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Oh Where Art Thou Racing Replays Gone!?

Remy Cuesta
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9

Once upon a time top down racing games were what anyone knew or loved from them. You simply played races, won and moved on or retry had you lost. However as time went on and our racing games technologically evolved, a feature called “Replays” started to exist in them. While we all know the meaning of it, by definition Replays are a showing again of a sequence of action or recording to be played again. What was the meaning of such thing, well back in the day it was to merely see how you played out during the race or catch a funny moment. As games graphically got better, they became a way to showcase, highlight, or see crazy moments that one had during said race.

While watching a races replay was fun and simple it did reach a point where it was overhauled as a full fledge feature within a game. They became cinematic like watching an action film or able to save and share amongst the games community. So anyone would figure that something like this would never go out of style right? Well over the past couple of years replays have started disappearing from racing games and we’re not entirely sure why. It would seem that on a developers side it has become a mere element from past games and is not really something they should focus on. They think to us it is not a big deal but what they don’t understand is that it is and we want it back!

The good old days

The Need for Speed series is a beloved racing franchise with some of the best racing games to ever hit consoles and pc. Since the days of Need for Speed 1 that was released in 1996-1997 on the PC, Playstation 1 and Sega Saturn the game had always had one key component, a replay function during the end of a race. What better way to watch cops chasing you and some slick cars then in a replay? Four NFS games were released after that all with a more robust version of a replay mode and the best one being Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 for the Playstation 2 developed by Black Box. The six game was the first not to include a replay which was Need for Speed Underground, why the sudden change? While you might think this was maybe a mere hiccup, it wasn’t. NFS Underground 2 did have replays but it was soon to be the new standard that all NFS games in the next generation platforms were to not include replays. NFS Most Wanted, Carbon, Pro Street and Undercover are all next generation games missing last generation components?

Need for Speed Shift was the first game in four years and four games later to bring back the replay function and even then seemed tucked away. This year Need for Speed brought it back to its roots, what gamers wanted most from the serious. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was what we were all waiting for, or so we thought. Aside the fact that at its bare has some key features that the old Hot Pursuits had, its missing plenty but most importantly its missing replays. A Hot Pursuit tradition at this point but without mention it is just not in the game. Why are replays being fazed out and put on the back burner? Racing games from Playstation to Dreamcast to Xbox have all had games with replays on it so why at a time where replays could look better then ever are they simply disappearing? Here are a couple of reasons why this might be happening.

In an economic change that we have been under the past couple of years, development time is very important. Not only that but is also expensive and I won’t pull the wool over my eyes as I understand that not everything can be fit onto one game. Developers start to way in what they can and can’t put in over the time constraint of what they’re given. This may not always be the case though as it may also be due to the game and platforms limitation. In an interview with Split/Second creators BlackRock Studio when asked why there was no inclusion of a replay mode after a race they reply’d, there were many moving structures by way of explosions and other factors. Replays took to many resources from the game and the console can’t process it. In other words our consoles are alot more limited then we can imagine? As developers engines get better, there having limitations in other aspects which affect replay. I find this very hard to believe as this really has to due with the lack of engine optimization to take advantage of a full on replay with consoles and pc’s.

Where are our replays!

Whatever the case maybe it definitely something. Project Gotham Racing creators Bizarre Creations were known for having a cinematic style replay system in there games, hell you could even race online and save them which they started. Their newly developed racer Blur however had no inclusion whatsoever of a replay and while I don’t want to claim had a little to do with the games somewhat flop, I can tell you that fans of the racing game genre are speaking up.

In an age where not only is it not wise to remove any features from a past game unless it was a total bust, there are so many benefits to having these features in. Youtube, Facebook and other sharing medias have taken over the internet and with so many ways of bringing that content to life online, not having something as minimal as replays in them is just foolish. Criterion Games also followed a similar pattern by having replays in burnout 1 and 2 but their standout was Burnout revenge on the Xbox 360. They included not only a replay mode but a way to cut clips of it and share them to be rated and viewed amongst the Burnout Revenge community. To bad that was the last time any sort of replay function was in Criterion’ racing games as Burnout Takedown and Paradise did not receive the same love. Paradise went as far as to remove other fun features that were in Revenge.

We also live in a time where DLC (downloadable content) is all the rise. If something is broken, new content releases or features need to be added then it just comes out as DLC to be updated in the game. So why have we never received a replay mode on a game via DLC that didn’t have it?

