So then there was Turok

[gekko]

Ya... Turok. Sure we have some members running around here like "Look at me, I'm so sweet, I work on Turok!" Ok, whatever, Turok has sucked since well... Turok 1. Got so bad they had to ruin the lives of children in cheesy marketing ploys. But out of curiosity and boredom, I played the new Turok today, and it was amazing. Graphics were amazing, the levels are sweet and make you literally worry about a raptor jumping through the brush. I was sneaking up on enemy n00bs and stabbing my knife into their heart, shooting my bow from a concealed position to take out a gaurd patrol, then dual weild a pistol and a shotgun and destroy an extinct species.

Long story short, it was awesome. *claps*

[Jason1]

Wait, what? Are you for real Gecko? Is this some sort of practical joke?

[Bond]

I'm guessing he must have played it at DigiPen... or something.

[gekko]

PAX, actually. Quite fun.

Played Turok, PGR4, Beautiful Katamari, Rock Band, Castle Crashers and America's Army for 360, Lair for PS3, and Metroid Prime 3, Fire Emblem, Naruto, Bleach, DBZ:BT3, Godzilla Unleashed, Indianapolis 500 Legends, de Blob, Dragon Blade, Table Tennis, Namco Museum Remix, and Geometry Wars: Galaxies for Wii. I was covering for a Wii site, if you want to know why I played every single Wii title at the show.

But Turok rocked. Go Dyne.

[Bond]

What did you think of Rock Band and America's Army for 360?

They only had the drums at PAX, right?

[gekko]

They had a station with 3 full sets, then another with 2 guitars battling. I choose the guitars to same myself waiting in line for hours and...

Copying and pasting...

Really can't say I liked it much. The guitar was much skinnier than the Xplorer, and despite IGN's claims that the buttons were stiffer, they seemed pretty loose to me. The buttons didn't seem to have as much space between them, and I found it much harder to play. While in theory it should be easier, I was constantly wondering which button my fingers were on. The second set of frets I never did use, and I don't even know when you do. The strum bar felt fantastic, but the whammy bar was far off to the side, so much so that I needed to move my hand off the strum bar to find it and grab it. I wasn't too impressed. It also felt a little longer, but it might've been because I don't play standing up that I wasn't used to the placement.

Guitar aside, I really didn't like the HUD. The wide notes seemed to take up a larger portion of the screen, making it harder to stare at the screen and see all the notes at once. For the HOPOs, the notes get smaller, turning into squares which now caused you to look at objects of different sizes and placements. While it was much easier to determine which notes you had to strum, I was having a hard time keeping my timing consistent between them because of the size difference.

The worst thing was the score multiplier and the star power meter, both were underneath the notes. The way I play, I look a little bit ahead to see what notes are coming, which caused me to look away to see the multiplier. There was also no color to it, so you couldn't see purple out of the corner of your eye and know you're on a 4x streak, time to activate that shining blue stuff on the other side of the screen. You literally needed to look down, and see the number, or see how much of the bar was filled.

All in all, they are fairly minor complaints, but given the option, I'd play GH2 over guitar in Rock Band any day. It felt like a step backwards.

[gekko]

and I'm headed out, but America's Army is nothing special. Nothing great. Pretty much, only worth it if it's for free.

[Angrist]

Link the site you're working for please? :) I'd like to read your impressions of Wii games.

[Angrist]

Link the site you're working for please? :) I'd like to read your impressions of Wii games.

[Dyne]

What the fuck, you were at PAX too? We should have hung out. I was stopping by the Turok booth quite a bit. I'm assuming you met John Grimm when you went to play it. John's a cool guy but got totally stuck manning the booth all weekend, hahaha.

But yeah, I'm really happy to see the positive response on Turok. :D There was at least 7 people crowding around the Turok booth at all times when I went by.

[gekko]

What the fuck, you were at PAX too? We should have hung out. I was stopping by the Turok booth quite a bit. I'm assuming you met John Grimm when you went to play it. John's a cool guy but got totally stuck manning the booth all weekend, hahaha..

Never would've guessed. See, you're Canadian, you need to tell us when you're coming to the good land ;) Besides, I figured you would've been working :p Shame though, let me know if you come down again. I'm living there now, in the land of Microsoft. Speaking of the land of Microsoft, since being in this cursed city with my Apple shrine of products, I'd had 2 BSODs in Vista and my 360 died. Microsoft is out to get me...

But ya, the name John sounds right. Older gentleman, wore glasses? He gave a better walkthrough to the public than I got being media at some booths. But I did wonder if you were at the show, walking by I saw the guy and thought "That would be so weird if that was Dyne." But I don't even know your name, so it was pointless even asking.


Link the site you're working for please? :) I'd like to read your impressions of Wii games.

http://www.thewiire.com/features/206/1/PAX07_Software_Impressions

There would be more, but we took audio notes and the other guy needs to get them uploaded before I can type more.

[Dyne]

Yep, John's one of the Game Designers; he mainly works on Coop.

The only things I like about America are: PAX, really cheap gas, Hawaiian Punch, and Hot/Spicy pringles. And you guys apparently don't have the last thing anymore so I don't think I'll be coming back down immediately. :shakehead But yeah, if there's another convention or anything before the next PAX I'll totally head down.

[DeathsHand]

really cheap gas

Shh, don't say that in the presence of Americans...