Those who have followed my writings know of my love for Diablo-esq beat-em-ups.  (In fact I have been itching for some Sacred 2 action if anyone cares to join in on the fun).  That’s why when Hothead games released DeathSpank a few weeks ago, a Diablo-like game with Monkey Island humor, downloading that bad boy was a no-brainer for me.  The DGR crews hinted at a fantastic review of this game a few weeks ago, but were side-tracked by some tomfoolery known as an anniversary show or something.  Anyhow, after successfully completing this adventure, I felt the game deserved some discussion, so I’m offering up my thoughts for you to enjoy. 

DeathSpank is the brainchild of game designer Ron Gilbert.  Best known for his witty action/adventure series Monkey Island, Gilbert had been working on DeathSpank since 2004.  The game centers around an egotistical hero known simply as “DeathSpank”, a character originally found in Gilbert’s Grumpy Gamer comics.  It was foretold that DeathSpank would be a hero to the downtrodden and that he was to possess an artifact of unimaginable power known simply as “The Artifact”.  However, this artifact has been stolen by the very evil, and also very egotistical, Lord Von Prong.  Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to recapture the artifact from Lord Von Prong, making the universe safe from evil again.  Ok, so there’s way more to the story than just this, but you get the basic picture.  

During his quest, DeathSpank acquires loot (weapons, armor, cool stuff like that) from enemies he kills, thus making him stronger and more powerful.  Aside from the thirty-three main quests in the game, you have the option of performing seventy-nine additional side missions from characters you meet along the way.  These quests don’t take too long, and most of them can be accomplished along side the main storyline.  All in all, the entire game took around 6-8 hours to complete and cost 1200 Microsoft points ($15 on PS3) to play.  The big question of course, is DeathSpank worth the $15?  Read more and decide for yourself. 
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You know, I think it is safe to say that 2010 will be the first year in the history of gaming where the first half year of releases will eclipse the second half. For the past several years we have been seeing a growing trend of publishers fearing traditional holiday season juggernauts like Halo and Call of Duty and pushing their titles back into spring. This strategy has paid off so well now that publishers are planning their releases with a Q1 release date in mind. What resulted in 2010 was a first half so jam packed with superb new releases that nearly every month felt like a star studded October or November where we are used to seeing this influx of high-quality titles.

With that said, I can see by the end of the year that at least a few of these titles from the first half will be slipping under the radar when it comes to the game of the year awards coming out. So I went out of the way to make my Top 10 Games for the First Half of 2010 list. That is right, not only was there plenty of games I enjoyed this year to make a top 10, I also have several more honorable mentions!

I was initially really into Darksiders, but as I progressed I realized my Zelda-esque dungeon puzzle skills have some serious rust. I kept getting stumped to the point I could not take it anymore at only several hours into the game. Dante’s Inferno is an enjoyable God of War clone, and I had quite a bit of fun with it, probably more so than most because I have yet to have some serious playtime with any of the God of War games.

Green Day Rock Band was more of the same, and I was having a good time with it playing at a friend’s place until their material from 21st Century Breakdown nearly put me to sleep. Army of Two: The 40th Day was a sequel that alleviated a lot of my core gameplay gripes with the original and was a blast to play through with a friend in coop. However, in the process of doing that EA forgot to attach a meaningful story, and blew it big time on no inclusion of a persistent unlock system for online multiplayer, which seemed like a gimme with how much the single player focuses on gun and armor customization.

UFC 2010 has a fully stacked single player arrangement of modes and features some of the best multiplayer out there. At least in local couch based multiplayer that is, where I spent many hours button mashing my controller to hell. It is too bad the online (from my experience on the 360 anyways) is insanely busted, where on the three separate occasions I was only able to complete three online fights of approximately 20 attempts that was filled with countless glitches and hiccups setting up fights. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing just missed the top 10. It is easily the best Mario Kart clone yet, which is a great thing since I do not own the Wii. Any game that features Shenmue’s Ryo Hazuki and his forklift racer gets a stamp of approval from me!

So now, without further ado is my “Top 10 Games For The First Half of 2010”

10) Split/Second

This is unlike any arcade racer before it. I applaud Black Rock Studios for instead of sticking with the safe route and releasing the sequel to the awesome quad racer, Pure, they went the high road and created an all new IP that I could best relate to as a videogame version of the recent film remake, Death Race, albeit a more family friendly version with all kinds of game changing obstacle “powerplays” that could be triggered to take out your opponents and even yourself if you got careless. It laid a solid foundation that I highly hope this time Black Rock capitalizes on with a sequel.

