Ladies and genitals, our eighth podcast has arrived! This week we talk about RAGE. The cast has retained a shorter length (for now) and is full of intelligent dimwitted conversations about RAGE’s single player, versus, and co-op modes. Join us and learn about id software’s take on a post-apocalyptic future. Spoilers lie ahead, but we give fair warning. Plus, who’s not manly enough for spoilers? Am I right, genitals?! Click “email us” to tell us what you think or just post your annoying opinions in the comments for this episode. Subscribe to us on iTunes here! Tune in next week when we talk about Forza Motorsport 4. Thanks for listening!
Mass Effect Multiplayer Announced
That's right. From the mouth of the man himself, Casey Hudson, a multiplayer experience for all who will play Mass Effect 3! It is a four player co-op experience that if played, will boost the chances of Commander Shepard kicking Reaper butt cheeks! If ignored, and a player opts not to play the multiplayer, it will not negatively affect the single player campaign. So it's a win-win on all fronts!
The co-op missions are mostly about capturing and defending key positions around the galaxy in aid of the galactic war. Players will have the choice of selecting a variety of Alien races, and corresponding classes, and teaming up with buds to kick ass. Characters chosen on the multiplayer will have their own leveling aside from the single player, and moral choices from ME1 and 2 will not impact any element in the Multiplayer. The multiplayer is being handled by Bioware's newer crew in Montreal, and will not take away from the single player.
Along with the news of the multiplayer, Bioware announced that a system which determines battle-readiness for facing the Reapers will be available dubbed Galaxy at War. It is a quirky way of managing player stats that will include multiplayer progression, and hints at other possible Mass Effect apps and games. Meaning the multiplayer will not be the only manner in which to raise the survival rate of the war. Again, using the Galaxy at War system is optional, and will not negatively affect the single player. It really is a WIN-WIN!
All in all, Casey Hudson assured that the best possible outcome can be achieved by just playing the Single Player campaign without further association with the multiplayer or future apps. So for all you worrywarts (DefHalan!), skipping the multiplayer will not take away from the experience.
Keep an eye, ear, sixth sense open for more details as the release date approaches! Visit Bioware.com for more news!
(Great.... Now should I be Turian Infiltrator, or Quarian Engineer? Or maybe Krogan Vangard? Decisions decisions.)
World of Good!
World of Goo starts out simple. You take little black goo balls and bind them together into structures in order to solve the puzzle of the level. This allows you to build bridges, erect towers, and clear paths for other goo balls to follow. Sounds simple enough, but the game doesn’t stop there. Like any quality title, each level is constantly challenging you to apply what you’ve learned in the levels before. As you progress, new types of goo balls are introduced, allowing you to build new weird structures throughout the game. With around 50 puzzles to solve, you’ll get to discover a lot of new gameplay mechanics in this small package.
The story is a feature you wouldn’t expect to be included in a game like this. 2-D puzzle solvers don’t bother with cut scenes or narrative because it often detracts from the gameplay (and is unnecessary). Normally I would completely agree with this sentiment, but World of Goo does story in a way that is so subtle and smart, you’ll be happy it’s there. Behind every new gameplay mechanic is a cleverly executed piece of story that justifies it. The cut scenes are short, creative, and never bothersome. Each one does an amazing job of getting you excited for the next new world or gameplay mechanic you’ll get to play in.
2-D games may have lost the attention of the masses, but this is a game that definitely made me turn my head back to the dimension. It has everything you would expect out of a top notch 3-D game: fantastic gameplay, unique art style, varied levels, and a beautiful soundtrack (available for FREE on their website). World of Goo emanates a level of quality you would think impossible coming from a few guys maxing out their credit cards. You won’t get a better game for ten bucks on Steam. It is available on WiiWare as well with a co-op mode, but it’s essentially the same game with two cursors. Despite all the 3-D games you play this year, it will be a strong competitor for your Game of the Year, any year you play it.
