Just a quick post today, it's been a hectic week for me with Christmas, work and other family issues going on, but I am back! And this time I come bearing gifts! A review for TWD Issue #105! So lets dive right in...
Ok, so I am going to try my best to avoid spoilers but this issue blew my mind a little, and could be one of the best in recent months. With Carl having stowed away in the Savior's truck and blowing many of them away at the end of #104 we were left with a cliffhanger as we often are, what will Negan do? Well we are given a partial answer as the entire issue revolves around the interaction with Carl and Negan. We learn more about the way Negan and his "town" lives and see the way this new society of his works, for better or worse.
I need to note that this issue seems to be setting up some big events. I have read the end letters after each issue trying to gobble up any info I can, and it seems that issue #106 will be the true landmark issue. At least that's the rumor anyway. While #100 was great, I felt more could have been in the works, will #106 finally deliever? It seems we have to wait to January to find out.
As a whole this issue is fantastic with plenty of character development and even some good ole' gore to make us happy. If you haven't been reading the issues monthly, then you definitely need to jump on board now and catch up as some BIG things are in the works over in the world of The Walking Dead. This could be the biggest story arc since the Prison arc, and it has the possibility of even rising above the fan favorite era of TWD. Negan is just as sick and twisted as the Governor, if not more so, and Rick is now in an even more harsh position. Character deaths have also trailed off in recent months which makes me think Kirkman has big things planned for the next few issues.
Issue #105 seems to be a precursor to bigger events and it is just making the wait to next month, the first issue of the new year, THAT much harder to wait for.
The Wii-U released last month and was very hard to find at first, but now that just over a month has passed, I find myself noticing an abundance of the systems available in just about every store I walk into. Is the Wii-U a failure?
Before the system's launch, myself, like many others were excited for its release. I originally planned to save up the cash and buy the system once it became available, as pre-orders were discontinued by the time I got interested. I wanted to desperately play ZombiU, since I'm a sucker for anything with something of the zombie variety in it. But as the months wore on, I became less interested in the console, simply because it's software did not entice me enough. And I was not completely sold on its new controller either. The console released and was sold out everywhere in my area for about 3 weeks, but now it can be found at any store you walk into. Hell, I saw a whole stack on display in Best Buy this week. No one even giving a second glance. I wonder why that is.
A look at the recently released sales numbers shows that the new console has sold around 425,000 units during it first week, which is around 50,000 less that the Wii did during its first week. The PS3 and 360 both have outsold Nintendo's new consoles by around 100,000 this month. Though I'm sure some of that has to do with the recent holiday bundles that had been released and/or announced.
Nintendo is still certainly going all in with the Wii-U as they recently announced they will no longer be making games for the original Wii console. I can't help but feel that they may be making a mistake especially considering how little attention the system is getting right now. It also doesn't help the image of the new system that some geeks from many places around the web have torn the system apart, revealing it's less than stellar components. It is barely more powerful than current gen systems and I have to say that it does show.
That is my next worry about the system, its library. It's a fact that software sales hardware, and the software seems to be a bit lacking. Sure they have the New Super Mario Bros U and ZombiU, but the other titles seem to only be current gen titles running on a NEXT GEN system. It feels like Nintendo is simply playing catch up and trying show the hardcore crowd that they are still there and making games for them. I was even considering going out and buying a system and a few games as a gift for the family but after examining the price tags of the system and the games, I quickly decided against it. I didn't feel as though I would get my money's worth. Nothing shouted "Next Gen Experience" to me. It looked and felt like current gen with a new controller. If they really want consumers to pick their new console over the current gen contenders, they need something that really feels like next gen. Otherwise, we as buyers wont feel safe enough in our investment. And that's what a gaming console is right? An investment. For the next 5 or 10 years, we wont have to buy another system as the hardware we have will be good enough to run the software that is currently being put out.
So what can Nintendo do? The need a killer app. Something that really shows a unique experience, something that you can only get on Wii-U. They need to prove they aren't shoving out current gen hardware in a next gen costume. Otherwise, the hardcore crowd will again feel like they have been abandoned by the grandfather of gaming, and the general consumer base won't buy it because it doesn't show it is truly a step forward, rather than running in place.
Late Wednesday night my paycheck hits and *ping* my cellphone registers the money has entered my account. I have been done with my Christmas shopping since the first week of December so this money is mine. I log onto the Playstation Store just as I do every week or so to see what specials they have going, as I am a Plus member and they regularly have sales and free games for me to snatch up before they expire. Hitting the new arrivals section I spot a new Dishonored DLC, Dunwall City Trials. I remember hearing about it when it was announced shortly after the game released. For only 5 bucks, I decide to give it a go, I click the checkout button and download the one gigabyte file and install it to my PS3. I had to work the next morning so I turned off my system and decided to play they next day. Now that I have finally had a chance to play the new levels, are they worth the money? Or do they fall short of the gap?
Dunwall City Trials is not your typical DLC, instead of new weapons or costumes or even new story levels, it offers "challenges." Which are pretty much mini missions that have nothing to do with the single player campaign that so many of us adored. Each of the 10 normal mission are separated into 4 categories: Stealth, the normal sneaky sneak missions that are most like the normal game. Action, missions based solely on killing enemies. Agility, these are missions that see how well you can maneuver using your powers. And the final type, Puzzle, which have you trying to kill enemies or specific targets in strange challenges using bend time and kill chains.
