Good article, forgot a lot about the game. And it really is kinda amazing how they were able to make and release two of the best rpgs/games ever in such short succession. It now feels like they genuinely tried to outdo them with 7 and just came up a bit short, then essentially regressed to silly Japanese pandering cash-ins afterwards :-\
This game sucks hard. I don't get why people like it. If you look past the flashy graphics, it's a very boring, watered down game. System Shock 2 was way way better
Actually Greg Noe, X57's main facility is very appropriate in my opinion. The asteroid was decelerated from the orbit of Planet Borr (the next one out in the system) and was destined to become the basic structure for a permenant Orbital Station, possibly a Spaceship Dry-Dock, Foundry, and/or Military Patrol Station. After all, not every Alliance Warship can land on or in a planetside Spaceport; meaning also, not every ship can be built and 'launched' from planetside. As one of the largest human colony worlds, it may have been deemed worthwhile to station a permenant military force to dissuade pirate raids and maybe even launch counter-piracy raids from.
Now, an Orbital Station takes alot of resourses and time. (Gods, just imagine what it took to make the Citidel.) So to offset the costs and speed things up a bit, they decided to decelerate X57 (a mineral rich asteroid) from Plant Borr's Orbit. It was on the Lagrange or very edge of Borr's gravity well, so it might have one day been 'thrown' out of orbit. The minerals would then be used in the construction of the basic structure of the Orbital Station. Furthur resourses and parts would have been shipped in to complete the station. They first sent out a mining and construction teams to install the three Fusion Torch Engines nessesary to get X57 'in motion', that is slowing it's orbit at the presise time to get it to 'fall' out of Borr's orbit and and accelerating towards Terra Nova's. This wouldn't be a one day operation, the teams would have to remain on the asteroid to monitor, adjust, and repair the fusion torches and the asteroid's course; the risk of the asteroid causeing an E.L.E. on Terra Nova was simply to great to trust to an automated or VI program. Keeping pace with a ship could have worked, but the supply and resource costs could be lessened by constructing a permenant facility on the asteroid. This facility, which we fought in, would eventually be used during the mining, construction, and possibly even in the service of the completed Orbital Station. A job done right is worth doing right the first time, thus they built a self-sufficient facility capable of recycling, storing, and disposing of air, water, and refuse. As for the exsistance of the plants, everyone knows plants absorb Carbon-Dioxide and put out Oxygen. Although they may not put out a one to one trade of CO2 for Oxy, they still ease the job of life support a bit and they bring a bit of 'living green warmth' into an otherwise cold and sterile metal box. That's why I find the Main Facility appropritate. It's not out-of-place, just 'finished'.
I have had a problem with X57's story tho'. Even with the immense size of the Fusion Torches that we see (the bulk of them must be underground since they 'built' them out the 'mouth' of the Mine Entrance Object), I suspect that they had to install a large scale Mass Effect Core under the Main Facility (which justifies the massive power lines that seem to pulse with power seen above and running into the wall beside the second story walkway) in order to 'lighten' X57's 22 kilometer mass to where the Fusion Torches could manuver it around, but just barely. With only three torches on the whole thing to get it to slow down you have to turn it completely around to 'put on the brakes' so to speak. At the end of the mission the Team Leader says, "In another hour, our course would have been irreversible." The best way to turn the asteroid without overshooting Terra Nova would be to turn the asteroid so the Torches point towards the planet and push it to the side, bringing it into TN's Orbit and let it settle into it's own orbit; or turn the torches against the direction of travel and bring the asteroid to a 'stop' inside of TN's gravity well and let it 'catch' the asteroid into an orbit. Those three Torches are all on the same side of the asteroid, meaning only one or two can be used for manuver depending on how you want to turn. Otherwise with all three lit you are basically 'curving' the asteroid while accelerating. Not a good idea with the planet within an hours time of getting hit. Also with the Torches dug into the ground and the way they were designed they don't seem to be capable of vectoring their thrust very much. That leaves only their power for manuvers, with an 'unlightened' mass that makes your turns very sluggish. So I justify their manuverability with a Large Scale Mass Effect Core. The only thing I can't find any justification for happens as we approach X57 in the cut scene. ALL THREE TORCHES ARE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE ASTEROID!!!! Anyone, anyone who did ANY research on space manuvers would remember Issac Newtons First Law!
"A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force"
(Which probably explains the Gunnery Chief chewing out Serviceman Chung, for daring to suggest they 'eyeball' the aim of a Dreadnoughts Main Gun without the computer's help, in Mass Effect 2. HAHA! Sir Issac Newton is the DEADLIEST son-of-a-#!&%$ in space!!!)
