Sonic Generations demo impressions

"Why don't they just do a Mega man 9?"

So yesterday was Sonic the Hedgehog's 20th birthday! Kudos to the franchise on that one. I'm certainly not as bigger Sonic fan as I was back on his 10th birthday when Sonic fans were all flying high on the Dreamcast and the release of Sonic Adventure 2. Since then we've been treated to a variety of Sonic installments as they try and work out how to get Sonic in 3d right. Sure Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were fine in the Dreamcast generation, but my Sonic Adventure 1 review told me how much these games have aged. The question that sticks in my mind from the recent Sonic games however is: what happened to the chao garden? Hopefully we'll see this in some form within Sonic Generations as it pioneers to take the best elements of each Sonic form and package them on one disc.

The Sonic Generations demo is certainly there only to appeal to the long-time fans, as the game revolves around playing levels both with the 2d Sonic and 3d Sonic, however in the demo we are only treated to 2d Sonic's incarnation of the Green Hill Zone. Upon first starting the demo I could see me playing it every day until the demo is taken down on the 12th of July (So grab it whilst you can!!!). I felt the Sonic atmosphere that everyone has been craving since Sonic & Knuckles on the megadrive - or Sonic Advance 1 on the GBA if you grabbed it. The music is a fantastic remix of the original Green Hill Zone theme, and gameplay felt like traditional Sonic, for the most part. Now, this is a real shame because Sega is so close to pinning down the mechanics of their own game, Sonic plays fine, until you notice he is constricted by his animations - ala Assassin's Creed - This means that Sonic has to finish a certain animation before he can start another, and this leads to Sonic feeling alot - for lack of a better word -"heavier" than he should, Sonic on the megadrive feels relatively loose in relation to control, you press left he starts movement left, then immediately press right he'll move right unless you've gained some momentum - it's very complex and hard to explain on my part, to put it into a simple phrase "it just feels off".

Now this brings me to my main question, why doesn't Sega just do a Mega man 9? By that I mean release a game based on the exact mechanics and a similar graphical style to the games in the series considered to be the best? My ideal Sonic game for example would be one in the vein of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, this had a similar "epic" feel to it that Sega has trying to inject into recent Sonic games through annoying companions and fmv cut-scenes whilst keeping the traditional Sonic gameplay. Sonic 4 was not this game unfortunately, but this is why Sonic Team is ultimately just confusing - they're trying to get closer and closer to the original formula and yet it's right there for them to use at their will - and nobody would punish them for doing so - in fact Mega man 9 was one of the most successful Mega man games in years - so why not just release a Sonic game that is an old one instead of releasing a Sonic game thats "like" an old one?

These are just some thoughts I've had upon playing the demo through a few times, I'm still highly anticipating this game, and I'm sure they have time to iron out a few things as it's an early build. Look forward to further news and a full review when the game is released later this year!

- Serde out! ;p

The 3DSamination - June 2011

So The 3DS has been out for around 3 months in the west at the moment. It's now that I'm finally thinking of taking the fall and picking one of the li'l consoles up (and not only because of the price drops everywhere). This is mostly due to Ocarina Of Time 3D, the fifth re-release of one of the most famous games of all time. Now, I'm not a fan of the amount of times Nintendo has re-released this game, and the idea of a re-release being the main reason to own a console is slightly off putting, so I thought to myself. Why not see what else Is out there?

So, without further ado! Here is the first:

To start out with, let's look at the price of the console itself! Fellow British Internet explorers that hopefully don't use Internet Explorer can nab the 3DS today from Amazon.co.uk for the the cool, cool price of £179.99, nice! Amazon.com didn't offer the same courtesy however, with the asking price stuck at $248.99, saving you a whooping dollar! But that is also a dollar you could use to buy THIS TRACK from DjEphixia! Job done. It's certainly better than the Gamestop online price with 3DS' currently being sold for $249.99, full asking price? Fuck off! Sadly I'm less savvy on American retailers, so cheaper deals for your US region 3DS would be appreciated at the comments in the form of links! So here are Junes best 3DS console deals!

UK - £179.99 from Amazon.co.uk

US - $248.99 from Amazon.com

Now let us delve deeper into the 3DS scene, what are the games to own on the console right now? Where can you get them for the best price? Well, we should start out with the only game you should be clamoring for in the 3DS library right now: The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D, which is ironic, because it's always been in 3D, but this time it's in 3D AND in 3D! Awesome?! Amazon.co.uk Is giving us the goods cheap once again with OOT3D costing you £29.97 instead of the £39.99 asking price, however it's pretty much this price everywhere right now, so... Go buy it anywhere! For the US fan base we once again have a small selection of highly priced product. Both Gamestop and Amazon offer you OOT for a glorious $39.99, Gamestop does offer a bonus $20 off other 3DS games on purchase however, so that'd be the way to go!

UK - £29.97 (ANYWHERE!)

US - $39.99 + $20 off another 3DS game (http://www.gamestop.com)

Now the only other game that appeals to me, and has come out relatively recently is Dead Or Alive: Dimensions. It's funny that every game on a Nintendo console must contain a pun or something that relates to the name, be it DS, 64 or "Wii"... Anyway on the UK front we get the short side of the stick as Amazon, this months reigning champions apparently offer the game for £28.99, with everywhere selling it for around £30 anyway, reductions ftw!!! The US amazon store wins also with the flabbergasting price of... $27.99!!! Good on the currency exchange front for UK gamers, an okay price for people paying with pure dollahs!

UK - £28.99 (http://www.amazon.co.uk)

US - $27.99 (http://www.amazon.com)

Well, that covers Junes 3DSAMINATION! I'll be back next month to tell you the price of Resident evil: the mercenaries and maybe a sleeper hit? Hell, I might even OWN a 3DS by then!?? Only time will tell! Be sure to tune in next time!

- Serde

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 - Review

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 – Review

Magic Casts Quite the Spell

Let's start off with some full disclosure: I'm not a Magic: the Gathering player. I had never played Magic before playing Duels of the Planeswalkers, and, in fact, I've still never touched a single one of its colorful and beautiful cards. Taking all of this into consideration, however, I come to the game with an open mind and a complete lack of understanding with the fleeting hope that I might discover (as millions of others already have) a deep and intriguing strategy card game experience. Let's just say that I was not disappointed.

