Split/Second Review: The Spiritual Successor of Burnout.

Ever wondered what it’d be like to race in an environment wherein everything is just rigged and ready to blow? This is the premise of Split/Second. Dubbed a reality TV show, you are a contestant in this twisted racing fantasy only Michael Bay could possibly think of. The game is your typical arcade racer with a huge twist: you blow stuff up to take other rivals out. From parked cars to a whole rock face, the environment is your weapon in this game. Sure you can ram your rivals, but that doesn’t really do much.

Split/Second takes everything good about arcade racers and keeps them while adding a whole lot more into the mix. One element is the Power Play mechanic, which is the one used to blow stuff up. Before you can set anything on fire, you must first build up your Power Play meter. The meter is located behind your car. This is another unique thing about Split/Second, it integrates the HUD behind your car so that you can view the spectacle which is the race with minimal distractions. Back to the meter, you build it up by drifting, drafting, catching air or having a close shave with your rivals’ own Power Plays. Once you fill up a meter, icons will start appearing in top of racers. This is the time wherein you can activate the Power Plays. There are four types of Power Plays. Level 1 Power Plays are your basic explosions. These range from a crane dropping some steel girders to much simpler ones like roadside tankers exploding. These are usually used just to distract your rivals from their racing lines or let them drift uncontrollably because of the shockwaves caused by the explosions. Level 2 Power Plays are much bigger ones. They range from blowing a whole warehouse up to a whole ship capsizing into the track. These are just chaotic and very effective against taking down rivals. The next one is the Shortcut. Shortcuts in this game are activated and open up a path for you to take. As long as the Shortcut is open, anyone can take advantage. After a little while though, the Shortcut closes up forcing other racers to take the other route. The last and most dynamic of all Power Plays is the Route Changer. These are Power Plays that indefinitely alter the track you race in by destroying a huge structure. They are amazing to watch and can generally change the outcome of the race.

Can you outrun a building?

Is it a cheap gimmick just to sell the game? Well, not really. You see, once you know where all the Power Plays are, you are aware where and how these Power Plays work out. This is when this “gimmick” turns into a strategic element in the game. Timing is everything in this game and if you just spam your Power Plays, you’ll end up with no power and your rival still in the lead. Worst case scenario, you hitting yourself with your own Power Play. Time them right though and you’ll be in the lead in no time. Once you’re in the lead though, you do no get to activate Power Plays, besides the Route Changers and the Shortcuts, which means you’ll be under fire from your rivals and will have to play defense to maintain that lead. It keeps the race exciting and very lively that way.

General gameplay is very good. Every car handles differently from each other. Some cars will let out a slide even if you just tap the steering and some cars will just grip the track like a magnet. There are 3 different types of cars in Split/Second. These are the drift-happy Muscle Cars, the loose-handling Supercars and the tough-as-nails Racing Trucks. Drifting in this game is a bit different. It’s not loose like Burnout’s but not as controlled as Ridge Racer’s either. It has its own drifting mechanic, a grippy one to be precise, and it honestly works really well. It can also slow you down if you’re using the wrong car, so pick wisely. The AI in the game is also pretty good. It’s not too easy nor too hard, it’s balanced. They suffer from rubberbanding though, but it was pretty necessary. I mean, the whole premise of the game is to wreak havoc, and you can’t really do that if you’re all alone in the front of the pack. They can be cheap, but they’re a nice challenge.

A look at the innovative HUD and the carnage.

The Season mode, which is the main mode of the game is composed of 12 Episodes, each containing 6 races. The reality TV show theme is handled really well throughout the Season. As episodes end, you are treated to a teaser to the next episode, complete with those fast credits no one can ever read. It’s a really nice touch and helps with the overall theme. By winning races in the Season, you are awarded Credits which will unlock cars. Cars unlocked can be used in any game mode, even online. So yeah, if you’re thinking of going online before starting the season, forget about it as you will just be outran by players with much better cars than you. Sadly though, the Season doesn’t last long and that’s possibly the biggest gripe of this game.

