Gamin' NEWS! This doesn't look very Max Payne-ysh to me...

As a matter of fact...



Man.. I still don't really like the direction of all this, no matter how good or fun it might turn out to be...
Why didn't they improvise a new IP simply`???....

Gamin' NEWS! two old franchises are brought back

Let's check out the new videos just freshly released to two completely different long forgotten franchises brought back to life with our current modern technology.
And I'm speaking of Sega's SHINOBI and Rockstar's MAX PAYNE!
Here's a brand new Japanese trailer for Shinobi 3D from Sega.
The game's sheduled for November 17 in Japan, and a bit earlier (!!) on Nobember 11 in this part of the world, on 3DS.



Looking a bit nicer and better in motion than what we saw in earlier screenshots.
This game developed by Griptonite Games will tie-in both the earlier 16-bits Shinobi featuring Joe Musashi and the PS2 games featuring Hotsuma with a plot revolving around Joe's father (and protagonist this time around).

It seems the game will be a return to a more arcade-ysh direction, content to unlock, lots of platforming, etc..


Meanwhile, Rockstar Games just released this trailer for the upcoming Max Payne 3:

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Max Payne 3 - GT Pop-Block: Debut Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but as an old school fan of the Max Payne series and a hardcore fan at that, this isn't looking much promising to me. (see my earlier Max Payne 3-related posts for more on that...)


But, yeah.. so tired of the "Open world sandbox games are kids favorite genre these day so let's make another one and stick a well known IP on it to boost the sales"...
At least, it looks nice graphically, but what more is there to this game besides that?

Gamin' NEWS! Max Payne 3 continues to look awful

Remember this Max Payne 3 (above)?
Well, there's new infos + some new pics around.

So Rockstar, that already bastardized Red Dead (yeah, yeah.. I know you guys love it, but it doesn't have a thing to do with the arcadysh Red Dead Revolver) into a GTA mod will now be doing the same to the Max Payne series.
Now, listen to me. I wouldn't have a problem with these sequels they're turning into GTA-likes. Hell, if they were turned into original IPs or be spinoffs of GTA I wouldn't.
But they're simply using well known brands, established games that were successful to sell their new games.

Anyway - back to Max - this new game will follow-up the plot some years after MP2, as they said recently.
We'll be able to play with Max at various points, because time will have an impact on plot. A time-bending story?
I'm not sure what they're implying, if it's only the story that will be told in a non-linear way as past Max Payne games. Or if we'll actually affect the past and change the future or something...?

Anyway, here's new pics of an haired Max - that still doesn't look like Max nevertheless.

We'll be able to play with Sam Fisher/Splinter Cell's grandpa? Where's Max?!

Blog entry02 Somebody stop Rockstar Games!!

The internet's an hate machine, you know...
I usually try to stay positive, enjoy the stuff I enjoy, and the stuff I don't like simply not try nor do them.
I'm sorry guys and gals, but this time you'll have to endure my rambling a bit...
(well, technically no, just skip or don't read this article : P)

Ah.. Rockstar Games. One of the modern most loved studios/productions.
I find them a bit overrated.
*ducks hate mails from Rockstar fanboys*


Yeah, so they made up the fantastic-ly loved GTA gaming series. One of the biggest blockbuster series nowadays, alongside modern games such as Gears of War and God of War. (not from them, just illustrating modern gaming blockbusters)

I did like the original GTA (top down view). Played a bit but never cared to "finish" GTA 3. Not played any other GTA.
The open world's formula's nice, sure, if you like that type of game!
I'd much rather play a scripted level-based game like Half Life 1 over GTA.
It depends on your experience! I come from old school arcade games, I prefer that developers throw at us an experience that graduates in difficulty to deal with, having specific tasks to do and levels to explore. (this probably comes from my old school 2D running plateformers "origins").