This means with all three Torches in the same area of the asteroid, namely the 'bottom', and pointing in the same direction; X57 SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPINNING LIKE THE PROVERBIAL TOP!!! I can understand the Normandy not spinning out, it's center of mass is probably being 'dropped' into the x between it's thrusters by the main drive core lowering the mass of the top to the ship more then the bottom; and it has manuvering thrusters powerful enough to help in atmosphere. The largest ships in the military are the 'kilometer long' Dreadnoughts, note they are known to get up to only ONE KILOMETER. and that's the largest ship they can make...Sovereign is 2Km long...X57 is 22Km...if three Fusion Torches can manuver an Asteroid that well, they'd be used in more massive Dreadnoughts. I could see three torches moving X57, if they were placed on three points around it's edge on the back. But not all on the bottom, they'd have spun out or at the very least 'curved' away from Terra Nova. Now three groups of three Fusion Torches would allow not only for acceleration (only one in each group need point back for speed), but the other two in each group could be angeled so they provide spin manuverability much faster then just firing one or two of the accelerator Torches to 'curve' or spin. Plus it would allow for a multi-Team Mission. While Shepard's group takes on the group with the Main Facility, the others split into two teams of two (pre-Virmire casualty) or the Normandy lands on the asteroid to pick them up and move them to the other group as a team of three (post- Virmire). After all, with nine Fusion Torches it becomes more likely that the pirates will be streached thin through out the facilities and concentrated at the Main. The Main Facility would have the Activation Authority, while the Torch Control Building would have the Overrides to shut off the Torches. That little attempt at an Artistic License, IMO fails. Space is either empty or it's not.
P.S. If you haven't seen Deep Impact, E.L.E. stands for Extinction Level Event.
I totally agree with the driving aspect of the game. Its only with time and practice that you can drive at the limit and be running into everything in Liberty City. The music in the game is outstanding and had the same thought that "real radio" is nowhere near as enjoyable and entertaining to listen to. I will definitely be logging in more hours playing this one.
Necessary? No. And here's my honest apology for spoiling it: I'm sorry.
I hate spoilers as much as the next guy, probably more as I have a friend who doesn't care if you spoil the biggest thing in the world for him and I argue with him about that a lot.
All I can say is that I'm still developing my writing voice and I'm trying to walk that line of being informative and not spoiling things. Thanks for your opinion, I'm going to clean up the things you pointed out in the review, and "censor" your own comment from spoilers.
This is actually the second spoiler comment I've had in the last few weeks so I'm going to take it as an indication that I need to cut back on the story comments a bit. Honestly, thanks for your input and I hope you keep reading the site.
As for the game, I dunno. It's made for "hardcore" fighter fans, yet it's on the Wii, possibly the most casual console ever. Played it a bit in arcade and felt mostly meh about it. Most approachable of the versus series? I'd think Marvel, especially with how popular it is now after the movies would be much more so.
If only this game had some Samurai Pizza Cats and Servbot in it lol. Or Dan, geez.
Was it really necessary to spoil most of the game? The review is good and informative, but I think I'd rather NOT know that *something happens* later in the game, or that *something else happens* in the opening scene. No matter how small or big these moments are, they're still spoilers, and the impact of them would have been so much bigger had you not mentioned them.
*Spoilers removed by review author per comment below.
The hacking mini-games were pretty easy. One is just matching the symbol pairs (like the card game Old Maid). The other is trying to match the code chunks to the ones displayed at the top. The only problem I had with them was sometimes the circuit points were far enough away that I couldn't click the second of a pair before the timer on the first ran out. Those would take 10-15 tries to get but I'd still be able to make before the game timer ran out.
It seems to be pronounced "Thee Five Eight Days Over 2." Which makes no sense at all.
I just want to say that this game's name angers and confuses me.
I've gotten to Birdo, and to be honest, I only play 10-15 minutes at a time, but its enough to keep it fresh in my mind.
Good article, forgot a lot about the game. And it really is kinda amazing how they were able to make and release two of the best rpgs/games ever in such short succession. It now feels like they genuinely tried to outdo them with 7 and just came up a bit short, then essentially regressed to silly Japanese pandering cash-ins afterwards :-\
O_O
This game sucks hard. I don't get why people like it. If you look past the flashy graphics, it's a very boring, watered down game. System Shock 2 was way way better
How many lashes do I get if I announce here that I've never played Ocarina of Time?
