Duke 3D remake

This is correct my fellow bloggers. Duke 3D, one of the greatest FPS's, is getting an HD remake for the current generation of consoles and PC. This remake will bring the awesomeness and ass-kicking-ness of Duke 3D to the current generation of gamers.

I think an HD remake of the game will be better received than Duke Forever.

Here's some concept art for the remake.

Look forward to it LaGers!

Baka

Finally Finished trophy-whoring Alice Madness Returns

That is correct my fellow bloggers! I finished trophy-whoring Alice yesterday! That's right, I finally have the Platinum Trophy to show my hard work put into that game. I might also need to add that this was my first Platinum Trophy ever :P

I put in a lot of hard work into getting that trophy, but it wasn't really that difficult at all. The only trophy to get that was a pain in the ass was the trophy for gathering all the memories. It was really irritating to get because the developers really hid those memories away well -.-" But oh well, no use complaining, I FINALLY GOT IT!

The next item on the list is Duke Forever, but that one will have to wait for a while. I gotta take a break :(

Baka

Game Planning

Yesterday I decided to finally write down some ideas for some games for when I start developing. I had this idea for a while now, but after months of putting it off I finally started. I kept all these ideas swarming in my head and I was afraid that I would forget them as I went on with my usual thought train. Now I've got a few ideas written down, and I'm going to make it a habit to write down any new ideas in that book. So now I'll be walking around with this book everywhere I go. It's right next to me as I type.

The first game I have written down is a RPG title that I think will be quite unique. I haven't seen it done before, so I think it'll be interesting to do. I won't give too much details about it, so it'll take you guys by surprise when you finally see it. I got some little notes on armour, weapons and the basic plot. I also have some simple designs in there of the main hero and the antagonists. I want this game to be big so I'm doing my planning now.

Some other little ideas I get i shall reveal to you :P

Baka

Alice: Madness Returns

Man, I am on a roll this week. Yesterday I finished up the second entry to the Alice series, and I gotta say that it's really beautifully done. The way of story telling and the level design, along with the music and the cutscenes are just superbly done. It does have some flaws, but it's enjoyable and really good.

The environments in this game are really beautiful and really well detailed. They aren't as messed up as in the previous game, but it goes along with the story. Hell, some of the environments in Wonderland are BARELY messed up to start with. But as I said, this goes along with the story. In Madness Returns, Alice isn't as insane or mentally disturbed as the previous game(seeing as she overcame her demons), therefore it shows in Wonderland's environment. Towards the end of the game Alice starts to become slightly more insane and it definitely shows. From a beautiful eastern adventure midgame - to a dark, broken down dollhouse-esque environment nearing the end. I really like what the dev's did here. It's really smart and really gets you thinking.

A scene from a London Level (I know, right? o.0)

Another thing that appeals to me and the 'horror' part of the game is the 'real-life' levels between chapters, where you control Alice in a dark, harsh London and try to find out more about her past. I think that this contributes heavily to the story aspect of this game. You can't really jump or attack in these levels, but you walk around and interact with your surroundings and find out more about Alice and her past through other character's perspectives in cutscenes. I think this is a really good way of story telling. Some of these levels starts to become really twisted as Alice starts to have hallucinations and starts to twist her own world into a horror-ish wonderland. One in particular will haunt me always and I will always remember it. It's the real-life level between chapter 4 and 5. It really made me go, "What... the ... HELL? o.0" When a game does that, I really start to have much respect for it.

