Friday, October 30, 2009

Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion Review (PS3)

So the king of Iron Fist Tournament has "officially" arrived for this generation of gaming consoles, and it's arrived in a big way!

The reason that I write "offically" with quotations, is because there has already been a Tekken released on PS3: Tekken 5: Dark Ressurection. This game was actually released for the console as Tekken 6's original incarnation was being released in Arcades. While Tekken 5: Dark Ressurection does boast impressive 1080p natively rendered graphics, and, arguably one of the most technically solid and competitive engines in a fighting game to date, it's not reverred in the same sense as Tekken 6 because of the fact that it's a revision to Tekken 5, which was released during the Playstation 2 era. In fact, the revision was released in arcades during the PS2 era as well... they just held off on a console port until the Playstation 3, which was, in a sense, nice for fans of the series, as the wait for Tekken 6 would prove to be a long one.

Tekken 6 was original anounced as a launch title for the Playstation 3 (No arcade release: straight to console). However, after the PS3 debuted, there was no Tekken 6, or even mention of it in sight. With Tekken always having been an exclusively playstation ported series, fans, including myself, bought PS3s eagerly awaiting.

Long story short, Tekken 6 was released in the arcades in fall of 2007, with a console release being slated for fall of 2008. However, Namco decided to push back the release on console, and release an update to the arcade version named "Blood Rebellion" which introduced new characters as well as tweaks to the gameplay in the original Tekken 6 release (as Dark Ressurrection did with Tekken 5).

So here we are... October of 2009... nearly 3 years after it was originally anounced to be released... was the wait worth it? Read on to find out:

Tekken 6: BLOODLINE REBELLION REVIEW


This game has story going 6 games in gamespan and over 40 years in length, so, it'd be way to much for me to try to encompass in this review. However, the long story short of it is as follows:

The story revolves around 4 generations of the Mishima bloodline (Oldest first: Jinpachi, Heihachi, Kazuya, Jin). The Mishima's are a family reverred for their power, whether it be physical or monetary, and have had a corporation (Mishima corporation) that they've all fought to gain control of with Jin finally coming out victorious. However, Jin uses the new power welded to declare a war between Mishima corporation and the rest of the world in the hopes that the evil intent of it all would unlock and unleash a monster thousands of years old. This ltest installment to the series represents the climax of a family feud spanning 4 generations, and even bringing a new member of the family into the mix (Daytime soaps couldn't handle this!).

I understand that this can be "confusing" to someone new to the series, so for a detailed account of the plot as well as the stories for non-main characters click Here

Tekken 6: Blood Ressurrection brings arguably the most gorgeous character textures and lighting effects to a fighter to date (Including Virtua Fighter 5). Watching these characters in motion is truly astounding, and Namco spared nothing in the character animation department. The backgrounds, however, while vast and deep, don't feature quite the same level of graphical detail as the characters themselves, but still hold up enough to make the game look all around astounding.

The gameplay, as a standard for the series, is solid. It brings the technical aspects that the series is known for while bringing a few new ones that add a bit of "flavor" to it. It's a great thing, because, if you're a seasoned player, you can pick up your favorite character and get to work while not feeling like you're playing the same game that you played in the last installment.

The two new aspects that it most notably brings are destructible environments and the "bound" system. As said, the game now features destrucible environments... it's not a standard for all stages (icons indicate if levels have destuctible elements when selecting as well as wwhether or not walls are present), however, it does add excitement whe being in the midst of play, and a hard hit sends both characters falling through the ground onto another level of play.

The "bound" system is an element that Namco added to the combo system. Now, each character has certain hits that will make the character fall to the ground in a "neck first, feet up" position, that let players continue their combos. To balance this, combo damange has been drastically reduced to allow for competitive matches while skilled players are still able to show off even longer and more impressive strings of combos than ever before.

