2017 Begins!

Hey,

Just wanted to give a friendly update on the status of Sonic Mercury. With the help of some very talented people, I’ve been hard at work at the helm of an exciting new project. I can’t say exactly what it is just yet, but know it’s way beyond the scope of anything I’ve posted here in the past. This new and exciting project is also probably a little bit different than anything I’ve posted here before. As things develop further in the next few months I will be posting more information on the project at hand. It sucks to have to be so cryptic about the project right now but it’s just not the right time to reveal anything. Hopefully, when I can finally post something more substantial, you get just as excited about this new endeavor as my crew and myself have been for the past few months.

In the meantime, I wish you all a Happy New Year. Go create something of your own. To paraphrase a bit from Kevin Smith, “only you have your specific voice.” Your expression might have a meaningful impact on another person’s life. You’ll never know unless you try. Here’s to a new year with new adventures!

@Bryan_DeMarco

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

June 9, 2014

Game Review

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Reviewed

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a FPS developed by Machine Games and published by Bethesda Softworks. The version I reviewed is the PS4 version. Wolfenstein has a storied franchise. Wolfenstein 3D is considered to be the game that birthed the modern first-person shooter. It was the game that defined what an FPS is. A year later DOOM would come out and cement the FPS genre as a staple in the gaming community. To this day FPS games hold the largest market share in video gaming. Both Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM were developed by id Software. Although Wolfenstein: The New Order was developed by Machine Games it was only after their owner ZeniMax Media acquired id Software and Machine Games earned id Software’s approval that development started. Wolfenstein: The New Order was also built on id Software’s proprietary id Tech 5 game engine which was also used to create the game RAGE. When RAGE came out in 2011 it blew my mind for how gorgeous it looked and for its dynamic game play physics. The things it pulled off I had previously thought were impossible for console gaming at the time. While RAGE has its flaws it is still a great game and I strongly recommend at least a rental.

STORY

From the very first moment of Wolfenstein: The New Order you are dropped head first into an engaging tale that soon reveals itself to be a powerful narrative. Its sort of strange in a game that features such an impressive arsenal, the violence never feels glorified. Rather a necessary means against unimaginable horror. The characters you meet in the game feel like fully fleshed out individuals with realistic humanities. The protagonist is no exception. Captain William Joseph “B.J.” Blazkowicz feels like a real person. Machine Games deserves credit, B.J.’s actions may at times be superhuman but his personality makes him feel genuinely human. Throughout the game periodically you will hear B.J.’s inner thoughts as you progress and perform different actions. It is a subtle layer of storytelling that does wonders to deepen B.J.’s personality. The inner thoughts also serve the player well as to better understand the character of B.J. and his motivations. The premise of Wolfenstein in its purest form, to kill all Nazis, could easily have distilled B.J. Blazkowicz into nothing more than a mindless killing machine. Instead Machine Games has carefully crafted an endearing protagonist you can’t help but root for.

Captain B.J. Blazkowicz is a U.S. soldier fighting in Europe during WWII. After an incident resulting in a severe head injury he wakes up from a vegetative state 14 years later. The Nazis have won the war. The world he knew is gone. He himself is now a relic of a bygone era. No longer a freedom fighter he is now labeled a terrorist. Captain Blazkowicz must uncover the fate of his former comrades and along the way find/create a resistance. A cell to once again fight for the freedom of the people of the world. It is a very personalized story that does an excellent job of hooking you in right from the beginning.

Make no mistake this is a mature game, not just because it contains mature content and deals with adult themes, but also because it handles the them in an adult way. Wolfenstein does not blink when delving into the horrors of war, particularly war against the Nazis. On that note, never have I felt so motivated to defeat an enemy. The events experienced in the game become personal very quickly. You are not just fighting for yourself, but everyone who can’t.

Most of Wolfenstein: The New Order takes place in an alternate timeline after World War 2. Specifically the game takes place in a version of the 1960’s where the Nazis have won the war. The re-imagining of history allows for some pretty interesting science fiction. Machine Games took the opportunity to explore the what ifs? of a history defined by a Nazi victory of WWII and they came up with some creative answers to those questions. It should be noted that early on in the game the player is offered a decision that will effect Wolfenstein’s timeline. The overall story does not change significantly based on how you make this decision but it will have an impact on your in-game abilities, upgrades and the characters you will meet. It is clear that Wolfenstein was created with multiple playthroughs in mind.

GAME PLAY

The combat is extremely satisfying. The weapons are balanced with great precision and all of them are viable options of attack in some capacity on every level. Controls are spot on and feel very responsive. Enemies visibly respond to attacks in appropriate fashion to the weapons you are using. Even larger enemies respond satisfyingly to your attacks. While you do have a large arsenal of weapons and attacks at your disposal you can only quick cycle 2 different weapon sets. The sets are chosen from a selection wheel displaying all of your weapons at once. Choosing your quick select weapons from the wheel really doesn’t take long once you get used to it but still in the heat of battle those few moments can mean life and death. The system does work well enough and I really don’t know of a better way to execute weapon selection on a console game. Thrown items like knives and grenades have designated buttons and are always available for attack no matter what weapons you have selected.

