The return

 It's been quite a long time between posts, and the hiatus hasn't been very inspiring. Too many games became available to me at once, and most of them have been due to the retro bug hitting me quite hard. The good news is that I've managed to reclaim a Dreamcast, then turn right around and score 2 Sega CD's and a 3DO in the span of a month. That also means that I haven't had time for anything new between that and the holidays.

 Returning from it all, I had the knowledge that the Dante's Inferno demo was available for download, so I checked out the PSN to find even more goodies waiting for me. I decided to give three game demos a legitimate change to catch my attention, with one coming out as a decisive winner.

 First up is Dante's Inferno, an extremely indilgent vacation through the levels of hell as Kratos. I mean, Dante. God of War of written all over this game, and if nobody has noticed, we seem to be in a 3-D beat-em-up golden age. If you haven't seen the new Castlevania trailer, then get on Youtube and look for yourself, but with that on the way, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and God of War III on the way, you're in for some serious good times if you're a fan of the genre. To top it all off, the lot of them are looking to be golden.

 I haven't been into the genre much, but it doesn't take a lot to jump right back into it. The descent into Hell is colorful, and yes, you get to see your first rack in the first cinematic. It's a greatly stylized game, but it's still the exact same as God of War, not that you'll care. I can appreciate taking an already good thing and changing an already amazing setting to something equally badass, and that's what Dante's Inferno does.

 Second up was MAG's public beta, and I have extremely mixed feelings about what on paper came out sounding like a FPSers wet dream. 256 players. MMO. Player interaction with the overarching "war". Massive maps. Rank actually meaning something other than longevity. Vehicles. Insane amounts of customization.

 Trouble is that Modern Warfare 2 is out. I know that we're talking about two completely separate styles with completely different server/processor demands, but the difference slaps you in the face. MAG is accurate, don't get me wrong, but you're going to spend most of your time passively fighting a war rather than directly fighting for every breath of your AMP infused live. The frame rate doesn't chug and the graphics are amazing, but they are most lacking that crisp feeling that draws people into MW2 among all other games.

 As a Battlefield killer, it may just have the stuff, though I didn't get to experience all of that goodness because the map I played was pretty limited in scope and I got bored. If you're into Battlefield, give this a shot because it's right up your ally, but if not, you may end up bored like me.

 Finally, there was Bayonetta...which immediately put everything else I played to shame. Dante's Inferno may wait for the discount bin before I try it, because Bayonetta did enough with its demo to convince me to buy that without question. It does everything Devil May Cry and God of War do, just better. I was actually done buying games this winter until I played this game.

 That's all for the roundup. Brief, yes, but I'm still busy with life so all I can spare is the ten minutes for the moment. Digg It Stumble it ! Reddit