Letter from the Editor - Willy105
Hello System Wars!
We (well, I) have a surprise for you! It's the first episode of SYSTEM WARS: MOD SQUAD! It's an adventure game that plays like an RPG without the RPG elements! If you played SYSTEM WARS: THE GAME and liked it's RPG elements, too bad. This one doesn't have it! Anywho, these episodes are bite-sized, about 6 minutes long, so that you can play without being worn out by time. This will replace the System Wars: The Comic, because a single comic is harder to do than a game (what?).
But enough about the game, this issue is packed! ActicEdge has blessed us with a great review of SECRET OF MANA, Darkspineslayer has returned to us after a couple of months of being dead, Brianfox1 ventures into the first episode of SYSTEM WARS: MOD SQUAD all by himself and reviews it (with no support from me, may I add), and he also gives us some more of his shopping lists which you should pay attention to (he still thinks he is better than us, but will not admit it), and K_Smoove, a proud sheep, crosses the line and plays LEFT 4 DEAD!
So sit down, relax, and enjoy the latest issue of your favorite magazine...SYSTEM WARS MONTHLY!!!!
Weather Report - Tsug_Ze_Wind
Hello SW! I'm Tsug_Ze_Wind, and I'm back from no-internet hell just in time to be your weathersheep this month.
We're just emerging from the complete void that is post-E3 SW, and there are actually things to argue about! Imagine that! Here's what we were all bickering about this month.
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The PS3 Slim was the biggest news this month. Two years ago, this would have been huge and a major weapon for the cows, now it's just filling the role of obigatory mid-gen console redesign. It may not affect the sales war, but it's some good news that'll push plenty of people off the fence about buying a PS3. (In the good way.)
It all started (or just continued) when Wii Sports Resort got an AA from GS (and who called it? Oh that's right, I did) and the "lower standards" argument reared its ugly head yet again. And yet again, the hermits were laughing. ROFL-ing, even. It seems the sheep can't catch a break when it comes to cows and lemmings stealing arguments from the PC crowd.
Is there a more hardcore crowd than racing nerds? The eternal debate between GT5 and Forza rages on, and this isn't just another cows vs. lemmings war. Absolutely every possible detail has been compared by now, and probably many times. I'd get sick following these arguments, but I'm guessing the final verdict will be that GT5 looks more realistic, but Forza is a more realistic bet to come out sometime this century.
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And now for the forecast:
Fall never can come too soon for a topic-starved SW, but don't expect too much to happen until we near the end of the year. With E3 setting up a crazy 2010 showdown, it seems '09 is already old news. Still, there are definitely some big games to keep an eye on, and some entertainment to be found this holiday season.
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Until next time, Scribblenauts. Believe it.
Tsug
Metal Gear Solid 4 Review - Darkspineslayer
Let's get this in the open right now, not too long ago I was a hardcore sheep. Halo was Satan and I had no idea what the hell a kratos was. When the Wii began to fail me after Super Smash Bros Brawl, I got a 360. The world was opened up to me. Now a few years later, I bit the bullet and picked up a Playstation 3, my first Playstation home console. One of the first games that I play on my shiny new Playstation turned out to be an epic experience that every gamer should try, even if they haven't played the first 3.
In an alternate reality setting, the whole world is now fueled by the war economy. The more fighting the more profit. But war has become organized. Every solider is equipped with ID tagged gear, and nanomachines offer "the system" full supervision and control over every soldier. Now Liquid Osolet, Solid snake's twin is attempting to break into the system and unleash a resurrection on the world. Even if you haven't been playing the series since the beginning, you will find the story easy enough to understand after the first hour, the brilliantly writing of Hideo Kojima shines through and gives the game an almost movie like experience. The cutsenes will at times drag on, and you don't want to skip any possible major revelations' so that can get kind of annoying. But putting up with the lengthy cutsenes is well worth the trouble.
Game play is smooth and fulfilling, the controls are simply but they get the job done. snake will always move exactly how you want him to, weather that is sneaking behind an enemy with your knife, or going into the battle guns blazing you will rarely have any control screw ups. Music always matches the scenario perfectly, weather your tailing a member of a European resistance to their boss without being noticed, or in an intense firefight with a buxom beauty bottling up a horrible past the music will never seem out of place unless you want it to using the in game IPod.
