TZU, the source for Elite Gaming News

Insidious Review:

2011-04-12T13:29:00.000-04:00

Daniel Foster
Chronicle
March 24, 2011

Insidious

     Horror movies have become little more than two hours of gore or laughter of how bad the film was executed. Films such as Saw which began with promise soon become the yearly film that audiences dreaded. Horror is by far the most complicated and difficult film to make, due to the amount of potential failures in the execution. Insidious is a near perfect horror movie, that uses its low budget to great effects along with going outside of the standard clichés.
     Two years ago Paranormal Activity saw box office success, along with being considered the scariest movie of modern day horror. Insidious also uses it low budget to great use, and encourages the audience to not only think outside of the box, but also pay close attention to the screen for the hidden scares. The films story focuses on a family who endure constant encounters with the supernatural. As it turns out, demons and ghost are drawn to one of the sons with the hopes of possessing him. The plot may give off the been their done that feel, but as the film goes on you are introduced to different characters who bring more variety to the story, along with a twist ending that most won’t see coming. The plot is solid, but it is the films execution that stole the show.
      The visual style for the films gives a gritty and dark look, adding to the emotion conveyed in the plot. The scares don’t come until the middle of the movie, but throughout the film you have a sense of suspense and dread, as each encounter grows more and more violent. The makeup is fantastic, making the many entities memorable and respectably haunting. However the film isn’t perfect, I found myself almost laughing at the final act and how less scary and poorly executed it was, even though the beginning was excellent. The final act almost played out like an old slasher film with people screaming and running from the killer.
     In the end Insidious is a haunting, creepy, and downright scary film which is exactly what this genre needed. In a year full of superhero’s and sequels it is nice to see that low budget films can be just as enduring as those with mega million budgets. Insidious will haunt you and don’t be surprised if you’re afraid to go to sleep.

Paranormal Activity 2 Review:

2010-10-27T09:01:00.001-04:00

Paranormal activity was one of the most significant sleeper hits (a movie that makes more money than expected) of the decade, having been demanded by audience, and climbing the charts at the box office. The film alone grossed over 190 million dollars worldwide, with only a budget of $15,000 making the film one of the most successful movies of all time, along with “Blair Witch Project” and “Mad Max”. Only a year later Paranormal Activity 2 has now hit theaters hoping to have the same success as its predecessor, but with a new director and much bigger budget, will this sequel be a hit? Paranormal Activity 2 is a prequel, taking place before the events of the first film, with the last five minutes acting as the sequel for the film. The story follows relatives of the predecessor’s protagonist as they encounter numerous paranormal events, and the same entity that haunts the main characters in the last film. The movie offers more scares than its predecessor, but at points gives off a been there done that feel, as many of the paranormal events are replicas of the first films. The film still has the slow build up of the mockumentary genre, but always has you feeling like something scary is just around the corner. Although the film has a much bigger budget, much of the originality remains in tack and never feels too special effect oriented, rather than past mockumentary films such as “The Last Exorcism”. The acting is solid and helps make you believe that the characters are reacting to real events. The film is well made and has a much more structured and professional feel which is what the predecessor lacked. Although the film does drag in the beginning with numerous cheap scares, it makes up for it in a finale that most movie goers wont see coming. It is disappointing that the film doesn’t have much innovation, but is definitely more entertaining and engaging than its predecessor was. This is a rare sequel that takes what the original had and improves it on nearly ever level, the scares get better as the film goes along, and the story isn’t as unbelievable as the last film, with the box office success that the film has had so far, hopefully Paranormal activity 3 will bring something new to the table, rather than repeating the same story over and over…………..Saw would be a great example of that.

3 out of 4

The Town Review:

2010-10-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

The Town is an excellent film that helps show the directorial skills of Ben Affleck, along with engaging the audience in a heist thriller like no other. The movie tells the tale of Doug MacRay whom is leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers, who have been perform professional heist in the district of Charlestown. After a bank heist goes wrong, Doug must than deal with the repercussions of his actions, while preparing his crew for one last heist. The films story is well told and executed perfectly, the acting is well tuned, along with immersing the audience into the troubles and conflicts that the characters are facing. The supporting cast gives great performances all around, especially last year’s Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), whom gives the story a lot more tension and emotion as you uncover the origins of his character. Ben Affleck does a fantastic job of executing the various action sequences, and building a lot of tension around each of the firefights, at some points it hard not to root for the main characters, although they are the bad guys. The performances are phenomenal, the execution perfect, and the overall experience is one of the best this year. The Town is a triumph with its great use of its low budget, and cast. Although this year has shown its fair share of innovative films, the town shows that creativity and worthwhile movie going experience aren’t in short supply.

4 out of 4

Halo Reach:

2010-09-21T08:58:00.000-04:00

     After 10 years of deliver solid experiences, Bungie is sending off one of the most beloved series with Halo Reach, which proves to be the series best installment. Halo Reach is the prequel to the whole series, or in other words this is how the war began. The campaign tells the tale of Noble team, in which you play as your own custom made character, which you make from the start of the game. Although Master Chief is gone, your noble six is far more engaging because its you who made him or her. Throughout the campaign you are seeing the fall of Reach, which adds a lot of emotion to the story since no matter what you do, you cant stop it. Reach has a excellent and interesting cast of characters, that each give more emotion to the campaign and help keep the player immersed into the world.
     The most fascinating thing about Reach is how much of a impact it has on the other games, along with how much of a role your spartan plays in the overall game. Although this is a prequel bungie has added plenty of weapons, along with the new armor abilites, which range from using a jet pack, to camouflaging yourself from enemies. The campaign is vastly improved over the past Halo games, thanks to added variety in the characters and levels, but also the emotion that was lacked in other Halo games. The enemy AI is excellent and help make this installment in the series the hardest, but it would have been nice if the ally AI had the same treatment. Although Microsoft is taking over the IP, I highly doubt that any other company can match the originality of the game, and how well executed it is compared to other installments.
     The campaign is excellent delivering on plenty of satisfying battles, along with expert level design, but when you finally finish the fight your left with one of the most engaging multilayer experiences around. In Halo Reach the character you make carries over to all the modes, as you play each mode you gain credits that allow you to purchase new upgrades and make your spartan truly unique. The game even offers a new and improved map editor, that makes it easy for anyone to make their their own game modes or map variants. The game offers plenty of modes and maps that can all be edited in forge, in the Halo Reach delivers on the content which is hard to say for other games in the market. This installment has everything from each of the games, adding plenty of replay value, along with justifying its price. The fact that Reach has so many ideas and modes within it, you could easily spend months if not years on the game, messing with the map editor or ranking up in the multiplayer.
     Halo Reach is a monster of a game that adds plenty if replay value with all of its modes along with delivering a solid campaign, that only gets harder when players are added. The game is the hardest of the Halos which can and will lead to some frustrating moments, along with some hiccups with the AI, but these complaints are minimal to a masterpiece in gaming that really was worth the the price.
10/10

