Oh shit you did not just bounce that grenade off the door fra…BOOM!
Now it’s not the event that friendly fire kills you that is the pleasure, it’s the REVENGE! After that tell tale grenade blasts you to beJesus and back it’s always nice to get a little retribution via a little headshot or back of the head melee, and that friends is the guilty pleasure.
Nobody likes getting owned by something that is a total rookie mistake like splash damage or mistaken identity but it sure feels nice to throw out all gaming etiquette for a brief moment soaked in bloodlust to dispatch your deserving friend who will hopefully understand... Of course this works a whole lot better when playing with a friend who resides in the same room, or in a game where the score doesn’t matter (ie non ranked) because being an asshole for a second is fun but being “that guy” is not cool. Being that guy who always kills you back is pretty shitty and a very serious issue and will most likely seal the deal that you never get invited to a game again.
But being in your own home or playing with good company instead of random matches is prime breeding grounds for the betrayal and the inevitable Charlie Horse that their leg is so getting before you even respawn!
So let’s have it. Who here is going to be guilty of the sweet taste of revenge?
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So I picked up this game on its release day a while back and have been taking my sweet time playing it, but this game is nothing short of completely incredible.
Kojima Productions brought forth another hit and this time on the Nintendo DS. Lunar Knights is a great game with a simple yet effective top down view similar to an RTS but while only controlling one character at a time with Anime style cut scenes. On the surface this game appears to be your standard handheld title with some weapon variations and some pretty sweet graphics. But in reality this game goes much deeper.
Lunar Knights includes two characters one dark and one light who must harness moonlight and sunlight respectively in order to power their weapons for better attacks. Lucian who is a vampire uses a sword and can attack even when fully drained of power. Aaron who is a soldier boy uses light guns and can only attack when having sufficient power. Luckily there are many items which can give energy in the absence of your appropriate light source.
The game gets right into the thick of things allowing each character to pick up coins used as currency, “junk” to be formed into items via synthesis, weapons, and items. Each zone or area can experience a specific climate in which certain armors can either help or harm your character. Later in the game you will find a lab which allows you to change the climate of each zone at your leisure to accomplish certain goals such as melting ice walls to pass or freezing streams to create a bridge.
By picking up “junk” you can create and upgrade new weapons in a similar system to the Monster Hunter series. Each weapon can be optimized for strength, stamina, speed, or range. Light guns being made from lenses and casings while swords are made from metals.
In addition to all of this there are small guardian forces that can be used interchangeably between the characters, the forces are one of four elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Ice) while each character has his own special guardian. Lucian has a cat with wings which adds a dark power up to his sword while Aaron has a sunflower which adds power to his guns. Lucian’s cat allows him to transform into a vampire beast with claws and slash enemies in trance mode wile Aaron transforms into an armored soldier and gains extreme firepower while in trance mode which is attained by building up a meter which grows with each successful hit on an enemy each character can utilize each guardian for a power attack which uses the touch screen to destroy enemies and bosses.
Just in case you don’t have enough to do, after each major boss you take part in a space shooter bit in which you must tackle the enemy and avid asteroids. The ship is able to be equipped with any of the guardian forces AND use their trance modes. Also there are sneaking missions, wireless multiplayer, extra game modes, and tons of replay value.
Holy Hell! That’s a lot for one little handheld game!
So if you made it through all that stuff and have some Lunar Knights experiences to share or if you are one of the lucky one who actually bought the game then let me know what you thought!
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This is a sensitive issue for me as it is with most gamers, but don't jump the gun here. The guilty pleasure for me is not so much the escort mission itself but the eclectic relief of pressure and stress once it is over!
Maybe it stems from the thrill seeker roots I have developed while on my travels camping and exploring or maybe it is a deeper sadistic urge to take pleasure from pain, but no matter the origin the fact remains that once all is said and done and the complaining and bitching have died down I truly do enjoy an escort mission for those sweet sweet rewards.