The gameplay of this game differs GREATLY from the first game. Where as the first game revolved more around a 'third person shooter' style, this game emphasizes a LOT more on platforming and it's combat. Hell, the platforming in this game is HUGE. You can't go on a few minutes in the wonderland levels without jumping. They even added a TRIPLE jump feature along with a 'float'. But hey, I'm not complaining at all. These platforming parts are really well done and are really beautiful to look at. From jumping from platform to platform is always really pretty to look at, especially the effects on Alice's hair. Her hair moves incredibly lifelike in every movement. ANYWAYS, enough about hair >.<. The combat has also evolved in the game, HEAVILY. It's really a lot simpler in some aspects, but every enemy has it's own tactics that you need to keep in mind. The game really shines in it's combat and platforming. Anyone who enjoys the likes of GoW would definitely enjoy this game. The only problem that I have with the combat is that the weapons in this game are very few as apposed to the first game. In the first game you had MILLIONS of weapons at your disposal, in this game you have 4. BUUUUUUTTTT, in the first game I barely used like half the weapons, so essentially I had 4 I used anyway, but in Madness returns you use all your weapons, and the game definitely makes sure of that. Some enemies need to be bashed by all your weapons at different times in order to kill them, so it's quite balanced.

As with the first game, the symbolism in this game is immense. As with the previous game, I'm really taken-up with this and it left me at the end going "Wow...". I won't go on too much about that, as I rabbled on about it yesterday.

The last thing I wanted to point out are the themes shown in this game. In the first game the theme of insanity and facing your demons was prominent, with nothing else being shown. In this game, the theme of insanity is shown in both Wonderland and London levels, but the theme of truth and the past is important to this. In the London levels, many mature themes are shown, such as molestation, corruption of authority, false justification, alcoholism and prostitution. I find these themes to be really deep and in showing that in the 'real world' levels, where the whole world has gone 'insane' with the above mentioned, Alice is the only 'sane' and moral one. That in itself conveys a powerful mesage.

Alice: Madness Returns is a really good game. It doesn't give the same haunting design as the first game, but it is justified through it's story. It's a lot more story-driven than the first game and is seemless and beautiful. Definitely a pick-up.

Baka Approval Rating: 8.5/10

Baka

American McGee's Alice

So yesterday I finished the first Alice game in American McGee's twisted series. If I must say so myself, it was quite fun and really messed up at the same time.

The world of Wonderland is really a twisted, demonic and darker version of it's former-self in this game, but for the better. It gives of a really creepy feeling and actually gets you scared at some points (like in the Hatter's domain). It really does a good job of giving you the scares at the right time, and does a brilliant job of giving off an eery feeling without shifting too far from the feel of Wonderland. You still feel that you're in Wonderland, but just in it's dark depths. The enemies in the game are also designed in such a way to think "What the hell happened to this poor soul?". The enemies are darker incarnations of themselves which, sometimes upon killing, are decapitated or cut in half and starts to gush out blood. The designers really went all out with this game.

Another factor that contributes to the overall feeling of the game is, of course, the music and sound effects. The music gives a good horror feeling to the game without it steering too far from the feeling of being in Wonderland. It sounds like something that would be in a kid's show or daycare for babies, but creepier and more haunting, which added to the environments, gives up lots of scares. The sound effects also contribute greatly. Alice jumping and letting out a semi-demonic grunt really sticks with you throughout the game.

For gameplay, it takes some getting used to, but it really starts to grow on you. Alice is an adventure-horror game, but it contains a lot of elements from an older third-person shooter. The glow-y crosshair in the centre of the screen adds to this feeling. It feels weird to jump from platform to platform with this and the constant camera behind the character, but it doesn't ruin the game, and as I said, it grows on you.

Throughout the game you will pick up various weapons that contribute to the overall feel of Wonderland (both the normal, happy Wonderland and the twisted). Your initial weapon is the Vorpal Blade in the shape of a chef's knife, but later on you start picking up more weapons such as a deck of cards used as a ranged weapon and a crochet mallet. One of the weapons that contributes to the darker elements of this game is the Diabolical Dice: which, upon rolling, gives you a chance to summon a demon of different shapes and powers. There are a lot more, but I won't give them away.

I think the thing I like best about the game, is the underlying symbolism and meanings. This Wonderland isn't just twisted because the designers decided for it to be. This Wonderland is the twisted version it is because of Alice's own twisted and scarred mind. It symbolizes her own inner demons that she has to face from certain points in her life (which I won't spoil). At the end of the game she finally overcomes her demons and Wonderland becomes it's happier, more colourful self again. I think that this game's ending has a message for us all.

