The Horizon

Looking to purchase a game this holiday, and can't decide? I got you covered.

Summer's winding down, football is almost here, and so it my favorite season: fall.

Historically, this also marks the end of the "gaming drought". Where the movie studios make their most cash with blockbuster hits every weekend, gaming kinda dries up as it gets hot. Game companies save their big guns for the holiday season, and the first salvo's are already upon us. Madden dropped this week, which is kinda a biggie.

I like to think of this blog not just as a voice for gamers, but especcially for gamers like me. Guys that have played when there were only two buttons, all the way to no controllers at all. But more specifically, the cats who game when they can, despite all the responsiblities of being an adult and parent.

Listen if you have time to get to 10th prestige in a week, more power to you, I'm not hating. I just gotta keep the lights on and kids fed. And I'll still top your ass on the leaderboard by the way, so you're wasting your time. :)

So this time of year really drives home my "problem" with my favorite hobby: too many games, and not enough time or cash to rock them all! I need to be super frugal and selective with my game purchases. That means classics get traded in, and indy hits rarely get a shot.

It was easier when Blockbuster was around, I could give games a chance I wouldn't normally. There's Redbox, but it's usually just the big blockbusters in there.

 Maybe I'll try this Call of Duty thing
to see what the fuss is about.

There's Gamefly, and I've been thinking about going with them for years. But the monthly plan is still too expensive. But honestly, it's not the money investment, it's the TIME. Only the best and brightest make the cut.


And that's exactly why gamers out there should listen to guys like me when it comes to coppin games.  So here's what I'm currently playing, and what I'm defnitely getting this holiday. Fuck Metacritic, I got your real life reviews right here.


Transformers: Fall of Cybertron:

War of Cybertron was a great game, with underrated multiplayer. Plus SHOCKER it was a game based on a toy that was ACTUALLY GOOD. Let me quickly throw this out there too, there was another Transformers game for PS2 that actually was very good too. It didn't have an online component to speak of, but the single player was sick. Each Transformer had their strengths and weaknessses, plus their own "perks". Its never mentioned anywhere, but I believe High Moon studios cribbed a lot from that game, which was smart on thier part. Anyway, you don't need to have played War to play Fall. You just need to love Transformers and blowing the shit outta them. And that's like what, every person playing games today?? Buy this game now, if only for the multiplayer alone. It has all the standard modes (TDM, Capture the Flag etc.), and you can make your own Transformer. My nine year old prayers have been answered! It isn't Armored Core by any means, but it's fun, and very balanced. You unlock perks and weapons, you can "prestige" (Prime mode), and there's even a "Horde" style mode. The single player is dope too. You pick from real transformers, on both sides of the war, and kick ass. So you have a deep game with tons of replay value, which also happens to be based on my favorite toys of all time. SOLD. Buy it.

Madden '13:

 I know my last post kinda shit all over Madden, but in all honsesty this version looks dope. I personally haven't bought the full version yet, but the demo is sick. I love how the new physics engine, TV presentation and adlib commentary really capture Sunday Football. It's what MLB: The Show has been doing for years and Madden finally caught on. Pro sports is played within a defined set of rules, but it's the little things that make it interesting, and EA is finally starting to realize that.  Connected Careers seems very interesting too. I just need some like minded folks to really enjoy that though. I can't roll with some try hard randoms or something like that. So I'm gonna cop it. Shit, once the season kicks off next week I'll be jonesing bad, so I'll have to figure out a way get that in my rotation. Wait, I can take the JETS to the Super Bowl? And win? I'm in. Oh and, who's the top rated Defensive Player in the whole game? Derrelle Revis. #24  REVIS ISLAND BABY

Tekken Tag Tournament 2:

First of all, I love fighting games. Being that Law is the best Bruce Lee clone out of any of them (sorry Fei Long), Tekken is my favorite, so this is a no brainer for me. The original TTT was my favorite game in the series, and one of the best 4 player games EVER. I personally never thought we would see another, and I'm psyched this is almost out. Plus, they didn't fuck around with the roster. 56 fighters, spanning the entire series! And no bullshit on disc DLC (I'm looking at you SFxTK). This one is gonna be molton lava hot, and I'm going to love to rock 4 players on this again. I bought Tekken Hybrid, which included a small demo of TTT 2. The graphics are just as good as Soul Cali 5, and they added way more tag move options. The Law / Paul Deathsquad is back!

