Resident Evil Number 5 (Or, A Little Bit of Zombies In My Life)

And yes, that was a Lou Bega reference. Moving on?


"Resident Evil 5" was one of the hottest games at E3 this year. And with those graphics and the incredible predecessor, it's pretty obvious why this one is so anticipated.

There isn't much known about the game, but apparently it's going to have some sort of "Black Hawk Down" theme. You also play Chris Redfield, and it takes place ten years after the original "Resident Evil." The game is also hinted to have themes that immediately follow Leon Kennedy's adventures in "Resident Evil 4."

But sit tight, kids. This one isn't coming out until 2009 for the 360 and the PS3.

Rock Band Won't Get Fooled Again

If you look back on mine and Griffin's requests for "Guitar Hero III," you'll find a couple of notable requests for songs by the Who. I am a huge fan of the Who.

You can't go wrong! Pete Townshend's incredible guitar and rock opera quality, Roger Daltrey's wailing vocals and rodeo microphone skills, John Entwistle's killer bass solos, and Keith Moon's...well...everything that Keith Moon ever did.

And that's why my heart melted into a million little nerdy pieces when I heard that "Rock Band" is offering downloadable content with the system, including new songs to play as well as full albums. The first announcement?


YES! Who's Next is one of the greatest albums of all time. With classics like "Baba O'Riley," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "Bargain," "Behind Blue Eyes," and "Going Mobile." It is also home to a bunch of incredible and underrated songs, like "The Song is Over" and "Gettin' In Tune." I love this album, I love this band, and finally, I'm definitely picking up "Rock Band." I believe you should too.

Overlord comes from nowhere and delights

By Justin McElroy
The Herald-Dispatch

Well, this is a nice surprise.

“Overlord,” for the Xbox 360 and the PC, really came out of nowhere for me, which is pretty common for a new intellectual property. Imagine my delight then at finding a funny, well-crafted and original game where before there was only my ignorance.

“Overlord” puts you in control of the antiest of anti-heroes: A real, genuine bad guy. You wake up from a dirt nap to find that the medieval world you’ve awoken in is just too nice for your liking and you set about rebuilding it in your evil image.

Thankfully, you won’t be alone, as you’ve got a literal army of evil minions at your disposal. Best described as big gremlins, they sleep in the belly of the earth until you find the need to summon them for nefarious deeds.

Most of your interaction with the world will be through the minions, which come in different flavors (brown for beating up (relative) bad guys, red for tossing fire balls, etc.). It’s surprisingly satisfying to be up against a couple of evil Halflings and send a wave of minions out with a wave of your hand to take care of your light work. It feels fresh in a way that not a lot of things do, these days.

Graphically, it’s a peach, with a fun art style that admittedly lifts a lot from “Fable.” To be honest, there’s a lot about the presentation that “Overlord” owes to Peter Molyneux’s excellent RPG, but I like that game a lot so I consider that a plus.

On the downside, the game’s quest structure is pretty bad. Often, I’d be wandering around with no idea where to go, or I’d unexpectedly complete a quest without even really knowing I was on said quest.

Though the quest themselves aren’t particularly satisfying, the playing of the game most certainly is … and isn’t that what really matters?

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer game misses the mark

Griffin McElroy and Evan Minsker took on "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" for the Wii and PS3 respectively. The following is their harrowing true story.

GRIFFIN: I never liked the Fantastic Four, I'll admit it. I mean, they were two boring scientists, an egotistical fathead, and a space pilot with a third-grade education. And their powers were pretty unevenly distributed, don't you think? One can turn invisible, one is a paperweight, one can... stretch, and then one can fly around and shoot fireballs and is also on fire. Seems kind of unfair, don't you think?

It's hard enough to make a video game based on a comic book, but also limiting the game by tying it down to a movie is just suicide. Not to say that the game follows the movie much, as I doubt the titular heroes run around a mechanical dungeon, fighting off pink and green armor clad baddies for hours on end.

I played it on the Nintendo Wii, and they tried some neat mechanics with the controls. Key word being "tried." The movements for using special attacks just feel tacked on. And Evan is right, the terrible AI renders the three characters you aren't controlling dumber than Solomon Grundy. Whoa, I crossed my comic book references. Forgive me.

Even if the controls were better, and the story were better, the game would still be boring. The open-ended, Gauntlet-style, mash em' up style of the game has become popular in Comic Book Franchise games as of late (see X-Men Legends, or Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which is a much, much better example of the style.) But Fantastic Four just gets it so wrong.

So, I'm sorry to say this to you, true believers, but skip "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." It's just another reason to tread lightly through the minefield of movie-based games. Grade: D

EVAN: It really baffles me, honestly. There are some incredible things that can be done with video-games, but if it's involved with a new film, you can kiss that goodbye.

I mean, there's so much that you could do with a "Fantastic Four" video game like "Rise of the Silver Surfer." Admittedly, the movie isn't too great, but this is the game designer's chance to make it even better than the movie. I mean they have over 40 years worth of comics to go off of. They could at least try to get the dialogue right.

But they didn't. The dialogue is even cheesier and tackier than it is in the movie (which is saying something). The Thing knows only terrible puns and Sue Storm only comes across as dumb and vain.

Characters and story aside (because I could go on for hours about how the Silver Surfer doesn't have minions since he in turn is actually just a minion himself), the gameplay is really just pathetic. They do a decent job at trying to incorporate the teamwork factor into the fighting sequence, but it's honestly a terrible system. You just mash a bunch of buttons and hope that you don't die. Heck, if you're the Human Torch, enjoy your three seconds of "Flame On," because that's about how much time you get to use your super powers.

