Target Leynos

The 16 bit era had a bunch of games that came over from Japan that had anime stylings and were “toned down” to meet the tastes in the West. The cover of Shining in the Darkness traded anime characters to some that may have been designed by someone in Disney’s third string. I had a game on Sega Genesis that somehow made it through that process relatively intact. Today we fight waves of robots targeting Earth!

Wait, what the!?!?!

That is the US re release of Target Earth on PS4. I walked into a well-known national video game chain and it was sitting on the shelf. $20. Sold. I am completely nostalgic for this game and to see a physical release on the shelf just blows my mind. It’s not a kickstarter or special project, just a regular localized release. It was developed by Extreme and published in Japan by Dracue while being brought over by Rising Star games. I am happy to report it is faithful to the original and the localization kept the extras that were added in the remake.

Assault Suit Leynos always looked good. In 1990 you could make out what each of the robots on screen were and there were several locales to fight in; including moon base, city, and space. The redesign thankfully kept everything 2D, no awkward 3D models on a 2D plane here. They used high resolution sprites with heavy rotation to animate movement. It looks good, it’s obvious that they didn’t have the timeline to create Guilty Gear level sprite work.

I was kind of disappointed that they didn’t reuse the Genesis music for the remake. Then again, how can you expect that 26 year old chip tunes to show up on your PS4? BUT, there is a sound test that has music from the original. Hot Damn. Perfectly emulated sound from the old game, the bonus options can even switch new sound effects for the old ones in the case of gun fire. They kept the Japanese with English subtitles the way it should be when controlling 80’s style mecha. All in all, great work.

That leaves us with gameplay. They captured the original and made it more accessible to modern audiences. Target Earth is hard as balls. The only reason I beat it is because when you press start on the second Genesis controller when you see the first enemy of level 1 it lets it control the enemies and also makes you never die. Assault Suit Leynos gives you the blessing of regenerating health, when you play the main mode. If you select classic mode you get all of the difficulty, and less bells and whistles, of the original. I was able to finish the main mode in an afternoon, it wasn’t easy but I progressed at a rate that was not frustrating.

Controlling Leynos is pretty simple. You move left and right with the D-pad (or left stick) and raise/lower your angle of fire with up and down. Jump with the jump button and hold it to boost with the B.Pack equipped. Shoot the weapon you selected with the shoot button and hold L1 to keep shooting at the same angle while you move. The L1 is crucial for the zero G missions that also use up and down for movement. A lot of things are zipping around on screen and you will get flustered, good thing the levels are straight to the point affairs that don’t feel like you have lost too much ground if you die.

Pick your loadout prior to each mission. You have six slots. Do you put six different weapons in there to take care of any threat? Load several of one weapon you like to use to double your ammo? Use a slot for the boost pack to improve your mobility or extra armor that gives you another life bar? The base machine gun reloads but never runs out of ammo so you should take that to deal with smaller threats, other than that I liked the shotgun weapons because you are likely to be very close to your enemies in most situations. There are also arcing grenade launchers, multi-shot weapons, homing missiles, and a hand held shield to help reduce damage. Play how you like, they even added a punch.

Assault Suit Leynos being released again really caught me off guard. I never met anyone else who had heard of the game aside from those I introduced to it so it couldn’t have been a runaway hit in America. It looks like it is remembered a lot more favorably than it was reviewed at the time, with 1990 reviews from MobyGames between 50 and 60 and more contemporary reviews being much more forgiving. I’m obviously a big fan of it and a 20+ year younger version of myself is also a big fan of it, that’s a pretty good endorsement. Give it a try, and hopefully Rising Star Games will bring over more worthwhile titles the bigger companies overlook.

Perishing Is Not an Option

Henry Rollins. Let’s not fight him.

I haven’t written anything about a movie yet. I watched He Never Died recently and it was excellent, in a black/deadpan humor sort of way. This means that you need to watch it now. It is available on Netflix as of this writing which means you either already subscribe or are eligible for a month free trial. I’ll wait.

That image makes sense now.