There are 6 game modes in Split/Second, 3 of which (Race, Survival and Eliminator) can be played in local splitscreen. Race and Eliminator are pretty obvious modes already so we’ll focus on the other 4. First is Survival, a very unique and fun mode. The objective of this game is to pass container trucks for points. Think it’s easy? Well, it isn’t as these trucks drop explosive barrels that go off when you make contact with them. Blue barrels will make you skid out of control while red ones will immediately put your car out of commission. There’s a time limit in this mode and once it runs out, everyone is put into Sudden Death where every barrel the trucks will be dropping are red. The mode ends once everyone is wrecked. Next is Detonator. Basically the time attack of this game, only with a twist. While you run through the track, several Power Plays will be going off to put you out of your racing line. Then there’s Air Strike, one of the craziest modes in a racing game ever thought of. The objective of this mode is to weave through as many missile waves fired by a helicopter. The more waves you weave through, the more points you get. It’s an absolute riot and is just begging to be playable in splitscreen. Lastly, there’s Air Revenge. It’s the same as Air Strike but instead of points, you’re tasked into building up your Power Play meter to deflect incoming missiles from the helicopter. Not as fun as Air Strike sadly, it’s a bit of a wasted thought.

I have to do WHAT?!

The presentation of this game is superb. The menus are one of the slickest I have ever seen in a game, let alone a racing game. Trophies earned will be unlocked as decals which will appear in your car. This makes it easier to identify the really competitive ones online as you can just take a glimpse of their car and see what trophies they’ve unlocked. A very nice touch, but it’d be nicer if you had the chance to pick where and what decals to place on your car. The cars are mocks-ups of real cars but they’re just as beautiful as their counterpart, maybe even more. Excellent lighting jaw-dropping explosions litter the game, truly making it a spectacle to behold. There’s also the fact that the framerate stays steady even though a lot of Power Plays are going on screen at the same time, an amazing and impressive feat. The music score is very fitting to the epic that is the game. Sadly though, there aren’t many variants to the score which results in hearing the same music after just a few races. The sound effects are utterly glorious. The game just asks you to turn up your speakers just to boast the amazing sound it produces.

Overall, this game is the spiritual successor of the circuit-racing Burnouts, and that’s said as an honor. One of the most exhilarating and most adrenalin-pumping racers of all time thanks to the amazing Power Plays and one of the best and funnest racers of this gen thanks to the varied and unique modes, this is one racer you shouldn’t miss out on.

Thanks for reading!

How far will Harmonix go with Rock Band 3?

If you’ve downloaded and played the new Green Day Rock Band demo, you were treated to a teaser screen. This is what it looks like:

Everything looks so fami- wait a second…

Yes, you saw that right. Between the huge “3″ logo and the Vocals (now featuring 3 mics, implying that there will be vocal harmonies, similar to The Beatles: Rock Band), you get a Piano icon. Holy crap, that is awesome, right? Now, nothing has been confirmed yet but some speculate that it won’t be a keyboard but the Keytar, a keyboard held like a guitar. Some also speculate that the keyboard will be missing a few buttons, which could be true due to the fact I can’t fathom where you can put the keyboard’s note highway in an already cluttered screen when playing a full band. EA is keeping their mouths sealed though and will be revealing everything in E3 2010 which is just a few weeks away.

Keyboard goes where now?

That’s not all though. Earlier news than this, Harmonix said that they will take Rock Band 3 to a whole new level wherein you can actually learn the instrument you’re playing. Then there’s the news that Mad Catz will be the one handling the instruments now while EA will only distribute them. So, new instruments perhaps? And how far can you take the franchise to to make it even more revolutionary? I mean, drums are already close enough to the real thing, sans the hi-hat pedal and some cymbals which could easily be integrated seeing as the Rock Band 2 set already had the cymbal add-ons (not to mention the Ion Rocker which is a real drum in its own) but what about the guitar and bass? Will there be more buttons? Maybe they’ll feature more than one strum bar now to replicate multiple strings.

