Journey Review

by Stefano Terry

Genre: Um…interactive…art?

Platforms: PlayStation 3/PSN

Developer: thatgamecompany

Price: $14.99 (USD)

Warning: Possible incoming hyperbole and gushing.

Now that that’s out of the way, we can move on. When I purchased my PlayStation 3 sometime in early 2007, I only owned one game: Resistance: Fall of Man. I soon added another title to that list; a serene, simple little game called flOw, from thatgamecompany.

FlOw originally started as a flash game playable on the computer, and was brought to the PlayStation 3 as one of the first downloadable titles on it’s fledgling PSN service.

I found flOw very compelling. It was simple, easy to control (and doing a good job of utilizing the PS3’s Sixaxis motion controller), and it was enjoyable guiding your little aquatic creature thing through various levels of oceanic depth. While I may not have been blown away or mesmerized, flOw, at the least, put thatgamecompany on my list of “Developers to keep an eye on.”

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review

by Stefano Terry

Genre: FPS/Action/RPG

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Developer: Eidos Montreal/Nixxes Software

Price: $29.99

I remember the first time I played Deus Ex back in 2000 on my best friend’s PC. At the time, the graphics were amazing, and the combination of first person shooter and RPG was addicting, and pretty new to me. The futuristic, cyberpunk setting and complex, conspiracy laden story had me hooked from beginning to multiple endings.

I passed up on the sequel: Deus Ex: Invisible War, mostly because I heard it just wasn’t that good, and failed to live up to the expectations set by the groundbreaking original.

When I heard that a new Deus Ex was releasing, 8 years after the sequel, and a whopping 11 years after the original, I was skeptical. When I heard that it was a prequel, set before the events of the first game, I was downright convinced that Deus Ex: Human Revolution, would be nothing more than a mediocre cash in on a series that could have been so much more. I was so, so wrong.

Alice: Madness Returns Review

by Stefano Terry

Genre: Action/Adventure

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Developer: Spicy Horse

Price: $29.99 (USD)

I never played American McGee’s original Alice, but I found myself drawn to the sequel due to it’s intriguing concept and atmospheric art design. I didn’t know much about the title beyond it being a dark tale inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Ironically, Alice in Wonderland isn’t exactly one of my favorite stories to begin with. It never quite grabbed me like other fairy tales.

With that said, I dove into Alice: Madness Returns with pretty moderate expectations. I often find that going into new things with moderate expectations helps to avoid the disappointment that often comes with hype. Although, by the time I had got my hands on Returns, I had heard many negative things about the game. I shrugged them off, preferring to make up my own mind when it comes to what I should and shouldn’t enjoy (and then write a review for others to read, of course!)

inFAMOUS 2 Review

By Stefano Terry

Genre: Superhero/Sandbox

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Sucker Punch Productions

Price: $59.99 (USD)

inFAMOUS is one of my two favorite new IP’s of the generation (the other is Uncharted), so when I got my first look at the sequel, inFAMOUS 2, I can’t tell you how stoked I was to be once again filling the electric shoes of Cole MacGrath.

I was fortunate to land access to the inFAMOUS 2 User Generated Content (UGC) beta back in April, and you can find my impressions of that here: https://selectstartgames.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/infamous-2-beta-impressions/ (so I won’t be going into too much detail about the UGC in this review, as it’s mostly unchanged from the beta, with a few tweaks and userface improvements), and I was blown away by the improvements Sucker Punch Productions have implemented in the two years between inFAMOUS 1 and 2.

inFAMOUS 2 UGC: “The New Marais Ripper” Parts 1-3

Hey folks! It’s been pretty busy for me lately, so I haven’t been able to update as often as I’d like, but today is rather special for me!

As some of you are aware, I was in the inFAMOUS 2 User Generated Content (UGC) Beta back in April (I wrote some nifty impressions on the beta here:

https://selectstartgames.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/infamous-2-beta-impressions/).

Konami Announces HD Collections of Zone of the Enders, Silent Hill, and Metal Gear Solid; Commence with the celebrating.

At their pre-E3 press conference, Konami Digital Entertainment has announced HD Collections for fan favorites Zone of the Enders and Metal Gear Solid.

The Zone of the Ender’s HD Collection will be available on the PS3 and Xbox 360, and include ZoE 1 and 2. The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection will be available on the PS3 and Xbox 360, and will include Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker.

David O’Russell Leaves “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” Film

by Stefano Terry

Variety reports that Oscar nominated director David O’Russell has left helming the “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” film due to “creative differences.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m fricking ecstatic about this news. I’ve never seen “The Fighter,” and I have no doubts that it was a good film. I also really loved “Three Kings,” but I personally don’t think O’Russell was going down the proper path for an Uncharted film.

Terraria Review

by Stefano Terry

Genre: Sandbox Building RPG
Platform: Windows
Developer: Andrew “Redigit” Spinks
Price: $9.99 (USD) Available through Steam

I’m sure many of you have heard of a little game called Minecraft, developed by indie developer Markus Notch. For those that have not, I’ll describe it’s basic gameplay briefly, as Terraria shares similar game play elements. Minecraft is a 3D “sandbox building game,” which is emerging as a new genre in the industry.

The core mechanics are simple: you are presented with a randomly generated world, and are free to explore it to your hearts content, mining for resources such as wood, iron, dirt, and more, and then using those resources to, well, “craft” things.

Hence, “Minecraft.” You mine and craft. Simple enough, and yet it doesn’t seem terribly compelling as a game play mechanic. Needless to say, Minecraft has proven to be addicting to thousands of gamers, and has made Markus Notch a lot of money.

Hackers and the PSN

An Editorial By Stefano Terry

I tend to try and keep a cool head about most things, observing and evaluating before making any final judgments. The same applies to the PlayStation Network outage that occured on April 20th, 2011, and continued until May 14th, 2011. My thoughts on the matter were kept fairly low key, as I like to keep these sorts of dramas off of Select/Start Games. But now that the dust is settling, I can look back on the whole event with a clear head and weigh in.

inFAMOUS 2 Beta Impressions

Hey, folks! I know it’s been awhile, but it’s been a crazy busy few weeks for yours truly! However, I come today with some little, hopefully not bannable tidbits of information from the recently began inFAMOUS 2 Beta from Sucker Punch.

I’m not sure how much is allowed to be discussed concerning the beta, but I’m keeping it general, and hopefully will not get into too much trouble.

I was certainly surprised to find an invite in my mailbox earlier this week, and eagerly downloaded the 1.9gig install. After loading up the game, I was given a brief video tutorial about what to expect from the beta. After the video, I was in the shoes of Cole McGrath; Electric Dude.