Hands On impressions: Little Big Planet, Fable 2, Fallout 3, Resistance 2 Beta

Man, the past two weeks have been damn busy for me lately.

I picked up Little Big Planet about 2 weeks ago, Fable 2 about a week ago, got into the Resistance 2 beta today, and picked up Fallout 3 today also!

I'm enjoying all of the games so far, but I feel the need to indulge in my impressions anyway!

Little Big Planet:

Hot damn is this game amazing.  So far, it's the best game I've played this year outside of Metal Gear Solid 4.

The graphics are phenomenal, the level design is spot on, and I think Sackboy may be one of the most endearing characters to grace a gaming console since Mario and Sonic. The games' story mode is equally charming, and the last two levels are simply amazing.

The only real complaint I have about the game is the 2D plane switching. You can often make a fatal mistake if you don't learn to compensate for the auto plane switching on certain levels. This leads to the games' difficulty ramping up significantly if you haven't gotten used to the controls by the end of the first handful of levels. Due to the physics of the game, Sackboy is a bit more floaty, since he/she is supposed to, in essence, a ragdoll. Once you understand the physics nature of the game, and learn to take that into account, the game becomes a breeze to play.

I've finally started playing around with the create mode, making my first level, and it's just as addicting as the single player. Since the servers aren't online  yet, I haven't been able to sample other people's levels since my time in the beta three weeks ago. I'm also unable to play online with my friends, although they can come and join me in front of my TV for some 4 player goodness. The fun factor of this game is amplified considerably when playing with 2 or more other people, although be warned; if they aren't quite up to your skill level with platform games, or you up to their level, it can be tough, as the levels are old school platforming at it's best.

I'm absolultely loving this game, and would give it a 9.5/10, and it's in my list of top contenders for Game of the Year 2008, right up their with Metal Gear Solid 4.

Fable 2:

I enjoyed the original Fable...about a year or two after it released, and I got to see the game through my fiance's eyes. See, I got swept up in the hype for the original, and expected an RPG the likes of which I had never seen. What I got was an enjoyable, but relatively average action/rpg. However, my disappointment in the title really affected my perception of it's virtues.

When my fiance played the game the first time, and fell in love with it, I was able to see it through fresh eyes, that hadn't been affected by PR hype, and my appreciated for Fable 1 increased. As a result, I was eagerly anticipating the sequel, in the hopes that Peter Molyneaux and the folks at Lionhead got it right.

In many ways, they did, but in others, the game falls short.

The good:

I enjoy the humor, the social system, and the overall flow of the game. I also like that there have been significant improvements over the previous game. The dog companion makes sniffing out treasure chests and buried items a sinch. The social interaction wheel is also much improved, and making accidental mistakes when selecting actions are very rare. The family/wife/kids dynamic is also nice, as it adds a bit more weight to your actions when you come home from a quest to greet your son/daughter, and wife. Outside of that, there are a few disappointments that really keep this game from ascending to the upper echelon of gaming.

The lock on system is the biggest gripe I have with the game. The player will be surrounded by a group of enemies, with more off in the distance. Buy pulling the Left Trigger, you will lock onto an enemy. Unfortunately, 80% of the time the player will lock onto the far distance enemies, leaving you open to cheap shots from the near enemies. In tougher battles, this becomes a problem, and while the game isn't particularly hard, and the hero doesn't die, getting "knocked out" instead, you'll get scars each time you awaken from a knockout. The more scars you have, the less attractive you are to the people around you. If anything, cheap "deaths" shouldn't be the reason why you don't get that store discount, or the lady/guy you've had your eye on.

The next issue I have with the game is the visuals. The game isn't ugly, not by a long shot, but it is a fourth generation Xbox 360 game. I expected the visuals to be far better than what they are. As it stands, Gears of War is still, 3 years running, the benchmark for all 360 games. Gears of War 2 will no doubt carry that trend. Sunsets in Fable 2 are beautiful, and there are plenty of colorful fields and gardens, but character models are sub-par, with low quality and repetitive textures, as are the surroundings. Wood, especially, is rather low rate. Visuals aren't everything, but being halfway through the 360's projected life cycle, I'd expect the visuals to take a step forward, especially for an exclusive title that is being designed solely to take advantage of the 360's abilities.

Overall, I'd give Fable 2 an 8.5 out of 10. It's most certainly a must have for 360 owners that want a fun, relatively light-hearted action/rpg. While the story quest is rather short for an RPG (you can probably beat it in about 12-15 hours first playthough), the sub-quests add longevity, as well as hunting down all the Gargoyles and other items lurking around Albion. No game is perfect, and Fable 2, in my opinion may not be a perfect 10, but it's certainly the most fun I've had with my 360 since Bioshock and Mass Effect (i've been rather disappointed in the 360 exclusives this year, especially in comparison to last year's strong lineup).