For those out there who are as in the dark now as I was then, Magic: the Gathering is a collectable card game, one of the first, released in 1993 and competitively played in the nearly 20 years since. Notable not only for its longevity, Magic is known for its level of complex strategy and for its innovations in the then new market of collectible trading card games. I vaguely remember a dim awareness of Magic when I was dabbling with derivative and inferior games, years ago, but I had no formal introduction to the game until a day or two ago, when I discovered Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. Magic has been adapted into a number of video games in the past, Duels 2012 is a follow up to a similarly named 2009 game.

Cards in Magic: the Gathering are divided into 5 colors: White, Black, Red, Blue, and Green. These distinctions are vitally important because blue spells may only be cast if you have played blue land cards. Land cards limit the number of other cards you can play, so it's very important to have the right amount and right type of land cards in your deck. Starting off, with no knowledge of these mechanics, I was grateful that building a deck wasn't required to start off with. The game provides you with a variety of different sets of cards, mostly based off of one or two types of land. When you become more familiar with the game, though, you can tweak certain elements of each deck, adding and removing cards, including the 16 unlockable cards that every deck has to offer. This isn't an amazing level of customization, granted, but it at least gives you some control over how your deck will play.

The game's interface is smooth, and the card designs are, without exception, beautiful. It would be a bit of a stretch to call the game a graphical wonder: the animations are limited and there's certainly nothing here to stress out your graphics card, but the game is nonetheless appealing. I'm a bit of a sucker for high fantasy, and if that's your thing too, the game's artwork certainly won't disappoint. While the motifs may tred the well-worn and familiar grounds of dragons, knights, and mages, it's all high quality and there's nothing appreciably out of place in the nicely drawn menus and loading screens.

The game provides several gameplay modes with just about any combination of team sizes you could reasonably hope for. The campaign mode features a host of opponents and battles, and even if you've beaten every battle with each deck, there are countless hours to be had in the fully featured online multiplayer. There's certainly enough here, if you enjoy playing the game, there's a lot here to keep you busy. After working your way up through the three levels of AI difficulty, there's a world full of challengers out there on the internet, and while it's impossible to tell how many people are going to continue to play the game for long periods after its release, there are currently thousands of players online.

If I were to make one serious complaint against Duels 2012, it would have to be the game's difficulty. Granted, once you learn how to play, you're probably safe against most of the challengers, but whether you win or lose often seems to be determined mainly by chance. All the powerful cards in the world aren't going to help you if you can't get the land cards out to power them. Most decks have a handful of really powerful cards that whose attack and defense values are increased exponentially, but you're pretty much sunk if you can't get those cards into play while an opponent can. Additionally, the 3 vs 1 “Archenemy Mode” introduces scheme cards that drastically change the way the game is played. A scheme may allow a player to destroy cards, steal cards, and perform a litany of other moves that completely imbalance the game.

All things considered, though, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is a solid virtual card game, and can easily support hours and hours of repeated play. If you're a fan of Magic, it's an obvious choice, but even if you're not familiar with the game, Duels can still be enjoyed. The game is available on Xbox Live, Playstation Network, and PC (via Steam). A demo is also available for download on Steam, and if you're not quite sure about whether you should purchase or not, the demo is very nicely featured. I heartily recommend that you take a look.

--Tom

Images courtesy of Valve.

The problem with L.A.Noire

For those that don't know, L.A.Noire is a game that was released mid-may for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, published by Rockstar and developed by Team Bondi. The game became an instant hit, becoming the fastest selling new IP in recent history. This is mainly because of the games innovative graphical technology and gameplay mechanics. You play as Cole Phelps a detective in 1947 Los Angeles, faced with a variety of crimes to investigate and determine the cause of. The gameplay spans across 4 distinctive styles - driving, pedestrian, investigation and interrogation. The first two take heavy inspiration from previous rockstar titles such as Grand theft auto - working in much the same way. The investigation and interrogation styles however, feel very unique to the game. The investigation entails with you walking around a crime scene looking for clues which you can manipulate to find names, addresses etc. The interrogation uses the new facial tech bondi has created to let you determine whether someone is lying or telling the truth. Faces look stunningly realistic, and subtle motions are easy to read. It all works well together - but the interrogation sections are a spectacular fault in this otherwise gripping game.

The interrogations consist of you asking the perp a question and then listening to their answer, upon completion of this you can decide if they were A. Telling the truth, B. Doubt their story and press them further, or C. They were Lying - although this must be backed up with evidence. The problem with this is - you and the writers behind Cole have different brains. That sounds silly because of course it's true - but hear me out. You, the player may pick up one piece of a large assortment of evidence and think "this guy was destroying this shirt because there was a snag of the same sort of shirt left at the crime scene - therefore he was there", but when you pick that evidence - Cole says something entirely different, Sometimes outright ignoring the evidence you propose and just accusing the suspect of murdering or what have you. At this point the game feels unfair, and frustrating - at which point I usually switch it off and on again.

Heavy Rain had the same sort of issue where symbols would lead you to think you were going to do one thing - when in fact the game is making you do something entirely different. Perhaps this is just a general issue with games that have sprawling narratives - you have more outcomes of a situation available than the game - so things that make sense to you haven't been put into the final cut. This will happen to you numerous times throughout L.A.noire, most likely when you doubt what someone says and want Cole to say "well, you say you were out, where were you?" but instead he shouts "you murdered your wife!" At which point the suspect closes up and you loose some possibly vital information all because Cole reacts the way he is programmed instead of how you operate him - responses are so sporadic from Cole which doesn't help. The only easy fix is to tell the player what Cole will say before they pick an option -then the player will know what they need to pick.

That's my two cents right now - I just want to say that I am largely enjoying the game and the fun gameplay it has to offer. It's just a shame that it has one of the most frustrating mechanics in recent memory. Also, for those that say this is "cheating" or that the "noire" atmosphere is meant to be unfair etc. I think you've missed the point of the complaints - I agree with those two points entirely when people are switching off every question because they need to get everything perfect frist time - thats just silly. I am only complaining about the momments where I feel cheated by the game itself - not the narrative.

- Serde out

Image credit: rockstarbase.com and botchweed.com respectively

Crysis 2, a review of sorts

To begin with, I'm going to read you the tagline of this "masterpiece", "BE STRONG, BE FAST, BE INVISIBLE, BE THE WEAPON". From this we gather that you play as a strong, speedy, stealthy weapon, and that we are going to be playing at a level above the norm. Going into this game you may expect to feel powerful, invisible and genuinely unstoppable. Then you die in 5 shots after being noticed whilst operating your "invisible" mode and being spotted, thinking about how much of a juxtaposition this is from the impression it tries to make.