Captain Blazkowicz plays like a total badass. He can run, jump and then rock star slide into combat with duel-wield weapons blazing. On the flip side the stealth was unexpectedly well realized. Using silenced handguns, throwing knives and hands-on takedowns you can dispatch large portions of enemies without them ever knowing you were there. One of the most refreshing parts of the stealth was that I never felt unfairly punished for being detected. Being detected can definitely make portions of the game more difficult but you never feel like you automatically lost because you were detected as is the case in other games. The feeling of getting caught is sort of like “OK, so much for being sneaky, time for plan B!” You obviously don’t want to get caught when trying to be stealthy but if you do get caught being sneaky the game is still fun and you can still win.

Something I really appreciated about the combat was the level of skill that was involved. For instance performing a stealth take down by throwing a knife takes careful consideration for distance and the number of enemies present. Although it is a one hit kill no matter where you hit your target, hitting them is not a guarantee. You could easily miss for a number of reasons which can result in alerting enemies to your position. Even performing stealth takedowns means making sure you are aiming directly at your target within the proper distance. This was something I really appreciated in Wolfenstein because in a lot of other FPS titles similar gameplay often feels less involved and of little skill.

Another thing about the combat is that it really does take strategy. You will need to use a large variety of skills and strategies to progress. Going in duel guns blazing is definitely a lot of fun but in some areas it may be much more beneficial to only wield one rifle, firing from cover. Certain weapons are better suited for different situations and enemies. This is especially true when you are first starting out and don’t have many perks or upgrades unlocked. It is wise to pay attention to your perks. Performing detailed tasks will unlock useful upgrades that will make you more formidable in later levels.

EXPLORE! I swear every nook and cranny of this game has something hidden in it. I’m starting my 4th play through and I am still discovering hidden items and passage ways. It is impossible to talk about Wolfenstein’s gameplay without mentioning it’s level design. Although it is far from a sandbox game and progression is fairly linear, there is still a huge amount of content in every level of this game. The levels are also varied enough that missions and treasure hunting stay fresh. I am suspicious of every environment I enter now because Wolfenstein is full of secrets. Too many times have I walked through a seemingly unassuming area only to look a little closer and discover something hidden. Utilize the resources you are given and pay close attention to your surroundings.

GRAPHICS/PERFORMANCE

Wolfenstein: The New Order is the second game to be built using the id Tech 5 game engine and for the most part it looks pretty good on the PS4. Lighting and shadowing effects are very nice. Certain textures occasionally look flat, pens and papers sometimes look painted on to surfaces. The only time I think the graphics really suffered is in one scene late in the game where they show a city from overhead. Some of the buildings and cars look fine but the surface on the ground looks stretched out and undefined. Wolfenstein is over 50 gigabytes and on last-gen hardware that size is especially large. The 360 version actually comes on 4 discs. I imagine playing Wolfenstein on the PS3 and XBOX 360 would give me a similar feeling of awe to when I played RAGE back in 2011. On current-gen hardware like the PS4 and XBOX One the graphical expectations are greater so when minor blemishes appear on an otherwise great looking game they stick out a lot more.

Wolfenstein boasts a large variety of enemies and even when many of them would appear on screen together I never experienced any noticeable drops in frame rate or slow down. I played with the highest difficulty setting turned on and I will say the enemy A.I. may not be the best ever but they can be quite crafty and they are ruthless. There was only one instance when sniping a long distance that I noticed an enemy had gotten stuck on an object. Overall Wolfenstein looks and plays great, weapons and explosions are especially good looking, there were just a few moments when a few textures seemed lacking.

FINAL VERDICT

The story is surprisingly well told. The voice acting is superb. It is obvious a lot of hard work went into meticulous level design. For a game based on a 30 year old franchise Wolfenstein: The New Order does a great job of honoring the past while leaping forward into the 21st century. I was afraid this title would get caught in the same pitfalls as Duke Nukem Forever. Duke Nukem is another storied franchise from the same era as Wolfenstein. Duke’s biggest game was Duke Nukem 3D, an obvious descendant of Wolfenstein 3D as it featured all of the same core gameplay mechanics. Both franchises experienced their peak in popularity during the 90’s and as evidenced by Duke Nukem Forever, striking that right balance between past and present is tricky. You don’t want to alienate what originally made the franchise so popular in its heyday but you also can’t ignore current trends. Swing too hard one way or the other and you risk the chance of getting stuck in the past or losing the identity of the franchise. It is a delicate balance.

