ABOUT BLUE DRAGON: A NIGHTMARE REALIZED

ABOUT BLUE DRAGON: A NIGHTMARE REALIZED

This, along with Lost Odyssey and Lost Planet, is the reason I bought XBOX 360 and so far it's two shots in the heart. Lost Planet turned out to be a robot ride more than an on-foot shooter. And now with Blue Dragon, it is not the RPG I thought it would be. I know that the final game isn't out yet (to be released on August 28th) but after forcing myself through the demo multiple times, all my worries came true. Besides, it is a complete shame on SDTV (boring, dead colors and text, including battle menu, is not readable - and I thought this would start and end with Dead Rising).

Anyway, here are some pictures (click to see full-size version):


The good guys.


The bad guys.


The battle screen.

The good news is that I am having a great time with my 360 (Gears of War, Call of Duty 2, Tomb Raider Legend...) and that there are some awesome games coming out very soon (BioShock, Halo 3, Mass Effect...). Let's hope that Lost Odyssey turns out great (it was brilliant the first time they showed it last year but then they showed it about a month ago at E3 and it completely looked like a Final Fantasy want-to-be except that it isn't nearly as polished).

BIOSHOCK, THE GENETICALLY ENHANCED SHOOTER

BIOSHOCK, THE GENETICALLY ENHANCED SHOOTER

Freakin' Bioshock demo up on XBOX LIVE? Yup, and if you got an XBOX 360 then there's no reason not downloading this one (unless you don't have an HDD). Anyway, the demo is about 1.35 GB.

Only if the demo had a Big Daddy fight... guess we'll have to wait till the game's release next weak, on August 21st.

What are you waiting for? Go get it!

OVER HYPED, NOT SO MUCH

OVER HYPED, NOT SO MUCH

Slick graphics (1080p HD visuals at 60 frames per second), playing as a deadly Ninja, dual-wielding Katanas (Japanese Samurai swords)... all-in-all yet not enough. How could you go wrong, Tecmo?

This is not the reason I bought a PS3. This game reminds me of Lost Planet: demoed very well but the final product came short of expectations. There are just too many issues and stupid design choices. Just to list, here are some:

• Attack button is also "interact" button, which is square button. Result? Open door accidentally while in combat.


• Lots of loading, even mid-combat and several times in a single room. Result? A complete deal-killer. Seriously, why bother with 60fps if it becomes 0fps (game completely freezes) at crucial combat moments?! Even using the Install option (takes 3 gigs of your HDD) does not solve the problem.


• Camera. The 1st Ratchet & Clank game has a better camera. Even the level design is against it (many closed areas where the camera either loses the player or sticks too close).


• Lost essence (the games equivalent for money). Here's a scenario: you finish a fight, door opens in cut-scene-like shit focused view which takes barely a second or two, then all essence left from the dead enemies is lost.


• OK, this is an action game so puzzles are meant to be simple, right? Wrong. Maybe simple but not completely stupid where the developer is not even trying: pick key, open gate right next to it. Are you kidding?


• Rachel (check image below so I don't need to give any details on this).


• The locations of most save points seem to be thrown here and there randomly: either too close or too far (you sometimes have to fight more than one boss till the next one)


• The Continue option (once your character dies) is nothing more than a Load option.


• Some enemies look like Ryou (the main character) which leads into losing track of your character in mid-fights.


• Screen tearing (so much for the brilliant graphics and killer colors).


• No option to Load mid-game (must die or quit to main menu, leaving you with yet another loading screen).

This simply makes Ninja Gaiden Sigma one hell of a roller coaster ride on PS3 till one of the above happens. And believe me: it happens a lot.