Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

So after having the game in my possession for the past few days, I have at last played through (and finished) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.

Yes, this play through was finished in a single sitting.

Granted, this play through was done on easy...

But I at least got the gist of things and it would seem that my initial thoughts about this game were correct. The game play, despite some additions to the Force powers, doesn't really feel all that different from the original game. And truth be told, you don't seem to really even need to use much other powers outside the basics, which renders the new stuff pointless.

The actual game play itself is repetitive and there are a fair share of cut scene spots during the action where you have to bash the hell out of the buttons to get through certain action scenes. Does that make sense? These will be practiced quite well, as you will have to repeat them many, many times over during the course of the game.

The story behind the game is okay to me, though I will say that the story behind the original game was much more memorable then this second go around. However, I do like that this Starkiller seems a little more mature and not quite so whiny as before. But even that is a little difficult to surmise, as there really isn't much meat to flesh out the characters (no one new joins the gang) more then they were previously.

And this might be a slight spoiler, but all that hints of maturity goes right out the window during the finale as Starkiller is reduced to a angry, screaming clone... thing. All of this because of his kidnapped love, Juno Eclipse.

Overall, I think the only things I actually enjoyed the most out of this game was the music and the cut scenes, which were both absolutely beautiful. Here goes another spoiler.... (much more revealing then my previous "spoiler," so be warned!)

At the end I chose to stick with the Light side and with how things ended, it seems all too obvious that there will be a third (and presumably final) chapter in the Force Unleashed saga. There are still questions left unanswered (is this Starkiller the true one? Or is he, in fact, a clone?) and what of Vader, whom was captured and is being held prisoner by the Rebel Alliance? There was a certain bounty hunter tailing Starkiller and Juno (whom are transporting Vader), so the set up for the next game is definitely there.

If I had to chose whether to buy or rent this game, I am definitely sticking to my original opinion and would certainly rent this (as was the case here). Considering how short the game is, I just don't see any real value in playing the game again (unless you desire to play again, maybe on a higher difficulty?). But as I saw first hand, the repetitive nature of the game might not leave many wishing to play through a second time (count me in with this crowd). I am hoping that if there truly is a third game, that maybe there will be more to it then this game had to offer. Granted there were some good points and the game play, while repetitive, was fun while it lasted.

First Impressions

I know I said I wasn't all that interested in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II and I meant every word I wrote. However, as you can see on the side bar of my blog here, the game is listed amongst those that I've picked up and am currently playing.

Did I turn around and cave in?!

Short answer: No.

Truth of the matter is this; I did have a couple more days left on my Blockbuster game pass and seeing the game on the shelf was just too tempting to pass up. I wanted to see for myself if this game is every bit as bad as a lot of these reviews have pegged it to be. Hell I just want to see if the game is actually better on the whole, or if my first impressions from the demo were indeed correct.

Now I could have started up on this game, but I was far too busy diving back into the world of Albion with Fable 3...

The story so far seems okay and I wish I could at least try and bash the face in of your character's older brother. But so far, the game does feel the same as Fable 2 and I haven't seen much (outside of the holding hands option) that really differs from the previous game.

The one aspect that I am curious to see for myself is the evolution of your weapons, which is apparently based on whom you kill. And that brings me to my next curiosity: Should I take the blood of innocents? Do I want a weapon that bleeds? Hmmm....

And then there is WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011, which overall I am enjoying but am also disappointed to a certain extent. I feel like the game is only a demo, that it is missing something that is keeping it from feeling complete. What I dislike was the major changes in the game play, which have cut out the option of having more moves for your grapplers.

What I hate is the fact that there has been quite a few things taken out (besides moves) and it just feels to me like there was more taken then there was inserted...

But I think my girlfriend had a very good point about this: To get something new, you've gotta give up a thing or two in exchange.

Well said.

At Last

Finally.

After months of waiting, I am finally only minutes away from being able to play WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011. Arguably, this purchase is one I consider my game of the year (which may or may not be sad, considering the number of games that are released per year). Hell I am actually surprised with myself, seeing as I made it through the store without going insane as I walked past Fable 3.

