April Delays Bring May Monsters

So April's finally here and we have a pretty empty month as far as releases go. The 360 has hit a small bump in the road, with several delays this month making Guitar Hero II the only big release for Microsoft. PS3 has nothing really substantial coming out either, relying on ports of Enchanted Arms, the lackluster RPG that debuted months ago on the 360, and F.E.A.R., the horror-shooter that is seeing it's third iteration release, to carry their April sales. As far as the Wii is concerned, Super Paper Mario is their big title of the month, which will most certainly be a good game, just not something that will hold gamers over for any lengthy amount of time. What does this all mean? Since April is pretty scant of titles, what is the next big title to hit the next-gen systems?
Well, the votes are in and the winner is...Monster Madness, the campy, 4-player monster romp created by Artificial Studios in which gamers take control of high school heroes as they battle their way through hordes of the undead and things that go bump in the night in an effort to retake suburbia. The buzz on the game is that it should be a fun co-op campaign that never really takes itself too seriously, and that's really what you want in a game like this, especially if you're playing alongside three friends. The game will also support 16-player PvP with game modes such as capture the flag, something that's never really been done in a top-down game like this.
Color me excited just because I love any game that I can play from start to finish with my friends. There's always something about playing with friends that enhances the gaming experience, but what will make or break the game is the gameplay. While that might seem like a "duh" thing to say, I think in a game like this you can't just have a strategy of mashing A for hours on end, much like you do in the critically acclaimed Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. I think its safe to say that there won't be an amazing story included in the $60 game, so a little bit of diversity in the gameplay would be nice to see. What exactly does that mean? Powerful weapons pickups, an in-depth combo system (both single player and team combos would be fun to try to pull off), and really interesting boss battles that would force players to work together, instead of everyone mashing A-B-X a hundred times to finally win. I really haven't asked for much here, because I don't think the game will need any more major elements than the ones I have mentioned to make it fun and worth the purchase. Hopefully Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia will deliver. If not, you could always dust off Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

Gears of Woe

OK, so this is old news, but it still pains me when I see it. Last night I decided to jump on some Gears of War online play. I haven't checked out the new maps Raven Down or Old Bones yet, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I thought maybe there would be some how, some way, that Cliffy B. and the good folks at Epic had fixed their awful patch of removing the host name from ranked games. When the new maps were available for download the patch went into effect and pretty much removed me from the GoW online community. Here's my problem, and it's probably one of my biggest problems with Microsoft this gen: Why the hell can't we play ranked matches online with our friends? I understand they want to eliminate cheating and have implemented their new TrueSkill System, but I still cannot understand why we can't play together with buddies.
To me, the solution is simple. You make every game that bolsters strong online pvp action REQUIRE the party system that Halo 2 implemented. If Bungie was able to create that system last-gen, there's no reason why it can't be implemented this gen. Or better yet, create a clan system for Xbox Live, so every online game can offer clan matches that track statictics, rate clan members gamerscore, etc. I can't imagine this being very difficult, which leads me to the horror and dismay that I am starting to see unfold before my very eyes: Microsoft doesn't want you to play with friends. I truly hope this isn't the case, but the deeper we get into this generation, the less I'm playing pvp with my old clan mates.
Microsoft better right this ship fast, because as an avid online gamer that got back into gaming when SOCOM first hit the online servers, they need to realize gamers want clans, they want a strong online community, they want to play ranked games that tracks statistics, and they want games to have longevity. By only allowing friends to play together in unranked games, and lacking strong clan support, they are losing their online support base. If the guys at Sony ever pulls their heads out of the sand they would realize that this would be a way to hurt Microsoft. Gears of War had a good thing going, as friends were able to jump in together and track their kills and deaths while having a good times in games that counted. Then they patched the game and I haven't played since. I can only hope that Halo 3 paves the way for all the changes I'm craving, and that Microsoft makes those changes the standard. It used to be "good to play together", but not anymore.

And on the Seventh Day, God Created Blogs...

It seems that blogs are all the rage these days, so I figured that since I can read, write, and always have an opinion, why shouldn't I get on the blogging craze. So here I am, known in the gaming world as BloodxStone, ready to voice my opinion from high atop the mountain of gaming knowledge...Well, not really. The true aim of this blog is for me to have somewhere I can vent my views, opinions, and general issues I have (and believe me, there are many) with the gaming industry. The true fact is that I have loved games since I can remember. I have grown up with the NES as my security blanket. My best friends were Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong. I learned the rules of baseball and hockey from the 8-bit games of the 80's. My girlfriends were Princess Peach and Samus Aran. Point is, I'm 22, have had a girlfriend for 7 years, play collegiate roller hockey for Stony Brook University (ECRHA DII Champs, baby!!!), and I still loves games. I have grown up with the industry, as so many of us 80's babies have, so I feel close to it. It's a huge hobby for me, from playing the crap out of single player games, fragging punks online in multiplayer games, and keeping up with all the latest buzz and rumors. Feel free to come here as often as you like to check out my point of view on anything related to gaming, from reviews, previews, or just general editorials. Let the BloodxStone blogging era begin...