Tekken 6: BR has most features standard in fighting games: Arcade, survival, practice, vs., online, etc... however, the biggest feature that comes with this game is the revival of "Tekken Force" from Tekken 4... which pits the characters from the fighter in a 3-D beatemup adventure game! It's called the scenario campaign, and it's the method that player will use to see the main story of the game (while still being to play an arcade-styled playthrough and unlock CG endings in the "arena" mode). It's a deifinite plus for the person who buys this and isn't strictly a fighting gamer.

However, there's a catch to this. Up until the release of this game, Namco touted that the scenario campaign mode would have an online co op, and made it a major selling point for the game. I, as well as other fighting gamers told friends who weren't really into the genre to buy the game, under the assumption and expectation that we would be able to play the adventure mode online together. However, Namco, since the release, has revealed that they will patch the online co op into the game at a later date (tentatively december). False advertising at it's finest, and a shame on Namco for taking away something that could add infinite replay value to the game.

Since we're on the subject of things wrong with this installment to the series, I need to bring up what is arguably the biggest letdown for people who bought this game:

As of today, October 30th 2009, Tekken 6L Blood Rebellion on PS3 has to have the most inadequate and lag-ridden servers that I, as well as the vast majority of purchasers for this game have EVER seen on a fighting game.


This is a killer, because, a big reason people by fighting games in today's gaming is to be able to play competitors online, and, are held back from it on a game that we've waited YEARS for, because the online is literally unbearable to play. Theinput lag for me personally has been as bad as 3 seconds in between pressing and character movement, with many people online giving similar accounts. This is bad, and, it's a shame that Namco has not released so much as a peep about a patch to this thus far.

With that, here's the overall review (Scale of 1-10)

Graphics - Although not "flawless", Namco did a damned impressive job with creating a fighter wiith graphics that are not only pleasing to the eye but scenarios that are easy to become "engulfed" into while playing.

Sound - Namco brings an impressive soundtrack that perfectly fits the wide variety of stages. Although the Tekken series doesn't have that memorability factor in the music that the Street Fighter series does (Which is because, unlike Street Fighter series, Tekken changes the soundtrack with every game), it still manages to deliver with an impressive soundtrack and sound effects that definitely shake the room with impacts, and have a great sense of being "in" the game with it's surround capabilities.

Playability - From casuals, to the hardcores that have been playing Tekken since day one of the first game's release, it has a very fluid, and consistant control system that's definitely easy to pick up and play but extremely hard to master and get to a truly competitive level.

Entertainment - This game brings a variety of modes, that provides hours of play each. The Scenario Campaign mode is definitely something that makes it stand out from other games inthe genre, and Namco did the right thing to allot a good amount of trophies to that mode to make sure people check it out.


Replay Value - As said, this game brings hours of gameplay in a mulititude of modes, but, without a solid online and the co op mode promised, it laves little to nothing besides mulling through the computer A.I. and replaying scenario mode to do upon completing it all.

Overall - 8/10: A very good outing from Namco, with a flawed online and a lack of a key selling feature that keep it from being the "it" fighter for this generation of consoles... however, once these things are fixed, it could easily move into the 9 to 9.5 area and be the one to beat!

screenshot Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us



Just showing some combos implementing the new "Bound" System.



Tekken 6's Scenario Campaign Mode

Tekken 6 tutorial #2: Scenario Campaign

Ok, so, here's another area that people have come to me struggling with... the scenario mode. Honestly, it's not too difficult until you get to the three hidden stages... for me personally, this mode has become just as fun as the fighter itself, and definitely a "stress reliever" in the sense of getting on there just to literally beat the hell out of people. Anyways, here goes the tutorial:

In advance, if you have any questions, feel free to catch me on PXN, or XBL, or email me at tjduckett@hotmail.com.

The biggest thing, is making sure that your first run through is someone that you're comfortable with... because you're going to want to play the entire first run with that person... reason being is that a big part of the game is collecting powerups for that person... and, the more items you get earlier, the sooner you're going to start collecting the more powerful items for the latter areas and hidden ones.

