We were in downtown Seattle today doing some business type shit for PA and we stopped by the EBX out there. We lucked out in that they had both of the games we wanted but were unable to attain over here on the east side. I picked up Apex and Dark Cloud 2 and Tycho just got Apex.
Tycho mentioned earlier that he hoped Apex would be able to measure up to Ridge Racer 4 and after spending some time with it I'd have to say it does. Visually it's a knock out. Owners of HDTV's will delight to know that Apex supports 480p. The reflection maps and various lighting effects on the road are some of the best I've seen. The cars handle really tight, I was power sliding with ease after just a few laps. The option of using your own soundtrack is abother killer feature. Nothing beats rocketing around hair pin curves on some European mountain while Crystal Method blasts through your speakers instead of the bland techno crap most racing games include. Calling all freaks indeed.
Dark Cloud 2 is a bit harder to judge right now. I'm only on the second level of the sewer dungeons or whatever. Things I like so far are obviously the graphics which are killer and the music which is also fantastic. There are still some things I am not quite clear about involving the leveling up of your weapons and the spectralization or whatever of items. One of the best features in DC2 though is the built in help menu. Just about everything you could possibly have a question about is explained with video tutorials narrated by the characters. I am excited to spend more time with it.
My friend Robert and I are going to attempt to construct our own fighting sticks for use on CvS2. I have a bit of experience with this. I did a bit of rudimentary wiring on the two arcade machines I have. Hopefully I won't solder any parts of my own body this time. That shit is hot. watch out.
-Gabe out
