Plant-Eating Zombies and Augmentations

Bring iiiiiiit!

Although I was skeptical at first, I must say that PSN+ have been making me a happy gamer the past few months. The discounts have steadily been getting better and this month, not only are + subscribers getting 50% off the Resident Evil HD remakes, we get Plants Vs. Zombies for FREE. I've never been big on tower defense games, but the downloadable title had a great word of mouth and you really can't go wrong with a free game, so I checked it out. Verdict: Addicting as hell. Plus for the win.

Given a multitude of different plants with their own unique attributes, Plants Vs. Zombies makes you fight off waves of a multitude of zombies as they try to invade your house and eat all your leftovers and brains. By harnessing sunlight from flowers you grow, you can come up with a line of defense and sweat it out as the odds continue to build against you. It's a lot of fun, but so far a little too easy. During the adventure mode, I found myself always with an ultimate plan and the perfect combination of plants to use but, by the time I saved up enough sunlight to grow them all, the round was over. None the less, it's still been a blast to play and, from what I've heard, the challenge modes are definitely harder, so I might as well ride high on my laurels while I can. And your neighbor, crazy Dave, is hilarious.

Now that's a hat

On the disc side, I finally have gotten around to playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I never played the original titles in the series but was impressed by what I saw in trailers. I'm a little more than halfway through it and, I gotta say, it's a really really engrossing title. Portal 2 still gets my nod for Game of the Year thus far, but Deus Ex is definitely making a strong case.

In a cyberpunk future swirling in controversy regarding the ethical nature of humans assimilating with machines,  you play as Adam Jensen, ex-SWAT officer now turned head of security for Serif Industries. After a terrorist attack that leaves your ex-girlfriend dead and you badly injured, Serif rebuilds you like the 6 million dollar man and has you get to the bottom of things. The world is meticulously built and I keep coming across these little touches here and there, like user name log-ons, newspaper headlines, that really make the setting come to life. The developers really took their time to make this world believable and it really makes the playing experience that much better.

So much to see, so little time

 Jensen, while appearing as a cardboard cut protagonist (and the gruff voice work certainly doesn't help) really hints at some depth and I feel attached to his plight. Getting augmented wasn't his decision and, from hints here and there, you really get the sense that he's struggling with his identity and what's happened. It's not Oscar worthy writing, but again, it's attention to detail that makes the story feel like it was a focus more than an after thought, really adding to what is turning into a truly memorable story.

In terms of gameplay, Deus Ex plays a lot like Metal Gear Solid, except it's first person when moving around and chock full of RPG elements. Although you can technically tackle each mission in a number of ways, the smartest and most lucrative (in terms of XP) is to be stealthy, using persuasion and hacking when you can. You can run and gun, but ammo isn't super abundant and the controls lend themselves more to hiding. Shooting just doesn't feel as natural as it would in a Battlefield or a Call of Duty and such. But that's fine, not being Rambo earns you more XP to earn praxis points, which give you the ability improve augmentations like run faster, jump higher, see through walls, and a bunch of other cool abilities.You can tailor Jensen to excel in the ways you play the game. It feels both exciting and extremely rewarding when you buy an augmentation and then use it get past the next area.

Outside of the main story missions, there are side quests, ebooks to find, and other things of that nature that add to the experience. The different cities, although they're not super big, are large and varied enough to keep you exploring, searching for more ways to squeeze every XP you can find to gain praxis points. Hacking proves to be a fail safe option, as there are tons of locked doors and entry ways that contain valuable items that you can get XP just to get to. Hacking works like a little mini game where you have to get to a node, point by point, risking getting found with each one. If you're detected, you'll have precious seconds to get to the desired node before times runs out, using hacking software and fortifying nodes to buy you some precious time. Unless your through and trying to capture every node, hacking only takes a few seconds and it isn't mandatory enough to make it feel repetitive or a chore. Plus it gets you freebee XP and items, so suck it up.

I just returned to Detroit in the story and am really looking forward to how things are going to wrap up. I don't want to milk it too much though because I would like to play some more Plants vs. Zombies and get a crack at the deluge of HD remakes arriving (God of War: Origins, Team ICO collection, RE). Ahhhh there's just too much goodness. And the big guns have yet to arrive...

Prepare for PWNAG3!!

