Burn some cheap rubber and lay the smack down pardoner.

What I’ve been playing
 
Recently I decided to pick up Burnout Paradise, a game that I have been overlooking for a long time.  The current price on PSN is only $19.99.  The price point was just too good to resist a purchase.  I played the demo some back in the day and I was pretty impressed, but not impressed enough to fork over $59.99.  Now the price is just right for an impulse buy and I am pleased to say the game was worth every penny.  If I would have realized the game was this good at the time of release maybe I would have paid full price.  So I encourage everyone to go check it out.

I am also wondering why Sony doesn’t put more full, retail boxed, games on PSN.  I believe there are only a handful (Siren, Warhawk, Not sure what else).  It’s nice to have a boxed copy to resell when you’re done with it, but with the right price and convenience it’s worth the buy.  I also like the ability to just click on a game a load it up without swapping discs.  Let’s hope developers and/or Sony get more older games like this on PSN.

What I would like to be playing
 
I have been a long time wrestling fan and have been patiently waiting any kind of news about the upcoming Legends of Wrestlemania game.   But at long last my wait is over, IGN’s Greg Miller is supposed to have a feature on this game Friday afternoon.  Frankly the WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw games have been getting stale and TNA Impact was sub par, so I hope this game will be a nice refresh for the wrestling genre.  I also like the thought of playing as some of my old favorites, including original entrance music and personas.  Let’s just hope they’ll have Macho Man and Razor in the game. 

Another game I am greatly anticipating is the sequel to Red Dead Revolver, Red Dead Revolver Redemption, coming this fall to 360 and PS3.  The original game was very entertaining but didn’t fulfill all of my fantasies of what an Old West game could be.  I was more into the open world-ness of GUN.  Hopefully with next gen technology they’ll be able to take all of what made the old west cool and incorporate them into a great experience.

Resident Evil 5 Thoughts

 
Yesterday we were all treated to a demo of Resident Evil 5 on PSN.  I downloaded and played part of both scenarios of this highly anticipated demo late last night. 

My perceptions of this game have been tainted by the media billing this game as a Resident Evil 4.5.  Sadly I see where they are coming from.  The game feels exactly the same, only glossed up with prettier graphics.  I liked Resident Evil 4 as much as the next guy, but this is not what I was looking for in a next gen Resident Evil game.  I also believe that’s it’s time to update the controls.  They really seem to hold you back when fighting enemies like the chainsaw guy.  I found it too annoying and repetitive to have to shoot a couple of times, run past him, quick turn, shoot and repeat.  I would much rather just pop off my shots while strafing around him.  The creators claim they use “tank controls” to add to the tension, but I would have rather seen them build tension without gimped game controls.

I would have liked to see them return to the traditional Resident Evil story line, rather than continuing down the path of Resident Evil 4.  Doesn’t anyone else miss the Zombies?  To me, that’s what made the older games cool.  The monsters in RE4 and 5 don’t appeal to a zombie loving purist like me.  I feel like I am trying to force myself to love Resident Evil 5.  I feel as if Capcom is using the namesake for a bait and switch.  I am hoping that next time Capcom makes the Resident Evil game I really want.  So, maybe I’ll skip this one for now.  I guess the only way I’ll get my zombie fix is by waiting for Dead Rising 2.