That isn't to say that I did not considered canceling my pre-order and just grabbing Fable 3 on the spot. I thought about it, but I think I will save that one for another day. Today I am just looking forward to smashing heads and body slamming virtual wrestlers.

And maybe what this all comes down to is this: after being hit with a string of bad titles (Final Fantasy XIII, Alpha Protocol), I am just looking for something... ANYTHING... to make up for those.

In any event, I imagine I will be occupied with this game for some time. Hell I am always occupied when it comes down to this series. So as far as getting my money's worth, these wrestling games usually keep me playing for nearly a year at a time.

And I am babbling on here, so I am out!

Finally.

Does It Ever End?

I don't know how else to word this other then this way: Some days I feel like I am just losing my damn mind.

It just feels to me like there is no end to the madness of life, that once you've fallen down, you will be kicked unmercifully until whatever end comes my way. I thought my troubles were gone and things were FINALLY taking a turn for the better.

Apparently that was wishful thinking on my part.

Of all the things I don't like in this world, having so many worries just doesn't make for a good day or good anything for that matter. I wish I could have dealt with these problems sooner (bad credit card!), but as life goes that stuff just did not get cleared up.

But I know I am over-dramatizing the situation some, as the solution to my troubles is pretty obvious to me. I suppose starting next month, we'll have to make some crazy changes in our daily lives if we are to ever get rid of our financial woes. Then again, I do know already that next year our realtor is looking to raise our rent (isn't $1,100 enough for a single bedroom apartment??), so it feels like we are ultimately screwed regardless.

Now I can't imagine why I just get frustrated some days...

So here's hoping Fable 3 and Smackdown vs Raw 2011 are both worth it... looks like those two may very well be the last games I will be picking up in the year 2010. Hell maybe I may even skip over Fable 3 this Tuesday and that, at any other point in time, would be sheer madness to even think.

But that seems to be the best solution to the problem at this point.

This still sucks...

Humid Hell

There are a few things I would love to have in life, but today as just one of those days where I really wanted today to be a good, uneventful day. You know, one of those where I could just go to work, do what I need to do and just get the hell out of there and be done with it. It often feels as though those type of days are so few and far between, that the rare opportunities that they do appear, it's like Christmas!

And for a brief moment there, I almost believed that today would end up being one of these rare good days.

What the hell was I thinking?! What a miserable day!

The primary suspect in this turn of terrible events is the humidity! It is just brutal today! And being at work today, even just setting foot and collecting products to stock in the warehouse, was nothing short of being pure torture for sure!

Today is easily one of those kinds of days where I just wanted to go ahead and walk off the job. Walk off, then throw myself into the ocean!

But thankfully reality kicked back in and I knew if I did that, it would likely be my last day alive....

Anyway!

Hopefully this miserable hell of humidity subsides tonight or at least maybe there will be some sort of breeze or something more then there was out there today. All I know is if it doesn't cool down by tonight, it'll be one long night for sure.

And the AC makes the save...!

Almost Afraid

As I sit awake this morning, far too early I might add, I am just thinking about how my mind has hyped the upcoming release of WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011. It has been a long time since I've gotten so worked up about playing a game and every waking second just makes me want to go and get this thing already.

But then I realize that I've been here before.

In a sort of ironic turn of events, I happen to be listening to Leona Lewis's song, "My Hands" that was featured in Final Fantasy XIII...

And what has not been helping is the developers for this latest WWE game have been hitting up pod casts all over the place in the past several months (that I've been following anyway). The most recent one (last night) proved to shine a lot of light on a lot of questions I personally had. By all accounts, it does sound as though the game has been improved all around which can only be a good thing, right?

Like the title of this entry states, I am almost afraid to think that this game, or any game, could actually be improved that much. I am hoping that my fears are nothing true and that this game will be like Assassin's Creed II, in that it actually does look, feel and play entirely better then what came before it.

But then as I said, I've been here before and there are far too many games that have failed to live up to their own hype. What I really hope does not happen is maybe another Medal of Honor, which was being hyped up as being a CoD killer. Now I have not personally played this, but from the reviews of both fans and critics alike, it certainly did not live up to its hype.

