B3yond the Report: 07.28.09: Little Big Planet, Castle Crashers, Beyond Good & Evil, More
Posted by Drew Robbins on 07.28.2009
In a week where most of the games industry is still reeling from Comic Con, 411's Drew Robbins takes a look at some of the fallout from the event, including the announcement of Castle Crashers making its way to the PS3. Other top stories have the Beyond Good and Evil sequel possibly not making it, Little Big Planet reaching one million levels, and the reveal of a new multiplayer mode for Uncharted 2.
You just can't get rid of me, can you? Due to popular demand I, Drew Robbins, have returned to B3yond the Report! Your usual host, Mark Salmela, was coaching Shaq through his appearance on Monday Night Raw, where the Diesel will undoubtedly showed us the skills he learned from starring in his very own video game. Then again, he was the worst character in the game, and you have to wonder if he even remembers its existence. How could you possibly forget such a piece of garbage?
In regards to the other usual host, Vince Offer is in jail…again. I told you to stay away from those hookers, Vince! With all of that nonsense out of the way, its time to go B3yond the Report!
Castle Crashers on its way to PSN
Popular star of last year's Summer of Arcade on its way to the Monolith!
With this year's annual reminder of why I need a 360, Summer of Arcade, now on the way, I'd say it's about time the PS3 got some of that DLC goodness from last year. Though Braid would have been a stretch, I'd say the next best thing we could have gotten was Behemoth's beat-em-up Castle Crashers. And lo and behold, that is exactly what we are getting!
At this year's Comic-Con, Behemoth revealed that its beautiful 2D beat-em-up would finally be hitting PSN, with the same four-player action that made me regret selling my 360 a year ago.
Behemoth didn't go into specifics, however, on whether or not the PS3 would be on the receiving end of some added goodies to make up for the year of lost time. The game was playable on the show floor, and reports have it that…yes, the game is, indeed, Castle Crashers. Nothing seems to have changed, and it looks like an exact port of the 360 experience. Though the game was in full playable format, no release date was given, but one can hope that it hits some time before the end of 2009.
Beyond Good and Evil might never see the light of day
Cult hit Beyond Good and Evil's sequel could be in a bit of trouble…
In 2003, Ubisoft released Beyond Good and Evil to extremely positive reviews and was even deemed by many to be one of the top games of that star-studded year which produced games such as Knights of the Old Republic and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Unfortunately, consumers didn't give a shit about Beyond Good and Evil. Despite all of the positive criticism, people completely ignored the game and turned it into quite the commercial flop.
Then, years later, people realized that they had passed up on a unique and truly special game. The game had developed a bigger fan base thanks to word of mouth, but it was believed that there was absolutely no way the franchise could return. And for a moment, it looked like we were going to be proven wrong. Ubisoft released a vague trailer, merely showing off one of the main characters, Pey'j, in next-gen graphics.
So the sequel was coming…or that's what we thought. Here is a quote from president of Ubisoft's North American branch, Laurent Detoc.
"Well, I didn't say there's definitely going to be another game. I said something had leaked, which means we've been working on some Beyond Good and Evil stuff, but whether there's going to be another game or not, that's something for the future. But getting to your question as to why there's work on the IP again, it's a creative people business; the creative talent is interested in it and possibly exploring how to do it from a new angle."
To sum it up, Ubisoft is pretty much just testing the waters, seeing if another venture into that IP is worthwhile. A new game is possible, but they aren't hard at work on a full game quite yet.
Now I'm not the biggest fan of Beyond Good and Evil, I wasn't a big fan of being forced into a collect-a-thon between the game's many fun dungeon-esque areas. With that said, though, it was a genuinely unique IP with a killer storyline that needs to be seen by more gamers. Plus, the game had a horrible ending. Killing the series off now would be like ending Prince of Persia with Warrior Within, or ending Halo with Halo 2. My inner cynic says that the odds of seeing Beyond Good and Evil 2 are low, but then again, I didn't even think they would look into the idea at all.
Little Big Planet – 1 Million Levels Served
A milestone has been reached, prompting a teaser from Media Molecule
Maybe Sackboy didn't reach the mascot status that Sony had been pushing him towards, but it seems like a large number of people sure do love that adorable little guy. Last week a big milestone was reached in Little Big Planet's large online community. The one million level mark was reached last week, and now Media Molecule rewards the community with a tribute to the million levels that have graced the service since last October.