Look I’m all for having the best gaming experience I can and if one feature had to be removed to take place of another I understand that. This doesn’t mean that you cut things that are a no brainer to begin with. There are gamers out there that are completely satisfied from what something like the new Need for Speed hot Pursuit game brings to them but if they think realistically, then we are getting fewer features and additions to games now then we did in the past. Play as Cops or Racers, compete in time trials and race in two game modes online (head to head is not a real mode) … thats all you get in the new Hot Pursuit. No Knockout races, speed gate racing, check points, an insulting photo mode and a useless open world (unlike Test Drive Unlimited).

For developers who think this isn’t a big deal, it is. For developers of racing games who think that we don’t care that much, try telling that to the developers at Bungie , Capcom or Treyarch who have put a replay theater system in there games and have benefited from it. If they also think it is not important then why do all commercials and trailers from racing games with ingame footage are from a built in replay mode? Because they look cool as hell! So please bring back our replays because we want them back. If it takes 5-10% more of development then so be it because they are well worth it. You don’t give gamers what they want, even if they don’t come out and say it, sooner or later they’ll show you how they feel. For developers who think they can keep brushing it off, well alot of gamers including myself will spend our hard earned cash on games with features that deserve to be their.

No Objection here?

Sonic Free Riders Review

Remy Cuesta
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0

Sonic is no stranger to speed, and what better way to get his top G going then riding on a super fast hoverboard. In the third iteration of the series, Sonic Free Riders hits the Xbox 360 in the most unique way possible. By giving your full body control of what you see on screen. This is Sega’s first attempt at the new Xbox 360 Controllerless camera Kinect and it has you jumping and skating like your on a hoverboard. The result is a good entry level game thats challenging and with plenty of potential but needs to work out some kinks.

The premise behind Free Riders is Sonic and the gang compete in a competition of sport by racing on tracks with hoverboards and bikes. Many classic characters are here along with some of the newer cast. They are made of teams of three members and as you progress through the races more teams unlock for you to play with. The story narration pretty much takes a back seat by way of pictures but in the least there is new voice dialogue for the game. The entire story mode is also broken up by various teams, having you guide them to victory with each of them. What is a story without Dr. Eggman and his evil ways? So expect to see many cameos in this one.

Hoverboards aka Extreme Gear, Bikes and gear parts can be bought via the ingame store. Coins can be earned by either collecting them during a race or by how your rated through the challenges which can be used to purchase items in the store. The upgrades will allow your character to do various things during a race. Move faster, be more durable, give you a boost at the start of a race, grind on rails or increase your top speed to name a few. There are two slots for the upgrades to go that can be placed on your board or bike. Whichever way your board is facing while racing will give you access to the ability on the end of it.

One character from each team however has a specific ability that can only be placed on them. Knuckles for example can hit rocks and walls down, giving them accessibility to secret areas or the advantage to not move out of the way. One thing we didn’t understand is why some walls weren’t at the start of a secret path, making any characters we used that didn’t have the ability to knock them down basically end up in a compromising position in the race by the time we exited the path.

Now all of this doesn’t matter if the game doesn’t work right? Well for the most part it does. You plant your body sideways having one side facing the screen like your on a hoverboard. You kneel down to move faster, lean forward or back to go right or left, skate with your foot to get a boost and jump to get air during ramps. Mario kart style power ups can also be collected during the race. By holding out your hand, you can collect rings on platforms and giving the motion like your throwing a football for example will let you use some items. Provided you have 6-8 feet to work with, which is what the camera requires to play the game, everything is responsive.

The game also features a couple of local multiplayer and online game modes. Co-op tag mode and vs races are actually fun to play but require that you know what your doing so its not easy to just pick up and play. Another thing was the difficulty in getting in an online match, this is due to the fact that this is a new add on for the Xbox 360. Tracks and characters are vibrant. The games sixteen tracks are well designed and have various shortcuts that might make you work to get to.

With the highs comes the lows and this game has a few. The game sometimes isn’t as responsive as you want it to be during a race. We’re not sure if it was our play space which we had nine feet of room but leaning back wasn’t recognized all that well. At times there were races we didn’t think we could complete because it wouldn’t turn in whatever direction we needed to lean back for. We’ve found it useful to point our hand in one direction or the other like we were trying to getting rings to hurl at one side for a sharp turn. You don’t have this problem when on a bike since you have your hands out like your gripping handle bars. An annoying aspect was the fact that any opponent that was next to you and got hit by an item always resulted in you getting hit. Even if you throw the weapon like a bowling ball or your own missile would hit you if to close to an opponent. The menu can also be a pain to navigate as it could use some work on the response.