Machine Games did a great job tip-toeing that tight wire. The identity of Wolfenstein is still intact. The core gameplay elements are all present. Staples of the franchise are still present like hidden passage ways and increasingly bizarre enemies. The large arsenal of weapons is well realized and accounted for. The protagonist is still a badass and the Nazis are still the enemy. What Machine Games did was utilize the tools afforded to them by current gaming capabilities to take those core elements, flesh them out, and bring them into the modern world of first-person shooters. Most of all Wolfenstein: The New Order is incredibly fun to play. It is such a refreshing title in a sea of FPS clones. In a world where Call of Duty is a yearly title it is really nice to see a game that embraces its imagination and runs with it.

One thing I will say about this game is that I think it might have been held back a little bit by the restrictions of also being developed for the XBOX 360 and PS3. Had development not been restricted by the constraints of the aging hardware I think this game could have been even more amazing and not had the few issues I mentioned earlier.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

ESRB Rated M for Mature 17+

A highly recommended must play title.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

June 2, 2014

Gamer News

Sonic Mercury Mortal Kombat X,Mortal Kombat X

Mortal Kombat X Revealed

Hey, so uh, yeah its official. Mortal Kombat X is real! An announcement trailer has surfaced today featuring staples of the franchise Sub-Zero and Scorpion battling it out in a winter forest setting. The two donned costumes that were reminiscent of their original ninja designs yet they appeared updated and far more detailed than ever before. The end of the trailer teases a 2015 release. With that info in mind I think it is safe to say that this trailer is not in game footage but likely a CG rendering of what we can expect in the new game.

Based on the “kombat” shown it looks like the x-ray attacks from the last game will be present. It looks like the game will again be 2.5D in presentation meaning a 2 dimensional presentation in a 3D environment. This means no side stepping but the character models and levels will still be rendered in 3D. (More confused? or less?) Think Street Fighter’s presentation versus Tekken’s. The environment seems to play a bigger role this time as both Scorpion and Sub-Zero were shown interacting with trees during their battle, bouncing off of their trunks and using their branches as weapons. Individual character weapons appear to be making a comeback as well.

The setting of a snowy forest at night is noticeably less fantastical than in previous games. It looks like Scorpion and Sub-Zero are fighting in an actual forest. The overall atmosphere is darker than in previous games and the tone is serious. Despite Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s magical powers it is the most realistic MK rendition I have seen. I won’t spoil it for you but the fatality shown at the end of the trailer is just brutal.

IGN reports that every match played in MKX will have an impact on the online portion of the game. Most interesting is that it is being reported players will be able to select different versions of the same characters, effecting both strategy and fighting style. Mortal Kombat X is said to feature an original story encompassing both classic and completely new characters in the fight of good versus evil. Luckily MKX will be on show next week at E3 so we will not have to wait long to learn more about this title. Mortal Kombat X will be available on PS4, PS3, XBOX One, XBOX 360 and the PC.

Here is the link to the announcement trailer for Mortal Kombat X as posted on the Mortal Kombat Community YouTube page.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

April 22, 2014

Gamer News

No there is not a DOOM Wolfenstein hybrid game coming out soon but there is a connection. Both titles are being published by Bethesda Softworks and if you pre-order Wolfenstein The New Order before May 20th you will gain access to the DOOM beta. May 20th is the date of the U.S. release. DOOM originally called DOOM 4 was announced in 2008 and has had a rocky development cycle with rumors indicating that a version of the game was completely scrapped in 2011. John Carmack former head of iD Software the developer of DOOM was the one who made the original announcement for this new DOOM game back in 2008 and recently left iD this past November to work exclusively at Oculus VR. It is also of note that iD Software had made it public that development on all other projects had been put on hold so the team could concentrate solely on finishing DOOM.

Wolfenstein The New Order once again finds series protagonist William “B.J.” Blazkowicz fighting against Nazi foes. Only this time “B.J.” wakes up in the 1960’s in a world where the Nazi’s won WWII. The New Order promises old school fps game play with plenty of nods to the original source material including familiar enemies and weapons as well as hidden pathways. Stealth elements have been added. Taking place in an alternate timeline and being a Wolfenstein game bizarre science fiction weapons and enemies will also be present. Here is a link to the gameplay trailer on the Bethesda Softworks YouTube homepage so that you can take a look for yourself. (NSFW Violence and Language) You can decide if you think it is worth it to pre-order Wolfenstein The New Order just to get some early hands on time with the new DOOM.

Personally I am excited to play both Wolfenstein and the new DOOM. Being someone who grew up with the original titles I think such storied franchises deserve a spot at the top again. I will say that the last title I played by iD Software Rage blew me away. It had its flaws. The story and characters could have been fleshed out a lot more. The loading times were a bit long and the overall game was way too short for me, mostly because I was having way too much fun. Overall though I thought the graphics were absolutely stunning. The weapons customization, in game physics and enemy AI made for highly entertaining and addictive game play. The character designs were highly detailed and I really enjoyed traversing the wasteland in custom vehicles it really added to the atmosphere of the world.