Resident Evil:Afterlife Review

2010-09-21T08:27:00.000-04:00

There are very few game adaptions that can entertain and satisfy fans, along with connect with audiences that aren't familiar with the source material, Resident Evil Afterlife does none of the above. Imagine a movie full of slow motion, and does very little to keep the viewer intrigued and immersed into the characters and story. Everything about the story just feels like they were trying to add in as many elements from the game as possible, although they don't justify it with the plot, nor give them the emotion or fear that they showed in the game. The movies action is nothing but slow motion fight scenes, and numerous fade to blacks after each short strip of dialogue. The movie plays out in a very pathetic way giving the viewer no insight into whats going on and why the characters are the way they are. The plot has plenty of references to the game but many of the plot twist, and many appearances by key characters fall short. To call afterlife a good movie is hard, but to say that it is entertaining can be justified, due to the numerous action sequences, and after years of watching the characters develop, you actually want to see what will happen to them. The opening to the film was excellent and unexpected, but unfortunately from that point of the film becomes repetitive with its action sequences, and many of the characters feel like their just there to be killed off. I was disappointed in the 3-D effects in afterlife and feel the the film, was far from worth the $13 for admission. If you want a entertaining gore-fest than Afterlife is for, but if you want a great story and phenomenal action sequences, than plenty of the other films out will deliver on just that.

Devil Review:

2010-09-20T20:52:00.003-04:00

     Its hard to believe that m.night.Shyamalan is even allowed to have anything to do with cinema lately, thanks to his past projects such as "The Last Airbender". Yet M.Night's latest thriller does deliver on the thrills, but falls short as far as plot, and begins to drag on due to repetition. Devil tells the story of a group of people who are are trapped on a elevator with the devil, luckily the plot deepens as you discover more about each characters past, ultimately leading to a emotional confrontation with the devil him or herself.
     Throughout the movie you begin to learn more about the characters backgrounds, and ultimately what connects them, the only issue with the characters is that most of them get killed off before any attachment can be made. The cast does a great job of making their reactions believable, unlike many other horror films where the acting is only secondary. The script has plenty of twist and turns and thanks to the distinct personalities of the characters, at points its hard to decipher who the devil is.
      The movie has enough detail to the story that it doesn't feel like a live action "Guess Who", but at the same time becomes overly repetitive midway through the film. The film also does a great job of building up tension, but unfortunately the plot is hard to take seriously, mostly due to its premise. The film fell short as far as its plot, and felt overlong and generic in the middle, but the movie was original and had a great finale. All in all M.Night made a interesting tale that provided a great twist in the ending, but the events leading up to the finale fell short, but this movie isn't as bad as "The Happening", but not as good as "The Sixth Sense".

E3!

2010-06-15T08:41:00.002-04:00

Hey, that melon guy here, just to tell you how new updates will be coming soon, both because of the E3 convention and our "out of school" status! Look forward for all the new games coming this summer and great movies as well!

This update was sponsored by Daniel-O's The best thing to come to Cereal since the Joystick to the Arcade!

Stay cool gamers!

-Melonman

Iron Man 2 Review:

2010-06-01T17:20:00.000-04:00

“Iron Man 2” is an action-packed entertaining superhero movie that delivered on the characters and action, but the plot lacked the intensity and intelligence that could be found in the previous installment. “Iron Man 2” continues the story of Tony Stark as we see the addition of new characters and plot tie-ins that build up for the highly anticipated “Avengers”. Robert Downey seals the show, along with the rest of the cast pulling their weight, except for actors such as Samuel L. Jackson. In all honesty Samuel L. Jackson didn’t fit the criteria of character which made many of his scenes fall short. Sam seemed to be trying to pull a “Pulp Fiction” rather than keeping to the source material. The plot begins with promise, but begins to become more over the top towards the end. The action feels over too soon, and the plot began to drag on in the middle. John Favreau has shown talent in making films, and although Iron Man 2 did fall short, in his defense it was build-up for “The Avengers”. All in all “Iron Man 2” had promise, but because of the plot was more circled around build up for “The Avengers”, their was little to be found in the film.

2 ½ out of 4

Lets start anew!

2010-05-26T23:06:00.002-04:00

Hello, back from the den i call my room (the sounds of red dead in the forground) to tell you about a great podcast that will be coming out soon. they were previously called Animated Gamer, but due to some things it broke up. My good freinds who work in the game buisness have let me in the loop on whats to come on their podcast. As soon as they come out with some a link will be put up. The podcast comes from three guys who love games and love to argue over them. I will update you with any further information.

Stay frosty gamers!

-Melonman

Most Anticipated Movies of 2010

2010-05-24T12:14:00.002-04:00

5. Avatar The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender Trailer

Avatar seems like it has a lot going for it as far as special effects and the newly announced 3-D, but M.Night.Shamalayn hasn't been on a good streak with his films. M.Night has made some truly memorable ones such as "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs", but with those critical and financial success's their has also been a few failures, such as "The Happening" and "The Village". Hopefully Avatar cast will help make up for the story if its a stinker, but then again hopefully M.Night.Shamalayn will redeem himself.

4.The A-Team and Predators

A Team Trailer

Now we all know "The A Team" isnt going to be the type of movie that you see for the story, but rather is the definition of a summer movie, mindless fun. The cast seems solid and just from the trailers seems like it'll be enjoyable, but the real reason why "The A Team" is anticipated is because of the outrageous action scenes that the directer seems to be going for, hopefully a falling tank, taking out helicopters wont be too outrageous.

Predators trailer
Predators seems like it could reinvent the series and may actually be better than the past predator entry's, the film is taking place on the predator planet and the action seems intense and not nearly as corny as them "AVP" movies. I am more excited to see how the cast will do in this film, rather than how the action will be.

3. The Expendables

The Expendables Trailer

"The Expendables" looks awesome not only for its mindless action, but also because of the cast which consist of some of the most badass individuals in film. Sylvester Stallone knows how to stage a action sequences, but as far as story has fell short, but all in all his last films were well made, if not too much over the top. I'm excited for "The Expendables" because of the action and to see some of the most badass action heroes fight side by side.

2.The Karate Kid

Karate Kid Trailer

The Karate kid is definitely more anticipated than any of these films, because of the changes that have been made to the story and layout, mostly the Karate Kid not being Italian, but Jaden Smith instead. Jackie Chan seems to be going for a much more mature performance and the visual style seems to fit perfectly. Jaden Smith has always given a enjoyable funny performance, and it will be interesting to see how he does taking the helm, along with seeing how Jackie Chan does without Chris Tucker.

1.Inception

Inception Trailer

Leonardo Dicaprio seems to be on a good streak as far as films, this year alone he gave a fantastic performance in "Shutter Island". Inception seems like its going to have a great story, chararacters, and action scenes, mostly due to the talented directer Christopher Nolan. Chris has yet to make a bad movie, and Leo has yet to star in a terrible one, so the match seem to have alot going for them, hopefully the movie makes sense.

Call of Duty Black Ops trailer impressions.