So you think you’re hardcore now?

Then there’s the keyboards/keytar. You can’t really learn that instrument with only 7 buttons now can you? Then there’s the impending recharting of the old songs. If the new instruments will have new buttons and whatnot, the old charts will absolutely be obsolete. This innovation just strings together problem after problem. There’s also a rumor floating around that there will be a “Pro” mode wherein players, quote: “require proper technique, and may lead to actual skills on guitars and bass.” But who knows? Let’s just wait for E3 2010 and see what EA and Harmonix have in store for us.

Pantera makes their way to Rock Band!

If you’ve been following the news, Harmonix announced late last year that a handful of great bands will be making their way to Rock Band’s shores. Many of these bands have already made it but one of these bands was Pantera, and they were still MIA, until now that is. Several months have passed and we will finally get our dose of Pantera with their debut into Rock Band. The tracks? Their whole The Great Southern Trendkill album.

PANTERA!!

Here’s a quote from Harmonix’s announcement thread:

Hey all!

Kat filling in for HMXHenry on this fine Friday morning.
Lots of you have been itching for Pantera and HERE IT IS!
Enjoy!

~HMXKat

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 25):

· “The Great Southern Trendkill”
· “War Nerve”
· “Drag the Waters”
· “10’s”
· “13 Steps to Nowhere”
· “Suicide Note Pt. II”
· “Living Through Me (Hell’s Wrath)
· “Floods”
· “The Underground in America”
· “(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin”

(All tracks are original master recordings; “Suicide Note Pt. I” is not included in this pack.)

(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation 3 May 26)

These tracks will be available for purchase as “The Great Southern Trendkill (Album),” as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, and as individual tracks only on Wii.

Price: $1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track

$15.99, £9.99 UK, €12.99 EU (1280 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “The Great Southern Trendkill (Album)”

$2.00 USD (200 Wii Points™) per track

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change. **

Excited? I know I am.

Thanks for reading and good day!

Tickets for the Coheed & Cambria concert go on sale today!

Yes, that’s right people. Tickets for the long awaited Coheed & Cambria concert have gone on sale right now. You can reserve your tickets now in either TicketNet or TicketWorld. The venue has also been given out now and it’s going to be held in A Venue Music Hall in Makati. Franco and Firefalldown will also be performing in said concert. Excited? I know I am.

Thanks for reading and good day!

Bittersweet Candy Bowl to be set in paper.

Kudos if you get the reference.

That’s right, according to Oliver Bareham (the husband of the author), Bittersweet Candy Bowl will be having its own book. Here’s an excerpt of the announcement:

So, as I petition Veronica to start working on artwork for a bunch of interesting merchandise I think we can put up for sale, the real thing we’ve wanted to do for ages is finally on track (I think.)

Basically I’ve just submitted my third order to Lulu for the first proof copy of the first BCB volume. It’s 430 pages and covers the comic up until chapter 47. It’s the third order because they kept rejecting my PDFs, but I think I finally got it right this time.

After we get the book, we’ll work on a final draft of the book, order it, do some final revisions, and then we can sell it! I expect June\July will be the relevant time.

So, yeah, expect that in a few months.

I am personally excited about this release and can’t wait to buy it myself. You can view and discuss all the details in the official Bittersweet Candy Bowl forum.

That ends this post. Thanks for reading and good night.

PS3 trophies: Why do I insist in torturing myself with these?

Seriously. Back then during the PS2 and before, I wouldn’t even touch the hardest difficulty setting of a game, thinking that I didn’t need to do them anyway because I already finished the game. Speaking of finishing a game, I also rarely replayed a game because there was little to no incentive in doing so. But with the introduction of the trophy system on the PS3, I was just hooked. I don’t know why, but that chime whenever you get a trophy feels so satisfying.

