May 04, 2010 by Greg Noe
It's been four years since I received what is probably the best handheld system of all time, the Nintendo DS. My original DS was the red one that came packed in with Mario Kart DS. Even though I was obsessed with Mario Kart on the GBA, I only played it on the DS once. No explanation for that one.
I love this system because it's truly a portable fan's dream, not to mention all the awesome and innovative games available for it. The best feature of the DS is that you simply close it to put it in standby and open it to start playing right away. It's like a laptop but works super fast and never fails to come back. Battery life can last for days with it in standby meaning you can close it up at night and then resume right away in the morning. There has been many-a-time where I fell asleep playing the latest Ace Attorney game in bed, and the DS fell to the ground and closed on itself. No need to even save the game!
Read moreMay 03, 2010 by Steve
Today's first hour review is for Trine, a unique sidescrollerbrought to us by Frozenbyte. Having known nothing about the companybefore now, Wikipedia tells us that they are a Finnish developer,founded in 2001 and consisting of around 20. They previously made twogames for PC, Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor (apparently FPSwith RPG hybrid elements).
Their latest game, Trine, was releasedin 2009 for PC and later PS3 (with 360 version seemingly cancelled). Ibecame drawn to the game by a cheap price on Steam along with prettyscreenshots and a bit of positive word-of-mouth.
Read moreApril 30, 2010 by Paul Abbamondi
Bargain bins. Sometimes they holdtreasures, other times just stuff better left at the bottom where noone can see. Still, I'm poor and always hoping for the best so Ican't help but look around. Surprisingly, I found XIII in one ofthese dumpster dive sessions, and for $1.99 at that. All I reallyknew of the game was that it was cel-shaded, likened constantly to anaction-fused comic book, and a FPS.
A few weeks ago, Games for Lunch's KyleOrland reviewed XIII's first hour. He died numerous times and wasultimately frustrated with the game's gameplay. Hopefully I'll have abetter sixty minutes.
Read moreApril 29, 2010 by Ian M. Bagley
I'd like to apologize for being so wordy this week at the First Hour, but the writers here love to write! I recently asked Ian to tell me about his gaming history, thinking I'd get a couple line reponse about how his parents bought him a Game Boy or something, but along comes a serious epic that will probably seem very familiar to many of us reading along.
If you've got your own story you'd like to tell, reply in the comments or send me an email, I'd love to host it here!
Read moreApril 28, 2010 by Greg Noe
A few years ago, I had to opportunity to borrow an Xbox 360 along witha bunch of games when my friend was out of the country. Assassin'sCreed was one of them, and while I was more or less satisfied after the first hour, the entire game left a lot to be desired. I found it incredibly repetitive and full of crappy A.I. while lackingany kind of story framework. It had its moments, like finding thelookout points around the city along with some beautiful graphics, butthe game left a foul taste in my mouth.
Fast forward more than two years later and this time Assassin's Creed IIhas fallen into my lap. Everyone was raving about how much Ubisoft hadimproved the game over the original, but then again all those samepeople had lavished praise on the first one. I'm not one to judge agame without giving it a try though, so here we are for another goaround with the first hour of Assassin's Creed II.
For a quick introduction, the Assassin's Creed series is all about third-person parkourin the past. You play as an assassin who runs around the city doingwhat assassins do: finding out information about their target and thentaking them out. The first game took place in the Holy Land in the12th century whereas the sequel is set in Italy during theirRenaissance in the 15th century.
Warning: Do not buy this game for Windows as Ubisoft wrapped Assassin's Creed II in some of the most awful DRM anyone could ever imagine:a required, persistent internet connection for a single player game. Avoid this at all costs, don't buy it and don't pirate it for Windows. Do not give Ubisoft any reason to justify what they did. Two yearsago, Ubisoft released Prince of Persia without any DRM whatsoever, ask them to return to those days.
