First Impressions: Quake Live (beta)

Quake Live is a free to play, browser based shooter, that's pretty much a straight-to-web port of Quake 3 Arena... at least that's what I've been told. You see, I'm not actually sure if you can play Quake Live, as all it seems to be right now is a screenshot with a queue system. And I'm not even sure that queue system is actually what it says it is, and not just a counter set to an arbitrarily high number. Twice now I've actually made it through the queue, waiting half and hour, to an hour each time.

The first time, the game informed me that I didn't have the required plug in for my browser, and gave me a download link. It then asked me to restart my browser. I was hoping I wouldn't be logged out, and forced to sit through the 25,000 person queue again, but obviously, that was too much to ask, and when I reloaded, it was back to the waiting line again for me. After my queue was up, I was then kicked back to the main site, so I'm not sure there actually is a game yet...

Oh! I took a screenshot for everyone!

News: Dreamcast/Arcade Virtual-On Coming to XBLA

The story, as broken over at Kotaku is that in the lastest issue of Famitsu Weekly, Sega has annouced it's bringing its widely popular mech-battle series "Virtual On" to the Xbox Live Arcade. This has already started speculation that other popular Dreamcast titles, that Sega has recently re-trademarked, are going to be making their way over to the XBLA as well.

Honestly? I was a proud owner of my Dreamcast, and I loved the hell out of the Virtual On series, especially OT, which is getting the port this time around. With the 360's twin analog sticks, console players are going to finally be able to play it like it should be played, without having to buy twin sticks seperately. 

Check the video to see what Virtual On is all about:

No, the video is not sped up. The game is actually that fast.

Oh and Sega? If you port Jet Grind Radio, you'll break my WoW addiction. And I will make sweet love to you, forever.

Review: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

Fear, noun, 1. A feeling of anxiety and agitation caused by the presence or imminence of danger. That's the dictionary definition of fear. This can somewhat also describe the latest game in Monolith's thriller-shooter series. It sure is full of anxiety, and has some agitation for PC users at least. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin picks up right before the end of the original F.E.A.R. You are no longer the "Pointman," instead you step into the shoes of Michael Beckett, a member of a second special ops team, who while originally set to rendezvous with the first FEAR (fuck those periods) team, got redirected to capture and protect the president of Armacham Technology Corporation, Genevieve Aristide. The game starts with you breaking into the building housing her Penthouse, and the shit hits the fan about ten minutes after, with the explosion of the Origin facility([SPOILERS] at the end of FEAR 1) ripping through the city, and releasing Alma from her prison. Things then continue to go from bad to worse for ole' "Bucket." But that's as far into the story as I'll go.

Graphics
The graphics in FEAR 2 are pretty spectacular. The whole presentation of it comes off as an interactive movie, with the filter effects, character models, and amazingly detailed level design taking full advantage of the next gen hardware that it's running on. FEAR looked great in its own time, and the sequel spares no time stepping it up. The presentation of the spooky elements really add to the atmosphere, and the game is really successful in just being immersive overall. Beware though, the game is bloodier and gorier than the SAW franchise, and Alma has no regrets ripping the flesh off of some poor soldier, and taking their heads off for no reason other than to be a total bitch.


Gameplay
The gameplay in the game is that of your standard shooter variety, but it's got a few unique things that do make it stand out. They added in a "semi-cover" system, which means it doesn't have the new-fangled cover systems of the lastest shooters that has been done to death, with instead giving you the option to use the environment as cover, and making the crouch button your friend. The original game had the AI flipping tables and shoving things in front of your shots, and 'Lith so graciously gives you that option this time around. The game also carries over the slow-mo system from the first game, though you don't start with it, and it is fully within story context when you actually get it. The AI in the game isn't as brutal this time around as they have been toned down in their ass-kicking levels, but they still act very realistic, flanking the player at every chance, and flushing you out of cover. While this may seem annoying, it keeps combat fresh and fast paced. The guns have a good weight to them, and you certainly don't feel like any of them aren't doing as much damage as they should be. They have a good balance between each other, and overall just "feel" good, which is often something that's hard to do with a shooter.