Oh…and they are also going to tease something at next month's Gamecon. As much as I loved LBP, the game's support after release has its problems, and I'd love to see some of that addressed next months.
Let me begin by saying this, though I bought the game on launch day, I've since parted ways with the loveable little platformer. It was fun, and I certainly enjoyed it, but let me clarify what I enjoyed. For the most part, what I liked about the game was the levels designed by Media Molecule. They certainly had more faith in the community's creativity than I did, because that campaign was short and left me wanting more. The Metal Gear Solid DLC pack was a step in the right direction, and I'd love to see more of that come LBP's way; perhaps we could get love for another Sony franchise. Uncharted? God of War? Ratchet and Clank? Heck, I'd even take some levels based on Final Fantasy VII.
Another problem I had was the level filtering when you were trying to play online. There needs to be some way where you can just find the levels which the community has deemed good, instead of having to sift through the thousands of lackluster user creations. If they fixed these two problems, I'd actually be tempted to purchase the game again. So come on Media Molecule, you need to do this!
Oh boy, everyone's favorite thing, the PlayStation Store Update! I'll start off with one question: where the heck is my Fat Princess? Come on Sony, I'm waiting here, can't you at least get it out by the end of the summer? Update: After spending most of my morning writing this, a quick glance at Kotaku while posting revealed that, at long last, Fat Princess is coming to PSN...this week! I'll probably be out of town on Thursday, but the first thing I do when I get back is downloading this bad boy.
This week's update brings us Shatter, a brick-breaking game filled with physics, boss battles, and from what I hear, more brick breaking than you can shake a stick at. I don't know much about the game, but reviews for it are generally positive, making the $7.99 price tag seems pretty decent for what you are getting.
The PSone Classics this week are yet another Spec-Ops game and the generally enjoyed Wild Arms 2. Wild Arms seems like a decent pick, but what the hell is the deal with all of this Spec-Ops love from Sony? The game was so bad that somebody gave it to my brother once, for free, alongside a bunch of other horrible PSone games. I went over it in the comments section last week, but included in the collection were "classics" such as Mortal Kombat…I think it was 3 but it could have been 4. Also included was an early Rockstar game which was kind of like Twisted Metal, but not good. Even among all of this garbage, Spec-Ops stood out as the worst of the bunch. This game is all kinds of bad, and if you buy it, I severely question your moral character.
In demos this week we receive a Call of Duty: World at War demo, which seems a little late, to the party. Alongside that is a demo for the upcoming fighter Final Fantasy Dissidia, which combines two things I don't particularly care about: fighting games and Final Fantasy. The only possible game I could be more apathetic towards would be a Mortal Kombat RPG.
Killzone 2 received a DLC update this week, as did WipeOut: Pulse. Both add some new maps and accessories to your experience with the game, which I would cover if talking about Killzone didn't make me want to put a gun to my head.
Retail Releases for the week of July 28
Oh man, I'm getting mad Coming Attractions flashbacks here. Time to look into the exciting week in summer releases, which I can assure you is filled with mediocre games that nobody will care about in a month.
The PS3 is getting two new releases this week, but calling one of them new would be a hideous abuse of the word. For those who didn't pick up BlazBlue last month, you missed out on getting the limited edition box, and can now purchase the standalone game for the exact same price. If you are in the fighting mood, but don't want to try anything that at least tries to be a little different, then King of Fighters XII is on the way. I've never been the biggest fan of King of Fighters, and I'm particularly disgusted with what they are doing with this game. Leaving out fan-favorite Mai, with the obvious intent of releasing her later via DLC? That's just wrong.
What a horrible week, not even the PS2 is getting a game, so lets turn to everybody's favorite system, the PSP. Hahahaha, I can't even type that with a straight face! But in all seriousness, the PSP gets one "new" release this week…the greatest hits edition of Call of Duty 3. Really? The worst of the Call of Duty franchise? If we are going to call that game "Great," or even a "Hit," then those words have lost pretty much all meaning.
