First Impressions: FUSE

[wpspoiler name=”First Impressions vs. Reviews” ]First Impressions are based on demos while Reviews are based on entire games.[/wpspoiler]

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Insomniac Games has finally come out with a game that doesn’t star a Lombax and a robot: FUSE. Though my heart breaks at the knowledge that the more non-Ratchet and Clank games Insomniac puts out, the fewer Ratchet and Clank games come out.

Ratchet and Clank is my very favorite franchise. I often don’t finish video games in story mode, but I’ve finished every one of Insomniac‘s Ratchet and clank games. I only own a PS2 for these games. I play on the treadmill and put a PS3 and the Ratchet and Clank games on my wedding registry. I’m a diehard fan of the franchise and thus a die hard fan of Insomniac Games.

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Therein lies the problem for Insomniac. A brand and a product are two different things but many people, including me initially, were expecting Ratchet and Clank with humans on a new platform. That’s not the game they set out to make or the game it is– and I’m glad.

Initially, FUSE started out as Overstrike which did look like a human version of Ratchet and Clank. People were excited and set their expectations accordingly. But then Insomniac decided to make some changes and finishing touches that didn’t reflect the game that seemed silly in the announcement trailer.

FUSE_Naya_SoloThe final iteration of FUSE is a game for grown-ups[1. Though no amount of distance between the present day and my date of birth with get me to disown Ratchet and Clank] with a distinct brand of grown-up humor, weapons, and problems we didn’t see with the Lombax and the robot turning their enemies into chickens.

Naya is a mercenary and the only thing between her father (also a mercenary) being taken in alive or in a body bag.

Dalton is technically the leader of this pack though from what I can see his leadership consists of being bigger than everyone else and being the first to shout, “go” and “fuck this.”

Izzy is pretty much a supergeek-mage…

Jacob, the black guy, shouts “That is whack,” and “damn.” JOKES! He’s a former LAPD officer ready to take the law into his own hands.

Developer(s) Insomniac Games
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Engine Insomniac Engine v.4.0
Platform(s) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single-player, cooperative,multiplayer
Distribution Optical disc, download

FUSE_Jacob_SoloWhat happens when humans gain access to powerful alien technology they were never meant to have? When a volatile energy source called Fuse falls into the wrong hands, the CIA calls in an elite contact team to retrieve it: Overstrike 9. Join up to three friends in team-based co-op play as you take down the rogue paramilitary corporation behind the theft. Use lethal teamwork, coordinate devastating attacks, and provide cover for one another with fringe-tech weapons and gadgets. The unique LEAP feature lets you instantly shift from agent to agent during combat, allowing you to take advantage of each one’s special arsenal. You’ll need your teammates and their firepower to stop a global arms race from spinning out of control.

FUSE Pros:

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1. Because I have the attention span of a rodent, I like that I can easily switch between characters during gameplay. Sometimes I’m a dick and I do it when I run out of ammo.

2. I got healed by my teammates a number of times during fights which totally helped me with my run-headlong-into-danger strategy.

3. There is still just enough of Insomniac’s trademark snark to keep FUSE fresh and fun.

FUSE Cons:

1. Some of the mechanics were not intuitive enough to keep my attention on gameplay. I had to level up each character separately when I was playing them, so I could forget and leave Izzy at 1 and have Naya going HAM at a 10 (maybe, that wasn’t really well explained in the demo). Also I couldn’t figure out how to get my party to get the fuck out of cover.

2. I wouldn’t have hated some set up or a bit more… story. Insomniac is know for punchy exposition. It doesn’t need to be more of the same but let me know what’s up in more than one line. We’re Overstrike 9 and we’re going to ______ the ______ so we can finally ______!

3. It did feel very familiar. I play Halo 4 every Friday night with friends. There’s still a bunch of episodes from the free DLC that I haven’t finished. I play them with my husband…

Overall, what I think of FUSE:

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I enjoyed the demo and the characters and trying new powers. Unfortunately, for $60 while I already have a first person shooter in my rotation, I need to more than like it to buy it. I didn’t see enough to think it filled a niche I didn’t realize existed like War of the Worlds did.

It was fun to play as a group and I could see having friends jump into your open team slots be a good time like it was in Borderlands 2.

If you’re looking for a snarky FPS, with cartoon-style violence that you can play with friends FUSE might be the game for you. Personally, I want it, just not enough to actually buy it. 

Check out the demo before you decide.

