411 Games Fact or Fiction 9.07.09: Borderlands, God Of War Collection, 3D Games, More

Posted by Drew Robbins on 09.07.2009

An exciting week brings us news of a God Of War collection for the PS3, the Penny Arcade Expo, and a sequel to the artsy Okami. All of this, and more, in Fact or Fiction, this week with John De Large, Jacob Lopez, and Drew Robbins!



Only two days until The Beatles: Rock Band, or for you who have bad taste in music, two days until you can pull out your Dreamcast again in celebration of its ten year anniversary. To keep your mind off of the upcoming great week for gaming, its time for Fact or Fiction – Three Player Co-Op style!

John De Large - The De Large Deluxe joins the madness this week, you may remember him from such classic columns as Four Player Co-Op. Hey, didn't someone I know used to moderate that thing…?

Jacob Lopez - Visiting from the downloadable game focused Gamepro Arcade is 411 Alum Jacob Lopez. Be sure to check out his work on Gamepro Arcade.

Drew Robbins - In the words of Micheal Cole, "Vintage Drew Robbins, shades of Three Player Co-Op!" Making Fact or Fiction a three person deal for one week only? That's crazy, and totally not something that Salmela did in the past during his brief run with the column.

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1.) Borderlands could be the surprise hit of the fall.

John De Large: FICTION - It's a surprise, because had you not mentioned it, I wouldn't have Wikipedia'd it or known anything about it. So, for the uninitiated (like myself) Borderlands is an FPS with RPG elements and it's very quest heavy. Wikipedia says that there'll be "160 quests of varying length and complexity, 30 of these being part of the story and the other 130 as side quests," which not sounds like there won't be a lot of room for story and just a lot of filler. Ugh.

On the plus side, the character descriptions sound pretty good, especially Brick's, but I doubt a couple of three dimensional characters can save what sounds like a clunky game.

Jacob Lopez: FACT - But I wouldn't be very surprised. Gearbox has developed their share of well-received games, and 2K has the resources to get it out there. The biggest challenge they have to face is that of being a new IP just in time for the holiday season while competing against some of the established franchises.

So yeah, the sales can go either way, but things seem to be going pretty well in the development side and I can see it earning positive reviews amongst the major publications. Except for maybe Edge … I'm pretty sure they hate everything.

Drew Robbins: FACT - I look at this fall and I see very few things that actually look like compelling experiences. Of course we have sure-fire hits like Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2, but what else is there? Saboteur looks fairly mediocre, Left 4 Dead 2 is just more of the same (not that there is anything wrong with that), so the fall is wide open for Borderlands to shock everyone. I'm getting a little tired of the First-person/RPG trend, but hey, this has four player co-op. Like Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3, together at last!

Score: 0 for 1

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2.) God Of War collection coming to PS3? Instant buy!

John De Large: FACT - I've never played God Of War but I've heard and seen nothing but good things and if all the important games are in one package, then I wouldn't mind buying the games and devote a weekend (or three) toward playing all of them.

Jacob Lopez: FACT - But, not for me. Sadly, I was never a fan of the God of War games. It just felt very repetitive, and I despise QTEs.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is a fine idea, with the PS3 hopefully gaining some momentum with the slim and recent price drop. It's coming just in time to grab a few new fans, or catch others up on the series and prep them for God of War III.

The price isn't all that bad either, 40 bucks for the set is the same price you would pay right now to buy both for the PS2, plus the added features. I know it will be a day one buy for many out there.
Who knows, I may even try it again to give the games another chance. Others may do the same.

Drew Robbins: FACT - I loves me some God Of War…but you know, I'm saying that having only played the second game in the series. Back in 2005 I was too busy drooling over RE4 to even notice this game's existence, and now is my chance to redeem my mistakes. $40 for both of the PS2 games, slightly improved graphically, and with trophy support? Sounds pretty good to me, though I'm a little confused at the lack of the PSP game. Then again, you can pick that up for $20, making the entire franchise attainable for the price of a standard current-generation game.

Score: 1 for 2

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3.) You want the 3D games Sony is promising.

