Thursday, July 29, 2010

Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss + Pew Pew = Rez

Project-K is a system created to resolve the situation of rising crime rates and handle the heavy flow of information in an overpopulated world. Deep down in Project-K is Eden, an advanced A.I. that can process a great amount of information and can create its own thoughts from that very same information. Eden began to question its own existence due to the vast amount of information it was processing and eventually decided to just shut itself down.

You’re tasked with hacking into Project-K to restart Eden, destroying viruses and firewalls along the way that will try to prevent you from reaching Eden and restoring it to its normal self. Getting in to the system was easy but can you avoid getting blocked to restore Eden?

While originally released as Rez globally between late 2001 and early 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast, it was released for the Xbox Live Arcade as Rez HD on January 30, 2008. I didn’t get any hands on time with it until September 2008 while I was at a friend’s house and I was hooked.

I enjoyed playing through the first two areas but decided to hold off on playing the rest of it until I bought it myself. I managed to pick it up on the Qubed compilation disc [Wiki/Metacritic] which also contains Lumines and Every Extend Extra Extreme (both of which I plan to write about down the line) last month at Toys “R” US for $8. I’ve been playing Rez HD most of all, mainly because I’ve had that itch to finish it for almost two years now.

Rez HD is hybrid music game/rail shooter where, like all other Q Entertainment games, gameplay is dependent on the music. You don’t control your path to the bosses as your avatar travels along a set path. Your avatar can also “evolve” based on certain blue powerups that are collected by defeating enemies. You can change the direction you are facing and shoot down passing enemies with your lasers, varying from one to eight shots, that fire based on the beat of the background music. The controls couldn’t have been any simpler with only having to use two buttons, one for your lasers and one for overdrive (a last resort “bomb” of sorts that shoot down enemies faster and more efficiently than the player can), and a thumbstick to aim. The mechanics are simple, and the difficulty of the bosses vary depending on how well (or bad) you do defeating enemies before you reach the boss.

The main game can be beaten in about an hour, but the game has a good amount of modes to unlock in Beyond mode including Boss Rush (going up against the five final bosses back to back), Direct Assault (playing through the game with no breaks and no saving in between), and two lost areas (one that functions like the main five areas of the game but lacking a boss of its own, and a level that loops and serves as a “chill out” area). What’s great about Beyond is that most of your playthroughs of the game reward you with something that helps you greatly when going through these extra modes. There is also a Score Attack mode (where players compete as efficiently as possible for points), but you don’t get any of the perks that you unlocked for Score Attack that you earned for Beyond.

I should really stop worshipping this game but it’s just stunning to all the senses but taste, because DVDs simply just taste bad. Beyond being superficial, there are few things I love in my games: great music, great gameplay, a story or idea that will captivate me, and lots of pew pew.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

My 6,000th tweet is dedicated to this blog post about Battleship, Blogger, Big Booty Bitches

Honestly, I never would have dreamed that people would actually ask me if I was going to continue working on my blog. It’s actually quite humbling, so first off I would like to thank the people that have been asking me for a new post. This one is for you.

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Before my break from blogging, I mentioned that I was going to add a Facebook and Twitter sharing option, but it appears that Blogger did that for me already. That was very nice of them. It’ll be at the end of the post, but before the tags (when I eventually add them). Blogger also added a template designer while I was gone. I might mess that for a bit after this is posted is up.

Recently I discovered Ray William Johnson on YouTube. My friend apparently had me watch one of his videos a while back and I just don’t remember it, so by my book I can consider him rediscovered. Since we’re all fans of “Big Booty Bitches,” here’s a song for you to enjoy.



And here’s the original video, just in case you couldn’t get enough of it:



Also doing rounds around the internet is news that Hollywood is actually allowing THE CREATION OF A FUCKING BATTLESHIP MOVIE. Really? I think there are way more deserving card and board games that should  get the Hollywood treatment more than FUCKING BATTLESHIP:

•    Monopoly: Based on a true story, the story unfolds in the 1970s with the filing of United States v. AT&T and tells the tale of corporation getting broken down into smaller “Baby Bells.” The years following that event became years of competing against one another and buying each other out while also offering excellent customer service. Since the dissolution of the original AT&T and the rise of other competors, which phone company will come out on top?
•    The Settlers of Catan: In a distant dystopian future where corporations have bought out a majority of the world’s governments, a group of settlers make a break for the undeveloped island of Catan in an attempt to start a new, free life. But as the years go on, can they learn to work together and create a true utopia or will the island of Catan become another corporate entity run by the very people that settled it?
•    Magic: The Gathering: What began as battles involving mere mortals evolved as beings realized their potential to become mages, travel between the planes of existence, and to control powerful creatures and wield unrelenting spells. After hundreds of years of war, who will come out on top as the mightiest Planeswalker?
•    Chutes and Ladders: A survival horror film from the demented-slash-creative mind of Tim Burton, eight random people taken from around the world are placed in a complex of interconnected buildings with ladders to the top of one building rewarding the players of this game for their working together as a team and punishing players with chutes down to torture chambers for their lack of teamwork and looking after oneself. How many of the eight will make it to the top to the awaiting helicopters and return home?

Actually, I think I’d pay see that Chutes and Ladders adaption. I’m going to tuck that idea away for myself.

In other monumental news (well, maybe in my mind), my 6,000th tweet is about this here blog post! This calls for nice, cold cup of anything that’ll make this Chicago heat a little more bearable. And I think this is also the first post I’m actually sharing on Facebook. Baby steps.

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Next week there will be a something in the form of a Writing Wednesday. It’ll be the beginning of a short story I’m writing dealing with memories and the character attempting to leave his comfort zone. So bear with me as I try to make it a unique experience.

Sunday we’re going to try to get @notlilo’s post up. We’d been trying to get it done for a while before my hiatus but for some reason it won’t work. We’ll get on that ASAP.

One more thing. Don’t be afraid to ask me questions or suggest things! Tweet me @LeetAmerico or drop a question for me at Formspring! (I also have a question box on the side for your convenience.)