Killzone: Liberation (PSP)

Killzone is one of those series that I thought I would be interested in.  Meaning, I like the source material and premise but I'm not the best in the world at shooters.  In fact, I tend to stay away from shooters.  I do like Top-Down shooters but there is a point when I don't.  This game is an example of that.

The enemy AI in this game is relentless.  In fact, it's downright brutal.  It's the reason why I never liked this game.  I never finished it and I never want to.  If I do, I will revisit this review.

I love the premise of this game though.  Saving the world and what not is always something that I like to do.  What I don't like to do is to have to repeatedly redo a mission because the AI is incredibly deadly or the mission parameters aren't clear.  Yes, challenging games are fun but there is a point where challenge becomes incredibly frustrating.

Will I finish this game someday?  Maybe.  But not anytime soon.

REVISIT: So I actually came back and finished this game.  I have to say, that it wasn't terrible.  The only down point I can bring up besides what I already mentioned was the boss battles and the ending.  The boss battles were just frustrating and not worth anybodies time.  The ending basically ended up being "Play the next game or buy the DLC to finish this.  Thank you."  I still don't like the amount of damage the enemies take and even the fact that some of the controls were wonky.  Don't play this one kids.

Wipeout HD/Fury (PS3)

I've never been a fan of racing games.  In fact, other than Mario Kart, this is the only racing game series I've played.

Let me get straight to it.  This game is fun.  Fun to the point of insanity.  I thought the AI in Mario Kart was bad at not letting me get to far.  The AI in later levels of this game are brutal.  Combine that with sense of speed and I just couldn't get into this game.  Sure I like challenges but something about this game just turned me off.

One thing I've never been too keen on is the fact that you have to try over and over and if you miss anything by a hair, you have to try again.  Pinpoint accuracy has never been my forte.  Sure I can snipe quite well in shooters but I've never been able to do it under pressure.  This game pressures you to the point that you can't make a single mistake.

Games that demand perfection are not considered fun to me.  I like to mess around, experiment, and try new things.  Sure it doesn't always work out but I can say that experimenting in this game is a good way to lose.

I will say that this is one of the few games I've ever played online with friends.  This is the one thing I rather liked.  The online is quite smooth and having a whole room full of people you know is fun.  Sure there are people that will ruin the fun by being incredibly good at the game but there is enough random chance that there is just a slim set of hope that you could win to keep it interesting.

I still prefer Mario Kart to this series but I think I would buy another one if I see it for the right price.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition (PSN)

For those that don't know this about me.  I love fighting games.  I didn't use to.  I mean I played a lot, MK, SSFIIT, Clayfighters, etc.  But then I stopped playing fighting games for a long time.  I didn't get back into them until Blazblue: Continuum Shift.

Ever since then, I have been picking up fighting games.  This game is one of those recent surprises.  Sure it is a relatively old compared to BB:CS.  But this was a great game.  My first experience with a Street Fighter game was Turbo on the SNES. I got used to the staples, Ryu, Ken, and E Honda.  Heck Chun-Li was my stand-by for a while.  When I started this game I was looking for M. Bison, Dhalsim, and Sagat.  What I got was Hugo, Q, and Elena.

Not saying this is bad but there is a serious disjoint with this game.  Everything is crazy in this game.  Like what is Seven?  Or whatever his name is.  Nobody will correct me.

Still, not much I can say.  Standard gameplay.  I like the whole counter system.  Supers are awesome too.  I love the music and the graphics.  It's quite good.

I can look past the new characters (What the heck is Oro?) and I have.  In fact, I like Dudley.  But still, this isn't like what I was looking for.  I enjoyed it though.

Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

For one of the first games I ever had on my Wii, it was pretty enjoyable.  This was my first true exposure to Mario Kart other than Mario Kart DS.  I have to say I was pretty surprised by the amount of depth put into the game.  While I did play mostly with the Wii Wheel accessory, I tried the Gamecube Controller settings as well.  I stuck with the Wheel because it felt more comfortable.

From a gameplay stand-point it is pretty rock solid.  You race around the tracks, dodging your fellow racers and the various gimmicks for the tracks.  Some tracks I would like to forget about, Mushroom Gorge comes to mind first, but it was still solid racing.  The AI for the computer controlled racers though was quite bad though.  The term rubberband is not a fitting term as these things will stay stuck to you for the whole race.  Usually the same two racers will follow you for a cup (in my case usually Toad and Donkey Kong, sometimes Bowser or Daisy).  Still, the motorcycles are fun to play with and I enjoyed them.

The music was good and the graphics were great for the Wii.  My only complaint is some of the sounds were annoying.  Mainly anything that has to do with Daisy and her voice that could kill a man.

Racing around a Mario themed world should be fun.  Even though the AI can be a bit brutal and often times you will go from 1st to last in a blink of an eye, it was still an enjoyable game.  I only wish I had unlocked all the racers.