Call of Duty currently holds the crown of the "modern realistic FPS" with pride, it is fun, fast, brutal and even comedic at times sporting one of the most popular multiplayer experiences of this generation combined with spectacular set-piece based story campaigns. Because of it's success, there have been quite a few copycats as of late, most specifically, and infamously is EA's Medal of Honor, ripping the series for all it's worth and fruitlessly so as it turned out worse in most peoples eyes. However, the main point here is, Call of duty has a massive influence over what we play today. Now, I never played Crysis 1, but after watching some videos it seems to me like you were this super soldier, that, and the graphics were the selling point of the game. It both looks fun and beautiful. The second game...

You are some fellow who I don't know the name of because I don't care enough to sift through the manual for it, who is in the middle of some war, and the military are trying to save New York from corruption by the other side who happen to be aliens. Then you get a neat suit that keeps you alive from some other guy who has to die, and then surprise surprise, the military is actually evil and shoot girlie's in the face. As you can tell, the story didn't exactly grip me, but I won't deny the possibility of it becoming better later on as I only played an hour or so of the game that I could stand. As far as i could tell however, the entire narrative is a set up purely for you to get your mitts on a super suit, and show off Crytek's latest engine - whoop de doo!

The mechanics are... Well, the controls function, everything does something easy to manipulate, and responsive, It's the standard COD button mapping and provides nothing different per-se. Your super suit has many different modes it can use to help you through New York such as "armor" and "stealth", however, I have gripes with these mechanics in particular, specifically functions such as stealth, sprint etc. When you activate a stealth mode in a super suit that is meant to give you a drastic advantage over the enemy, you expect to be able to walk up to them and flick them in the nose before they realize there is actually someone there, you don't expect to have to crawl around behind things, exactly the same way as you would in another stealth game, to get your stealth kills as you could without some special power! Of course, this is different in Crytek's games because all the AI have the vision of a fucking saint, and can see you wherever you are if you don't have the mode switched on. Whats even worse is that the mode takes away power, and around 10 seconds of movement in this mode will drain all the power you have, leaving you visible usually where you don't want to be. This mechanic doesn't make me feel super or invisible or any kind of inhuman quality, it just makes me feel weak, and that I'd fare better without an 8ft tall super suit on.

To make matters worse, you aren't "strong" either, never mind the sequences where you press X and open some particularly heavy doors. In battle, you're a chump! Pick up something heavy and throw it at an enemy, and you won't see them fly off in a bundle of iron and meat, no, you just see the object bounce off their head like it was a pillow fight. Then you must swiftly run up to them and give them the weakest looking strike with your elbow twice to stop them calling their mates and seeing you through your invisible shield. It's frankly ridiculous how under-powered the character is, and it's not a case of difficulty either! I played a bit on the hardest difficulty, a section on the medium difficulty, and most of my playtime on the easiest difficulty because then the gameplay was slightly bearable. To make matters worse is the fact that you die in the amount of shots you would in a call of duty game, a game where you are an average Joe with something to prove, not a super soldier in super special super duper armor!

Yes, the graphics are pretty, water looks nice, all the effects are cool and the deformed corpses of Alien flu victims are shocking to look at, but at the end of the day, you're still going to be trapped behind a bus like it's Call Of duty just looking for someones head to pop out so you can cap it. The music too, is okay, it's not the best I've ever heard, or the worst, it vaguely suits the mood too, but I certainly wouldn't call it artistic genius like last years Nier.

At the end of the day, this game is not bad. It is just frustrating, what Crytek are trying to sell here is a game where you are the dominant force, you are He-man and the master chief combined, sent into a city to defeat all obstacles with powerful tech at your disposal. Unfortunately what we ended up with was a poor COD clone with an addition of lackluster mechanics. By all means, go out and buy this game if you want, but I certainly regret even renting this.

"Buy Crysis 2 if you fancy another Call of Duty before MW3 comes out this November, Don't buy it if you want to be a super soldier and kick ass without taking names, it will simply dissapoint and offer no fun factor."

Score:
Narrative: 5/25 - Simply a framing device
Gameplay: 6/25 - Standard COD clone which doesn't net it any points, with some very flawed mechanics offers a frustrating experience
Graphics: 24/25 - they're brilliant, but it's a shame they're wasted on this game.
Sound: 5/25 - I was simply unimpressed, but the guns do sound like guns etc.

Total: 40/100

~Serde

Portal 2-Woooooooooooaaaah

I was right. THIS GAME WOULD KICK ASS.

Portal 2, the sequel to 2007's Portal (Which oh so happens to be my second favorite game), takes place in the distant future, where plants have decayed the once pristine labs of Aperture Science. You are woken up from your "long term relaxation" by Wheatley, a little AI sphere with a blue eye and energetic personality. He wants you to escape from Aperture with him. Along the way, you cross the body of GlaDOS, the AI you destroyed in the first game. You accidentally turn her on, and.... you'll have to play the game to learn more. The story is excellently written, GlaDOS and Wheatley's bickering never ceases to make me burst out laughing.  The gameplay is more or less the same thing as the original Portal, speedy thing goes in one portal, speedy thing comes out the other. The biggest addition are the new gels, a paint like substance which you can splatter on walls, cubes, turrets, etc. Certain gels do certain things, blue gel makes you bounce, orange gel speeds you up, white gel makes any surface portal-able. The game is a good 4-6 hours long, depending how deep you get into the story and how long it takes to solve a puzzle. In short, Portal 2 rocks. It's well worth your money. Only flaw I can find is that it sometimes the story parts drag on and on. Other than that, yeah. My new favorite game.






Image credit:Valve

Uncharted 3 serves up it's antagonist!

So I'm sure everybody's heard by now of Uncharted 3's new villain: Katherine Marlowe, and in true action adventure fashion, she's of course British. call me crazy, but I recall at least what was presented as the main antagonist the first Uncharted being British also... So what we're looking at here is either Naughty Dog just not liking English people, a stereotypical villain background for an action/adventure film, or, and much more intrestingly... A relation between the two? It all seems possible, since she seems keen to get Drake's ring in the trailer below, and the ring was heavily involved in the first games shenanigans. I don't quite know what to expect from this woman, but It's nice to see Phil Mitchell getting some work!