9) Yakuza 3

Initially, I was having trouble taking the plot seriously for the third Yakuza. Was I really running an orphanage? Then as the hours and chapters went by, I found myself caring for those kids and attached to their personalities. Before I knew it, Yakuza’s trademark fighting system grabbed me again, and I was reeled in and convinced that I must defend that orphanage against all its opposition by any means necessary!

8 – Super Street Fighter IV

This game convinced me to finally pick up my first console fight stick since the NES Advantage! As much as a fighting newb as I am, Street Fighter is so easy to pick up (but insane to master!) that I still found myself rolling out Hadokens and Sonic Booms like I was in the arcade nearly 20 years ago. I never had any problems playing online with friends, and the lobby/quarter matches brings back the incredible feeling of “Winner stays” in the arcades last set of glory years.

7) Splinter Cell Conviction

I usually despise stealth games. I played through Metal Gear Solid 4 on very easy and practically run and gunned through the entire game. Not so much in Conviction. Even though UbiSoft made the game feel like more of a shooter, and quite a good one at that, I was rewarded with sneaking and stealth kills so much that it motivated me to play through roughly 30% of the game with stealth tactics, and for me that is saying something! Throw in another separate campaign designed specifically for online coop and DLC missions currently out, and you have a Splinter Cell game with some serious legs.

6) Blur

Big ups to Bizzare Creations, the former developers of Project Gotham Racing for proving that kart racer style power-ups can be successfully mixed with racing modern day muscle and exotic cars. Blur’s incredibly deep single player features some of the best use of friends leaderboards I have seen on a disc based game that kept swaying me to play just one more race. Its multiplayer component is loaded with persistent unlocks and far superior matchmaking that gives Blur the longevity edge over its rival Split/Second.
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Perception is a funny thing. Chances are, if I asked you what your perception was of the Wii software library, you’d respond that it’s made up of heaps of party games, waggly gimmickry, thoughtless shovelware, with only a few standout titles, most of which are published by Nintendo themselves. And yes, that would be fair. And hell, walk through the Wii aisle in any game retailer and that is exactly what you’ll see; countless Petz, Cooking, Barbie, and licensed kid’s games peppered with a few tried-and-true Nintendo franchises. But any gamer with a lick of discerning taste knows that one has to dig a little deeper than the local Wal-Mart to find quality game experiences. Hell, you don’t go to the big boxes to search for obscure albums and films, do you?

It is with that logic in mind that I’m going to make what may seem like a bold statement. Ready? The Wii’s library is just as hardcore as the Dreamcast’s.

*GASP!*

But it’s true! The only difference is that the Dreamcast sold a fraction of the units, thus the quality wasn’t obscured by mountains of shovelware by companies trying to make a quick buck off a hot system. No, you won’t find the big-budget, high-definition first-person-shooter kill-a-thons that populate the other systems’ libraries, but you will find a surprisingly healthy selection of niche titles, specifically geared to gamers whose tastes are perfectly in line with those wonderful Dreamcast classics.

Still don’t believe me? Think I’m insane? Let’s take a look, shall we?
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God Bless BioWare; not only do they produce KILLER games, but they are becoming adept at keeping their IPs relavant with timely downloadable content, and good content at that.  So after the early game of the year discussion, I felt the itch to get my Mass Effect 2 groove on and try their DLC.  There are three packs available to you right now.  One is FREE (To Cerberus Network users), one is OK but provides something you will definitely want, and the third is quite simply one of the best DLC adventures I have ever had.  Let’s take a look. 

The first pack that you will want to get is the Firewalker pack.  This pack is FREE to Cerberus Network users and gives you the new Hamerhead fighting vehicle to explore planets with.  One of the omitions from Mass Effect 2 that I truly enjoyed was elimination of the Mako.  I found the Mako missions to be rather clunky and they changed the pace of the game in a way that I didn’t like.  People complained about the controls and how some parts of the map were difficult to reach, even with six wheels.  BioWare told us that they were working on a replacement for the Mako, and here it is. 

