RESTROSPECTIVE: Resident Evil Code: Veronica X (PS2)

Resident Evil Code: Veronica (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Platform: Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Players: 1

Genre: Survival Horror

Publisher: Capcom

Since the Resident Evil 6 is only available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (and still waiting for PC!), I decided to play some Resident Evil games lately on my PS2. So, let us just savor for a moment of going back to the previous Resident Evil titles. One of them is Resident Evil Code: Veronica X which was re-released last year in "HD." Probably, this is the last time you are going to feel the classic Resident Evil experience as it is absolutely belonged to the survival-horror series unlike the action-packed Resident Evil 5 -- although it was technically branded as survival-horror. So let's begin!

The game begins 3 months after the 1998 Raccoon City incident where Resident Evil 2 and 3 took place. Claire Redfield, who is the protagonist of the story, went to an Umbrella Corporation Facility in Europe to search for her lost brother, Chris Redfield. As she infiltrate in the building, she was unfortunately captured and sent to an isolated prison called Rockfort Island. Then, your adventure starts.

Ah yes, the classic menu. Nostalgia strikes.

If you are used to the older Resident Evil environment, then you will do just fine. If not, it might difficult for you particularly when moving your character. Carrying a number of items is limited that is why you should always pay a visit at your portable magical box -- a storage that takes your items wherever you are -- that can be found in some rooms. Using the map is still the same; it gives you a glimpse on what places you have already went in case you are lost. As for saving your game, you are going to use an ink ribbon, which is also inadequate, to use it in the typewriter. Just make it a habit to save when it is really needed especially if you feel that you are in danger. Otherwise, the game will come back into your last save point even if there is a retry option. Yes, your last save point as there is no "restart last checkpoint.”

Likewise, Resident Evil will not be Resident Evil if there are no puzzles involved. Do not expect it to be easy as there are several puzzles that require you to solve (even the entire place is like a puzzle). The 180-degree turn and change aim features are quite helpful especially when you have to shoot numerous zombies coming at you. Although, the dodge has been removed in which it was first introduced in Resident Evil 3. Keep in mind that this is a survival-horror genre so please, do not be so trigger-happy and conserve your ammo wisely because you will regret it in the end if you did not.

Just trolling the zombie.

When it comes to graphics, it is crisp and made in 3D unlike the previous Resident Evil 1, 2 and 3 which was pre-rendered. Also, the camera view was somehow changed in the game. It is moving in some of the places but most of it is still fixed making it sometimes really hard to see the incoming off-screen enemies. There are several new scenes have added in the game like when Claire opens the door nervously, giving it a suspense to players on what they might encounter behind that door. Plus, you have an option of skipping the movie sequence by pressing the Select button.

The music collection in the game is great; the orchestral music gives the impact while you roam. But of course, it changes and adapt depending on your situations throughout the game. Though, the voice presentation here is another issue. Some of the voice actors were pretty awful particularly when Steve Burnside is talking.

Poor guy. I wonder how the giant moth did it?

When it comes to replayability, although the story is linear, many unlockables are waiting for you once you have beaten the game like the Battle Game which is good as it gives you more time playing the game. If you want challenges, then you might want to play the game again to have a speed run or meet certain requirements in order to unlock a certain weapon.

So there you go, Resident Evil Code: Veronica X definitely offers a mixture of horror, drama, action and suspense while playing it. If you are a fan of the Resident Evil franchise, then it is absolutely a must-have in your collection. Enjoy!

Gameplay - 10

Sound - 7

Graphics - 8

Replay Value - 8

"Mass Effect 3" Retaliation DLC will be available this week!

The badass Collectors are back!

It is been a long time since I have not played Mass Effect 3 until my cousin told me that there will be a new DLC. I am not surprised at first until he told me that there is a somehow different from the previous multiplayer pack. Alright. One word. "Collectors."

Yes! The collectors are back to participate in destroying the entire universe. Mass Effect 3 Retaliation DLC is a new expansion for the PS3 (October 10 in Europe), Xbox360, and PC on October 9 at no additional charge again. Thank you Bioware!


So what are included in the pack? Here are the details:

New Enemy Faction - Prepare to face off against the Collector Praetorian, Scion, Abomination, Trooper, and Captain. Reports have also come in that Cerberus has enlisted the Dragoon to their ranks and the Geth are deploying new Drones to the battlefield.

New Class Kits to Unlock - A host of new characters have joined the war to fight this new threat, including the Turian Havoc Soldier, Turian Ghost Infiltrator, with many more being added on a regular basis.

New “Hazard” Versions of Existing Maps - Wage war across six maps, featuring new environmental hazards and traps. A regular rotation of Firebases will be introduced to different hazards as they come under attack. Survive the onslaught of Acid, Lightning, Meltdowns, Sandstorms, Swarms and Whiteouts!