All-in-all, Alice is a good game for a game released in 2001. It's a good game even by today's standards(except for graphics, which are good for a 2001 game). Solid gameplay and it does it's job to give off a haunting feeling.

Baka Approval Rating (BAR): 9/10

Baka

Yesterday's Zombie Madness

Yesterday a few friends of mine decided to have a PS3 LAN-party and play a 2 PS3 splitscreen setup of the Zombies mode of Black Ops. Though it didn't turn out the way we planned, we still had a lot of fun.

As we all know, with every LAN party comes at least ONE problem. It could be that the computers aren't picking each other up on the network; someone could have the incorrect version of the game and needs to download a huge patch; or it just doesn't work out the way it was planned. Yesterday was a basic all-rounder. We couldn't pick each other up, we had the wrong versions and needed to patch it up, but ultimately: when we did get it to work, the one last player on the second PS3 could not get into the game for some weird reason. SOOOO... we had to compromise and play a 3-man game. That didn't last too well either because I started lagging and teleporting all across my screen and the map. That wasn't too fun, so we just decided to have 2 different games of zombies running. That was fun, hearing people cheer us on when the one party went down, playing the box to see what random gun we would get, screaming with joy when we got the thundergun or ray gun. It was all a lot of fun.

I think, what made last night (and any LAN party) fun, is the company you are with.

What are your awesome LAN stories?

LaG on

Baka

Fun and creepy at the same time. Alice: Madness Return

I started playing both Alice and Madness returns, and I must say that both are really fun indeed. This isn't really a review, but rather just my thoughts so far on the games.

Alice in Hysteria Mode. (Alice: Madness Returns)

Both are really creepy and eerily beautiful, especially Madness Returns. I really like McGee's vision of wonderland and how he put it into the games. The games change wonderland from a curious, happy place to a nightmarish hell. I like how he used the change of wonderland for Alice's own psych. From her happy childhood, to her now cynical, twisted mind caused by the death of her parents.

Alice: Madness returns is really interesting and a definite pick-up. Mainly for 2 reasons.

Alice in 'demon form'. (American Mcgee's Alice)

1. It's a creepy freaking Wonderland!
2. You get the download-code for the original Alice. (Basically you're buying 2 awesome games for the price of one)

I highly recommend that everyone check this out. Don;t even wait for it to hit the bargain bin, get it now :P

Baka 

Speculation on DmC

So I've calmed down a bit over the past few day's rage, and now i can finally do the post that I wanted to do for such a long time.

Now: I'm assuming you guys all know about the new Devil May Cry game entitled DmC coming out sometime this year(or next year, I kinda forgot :P). Anyway, this game has gotten some hate for the changes to the main character of Dante and because of where the series is going. I get it, I know that changing one of out beloved characters is a horrible thing to do indeed. From badass, smart-mouthed demon slayer to... an emo kid. Due to the rage, many people said "THIS ISN'T DANTE! ROAR!". And that got me thinking... Capcom DID say that he was a 'mental patient of sorts', and in the first trailer you could see him in the looney bin. I thought that they had to link up somehow.

So based on the first trailer alone I thought that this was in fact not the real Dante, but some guy who took on Dante's persona. Then the second trailer came out, and it blew me away. I was KINDA right about it, but not completely. The new trailer depicts the 'new' Dante walking through a calm, dull town with several messages on the walls as he walks, saying things like "their world is a lie" and "not everything is as it seems" and stuff like that. Then out of nowhere the walls grow bridges and becomes full of colour and random demon's start spawning, then Dante proceeds to fight, does his 'Devil Trigger' which makes him look EXACTLY like the human form of Dante from Devil May Cry 3. He then proceeds to a church of sorts and it's all calm and normal. The pews are in line and whatnot, then spawn the demons again. He proceeds to charge after the demon's and the pews go flying, he messes up the church and does his thang. But after he kills said demons, the pews fall inline again and the church is fine.