Rage came out 3 years ago and despite the previously mentioned flaws it still sets the bar pretty high. I’m very excited to see what a new iD Software game looks and plays like post Rage. On that same note I’m hesitant to get my hopes up. There have been many cases of long gestating games released in the last few years that have been sub par to say the least. So it is with guarded anticipation that I look forward to playing the newest entry in the DOOM series. Needless to say my fingers are crossed. Wolfenstein The New Order will be available on PS3, PS4, XBOX 360 and XBOX One.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

April 2, 2014

Gamer News

Rockstar has announced features for its upcoming spring update for Grand Theft Auto V Online. The first part of the update should be available next week according to Rockstar’s online social club. This will be a capture creator which will allow players to make their own custom capture missions. Players will be given options to choose whatever weapons, pick-ups, and other undefined variables as you see fit in these custom missions.

Also slated for spring is the High Life update. This update does not yet have specified release date but it promises more options for high end apartments. The High Life update also promises the ability for GTA V Online players to own 2 properties now complete with a second garage. Some new clothing items will come with the update as well as the Bullpup Rifle, Dinka Thrust motorcycle and 3 new high-end cars including the super class Pegassi Zentorno. But the most interesting part of this update is something called the Mental State player statistic. The Mental State statistic will allow players to see just how safe they really are around the players joining them in their online sessions.

Finally the long awaited heists are being promised in the spring updates for GTA Online. You will be able to team up with Crew members or other mercenaries on your mission to commit simulated grand larceny. Unfortunately there are still no specific dates so hopefully we see this date sooner than later. More holiday updates are promised to come for GTA Online and some story mode DLC is on the way for later this year.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

March 31, 2014

Gamer News

Sony's Project Morpheus — **Sony’s Project Morpheus: Image Courtesy of IGN**

Sony has indeed been working on a Virtual Reality headset for the PS4. Titled Project Morpheus, I’m guessing a reference to the Matrix character of the same name, the new hardware was unveiled at this years Game Developers Conference or GDC. Amongst excitement for the announcement of this new hardware there have been several stories related to virtual reality unfolding in recent weeks.

First and foremost the acquisition of what logically would be the biggest competitor of Project Morpheus, the Oculus Rift was bought by Facebook for 2 billion dollars. A very impressive feat considering the Oculus Rift began inception as a kickstarter campaign. However pillars within the gaming community haven’t been so enthralled. The fear that this hardware with unknown potential to revolutionize gaming as we know it will now instead be reduced to a tool for collecting consumer information on people under the guise of “social networking” is very real.

**The Oculus Rift sold to Facebook for $2 Billion**

The creator of the popular sandbox game Minecraft, Markus “Notch” Persson immediately cancelled development on a version of Minecraft for the Oculus Rift as soon as the deal with Facebook went through. Notch was quoted on twitter as saying “I just cancelled the deal. Facebook creeps me out.” Many others in the gaming community have expressed similar concerns. Most of the people who have already received development kits for the Oculus Rift are PC developers/enthusiasts who intended the device for gaming experiences.

Adam Sessler of Rev3Games made some good points on the future of virtual reality gaming as a whole. He said developing software specifically for hardware like the Oculus Rift will be expensive, especially early on while developers learn how the hardware works. The other thing to consider is at this moment both the Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus are not available to public consumers. The starting price point of such hardware is as of now unknown and the relative number of people who can afford, let alone want a virtual reality headset is unknown. With all of that in mind it must be understood that developing full-fledged AAA titles for a virtual reality headset could still be many years down the line if ever.

For companies to even consider developing a full-fledged title to utilize virtual reality hardware the install base will have to be pretty high. Otherwise the effort simply isn’t cost effective. Instead Adam Sessler suggested that we should adjust our expectations of what virtual reality as a whole will be. It is more likely we will see applications made by smaller development teams with the goal of emphasizing different experiences, like exploration or something like skydiving. There is also interest in virtual reality for aid in scientific and medical research as well.

Palmer Luckey the creator of the Oculus Rift assures fans that Facebook was the best choice for purchasing the rights to his hardware. Stating that if he had sold to Apple or Microsoft they would have gutted his company and used whatever parts they saw fit to appease their own agendas. Luckey says that Facebook has promised to leave his team intact and allow them the freedom they need to develop the Oculus Rift appropriately for consumers.

Be it Facebook’s Oculus Rift or Sony’s Project Morpheus it seems the age of virtual reality is upon us. The applications for gaming and otherwise seem quite promising. YouTube is already full of people who have modified current games to work on virtual reality hardware. To reference Morpheus from the first Matrix movie we will have to see if people take the blue pill and “wake up as if nothing has happened” or “take the red pill and see how far the rabbit hole goes.”