New Unlockable Weapons - The Collectors have also brought deadly new weapons to the fight: the Collector Assault Rifle, Sub-Machine Gun, and Sniper Rifle.  Unlock these weapons and new equipment upgrades to build to your arsenal.

New Multiplayer Challenge Feature - Think you are the best soldier in the Alliance? Make sure to track your progress in the new “Challenges” database. Complete various multiplayer assignments and feats of strength to unlock titles and banners to display in-game, and then compare your progress against your friend.

Based on the information given by Bioware, those Challenge points can be used in buying banners and titles. I wonder if these main characters from above can also be playable? That would be cool!

Let us just relax for a while and wait for this week to be released. Cheers!


Mass Effect 3: Retaliation DLC Trailer



Source: Bioware

Amnesia Reaction Compilation -- courtesy of Markiplier

I have been watching "Let's Play" videos lately until I stumbled with one of the hilarious player I have ever seen, and that is Markiplier. I browsed all of his videos and most of this are in the horror genre. I really find his videos interesting, and should I say very funny, even though the game is horror especially when he encounters unexplained creatures lurking in the game whether it is a zombie, a dead woman, a chainsaw guy etc. He would be playing in the middle of the night, headphones intact with a loud volume; tough guy, right? However, even though he is a narcissist when playing the game -- well, I understand because it will give him strength while playing it and find it also hilarious. I recommend you guys subscribe to his videos; it will never bore you.

Here is one of the videos of his reaction compilation, which is the horror game Amnesia. Enjoy!

Routine: Dead Space meets Amnesia?

Can't get enough of space horror games, are we?

Horror games nowadays are becoming mainstream -- or should I say too galactic -- from Doom to Dead Space, and now, this upcoming game is somehow different as we are going to experience another chilling horror sci-fi story. It is like they don't want us to continue the exploration on Mars.

In the official Routine website, it stated, "Routine is a first person horror exploration game set on an abandoned Moon base. Your job is to find enough data to uncover the truth behind the strange disappearance of everyone stationed on the Lunar Research Station."

How come this is different? You will notice that the HUD is almost empty –- no weapons, health bars -- leaving yourself unarmed. So, we will expect the hide-and-seek style of gameplay again like those who have played Amnesia and Slender (oh man, now I am scared). Be warned, the permadeath system will be used so we just do not have to fool around in this place. Challenging, no? Sadly, we have to wait its release until 2013.

Here’s the link of their teaser trailer and see for yourself:

P.S. At 0:36 of this video, you will see a diskette lying on the floor. Perhaps, it is set in the 80's?

Source: Lunar Software

2-week absence

Hi guys! Well, my sincere apologies for not updating my blog as we are affected by the unexpectedly disastrous monsoon here in the Philippines. So let's get back to blogging! :)

News: "OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console", according to OUYA.

Ouya controller (Photo credit: Saad Faruque)

Watch out PlayStation, Xbox and Wii! There is a new gaming machine coming at you and that is the OUYA (pronounced as OOO-yah). Surprisingly, it only costs $99 (P4,136.22 as of 08/01/12).

What is OUYA, anyway? "It's an Android-powered open gaming console designed by well-known industrial designer and philanthropist Yves Behar (he designed the One Laptop Per Child laptops)," as explains by Winda Benedetti of NBC News. "The 'open' part of that sentence means that while game developers must get permission from the companies behind the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii and pay for expensive development kits to make games for those machines, that won't be the case with Ouya."

As of today (August 1, 2012), the project has already accumulated $5,969,016 and still counting. "The pledges are amazing, considering its 30-day goal was $950,000," Mike Minotti of Venture Beat said. Those who have funded Ouya has a chance to get a reward depending on their pledge amount.


According to KickStarter, the following are the specifications of the aforementioned console:

• Tegra3 quad-core processor 
• 1GB RAM 
• 8GB of internal flash storage
• HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD 
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n 
• Bluetooth LE 4.0 
• USB 2.0 (one) 
• Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad 
• Android 4.0
• ETHERNET! (Announced by Muffi 7/18)

Official launch of Ouya to the market will be on March 2013. For now, let's have a look on this video below on what Ouya has to offer for us:

Source: Ouya | Kickstarter

Crash Bandicoot: BRAINWASHED

First of all, this is not a game guys. I wish it could be but this is a film made by a Crash Bandicoot fan. But hey, this kid really made an effort to think that he is just 15 years old. I guess we can at least help him by watching this video and relive all the great moments of Crash Bandicoot! Kudos to Aaron White!

P.S. Neo Cortex's voice is epic!
Source: Andy Gavin | Co-creator of Crash Bandicoot

News - Resident Evil 6 Pre-Order is now available on PS3 and XBOX 360. PC will still have to wait.

