Surviving the Zombie Apocolypse!

Game: Left 4 Dead
Studio: Valve
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Survival/Horor
Rating: M+17
Left 4 Dead video review

Premise: You and three other survivors try to survive the zombie Apocalypse. In the game you choose from four playable survivors as you try to overcome the infected. The game is built from the ground up to be an intense co-op game.

Story: In the game you see the zombie apocalypse through the eyes of four survivors as they overcome horrifying enemies such as vomiting boomers and hulk like tanks. The game is divided into different acts/parts that have their own distinct title and level layout. Throughout the game you face different obstacles and are given the full experience of what could happen in a zombie apocalypse. The game only builds off of the premise, but doesn’t feature a real campaign. Each campaign is built to feel and looks like a Hollywood movie with solid pacing and different plot twist.

Characters: In the game, Valve wanted to nail different character elements with the characters in the game. The characters names are Louis, Zoey, Bill, and Francis. Each of them has their own distinct personality and dialogue that is shown throughout. In each campaign the characters have their own input on the situations at hand and the enemies that they have to face. The characters are engaging, which is surprising without a central storyline linking the campaigns. Beyond human characters and normal infected you also have a large variety of zombie characters such as the Hunter (Who ounces on nearby survivors), Smoker (Who grabs nearby enemies by using its long tongue, when it is killed it returns into a pack of smoke), Boomer (That vomits on nearby survivors, but when shot it explodes), Tank (A giant hulk like creature that is by far the hardest of the infected), and the Witch (A sensitive and highly dangerous creature, that hates light and when light is shined on it attacks the survivor that startled it).

Engagement: The game engages you in the world as it shows you the just how far the infection has spread. The game also immerses you in the characters and how they had all come together in the crisis. The games pacing is impressive and the way that each level is laid out is fascinating. The game also uses a effective atmosphere that helps you learn more about what was happening in the world, such as writing on the wall from other survivors that had passed through your location.

Behaviors: In the game weather you’re playing alone or with friends the AI is impressive. When your health or ammo is low your AI partners will give you weapons or heal you. They will also tell you when your about to die or if their ammo is low. Beyond the Human AI, the zombie AI is also impressive using different roots to reach you, along with using the environment to get the upper hand on the survivors.

Resources: The game gives you very few resources in order to ensure that you are having the most realistic experience. By this I mean you won’t find weapons that wouldn’t be found normally, such as instead of finding a rocket launcher you would find a shotgun. Each weapon is very useful and replaces weapons that you would use in other shooters, such as how the pipe bomb replaces the usual grenade. Each gun and weapon fits the apocalypse feel and never makes it feel too far fetched and too easy.

Challenge: Left 4 Dead has a impressive challenge mechanic which is circled around an AI director. The AI is used to make the player have amore unique experience. Let’s say you are doing extremely well in your campaign than in the parts to follow the AI director will send more enemies and boss infected. If you are doing very bad and not working well with your teammates than you will verse very few infected and bosses. Each time that you play the game is completely different and makes it a less frustrating experience. The games challenge is based off of the skill of the player rather than the already set difficulty of the level.

Killing Peasents In Albion

Title: Fable 2
Designer: Lionhead Studios
Company: Microsoft Studios
Number of players: 1-2 (co-op)
Platform: Xbox 360
ERSB Rating: M+17
Genre: Role-Playing-Game

Fable 2 Video Review

Story: Fable 2 is a tale of revenge, love, and lust. From start to finish the choices that you make define how the games story plays out and how people view you. In the beginning you start out as a young child who lives in the poorer parts of Albion. Without giving too much away with the story your character is put on a journey by a mysterious woman to find the other heroes of Albion in order to stop a ruthless king. Throughout the beginning you’re introduced to your greatest ally your "dog" who is with you from start to finish. In each part of the campaign you are introduced to different heroes that have their own distinct attributes which help you in the end. In order to find these heroes you must embark on certain quest which lead you to different regions of Albion discover more quests and people with their own personalities. As said before your choices affect the story and throughout the game your decision will not only affect that part of the game but how your character changes and how the ending will play out.

