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Jan 31st, 2007 at 11:27:51 - Soul Calibur III (PS2) |
Burnt out from dueling I gave the single player mode “chronicles of the sword” a try. In this ‘tactical’ mode you are a commander for an army. You begin by creating a character, first choosing their gender then their profession, some of the choices include; thief, knight and ninja. You then have the option to change their garments. Although there is a limited selection, it truly was a breakthrough idea that I see embodied by so many other games today. After you’ve created your character you hear a dialogue explaining the history of the nations, who is at war and why. Then your commander condescendingly tells you he will be training you to command your army. The first goal is to take over enemy bases. From a far away overhead camera you guide your character along a path with graphics reminiscent of the original Mario towards the enemy tower. Upon reaching it your character automatically begins slashing away, and after watching the little man on the screen chop away for a minute, you enter into a “Decisive Battle” here game play reverts back to the dueling mode and you finally get to see your character up close and with clear graphics. They same some lame phrases to each other before the fight starts, if you win you conquer that base and may move on to attack more, however, if you loose it’s game over. I went on conquering until I cleared the stage, ultimately facing two enemies in a row when I took the final base. To add a bit of difficulty and realism to the mode your health constantly drains when you are attacking an enemy base. I found this mode exceptionally boring because there was so much waiting, both for the character to run and slash down the bases and with load times. Additionally, the dramatic difference in graphics between the arena fight scenes and the running around and slashing bases in “chronicles of the sword” made me feel like little attention was given to producing this mode. It feels choppy.
Next I tired the world tournament mode. The way it works is pretty self explanatory, there is a bracket with randomized characters and you have to win 12 consecutive matches to become world champion. I entered with Nightmare and made it about five rounds until I ran into someone with a bigger sword than me. I couldn’t get into his range without him landing huge hits either to my head or knocking out my feet. I had a couple of other feeble attempts with characters I was more unfamiliar with…nothing worth talking about. =) All in all I’m really happy with the quality of the game. As far as fighting games go I’d say this is right up there at the top with Guilty Gear X2.
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Jan 31st, 2007 at 11:27:09 - Soul Calibur III (PS2) |
The first time I played this game was at an arcade, I remember always playing as an armored dark knight named Nightmare. Today I played Soul Calibur III for the first time on PlayStation2 and resumed my career with Nightmare. I skipped the tutorial and went right to dueling my friends in versus mode. At first I was using just the directional pad and the [] X O buttons. However, after being destroyed by my opponents the first few rounds I realized the importance of using both analog sticks and the R1, R2, L1 and L2 buttons. The right analog controls special moves that deal superior damage if you power-up successfully beforehand by pressing R2. The moves become less powerful each time you are hit after powering up. After I got used to controlling my player I was able to aim my swing at the enemy’s most vulnerable area. After playing Nightmare for a while I got accustomed to the speed of his swings and was able to piece the best moves together to make effective combos. Against some of the frailer characters I was able to power up and K.O them in three swings. I had the most trouble fighting the smaller characters because I had a small target area and would get my legs taken out from under me often. The unique special abilities and inherent advantages and disadvantage due to their physical attributes are what keep this game balanced and interesting. The numerous attacks and techniques for each character keep this game exciting and balanced. Another ability I had once I understood more of the attack methods was to hit high, medium or low. In addition to this allowing you to realistically choose where you are hitting your opponent by reading their defenses, the game has built in special attacks that involve combinations of low, medium or high hits. This requires a lot more attention and skill on the defenders part. You can’t just hold block and be immune to all attacks. The incorporation of the diverse array of abilities into the game are what really make it so outstanding to me.
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Jan 27th, 2007 at 16:58:21 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
For 1/19/07 - Part Two
It seems that there is some sequence of more challenging levels in the Agent (easy) mode of the game. I felt like I would breeze through two or three levels, then get stuck on a particular objective and be forced to wander around trying to accomplish it or die in the attempt. However it happened, whenever I felt like I was on a roll I’d always encounter that one level that I would be forced to keep restarting until I really understood the objective and had a clear idea of how to accomplish it. Although the added difficulty of finding things can be a nuisance at times, its part of what makes the game such a great representation of a scenario a spy might find themselves in. It’s not a game merely about wasting as many enemies as possible, it’s about the way you approach things, your tactics.
Very few games, especially at the time of 007’s release, required such cunning. The first level played in secret agent (medium difficulty) stands out in particular to me because it requires you to move stealthily. Because you will fail if you’re seen you must be conscious of all of your movements and actions, as well as constantly scan ahead to make sure you destroy any cameras that could spot you. To ensure you’re discreet you must also only use your silenced pistol. This addition is an excellent new dynamic to a first person shooter game because it makes the missions feel so much more realistic.
Another tactical challenge I encountered in GoldenEye that I had yet to see in any of its predecessors was the importance of reading and interpreting Bond’s in-game conversations. About midway through the game Bond meets up with 006, now his agency’s top rival. If you approach him with your weapon drawn he’ll sick his guards on you and run away without telling you the necessary information to complete your mission. It requires poise to successfully complete the meeting, you must go in unarmed and pull your gun just after you hear what you need or you’ll be ambushed by his guards.
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Jan 27th, 2007 at 16:04:42 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
1/19/07 - Better late than never
Probably the earliest memory I have of Nintendo 64 is playing 007 Golden Eye. Though that was sometime in grade school it remains one of my favorite games and I love to play it whenever I have the chance. As opposed to its competitive contemporary Mario Kart, Bond is more of a skill game that relies more on your memory and ability to make decisions rather than the randomness of an item. Unlike Mario Kart, Bond wont make it any easier to catch up when you’re loosing. And that’s precisely the reason it is so much fun, its unrelenting brutal competition with your friends that you can (and should) laugh about. It wasn’t until I started single player mode with the intent of playing for a while that I really took note of the quality of game play and recalled the frustrating difficulty of some of the missions.
There was snow everywhere, and all of it looked the same!! One snowy hill after another with an occasional Russian you were obligated to shoot and a cabin or bunker here and there. Somehow I needed to find a clearance key so I could get to the control room, and on my first run through I found it right away. However, I failed an objective and was forced to restart. And for the next 5 or 8 runs through I could not find it for the life of me. I ran to and fro shooting every Russian in sight for the better part of an hour until it magically turned up. As soon as I beat the level I had to take a break, that was plenty frustration for the moment.
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ChiefGrizzlyBlunts has been with GameLog for 17 years, 10 months, and 11 days |
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