Bit by Bit: April 28 - May 4

It has been a busy last couple weeks with things picking up on the job front that I have not got around to writing as much.  With completing Darksiders II last week and Luigi’s Mansion:  Dark Moon this past week, I am hoping to get a few more reviews up in the coming weeks.  I also have a review of BioShock Infinite that I am still working on to put up.  It should be a busy couple of weeks of working at my jobs, writing reviews and playing a bunch of games.  Before we get onto the meat and potatoes of this week’s Bit by Bit, let we wish everybody a May the 4^th be with you.  Now let us get on with the show.

Game of the Week

Even though I played enough of Luigi’s Mansion:  Dark Moon this past week to beat the game, my Game of the Week goes to Ace Attorney Investigations:  Miles Edgeworth for the Nintendo DS.  I have been looking for Ace Attorney Investigations for a long time now.  I did not get the chance to pick this game up when it first released back in 2010 and it has been next to impossible to find used.  So when I came across a new copy of Ace Attorney Investigations for 30 dollars at my local Microplay, I could not pass it up.  It was a 30 dollars well spent as I have finally completed my Ace Attorney collection for DS (aside from the currently Japanese only Investigations 2) and Ace Attorney Investigations may be the most unique entry in the series.  Currently, I have spent close to three hours with the game.  From my time with Investigations, I can say it is a very good and also different entry in the Ace Attorney series.  Aside from playing as Phoenix Wright’s rival Miles Edgeworth, the game uses a much different perspective than your normal adventure game.  You actually control Miles Edgeworth as you investigate crime scenes, collect evidence and piece together more evidence using the Logic system.  Not everything you can interact with yields evidence, some things yield little logic notes that Miles must connect using the Logic system in order to progress.  In Investigations, you never step foot in a courtroom.  All the gameplay takes place at the crime scene as you piece together the crime through interacting with the environment and talking to suspects in a similar cross-examination system to the other Ace Attorney games.  These observations come from playing through the very first case in the game.  There is still much more to experience and I look forward to playing more Ace Attorney Investigations:  Miles Edgeworth in the near future.

Most Anticipated Game of the Week

Apart from the slew of information Nintendo has been providing gamers on upcoming releases for Wii U and 3DS, there is one game Nintendo has said little to nothing aout these last few months.  That game is The Wonderful 101, the first game developed through Nintendo’s new partnership with the incredible Platinum Games.  Everything shown so far looks amazing.  I am just itching for Nintendo to give us an actual release date because I am planning on asking my family to get it along with Pikmin 3 for my birthday.  So hopefully we get some sort of confirmation soon because it is suppose to be out sometime this Summer.

Video of the Week

While I am loving my time with the Rayman Legends Challenge App, it still hurts that I along with many other Wii U owners could have had this game two months ago if it was not for Ubisoft.  Earlier this week, Ubisoft released a new trailer for Rayman Legends to help make the suffering more manageable or aggravate fans by putting salt in the wound (you be the judge).  Nevertheless, this trailer is pretty awesome as it showcases another one of the excellent music stages that will be included in Legends.  Most people will notice the tune found in this level even with it being performed by a mariachi band.

Games for the Summer

When new game releases start to slow during the spring and summer months, many gamers get very impatient.  Instead of a steady stream of new games to play, they are left with a little trickle.  One option for gamers to turn to during this drought is the realm of downloadable games, which release more frequently during the summer.  Another option is for gamers to resort to their backlog.  For those gamers who rarely trade their games like yours truly, we have accumulated a massive library of unfinished games to work on.  During the spring and summer, most older gamers (ages 19 and above) have much more time on their hands to dedicate to gaming.  This list below are the games that I personally want to dedicate a significant amount of my gaming time to with the ultimate goal of beating these games.

BioShock
After playing the great yet somewhat disappointing BioShock Infinite, I have had an urge to go back and experience the very first BioShock.  Having missed out of the revolution that the original BioShock was, I impulsively picked up Infinite just so I would not miss out on experiencing the revolution again if BioShock Infinite actually lived up to the hype.  While I did enjoy my time with BioShock Infinite, I was left wanting to experience that revolutionary first-person shooter that could possibly give Half-Life 2 some competition for my favourite FPS game.  Considering I own BioShock, it is finally time for me to really experience this game more than an hour.  Time to fight splicers, get scared crapless by the Big Daddies and learn about the underwater dystopia known as Rapture.

Darksiders II
I have put a good amount of time into Darksiders II, one of my favourite games of 2012 and currently my most-played game for the Wii U.  Even though I have invested 20 hours into this game, I have not finished the game.  That is what usually happens when a game gives me a massive open world and numerous side quests to complete.  I am in no rush to complete Darksiders II because I am loving it.  Although to move onto newer games, you have to beat your older games.  Eventually, my time with Darksiders II will have to end and I want to make it this summer.