Marvel vs. Capcom Origins:

So yes, I love fighting games, and this little gem is definitly worth $15.00. It's got one of my all time favorites, Marvel Super Hereos, plus Marvel vs. Capcom 1. It sucks it's not an HD remake like SSF2: Turbo HD Remix, but I'll take the online play. I gotta break out the fight stick now and then to keep myself honest. Marvel Super Hereos I felt was underrated at the time of it's release. One of it's big gameplay hooks was inspired by one the biggest events in Marvel history: The Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos wields the Gauntlet, which grants him godlike power. Of course, he's using the guantlet to take over the universe blah blah blah queue awesome battles and general asskicking. Gameplay wise you can earn infinity gems that you can activate to buff your charecter or punish your opponent, such as flipping their controls. The VS. series is mad fun but a little too spazzy for my taste, but MSH allows me to kick ass as my favorite Marvel charecter in a more comfortable enviroment. This will be mine for sure.

HALO 4:

Just like the RB I picked up late in the 6th round of my fantasy draft, Halo 4 is the sleeper pick with big upside with XMAS season. Halo a sleeper pick? In my opinion it is. You gotta a lot of question marks surrounding this game. 343 studios is running the show on this one, as Bungie has moved on to new projects. I know we all heard the right things regarding 343: they are super Halo fans, handpicked to keep the torch glowing for M$. But still, it's a question mark. Call of Duty, and it's other "modern" war clones have replaced Halo as the gold standard in console FPS. Halo: ODST wasn't received well, and Halo: Reach, although fucking SICK in my opinion, catches mad hate from COD fanboys and the FPS elitest. Can 343 bring the series back to the throne? Time well tell, but the changes being made to the formula could be the difference, or it's deathnail. I'm voting for the former. Spartan Ops mode is basically free additional campaign content. Halo 4 will also feature loadouts, new weapons and armor abilities. I can't wait. I believe 343's tweaks will anger only the most stubborn Halo fanboys. Everyone else will welcome the changes as an eveolution the series is in desperate need of. I also think it might pull a few COD die hards away from their favorite series. Oh, and Master Chief is back. With the shottie. It's a wrap.

And that will do it folks. Only 5 games Flow? Yea. But these are safe sure bets that I won't feel I'm wasting $60 bucks on. They are all deep, replayable experiences that I can play forever if I want. Santa is coming afterall, and the kids need their stuff too! My lil man's been fiending for Skylanders: Giants (great game), so I'll be getting that too....and all the toys...and the extra adventure packs... As much fun as it is playing Gears with my boys online, nothing beats rocking out Skylanders co-op with the young prince. So add that to the list too.

And what game didn't make the list?

I love COD games ok? I'm still playing Modern Warfare 3. But I'm TIRED of Activision treating COD like a sports franchise. WE DON'T NEED YEARLY VERSIONS! I HATE COD ELITE! Activision is going to ruin COD with oversaturation just like it did with Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero etc. And this whole "future war" nonsense seems like a reach too. I'm going to be playing a future shooter. It's called Halo 4.

Then I'll play it, and want it of course. God Dam it! But I'm going to resist, just like I did with World At War. I got too many games, and not enough time. Until next time....

*buy Transformers.....

NOW!

Are you ready for some MADDENOPOLY??

Let me preface this rant by saying, I love sports. Honestly, sports is one of the only things worthwhile to watch on tv. I'm a huge Jets fan, and will watch any pro football game (and the occasional college). I bleed orange and blue for my Mets, despite getting shit on year after year. I challenge anyone to match my knowledge of MMA (best sport ever).

I run a fantasy football league, I'm in a few others, and I bet more on the NFL then I should say. You want me to join a suicide / knockout/ pick 'em league with keepers? I'm in. I even play MMA pick 'em on KOUNTERMOVE. So you guys get it, I love this shit.

You know what I'm not really into though? Sports games. For alot of gamers, we are about a week away from the most important release of the year. The next installment of Madden. Every year, I think about picking it up, and some years I do. I get home, fire it up, start a career (J-E-T-S of course), maybe even make myself the next big linebacker for gang green. I'll play for a game or two. Then, I'M BORED. For me, one the best things about sports is same thing that makes it shitty to play them virtually: it's the uniformity. Doesn't really matter what field I'm playing on, it's always the same between the lines. It's like, what if every game of COD TDM was played on the same board repeatedly, only against different teams. Sure, you need to develop different strategies, but it'd wear thin, fast.

That's sports games in a nutshell for me. I know there are tons of you that are reading this in utter shock and disbelief. I've watched Maddennation. I know the Madden community is just as hardcore as Street Fighter's, maybe more so. It's just not my bag. Well, it IS, but isn't. If I'm over a buddy's house and he wants to rock some MLB: The Show, or Madden, I'm down. It's mad fun to play against your boys. But then go home and play the computer? Or online? Not the same at all, and it gets boring quick.