Casty Number Slevin
This week, Dante reviews Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. We even save a little time to talk about the new Battlefield 3 open beta that just released for the PS3, 360, and PC. Finally, the G-Cast is shorter! Now, we know there are many people out there that wish the G-Cast was 14 hours long every episode. These people have what we at DR. G-Man refer to as “sexy voice addiction.” To reduce the number of cases, we have decided shorten the length of G-Cast and make sure everyone gets smaller doses of our sensual sounding utterances. Subscribe to us on iTunes here! Email us and tell us what you think! Enjoy!
SWTOR release date announced
So after my initial outburst of geeky excitement (roughly lasting a full 15 hours), I have great news for anyone intrested in the Old Republic. Bioware has announced SWTOR's release date! North America will see it on December 20, and in Europe on December 22.
Pre-ordered copies will have early access to the game, and a color stone for a weapon. Three choices are available for pre-order: the standard game, a digital deluxe edition, and a collector's edition, priced at $59.99, $79.99, and $149.99 respectively.
The standard game will not have any extra features but is the cheapest route. The digital deluxe edition will be pre-orderable through Origin, and will include five additional items: Flare gun, holo dancer, holo cam, STAP, and training droid. The collector's edition will include: a Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue, collectible metal case, Journal of Master Gnost-Dural, Old Republic galaxy map, Custom Security Authentication Key, The Old Republic music CD, High-quality Collector's Edition box. It will also include the five items as well as an exclusive mouse droid, and collector's edition in-game store.
All packages will include 30 day free play! Huzzah!
Visit the official SWTOR site for more details, and make sure to reserve me a copy. You heard me.
Knights of the Trine
Trine is the story of an empire in disarray after the death of a king and an undead army taking advantage of the chaos. Our heroes (a wizard, a thief, and a knight) accidentally stumble upon an artifact called a Trine, which binds the souls of the people around it. From this point on, each hero can only exist physically one at a time. Most games would allow you to switch between characters without a thought, but Trine cleverly makes this quirk a part of the story. After the incident, our heroes press on to save the kingdom and separate their souls.
The game allows you to upgrade your abilities as well. Each character has a short list of skills that help you get through each level. The wizard can conjure up boxes out of thin air (great for reaching secrets up high), the thief can shoot fire arrows to light up dark levels, and the knight can break through walls. As you kill enemies (or collect experience potions) you gain XP, allowing you to upgrade all these benefits. Being able to create one box at the beginning of the game is helpful, but the ability to create up to 4 boxes and few walkways opens up a whole world of possibilities for exploration.
You can play traditionally with a keyboard and mouse, but the game also gives you the option to plug in a 360 controller if it’s more comfortable for you. I assume most PC gamers would just be comfortable with the old QWERTY, but I found the platforming easier with a controller. You can also plug in multiple keyboards and/or controllers and play with up to three people (each taking the role of one of the characters). Unfortunately, there’s no online play, but having each class on screen at once makes for some pretty clever puzzle solving that isn’t possible in single player.This game was nothing but fun. Yes, the enemies do get a bit redundant, and the narrator doesn’t know when to shut his trap sometimes, but everything else hits its mark. The graphics are gorgeous and wondrous, killing enemies is a blast, and gaining experience is addicting. One play through lasts about 8 hours, but the game screams for a second run with its many secrets and hidden areas. The pricing is a bit steep for a 2D action title (20 bucks on steam), but if you have the dough, Trine is an adventure no PC gamer should miss.
G-Cast!! Episode Foooooore!!!
The first four G-Cast episodes have been removed from our rss feed because we feel they don’t represent the quality we want for our show. They were meant to be test episodes from the beginning and will still be available to listen to or download on the site. So, if you’re really curious about how the G-Cast all started, click the link below… I warned you though.
Listen to Episode 4 here (right click to download).
Original Description:
It is here! The fourth and final test episode of G-Cast. In this bundle of ridiculously sexy sounds, we talk about the third party’s press conferences (Ubisoft and EA) and touch a little bit on Germany’s Gamescom. We’ll be discussing Battlefield 3, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Mass Effect 3, and more. Next Friday will be the first episode of what G-Cast will probably sound like from here on out. The events will be recent and the episodes will be shorter. What’s that you say? Every moment you get to hear our voices is a gift from god? What you say may be is definitely true, but we think some people might find a 30-40 minute podcast ideal (unless we get a ridiculous amount of emails/comments opposing this). Next week, we will be covering TGS and talking about what pieces of news caught our eye. Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here!
