Originally I planned on having separate reviews for these games. With summer ending just around the corner, I'll make quick work and do short summaries of these PS3 disc-based games: Brutal Legend, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, The Walking Dead: 400 Days and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
Brutal Legend
I made an initial impression of this game 3 years ago. There were some minor set backs that prevented me from finishing the game in the form of other, newer games. Well, I finally did it.
As a mini summary, you play Eddie Riggs. The world's best roadie. His job is to make the world's worst rock band look good on stage without anyone noticing him. Such is the life of a roadie... when a stage set falls on top of him, instantly killing him. His blood trickles into his belt buckle, unbeknownst to him, is actually the amulet of the god Ormagöden. The stage transformed into Ormagöden, decapitating the world's worst rock band with his godly heavy metal scream. Ormagöden then takes Eddie's body to the Heavy Metal world. You adventure takes off from there.
I've always had this problem playing a game to get my money's worth. For Brutal Legend, that means collecting various paint-jobs for Eddie's vehicle and attachable weapons. There are collectible in-game items in the form of stone-trapped dragons that give you points when awakened; shackled ruins that give you power ups and new guitar riffs and solos to learn when risen above ground; befriending headbangers who bang their heads for you to enemies during real-time strategy segments; rocker girls that shoot bolts at enemies at the end of their guitars... to name a few of what you can do in Brutal Legend.
This is one huge game in the sandbox style game play popularized by Grand Theft Auto 3, with a forbidden heavy metal twist. The heavy metal soundtrack that plays inside your vehicle and various cut-scenes are the best of the best from great artists. There is a bit of a learning curve, which is not as bad on the easy settings. Going through the game, you unlock various artwork and behind the scenes info on the making of Brutal Legend. One of the most underrated titles in 2008. It still holds up to it's age.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
This is a long time coming. There have been many games and storylines in the Call of Duty games. The only one that I really enjoyed was the Modern Warfare franchise. The first of the series was called Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was the first game in the series to be set in modern times. Little did the developers know they have a bonafide hit.
To summarize the franchise, a warlord from the old Soviet-era started trouble in the Middle East. After the game's protagonists foiled their plans, an underling frames an American undercover soldier as part of a massacre at an airport. This sparks the Russian government to retaliate and invade the US. DC was taken over, forcing the core of the military and government infrastructure to go underground, keeping tabs on the protagonists to find the culprit and an off-the-grid ally who might be their only chance to cause a seize fire. The end of Modern Warfare 2 sets up the third game as the world is thrown into World War 3.
There's not much I can say when it comes to first-person shooters. Once you played one, you pretty much played them all, with different graphics, weapons and game play mechanics. The only thing I can really focus on is the story. Modern Warfare has an engaging story that makes you root for the good guys unlike any other first-person shooter out there. The only gripe I can really say is that I wish they would release a campaign only (story mode) version of the game. I don't care about multiplayer. On the other hand, I could just watch the game's story on YouTube if I wanted to. But that's no fun.
The Walking Dead: 400 Days
Technically, this wouldn't be a disc-based game. However, I bought the PS3 disc version of The Walking Dead. Even though I already reviewed the game, I will be talking about the 400 Days DLC.
This add-on bridges the gap between season 1 and 2 (the Tell-Tale Games, that is). It takes place in the same world and area. There are 5 playable characters. Each of them have a different background and story that unfolds within 400 Days of the first outbreak of the "walkers."
The game was noted for the storytelling. Not much as has changed. It's amazing how the developers were able to convey as much story and feeling for each character. You only get to play them for about 10-20 minutes each. This was enough to get you attached to their stories.
The actions and decisions you make for one character may affect certain scenes for other characters, depending on the order you play them. Besides that, you gain a bit of insight about the game world through stories and past encounters involving characters from season 1.
Nothing bad I can say about 400 days except that it was too short and kept me wanting more story and tidbits about the characters. Here's to hoping they show up in season 2.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
I didn't think I was going to play this game. Earlier this summer, PSN Plus members were allowed to download the full Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception game for free. I didn't want to pass up the chance. I played the first two chapters. Turns out this is my kind of game. I was at Best Buy one day and they were selling a double-pack Uncharted 1 and 2 bundle. I bought it and started playing Uncharted.
Uncharted follows a treasure hunter named Nathan Drake. He's a descendant of Sir Francis Drake. The first game follows Nathan Drake following his ancestor's trail to El Dorado and the secrets and dangers that accompany his quest.
Uncharted is like the male version of Tomb Raider. Besides the platform jumping you find yourself in the jungle, you are faced with traps and puzzles to progress further. They're not too hard. I didn't have to look online for help. With bad guys after you, you also have access to various weapons throughout the game. It's your modern day Indiana Jones.
The trophies for this game are a little uninspired, to say the least. They basically have you breaking set records such as 50 head shots, blowing up 3 soldiers in a row, using the brutal combo five times in a row and many more. There's also a difficulty setting in the game. This game is crazy hard on the hardest difficulty. Aside from the bonus content (different costumes, infinite bullets, weapon select, etc), it's unnecessary to beat this game multiple times on the hardest difficulty. Like I said before, I'm a story person. Many games out right now don't have difficulty modifiers. The game design speaks for itself. There's one "school of thought" that still cling to beating games at the hardest difficulty. I don't have as much time as I did in middle and high school. There's no excuse to make games engaging and replayable with difficulty settings. Just no.