To make things not a COMPLETE novel, I'm not even going to go over the controls... go to practice mode, and dick around... period. You can literally play with everyone in this mode, so there's no real deifnitive explanaition on what moves to use... but, I can say that characters with quick and powerful strikes bowl through this like the game's set to very easy. My personal tactic was using Armor King, and, waiting for openings (whether it be while standing)and doing F+1,2 (1=square,x 2=Triangle,y). It's a quick two punches that are strong as hell, and then I run in while they're down and follow up with sweeps and whatnot. I have a video uploaded, which I'll post below so that you can see the strategy in action.

I can't stress enough, though, having a quick strong rush attack... because as you build up your character with powerup items, you'll start being able to kill these enemies with one attack.

For the most part, the stages will unlock as you beat them, however there are a few "hidden stages".

Ok, here’s what you have to do to unlock the hidden stages:

Kigan Island – Do the Abyss gat stage on hard… right away, there’s a dude with a straw hat… beat him, and take the map or scroll looking thing he drops. After you pick that up, you can just go back to the map, and the island will unlock. You unlock Yoshimitsu at this stage.

Nightmare Train – This is sut for beating the campaign mode… or at least the last stage (Azazel’s temple)…. You don’t have to beat every stage to get to through the campaign. You unlock Devil Jin here.

Warning: Nightmare train was a BITCH, but, I’ll try to add pointers below.

Mishima industries. Biotech ruins – At the Seahorse Hotel.. there’s a fork in the road at the beginning… go right… you’ll know you did it right because a random Kangaroo will fight you before Christie. It doesn’t matter the difficulty. This stage is where you’ll unlock Roger Jr (the kangaroo).

Subterranean Pavillion – beat 16th Archaeological Expedition on Hard. This is where you unlock Yoshimitsu.

Ok… those are how to unlock the characters… however, when I say unlock, it’s to unlock them for arena mode… they’re already available from the beginning in the rest of the offline modes.

Even though it’s a hassle, you have to unlock them to platinum the game”

… one of the trophies is for clearing all the stages in campaign

… one of the trophies is for increasing Alisa (the robot)’s level all the way.. which is done by completing all the stages

… one os the trophies is for obtaining all of the prologues and ending movies which you’ll have to have all of the characters in arena to do.

You’re going to need the S class items no matter what when you get to the hidden stages (minus the roger Jr one… that’s just considered a regular stage)… they are something ELSE. The biggest key, is keeping alias alive as long as possible, which means equipping her with things that up her health and defense, as well as “watching her back.” During stages, because you only get to revive her once, and, it doesn’t revive much life at all. She’s a big part of surviving later bosses, because she’s good for holding off enemies while you concentrate on the stage boss.

Another tip to know is that, no matter how far up Alisa's A.I. is, she'll never purposely go for healing items (or any items for that matter)... so, you have to lead her to them... my best strategy for it was running ehind the items so that she would follow me and run through them. You'll see this strategy, along with the Armor King one I discussed above in this video:

This is The Hidden Stage "Nightmare Train" on Hard difficulty:



Hope this helps any and everyone who needs it... once again, if you need further assistance with this, or any other trophies for Tekken 6, contact me.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Tekken 6 Tutorial: The Nancy Trophy

Ok, so here we go with my first set of Tekken 6 trophy tutorials. It took me about 5.5 hours to platinum this game (Bought it tuesday evening, and played before going to bed, then finished after work WEdnesday afternoon... not even a day in timespan or 6 hours of play).

I'll admit, that I am someone who's played a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT of Tekken, whether it be online on PSN or tournament play... however, I think with the right strategies, anyone could get the trophies jsut as quickly as me.

I've written up this trophy tutorial, and will do more as I get asked about particular ones in bulk.... so, if you're having a problem with one, email me at tjduckett@hotmail.com

Anyways, onto the guide:

First you're going to need to use Devil Jin, and, know 3 main attacks.

