Good Enough for EGM

Reviews for Dead Space and  Fallout 3...and Little Big Planet...and Gears of Wars 2...

As I sat admist the flurries of snow gazing at the "Day After Tomorrow"-esque landscape of the Seattle Airport tarmac, I afforded myself a simple pleasure I have become used to on long plane flights: the reading of the endangered species known as "Video Game Periodicals."  Electronic Gaming Monthly, being one of two selections left on the vast rack of magazines at the airport Border's, was my choice and as I flipped through its pages, I felt a twinge of guilt at the lack-luster state of my own entry into the world of video game criticism.  But as I arrived upon the review section of December's issue, I noted that EGM felt it perfectly ok to publish their reviews of Fallout 3, Mirror's Edge, Far Cry 2, Little Big Planet, Gears of War 2, Dead Space, and every other game of interest that has come out this fall all in the same issue.  Relieved that I was apparently not the only critic slacking off their critiquing, I now present to you my own version of review dumping  that you might equally enjoy the concept of "too much too late" as any other reader of video game print media...which would be just me and the scary looking goth dude at the airport.

Dead Space

Oft bemoaned by critics desensitzed by torture-porn as “Survival Horror minus the Horror,” I can, with apparent danger to my manhood, say that this 3^rd Person Horror-Shooter will provide both decent fright and decent fight. Dead Space’s “strategic dismemberment” has you wielding “mining tools” on a derelict, space-zombie infested ship as you attempt to shoot off limbs to bring down the perhaps slightly clichéd space-zombie-alien-things. It's a nice switch from the spray and pray or stop and pop shooters of recent, forcing you to choose your shots wisely and conserve ammo. On the downside, the game feels long and you will do a lot of level retreading, as if the game’s designers felt it necessary to drive home theme of "reuse" as you will no doubt draw a parallel or two to several other games and movies . You will also feel a little by a like a space-version of Joe the Plumber as your nagging squad sends you to essentially do everything but reupholster the captain’s bedroom furniture, as your squad is, in fact, an impotent bunch of morons. But taking into account the great atmosphere, beautiful graphics, good thrills and best boss fights of any game this year, playing Dead Space deserves be on your list of New Year's resolution.

Fallout 3

I loved Oblivion. I mean frikkin loved it. I spent over 100 hours of my life playing the game and when I go before God to account for my life, I feel confident that the time was well spent. Fallout 3 is a great game. Is it a 100+ hour great game? Probably not. This spiritual successor to the popular post-apocalyptic RPG franchise from the 90s sets you out into the barren wastelands of Washington DC gone “Mad Max” (well, more like gone “Road Warrior,” but you get the idea). Fallout 3 succeeds where an RPG should, having great story lines, fun dialog and side quests, and decisions that have real consequences. It also merges first person gun-play into a mostly satisfying turn-based affair with the use of the VATS targeting system which lets you selectively shoot at a baddies' various mutated appendages. Fallout 3’s core flaw, however, is it’s many missions and environments feel sadly repetitive, involving mostly fetch quests and “kill the thing at the place” sorts of quests which grow wearisome as you find your one gun and tactic that basically will last you for the rest of the game (shoot ‘em in the head). Don’t get me wrong, it’s the best RPG I’ve played on the 360 since Oblivion (well, maybe since Mass Effect), and it’s oodles upon oodles of fun. But did I love it? Maybe we can just be friends.

Little Big Planet

First and foremost, any game that is narrated by Stephen Fry is immediately going on my list of favorite games of all time. Fortunately, Media Molecule’s teddy-bear-huggingly cute platformer for the PS3 is also well deserving of that honor, even sans the voice of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Little Big Planet in many ways feels less like a game and more like an experience. It really doesn’t advance the platforming genre at all in terms of the core mechanics of “run, jump, fall to death,” but Little Big Planet somehow makes you feel like you’ve never really run, jumped, or fallen to your death before in any other game. Little Big Planet’s “sack-boy” avatars can be dressed up in fun little sack-boy hats and cute little sack-boy costumes only further accentuating the adorable feel of the game’s presentation...I mean...in a gruff, manly, totally not playing with dolls sort of way. The only slightly loose thread is the highly touted level creation system. While there is a vast selection of user-created content to browse through, none really feel like the polished levels that ship in the box. And while the level editor is approachable, it’s an incredibly daunting task to put together a good level, hampered by a somewhat awkward creation process. That doesn’t stop it from being a visionary title that should not be missed if you own a PS3. Oh, and did mention how cute it was yet?...yeah?...well, I'll just go...uh...pump some iron and kill a panther with my bare hands now...

Gears of War 2

Ok, I feel a little grimy even saying this, but I was kind of disappointed with Gears of War 2. It’s not that it’s a bad game, quite the opposite, but somehow it left me with the nagging sense that I had just re-experienced Gears of War, only with way more plot holes, and way fewer “dagum” moments. The original Gears was amazing, completely ground breaking as far as graphics and game-play mechanics. Gears of War 2 has both of those, but the ground is already broken and isn't going to get more...broken-er. The shooting in Gears 2 is as solid as ever, and it’s a delight to return to active reloading and exploding-head sniping, but something about the level design and plot of Gears 2 felt off, somehow. It seems like Marcus Phoenix and his gang of ‘roid rangers can’t decide whether they are going underground to attack the Locust, or going back above ground to visit some abandoned AI, or back below ground to fight on floating pirate ships, or back above ground for who knows what. The “epic” quality that was promised in the fights also seems to be missing as even when you are storming the BLOODY LOCUST HEADQUARTERS, you only ever run into what seems like a squad or two of baddies in a mostly empty underground palace. There are also several “rail” shooter levels, which as a "tactical" FPS-er and not a "twitch" FPS-er, frustrated me to no end. Gears of War 2 is still an awesome game and you should go buy it immediately and play it (if nothing else for more awesome Gears action), but I feel like the only real innovation in this sequel was put into its slightly more well balanced multiplayer...which I still suck at.