I often find "Sand boxes - open world" games either boring or repetitive.
For example I never finished or played much GTA 3, even if at the time I really liked it.
I turned it on for an hour or so, played a bit, runned mayhem across the city...then turned it off. Enjoyable, but not "involving" for me. Alright, if you like that type of stuff, mindless blockbusters with tons of explosions, no doubt you played hours, I mean, days and months of GTA 3.
I found it was kind of mindless fun, not a fun experience for me (the keyword here is fun).
I tried once to play the game's missions, but I didn't really care about the gangsta story and the stealing cars deal.

Not for me!

But, you're gonna say to me, it sold thousands of copies! Everybody love it! It's a blockbuster, why don't you like it??
To each their own! I do prefer and find more substance in more indie flicks and B movies as I wrote in a little post some time ago.
So why should I like the current gaming gig or fashion?
Modern TV is reality TV, I prefer and enjoy more scifi for example. The ones that make us dream about, work our imagination (hey! I'm a cartoonist too! I prefer imagination!)
Modern music is, ugh, I prefer not to talk about it. I prefer current indie stuff like Jonathan Coulton or old school music like the ZZ Top, The Monkeys, Blues Brothers, etc..

You get the point, right?
Ok, back on Rockstar.

On the left Red Dead Revolver, on the right Red Dead Redemption.

So Rockstar, who owns the Red Dead game and franchise, as I discussed about it in my Red Dead Revolver Review, made a modern sequel called Redemption.

I will probably end up buying it or at least playing it.

But from the looks of it, the game lost some of my favorite aspects about the first one.
First of all, it isn't Spaghetti western anymore, this time around it's more based on American Westerns. You know the John Wayne type instead of the Clint Eastwood one.
That kinda makes me sad since there's so few of those in games (huh, strike that, there aren't, besides RDRevolver).
Then the music isn't taken from old Spaghetti westerns anymore (logic!) but it's a score (..good!) based on American Westerns. (oooh...)
Since the game lost all is original story/characters (Red no more), it was natural to keep at least one thing to justify this game title. The slowmo "Dead Eye" mode.
Last, the game changed, it isn't an arcade-y level based challenging game anymore, it's a "Sand box - open world" game as I put it earlier.

Seems like I may like it (fun well made western game afterall!) but at the same time I'm kinda sad...
Couldn't they change the name? part of it?

The game's receiving a lot of praise, great comments and great reviews, kids already talk about "the Game of the Year" for this one.
And everytime, the souvenir grows stronger.

I kind of think they just wanted to use the old franchise for it's well received reception and cult status, make a big mod and update of GTA 4 and slap it a western overlook.

On the top, the Real Max from Remedy's games, at the bottom the *charismatic* new look from Rockstar's sequel.

I can accept that kind of thing happening to a little bought and owned Capcom old west game.
But Max Payne... I cannot allow that...

Now Max Payne's suffering from the same fate!
Co-developed by 3D Realms (the Duke Nukem guys) and finnish studio Remedy Entertainment, Max Payne was a cleverly plotted dark 3rd person shooter. It had a great story, a great gameplay for 2001, graphics were ok, a great voice acting and was a memorable experience.
Unlike Red Dead, the game sold very well, had a cult status, many fans developed tons of mods... the game had such a big replay-value and an impact in gaming (like Matrix with the movies, it introduced bullet time in games).

Naturally Max Payne had a sequel.
Max Payne 2 was everything fans of the first one dreamed of.
It was beautiful, the gameplay even more tightly done, the story was as good as a good thriller...
I personally luuuuv the second game's plot. One of my favorite game stories ever!

Now they've changed Max Payne completely.
I'll just quote Rockstar's Sam Houser Sam Houser now:
"This is Max as we've never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever."

The game is supposed to be more realistic (yeah.. cause we totally loved this junkie cop with trippy dreams and bullet time-gameplay for his realistic aspect), darker and grittier (what? darker and grittier than the game that started with the death of a wife and newborn daughter?? on the streets amongst gangs and drug dealers?)...