BEST. MADDEN. EVER.

It wasn't always like this. I used to play Madden, or NFL Gameday, or the 2k games on the regular. Especially in high school and college. If you're crusty and old like me (33), every time you pop in the next year's Madden you want to relive those Genesis classics. I don't care how good Madden '13 is, you aint toppin '93 on the Genesis baby. With the useless yellow piece on the cartridge, word up! What did that even do anyway? Listen, the entire method in which you pick plays in Madden is basically still the same, based around the GENESIS CONTROLLER. A, B , C buttons bitches!

You know what I'd rather play? "Sports" games that use the video game medium properly. Something different. I know you don't play Madden for something "different", but I that's what I go for. MUTANT LEAGUE FOOTBALL. What? You never heard of it? Here, let me give you a taste.

In a word: BOMB. There's a play called "Kill the Ref", are you kidding? Why has there been only one version of this? (There's a Hockey one too)

 I love NBA Street, NFL Blitz, Base Wars, fuckin Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball.

Danger Dudes '91 Champs WHAT

 It was sports, and it was innovating in ways only a video game can. But straight simulations? They get old I'm sorry. I fuckin played FIFA 2002 everyday one year and I don't play soccer, I just wanted different!

I had a roommate who would play NFL 2k5 everyday until World Series Baseball came out then he played that everyday until NBA Live came out then he played that everyday etc. etc. etc. on and on and on. He'd play me, or single. Sometimes online. Every guy on the Jets, Mets, Knicks and Rangers were perpetual first ballot hall of famers with more rings then Jordan, Brady and Shaq combined. Fuckin crazy. That's a hamster on the hamster wheel.

Don't scoff and think I don't get it. I do. I was in a dynasty league in college for NBA Live '98, before dynasty mode even existed. So I've cut my teeth on plenty of sports games. I still get an itch to go play the latest and greatest. Madden '13 in all fairness looks sick.

Let's take moment of silence for the latest victim of the Madden Curse: Megatron

But you know what killed it for me? EA. Once they bought the exclusive NFL rights, the genre took a big hit. Is Madden the best NFL franchise ever? Of course, yes. But they didn't rule the roost every year. When the Dreamcast dropped and they premiered the 2K franchise, no one played Madden. Believe it or not, there was a time when Sony exclusive NFL Gameday was considered the best option for virtual pigskin. It didn't last long but it's the truth. And you know what happened? EA strapped up. They dropped what sucked, kept what worked, stole some stuff, and created their own innovations. They owned the exclusive NFL experience because it the best, not because it was the only option. Now, we have here a Monopoly. A MADDENOPOLY. And EA has gotten lazy.

With every new generation of consoles, there's the shock and awe of graphic and sound fidelity, and when Madden premiered on PS2 or PS3 it instantly was "Teh best evah" because of that. But then you play it for awhile, and the holes show through. Broken animations. Bugs. Missing features. EA was in such a rush to get their war horse onto the latest and greatest it sacrificed the details that made Madden great. Then there's the excuses, "Sorry about Madden '09 or 10 etc. We weren't used to the hardware, we are familiar now, watch out for next year!"

Or obscure (or obvious) new features being touted as the best thing since bread itself. "GANG TACKLE ANIMATIONS, ONLINE ROSTER UPDATES. COME AND GET IT!" Is the addition of shoe string catch animations, and an updated roster worth 60 bucks? For many of you it's a simple answer.

NEW FOR MADDEN '13: TEBOWING..as a JET

Here's something to think about. Why does every Madden from this past decade add features, only to cut out other established ones? Why does online play work better on certain years? Laziness? Yea, more then likely, in a way. But there's more. EA does this to fabricate hype for a new release. For example, online seasonal play was added, but no online career dynasty (but it was offline). The next year? ONLINE CAREER MODE. Why couldn't that have been there from the start? "We didn't have time." says EA.  No, it's just without any competition to spur them on, they drip new features onto the Madden faithful throughout the console cycle.

2012 is probably last great year for this generation. Wii U is coming, PS4 and 720 will be on the horizon. So of course, this year we will finally have the "greatest" Madden ever, '13. From all accounts, it appears to be the most robust, smoothest, epic gridiron experience ever. Every question has been answered, every concern taken care of. And I'm probably gonna buy it. Didn't expect that did you?

But is it such a coincidence that the last great year of this generation will finally have the Madden experience gamers have been waiting for? Everyone will deny it, but no it isn't. I'm a conspiracy theorist at heart and I know this shit was planned in a board room. Next year's Madden will disappointing, because it will premiere on the "outdated" console. It may be a launch title for 720 / PS3, but it'll be rough. It'll look nice sure, but everything that made '13 so awesome will be gone. And the cycle will start all over again.