2010-05-23T17:39:00.001-04:00

Call of duty trailer
Call of Duty has come along way in the past decade, giving some truly memorable setpieces and battles, along with some very entertaining multiplayer. Lately Call of Duty has been talked about, due to the disbanding of Infinity Ward and the fact that Treyarch is taking the helm on this COD. The trailer looks impresive as far as visuals and the guns, along with combat look impressive, but throughout the whole trailer I couldn't help but feel that these weapons seem a bit ahead of the time period and that the game seems like been there done that. All the set piece and intense moments seen in the trailer didn't impress a hardcore fan like me mostly cause, what else could Treyarch do to the game that hsnt been done before. Modern Warfares multiplayer is destroyed and honestly no big change was added to that multiplayer over Call of Duty 4. The trailer looked interesting but thisc all of duty needs to reinvent the genre before I spend more money on the same game.

Red Dead Redemptions Review on the way.

2010-05-23T17:31:00.000-04:00

Red Dead Redemption is a long game full of enough content to last for weeks, I and most of the other staff members are hard at work trying to rid the world of Red Dead of bandits, or srike terror into its townsfolk. So far the multiplayer has endless replay value and the single player has enough content to last for weeks. Although its been about a week since Red Dead's release I am hardly half way through this masterpiece of a game, if I dont finish by the middle of this week I am sure someone else here at TZU should have a review or impression up by then. If I do end up writing the review I can say its in the range of 9 or 10.

3D Dot Game Heroes

2010-05-23T01:09:00.013-04:00

3D Dot Game Heroes came out on the 11th as a PS3 exclusive, and having finished it, I thought it was worth discussing my opinion on it.

-What It Takes-

3DDGH is a Legend of Zelda clone. I want to get that out of the way. It's obvious just by looking at it. It plays like a Zelda game. The weapons/items you get are from Zelda games. The map is reminiscent of a Zelda game. The dungeons have puzzles that are like those of a Zelda game. Though it's not the default, if you change the camera options, you can view the game from the same view as a 2D Zelda game. Even the overworld music sounds a lot like the LoZ theme (and the load music sounds like music from a Pokemon Center, oddly enough).

-What It Gives-

Yet it's much different than a Zelda game. The borrowed items don't play exactly the same: arrows arc instead of flying straight, bombs aren't set off when you hit them with something, and the swords... well, the swords are a lot different.

The sword, like in a Zelda game, is more powerful when you have full health. However, instead of simply shooting out a small beam, it grows in both size and strength (though your sword is also longer than the average Zelda sword when you have less than perfect health as well). There are about 20 swords in the game, and all of them have different options for upgrading. It completely changes how you play the game, because you will need that extra power, especially if your sword has the ability to bypass obstacles and is big enough to hit the entire room in a single swipe. And speaking of swiping, that's another difference: one of the other qualities a sword can have (by default or only when at full health) is the ability to turn while your sword is out. It actually helps with strategic attacking, because you can hit around corners if you're careful.

The one thing I regret the most in playing this game is that I don't have time to enjoy the many, many sidequests within the game. There are literally tons. Some are more complicated than others (such as having to be done before a certain point in the story), but others are simply "talk to his person and then come back". They do add quite a bit to the length of the game, and people who want an extra challenge might want to go for the Trophies... Which will require you to do just about everything in the game, including playing it on all 3 difficulties, one of which has you playing through the entire game with one hit equaling death. I'm certainly going to come back to this game at some point to try out the New Game + feature, but I don't think I'll ever be trying that mode... This game is hard enough as is!

3D Dot Game Heroes also provides something that's sure to please just about everyone: an easy to use character editor. If you can make something out of legos, you can use this character editor. Although I only peeked into it myself before starting the game with the default character, I ended up playing the final portions of the game as various characters, since it was just that fun to play around as some as my favorite characters from other series (see if you can name the ones you see in the pictures). The characters don't provide any truly significant statistical benefit based on appearance, but they do change your life and magic balance based on what class they are: Hero (more health and strength), Royal (balanced), or Scholar (magic). You can also change your character whenever you reload, although you stay the same class as the character you picked at the beginning of the game.

-What It Should Have Taken-

Unfortunately, the game also does away with some aspects from Zelda that it really could have used. Puzzles in Zelda games often provide arrows/bombs in pots within the room if they're needed for a puzzle, and that doesn't happen here- I had to grind enemies for a good five to ten minutes to find arrows for a puzzle. Additionally, the bosses and dungeons do not fit the standard Zelda pattern- that is, they don't depend on the item found in the dungeon. Boss fights depend on using your sword, and sometimes the item you found can't even hurt them (and, especially since having full health makes it much easier to fight, the fact that there are not pots to hold apples (the game's version of Zelda's pots) is also an annoying loss). The dungeons do, to a point, rely on the item that contain, but much less so than a Zelda game would. The wire rod (which is basically the hook shot), for example, is actually used much more in later dungeons than the one it's found in. These aspects don't ruin the game, but they're annoying. It's odd to say that the game should be even more of a clone, but it would certainly help in this case.

And... While we're talking about dungeons and their related items... The Flame Temple doesn't rely on the item inside it all, and many people have complained about missing it- and even though they don't need it in the dungeon, it's important to overworld travel. I found it while lost in the dungeon, but if I had actually paid more attention to the Flame Temple map, I probably wouldn't have found it. And while we're talking about the Flame Temple's reception... People have pointed out (and although I somehow survived through most of the dungeon and didn't experience myself, judging by what I saw, this is true) that the design of the dungeon almost intentionally forces unneeded backtracking to hit switches to allow you to proceed- there's two colors of blocks, and you need to switch them to move on... but the switches are set out in such a way that you need to loop back several times in multiple parts of the dungeon to get anywhere. And then the Flame Temple results in an utterly impossible boss. It's not even that hard; it just has a huge amount of HP (and you can't see how much is remaining). I got so mad at it that, after having wasted about an hour on it, I went all the way back to the nearest village, bought the two potions I could hold (and had used during the dungeon itself), and walked back to the dungeon, where I beat the boss... after failing once more. Thankfully, when I had to face a more powerful version in the final area, I knew to bring potions and beat him on my first try. The Flame Temple is, by far, the most annoying area in the entire game.

-How It Adds Up-

Despite its flaws, 3D Dot Game Heroes is an excellent game. Sure, it could be more updated and forgiving, but it doesn't want to be. If you're a fan of Legend of Zelda, or indeed, any older RPG series in general (such as Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, etc.), you'll love all the references, but if you're not, you may miss what really makes the game great. It's certainly worth the $40 it cost, and while it's probably not worth buying a PS3 for (like I would say for LittleBigPlanet and Valkyria Chronicles, which now have a PSP port and sequel, respectively), it's something every PS3 owner should look into.

GOOGLE PAC-MAN

2010-05-22T12:45:00.002-04:00

It seems that the programmers at Google have outdone themselves this time, creating a free Pacman game on their homepage logo in honor of the 30 year anniversary of the classic arcade game, that holds a special place in every gamers heart.