All of this applies to another game I am interested in, that being Fable 3.

If there is one thing that I am really not liking about this console generation is all of this extra hype. Because of this madness (which I tend to fall "victim" to more often then I'd care to admit), we've seen the advent of a lot of extra content added in to new releases and that has been even more of a cause for craziness.

Anyway, the point I am getting at is October 26th is just a little under a week away, which means both games I've mentioned will be released upon us. I just hope they live up to their hype....

The Final Insult?

Months later, I am still in utter disbelief that Final Fantasy XIII is the first FF game that I actually lost all desire to finish in a very long time (FFXI not included). Not only did I lose my desire to finish the game, I traded it away without even so much as a second thought! That is madness! I still own Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII.

Things had gotten me so disinterested in FFXIII, that I actually wanted to go back and just replay FFXII. That had freedom! That had characters I actually liked, unlike FFXIII where I wished more then half the group would just fall off a cliff or eaten by one of those brutally powerful creatures that roam around on the surface of Pulse.

Now I am beginning to see faint mentions of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and am I even hyped for it? In a single word, no. No I am not hyped at all over this future release and I am wondering if the ship has finally sailed on the series.

And what reinforces this mad thought is this article, which I saw over at Kotaku...

So Square-Enix pulls together some focus test groups and come to the realization that they apparently already knew: Western fans (didn't this game not get that well received in Japan also?) did not like the game all that much.

But it was obviously too late to change anything...

I... I don't understand something.

Aren't companies supposed to do the test groups and what not BEFORE developing their product? Isn't it a little counterproductive to try and understand your customers' desires AFTER you've all but completed your product?

After reading the article, I am just stunned and shocked to know that these guys sound to me like they are beginning to fall apart. As far as I am concerned, Final Fantasy Versus XIII will have to absolutely blow me away as being the most awesome game ever. Unlike Final Fantasy XIII (which I was sold because of the flashy CG promo videos), I am hoping Square-Enix takes a page out of some Western developers' books and introduce more production diaries. Show the ins and outs of the game and just give the world a better understanding of what's inside their games.

But knowing that isn't likely to happen, I think the safest bet would be to just sit it out and wait to see what the critics and fans rate the game after it's release. Yes, I think things have gotten that bad at this point. I am just frustrated with that game and I don't think I want to throw more money at something I ultimately won't enjoy to it's ending.

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011: 9 Days Left

I have been a fan of wrestling for a long time (I don't shy away from that fact) and I've been hooked onto the video games associated to them for nearly as long. As far as WWE games are concerned, I have been playing those since the time the games were still just being called Smackdown. And you know what? It is almost impossible to go back to play the older games (for me at least), because it always feels like the series moves ahead just that much with each passing year.

This year is absolutely no exception to this either.

As it goes, my interest in the series has spiked because the game that is about to be unleashed this year looks to be the most promising one thus far. I mean just look at the attention to detail that has been paid to the character models (pictured above is Wade Barrett, leader of the Nexus). That is what his character model looks like in the game!

I could go on, but what I am trying to say is this:

Cannot wait for this game! Looks like it may be one of those years where I am practically glued to the game...

The Force Not Unleashed

The demo for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II was just released a couple of days ago and I have been a little eager to give that a spin. But really, I played through the original and loved it and the developers said they've only improved everything... what's not to like about that?

Well...

Going into playing the demo, I was already thinking of the 3 games that I am planning on getting (WWE SD vs Raw 2011, Fable 3 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II), one of those may end up getting dropped. So this demo meant make or break, as to whether or not I'll be buying this game later this month.

The verdict? This game will not pass go and it will not be collecting my $70 come October 26th.

Despite what the developers have said, the game play just felt too similar to the original. Hell I almost thought I was playing the original again. So much so that I ended up downloading it on both my PS3 and Xbox 360, to be sure that I was, in fact, getting the right demo.

Granted, some of the Force powers were amped up and there were a couple of new tricks there. But at the end of the day, it just felt like it hadn't changed all that much since 2008. And with all of these other games coming out right now, being just another game in the crowd ain't going to cut it with me, not with money being as tight as it is.

