Be Excellent To Each Other

Demo is now up on the USA PSN, will be on live at some point shortly.

Impressions after it has finished downloading and I have written them.

Is this that futuristic-hidey-shooty-made-by-the-same-people-who-made-Bayonetta thing? If so, huzzah! I'll be getting the demo ASAP.

Indeed. Directed by Shinji Mikami (God Hand, RE4, Killer 7).

Sweet!

From the short vid I just watched it looks like Gears of War crossed with Bayonetta!

People seem to be spunking over the demo on NeoGAF. Find out tomorrow, I guess. Another fucking October release, though Why do they do this every year?

Wow, this really impressed me.

It just feels fantastic to be in control of. The aiming and movement are all excellent and really fast.

The game itself is hugely fast paced, reminds me a bit of Doom 2 actually in the amount of enemies it throws at you and at how fast it moves.

Boosting is stupid fun, and you can go really fast. I can't wait to get the upgrades that let you do it more.

It's hard, bloody hard. I dies like 6/7 in the demo first go. But I bet I could do it not dieing once (and I am going to try too).

The story and setting could be from any other sci fi video game, but I'm skipping that bullshit anyway.

This is the first I've heard of this... but it sounds like my kind of game!

Is it coming out for the Xbox?

Yep.

My high score in the demo so far is 11200.

I'm very excited for this game.

towards the end of the demo, there is a bit when the boss fires several hundred rockets at you, all at once, and you have to be a badass and dodge them (not actually that hard).

Also, when it explodes, it's probably the biggest explosion I have ever seen in a game.

I think this will be the next game I buy.

Is this on the UK PSN yet? I'm not starting up my gaystation unless you say it is*.









*Or I get Demon's Souls (whichever is earlier).

It is pretty easy to set up a USA PSN account. I think it'll be released on the EU Xbox/PS3 things later on today (SEGA just issued a press release saying it's already available in Europe)

Sweet. And after I'd been avoiding the black monolith all those months like a game of Sentinel.

I'll probably have to run an all-week update mind...

Tomorrow for eggsbocks now.

Bah.

For cunt's sake. I can't be arsed to plug my PS3 back in.

Available on xbox now

I played this yesterday. Want quite badly now having never heard of it previously. The Max Payne-eqsue diving in slo-mo didn't quite work for me but skidding across the ground at a gazillion miles an hour into cover is a very handy move indeed.

It seems absolutely manic but at the same time you never feel as if it's all out of control - nifty trick.

I totally prefer the PS3 controls though, which has never happened before.

I'm getting amongst this - gonna download the demo in a minute. More news as it breaks.

I have to say that after playing a fair bit on my PS3 lately (way more than the 360 this year I reckon) that the deficiencies of the PS3 controller are somewhat overstated. I never experienced the dreadful hand-cramps which seem to affect others after 5 minutes play.

I don't get hand cramps at all. I do, however, "bump thumbs" when using both analogue sticks a lot, which is annoying. Also, the analogue sticks themselves are like little mushroom tops, and my thumbs slip off them during intense FPS sessions. The 360 pad is much better.

What bugs me about both pads is why the direction of the analog sticks aren't aligned with the natural way that thumbs move. i.e. moving your thumb naturally left and right actually results in a diagonal movement of the stick, and it's way more pronounced on the right analog stick on the 360. I'm sure there's a reason for this but it just seems a bit shit really.

Lies. Lies and deceit. They should have sorted these fucking things out with the PS3. This controller is like, what, an eight year old model? The sticks are in a horrible position about a half inch above the rest of the controller stretching your thumbs out on both sides. It just seems like they were saving costs using the same moulds they probably used for the PS2. And the triggers are gash.

Oh and something something technical about the dead-zone.

Well, you know, that's as maybe but despite using one a fair bit I have yet to find myself grinding my teeth in agony and frustration like how I'd been led to expect.

11 years actually. And the originals actually had dimples on the sticks so it was easier to control.

Have you tried a pad where they actually have done this?

