iconogeek » Games

Red Dead Redemption Review, The Good, the Dead, and the Red.

Chuck — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:47:56 +0000

So I recently had a big birthday, and if you’re following me on TWITTER, you’ll know which one. I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say it was a great day and I received many cool gifts, one of which was the XBOX360 version of Red Dead Redemption. It arrived innocently enough via FedEx marked Saturday delivery. Jason surprises me like this sometimes, and usually it involves a six-shooter of one kind or another.

Well this six shooter came with all the Sergio Leone films packed behind it as well as Rockstar Games signature open world style. The first thing that grabbed me about Red Dead Redemption was the cinematic presentation. I wasn’t playing a game really, I was more like experiencing an interactive western. Little things like riding my horse to the first mission taking time make this game feel more real than just a game with western window dressing. Instead of getting somewhere quick, I had to ride along with my guide for a good 3 or 4 minutes listening to him chit-chat as I looked at the gorgeous scenery. I enjoyed the actual riding of the horse, it gave the journey a purpose (not just the destination).

The game then “begins”, but seems to end right quick as you get shot (no spoiler here as this is the premise of the game), than saved by local ranchers and nursed back to health. Your journey to redemption now begins as you help around the ranch (which is a cleverly veiled tool to teach you how to aim, shoot, and ride).

The game progresses as you journey to other towns and perform other missions, which all play nicely into your main goal of bringing the guy that left you for dead to justice (dead or alive. My guess is dead). The missions make sense in this game and they play into the overall storyline perfectly. They never feel forced or ancillary.

I’ve always been a fan of westerns, and Red Dead Red Redemption drops you smack dap in the middle of one. The scenery, the characters, and especially the horses all lead to an engrossing experience making you feel like you are in this new frontier.

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Number 2 in a series of the worst kids games

Chuck — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:28:00 +0000

Apparently the purpose of this game is to prevent the other children from accessing the blocks to build their own castles, towers, etc. You win when none of your friends are able to build anything. The win is bittersweet however, since you typically don’t get a chance to build anything either since you spent all your time blocking your friends.

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Aliens+ Resident Evil+ Event Horizon= Dead Space

jason — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:31:38 +0000

So I had some downtime recently and I finally got around to playing and completing a couple of games. I’ll try and review some of the others ( Fable 2, Gears of War 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4) but Event Horizon came up in conversation today, and Dead Space became my first target.

Dead Space casts you as an engineer sent out on a rescue mission to find out what went wrong on a mining vessel in deep space. The game sets the story up pretty well, and its not long before you’re seperated from your team and the action begins. It’s apparent from the get go that not is all as it should be on the derilict ship. “Necromorphs” as the game refers to them (essentially the reanimated corpses of the fallen crew) are your main adversary throughout the game. They take on a variety of shapes and sizes and without exception they are all fairly grotesque. They make a great foe throughout the game, giving you a few genuine shocks and scares. In addition an interesting mechanic is implemented, wherein headshots (the defacto killshot in most games) are ineffective and the best way to take down the enemy is through dismemberment. This results in a lot of good-bloody fun.

I’d say the big star is the ship and its atmosphere. It may come accross as a bunch of greenish corridors, but the feeling of dread that the designers conveyed through graphics and sound design really make it seem if you’re in a haunted spacecraft. The designers also mix up a good variety of believable locales while still remaining within the confines of the story. The ship is in total dissaray, and when you’re not looking over your shoulder for necromorphs, you’re preoccupied with zero gravity areas, zero oxygen zones and some nicely scripted cataclysmic type events.

This was a game I couldn’t stop playing until I got to the end. For me, thats the mark I look for. Great Resident Evil-like gameplay, tense atmosphere, interesting story, fun-upgradeable weapons and gear as well as an awesome final boss fight made this one a winner in my book.

One last thing. Before I played the game I watched the set up story on dvd. Dead Space: Downfall is a full lenght animated feature that sets up your characters arrival at the beginning of the game. I love animation. I love movies. I love games. I have 2 things to say about this. (1.) It’s a good thing I got it from Netflix and didn’t buy it. (2.) It pretty much sucked. Not horrible horrible… but for me of all people… the same guy who enjoyed Deep Blue Sea to not really enjoy it, well… that’s saying something.

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Fable 2 DLC coming next Tuesday.

jason — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:47:07 +0000

Fable 2 is definitely one of my favorite games of the past year. After beating the main campaign I still found myself wandering around towns with my dog at my side, beating random people and dodging diseases from pesky prostitutes.

