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So we’ve said enough and more about God of War 2 and the Island of Rhodes fiasco. To make matters worse, it looks like Sony is yet again stiffing their PAL region customers. First it was the PS3 minus the Emotion Engine, and now, it’s God of War 2’s HD mode as well.
Kikizo.com reports that the HD mode of the game is available exclusively to NTSC users and that all PAL region owners have no option but to shut up and bitch about how they aren’t getting as much of the graphic gorefest that they are entitled to. According to Sony’s Hugo Bustillos, they had to leave the HD mode out of the PAL versions of the game thanks to all the extra European languages that had to be added in, leaving no space on the disc for the HD video mode. Explaining the movie at the Island of Rhodes site, Director of Technology Tim Moss says that the final decision to not include the HD mode was made late into development, which is why the feature was hidden as an extra and not made a standard. However, if you are playing the game on a PS3 and connect to an HDTV via HDMI or Component cables, the game automatically scales itself to a mucho-weird 576p resolution.
If you still want more God of War 2 goodness, turns out that LevelUp sat down with the Main Man Barlog and talked at length about the game, including God of War 3 on the PS3, how the decision was made to make Kratos the ultimate bad-ass anti-hero, about how RAD is handling the PSP port and how and why they decided to cut the much-publicized God-sized Kratos taking on the Colossus in a fully destructible Rhodes.
Just give me the PSP version already, that’s all I ask for.
There are very, very few games that I have a completely incurable love affair with - Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one of them. So I lost count of how many times I’ve played the game almost two years ago, but the fact remains that The Sands of Time is one of the most brilliant pieces of art the gaming industry has seen in decades. Heck, I still play it to this day whenever I need great fun, even as I curse developers for not bringing it to the PSP - a privilege that both sequels to the original enjoyed.
When a game is as big as Prince of Persia, it is inevitable that someone tries to make a movie out of it, especially someone as big as Disney, now that Pirates of the Caribbean is stumbling around. With Jordan Mechner, creator of the Prince legacy himself penning the script, it is something that most of us have been looking forward to, especially after Disney released mouth-watering concept art for the movie last month. While it was only revealed at the time of the press release that Jerry Bruckheimer would be producing the movie, it’s now been confirmed that Michael Bay, currently working on the Transformers movie, will be directing the movie for a Summer 2009 release.
It doesn’t matter how small it is, but how you use it that matters - or at least that’s what most of our girlfriends would have us believe. But the truth is, that line just about perfectly defines demoscenes - content that packs quite a visual punch in ridiculously small filesizes. Made extremely popular among geeks and gamers by the 96kB FPS called .kkrieger, the demoscene, err, scene, has expanded to lots of crazy coders trying to find more ways to pull off the gaming equivalent of squeezing Kirstie Alley into Calista Flockhart’s bikini.
So who better to show off their new stuff at Breakpoint 2007 than the guys who gave us .kkrieger in the first place? Showing off the latest in the Farbrausch line - fr-041: Debris, the produkkt team showed how much DX9.0-like visual quality you can squeeze into a 177kB file. Although Debris isn’t playable, the flyby that it generates takes you on a magical carpet ride through a mindbogglingly beautiful 3D cityscape, complete with GTA IV-esque train rides and F.E.A.R.-like underground railway stations. Never mind the fact that the demo made mincemeat out of my AMD64 3000+/X800 XT PE/1GB RAM system at 1024×768/HQ/2x MSAA and how you’d probably be needing an Intel QX6700/8800GTX SLI system to get this to look it’s best, but I just can’t wait to see if some game developer will actually use this method of dynamic content generation in lieu of shipping next-generation titles on multiple DVDs. Heck, with so much processing power available on the PS3, wouldn’t it just make more sense to pepper their game design with such design methods to ensure we don’t really need that BluRay player? At least that way, I’ll be able to afford a PS3, now that I’ve sold my soul and gotten an Xbox 360?
After one month of drooling over a timer, I know now where the Island of Rhodes is - plumb in the middle of the Sea of Extreme Disappointment! After losing sleep for almost a month and endless discussions all over the Interwebs on what exactly the Island of Rhodes was, and how it would be an announcement for God of War PSP, God of War 3 on the PS3 (or as some people were desperate enough to believe, on the PS2), it turns out that the stupid countdown timer on the IslandofRhodes.org website made us wait for nothing more than a video dev-diary/director’s commentary of the part where Kratos the Violent, Orgy Loving Machine takes on the Rhodes Colossus - something that most fans have played through over and over again ever since the game released last month. So it also gives you access to the hi-def mode on the game (Punch in L1, L2, L3, Circle and Square simultaneously when the game loads up. If done correctly, the SCEA logo will turn purple) but seriously, all this hype just to show off the HD mode and listen to the developers try to sell the game a bit more to the rabid masses?