On another note, Drake and Sully are awfully well dressed for this scene, perhaps this hints to a new aspect of gameplay where players search for clues from people in the world? Or just a section at a posh bar where some ol Drake antics occur! Either way, it's got me pumped for Uncharted 3, and I'm sure getting a PS3 before it's comes out this November.



Serde~

Image credit: playstationlifestyle.net

Reactions

Dear readers:

If you read our articles every now and again, or just find yourself enthrawled by one, you may not feel inclined to create a blogger account just to comment. We here at The Arcade of Awesome totally understand, and apreciate that it's too much hassle. So what our fantastic writer here at AoA, Tom has done is install this spiffy reactions panel onto every post. So even if you don't want to comment, a mere click will give us an idea of what you'd like us to improve! It's very important that our articles are at least entertaining any readers, if you are inspired to comment, please don't hold back! In the meantime however, please give us some criticism or praise if deserved through the reactions panel!

Thanking you muchly!

~Serde

Nier Review

Game: Nier
Platform(s): Xbox 360 (played on), Playstation 3
Nier, a game named after the noise you make when you can't make up your mind on something minor like what flavour of ice cream to get, actually turned out to be a pretty decent game.

It's April 2010, everybody has just been whacked in the face by the substantially dull Final Fantasy 13. They have no trust in Square Enix whatsoever, as their running total of games that don't meet up to the standards of previous efforts continues to grow. Now, if you were at this point in time, would you purchase the next Square Enix epic that looks dramatically inferior to Final Fantasy and is not already part of the franchise? I guess not, because i don't think Nier sold too well. I cant say I helped the situation at all, purchasing the game pre-owned for £10 a month ago, but God Damn, Cavia, the team behind the Drakengrad have done a great job on this one! Being published by Square Enix could only of hindered how this game was recieved, as it is one of the most refreshing J-RPG's in years.

Let's deal with the Narrative first of all, now I don't want to let too much slip, as it's a narrative with many subtleties. I have played the western version, for those that don't know, there are two versions of the game, Replicant and Geshtalt. I believe Geshtalt is the western one, and the main difference i can see is that the main character within it is a father, rather than a brother in Replicant to a character called Yonah. The tale in a nutshell in this version is one of fatherhood, as the protagonist tries to do whats best for his daughter as she has some sort of fatal disease.

I have to admit, the story doesn't really pick up until about half-way through because the
narrative sets itself up for you to explore the world before sending you all over the place quickly for narrative purposes. Either way, the narrative is thoroughly entertaining, if a bit cheesey at times. But hey, it's a J-RPG, what are you expecting? It not to have melodrama? Not gonna happen here unfortunately. Luckily these momments are short lived. An interesting point to bring up is that once the player has finished the central story, you can play through the game from around the half-way point 3 more times to uncover more story and lore behind the characters, and unlock the games final boss. Essentially, you could be playing this thing for months getting a constant influx of new content.


But no game can live on it's story alone, how's the gameplay? Well, it's an odd mix of different things, but what i really want to address is the feel of the game. When wondering around the world i got a distinct Zelda vibe, hell, when you leave most area's is does the same fade to white as your character runs into the light thing Zelda did. But this is not in a way that screams stolen, no, they've taken just enough influence to make the world a joy to be in, and to explore, with landmarks of previous civilisations laying ruined around the landscape, the world is full of mysterious things just waiting to be uncovered, and it's a joy to explore using the mechanics available. At the beginning you have the means of travelling on foot, as always in a 3rd person action adventure... Rpg, there is a roll button which comes in hands when travelling long distances as you move slightly faster. You're also equipped with a double jump, which is odd for a game that feels like Zelda, but welcome nontheless.

Later on, through sidequests you can unlock a horn that lets you travel using boars found around the world. The boars are easy to control after messing around a bit, they don't turn like a car would, but can be turned with the use of the triggers as a drift function, and it's fun to drift around splattering any enemies you can find. Sadly, finding the quest that gives you the horn is not the most obvious thing, so just make sure you speak to all the villagers in town once the opportunity to do sidequests arises. The quest is to kill a boar, and it's also pretty damn challenging. But totally worth it.

Combat gameplay is my favorite portion of the game, there's the standard button mashing sword attack, a charged heavy sword attack, blocks and dodges. You can also equip a large selection of different weapons like greatswords and spears that don't dramatically alter gameplay, but offer some variety. The other half of combat is delievered through the games magic system, which is made up of many offensive spells, most of which are projectile based. You'll collect more and more powerful spells as you go through the game, each with it's own perks like range and damage. You can only equip up to two of these at a time, four if you want to remove the ability to block and dodge, but i don't recommend that. I found myself sticking with a high powered low ranged magic, and a low powered long range projectile throughout the game, but the combat remained fun throughout. A large amount of this is owed to the ability to jump. There's nothing funner than being up in a massive bosses face hacking away at him with all you've got whilst jumping and rolling out of the way of his attacks just in time. Yes, you could sit far away from the boss and just fire projectiles at him, but that would be boring, and i think that's why people think the combat is boring. The game rewards you for being in the fray simply by making it more fun. Most bosses can cut chunks of your health bar out at a time, but there are healing items, health increasing herbs and even a cleric companion later on to help with this.

Which brings me to the companions. You'll be seeing four other characters that join your party in the game, each with their own AI and perks. You have a book that likes to think it's an English gentleman and provides you with your magic abilities, a sword swinging badass who swears like a Tourette's victim, a small shy boy who has the medusa like talent of turning enemies to stone, and a powerful mage whose favorite past-time is to break down and make long speeches. You can command them through the commands menu, but you don't get any substantial control over them, hell, i used the command menu to summon random animals to come up to me than to control my companions. They function well enough on their own though, so it's all good.

The Graphics... They aren't the best graphics around, for sure. But i gotta say, the idea's behind them are beautiful in themself. The world is stunning to look at, and had a feel of a wondorous place that i wanted to explore, the graphics are no worse than star ocean, and certainly aren't so bad that it could be on the previous generation of consoles. One thing that i've noticed people complain about in this department is the protagonist (wether he's called Nier or not i don't know if you were wondering), apparently he's much too ugly. All i can say is... Good. Everyone looks much to perfect in videogames anyway, besides, it's not exactly distracting, you'll be looking at the back of his head for more than 90% of the game. All the character models look great in the graphics style too. Perhaps an interesting point to mention, is one area in the game is entirely black and white. I'm sure this is to represent something, i didn't get the message, but it's nice to see the developers try and move things about. Oh, and an honourable mention to the game for just how good the massive bosses look, alot of them seem to fashion tenticles, but there's a really nice sense of scale without a sacrifice of graphic prowess of performance.


