), I noticed that I immediately felt more connected to what was going on in front of me and was able to move carefully guiding my pitches into the strike zone, which coincidentally improved my game dramatically, though there's no way I can directly link my favorable game results to the controller any more than I can claim that Lady Luck is on my side.

The controller itself feels just right in your hands with the added weight the rumble offers. The controller feels more solid and less likely to snap after a frustrating game moment coupled with a controller squeeze. Other than the "DUALSHOCK 3" written above "SIXAXIS" on the front of the controller there have been no aesthetic changes made to body or design. The face buttons and analog sticks both feel the same as the SIXAXIS and respond just as well. The battery life for the DUALSHOCK 3 has been impressive and can be relied to survive any Final Fantasy throwback sessions on your PS3.

My only complaint is that my new controller didn't come with a USB cable because Sony is assuming that I am happy using my own that came with my PS3. Good ol' Sony cutting corners where they can.

I'm glad to see that Sony listened to consumers and brought this "last generation" technology into the now with the DUALSHOCK 3 controller, and with it, completed my PS2 gameplay experience by giving me what has been missing since I made the jump from last gen platforms to current generation. I might even play through some of my PS3 games again to experience the rumble for the first time and to see if they can replicate the immersion I felt during my play through the MLB 08: The Show.