Fist Of The North Star: Ken's Rage Review: Headache's A Plenty

It's very rare for me to try and play a video game with anime source material without being an actual fan of the anime. I never really heard of Fist Of The North Star before, so when I played Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage I had the unique opportunity to rate the game for what it is without any fanboyism.

This is gonna hurt.

The give-or-take:

You don't have to play just as the protagonist: Just about all the major characters are able to be played, including the protagonist's enemy bosses. While the game is pretty much the same from character to character with very slight differences in terms of battle, this is probably going to be more appreciated by the hardcore fans than anything. Otherwise, new players to the franchise will just see it as the same gameplay with a different model. Do keep in mind that you're not playing the same missions just as a different character, you are in fact fighting different bosses from the point of view of the character you're playing to add into story.

Fans will appreciate almost anything: I'll say this now, hardcore fans will pick this up regardless of what I say. While the story is hard for anyone unaccustomed to the series to follow (main plot I got from it is the world was destroyed by nukes and now everything's all "Mad Max" minus the anti-semite protagonist), hardcore fans will probably be satisfied to know that some major battles of the series are included here. Other than the hardcore, though, I can't see how many newcomers to the series (like I am) are going to be able to follow this or understand who your enemies really are when you're fighting them. One of Ken's first bosses is supposed to be a man who kidnapped his fiance and left Ken for dead. I'd like to say this would maybe stir more emotion in me to enjoy the fight I had with him, but I doubt it.

Cons:

And I thought Spider-Man 2099 was bad: It should be almost expected now adays that when you play video games based on anime, the American Voice Acting will be bad, so it's excusable for this game, right? Oh God no. NO no no. The voice actors either sound like their heads been run over by a bus and they're severally mentally challenged or their voices are so annoying, high-pitched and incredibly fake that I literally felt streaks of fear at times just listening to them. The voice's you hear are so random from the character's they're for, you have to wonder what the developers were thinking when they translated it for the American audience. In all honesty, the VA who did the protagonist's (Ken's) voice was so Keanu Reeve's-like, I was anticipating for him to say "I know Kung Fu."

It's the same game with MORE flaws: It's starting to feel like making Dynasty Warriors games' is all Koei is capable of doing. Don't let anyone make you believe otherwise, this is another Dynasty Warriors game and compared to my PS2 days of playing prior versions, this game feels extremely watered down. I'm not being harsh, I'm being honest as THAT'S ALL THIS GAME IS. I wish I could tell you that it improves on the formula, but I can't and I won't. Your enemies will continue to back away from you while you're attacking so unless you're literally touching them already, you could easily miss your targets. In addition, controls are laggy so when you're trying to attack in different directions, you have to actually pause from attacking and turn in the direction of your enemy which leaves you open to attack from boss characters or hoping grunts don't back up quicker than your delayed combo attack commands hit them. While enemy grunts will attack you, instead of it as feeling like you're being challenged, you're left with annoyance that the controls aren't responsive enough to your commands. In short, you know this is Dynasty Warriors lite and you shouldn't be surprised at all if you actually pick this up after reading this.

Sore thumb's: Button mashing isn't uncommon in gaming today, but Fist Of The North Star really pushes it. The gameplay combat is very bland with light, heavy and special attacks controlled by 3 separate buttons. However, combat requires a lot of combos to try and damage enemies (especially bosses) and you'll quickly start feeling some ache's in your thumb. I tend to wonder if maybe Koei thought this would be a good idea to try and make you feel like you're actually performing Ken's signature move, a 100 fist attack. I also tend to wonder why they would ever think that would be a good idea.

At this point in the review, I've either convinced a lot of gamers oblivious to the series this game isn't great or I've offended hardcore fans. To each of you I say "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it." Don't get me wrong, there ARE decent anime video games out there, granted not all of them are good and not all anime games of anime I like are good either (I can openly admit it. You think this would be different if it were Dynasty Warriors Gundam?), but you have to judge a video game based on the game itself, not the material its based on. As such, I really can't recommend this game to anyone other than the most hardcore fans. Don't even rent it, you're not missing anything. In fact, I felt like I missed more playing this than doing anything else.