That’s a nice trophy number…

What triggered this strange addiction to virtual trophies? Well, the first PS3 game I got was MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, which was bundled along with my PS3. I knew nothing back then about these so I just played through the game. At first I didn’t even mind them, thinking “Hey, okay. That’s neat” and proceeded to play along with the game. Days passed and I was hooked to the game. By this time, I was racing online just for the fun of it. But then I unlocked even more trophies and at the same time, more vehicles. This is probably when the trophy hunting started. I liked to unlock all the cars and to do so, I needed to do the trophies. I checked the trophies screen and was amazed at how hard and silly some the trophies were. But nonetheless, I plowed through everything just to get those cars. A month had passed and I got my first ever Platinum (and a sweet dump truck to boot). I then reflected upon it and I thought “Why?” Because in all seriousness, I went through Time Trial mode, a mode in racing games that I barely even touch, and yet, I didn’t feel bored or gutted about it. Just incredibly satisfied. From then on, I just decided to Platinum every game I get, no matter the difficulty. But of course, we all have our limits so some trophy sets in my profile aren’t complete. It’s either because I got bored and incredibly disinterested with them (Midnight Club) or is just incredibly difficult (Beatles: Rock Band).

My first and ironically, the hardest Platinum in my list.

So you may call me a trophy whore, but honestly, I’m not. I do not buy or even rent games with easy trophy sets. All the games in my trophy list are games I own and have bought. If the game has an easy trophy set, then so be it. If it has a hard one, then I’m all up for the challenge. Also, I do not tend to complete trophy sets of games I don’t enjoy so yeah, I wouldn’t even think of buying or even renting a game like Hannah Montana just to get the Platinum for it.

But really? What pushes me to get these achievements? What pushes me to sing for 6 hours straight the whole Rock Band 2 setlist? What pushes me to senselessly kill 53,000+ zombies in Prototype? Well, here’s the short answer for you: I’m incredibly OC and it’s fun for me. With the trophy system, I just can’t stand not having 100%/Platinum on a game. It just looks horrible to me.

Why do you mock me so?! Can’t I delete you? Please?

There’s also the fact that games are expensive. Some of them can be finished in less than 10 hours and that’s a hard pill to swallow considering a PS3 game costs around P2500. With trophies, it remedies that sickness. Instead of just shelving a game after the first playthrough, you can either go through it again or do some random stuff just to get the trophies. Yes it may be sometimes tedious and hard but hey, at least you’re getting your money’s worth with added hours to those games. Not to mention you can actually hone your skills a lot more in a certain genre you’re having trouble with by forcing you to do trial and error until you master it. Yep, I just really love the challenge.

That ends this post. Thanks for reading and good night.

Make it come to life.

As you might know, I thoroughly enjoy reading webcomics. So much so that I printed one of them (Better Days if you’re wondering and yes, all 600+ strips of it) and even had it book bound just so I can carry it around. That book of mine was sadly lost though thanks to some inconsiderate person.

That isn’t the subject of this post though. While that book was in my possession, it often stayed in my bedroom. There, I occasionally read through it, always giving voices to the characters. It wasn’t just reading it aloud with a monotonous voice, I would shift my voice just to fit the characters. With the majority of the cast being girls, I often did female voices and would laugh at myself on how silly I sounded. That also depended on the mood of which the characters were in so my voice wasn’t really constant and often followed their emotions.

Where it all began.

