411 Games Fact or Fiction 8.24.09: PS3 Slim, Shadow Complex, Summer of Arcade, Earthworm Jim, More

Posted by Drew Robbins on 08.24.2009

The summer news drought seems to have come to at least a temporary end, with Gamescom bringing plenty to the table thanks to the reveal of a new PS3 and a price-drop. Other news has Adam Larck and Rod Oracheski discussing their love of Shadow Complex, comparing this year's Summer of Arcade to the last one, and whether or not the announcement of more Earthworm Jim on the way is reason for excitement (Hint: It is).



Brace for awesomeness, chumps and chumpettes, it's time for a little Fact or Fiction! Before we get started proper – I'd like to discuss my upcoming relapse into addiction. No, not Madden, that would be too kind on my wallet. I'm talking about…World of Warcraft. It was about a year ago that I cast off the chains that game had imposed on me, proposing that I was done with the game forever. Then, Blizzcon arrived, raised hell, and left. Cataclysm looks amazing – darn you Blizzard.

Rod Oracheski - My sworn enemy and Chief Overlord of Achievements! "Rowdy" Rod Oracheski is in charge of 411's weekly look at 360 Achievements, Achievement Unlocked, which goes up every Thursday here in the Games zone. Once a month he also contributes with The Numbers Game, an analytical look at the NPDs from the past month.

Adam Larck - Or as I have dubbed him, Larckboy! His contribution to 411 comes in the form of The 10th Hour, a column to which I am no stranger.

---

1.) Shadow Complex has lived up to the hype.

Rod Oracheski: FACT - I was pretty skeptical of the game, given the somewhat questionable pedigree of the developers even with Epic's backing, but it turned out to be a fun play and well deserving of all the Metroid and Castlevania name-dropping that the media did in relation to it. The only part that didn't really seem to match up to the hype was the story. With Peter David writing and it being set in Orson Scott Card's world, I expected a little more in the way of plot development. I guess as a first installment for what could be a lucrative franchise, simple was probably the way to go though.

Adam Larck: FACT - I agree with Rod here about being skeptical. I thought Undertow was mediocre, and Advent Rising I never did actually play. However, Chair did a good job with Shadow Complex. It really did remind me of the old Metroid and Castlevania styles, where it was just fun to explore and see what places you could get into and find things. The Master Challenges were also a fun diversion to try and complete extreme challenges for bragging rights. The Orson Scott Card usage was weak, and the story could have been better. However, it still doesn't take away from the game, which is probably the top Arcade game of the year so far.

Score: 1 for 1



- If you are going to take liberally from a game, Super Metroid is the one to do it to.

---

2.) Summer of Arcade was a bit of a disappointment this year in contrast to last year's great lineup.

Rod Oracheski: FICTION - Kind of an easy one when this year arguably didn't have a weak release in the bunch. The Turtles remake is probably the weakest of them and I'd still take it over Galaga Legions in a heartbeat. Braid was good, but probably overhyped as an 'indy darling' last year, and though Geometry Wars, Bionic Commando, and Castle Crashers were all excellent it still wasn't as strong week-in, week-out as this year's lineup.

This year's games will have longer legs and provide better value for the money - even though 'the money' is higher this year. 'Splosion Man is hilarious and unique, Shadow Complex I already talked about, and Trials HD has the same "gotta beat my friend's scores" pressure and replay value that Geometry Wars had. All that even puts aside the incredible value in Marvel vs Capcom, which easily puts this year over the top.

Adam Larck: FICTION - I had to look back at last year's games to even remember what they were. Out of all them, I only have two, one of which I didn't buy until a few weeks ago because I had friends that had bought the game and had some extra points (Castle Crashers). The other games just either didn't interest me or I had other variations of them on my system.

Flash forward to this year, and I already have three of the games, and the other two really interest me as well. Splosion Man is fun to play and try to beat par times in, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is one of my favorite fighters, and still retains its glory with its latest release, and you already know my thoughts about Shadow Complex from above and my review. Even the other two games, Turtles in Time and Trials HD, are great additions to the Arcade, and I may end up picking them up later this year. This year's releases easily overshadow what 2008 had to offer.

Score: 2 for 2



- Screw this game's online play, seriously, does everyone who plays this game exploit the mechanics for cheap combos?

---

3.) The PS3 Slim will finally revitalize the Playstation brand in the states.

Rod Oracheski: FACT - Simply rebranding the PLAYSTATION® 3 into the PS3 isn't going to turn things around for Sony, it's the price point finally coming down to a reasonable level for mass-market consumers that will make the biggest difference. Whether or not it's going to propel Sony out of the basement is doubtful, but they should be able to build momentum through the holiday season and into 2010.