Sonic Free Riders is pretty well versed compared to some of the other Kinect games. A ton of modes, story and online multiplayer are great but the rides is where the game will keep your focus. Putting different kind of gear parts to your board adds some good strategy and will mix it up. WIth all its gripes its still a fun experience when you get the hang of it and feels very rewarding.


[starreviewmulti id=2 tpl=20]

Overall = 7.3

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Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime

Rob Kwong
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0


Who says news paper doesn’t have any interesting game related news? USA Today reported today that Atari and Sony are developing a new Ghostbusters game called Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. Out spring 2011, Sanctum of Slime will be a top-down four-player online or local co-op, available for for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. Players will also be able to use the proton stream, plasma inductor,the fermion shock, and drive the ECTO-4WD to bust the spectral baddies. Expect to fight against a whole slew of ghosts and have big boss battles, but don’t expect to have any of the old crew to make any appearances.

[Source: USA Today]

Call of Duty Black Ops Review: Postmortem

Rob Kwong
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1

It’s hard to believe that a full year has come and gone since Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 came out. So many good games and so many bad games I’ve had with good old MW2. As of November 9, 2010 the newly released Call of Duty Black Ops, brought new and old things back to the series. Some good, some bad, but nonetheless still a fun game to play. Many people were a bit skeptical of where Treyarch was going to take the series, but after people got their hands on the game they didn’t really complain too much. Whether it be the new content to play, or the return of zombie mode, Black Ops has a lot to offer everyone.

Treyarch has developed many great games, but almost all of them have set their storyline about past wars. The choice of bringing the Call of Duty franchise back to the Vietnam War Era may have been a comfort choice rather than keeping the game at the modern era. The single player campaign takes place along the lines of the Cuban missile crisis to a bit after the Vietnam War. It is played out by ways of different flashback and no, I don’t mean post traumatic stress syndrome. Rather you find yourself in a torture chamber, strapped on a chair and electrodes that are hooked up to a car battery kind of inducing the flashbacks.

Surprisingly enough, the campaign story in Black Ops was deeper and more detailed than what I had originally assumed it would be. From meeting President John F. Kennedy to flying choppers through a jungle. Treyarch has some how found a way to piece together a game where it’ll hold your attention and make you want to finish the game in one sitting. Clocking in about 6 hours of game play, it’s actually possible to complete in a day if you take small breaks in between and spend the entire time in front of the screen.

The gameplay feels solid, I mean after all they did have two Call of Duty games prior to Black Ops to tweak and balance everything. The solo campaign at times can be challenging enough to make you want to throw your controller across the room. It may not be great for all gamers but we think a good challenge makes for a good game.

While the multiplayer mode is great and fixed alot of issues since Modern Warfare 2, on the other hand has some kinks to it. With such a large release, the dedicated servers are having problems keeping up with traffic. Matchmaking when you’re playing alone is fine, but if you decide that you want to pair up with friends and have a go at it, you sometimes run into problems. Multiple times when trying to team up, network errors, session not found, or connection timeouts occur. Restarting your PS3 may solve it for one or two matches until the host of the game quits and all connections to your party are lost.

Lag as we all know is always an issue, but there are times throughout the game where you’ll die and not know where shots came from until you see the person pop up right in front of you in the killcam. Also aggravating is unloading a full extended clip (usually 45 bullets) into someone and only connecting with two or three rounds. Of course you’d expect server lag throughout the first couple of weeks of release but it still exists no matter what time you jump onto the servers to play. Similar issues have also sprung up on the Xbox 360 version but not as bad. We also must note that there has recently been a patch to fix some of the issues but some still remain. ONe other thing to mention is the slight hit in graphics the multiplayer takes from the single player. Character models don’t seem inspiring at all and have found myself wondering if I want to pick the bad looking one or worst …

Besides the lag and connection problems, multiplayer is fun. Whether it be one of the three zombie modes, one of the four wager matches, or just regular multiplayer games, Treyarch has definitely made sure there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Although we have to say for a aka horde mode like Zombie Mode we’re not entirely sure why there is no preference option for people with mic’s only, left us rather annoyed getting into games with no one on mic’s. Getting kills, saving up your CoD points to customize your load outs and player cards to be unique is one of more rewarding options in the game. There’s nothing like getting multiple kills and having your name and player card splashed up on your victims screen to make sure they know you killed them. They have also added a replay theater to go back to like the Halo games which is always a good time and will give you insight on how someone killed you or didn’t.