I guess I should also mention the mech battle sequences, though other sites have talked about them to death by now. Final verdict on them is simple. They make you feel like a badass, and they're awesome. Not much else to say.


Gripes
While FEAR 2 is overall a good game, I do have some problems with at least the PC version of it. I havent played the 360 or PS3 versions, so you'll have to excuse me. First off, while I know this game was also built for consoles, it is inexcusable for a PC shooter to not have a quick save/quick load system in place. Seriously, the auto-save is inadiquate for a PC game, it always has, and always will be. The next problem is the lack of options the user has in adjusting the graphics in the game. I couldn't tone down the motion blur, and ended up motion sick more than once due to it. I never get motion sick, not even while watching Cloverfield in theaters. These are, of couse, technical gripes I have with the game. I honestly don't have any gameplay or graphical gripes, and the story is much better than the first game.


Final Word
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is one of the better shooters to come out lately. It offers quick, visceral action with a healthy dose of scare the hell out of you, and a dash of suspense on the side. While PC users may be irked at the lack of options for them, it's still a good buy, even at $60 in this recession.

Score: B

Review: Super Mario Galaxy

Well, I guess it is that time again. Nintendo released a new console and thus we have a new game featuring that fat Italian bastard Mario yet again. Now I love our mustachio hero as much as anyone so I gleefully picked up his new adventure in space.

Storyline:
The storyline is pretty much your usual stock Mario story. Mario is going to see Peach during the Star Festival, Bowser comes with some new weapon/power, takes Peach, wash, rinse, repeat. At this point in the franchise I would like to think we could have something a little better. I don't want much, just something a little better.

Graphics:
The graphics in SMG are about as high end as Wii can offer. Everything has a nice little glow to it and looks good. The environments all have their own look and feel. You can definitly tell that a lot of time and effort was put into the graphics to make it look good. I mean it's not indivual blades of grass like in every PS3 game, but they work well.

Gameplay:
Mario comes to the Wii with some new tricks. You do all the usual Mario things with platforms and jumping but you also get some new tools as well. Pointing the Wiimote at the screen at certain planetoids will let you gravitate towards then. Spinning it lets you do a spin jump (duh?). You also get little star bits with the Wiimote and can hurle them at enemies. And you get in buddles at points and use the Wiimote to guide you. Overall funtastic.

Unfortunitly it suffers from a plague that platformers get: Collect X Amount Disease. In the game you need to collect X amount of Y to get to the next area and beat the game. This was fun...in 1996.

Why?
In the game you get 1ups and extra lives but they reset after you turn off the console. Why the hell do we need them in the first place? If you get a game over you just start back from the hub of the world anyway.

Also stupid racing parts in a platformer also piss me off. I hate these damn things so much. This was a contributing factoring in me not playing this game for a few days.

In Closing:
It's Mario on a Nintendo console, you will buy it and enjoy. Mario gives you some fun with your Wii and then you trade it in for store credit at Gamestop.

Rating: B

Review: Metal Gear Solid 4

Graphics

The most beautiful game I've ever seen. Once again, it may look a bit better on my TV (considering it's "bout tree fiddy" feet HD plasma blu-ray TV that shoots laser bolts out of its backside for voltage). Too bad anti-aliasing sucks on console HD games right now, otherwise it'd be perfect. The badass graphics made the cut scenes over nine thousand times more awesome as well.


Gameplay

Snake always owned, but now he owns even more. Also, remember when Raiden was a faggot? Well, they nerfed that, too. Now he's a fuckin' badass. He went from being Richard Simmons to Chuck Norris in just a couple of years. Probably was takin' dat dere cell tech. I won't reveal any of the plot because that'd spoil the game completely, but yeah, the aiming system is spot on, the stealth is spot on, and the boss fights are typical MGS boss fights. They're hard at first, but once you know what to do, you should be good to go.

