Visionary Nexus Network

We have one of these for anime, so I figured why not one for games? Even if we’re currently in some of the worst months in the year for gaming, I suppose they still deserve their fair share in this blog. So, here goes. Please be warned that the following is a direct attempt at being as horribly sarcastic, snobby, and egotistical as Moonlily, and we apologize for all offensive material beforehand. Now, onto this week’s newly released games.

The Sims 3

This probably should’ve been written two weeks ago when the torrent first came out and everybody pirated the game, resulting in billions of lost dollars for EA (not that they’ll actually feel the effects considering their bank account is almost as huge like xbox as Microsoft’s bank account(hence the huge like xbox)), but since the official release was this week, I may as well write about it now.

I don’t know much about Sims 3 and I’ll probably never play it, but as we’re doing an LP consisting of our main forum members living as a family, I’ll probably learn a lot more about it soon enough. What I’ve heard about this latest iteration is that there’s a bigger focus on community and customization, with the town being a lot more seamless in practice which leads to a more society-focused world. It sounds like a real improvement, considering how in previous Sims games I’ve played I always felt like I was a prisoner in the home, with nothing to help me escape except a random car that would pull up and take me to work whenever I actually decided to go.

As for the extensive customization options, there appears to be a lot there. The game asks a ton of random crap about your custom Sim, including favorite food and colors. The lack of hair options, on the other hand, is disappointing. We couldn’t give Cloud an afro like he wanted, and there was no Goku hair available either. How could we create a crazed household of internet trolls without these most basic of hairstyles?!

Still, there appears to be a lot more content than in previous iterations in the franchise, which can only be a good thing. Of course, because the publisher is EA, some content has to be purchased with real money, diluting the good vibes the game gives off. Additionally, there are a lot of things The Sims 3 does lack, meaning there will probably be expansion packs in the future to include the same items that the expansions for Sims 1 and Sims 2 had, further beaming the contents of your wallet directly into EA’s grubby hands. Microsoft would be proud.

Still, considering how expansive The Sims 3 is compared to previous games in the series, it’s worth the money if you have it. That is, unless you haven’t pirated the game already. Don’t worry, I won’t tell. Hell, The Pirate Party won a seat in European Parliament today; I’m not about to argue to a group that has governmental representation.

Red Faction: Guerrila

This game is destruction incarnate. The basic melee weapon is the Sledgehammer, and it’s also the best weapon in the game. It can take down enemies, buildings, and create massive amounts of destruction not seen since Sony released the PS3. Red Faction’s physics engine is impressive, giving every structure its own physical properties, meaning you’ll never quite destroy two things in the same way. It’s like catching snowflakes with your tongue–no two are alike–except in this case the snowflakes are every living structure on the face of Mars.

The story isn’t anything special; you’re a reluctant soldier trying to get revenge for your dead brother, even though you don’t always say so; and there are hardly any twists and turns in your way as you progress through your mission.

Combat-wise, again, it’s pretty destructive. Cover gets useless quickly as every wall is destructible, and height isn’t much of a factor since you can knock down buildings or walls with enough hits from a Sledgehammer or a well-placed charge on a support beam. The mission types aren’t very diverse, ranging from protecting settlements to storming strongholds. Though the amount of destruction keeps the pace of the game up, the single-player will eventually grow repetitive.

Thankfully, the single-player campaign doesn’t last past 15 hours, and the multiplayer is a godsend. The destructiveness of the environment leads to tense affairs, as everyone playing in deathmatch knows that they’re only one sledgehammer hit away from total death, almost regardless of cover or position, which pretty much eliminates any camping plans. Interesting weapons add some strategy to the multiplayer, ranging from a reconstruction gun to a backpacks that let you charge through walls or hop up to unsuspecting snipers.

All in all, a chaotic game that’s worth a play if you’re in love with absolute mayhem. Nothing special about it’s storyline or graphics, but, if you’re a destructive person, you’d be willing to crush those in favor of massive explosions, right?

Fuel

Global warming has turned the earth into a clusterfuck, killing billions in its wake; what do you do? Why, race around the Pacific Northwest in a variety of fuel-burning cars and motorcycles of course! 5,000 miles of the Pacific Northwest are yours for riding around in, wasting the last of earth’s fuel like there’s no tomorrow!

It is this premise that Fuel opens up with in order for Codemasters to come up with an excuse for creating a game that mixes racing with dastardly weather effects and a huge destroyed landscape. While Burnout Paradise blended a racing game with an open world quite well by making the location an exciting city and building in elements to destroy, demolish, and/or fuck the hell up out of your car, Fuel simply just decides to stick your car into a barren landscape devoid of any energy. There’s nothing to do whilst traveling from race point to race point, making it more of a chore than anything, forcing you to choose the menu over the open world.

Weather effects aren’t anything special in the open world, but they have an effect on the races. The races themselves are devoid of any specific track, meaning you can try going through the 1,000 shortcuts present throughout the landscape. Of course, if you go the wrong way and wreck your car, the chances of you catching up are practically zero.

The online play could certainly save this game, as it again rips off Burnout’s lobby system, adding in custom tracks to the mix; however, the jury is out on just how many people will actually play the game online to contribute.

All in all, a rental at best; if you want to play an open world racing game, stick to Burnout Paradise: it has many of the same features this game has, only executed to a much better effect.

Terminator: Salvation

Last and certainly least is Terminator: Salvation, a game newly released on PC that will have you screaming for some salvation from yet another movie-based catastrophe of a game!

Terminator: Salvation consists of: a game that’s only about twice as long as its movie and yet six times the price, with poorly constructed cutscenes and simple, repetitive combat, that has on-the-rails sequences to remind you just how linear the entire game could have been as opposed to how linear it is anyway.

All in all, a bare-bones movie-based game not worth your time or money. Especially considering this PC version is actually being recalled due to some installation problems. I guess the Terminator had enough of this shovelware crap being marketed off with his name on it.

And that’s all for this week. Stay tuned for next week’s edition which will feature the long-awaited Prototype(!!!).

Related posts

• Weekly Gaming Roundup: Who you gonna call? VISIONARY NEXUS(6/15)-(6/21) (6)
• Weekly Gaming Roundup: Sports, Viruses, and Rock ‘n Roll (6/7)-(6/14) (0)
• Weekly Gaming Roundup: ACTION WEEK(6/21)-(6/28) (5)
• Weekly Gaming Roundup – (5/17-5/23) (2)
• Weekly Gaming Roundup (5/24 – 5/30) (1)