Treyarch has done a great job living up to everyone’s expectations, especially mine. They packed Black Ops with great music, great gameplay, and great content. I mean after so much hype of Kobe and Jimmy Kimmel jumping on the Black Ops bandwagon blowing things up, how can Black Ops not be a blockbuster? I, myself have clocked many hours of online game time. Being a big fan of the FPS genre, I can definitely tell you that Black Ops has been reconfigured and rebuilt for the casual and hardcore FPS player. Spray and pray style with sub-machine guns, or triple tapping a semi-auto rifle into someone, both styles of gameplay is catered to. The games multiplayer seems like Modern Warfare 2.5 but with some changes that you’ll either like or won’t like. Honestly when it all comes down to the nitty gritty, everyone will definitely enjoy Black Ops, connection problems and all. Just see the lag issue as a challenge you have to overcome.

[For those looking to get an edge on the competition check out the latest product from KontrolFreek. Recently releasing a special edition Call of Duty FPS Freek Prestige find here. Check out review for the FPS Freek here.]

[starreviewmulti id=0 tpl=20]

Overall = 8.8

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Vanquish Review

Ahphrow
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0

Vanquish is a crazy action packed third person shooter from Shinji Mikami who is also the creator of the Resident Evil series. The main character is Sam Gideon of this futuristic third person shooter and he’s pretty much a bad ass. The game pushes the player to fully utilize Sam’s combat suit to destroy enemies in style. What you get is a game that has a quick pace, has cool action sequences and pushes your character to its limits, which may not have been something you’ve seen from Platinum Games previous game Bayonetta. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have as many incentives to keep playing after the first playthrough.

The story takes place on a space station named Providence. It is under attack from the Order of the Russian Star, which is an army of Russian extremist. The extremist attack San Francisco, which causes the United States to send their troops to stop them. That’s where Sam comes into play. He is equipped with the ARS battle suit from a military research group called DARPA. The suits creator, Professor Candide was captured by the enemy. So now Sam must assist the military while conducting a rescue mission of his own. While in control of Sam, he is supported by operative Elena and Robert Burns who leads the troops into enemy territories.

The gameplay is where Vanquish shines. There are various weapons for Sam to use in combat. Each gun is given to use in certain scenarios on the battlefield, like when Sam sneaks into an enemy base and must shoot out the searchlights with a sniper rifle. All weapons are upgradeable, giving you extra ammo and damage. The upgrades are found through the course of the stages and can only be used for one of the three weapons that you can carry. There are two grenade types as well: frag and EMP. The cover system is quick and responsive. It doesn’t matter whether the cover is low or high, Sam is always protected.

Sam’s suit has a slowdown-time mechanism that engages when manually triggered or when the suit has received too much damage. When triggered, it assists with aiming and trying to escape from danger. Sam’s suit is stocked with boosters that help him move across the battlefield with a lot of speed.  It is useful for getting into and out of danger. One trick I enjoy using is Sam’s cigarette decoy setup. He pops open his visor and takes a puff then flicks it away to distract the enemy gunfire, it’s a useful maneuver to use. Sam’s battles take him across many platforms, elevators, steep inclines, dark caves and speeding trains.

Enemies come in various forms, using long rang and short range weapons. Bosses are BIG compared to Sam and are quite challenging. Be cautious because most bosses have instant kill attacks to keep Sam on the move.

The visuals are pretty slick here. This sci-fi shooter character models were very detailed, especially the ARS battle suit. All of the structured scenery and backgrounds are crisp. Framerate is smooth even during battle sequences where there are many, many, things flying across the screen.

Keep in mind, Vanquish is always going to keep you on your toes. In this game there’s always something to shoot at. There is a score display on the left side of the screen. Points go up when you score kills with style and fast completion time. Also there are challenge stages that help out with the replay value of the game, but more could have been added.

An addition of some sort of mutliplayer would have been nice but we understand the focus here. The characters never seem to fully engage you after a couple of missions as well. Boss battles can get real frustrating with some of the instant kill moves but you get used to them. Completing the campaign takes around six to eight hours and their’s not much to go on beyond that aside the challenges but I strongly suggest to not rush this game.

