GamerNode: Christos Reid's Columns

Zombie Nation

Fast zombies, slow zombies, red zombies, big zombies, tank zombies, sentient zombies... the list goes on forever, and it's a matter of time before people are running out of ideas. Even the "non-zombie" introduced via Valve's new team shooter and 28 Days Later are unoriginal, attempting to inject some life and excitement into something that, ultimately, makes me want to put down the controller and go for a walk. For a games journalist, that's saying something.

Racoon City should get a better tourist department. Do you know what a huge market there'd be for a place like that with hunting enthusiasts? Not to mention ex-military? So why is it that the only people who ever seem to turn up in these places are complete idiots? Even the cops and army (all male, take note) are clueless. That's right...

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The Greatest Achievement

As I gear up to go achievement hunting in anticipation of cashing in several Xbox titles for the latest releases, I begin to wonder what it is about achievements in videogames that leave me unable to get rid of them, even though there's no new content left to experience.

Take Too Human, for example. Once you're done with the campaign, all that's left is to head online and grind your way to level 50, while notching up twenty thousand kills, epic armor pieces, and of course, the dreaded "online multiplayer" achievements that seem to be included on every game, even those you would never, ever bother to play online, Army of Two being the first to spring to mind here.

So, why would I sit there, slowly getting Baldur up to that level? It's not the appeal of cool-looking armour; being amongst the f...

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Ninety Percent Certain

This morning, I logged onto IGN, and took a look at the review for Street Fighter IV. I know Martin Robinson personally, and he's been trying to drag me into the IGN towers for months to take a look at it; unfortunately, I never got a chance to jump in on it, but that and our phone conversation yesterday tells me one thing. He digs this game. He digs it hardcore. He also gave it a 9.5, and in my opinion, he's got the biggest balls of anyone in his industry this morning.

The thing with scores within a few points of a nine either way, is that they seem to generate mass amounts of fanboyesque hysteria, and general chaos on the boards of whichever site the review is posted on, not to mention others across the web. Take the recent CVG review of Killzone 2, not to mention GamerNode's infamously l...

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Death from Above

So, let me get this straight. The games industry is suffering in the depression, and as of Febuary 2009, has laid off well into several thousand staff, globally. They've also cut projects, cancelled games, and provided us with little choice, which apparently is better because as far as they're concerned, most people can barely afford food in London, Los Angeles, and Tokyo, let alone videogames.

The first problem with your new "mass redundancies are the way forward" agenda, Mister Games Industry, is you're sacking the wrong people. So far, I've seen the head of Games for Windows Live, the entire staff of Ensemble Studios, a shed load of people at Mythic, and around 70 Disney employees lose their jobs. This has to be the most bizarre set of layoffs I've ever seen.

The head of Games for Windows...

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Metacritic: The Downfall of Free Speech?

Killzone 2 is a damn nice looking game. It looks like it plays fantastically, and the staff here at GamerNode seem to like it quite a bit. I've not played it and already, I don't want to. Ever. This is all due to fanboys turning Metacritic from the Rotten Tomatoes of the gaming industry into a weapon they can use to bombard sites that give their prized games less than 100%.

In this review, CVG states that Killzone 2 is a fantastic title, citing aspects of the game using extremely complimentary phrases such as "audiovisual splendour," and "a stunning single-player campaign." All good so far, and then they make their first major mistake when avoiding baiting fanboys; complaining about the lack of a feature in a game, while comparing it to another title that does have said feature on a differe...

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Bailout on Fallout

I don't own a PS3. Despite LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Killzone 2, I don't want a PS3. In fact, you could go so far as to say that I actually tend to avoid the PS3 side of the gaming industry simply because I cannot have any faith in a platform that costs so much, yet seems to offer so little in comparison to the Wii and the Xbox 360. Call me biased, call me ignorant, but I stand by my decision. Sony fanboys are no worse than those of their Microsoft counterparts, but in this case, the Sony fanboys are right. Todd Howard of Bethesda, I'm going to join in with the Game Gazette in calling you out.

Fallout 3 is an excellent title, set in a haunting post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. that we can spend hours in and have it feel like days in a way so enjoyable we forget we're experienc...

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