5th Grader from Blitz Arcade gives all Xbox 360 gamers a chance to answer that question. I’ve certainly spent $15 in wiser ways, but the XBLA title isn’t the worst purchase I ever made. For whatever reason, trivia games almost always fall flat on their face when they make their way to consoles.
We reported on Microsoft’s upcoming “New Xbox Experience” (out Nov. 19) a few days ago and now, the company has released some details on how it will facilitate those without a PROPER Xbox 360.
If you own a “Core” or “Arcade” unit, you’ll be given the option to upgrade to a 20GB HDD for $20 at this specially-made web portal. Nice deal, considering Microsoft upsells their hard drives at high prices for “security reasons.” Continue reading »
The Earth is infested with several forms of zombies. The population is scarce and you are asked to rescue the last remaining civilians in 14 cities. Here’s where you’re asked to step in, and get them the hell out of danger. *The Last Guy is a top-down, aerial view arcade game, in which your character is portrayed by a man with a blue suit and red cape. Incorporating a similar view to that of Google Earth you’ll see real cities which gives the game a realistic feel. Of course with the top building view, the only way to determine who’s in a building is by turning ‘night vision’ on. Japan Studios thought this one out because with ‘night vision’ on, you can’t see the nearby zombies. So you’ll have to toggle your views to succeed. In short, your mission is to rescue a certain number of civilians within the allotted time limit.
If the above image reminds you of Forret Gump, it should. It’s an aerial view of Wash., D.C.
The first level starts you off in Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. You’re given 4 minutes to roundup 1000 people and deliver them safely into the “Escape Zone”. Each city you are dropped off in, has zombies, items, and of course people to rescue. The more civilians you bring to the “Escape Zone” at a time, the higher the bonus. Of course there’s a catch! The more civilians you have with you creates a long line (like follow the leader) which makes you more susceptible to the Zombies. Once the Zombies get too close to you, they can either scare the civilians away or break your ‘Snake” like line both sending them screaming back into nearby shelters. Oh yeah, and if a Zombie captures you, Game Over.
Item List
E = Energy
hE = High Energy
St = Stops Zombie Activity for limited time
Re = Warps you to nearest “Escape Zone”
Iv = Invisible to Zombies for limited time
The games’ music, and sounds let you know when time is almost up and when a zombie is near. Strategically timed birds fly overhead to throw your visuals off. The Japanese voice over’s add a creepy feel to the game during the game’s menu screen.
Walk this way guys…
The Good Stuff:
- Highly addictive arcade game
- An aerial view of 14 detailed cities
- Ascending Challenged Cities
- Quick, pick up and play game
- Rumble
The Bad Stuff:
- No Multi-player
- Lack of PS3 Trophies
The Neutral:
- Caped Crusader as main character
In the End…
I know the description of the game sounds simple. It first reminded me of the classic cell phone game ‘Snake’. If it sounds easy, then that means I did a good job not confusing the objective of the game, but let me warn you. *The Last Guy is part arcade-action, mixed in with some strategy. Some cities allow you to gather up a horde of civilians and avoid zombies to get back to your “Escape Zone”, but other cities will require you to roundup smaller groups and use the “Re” to warp you back to the nearest “Escape Zone”.
Overall, it’s a fun quirky top-down game worth giving a shot.
For the price of $9.99, I’d say give *The Last Guy a home…
It’s been circulating the rumor-mongering Internets for some time now, but Microsoft has made it official:
No word was said about the Arcade unit making its way into waggle-control territory with its own Wii-like peripheral added, which was rumored, as well. For some of our thoughts on the issue, listen to the last episode of R3match Radio where we speculate away.
Each week, XBLA received either good titles or really terrible ones. This week, it looks like we have two iffy games and one pretty good one. Blazing Lizard’s Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball (800MP) will be available and I’m sure it will do fine, even though I wasn’t really impressed with anything I saw in the game. Shred Nebula (800MP), the space-shooter will also hit the scene. I’d probably say this is the safe bet for the week, because it’s at least a fun game. Finally, they will be adding Gin Rummy (400MP). The last time I checked, 80-year old grandmothers were playing the Wii, not the Xbox 360, so I have no idea who the hell is going to buy this game.
One thing that continues to upset me with the arcade is the lack of quality “arcade” titles. There are so many great old school games begging to be re-made, but we typically see mediocre titles released most weeks. Shred Nebula isn’t the greatest game, but it’s still one worth picking up, so this week wasn’t a total loss. At this point in the game, I expect better games. XBLA has been around too long for this to keep happening most weeks.
Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to this year’s Penny Arcade Expo. Taking a look at what the PlayStation booth has to offer, it looks like it’s going to be an exciting show. PAX is unique because they allow the public to get hands on experience with titles that were press-only for E3 and Leipzig. Here’s a quick preview video of what Sony has for gamers at PAX:
We all know that Microsoft has motion control games, Mii-like avatars and Wii-mote-like controllers up their sleeves. A new rumor has surfaced that the new Arcade bundle headed to shelves this fall will probably include motion controlers and mini-games that use the technology. For now, I’d set this rumor as questionable. Various game blogs have been throwing up motion control rumors for months and they usually turn out to be false. This time, the rumor came from Xbox 360 Fanboy. They have been credible in the past with rumors, but this one is just worded a little funny. According to the site, they got this rumor from ”a tip from a source close to Microsoft’s marketing department,”. Believe it if you want, but there’s really not much behind this one.
Some of the younglings out there probably don’t know much about gaming in 1987, but for those of us who were there, it was really a sweet year in gaming. It’s tough to pick out 10 awesome games from one particular year, but 1987 was real easy. I was ten years old at the time and owned most of the game systems available on the market. Back in early 1987, I was the only kid in the neighborhood with a Sega Master System and probably the only person who didn’t have a Nintendo Entertainment System. This worked out well for me because I could play Sega games any time I wanted and just go to any of my friends’ houses to play NES games. I eventually landed a NES at the end of that year in a trade that involved me giving up the Millenium Falcon and a 1985 Donruss Dwight Gooden rookie card for the console and a couple games. It turns out giving up the Millenium Falcon may have been a bad idea, but Dwight Gooden turned out to be a crack head, so the value of the card dwindled over the years.
With that said, my picks for the “Top Ten Video Games of 1987″ follow. These are selections from games I have played thoroughly. If an awesome game from 1987 didn’t make the list, it’s probably because I didn’t play it or because I didn’t think it was that awesome.
It looks like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is back on top and they might stay there a while this time. I have a feeling the that the top 5 list will not change much until we get deep into September. I am slightly surprised with the popularity of Bionic Commando: Rearmed on the Arcade. While it’s a cool game, I still feel like the PS3 version is superior (due to the better d-pad). Perhaps when we get our hands on the new 360 controllers, my opinion will change on that.
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on unique users)
Top Arcade Titles (full version):
MegaMan 9 will be THE first game to join Nintendo’s Wiiware, Xbox’s Live Arcade and PlayStation 3’s PSN. With the processor, memory and video cards these consoles posses why did Capcom select to go with their 2D graphics? My guess is that retro gaming STILL sells. As much as developers are trying to create the next Mario or Sonic gamers love where there roots began… back in the day.
MegaMan has always been an 8-bit classic, so I bet their release of MegaMan 9 will have those “old-timers” cracking their knuckles and ready to show the new bloods how to game. Nintendo first showed up MegaMan on the NES, but where will MegaMan succeed? Will it be the underdeveloped Wii? The pay for service XBLA? Or the supercomputer PS3?
While you ponder on these questions, check out Capcom’s latest screens. I’m sure they’ll get you to reminisce the 90’s.
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