Wait no more Raccoon City citizens! DataBlitz is now accepting pre-order for Resident Evil 6 on PS3 and Xbox 360 and get a FREE Resident Evil 6 Notebook Planner Set  T-Shirt! As for PC, well, you will still have to wait until... Capcom said so. Sadly.  

According to DataBlitz, several new features are coming in Resident Evil 6 like the Fight Lab where you can customize the appearances and skills of a certain character. Plus, there is a Multiplayer. Yes. Multiplayer. You can battle with your friends in a 1-on-1, 1-on-2, or in a 2-on-2 tag-team. Now, that is intriguing. It sounded like a wrestling match.

Oh well, for more information, you can visit them at:
http://datablitz.com.ph/templates/standard/user_home/comingsoon/ResidentEvil6/re6.html

Source: DataBlitz

Assassin's Creed III + Minecraft = Assassin's Craft III

Our fellows from Machinima have just uploaded a video of "Minecrafted" Assassin's Creed III! Funny how the looks of the horse is like a pig. Pixels all the way baby! Kudos to avemagnadude.


Source: Youtube

My Impressions: Resident Evil 6 -- Giving the fans high expectation since the "Resident Evil 5" incident

Being a fan of Resident Evil series (since childhood) makes me aware of the changes happened throughout the game. As you might have noticed, the style of gameplay they cater to us have changed. Yes. I am talking about Resident Evil 5. It might be fun especially when you have somebody to play with since it has a co-op. But, what I am talking about is if there is still the "survival-HORROR" feeling. That is why Resident Evil 6 gives us a high expectation of what it may bring to us particularly when it is being branded as "dramatic-horror" by Capcom.


Anyway, 3 months left before the release of Resident Evil 6! For those who wants play the demo, the early release can only playable for those who have bought Dragon's Dogma on Xbox 360 (July 3, 2012). So you will just have to wait for the demo until September 5, 2012 at PlayStation Network and Xbox Marketplace (Sadly, no PC). 


Since I could not get the demo, I just decided to watch the demo playthrough of our friends from Capcom. Just keep in mind that I will be telling you next are just my thoughts about the game. So any comments are absolutely welcome, just post it below. Oh, and let's just call Resident Evil "RE" to make it shorter. Let's get it started!

There's a red barrel. Hmm... I wonder what does it do if I shoot it? I don't know.

(screenshots from RE6 E3 demo)

As you can see in the two picture above, you will notice that RE6 supports the third-person-over-the-shoulder-shooting gameplay. Also, the HUD (Heads-up display) for the health and items are somehow changed like the square bars. Kind of disappointing, but this really makes us remember the good ol' "Fine-Caution-Danger" health. 

What bothers me is that... WHY PUT A CROSSHAIR IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A LASER SIGHT?! Like seriously, I think might be an option but it looks redundant when you combine the two. But funny thing though, if you're gonna watch the video below, you can now shoot while WALKING. Finally. There are also new features like roll and slide! Wow! As if they are new in the video game world. It can be essential but I wonder if it has also a cover system? Bandwagons!

In terms of co-op, it seems that you are not going to take care of the AI. They said that it is a Drop in/Drop Out system. Plus, the return of the split-screen co-op is back, so even you can play it even you are offline.

As for the story, RE6 is composed of three campaigns namely: Leon, Chris and Jake.

Leon Campaign Demo

In the Leon campaign, looks like you will get the feeling of the classic environment RE -- dark and quiet environment -- right in the start of the game. Although, we can also feel the RE4 setting here. The story seems all right but watching the video how the story goes in the demo wherein you met an old man looking for his daughter yada yada then daughter became a zombie yada yada then there is a pile a zombies coming at you after is very predictable. Luckily, looks like you have to team up with an agent, who is Helena Harper, with a gun (Yeah. Not like Ashley Williams in RE4 always screaming "LEON! HEEEEEEEELLLLLP!").

Chris Campaign Demo

The next one is the Chris campaign. Admit it, after you have watched this video, its action-packed atmosphere almost looks like RE5 as opposed to Leon's scenery. Well, I think because of the story -- Chris went to China together with Piers Nivans and the rest of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) to stop the outbreak. Not very exciting, you could almost say Sheva of RE5 is right behind you while playing this campaign.

Jake Campaign Demo

Lastly, but not the least of course, is the Jake campaign. I'm still surprised how they covered up this son of a badass traitor Albert Wesker. I wonder who's the mom? Or is he a test tube baby? Whatever that is. Apparently, he seems like a nice guy as compared to his father. All running around in this demo reminds us of the story of RE3 -- you know, when Nemesis chasing you like endlessly until the end of the game. Now this is really a suspense! The thing that I am confused is this partner of Jake. These people who are playing in the video said that the girl is Sherry Birkin, although some of the people in the internet said it is Ashley Williams, maybe because of the voice, right?