April 27, 2010 by Steve
To video games afficionados, it mayseen odd to find a peer who doesn't own any modern consoles. Infact, I'm honestly frequently asked by peers, "Do you have a360? Oh, a PS3?" Nope, only PC. "Why?"
Normallythis query would get a brief brush-off response as I really don'tfeel like talking someone's ear off about such silly things, butthat's what writing is for, no? So here are the reasons why I stilldo not own a Wii, 360 or PS3 despite liking games enough to write ona website about them.
Read moreApril 26, 2010 by Mike in Omaha
We recently had the pleasure of attending a conference call with the producer and director of the new video game, Iron Man 2. With the film set to release on May 7th and the game on May 4th, Tony Stark is ready to take on the world again. Iron Man 2 will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, and PSP. It will be Sega San Francisco's final release (formerly Secret Level) as Sega is closing up shop. Secret Level previously developed Golden Axe: Beast Rider and the first Iron Man game.
Mike is a veteran of both Golden Axe and Iron Man titles so he was the perfect fit to submit questions for the conference and he will be handling the eventual first hour and full reviews of Iron Man 2. Look for those in mid May.
Read moreApril 23, 2010 by Paul Eastwood
Infinite Space is a DS game published by SEGA as a collaboration between Platinum Games and Nude Maker. Platinum Games previously developed Madworld and Bayonetta for SEGA, and Nude Maker comes from a background making... well, let's just say their name isn't just a bad translation. However, these two teams had previously worked together on the XBox game Steel Battalion. Yes, the game that cost $200 and came with a giant mech-dashboard controller.
While Steel Battalion went over the top with its controller, Infinite Space seeks to go where no anime character has gone before. The concept of the game is space exploration, and the building of a fleet to undertake said exploration. And because we all know space is a very dangerous place, there will be battles; many battles.
The producer of Infinite Space said this has been a long time dream of his, as he grew up inspired by science fiction. He mentioned several influences, but if I list them here you will get the wrong idea of the game. It's nothing like the influences he mentions.
What is it like? Well, I'll tell you, or at least what the first hour is like.
April 22, 2010 by Greg Noe
Over the last 24 years, popular Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has awarded 14 perfect scores. For Famitsu magazine, a game review's final score is actually two to four total scores assigned by a collection of reviewers. Technically, there's no such thing as a 40/40 score, but four 10/10's. But gamers love numbers, and we love comparing one game's numbers to another game's numbers, so the 40/40 perfect score list is a great way for fanboys to scoff or gyrate in anticipation.
Outside of the country, Famitsu is the ultimate barometer of what Japan thinks of a particular game. Famitsu scores are thrown about in headlines and rattled around in forum discussions, but you almost never hear why a score was awarded one number instead of the next. This is undoubtedly because of the language barrier between Japan and the rest of the world, but also because numbers are easy for everyone to understand and the fact that Famitsu editors give their reviewers about 100 characters to explain what they thought about a game.
While I'm not personally a big fan of a game review's score (I'd much rather read the why and how), the Famitsu perfect score list is an intriguing specimen. The eighth game in two years just garnered the spotlight: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, but let's start at the beginning.
Read moreApril 21, 2010 by Greg Noe
Kasumi's Stolen Memory is the first major paid downloadable contentavailable for Mass Effect 2. It was released earlier this month aftera slew of "free" content for those who bought the game new (I'lleventually go back and review each of the major DLC's including Zaeedand the Firewalker pack). For 560 Microsoft Points ($7 USD) you canrecruit a new crew member, play a new loyalty mission, get a new SMGand casual outfit, and satisfy your curiosity of what happened to abunch of famous relics on Earth.
This is almost less of areview, and more of a walkthrough of the actual content, but it's a funway to describe all the new stuff packed into the DLC. Myrecommendation is that Stolen Memory is a really great piece of contentand is worth its purchase price for big fans of the series, butprobably not worth it if you've already moved on completely. Here's myreview of Kasumi's Stolen Memory, played as a renegade female Shepard.