Many of the missions are hit or miss as most lack that charm the main game had so much of. The only challenges that have somewhat of a feel of the original game are the stealth mission which are great additions in of themselves. Mystery Foe is a mission that plays out like the Lady Boyle mission in the campaign. The target changes every time so you must find clues that are randomly scattered around the area. Each one gives a small hint about the target, find all four and your target is immediately revealed. Kill the target without finding all the clues and you get a nice score bonus. But kill the wrong target and you fail immediately. If you get discovered and the target escapes you also fail. So while being less forgiving, it has a style that fits well withing the main game. The other stealth mission Burglary, has you breaking into an apartment to steal 6 golden eggs hidden in the area.
The other challenges sort of fall short in terms of success, some more than others. There are some fun ones to amuse yourself with, such as the drop assassination mission where you must perform drop assassinations to get to the bottom of a level. It's very fun until you try to get a good high score and your jump is slightly off center, making you fail the attempt and alerting the guard. This basically makes you have to restart the challenge again...and again. It is a very cool challenge but can be frustrating. The shooting challenge is also neat. It flings whale oil tanks at you and forces you to shoot them with your pistol trying to hit as many as you can. Each round brings more and more tanks, some slowing down time or restoring health to keep you going for that high score. The only problem is the challenge doesn't mesh with the main game which gives it a very trivial feel to it. What does this have to do with Dunwall? Nothing. They are simply mini-games to keep to amused until you get tired of it.
The remaining missions are not bad...they just don't feel right. One is a fairly difficult race against a train in a Void obstacle course. The faster the better. Another has the basic race to the way point mission in another broken apart Void area. There is a mission where you must kill a certain number of enemies during a bend time sequence, this is a puzzle type but for the most part you a forced to just kill as randomly and effectively as you can in the 10 to 20 seconds you are given. Then there is the Kill Chain challenge where you must chain as many kill together as you can. Kill one enemy and kill another within a certain amount of seconds to perform a chain. The Action type missions are more or less a horde mode ripoff whee you must kill wave after wave of enemies. One of them has you using your crossbow primarily and have slightly different rules.
On some challenges, if you score a 2 out of 3 stars or higher, you unlock an Expert challenge for it, which is just a harder version. There is a hidden Emily doll hidden in every level, which may or may not give a score bonus and also counts towards the DLC's trophies/achievements.
Overall the DLC is mostly disappointing as it really has nothing to do with the main game, it is just a set of mini-games/missions that are meant to be fun distractions and to give more time with the game. Is that a bad thing? Of course not, the DLC most certainly is fun and can continue to be for some players who like to compete on leaderboards to show their skills, but for most of us, it is something we will spend a hour or two with and then forget about. So is the DLC worth the money? Maybe. It depends on what kind of player you are. Do you like leaderboard competition and does the idea of mini challenge missions set in the world of Dishonored seem appealing? Then you may want to spend the small $5 to download it. You won't be missing anything if you skip over the DLC though. If you are more interested in the story of the game I would wait until Spring 2013 when the next DLC, which involves Daud and his gang, comes out. The DLC is not bad, but it's not great either. It is a fairly average release that doesn't do much to distinguish itself as a must buy for fans of the game.
This past year I have been really into getting the most for my money. And when in comes to gaming, part of that includes trophies/achievements. Are they a good set? Are they difficult? Do they have multiplayer trophies/achievements? (Icky!)
All these questions cross my mind when I buy a game. Call me a achievement whore but I get quite a bit of enjoyment our of seeing that Platinum Trophy symbol next to a games name in trophy collection. Is it the only criteria when I buy a game? Of course not. In fact most of the games I buy I never platinum. But when I absolutely adore a game, I want to get every drop of entertainment out of it I can. Especially when they can cost as much as $60 dollars a pop. So I have gotten a few this year and I wanted to share my short list of games that are not only fantastic in their own right, but a whole hell of a lot of fun to platinum as well.
#1
HITMAN: ABSOLUTION
Number of Playthroughs: 2.5
Diffculty: Medium
This is the latest game I have been platinum’d and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. You will need at least 2 playthroughs to do it. The first is a normal enjoy yourself playthrough. This will unlock the bulk. The second is on at least hard mode (Or higher if you have the guts!) and this is fairly challenging and requires some time to really get through as it requires a lot of patience and stealth play. You may need to do a quick run through for the remainder which for me was the Play Styles and Evidence trophies. But this took no time at all. Plus the game is just so fantastic and fun to play!
#2
DISHONORED
Number of Playthroughs: 2.5
Difficulty: Medium
Next up is my personal favorite of the year. Dishonored. I ADORE this game. Reminds me of Deus Ex: Human Revolution which is probably why I love it so much. But it’s just completely worth the play if you haven't already. First playthough is again a normal smell the roses affair (My standard first time is experience the game.) After that I would do the total stealth run with NO POWER UPGRADES. Again this requires some patience but its what this genre is all about. You may need to do a few extra level runs to acquire the others stragglers in the trophy list but there are a wealth of guides on YouTube. :D Definitely one of my GOTY contenders.
#3
THE WALKING DEAD
Number of Playthroughs: 1
Difficulty: Easy
This game has been getting some nice attention and for good reason. At a very reasonable price ($5 per episode or $25 total) this game is a bargain. I have been a HUGE The Walking Dead fan since before the show was even announced. This game was a must buy for me. It does not disappoint. I have not felt so connected to a game characters in a very long time. The end of the game (Episode 5) is one of the saddest and most compelling moments I have ever felt in a video game. The trophies are very easy to get as they only require you to play through the story, which that in of itself is joy. If you are a fan of TWD or a good compelling story, you owe it to yourself to give this a try. I can’t wait for Season 2 to come out sometime next year! Plus the game has multiple endings depending on the choices YOU make and the friendships and alliances you build with fellow survivors. Fantastic game at a budget price.
Those are my top three games to platinum this year. Not a difficult list by any means but they are all very enjoyable and fantastic titles and most certainly worth the effort.