The Hammerhead is a hovercraft with one rather large cannon on the front.  It provides fast horizontal and limited vertical movement.  Learning how to navigate with the Hammerhead was pretty intuitive and the first few missions with it flew by rather quickly.  The pack itself gives you five additional vehicle missions and trophy that is viewable in your cabin.  It’s not a ton of content, but it is free and provides those who missed vehicle travel and combat something to play with.  Sadly, I’m not one of those people.  In fact, I LOVED not having to tool around in a vehicle getting from one place to another, it kept my Mass Effect 2 pacing right where I wanted it.  Regardless it seems the Hammerhead is here to stay so you better get used to piloting one.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine vehicle and better than the Mako.  I just wish it had a better indicator when shields were failing.  I found myself in may close firefights with Geth Destroyers only to blow up realizing “hey I musta taken too much damage.”  Here’s a hint…THINK RANGED and you will do fine with the Hammerhead. 
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I was a big fan of the original Crackdown, as was a vast majority of 360 owners, when it hit in 2007. The open-world, sandbox soil that had been tilled for years by the Grand Theft Auto series bore delicious fruit with the superhero inspired elements of Crackdown. With the original developer, Realtime Worlds, off on another creative enterprise, it fell to Ruffian Games to create a sequel to this cult favorite. After putting some time into the game, I find there are many elements to Crackdown 2 that are just as fun as the original, however the extreme similarities between the two end up making this game less engaging than the first.

The biggest surprise for me when jumping into Crackdown 2 is just how similar the world is. In fact, it’s identical with only a few elements skinned differently to aid the zombie infested city conceit that is at the heart of the game. While this is initially a nice return to a familiar territory, after the first twenty Agility Orbs have been gleefully collected, these warm feelings have changed to a tired realization that fourty-plus hours have already been spent here. The proposition that another games worth of time will be spent jumping around these familiar locales begins to feel more like a cheat and all the “newer” elements are tinged from that moment on.

That’s not to say that I still didn’t have a lot of fun running around chasing down orbs. I still enjoyed all of the familiar Crackdown events including racing and gunning down waves of enemies. I still took joy when my character started crackling with energy at each new level. These are all still enjoyable moments but at the same time it was hard not to feel as if I could have received the same rush by putting in the original game and hitting the reset button.

The actual structure of what goes on in Crackdown 2 attempts to breath some fresh air into the familiar territory. The “kill the gang bosses” progression of the original Crackdown has been replaced with a series of areas that need to be cleared of enemies. Some of these are just like the original game and consist of zones on the map that have been designated as enemy strongholds. While no gang leaders sit at the heart of these sections, the bonus to clearing them out is that they become resupply points. Clearing all of the zones on the map end up giving you plenty of places to get car or a new set of weapons.

The other areas that need to be cleared are called Amplifiers, which are machines that need to be turned on once the area is cleared of enemies. When a set of three of these are activated, they point the way to a Freak (read: zombie) Lair. These underground Lairs require you to activate a Beacon and defend it against a swarm of attacking Freaks. As each of the areas are conquered, the city begins to clear of dangers much like the original Crackdown. This progression comprises the vast majority of the game and while it’s a little better structured than the original, it fails to make the game feel as fresh and new as I wanted.

The multiplayer has been expanded to allow four players to co-operate through the game, as opposed to the original two. As was true with the first game, the majority of your fun will be had in this mode. From jumping around the city looking for orbs or defending against a horde of Freaks, everything becomes much more enjoyable when played with friends. The typical deathmatch and Rocket Tag are also included but I found these modes to pale when compared to the likes of Red Faction: Guerilla with it’s leveling mechanics and weapon upgrade system. Again, while these multiplayer features are a nice addition to the series, it fails to make the game feel like the next big event in the Crackdown universe.

That fact, sadly, becomes the biggest downfall of the game. There is a thinning line, it seems, between what is excepted of a true sequel and what ends up feeling more like an add on pack. With full missions, characters and items being put out for many triple A franchises these days, Ruffian’s approach to Crackdown 2 seems less acceptable. In both look, feel and execution, I find it difficult to believe this couldn’t have been an add on to the original.

That’s not to say that you wont have a lot of fun with the game. With three other friends, especially, you’ll have a really good time. The single player also holds many of the same thrills as the original. Just don’t go in expecting a whole new ballgame for your $60.00, as Crackdown 2 is simply more of the same. For some that will be a detriment but for others it’s just what the doctor ordered. I’ll leave that one for you to decide.

