GamerSushi Asks: Achievements Hurting The Experience?Posted by Eddy on February 1st, 2010

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m an achievement whore. I get the biggest kick out of earning new rewards, trophies, unlockables, points, you name it. I’m not really sure what bone in my brown body makes me this way, but some primal and awful thing is triggered in my core when I see that “achievement unlocked” bumper accompanied with that sweet melodious noise. While I’m not as into trophies on the PS3, the principle is the same and I love accomplishing these goals.

However, lately I’ve been noticing the way developers are handling the doling out of these rewards, and it’s been a curious study. While early games of this generation were heavy on rewarding players with achievements based on a certain kind of behavior (be it in a solo or multiplayer setting), I’m noticing a new trend. Take Mass Effect 2, for example. The first game rewarded players for reaching certain good/evil (paragon and renegade, to be more precise) levels, while the sequel does not. Honestly, I’m finding that this makes for a better experience the second time around, as I’m not feeling like I have to always lean in one direction to be sure I don’t miss out on the achievement.

Likewise, multiplayer games are dropping the focus on weapon-based achievements (with the occasional ludicrous exception), and are leaning more towards gameplay and gametype exploits. I think one of the worst offenders of this early on was Gears of War, which offered achievements based on what weapons you killed with. This lead to irritating matches with people doing nothing but using one kind of weapon like the torque bow or the pistol, and lead to lots of grumbling when players couldn’t find the weapon they wanted. This is different than say, Left 4 Dead 2′s achievements which rewards playing as a team (spitting on somebody that is being smoked, etc).

So what about you guys? Do you find that this kind of design lends itself to better gameplay styles? Do you even care? Or am I just that much of an achievement nut?

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?Posted by Eddy on January 24th, 2010

This Spring is going to be an usual one for us gamers. Heck, even this January is going to be odd. With some well-reviewed games like Bayonetta and Darksiders already hitting the shelves, as well as Mass Effect 2 dropping this week, it seems that we’re going to have our hands full with more than our Christmas gaming purchases. And that’s not even considering that Heavy Rain, Bioshock 2, Splinter Cell, Final Fantasy XIII and Crackdown are all on the way before the summer.

So, before (yet another) flood of good gaming options, what are you guys sinking your time into? Are you still working on the games you just got, have you purchased new ones, or have you returned to the old favorites?

Right now, I’ve been playing Left 4 Dead 2 on the XBox 360 and really enjoying the enhancements to the game. As much as people griped about its release, I’m impressed with just now how much content there is, and how well some of the new mechanics have been implemented. Really, kudos to Valve on proving some people wrong. In addition, I plan on starting some Brutal Legend tonight or tomorrow while I wait for Mass Effect 2 to be in my sweaty and anxious hands.

So, what are you guys playing? Go!

Review: Left 4 Dead 2Posted by Mitch on November 23rd, 2009

Many people joke about something called “Valve Time”, an imperceptible chronological measurement visible only to the revered developers themselves. Games of all sorts, even episodic content, seem to take forever to be released, but they are always of the highest quality. The original Left 4 Dead was also subject to the whims of Valve’s crazed machinations; it suffered delay after delay before finally being released to a heap of praise. Now, after only a year, the beloved zombie-killing co-op extravaganza has gotten a sequel. With such a short turn-around time between the original, is a year enough time for Valve to work their magic?
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GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?Posted by Eddy on November 20th, 2009

The holidays are coming up. The games are coming out. And here we are, with all these new toys to play with. What’s more important, though, is that some of us are going to have lots of time on our hands to play them next week, due to the wonderful thing known as Thanksgiving break.

Right now, I’ve been pouring my whole life into Dragon Age: Origins. It’s a very deep RPG with some great writing, a fascinating world, cool characters and a fun story. I have to say, I’m starting to hit the near obsessive point with it, wanting to play it all hours of the night and during the day. I don’t know if it’s that it’s such a wonderful game so much as I’ve been needing an RPG fix for a long time, and this has just what I’ve desired. We’ll see how I feel when I’m done.

I’m also playing Modern Warfare 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, and I’m hoping to be knocking out some Assassin’s Creed II or Left 4 Dead 2 next week. What about you guys? What will you be playing during Thanksgiving week?

Who’s Getting Left 4 Dead 2 or Assassin’s Creed 2?Posted by Eddy on November 17th, 2009

Though they might have been slightly overshadowed by the walking titan we know as Modern Warfare 2, two rather large games are making their presence known this week. One of them is a title that has had some silly controversy around it, and another is a sequel to a less than stellar but promising original IP that might turn into something more. I’m speaking of Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2, of course.

While I’m not one of the boycotters for L4D2, I still don’t have much desire to pick it up at all. I kind of burned myself out on the zombie slaying with the first game, so I’m having trouble mustering up enough gumption to go out and buy the thing. And while I was one of the few who enjoyed Assassin’s Creed, the sequel doesn’t intrigue me all that much, though I’ll probably give it a rental.

So what about you guys? Who out there is getting either of these games?

GamerSushi Asks: Drinking the Kool-AidPosted by Eddy on November 8th, 2009

Oh yeah!