My HD Wishlist

Man, do we look pretty hot with this improved graphics

The coming months have their pants full of some real quality HD remakes. From Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica, Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill, God of War, and the newly announced Final Fantasy X (yesssssssssssss!) the list just goes on and on and then on some more. I can see how some people are a little bothered by the idea since the movement for re-releases not only shows a lack of new ideas, but reeks of cash-ins, asking gamers to pay for games they probably don't own. But, honestly, I'm not bothered by it. These HD remakes are great excuses to go back and play the classics for yesteryear and only feed the imagination of what the next game will be to get a makeover and rerelease. Below are my personal top 5 games I'm dying to to see a HD remake of.

Take that, biatch!

5. Road Rash
From: 1994

Like the Dos Equis guy, I don't play racers often. But when I do, I choose one where I can mess someone up. Road Rash was just one of those titles that was a great mix of racing and bashing a dude with your fist going 120 MPH. The graphics were top notch for the day and the soundtrack really helped add to the experience. I would love to sink my teeth into a similar experience, and even remember that a reboot of the series WAS in the works. There are some screenshots and videos still out there on the interwebz, so that's a decent sign that the franchise hasn't been totally forgotten. We'll keep strong.

Crap, is that what obscurity looks like?

4. Legend of the Dragoon
From: 2000

In the wake of all the success RPGs were having in the lat 90s, Sony jumped into the fray and released their own big budget role playing game. Following Dart as he tries to find the monster that killed his parents and save his childhood friend, Legend of the Dragoon was, like the tagline from Scott Pilgrim, an epic of epic epicness. Spanning 4 discs, I sucked this game up with a spoon over 4 discs and loved every second of it. The graphics were great, the story was thrilling an engaging, and the timed hit combat system was a nice change up. When Lavitz died...don't get me started. It wasn't an Aeris moment, but it was close. On the flip side, there wasn't a lot of side quests and changing into dragoon mode in combat was basically as useful as putting pants on backwards and having to take a leak (ahhh, that's my second pants reference. What is the universe trying to tell me?!) but all that's small potatoes in the long run. The game also got a lot of flack for being "generic," but it still holds a whopping 9.4 from fans on Metacritic, so I know I wasn't the only one to really enjoy it. I would definitely be down to take a trip across Endiness once again. Oh, and Meru was hot.

 

Shhhh, he's coming

3. Metal Gear Solid
From: 1998

Snaaaaaaaaaaake! Because it's apparently extremely difficult to port and make changes to PS1 games, Metal Gear Solid missed the boat on the upcoming HD collection of the series and will probably never get improved again unless it's made from scratch, which is highly unlikely. But why not! I haven't played Peace Walker yet(which everyone says is the shiz) but Solid remains my pick for the best in the series, and definitely in my personal top 5 of all time. The story was extremely engaging and, despite its complexities, I think I actually understood 95% of it (which is pretty damn good for a Metal Gear game,I'd say). It was one of the first stealth games I ever played and my heart was racing every time one of those damn neo whatever soldiers came poking their head around the corner. It was stylish, unique (when Psycho Mantis read my memory card, I crapped I brick) and certainly among the greatest of that generation, if not holding the crown. I probably would do some terrible things to unwilling people for a chance to fight Sniper Wolf in HD snow.

Jumping to lightspeed ain't like dusting crops, noob

2. X Wing Alliance
From: 1999

From the sea of Star Wars games released, X Wing and TIE Fighter were among the ones that...you know, didn't suck. The series though always lacked any real sense of continuity until X Wing Alliance showed up as the big finale. Putting you in the role of one of the most original named characters ever, "Ace," you watch as your family's business is taken down by the Empire and then join the fight, the narrative slowly becoming interwoven with the trilogy, culminating with the attack on the Death Star near Endor. The mission types were pretty varied and you got to jump behind the wheel of tons of different ships, as well as this cool looking Millennium Falcon looking thing that your family owned called the Ortana. Since it's on the PC, the mod community still releases things every now and then, but a new version from scratch with today's graphics capabilities would be sweet. 

You knew I was going to show up eventually, right?

1. Final Fantasy VII
From: 1997

Was there really any doubt? I know people love to call the game overrated, and I'll concede it probably is. The Awesome Series had a nice jab at it that made me chuckle. But any claim that Final Fantasy VII isn't up there in terms of greatest of all time, then I just say "you crazy!" Playing through this game as a young and impressionable teenager was one of the most memorable gaming experiences of my life and I would kill to go back and relive the epic once again. It brought the Final Fantasy series to the masses and really cemented it as a recognizable name. It's just the complete package. Great story, great characters, solid combat, tons of side quests, it's all there. This is the game that everyone wants remade. Just freaking do it, Square!