Fallout 3:

I have to get this out of the way first; I suck at the original Fallout. I tried to play it, and tried again last week, but I just flat out suck at that game. I can't even make it to the next town after leaving the vault. With that said, my relative enjoyment of the game Oblivion, as well as the few developer walkthoughs I saw of Fallout 3 sold me on the game.

I picked it up tonight, and I'll also say this: the game has a 5 gig install for the PS3 version, but surprisingly enough, it only took about 1 minute to install, and you are treated to rather ominous/humorous tips of the trade for a healthy and safe life in the vault while you wait.

Now, I currently haven't played the game for myself, so my opinions will be updated once I have. I've been watching my fiance play for the past two hours, and, I'm highly impressed.

I own the PS3 version, and the visuals are a vast improvement over Oblivion, and look excellent on my 40" 720p Samsung. I can't comment on the quality of the PS3's visuals in comparison to the 360's, but I can say with absolute certainty that the visuals are fantastic, especially when considering the scope and scale of the game and it's environments. When you exit the Vault and view the world outside for the first time, don't be shocked if your breath catches in your throat. It's simply stunning.

The character look good, and do away with the slight "cartoony" quality the characters in Oblivion had. The story is interesting, and quite literally starts off with the birth of your character, and you go into choosing how your character is projected to look when they are older. From there, you are walked through a rather unique and elegant tutorial that gets you familiar with the gameplay mechanics of the game. Friends and enemies are already laid out in those first few moments, and everything feels like it's just one big foreshadowing of something epic to come.

I won't go into any spoiler details here, but I will say that I can't wait to actually get my hands on the game, well, if I can manage to wrangle the controller away from my fiance's grip (she absolutely loved Oblivion, and was looking forward to Fallout 3 more than I was. So far, she's liking it). I'll update this blog, or create  new one, once I've seen more of the game, and have gotten my own hands on time with it. All signs are pointing to a deep, complex game, and I'm most certainly enjoying how the story and characters are playing out. There are already attachments to certain characters, deaths, and evens that you can alter by succeeding or failing.

So far, I believe the hype and anticipation for this game has been worth it, and I'm certain PC, PS3, and 360 owners won't have much to complain about when they finally get their hands on it.

Resistance 2 Beta:

I can't really say much about the Resistance 2 Beta, because I only got to play it for a good 30 minutes with my fiance. What I think I can say is that I'm already addicted to the game.

After the start screen, you are treated to a rather badass looking Nathan Hale, standing against a reddish, firey backdrop with a rifle in his hand. You can choose to play co-op or competitive, online or offline.

I chose offline, and set up a game for me and fiance to play.

Being a multi-player gamer that prefers to offer support to his teammates, than just run in gun, i chose the Medic class. After playing this class, I'm positive that this will be the one I stick with when the final game does come out in a week or so (the game store across the street may get it before it's November release).

My fiance chose the Soldier class.

So, equipped with my healing gun, and her with her chaingun, we were tasked with occupying an enemy base. The graphics were quality, even in split-screen, and those dazzling water effects most certainly dazzle, especially when viewed on a large screen HDTV.

As for the gameplay itself, the firefights were frantic, with my fiance setting up a barrier and furiously blasting away at Chimera with her chain gun, and me standing behind her, zapping the health of the Chimera and then using it to heal her.

The number of enemies attacking us at once were scaled to our 2 player game, but it was numerous, and daunting. We failed many a time, and still even when we finished on objective, another would be given, but we sadly, failed at that task. I chalk this up to us being relatively new to the game and it's format, but because the enemy AI is quite vicious and clever. While we were attacking a group of Chimera in front of us, one of them broke from the pack, and circled around to our right, getting behind our bubble shield and attempting to flank us. While my fiance focused her attacks on the group in front, I quickly took care of the guy on the right.

Imagining this level of AI on a grander scale of an 8 player co-op match makes me drool with anticipation.

What also has me quivering with anticipation is the level up system. Each time I hit an enemy with my weapon, or healed my fiance, I got experience. Completing an objective gains a larger bit of experience. I'm already over halfway to my 2nd level, and I'm eager to get back into it a earn more.

In my opinion, the smartest thing FPS titles have ever done was implement the XP system of RPGs. Being an RPG fan for over a decade, this game, and others that adopt similar systems, sing to my soul like a heavenly choir.

It's been a grueling few weeks, and I'm now forced with the uneviable (though to some, I'd imagine enviable) task of splitting my game time between FOUR absolutely amazing video games. Not a single one of them is perfect, but when the gaming is as good as it is, do that have to be?