Recommended buy price: $8
Score rating: 1/5

Superman Earth One Review: Get Schooled.

Sometimes I'm presented with work that I can't help but acknowledge and praise. A friend of mine works for an awesome website you should all bookmark called Nerdiest Kids.com. If you could have a PHD in Comic Books, Jeff "Darkspirit" Adams would be the professor who inspires you to take the education seriously. As such, I have received his permission to post a copy of his review on this blog. Keep it mind that if you follow this link back to the original review he posted, you will find a much more aesthetically pleasing and detailed article.


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Nerdiest-Kids reported earlier this year that DC Comics was embarking on a new frontier. They were going to release original graphic novels of their top characters, Superman and Batman, introducing them to the world as if they were created today. The first one released was their flagship character Superman, who is rife with revitalization techniques since his very inception. Each decade a writer seems to want to reinvent Superman for the new audience, so how did the creative team do?

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Superman Earth One
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Shane Davis
Inks: Sandra Hope
Colors: Barbara Ciardo
Lettered by: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $19.99 regular; 10.79 on Amazon

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Pros
The supporting cast:
JMS manages to made every single one of the supporting cast shine in this script. Pa Kent is his advising best as he tries to guide his son to his best destiny. While I might disagree on the approach, the impact of Pa Kent on Clark’s life is handled well. Ma Kent is still doting, wanting what is best for her boy but also nudging along the same ideals that her husband did. Lois, though appearing briefly, has lost none of her sass or attitude. Jimmy is likely the biggest change as he is very fearless, getting into the middle of things, and in some cases stealing a scene or two. The supporting cast truly allows the book to shine. Finally, Perry White has a few great appearances, that for readers will be both rewarding and frustrating, but he is still a great character that inspires. That is really the key thing about the supporting cast, they inspire.

Cons
Mission Statement
The Earth One books are about reexamining a myth and putting it into modern times, and I find that the book has failed at every measure on doing so. Starting with the fact that Superman is still running around in absolutely skin tight costume that is a relic from the 30′s. If you want to reinvigorate or promise a change, actually deliver and don’t wallow in the past. This goes for the Daily Planet that is “re imagined” as a struggling newspaper. If it is so bad, how do they hire such great people? There is a story reason, and it seems heavy handed and there are better ways to search for truth and justice.
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For the more detailed and aesthetically pleasing, including more cons and summation of his views, head over to NERDIEST KIDS NOW!

Enslaved: Odyssey To The West Review. What a wonderful world.

The fall flood of games this year has been rather underwhelming with all the delays and postponements for a lot of games, not to mention that the majority of games that came out are sequels or prequels in a franchise, no new original games. Enslaved: Odyssey To The West is a great counter argument to that and has honestly been under my radar for a very long time. Should I have kept my eye on this?

Pros:

Post apocalypse doesn’t have to be dirty: To say the graphics and visual design in Enslaved is beautiful is an understatement. After playing so many games of a post apocalyptic world, it’s refreshing to see a new take on what the world could look like. In direct contrast to games like Fallout, the world is very lush with plant life and accentuated by bright, powerful colors. The developers did a fantastic job of blending New York City with plant life to give a very believable, vibrant world.

I could get into this: The revision of the classic “Odyssey to the East” is handled pretty well in the sense that the game draws you into the story. While the developers kept some parts the same (the protagonist is still named Monkey and they give him a scarf that can resemble a tail), modernizing it was well done into a believable sci-fi adventure. There are times the game stops to remind you that Monkey and Trip (your tech-savvy companion) are really just trying to get home and survive. The two characters will become closer as the game goes on, and you begin to appreciate the characters more as you play.

Parkour!: While Enslaved might not do parkour to the level of an Ubisoft game like Assassin’s Creed, it’s pretty cool to watch the climbing animations Monkey does as he finds his way around obstacles. It’s also nice to see another developer try to handle parkour and make gamers feel that gravity isn’t so restricting.

