Daddy Gamer

I can’t complain too much about Call of Duty 4. The in-game action is intense. The graphics are amazing. The gameplay is also very smooth. It’s definitely better than Call of Duty 3. But is it worth the $65?

If you have a lot of free-time, I can see the enjoyment of playing the different difficulties and also playing online multiplayer games. I was a fanatic Quake, Quake 3 and Counterstrike player. I use to spend 16 hours a day playing online multiplayer matches albeit death-match, team-play or clan match. As long as I had pizza and softdrinks, I was good to go. I can imagine playing multiplayer Call of Duty 4 can be ridiculously addicting.

Unfortunately for me, my free-gaming time has been dramatically reduced to stolen moments between work and home. Being a fan of first-person shooters, I found the time to squeeze in some COD4-time even if it was just the single-player campaign.

While the game is not boring, I was able to breezed through it rather easily. It could be due to my shooter-experience but it was too easy nonetheless. The modern weapons and armor in my arsenal allowed me to play duck-hunt against the enemy. In a couple of missions, I just used my pistol to get to the next checkpoint.

The content is graphic and violent. I could not play this game when my kids are around. But this is expected. Infinity Ward, the game’s developer, did a great job in immersing the player in both graphics, music and sound effects. As with previous Call of Duty versions, I felt as though as I’m in a war zone.

But I am ready for something new. New weapons and upgraded graphics are great but I like to get more meat in my war games.  Call of Duty 4 touched on a quick back-story but failed to deliver any emotional tie-ins.  I’m not asking for a Metal Gear Solid storyline but something close would be nice.

Being a gamer and a dad is a tough balancing act. The $65 per pop for a video game also gets the attention of the commander-in-chief i.e. my wife. Finding a game to satisfy all this prerequisites definitely puts a lot of stress in my game buying decision. Luckily, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction is a great game that will satisfy all of the above and then some.

[Graphics and Animation]
The graphics and animation in this game are some of the best I’ve seen in my 20-plus years of video gaming. I’ve played the game several times just to watch the detail of the characters and environments. The experience is quite exhilarating when you realize that you’re not watching an animated Pixar movie but playing a video game. I know I have something good going when my kids ask me to play the “giggly head” game. They’re referring to the enemy soldiers driving the robots.

[Storyline]

But beyond the eye-candy graphics, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction have manage to insert a storyline that will hook the kid-at-heart. Ratchet, an orphaned Lombax, is in search of his kind. He’s never encountered another Lombax in his life. Clank his trusty sidekick also has a side story that will carry this game to the sequel. Ratchet and Clank will run across witty and mysterious characters along the way. There are tons of side quests that adds to this game’s re playability; another added value to the $65 price tag.

[Violence]

Ratchet and Clank is basically an animated war story. Of course, there will be violence. But it’s not over the top nor beyond any Saturday morning cartoons such as Pokemon or Power Rangers. What helps is that there are no human beings that could make it touchy. The interaction and fire fight are usually between high powered furry creatures against dazzling, super powered robots.

[Bottomline]

I’d recommend this game to parents and to anyone with a Playstation 3. It’s money well-spent and you’ll actually entertain people watching you play this game. What a concept. Beware though; you’ll crave the sequel after playing this game.

Ultimate Alliance was one of the first games I wanted for my Wii game system. I’m glad I got it. As a fan of Marvel comics, I got the chance to play several of my favorite comic superheroes such as Spider Man, Wolverine, The Human Torch and Iron Man. I have to hand it to Marvel though. Having this franchise on video games will peak the interest of gamers to other comic book superheroes and characters. I was never interested in Deadpool and Ghost Rider. But this game made me want to read and buy Deadpool and Ghost Rider comics. Ultimate Alliance also doles out a ton of tidbits and trivia about Marvel Superheroes via in-game character conversations and trivia machines at the heroes headquarters.

This game is perfect for my busy schedule. I love the fact that I can save at certain points and return to the game after a day or so and not miss a beat. Each level provides ample action, puzzles and impressive Big Bosses at the end of each quest. The learning curve is not high. I learned the four basic Wiimote gestures within minutes. The trick is learning how to combine the Wiimote gesture + B button or A button. Once I got the hang of it, robots, demons and mythical beings were no match for my combo moves.

I was not impressed with the ending. I thought the developers could have come up with something more creative and challenging. Ultimate Alliance does have unique gameplay features that should have been exploited for the Finale. In addition to the gesture+button combo moves, Ultimate Alliance also uses, what i call, timed-trigger moves. If you are familiar with the classic games, Dragon’s Lair or Space Ace, you’ll know what I’m referring to. Players will have to execute a sequence of moves in the correct order to defeat some of Boss Villains. The effect is actually cinematic. This concept was nicely integrated in the game.

Despite of the so-so ending, I’d consider Ultimate Alliance for the Wii a good buy. The replay value is high because players can easily blow hours, days and months learning power moves, unlocking new superheroes and creating different teams of superheroes to take on Dr. Doom and his legion of supervillains. Time to get back to the game… Elektra is waiting for me. hehhehhe

-Miguel

Consumer alert!  Consumer alert!  Oh my!  CNN has just found out that when you stupidly swing the Wiimote with all your might the safety string breaks!  When you watch this CNN consumer alert, you’ll get a feeling there was a major issue with Nintendo’s Wii.  This goes in the “it’s common sense, moron” category.  Ironically, this piece also shows how much fun everyone is having when playing with the Wii.  Yes.  Even the bonehead reporter was giddy after playing Wii Sports.  Yet another reason not to watch cable TV.

Click here to see the video: CNN: Wii have a problem

There are no if’s or but’s about it; gaming on the Wii will change the way video games are played.  As a veteran video gamer, this is what I’ve been waiting for.  If you’re still stuck in the graphics debate then stop reading here.  I’ve turned blue saying that video gaming is not all about one element.  With that said, the graphics of Madden ‘07 is a little better than what you’d expect from a $250 new-gen system.  It’s above the PS2 but below the Xbox 360.

 It’s hard not to get excited about the use of the Wiimote+Nunchuk controllers in this game.  It felt weird and goofy at times as I flick my wrists, raise my arms and wave my hands to execute the different moves.  After a quick out-of-body trip, a found myself saying “this is awesome!”  I’ll get into details on my next post.  Please come back.