If there ever was a person who was just older than you can imagine; seeing the world evolve in so many ways over the years and everyone you hold dear eventually go away, I would imagine they would act just like Rollins’ portrayal. He’s a hermit who keeps to himself and tries to remain unattached to anything temperamental, which includes people and personal relationships in his case. He also eats people, but not because he wants to. Jack is completely removed from reality and is indifferent to anything happening around him. At least at first.

Really the only thing that gets Jack’s concern to the present is a mistake he made nineteen years ago that resulted in a daughter. He must not have cared at the time. The story is nice and confined as you won’t find the fate of the world in the balance here, just a guy who really doesn’t want to care but realizes that he can fix things.

The dialog is where the film shines. The delivery that Jack gives in almost every line is spot on perfect. Understated and maybe insane. I’d be insane if I were alive that long and I would not be able to say the majority of the lines without laughing. Mr. Rollins, your acting has come so far since Johnny Mnemonic. That was a fun, campy movie but He Never Died is top notch.

“You’re probably just going to kill another room full of people.”

[Shakes Head]

“You are?”

“Probably.”

This is one of my favorite movies I have watched in the last few years. It seems like a rarer occurrence every time it happens. You cheer for Jack to fix things and one of the best parts is when you find out who you are cheering for. He Never Died and he still isn’t sorry for what did to become an immortal cannibal. 

Invaders from Planet Space

That’s not a witty title. That’s the actual subtitle for the game. Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space is available on your Vita, and you should buy it. Like now. There’s a reason this series has a huge cult following and it has been a crime that it doesn’t get the attention this side of the ocean that it deserves. Today we fight giant insects in one of the most video gamiest video games ever made.

Giant ants are crawling all over Big Ben. You have a rifle, point it at the ants and pull the trigger. It’s the simplest premise in the world against the most inoffensive enemies this side of Nazis. Once you take out hundreds of bugs you realize why you like this game, it is cathartic mowing down enemies with six, eight, and even hundreds of legs. There is definitely room in the industry for stupid fun, I am a total advocate for titles that fill this niche.

Earth Defense Force 4.1 was released the same day as EDF2 and is, as of now, the definitive EDF experience. This doesn’t stop EDF2 from being a perfect portable game. There are a bevy of missions to take part in with 3 soldier classes and 5 difficulty settings each with most being finished in under 10 minute bite sized chunks. It will take you quite a while to hit 100% completion especially with later difficulties being outright punishing.

First things first, this is a remastered PS2 game. It looks like a PS2 game and because it wasn’t released in the West this is the kind of re-release I can get behind. The graphics aren’t the important factor here, there are hundreds of weapons to choose from. Everything from machine guns, rocket launchers, lasers, and even air strikes will be used to stomp the opposition. When the bugs get bigger, get a bigger boot. Or a friend, EDF2 is even better with multiplayer!

Of course there are negatives to go with any game that comes out. There are vehicles available to two of the soldier classes but they don’t control very well and don’t have a crosshair (you do on foot) so it’s difficult to know exactly where you are shooting. Underground levels can be a pain, this is not meant to be a corridor shooter as it is easy to blow yourself up with explosives and everything seems to be intended for a large, mostly flat playfield with tons of space to fill with segmented body parts. The Air Raider class fills more of a support role and will likely cause trouble if you are trying to clear missions solo on higher difficulties. Grinding is also integral to the gameplay, you pick up armor and weapon drops from enemies that increase your health and arsenal for the coming missions. Some people don’t mind the grind but it may be enough to put people off.

 Earth Defense Force deserves a look. It almost plays like a recreation of classic games; Robotron 2084 when clearing gobs of insects, Space Invaders when shooting up at UFO’s that threaten your planet, and Centipede when you face the giant, well, centipede enemies. EDF!

Well fought? - A Few Hours With The Division Beta

New games are awesome! Being some of the first to play new games is even more awesome! Beta testing has been around ever since cavemen were trying to decide what materials burned too hot, and the internet has given us the privilege to warm hands all over the world in this metaphor. Today we fight with the feeling of "meh".

Full disclosure, I indirectly paid to join The Division. I bought the Tom Clancy bundle on Humble Bundle because I really wanted to jump on some Splintercell action and I was in an impulse buying mood. Since the bundle came with a beta key I figured I would download the 26 gig (holy crap!) file through uPlay and check it out.