Gripes

The anti-aliasing flaw kinda sucks, but I got used to it. Maybe the game is a little short, wait, no, maybe I just beat it too fast and didn't have a life back in the summer. That's probably it. Also, they may have made Meryl too hot (is it sad to be somewhat attracted to billions of pixels on a monitor, yes it is, but oh well, no different than pr0n right?). I always imagined her as some stocky little ginger girl but then in MGS4 I was like fap fap fap (not really but still). I have a few other minor gripes as well but like I said before, revealing the plot is a no-no.

Last Words

Nothing will ever beat the original MGS. That game will always hold a special spot dear to my heart, but this one is at least the second best game ever made. If you like awesome games, get this one. Splinter Cell can gtfo by now btw, pretty sure Solid Snake has him beat. Anyways, this is the only game where the ending had me in tears. If you call me a pussy for that, then you're an asshole. I'd say why, but the whole plot issue will come up again.

Score: A

Too Damn Funny To Not Post

I know the current economic situation is a big deal that not alot of people seem to want to talk about these days, especially with how bleak the outcome seems to be. However, it's nice every once in a while to see some good satire on the whole thing. Hence, I present you with Wall Street Fighter IV.

Thanks to Luke Plunkett over at Kotaku for the original post.

Intro And Review: The Last Remnant

Hey folks, new blogger to FRAG'D so I might as well introduce. You can call me Tsurai. Guess I'm this blogs "Asian guy who plays too many RPG's" Yes I play RPG's, not too much since I haven't seen one worthwhile; so to review a good RPG, might as well praise one made by the masters of RPG's: Square Enix.

A few months have passed since the release of "The Last Remnant", and though I've had it for maybe two months since buying a 360, I've scarcely played it; thus I consider this a "First Impression" rather than a "Review", but I'm new here. Cut me some slack.

Graphics
The Last Remnant has stunning visual appeal for a game made by Square Enix on an American system...granted it would load fast enough. It would take somewhere between 5-10 seconds for the full texture of objects to fully load before anything looks remotely beautiful as the screenshots captured them to be. In the time it takes for such pixels to load, you're bound to observe people that they're supposed to resemble. In a way, you'll have a few moments to reminisce of the original Xbox graphics until you're back in Next-Gen.

Gameplay

You'll find the gameplay very simplistic at first, but that's because of the handicap of using another guy's army. At the very start of the game, they'll introduce some very basic mechanics: hit this thing, move here, etc. By the time they're done with kiddie time, it's the player's turn to step up as General Patton. Your main character, named Rush Sykes, will have to start building up his own squad of generic characters and maybe another "leader". This squad will probably begin with you and another leader, but eventually recruit more characters to build up into a powerful little platoon. From there, one must develop tactics using provided formations of little parties in order to effectively attack/defend; this includes the ideas of interlocking, flank attacks, zerging, and so forth. And of course, let's not forget the basics of RPG's: leveling and gear - not only for the main character, but your other leaders and generic minions, and this ranges from 2-20 people total to level.

Gripes

Ignoring the very simple yet complex combat and the graphics load, you have one other major concern: lag. Yes you heard it here, lag. There will be MULTIPLE instances where your characters will begin to slow down and possibly even stop for what feels like an eternity but only to discover that 8 seconds have passed. Having it as a turn-based RPG, that's no problem, but to have discovered one of your parties has fallen is aggrevating. The last major problem are fighting bosses while "under-leveled". Having it as a "growing level system", you'll never see what level you are, thus you're to guess just when you're prepared. Common sense would dictate that "it's when you stop getting exp, nub." Wrong, you'll never know when the flow haults. The only time one can tell if you're under-leveled is if one of your squad leaders fall (which, by the way, results in an entire party falling if the party's leader falls). You will also endure the immortal voice talents of Johnny Yong Bosch, so you may get tired of it if you've heard his voice in every other Anime known to mankind.

Last Words

I personally stopped playing this almost weeks after I got it, so I may have thrown in the towel early. Being a Square Enix fan, I bought it as soon as I bought a 360, but I advise renting it first to feel the flow. To those who do not have a 360, fear not. Well, fear the wait. The Last Remnant will be hitting PC on April 9th this year...for Japan. It's from Japan, that's what you get. Europe will be expecting Last Remnant March 20th, no current word for the US. Seeing as how Square Enix SHOULD be supporting Playstation 3 (yes, I'm one of those guys who believe Square has turned their back on their country), Last Remnant will also be hitting Playstation 3, yet the date has not yet been specified.