Just a side note: Capcom said that DmC is an 'Origin story'

Now, what this is saying to me is, this is in fact someone who took on Dante's persona, but he is the 'real Dante' too. And it being an origin story kind of ties up with my theory. The entire Devil May Cry series so far from 1 to 4 is just a figment of this 'new' Dante's imagination. Him fighting these demons in a randomly transformed place which turns back to normal afterwards, his 'Devil Trigger' giving him the look of Dante from Devil May Cry 3. It all just makes sense to me. I hate to think that our beloved DMC was all a lie, but this is what makes the most sense from what I saw.

But that's just me speculation. What do you guys think? Post your answers below!

Baka

Just finished DNF

It's true. The campaign of the infamous Duke Nukem Forever has been completed by me last night. I must say, now that I finished it: I quite enjoyed it. A typical 'Duke" dream sequence, lots of action, lots of gaming references such as Donkey Kong; Halo; Dead Space; etc. Though Duke was entertaining, there are flaws and it is in no way at all perfect.

There are some visual bugs, the graphics aren't the best and some of the optional mini games are a pain, but don't let that ruin the game for you as it did for most reviewers. Games shouldn't be about how shiney they are or anything like that. It should be about how much fun you're getting out of it and if you really enjoy it. In all fairness, the graphics aren't even THAT BAD!

So just give Duke a try if you're really curious. If it suits you, just wait a bit until the prices drop. But other than that: All that I'm saying is give Duke a chance!

Baka

Rant - Reviews about Duke Nukem

I started playing Duke Forever last night, and I must say that it was tons of fun. I enjoy it a lot and think that it's pretty good. I also read the comment, and I'm glad you guys liked the video unboxing.

But the post I'm making today isn't about how awesome Duke Forever is, but about how retarded I think the reviews are about it. One in particular got to me. a review from Joystiq gave Duke 2/5 stars as its rating. Now: I thought that they had a good reason for it, and so I decided to read it. This review ticked me off because it gives Duke Forever for being too much like Duke 3D? REALLY? Isn't that supposed to be a GOOD thing? Sure, there is the whole 2 gun limit, but it's your typical Duke game.

The main reason I think this reviewer gave it a bad review because it wasn't up to todays FPS standards. The thing is: it's not SUPPOSED to be. It's not meant to be the generic CoD-esque game that every FPS is nowadays. It's built to be a Duke Nukem game, not a freaking CoD skin like every other FPS these days. I find it sad that as soon as something is different to what people are used to, they find it majorly flawed BECAUSE it's not like this or that, but as soon as it's like how you want it to be: like an exact copy, it's called a clone. This is common in the MMORPG world. If something is too different from World of Warcraft, instead of calling it a "breath of fresh air", they bash the crap out of it for being 'unfamiliar'. If it's too much like WoW, they call it a WoW clone and proceed to bash the crap out of it. That ticks me off the most.

I'm not saying that Duke is perfect, but you shouldn't look at a game's similarities, but it's differences. What ever happened to the 'innovative-ness' that people talked about way-back-when. I personally LIKE Duke a lot

As I said, Duke has some problems, but it's not BAD. Yes, it has long load times, but it's not that bad that you want to tear our eyes out from waiting (Sonic 2006 anyone?). Yes, it portrays women is a sexual light, but when has a Duke game NOT done this? It's balanced, and fun.

If you want a fresh breath of air from the generic FPS game, get Duke. It's fun, and awesome. Don't listen to what the reviews say, especially the ones that bash the crap out of this game. Try it out and have your own opinion.
This is mine.

Baka

I'VE GOT BALLS OF STEEL!!!

I finally have it! It is now in my possession! I'm so happy now, I feel like I'm floating on air. The guy at the game store pulled through, and now i finally have the Balls of Steel edition of Duke Forever!

As promised, here's the unboxing!