Ultimate Arsenal or FloworCrash ARMORY vol 1

So between setting up my Fantasy Football league, and my wife's birthday it's been a little hectic since my last post. I try to get at least one post out a week but sometimes life gets in the way, you know what I mean?

Anyway, anyone ever read The Punisher? It's one of my favorite comics of all time, and it's really been a shame that after 3 movies they still haven't gotten it right. But whatever, that's a topic for another time. One of the many awesome things about reading the Punisher is that every couple months or so they would come out with issues of Punisher Armory. Basically it was pages of cool shit Frank Castle would use in his never ending quest for revenge. There would be a page with a modified sniper rifle, and Frank would describe in detail what it was, how he used it and maybe offer cool anecdote or two.
So let's take it a step further. How many shooters have you played? How much virtual death have you dealt out? Plenty right? I'm sure you had a few favorite weapons in your video game career. I definitely do. So I wanted to take a moment a create my armory issue. Or, how I would outfit my video game super soldier. Fuck balance issues. I'd drop this guy into any game and own it.

OK, so first of all my super soldier would need to be a Spartan. A handsome one at that. No Master Chief ambiguity here. Spartans have regenerative armor, superhuman, and can drive any vehicle and use any weapon. A key element in crafting a soldier that will use weapons from any video game. He would be a master of Jeet Kune Do, Brazilian JiuJitsu, and Muay Thai. And of course, he talk trash better then Cheal Sonnen and Ali on bath salts. Nothing's better then winning when you can let your opponent know HOW BAD they are losing, am I right? Let's get to it, but keep in mind, these are MY favorite weapons, but not necessarily the best in the game they are in.

Lightsaber. (Any Star Wars game) = The melee weapon of choice. Ol' Ben Kenobi said it best, "An elegant weapon for a more civilized age." No weapon is more sick then a lightsaber. Period. And there are plenty of original Star Wars games to allow inclusion in the arsenal.

Hidden Blade (Assassins creed) = Beyond sneaky. When disarmed it's nice to have a little surprise up your sleeve, literally. Fuck it, I would have one on each hand like Ezio.

M90 C.A.W.S. (Halo series) = 8 gauge pump action shotgun with a pistol grip. Ultimate badassery. The finest shotgun in any FPS ever. I love having a shotgun in an FPS, and there's no other I'd prefer then Halo's version. Depending on the Halo game you're talking about, the stats are tweaked a little here and there. Whatever, give me this shotgun over any other. Nothing feels or sounds better.

P90 (COD Modern Warfare) = P90 bitch. Nuff said. This thing may look weird, but it was specifically designed by a Belgium company to maneuver it tight spaces. It also boasts an insanely deep clip and high rate of fire for a submachine gun. In pure COD terms, ill also throw rapid fire on this mutha to create the definitive "lead hose". Fuckin A, on CSI a killer used the 90 to CHOP LIMBS OFF with it. Again, P90 bitch. WHAT

Spreadgun (Contra) = the first "super weapon" in the history shooters. Many pretenders but there's only one original. When you shot one of those metal footballs and saw that "S" you knew it was on. I'm not really considering this a separate gun, but ammo for the guns in my loadout. Imagine any gun on this list with bullets that fan out, taking out multiple targets at once?

M224-1A (Killzone) = I'm normally not a Light Machine gun guy. The ammo size is nice, and it's certainly intimidating looking. Who doesn't want to look like Rambo at the end of First Blood part 2? But usually rolling with an LMG means slower movement, big time kick and LONG reload times. Not with this baby. I wish this gun was in COD. The ISA or Helgast must have developed some space age ceramic metal cause this thing must be super light. No movement penalty and the kick is strong but feels good and definitely manageable. So you get everything you love about an LMG, but nothing you hate. So that means ownage.

Farsight XR-20 (Perfect Dark) = Looking for the perfect sniper rifle? Look no further. This baby has an X-Ray scope. Yea fuck your thermal sight. When you look down the sight of this monster, everything looks like the customs scene in Total Recall. And you can shoot them. Through the walls. Peace.

Hammer of Dawn (Gears of War) = So what's better then calling in an AC-130? Marking someone with a laser so a fucking SATELLITE can rain hot laser death on you from orbit. And I don't need to hide in a corner and count to 11.

So there you have it. My first Armory issue. Those are my all time favs, but there are plenty more. I'd love to hear yours, or how much you hate mine. Come see me online, I'd love to shoot you with one of these.