If you enjoy it, I praise you for your dedication. If not, I feel the same pain. My last piece of advice for this game, boss fights. You can only assume you're not ready but take the risk anyway because dying in a boss fight is the only way to measure your progess; thus I say place these words from the great Illidan Stormrage from World of Warcraft into your head: "YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!!!"

First Impressions: Burnout Paradise

Yes, I know that it should be a little late to be doing a "first impression" on a game that was released over a year ago, but I honestly have not bought a racing game in several years, so when it came out, my reaction was little more than "meh" and I passed it by. It wasn't until the game started popping up on Game of the Year lists, and on the podcasts that I listen to regularly that I took notice of it, and downloaded the demo. Five minutes into the demo, I was hooked.

As of yesterday, I'm the proud owner of a new copy of Paradise, and so far, I'm pleased as hell. The game is what the Need For Speed series should have been. Open world, fun as hell weaving through traffic, fast game play (even on your first car) that you never get tired of. The game so far has the perfect balance of control, while keeping you on the edge of destruction right around every corner. The relatively small crashing penalty is a major plus as well. Watch your car crumble to bits, and a couple seconds later, your car is good as new, and you're back on the road.

I've only unlocked a few cars so far, but the latest patch and the legendary cars will probably keep me from caring if I unlock more.

Yes, that's pretty much the DeLorean.

Final word: Burnout Paradise is a blast at a bargain ($20 for a new copy) and I'm loving every minute of it so far.

Website features: Explained

Most good sites have defined features so it's easier for the reader to know what they're getting in to. I figured now would be a great time to define these, not only for myself, but for the other (and future) authors.

Anyway, here's a listing with descriptions of the features on FRAG'D:

Reviews: kinda self explainatory, but here are reviews of games we have fully played, and feel we have a good grasp on our overall opinion.

First Impressions: Basically, we just got a new game, but haven't played enough of it to do a review. This is what we think so far.

Replay: A Replay is a playthrough, then review of an old game. What defines old? Anything that's more than 2 years since release date.

Last Impressions: This is basically a rant. We've played a new game, and given it enough of a chance to get us hooked, but certain problems with it have caused us to no longer care to play it any longer. Because we have not fully played it, it does not get a review (from that author).

News: Any gaming news we find savory enough to share here.

General Banter: These are your everyday posts, where we just talk about our thoughts on games, life, monster trucks, ect.

I may add more features, by request of the other authors.

Review: NHL 09

NHL 09 is FUCKIN' AWESOME DUDE, ok? If you're a hockey fan, get this game right now. I got it when it first came out, and I'm still playing it. HOLY SHIT! You realize how rare it is to play a game for a year and onwards? Talk about replayability, brahs! If you take 08 into the consideration, I've played this game for like 2 years or more.

Graphics

Yeah, graphics to sports games isn't always the sha-bam-fa-bam (I just made that word up btw). It doesn't always make or break the game, but NHL 09 has FUCKIN' AWESOME DUDE graphics. Especially on on an HDTV that is 'bout Tree Fiddy in not just inches, but diameter too. Wait, wut? Yeah, this game's graphics are second to none. I remember this plumber dude came to my house and he was like "Holy shit I thought you were watching the actual Pens playing there for a moment" (serious.

Gameplay

This is what makes or breaks a sports game. No one gives a shit about graphics unless the gameplay is great (unless you're a FUCKIN' NEWB, in which case you need to STFU and GTFO). Well, guess what, NHL 09's gameplay is FUCKIN' AWESOME DUDE. No other game has gotten deking, skating, shooting, dangling, shoot outs, basically all aspects of the game as perfectly as NHL 09 has done. Sure, NHL 2k9 has a better fighting system, but fighting is pointless, amirit?

Gripes

It's all about the triple g's, yo. The only gripe I have about this game is it is too addictive (wait, wut). Is that a bad thing? I guess so, because like maybe if other games didn't suck so much I'd consider stop playing NHL 09 to play other games. Again, wait, wut? I can't think of things wrong with the game. Omfg.

