Experience Points: No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, Gears of War 3, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, F-Zero GX

Well it's about damn time I wrote about something, isn't it? Lately I've really been busy and tied down by various happenings/distractions around me and projects coming to their finality, so unfortunately my writing has had to take a bit of a back seat recently. Despite that, however, here's a quick rundown of my latest gaming activity:

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - A game I've wanted to take down for a while now. I bought it and finished it on its normal difficulty when it first came out, but never got around to completely running through Bitter Mode (the hardest difficulty it provides) for some reason or another...I believe I became distracted by another game. Having gone back and played NMH 1 recently, NMH2 was next on the list. I recall back when I first played through Desperate Struggle, I felt like I liked the first entry in the series a little more. However, having gone through again on Bitter mode, my perspective has changed. No More Heroes 2 is a much smoother game with a much deeper combat system and just as much high-octane action, and I'm not really sure why I came to that conclusion previously. It's an amazing game that offers a good amount of difficulty and some really fun boss fights, especially having played through it now on Bitter Mode. In addition, the first game had a sort of free-roaming section where you traveled from place to place via the use of your massive motorcycle, the Schpeltiger...the only problem was that it was more a hindrance than a cool feature, so in NMH 2 they did away with it and made everything accessible by a handy menu. Although you could say that this just streamlines the game, it streamlines it in an area that was unneeded to begin with. In addition, the side jobs you complete to gain cash and buy yourself upgrades are much better in the sequel. Rather than clunky in-game engine activities, Desperate Struggle now has a selection of 8-bit styled games that are reminiscent of many treasures of the past (such as Mach Rider). Overall, it's a very polished experience that shows much improved game mechanics over the first No More Heroes and also draws great inspiration from the classics where it really counts. Check it out if you haven't already!

If this doesn't look badass enough already, you should get your eyes checked.

Gears of War 3 - Oh dear...this game has been taking up a bunch of my time recently. The first two entries in Gears of War were solid on their own, but this game just tops them both with ease. The campaign is actually really well-made and fun to play through with your friends, and the multiplayer is the deepest of the series. I never played too much competitive online in the previous games...just basically stuck to Horde mode. However, deathmatch and its variants are extremely fun to play, particularly if you get your friends in on it and form a team to work together and take the other squad down. Horde mode is also a much deeper experience on its own. Previously just a challenge of surviving 50 waves of enemies that progressively get tougher, it is now fleshed out with a currency system where the player gains money from killing enemies. This currency can be put toward buying barriers (such as caltrops or razor wire), turrets, or mechanical suits called Silverbacks. It's a good thing, too...because the waves vary quite widely in this game, and there are even waves that give you bosses to deal with that date back to the first game. It's a great arcade-style mode that you and your friends can learn to conquer, and I think Horde alone is worth getting the game. More to come on this one, really. I'll explain more about it in later entries, cause I'm sure I'll be playing it tons more.

Spoiler: Dom's beard consumes everything by the end of the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - This game...I don't even know where to start. When I got this game for my N64 in 2000, I played it through once and only once. For me to say that about a Zelda game is just strange...but it just never really stuck with me. Many people like the time manipulation in it, and I admit that it's pretty cool that everything in the world is based on the same clock and completely dependent on what time it is in Termina...but I always thought it was more of a pain in the ass than anything. This is the only Zelda game that I've played in which I haven't acquired every item in the game (heart pieces in particular). Recently, a friend of mine wanted to check it out, and I reluctantly agreed to play the game through with them again. Who knows, maybe I was just being a stubborn jackass about it or something and it's actually really sweet! Having played through most of it again so far, I can say that my mind has been swayed a little bit...but not entirely. Majora's Mask is pretty good...it's a well-thought out, deep experience that has a lot to offer, and in fact I don't mind the time mechanic so much anymore. However, playing through it again makes me realize just how much stuff they took from Ocarina of Time and repeated: following some floating idiot through a dark maze; penetrating a Gerudo fortress without getting caught; directing yourself along some stupid sign maze in the ocean that's exactly like getting through Gerudo desert to the Spirit Temple; and slipping by guards to enter a palace, just to name a few. These are things directly lifted from Ocarina of Time...and they're the irritating things! There are also some other strange happenings that just make you wonder what they were thinking when they put it in the game. The crappiest example I can think of so far is this pseudo-dungeon (Beneath the Well, no doubt...another repeating trend) wherein you must give items to Gibdos that will then allow you through doors. Going and finding everything that you need in the rest of the world and bringing it all back to the dungeon is just tedious and idiotic, and I have no idea why they decided this would be a good idea. We're not finished the game yet, but soon enough it will happen and then I'll post my final thoughts...but so far, I'm glad I've played through it again because it's changed my opinion on it...something that I admit is tough for me to do. Despite some "WTF were they thinking?" moments in the game, it has certainly gained ground in my mind and I can see why people call it their favourite Zelda.

Reminds me of my ex-wife!!!

F-Zero GX - I'll admit that when it comes to games, I'm a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. I like it when games are ridiculously fast sometimes, almost to the point where it's overwhelming. That's why I decided to fire up F-Zero GX again just the other week...easily the strongest entry in the F-Zero series and one of the fastest racing games out there (fuck you, Podracer...you suck!) I remember when I first got this game for the Cube, I played it non-stop until I completed every damn challenge on every difficulty level, and it drove me to the brink of insanity. The AI of the 29 computer-controller racers you compete against is nasty but beatable, and the tracks are devious but amazing. I've always liked the risk/reward Boost system in it as well, wherein you can give your craft a speed boost but at the expense of some of your shield (health). You really learn when and where you can push yourself to the bottom end of your life bar to max out your speed, and if you can budget your boosts well then you have a clear advantage. The story challenges are cool too, even though the cutscenes are as corny as hell. Examples of these challenges include one inspired by Speed, wherein your craft can't go under a certain velocity or a bomb will trigger and blow you to smithereens, and another where you have to escape an exploding building by a straight and narrow emergency exit. The catch is that the exit has a bunch of doors that will close and only leave small gaps to pass through, so you need to react fast in order to get out in time. On top of all this, you can play multiplayer, time trials, and even create your own vehicle and emblem art if you want. It's a deep, fun, and exhilarating racer that I've never regretted purchasing for a moment.

The future isn't the future without 2000 km/h death races!

That's it for now...I'm gonna try and get another post out shortly, but this weekend I'll be out of commission, and on Tuesday there are 3 games coming out that I want to get: Dark Souls, Rage, and Crysis (downloadable on the 360!) Dark Souls is an incredibly difficult and expansive RPG that is completely hardcore and unforgiving, and I assume will take a long time to get through; Rage is a massive FPS game from iD Software, the gods of the FPS as far as I'm concerned; and Crysis is just one of those games that I never got around to playing because my desktop computer was too crappy to handle it...so now I finally have the chance to play through it. And then of course, shortly after is Canadian Thanksgiving, so another busy weekend...

I'll admit, I haven't played through too many retro classics recently, but I've been getting the itch to run through one particular game lately. A hint you say? Well...alright...

Shouldn't be too hard for a seasoned gamer...

I'll do my best to get more content on here, so stay tuned!