Game On, Bitches!!

THE THANKSGIVING RUNDOWN

I’ve been playing quite a bit of new games recently and figured that you might be interested in what I think. Consider this your rundown of the games you might be playing (or buying) this Thanksgiving. I don’t consider these reviews and the gist of my thoughts can be found in moviefancental blogs. I’ll be covering MODERN WARFARE 2 on the XBOX 360, NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. on the Wii, an LEFT 4 DEAD 2 on the XBOX 360. I completed the story for MODERN WARFARE and am still working through the other two titles.

MODERN WARFARE 2

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For those of you unaware, MODERN WARFARE 2 made a TITANIC splash in the marketplace two weeks ago and even TWILIGHT fans have to admit to being awed. This game hit shelves and generated a literal shit-ton of money (conversion 1 shit-ton = 1 feather-ton = Scrooge McDuck’s fortune). Unfortunately, just because this game made a whole big pile of money doesn’t mean its the greatest game ever made. In fact, it may not even be the best game that came out that week. With that said, here’s my critique.

MODERN WARFARE feels more like an interactive movie than a game. Often, I didn’t feel like I was dying because I sucked… I was dying because the game wants me to think I am not skilled enough. So many of the enemies are hard to see or know they are there, why should I bother trying to kill them? The game adds a damage filter to the display that acts like throwing red jam on the TV screen. It looks ridiculous and I’d much rather have a health meter than some arbitrary chunks of flesh telling me how healthy I am.

No cut scenes? None? Wouldn’t make a whole more sense to have some kind of non-interactive storytelling with actual faces involved? There is such an extensive amount of storytelling shared through sound that I feel bad for anyone playing this game that is hard of hearing. Furthermore, what is the deal with giving zero back story about what happened in the previous game? Just assuming I know who the f*ck Price is a huge leap. Infinity Ward, your game is two years old and I’ve played HUNDREDS of games since then. Give me a recap or something.

With these criticisms of the game aside, the co-operative levels in Spec Ops are a fun new experience that bodes well for the future of the franchise and the shelf-life of the game. With such a short single player mode, it is smart of Infinity Ward to double down with more non-multiplayer content like this. The missions are tough but fun when played with a competent partner. While there is no additional story development, I’ll take the fun where I can get it.

In other good news, the multiplayer is chock-full of good stuff. The maps are well thought out, the upgrade system left me with plenty of goals to strive for, and the diversity of experience makes this one of the best multiplayer games of the generation. If you’re looking for hours (or days, or weeks) of multiplayer shooter action, you need look no further.

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII

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As expected, this game is old school fun with a new school sensibilities. Picking up this game is simple and fun. I played single player… but can see the mad potential of a 4-player co-op orgy. I just don’t have a household with three gaming-age kids or drunk freeloading roommates to try the feature out.

I found the gameplay to be simple at the start but got a bit murky when waggle came into play. The tilt ramps are a smart use of the controller but I found the sky-slam (not an official title for this move) to be temperamental and not as smooth of a move as it should be. Wall jumping, also, was not as fluid as I might like. I really wish that they had allowed players to use the classic controller or the nunchuk. This would have killed the waggle features but would have the game much closer to what I’m used to.

Regarding the storytelling, NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. has very little story to tell. Bowser kidnaps princess and Mario (or Luigi) has to save her. Commence stomping on goombas, koopas, and Lakitu. If you’re looking for Mario-centered storytelling, you’d be much better served picking up SUPER MARIO GALAXY or SUPER PAPER MARIO.

Overall, this is a solid return to form Mario and the gang. Its a great game to show the kids why the original Mario was fun. Also, its a great game to challenge your old rusty NES skills from yesteryear.

LEFT 4 DEAD 2

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Oh boy was I mad when this game was announced. I’ve spent hours playing the original LEFT 4 DEAD and was patiently waiting for episodic DLC. What happens? Valve announces LEFT 4 DEAD 2 and they skip DLC altogether (eventually limited new DLC was released). Lucky for me, this game is as good and perhaps better than the first. The gameplay is great like before and melee weapons fit in seamlessly. The new characters aren’t as interesting as the original crew but I still want to give them some time to grow on me. The setting of New Orleans is a smart choice and adds a lot of atmosphere to a genre that requires it.

Despite the smart new implementation of melee weapons and setting, the game suffers on the technical front. At launch (a patch for the PC is already out), LEFT 4 DEAD 2 suffers from some ridiculous lag issues (smart kids blame the latency). Playing online is a struggle and online co-operative play takes a major hit. Keep in mind that these problems are my experience. Perhaps you are a luck SOB and the latency issues aren’t much of an issue. However, to put things in perspective, even if I am the only person playing in the match I still have lag. I haven’t experienced issues as bad as this since the launch of GEARS OF WAR 2.

Lag issues aside, LEFT 4 DEAD is a worthy sequel to the franchise and once a patch hits updates the online code, I’d definitely recommend this game as a must buy for fans of the previous game, co-op players, and/or zombie aficionados.