The visuals are astounding, and simply the best graphics on the most powerful console this side of the PC. Animations are flawless even when the action heats up and the game never stutters once.
All in all, what can I say? Metal Gear Solid 4 is an epic that nobody who calls themselves a gamer should miss out on, go pick up a PS3 and a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4, you'll be glad you did
-DSS
System Wars: Mod Squad Episode 1 - Willy105
ActicEdges Old School Reviews: Secret of Mana - ActicEdge
Secret of Mana is a peculiar game especially in this day and age because all things considered, it has some really visible flaws. Its exceptionally repetitive, features a cliché story and has basic but yet sometimes harsh gameplay. All things considered, the sum of its parts really isn't anything fascinating yet somehow it all comes together to produce an experience that is fulfilling, rewarding and addicting. It's not the deepest game you'll ever play or the best written but its damn fun and for that reason alone, Secret of Mana is absolutely worth a look if you haven't played it.
The first thing to be said about Secret of Mana is that its an RPG, as such you'll have the usual suspects like leveling up, collecting new weapons and upgrades, magic, HP, MP and all that other good stuff. The other thing worth noting is that everything is real time meaning no turn based battles or random transportations to a separate battle field. The combat is fluid and takes place as you transverse the landscape of the world. You control 3 characters who are all obtained fairly early in the adventure and they all mostly control the same with small variants. You get your standard warrior who'll be your strongest physical attacker, your support magic character for healing and status and your offensive spell caster for magic attacks.
Now that all that is out of the way to the plot. Well in short its rather basic. The long answer is that this game had an obviously botched translation because there are some logical errors and sometimes emotion is not displayed like it should. (That could just be squares often terrible writing however). Basically, without spoiling anything, you start as a boy who is with his friends playing where they shouldn't be and he takes a tumble and falls. He then sees a sword, pulls it and the adventure begins. He is eventually banished from his village and some other stuff happens that I won't get into besides the fact that he pulled a legendary sword (the mana sword). He needs to restore it to its former glory to beat down the bad guys. It's a basic story but it is compelling and exciting enough to draw you in long enough to continue playing. The supporting cast is likable as well.
Secret of mana has a rather good soundtrack to its benefit as well. The tunes are catchy whether it's the cheery music that accompanies when you run through the games various forests or the absolutely epic and daunting music that will face you when some of the games more important dungeons are discovered. The tunes in the game will most definitely add to the mood and atmosphere when it is needed. There is some miss though where some tracks don't quite fit location like a certain tune that happens to play in the games longest and possibly most frustrating dungeon. This leads me into the next point, Secret of mana's gameplay and pacing can kick your ass if you're not prepared for it.
The game has massive difficulty spikes that aren't balanced well. Its not something that people will be very tolerant of for long initially. There are simply parts of the game with absurd difficulty that requires you upgrade your equipment. The problem is that sometimes you simply don't have the money to buy better equipment and the only other way to get it is through rare drops. There are points in the game where enemies can kill you with a single hit if you don't upgrade. If you do however you may take literally no damage. It makes fighting certain enemies uninteresting.
The combat itself is simple and satisfying however. You have a bar that charges up to 100%. When the bar is full your attacks will do maximum damage. If you attack before the bar is at maximum capacity you will do very low amounts of damage. As such it discourages button mashing as it will yield long and ineffective battles. Magic is brought up through a ring menu and you will collect more spirits to aid you in your quest. Magic is quite a ways more effective than physical attacks but regaining the MP which is used to cast magic can be a pain so it evens out. Most enemies have a specific weakness to a specific magic. Overall the combat is fast and furious though a few hit detection and framerate issues do occasionally get in the way. Controlling the other characters is extremely simple as there actions can be mapped though the options ring and you can set them to have certain patterns of movement through a 16 square grid. Away at one side, close at the opposite, attack perpendicular and defend opposite to it. Thus there actions are easy to map and use and well they occasionally get (stuck) in certain spots, they are not too much of a bother.