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

March 8, 2014

Video Game News

Its not looking good for the XBOX One in Europe right now. The PS4 is currently outselling Microsoft’s newest console at a rate of about 3:1. Currently sales for the XBOX One are only slightly higher than that of the Wii U in Europe. To give you a little perspective here are some recent sales numbers based on weekly hardware comparison charts from VGChartz.com. The Wii U and the XBOX One are both averaging around 11 to 13 thousand units sold per week. Meanwhile the PS4 is averaging sales around 60 thousand units per week.

To add insult to injury the PS3 has been outselling the XBOX One in Europe since early December. Granted recent numbers show the PS3 only outselling the XBOX One by a small margin but anyway you do the math it doesn’t bode well when your brand new next gen console is struggling against the fledgling Wii U and actually being outsold by another console that is going on 8 years old.

Finally just to bring the story home sales figures for the month of February indicate PS4 sales in the US outselling the XBOX One 2:1. Which is a fairly significant reveal considering the US is Microsoft’s home market.

Just as a side note the most anticipated title for the XBOX One Titanfall is slated to release globally next week and should potentially help sales of the new console. Titanfall was the highlight for XBOX One at last years E3 conference. Developer Respawn opted to forgo a single player mode to concentrate on a rich mutliplayer experience incorporating single player elements such as a plot and NPC’s. [ Non Playable Characters ] Certainly not the first video game to be exclusively online it is interesting to note that both publisher EA and developer Respawn have recently announced that the game will not be made available in the South African region due to a supposedly poor internet infrastructure.

Regardless of how big a chunk the South African region makes up for XBOX One sales Microsoft could certainly use all the help it can get to gain some traction against the PS4. The final thing to note about Titanfall is that it will also be available on PC which certainly will cut into potential XBOX One sales as it is far cheaper to buy a computer game than an entire console plus a brand new game. Right now worldwide sales of the PS4 have surpassed 6 million consoles and over 13.7 million games. Microsoft has not released recent sales numbers but it is estimated they have shipped about 3.5 million consoles worldwide.

For upcoming news on the console wars and other video game news subscribe to the SonicMercury.com mailing list at the bottom of the page.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

November 24, 2013

Next-Gen News

I had a quick paragraph prepared about how both PS4 and XBOX One have sold over 1 million consoles in their first 24 hours of availability. Their is also this strange thing where both Sony and Microsoft congratulated each other on their respective console launches via twitter. I was then just going to make a comment about how it looks like both consoles are off to a good start and it looks like another great era of gaming has begun. That was pretty much all I was going to write, however there is just one small detail Microsoft neglected to mention. Yes they did sell over 1 million consoles in the first 24 hours of the XBOX One’s launch marking the biggest release ever for a Microsoft console but what Microsoft didn’t mention was that their console launched simultaneously in 13 different countries including the U.S. and Canada while the PS4 has only launched in the U.S. and Canada thus far. While both Sony and Microsoft had record sales for day 1 console launches Sony still has the rest of the world in which to launch the PS4. It will be interesting to see how the consoles fair at the end of the holiday season of this year but if I were a betting man I would say it looks like Sony might have a strong lead in console sales at the end of this year anyway. For more on all things Playstation and XBOX bookmark SonicMercury.com.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

November 20, 2013November 20, 2013

Horror Spotlight

The Evil Within is an upcoming new horror videogame that will appear on both current-gen and next-gen consoles in 2014. The game is being developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game centers around antagonist Detective Sebastian Castellanos. Sebastian wakes up in a gruesome world where violence and death are all around him after he and his partners investigated the scene of a mysterious mass murder. Now its up to Detective Sebastian Castellanos to traverse this decrepit world and discover the mystery as to why all this horrible stuff has been occurring.

At first glance it sounds like a typical horror game. Here’s why its not. The director of The Evil Within is Shinji Mikami a name we should all know as he is the creator of Resident Evil and creative lead for every subsequent Resident Evil title for many years. Resident Evil 4 was the last game in the series that he created. The Evil Within is Shinji Mikami’s return to the survival horror genre. Mr. Mikami has been quoted as saying about his new game that this will be a “true” survival horror game in response to his disappointment with current games of the genre he says this game will be, “one in which the player confronts and overcomes fear.”

The original Resident Evil series is a masterpiece. The first RE set the bar as to what survival horror could be on home consoles, the second RE far exceeded that bar introducing Claire Redfield and fan favorite Leon S. Kennedy into the horror of a familiar suburban setting in a chaos storm of monsters and zombies, the 3rd RE polished and refined elements of the first two games with smoother menus and action animations as well as detailed ammunition creation options. The 3rd RE also introduced the walking fear-bomb Nemesis who could go through doors and walk up stairs something previously impossible by RE foes instantly cranking up the tension of this entry. Finally RE 4 redefined the genre all together. Everything in the series had been overhauled for RE 4 new combat system, revamped menus and more cinematic presentation. Everything in RE 4 felt bigger and grander. From the story rife with plot twists and strange characters/creatures to the mysterious girl that Leon must rescue, RE 4 was a stout message to the Resident Evil fans and survival horror fans in general that nothing would be the same.