Take for example one of the most excruciating escort's in my recent memory: Raiden escorting Emma Emmerich in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty through an underwater labyrinth with a girl afraid of swimming because her suicidal father dragged her into a pool while her brother couldn't save her because he was sleeping with his step mother... yea I had to throw a WTF!? out there too whilst I was playing. Anyway the mission itself was such a pain in the ass because you had to monitor your breath gauge, her breath gauge (which ran out quicker than yours) try to remember which way to go AND lift her in and out of the water because apparently her aqua phobia caused her to go basically limp while in the damn water. So once you reach the end of this whole big thing you get such a great sense of fulfillment for having completed it without killing yourself or the girl. THAT is the reason I can secretly like escort missions.
Another example and much more simple escort mission is in Fable where you must take part in several escorts anywhere from escorting a traveler through the woods past thieves who want to kill you for your fancy clothes and gold, to taking a small caravan through a death swamp crawling with ravenous Balverines and pissed off fairy pixies who cast spikes at you. These mission frustrate you for a different reason than MGS. These missions make you mad simply for the fact that the people you are escorting are SO DUMB! they just cower while they get cut with swords and don't flee at all! you need to heal them, then fight, then heal yourself, then fight, then heal them again, etc... by the time the whole ordeal is over you are bruised and tired and they are all fine and dandy. But the feeling of pride you get from beating all odds.
Oh to be the hero in a game. Self sacrificing, ever vigilant, and oh so Bad Ass. unfortunately for endless glory saving wee people and escorting the weak through unbelievable odds can be worth the trouble if you just take as much pride and reward away from it as I do.
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Announced today Microsoft has enabled all Zune owners to simultaneously crap themselves in excitement. The XNA Game Studio will be made available to the Zune starting with Zauri and Hexic both which feature MP3 support so you can trick out your own soundtrack while PEW PEW ing and puzzling away.
The Zune's hyper responsive Squirqle should make for some pretty intuitive gameplay on the device. with that big beautiful screen its only a matter of time before more games start popping up on Zune Marketplace and seamless integration of XBLA and the Zune comes to reality.
Makes me wonder what is to come of the Zune 3?
(photos via Engadget)
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BUG Labs has recently developed a pretty neat piece of hardware called the BUGbase along with various BUGmodules. these items can be combined in any fashion that the user or development team wishes. Included software gives the average Joe the ability to create basic actions that the device can utilize, such as geo-tagging photos by using the digital camera and GPS module. the pictures can then be uploaded to an online location such as a photo sharing website via the BUGbase's built in Wi-Fi.
What does all this mean for gamers? Well in the near future I suspect that it will not take long for users to develop some simple and fun games that can be played on one of these units as well as BUG labs producing some BUGmodules that include analog sticks and basic button layouts. If used to its full potential the possibilities are endless!
Keep your eyes peeled for what things may come of this product. BUGbase and BUGmodules coming 1st Quarter 2008.
http://www.buglabs.net/products
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As I have recently heard from Kojima Productions the newest addition to the Metal Gear series will be a Mobile phone version. I must admit I didn't really see that coming, and one would imagine it would have been similar to the GameBoy Color release titled Ghost Babel. but I couldn't have been more wrong...
The Verizon Wireless exclusive (downloadable over VCast services only) will be a full 3D game which includes of course some new and innovative ways to play the game. The camouflage system is back from Snake Eater only this time the player will be taking photographs of real life objects and textures with their cell phone camera to use a template for Snake's camo in the game. Entering an Urban landscape? no worries, just take a photo of the spackle gray floor from the subway, set it for Snakes uniform and you will be sneaking past genome baddies in no time.
Another use for the camera in the game will be the first person shooting mode also adopted form the series later versions. The player will be able to enter first person shooting mode and use the camera to point the gun in any direction they choose with much more fluidity than with the standard cellular phone D-Pad. I am not sure if this new feature will rely on you choosing a fixed point to use with the camera or if it will be something else altogether, one thing is for sure...you are probably going to have to find some real diazapham to stop all that shaking during your camera controlled FPS boss fights!
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