Now, I consider myself quite the expert on the classic game, and always love to see how it is ported to different consoles, phones, or websites, and seeing as this Google game tries to be less than a gimmick, I might as well give my 2 cents.

I always say that nothing can beat the joystick on the original machine, and that still holds true, but come on, Google isn't THAT good. As for the map, it is VERY different. Instead of being a wide, long field of play, it had been reduced to the size of the Google logo, making it very frustrating for people who are so used to the old map. This map also has many dead ends, and some walls are made to look like they are aligned, but when you try to go past them, your just end up running into them. This brings up another issue, which is the AI. Any fan of the original will know the secret of success, which is the fact that Pacman goes slower than the ghosts when on a long stretch (or when he's not turning). But the new map is very small, and has many long stretches that make it nearly impossible to get those ghosts off of your tail. Another complaint is the inconsistency of the AI. You will find that the ghosts have no idea how to use a warp tunnel, yet they will often change direction within seconds before you pass them, requiring lightning fat reflexes, which take you out of the experiance.

Overall, this game is fun, and the miltiplayer option loosens th difficulty, but while it may provide a few seconds of entertainment, it isn't nearly as addicting or nostalgic as the original. I just can't wait for them to do space invaders.

Red Dead Redemptions Out?

2010-05-18T20:15:00.003-04:00

:( Lost Planet 2's Critical Reception:

2010-05-10T11:18:00.000-04:00

One of the most anticipated games of the year is now one of the first games to meet a poor critical reception. Lost Planet 2 seemed like it was going to be a masterpiece, combining four player co-op and impressive boss battles, along with a laundry list of customization options for your character. The mulitplayer was a bit of a dissapointment, but the campaign was going to surely be where most of my time was going to be spent, but instead reviews have said that the story is lackluster, gameplay and AI get repetitive, and that many of the levels are poorly designed. Reviews even went as far to say that the game is impossible to play single-player. I expected Lost Planet 2 to get solid feedback, but instead its getting a very poor reception and bad write ups. I had high hopes for Lost Planet 2, but it would seem this is a game that I will have to wait until its in the bargain bin.

Its me, im back from the Den.

2010-05-06T22:42:00.004-04:00

Hello my people i havent seen because im addicted to WoW again! I have been playing on the DS for quite a time now, and have chosen a game worthy of telling. It is known as Meteos! This fun puzzle game came out years ago, but no one has ever heard of it. Why? Because this is a rare game, that comes out every so often. This game along with Glory Days 2 are rare because only about 100,000 copys were made. I have been looking for this game for some time now, and im excited to share what i know.

Meteos is a Puzzle game, where you try to match blocks, to shoot them into space, and you can do this by putting 3 blocks of the same color together both Horizontally, or Verdically. As you play, blocks are falling from the sky, and the more tyou have on the shooting platform, the harder it is to lift off, so you have to combine them together! I wish i could be more discriptive, but it is hard to explain it. The game features planets, that are under attack by the evil Meteo, who is sucking the life out of the planets by crushing them, you have to save the universe from this after your planet discovers how to get rid of them. There are different modes, like War, Star Trip, Time Attack, and Deluge (Or free play). I see this game as the modern Tetris, with its puzzler like aditude. The game Also lets you pick a planet to play as, and each planet has different ways to play.

On one, the blocks shoot right up to space if they were horizontal, but vertical dident move, another was Fast paced but you could get a easyer pair. This game would have been big if more copys were made, but sadly, only a few were. I think this game gets 5 Happy Dan Stars out of 5!

Community Event:

2010-05-04T18:01:00.000-04:00

The most anticipated movie of the year is coming to theaters this friday, join us here at TZU as we celebrate the arrival of another entry in the legendary heroes franchise.

Halo Reach Beta Impressions:

2010-05-04T11:43:00.000-04:00

Halo Reach is here and playable on xbox live, if you have a copy of Halo ODST. The Beta will offer all the modes that will be found in the full game along with a small doze of some maps and armor abilites. This time around Reach has a much mroe rebust ranking system and much improved matchmaking. The weapons feel more balanced and the gameplay is alot more fast paced. Although the servers are suffereing due to the millions of people trying to play at once, the beta is still loads of fun when you get into a match. Each weapon has a distinct feel to them, along with more details to your character and weapons. After each match you gain expereince points along with credits that can than be used to buy new armor, which helps make your spartan feel like yours. So far their arent any real issues with Reach the weapons are balanced and the ranking and customization options are plentyful, overall Reach is sure to be a hit this Fall.

Chaos Rings

2010-05-01T17:44:00.004-04:00

Chaos Rings is an iPhone RPG. That, by itself, is not particularly amazing. What is amazing, though, is that it's an iPhone RPG made by Square Enix. After playing an hour or two of it, I thought I'd share my thoughts on it so far.

-Graphics-

Right off the bat, you can see that Chaos Rings has some very nice graphics. I'd go as far as saying that they're close to that of a DS game. It's clear that a lot of effor was put into them. Though, like a DS game, the graphics do have some issues with the edges of objects looking bad, which is probably due to graphical limitations.

-Battle System-

The battle system is fairly normal for an RPG. You can choose to attack, use an ability or item, or defend. There's an option to escape as well, though I've only used it once so far and I'm not sure exactly how it rates your chance of success (I ran away without a problem). HP is restored at the end of the battle, though MP is not, and you are not told your enemy's HP except for a small HP bar that is shown when choosing your target. There are some interesting deviations to this, though.

The first is the option that you're presented before you begin each turn: Solo or Pair. Your party is always made up of 2 people, and each turn you either have the choice of attacking individually, giving you two moves as usual, or attack as a pair, which gives you only one move that's boosted in strength. However, choosing Pair also allows enemies to hit both of you when they attack. It's actually an interesting system when you combine it with some other aspects of the combat, and I'll give an example later on.

     The second deviation is the use of Genes. Basically, to get abilities, you can equip up to 3 Gene Plates. Each plate gives you the abilities of the enemy it represents as long as it's equipped. The abilities are unlocked one by one through chance as you defeat those enemies, though I'm not sure if you only get the plate once you've unlocked all the abilities. Because I'm only an hour or two in, I don't have many plates and most of the ones I have overlap abilities, but I can definitely see how choosing plates will become important later on, especially since you have access to both character's abilities while using the Pair option. All abilities use up MP, as you'd usually expect.
     There's also a fairly simple element system. By simple, I mean there's only three elements: Blaze, which beats Gale, which beats Aqua, which in turn beats Blaze. Your characters, as well as most of the enemies I've seen so far, are neutral to begin with. However, there are abilities that are basically "Assign _", which allows you to give any enemy/character an element. Apparently, using an ability with an element sets you to that element as well, though I'm not certain if that lasts for the rest of the battle like the Assign skills do.
In addition, there's a system in place to keep track of who has the advantage in the battle, as shown in a small ring in the top left corner. I haven't actually seen it filled yet, though, so I'm not sure exactly what would happen.
     To give an idea of how this ties together, I'll just give a summary of how my battle with the first dungeon's boss went. On my first turn, I chose Single, and made on character use Analyze, and the other to use a basic attack. Analyze is an ability that gives me information on a single enemy- in this case, I learn that the boss is already assigned to Blaze and has a little over 3000 HP remaining (and no one has attacked at this point). I then select Solo the next turn, using Assign Aqua on both of my characters. Then I go on the offensive, using Pair along with Cocytus, an Aqua magic spell. Because the boss is weak to Aqua, he gets hit for a good 1000+ damage each time I use it. For the last turn, I have to switch due to the characters' HP dipping too low, because the boss has been attacking the entire time. One character heals, the other attacks (and because he's still tied to the Aqua element, does more damage), and the boss falls.
The only other odd thing I've noticed in relation to the battle system was that after a certain point, I noticed I could turn off random encounters. I'm not sure if it was because I hit a certain level or got to a certain area, though. I was only level 6 at the time, and the Dungeon is apparently for levels 1-10, but the boss was only level 7, so it could be anything.

