'Splosion Man

[Aslanna]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/51364.html

Looks like it could be fun! Unless you have a PS3. Then you're out of luck. Sorry Charlie!

[Animalor]

There are the same people that made "The Maw" and that one was pretty fun too, although a tad too short..

[Fairweather Pure]

I've heard good things bout this from multiple sources.

[Aslanna]

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platfor ... plosionman

Reviews pretty good so far. This actually comes out tomorrow (7/22). I think I might pick it up as it's only $10. Or however many MS points that is. Probably 800 or whatever? omg why can't they just charge me $10!

[Fairweather Pure]

Getting it today!

[Aslanna]

There's a demo too if you can't decide. It's only 4 or so levels but it was entertaining. I'm sure I'll buy the full thing later. It's only $10 how can you go wrong! I'd do it now but would probably not get any work done today if I did that.

[Aslanna]

Let me start off by saying I like this game. The character and story and stuff is witty and clever. However...

This game has frustrated me like no other. I'll admit I'm not the greatest platform gamer but sheesh. I actually resorted to physically throwing the controller which is a first! I know it's only a game but damn it sure sucks doing the same thing over and over until you finally make it to a save point. The only saving grace is that after dying so many times on one level (haven't counted but it's probably 20 or 25 I guess) you invoke 'The Way of the Coward' option which will let you move on to the next level so there's not a point where you can get totally stuck and not progress.

Speaking of save points once you reach one it stops you from going backwards. Normally not a huge deal unless you're just exploring trying to find the cake (cake!) and accidentally, or on purpose if it was particularly hard to reach that point, pass the save point then you're hosed since you can't go back.

A major issue for me is a lot of the times you're not sure what you have to do meaning you have to die just to figure it out. Such as you come to the end of a platform.. Do you drop down or do you have to jump (splode!) a couple times to make it past a gap lower down? Well guess what.. Fucked if you know so just get used to dying and jump. Some of the barrels you have to explode on also require trial and error because you don't know where they all are and when you've flying across the screen at a high rate of speed it's hard to react in time so it's basically memorizing where things are.

Another issue I have is the controls are loose or sometimes not consistent such as he fails to grab onto a platform for no reason. The 'loose' part makes sense if you think of the first Ratchet and Clank. If you can't remember that far back read some reviews since it was a consistent complaint from pretty much everyone. Since I'm too lazy to explain it myself I'll do a little quote stealing from those reviews:

Controlling Ratchet is interesting. His moves feel somewhat like those of Spyro the Dragon's, in that he doesn't stop on a dime, and instead provides a half-second slide when commanded to stop. You have to build in that extra distance if you want a jump to be precise. He doesn't feel like Jak of Jak and Daxter, who had the uncanny ability to stop from a long jump right where he landed. Ratchet's control provides a feeling that you more or less you get used to, rather than fall in love with.

Another concern is the control. While the button layout is fine, there is a decided delay in the response when you first try to get Ratchet moving. It's like he has a tiny bit of inertia he must overcome each time he starts running, and this can make precision maneuvers more annoying than they should be.

Not sure why they went that route but they did. And it's definitely gotten me killed a few times. Once you are moving you're fine but starting/stopping could have been tightened up. The camera is sometimes an issue as well since they try and get fancy with the angles and you can't position it how you want. A few spots it actually zooms out real far so your character is tiny. An idea that sounds fine on paper but I don't especially like it in this implementation. Good that you can see a wide bit of real estate but bad in that you're fetchin small and makes some things tougher than they need to be.

The last thing I can think of is the visuals aren't all that diverse and more than once I'm sure the layout was the exact same they just added a different enemy. And the sounds get a bit repetitive. But it's a $10 platformer what do you expect? If it was a full-priced game I'm not sure I could recommend but for what it is I'd say give it a go if you're looking for something to do. I haven't tried the multiplayer but other than beating the 'par time' and finding the cake for each level there's probably not a whole lot of replayability here.

Final verdict: 8.314159265/10 for the overall game and value for money if you like platformer games.

[Funkmasterr]

I don't know why, but it cracks me up to hear about you throwing your controller.

I'll be picking this up once I get a wireless adapter for my xbox and can get back on live.

[miir]

Mmmmm, pi.

[Animalor]

I've been playing this as well and this is a game of real precision during some levels. There are some of the challenges on Level 3 that are a real bitch.

This game hasn't indiced me into throwing the controller yet but it is quite a challenge at times.

I'm proud to say that I'm at 3-6 (or is it 3-8) without having used the Way of the Coward yet.

I love that he yells out the name of a random cut of meat when you finish a level.

*BACON*

[Fairweather Pure]

I play the game in small doses and it helps with the frustration.

[Animalor]

I play the game in small doses and it helps with the frustration.

I pretty much breezed through all of Level 1 and then 3-4 sublevels into level 2 before I had to start doing the same.

[Winnow]

I'll admit I'm not the greatest platform gamer but sheesh. I actually resorted to physically throwing the controller which is a first!

Now this is where that Wii purchase might come in handy for once....Use the Wii remote strap!

[Aslanna]

Ms. Splosion Man comes out next week! Same price as the first one: 800 point($10).

I might wait for it to go on sale if it's as "challenging" as the first one since I never finished that. I don't think I played it since I left my review.

[Animalor]

I finished the first game a long time ago. The ending was absolutely glorious. I expect to be getting the 2nd game when it comes out.

[Animalor]

Working my way through the 2nd section of the game of (apparently) 3 of Ms. 'Splosion Man. This is more challenging that the first in certain aspects. There's a couple of new mechanics to take into consideration but overall it hasn't become frustrating yet. There's more variation in level artwork that inject some refreshnig changes to the gameplay.

Overall I'm quite satisfied with the game thus far.

[Aslanna]

I decided to not purchase it based on the Game Informer review. While they liked it overall it sounded the same as the first one in regards to difficulty level.

At other times, the game stalls out due to tedious and overly precise platforming sequences and infuriating checkpoint placement. Doing the same 30-second sequence 12 times over just to get to the section you keep missing halts the relentless pacing. The normally amusing voiceover turns grating, and the fun level design becomes stale. The frustration is made worse by the character’s small size on the screen and the way she’s often obscured by the crazy action.

That sounds like a lot of the same complaints I had about the first one. I have no need for that sort of stress!

[Animalor]

There was a patch and free DLC for the first splosion man last week to tie it in to Ms. Splosion Man. I had to replay a few levels to get to the DLC parts but I get back into the precision platforming bit pretty quickly.

I guess I'm just a sucker for a good challenge.