The graphical leap combined with the directorial decision to make the camera a 3rd person over the shoulder view that follows the player instead of set camera angles proved a very immersive experience. The visuals were gorgeous for a console game at the time. While I truly did enjoy Resident Evil 4 and had hours and hours of gameplay in the various survival modes alone some of the changes in the game were implications to me as to where this franchise was heading and for me I knew that Resident Evil 4 might be the last that I purchase. As I stated it’s not that RE 4 was a bad game in anyway. I felt Nintendo’s influence on the franchise was obvious however. The further I got into the game the more it reminded me of Zelda. The way items were highlighted in colorful columns and the change sound the game made every time you picked one up. The constant search for treasures paired with the more fantastical creatures versus horrible monsters created by viruses and the constant smashing of boxes and or pottery. Blood seemed minimal. The weird guy you bought items from who always greeted you with the same gruff voice, “Hello stranger.” The fantasy influence combined with the treasure hunting elements were just enough of a departure from the original 3 games for me to long for the old days of running through Raccoon City battling T-Virus zombies and not “Las Plagas” drones sent forth by the ghost of Napoleon’s inner child.

Needless to say I was more than a bit wary of the next installment of Resident Evil and my suspicions were confirmed as soon as I saw the trailers for Resident Evil 5. I thought the setting looked boring with lots of muted colors and the focus was obviously action based. Super fast infected people. I really wasn’t that turned off by the two player element that was introduced as I thought it could definitely work if implemented correctly. I played some of it and it just didn’t feel anything like the Resident Evil that I had grown to love. I guess with the success of the highly action based Resident Evil movies starring Mila Jovovich as a superhuman zombie slayer, which by the way undermines the entire genre of survival horror I mean how are you supposed to be scared when Supergirl fights a bunch of monsters that is an entirely different movie than what Resident Evil should be about but I digress, I guess the game developers thought this an appropriate direction for their game.

Then their was Resident Evil 6. Featuring 4 separate but intertwining campaigns. After all the hype it got and the promise that it would at least include Leon in one of the campaigns I decided to give it a shot. Originally 3 of the 4 campaigns were co-op until players made it clear to Capcom that it made no sense to have your game be primarily co-op only to offer the final campaign as a strictly single player experience. The 4th campaign was made co-op and available from the start of the game instead of an unlockable campaign made available after completion of the 3 other co-op campaigns. Each of the 4 campaigns had their own specific characters with their own story pertaining to the same global event. I really enjoyed most of Leon’s campaign quick time events aside. It had zombies in a dark creepy atmosphere genuinely conjuring fearful moments at times. The co-op actually worked great here, even with a friend the tension was still high. It felt like a proper evolution of Resident Evil. The rest of RE 6’s campaigns have their moments but they feel superfluous, like other ideas for Resident Evil games sliced and diced from their games and spliced together to create a grotesque Frankenstein of one game. At the end of the day RE 6 is more like 4 separate games under one title.

Now Capcom is in financial turmoil and the likelihood of a new Resident Evil from the company is uncertain. Just how bad a state Capcom is really in is debatable but information is surfacing that Capcom barely has enough cash to develop one more feature game. In other words if Capcom pays to develop one more game they could go bankrupt. Something to support this belief that Capcom is on dire straits is that when game producer Yoshinori Ono the producer of Street Fighter IV was asked by a fan on twitter if SF IV would be coming to the next gen Ono responded that Capcom lacked the resources to port the game to next-gen consoles although he expressed that it would be “sweet” to bring SF IV to the next-gen. Porting Street Fighter IV to next-gen consoles doesn’t require nearly the team and resources creating an entire game would. If Capcom can’t even port a fighting game to the PS4 and XBOX One how can any of us expect them to create a whole new Resident Evil?

With the most recent entries of Resident Evil 5 and 6 being disappointments for long time fans of the series because of their departure from the initial survival horror genre that Resident Evil helped to define The Evil Within might be just the gloriously gruesome return to the survival horror roots we all grew to love. Shinji Mikami has state that this will be the last game that he ever directs. Let us all hope that Mr. Mikami goes out on a high note helping to create a new chapter of survival horror, one that we can all look upon with fond memories and pass on a new legacy of horror to future generations. I have included a gameplay trailer for The Evil Within here courtesy of Bethesda Softworks YouTube page. Fair warning their is some extreme violence and gore. Bookmark SonicMercury.com for more on other upcoming horror titles in all media.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