By the way, the dog in Fable 2 is much better than a real dog. No fur, no smell, no picking up dog crap, no walking, no biting.

So needless to say I was pleased to learn that the Fable 2 DLC: Knothole Island will be available this coming Tuesday, January 13th for 800 Microsoft points from Xbox Live. Opens up the new island, new quests, armor clothes and a bunch more.

The develop has more info here.

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Get a grip and Frag those Mother Scratchers!

Chuck — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:22:22 +0000

Holy shit, I just came across this on the Times website. I’ve always been a fan of gaming (of course) but especially anything that immersed you more into the game. My absolute FAVORITE was at Jillian’s in New York. It was a Mech game in which you (and 5 other friends) climb into pods as if you are actually the pilots of the Mech. It was a completely immersive experience with small TV screens with different views, booming sound effects and force feedback. Insane.

Well, THIS thing looks to bring a whole new experience to home gaming. Take a look at the video below:

If anyone has direct experience with this thing, let us know! Not sure how much it costs, since I don’t think it’s available in the US yet… but can you really put a price on fun?

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Everbody Loves Niko

jason — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:03:36 +0000

After what seemed like an eternity, Grand Theft Auto IV finally came out on Tuesday. Was it worth the wait? Does it live up to the hype? Is it the biggest video game event of the century?

In short, yes.

GTAIV is the rarest of the rare. The possibilities that this game opens up from the moment you start playing is simply astounding. Rockstar definitely deserves credit for creating a believable and lived in world for you to spend many, many hours in. I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of playtime with this game, yet I can easily say this is the most enjoyable gaming experience I’ve had since playing the first Half-Life or the first Metal Gear Solid. Even those pale in comparison to the majesty of this title. Critics around the world are all saying the same thing. Meta-critic has it at 99% with 35 professional reviews reporting.

What Rockstar has done was take elements of its own series and added or honed everything to a razor sharp edge. You have an action game, blended with a sweeping dramatic story. That’s pretty standard stuff, but when done well can be incredible on its own. GTAIV ups the ante with relationship building, discovery, natural/thoughtful- progression, incredible characters and loathsome villains. A refined driving system and shooting mechanic. More music, hours of television, on stage comedy shows and tons of mini games ( billiards, darts, bowling, in game video games, etc). This game will even allow for some personal introspection.. ( I found it disturbing, yet not very surprising that I spent more money on strippers than on food) Absolutely breathtaking graphics and incredibly realistic (disturbing even) physics.

Obviously if you’re a gamer you know about the game and the series. If you’ve been a fan before like me, you’ll be blown away by what is in store. If you’re a fan of games in general, their is likely something here that will appeal to you. If you’re offended by language, violence, crudeness… you know that it won’t appeal to you. I implore everyone else though to go out and grab this game. It’s not just sex, violence and cursing… it’s characters you care about in a living world that gets under your skin, consumes your thoughts and demands your time. Like an incredible book where you determine the outcome and the plot points along the way. The game of the year and possibly the decade is already here.

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Johnny Lee getting some airplay.

jason — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:05:10 +0000

We had mentioned Johnny Lee a few weeks back and he seems to really be getting some recognition these days. (I’m not claiming we had anything to do with it.) He gained quite a bit of notoriety with his Wii hack videos and TED.com now has a new video posted where he gets into some of his concepts. Can’t wait till he gets some funding, I’m sure he’ll be working on my robot slaves or something equally important within the next few years.

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I Pii, you pii, we all Wii for pii pii

Chuck — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:50:48 +0000

Urine for a treat with one of the absolutely strangest games I have ever seen, with Super Pii Pii Brothers. Our friends over at Think Geek are the sole state-side distributors of this Japanese game that pits you against raging torrents of yellow, several commodes, and one unlucky cat. Now I have not actually played the game, but it the box says: “Super Pii Pii Brothers promotes good bathroom skills and allows women to experience for the first time the pleasure of urinating while standing.”

Not sure if the world is quite ready for this, but then again I said that about Cashew butter.

In case you think I’m full of shit:

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Resident non-evil.

Chuck — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:31:27 +0000

Probably one of the strangest games you will ever come across to date (I’m not quite sure I would even call it a game, probably more of an experience than anything else). Sure it has the basic elements of a game: a central character, interactive control of that character, and a goal…but that’s where it ends. The Graveyard allows you to walk with an old woman down a path in a graveyard to a bench. As you follow her down this intriguing landscape (look at the clouds, the sunlight, the birds, and leaves), she gets tired and begins favoring her leg as she leans more on her cane. By the time she reaches the bench (where she can finally sit) you actually feel for this character – you want her to rest. Once she sits you’re treated (exposed/forced to listen to – you decide) a very melancholy tune. Wait for the song to finish (read the subtitles, they are quite odd/disturbing) then walk out of the graveyard.