It’s fascinating how something minimal can really bring life to a character. It’s also an effective way of getting attached to the characters and more importantly, the comic’s story or theme as a whole. With you lending yourself to portray the character’s emotions, you can’t help but feel giddy when they’re happy or downright miserable when they’re down. So you might say, an animated version with proper voice actors and all the jazz of said webcomics would be amazing! Sadly, that doesn’t always work out. Take this for example:

Now, I do occasionally read CAD and think it’s an OK comic (pretty funny at times) but that video was just… randomly unfunny. It might be the less than fluid animation, or rather the voices. I’d have to admit though that Lilah’s voice is quite fitting but Ethan’s and Lucas’? Not so much. Point is, it felt dull and pretty much just made the characters more 2D. Maybe some music would’ve made it a lot better? If so, let’s move on to VGCats’ atttempt:

Now that’s a lot better. Though the whole animation part is gone, it just has an overall better vibe to it. The voices really fit the characters’ scenes and actions (Krug and Pantsman and the “World of Pain” ones were awesome) and there’s music! Appropriately used music if I may add. Music is a double-edged sword. Use it badly and you’ve got yourself a pretty boring or cliche scene but use it well and it really pays off. It’s even much better when the characters are the ones doing the singing. Not convinced? Well, here’s a little experiment for you.

If you’ve read up on Bittersweet Candy Bowl (which I really recommend doing as it’s a charming webcomic and because you won’t get anything that’s going on in the chapter), you’ll notice that chapter 24 is filled with songs. Now, instead of reading it plainly, try singing the lyrics (that is, if you know the tune of the song of course) or read them along with the song playing. It’s a truly joyous experience as every song just fits the scene perfectly. The title of the songs are posted in the “Author’s Comments” section located directly below the comic strip but just in case you’re lazy, here are the links to the songs:

1. Como Si No Nos Hubieramos Amado (Page 1. Play until 1:11) (Translation)
2. I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing (Page 2. Play until 1:18)
3. If I Could Fall In Love (Page 3. Play until 1:18)
4. White Flag (Page 4. Play until 0:24)
5. Cool (Page 4. Start at 0:35; play until 0:59)
6. Si Yo Me Vuelvo A Enamorar (Page 4. Finish the song if you like) (Loose translation)

And that’s about it. Hope you enjoyed the little experiment.

That ends this post. Thanks for reading and good day.

PS. If you could translate the last song correctly, please inform me. I’d greatly appreciate the effort. Thanks.

3D: It’s overrat3D.

Wow. What a horrible pun. Puns aside, yeah, I think 3D is going overboard and I must say, it’s overrated. Why must everything be in 3D now when it’s just unnecessary. I mean, I found the jump to HD alright. I actually adored it, seeing and hearing everything so crisp and clear. It’s just like watching something live. In the subject of games, it almost blurs the line of fiction and reality. With 3D however, resolution takes a step backwards and the picture becomes a lot less refined and a lot blurrier.

Is it really THAT necessary?

There’s also the whole 3D Glasses thing which is very annoying. I honestly don’t like wearing glasses (shades included) because they feel uncomfortable both physically and in vision to me. Though I do feel sorry for the people wearing glasses because they have to wear both their prescription glasses and the 3D glasses to enjoy the show. That’s a huge inconvenience to them.

Now that’s a design flaw.

Now I say this by experience, not someone who hasn’t even tried it yet. I’ve been to an IMAX theater and there I watched Superman Returns (way back in 2006). It was a new experience to me and I thought the 3D aspect was lacking. I thought the whole movie was supposed to be in 3D, but that wasn’t the case. There were select scenes that had the 3D effect and they picked some unnecessary ones. One scene I remember was where Clark was just floating in the barn house. I thought, “Really? Was that the best you could come up with?” It was pointless. I mean, the starting credits would’ve been a ton better to see in 3D than that, but no, they settled in for that scene.