First off, this is a beta and for the most part it works. There is a warning stating that the servers may be going in and out etc. I was disconnected quite a bit, and that's probably a good thing, hopefully they are working on their netcode and managing all the stress the servers can take. I had some occasional issues with graphical artifact that seemed to be connected to lighting that would obstruct 80% of the game screen if I moved the camera into a certain angle. These are beta issues that will likely be fixed in the retail release. I'm sure Ubisoft will do what it can to make sure there isn't another Assassin's Creed: Unity.

When you start up the beta, one of the developers voice over plays and tells you it's a cover based shooter. And that's what we have here. It's a cover based shooter, you've played them before. This one has loot. I am not impressed. The game is functional, running around an epidemic overridden New York City looks great. The enemies are rioters that shoot first and ask questions later with sub par AI. At one point one of my NPC allies yelled out "They don't have a plan, keep shooting!" and I laughed in agreement.

The Division looks like it could be a huge, immersive world to get lost in. It's screaming for more interesting enemy design (with the epidemic theme we'll probably get zombies...meh). If this was a demo, I would not be buying the final product based on the gameplay. There's a ton of potential here to be more than a cover based shooter with RPG elements, but I'd wait for the initial flood of reviews to come out. Back to Splintercell I guess.

Anime From Your Youth Still Gets Your Attention

If you have a passing interest in video games in this day and age you have probably dabbled in the medium of Japanese animation. I have and haven’t seriously followed any series in well over a decade. There are a few titles that grab me whenever something hits new release lists or podcasts that I frequent, mainly Ghost in the Shell and I will defend Cowboy Bebop until the end. Today we fight like we have been inducted into Section 9.

I have my issues with early access titles and free to play titles. This time I paid to play a free title in early access. Ghost in the Shell: First Assault is a Sci-Fi first person shooter that does nothing new. The shooting is responsive, you gain levels by playing, and you can by skins and additional characters with real money. In all fairness, you can unlock more Section 9 operatives with the earned in game currency by investing more time. When it comes to game modes there is Team Deathmatch, Terminal Capture (point based capturing in sequence like Battlefield), and Demolition (it’s Counter Strike, even with one spawn per round). So, why are you telling me about this game?

It is all in the presentation, down to action based clips from the show in some menus. It looks exactly like what the GitS universe should look, futuristic and slightly sterile. The character models are spot on with the entire voice cast from the Stand Alone Complex series! Hearing those voices really hits the sweet spot. Even the Tachikoma think tank helps you in the terminal capture mode. Considering your team is always Section 9, the game projects you as generic “bad guys” to the other team; this also doesn’t let on which members of your team have what abilities to the enemy. Each operative has their own special skill based on their role in the anime. Major Kusanagi has her trademark optical camouflage, Batou shoots missiles out of his arm, Ishikawa can place turrets, and so on. Some of the abilities can be spread to other squad mates through a skill sync; giving everyone around you semi-invisibility can help turn the tide of any battle.

As a free to play game First Assault seems to be pretty on par with other titles. There are temporary items that can augment you slightly in the form of faster reloads, shorter ability cooldowns, and the like. Just like Hawken you gain levels and then are bestowed the privilege of purchasing upgrades with your hard earned cash. This is a model I’m not a fan of, if I’ve put in the time I don’t want to find out I need to grind money to get the item I’ve been after. I can also see how this could get someone to drop real world funds to get around it. Maybe I’m just getting old and can’t cope with these newfangled ways to spend my money.

If you’re looking for a fun, fast paced shooter that you can jump in and out of this is your one of your many answers. It’s still in early access at this point and is due out sometime in 2016. A co-op horde mode would be a welcome addition along with some way to pilot a think tank. When it hits its official release date give it a shot, it’s fun to dive back into a simpler time with familiar gameplay.

It's That Time of Year

2015 is pretty much over. I hope it was good for everyone; if not, you must not have played the game of the year (GOTY, Goatee, or GoTey). Fallout 4 was released and is probably considered for a bunch of best games lists, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is likely still being played to death by its audience, while Pillars of Eternity and Axiom Verge are being picked apart by their rabid fans. There was much fighting to be had here at Why Should We Fight and it was narrowed down to two different games.