Civ 5 DLC Lets You Rule as the Koreans
The new Korean Civilization allows you to hunker down and excel in research. Their main bonus, Scholars of the Jade Hall, grants them the ability to gain +2 science for all specialists and great person tiles. They also receive tech bonuses for building science structures or wonders in their capital. Two new units also join the Korean arsenal. The Turtle Ship replaces the standard Caravel. This naval unit is more powerful than the caravel, but cannot go into deep water. Bad for exploration, but if you spawn on an island, this unit makes it very easy to defend your cities while you go for a non-violent victory. They also have the Hwach’a. This is a powerful ranged unit that replaces the Trebuchet, although, the Hwach’a does not require any iron to build.
The three new wonders are The Temple of Artemis, The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, and the Statue of Zeus. Artemis can be built after researching Archery (the earliest you’ve ever been able to build a wonder). It gives you +10% growth in all cities and +15% production towards ranged units. Halicarnassus is available when Masonry is researched and grants you +2 gold for marble & stone tiles, plus 100 gold for every great person you expend. Lastly, Zeus can be built when Bronze Working is researched and provides +15% combat strength when attacking cities. Each new wonder is a brand new bonus towards gold, growth, or combat very early in the game, if you can beat the other civs to them.
Each DLC pack is absolutely worth the buy. Korea is a very worthy addition to other science heavy civs and provides a unique defensive strategy. If you spawn on an island, you are golden. Something else unique about Korea: you do not need a massive empire to bank on a large amount of science. The Koreans extract a lot of extra science from buildings you place in the capital. Because of this, you can keep a relatively low amount of cities (hopefully on an island) and rival the behemoth empires in science. I only had three cities during one of my games and I was pushing 1000 science towards the end.
Each DLC pack is $4.99 on steam ($7.50 if you buy them both). They are both playable with your friends online and they will provide you with hours more of gameplay for a game that never gets tiring. After 426 hours, I am still hooked. (Yes ladies, I’m single).
Roblox, Mega Blocks at it's finest.
Roblox is known for being a fundraising extravaganza, helping raise dough for Haiti, and more recently Japan. Is has been well received by parents and kids alike, and even TRUSTe backed. Hell, it has an I-touch App to boot. Yes this game is just swell, it couldn't possibly be bad? Could it?
I feel like the point of this FREE MMO is to lure kids into a false sense of security as it regularly impregnates viruses into very expensive computers. Well, that and to raise money. It should have occurred to me that maybe a free online game could possibly have been whoring around, but I’m optimistic and it’s been backed by some good people, so I was giving it the benefit of the doubt. Sadly... my computer will never be rid of the ghonaherpesyphillaids it contracted from that whore....
Aside such minor inconveniences, the game is a multitude of different “game-types” that range from kiddie games- like freeze tag and hide ‘n seek- to more elaborate games for older kids- like gun games and more gun games- made by random Robloxians. Players immerse themselves into the Roblox world by creating their characters using many different interchangeable Lego-like (definitely Mega Blocks) clothes, and even building a home or multitude of homes. Game play is very simple just point and click or use the arrow keys; different “game types” dictate different hot keys- usually using the 1-0 keys. I’ve seen elaborate puzzles, capture the flag, building contests, and even action games where Robloxians attempt to shoot the crap out of each other; the sad part is, although the atmosphere of the games are all cool-looking and elaborate, the truth is, it is only limited to the shitty core game play.
The interface is slow, like a fat kid chasing chocolate cakes- I mean he gets there and he eats the damned things, but jeez- and even when the game responds the lag is horrid. Shoot ‘em up’s quickly become a horrid mess of laggy masses of blocks haggardly blowing up for no apparent reason. And I am running it on an i-7 with 1 gig dedicated damn it! What else could it ask for? A PC that could run Crysis?