One of the best things about Nier is it's Sound. The soundtrack, composed by Keiichi Okabe, Kakeru Ishihama, Keigo Hoashi and Takafumi Nishimura is just simply amazing. Each bit of music suits it's purpose and the area perfectly. You get a sense of adventure from the sounds of this that can only be compared to the Pirates of the carribean theme. The music is a mix of upbeat composistions and others that tug at the heartstings. Even some melodramatic momments come to frution beacuse of the amazing music. In alot of the tracks, there is a singer, i don't know what she is singing, but it really helps to give the track a very fantastic feel, and you'll come out of the game wanting to listen again. I'd recommend giving the soundtrack a listen, especially the song "Hills of Radiant winds". The whole feel of the game can be felt through this song. Best soundtrack i've heard in a game for years and years, masterful.

On the voice acting side of things, I had no problems, all the English voice acting suited the characters in question, and Liam O'Brien, the voice actor for Grimwoire Weiss, the aformentioned book companion, is halarious. He delivers his lines with great confidence, and the voice suits the role perfectly. He was the character i enjoyed the most because of the brilliant voice behind him. The others aren't bad, they're great. But O'Briens performance blows them out of the water.

Overall, i thought this game was brilliant, it was long and kept me interested enough for a second playthrough, perhaps even the thrid or fourth in the future. It's definitly worth checking out if you like third person action games, and sports one of the most realised and interesting worlds coupled with one of the best soundtracks in a game.

Score:
Narrative: 15/25 - starts slow but picks up massively halfway through.
Gameplay: 22/25 - exciting and fun as hell, but some fights can cause frustration
Graphics: 20/25 - not the best, but present what they set out to wondefully
Sound: 25/25 - there is simply nothing wrong with the sound.

Total: 82/100

Advised stance: Buy it! Even if it was full price it's worth it!

-serde out.

image credit (2nd image onward): Kotaku.com, i.telegraph.co.uk

Dragon Age - A brief look at Origins

~There's no I in team~

So any American's woke up today with the opporunity to run down to a store and pick up and brand spanking new copy of Dragon Age II. I, on the other hand, awoke today with the opportunity to wait till Friday for my copy because over here in Britland we don't get our new releases until the titular end of the week. What this has also done, is let me finish the original Dragon Age in preperation for the second one, I'm sure most of you finished the game back in 09 when it actually came out. I got it that year too, having the attention span of a... well, a spanner, I only played through the human noble origin story before deciding the game was a boring mess. Skip forward a year and a half and here I am, salivaiting over the adventures my Hawke will have in the second entry to the series. Now, to state what this article is, this is not a review of the original Dragon Age, nor one for the second, because of the afformentioned silly scheduling. What this is, is me explaining why I think those that put the game down after an hour should pick it back up. Dragon Age isn't just a game, it's an experience. You have to treat it as such by putting the time in, and my God, time is the key word here.

Now, this is my first, and most important point. Companions, if you don't get far enough into Dragon Age to get talking with the people you'll come across in your quest, you're not going to like this game at all, the combat is a grind, and the central narrative is, as is commonplace in fantasy, Lord of the Rings, but again. The lore that controls these characters, and what they talk about is all extremely well thought out, and the characters are developed well too. In fact, some of my favorite momments in the game were when two companions of mine would strike up a conversation when we were running around the world. These conversations were generally pretty humourous, especially when i had the pessamistic Alistair conversing with Morrigan, essentially a realist whose a shapeshifter in my party. They hate eachother, and it was fun listening to their arguments, especially as Morrigan's straightforward approach to arguments won over Alistairs self pity and wit.


Of course, you can talk to these guys yourself, and the conversation system is fantastic for this. In Mass Effect you'll generally enter the game thinking "this character is going to be paragon" or "this time i'll be renegade", and then stick with the correct option for your allegience. This way the conversation, although thoughroughly entertaining, becomes very mindless, as you'll find yourself not even looking at the choices from time to time because you know what you're going to say. In Dragon Age, there is a list of options for your character to choose from, no indicators on wether the option will hurt or pleasure the person you're talking to. This means you have to get to know the characters to get on their good sides, and gives them a much clearer personality. Sure, they've put the Mass Effect system in DA II, but that doesn't stop you enjoying Origins for the system. Essentially, if you invest time into your companions, you'll come out wishing you had even more time with them, and you cannot fail to love Oghren.

Now that it comes to mind, I didn't play this game for the combat, the story, or the world... It's true, the graphics sucked for their time, and thats mainly reflected from the games 2005 start-up and lack of funding. But what I have realised by typing this article is that this game can sell on one aspect alone, it's characters, and the writing behind them. Dragon Age II's combat is much improved from Origins so they have that fixed, and the story looks to be more original also. If Bioware have kept the same depth for it's characters we could be up for a fantastic game this Friday, and I advise everyone to go pick it up, even if you're not fond of the changes. I also recommend you dedicate more time to Dragon Age Origins if you dropped it early on, as that game only gets better, presenting you with some tough choices. My only advice? No walkthroughs! Figure the characters and choices out yourself! This article may have been generally useless, but I hope I swayed some heads towards the original Dragon Age and perhaps towards the sequel.

Peace out!

-Serde

image credit: g4tv.com, thelowbudgetreview.wordpress.com

Can we go beyond Beyond Good and Evil?

...What happens next?

So in the economic climate that the industry finds itself in, companies only want to release games that will sell, and sell big. This is all fair, as, after all it is a buisness. But when you think about this generation compared to the previous generation you can't help but notice that there's alot more replication of popular games this time around. Call of Duty has had competitors up the arse since Call of Duty took the multiplayer crown from Halo 4 years ago, and there's no signs of that franchise, or any franchise's that have been born from the competition slowing down any time soon because there are big bucks involved.