First things first, I play a lot of retro games and don't really pay attention to the year a title is released. Good games came out in 1995 and good games came out in 2015. I had to check the dates of a few of the games I liked and was surprised to find out that they were from 2014 or 2013; it didn't seem like they were that old. On with the show...

March gave us Bloodborne. Victorian style horror where you subdue werewolves and other beasts while unraveling the mysteries of a blood drunk city that holds a nightly hunt in the name of the Healing Church. You must seek the Pale Blood and escape the nightmare you have been trapped in. Don't worry it starts Victorian with your character looking like the guys in Brotherhood of the Wolf when they fought in the rain and becomes something much more cosmic. I've been a Souls series fan since Demon's Souls taught me it wasn't safe to bring everyone back to the Nexus but it was the Lovecraftian horror themes are what really kept me around. Read all of the item descriptions, look for the eyes, and get ready to use some of the most creative weapons you've seen in quite some time.

September brought us Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Metal Gear is another series I have been following for quite some time; it blew my mind in 1998. After an entire console generation where the "open-world" game has reigned supreme (and become kind of stale, c'mon Ubisoft, switch it up) it seems like we actually have something that feels different. The flaws of the open world genre are still there (EVERY soldier in Afghanistan would have been Fulton'd out), but adding it to the Metal Gear formula gives us a game where you can approach a situation the way you want to. I still love coming up on a guard post and shooting a tranq dart into each one of their chests as fast as I can and watching them fall like dominos. I'm kind of happy to see you aren't punished as bad as you used to be for using deadly force because so many of your tools will kill your enemies instead of just stunning them. This game is a real open world toy box.

I was on the fence for a while. Either one of these titles deserves recognition. In November something awesome happened. The Old Hunters. They took Bloodborne and ramped everything up to 11. Ridiculous new weapons that aren't reskins but completely new, more punishing bosses that may make you break your controller, and insight into what made the city of Yharnam full of bloodthirsty hunters who have become worse than what they hunt. This is DLC the way it should be, completely original content that adds to and takes nothing away from the base product. Bravo From Software, bravo.

Game of the Year: Bloodborne.

A Flash Flood of Awesome

Enter Shikari is one of those bands that I wish I had discovered a decade ago. They’re a quartet of Brits that like to make music that sounds like post hardcore, techno, and protest tunes were thrown into a blender and never stopped spinning. Go listen to A Flash Flood of Colour, they put the entire album (with remixes and live tracks) on YouTube themselves. If you really like it you can even buy it. Who says I can’t write about something other than video games; today we find out what others may be fighting for.

Countries are just lines drawn in the sand drawn with a stick. I like this lyric, it makes sense. A multitude of problems in the world today affect us all and won’t be resolved until we work together to figure it all out. Too bad everyone still has their own interests placed above everyone else. I’m also happy to report that this record is not all doom and gloom, there is plenty of less dense subject matter that you can nod your head to or do menial tasks to. I like to listen to really loud, angry music while washing dishes.

System…Meltdown is the first two tracks on the album. I like it. It’s a good pump up track with the line from above; building on itself with an extended intro and coming in pummel the world’s problems into submission. Hello Tyrannosaurus, Meet Tyrannocide. That’s a song title, anyone who has an excuse to yell out a phrase like that is alright in my book. The real icing on the cake are the catchy guitar riffs Rory C. lays down. They’re not supposed to invoke your 80’s speed metal memories; Warm Smiles Will Not Make You Welcome Here has a riff that gets stuck in my head for days.

After listening to Take to the Skies and The Mindsweep I really wish I had gotten into Enter Shikari and listened to all of their material as it came out. There is a ton of growth that has happened over the last decade and they've even kept the same line up the entire time. It’s unfortunate that acts like Lost Prophets and Bullet for My Valentine had much more mainstream success than Enter Shikari, but then again a hype machine could have affected how their albums were written. Go listen to A Flash Flood of Colour, anything can happen in the next three and a half hours…