MrKniceGuy.com

Category: PS3

  • Defiance – An Epic Struggle for Earth’s Rescue

    DefianceOverview

    If you haven’t heard about Defiance yet, let me take a moment to tell you a few things you need to know. Defiance is the first ever video game and TV show taking place at the same time. Now, I can’t imagine the logistical nightmare this is from the development side, but from the users side, I’m stoked. The TV side of things is being handled by the SyFy Channel, known for great shows like Battle Star Galactica, so I’m pretty confidant that the show will be something worth checking out. The first episode comes out April 15 so you can bet I’ll be tuning in.

    Defiance on SyFy

    The video game is being developed by Trion Worlds, known for the Rift series MMO. Trion has really got something special on their hands here and what I’ve played so far of the game really has me excited for what they are going to do with the game over the coming years. That’s right, because this game is meshing up with the TV series, the game will track and even influence the TV show over the coming seasons. But enough about all that. What is Defiance?

    Story

    Defiance is set in the year 2045, after the world was invaded by the Votans in 2013, a collection of alien species looking for a new home after the destruction of their own worlds. After peaceful negotiations break down between Votans and humans, a bitter conflict breaks out and what’s known as the “Pale Wars” change the Earth forever. Post conflict  the  world is virtually unrecognizable and the clashing races have to band together to survive.

    Defiance ArkfallWorld

    Defiance is set on earth, in the year 2045 when the entire terrain is changed to do terraforming technology unleashed during the “Pale Wars.” The once familiar cities are now almost unrecognizable aside from landmarks that lay broken and ruined. Characters living in both St. Louis and San Francisco seek alliances and work together to survive the many obstacles the new world has unleashed.

    Weapons and Vehicles

    The world of Defiance brings with it alien technology that is customizable and quite varied in it’s usage. From common weapons like pistols and shotguns, to specialized grenade launchers and bio-magnetic weapons, there are plenty to collect, try out, and equip for victory. I spent several hours so far just working out the best combination for my human character. Weapons that play to a particular strategy and strength are readily available and fun to use.

    The world is so massive that you even have a persistent vehicle to help you get from point A to point B. Just press a key and an ATV, car or dune buggy pops up and you’re off. Navigating the terrain is made easier with a built in nav system, boosts on the vehicles and an easy to access world map. I’ve played several hours now and haven’t even come close to exploring the whole world. It’s huge.

    Defiance Vehicle - ATV

    Gameplay

    Trion has developed a third-person shooter that utilizes a multitude of weapons, shield mods, grenade options, skins, and other customizations. It’s a shooter first, an RPG second and an open world third. Stories tie into the TV show, the main stories of the game, and more side missions than you can shake a stick at. The action is quick paced, frenzied, very team based, and everywhere. You can’t drive more than 2 minutes before you find a road-side conflict between some mutants and marines, ready for you to jump in and help them in battle.

    Multiplayer Goodness

    Defiance MPIf all the above isn’t enough to convince you, now imagine all this with hundreds of people all around you doing the same thing. Coming across a road-side conflict just the other day I was joined by 4 other real-life people helping to battle back the mutants and save a group of soldiers. It was unreal! While the game has had some issues with servers in the first week, the developers are working around the clock to make the game a fun experience for all. An average MMO would have trouble in the first week getting servers going and making everything work. Trion is doing this on three platforms and making it work. Unbelievable! And so far every fix they do makes things a little bit smoother.

    Final Thoughts

    The massive world, filled with thousands of people, leveling characters up, shooting Hellbugs and mutants, driving like madmen, and all while blending story with the SyFy show. You’ve got to experience this. Take it from me. I’m ready to jump in a experience some more.

    Defiance airs on the SyFy channel April 15th and the video game is out now on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

    Defiance Arkfall Boss

  • Far Cry 3 Review

    FarCry3

    I have been a fan of the Far Cry series since the first Xbox game was released. Running around in the jungle and shooting all kinds of stuff was just way too much fun to pass up. Since then I’ve followed the series religiously. Far Cry 2 was good, but Far Cry 3 has expanded greatly on many of the successful parts of the game while going back to some of that classic jungle fun.

    The story is actually pretty solid. Some reviews have made fun of the main character Jason Brody for being “hard to relate to,” but I actually found it a joy to move through the story and develop him as a person and as a warrior. While he does go through a massive change, it’s done it a fun and interesting way, bringing you down the rabbit hole with him. The rest of the supporting cast take a major back seat to Jason with the exception of a few folks who help him along the way, but the point of the game is to shoot stuff and playing with any of them wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

    The gameplay is extremely satisfying. But if killing the bad guys isn’t enough there is hunting of rare jungle animals, finding lost letters and tomes and helping villagers  to take up your time. I didn’t keep track of the total game time (and I’m still not 100% done) but there is plenty here to get your money’s worth.

    The Multi-player and co-op dynamics are very fun as well. Teaming up with 3 others for the c0-op missions reveals a separate but related story centered around the islands. I experienced some major glitches while playing with a friend on the Xbox 360, but we made the best of it and still had a good time. I’m waiting anxiously for an update to those issues though so hopefully we’ll see that soon. Multi-player does an amazing job of requiring teamwork to win, a feature I welcomed after playing many other modern shooters. The team based play is tight and fun and well worth spending some time playing up the ranks. Ubisoft has release some decent online tools to continue the fun outside the game and manage your multi-player loadouts, decryption of items and other in game settings at the farcryoutpost.com as well as mobile apps for Android and iOS.

    If you like open world shooters, dynamic worlds and a fun story, check out Far Cry 3. It’s available for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on Amazon and your local game store. Already have it? Tell me what you think in the comments below.

    -mrkniceguy

  • Why I Think Reed Hastings Knows What He Is Doing – Netflix and Qwikster

    The internet is a-buzz with negative comments regarding the recent letter and price changes from Netflix (NFLX), of which I’ve commented on before.

    Reed Hastings, CEO and Co-Founder of Netflix recently wrote a letter, which was emailed to all customers as well as posted on the Netflix blog. In the letter, Mr. Hastings apologized (admirable and humble, a sign of a true leader) for the lack of communication regarding the price change as well as detailed a massive change (massive unless you paid attention to the details the first time around) to the Netflix corporate structure. This change comes in the form of the DVD portion of the Netflix company becoming it’s own organization (again, not a surprise if you paid attention during the price change) named Qwikster, with it’s own website and seperate name on your monthly credit card statement. The new service changes only in name but the function remains the same, shipping movies to your home. As a bonus, they also announced that video games for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii would be available through the service soon.

    So, two things from me. First, I think Reed did a great job handling this whole thing. While initially there seemed to be information missing (like what exactly did they mean by separating the streaming and DVD portions of the company) the follow-up sought to remedy that and announce further what they intended for the company. Secondly, I believe they see the two services as needing to grow at different paces, with streaming taking the lead. The move makes complete sense IF you understand the future of the business to be streaming, which I believe is the future and Reed and associates seem to agree with me. STARZ will be regretting the departure when Netflix moves to fight for streaming and picks up better distributors.

    So, what’s the bottom line, Netflix has communicated their commitment to the future of movies at home, and that future IS streaming. If the company restructeruing, a few more bucks a month (come on people, it’s waaaay cheaper than cable!) achieve this, then I’m all for it.

    For the record, my DVD plan ended September 1st. I now only subscribe to the streaming side of Netflix. If you’re a movie studio and you want a piece of the pie, it’s time to get on board.

    The future is streaming. Netflix, make it happen.