B3yond the Tabloids
The new Castlevania game, Lords of Shadow, appears to have a new daddy in Hideo Kojima. So what is Koji Igarashi up to, the man who has been with the franchise over the past 12 years? Rumor has it that we should find out this September at TGS. In case you've forgotten, his last effort with Konami produced Castlevania Judgement, a fighting game for the Wii. I'm sure anything he is working on will be better than that.
Developers of the already discussed Castle Crashers have announced their next project, Game 3. Early indications have the game as a sort of Smash Bros. style multiplayer game. Me and Rod Oracheski gave our early thoughts on the game in Fact or Fiction this week, but with so little information about the game it's hard to tell whether it will continue Behemoth's track record of great games. No platform has been announced, but with Castle Crashers on its way over, it's hard to imagine the game not reaching the PS3 at some point.
Sigourney Weaver has signed on to appear in the game based on James Cameron's Avatar. In related news, I'm still pretty upset that she had nothing to do with the Ghostbusters game.
If you plan on pre-ordering the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum, then Gamestop is sweetening the deal, promising an in-game Villain Challenge Map to all pre-order customers.
Fans of Killzone 2 will be disappointed to find out that Guerilla is saying they are going to take some time off from the game after the latest DLC to decide what is next on their "to-do list."
Mark Rein, of Epic Games fame, stated in an interview that the reason for a lack of a PS3 price drop is Sony's financial problems. In other news, water is wet, the sky is blue…and I said the exact same thing a month ago in this column.
Fans should be pleased to note that Naughty Dog has confirmed that Uncharted 2 is going to be awesome, and is still set to be the greatest thing on the PS3 since…well, the first Uncharted.
A combat trailer for Brutal Legend, one of the only standout games releasing this year. I've said it once and I'll say it again; the race for Game of the Year will be between this, Uncharted 2, and Modern Warfare 2. And no, I'm not forgetting Scribblenauts.
More footage of the new game type announced for Uncharted 2, Gold Rush. I think I've already made it clear in this column that I'm totally gay for this game, so I'll just stop typing and go back to drooling.
The Sands of Time Trilogy
I had trouble coming up with a topic for One Man Water Cooler, as usual, so I decided to just discuss in grand detail the only thing I've been playing for the past two weeks, the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Trilogy.
Two weeks ago I came into possession of the trilogy for only $12. Its been said many times on 411 that Sands of Time is my favorite game of all time, but I've actually never played the sequels. Partly because I played Sands of Time for the first time back in 2007, and could never find copies of the other two everywhere I looked. So, at long last, I was able to trek through the rest of the series. Of course, I couldn't jump right in, so I gave Sands another play through, and can safely say that the game is still amazing and hopefully doesn't get completely butchered by Jerry Bruckheimer when it comes to theaters next year.
Next up was Warrior Within, well documented for being the game where the Prince starts cutting himself while listening to My Chemical Romance and talking about his feelings. A lot of the charm of the original was lost because the Prince, as you can tell, became a completely unlikable character. Gone were his witty remarks and in their stead are a slew of generic phrases that make Bubsy the Bobcat look original. At one point, during the final boss fight, the Prince stated that he has "more important matters to attend to," to which I say no you didn't. This is the most important fight of the game! How could anything possibly be more important to you? The Prince isn't the only unlikable jerk in the game, with the side characters being a collection of stereotypical action girls, including a character who wears clothes that even Itigaki would think are too revealing. Aside from the lack of charm the game is decent, a lot of effort certainly went into refining the gameplay, but the game drags on a bit longer than I was comfortable with and by the time it was over I was eager to move on.
The series concludes with The Two Thrones, which begins by instantly confuses anyone who had the gall to get the wrong ending in Warrior Within. I have two problems with this. For one thing, I think alternate endings in most games are horrible excuses to pad a game's length and make someone play through a game more than once. Also, why would the second game in the franchise have an alternate ending? That instantly guarantees that a large group of consumers will have no idea what is going on when they start up the finale of the franchise, and in this case, probably most people, because the way to unlock the true ending is by collecting all of the life upgrades in Warrior Within, a feat which I doubt many bothered with.