Post-Apocalyptic E3

Screenshot from The Division, Ubisofts new post-apocalypse game, as seen at E3 2013
Screenshot from The Division, Ubisofts new post-apocalypse game, as seen at E3 2013

Lots of post-apocalyptic games revealed at E3 2013

The big news of E3 was obviously the struggle between the PS4 and the Xbox One. That’s not really of interest to us here at ICoS unless that struggle leads to the destruction of all we know and love. Instead, I’ve found information on post-apocalyptic games of interest revealed at this years E3.  It’s looking like a good couple of years for the apocalypse.

Check under the cut for videos

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Tower Defense, The Apocalypse, and YOU!

Tower defense games are games in which you have a limited amount or resources available to build towers to defend your safe space from waves of enemies. Each wave defeated gives way to a stronger wave and loot you can use to build more or upgrade existing towers. [Like real life, except with do-overs!]

I like to say things like, “I’m not obsessed with [thing I spend time that should be allotted to other things doing].”

Sometimes I’ll be playing my tower defense game and not realize that an entire flight from Phoenix to Boston has passed me by. Hm… But it’s not because I want to, it’s because I must—I’m the God of Front Doors! I must protect my nouns.

This week (month?) that statement is directed at a tower defense game on my phone called Castle Defense (or Castle TD once it’s downloaded…) Creative moniker’s are not a staple of the genre.

The thing about tower defense games though, is it’s not really about “fun,”“survival,” or even “winning”. It’s about PERFECT!

I don’t know what’s on the other side of that opening but it’s by duty to protect it. Protect it from super fast pigs and hearty Pterosaurs. Maybe there’s a genetic mutation factory and a  pre-school on the other side of the wall and every creature that gets through is morphed into an even more terrible monster with a hunger for innocence incarnate?

I like to think about tower defense games in terms of survival preparation. I might not have everything I need to do the job that needs doing—Surviving—but I’ll need to sort out HOW? I can’t just spam the landscape with trip wires if an air attack is possible.

How can tower defense games help you prepare for the apocalypse?

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Where's the 'Run and Hide' Button?

I’m watching Resident Evil: Retribution (That’s 5 for the uninitiated) and one of the Michelle Rodriguez characters is all sweet and innocent and doesn’t know how to hold a gun. So eventually bad ass Alice around again and teaches her to shoot a 30 second tutorial and gives her a child to protect.

HUWAT?! Do you give a shit of this child lives?

Not the point. The point is M.Rodz immediately  looks around and says, “Over there looks like a good place to hide.”

Right, home girl? There are zombies on motorcycles using rocket launchers and someone it thinking straight.

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This blaze of glory shit is not for everyone. Sometime Plan A needs to be protect ya neck.

This is also my major issue with video games when I have a team.

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Sure I’m playing as Whoever TheFuck, The Unfuckwithable, but if Jill Valentine is hunting me, the last thing I’ll be doing is waiting in the street to confront the bitch. That goes for double sure if I’ve got Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong, or Luther West fighting “alongside me.” Ya’ll handle that, I’ll loot these crates. Let’s play to our strengths.

Sometimes when I play Halo with friends, my goal is to not have the last death. Or the most deaths. Or the lowest Kill-Death ratio (I usually fail epically at this one). Or at least not all of those things in one game. My goal is to survive pretty well. Well enough that I don’t cost us the game. I don’t call it the “crouch button,” I call it the “hide button” because that’s what I use it for.

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[I’m always tempted to do the same thing when I’m with NPCs but that never works. It’s like they’re not using real bullets…

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Which is why I equip turrets and spam grenades.]

And in real life I’ma crouch in a corner no matter how much faith Alice has in me. Why? Because as soon as shit got rough and M. Rodz tried to use that gun she got tossed to the side to death like a chump. Lesson learned.

The Land of The Video Game Apocalypse

Video games and the apocalypse go hand in hand. Player One is always that one guy with shit to do and an appointment on Tuesday trying to make his (or her) way through this mess and help all these people out—how’d they survive before Player One came along?

But, we keep coming back to these needy people in their dangerous world because of some romanticism that we can hack it, fix it, or beat it into submission.

Of all the video game apocalypses, which is the worst; which is the best? Is it the overwhelming zombies of Resident Evil, the galactic invasions of Mass Effect, the aggressive extermination in Halo, or some other hellish scenario?

If given the choice, I’d find this Unicorn Apocalypse from the Samsung Mobile commercials and be there. I don’t know all the details of Unicorn Apocalypse I just know those are two things I need to see in one place in order to die happy.

Some of my favorite and most feared video game apocalypses

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What if you worked at Death Inc. and it was your job to start the apocalypse?

The first thing I thought of when I saw Ambient Studios announce Death Inc. a PC (and MAC) game coming out this summer was that is reminds me of Black & White (Lionhead Studios).