-Music-

The music is actually pretty good for an iPhone game. It's not amazing when compared to the soundtracks of many other RPGs, but it gets the job done, and there's even been a latin chant or two in the tracks I've heard so far.
Surprisingly enough, if you go into a game with a music track already playing, it will allow you to listen to that instead, and it will continue through the rest of the playlist/album as normal. I didn't expect that, because although this is a common feature for an iPhone game, I didn't expect it in a game like this.
Additionally, there is an option to change the game into Japanese, but as I haven't actually heard any voice acting so far, it seems to only change the text back into Japanese.

-Story-

The story, as far as I've seen, has been rather simple. 10 people are transported somewhere to do battle for eternal life, and then are split into pairs. The only other pair that's told me who they actually are has said that they know each other, and the pair I'm playing as, Escher and Musica, have met before as well. And by met, I mean Escher killed all the adults, save for her, at the orphanage she lived at. I was surprised to find out that the character I was playing was a villain, though it's certainly made me more interested in finding out more about him.
You are expected to play through the story as four of the pairs (with the reason for one of the pairs being unplayable shown within the first few minutes of gameplay), but only two are available at the start. I assume that the other two will be unlocked as I beat these two, either with one more being made available after I beat each pair, or both being made available after I beat the initial two.

-Final Thoughts-

Is Chaos Rings worth the $13 it costs? Considering that it's a very good iPhone game that could easily be ported and sold as a decent $30 (or more, considering the usual "Square Enix tax") DS game, I'd say yes, it's probably worth it. Though, again, I'm only an hour or two in, so my opinion could very well change as I play more. Right now, I'm definitely pleased with it.

Follow up to next COD

2010-05-01T11:56:00.002-04:00

What I gathered from the trailer was three things.

1. Military experimentation.

2. Vietnam ( it was only a matter of time)

3. And vehicles, finally some vehicles.

This has all been confirmed by one of my favorite segments GT Pop-Block.

Call of Duty Black Ops

2010-04-30T19:40:00.004-04:00

Lets face it, Black Ops might be good. I'm not immediately saying its going to be a bad game, but it is going to be placed on a franchise that died with Modern Warfare: 2. Now I am happy to see Treyarch is working on the title. I felt with MW2 that Infinity Ward played mostly on their success of Moder Warfare 1. Not much is known, other than the release date, slated to come out November 9th. If you want more information on Activisons latest scheme, visit their website, http://www.callofduty.com/blackops/intel. They'll have stuff up... at some point, I guess. Well all I can say is terrorist zombies, may be worth it.

New Call of Duty Announced:

2010-04-30T11:36:00.000-04:00

The latest entry in the "Call of Duty" franchise is set in Vietnam and will be shown off tonight on "Gametrailers Tv" at 12:00 EST. The new "Call of Duty" is named "Call of Duty: Black ops" and is set to be the darkest entry in the series. Stay tuned for more coverage and check out the trailer that will be hitting tonight.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

2010-04-28T17:52:00.005-04:00

Back in January, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth was released. I finally got a chance to finish it, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it.

-Backstory-

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is just the latest in a series of wonderful games. Seeing as the Ace Attorney series isn't extremely well known, I'll need to share some backstory.
The first four games focus on two different defense lawyers: Phoenix Wright (games 1-3), and Apollo Justice (4). Each game features one prosecutor (though they are not the only one each game): Miles Edgeworth (1), Franziska von Karma (2), Godot (3), and Klavier Gavin (4). Each game takes place over the course of around a year, with the fourth taking place 7 years after the third. Investigations is set a few months after the ending of the third game. Each game is split into four or five different cases, in which the story switches between two phases: one in which you investigate the crime scene and related areas and ask witnesses about the case, and one in which you are in court. Investigations plays a bit differently, as I will explain in a section below. The games are largly humorous, and feature some very strange characters (whose names are usually puns), and a somewhat odd court system.

-Gameplay-

The regular Ace Attorney games play like a mix between a point and click adventure game, a hidden object puzzle, and a visual novel. That is, you're mostly reading text, and to move from room to room you're simply selecting from a list of nearby locations. When you examine a room, you're presented with a view of a room, and you can then choose objects to examine. The court sections play out almost entirely like a visual novel, with you pressing or objecting (by using an item from your inventory that's proof of a contradiction) to witnesses' testimonies. Depending on the game, there may be slight differences in gameplay. 2 and 3 have the Magatama, which allows to know if someone is hiding something during the investigation stage, and 4 has the Perceive System, which allows you to point out small physical tics that show that a witness is lying.
Investigations changes this up a bit. The movement around a room is now shown in its entirety, with Edgeworth moving around the room to find things to examine. It loses a good amount of the hidden object puzzle aspect of the game, though there are many times where you'll switch to that view while examining. The movement between rooms is also a bit different, in that it's very rare. Changes of location are usually story based, though by the last case, you'll be examining a rather large number of areas anyway. Investigations also adds the Logic feature, which allows Edgeworth to connect various ideas in order to solve problems or fill in gaps of logic. It doesn't really add much, though it's a nice addition, and there's several moments where it's used very well, plot-wise.

-Story-

Investigations' story plays out slightly differently than a normal Ace Attorney game. Usually, there are 4 or 5 different cases per game, and they're spread out over the course of about a year. The cases may have direct connections to each other, as in the third game, but often they are mostly unrelated. This changes entirely for Investigations, because Edgeworth deals with 5 cases over a course of only 3 days, the story is much more connected. Edgeworth is pulled into a series of investigations as he returns home from a brief trip around the world, and after encountering some old friends, he begins to uncover the truth behind a mysterious smuggling ring, as well as the true identity of the mysterious thief known as the Yatagarasu. The story is on par with, and at some points better than, the other games in the series. The change to investigating for the truth rather than trying to defend someone innocent hoping that the truth will be found on the way allows for a much more "epic" story to be written, and Investigations does not disapoint. It still manages to have a great deal of humor, and even begins to enter the realm of self-parody in some cases. The final scene manages to be both extremely tense and hilarious at the same time, with the series tendency to have allies burst in at the last minute in the final case being taken to the point where the characters don't even know who's interupting anymore!
Additionally, the story shows the end of a great amount of character growth for Edgeworth. He started this growth in the first game, where he learned that always aiming for a guilty verdict was not the best path to follow, and continued it throughout the second and third games, where it was shown that he had learned to search for the truth instead. However, the fourth game did not include him, and as such we did not see the end of his growth till now. Investigations truly shows that Edgeworth has truly learned that the truth is the most important part of a case, and at the very end of the game there is a particularly strong scene that shows that he has even begun to accept that sometimes someone can not be perfectly lawful in their pursuit of the truth.