I have (albeit with a d-pad rather than a stick) - it wasn't usable. My mind* doesn't work according to how your thumbs move, but in terms of actual position compared to the pad. Interestingly, with boomerang pad, Sony had the same idea. They obviously didn't rate it enough to keep it.

* - And I'd be willing to bet many, many peoples.

I remain amazed at how the PS3 pad has a mushroom top to the analogue sticks.

Surely it makes a hell of a lot more sense to put a little dimple on there that your thumb can sit in? I mean, that’s obvious surely?

The Xbox pad has them (although, it’s a slight to small for me. My pad has pretty much worn down to a flat top so I’ve got some of those nobbly pad covers from eBay on there)

No, I'd like to, though. I genuinely think it would be better even if it took some getting used to, however that's probably too hard a sell and the benefits too difficult to explain.

I was playing Skate 3 and there's a thing on there where you can get it to show you a kind of trace of your actual stick movements. It struck me how difficult it is to draw anything even vaguely resembling a straight line up and down, even more difficult left to right.

Actually thinking about this I reckon you tend to orientate your movements to the screen, I find it a bit strange at first if I try and play laid back on the sofa looking sideways.

Goddamn this game is nuts and polished to a fine sheen; absolutely lush, if I could see what was going on. Technology has never looked so sexy.

Like I say, I couldn't get on with it at all. I wanted to (The pad wasn't cheap, and d-pad aside, was very, very comfortable) But fundametnally, up, despite being oriented with your hand, was no longer up.

Just played Vanquish for the first time and yes.. it's awesome!

It's a fast Gears of War which is good in my eyes so I'm off to preorder it!

Zavvi have it for £28.99 at the moment!

Aye, and if you spend another £21.02, you can get a fiver off using code "Zavvifive".

I'm considering just buying two copies of Vanquish (at £26.49 each) and splitting with a friend.

Edit: Details and other cheap things Zavvi are selling here:
http://savygamer.co.uk/2010/09/08/5-of- ... -at-zavvi/

This is out in a couple of weeks time, but also an even better deal (although still at Zavvi) has popped up.

Looks like we should be able to get it for £23.67 delivered.

I can't wait.

This is out tomorrow.. I have it on order but I haven't had the dispatch email yet.

I hope it comes. I'm leaving work at lunch time and I want something to play!

Yeah I'll be getting this at some point, Eurogamer have given it a 9/10 and whilst they aren't perfect i think all things told I've been led astray by them fewer times than I have by bummage on here.

You must be thinking of someone elses recommendations.

I only harp on about classics like Bayonetta, Halo Reach and Space Invades for the MAME challenge.

I was totally underwhelmed by the demo and watching video reviews and gameplay footage leaves me cold. Don't think I'll bother, not really my cup of tea. Plus, the EG review was by Simon Parkin who bums anything remotely Japanese. He also gave Monday Night Combat 9/10 despite it being basically shit.

Yeah it gave a good first impression. Then it becomes shit. Certainly not 9/10. Also, please don't dig up old quotes, it makes me feel like some sort of politician . I'm giving my opinion about games, they can change. Anyway, I only said it was "decent", now I'm saying it's basically shit.

edit: I now realise I didn't document my realisation of its shitness on here. However, I do recall arguing with people about it on Eurogamer - I assumed I'd said similar here, but it turns out the above was the first and last time I mentioned it more or less.

Mmm. Not even gems like this?

Hey waitaminute!

I was only kidding above. I'm sure you'll change your mind about Vanquish when it gets a public bumming on here.

I don't mind supporting Platinum Games at all given the quality of their output (including the collective heritage of the staff and previous company difficulties) which put most other developers to shame even if they don't always hit the mark. I think it's released tomorrow by the way kids.

I had completely forgotten about this.

So now it's shit then, eh?

No it's getting great reviews, I just didn't like the demo and I don't think it's my cup of tea. Also, the guy who reviewed it on Eurogamer is a plonker.

I like Simon Parkin's writing.

No. It's going to be awesome!

I don't think there's anything wrong with his writing, it's his opinions that are wrong.