However, I digress, back in 2003 Ubisofts Michael Ancel, the creator of the spectacular Rayman franchise brought us Beyond Good and Evil, a game I admit I never played, but nevertheless, it gained a cult classic status within the video game community because of it's character driven narrative and inventive gameplay mechanics. Build up for it's sequel has been gaining momentum over the past few years, since early 2008 when a teaser for the sequel was revealed. Sadly, since then no other information has come our way with the exception of some unclaimed in game style footage that looks like Jade, the series protagonist, running through the streets of a town being chased by some police. The short and sweet minute long piece of footage is undoubtedly stunning, but nobody has claimed it as their work, and as such, this footage could be fake. The key point is, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was announced 3 years ago, and we have heard nothing since. Yet, 3 years later, Ubisoft have released the original in HD on the XBLA service, as is the trend recently. There is no doubt in anybodies mind in this stage that the games sales will be the decider on whether or not Ubisoft goes forward with the franchise or not.

When I look around at the games we have gotten over the past few years, very few inventive titles come to mind that haven't been released on an internet service. Where are our imaginative and frivolous games? Apart from cash in's from films and terrible wii games that don't meet up to any sort of standards, i can see original IP's like Mini Ninja's for example that have tried to create a game that does not try to be a massive blockbuster, and is just doused in fun, mario as always helps with the imagination, but i can't help but feel i've had enough of him. Back in the last generation we had games like Under the Skin, where the protagonist would be an alien running around stealing people's bodies to try and achieve some sort of random objective, simillar to Stacking, but it got a retail release. What this generation needs is a sudden influx of inventive and creative games that get enough attention to get a retail release, I'm looking forward to Dragon Age II, Pokemon Black, White and L.A.Noire in the near future as much as anyone else, but i think Beyond Good and Evil 2 could be the game that brings back the trend of whimzical worlds for us to run around in, without God of War combat or a first person view. I'll be playing through the HD remake this week, and so far, i'm loving it. Good luck to the franchise, and look forward to my review!

-Serde

image credit: seanbajuice.com, enjoywiigames.com

Self-Conscious Gaming?

Self-Conscious Gaming?

Repercussions of Nintendo's Re-Branding.

Like most of my generation, my first console was purchased in the Nineties and was manufactured by a certain Japanese company known as Nintendo. As my introduction to the magical world of video games, I've always had a soft spot for Nintendo and everything that comes with it. Years and hundreds of hours of Mario, Samus, and Donkey Kong later, my love of the company has diminished, but, while I was puzzled by the Gamecube and cringed for the Wii, I've still held high hopes for the future of “hardcore” gamers with Nintendo consoles. With the announcement of 3DS details and the launch of the system looming on the horizon, though, I've been doing some thinking about Nintendo and more specifically on the question, “Why don't I want to play DS in public?”

I'd like to think that I'm a well-versed gamer: I've played my share of most genres, and I'm comfortable with my nerdy trivia knowledge of games past and present. If I play DS in public, though, I feel like I've got to show the screen to everyone around me just to try to convince them that I'm not playing one of the many movie tie-ins or kids' games that have been released for the handheld. Perhaps the very fact that my youth was punctuated by the Gameboy chime makes me think feel slightly childish while playing, and it doesn't help when games require me to pull out the stylus or blow into the mircophone. In the self-conscious world we live in, Nintendo seems to have fallen from the cool side to the less than cool side.

When you look at the sales numbers, the DS won the handheld console war with no questions asked, but while those numbers don't lie about the total sales, one has to wonder how many of those were sold to “actual” gamers. How many soccer moms and grandparents were lured in by Brain Training or Crossword DS? How many bright pink systems were sold to gradeschool-aged girls? If I had a nickle for every seven-year-old walking around with a DS, I might be a rich man. Nintendo has made millions by appealing to a new audience, but they've diluted their customer base to the point that there's no way that they can make everyone happy. The problem is that when the casual gamers don't see something interesting in the new system, they melt back into the teeming masses of non-gamers, while the unhappy hardcore will grumble as they play their Kid Icarus and assortment of remakes. Nintendo knows where the big money is, and they're going to go after it whenever they can.

It will be hard for me to pass up the 3DS when it comes out in a few months, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Nintendo is slowly but steadily moving toward the casual market, and those of us on the fringe are going to have to start moving one way or another. We'll either have to start playing those Brain Training games, or we'll have to move on to bigger and brighter things. It should be interesting to see how Nintendo will respond to Sony's announcement of the NGP, or what amounts to the PSP 2. Will Nintendo take this as the chance to win gamers back over with an experience that puts them back into competition with Sony's software support. I never though I would say this, but Nintendo has some catching up to do.

--Tom

Beamed Into Your Home By The Onlive Overlords!

 Beamed into Your Home By The Onlive Overlords!

It's Out There, But Does it Matter?

Granted, the cloud-based game streaming service Onlive never really set the gaming world on fire when it was announced almost a year ago, but I expected a little more press and interest when the possibly revolutionary system finally launched. For those not familiar with Onlive, imagine Steam mixed with Youtube. The service allows you to download and play games a variety of triple- A titles through the power of cloud computing. When you make a controller input, the signal is sent to some distant Onlive HQ via the power of the internet (a series of tubes, remember). Onlive then streams the game's visuals back to your computer. The game itself runs, not on your system, but on the powerful computers supplied by Onlive, and this means that even a standard non-gaming laptop like mine can run resource intensive games without breaking a sweat.

From what I've seen, though, Onlive has been met by little more than sniff from those all-important gaming journalistic cabals with three letter acronyms or names ending in “spot.” I suppose that we've all been complicit in this collective neglect, though, and I'm among the offenders. I downloaded the Onlive client over a month ago, but never bothered to open it or look at it until just this afternoon. The shortcut icon blended into my desktop, and it was only by coincidence that I remembered it was even there. Before I'm too hard on myself, though, I should say that it wasn't for lack of trying that I've left Onlive alone. Honestly, it's just a little hard to deal with: I can't connect to the service from my home internet. Despite being fast enough for nearly every other online activity, my connection was found wanting by Onlinve and rejected. The only place where I can get the thing to work is at my school, and that clearly makes bringing a gamepad and finding the extra time a little harder.

When everything is going well, however, Onlive is a joy to work with. Not only can you purchase some of the latest games for prices that compare well to Steam, you can also play a 30 minute demo of any game before you decide to purchase. Onlive also allows you to post short videos of you playing a game to their “Brag Clip” section where other players can view your “leet skills” and whatnot. In compliment to this feature, there is an “Arena” section where you can spectate other players live. All around, I like the atmosphere of the application: it feels sleek and streamlined, perhaps even more so than the somewhat awkward Steam.