Laserbeam - 1+2
Flying laswerbeam, 3+4, 1+2
Corpse thrust - D+1

Here are the buttons (PS3, 360):

1 - Square, x
2 - Triangle, y
3 - x, a
4 - circle, b

d - down
u - up
f - forward
b - b

Anyways, the first part is getting to Nancy... there are certain malfunctions that the computer has had with certain moves thorughout the series... one of them is the corpse grinder into Flying laserbeam. If you do this repeatedly, the rounds will take you between 10 and 20 seconds, making getting the 6 matches before Nancy pretty time efficient. Here's a video of the strategy... once again it doesn't matter the computer's difficulty or what ghost you face... it always works (thus the term 'malfunction'):




Ok, now we're at Nancy... your basic strategy is going to be doing certain moves to counteract her actions. Here's what you'll do, as follows:

*Low rocket arm
- flying laserbeam
*rushing punches - Block then standing laserbeam
*downward rocket - sidestep then laserbeam
*Floor cutting - Wait until cut is started... 2 sidesteps, laserbeam
*Gattling punches - Block, laserbeam
*Rocket launching - laserbeam ince she positions herself (do NOT laserbeam after the rockets launch... you WILL be hit repeatedly)
Stomp - Block, laserbeam
Big Jump - 3 sidesteps, laserbeam when he lands

Here it all is in motion:



Remember... a big key to this working is keeping distance and continuously sidestepping... if you're in too deep, his recovery time from the laser shot sets you up for getting hit.

Anyways, I hope this helps... and if anyone needs any help with anything else, feel free to leave a comment or email me.

**EDIT**: A user Biology_Dude from the Gamefaqs message board gave me the following tip as well:

Another trick that I haven't seen posted anywhere yet and will help you people: If you have a 2nd controller, press start on it before she kills you. Beat the 2nd player then attempt to fight her again. Its easier than restarting and beating 6 matches to get back to her.

You must press start before she kills you. If you press start after all your health is gone then you'll start at Jin.


A good tip, because that cuts the amount of playtime way down if, for some reason, you lose.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast... so much excitement with so little time left!

If there's one game outside of Tekken 6 that I'm downright excited for this winter, it has to be Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast. After being dissapointed (Along with jsut about everyone else who purchased it) with Dragon Ball Z: Brust Limit, it's good to see that Namco/bandai is kicking the franchise back into gear with a successor to the Tenkaichi gameplay system.

For those of you who don't know, the Dragon Ball Z fighting games, as of the last few generations, have had two play styles: Budokai and Tenkaichi. Budokai is a traditional, 2-D sideview perspective, while, Tenkaichi is a 3rd-person, behind the character view with an open world environment to fight in.

For me personally, I prefer the Tenkaichi style because of the fact that it feels more "meant" for the cartoon series. With so much focus in the show's combat revolving around flying, and environment, the third person, and open-world perspective feels like much more of a fit, than being relegated to a 2-D perspective.

Besides bringing back a favorite gameplay style, this one also follows suit with the Tenkaichi predecessors in terms of having a great wealth of chracter from the cartoon, as well as "What if" characters (characters not in the actual cartoon, but brought into the games through alternate scenarios).

Here is a video trailer... the graphics look spectacular, as, the textures are baby-smooth and I can't notice a jagged line within it's cel-shaded outines... it's like watching a cartoon, which is perfection for this style of graphic art:



Feel free to comment, and let me know what you, the readers, think!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Time for Mickey Mouse to get EPIC!

I never would've though that, being older than 10 years old, I'd be excited for a game centering around Mickey Mouse. However, Warren Spector (Most noted for his work on the game Deuce Ex.), has done the job. Due out for fall of 2010, this game looks like it's going to take Mickey on an adventure that really breaks from the traditional "Mascot hero saves the cutesy land" adventure, and takes him into a world that seems a lot more "dark" than you would expect. I also like that he's given a look that's "updated retro" to boot.

Here are a couple of Magazine scans showcasing some of the characters and screenshots of the game (Credit: Gameinformer Magazine for these).



Another thing of note is that it looks like it's going to be a Wii exclusive (Sorry "hardcore High horsers"... looks like Nintendo's third party is actually shaping up this generation), which is interesting in itself.

