the grunter

A blast from the past! Sorry to disappoint if you think I only write reviews for new games because I’m planning to write a review on each of the games I own. And if you’ve been following this blog you’d know that I have cut back on buying new games for the past months now. Oh and I lied, if you think Kameo is “a blast from the past” as far as my reviews go, you’re in for a surprise (Hint: Check out my updated games list, new lists include Sega MD/NES).

Anyway, let’s look at this 2005 game that may be found in the $5 bin in your local Thrift store.

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I am old enough (hence smart enough) not to go with the crowd and set up a list of resolutions for year 2011. I let 2010 go away quietly just the same way I welcomed 2011, which took place at a 24-hr Chinese restaurant called Number 9 with my good friend Derek and his Dad (aka Michael “Goon Man” Hui).

I don’t mean I have zero expectations for myself this year, but I would rather “develop habits” than “getting items checked off my list”. Other than keeping up with a workout habit after work each day (went for my 8th visit to the gym since the beginning of the year, not a bad start!), I wish to invest more time and effort on writing game reviews this year.

That idea eventually matured into somewhat of a mini self project: I am going to put together a master inventory of all the video games I own, from NES to Xbox 360. I will then save the list onto a spreadsheet and attach links to any reviews that I have written in the past. The ultimate goal is to fill up the entire list with reviews, because I believe that every game, no matter how ass or impossible it is, deserves a review. Whether or not the game is a black horse or a steaming pile, the world (i.e. the internet) deserves to know.

Initially, the title of this project was going to be “Every game deserves a play-through and a review” but then I don’t want to make promises that I cannot deliver (I do own some games that are some of the worst titles in the industry).

To make things even more interesting, I said to myself: I say this every year, to be more committed in this and that, but what’s a solid way to make sure it happens and stays happening throughout the year? Let’s do it this way – I will write and publish a review every week, and by the end of the year I will have at least 52 reviews on my spreadsheet.

I can do this, yes I can. And what’s a better way to start things off with my favorite game of 2010 – NBA JAM? Here’s the link (NBA JAM review), you can also find reviews by searching with the keyword “review” on my blog or check out my game list.

Hit the link to check it out!

Or if you wish to read a “lite” version that contains no pictures, here it is:

VD-W3 Review

From VDIGI Electronics, the company that brought us the VD-W2 Wii VGA cable, this time they surprised us once again with another breakthrough – VD-W3, the world’s first ever Wii upscaler that brings graphics output to a whooping 1080p from the current max of 480p.
Right now, the Nintendo Wii system offers users the Wii component cable for purchase, which cost about $29.99USD and allows user to enable 480p mode display on their Wii. Back in 2004 this would have been sufficient, when HDTVs were beginning to come into people’s homes and most people were still gaming in 480i or even S-video display. Nowadays the two major high definition enabled consoles offer up to 1080p resolution, which is widely supported in any recent HDTVs. Is 480p really enough for the Wii? Is the Wii really limited to output of last-gen HD graphics?

Well, maybe not anymore with the help of VD-W3.
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Spent a good few weeks wrestling with this one, started off casual and eventually I found myself needing more than my one hour of lunch time to play on everyday. Not because it’s too much fun, sadly, but because I had to restart races so many times. At the end I gave up on “winning” the game and settled for reaching level 50. I don’t plan on winning the game anytime in the future. Here are some details:

• Great to see the NFS series taking a shot at realism instead of going for more street racing/drifting/modding/running away from cops.
• Great visuals and detailed car models, whenever I used a new car I always made sure to switch to the interior view to check out the details first (I normally stick to the behind-the-car view).
• Good supply of race tracks and events.
• The combination of collecting badges (when you perform certain certain actions), stars (obtained by performing race-specific requirements) and level-up system (from gaining racing experience) make the game richer than a typical race->win->money routine.
• Rim upgrades are free!
• Easy-to-learn car upgrade system as well as an in-depth tuning settings.
• Mastering corners and comparing track time with your friends in a real-time manner in game makes the game more approachable.

