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Mar 6th, 2008 at 03:16:19 - Wingnuts 2: Rise of Raina (Other) |
Gamelog Entry #2
Gameplay:
After a second hour of gameplay, I still find myself attached to the characters. They have not lost any of their quirkeness and are still really entertaining to listen to. There was something missing though, because the gamer, like I said in my previous gamelog entry within the gameplay section, does not control an avatar, and that felt like something was missing. I was wrong, however, and discovered that I do feel an attachment, an attachment to all of the planes that one acquires during and throughout this game. I thought this is cool, because the player is attached to even more "characters" than any other game because he has such a selection to choose from.
Wingnuts still has an interesting story. We are still chasing down the Baron and trying to prevent the world from his chaotic manner, but I have gotten far along in the game to know that there is another motive for why we are chasing this maniac around. I'm not that far along to know the exact reason, but I am curious to find out, which keeps me interested as a gamer.
There is still no social interaction between human beings, which I am kind of bummed about, because I think that a multiplayer element in this game would have made it that much more better.
Design:
What I really like about this game is how the developer's tried to add a new element to level design in this SHMUP. The player has control of the plane in the X and Y coordinates and the camera is looking down on the plane from the top, but the developers gave the player a boxed area that they could move around in. It's a pretty cool design and I have not played another SHMUP that have designed levels in this way. The levels are also designed differently. Some levels are sunny and have a happy feel to them, while other levels it its snowing and the player gets that cold feeling by being in that level. All of the levels are the same size, which is kind of a down side, because I think some more elements could have been added to the game if the developers changed the dimensions of the level size throughout the game.
Another thing that I really, really like about this game was the reward and punishment system. After completing certain missions, the player gets access to more a couple more planes. But you have to be careful and not run out of fuel or lose all of your hit points, because you will lose your plane and never be able to use it in the game again! A really neat feature though is that if you upgrade a plane, that plane keeps all of its upgrade's throughout the rest of the game. If you crash it, for whatever reason, like I said before, that plane is lost forever. I also feel that this element plays a huge role in having players attached to the planes, because they can customize their planes and they strategize their gameplay so that they do not lose their planes, especially the ones that they have modified.
The different planes that the developers put in the game are really cool also. The planes are based off of real air planes, so this game is especially fun to play for a person who is really into planes, like, for example, myself. During my second hour of gameplay, I earned the A-10, which is an attack plane. I upgraded that plane as much as I could and was very careful not to lose it in battle. The planes themselves can also be upgraded a certain number of times, so that the player can not just modify one plane and defeat the game that way. Another cool feature about the planes is that the developers took the different attributes of the planes in real life and added it to the game. For example, the American P-51 Mustang is a WW 2 fighter, so its top speed is slower than that of the F-84 Thunderstreak, yet the P-51 does have a higher agility than the F-84. Another example would be that the F-84's air attack power is greater compared to that of the A-10's, but the A-10's bombing capabilities are superior to those of the F-84. This game incorporates all of this information and the player can feel it when they are playing the game.
The main downfall to this game is the fact that their is no multiplayer. I think it would be awesome for two players to work together over some sort of connection in order to chase the Baron down together. I think this would encourage social interaction while still incorporating the elements of fun that this game introduces to the general public.
Overall this game is very fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed both hours of gameplay. This game keeps me interested because I want to know the truth about why the Wingnuts are chasing the Baron. I also want to increase my quiver of planes so I can use them for suture missions. This game receives a 4 out of 5.
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Mar 6th, 2008 at 00:14:46 - Wingnuts 2: Rise of Raina (Other) |
Game Entry 1
Summary:
Wingnuts 2: Raina's Revenge (I know...i got that wrong in the title, this is the correct one) is a Mac game original. It starts off with the protagonist field testing a new jet, but then this crazy Baron comes and steals it away. The Baron has the power to time travel, so he travels to different places in time and creates havoc. It is your duty as a Wingnut (a group of superb pilots) to track him down and stop his chaotic madness.
Gameplay:
From first play, the player definitely notices the characters. All of the characters seem to have an element of Anime to their look and quirky personalities, which makes them instantly liked, even the bad guys. The player does not really control an avatar, but they feel like they are given control of a pilot, even though they only get to select the plane(s) they want to fly. The characters are well liked, even the bad guy. He has this mental good-guy gone crazy aura about him, which makes the player a sense of attachment to him.
The game does not seem to promote social interaction, as there is not multiplayer mode in it. Also, ac couple of my friends walked into my room while I was playing the game, and I was immersed into the gameplay that I did not pay much attention to them. From this standpoint, i do not believe this game incorporates social interaction amongst human beings very well.
The game is definitely interesting to play. It is kind of like a SHMUP, but it incorporates new elements into it. I have not played another game that has felt like this experience, which is good, because it brings a sense of uniqueness that the player experiences. The game flows really nicely and there are really no faults that I have about this game.