Cons:

Not the hardest controls ever: While it’s nice to have a non-complex game, the battle system is pretty basic. Light attack, heavy attack, try to chain them, it’s all stuff we’ve seen before and makes it a little harder for Enslaved to stand out amongst adventure games.

You’re annoying me: Your female companion, Trip, is a rather annoying character to have to deal with. While the game doesn’t restrict or frustrate you as much as other escort missions/games, it can be annoying after you’ve destroyed a group of enemies and have to wait for her to catch up so you can move on. Granted, there are moments in the game that the protagonist relationship is very similar to the Prince of Persia, I rather have Trip be more useful.

One run and you’re done: Like many games with no multiplayer, you have very little reason to keep Enslaved after you’ve beaten it. I would have really liked to have the game be co-op instead so that you can try playing the game as both Monkey and Trip, but the developers wanted to focus this as a single player adventure game. The story is a great one to play, but I wouldn’t say it should be one of your must haves in your collection.

Enslaved is a fresh face in a season of sequels. While it has its flaws, it makes a bold move into the market by being original. I can’t recommend buying the game immediately if only because the game will probably last as a week rental, but it’s definitely one of the games you should play this season.

Recommended buy price: $30
Score ratings: Horrible– Pass – Meh – Good - Epic

Dead Rising 2 Review: Undead Casino Fun

Dead Rising 2 recently came out for some more Zombie genocide fun. This go around, things are a little different.

Pros:

There’s a lot of you and a lot of ways to kill you: Like the original, Dead Rising 2 has a plethora of make-shift weapons to kill zombies with, from the conventional to the ridiculous. Dead Rising 2 takes it a step further with the ability to combine different weapons to improve them. The combo weapons are fun and keep their appeal deep into the game. There’s still a feeling of badassery when you ride a motorcycle with chainsaws on it for the 20^th time as much as you had the 1^st.

Smarter than your average zombie: Survivors this time around have gotten worlds better than their Dead Rising 1 counterparts. Now they’ll actually try to defend themselves instead of being zombie buffets and you can give them your weapons to defend themselves, even food to regain health. While escort missions are seldom fun, these improvements make it a little more bearable to try and rescue survivors.

Making Multiplayer worth it: The multiplayer portion of the game, Terror Is Reality, is a bunch of Mario-Party style mini games that gives you cash for your campaign story. Surprisingly, it actually can be pretty fun. It also removes a lot of the frustration from the main game from trying to earn cash to buy Zombrex. I’m actually surprised at how well it works.

Cons:

Needs more Co-op: Maybe I’m just spoiled, but having only 2 player co-op in any game now just seems antiquated. I get that you can have a survivor party in the game when you’re out doing rescues, but playing with more people always seems more fun to me, especially since…

Psychos are frustratingly hard: Let me make this clear, psycho’s (bosses) in this game are not friendly to casual gamers. I honestly was playing against one boss for about 30 minutes because I had to go keep finding food to heal, only to come back to see he had fully healed himself doing the same thing. The only times I beat psychos were when I was playing co-op. I could blame it on my own lack of skill, but truthfully boss battles shouldn’t become a chore, they should be a satisfying challenge.

Racing the clock: The clock based game-play from the original returns in Dead Rising 2. I understand why it’s used, but I still don’t like it. There are times in the game that I have to just wait in the safe-house for 5 minutes for an event to start and that just seems wasteful. In addition, the clock makes you have to move to your next objective quickly or you lose out on story, but why can’t I take more time to just collect as many survivors as I want or kill zombies with fun weapons?

Good video games are about what they give players the freedom to do, not about what restricts them. Dead Rising 2 improves upon many flaws of the original, but keeps many that can frustrate gamers. The game is still very much enjoyable and funny at times, but it’s not a AAA contender.

Recommended buy price: $40
Score ratings: HORRIBLE – Pass – Meh – Good - EPIC