Call of Duty 4 on the DS, Potential Greatness

Well it took me a while to get back to my topic about good DS games at E3, since I have been playing Mario Strikers since Wednesday, but I would like to inform everyone of the greatness that could be Call of Duty 4 for the Nintendo DS. There is a great video and interview over at IGN if you want to read up a little more about it. The main thing getting me excited for the game are the graphics and the controls. The game controls very similarly to Metroid Prime Hunters for the DS and the graphics, for a system with lower specs, looks fantastic. There are huge 3-D environments and great looking explosions. The most impressive thing about this game is the massive amount of action happening on the screen at any one time. At one time in the trailer there is a helicopter getting shot down and you really feel immersed in the game, and it's just a trailer.

One reason I am so impressed from one trailer and interview about a game is the fact that I trust the development team. The team making this game is the team that made Geist for the Nintendo Gamecube, n-space. That game's single player was only ok mostly because the team couldn't decide if it should be an FPA (Metroid Prime, Bio Shock) or an FPS (Goldeneye, Halo). The game controlled like a dream and the multiplayer was fantasic. I know Call of Duty will be more of an action game, the best elements from Geist, based on the way the series has been treated in the past. So n-space can concentrate on the things that matter most, war killing gun shooting action.

Super Mario Strikers Is In The House

It's official, I just got Super Mario Strikers this morning. What's that you ask, that game doesn't come out for another week or so? That's fine, I'm still the "main Nintendo guy" in the eyes of my old EB Games manager so whenever he gets any Wii or DS games shipped to him early, he gives them to me. I will be playing around with the game tonight and I will have some first impressions sometime tomorrow.

I will also supply my friend code tomorrow so if anyone wants to befreind me and play some serious online soccer gaming then let me know your code and we can link up.

Super Paper Mario Complaints: Part II

I've been playing Super Paper Mario (Wii) recently now that I beat Resident Evil 4 again and I've honestly not been all that impressed with certain sections. I think a part of it is the fact that I'm not typically the biggest fan of RPG games and this is an RPG game, different type, but still an RPG game. It's not that I haven't enjoyed any of the game because certain parts have been quite a bit of fun. There are some neat little puzzles using the 2D/3D flip mechanic and the different use of characters can be neat at times. There have just been some parts of the game that don't make any sense to me, and in a Nintendo game these things are just so rare to see.

The first major qualm is the interesting running mini-game that got me watching TV while I held left on the d-pad, if you don't remember it click here. The most recent thing that happened to me was when I was asked to say please to someone by typing "please" on an in-game keyboard, and not just once but it required me to type it 6 times. The worst part about it though is the fact that when you typed a wrong letter you had to start all over again. In the end I typed the word 9 times (once for using a "P" instead of a "p"). Maybe if I got to use the IR sensor it could have been at least somewhat entertaining, but no, I had to use the d-pad.

The next thing that irked me, right after asking please, was this little villager who gave me a combination for a lock. He told me to get a piece of paper and a pen to write it down but I figured he was only joking. Lo and behold, I actually had to get a piece of paper and a pen to write down the combo because it was about 25 steps long. Talk about breaking the 4th Wall and taking the gamer out of the experience. Maybe this type of thing is common in RPGs, or an attempt at humor, but I am simply not a fan.

Super Paper Mario Complaints and Impressions

OK, so I may be late to the party here with Super Paper Mario but I was holding out on buying the game so I could potentially get it for my birthday. But enough about that, on to my impressions and complaints. Also, if any of you have not played this game THERE WILL BE SOME MINOR SPOILERS so be weary of that.

So let me get started by saying I am only through the first three chapters, which could actually be looked at as a bad thing since I have a few complaints already and I am still early in the game. The first thing that really disappointed me was the part in the second chapter when you have to earn a million Rubees to escape from the castle. Now it would have been extremely poor design if you actually had to earn all those Rubees but at least the developers spared us that. But what they didn't spare us was the fact that you are forced to get at least 10,000 Rubees in order to get the password for the vault containing a million Rubees. You can obtain Rubees in different ways but they all involve repetitive motions that are in no way fun. The most effective and easiest way is to make a quick buck is to unlock the first password-protected room with the gerbil running-wheel. The only issue here is that running is as simple as pressing left or right on the d-pad and letting the game sit there as you run in circles (obviously not an enjoyable experience). What I ended up doing was switching the input on my TV to watch a few minutes of DISH Network while my paper Mario racked up some money. This is not the way you are suppose to play games, holding a button on a controller while you watch TV. I expect much better from Nintendo.

My other major gripe has to do with the bosses. So there is one dragon boss at the end of the first chapter and then at the end of the Pit of 100 Trials there is another dragon. Now I am a man who loves himself some dragons so having multiple dragon bosses is fine by me. But I am also a man who does not like repetitive gameplay, so having the dragons act the exact same way is complete crap. But to Nintendo's defense here, the dragons are different colors. [/sarcasm]

All in all though, with those gripes aside, I am enjoying the parts of Super Paper Mario that you actually control. The story isn't all that exciting to me but the gameplay is fun. More details as I get deeper into the game.