I haven’t seen anything in 3D after that (mainly because I’m not a movie buff). Then came the PS3′s Official Launch here in the Philippines (that was this year). During this event, they were demoing the 3DTV. Me being curious, I decided to try it out. The game (better yet, a clip of the game) being demoed when it was my turn was MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, a game I knew like the back of my hand. I put on the glasses and glared at the screen and literally saw no difference. I was pretty baffled. I checked the glasses if they were on, and they were. I even lifted the glasses and put them back on just to see if there was a difference. Nothing. Maybe it was the clip? Impossible, as it had the blurry 3D effect when the glasses were off. After that, the clip changed to Killzone 2. Finally I could see the effect, just barely, but it was there. The clip changed again, this time to a polar bear swimming. The effect was visible albeit very minimal. So I asked myself, “is it really necessary when there are little to no changes at all?” I answered that as well and said “No.” There’s also the impending eye-strain. I spent a good 10 minutes in front of that booth, just noticing the effects and after I took the glasses off, everything was just uncomfortable to look at. It was either too bright or too dark. It’s like I just woke up after staring at a seizure-inducing image for long (may be exaggeration).

Isn’t this good enough already?

If that isn’t enough to steer you away, then comes in the price tag (this part is obviously not for the filthy rich). I was searching Amazon and the cheapest I’ve run into was a 50″ Samsung 3D Plasma HDTV. The cost? $1799 (approx. P81,000). How much is a 1080p HDTV of the same brand and caliber? $1067 (P48,100). Not much of a difference you say? Well get this. The 3D Glasses are sold separately! That’s right, before you can even enjoy the thing fully, you need to pay for more. How much are the 3D Glasses? $349 (P15,700). And that’s just 2 pairs! If you have kids or a lot of friends around, you’re pretty much screwed over.

So yeah, I’m gonna end that little rant here. I’m not attacking you people who like the technology, not at all. I just think the technology itself is unnecessary and is taking a step backwards with the whole cinematic experience. Not to mention it’s deeply flawed by giving you headaches and little-by-little, blinding you (hey, that kinda sounds like the Virtual Boy!). Call me when they’ve perfected it or better yet, when they’ve gotten the whole hologram thing going on.

Now THAT’S 3D!

That ends this post. Thanks for reading and good night.

Coheed and Cambria comes to Manila!

If you’ve been following them on Facebook, there were some hints of them coming to the Philippines. No one really knew if this could push them to really do a concert here.

*wink wink nudge nudge*

They also posted a “response” post last year to see how many Filipinos would like them to come here and do a concert. I guess that really got their hopes up. And now, it seems that it has been set to stone. The Manila Concert Scene has confirmed their arrival and it has been dated for July 30 (that’s a Friday if you’re worrying/wondering). No details have been given out yet, but that alone is enough to get any fan wet with anticipation and excitement.

That ends this post. Thanks for reading and good day!

What if the internet was the only judge for the elections?

You know, I am terribly curious. Why? Particularly, because of this:

Oh snap?

That was from “Pic Your President”, a site wherein Facebook users can vote for their favorite presidentiable and explain why they did so. The results are pretty surprising. Gordon (my personal pick) currently leads with a sizable amount of 3413 votes (and steadily rising), Gibo holds second  with 1725 (also steadily rising) votes and third place is surprisingly not Noynoy, but Bro. Eddie with 331 votes. The three other hopefuls (JC, Jamby and Nick) have a single-digit vote count. Seems like the internet-savvy aren’t easily persuaded by the media. Sadly though, the majority of the Philippines isn’t internet-savvy. Worse? Some of them aren’t even able to vote yet (that includes me).

I then skimmed through the comments section, viewing some explanations and while some comments were logical and somewhat good, others scared me. Take this very intellectual answer for an example:

God help us all…

Ok, I don’t know if that’s serious or not (the txtspeak doesn’t help either way) but it just got me thinking: what if the people were this thoughtless with their voting? What if the majority were people like this? The thought just makes me shudder that these people have a hand in voting. And no, I don’t care if this is a joke, the matter is serious enough and shouldn’t be taken lightly like this.

Still it gives me great pleasure to see not the media moguls in the top spot of this poll, but rather the more rational and logical choices on who should really lead this country. Now if only this could translate to reality.

That ends this post. Thanks for reading and good night.