Looks like I’m going to have to put out some extra cash for Capcom’s upcoming action shooter. Famitsu just put out the word and it’s all good! Here’s a transcript:

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Extremely impressive throughout, from the real-time-rendered opening cutscenes to the impossibly huge enemies. Effects like snow and explosions are wonderful. Top-rate action shooter. The constant tension throughout as well as the balanced difficulty levels are on par with Capcom’s greatest. Battles are way intense! Score: 9

 

Brings to life a strange planet with powerful graphics that take full advantage of the Xbox 360’s capabilities. Gameplay stays true to its action roots, with nice learning and difficulty curves. Everything a great game should be. No complaints. Highly recommended. Score: 9

Great mix of action and shooter gameplay elements. Requires offensive and defensive strategies and strategic use of terrain. Plenty of depth. Snow and ice effects rendered beautifully and are a joy to look at. However, the action lacks a bit in the speed department, and the thrill or satisfaction is a little thin. Difficulty is a bit steep. Aimed at action game fans. Score: 8

The overwhelming size of the giant creatures along with the beautiful outdoor locations that are clear as far as the eye can see are truly impressive. The visuals are the high point, but the story lacks. The online multiplayer mode, where you go battle on foot or in giant walking machines, promises a lot of great fun. Score: 8

And speaking of games, you’ve probably been wondering what the heck I’ve been up to. As you may recall, I recently picked up the Wii and prior to that, received a complimentary PS3 unit. Wanna take a quick guess as to which one I’ve been playing more? No… guess again. That’s right — the Wii, baby. Zelda: Twilight Princess alone has me extremely impressed. Extremely. This is a game that’s going to keep me busy for hours and hours. I only wish that my time wasn’t occupied so much with work and site administrative duties so that I could bask in all its goodness. The manner in which you control Link’s actions is very natural using the Wii remote and nunchuk to the point that I couldn’t imagine going back to the traditional configuration that we’ve all been accustomed to. All this talk about Zelda though has me bummed out a bit that I never gave enough TLC to Wind Waker,… not to mention that I never had a chance to complete Minish Cap– but that’s another story (some jerk stole my collection of GBA games at this year’s E3)

As for the rest of the Wii games… Wii Sports is remarkable and that’s really all there is to it. This is the perfect game that inarguably accessible for gamers and yes, the non-gamers… (those that look at you like: hey… so how do I make the character go? Oh… this is too complicated). Anyone that’s played golf, baseball, bowling or tennis should have NO problems playing this because the movements are recreated just like the real-life sport. Of all the events, the bowling and golf are my favorites… Yes, I said golf. I don’t even usually LIKE golf games, but as of late, I’m starting to warm up to it. That makes my fiance extremely thrilled because now she says I have little excuse to go mini-golfing with her next spring. Heh. Tennis seems to suffer from a few flaws mainly in how the player positioning is set up. Swinging the racket often leads to awkard situations where you are forced to switch positions in order to swing and when you’re going against someone else… you’re bound to bump into each other. This game requires a LOT of room just like the real sport… lest you can expect to miss balls… a LOT. As for Boxing… it’s cool too, but it doesn’t seem like something I wanna play much until I get a second nunchuk.

I picked up Excitebike and it’s a cool game, but not the best game which showcases the system’s abilities. I actually am not too fond of driving the truck and think this would’ve got more cool points had they recreated Excitebike for the Wii. Rayman: Ravin Rabbids is too cool for words. It’s basically an adventurous package of mini-games in which Rayman must complete a set of 4 events in order to advance to the next area. Believe it or not, the rabbids are really the start of this installment… they make all sorts of funny noises and expressions which surely sounds like something that would be more amusing for younger kids, but I got a huge kick out of it. There’s one level where you have to toss a cow as if it were a discus. For some reason, this event made me think of something from Earthworm Jim. Go figure. This game also requires a nunchuk which as many of you know is a product that’s an extremely hard product to find in stores right now. And don’t get me started on that component cable matter… just… don’t.

So what’s with the PS3 you ask? Well frankly, the games just don’t dazzle me that much. Of all the games I played so far… Resistance: Fall of Man seems like the only winner out of the launch library. Ridge Racer 7 is basically Ridge Racer 6: Championship Edition, THP8 won’t garner much interest from me because I’m not fond of skateboarding. I already own Marvel Ultimate Alliance on the 360 (but I’m curious how the Sixaxis works in conjunction with the PS3 edition), Genji seems like I’ll put it down within less than a week… Call of Duty 3? Own that on 360. So that just leaves EA’s stuff which… I will probably have to buy on my own because I’ve been unsuccessful getting some product support to assist with that upcoming feature we’re planning. I will say that NFS: Carbon is rather badass. You’ll hear more about that in the feature, don’t worry. As for the online store, well, it’s not quite as remarkable as Xbox Live’s setup. Yeah, I’m spoiled… but can you blame me? Those blades kick ass and even before the recent system/GUI updates… I still found it easier and cooler to want to explore what XBL had to offer.

Why don’t I feel like that with PSN? The browser depresses me too… at the risk of copying directly from XBL, Sony really should have created something similar. Instead you’re using a PSP-like browser setup where you can’t even enjoy the full screen estate; you’ve gotta scroll throughout the page (and I’m rocking a 30″… so you know that doesn’t sound too cool when you’re still navigating a pointer on a fairly large screen).

I will say that the 60 GB rocks; if only for the fact whenever the digital content starts to flow, I’ll be able to store tons (and I do mean TONS) of media content along with my game save files and music playlists. 360 dropped the ball here… giving us a 20 gig drive and then taking up about 5 gigs for friggin stuff that most consumers could give a rat’s ass about. Yeah, I know that there’s an option to get an external drive from third-party companies, but the 360 should have come equipped with something larger. I’ll shit my pants if they end up re-releasing the unit with a 40 or 60 gb in the near future. To me, that’s just wrong on so many levels y’know? Aight… this rant has ended up being much larger than I expected. It was just supposed to be talking about Lost Planet and I’ve gone on a tangent (or two).

In other news, did anyone pick up Superman Returns: 2-Disc set? There’s also a Superman “MEGA” disc collection which includes all 5 films (Superman 1 - 4 and Superman Returns) AND an unreleased version of Superman II referred to as the Richard Donner cut. You’ll have to google up that info there cuz it’s a nice little treat that was produced for diehard Superman fans. Much of the feedback I’ve picked up has been fairly positive and I’m thinking about just getting that because the collector’s gene in me says so. Aight, time to kick back and game for a bit.