Friday, September 24, 2010

Working On The Backlog

I've spent the greater part of the last week working on my ridiculous backlog of games.

  • Metroid: Other M (Wii) - After waiting nearly two weeks for my Wii to return from repairs, I dove right into this game. I've been a fan of Metroid for about fourteen years now, so when this game was announced, I was ecstatic. I finished the story content at around 9 hours and collected all of the items around the 12 hour mark. It's a bit on the short side, but that's quite a lot of content for a Metroid title. Unfortunately, this game is the weakest in the franchise. The narrative is rather weak and the item collection is a joke. For those out of the loop, you start the game with all of your power ups, but you're ordered not to use any of them without authorization. It fits the narrative: You intercept a distress signal and you're there to assist a platoon that is attempting to recover survivors. Running in, Plasma Beams blazing, dropping Power Bombs all over the place isn't exactly the proper way to handle the situation. However, it gets ridiculous at times. A rather notorious example is when you're traversing Sector 3, a replica of what could be considered Norfair (Basically an environment for organisms that thrive in high temperature environments) without the Varia Suit. After exploring this region for what seems like ages, you are finally given the authorization to use your Varia Suit (which, if you think about it, doesn't make sense. What's the point in not authorizing a purely defensive mechanism?). Final Verdict: 2.5/5
  • Shank (PSN / XBLA) - Not much to say about this game. Brodude and Dynas showed it to me and I was genuinely intrigued. When the game was released, I tried the demo and didn't like it. I had no intentions of buying it citing excuses involving the "clunky" control mechanics. However, since my little issue with PSN not accepting my new debit card (I've still been too lazy to call either Sony or my credit union), I've resorted to buying PSN cards. Castle Crashers was released a week later, so I bought a $20 card for that and had the extra money left over, so I bought it against my better judgment. After sitting down with the game, the "clunky" controls I complained about weren't very "clunky" at all. After analyzing the controls and getting a feel for the game, I quickly learned that Shank was not a game that relied on relentless button mashing. If used properly, you can bob and weave through your arsenal of weaponry and create seamless combos to take down even hoards of foes with ease. Final Verdict: 3/5
  • Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (PSN / XBLA) - What to say about this? When I first saw the trailer for the movie, I thought it looked unique, but I had no interest in it. At the end of July, I'd officially become obsessed with the Scott Pilgrim universe. When I learned of the game: a homage to old school classics like River City Random and Double Dragon with music performed by the chiptune band Anamanaguchi with 32-bit sprites, I knew I needed this game. There's not much more I can say. Just download the demo and give it a try. Final Verdict: 5/5
The next games I plan to work on include Mass Effect, Castle Crashers, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

No comments:

Post a Comment