With all the new games coming out every year, it becomes tricky to negotiate which games you should/shouldn’t buy. Already this Fall, I’ve bought a game I didn’t expect to (Halo: ODST) and I’ve been tempted by two other titles I didn’t have any plans on buying (Forza 3 and Borderlands). However, there is inevitably the game that everyone else seems to love, but you don’t necessarily drink the kool-aid for the way others do.

For me, that might be Left 4 Dead 2 this year. In previous years, games like Bioshock and any of the Devil May Cry games have failed to catch my fancy. Same thing with Mario Galaxies. Also, and this one might get me yelled at- Ocarina of Time. Though others loved them, I just never caught the fever. What about you guys? What recent great games do you not drink the Kool-Aid for like everyone else does? Flame on!

Valve Says Unkind Things About PS3, Internet ExplodesPosted by Mitch on November 8th, 2009

Guess Valve didn’t get around to checking out the report that states the PS3 is experiencing a surge in popularity because Left 4 Dead 2 Lead Writer Chet Faliszek, in a recent interview with CVG has come out publicly to state that Valve views the 360′s online capabilities as “head-and-shoulders” over the PS3′s. In the same sentence, he also puts Microsoft’s console on equal footing with the PC, thus pissing off the Valve’ most fervent supporters at the same time.

Valve doesn’t really strike me as the muck-raking kind, but this statement has set off all kinds negative backlash from not only the Sony Defence Force, but also from Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford. Mr. Pitchford has in the past stated that he views the Steam platform as a less-than-ideal way for small developers to get their games onto the market, and now he’s got something to say about Valve’s posturing towards the PS3.

In a recent interview with Official Playstation Magazine, Randy equated Valve’s attitude to be comparable with that of fanboys, implying that they’ve become “X-bots”. Randy also thinks that the PS3 version of the Orange Box being handled by another company, and Valve viewing it as the “step-child” just speaks of “underlying sleaziness.”

The catapults have been loaded and fired by Gearbox, so it just remains to be seen if someone from inside Valve has anything to say about this. Frankly, I think that Valve’s comments are a bit out of line, but the venerable company clearly has some issues with Sony’s black monolith. This little game of back-and-forth could go on for a while, and it’s pretty ironic considering that Borderlands topped the Steam sales charts for a while.

What do you guys think, though? Is Valve just trolling, and is Gearbox just trying to catch them riding dirty? Can’t the developers just play along nicely?

Source: Kotaku

Left 4 Dead 2 and Halo Waypoint Have Avatar Awards, Nerds RejoicePosted by Mitch on October 31st, 2009

As the self-explanatory title above states, both Left 4 Dead 2 and the upcoming Halo Waypoint, your X-Box hub for all things Halo, are going to feature Avatar Awards, little pieces of clothing and other accouterments that your creepy cartoon doppelganger can sport.

Avatar Awards are earned by completing specific achievements in the corresponding game; i.e. getting the “Dark Times” achievement in Halo 3: ODST will unlock an ODST hoodie. Tougher achievements will earn you some cooler pieces like a Drop Trooper helmet or the body armor.

This strikes me as a better endeavour than the current model of paying for Avatar items. Sure, a lot of people don’t really care about their Avatars, but I’m glad to finally be getting something back for putting in all that time to getting those achievements, or “cheevos”, as the kids are calling them now.

What do you guys think? Are Avatar awards a good way to start giving back to the gamers, or would something else intrigue you? What kind of games would like to see star giving awards? I’d like a Brotherhood of Steel power armor suit for my Avatar personally.

Source: Kotaku

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: BorderlandsPosted by Mitch on October 24th, 2009

OK, I’ll be the first to admit that we’re probably getting pretty close to the Borderlands saturation point around here, but this story was too good to pass up. Three weeks ago, Borderland’s Creative Director Mikey Neumann promised that he would play the post-apocalyptic Role-Playing-Shooter with you and drop some rare loot if you could provide a picture of yourself pre-ordering the game via Twitter. It turns out that this little boast kind of back-fired on him as over 200 people took him up on the offer.

Since Borderlands released last Tuesday, Mikey has been ploughing through his list trying to get through as many of the lucky players as he can. The game hasn’t even come out on PC yet (it lands on Monday), so I bet that he’s got a ways to go.

This strikes me as admirable, considering the few weeks after a major game launches is when most of the studio’s development team takes their vacations. Essentially, Mikey is giving up the beach to play some Borderlands with the fans, so kudos to you good sir.

Borderlands itself is doing quite well; it’s topping the Steam sales chart, beating even Left 4 Dead 2. Every retail store I’ve visited has been sold out, too, but this is due more to a shortage in shipped products (so the clerk at EB told me, anyways) than overwhelming demand.

I’m waiting for the PC version personally, but are any of you playing it on the 360 or PS3, and what do you think?

Source: Kotaku

Leaked Left 4 Dead 2 Trailer Hits the InternetPosted by Mitch on October 22nd, 2009

Valve has bad luck with leaked videos, don’t they? First Meet the Spy got leaked, and now the opening cinematic for Left 4 Dead 2 has been snuck onto the internet via some digital skulduggery. Like the original opening movie for Left 4 Dead, it introduces the player to a whole bunch of game mechanics (what the new infected do, melee weapons, that type of stuff), while wrapping it all in an entertainingly gruesome package. Take a gander:

Not looking so much like a simple expansion now, am I right? I’m greatly anticipating ripping into some zombies with a chainsaw myself, but what about you guys?