Vanquish is a flashy, hi-octane and a great looking game with responsive gameplay and cover mechanics after you get use to the button placement of course. The game’s story has its highs and lows but it is all about the action. The game is made to be challenging and great to play This is a good time for anyone, besides Sam is a total bad ass!

[starreviewmulti id=2 tpl=20]

Overall = 8.1

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game in Works, Finally! But It’s Not Triple Triad?

Kieli
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0
Sephiroth Card Cloud Card

If you’ve ever played a Final Fantasy game, then you know about mini card games. Square-Enix, over many of their Final Fantasy titles, have brought us mini-games like Triple Triad and Tetra Master which are unique card games with specially designed cards and their own set of rules. For years, fans have wanted actual decks to play with their friends and now, the call has finally been answered.

Slated for release on Feburary 25, 2011 in Japan, Hobby Japan will bring the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game to the table. These are the same guys that translated Dungeons & Dragons for their Japanese fans so they could enjoy the famed tabletop RPG as well. Those guys at Hobby Japan were so nice, they even included a promotional card in the upcoming Japanese version of Square-Enix’s “The 3rd Birthday.“ And so far, I’m liking what I’m seeing.

The Final Fantasy Trading Card Game will span over the different Final Fantasy games and it looks like they’ll have different art styles according to each game, but will include many of everyone’s favorite characters, both good and evil. We will definitely see Cloud, Zidane and Sephiroth in their Dissidia versions and might see others like Aerith, Yuna and even Lightning. Samples of the card design have been released and hopefully we will see these characters in the final version and more. No word on the rules of the game or if we’ll get the game here in the States but here’s hoping!

Sly Collection Review

Remy Cuesta
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0

Ever wonder how the developers at Sucker Punch got their start or want to relive some of the PS2’s greatest platforming moments? Your definitly in for a treat because the Sly Cooper series has made its debut on the PS3 in glorious HD. The rerelease not only combines the three games in the series but ups the resolution, has Playstation Move support and adds 3D. What you get is a great package that should be done more often then not.

Without going into grave detail between all three games it should be noted that all of them are different. Sly Cooper 1 embarks our hero on the journey to recover the book of thieving that’s been passed down through generations. It was stolen from his parents by evil baddies when he was just a child and looks to keep his legacy alive. The first game has a very linear platform experience but holds up surprisingly well for it’s age on all counts. The game is very traditional giving our hero lives but is a one hit system so death is imminent. This especially becomes annoying during boss battles. As you collect more pieces of the book you acquire more moves that will help you along the way.

Sly 2: Band of Thiefs adds two more characters in the mix. Bently and Murray which were only supporting members of your group in the first game. This expirience feels very different and rights alot of the wrongs that was in the first. In fact the game takes an open world approach letting you explore vastly like you haven’t before. For a PS2 game it had some of the slickest menu designs around as well, getting rid of unnecessary clutter. Animation get better and the game adds more humor. Gadgets can be bought with the gold you collect within stages and each character brings their own feel to each stage. Brains and Brawn definitely apply here. There is an added life bar to this game as well, giving your character a couple of hits before actually dying this time.

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves pretty much overhauls the experience from 2 and not only adds an absurd amount of characters, it takes new approaches to each of the giant open world stages. Starting with only two characters, it takes some time to build up the exciting moments in the game but its clear that a game thats only 5 years old can hold its own between some of todays platformers. New to this game is the ability to change between some characters on the fly on occasions and have added some two player co-op games. Players will definitely tell that this game is made for a broader audience, taking some of the more difficult challenges out of the equation. Back when this game was released it had come out with the old blue and red 3D glasses to play with if you wanted, now there is an option to play it in stereoscopic 3D which is a nice bonus.

The collection also brings you some Playstation Move games to pretty much take advantage of everything PS3. They can be played with a controller if you do not own Playstation Move but either way the novelty for it wears thin after awhile. Each game isn’t without its problems as well like its originals but having all of them reconstructed to fix some of the issues might be asking for a bit much at this point.

There is alot of punch here, what you get are three of some of playstations best platformers all in HD, trophy support, Playstation Move mini games and Sly 3 in 3D. The games are tons of fun and if you’ve never played any or have missed one, this is a no brainer. For those looking to get back into the series before the release part 4 (spoiler) then you pretty much knew if you were getting it going into this review.

[starreviewmulti id=2 tpl=20]

Overall = 8.7

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Snakebyte Premium Wii Remote XL

Aykut D.
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0

There are now countless third party companies developing controllers, and accessories for the Wii. Most of these products can range from good alternatives to needless and broken. However Snakebyte might have made one of the best deals a third party developer can make with the Premium Wii remote XL.