John De Large: FICTION - I don't really play my PS3 all that much and when I'm on my PSP, it's only to play Tactics.

Sorry to say, Sony can't really offer me anything I don't already have.

Jacob Lopez: FICTION - For now… – While I am excited about the idea of playing stereoscopic games, we still live in a place where people are just now adopting HD. Many still have not, because they feel that standard-def is good enough. Of course, a picture that pops out at you is a bigger step up from HD than HD was from SD.

Yes, some sets at Best Buy already boast that they are 3D-ready, but the biggest challenge is going to be getting people to fork over the money for a new TV set and justify costs of added development.
I don't know enough about the development process to know how much of a workload it would add, but the only thing I know about a 3D picture is that it requires the system to render two images set about three-inches apart, and in HD. If my limited knowledge of game development is right on this part, that means that the game's visuals would be cut in half. Think split-screen.

Then, you have to think: How large of a really expensive screen do you have to get in order to truly immerse yourself in a stereoscopic game? Unless you are sitting two feet from it, you want a huge screen. Otherwise, it will lose its effect.

Drew Robbins: FICTION - Earlier in the summer I went with a few friends to see the new Pixar film Up, and on the way to the theater I got an urgent call telling me the theater was charging $3 extra. Why? 3D. I was a little agitated, but after leaving the theater I felt satisfied by the 3D experience and thought it was a nice breath of fresh air from the standard movie viewing environment. It was nice, yeah, but how often would I want to do that?

First off, I'm assuming that this 3D technology uses the same, or similar, pain-in-the-ass glasses that Disney has started to use. When I'm relaxing at home playing a game, I don't want to have to itch my nose every five seconds because of some silly peripheral I need to play the game. Secondly, the odds are fairly high that this would just end up being a tool for horror games to do the "ooooh my god that guy's hands are coming out of the screen at me!" Nobody wants that. Lastly, I seem to recall that Sly Cooper resorted to this in his third game. Didn't work too well.

Score: 2 for 3

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4.) You would rather go to PAX than E3.

John De Large: FICTION - My E3 trip this year was (as the kids and MVP would say) "Ballin'!" As if playing awesome games ahead of time wasn't cool enough, the company of the 411 writers (even Salmela) and Ramon's endless hookups made the trip into an experience that was as adventurous as it was exciting as we ate delicious foods, stayed in a sweet Marriot for next to nothing, networked our asses off and I personally braved the wiles of the American female cougar.

I bet you're saying "JDL, how would you know if E3's better? You've never even been to Seattle!" Well, I've been to Seattle before (I went after E3 actually), I even stayed only 6 blocks away from where PAX is, so I know the area, which is an awesome place to be (delicious Chinese food, Pike Place market and free hoodies are all within arms reach!) and the hostel where I would be staying isn't bad. However, the Marriot beats a hostel, hookups beat no hookups and writers/friends company are better than being on your own, so I'll take the E3 trip anyday, besides my friend Maddie will tell me all about how it went, so I doubt I'll miss anything, not even the swag (hehehe).

The only thing I'm upset about is that I won't meet Mike and Jerry and impress the shit out of them with the comics I've made with my business partner and best friend, Elmo Machete. I know they'd love what we've put together! I'm also kind of pissed that I won't get to eat delicious Seattle food, 'cause every restaurant there is banging.

Jacob Lopez: FICTION - Well, I would go to either, (both if given the choice) but I enjoy going to E3 because of the sort of hands-on time I am given with the games and the opportunity to interview the developers. As awesome as an event like PAX is, I feel like E3 is crowded enough. As much as the enthusiast press seems to hate to admit it, they are two events for two different crowds. PAX is meant for gamers who want to get a peak of what's coming and have fun doing it. E3 is supposed to be for the press and industry professionals to see what is on the horizon, much like GDC is meant for the developers.

Drew Robbins: FACT - I've said it once and I'll say it a few more times, demos suck. At times they can give a decent indicator of how a game will turn out, but more often than not it's a misleading three-minute run of a game that has been polished to a tee. Outside of press conferences (which only half of them are usually good), that is what E3 is. Testing out extremely polished demos for games that you won't get to play for quite some time. I don't want that!