-Characters-

The Ace Attorney series is known for its wacky characters, and its tendency to reuse them, and Investigations does this as well. Many fan-favorite characters make at least a cameo appearance, with some others (such as Phoenix himself) being seen in the background or vaguely mentioned. The only problem with the reuse of characters is that, as I've heard many people say, it lowers the amount of people that could potentially be the murderer, since only new characters could possibly be the killers.
However, it also manages to add a strong cast of new characters. Kay Faraday and Interpol Agent Shi-Long Lang are certainly among the best characters the series has to offer. Kay fits nicely into the role of Edgeworth's assistant, and Lang's view of the truth plays nicely against Edgeworth's. Both manage to contribute a lot to the story, while still having some great comedic moments, and it's sad that they only appear in the third and fifth cases of the game. I certainly hope that they show up in a later game, because they are far more worthy of being reused than, say, the extremely overused Wendy Oldbag, who managed to be an annoying character in the first game, and still showed up in the second game, as well as this one, where she shows up twice.

-Music-

The music, like the music from the Ace Attorney series in general, is awesome. Of particular note are the themes for Kay Faraday and Lang, which really carry the feel of their characters. There's also some very good remixed tracks that fit in greatly with the new tracks. If you're playing this game, you'll want to keep the volume up.

-Difficulty-

Compared to the other Ace Attorney games, Investigations is, in my opinion, much easier. I had to check a walkthrough only a few times when I was unable to make sense of things, compared to the many times I've had to within the rest of the Ace Attorney series. I believe this is a result of playing as Edgeworth instead of Phoenix or Apollo- as a defense attorney, you're often fishing for thoughts and making jumps in logic, but as Edgeworth you have time to think things out and develop a well thought-out chain of logic. However, that does not bar the occasional annoying situation from occurring, though as long as you're good at looking over the evidence given to you and remembering what's happened, you should be fine.
My only real problem with the difficulty is the life bar, which is decreased when you mess up, either by presenting the wrong evidence, or (in Investigations) connecting two unrelated pieces of Logic. This lifebar makes sense in the main Ace Attorney series, for you're trying to not make a fool of yourself in court, but it makes somewhat less sense when it's applied to the personal thoughts of Edgeworth. The main problem with the life bar in Investigations is the lack of opportunities to refill it. In the main series, it's refilled whenever you finish a court section or successfully use the Magatama, but in Investigations it is only refilled when you complete an investigation. The problem with this is that near the end of the game, you can go for long stretches of only testimony, and this leads to infuriatingly annoying portions of the game where you are forced to reload over and over to try to present different pieces of evidence, because you have such little life remaining that a single mistake will equal a game over. Thankfully, you can save whenever you want, but that only barely decreases the time you waste in reloading. It's still a problem though, and something they really need to fix, though it's not likely they ever will.

-Final Thoughts-

If you have a DS (and for the first three games, a Wii with internet access), and haven't played the Ace Attorney series, you're missing out. Although a slightly different spin-off, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is one of the best games in the series yet, and I can't wait for AA5 after seeing how well made this game was. I certainly hope they do another Investigations game somewhere down the line, though I think it'd be a good idea to pick someone other than Miles Edgeworth for that, since his story was nicely wrapped up with this game. Nothing has been announced regarding the next game at all, though, because AA's creator is currently working on a very different game: Ghost Trick. Only time will tell whether a new AA game is in the works.

End Of Nations (Can't come soon enough)

2010-04-26T20:34:00.003-04:00

You're probably thinking "Oh joy, another RTS report" WELL YOU'RE WRONG (kinda).

The debut trailer of "End Of Nations" was recently...well...debut on Game Trailers, and it is LEGEN...wait for it...DARY.

What I could gather from this trailer is basically, a 51 player RTS, or as they call it, a "MMORTS" (these acronyms are getting freaking ridiculous). This includes huge, and actually interesting maps, and a hint at customizable units, about time. I also saw that players have the ability to join matches at any point. This is all a bit difficult to decipher, but to see for yourself, check out the link.

New This Week:

2010-04-25T21:04:00.002-04:00

Lost Planet Trailer:

New Red Dead Footage:

New this week is the "Lost Planet 2 Multiplayer demo", along with new footage of Red Dead Redemption. In the Lost Planet demo you can play "Elimination" or "Team Post Grab". The new "Red Dead" trailer shows off some new modes for the game, but free roam still looks like it'll be the shining part to a great game. May is definetly going to be tough on our wallets.

Machinima in the Works

2010-04-24T20:49:00.002-04:00

Just a brainstorming of some ideas we had for a machinima we're planning to make. Production will hopefully start around the start of summer.

Halo Reach Beta Impressions:

2010-04-22T11:40:00.000-04:00

Beta Trailer:

Developer Commentary:

Footage

Halo reach is shaping up to be the msot anticipated game of the year, and possibly of the decade. Bungie is bringing back in old ideas and borrow a couple from other succesful games, such as "Call of Duty" or "Battlefield", but the biggest things that people are excited about is the May 3 beta that is sure to take up plenty of your gaming time. So far their has only been a few trailers and some gameplay videos of beta, but speculation shows a much improved matchmaking and ranking system along with enough content to last months. From what news has said Bungie claims that armor will play a much bigger role this time around and that the spartan that you make will be with you in the campaign and even in co-op. The cmapaign is supposed to be much daker than previous games, along with plenty more characters and weapons to boot, but so far Bungie has kept quiet about it. The multiplayer has shown off a much more detailed and stylish graphics engine, along with more modes such as Headhunter. Each mode seems like a lot of fun and I cant wait to see what kind of maps and weapons "Halo Reach" has instore, but I do have a few worries with what the multiplayer has shown. The jetpacks seem like they will get really frustrating mostly due to how high you can jump, and what wepaons you can use. The grenade launcher is an autokill which is annoying because of the frustrtations that can be seen in games, such as "Call of Duty". These are minor frustrations that well all be able to test out in the upcomming beta, but until then Halo reach comes out this fall, but the blockbuster beta comes out May 3.

Too Many Games Was Too Much!