Overall, the first gameplay experience was fun and I look forward to my second hour of gameplay...
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 04:01:31 - Soul Caliber III (PS2) |
Game Entry #2:
Gameplay:
For the second hour of gameplay, Soul Calibur 3 fails to lose any of its original attractions that I first felt about it. I still have a sense of attachment to the same characters that I liked in my first hour of gameplay, maybe even more-so, and multiplayer with friends has not lost any element of fun. During a versus match, one of my friends brought up that he felt like the game was just all about button mashing and that it required no skill...I quickly had to shut down this theory of his with a couple of guard blocks against his button mashing followed by a swift set of deadly combos with Kilik's bowstaff.
I got a little more into the single player modes and I have the same feelings as I previously did about the new elements that the developers added to this game. The new ideas that the development team added does not take away any element of gameplay at all and the whole game still flows nicely together.
I have gotten more emotionally involved with the outcome of the battles as well, especially in versus matches against friends. We all seem to get pretty riled up at any outcome of a match up, and this feeling has us wanting to play the game more. The main plot of the narrative part of the game is the same though, and once you have beaten it with one character, you have played through the entire main narrative plot of the game, which sort of turns me away from that element of the game.
Game Design:
I absolutely loved the implementation for the character movement that the developers used in this game. From my personal programming experience, it seems like the implementation for all of the different characters and their moves would be pretty complex, and I believe that this game does an excellent job of handling this. When you want to pull off a move with a certain button combination, the move will execute when you get the combination right. I also feel that this gives the gamer a sense of accomplishment; if that is a difficult move to pull off, then they should be proud that they did so.
An element that I think the developers could have improved on is level design. Level design in Soul Calibur 3 did not change much from its predecessors, which is kind of a disappointment. One semi-improvement on level design is that some barriers break when an object hits them, but it has no effect on the gameplay itself. The graphics and backgrounds are definitely pretty in the game, but it feels like you are always on the same playing field in every level, that nothing new ever happens.
The music score is another element in which I think the developers could have improved. The music gets rather repetitive, which eventually becomes a nuisance to the ears of the gamer. I understand that it is a fighting game, but background music does have effects on gamers and if the development team would have put a better score together for their game, then the game itself would be that much more memorable.
I absolutely loved the award system that this game provides. There is so much content and hidden elements to unlock, that it makes me, as a gamer, want to play the game until I unlock everything. There are numerous weapons for every character in the game, different outfits for every character, different concept artwork that can be viewed, different modes to unlock. There is a lot of content, and every time I played a level I unlocked something, which got me excited and kept me thinking "What will I unlock next?" The reward system is excellent in this game.
Overall, I give this game a 5 out of 5 stars because the elements that were bad did not take away from the gameplay experience at all. When you look at the very heart of the game, it is an excellent fighting game. The music is not that big of a deal, and levels are the same as in any regular classic fighting style game. I could never get bored of multiplayer, and there is enough content in the game to keep me wanting to play it. This is a great game.
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Feb 20th, 2008 at 23:15:39 - Soul Caliber III (PS2) |
Game Entry #1:
Summary:
Soul Calibur 3 for the Playstation 2 platform is classic fighting game. The main plot is that all of the different characters want to find this sword named Soul Calibur and destroy it. This is because it spreads evil across the land, and each character wants to save the land and purge it from evil doings.
Gameplay:
Right off the bat, I noticed that this game has a lot of characters in it from previous games of the series. This instantly gives me a comforting feeling because I am already familiar with an aspect of the game. I do feel a sense of attachment to the characters, or rather some specific characters. I feel this attachment because there is something about these personalities that I like, for example, I like the character Ivy because I think she has a very interesting story behind her. I also like the character Kilik, but it is because I like his fighting style and I think it is very unique among the many different characters throughout the fighting genre of games. As a gamer I am drawn into certain characters, and I think that gamers are attached in this way in this game because the developers have put such a variety of personae's into their creation.
During my first gameplay experience of this game, a couple of friends were over at my place. Remembering that most of the time fighting games are fun with multiple players, I asked my comrades to join me for part of this experience. It was a lot of fun, as I was hopefully expecting it to be. Since all of us are gamers to a certain extent, once everybody got the controls down the experience was fun and challenging. This game does a great job of promoting social interaction between human beings and I really felt that me and my group of friends were bonding by having a fun time together.
The single player mode(s) are also engaging in this game. Soul Calibur 3 provides several different single player modes (I have not been able to play some of them in only an hour of gameplay) and I find the ones I did play very interesting. Some of the modes definitely brought some new concepts to the genre, and they seemed to work. I did not get bored with it or wish that the developers had done something different to the mode, but I found it engaging and very interesting to a rather classic style of game. It did not seem to hinder the style of a fighting genre game either, which I was pleasently surprised.
Overall my first gameplay experience was excellent and I can not wait for more...
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Doc has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 9 days |
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