I hope you guys enjoy it! (Sorry for the bad lighting, I regret not using the flash on my phone>.<)

I'm going to play Duke now, PEACE! (and yes, I will be back to post! I would never abandon my legion of LaGers. So don't worry :P)

Baka

Happy Duke Day!

Ah yes, the day has finally approached us. Duke Nukem Forever is out and... what's this? I DON'T have it yet? There is a good reason for this, so let me explain.

I pre-ordered Duke Forever back in January already, and only recently changed it to the Balls of Steel edition. This was definitely an idiotic choice on my part to change my pre-order so late, and I am now paying the consequence. I got to my local game store, but the guys who work there(some buddies of mine) said they were short on the BoS edition. They said to help the store out, they sold their BoS editions. But the thing is, the one guy said that they were keeping a copy for one guy, but he only had until 19:00 tonight to pick it up(about 4 hours from now), and if he didn't pick it up at 19:00, I could have it. So now the thing is, they gave me an ultimatum of note. "You can either get the normal game now, or wait till 7 and get the BoS". Being the fan I am, I obviously wanted the limited edition, but I also wanted to play the damn game as soon as possible. I decided to wait it out.

Sooooooo... Now I wait, a long wait indeed. But I'll keep myself busy and just wait it out. If I get the Balls of Steel edition tonight, I'll do a video unboxing for you guys and post it here. If the other guy picks it up(which I hope won't happen), I'll just get the normal edition, let you guys know I didn't get it and play the normal game.

I'll let you guys know asap if I get it or not. Stay tuned!

Baka

PS. Science went well today, thanks for the support guys!

1 Day Left till Getting Nuked: "It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all outta gum."

As you can see, I left the most awesome for last. I also think it's quite relevant, seeing as Duke Forever is coming out tomorrow. Ass kicking shall definitely commence tomorrow, and for the next few weeks to come.

In the beginning of episode 3 you hear this quote. I couldn't help but grin upon hearing this, and each time I play it I always smile. It's so funny and emphasises Dukes badassery.

I can't leave a long post today, as I have to study for my physics exam tomorrow (Oh God, why?!). Wish me luck yet again!

Baka

2 Days Left till getting Nuked: "Killing you is as easy as breathing."

Hellz Yeah!

I first heard this quote in the demo for Duke Nukem Forever a few days back. After killing a pig-enemy in the desert level and hearing this quote, I couldn't help but go "Brooooooo....(insert awe stricken face here)". It looks like Duke Forever won't disappoint on badass quotes this time around. Looking forward to it and all your other awesome quotes Duke! I'll be sure to use some of them soon!

To deviate from Duke for a bit: It's E3 at the moment and there's a LOT of gaming news to talk about in all the excitement. Dark Souls, Wii U, Zelda Games, Playstation Vita. SO many games and devices to talk about, that is just some of the few I'm interested in at the moment. After the 'Duke Excitement' I'll be posting about this.

Anyways, I got to go study for my biology exam tomorrow. WISH ME LUCK!

Baka

3 Days Left till Getting Nuked: "It's time to abort your whole freaking species!"

This awesome quote comes up after killing the final boss of the game. I don't mean the core Duke 3D boss. No no, I mean the boss at the end of the nightmarish-ly difficult episode 4 of Duke 3D. After fighting and killing the queen at the end, an awesome quote is soon to be had. Duke swims down to the queen's corpse (Yes, the last fight is underwater. Awesome, right?) and plants a pipe-bomb right up her birth canal. As he plants the bomb he says this awesome quote, swims up and explodes her. Badass, right? He even contributes to the whole "cool guys don't look at explosions" thing.

Unfortunately, he didn't do a good job at aborting an entire race of aliens, seeing as Duke Nukem Forever is coming up in the next 3 days. But hey, I'm not complaining.

Let's do a better job this time Dukey boy.