2010-04-19T20:33:00.000-04:00

I wish i had pictures to show you the awsomeness of this great event in Reading, but my camera is not cooperating at the time, ill get them later. This big event had everything a gamer needs! From great classics, and showing how they can still be fun with a few moded parts. This event had at least every game system in the past, and every game made for the US and Japan. There was at least over 10,000 games from old and new also. In the back there was Anime AMV shows and a Cosplay contest. But there was also a couple of bands which brought techno, chiptunes, and a rockband. There were artists that drew game bit art, used parts from games, and drew anime. As we were looking, there was also some new game designers there showing the games Chemical Chaos, coming soon for X-box arcade, and Pixel Lincoln, a DS game that has just been shown at that event! This event had it all, and when the pictures come up, ill tell you more! All in all this Event gets 9 Happy Dan Stars out of 10!

Kickass Review:

2010-04-18T22:26:00.003-04:00

Kick-Ass

    The past decade has offered many successful comic adaptations, which not only nail the feel of the comic, but also entertain fans and audiences alike. In 2008 we were given The Dark Knight which is undoubtedly the most successful comic adaptation of all time, but the newest adaptation Kick-Ass could very well be held to The Dark Knight’s standards.
     Kick-Ass is a well made, hilarious, and highly entertaining comic adaptation that grabs the viewer in and doesn’t let them go till the credits roll. The acting is excellent and the visuals are stunning, but the best part about Kick-Ass is it’s well told and well executed story.
     Kick-Ass tells the story of a teenager named Dave Lizewski who dreams of being a superhero and eventually reaches his ambition. Throughout the film he meets more vigilantes, such as Big Daddy and Red Mist, but the most memorable of these heroes is Hit Girl, due to her excellent acting and hilarious dialogue. Eventually the situation gets out of hand and it’s up to our heroes to save the day. The story gets more complex as you unravel each characters back story and the intentions of the villains. Much like past films like Watchmen the best part about the film is the characters backgrounds. Each character is given a decent enough back story that both keeps you intrigued and immersed into the characters, especially Nicholas Cage’s character Big Daddy.
Actors such as Nicholas Cage (no he doesn’t mess this up like Ghost Rider) actually make the film more enjoyable and well worth the ticket fee. Aaron Jackson does a great job in the lead role and Christopher Mintz-Plasse/McLovin is hilarious as Red Mist. Chloe Moretz is the star of the show by far, due to her performance as Hit Girl, but if you don’t like little girls killing bad guys and cursing throughout, than Kick-Ass isn’t for you. Chloe’s performance is highly entertaining, and really steals every scene that she is in, such as the more emotional moments towards the finale.
The film is violent, but not to the point of being unnecessary. Every fight scene is well executed and the film always has a signature style that helps it stand out. Kick-As is definitely a comic adaptation for the books; it nails the comic’s feel, along with giving great performances and action sequences. It rises to fame, much like The Dark Knight rather than plummeting like Ghost Rider (Sorry Nicholas Cage). Kick-Ass is by far one of the best comic movies of all time, and all though a sequel is likely, I highly doubt that Matthew Vaughn (Director) can top this. I recommend Kick-Ass to anyone who wants a solid movie with great action, and dialogue that will surely be remembered. Hopefully Iron Man 2 will succeed like this.
4 out of 4 stars

Just Cause 2 is too little!

2010-04-15T20:12:00.000-04:00

After playing Just Cause 2 i learned soooo much that i wanted to unlearn it! The main thing about this game is its giant sandbox map, which is superb in detail and types of environments. But now that the good stuffs out of the way, time to rip a new one on this game! not that this game was all bad, it lacked a strong, attention keeping campaign. Sure the explosions are pretty, and most of the map is blank, but it will keep you playing because of all the oil refineries i exploded. so the main story wasn't too long, but then bad voice acting wants to make you pick up your system and toss it onto the nearest railroad tracks and watch a train pulverize that stupid Spanish/Jamaican/????? accent out of the stupid chick in the game. The side missions are fun, but a follow a line of rescue, destroy, and retrieve missions. The most fun i had in this game was when i took the biggest cannon, multi-missile jet and blew up the main refinery. oh those pretty yellows and reds.... but still some play value is in this game, but its not in its story. Some improvements that they could have done is add multiplayer, or at least co-op.Yes the game has good graphics, like the water, and explosions, but when is the story sacrificed for look? sadly enough the game only gets 4 happy Dan stars out of 10. -Melonman

Lost Planet 2 Trailer impressions:

2010-04-15T18:28:00.000-04:00

Lost Planet 2 New Trailer:
Lost planet was a awesome game featuring many intense boss fights and encounters, along with massive battles and fun multiplayer, Lost planet 2 intends to do all of this and more. Now with a four-player co-op campaign, you and your friends can battle the terrifying akrid and enemy forces in orde to ensure the safety of home. The games graphics look breathtaking and the very first boss puts the last Lost Planet to shame. The bosses are massive allowing you to fight them your way, wether taking the fight inside or fighting on thier backs. The fact of Lost Planet that makes it so much fun is that you can do everything your way and not have to worry about annoying AI getting in your way. I doubt that the game will be as fun single player as it is in co-op and im not sure if im a fan of the new game layout, which is supposed to be more like "Left 4 Dead". Each of the campaign missions are cut into chapters and each chapter consist of multiple levels, which include a mini boss (much like the first hold out points in l4d) and conclude with a enormous boss battle. I do think that the idea of multiple campaign and characters will be much more entertaining than the last ones, but I am worried about the voice acting and how all of these characters will intertwine. The game looks promising, and even with all of the issues I have so far, May 11 cannot come soon enough.

MW2 PC RANT!!!

2010-04-15T17:56:00.000-04:00

Like many of my friends, I bought Modern Warfare 2 on the day it come out. I had just lost my Xbox 360 to the plague, and was ready for a fresh start. Aside from the fact that the game did not work for the first 3 months, I have some MAJOR issues with the online multiplayer.

HAAAX! was the phrase that I continued to scream at my computer screen, as every 1 out of 3 games was hacked at the end, and immediately shut down! ONE OUT OF THREE! The worst part was, for the first 50 seconds of the hack, your character is controlled by a hacker, which often causes you to loose a perfect streak, or, in most cases, toss your keyboard across the room.

But that!? That was just the beginning. What followed, is simply known as, the Level 70, 10th prestige NOOB HACK ERA!!! Though the title is pretty self explanatory, what had happened was, a new piece of software, known as "EAM", allowed players to become any level, any prestige, and any completion that they could ever want. This, along with hacks for almost anything your heart could desire, has killed Modern Warfare 2 for the PC.

So with that I say, welcome back home, Battlefield series, don't you dare screw thing up.

The wonderful world of Steam.

2010-04-14T21:23:00.001-04:00

Steam, if you don't have it or haven't heard of it it is a very simple application. Steam has been the center of controversy, mainly due to some of its earlier activities of opening up your computers to hackers, but as of late, Steam has opened up a whole new market. Companies such as GameStop/Eb games have been selling less and less PC games, and giving no headway to the independent game makers. Such games as the Maw or even the remake of Aliens vs Predator:2000 were never released on the shelves. These latest things have actually opened the PC market up, showing that the PC is not as dead a console as some would believe. Now Steam in itself is a wonderful concept. Being able to buy from an online store and have the item downloaded almost instantly shows the ability that Steam has been working on for the past few years. A few competitors have attempted to rise against this company, but in all truth they have failed in the end. Steam as of this week has actually been doing quite a few deals, if you own a decent PC and have access to some form of buying online, I'd say check Steam out. You could find something very interesting in the digital shelves.