FF6 is much better than both CT and Ocarina combined
Do you really think it would have gotten higher than 99/100? That's what Ocarina of Time scored.
Metacritic obviously knows best, considering it doesn't even have the original Super Nintendo Chrono Trigger in its database.
But according to Metacritic, Ocarina of Time is the best game ever.
Didn't we play star ocean together when we were kids? I still have it on my shelf here at the house...
Sounds like a fun and therapeutic experience. HULK SMASH BUILDING!
The engine feels very much the same as Spider-Man 2, but it's not made by the same people. Might be the same engine, that I don't know.
And, the theme of the review is the same as the theme of the game. ;)
Was this by the same people who made those newer spiderman games? I remember playing this briefly and it felt like the same engine.
And I feel like there was a theme to this review, but I can't quite put my finger on it...
Actually Greg Noe, X57's main facility is very appropriate in my opinion. The asteroid was decelerated from the orbit of Planet Borr (the next one out in the system) and was destined to become the basic structure for a permenant Orbital Station, possibly a Spaceship Dry-Dock, Foundry, and/or Military Patrol Station. After all, not every Alliance Warship can land on or in a planetside Spaceport; meaning also, not every ship can be built and 'launched' from planetside. As one of the largest human colony worlds, it may have been deemed worthwhile to station a permenant military force to dissuade pirate raids and maybe even launch counter-piracy raids from.
Now, an Orbital Station takes alot of resourses and time. (Gods, just imagine what it took to make the Citidel.) So to offset the costs and speed things up a bit, they decided to decelerate X57 (a mineral rich asteroid) from Plant Borr's Orbit. It was on the Lagrange or very edge of Borr's gravity well, so it might have one day been 'thrown' out of orbit. The minerals would then be used in the construction of the basic structure of the Orbital Station. Furthur resourses and parts would have been shipped in to complete the station. They first sent out a mining and construction teams to install the three Fusion Torch Engines nessesary to get X57 'in motion', that is slowing it's orbit at the presise time to get it to 'fall' out of Borr's orbit and and accelerating towards Terra Nova's. This wouldn't be a one day operation, the teams would have to remain on the asteroid to monitor, adjust, and repair the fusion torches and the asteroid's course; the risk of the asteroid causeing an E.L.E. on Terra Nova was simply to great to trust to an automated or VI program. Keeping pace with a ship could have worked, but the supply and resource costs could be lessened by constructing a permenant facility on the asteroid. This facility, which we fought in, would eventually be used during the mining, construction, and possibly even in the service of the completed Orbital Station. A job done right is worth doing right the first time, thus they built a self-sufficient facility capable of recycling, storing, and disposing of air, water, and refuse. As for the exsistance of the plants, everyone knows plants absorb Carbon-Dioxide and put out Oxygen. Although they may not put out a one to one trade of CO2 for Oxy, they still ease the job of life support a bit and they bring a bit of 'living green warmth' into an otherwise cold and sterile metal box. That's why I find the Main Facility appropritate. It's not out-of-place, just 'finished'.
I have had a problem with X57's story tho'. Even with the immense size of the Fusion Torches that we see (the bulk of them must be underground since they 'built' them out the 'mouth' of the Mine Entrance Object), I suspect that they had to install a large scale Mass Effect Core under the Main Facility (which justifies the massive power lines that seem to pulse with power seen above and running into the wall beside the second story walkway) in order to 'lighten' X57's 22 kilometer mass to where the Fusion Torches could manuver it around, but just barely. With only three torches on the whole thing to get it to slow down you have to turn it completely around to 'put on the brakes' so to speak. At the end of the mission the Team Leader says, "In another hour, our course would have been irreversible." The best way to turn the asteroid without overshooting Terra Nova would be to turn the asteroid so the Torches point towards the planet and push it to the side, bringing it into TN's Orbit and let it settle into it's own orbit; or turn the torches against the direction of travel and bring the asteroid to a 'stop' inside of TN's gravity well and let it 'catch' the asteroid into an orbit. Those three Torches are all on the same side of the asteroid, meaning only one or two can be used for manuver depending on how you want to turn. Otherwise with all three lit you are basically 'curving' the asteroid while accelerating. Not a good idea with the planet within an hours time of getting hit. Also with the Torches dug into the ground and the way they were designed they don't seem to be capable of vectoring their thrust very much. That leaves only their power for manuvers, with an 'unlightened' mass that makes your turns very sluggish. So I justify their manuverability with a Large Scale Mass Effect Core. The only thing I can't find any justification for happens as we approach X57 in the cut scene. ALL THREE TORCHES ARE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE ASTEROID!!!! Anyone, anyone who did ANY research on space manuvers would remember Issac Newtons First Law!