Half-Life 2:  Episode 2
I love Half-Life.  Valve has easily created the greatest first-person shooters on the face of this planet in the Half-Life games.  While I have still yet to beat the very first one on PC (I hit a random bug that completely halted my progress and I have not picked it up since), I tore through Half-Life 2 and Episode 1 on the 360 edition of the Orange Box a couple years back.  I was about to get into Episode 2 and then I stopped.  I cannot remember why, but I have not played it since.  When thinking about games to work on these next four months, Episode 2 just sprung up right away as I game I have to finish.  Not only in preparation for whenever Valve decides to grace us with the next instalment of Half-Life, but just for my own gamer pride.

Pokemon White Version 2
Before Fire Emblem Awakening sucked up all my game time on the 3DS, Pokemon White 2 was taking up most of my game time.  Currently 28 hours into the game, there is still quite a bit to do in my second trip through the Unova region.  More Pokemon to capture, trainers to defeat and evil forces to stop.  Especially with the worldwide release of Pokemon X and Y this coming October, I want to finish Pokemon White 2 so I will be able to dedicate most my game time this Fall to the next Pokemon game.

Rayman Origins
While Ubisoft ripped my heart out of my chest, and repeatedly stomped on it with their delay of Rayman Legends just a couple months back, there were a couple good things that came from this heartbreak.  One was having some more money to spend on games during the game rush that was March.  Another is now having time to finally beat Rayman Origins before playing Rayman Legends.  I have been working my way through Origins for a while now, so I know I am closing in on the end of the game.  This summer is just the right time to make one final push to beat this game in preparation for the September release of Legends.

Launch Station: Darksiders II

At the beginning of 2010, the original Darksiders took many people by surprise.  While Darksiders did borrow heavily from God of War and The Legend of Zelda, it had enough of a new atmosphere, setting, characters and interesting level design to capture the hearts of many gamers.  At first, I was not anywhere close to interested in Darksiders as I thought it borrowed too much from God of War and The Legend of Zelda to stand on its' own.  Once I played the demo, the opinion made a complete 180 and fell in love with this incredible series to the point that Darksiders II will be one of the first games I pick up for the Wii U once it comes out later this year.

Unlike your regular sequel, the story of Darksiders II runs parallel to the story of the first Darksiders.  Only this time around, you control Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, on his quest to  restore mankind and clear the name of his brother War, the protagonist of the first Darksiders.  Death is very different character than War.  Death focuses more on speed, magic and quick feats of raw power than the slow pace and brute force of War.  While Death's primary weapons are his two scythes, he is able to switch between other weapons at a lightning quick pace, which makes it easy to set-up huge combos.  Darksiders II is set in the Nether Realms, which is a massive open world that is easily multiple times bigger than the firs Darksiders.  Death is able to explore the Nether Realms at his own leisure completing side quests, fighting enemies for loot and finding tons of secrets from hidden areas to secret bosses.  You progress in Darksiders II by completing dungeons interspersed throughout the Nether Realms.   Darksiders II also includes some light RPG elements where you are able to customize Death's skills, armour sets and weapons.

Out of all the games releasing this week, Darksiders II is easily the most anticipated game.  All thanks to all the fans that spread the word about how good the first Darksiders was and got their friends, family and other acquaintances to try the game.  No matter what anybody says about Darksiders II, I will definitely be picking it up for myself and seeing how it continues the series.  If you are interested at all in Darksiders, I highly suggest picking up the first game.  If you enjoyed the first Darksiders, help support Vigil Games and in turn THQ, whose financial woes have been well documented, by picking up Darksiders II.

Hump Day Video: Darksiders II

While July seems to be a slow month for games, August looks to pick up for the slack with some big releases.  Among these big releases is one that holds the fate of a company in it's hands.  THQ's financial woes have been well documented and it has seem to come down to this game to bring them back from the brink of destruction.  With the weight of an entire company on their shoulders, Vigil Games looks to be creating a phenomenal game in Darksiders II.  When the first Darksiders was released back in 2010, it was easily overlooked by many as just another God of War clone.  I was among those that overlooked Darksiders for it's heavy influences from God of War and The Legend of Zelda until I tried the demo.  While Darksiders did borrow a lot of key mechanics from God of War and The Legend of Zelda, Vigil implemented them in such a way that it was just fun to play and explore this rich new world.

With Darksiders II only a few weeks away from release, THQ and Vigil have released a new story trailer that I would like to share today.  Unlike the story trailers that were released before, this trailer is made up of all in-game footage.  This trailer gives gamers one last glimpse at the game before it releases and it is one great glimpse.  There are brief snippets of action mixed with little teases of what will be in the game from riding Death's horse to fighting a dark version of War that get me excited to play this game.  First I need to complete the first game then I will most likely pick up Darksiders II when it releases for the Wii U later in the year.  Until then enjoy watching this great trailer.

