New Release Tuesday
Lots of new games as we get ready for Xmas, including more music games: Lego Rock Band and Band Hero were both released today, along with Dragon Age Origins and so we keep on topic: Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.
Quick takes:
Band Hero vs. Lego Rock Band: It’s really cool seeing Lego Freddie Mercury, the legos are cute as Lego Rock Band, but if your name isn’t Bill Harris, you’ll probably prefer Band Hero over Lego Rock Band. Lego RB is just too easy. The chords are bordering on lame even on medium. Band Hero on the other hand, you could have called it Guitar Hero 73 and it’s the same thing. Either way , at the risk of sounding IGN – if you like music games you’ll like both.
Moving along to soccer: years ago when I wrote for Operation Sports as the sole person who wrote about soccer games, I was all about PES. The game just exemplified the struggle to score a goal – not that it was hard but when your ball hit the net, it meant something, as opposed to FIFA of the times which like all EA games had a gift score – in FIFA it was turbo run down the near sideline, cross and head the ball in.
Now it’s pretty much the other way around in terms of quality. PES doesn’t have a cheat goal but it just doesn’t have the same level of fun it once did. FIFA has really stepped up their game and playing it on a 50” DLP is a thing of beauty. My only continued gripe is this game is released at the END of the MLS season which means Americans have rosters that are pretty bad for MLS teams and under FIFA rule, even though the USMNT is in the top ten in the world their overall ratings suck donkeys. I don’t get it. It’s like FIFA said in order to get the license, you must tank the Americans.
Okay so there’s my footy rant for the day. FIFA right now is the better choice. And for the record, if you have the PS3 version of PES 2009, for some insane reason, that’s one of the games that counts toward the trade 2 games, get Dragon Age for $19.99. So basically I got $20 for trade in credit for last year’s soccer game that no one bought. That’s about $19 more than I thought I’d get. Thank you GameStop!
Monday night notes
- I give the Phillies credit, they sure like to make it more interesting. Running away with Game 5, theygive up 4 to the Yankees to make it an 8-6 game before closing it out, but a win is a win. I just want to see a 7 game series. It's all you want in any championship.. although a 7th game in the Series is nothing compared to a Stanley Cup.
- You wouldn't have known it from some of the stories in the papers or on the radio, but the Sun did come up this morning after the Packers lost to the Vikings. They lost to a better team. They were out coached by the Vikings and outplayed. The Vikings have a superior offensive and defensive line and the just didn't make any mistakes in the two games against the Packers. The Packers have lost their chance for the division (being essentially 3 games back now with 9 to go,) but have a pretty good shot at the Wild Card. I can't say that I'd expect a ton from them as they need a lot of work. Rodgers will be dead by the end of the year if they don't protect him better... thankfully they have a game against Tampa this week to heal up a bit.
- I wouldn't have thought they could have turned it around as quickly as they have, but the Islanders are playing really good hockey of late, winning 4 in a row. It's a very young team, but they seem to have worked past their 3rd period issues and have started to play some very solid and physical hockey. They were making me wonder about my Center Ice package purchase... just kidding... I love watching as much hockey as I can.
- In one of my last gaming pickups of the year, I'll be grabbing Dragon Age tomorrow. I loved the Baldur's Gate series and really wish there was another, but sometimes you live with what you can get and an RPG by Bioware is a good bet for a fun time.
- Still enjoying DJ Hero. One thing I love about the game is that you don't fail. It's like they wanted you to enjoy the music even if you're making some mistakes. I really like that aspect. There were times playing Guitar Hero where I just got so frustrated that the songs stopped being fun to play any more. That's another reason for me to keep going back to the game.. it's fun to play.
- The SGB Madden League is into week 5 and it's been quite a bit of fun. I do have to say that I'm glad that the Rams don't face the Vikings again. Good lord is Adrian Peterson over powered in that game... ugh. I know the man is good, but players bounce off him like he's made of silly putty. Still, my Rams are 3-2... and I still get to play Detroit. heh.
Late Saturday night notes
- Quite a good sports day. Islanders win big (5-0 over Buffalo,) hockey Badgers win big (6-1 over New Hampshire...completing the weekend sweep,) and the football Badgers beat Purdue 39-0.
I can only think of one more good thing that could happen this weekend sports-wise that would make this a perfect sports weekend. Go Pack.
- I've been playing a good bit of Torchlight over the past few days and it's a terrific Diablo clone. There are a few nice additions, such as the pets being able to take your equipment to town to sell (would it be that hard to attach a note with the pet to let them buy things for you too? heh,) but there are a few minor annoyances as well. The first of which being that sometimes it's too hard to stick with the guy you're trying to attack (I'm playing with the 'barbarian' type character) and have found my character standing still sometimes as I'm just missing the creature that I should be attacking. Minor issue, but a bit annoying at the same time.
Still, for $20 it's well worth your time if you're a fan of that style of game.
- DJ Hero is still a blast. I've only run into one mix thus far that I really didn't care for, but the rest of been great. It's a bummer that all of the DLC looks to be $3 a song, but I totally understand why it'll be that price. There are 2 songs that have to be licensed for each mix and I can only imagine how much work has to be done with each of the songs. I got the first 2 free for pre-ordering with Gamestop and they were both solid. (Any Public Enemy mix is a good one in my book.)
I've been playing the game for a bit every day since Wednesday... and can see that I'll be doing it for a while in the future as well.
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