Overall, RE6 looks promising to the gamers knowing that you can choose your campaign based on what flavor type of genre do you want play whether it is horror, action, or suspense. Let's just wait until October 2, 2012, shall we? Cheers!

Angry Video Game Nerd is BACK!!

Finally! After so many years of waiting for the new episode of THE Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN). His reviews really kicks ass. Actually, I really admire how he explains all what he see in a certain game bit by bit. Mind you, if you are not comfortable of hearing consistent bad words, then this is not for you. ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR YOU! I am sorry for the CAPS, I just got carried away of how AVGN talks. Just enjoy and watch how he dealt with the Schwarzenegger games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).


Source: Youtube 

Mass Effect 3's New DLC: Earth is coming up next week!

Another Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer DLC called "Earth" will be released this July 17 on PS3 (North America), Xbox 360 and PC while PS3 (Europe) will have to wait until July 18. Worry not, because it is FREE! 


According to Bioware, the following are the new features of the DLC:
Maps - London, Vancouver and Rio De Janeiro.
Classes - Destroyer Soldier, Paladin Sentinel, Demolisher Engineer, Slayer Vanguard, Shadow Infiltrator, and Fury Adept. 
Weapons - Piranha assault shotgun, Acolyte pistol, and Typhoon assault rifle.


But of course, there will be new mods available in Reinforcement Packs. They have also added the Platinum difficulty so more challenges await for those who think Gold is a piece of cake.

Not only that, a new in-mission objective will also be added wherein the team will have to protect and escort a chosen target to the extraction zone.


Here are some screenshots on the next multiplayer pack:

Source: http://blog.bioware.com/2012/07/11/earth/

My Impressions: Dead Space 3 -- Is it still the Dead Space that we used to know?

Alright let's get into business. EA finally announced the Dead Space 3 last June at E3. I must say, from what I have seen in their demo, I think it might not be the Dead Space that I used to know.


Well, the first reason is the environment. From the previous installments, Isaac Clarke, who is the protagonist, wandered inside a ship or a building which is most of the times do not have enough lights. (Yeah, it really is creepy.) So you will end up using your flashlight attached in your weapons. But in the demo, there are some scenes that you will see the daylight making it a less-horror feeling. Maybe the developers thought to give Isaac a chance to enjoy a little bit and get a fresh air outside.

Hoping for more scenes like this. You are alone, or is it not? (evil grin) 

Secondly, the gameplay. Let us start with the new featured co-op. This is the first time they brought it in the series which includes another protagonist, who is Sgt. John Carver. Again, it might deteriorate the feeling of being scared while playing it because you know to yourself that you have somebody to play with. Unless, it might give more eeriness and even suspense if the game adds some scenes that may separate them. C'mon, they are already grown ups. The good news here is that co-op is optional so you can still play it in single player. It turns out that it is a drop in/drop out concept -- meaning, another player might just pop out to join with you in the middle of the game. And, you do not have to babysit an AI which is good because that will be another reason of having a headache in the game.


I have also noticed in the demo that when Isaac had an encounter with the enemy, he tried to roll and duck into some of the boxes and used it as cover. Did I just mention "cover"? Looks like Dead Space already rode the Cover System bandwagon. It might be really essential since you get to have a fight with the soldiers.

I see what you did there Isaac. You finally learned how to duck!

I am not sure if this will be more of the survival horror or more of an action-packed game. But hey, this is just an insight on what is on the demo gameplay of Dead Space 3. For those who want to see the demo, here's the video of the Dead Space 3 demo at E3 courtesy of TheMediaCows:

Hello Gaming World!

Hello there everybody! Well, I'm not really good into introductions so bear with me in this one. Anyway, welcome to my video gaming blog. Unlike my previous blog before, which is TechnoBits (also featured in my previous school publication), it covers all latest technology stuffs worldwide. Now that I'm a freelance writer, there is no stopping from writing, right? I really love video games right from the time I had my first encounter with the Family Computer (NES) with the game Circus Charlie -- you got that right, the clown standing in the poor lion desperately trying to jump in the circle of fire. I feel sad for you Mr. Lion. You will be remembered forever.

So, why call myself The Frustrated Gamer? For some reason, I do not get all the games that I want way back. Yeah, talk about a poor kid reading a video game magazine before just to know the latest games without even buying, and that's it. Haha. Also, who does not become frustrated from shitty games, right? So every games should be given a fair judgment dammit! Do not just rely on some gaming site giving a high rating just because they say so. (evil grin)

News, reviews, impressions, you name it! For the time being, I'll be covering more of the PC and Nintendo DS since I still don't have any other consoles yet so watch out. Reviews from the classic games, if I'm in the mood, like the PS2 (many epic games!), Sega Genesis, NES and other many good stuffs. So here we go, let's share our thoughts about gaming by leaving comments in my posts. See ya!