Off the Newsstand: Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 254

The last little while I have been quite upset with Electronic Gaming Monthly.  Being a follower of this magazine for many years now, I followed EGM before Ziff Davis shut it down all the way through the magazine's glorious resurrection back in 2010.  After just starting a new subscription with EGM, I went a good few months without issues.  I tried contacting EGM's customer service and looking at forums online to find an answer, but nothing.  I along with hundreds of other loyal subscribers were left in the dark for a good few months as the EGM staff worked on their website EGMNow.  This incredibly dumb move along with the switch to EGM releasing on a bi-monthly schedule really ticked off this loyal fan, who had stuck with this magazine through the thick and thin, to the point that I considered cancelling my subscription and moving onto another magazine.  Cooler heads prevailed as this fan gave EGM to the end of this subscription one more chance to turn things around and win back my trust.

Waiting for Issue 254 to come in the mail felt like forever.  I was starting to worry that EGM decided to not to tell subscribers about a possible delay like they did last year, but those thoughts dispersed when I got the magazine in my hands.  The EGM team spent the last two months really revamping the magazine and it really shows.  This issue is a much better magazine than the last few issues I have read.  The returns of the classic EGM three-man reviews and awards system along with a new focused previews that opt to ask the harder questions about the games covered rather than rehashing the same old-info you see in every gaming magazine out there.  Being an apocalypse-themed issue, EGM Issue 254 features great apocalypse-themed stories such as a look at Wasteland 2 Kickstarter, THQ's troubles, a roundtable on the next wave of consoles and a list of the Top 20 Apocalyptic Games.  The Borderlands 2 cover story is pretty good as well featuring new information on this highly anticipated post-apocalyptic shooter and a great interview with the co-founders of Vigil Games, the developer behind the Darksiders series, David Adams and Joe Madureira.  It all amounts to possibly the best issue of EGM I have read since it's rebirth back in 2010.

I was pleasantly surprised by Issue 254 of EGM.  It really turned around my whole attitude towards EGM and made me forget about the mishap from last year.  This is the EGM I remember and I hope to see more great things from this magazine in the future.  If you have 7 dollars to spare, EGM Issue 254 is an excellent read that should make any self-respecting smile from cheek-to-cheek.

Off the Newsstand: Game Informer Issue 227

Between all the games coming out, the Vita launch, the normal weekly posts like On the Download and Bit by Bit and reviews, there has not been many times when yours truly has time to give his insight on the magazines he is reading.  Since the last Off the Newsstand, I have read issue 235 of Electronic Gaming Monthly (the only supposedly monthly magazine that is bi-monthly) and issue 226 of Game Informer.  So I have been busily reading away don't you worry.

While the last Game Informer I analyzed on Off the Newsstand I did not think highly of, Game Informer bounced back with a surprisingly pleasing February issue that had XCOM: Enemy Unknown as the cover story.  So I was interested to see if the March issue would be just as pleasing when I heard that Naughty Dog's newest IP, The Last of Us would be gracing the cover.  Other than the interesting VGA trailer, Naughty Dog has been tight-lipped on The Last of Us.  I thought this cover story would do what the VGA trailer failed to do, get me at least interested in The Last of Us.  Long story short, Game Informer's cover story failed.  Do not get me wrong if you love anything Naughty Dog touches or are already excited for The Last of Us, this cover story will wet your appetite for a bit.  If you did not care beforehand, this cover story will not give you anything to get excited for.  I was more interested in the sidebar about how Naughty Dog was so close to working on a new Jak & Daxter before The Last of Us or the fact that after Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog split into two separate teams (the Uncharted team and the now Last of Us team) than anything about The Last of Us.  I learned more about Darksiders II's gameplay, mechanics and other features in Game Informer's four-page preview than I did about The Last of Us in the ten-page cover story. At least The Last of Us cover story was better than the South Park RPG cover story.  While The Last of Us cover story might have been a little lacklustre, there were plenty of great articles in this issue of Game Informer from the article on the Interactive Achievement Awards (an awards show that actually honours video games unlike a specific Spike-produced awards show) to the return of My First Game this time with Naughty Dog co-founder Evan Wells.

Overall, the March issue of Game Informer is more or less your average issue.  Much like the January issue, the cover story brought could have been a stellar issue down a notch.  Those interested in The Last of Us, this issue is six dollars well spent.  For those not interested, this issue will not convert you into a Last of Us fan, but does warrant at least a read either by signing out of from your local library or reading it at your local Chapters.