My Month In Games: October 2012

Resident Evil 6 - PS3

 As my regular readers know, I'm a huge Resident Evil fan.  I took an in-depth look at the demo back in September, and now it's time for me to tell you what I think of the game.  I won't bore you with exhaustive details or plot summaries before I give you the goods, I'll just tell you straight up: I really enjoyed this game.  Not that that should come as a huge surprise, but I felt the need to get it out there early as it seems there's a lot of hate out there for this latest installment in the series.

I'll be honest and say that the plot of the main campaign is pretty weak.  There are four different story lines, one for each of the game's main characters, but they all center around the same set of events.  Thus, it's really more like one main story with four different threads.  Either way it's not that great, but as I've said in the past, NO ONE should be playing Resident Evil for its boilerplate storyline.  It's fine, it works, but for me the real star of this series is the visceral combat, which RE6 has in spades.  My favorite bonus mode "The Mercenaries" makes a comeback and it's great fun.  My only real gripes have to do with the menus and some of the design choices related to weapon selection and character customization.  Basically they boil down to a lot of "I-wish-they-would-have-done-it-THIS-way-but-fuck-it-I'll-get-used-to-it" sort of complaints.  The point is that Capcom didn't fuck it up too much and therefore I'm happy.

Grade: B+

Mario Kart 7 - 3DS

So, I've played a lot of Mario Kart over the years, but I think I'm finally getting bored with this series.  There's nothing really WRONG with this game, I just couldn't get into it.  I think that this series needs to head in a different direction.  I can't say exactly what that direction should be, but I think it maybe needs to get a little more serious.  Tighten up the physics a little bit, relax with all the crazy powerups, maybe infuse it with some RPG elements like character progression and a career mode.  Someone let me know if they ever do that, okay?

Grade: C+

Alex Kidd In Miracle World - PSN

Recently released for $1 on Playstation Network, I had to pick up this retro treasure.  Meant to be Sega's answer to the original Super Mario Bros., it is, in many respects, superior to that hallowed game.  Where Mario could only run, jump, and occasionally shoot fireballs, Alex Kidd could throw punches, collect and use items, and even ride a motorcycle!  Oh and the boss fights?  Rock, paper, scissors matches.  Best two-out-of-three wins and the loser DIES!  It's an exceptional little platformer that still holds up (even if its protagonist didn't!) and it was fun to play it again...and with PSN trophies no less!

Grade: B