Playing Today: Transformers, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I pushed through more of the Autobots portion of Transformers. The controls can be a bit frustrating but still much better than Spider-Man 3. I'm kind of curious to see if playing as the Decepticons will abandon the stereotypical mission style of the Autobots. Why would the bad guys need to follow... rules? (I found one pretty nasty glitch that let me slip into a wall and then I was stuck.)

Fantastic Four arrived yesterday and it was decent. The graphics are creepy - you should see their crotches. The voices are pretty bad so far and obviously not the real cast. However, the inclusion of co-op might make the experience a bit more bearable. This game might be better than the movie it was based on.

Playing Today: Transformers, Bomberman Live, Pac-Man Championship Edition, The Bigs

I took some time away from Transformers to finish up my first season of The Bigs. The playoffs were tougher than the regular season; however, I was still able to crack a ton of homers and pitch my first perfect game. I took down the Detroit Tigers for my first ring and hope to earn the same ring with an American League team in the future - maybe not too soon. Overall, this game lived up to my highest expectations and has only minor flaws (like mispronunciation) and a soundtrack that is light on music. I gladly give this game an A. I can't wait for next year!

Some more achievements were earned in Bomberman Live and Pac-Man Championship Edition. Both continue to stand out as the best XBLA games of the year and should be held up on a pedestal with Geometry Wars.

Finally, I spent some more quality time with Transformers. I love that that the environments are destructible. This was a feature I wasn't expecting to see and makes playing as a Transformer very cathartic. Too bad that the driving controls are atrocious. The driving portions feel identical to those in Full Auto. Is this the same engine? I'll have to do further investigating.

Playing This Week: Bomberman Live, The Bigs, WTF, Gauntlet, Transformers, Mega Man Powered Up, Blitz: The League

Wow. I have no excuse for missing a week's worth of blogs. I'll definitely try to fix that, don't you worry. I tried out Blitz: The League and was underwhelmed. It felt like one of those games that deserved more of my time - but The Bigs just kept sucking me back in. So, I sent Blitz back and am at the World Series of the The Bigs.

I also tried WTF (Work Time Fun) on my PSP. Again, this was an interesting game; however, not a game I could see myself owning or playing half as much as my other PSP games. After twenty minutes that found its way to the mailbox too.

Transformers showed up a few days back and I surprisingly enjoyed it. The environments are almost completely destructible and the narration is cool. My only issue so far (and I'm only one hour in) is the mission structure. The missions are video game cliches: race missions, protect missions, and fighting. That's cool for kids and quick playing but not likely to provide that great of an experience.

I finally defeated Mega Man Powered Up and was satisfied with that experience. I really hope that Capcom makes a sequel or takes this version to XBLA. Look for more Transformers commentary this weekend!