What Steam does have, though, is selection. While Steam is the established digital distribution service for PC games, Onlive is just a startup, and they're going to have to put in a lot of work if they plan to mount a successful challenge to Valve's brainchild. In the seven months since its release, Onlive has added just over 60 games to its library, while, in the same amount of time, Steam has added over 100 games to its already sizable library. What Onlive has that Steam doesn't is a ten-dollar-per-month deal that gives you access to a group of some of the most recent games added to the service. Right now, though, the “PlayPack” includes such gems as F.E.A.R. 2, Prince of Persia, and Unreal Tournament 3, but those aren't exactly the most recent titles. Most of the other options in the Playpack are games you've probably never heard of, so the value of the deal will really depend on how willing you are to play games just because they're there.

Admittedly, the usefulness of this platform is somewhat limited by the necessity to be connected to the web at all times. If you're got problems with multiplayer lagging, now you'll be getting the exact same problems in all portions of the game. I probably won't be using Onlive just because of the inconvenience, but if you don't mind the drawbacks, Onlive could very well be a glimpse of gaming future.

--Tom

Minecraft Makes a Million

Minecraft Makes a Million

Indie Beta Bags a Bunch of Builders

Seldom do independently developed games sell over a million copies, less frequently still, do pre-release versions of any game sell copies as profusely as did Minecraft, a game about construction, creativity, and world building. Minecraft, which entered its beta stage of development in late December, is, in my opinion, a fantastic achievement for the video game industry. While I have no problem with first person shooters, it's refreshing to see a first person perspective game whose focus is not on destruction, but on creation. Minecraft crossed the million-sold mark this past week.

Minecraft offers an open world for you to make your own by building whatever happens to strike your fancy. Like a simulated version of an unlimited supply of Lego blocks, its charm and versatility are both comfortable and daunting. Undertaking your castle, villa, or island can be quite the feat, but the rewards for bringing your creations into life can be one of the most satisfying in gaming today. You've got to be a self starter to really get into Minecraft, and while it may at first seem like this game might not be for everyone, there seem to be over a million people for whom Minecraft is a perfect fit.

The current version of Minecraft is available for purchase on the developer's official website: Minecraft.net. The Beta will cost you €20, which comes out to about $20 or £12, but if you're just interested in looking into the matter, you can play the classic version of the game for free. Classic Minecraft can be downloaded on the Minecraft website, and will allow you to build, but does not include many of the features of the paid version. The full game is, though, is under constant improvement and development, and is, dare I say, falling into place block by block. I look forward to seeing where the game will take us next, and it can do you no harm to take a look for yourself.

Visit the Minecraft Website

--Tom

Image courtesy of ZFGoku SSJ1

Sega finally announced the Dreamcast collection... Yay?

Okay, it's been 12 years since the dreamcast released, and 9 since the console fizzled out in the west. That's a fair time for a collective release of a consoles definitive titles wouldn't you say? Sure, it took till 2009 for the megadrive, but at least that had almost the best selection possible, 40 odd top quality games? It was glorious, and whats more, nostalgic. So when the rumour surfaced that a Dreamcast collection was impending impact upon the world, well, it was like a sneeze but better.

The idea of a Dreamcast collection is brilliant for a gamer such as myself who picked the console up for it's short life-span. The Dreamcast, whilst not the hit Sega was hoping for, is definitely one of the most iconic consoles in the buisness, even if it's to show manufacturers what not to do. The Dreamcast is a console in the same way that the Atari Jaguar was. They're developed in-between generations like a quirky middle child. They're slightly smarter than their older brother, but socially inept compared to the younger sister. Or in smarter terms, both consoles came out with double the hardware capabilities of the current generation, only to fall prey to the next generation that was about to swoop in anyway a year or so later with better tech.

The Dreamcast has some brilliant games, Sonic, Phantasy Star, Space Channel 5, Snow Surfers, Metropolis Street Racer, Toy Commander... There are so many games on the console that stood out in my childhood, even if I only played the demo, the Dreamcast was a haven for innovative idea's at the time because Sega was looking to provide something different and more engaging for their audience so the console would sell. I mean, I recall a game where you raced penguins around ice-caps, penguins who wore clothes too. I mean, that's my type of zany, and thats a type of zany I can get behind, and get behind it I did by buying the damn thing.

So as you can imagine, the Dreamcast collection is a dream (pun intended) for me, so many great titles on one disc would be brilliant, it would restore my faith in Sega as more than a publisher of great games, but a creator too...

But... Guess. Guess what's on this thing coming out next month, just guess! Guess how Sega have messed it up!

On the Dreamcast collection, there is the substantial sum of four titles. FOUR titles. To rub salt in the wound, these aren't even titles we haven't seen for years, no, they're the titles that are already on the xbla and psn services! At the end of February next month, we'll be seeing Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Sega Bass Fishing and Space Channel 5: Part 2 all on one disc!

Sega... I'm only asking for a Dreamcast ultimate collection here... Please! That being said... I'll probably buy it anyway because i love those titles... Apart from Sega Bass Fishing... Who the hell wanted Sega Bass Fishing to be re-released anyway?

...Bloody Sega Bass Fishing taking up my Power Stone and Fur Fighters slot on the disc...

Roll on February 25th for the U.K. and Europe and the 22nd for the U.S. !

- Serde

Image credit: arstechnica.com and caratulas.info respectively

A notice to anyone who likes the comic

If you have been willingly reading the comic here on the blog, you're in for a treat!

... Well, you're in for more comics anyway!

The comic has become a beast that i must update daily at: http://aoacomic.smackjeeves.com/

Be sure to check back daily for a dose of Video Game Humour from your friendly neighbourhood Serde!

Megaman Zero Collection- Reviewed by the new guy

Game: Megaman Zero- Megaman Zero 4
System: Nintendo DS
Release Date: June 8th, 2010 (USA)

X (From Megaman X) has halted the elf wars for over a century. Ceil, a scientist, running from Neo Arcadian forces stumbles upon century-old legendary reploid, Zero. When all seems lost, Zero is revived. And thus, the legendary reploids new story, unfolded.

-Megaman Zero-

Zero...? Is that my name...?