No, I do not think it looks like a knock off. I think it embodies the same brilliance and unique balance that makes the player not the hero or the villain but the story itself.

Black & White, a game that is anything but, is one of my favorite but out of date games. In Black & White you play as a minor god with the goal or working your way up to being a major god wither through fear or adoration from the people below you. It was amazing.

As the main character in Death Inc. you’re charged with spreading a plague through medieval England. Yes! I’m in already.

The images posted remind me of a cross between A Kingdom for Keflings and Double Fine would put out. Both are things I love and would be happy to have more of.

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Review: Hawken: Genesis (Archaia)

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Hawken: Genesis (Archaia)answers the question “What’s my motivation?” for payers of Hawken the game.

Hawken by Adhesive Games and Meteor Entertainment is part Total Recall, in that it’s set in a ruined dystopian planet; part my desperate hopes for what Pacific Rim will be, a ridiculous mecha battle royal; and part Gundam where everyone is fighting for or against a team but no one is really right.

But then Hawken: Genesis adds in a heaping helping of Top Gun.

It sounds like chaos on the surface but it’s actually a brilliant premise.

Everyone fled Earth for a brighter future on Illal but their hopes overwhelmed the new planet, destroying it faster than they destroyed Earth. Unfortunately for the poor planet, devastation isn’t enough and they’ve found one more resource to pry from the corps of their new home.

Already in the midst of an inter-corporation world war the citizens now have reason to stay and fight too. Not for honor or freedom but for their own slice of the pie. That is why they came after all.

From the jump, “the Hawken” is mentioned in a laundry list of terrible things that shouldn’t have happened, terrible things that ruined a once optimistic planet. I’m not clear what it is though… But I am curious.

I’m always drawn to a good premise, a well thought out backstory make most things that much more wonderful for me. And when I read the Hawken: Genesis issues put out by Archaia Black Label for the franchise, I was blown away.

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Zombie Dash (Android)

I didn’t have much hope when I downloaded Zombie Dash by Italy Games. It’s hard to find a good app game that isn’t just like some other app game. There’s only so much you can do on a touch screen and with the short attention span mobile games require.

Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised with the high-speed, side-scroller.

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PAX 2012 | The Cataclysm Shifts The Mists of Pandaria Revealing The Pandaren

I haven’t played World of Warcraft in a long time, and when I did I found it hard to truly immersed. Blizzard was running the The Mists of Pandaria demo at the NVIDIA booth and what a good decision that was. When I saw and even play a bit of The Mists of Pandaria at PAX Prime I felt my resolution faltering.

The setting, story, characters, and attention to detail were adding up and combined with crisp colors, smooth movement, and delightful customization, The Mists of Pandaria was the in I had unknowingly been looking for.

This wasn’t the same world everyone had been frolicking in for years.

Via the Pandaren I could safely be the new kid without feeling like the new kid. Sure the Pandaria would still be populated by real world players who might be experts but The Mists of Pandaria starts the story at point A.

While other races have been tied to the Horde or Alliance for years, the Pandaren are Unaffiliated. I don’t have to choose a character based on what my friends play!

Shrouded in fog since the world was sundered more than ten thousand years ago, the ancient realm of Pandaria has remained unspoiled by war. Its lush forests and cloud-ringed mountains are home to a complex ecosystem of indigenous races and exotic creatures. It is the homeland of the enigmatic Pandaren, a race that celebrates life to the fullest even while under siege by an ancient menace.

The new continent reveals itself to a broken world just as the Alliance and Horde are spiraling ever closer to a war that will consume all of Azeroth. Will the mists of Pandaria part to reveal the world’s salvation? Or will the battle to control this rich and breathtaking new land push the two mighty factions over the brink of war and into total annihilation? The answers await within Pandaria’s mysterious shores!

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If you think of the cinematic trailer as something like a story trailer than a game trailer then you won’t mind that the actual game looks rather cartoony in comparison.

Luckily, to complete the “storymode” you need to be a certain higher level (I forgot because I don’t completely understand the leveling system as I didn’t even last long enough to get a mount) to do it. I’m not willing to commit the time to get there just yet. Hopefully they’ll include The Mists of Pandaria in a novel!

However, if you are interested in rejoining or just making your way over to Pandaria, I say try The Mists of Pandaria.

If you’re unsure, leave us a comment with your thoughts about the addition of the unaffiliated Pandaren and the realm of Pandaria and we might be able to give you one of the beta keys we scored so you can try The Mists of Pandaria before the September 25, 2012 release date.