After a rough start, mostly due to the stupidity of its predecessor, Two Thrones really comes into its own and proves to be a much more competent game than Warrior Within. New platforming elements were added and the boss fights were improved greatly. It also marks a transition back to a wittier Prince, though the dialogue wasn't nearly as intriguing or noteworthy as the originals.
With nearly two weeks separated from purchase, I have at last completed the trilogy and can safely say that it is my favorite trilogy of all time. Even with a slump in the middle, its ending is so strong that it gives me hope for storytelling in games. The trilogy also helped me to realize how much potential the reboot had, and how little of that it lives up to. Prince of Persia lost a lot in the transition to an open world, and the characters were pretty forgettable, especially Elika, the female partner that follows you around, who was about as endearing as a bucket of rocks.
In related news, as it looks like I might have to wait until the holiday season to purchase a 360, I'm going to take on some more franchises I missed out on during the last generation. Next up is Splinter Cell, in preparation for the incredible looking Conviction (About to post this article, and what do you know! Conviction has been delayed…son of a gun.). After that, I'm not too sure, any suggestions would be appreciated!
That's all for this week's B3yond the Report, and because I know how much you guys love me, I'll be back in 7 to give you next week's heaping helping of Sony news. I'll try to come up with a more respectable Water Cooler than just me ranting about great games. Perhaps I'll tackle something relevant? Probably not! Anyhow, you can catch me on PSN, the ID is Kikind, for some Street Fighter IV or Madden action.
Posted By: The Salms (Registered) on July 27, 2009 at 11:15 PM
Castle Crashers coming to PSN make me VERY happy. This (assuming it releases soon) and MvC2 are all I need to tide me over for the summer.
Posted By: Steve307 (Guest) on July 28, 2009 at 12:48 AM
Why did you think Mai is the only reason KoF XIII sucks? It is just a game with horrible online multiplayer, no story mode, no last boss, and less characters (including no Mai). It seems SNK semi-rushed this game to cash-in on the fighter craze. SNK hurt their their chances of getting new fans. This year, the cream of the fight game crop is BlazBlue. Take it or leave it, but that is just my opinion.
Posted By: David (Guest) on July 28, 2009 at 01:53 AM
Im VERY excited about Castle Crashers coming to the PS3. I played it on a friends 360 just this past weekend and had such a retarded amount of fun that I've got to own it.
Posted By: KevinS (Guest) on July 28, 2009 at 07:29 AM
Talking shit about mk is just blasphemous. For one its just as deep and technical as say stret fighter, just not on the surface, and two, if it werent for mk pushing the envelope video games as a whole would not be where they are today. the things you say about mk are not opinion, they are extreme disrespect and totally unnecessary.
Posted By: scorpion (Guest) on July 28, 2009 at 09:58 AM
GOD OF WAR III!!! *crosses fingers and prays for a price drop*
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on July 28, 2009 at 11:02 AM
I thought KoF would suck for a variety of reasons, Dave, but my beef with the Mai situation is that I think its dirty business tactics. No way in the world she doesn't come to that game via paid DLC.
Posted By: Drew Robbins (Registered) on July 28, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Hmmm, i actually preferred the newest Prince of Persia to the older ones.
Posted By: Guest#0442 (Guest) on July 28, 2009 at 02:11 PM
All I can say about a BG&G sequel is, if they were just "testing the waters" and there's a real possibility that it won't be released, then why on earth would they spend thousands of dollars on high-quality trailers that are normally the domain of FMV openings?
Posted By: The Tortoise King (Registered) on July 28, 2009 at 02:17 PM
Come on, they have to see how BG&E has an audience begging for a sequal. Course, I'm also waiting for them to put out Pyschonauts 2.
Posted By: M A Weyer (Registered) on July 28, 2009 at 03:22 PM
What is the fascination with Brutal Legend? I just don't get it, and I love a good hack 'n slasher. But it just looks like a lame-ass H'nS, with little variety in the attacks and bland, cliched enemies. I watched the trailers over at GT and I like it even less now! I swear, if you don't LOVE Jack Black, you're gonna want to fucking kill him or yourself after 15 minutes of listening to the hacky one-liners being spewed forth like so much steaming vomit! GOTY my ass.
Posted By: Adam (Guest) on July 29, 2009 at 07:08 PM
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