One of the main aspects about the product that will grab your attention is that this remote has the Wii MotionPlus technology built into it, already making it a good deal. After trying out the controller on a few games we’ve noticed that it works exactly as it should, a feature that is sometimes uncommon with third party hardware. However after opening up the box we realized that the remote came with it’s own batteries and not just the cheap kinds either, the remote is packed in with two rechargeable batteries. The batteries themselves are high quality ones, but what surprised us more was that a usb cord was also packed in with the remote that allows you to recharge the batteries while they are in the remote. This is a clear example that the developer wanted to really stand out from the crowd.

The design of the remote itself is surprisingly close to the design of the actual Nintendo Remote, the buttons don’t feel different even though there are a few minor changes to the design, it’s still close enough that you won’t really feel the difference when using it. One other main thing that caught our eye was that this remote had an external sync button meaning you don’t have to open up the remote to press the button every time you need to sync up the remote to the system, a simple feature that makes a big difference.

Overall the Snakbyte Premium Wii remote XL is one of the best deals you can get when looking for a new Wii remote, it has the Wii MotionPlus technology already built in and has rechargeable batteries. On top of this features its cheaper than the official Nintendo Wii remote making it highly recommended.

DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock offering free DLC now till Nov. 30

Remy Cuesta
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1

If you think some of the music download prices can be somewhat of a stretch (like I do) well then your in luck. Activision and Coca Cola are doing a promotion of the latest DLC offerings of DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock for the low price of free! DJ Hero 2’s DLC is DJ Tiesto-mixed three-track pack and Warriors of Rock will be My Chemical Romance pack, each of which is free via redemption code while supplies last. The promotion will only be available in the US and will need to be a member of coke.com which is absolutely free. The page for Guitar hero is here and the page for DJ Hero 2 dlc can be found here.

The song list were

Tiesto Mix pack (DJ Hero 2):

“Traffic” mixed with “Louder Than Boom”
“Feel It In My Bones” ft. Tegan & Sara
“Knock You Out” ft. Emily Haines mixed with “Young Lions”‘

My Chemical Romance track pack (Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock):

“Bulletproof Heart”
“Helena”
“Teenagers”
“Welcome To The Black Parade”

The Fantasy Has Yet to be Final: A Look at the latest in Final Fantasy

Kieli
-
0

In 1987, no one, not even creator Hironobu Sakaguchi himself foresaw the series last as long as it has. In one last attempt to save the company, Square as it was named at the time, from the impending doom of bankruptcy, “Final Fantasy” was born. Since its birth in the late 80s, the series has spawned over 13 games on more than 5 platforms, including an online MMO for the PC! Not many companies have been able to mount that achievement on their wall.

Final Fantasy is a series about magic and wizardry, knights in shining armor and airships from the future. It covers themes like betrayal, courage, and one of the biggest, love. Each game is a brand new story with all new casts and each world introduced is vastly different from the one before it.

The original Final Fantasy takes us to an alternate world where evil is trying to destroy everything in its path and allow the darkness to consume all that is good. This evil group is known as the Four Elemental Fiends. The player, takes on the role as one of the Light Warriors, the only group that can withstand this darkness. As it becomes a test of courage and strength of good vs. evil, the player must befriend characters and join forces using magic and sword to make things right once more.

Now, with their second MMO release, Square-Enix (as it is now called) has just introduced Final Fantasy XIV Online. The company as a whole, has become so confident in their games, they knew they could create an MMO that would be just as successful as one of their main storylines.

The latest Final Fantasy installment hit store shelves in Japan, the States and in Europe in September 2010 for Windows and will appear for the PS3 early next year. So where does the series take us this time? The place: Eorzea, made up of many different nations, and constantly in civil war. Suddenly, a new common foe appears and threatens this way of life for Eorzea. The Garlean Empire. Now the nations are forced to work together if the Empire decides to move in on their territory as an unwanted guest. But the battle never happened. So what are a bunch of soldiers and mercs to do? Join a guild of course! And that’s where the player becomes the Adventurer.

Seems like the series has come a long way since the first game. I am actually looking forward to trying out this game. I didn’t care much for XII but that game continues to grow with membership and expansion packs. However Final Fantasy XIV has shown great promise.

So please do us a favor, Mr. Sakaguchi. Keep on dreaming up those fantasies.

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