Living LIVE 01.24.09: Mega Sixth Edition
Posted by Trace Aber on 01.24.2009
Featuring space creatures, dragons, fish, Amiga games, Mega Man, and a brand new XBox...it's time to start Living LIVE!
It has been quite the week for me since the last column. Last week, as we all know, my XBox recieved the dreaded Red Ring of Death and I was forced to buy another one. So, I did that and spent the weekend partying or, in my spare time, redownloading all of my arcade games. A new XBox, however, means having to start over every single game I owned. I am trying to look at it from the perspective that my games are basically brand new, but it is not working out all that well.
On Tuesday I ended up getting a stomach virus that took me out for two days straight, unable to move, eat, or basically live. On Thursday I thought I was getting better, but that turned out to be a false alarm as I ended up getting food poisoning. So much for Wright State food. But, after some rest, vitamins, and Fallout 3, I am feeling a bit better, just in time to write this column!
My name is Trace Aber, and this is Living LIVE.
Game Marketplace - A weekly look at the arcade game, demos, and add-ons released this week.
This week, after a less than impressive last couple of weeks, we get a game that has some considerable hype behind it in The Maw. Can it make up for the last week's no show?
The Maw (800MP)
Winning the Auidence Choice Award at the 2008 Pax-10 showcase of independent games, The Maw finds you trying to help out the title character by eating the enemies on his path to freedom. First off, the graphics are pretty impressive and remind me of crisper N64 platforming graphics, which I absolutely love. The cutscenes and audio are top-notch and will make you forget you are playing an arcade game. Sure, the voice acting is a series of grunts and laughs, but you understand the gist of everything. You start off in a weird spaceship that explodes and when you wake up you are next to The Maw, followed by another explosion. You walk around a bit, then you find a cute little pink creature...which The Maw instantly eats up. And that is your basic gameplay - have Maw eat your enemies until he grows and gains new abilities.
Cute lil' guy, ain't he?
The Maw is, at heart, an action-puzzle game that involves you connecting to either Maw, enemies, or objects and moving them to your advantage. The puzzles in the trial version are pretty simple (throw the fire enemies that Maw cannot eat into water, etc) but I am sure that as the game progresses the puzzles are more challenging. Recommendation: The Maw is a very fun game that is completely worth the 800MP if you are into to 3D platformers. High recommendation.
Community Games
Fishbowl (200MP)
Fishbowl is a game for all of those people who just did not get enough of Fishy. Or for people who think dropping mines into a fishbowl is a good idea. The game is pretty simple - you are a fish trying to eat shrimp and avoid mines and since the game is multiplayer, you are trying to do it the fastest. This game, however, is not even as good as fishy as you only need to "evolve" once and then you win the game.
Watching this picture is the same as playing the game - completely unsatisifying.
The music is your generic acoustic guitar riffs (which does not seem to fit all that well) and the graphics are about on par with a decent Flash designer. The problem with this game, though, is there just is not a lot to it. You collect shrimp, you avoid mines, you win. That is it. Recommendation: Avoid.
Onslaught (200MP)
Onslaught is actually a re-release of a 1989 Amiga game released by Hewson. Personally, I had never heard of this game, but while playing it I kind of thought it was either a re-release of, at the very least, a remake. Basically, you are a sort of super-warrior with one goal in mind - take over all of the land. All 256 blocks of it, for that matter. Each level is divided into three parts - on your way to the castle, through various parts of the castle, and finally the current leader of the region you are trying to overtake. Throughout the game you will collect quite a few spells and weapons, ranging from swords to bombs. The game is fun in a retro aspect, but moves too slow for my liking. There is, however, quite a bit of blood and gore (for 1989, anyways), and the sound effects are about what you would expect.
When you first look at this game it can be a bit too much, but it makes sense after a while.
Recommendation: I am surprised this is only a community game, but it means it is cheaper. It is worth a look if you are into hack and slash games, but be ready for some slow down.
Sol Invasion (200MP)
Truth be told, I am not a fan of space shooters like this at all. Maybe it is because I can never get a good feel for the controls, or I was never into space all that much - but I just do not care for games like this. Still, I have played enough to know whether or not one is considered "good" or "bad" in terms of the genre. Sol Invasion rests somewhere inbetween. The graphics are good and the sound effects are passable, with the music being the high spot as a calm, relaxing almost hip-hop like beat. The game is your typical space-shooter in which you shoot waves of enemies before fighting a boss, so it does not exactly break new ground in the genre or anything, but for 200MP you most likely won't find much groundbreaking material anyways.