Premise: You are a hero of Albion and it is your quests to find and unite the other heroes and overthrow a tyrant.

Characters: In the game you are introduced to a wide variety of characters ranging from the main quests heroes of Albion, to the everyday people that have their own say in certain events and occurrences that you may cause. In the game, your actions decide how people will view you such as if you kill al large number of peasants, than they will view you as evil and treat you harshly. In the game your character is affected by everything. When you begin the game you choice your gender which is pretty much the only choice that you have in your character beyond the armor and weapon customization. Throughout the game your character is affected by what foods you eat such as if you eat a lot then your character will get fatter. Another example is your choice and how when you make a good choice or bad choice your character is affected such as if you make the choice to kill someone than you receive evil points and it has an affect on your characters look.

Challenge: Fable is hardly challenging due to the removal of death. In the game rather than dieing your character receives scar's which remain on your character throughout the entire game. As you level up your character the enemies increase in numbers rather than in skill like the first one. The game is hardly ever challenging because of this along with the fact that the player no longer has a fear of dieing restarting because his character cannot die.

Clear Goals and Feedback: Throughout the entire game you are given different objectives and quests that will reward you with weapons, armor, or experience points. After you finish a mission you receive experience to level up your player’s powers and skills. Every quest is clear as to where you must go, but at certain points in the game certain quests are only available in if you’ve been in that area.

Control: The combat is easy and simple mostly due to the fact that each aspect of the gameplay only uses one button. Example- You use the X button in order to use your sword and as you level up your character you gain new moves by holding down the button. The same thing ally’s to the other elements such as magic will and ranged attacks (guns and bows). Movement and view are controlled by the analog sticks and the triggers are used to collect loot and play the mini games.

The Dramatic Arc: The game from start to finish is very intense and compelling because of the unique choices that you must make in the main quest along with how people view you in the market. The games characters help make the game more compelling as you hear their stories and adventures that they had. The games drama takes an even bigger turn towards the end of the main campaign.
The Transformation of Time: In conclusion the player could lose hours the world of Albion due to its strong Narrative, plentiful quest and content, along with interesting characters that help bring the game to life. Character development is deep and the gameplay strong, the player feels immersed into the world and the actions that he must take in order to ensure the safety of Albion or its downfall.

Partying in "The Club"

