Ye of Little Faith
Blizzard has finally unleashed
the video game announcement of the year. I have to admit that I was stunned when I first saw it; for the first moment, I suspected that it may even have been some kind of cruel joke. But after watching the 20 minute gameplay trailer (easy to find on the site), I'm more than convinced that Diablo III is real.
It's also amusing to reflect upon
Kotaku's reactions to the teaser back when it was still in progress:
When Blizzard started up with the teasing again, plastering the official site with a frosty teaser, Diablo III desperation got the better of a few folks who were interested in having their hopes crushed under the boot of the house that World of Warcraft built.
At the time, these words did sound reasonable to me. Diablo III was hardly the first thing that sprang to my mind when I saw ice breaking away, especially with the Wrath of the Lich King still needing a release date. Looks like the Diablo fan-boys were spot-on, though.
Looking Forward...
Let's explore some miscellaneous news that I have the impulse to post about. MGS4 aside, I've been somewhat in a gaming lull lately, not that I'm unhappy about that. It's given me the chance to dive into some random stuff like Monster Hunter Freedom and Etrian Odyssey. Fun fact: I bought Etrian Odyssey when it was still relatively new and only just started playing it last week--that is, just before the release of the sequel. I probably would have started it a lot earlier if I'd ever gotten around to finishing Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja. At least I made it pretty far with that one.
News item #1: Dunno if I mentioned this earlier, but
Left 4 Dead looks amazing. I love Valve's products, and I tend to love zombie-themed action games (although I haven't played Dead Rising yet... wtf!) so right there I'm already pretty excited. What really drives me over the top here is that Valve sounds serious about trying to be innovative and refine the mechanics of multiplayer gaming with Left for Dead, so instead of getting Half-Life 2 deathmatch with zombies, we may actually see something special here. I'm stoked.
News item #2:
Schizoid. It's a psychological disorder, but also the name of a new Xbox Live Arcade game. Looks like a trippy knock-off of Geometry Wars, but with co-operative gameplay. There's potential there.
News item #3: Not so much a news item here as a question: is Final Fantasy Tactics A-2 worth my time or not? A large part of me thinks, "meh, I'm disenfranchised with new Final Fantasy games, especially this one." A small, but still loud part of me says, "it's FINAL FANTASY." Gabe (from Penny Arcade) seems to really like it. I guess I'd better wait to see what Fritzkrieg says about it.
News item #4:
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD is out as a beta release on XBLA. I'll be trying to grab it soon. I doubt that I'll be able to keep up with the level of competition online, but it sure looks amazing.
News item #5: Blizzard sure is cruel with their latest teaser campaign. Personally, I think they're going to announce the release date for WotLK. I do hope that they're listening to the community, though, and realize just how desperate some people are to hear that the next Diablo is on the way.
News item #6: Tycho (from Penny Arcade) brought up
Instant Action and their browser plug-in based game, Fallen Empire: Legions. If you're into tribes, then this is indeed worth your time as Tycho suggests. I love how simple this game is to start playing, and it really shows the potential that a
web-based Quake could have.
News item #7: Gamasutra reports that Xenogears and Einhander are
coming to PlayStation Network. Of course, this means that there's some real hope of seeing these games become available in North America once more.
I probably missed a few things, but that's enough for now. :)
WotB: Commando 3
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 hasn't fared to well in its
Metacritic score, which currently sits at 65. I haven't played the game extensively yet, but I did pick it up, and 65 is pretty harsh. Triggerheart Exelica managed a
score of 63, and I was much less impressed with that one.
The standard disclaimer applies to both of these games: how much you enjoy them depends heavily on your personal expectations. In my case, WoTB:C3 was pretty much exactly what I figured it would be, and I was even pleasantly surprised by the level of polish that went into it. It doesn't have high production values or particularly fancy online play, but then, it is just a $10 XBLA game. If you're looking for an experience on par with Halo 3, GTA IV, or BioShock, you aren't going to find it here. This is a much lower league of gaming, and whether or not you figure it to be worth your while is partly a matter of taste.
Triggerheart Exelica, on the other hand, left me wanting. I didn't buy the full version, thankfully. Based on what little I've seen, I would have difficulty finding reasons to keep playing it even if it were free (achievement points aside, heh). It's basically a shameless Raiden clone with some smutty anime panty-flashing thrown in as a kicker. Which is to say that it's not all bad (heh), but definitely isn't up to competing for my attention when I already have stuff like Ikaruga or even Commando 3 to play. Triggerheart Exelica doesn't "pop."
Speaking of Raiden,
the fourth installment is on the way, and it's said to be a full release rather than a mere XBLA game. I was pretty happy with Raiden III on the PS2, so I have some hope for this one.
I'm much more excited about
BlazBlue, a new fighting game by the makers of Guilty Gear (and it shows). Combined with the upcoming release of Samurai Shodown Anthology for PS2 and, naturally, Street Fighter IV, I think that the next 6 to 12 months are going to be pretty hot for fighting games. Soul Calibur is coming to XBLA, Tekken 6 is going to hit the PS3 eventually, and King of Fighters XII is in development. Who knows, maybe Soul Cal IV will even manage to not suck.
I guess that while I'm on the topic, I should mention that I've played some Arcana Hearts and found it kinda lacking. It's entertaining for its fringe value, and feels a lot like a good quality doujin game that somehow managed to get published. (Maybe that's what it is?) But I'm not nearly tired enough of my other PS2 fighting game staples (Capcom vs SNK 2, Street Fighter III, Street Fighter Alpha Anthology, King of Fighters XI, Guilty Gear X2, and Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum) to make much room for Arcana Hearts. It is better than Triggerheart Exelica, however. :)