I think the reason why I do not like space shooters is because the screen is always boring. Like this.
Recommendation: If you are into space shooters, or looking to get into them, give this a shot. If you already own a good one, however, avoid this because you will not be finding anything new or exciting here.
Valhyre (800MP)
Valhyre is a beautiful looking community shooter built from the ground up that features mythical creatures duking it out in 2-16 player online combat. You get six different arenas, three game types, and the ability to fight on the ground or in the air. Honestly, all of that sounds good until you play it. For one, I could not find a lot of people to play with, and when I did find people I experienced a lot of lag. I thought perhaps it was just my connection, but when I played a local game (just to explore) I experienced the same lag, meaning it is a design flaw. This is very unfortunate as I was hoping this game would play as good at it looks, but, it does not. Perhaps with a patch to fix things up and more players, this game will be worth the hefty 800MP price tag, but until then, there just is not a reason to buy this. Still, it is a huge step in the right direction for community games.
This game is beautiful for a community game, even if I do feel silly playing as a weird baby dragon thing.
Recommendation: Wait for a patch to be released and the community for this game to grow. If those things happen, we may have a sleeper hit on our hands. If not, well, we just have wasted potential.
Ocean Scenes (200MP)
Remember Fireplace? Well, in Ocean Scenes, you get to look at the ocean...but with options! Want a window? You got it. Want to look at just the ocean, or the coast, or ocean waves crashing into mountains? It is all yours! Want waves, seagulls, or waves AND seagulls? You can have it your way, baby!
I chose to look through a boat window at the beautiful port city at night.
Recommendation: Just.Say.No.
Game Demos
F.E.A.R. II
You know this game is scary because the initials spell 'fear'! Anyways, the opening cutscene to the demo is quick and lets you know that there is a little girl who is pissed off. You start the demo off as Sgt. Michael Becket attempting to locate a corrupt executive, which sounds easy enough. But then a bunch of really weird things start happening, and all of a sudden you are being attacked by visions and tenactles are attacking and, well, it gets pretty messy from there. The gameplay itself is very fluid and the controls are easy to learn thanks to the built in guide the game gives you. I will say that having never played the first one made the game a lot harder to play as they do not really tell you what is going on or what you are even doing for that matter, though you eventually figure it out through finding various intel. The graphics are top notch and dark as hell, adding to the creepy feel of the game. I will admit that I did jump a couple of times throughout the demo, not expecting to be grabbed by the throat and slammed into a wall. The demo is worth a download, just to get a feel of what the game will be like, or a good way to introduce yourself to the series if you never played it. Recommendation: Download it and see what the fuss is about.
Game Add-Ons
Guitar Hero: World Tour (Various)
"Outtathaway!" by The Vines (160MP)
"Tomorrow" by Silverchair (160MP)
"Dimension" by Wolfmother (160MP)
Aussie Track Pack (440MP)
Rock Band (Various)
"Typical" by Steve Miller Band (160MP)
"Feed the Tree" by Steve Miller Band (160MP)
"Wind Me Up" by Steve Miller Band (160MP)
"I Stand Alone" by Steve Miller Band (160MP)
"War Zone" by Steve Miller Band (160MP)
"Take the Money and Run" by Steve Miller Band (160MP)
"The Joker" by Steve Miller Band (160MP)
"Space Cowboy" by Steve Miller Band (160MP)
Steve Miller Band Track Pack (Only Space Cowboy, The Joker, and Take the Money and Run) (440MP)
Lips (Various)
"Hate That I Love You" by Rihanna (180MP)
"Look What You've Done" by Jet (160MP)
"Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" by Fall Out Boy (160MP)
LIVE Activity for the Week of January 12, 2009
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on Unique Users)
1 CoD: World at War
2 Halo 3
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 Left 4 Dead
6 GTA IV
7 Fable II
8 Skate 2 Demo
9 Guitar Hero World Tour
10 FIFA 09
Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)
1 Castle Crashers
2 Worms
3 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
4 UNO
5 A Kingdom for Keflings
6 Braid
7 Banjo-Kazooie
8 Interpol
9 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
10 Bomberman Live
Original Xbox Top Live Titles (based on UU's)
1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3 Fable
4 Counter-Strike
5 Conker: Live Reloaded
6 Doom 3
7 Star Wars: Battlefront
8 Street Fighter Anniv.
9 Splinter Cell Chaos
10 Call of Duty 3
Top Community Games(Full Versions purchased)
1 Golden Royal Blackjack
2 Air Legends
3 Groov
4 Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp
5 Weapon of Choice
6 Machiavelli's Ascent
7 Sudoku X
8 Word Soup
9 Dr. Popper
10 Foosball For Two
As long as Ocean Scenes does not make it into the top ten I will be a happy camper.