All-in-all the game isn’t a steaming pile, but the amount of faults add up to make it a contender. Would I recommend this to anyone? Actually, yes. To my enemies (suck it). Well, if you’d like to take a swing at this mother I’d recommend updating your anti-virus before starting up. It’s not a bad way to keep kids at bay while you pick up Mass Effect and play for hours on end; I find instant noodles keeps them away when they’re hungry. I’d have to give this contender the grade it deserves, a C+, Only because it works toward a good cause. So what do a Trojan, a Worm, and a Blue Screen have in common? They play Roblox.
Osu! The other Ouendan/EBA!
Osu is a freeware spawn of Oudendan (the original) created by some dude who just loves the damn games for the PC, and more recently on the I-touch. When first downloading the game, players will have only the “how-to-play” option, but going onto the official site provides songs which can be downloaded to play for free. Filled with music from head to ass, there are literally endless amounts of songs from which to choose. The best part: songs are created and uploaded by the players, so any creation can be shared with anyone- no matter how shitty the song!
I have really enjoyed this game. I play for hours on end and never tire. I get blisters on my fingers, I sweat from cheek to cheek, I don’t get hungry or thirsty, and I don’t sleep. At first it is awkward playing with the mouse pad, as it is too clunky when quick paced songs appear, but after a few hours of practice, I’m sure you too will be enthusiastic to continue. Some of my favorite hits include Star Maze from the Mario Series, The Pokémon Gym Leader Battle Theme from Colosseum, and Random Katamari songs.
The I-touch version fares better as the touch pad makes for easier play.The only drawback I would say is that when hitting the circles, my fingers block out the entire screen, so a stylus pen would definitely come in handy. Damn my overly obese fingers! Damn them to hell! It seems to me though that the I-touch version is a cash cow because it gives you a tease of only four songs and expects people to fork up some dough for extra songs. I know I would gladly hand over my paycheck and work a few corners for extra songs, but others might not be as willing....
Back to the Future Review
The games start out in 1986, after all the events of the movies. Doc has been missing for a while and the city is going to sell off all of his stuff. Marty (voiced by AJ LoCascio, a creepy good M.J. Fox impersonator) is naturally uneasy with the idea. Before another moment passes, the DeLorean shows up out of nowhere with no driver. That’s when Marty decides that something is wrong and the adventure continues.
The game works like most Telltale titles. The story is spread over 5 3-hour episodes as a pseudo point-and-click adventure (you drag Marty around with the mouse rather than clicking), full of puzzle solving and dialogue trees. Unfortunately, this is where the game falls a little short. Puzzle solving is one of the great joys of an adventure title and Telltale has always provided challenging puzzles that are just the right level of frustrating and satisfying. BttF falls a little far from the tree presenting puzzle after puzzle that isn’t very challenging. Because of this, the gameplay is lacking a very important amount of satisfaction you would usually get with this genre.
Considering just the gameplay, I would give this title a B. Considering just the story, I would give it an A. That is why I decided to split the difference in my final score. Even still, it fell slightly in the B range due to the gameplay. If you don’t like the movies or never really watched them, kill yourself, but after that, you might not want to bother with this game. If you are a super fan like me, Buy it. There is a lot of story and it is all much appreciated in the mind of a wannabe DeLorean time traveler.
Civilization 5 Review
For those who don’t know, Civilization 5 is a turn based strategy game with a classic top down view. Rather than just being strictly military, like the majority of strategy games, this franchise has always had a little bit of a twist.
There are multiple ways to win in Civ 5: Military, Diplomacy, Culture, Science, or Doomsday (players hit the 500 turn max). Each one caters to a unique play style. You can build an army and destroy all of your foes to get the world map to have one satisfying color, or you can just as easily make friends and play defensively while aiming for another victory like science or culture. Each one is perfectly balanced so you can go for whatever victory you want and not be hindered by anything but your skill.
As well as making the right moves for the right victories, it’s almost equally as important to choose the right civilization. There are 18 civilizations to choose from, all with different advantages. Some bonuses include getting culture for every enemy you kill (Aztecs) or faster production towards world wonders (Egypt). Each civilization caters to one or two victories to compliment your style of play. If you’re a try-it-all kind of guy/gal, every civ allows you to experiment with new gameplay and keep the game feeling fresh every time.