Boo:

1. Cars in races once Tier 4 is reached are barely drive-able, as the slightest touch with other cars or driving off track will result in infinite spinning unless you floor the brakes to a near complete stop. To a non-hardcore racing gamer like me this brought frustration since I had to keep pausing the game and select “Restart Race”.
2. The so-called “supercars” are one-million helicopter blades except for the Lambo Gallardo.
3. Upgrade system not making gamers feel flexible. More specifically, no upgrade decisions needed to be made (e.g. choosing between sacrificing higher acceleration or max speed). Keep pouring money on getting each and every single upgrade and all the attributes will be high, making it less of a big deal which car you pick to start with (within a same tier).
4. Balancing: You simply can’t win in the final head-to-head battles with any other car than the one that is the highest rated (in most cases the most expensive) in the tier. What’s the point of upgrading and tuning, or even buying my Audi R8 if it would just get its ass kicked by the head-to-head battle unless I also use a Lamborghini Gallardo? Fortunately the regular races with multiple opponents are more fair because your enemy cars types are dependent on your model and the installed upgrades.

And finally:

? Do drift cars have their own tier simply because you can’t even drive a straight line with them?

? For the love of Christ, is it an industry requirement that racing games have to have lame soundtracks? It’s not the first time I had to mute a racing game after the fifth time playing it.

This car can’t race for shite, but man is it gorgeous.

有一段時間沒有碰的Bioshock, 三天前決心要把它完成. 結果在昨晚凌晨四點終於搞定.

對Big Daddies和Little Sisters的感覺

遊戲推出之前其實自己已經心中決定不會做壞人, 一個Little Sister都不殺寧願少賺一點Adam. 開始遊戲後想法漸漸改變: 殺第一個Big Daddy感覺等同殺一個splicer boss, 把壞人打死了!! 再殺了兩個Big Daddies後, 因為覺得自己沒有策略浪費彈藥的關係, 我在再碰到Big Daddy和Little Sister時慢慢跟著他們行動, 希望能觀察到Big Daddy的弱點.

這相依為命的一對, 雖然看起來只是Little Sister一箱情願不斷和Big Daddy聊天, 但只要你走近Little Sister三個身位範圍就會有一對強而有力的手將你推開. Little Sister害怕的躲到巨人的腳後, Big Daddy則以手示意再靠近則不會客氣. 雖然看起來是很明顯的挑撥, 但如果你慢慢退開的話, 他們兩個很快就會忘了你的存在, 繼續在Rapture遊蕩尋找Adam. 有一次在跟幾個splicers混戰當中不小心把Big Daddy和Little Sister都捲入戰火當中, 雖然我已經盡量把戰場移到另一地點, 可是當最後一發子彈射出了, 我的視點不再因受傷而朦朧的時候, 我發現自己在Little Sister依靠著燒焦了的Big Daddy屍體旁發出的哀哭聲中從地上慢慢撿拾補藥, 子彈. 這是我在玩遊戲時首次體會到的內疚.

Big Daddy的弱點, 就是Little Sister. 那個所謂的”Choice between freeing/ killing Little Sisters”那時候對我來說已經不成立了. 她因為你成了孤兒, 難道留她一命你就成了英雄?

不就是為了Adam, 有必要嗎? 我就不信只用右手我通不了關. 從此以後我再也沒有騷擾Big Daddies和Little Sisters, 除了替他們拍照之外. 結果我完成遊戲時, 用的plasmid還是遊戲開始不久時拿到的level 1 Electricity, 主要用作hacking. 還有就是可能一個人在Rapture裡有時真的感到寂寞, 不用跟splicers拼命的時候偶而看到他們出雙入對, 也為身處這個水底城市的緊張神經鬆弛一下. 最後看到Good Ending, 心裡是超級滿足的. 也得到額外的100個成就分!

Ken Levine了不起, 2K的製作小組也把一個普通的unreal engine改良得出神入化.