Video Marketplace
Title (HD, STD)
Hamlet 2 (480MP, 320MP)
Death Race (480MP, 320MP)
King Kong (360MP, 240MP)
Disaster Movie (480MP, 320MP)
The Express (480MP, 320MP)
Gonzo (480MP, 320MP)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (360MP, 240MP)
Wild Country (480MP, 320MP)
Recommended Movie of the Week:
Gonzo is an interesting look into the mind of Hunter S. Thompson, the creator of "Gonzo Journalism," a type of journalism that find the reporters a part of the story due to their involvement in them. The documentary ventures into his writings on music and politics and includes interviews with friends and family who were closest to Thompson. It also tells the amazing tell of the story behind Fear and Loathing, which right there is enough to earn a recommendation for any fan of the landmark piece. Gonzo touches on other subjects as well, such as Thompson on the campaign trail, his relationship with the Hell's Angel's, and more. To top it all off, as if you needed more reason, the movie is narrated by Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp and Hunter Thompson? I'm there...and should you.
Events
Monday: Music Monday - Guitar Hero: World Tour Meet up with other people who want to play Guitar Hero on a Monday night.
Wednesday: Game With Developers - Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix Here's a chance to play against members from Backbone Entertainment and Capcom at their own game. To me, this actually sounds kind of interesting. I might be there.
Wednesday: GamerchiX Ladies Night - A Kingdom for Keflings A night for ladies only, and if you don't want to play A Kingdom for Keflings, you can just go on the MyGamerCard.net Chix Tracker and search for other games that girls want to play.
Monday-Friday: Game With Developers - The Lord of the Ring: Conquest Interesting event that lasts from Monday (01/26/09) to Sunday (02/01/09) from 10MP to 2AM ET on Weekdays and sporadically on weekends. You will be playing against Pandemic Studios, by the way.
Top Ten Xbox-Live Arcade Games Everyone Should Own
I love playing the random, quirky, and classic games that Xbox Live has to offer. Obviously, like everyone else, I have my own quirks about me that form the types of videogames I like. So, each week, I will be revealing a new game to my list of XBLA games that everyone should own. Or, at the very least, try out. These are in no particular order, by the way.
Week 3: Mega Man 9 (800MP)
It is a known scientific fact that everyone loves Mega Man. Some people love it because of the goofy storylines, others because of the challenge, and others simply because it is a fun game. I am a little bit of all three in my reasons, so when I heard that Mega Man 9 was being released on LIVE I had to get it. I honestly did little research on the game to make sure I was completely surprised when I played it for the first time...and boy was I ever!
Right down to the cover art, this game is completely retro.
The first thing you will notice is that the game is completely retro. From the look to the sounds to the cover art, they have the retro look down. Hell, they even included an option that kept sprite flicker on. The only real difference from true 8-bit is that the graphics are, naturally, a little more crisp and clear, but not enough to make you realize you are playing a current-gen game.
Looks aside, the main aspect of any game is the gameplay. Mega Man 9 sticks true to MM gameplay, as you have a series of eight levels before going on to the final level, but, damn, I did not expect the game to be this hard. I have beat my fair share of MM games but for some reason I just cannot beat this one. The controls are pretty simple and only take a few moments to master, so it is not that. No, it is defintely the crazy level design and enemy placement that makes the game so damn hard. Just like other MM, this one requires you to basically remember the entire level layout as well as where the enemies are going to come from and what they are going to do.
Die Blobs Die!
I also believe this is the first game with a female boss in the form of Splash Woman. Yes, all of the names are just as wacky as the originals and giving you a pretty good idea as to what each boss is about. You will be squaring off against Concrete Man, Jewel Man, Hornet Man, Tornado Man, PLug Man, Galaxy Man, Magma Man, Splash Woman, and, finally, Dr. Wily. If you somehow manage to beat this game (and apparently people have, bastards), you will also have plenty of DLC to enjoy. You can download two different difficulty modes (that only make the game harder), a new time attack stage, a Proto Man mode, and, if that was not enough for you - an endless stage.
For only 800MP, you get a great base game that will no likely take you back to the days of your youth. With a couple hundred more points, you can have new game modes, even harder difficulties, and a literal endless stages. I cannot think of an arcade game that has more replay value (or simply 'play' value) for the price. Highest of high recommendations.
Closing
And that's all we have for this week. Be sure to check back next week and hopefully I can stay healthy for a full seven days!
