Splinter Cell: Conviction (X10 Hands-On Impression)

Posted by Owen Johnson at 4:39 PM Feb 15, 2010

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M.U.D. TV (Preview)

Posted by Owen Johnson at 3:11 PM Feb 11, 2010

​Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit down with one of the developers at Kalypso, as well as a couple of gentlemen who handle their public relations. After a drink, a maple-and-bacon-covered donut and a fair amount of bullshitting with each other, I and some other journalists got to see a couple games in action. Of the two titles we saw, only M.U.D. TV am I at liberty to discuss at this point, although a preview for the other will hopefully be soon to follow. 

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Bayonetta Demo Impressions: The Next Great Action Game?

Posted by J. Matthew Zoss at 12:34 PM Dec 01, 2009

​On December 3, the Bayonetta demo will be released. It's only a short glimpse of the final game, but gives the players a great taste of what to expect. I had a chance to run through the demo a couple of times, and based on that small exposure, I'm ready to declare Bayonetta the next great action game.

I don't need to recap the bizarro story or setting of Bayonetta - if you're at all interested in this game you know all about its strange "hair-covered witch killing angels" concept. I originally assumed that the game would suck based on that goofball concept, but boy was I wrong. Bayonetta's gameplay has the liquid-smooth feel of Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden, coupled with the grand setpieces of God of War. In just the demo, you'll battle on falling remains of a clock tower and fight on a section of bridge being swung around by a giant monster. You'll kill a huge baby-faced creature who swings a giant axe and slaughter hordes of feathered monsters that attack in groups. Fortunately, you'll be able to make quick work of all of them, thanks to the game's sleek combat engine.

Bayonetta has three primary attack buttons, but the deadliest move in her arsenal is the dodge button. Time your dodges right, and you'll rack up ridiculous combos. A perfectly timed dodge slows time down for a moment, letting you deliver extra damage to your foes. Build those combos up and you can unleash "torture" moves - finishing moves that kill your enemy in creative and graphic fashion. The better you perform in combat, the higher the ranking you get at the end of a stage, so Bayonetta is going to cause a lot of perfectionist gamers to replay its levels again and again.

The Bayonetta demo is only a tiny bit of the game, but I can't overstress how impressed I was with it. I don't think it's hyperbole to declare this game the next Ninja Gaiden or God of War. If you like action games at all, you owe it to yourself to play Bayonetta. But don't take my word for it. Play the demo for yourself in a couple days. I think you'll be convinced.

Enter the Shadow Complex

Posted by J. Matthew Zoss at 4:11 PM Aug 12, 2009

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I have to admit that Shadow Complex didn't interest me at first. I had nothing against its Castlevania-with-guns formula, but if I want to play a Castlevania-style game, I'll play Castlevania. But when I was offered a chance to check out a full build of the game, I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm only a couple hours in, but I'm already very glad I did. I won't get into the story at all because I clearly have a lot of twists left to discover, but from a gameplay standpoint, Shadow Complex doesn't take long to suck you in. The formual is simple: explore, find upgrades, fight enemies, and earn new skills to double back and find secrets about the areas you've already visited. Despite the gorgeous 3D graphics, all of the action takes place on a side-scrolling 2D plane, although you can shoot and enemies in the background by aiming with the right stick. If it sounds simple, that's because it is. But that's what makes it work. By creating a game with proven gameplay and melding it with big-budget presentation, Epic-owned developer Chair has created an Xbox Live Arcade game that's far beyond anything I've played on the service before. Full reviews are under embargo until next week, so I'll be back then with my final verdict. But right now, it's looking very, very good.

Shadow Complex is available on 8/19 exclusively on Xbox Live. Thanks to Paul for catching my mistake.

Comic Con Gaming: The Saboteur

Posted by J. Matthew Zoss at 9:05 AM Jul 27, 2009

​After I wrote up the big hands-on post below, I had a chance to play one more game: EA's The Saboteur. Anyone who read my coverage of Open-World Superhero Smackdown 09 can probably understand why I'm not looking for another open-world game at the moment, but The Saboteur, which can reductively be described as Grand Theft Nazi, shows some promise and has me interested in seeing more.

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Comic-Con Gaming: Hands On a Great Many Things

Posted by J. Matthew Zoss at 12:00 PM Jul 25, 2009

​Man, San Diego Comic-Con is kicking my ass. So much to do, so much to see, so many games to play. By now I've had a chance to play many of Comic-Con's gaming offerings, but not all of them. Here's my take on many of the titles I've played so far. Read on for the breakdown, yo.

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Comic-Con Gaming: Hands-on/Eyes on EA

Posted by J. Matthew Zoss at 4:45 PM Jul 23, 2009

There are still many games left to check out, but I have managed to check out a few of them first-hand. During a visit to EA's booth, I played both Dante's Inferno and GI Joe: Rise of Cobra. While I waited for a long, long time to play Brutal Legend, I didn't actually ever get my hands on the controller, although I did get my biggest exposure to the game yet and came away with some solid "eyes-on" impressions. More on that later though.

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