From the looks of things, I have a feeling I'll be picking this one up. Even though it's not the typical game I play, I think it's really noteworthy that Disney's looking to resurge the character that hasn't starred in anything of note in a decade through a videogame, rather than a movie. I'd love to hear what anyone reading thinks of it all, and, you should all feel free to comment and share opinions.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Blazblue... So much awesomeness with sooo much broken shit!

Blazblue... what can I say? It is THE suprise hit of this gen. of gaming so far. As someone who wasn't the biggest fan of the Guilty Gear series in terms of gameplay, this was a suprisingly deep fighter, that plays like a hybrid of Guilty Gear and Battle Fantasia (For some reason, Battle Fantasia never got a U.S. release on PSN, but, I've read rumors that it's coming as a download title to the Playstation Network worldwide, so, here's hoping).

Anyways, between the awesome gameplay, steep learning curve, and, simply beautiful graphics, this game not only became a favorite, but, an addiction. I took a break after ranking up to level 50, however, by that time, I'd played so much, that I started to naturally notice little things about the game that are just plain broken.

"Broken" is a term that fighting gamers use for aspects that are unbalanced to the point of not even being worth playing against. One of the most standout examples, is a character Carl. Although "mid tier" (average in terms of playability, moves, and strength), he has the ability to do infinite combos, which, take an opponent's health completely with little effort at all from someone who's practiced with him. Here's an example.

The following match was a ranked match between myself, and a player who's PSN is ZONG_one. I'm the character Arakune, and he's Carl... notice him repeatedly trying to trap me in Carl's infinite:



If you weren't able to notice the inifinite that he was trying to catch me in, here is a video I recorded of myself doing it (note: I do NOT do this or even PLAY AS CARL online, so, take this for what it's worth):



See this? On top of that, there is NO WAY for the majority of the characters to escape it once trapped, and, even those who can have a very hard time of doing so.

At some point, I'll blog with more of the glitches and "broken aspects" of this game, but, for now, I just wanted to vent a little bit, because, as much as I absolutely LOVE this game, there are things that make me wonder if anyone even TESTED the shit before it was released.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Uncharted 2 = Best game EVER

God Honestly, this is probably the best put together game I've ever played. From the characters to the backgrounds, to every single inatimate object in the game, the textures are simply the best thing I've ever seen on a console. I haven't experienced screen tearing, frame drops, or anything, and, it's quite frankly one of the most jag-free games my Pioneer Elite has had the pleasure of displaying.. and it's not even 1080p!

As for the gameplay... I'm so glad they tweaked the **** that pissed me off about the first game. Backing out of cover no longer makes your character randomly go around the corner or behind the camera. Jumping onto objects has been buffered, so having your joystick off a milimiter won't send you flying to your death... it's just plain crisp to play.

And the storyline... without spoilers... is definitely the most fun and intriguing I've played in a videogame so far. I had absolutely NO want to skip through a cut scene at all, and am kinda said that I beat it, because part of me didn't want it to be over so soon.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Super Street Fighter IV

Can't lie... not the biggest fan of SFIV... however, the new characters and potential tweaks are exciting... hell, Dee Jay alone makes it an instant buy for me. Dudley too?

"Win" is an understatement, however, it makes you wonder why Capcom didn't just have all of this shit in the first place... sometimes, their tactics just come off shady and money hungry... and, it's not liek you can fault a company for wanting to profit, but, they release redos that make the original look like an incomplete game.

Also, I just got a new PS3, because my last one had a myriad of problems (YLOD, Power Source, Blur Ray drive, etc.... seemed ike sometihng new was going out every month)... brand new 60GB... superior model... ANYWAYS.... backed up my system to transfer everything, and guess what didn't transfer... Street Fighter IV and RE5 saves!

Why in the HELL would Capcom make saves system specific... I can understand tying them to a singular PSN, but, one console... that's jsut plain stupid to be stupid.

Blazblue

After level 50... I'm gonna stop playing for a while... the backlog's adding up, and, Tekken 6 is coming soon... lots to finish beforethat.