November 19, 2013

Playstation 4 News

The Playstation 4 has arrived, and in high demand. Sony had reported record pre-orders for the new console and the official U.S. release of the PS4 looks to be record breaking as well. More than 1 million Playstation 4’s were sold within the first 24 hrs of its release last Friday November 15th. The PS4 will be the only next-gen console on the market until the November 22nd release of the XBOX One. It will be interesting to see what kind of sales momentum the PS4 will maintain after the release of its main competitor. In the meantime the PS4 still has the rest of this week to enjoy its moment in attempting to shatter record breaking sales in the United States. It is important to note the console has yet to release in any other region as of this posting.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

November 5, 2013

Nintendo News

Nintendo has announced the Wii mini, a miniature version of the Wii will be available to the U.S. this holiday season and should retail at about $99. The Wii mini is a bare minimum of the console offering no online functionality it does however come with a copy of Mario Kart Wii in the bundle at no extra charge. The Wii mini is part of Nintendo’s plans to promote “low cost gaming.” Most likely the Wii mini arriving in the U.S. has a lot to do with the less than stellar performance of the Wii’s “next gen” successor the Wii U. No doubt that Nintendo is promoting the Wii mini, which was already made available in Canada in last year, to help absorb some of the losses Nintendo is taking on the Wii U. When I last reported sales of the Wii U the tally was about 3.6 million units worldwide. That number is measured from the November launch of the Wii U to June 30th with only about 550 thousand units sold between December 31st 2012 to June 30th 2013. In contrast the Nintendo Wii had sold about 9.3 million units in the same amount of time with the Wii selling just over 6 million units worldwide in the same amount of time.

The Wii U sales numbers have finally been reported for the time between June 30th and September 30th of this year. In this time Nintendo has sold roughly 300 thousand Wii U’s. This brings the grand total of Wii U’s sold to just over 3.9 million units worldwide as opposed to the 13.17 million units the Wii sold in the same amount of time. I have heard from various sources as well as read on multiple sites that Nintendo has projected sales of over 9 million units sold for the Wii U and will not waver from this projection. The reality is that quarter 3 or Q3 for the Wii U is in the books and in the last 9 months Nintendo has only sold about 850 thousand units. Analysts are predicting sales at about 550,000 units for the Wii U this holiday season. The bottom line is Wii U sales coming in at less than half of projection for its launch year can not be good news for Nintendo and its future in the home console market.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

September 16, 2013

Rumors and GTA V News!!

I was going to write about this rumor that the PS4 is 50% more powerful than the XBOX One. Many credible sources like IGN have even weighed in on this rumor all stating that the anonymous developers who are reporting this considerable discrepancy in performance seems legitimate. The problem though is that even if this rumor is completely true about the difference in performance between the XBOX One and the Playstation 4 no one making these claims has worked with the official consoles yet. All this info is coming from people using dev kits designed before the finalized versions of the consoles were put into production. Another point made by The Red Dragon over at N4G games is that many non-anonymous developers have stated that the graphics drivers for the PS4 and XBOX One have yet to be optimized. This has been frustrating for developers as it makes it hard for them to optimize graphics if the drivers are not tuned to their peak performance. It does not matter how powerful a graphics card is if the drivers are not properly set. Another point to consider is even if one console does have considerably more power, whatever that power may be graphics/processing, it is not in multi-platform developers best interests to invest money into making a game look or perform better on one console over the other, its just not cost effective.

The question is will one version of a multi-platform game be downgraded to match the look and performance of the game on the weaker console. The answer is no because the developers will instead look for a happy medium between the two consoles where they know that the game will perform more or less identically to each other. The games will be optimized by developers within those constraints to make sure that the game plays properly by utilizing the different hardware of the PS4 and XBOX One but the goal of developers will never be to max out hardware performance. This revelation kind of sucks but to be honest we probably should have already guessed this is how it works. We will have to look to exclusive titles if we want to get an idea of what the true performance extent is for the Playstation 4 and the XBOX One. At the end of the day though its always the console with the best games not the best specs that has the most success.

OK I put in my two cents on that topic now on to what’s really on your mind. Grand Theft Auto 5 comes out tomorrow. Yes the highly anticipated blockbuster series latest installment releases tomorrow! September 17th. If you want to get preorder perks today is your last day, otherwise wait til tomorrow I am sure every retailer has packed inventory to the max for this title. Rockstar developers have made an announcement today though for XBOX 360 users, they said that for optimum performance on the XBOX 360 only install the first disc for GTA V. There is an option to also install the play disc on your 360 but don’t do it as Rockstar has stated GTA V will perform best if you only install the disc designated for installation on you XBOX. Alright I hope that is clear for you. Tomorrow is GTA V day and I just want everyone to have a good time because being a gamer isn’t so much about the console but the great games we play on them. Here is a link to the review for GTA V on IGN so you can see what they think about the game before you pick it up.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

September 12, 2013

Playstation News

Sony’s newest revelation is the PS Vita TV. Essentially its a Playstation Vita that lets you play Vita games on your TV screen. The device is about as big as a deck of cards and has inputs in the back of it for HDMI, Ethernet, USB, and has slots for memory cards as well as the actual Vita games. PS Vita TV can be used to stream movies from Sony specific services as well as other online content providers. Currently the device can only be controlled by a Dualshock 3 controller, with a patch coming early 2014 to allow control by a Dualshock 4 controller. Many Vita games utilize touch functionality and it is unclear how different input functions would be adjusted to Dualshock settings. Sony did say that some Vita games will not work on Vita TV.