For more thoughts on Crackdown 2, check out the 07.02.2010 episode of Drunken Gamers Radio

If E3 had a mascot it would be Gran Turismo.  I can’t say how many years E3 has been around, but let’s just say E3 has been around 25 years. I am confident 19 out of 25 years, some sort of Gran Turismo has been in development. Anyway, all you’re supposed to know something is happening with playing a bunch of Sly Cooper games; and Valve, there’s that. People still don’t have much faith in Socom Anal Bead. Personally, I’m looking toward Move for somebody to try something competitive with motion controls. I am probably the only person secretly wishing this.
Oh yeah, no PSP2.

3:08 mormonrage: I think shooters suck as demos
3:08 mormonrage: I’m so sick of seeing guns blowing & up for five minutes in these things

3:13 frozenlava: oh god
3:14 frozenlava: sly in 3d
3:14 frozenlava: big name!
3:14 rockhstrongo: i was just going to say gt5 3d

3:14 mormonrage: slycollection–hell yeah

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I think I overheard Metroid Other M is coming August and Golden Sun is in November. 3DS? No idea. Everything else; that all next year so no need to go on all about that. You fun folks did. Let’s listen in to all the happy things you said. See Hilden? Positivity! Elders will smile upon the game community you’ve cultivated!

Naw man, seriously I think nobody knocked this conference. Good news. Oh and thanks for saying what you’re talking about. Because I’m still fumbling in the dark over here. Fumbling.

11:26 mormonrage: DK is a done deal. What would be rad is if they had Steve Wiebe introduce it
11:26 TeamFremont: If Wiebe is here, press conference of show.
11:26 antonhritz: DGR will go bananas…
11:27 mormonrage: hell yeah. Then Billy Mitchell crashes the stage and it gets all lucha libre
11:27 antonhritz: and by that i mean they will buy banana flavored tabacco for the huka

12:03 TeamFremont: philosophy ass kicking in 3 2 1
12:03 philhaymes-1: nice!
12:03 philhaymes-1: nintendo already won
12:04 rockhstrongo: you can feel the nerdgasms

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I’ve been bitching about how worthless E3 is compared to the smaller single hardware conferences for years. E3 is ok for dropping the scantest of detail on new hardware and namedropping the existence of something I would like without showcasing any relevant detail, but as far as gaming software is concerned, the target audience is everybody you’re affiliated with besides yourself.  DGR runs the ustream chat during E3 keynotes.  I don’t follow a livestream of the actual conference or anything, but I drop by various live IRCs and shoutboxes to watch the awful reactions to E3 unfold during my work day. They don’t cease to amuse. Today I overheard what I gathered to be the Microsoft keynote. I decided to cut and paste the fun snippets I read in passing. I have no idea what was announced at the time, but maybe you can put these into context…or just reminisce about what just happened.

2:12 jluedtke: Oh God…
2:12 jluedtke: This is awful.
2:13 jluedtke: Why do I watch these?

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Alright pardners (and Moe), I do believe that it is time for us to saddle up and hit the plains together in a DGR community playdate!  Let’s posse up as many of us as we can in a private server for some Red Dead Redemption Free Roam and Gang War action. The time I would like to propose for such a get together would be this coming Sunday eveing, June 13th, from 8:00 -10:00 CST. 

Why Posse up?  Well after another great night of roaming the plains with Mitchi’s Outlaws, I was reminded about just how GREAT gaming has become since I virtually eliminated the D-bag factor.  Before joining the DGR and surrounding communities I would frequently find myself pulling my hair out (and trust me there isn’t much left these days) putting up with loud-mouthed kids or grievers who found great pleasure in ruining the online experience for us.  Those days are mostly gone, and while I do find myself getting into a public game every now and then, I vastly perfer gaming with the awesome people we have here, many of whom have become dear and good friends in real life.

We have a section with gamertags on the site, but with the influx of folks that have contributed lately, so it may not be a bad time to send the call out for folks to post their gamertags here and join in on the fun.  Hopefully PanicBot can then turn this information into a new up-to-date list of bad ass, drunk gamers! 

I’ll start:

Xbox Live = Ryker XL

PSN = Ryker_XL

Steam = Ryker XL (Hey I see a pattern)

See you Sunday pardner!  Unless yer yella…

TL:DR version. The game is mad linear and a little short, but has some really pretty lighting and interesting enough combat to accent a fantastic atmosphere and reasonably good story. Highly Recommended.