They already announced a new gameplay and story like we've never seen...
I'm guessing "sand box - open world"..
An the story will progress from missions, no more comic book-like story with Max's narration over it and non-linear order.

Sure, the game will sell a lot more, be a lot more marketable for mainstream audience, but also totally lost it's roots from that!
It's like a deal with the devil, the Max Payne franchise will lose its soul to a more commercial success!

I'm tellin' you guys, I hate Rockstar games.
This game probably started as a GTA expansion or mod, was slapped in a Max Payne "fakeness", because a new GTA so close to GTA 4 wouldn't sell as much...

No thank you Rockstar Games.
I'd much rather stare at this fan made picture during 20 hours than see the crapfest you're making with this original gaming series and play 20+ hours of a spiritless hollow sequel.

At least we got Alan Wake from Remedy not long ago, that's a helluva more Max Payne than what Max Payne 3 will ever dream to be!

VGR Red Dead Revolver

With the release of a new Old West game, something that doesn't happen that much like say WW2 or modern spy themed games, I decided to put on a review of a little cult favorite of mine.

This is a review about the original Red Dead Revolver, not the new sequel on Xbob360 or PS3.
I didn't buy the new one nor plan to try it right away...
It seems like a pretty decend new Old West game, but kinda far from what the original game was, its original "spirit". More like surfing on a little cult game...
The should rather call it under a new name. (since it isn't the same kind of game). I would have been more motivated in Red Dead Redemption if they would have used a new name! (were they afraid of competitors games' reputation? like Call of Juarez and Gun? maybe.. so they turned their game into a fake Red Dead 2)

Anyway, we kinda got sidetracked... Back on the 2004 game now.

Game: Red Dead Revolver
By Rockstar/Rockstar San Diego
Played on Xbox
Also available on PS2
 
Type 3rd Person Shooter/Arcade
From 2004

I've always loved the Western/old west genre. Yep.
Yes, it kind sound strange but I do love Scifi, B movies, horror movies, slashers, monster movies, kaiju flicks, adventure/action ones, 80s/90s blockbusters, Chanbara movies AND Westerns! Strange mix? I would rather say wide range of tastes : P

Anyways...
I like Old West, it's a pretty fun and entertaining genre which offers a lot of original stories and type of characters!
But it's also a genre that hasn't been very much used in gamings! We play games taking place in either our "current" world or the future most of the time.
And with the past, we prefer war-filled themes of World War, or Age of Empires, or anywhere along those lines..

But lately, since the 2000s, there's been a handful of Old West games.
The Gun or Call of Juarez series have been using a John Wayne-type of Western.

His name's Red. And he ain't here to kid' around...

For the Gamecube and the PS2, Capcom started working in the early 2000s on a Old West game.
Yes. Capcom. Check it out!
But it was around Capcom's financial problems. When they canceled a bunch of other future would-be hits. Like Dead Phoenix, a Capcom 5 game, but we'll discuss more on that on a future Blog post...
The game was gonna be a japanese take on Spagetti Western, something pretty fun since the other Old West games are more based on the John Wayne-western. Plus it was a japanese game so it would be pretty unique for the genre, a bit more arcade for sure!
Then Capcom canceled it.
Very sad news that day...
The game was very advanced in its development. But you gotta understand...
They had financial problems, the game wasn't a big blockbuster game and it surely wouldn't be a huge success in japan.

However, like the name of the other canceled game previously mentioned, it raised again like a Dead Phoenix!
Rockstar games bought the project in development, all the work done so far & everything else around it (the engine, the IP, etc..).
Yes. Rockstar finished the game!
The content was mostly over anyway.
Red Dead Revolver came out finally on Xbox and PS2!

The game was well received by critics (even if they nitpicked some little details), it has since became a cult favorite!
But like many other games of that time, it didn't sold that much and was a bit ignored for more mainstream series.
(it was a time when many great underrated games went totally ignored for new Marios or Sonics... like Psychonauts, Billy Hatcher, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Beyond Good & Evil...)