Megaman Zero was released for the Gameboy Advanced back in 2002, and no doubt when it came out it did not disappoint. Zero was shown in the Megaman X series as an enigmatic saber-wielding reploid, as the series progressed, so did his history. But dear reader, we shall talk about the Megaman X series another time. Zero returns after about a century-long rest in a sleek red black and white body, and the traditional buster (Well, its not exactly the same) and his iconic Z-saber (of course, with a new design) along with two new weapons, the Shield boomerang and Triple rod. Zero also has the ability to dash, which is pretty significant if you want to keep your grades up. Yes, there is a grading system, your probably thinking "school much?" and at first, the grading system doesnt really do much besides make the bosses harder until Zero 2, where it serves a more prominent role. Some things that should be noted are the cyber elves and the upgradeable weapons. The buster, z-saber, triple rod, and shield boomerang have stars next to them on the menu. These stars are the basic level of the weapon, so as you progress through the game, everytime you use your weapon a certain number of times it levels up to something like being able to charge the weapon for a more powerful attack, or adding more combo moves to it, or something of the likes. The cyber elves are very useful, but use of them penalizes Zero's grade. There are cyber elves that add to your vitality (hp), let you climb ladders faster, and even erase small enemies during a mission. You might be spending much of your time collecting cyber-elves and feeding them with E-crystals than doing the actual levels.
The bosses add to Zero's "legendary" status, named after mythical and legendary creatures such as "Anubis necromancess III" or "Maha Ganeshariff" and can be quite difficult to beat if your not prepared or just starting the series. Some things I personally like about the series is the detail in the sprites and the music, The detail is very prominent, and unlike other Megaman games, are a bit more "realistic" in a sense.
My thoughts:
Megaman Zero is a must-play, it has everything you could want. It has an amazing atmosphere with amazing and fluid music and art, gameplay can be suited for just about any gamer, easy or hard, fast or slow. It does however, stay a little over above easy, which might make it difficult for many, but for those who can beat it, has replay value. This game is sure to stick with you for a very long time.
My score: 9/10

-Megaman Zero 2-

Lets go...

Zero returns and with a lot to offer. Zero starts off running (well, limping) away from what looks to be a struggle with Neo Arcadia, but it turns out there were still Neo Arcadians, in which Zero removes his cloak, beginning the game. The first thing you might notice is, Zero seems to be injured, and the subscreen seems to be damaged, and an endless onslaught of Pantheons (pretty much the basic enemy) keep coming in from the left. You start off with the buster and Z-saber, and as you progress through the first stage, Zero collapses and is taken to the resistance by Harpuia, one of his enemies from the first game. Once Zero recovers, you are given a new sub-screen, able to get a new weapon, and also some new additions to the game. The EX skills and different forms. The gameplay is much like the original Megaman Zero, however, with the addition to the new weapon, chainrod, you can now swing across spike pits, drag items closer to you, and pull things. The forms allow you to have special privileges such as "better drop rate of health" or "do a rolling slash" or "higher attack" or any of that such. The EX skills give Zero some new fancy moves to play around with also. These EX skills are obtained by keeping your grade at "A" or above, however. The story goes in-depth of the elf-wars and the Dark Elf a little, which turns into one of the main focus of the Zero series. Like the original, there is a fine amount of detail and the music adds to it. The gameplay, although mainly unaltered, remains fluid. Zero 2 is an amazing sequal, and is definitely a must-have.
My score: 10/10

-Megaman Zero 3-

Its just me... I am... Zero.

Zero 3 is a bit different from the previous Zero games, not just weapon-wise, but cyber-elf, story, the addition of side-games, and Zero himself-wise. The game starts with Zero, Ceil, and some resistance members going on a mission to find the Dark Elf, to stumble upon an odd object from space it appears. Zero goes inside and stumbles upon Omega, and the introduction to pretty much the new main villain, Weil. Zero 3 offers a new Cyber-elf system, new EX skills, and a new weapon, the Recoil Rod, which can be used to bounce around on like a pogo stick or push things. But one of the newest features are the chips you can use to customize Zero. There are feet chips, body chips, and head chips that do many different functions. The head chips are mostly support for Zero, such as auto-charge, or heal while standing still. The Body chips are moreover for his weapons, such as electric body type or flame body type, though there is also one which ignores crumbling ground. And then the foot chips offer zero back-up support, such as double-jump, hopping on water, walking on spikes, etc... The cyber elves also have a new system, with satellite cyber elves and fusion cyber elves. Satellite cyber elves dont die, while fusion ones do. After you have beaten Zero 3, there are even Minigames available to play. The series again has excellent graphics and music, and very nice gameplay. There isnt much I can say on this one, but Zero 3 shines a bit more than the other Zero games, it is like a breath of fresh air. Very dynamic and fluid gameplay, much like the previous games, yet very different at the same time.
My score: 10/10

-Megaman Zero 4-

I never cared about justice, and I don't recall calling myself a hero... I have always fought only for the people that I believe in.

Zero 4 starts off with a caravan of humans. Yes, you heard me right, humans. Fleeing from Neo Arcadia, only for Neo Arcadians to attack. Zero comes in and thus, the last game of the series begins. Zero 4 is a lot different, well, thats an understatement. I mean A LOT different from the previous Zero games. Zero retains his Buster and Z-saber, as usual, but now has the Z-knuckles. The Z-knuckles allow Zero to steal an enemies weapon, pull out stuff, etc... And enemies now drop "parts" which can be used to create head chips, body chips, and feet chips. There is also a weather system, which allows Zero to change the weather which can affect the stage drastically. Another difference is the boss selection, instead of four at a time, you can fight any of the 8 bosses available. They do drop EX skills too as long as you play the stage with the weather in favor of the boss, and the EX skills also changed for this game (Unfortunately, no Z-knuckles EX skill). Zero 4 also has an easy option, which drastically makes the game a lot easier than the previous titles. The game still retains amazing detail and music, and great storyline and gameplay. Zero 4 is a good ending to the series, but if it was me, I would have wished for a Zero 5 rather than Megaman ZX
My score: 8.5/10

Extras to Zero collection:
Zero collection has a lot to offer, an easy scenario where the player is able to play all 4 games in order, and it is very beginner friendly, collectable "cards" and mod-chips which can be used to change Zero 3 up a bit (adding cats in the resistance base and such) The Megaman Zero collection is like an epic peanut butter and jelly sandwich, only better. If your looking for a game that you want to last a long time, I recommend getting the Zero collection, it's well worth it.
My score: 10/10

-Kenji