You can plunk down 5 bucks to purchase the full game in which the old woman actually dies, but I didn’t go that far.

This game/experience is extremely cinematic and really stretches the boundaries of what a game is and could be. I think it shows promise as an art form and an experience. At the very least, you can chat it up with your arthouse friends – “The Graveyard is both a game and an experience…discuss.”

Download it here it’s available as a PC and Mac download.
Read more about it in Wired.

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This may be why people say the things they do.

jason — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:55:10 +0000

In pretty much the biggest show of geekery humanly possible, 80 people dressed up as video game characters to set a new world record for the the Guinness World Record Gamer’s Edition. I do find it hard to believe though that it took only 80 to establish a world record for the largest gathering of game characters… I do believe that some of our friends in Japan would scoff at 80. You could probably find more than 100 on a random street corner in Tokyo on a rainy Friday night, and they would have all just been out for a walk and just happened to run into one another. I expect this will be a fast record to fall.

BTW, Jill Valentine has had better days.

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Peter Gunn rides again..

jason — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 02:38:29 +0000

Remember Spy Hunter? Loved it as much as me? Always wanted to drive the car from the game when you were finally old enough to get a license? Cried all the way home the 10th time you failed your driving test at the age of 28? If so Pontiac has just the car for you.

Go here to watch the Best Car Commercial Ever.

Watch it.

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And it burns, burns, burns…

Brett — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:27:04 +0000

If you love your XBox 360 as much as I do, then you are probably no stranger to this wonderful image posted above. Recently, an independent company that provides warranty support estimated that 16% of all XBox 360 consoles contract the “disease” of video game death.

I personally, have encountered this issue twice. I also have witnessed the incident in a roommates machine………..TWICE. Either I am extremely bad luck, or these numbers are grossly underestimated. I have to commend Microsoft for stepping up to the plate and paying for the repairs in full, plus S&H, on both occassions, although it took them about 3 months to cede.

For those of you who still maintain a sense of humor regarding this issue, here is a youtube link to tickle your fancy.

I’ve given Microsoft several chances with this issue, and they’ve corrected the problem. Let’s hope they correct the issue with the 360 and any hardware they create beyond.

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That’s how we roll…old school baby.

Chuck — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:55:32 +0000

I guess it’s like Mecca for us old school gamers who remember the smell of graphite and graph paper. Underwire has the first look at the new D&D Experience stat sheets. For all you WoW-heads, this is where it all began.

First Look: New D&D Stats Leak Onto Web

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Gears of War 2 in November WOOOOO!

jason — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:24:31 +0000

Check out IGN for a whole bunch of news from the Game Developers Conference including the first video from Gears of War 2. Lot’s of great info coming out so jump on over and see the latest announcements.

And if you’ve never seen Lester Speight as Terrible Terry Tate (aka: Cole Train from Gears of War) the Office Linebacker, you should be ashamed of yourself and go to youtube now and watch them all.

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Tuck those shiny balls away in your black suit.

iconogeek — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:35:22 +0000

Mova is taking traditional motion capture and turning it on its ear with its Contour Reality Capture technology. Check out the story at joystiq. (Thanks for the link Cesar)

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Devil May Cry 4 reviews

jason — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:50:36 +0000

Devil May Cry 4 should start popping into stores tomorrow and Wednesday and some reviews have started appearing online. From what I’ve read thus far if you’re a fan of the series you should be very happy. Check out IGN, Gamespy and Gametrailers.com for more images and reviews.

I won’t be picking this up as part of my FINISH THE DAMN GAME™ campaign. You know the one where I actually finish one of the dozen or so games I am halfway through. I’ll pick this up as soon as I finish Halo 3 or Bioshock or the Witcher.. maybe even Call of Duty 4 or Mass Effect… hopefully sometime this month… then again, I said that last month. Who am I kidding, I’ll likely get this over the weekend, play through 75% of it and then move on to something else.

Sigh. Someone help me.

Chuck however will not be playing this as it’s not coming out for the Commodore 64 or Colecovision.

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The real return of Bionic Commando

jason — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 15:59:52 +0000

So they announced a full fledged 3d action Bionic Commando a few months back for XBOX360 and the PS3 and it looks like it can be pretty cool. However the one that is in this video looks infinitely better. It’s basically a 3d/2d remake of the original NES game that I played the crap out of years ago, and it’s being made for XBOX Live.

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