The Magnificent Five

So... We just talked about the story around the game.
Now, the story of the game itself!

You play as Red Harlow. A bounty hunter on the hunt of evil Governor Griffin, responsible for his parents death alongside a General Diego and a Colonel Dare.
The game is pretty unique in its gameplay, it tries not be be repetitive with many original levels such as the attack of a train, a bridge to blow up and mines to explore.

Plus you'll get to play with many unique character, the game changing characters each chapter for the story.
You'll play Red when he's a kid, later as a bounty hunter on various bounties and later trying to find Griff and Diego, but also the characters that will be joining him in his quest of vengeance and justice.
Such as Annie Stoakes, a kickass "cowgirl" (not that kind!), Jack Swift, a badass English gunman, Shadow Wolf, Red's native half brother and a US Army soldier just known as Buffalo Soldier.
Each character play a bit differently from Red. Be it different weapons or gimmick.

Yes gimmick, main character Red has a special ability.
Called Dead Eye, it's used for duels, a slow mode/bullet time allowing the player to aim at different places on the enemies or multiple targets.
Very fun and quite effective, it charges slowly, so you don't over uses it, each time being quite unique and not too much gimmick-y as well.

The man who shoots faster than his shadow... with his Dead Eye.

So, how exactly was Red Dead any different from any other and future Old West game?
Well, champ', easy answer.
The game was originally a japanese Old West game! It wasn't designed as a big immersive 100+ hours world, nor as a first person shooter game. It was a pure arcade game!
Rockstar mainly finished texturing/level designing/coding/story telling and testing the product!
It kept his "core" experience.
There's score/money (to buy better weapons during levels) for kills and speed.
The game's based around original fun levels. Something you'd want to replay.

The setting is that of spaghetti westerns.
The characters are pastiches of the spaghetti western genre. Red's the typical "Man with no name"/Clint Eastwood character. There's the strong native brother, the southern and northern soldiers, the southern belle dangerous with a gun, the rotten governor and many others!
The music is also perfect!
I'm glad Rockstar bought so many old songs from spaghetti western composers, such as Ennio Morricone.
The theme song, from Lo Chiamavano King by Luis Bacalov is forever one of my favorite Western tunes now!

You'll travel a lot of visually different places, from ghost towns to cemeteries and many more!

But the game isn't without his problems.
The game is a bit grey/grainy. Which people criticised back then.
The dust & scratches effects are present and look great, but it could be a bit more detailled and colorful.
The models aren't that great, animation and details-wise, which for 2004 should and could be a bit better!
I'm okay with playing old 3D and less "next gen" games. But for 2004, it could be a bit better!
However, have in mind it was a early 2000s Capcom Arcade game at heart.

There's a multiplayer, but I never really bothered with that much... Only tried it once or twice..
There's the classic deathmatches, team/free for all fighting modes you'd expect from Quake 3 or Unreal...

Overall, it's a very fun experience!
I'd say, if you're a bit interested in a different Old West game, Capcom arcade games or just something for your PS2/Xbox. Try it!

The story is original, the character unique and the gameplay actually pretty good!
Riding a horse, a bull, attacking a train, duelling under the sun in the street... The game is never dull!

My only complaint is that you need to create a new game to replay through old levels...
There's a bounty mode (aka Mission mode) were you're allowed to replay any level you want. But not all of them (mostly Red's) and with very specific goals in game (under 3 minutes, protect someone, don't do something...)

I really like this one, a cult favorite of mine. But it has its flaws and isn't the "best perfect game evaahh"!
The music, settings and general mood is what I like the most in this one.

You can play it with the Xbox 360 (like me!) but since the last Retro-compatibility patch (as of today) it has been a bit buggy in textures... Nothing that awful, mind you.
But there's a little glitch during a boss fight (google it!) that can freeze the game! Nothing impossible however, don't worry.

Anyway, it's a great arcade spaghetti western game, and how many of those is there anway??

I give it:

 2 / 3 Quacks!