Last Word

NHL 09 owns. I could make a big long paragraph to say why yet again, but hey, I'm gonna go play the game right now so I can't.

Score: A

New Name, Scoring System

When I started this blog, I didn't really like the name. I was looking for a gamer mantra that would fit and be easily recognizable... and I failed miserably. Henceforth, Just One More is now known as FRAG'D.

I'll have a new banner up later tonight.

Since we're going to be writing reviews, I figured that a scoring system should be in place. I thought hard about this, but in order to convey that a middle score would equal average, I decided it would be a good idea to adopt a modified form of the 1UP Letter Grade system. The "modified" part is the fact that there will only be 5 grades, without a plus or minus, as they do.

The scoring system that we will be using is as follows:

A: Awesome (Amazing Game)

B: Not Bad (Great Game)

C: Meh (Good/Average Game)

D: Needs Work (Bad, But Tolerable Game)

F: Epic Fail (Should Have Never Seen The Light Of Day)

Review: Wrath of the Lich King

Reviewing a World of Warcraft expansion is a little like sampling a new kind of cheesecake. Of course it's got a different type of topping, but in the end, its the delicious center that continues to bring you back. Thus is the same for the Wrath of the Lich King. Unlike the Burning Crusade, Blizzard have actually outdone themselves. Considering how massive the scope of the game actually is, I'm going to break this review down into a few categories.

Graphics

Let's get the most noticeable part out of the way first. Blizzard's art design for Lich King has gone above and beyond to make the game look beautiful, even if it's still running on a nearly five year old engine. They've made many, many improvements with not only the art direction, but the overall style. In all honesty, they've raised the bar so much that one nearly groans with the prospect of going back to the old world to do nearly anything. To sum it up quickly, Lich King is pretty. I'm sure there are better words to describe it, but it is too difficult to come up with the perfect definition. You'll understand what I'm getting at the minute you take your first zeppelin/boat to Northrend, and you'll never want to go back.

Gameplay

At the core of it, Lich King still has the main gameplay style that has made World of Warcraft so addicting over the past few years. The classes are still teetering on imbalance(as well as being imbalanced in some cases), however Blizzard plans to fix this with the upcoming(as of this writing) 3.1 patch. Each class has been expanded to once again gain new abilities and talents with the level cap's increase to 80, but each also retains their unique sense of style that keeps them different. With the expansion, Blizzard has also released the Death Knight hero class. While I had my doubts, they have managed to create a new class that does truly feel new and unique, even with all the others still remaining. The Death Knights themselves also have one of the single most epic quest chains at the beginning your play as one. 

Speaking of quests, it looks like Blizzard has learned a lesson or two from the past few years. Quests have evolved from "Bring me 10 bear asses" to much more fun variants. Of course there are the standing cut and dry MMO types (Escort, Kill X, Bring back Y, Talk to Z), but they have also added in some pretty awesome quests. For example, a quest in the Storm Peaks has you jumping between flying dragons with a harpoon, kicking off their riders, or a series of quests in Icecrown for a eerie little boy, that lets you experience some of the best moments in Warcraft Lore. That's not to say that the fun quests are only available at the higher areas, as even Borean Tundra has its own share of them.

Gripes 

Like any good game, Wrath of the Lich King still has its problems. There are the standard bugs, exploits, and rude players, but it does come with its own unique issues. Death Knight overpopulation is a big one, with any /who search usually providing 50% or more of the results as Death Knights. Then, you have the unbalanced PvP part of the game, where currently, player front end (or burst) damage is so large, that most healers don't even stand a chance, and are rendered near useless. There's also the gripe that the current PvE content is too easy, but considering it is supposed to be entry level content, one should not expect it to be too difficult.

Last Word 

Wrath of the Lich King is a very compelling addition to what was already an excellent game, if you're already a fan, go and get it, you won't have any regrets. For everyone else, now is a great time to jump in and see what WoW is all about. Oh, and those of you who left due to the story of the Burning Crusade? This one is much more memorable, and it doesn't need space paladins.