What the website does right now is just throw extremely heavy Flash videos of the gameplay, peppered with commentaries from the various people who worked on God of War 2, including Cory “Balrog” Barlog (Director), Eric Williams (Lead Combat Designer), James Che (Game Animator), Nate Stephens and Lewis Walden (Environment Artists) and Todd Papy (Level Designer). Seriously, is this a joke, guys? This is why we had to enter a staring contest with a countdown timer for almost a month?! Jeez!
I just hope that the site gets revamped over the next couple of days and these are just placeholder videos, because frankly, the world (meaning me) needs more information on Kratos hacking and slashing his way through the PSP as well as the super-hi-def gorefest that would be God of War 3 on the PS3. Strangely though, Cory Barlog’s blog just mentions his PS3 project as “something involving the cast of The Facts of Life.” Does that mean he wouldn’t be working on the next God of War game, or is it just something else they’re looking to get out of their system before the extreme violence makes them go out on the streets with chain blades and start looking at everyone like an uncarved Christmas turkey? Whatever it is, all this pain of not learning anything new about Kratos and his stabby ways has left me partially impotent, so please, excuse me while I go back to Battle of the Gods and have Kratos “lark” it out against Chubby Kratos! As you kinda figured, I don’t have an HDTV!
PS: If anyone figures out why the Omega symbol/Hades theme (look to the right on the rock outcrop) on the official God of War site looks so much like the Island of Rhodes flaming theme, please let me know. Stupid sign had me thinking there was a new God of War expansion for the PS2! Gah!
GameTrailers.com has a comparison of the Standard Def vs High-Def gameplay over here. Head down there if you have an HDTV and wanna know how graphic your virtual bloodletting can truly be!
Sometimes I just wonder how Andy Serkis gets on with his career? This is probably the only guy who is one of the most popular actors that’s rarely seen on screen in his real form. From Gollum to King Kong, Serkis has motion captured his way right into our hearts and into the annals of moviemaking history. And if mo-capping for movies wasn’t enough, he’s now doing it for what probably could become one of the best games ever made - Heavenly Sword.
I’m just gonna shut up and let his persona say it all. This is one of the best mo-capping shoots I’ve ever seen, even though it’s more rant than action. All hail the coming of the new age thespian. <Gollum!> (sigh) As if Heroes didn’t piss me off by showing Micah and Niki/Jessica playing the game, now this has to come along. Damn, Heavenly Sword is fast becoming the reason I’ll run out and buy a PS3 the day the game hits the shelves.
As a developer, hammering out code for a multimillion dollar behemoth isn’t really satisfying for a person’s ego, especially when it’s planet sized like mine. Everytime I see someone at a job that I want to do, like a globetrotter or a porn star, I usually work myself up into a complete state of frenzy about how I should be at that job, getting paid to have criminally insane amounts of fun. Another job to add to the list seems to be this - foley artist for Digital Extremes’ latest game, Dark Sector.
These guys get to have obscene amounts of fun generating sound effects for Dark Sector, simulating the sounds of snapping necks, extreme dismemberment and squelchy glaive kills by ripping apart celery stalks, smashing watermelons with hammers and fingerfucking zuchhinis to kingdom come! We’ll just let you go and watch these guys live our veggie/fruit sadomasochistic dreams while we try to find some voodoo dolls of these guys to crucify.
Sure it isn’t exactly “hot-off-the-press”, but this place just absolutely MUST have something about Kameo: Elements of Power. It isn’t the next greatest thing in terms of engine technology, nor is it the killer app for the Xbox 360 – but what Kameo really is, is one of the most underrated games today. With everyone going on and on about Gears of War and G.R.A.W, it’s easy to miss a title like Kameo that looks kiddy, colorful and easy. But give me 5 minutes and read on – and I’ll tell you just WHY Kameo is a genre defining moment in video game history.
Developed by Rare (who are best known for coming up with some of the most beautiful game characters and ‘different’ gameplay styles), Kameo is the story about a young elf princess who, in the process of saving her kidnapped family, learns more about her world and herself.
A young, hot-blooded but cool-headed elf, Kameo must pass through various realms and face terrible enemies (well – some are too amusing to be terrible), to save her family from the clutches of her envious sister – Kalus. Kalus and Kameo are both after 1 thing really – to get what’s rightfully theirs. But the envy and jealousy, makes Kalus turn against her own family and this envy clouds her love for all things dear to her. She eventually unleashes a terrible evil that has resulted in an all-out war between the elves and the Trolls. By bringing back the Troll king – Thorn, to life, an ancient pact is broken and the lands are plunged into battle. It’s now up to Kameo to save the land, her family and restore balance before all is lost. However, she’s not alone in this quest (God knows she’d be torn to bits!). Aiding her in her quest are what the game calls “Elemental Sprites”. The sprites are elemental warriors that Kameo can call upon to aid her in defeating enemies, crossing hurdles or solving puzzles. THIS – is what defines the whole game.
Your elemental sprites, when separated from you are weak and in a child-like state – however, once they become part of you, they become these terrifying warriors that can make the biggest Troll wet its pants! You also get the choice to upgrade each warrior’s abilities by feeding them “Elemental Fruit”. This fruit can be found across the land on Elemental Fruit plants, secret locations or even helping out people, who will gladly reward you for your kindness.
The gameplay is simple but challenging – you’re required to use your Elemental Warriors to beat up different enemy types. Each sprite has its own set of strengths and weaknesses and each is best suited for combat – however knowing what element controls your sprite, and what element your enemy is allergic to, makes the game different and fun to play. For example – Pummelweed, who’s like Tyson in the game, is a plant-element that punches enemies and literally finishes off with a nice upper-cut. Superb for quickly eliminating most enemies – however, if you’re up against an enemy whose primary element is fire, then guess what – Pummelweed is toast! Similarly, you use Torch (your Fire elemental) against a Lava Troll, and you won’t even scratch him! But use DeepBlue (water elemental) and watch the Troll’s lights go out! It’s this mix-and-match that makes the game so much fun. Sometimes, you’ll need to weaken an enemy with one sprite, and then defeat it using another! Now this mix-and-match doesn’t just apply to combat – it also applies to puzzle solving and moving from one section to another. Consider this – you’ve got a ramp you can jump off, but on the other side, there’s nothing but a wall of ice, leading to the next section - 50 feet above you!!! Big problem? Not really – if you do the following – change into Major Ruin (think Elephant meets Armadillo). Make him shoot off the ramp (since he turns into a ball, he’ll get some height and the speed will cover you some distance. Just when you’re close to the ice wall, quickly change to Chilla (Ice elemental) and he’ll grab the wall and scale up in seconds!!! Inventive and genius! It’s as simple as that (until you get to some later levels!).
It’s this unique gameplay that really appealed to me the most and had me hooked to the game up until 4 AM - EVERYDAY!
Graphically, the game just looks gorgeous! With dynamic day-night cycles and superbly detailed characters, what’ll WOW you the most, is when you hover over fields. I shit you not – EVERY BLADE of grass is alive in this game. You hover over it and the grass actually sways under you! You quickly hang a left or a right – and the grass responds! If a developer decides to put that much attention into a game – trust me – they LOVE the game and they have loved making it. The day night cycles make the game a lot of fun too. While not new, it still adds to the feeling of actually being IN the game and feeling time pass by.
The game also packs in quite a few minigames which you can play to earn rewards to learn more things about your world. But believe me – I spent most of my time just flying around marveling at the game and its scale – the world looks breathtakingly beautiful.
Boss fights are challenging – but never to the point of abject frustration. The bosses look convincingly evil and dastardly, and VERY amazing! My personal favorite is the tree boss. You need to beat this guy in the most unbelievable way! I’ll just leave it at that for now!!! The game is also forgiving in that it’ll never really need you to run to a PC to get a boss strategy guide. If the game notices you struggling, it’ll give you hints and advice on what to do next. While this is pretty cool for people new to the genre, it can however, get a little too annoying at times. You really don’t want a game to hold your hand through it, all the way.
In terms of multiplayer, the game features a co-op mode – however, co-op levels need to be unlocked when playing in single player mode. The co-op modes, while fun, are just a little lack-lustre, really. This could have been executed better. There is absolutely no challenge in playing co-op and unlike a game like GeOW – which had some of the most amazing co-op I’ve ever played, Kameo’s co-op doesn’t quite cut it.
On the whole, I think this is easily one of the best action-adventure games out there and while it isn’t exactly “launch-title” material anymore, I’d highly recommend this game to anyone who’s out to make a worthy investment. While it’s not as kick-ass as other titles, it still manages to deliver what every game should – FUN for the whole family!
Buy it.