PAX though, that is a real convention. Sure, you have demos there too, but it's all about the environment. Big concerts, huge gaming tournaments, and oh yeah, its ran by Penny Arcade. Hell yeah.

Score: 2 for 4

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5.) Okamiden is the Capcom sequel you wanted most.

John De Large: FICTION - I'd rather have Ace Attorney: Miles Edgeworth or I'd rather Capcom not take 10 years with another Street Fighter game and give me something to wash the taste of SF4 out of my mouth.

Jacob Lopez: FACT - But that's mostly because I can't think of many other games by them that haven't already seen sequels or have something on the way.

Drew Robbins: FICTION - No, no, no, no. Capcom, why do you have to disappoint? Okami was a good but flawed game. The visuals were stunning and it played like Zelda, so its hard to fault it in that department. Much like Zelda, Okami was slow as heck. Not only that, the cutscenes were told through Animal Crossing gibberish that you couldn't skip. The first scene is about 15 minutes of slow scrolling text accompanied by something that sounds like the annoying cat you meet on the train in Animal Crossing.

For the record, Capcom, the correct answer to the sequel the world needs is "Viewtiful Joe."

Score: 2 for 5



- Think that's adorable? The thing's name is Chibiteratsu. D'awwwwwwww

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6.) With Beatles Rock Band coming out this week, you want Harmonix to explore some other one-band-only games.

John De Large: FICTION - No, I want Harmonix to release a track pack featuring all of Gaming's greatest hits (Video Games Live themed track pack maybe?). Now that'd be sweet. Of course, these wouldn't require a frontman, but I'm sure people would mark out for this idea.

Jacob Lopez: FICTION - I think I am the only person who is not a huge Beatles fan. While I can't deny their impact on modern rock music, I just can't force myself to be interested in the series. This does go back to a question we were asked recently on 4PC, to which my answer was something to the effect of, "I have kind of fallen out of the genre." I enjoyed the very first Guitar Hero, and had a little bit of fun when Rock Band introduced play with drums, but I'm not big on the games. Lower the appeal by limiting it to a band I don't particularly care for, which most of these games have done, and I'm just not interested.

Drew Robbins: FACT - Why fix what isn't broken? I reviewed Rock Band 2, and still to this day I have trouble finding faults in it. The setlist is pretty good, and if you have internet (which I'm assuming you do since you are reading this), the setlist is absolutely huge! Just keep throwing DLC onto Rock Band 2, and making great band-centric games.

Score: 2 for 6

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Bonus Non-Fact or Fiction Question: Writing about the games industry constantly makes it easy to get caught up in pessimism, but let's be optimistic for once, what game coming this year are you most looking forward to?

John De Large: Left 4 Dead 2 - Once I get Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and Dissidia from the boss, I'll be content for the year, but I guess I'm psyched for Left 4 Dead 2.

Jacob Lopez: A Lot - You know, I don't really get caught up in pessimism. If anything, writing about the industry has opened by eyes to lots of new genres and games I would have otherwise overlooked completely. I also have a newfound appreciation for everything that goes into every one of these games.

That said, I am looking forward to a lot: Layton (which was just released, but I don't have), Kingdom Hearts, Scribblenauts, Muramasa (which was also just released) Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Uncharted 2, A Boy and His Blob, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, WET. That's just 2009 off the top of my head.

Drew Robbins: The Beatles: Rock Band - In case you've missed it, I'm a pretty big fan of The Beatles. Even then, this was a bit of a tough call for me. Uncharted 2 looks like an incredible experience that I can't wait to play through, but in the end, I know which game I'll be playing for years to come. And that game is most definitely The Beatles: Rock Band.

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Until next time…

We finish up with an unsurprisingly low score, good show all around. Join the 411 crew next week for some more Fact or Fiction action, and in the meantime, you can contact me either by commenting below or adding me on PSN, the ID is Kikind.