Followers

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Currently Playing

No, the Mass Effect Review isn't done.  There, I said it.

Anyway, as of the last little while, I've been dumping hours into two games on *gasp!* my PS3:  Dynasty Warriors 7 and Syndicate. 

Yes, I'm well aware that they are both available for the 360, but at the time, Syndicate was on sale for the PS3 only at a local shop, and Dynasty Warriors 7 XL isn't available for the 360 because Koei thinks that Mixjoy is a relevant feature.

Now, I think  all of you know about me and Dynasty Warriors:  I'm a jaded fanboy.  By the way, that said, Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires is sounding frigging awesome; you'll want to go to Koei Warriors when you get a chance and check out the skinny on the forums.

So, first up:  I finally conned K (girlfriend) into playing a Dynasty Warriors game; 7 to be exact.  Not working on XL yet; once I have the story mode scompleted, I will though.  Anyway, contrary to how she thought she might feel about it, she actually liked it.  I set her up with Yue Ying, although using the ge, not the staff.  She preferred the twin swords, though.  However, she bored of it fairly quickly as I had ass-raped everything on the field before she had a chance to fight;  Oh well, chance favours the prepared mind.

As mentioned, I've also been playing Syndicate.  What can I say about Syndicate?  Well, nothing that hasn't been said before; the single player experience is okay, the multiplayer experience is better.  Actually, it's not just better; it's awesome.  Unfortunately, it feels stunted.  While it's great that Starbreeze was kind enough to display zones using the classic Syndicate world map, there's only 9 levels; not 50 like in the original.  And there's no.  D.  L.  C. 

I kid you not.  What a wasted opportunity!

At any rate, for those of you who do play Syndicate online, my PSN handle is Rabbi_Voody, just like my XBL one.  I have started a Syndicate and am happy to welcome others within my ranks; we're (well, I'm) called Canuckorp, and the tag is CKP.

Okay, enough plugging my Syndicate (which, let's be honest, is a clan), I should probably gush about the stuff I like because it sounded like I was giving the game a back-handed compliment.  The multiplayer is fleshed out much better, and plays exactly as I was hoping it might; like a super-high-tech and brutally violent Rainbow Six (not that R6 isn't already brutally violent) - except you're all super-soldiers.  A huge portion of the mode is using and combining "breaching" (hacking) skills to attack, heal and manipulate the environment. 

Your abilities include damage buffs, kill hacks (everyone has a computer chip in their head, after all), self-resurrection and many other buffs or abilities, plus the ability to interact with objects that you just have to screw with, like lowering an enemy's shields are screwing with their special armour. 

The weapons are also fairly creative for a lot of run-of-the-mill standards such as pistols, assault rifles and shotguns.  Of course, plenty of other weapons such as the classic minigun are also available; you'll have to play more to see more.

Now, being that there are so few levels, there are luckily a lot of incentives to keep playing.  The first is the score; how you score will do two things; it will level you up and it will carry your research. 

Research is how you improve the weapons you can choose from as well as weapons that you may find in the world that are not available for selection.  To unlock these items, you earn tokens from killing heavies and wiping out enemy agents.  All in a days' work.  Now, research encompasses weapon modifications as well as breaching abilities, so it's definitely worthwhile to invest in.  Further, as you rank up, you can buy character modifications, which are unquestionably worth the investment.

The levels are actually very well done, although the variety is basically "total annihilation", "assassination" and theft (which also involves defending the get-away vehicle).    But it's so well-done, that I just can't put it down.  Oy.

Oh, and I finally acquired a copy of The Peace Keepers (SNES) for less than $30, so I'm really proud about that.  Fantastic game.  One of my favourite sellers on EBay,  Pedro's, is no longer with us, but I was able to get it from another seller, snesbrosauce.  If you're looking for good cartridge buys - especially SNES games, look him up.  It'll be worth your while.

Also, I have pre-ordered Borderlands 2 for the 360 (it is my dominant system), so for any of you who enjoy Diablo With Guns (aka Borderlands), I will definitely be up to killing bandits and mutants come the middle of September.  You have my handle (which was so subtley dropped at the beginning of this post).

What can I say, I'm a sucker for co-operative punishment.  Misery does love company, after all.