"A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force"
(Which probably explains the Gunnery Chief chewing out Serviceman Chung, for daring to suggest they 'eyeball' the aim of a Dreadnoughts Main Gun without the computer's help, in Mass Effect 2. HAHA! Sir Issac Newton is the DEADLIEST son-of-a-#!&%$ in space!!!)
This means with all three Torches in the same area of the asteroid, namely the 'bottom', and pointing in the same direction; X57 SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPINNING LIKE THE PROVERBIAL TOP!!! I can understand the Normandy not spinning out, it's center of mass is probably being 'dropped' into the x between it's thrusters by the main drive core lowering the mass of the top to the ship more then the bottom; and it has manuvering thrusters powerful enough to help in atmosphere. The largest ships in the military are the 'kilometer long' Dreadnoughts, note they are known to get up to only ONE KILOMETER. and that's the largest ship they can make...Sovereign is 2Km long...X57 is 22Km...if three Fusion Torches can manuver an Asteroid that well, they'd be used in more massive Dreadnoughts. I could see three torches moving X57, if they were placed on three points around it's edge on the back. But not all on the bottom, they'd have spun out or at the very least 'curved' away from Terra Nova. Now three groups of three Fusion Torches would allow not only for acceleration (only one in each group need point back for speed), but the other two in each group could be angeled so they provide spin manuverability much faster then just firing one or two of the accelerator Torches to 'curve' or spin. Plus it would allow for a multi-Team Mission. While Shepard's group takes on the group with the Main Facility, the others split into two teams of two (pre-Virmire casualty) or the Normandy lands on the asteroid to pick them up and move them to the other group as a team of three (post- Virmire). After all, with nine Fusion Torches it becomes more likely that the pirates will be streached thin through out the facilities and concentrated at the Main. The Main Facility would have the Activation Authority, while the Torch Control Building would have the Overrides to shut off the Torches. That little attempt at an Artistic License, IMO fails. Space is either empty or it's not.
P.S. If you haven't seen Deep Impact, E.L.E. stands for Extinction Level Event.
I totally agree with the driving aspect of the game. Its only with time and practice that you can drive at the limit and be running into everything in Liberty City. The music in the game is outstanding and had the same thought that "real radio" is nowhere near as enjoyable and entertaining to listen to. I will definitely be logging in more hours playing this one.
Necessary? No. And here's my honest apology for spoiling it: I'm sorry.
I hate spoilers as much as the next guy, probably more as I have a friend who doesn't care if you spoil the biggest thing in the world for him and I argue with him about that a lot.
All I can say is that I'm still developing my writing voice and I'm trying to walk that line of being informative and not spoiling things. Thanks for your opinion, I'm going to clean up the things you pointed out in the review, and "censor" your own comment from spoilers.
This is actually the second spoiler comment I've had in the last few weeks so I'm going to take it as an indication that I need to cut back on the story comments a bit. Honestly, thanks for your input and I hope you keep reading the site.
Samurai Pizza Cats is classic :P
As for the game, I dunno. It's made for "hardcore" fighter fans, yet it's on the Wii, possibly the most casual console ever. Played it a bit in arcade and felt mostly meh about it. Most approachable of the versus series? I'd think Marvel, especially with how popular it is now after the movies would be much more so.
If only this game had some Samurai Pizza Cats and Servbot in it lol. Or Dan, geez.
Was it really necessary to spoil most of the game? The review is good and informative, but I think I'd rather NOT know that *something happens* later in the game, or that *something else happens* in the opening scene. No matter how small or big these moments are, they're still spoilers, and the impact of them would have been so much bigger had you not mentioned them.
*Spoilers removed by review author per comment below.
dude lost odyssey has four disks of gameplay
Yeah, it looks interesting. I'm gonna try the demo on steam.
It almost sounds more like a super elaborate puzzle game hidden in the guise of a strategy game. Very nicely done review Greg. I like it.
The hacking mini-games were pretty easy. One is just matching the symbol pairs (like the card game Old Maid). The other is trying to match the code chunks to the ones displayed at the top. The only problem I had with them was sometimes the circuit points were far enough away that I couldn't click the second of a pair before the timer on the first ran out. Those would take 10-15 tries to get but I'd still be able to make before the game timer ran out.
Ah yes, because that was the one Zhang kept taking lol