Score: A

Grand Theft Auto IV, First Impressions

Ah, Grand Theft Auto. The series that truly defined open-world game play, and is responsible for a million bad GTA clones flooding the market every year. I recently borrowed the latest in the series, and I've played it for a few hours to get a feel for it.

First off, the game has no main menu. It's rather bothersome that you have to let the game load up the whole city, then access Nico's phone, just to get to the multiplayer, options, ect. It's not game breaking, and I may just be stuck in my old ways, but it still irks me.

As it loads, you're sort of forced through a couple single player missions before you are allowed to go do the open world stuff, but just like in GTA III, the bridges to the other islands are initially blocked off, so it's not really worth it anyway. I haven't really found much to actually do in the open world gameplay so far, so there's not too much for me to talk about in that regard.

Early on, I can tell that if you're not a dedicated fan to the series, it's going to take some patience to get to the meat and potatoes of the game. I didn't get a gun until about 15 escort driving missions in, and really, that's when I started actually having fun. The story is rather weak at the moment, so I do hope it picks up.

That's my critique so far on the overall story aspects, however I do want to bring up something that's been bothering me. Who, in their goddamn right mind, approved this driving scheme, and then put in so many fucking chase missions? Fucking seriously. Driving a car in this game is like if you turned power steering in your car off, then wore down the tread on your tires, and coated them in fucking petroleum jelly. The cars handle worse than a three year old on his first time ice skating.

It's a good thing they put in a rather detailed car damage system, since you're going to spend most of the time going from point A to point B CRASHING INTO THINGS.


To sum it up, I'm so far unimpressed with Grand Theft Auto IV. Hopefully, things will pick up in the game sooner rather than later. Otherwise, I see myself returning this game back to its owner much earlier than we both anticipated.

JLK in the house

Yo ladies whats up. I'm your "in" lister for PS3 info. I'll be blogging for this blog.

-out

A time for introductions

Well, I've gone out on my quest to bring in more authors for this blog to give it a larger scope of perspectives, and I've managed to bring in two folks so far. I'll let them post their own introductions, but I'd like to announce the arrival of Metal Matt, and Jarrett Lady Killer from over at Metal Matt's Videodrome.

Matt is our resident Nintendo Wii expert, so he'll be bringing you the perspective of what's exciting from that side of the gaming divide.

Jarrett is one of the few people out there who happens to be rich enough to own a Sony PlayStation 3, so I'm sure that makes him an expert on it... maybe. Anyway, he'll be bringing in news and reviews for those games.

I haven't properly introduced myself, so I guess now is the time to do it. Hi. I'm Kory "RogueA" Atkins. I'll be your resident PC(though Matt and Jerrot will join me on this) and Xbox360 gamer. I'll be taking care of this side of the divide, especially from a PC standpoint, as that's where my loyalties primarily lie. A little about myself: I'm 18, coming on 19. I'm a computer science student at Penn State University. I like to blow shit up in videogames (and be all sneaky... while blowing shit up).

Favorite Genre of games: Shooters, and JRPGs. Yes, JRPGs. I love them, don't be hating.
Favorite game series: Unreal, I own every Unreal game several times over.
Currently playing: World of Warcraft(a little too much), Unreal Tournament 3, and Gears of War (because I cannot afford the second.)

Anyway, soon I'll be setting up the blog's format, modules, template, header, esc. Now is a great time for suggestions for modules for the site if you have any. If you do, please email them to justonemore.blog@gmail.com.

Welcome

Welcome to Just One More. This is a gaming blog, which I hope to have full of reviews, insight, and news. I'm currently trying to round up writers, to give this blog a unique voice. To start off, let's go with why I chose this name.

"Just one more..." is a gamer mantra. When you're sitting down to play, you always need "Just one more coin," "Just one more achievement," or "Just one more level." For gamers, this is as common to themselves as "Game Over" and "Level Up" are to the games. It's the motivation to keep playing when a game is sometimes not as good as you originally hoped.

So welcome to "Just One More..." where we hope that you'll keep coming back to read "Just One More Post."