Baka

4 Days till Getting Nuked: "I'll rip your head off and shit down your neck."

Have you ever experienced a character of a game saying something really cool and badass and not sticking to it? This is not the case for Duke Nukem. In the end of episode 2, upon jumping into the room of the boss of the episode, Duke unleashes these words to the boss in the most badass way. Upon killing the boss, the cinematic depicts old Dukey doing just as he said. He literally rips of the head of the boss, unzips his pants, plants his nuclear ass on the bosses neck and proceeds to take out a newspaper while humming his own theme-song. You don't get more badass than that.

Bravo Sir Nukem, Bravo indeed.

Baka

5 Days Left till Getting Nuked: "I'm gonna get medieval on your asses!"

Awesome quotes all around us! Awesome quotes everywhere! Though this quote didn't originate in the Duke Nukem franchise itself, it instead pays homage to something else that is indeed equally as awesome: Pulp fiction. This quote is just surrounded by badass-ary. The implying of an ultimate asskicking brought about yet another "boom" weapon just makes me smile. I REALLY think Duke here likes his RPG and Devastator.


In other news: I finally got my hands on the Duke Nukem Forever demo for my PS3. This demo was released for the people who pre-ordered or got the GOTY edition of Borderlands. I must say, the demo does not disappoint Duke fans. The only thing that ticks me off slightly is the loading times, but I'm sure this will be fixed on the release of the full game.

Keep on LaGing peeps!

Baka

6 Days till Getting Nuked: "Eat shit and die."

For those of you who've seen the infamous ventrilo harassment video, I'm sure you'll recognize this line. This line is the one repeated along with "Balls of Steel" until the target breaks down into tears and starts freaking out.This quote is brought about the ultimate ass-kicking given to the alien enemies. The bringing about this while killing awesome amounts of enemies is so awesome you can't help but go "Hellz yeah!"

On another note, for the PSN users: The "Welcome Back" package is out on the Playstation Store. I'm currently downloading Dead Nation and still deciding whether to get inFamous or LBP. Any suggestions? Anyways, if you have a PSN account and made it before the 21 of April, get down to downloading your games and enjoying the free month of Playstation Plus!

Keep it cool!

Baka

Side-note: To answer some of the question posted in the past few days. I am not really a weaboo. I used to be upon the making of my PSN account, but I liked the name and decided to stick with it.

As for the meaning behind my name, the word 'baka' means idiot. I took the name because it's kind of an ironic name and it'll be kinda humiliating to be owned online by someone who's named "idiot". That, and i couldn't think of any other names while making my several accounts :P

7 Days Left till Getting Nuked: "You're an inspiration for birth control."

I think this one ties in with yesterday's quote quite well. I think this one occurs upon the shooting of corpses of the enemy, but I can't really be sure. I've only heard this once and all I could think was, "Dude... Trey harsh".

Now: where I see this connecting to yesterday's awesome quote. Think of yourself just telling someone to 'blow it out their ass', but they retaliate. What is to be said after that? "You're an inspiration for birth control" is the perfect counter, as there is nothing to be said back at that. You leave nothing left for the other party to say, leaving yourself feeling like a true boss.

Basically what happens in the other person's mind

Thanks again for your wise words of wisdom Duke!


Baka

Edit: Playstation Store is back up! Unfortunately the "welcome back" package isn't live yet, so hang in there. Feel free to download and go nuts on the Playstation Store!

8 Days Left till Getting Nuked: "Blow it out your ass!"

Need I say more? This quote is another one that is made upon the chunk-making of enemies using 'big-boom' weapons. This goes along with it with the whole "Look at my huge rocket coming towards your face" feeling. It's the basic "F*** YOU!" when someone pissed off the Duke, and I've adopted this to whenever people in general decide to piss me off too. I like it when Duke says it especially after those annoying flying pig bastards continue with their "Hehehe! Suck it down!". That get's really annoying and when Duke ends that with this epic quote, you can't help but feel like an awesome hero.

 So, take a lesson from Duke.
Say awesome things when you either: a) People piss you off. or b) Launch a rocket at someone's face.

Baka