The best thing for Sony is that at $299 the PS3 should be in a price position where it doesn't really matter too much what Microsoft or Nintendo do with their own price tags. Unless Nintendo wants to take the Wii to $150 or less and Microsoft drops the Xbox 360 Elite to $200-230, there's not that huge differential in price that swayed buyers in the past. Sony might want to rethink the price of the PSP GO however. $300 for the PS3 or $250 for the GO...how's that play in consumer's minds?

Adam Larck: FICTION - I almost went with fact here, except that Drew mentioned the Sony brand as a whole. The Slim will help sales, not because of the new design, but because of the price. Out of the three current systems, PS3 is the only one I don't have, due to its price. I look for that to finally change this holiday season or early next year, though. The price drop should make the PS3 more marketable for consumers to start buying more of them and help Sony start trying to turn a profit again.

However, the PS3 alone won't revitalize the Sony brand here. They still have another system that they're releasing a new version of and are trying to back: the PSP GO. The problem with this system, though, is the lack of huge titles and a big asking price. I know there are some big titles coming out this year, but it still doesn't make up for a bad 2008 of having few games to offer. Plus, the GO has no disk type of system, is download games only, and will cost just $50 less than a PS3? Sony needs to hit a GO price drop soon after its release, or the GO may see an early grave.

Score: 2 for 3



- Having held a PS3 on many occasions, I can safely that it needed a slim model...

Switch!

4.) Hideo Kojima's "Lords of Shadow" will be the first great 3D Castlevania game.

Adam Larck: FACT - Well, Lords of Shadow doesn't exactly have a lot of competition here. The N64 versions were just bad, while the PS2 game was just average. After seeing the trailer that has been released over the game, I'm holding out hope for a good 3D game. They still won't replace the great 2D style that's still being done on the DS, but this one is shaping up to be a good release for the consoles.

Rod Oracheski: FACT - As Adam points out, it's not exactly illustrious company. All the game would have to do is be competent and decent looking and it would be judged as the first great Castlevania since the switch to 3D. Fortunately, judging by the teaser trailer, we're in for a highly polished and great looking game. Sure it looks a lot like someone just dumped the Castlevania license on a God of War gameplay engine, but that's not the worst thing in the world.

For the love of God though, keep the focus on the gameplay. No overwrought cutscenes with an incomprehensible storyline!

Score: 3 for 4



- Castlevania...Castlevania has changed...

---

5.) You are excited that yet another Fable is on the way.

Adam Larck: FACT - I played the crap out of Fable 2. I own all the properties, have amassed a huge fortune and have all the rare weapons. Needless to say, I've enjoyed the game. I've actually enjoyed the series as a whole. That being said, I'm looking forward to the next entry in the series. I hope they change up a few things in the game, multiplayer in particular, but I'll still be there to pick this game up when it releases.

Rod Oracheski: FACT - I also played the hell out of Fable 2, right up until I accidentally pimped out my kid to a gay pedophile...check that story in the forums, if the thread hasn't gone missing, so I'm interested in what Molyneux's got planned this time around. The Fable universe moving into a steampunk age just adds to that interest.

Score: 4 for 5 The Fable story Rod is referring to is legendary, definitely plunder the Microsoft forums for that one.



- Lets not get too far ahead of ourselves this time, eh, Molyneux?

---

6.) You expect the upcoming return of Earthworm Jim to be just as good as the series used to be.

Adam Larck: FACT - The return isn't exactly a sequel, but a remake of the game. I would hope since it's just a remake that they could keep the charm and style of the original game. It would be nice to see some updated HD graphics, though. I was never hugely into Earthworm Jim when it was around, but it was fun to play from time to time. May be fun to pick up again when it releases, depending on what all the remake will contain.

Rod Oracheski: FICTION - This is the one made by GameLoft, famous only for their low-rent mobile games? Let's look at some of their recent titles: Spider-Man: Toxic City, Shrek Party, Cops, and Miami Nights 2. Hadn't heard of a single one. Why am I supposed to have high hopes for this game, sight unseen? The old Earthworm Jim games probably aren't as good as people remember them being, very few old games are it seems, but I'll trust Shiny's now-tarnished pedigree over GameLoft's, any day of the week.

Score: 4 for 6



- Rod Oracheski's statements do not reflect the views of Drew Robbins...because yes, Earthworm Jim is just as good as I remembered it.

---

Until next time…

Larckboy and Rod finish this week with a score of 4 for 6. Might as well get used to these annoyingly high scores. If you need to contact me regarding FoF or anything around the industry that you're curious about, drop me an email at [e-mail], add me on PSN (ID: Kikind), or you can always leave a comment below. See you in seven!