Title: The Club

Designer: Bizzare Creations

Company: Microsoft

Number of players: 1-8
Platform: Xbox 360

ERSB Rating: M+17

Genre: First Person Shooter

The Club

Story: In "The Club" you play as a mercenary who has been recruited to compete in an underground sport where you are rewarded for killing the most people. The story never really develops throughout the game making less compelling then other third person’s shooter games such as "Gears of War" and "Uncharted 2". Throughout the game you are taken to different areas to compete against the other competitors, such as places like Venice. Throughout the game you only see your competitors on the leaderboards and the way to win the tournament is to beat their high scores.
Premise: You are a mercenary who plays in a underground sport where you must get the highest number of kills and beat the competition in various maps and locations.
Player: The Player Plays as a variety of contestants in the game. Each character has their own personality and attributes such as if you play as "Adjo" who is very quick but does very little melee damage. Throughout the game you can unlock different characters by winning tournaments and gunplay
Challenge: The game has a large variety in maps and modes throughout its forty-eight level campaign. The difficulties range differently based on which you choice such as if you choose the easy difficulty then you will go up against the normal bad guys, but if you go to insane the enemies will be much smarter and much harder than before. An example would be on easy you would fight a normal person, but on insane you would fight ashield wieldign cop. Each level in the game is different from the last and it has large varieties of other modes that increase the difficulty such as "Siedge" which has you hold off hordes of enemies until you reach the highest score or time runs out. Each level goes well with the game modes and the run and gun shooting mechanics help keep the adrenaline running until the exit door is in your sight. The game also offers up a very deep combo system that keeps track of your points, such as if you get 10 kills in a row than your overall score will be multiplied by that much. The challenge is when you don't get any kills and your combo meter goes down making you have to desperately search for enemies along with keeps track of the time and your health.
Nature of Play: "The Club" is a run and gun shooter that bases its entire design on fast action. the game tends to slow down due to the low variety in game modes, btu overall teh pacing is interesting because at teh moments when you think that things are to easy the game ups the difficulty to make your life a bit harder.
Clear Goals and Feedback: In the game, each mission is opened up with an intro video describing the game mode and a clear objective such as in "Sprint" you must fight your way through the enemies and reach a certain point in a small amount of time. In each mode the objective is clear along with arrows pointing to the different places where you must go. When a mission is completed you are rewarded with medals or your rank is increased on the ranking boards. Each mission has its own reward and objective that must be completed if you hope to win the level.
The Transformation of Time: The game is fast paced keeping you focused on the characters and the objectives. Each level may span only three to four minutes but they are well developed and help you keep on your wits until the last enemy has fallen. The player could loose hours in the multiplayer or just wandering about each map finding the loads of collectibles. The Nature of
Engagement: The game engages players with its unique characters and design along with solid gameplay mechanics. Throughout the game i felt more attached to the overall character rather then the outcome of the story which wasn't that good. The combo system is loads of fun but begins to lack after a few hours of play.
Characters: In the game you play as different mercenaries and characters with their own play styles and back story. Each character runs differently, talks differently and responds to each situation differently. Overall the game did a good job of character development although the story is own the weak side.

Getting Five Stars in GTA 4

Game: Grand Theft Auto: 4

Company: Microsoft

Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar North
Genre: Action, Crime
ERSB Rating: M+17

Premise/Story: You are Niko Bellic a retired war veteran who is trying to work his way up in social stature, but soon find himself caught up in an underworld of gangs and crime.
Objects: In GTA their are five main properties your clothing, weapons, cars, pedestrians, and your enemies. Each of these objects interacts with each other such as how when you pull out a gun on a pedestrians they would either run away, hide, or fall down, Your clothes have a effect on how people see you such as if you have rugged clothes then your armor isn’t as strong as it could be and your enemies will be able to kill you faster.

Behaviors: In the game you begin to feel like the main protagonist mostly due to the story. In the game you see of how the main character interacts with his environment based on how you are as a player. Such as how he will react when you get into a car crash or get shot. In the game most of the encounters and events are scripted and controlled by the main character, but in some instances you are able to decide the fate of certain characters.

FeedBack: In the game you get feedback for making choices and for the crimes that you do, such as if you kill a large number of pedestrians then the cops will come after you. Another example is when your given a choice to let someone live or die it has a huge effect on the story and how it plays out throughout the story. GTA: 4 give you feedback for completing objectives, causing mayhem, and even bowling.

Economies: In Grand Theft Auto: 4 economics are handled through the different shops and malls throughout the city such as clothing stores and restaurants. These stores include things such as hats, shirts, and even food. The game also allows you to get weapons through other means such as from the market or by using different cheat codes that can be unlocked throughout the game. In order to get money in GTA you must either kill pedestrians or you could complete the different missions, and objectives throughout the game. Each mission has a different objective and is more based on the amount of skill on the player, if you beat the mission without dieing than your awarded more money, but if your dieing a lot and not finishing the objective then you lose money.

Information Structure: The information structure is executed through your cell phone. In the game you will receive phone calls or text that gives you missions or different objectives. The cell phone is also the gateway to things such as the multiplayer. The phone is very useful and a clever way of giving the gamer information rather than having the player goes to the main menu. Another way that information is given to the player is through the map that can be both accessed by the main menu or your cell phone, the map tells you where you can get clothes, weapons and more.

Control: As the player you control Niko throughout the curse of the game. In different segments you get to make an avatar and use it in the multiplayer. A layout of the controls is shown below.