I think it's appropriate to talk of Secret of Mana's most prominent feature last. The whole adventure can be played in drop out 3 player co op. It's an absolute blast to play because it forces team work in an extremely satisfying way. Each person (up to 3) controls one of the characters and the game plays the same as single player except now you only have control over your own character. It's fascinating to see how an effective single player person can become a bumbling mess in multiplayer. Now that your survival lies within other peoples hands you must all learn to trust each others abilities and realize signs of potential danger, fail to do this and the failure will be swift and vicious. If you however learn the ropes you'll get an exceptionally fulfilling experience and form an incredibly strong team which enhancing the experience to the end.
Secret of Mana is a game with some real flaws that shouldn't be ignored. However its charm and addictive nature will keep you coming back for more and more and while its an unpolished gem, it still shines through brilliantly if you just hold it in the right light.
7.5
Systems Wars: The Mod Squad Review - Brianfox1
As some of you already know System Wars Mod Squad is here made my one of our fellow GS members Willy105. K_smoove previewed this game last month and now I'm here with the review. All rights of this game go to Willy105 this game is not to be sold. So lets get started with the review shall we?
Gameplay: The game starts out as you a Manticore patrolling the System Wars board. You wield the mighty GS ban hammer so all the users fate rests in your hand. At first you will approach to groups of users one is cows and the other lemming I believe that what they are you have to ban one group to pass. Eventually you will meet up with a fellow mod a cow who I found to be the bets character in the game. You will do some other stuff after that. I won't spoil the surprises for you.
Graphics: One word describes the graphics NES when I first saw this game that is the first thing that game to my mind. For those of you that will go ban crazy it easy for you to pick out a mod from fellow GS members mods wear shades other users don't. The users are a little hard to tell what animals they are (except for the cows) it took me a second to figure out what you character is (a manticore). The users are like real GS users you would expect they don't stand alone they are in little pack which I thin k means boards they will face users for a second then walk away.
Controls: A huge pit fall for this game Willy didn't explain using the controls in the game at beginning so at first it is a tedious task pressing every button to figure out what does what. But after you figure out what does what it is easy to play. Our hero in the game (a manticore I have no idea what his name is) he tends to walk VERY slow. So the game uses the shift button which makes him walk faster than he does believe me you can tell when he using it. You do have a pause menu that you can use to equip items, save your game, and check your game status.
Overall score: I'll give this game a ...
9.0
SW Monthly Writer's Choice
It is very fun it's not to long and most important of all in this economy IT'S FREE. So I would say you should download it.
Magiciandude's Comic - Magiciandude
It's a topic that's popped up more than once here on System Wars. Which videogame hero is the greatest of all time? Mario? Kratos? Master Chief? The all powerful Bo Jackson?!? Well System Wars, here's your chance to help decide the greatest of the great; the one gaming giant to rule them all.
Painfully chosen by your fellow Gamespotters, these 64 combatants will do battle for the ultimate top spot. "But what can I do?" you may be asking yourself. Well my friend, it's simple. Build yourself a bracket here, pick your favorites, and root them on as they make their way towards the finals. And it's not just you making brackets and whatnot (how lame would that be?); your fellow GS users, as well as GS staffers, are competing against you for fantasic prizes and perhaps the greatest prize of all... bragging rights. How can SW turn down such a thing? And after you're done filling out your fancy bracket, you can continue the hero vs. hero discussion over at the Greatest Game Hero forum. Happy voting, and long live (insert favorite game hero here)!
Got questions? Go here.
Big BIG News - Brianfox1
Hello all the people of System Wars I'm your here to tell you about some special news.
Remember a few years ago we had an Iron Shop contest Willy and AdobeArtist battled it out?
Well guess what! Willy105 and and the rest of the SW Writers including myself have been working to bring it back! The artists are Legend of Nerd, Willy105, K_smoove, and last but not least AdobeArtist!
We have three judges ActicEdge, (empty spot), and myself Brianfox1! They will all be battling it out for the best title of best artist.
Tune in to the next issue of SW Monthly to see who will become the best artist! Willy where is my paycheck?!
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