Posts Tagged ‘brawler game’
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Game Review–Cartoony Brawler With A Dash of Humor
There have been a lot of Spider-Man games over the years, and it’s never really much of a surprise to me when a new one shows up on the shelves. In fact, it’s such a non-surprise that pretty much every time I DO see one, I end up sighing piteously before wondering if I should give it a try. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t found good Spider-Man games before, and it’s not like I haven’t played the most godawful crap with that red and blue freak of nature stamped boldly across the front of the box.
And when I took a run at Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, now available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC, as well as for scads of handhelds and last-gen systems, I was downright surprised. See, the basic plot of the game looks like your normal run of the mill class X beat-em-up. And when you actually sit down to play it, that’s exactly what you get. But it’s the little things that make all the difference.
See, in Spider Man: Friend or Foe, you’re going to be taking on a series of villains in the standard Spider-Man vein. You’ll be going to Tokyo, Egypt, Nepal, and even Transylvania in pursuit of what are called Phantoms, beings that are a combination of hard-light holographic projects (think Star Trek: The Next Generation’s holodeck technology) combined with, of all things, the Venom symbiote. But these symbiote / hologram hybrids aren’t here on vacation–they seem to be interested in taking over the planet. And to do so, they’re taking over the minds of some of Spider-Man’s most feared villains, including Doc Ock, the Green Goblin, and even, somehow, Venom himself.
Interestingly, you can probably figure out who’s behind all this, if you know anything about the Spider-Man universe: who’s the only villain you’ve ever seen who handles holography as both weapon and method of disguise? Yeah, I know–really only obvious in retrospect, but still kinda obvious when you think about it.
Aside from that, you’ve really got to hand it to Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, because while they did make a fairly derivative sort of game, they infused it with a cartoony charm and a sense of humor that’s all its own. Yes, of course, Spider-Man himself will crack wise throughout the WHOLE GAME, almost nonstop…but he won’t be the only source of humor in this game. For instance, the SHIELD helicarrier’s computer will have a really choice line about how, while Venom is a pretty nasty way to die, there are worse—including wasps with laser-guided missiles. See? Funny! It’s fantastic to know that games can still introduce humor into otherwise lackadaisical brawlers.
It’s not a huge game, nor is there a whole lot to do, but a couple days’ rental will be terribly entertaining. If you like your games packed to the gills with action, and not a whole lot else, then you’ll have an absolute ball with Spider Man: Friend or Foe. But if you like complex and thrilling titles, well, the vicarious thrill you’ll get from this won’t be near enough.
Golden Axe Beast Rider: Has Next Gen Crapped Out To This?
It’s been the “next-gen” of gaming systems for some time now–we’ve had the Xbox 360 out on the market for better than three years now, and the Wii and Playstation 3 have been out for a good number of years too. The Wii is still hard to find in some places, even–though word on Sony’s bounty of cash for available PS3s has not been seen to surface. So where, I’m forced to wonder, are the truly next-gen games? Games like Halo Wars and Bioshock and, once again, Fallout 3.
They’re sure not coming from Sega, I’ll tell you that much.
I got my hands on a copy of Golden Axe: Beast Rider today, and it really makes me sad that the great next-gen revolution has crapped out to THIS.
You take control of early video game hottie Tyris Flare, who’s just come in from fighting a handful of Death Adder’s minions to arrive just in time for the Axirian Priestesses’ ritual summoning of the Dragon Titan. For reasons that aren’t terribly clear, Death Adder (the main bad guy of the whole Golden Axe series) is pants-wettingly terrified of the Dragon Titan, thus he sends out a legion of troops to capture it and bring it much, much closer to him. This Dragon Titan that he’s so scared of is apparently sufficiently powerful to terrify him, but either not powerful enough or not smart enough to break a length of iron chain attached to him by a harpoon. Apparently he’s ALSO forgot that he can breathe, at will, this stuff that’s called FIRE, which in sufficient quantities will turn iron chain into a viscous liquid. I guess the Dragon Titan missed that session of Physics 101 that described the melting point of iron.
But if he’d have done that, then we couldn’t send Amazon hottie Tyrus Flare off into a rampage of blood across several lands in an attempt to finally jam something pointy and metallic into Death Adder once and for all until the next installment.
To this end, Tyrus will have various magic spells and control of several different beasts (hence the title) and will have to kill a whole bunch of enemies that look vaguely similar. Apparently Death Adder has mastered cloning technology.
I’m making a lot of fun of Golden Axe: Beast Rider, and for good reason–it’s got it coming, frankly. This is the kind of game we were playing back on our Super Nintendos, for crying out loud. Having just played the original three Golden Axe installments thanks to one of Sega’s massive collection games, I’ve discovered that Golden Axe: Beast Rider is just a gigantic pile of more of the same, only prettied up and rendered in ever-popular 3-D instead of put on a flat screen. It’s dull, it’s repetitive, and frankly, if it weren’t for the pretty graphics it would be a total waste of time that I’d expect to have been released for PS2 or earlier.
Yes, it’s an action game–and as an action game it’s fair; there’s more than enough things that need killing, but after a while, your sword arm gets tired. Not to mention your button thumb. Golden Axe: Beast Rider is a long, drawn-out and monotonous experience that leaves me cold.
Street Fighter 4 Game Review–The Epitome Of Mediocracy
One of the good parts about being a gamer toward the top end of that vaunted 18-35 demographic is that you remember all the movements of the past. Many of my readers, for instance, may not remember that most gaming was done in public buildings for profit called arcades. Indeed, arcades also offered the very latest and the very greatest games–no home gaming system could ever possibly compete against the might of an arcade machine, and that was why we were more than willing to pump quarters into those things like no tomorrow. Today, arcades survive largely on sufferage, and those that do offer a panoply of experiences, like jet ski simulators and kayak simulators and the like.
Thus I’m surprised to mention that a little bit of the arcade came roaring back today in the form of Street Fighter 4. I was arcade gaming back in the days of the original Street Fighter, thus it was a real thrill to see this venerable old franchise back in the saddle once more.
And it’s every inch a standard Street Fighter title, just given that full next-gen sort of treatment. Every fighter–and there are a whole slew of them–comes standard with their own backstory introduced in a really smooth anime-style cutscene that packs in everything from laughs to sorrow and beyond. It all leads up to a battle with the main bad guy, Seth, whose powers are all surprisingly familiar. All your favorite characters are back in full form, along with a whole host of new characters, once again with their own backstory. It’s great to see that this game can still pack in some originality, despite the fact that it’s really just the same game that we just played five, ten years ago. It’s also great to see how many different motivations can drive so many different people down the same path–whether they’re out to prove their might or just take out a rival, no two of the Street Fighter characters ever really have the same motivations for doing anything.
The game could not look better, and it plays just about the same as it ever did. A few new features are available for use, such as the focus attack and the ultra combo. The only real downside to this game is, despite how good it looks and how smooth it plays, is that, at its roots, it’s really just the same game you’ve already played five or six different versions of. This is just another Street Fighter game, no matter how pretty it looks or how well it plays. It’s just another game where you punch and kick and juggle and special move your opponent into oblivion.
And for some people, this is good enough. They’re just so glad to see Street Fighter back in operation again that they don’t CARE that it’s JUST Street Fighter. If you loved Street Fighter, or any kind of action-packed fighting game, then Street Fighter 4 will be the experience of a lifetime. Otherwise, it’s just another lukewarm beat-em-up.