Ok, that’s out of the way, now let’s actually talk about the game.

Alan Wake is the long, long, long, long awaited title by Remedy, the makers of the Max Payne series. For those of you who are too young to remember Max Payne properly, get off my lawn. Also, pick those games up, as they’re a fantastic videogame take on the crime story and well worth playing.

Wake is a similarly-styled game, only with a focus on the Stephen King/Lovecraftish horror rather than action. As such, Wake is much less of an action star than Payne, and your weapon selection is significantly limited. None of these are necessarily bad things, as it makes combat feel more desperate than rote, but it would be nice to have a protagonist who can run more than thirty feet without getting winded. Seriously, I can do that, and years of desk work have left my body composed entirely of graham crackers and marshmallow cream.

The core premise of Alan Wake is finding out what’s happened to you (you have amnesia…yup, that’s a thing that happens in video games) and your wife in the town of Bright Falls. Those of you familiar with Twin Peaks? Yeah, that’s Bright Falls. You’ll go through a lot of beautiful woodlands, logging camps, mines, and small, quaint town. Always in a very well-defined path.

Like Max Payne before it, Alan Wake is an unapologetically linear game. You’re never without a big yellow dot on your radar pointing at the next objective. NEVER. Diverting from the path never takes you far, though it is rewarding for the obsessive compulsive gatherers among us. Alan Wake has literally hundreds of collectibles to be found, many of which are well off the beaten path. In addition, the watchable TV shows from Max Payne return here, with live action productions. In addition to the watchables there’s a number of radio broadcasts to catch as well as a couple other recordings. All of them together with the manuscript collectibles give you a nice sense of what’s going on in the game world, as well as appropriate levels of dread for upcoming events (one manuscript page foreshadowed a scene, ending with “Then I heard the chainsaw”).

Characters are also pretty solid in, though a couple remain inexplicably one-dimensional. The majority more than make up for any failings in the second-tier cast, though, and the characters Wake befriends (two of which become rather competent NPCs as the game progresses) are very solid. I can’t talk more about the characters without giving away the enjoyment of meeting them, but rest assured the people of Bright Falls are a strength of the game.

Graphically the lighting is the standout for the game, and it should be, as it’s a core component of the combat. Your enemy in the game is darkness, and Alan must use light in varying forms to burn the darkness off of enemies, either destroying them completely or making them vulnerable to (weighty and satisfying) gunfire. Weapons are basics you’d expect in the country: hunting rifles, a couple shotguns, and a revolver. A flashlight (which increases in size and potency over the course of the game) and other light sources are your primary source of defense, though, and your only method of crowd control. It’s also fun to just wave a flashlight around to watch the beam play over objects, reflecting on the right surfaces and catching against tree limbs. Bright lights at night give off a nice oversaturation effect as you look into them, as well.

Unfortunately other details don’t hold up as well. While Alan’s animations are smooth and solid and most objects look great, facial animations throughout the game are generally pretty bad. Many characters suffer from the meat muppet effect: instead of being synced to the words they say the mouth just flaps back and forth when they speak. It’s not horribly distracting in the larger scheme of things, and probably reflects Wakes long development time, but in comparison to recent games it’s noticeable.

Sound quality and voice work are both top notch, though. The music builds and ebbs appropriately during the creepier segments of the game, and enemies sound horrifying and fascinating as they gibber at you. Your first encounter with the darkness in the game proper is memorable in this respect, and the game doesn’t allow that introduction to be the only high point.

My only other dig on Alan Wake comes in the ending. Currently there are at least two DLCs planned to expand the story, and by expand Remedy should really be saying “finish.” The arc is partially completed by the end of the game, but a lot of questions are left unanswered, and I’m left with the impression that some expository content was truncated to make the DLC make sense. Other games are just as guilty of plays like this, and many are far more so, but it’s less forgivable to me in Wake, which is so heavily focused on story. Other folks I’ve chatted with have found the combat repetitive over time, but though it is limited in scope (6 guns and a couple extras) the hefty feel of the firepower you’re given as well as it’s context balanced this out for me.

At the end of the day I enjoyed the hell out of Alan Wake, and will undoubtedly be picking up all of the DLCs. If you’re a fan of Remedy, Stephen King, or story-driven games this is a no-brainer. For everyone else this is still a game that’s well worth experiencing, and I’m going to enjoy future takes on storytelling genres by Remedy.