At $100 the PS Vita TV is looking like a very affordable option to videogame fans on a budget. Much of the PS Vita library is highly acclaimed and rated favorably. With Sony’s strong relationship with indie developers and the release of triple A titles like Killzone Mercenary the Vita library of first class games continues to grow. Vita games max out at about $40 unless you are buying special bundles. If you buy the larger PS Vita TV bundle that comes with a Dualshock 3 controller and 8 gigabyte memory card it will cost you $150.

Another interesting feature of the PS Vita TV is the ability to stream the PS4 to any TV in your house. The example shown in the commercial shows a group of friends coming home to play videogames but someone is already using the PS Vita TV to watch a movie so one of the kids powers on the PS4 and hits a button on the PS Vita TV and he and his friends just go to a different room with a TV and play a PS4 game with a PS4 controller while the people in the other room continue to watch their movie uninterrupted. Not going to lie, if it works as advertised with no latency that is pretty awesome. Sony is also promising that a large portion of PS One classic games will also be available to download and play on PS Vita TV.

To be honest this was a slightly unexpected move by Sony. The recently announced more affordable $200 PS Vita redesign was expected but I doubt many predicted PS Vita TV. Even the larger $150 bundle is still half the price of a Wii U. Any ground the Ouya may have gained with the casual market has just been swiftly ripped out from under them. Sony just stepped into the Ouya’s ring and has told them to go home they just bought the venue. This is a smart move by Sony. PS Vita just became so much more integral to the Playstation ecosystem. If all the features work as advertised PS Vita TV is a very exciting hardware edition to any gaming fan. Here is a link to the commercial so you can check it out for yourself. Offering the PS Vita as a home console instantly grows its install base making the hardware more appealing to developers who might have otherwise been on the fence about the Vita. This means that the PS Vita’s already rich and growing library will likely gain more support from all developers, promising a bright and healthy future for the hardware full of new and exciting experiences.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

August 27, 2013

For the Fans!

Hey everyone the feedback has been amazing lately. I greatly appreciate the level of passion followers have. I wanted to thank everyone for supporting Sonic Mercury. When I started I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I think that I quickly found my voice. Clearly videogames have been at the forefront of my updates lately. I promise more metal and horror related articles will be included on the site to help diversify content in the future. I am thinking a top ten 80’s horror movie list is in order.

Gamescom was huge! So much stuff was shown off their it really was hard to break it down. Here is a quick overview. Someone at the Sony conference said something like “unlike others, we have had a clear path for our new console.” There was outrage. People were like “Cheap shot!” “ohhh Sony slams Microsoft again!” “Scandalous!!” Honestly at this point who cares? Microsoft messed up really bad and burned a lot of bridges with gamers around the world. Whats done is done. Lets get on with what we all really care about, the shiny new consoles and their respective videogames. Nonetheless people definitely tried hard to make this one comment in a 90 minute presentation a big deal. Seeing the comment in context it sounded to me like the speaker was just saying that they have been focused with the PS4 and the path Sony was taking with their new console. Anyone who saw this as a major jab at Microsoft was reaching.

The PS3 slim model will have a limited edition model available next year in the color blue. Special Microsoft employee only editions of the XBOX One were shown off and they will be white. What is it about videogame consoles in different colors that makes them more desirable? Is it that we actually like the other colors or is it more just owning something that others don’t? “I have a new console!” “That’s cool, I have it to but mine is blue.”

Lets see other news from Gamescom. Battlefield 4 reportedly looks a lot worse than expected in the port from high end PC’s to the PS4 and XBOX One editions. This is very disappointing news considering the game is highly anticipated and every demo of the game up until the Gamescom hands on demo were visually impressive.

The new revamped Dualshock 4 controller for the PS4 received positive feedback at Gamescom with many FPS fans saying they would now be more likely consider playing first person shooters on the PS4 in the future.

Lots more happened at Gamescom but there are some highlights for you. Thanks again to everyone who has been following Sonic Mercury and I promise plenty more content on the way. Look for more info on Sonic Mercury’s new YouTube channel SonicMercuryTV in the next few weeks. Bookmark SonicMercury.com for more unique perspectives on videogames, horror, and heavy metal.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

August 25, 2013

PS4 News

Sony at Gamescom 2013 showed off new color schemes for the new PS4 controller. Look for “Magma Red” and “Wave Blue” dualshock 4 controllers sometime next year. The question now is will they be making PS4 systems that match these brightly colored controllers.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury