Come join the dark side
Welcome to our little group. This time on Backloggers, I'm joined by Jesse and JD as we discuss Darksiders, and it's publisher THQ.
We take a look at three of the biggest games heading your way this year.
2012 was kind of an amazing year for video games. We had the launch of two new pieces of hardware in the form of the PS Vita and the Wii U. We had amazing games that seemingly came out of nowhere such as XCOM: Enemy Territory, Dishonored, and Far Cry 3. We also saw growth in the digital download realm, with games like Journey and The Walking Dead in the running for many game of the year lists. With all of that said, 2013 is poised to be one of the biggest years in video game history. As the resident previews guy for PixlBit, I wanted to highlight a few of the more notable games in the pipeline for the coming year. So let's kick things off right with a few of the heavy hitters this year.
My, that’s a polished turd!
Beautiful aesthetics, wonderful music, and just about perfect controls are all you could hope for in a platformer save one very important factor and this eluded me for a while. I couldn’t figure out with so many great things going on in Pid why I hated it so very deeply. Eventually I realized that its well-crafted elements were completely overwhelmed by the boring, mediocre, and at times maddening level design. It’s a shame that the designers primarily focused on the window dressing bits instead of considering all the things you would actually be doing when you play. Pid struggles with knowing what sort of levels it wants to present, switching from puzzles to difficult platforming to stealth to long periods of just waiting around or running in a straight line. Each of these disparate level types (and more) are middling at best on their own and when combined are a complete drag. Pid’s wonderful presentation can’t save it from the tedium packed into every single minute of its tortuous length.
It's time to slay the dragon!
Welcome to a very special edition of Nerds Without Pants. Julian is joined by a couple of lovely ladies—Shanna and Allison—who are experts on the topic of the day: massively multiplayer online role playing games. That’s MMORPGs for you savvy ones. With Star Wars: The Old Republic doing well below expectations and Final Fantasy XIV needing a complete redesign this episode of NWP asks what’s so special about these types of games, and why do people still play them?
The definition of survival horror.
Take this how you will, but I am scared of playing ZombiU. Every time I pick up the Wii U Gamepad to start playing, I get a feeling of dread, and worry. Before I start, I carefully consider my last outing in the game, and identify what it is I have to do in order to survive as long as possible. This is a feeling that no horror game has brought up in a long time. While my fear of ZombiU can be seen as a positive or a negative depending on the context of the question, there is no doubt that ZombiU is an achievement in the survival horror genre.
Since the world didn't end this year, I guess we should talk about it.
So the world didn't end. Who'd a thunk it. So let's celebrate with a special "Year in Review" episode of Push Start to Continue that sees the Hell Block Heroes reunite! The guys guiltily admit how the Steam Winter Sale pilfered their wallets; Jesse explains away his Civilization V addiction; and the whole crew goes round and round on some of the best games and gaming moments of 2012.
It's okay to smile. We won't judge you here.
Nintendo made many an inner child quite happy this morning by announcing that the main series’ first official foray into 3D will arrive this October in the form of Pokemon X and Pokemon Y.
Dear Diary: Today I beat up a tree.
From the moment Code of Princess was announced, comparisons between it and Guardian Heroes were inevitable. Videos quickly showed that the gameplay was extremely similar, and quite a few members of the staff that previously worked on Guardian Heroes were on the design team. It's a fair comparison, and a rather impressive one considering Guardian Heroes did a lot for the brawler genre at a time where it was at risk of becoming irrelevant. It’s chief contributions included the inclusion of RPG elements like leveling, stat management, and magic, at a time when this practice wasn’t nearly as mainstream as it is today.
We're going streaking!
It’s 2013 and somehow we survived the apocalypse! Time to ring in the new year in style, with a new episode of Nerds Without Pants. This week we’re a nerd down, as Patrick is convalescing after minor surgery. Filling in is the one and only Ty “Fighter”, who long time listeners will know as Rob’s oft-mentioned buddy. Since every podcast is doing their game of the year lists we decided to buck that trend and instead take a look back at the year that was.
Good work, 47. The money has been wired to your account.
After thoroughly enjoying 2006’s Hitman: Blood Money, I was excited to see what IO Interactive could do with a truly next gen version of Agent 47’s world. Better tech and graphics should equal a better game, right? Well, yes, but the kind of game that Hitman: Absolution actually is turned out to be a completely different experience than I was hoping for, and it took me a while to reconcile my hopes against the reality of what’s on the disc.