So as it goes, I have to bid adieu to this game... see you when you hit the discount bin.

Disgaea 4

 

I've just read a few days ago that there is a fourth entry in the Disgaea series in the works (or is it nearing release in Japan?) and I am a little unsure of it. Granted I don't know anything about the story behind this game or anything else about it for that matter, I do have a little bit of hope that it will restore my missing enjoyment of the series.

Or maybe I am just burnt the hell out on games that require massive level grinding...? I did finish the original Disgaea and I played through most of the second, but I lost my taste for this type of game thereafter. And what is sad about that is I actually was enjoying what I played through in Disgaea 2. But as I said, I lost my interest in this game in much of the same way I did so for the Katamari series. Sure it is wacky and crazy and unique. But after playing through the same formula, it just loses its charm.

Either way, I think I will keep any eye out for this one in the future. 

Slump

I don't know why I noticed this this morning, but I've noticed that the total amount of blog entries I've written this year might not exceed my previous year's count. I suppose that isn't (and shouldn't) be a big deal, but my little goal I've had was to exceed the number every year.

As the title states, I guess I've been in a bit of a writing slump over the course of 2010 and it doesn't look or feel like I'll be getting out of it anytime soon.

Or maybe it isn't a slump? I think like a lot of things, I've gotten considerably lazier then before and I feel like I'm giving into age. I don't really want to do that, but I seem to be giving into trying to do less and I'm feeling the effects in more ways then one. I mean I am coming home from work and just plain hurting, which I do not like one bit!

What I know isn't helping is my recently picked up addiction to NetFlix, which we've been making damn good use of since we've signed up for it. I've been watching movies I haven't seen in years and we've even began to catch up on TV shows we've missed in the years (Dollhouse, Dexter, Eureka, Bizarre Food, Man v. Food) since we've given up cable.

Our first major hook was Dog The Bounty Hunter, which we watched everything NetFlix had (seasons 1-6) and that's over 100 episodes! What's worse is now that we've watched it all, there is a feeling of restlessness and there just wasn't anything to fill the void with.

Then my girlfriend started to watch a anime series called Ouran High Host Club, which is outright weird and crazy all in one. But that is just my opinion on that matter....

Also on the list of anime, I've thrown on Witchblade, Soul Eater, Devil May Cry, Desert Punk, Gunslinger Girl, Speed Grapher, and 2-3 Ghost in the Shell movies for good measure.

So maybe my conclusion of being lazy isn't entirely accurate, as it could be that I've gone off the deep end just a little bit over this NetFlix deal. But what can I say? We have not had the benefit of cable television since 2006, so the amount of shows and the like that we've missed is ginormous (always wanted to use that word) to say the least.

And with this service, we can watch as much as we want, whenever we want. So we don't have to deal with snoody rental places (I want to rant about those folks, but maybe I'll save that for another day) and we don't need to make long side trips on the bus to return DVDs or anything.

So now with Netflix and GameFly, I almost don't have to leave the house anymore!

Wait, is that bad?

Cussing & Venting

I hate this trend where things in life seem as though it had turned around and was starting to head in the right direction. Then you kind of settle into this new trend and BLAM! That shit blows up in your face and surprise asshole! Back down the shit hole you go all over again.

Just got hit with a bomb shell as it appears as though as our rent for our apartment is likely to go up next year. Not down, as it was apparently happening in places in Hawaii other then where we live. No, we may very well down the very opposite of down.

UP.

I'm hating that word more and more...

We've been scraping by all this year and we've been doing what we could to trim down our spending, but goddamn it just isn't enough. I guess at this rate, we may very well have to give up eating and electricity to make ends meet.

I've feel extremely frustrated right now and I just want to blow up and yell and scream and everything. But I know that will not change what the inevitable. The last time we heard maybes from a realty company, we ended up getting a eviction notice. So having any faith in this increase not happening is next to nil at this point. Thankfully we just signed a brand new lease, so we're at least protected for another year right now.

At this point, I don't know what to think or do or anything. I just don't know where we can or will be going from here. I generally do not like to think too far ahead into the future, but for once I wish I could know where this road lead because I'm starting to believe that we're fucked.

F.M.L.