I'm done.
Brutal Legend
I made an initial impression of this game 3 years ago. There were some minor set backs that prevented me from finishing the game in the form of other, newer games. Well, I finally did it.
As a mini summary, you play Eddie Riggs. The world's best roadie. His job is to make the world's worst rock band look good on stage without anyone noticing him. Such is the life of a roadie... when a stage set falls on top of him, instantly killing him. His blood trickles into his belt buckle, unbeknownst to him, is actually the amulet of the god Ormagöden. The stage transformed into Ormagöden, decapitating the world's worst rock band with his godly heavy metal scream. Ormagöden then takes Eddie's body to the Heavy Metal world. You adventure takes off from there.
This is one huge game in the sandbox style game play popularized by Grand Theft Auto 3, with a forbidden heavy metal twist. The heavy metal soundtrack that plays inside your vehicle and various cut-scenes are the best of the best from great artists. There is a bit of a learning curve, which is not as bad on the easy settings. Going through the game, you unlock various artwork and behind the scenes info on the making of Brutal Legend. One of the most underrated titles in 2008. It still holds up to it's age.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
This is a long time coming. There have been many games and storylines in the Call of Duty games. The only one that I really enjoyed was the Modern Warfare franchise. The first of the series was called Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was the first game in the series to be set in modern times. Little did the developers know they have a bonafide hit.
To summarize the franchise, a warlord from the old Soviet-era started trouble in the Middle East. After the game's protagonists foiled their plans, an underling frames an American undercover soldier as part of a massacre at an airport. This sparks the Russian government to retaliate and invade the US. DC was taken over, forcing the core of the military and government infrastructure to go underground, keeping tabs on the protagonists to find the culprit and an off-the-grid ally who might be their only chance to cause a seize fire. The end of Modern Warfare 2 sets up the third game as the world is thrown into World War 3.
There's not much I can say when it comes to first-person shooters. Once you played one, you pretty much played them all, with different graphics, weapons and game play mechanics. The only thing I can really focus on is the story. Modern Warfare has an engaging story that makes you root for the good guys unlike any other first-person shooter out there. The only gripe I can really say is that I wish they would release a campaign only (story mode) version of the game. I don't care about multiplayer. On the other hand, I could just watch the game's story on YouTube if I wanted to. But that's no fun.
The Walking Dead: 400 Days
Technically, this wouldn't be a disc-based game. However, I bought the PS3 disc version of The Walking Dead. Even though I already reviewed the game, I will be talking about the 400 Days DLC.
This add-on bridges the gap between season 1 and 2 (the Tell-Tale Games, that is). It takes place in the same world and area. There are 5 playable characters. Each of them have a different background and story that unfolds within 400 Days of the first outbreak of the "walkers."
The game was noted for the storytelling. Not much as has changed. It's amazing how the developers were able to convey as much story and feeling for each character. You only get to play them for about 10-20 minutes each. This was enough to get you attached to their stories.
The actions and decisions you make for one character may affect certain scenes for other characters, depending on the order you play them. Besides that, you gain a bit of insight about the game world through stories and past encounters involving characters from season 1.
Nothing bad I can say about 400 days except that it was too short and kept me wanting more story and tidbits about the characters. Here's to hoping they show up in season 2.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
I didn't think I was going to play this game. Earlier this summer, PSN Plus members were allowed to download the full Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception game for free. I didn't want to pass up the chance. I played the first two chapters. Turns out this is my kind of game. I was at Best Buy one day and they were selling a double-pack Uncharted 1 and 2 bundle. I bought it and started playing Uncharted.
Uncharted follows a treasure hunter named Nathan Drake. He's a descendant of Sir Francis Drake. The first game follows Nathan Drake following his ancestor's trail to El Dorado and the secrets and dangers that accompany his quest.
Uncharted is like the male version of Tomb Raider. Besides the platform jumping you find yourself in the jungle, you are faced with traps and puzzles to progress further. They're not too hard. I didn't have to look online for help. With bad guys after you, you also have access to various weapons throughout the game. It's your modern day Indiana Jones.
The trophies for this game are a little uninspired, to say the least. They basically have you breaking set records such as 50 head shots, blowing up 3 soldiers in a row, using the brutal combo five times in a row and many more. There's also a difficulty setting in the game. This game is crazy hard on the hardest difficulty. Aside from the bonus content (different costumes, infinite bullets, weapon select, etc), it's unnecessary to beat this game multiple times on the hardest difficulty. Like I said before, I'm a story person. Many games out right now don't have difficulty modifiers. The game design speaks for itself. There's one "school of thought" that still cling to beating games at the hardest difficulty. I don't have as much time as I did in middle and high school. There's no excuse to make games engaging and replayable with difficulty settings. Just no.
I'm done.
Black Hayate (dog)? Check. Briefcase? Check. Gloves? Check...
Nobuo Uematsu trying his hardest to answer the fan questions.