Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Sony PSP Review: Chili Con Carnage

Rajiv — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:52:09 EDT

The PSP is a poor, unlucky console: gamers complain about it receiving PS2-hand-me-downs that are drab and boring, but when a gem does show up, they seem to ignore it. Chili Con Carnage is such a game. A retooled version of 2005 action game Total Overdose, this portable version scraps (almost) everything bad from the original, and adds even more craziness and 'spice' to it, creating a truly enjoyable game that features over-the-top action, like its supposed to.Total Overdose was known for its big explosions, crazy storylines and its over-the-top acrobatic moves that could be executed in slow motion, ala The Matrix. However, the game was criticized badly for featuring an open-ended city that just didn't work. Featuring an even more bizarre title than its big brother, Chili Con Carnage strips away the superfluous elements from the console game, while focusing on its strong parts: the action... and the story, of course.This story line takes the award for weird storyline from its big brother. The game begins with hero Ramiro Cruz as he visits his father, who's a Policia Federal Agent, on his birthday. As the old man opens his gift (a box full of adorable kittens!), he is killed by a drug cartel boss who literally bursts into his office to chop him into bits (oh, the poor kittens). A tale of revenge begins, as Ramiro goes on a killing spree that puts him up against Mexico's worst scum.Chili Con Carnage drops the free-roaming part of Total Overdose to focus solely on the game play, as well as a bunch of other features that breathe fresh life into this game. As with the first, Ramiro pulls off various acrobatic maneuvers in slow motion that would put even John Woo to shame. The game play is focused around a combo system that depends solely on this - leaping around the room in slow motion, shooting the hats off an enemy while trying to don his hat on your head, at the same time aiming for another headshot is an experience that no other game provides. The combo meter increases depending on how long you can keep killing enemies, as well as how crazy your kills are; it drops when you aren't shooting anything. The points raised through combos lets you earn medals, which can only be a good thing for perfectionists who can go back to previously played levels to try and complete everything.In between missions there are also several bonus sections, like Style and Survival Challenges. These type of missions give players simplistic, albeit difficult at times, objectives to complete, like killing 20 thugs without losing the combo meter; winning these challenges unlocks new levels where you simply try to kill as many people as possible while keeping your combo going. High scores are kept track of, meaning that this works well as a competitive mode.To keep the combo meter going, as well as to help rack the points up, the game includes a variety of power-ups that range from weird to weirder. Remember the guitar case/machine gun that Antonio Banderas used in Desperados? Well, that's in there, besides calling in a Mexican wrestler to aid you, or the bull special, or the Tornado move, or Gattling Gunzalez... the list goes on. These power-ups let players cause havoc and chaos for a short period of time, adding the much-needed pizzazz to the action, as well as humor which is also apparent through fun boss battles like the Mama who tosses chickens wired with explosives at you, or the drug lord who has a fighter jet.The humor and embellishments are the saving grace for the game, as it becomes a little repetitive after a while. The enemies do not offer much variety in their tactics, meaning that you will be jumping around, locking on and nailing headshots all the time. It may be fun to look at, but it becomes old pretty fast. Besides being repetitive, Chili Con Carnage has a few other problems mostly regarding the lock-on system and the camera. Since the PSP does not have a second analog stick, targeting can become a chore: instead of choosing the nearest threat, Ramiro seems to target enemies in the direction that he is facing no matter how far away the enemy is. It is also sometimes hard to target enemies when they are really close to you while they sit there and open fire on you. This is worsened by the camera, which can often cause the player to become discombobulated after jumping off a wall or performing a dive. However, none of these are game breakers, as the over-the-top action and humor are enough to keep the player going.Besides the single-player modes, multiplayer also makes an appearance. The modes involve pitting the players against one another, letting players run around killing everything in sight to get the best score. There is another mode dubbed Hangman, which is just a pass-and-play version of the same mode with slightly different rules.Visually, Chili Con Carnage is an excellent title. It seems as though the developers fully ported Total Overdose's graphics to the PSP version, as the world of drug cartels, explosive-wired chickens and dust have been brought to life. The animations are very crisp, slowdowns never happen (unless you want it to) and the action is suited to the PSP's wide screen. Seeing Ramiro launch himself in the midst of a hail of bullets is a wonder to watch on the handheld console; let's not forget the explosions and the nicely detailed environments, either.Audio is done just as well. Sound effects and the soundtrack are excellent, with decent music from Latin hip-hop bands like Molotov and Control Machete. The voice acting is top-notch in the sense that it portrays extremely cheesy scenes with seriousness. The voice actors ham it up so much that the cheesiness of the acting is actually quite enjoyable. The most important bit of the sound is that it fades in once a battle starts, providing a background beat for the action and chaos; the game goes dead silent when there is no action, as if it is actively punishing you for not wreaking havoc.Chili Con Carnage is the game that Total Overdose should have been. It is an action-packed, hilarious game with no shortage of bullets or mayhem, though it is marred by the shoddy targeting system and the camera, and it does get old quite quickly. Despite all its problems, this game is something to be experienced, and while it won't win any awards, is actually a worthwhile buy.Chili Con Carnage is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB for Drug Reference, Strong Language and Violence.

An avid fan of videogames and music. Loves to game, write stuff and do design work. Besides slacking off, that is.

Battle Curt Schilling in EverQuest 2, Fight Lou Gehrig's Disease

Rajiv — Wed, 24 May 2006 22:09:01 EDT

Thirty-nine year old baseball superstar Curt Schilling will be making his game debut on EverQuest II starting next month, according to an announcement from Sony Online Entertainment.Schilling's game character will be online for three days during the Yankees vs. Red Sox baseball series June 5-7. During this time, any one can challenge the "epically awesome, loot-dropping virtual bad guy;" SOE will donate $5 (up to a maximum of $10,000) to the ALS Association, an organization that helps patients with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. After the three-day series, Schilling's character will remain in the game as a high-powered enemy that gamers will have to face later in the game.In addition, SOE encourages its users to type "/ALS" within EverQuest II and donate money to the ALS Association, Schilling's charity of choice. This program will run throughout the entire three-day baseball series.

An avid fan of videogames and music. Loves to game, write stuff and do design work. Besides slacking off, that is.

Blogcritics Author: Rajiv

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Sony PSP Review: Chili Con Carnage

Battle Curt Schilling in EverQuest 2, Fight Lou Gehrig's Disease