Plus, since it's your job to control every character, you can pretty much guarantee that the other Fantastic Three are going to walk into a laser or stand too close to a giant villain or something. It gets pretty tedious.

This game is in the same ranks with "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates of the Carribean 3," and every other video game that was based on a film. The game is OK at best, but it could be so much better. Grade: C-

'The Darkness' is a lot of fun, but not perfect

Ever have a game that just hits your spot?

It's the sort of game where you're playing, and all of a sudden you realize that everything about it was tailor-made to appeal to your sensibilities.

That's what "The Darkness" was like for me.

I was playing through the moody first-person shooter, strolling through the New York City subway system and heard a busker playing his harmonica on a landing and knew that everything about the game, from its super-high production values to its intricate plot was just right for me.

"The Darkness," based on a comic of the same name, follows mob thug Jackie Estacado as he inherits the powers of The Darkness, which allows him to survive bullet wounds, eat dudes' hearts, etc. Of course, you also have access to firearms. You soon realize that The Darkness, expertly voiced by Mike Patton of Faith No More, is as much a curse as a blessing.

I was drawn along by beautiful graphics, by some of the best voice acting ever and a really well-told story. It made it all the harder to deal with when the wheels started to fall off the whole thing.

The problem is that the story is rocket propelled from the get go, pushing you through the alleyways of New York City, forcing you forward to a heart-stopping climax. Unfortunately, as soon as you pass that point (about three hours in) you completely leave the real-world setting of the game and are put, basically, in to hell.

Suddenly, the gritty realistic environments and many of the other good elements are just gone. Instead of killing gangsters, you're killing faceless zombies in a world where WWI never ended. It was as if all the characters you had been developing relationships with, the plotlines from the first part of the game meant nothing.

Now, this wasn't a permanent situation by any means and other people may not have been bothered so much. But suddenly, my tightly-wound narrative-driven action game had gone from a spot-hitter to just a solid action title.

It's a lot of fun still, but I think I was just sort of personally put out by what the game became, which is still one of the best shooters on the system in a while.

If you're in the market for that, you could do a lot worse than "The Darkness."

Justin McElroy is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. You can contact him at 526-2772 or by e-mail at jmcelroy@herald-dispatch.com.

More LittleBigPlanet, Please.

WANT.

Boogie Fever

I know this is my second EA + Wii related post in two days, so I'll mix it up here in a bit. This one just caught my eye in a pretty big way.



You might see why, now.

"Boogie" is EA's big chance to capitalize on rhythm and dance and karaoke related games. With very silly looking graphics and a pretty diverse soundtrack, the game doesn't keep you to "left, right, up, down dancing." It's freestyle dancing. Hide the kids, everybody.

The soundtrack spans four decades. That's right, from the Jackson 5 to Fergie, from Martha Reeves to Lou Bega.

Admittedly, the soundtrack doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but this game looks like it'll be a lot of fun for Wii-toting kids and pop-loving rhythm enthusiasts. Boogie down.

The Sims Get Even Cuddlier

Aren't they cute? This is the UK front cover to "MySims" for the Wii, the next in line to fulfill the plan to have the Sims control the virtual world. Look out, Second Life.

The game is being released specifically for the Wii and the Nintendo DS. The character designs are supposed to be pointedly more cartoonish and in the Nintendo vein of things. Just like every game in the Sims world (SimCity, The Sims, SimCity 3000, The Sims Take Manhattan, etc.), you start with a blank slate and have to build from there a community of sorts.

The game will take full advantage of the Wii and DS controlling devices. You have to start out, of course, by building your character. Find your outfits and tweak your characters to your exact needs. Then, it's on to building a house on your grid-pattern empty property. You'll have to use a building block style formation using the Wii remote.

The game is set to release this fall. For more on "MySims," check out www.mysims.com. Or, do with the ever-illustrious "Google it" method.

Or, as the Sims would say, "Uh buh huh, uh buh huh duhdi buggidabuh."

If It Be; PS3!

So if you own a PS3, you're in the minority. I mean, honestly the machine hasn't gotten the greatest press. Once dubbed to be the hottest selling system on Christmas, the thing couldn't get off of the shelves. Why? For a couple of reasons.

1) There are really not a lot of games out there that are worth the $60 price tag.
2) To really fully experience the magic of the system, you'd need an expensive and nice TV (one that not everybody has).
3) Well, the thing is really expensive.

So you see that last reason? Well, it's still true, but not as much as it once was.

Sony announced today that if you still want to dish out $599, well, you'll be buying an 80 GB model of the PS3 as opposed to the 60 GB model. Now, however, the 60 GB model is $499, or $100 less than it was originally.

And remember, a $500 gaming system is also equal to one of the cheapest Blu-Ray players on the market. Give it some thought.

The Golden Compass Video Game

Ah yes. Video games based on movies that were based on books.

I just finished reading "The Golden Compass" and am still trying to figure out how it is going to be made into a suitable family film (you know, without changing a lot of the original plot, but what Hollywood company would do a thing like that).

At the end of the day, I'll see the movie starring Daniel Craig (James Bond) and Nicole Kidman (not James Bond). But for now, here's a "making of" feature of the video game based on the film, to be released in December by Sega.

Check it.

It's the PC Game: Charlie Brown!

Sorry to our readers that we haven't kept up. I'm actually in the suburbs of Chicago right now, looking at the latest in games. And yes, there are lots of cool things relating to "Virtua Fighter" and the Wii and lots of other wonderful franchises. However, this one caught my eye.


This game will be released on July 23rd for the PC. I don't know much about it, and there isn't a lot of hype surrounding it, but it's the Peanuts. What can I say, I'm already sold.

Check it out, kids. It's Pigpennin' time.