Community Event:

2010-04-14T19:58:00.000-04:00

Kickass is being released this week and all of here at "Tzu" just wanna say, GO SEE THIS MOVIE OR ELSE. If you wish to attend hit me up at Pheonixdbf@aim.com.

WHOOOAAAA THERE, a push back on games?

2010-04-14T17:38:00.000-04:00

As many people know, pushbacks on great games can cause chaos and confusion among the gaming centers of the world. Such instances include Left 4 Dead, Command & Conquer 3, and most recently, Red Dead. But you might be thinking "Why push back a game when it already looks sooooo good?". After taking the Game Design class at my home school, i learned that even perfect looking games (Call of Duty MW2) can be broken in ways we never would think of, and neither the programmers or developers could either! One reason is that the game testers, which we all want to secretly be, try every possible way to break the game so it can be fixed, like the arrow dupicator in Oblivion or the way Call of Duty released its multiplayer with so many gliches. But over the years, updates and fixes can come in a hour after release or never to be fixed at all, like EA with its server problems in Battlefield Bad Company 2, that was fixed in a matter of days. Yes another reason is that the date of release is coming on a day that is mixed with bigger titles, like recently Splintercell was thought of threatining the idea of Red Dead, so RD pushed itself back so when people were geting tired of that game, they could just move to the new. There are other reasons for all of this but if games dont end up like Spore (if i have to explain that to you you are not a true lifeless gamer) and like Call of Duty, the game is just being Perfected in both Gameplay and Price!- Melonman

Halo Reach Beta Trailer Impressions:

2010-04-14T16:40:00.000-04:00

Halo Reach Multiplayer Footage:
Halo has been known for giving solid multiplayer and a good story, but Bungie claims that thier latest installment "Halo Reach" will completly redefine the genre and online muliplayer as we know it. A few weeks back we were treated to a look at the upcoming beta that will be coming to us in May. The multiplayer looks like loads of fun and with the addition of new modes such as invasion and headhunter, this could be the halo game that we've been waiting for. The action looks face paced, and the weapons look better than ever, along with noteable additions such as new armor, weapons, and even jetpacks. If this is what the mulitplayer is going to be like than maybe some players will stray away from Battlefield to give this beta a shot. Halo Reach looks impressive and I hope that Bungie can hold up on the campaign and not have a epic fail like Halo 3's story arc. Four player co-op should also be a nice addition and the armor upgrades and new ranking system are a welcome treat to halo and shooter fans alike.

Gears of War 3 Lambent

2010-04-13T23:09:00.000-04:00

The Lambent. Our new friends in Gears of War 3. These creatures were actually introduced in the books from what I've seen and are essentially regular Locust on steroids. They are bigger, stronger and have actually been fighting the Locust before the storyline of the first game started. The Lambent are apparently the mutated Locust that spend to long in immulsion. Their armor and weapons are similar to the Locust and for the most part they carry the same tactics when fighting enemies. Really the only example of a Lambent creature is from Gears 2 towards the end with the Lambent Brumak. As seen in the game, the Brumak mutates and becomes extremely powerful, being able to literally take several hits from the Hammer of Dawn. These super powerful enemies will most likely be the main enemy for the rest of the series. As for the Locust and what remains of the humans it may come down to an uneasy alliance to fight back the Lambent hordes. Who knows, but Gears of War 3, is gonna be good... if they fix the damn multiplayer.

Next Big Event! or NBE

2010-04-13T22:57:00.000-04:00

http://www.toomanygames.com/ for the funnest time of gaming on the eastcoast! this sunday. 8$ to get in, and all the fun of video, board and other gaming. be there, or be a guy who would rather be uncool!

Change is good. Right?

2010-04-13T22:13:00.000-04:00

Anyone who likes any type of rock and roll has probably come across the Red Hot Chili Peppers every now and again. They have had a quite successful career in the industry since their conception in 1983. There have been many changes in the band's members throughout the years, for instance; the original guitarist, Hillel Slovak died in 1988 due to a drug overdose. The original drummer, Jack Irons, soon dropped out because of Slovak's death. Anthony Keidis and Michael 'Flea' Balzary kept with the band and tried to replace the lost talent. Chad Smith became the official drummer in 1989. For years band guitarists kept changing until, finnaly in 1998 John Frusciante had become official member of the band. They made three albums "Californication","By the Way", and "Stadium Arcadium". Frusciante soon left the band after completeing the "Stadium Arcadium" tour. The new guitarist for this legendary band is named Josh Klinghoffer. He was the backup guitarist for Frusciante during 'Stadium Arcadium'. Klinghoffer played with the band on January 29, 2010 their
MusiCares performance in their tribute to Neil Young.

Battlewho?

2010-04-13T20:35:00.000-04:00

Yes the battlefield franchise has been out longer than some know about, starting with Battlefield 1942! Yes this Historic game was the prime start of what all FPS games wanted to grow up to be! with the feature of vehicular combat, including boats, tanks, and planes, and large over the top maps that can support 62 people! and this was in 2002. During the great reign of this game 2 expantion packs came out and added jets, and other new defining fetures. After a while Battlefield Vietnam came out in 2004 and added chopper combat and new Squad respawn. This game is not widely recognised as the best in the series but can be put up with call of duty. Not untill 2005 when Battlefield 2 came out would the franchise enter the heavyweight ring of gaming, with new graphics, physics, and everything online players loved.BF2 adds up to 30 vehicals now and weapons with its 3 expantion packs. one drawback from all of the BF's was a lack of a campagn or single player. whaen EA joined in this new idea of large scale gaming, they made Battlefield 2:vModern Combat, which added the series to consoles and added singleplayer. one problem was, the singleplayer sucked, and did not give players to open world feel of the online. As the times changed, games about future conflicts were popular, so Battlefield 2142 was made to compete, and proved its honor in the future of games, adding flying battleships and new ways to use mines, and equipment into shooting games. 1 expantion pack was made for 2142. Not untill Battlefield Bad Company did people really notice the open online gaming of battlefield games and with new phisics to boot, boosted battlefield to be one of the newest anticipated games of all time.Then as a quick look into the future, EA Remade Battlefield 1942 into 1943! today, we get a glimpses of Battlefield 3, and get to play Bad Company 2, and if you played the games, you will know Bad Company 3 is going to be announced in the future!

Why Battlefield is better than Call of Duty:

2010-04-13T20:32:00.000-04:00

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Gameplay

Millions of people went to the store in order to buy the latest installment in the Call of duty franchise, but who woulda known that mere months later the multiplayer would be filled with hackers and glitchers ruining the experience. At that same time a much more improved and refined multiplayer game was just around the corner. Battlefield Bad Company 2 was the answer to our prayers, and these five reasons are why Battlefield is the only choice for online shooters.

You actually work with people: In more ways than one, in order to rack up kills and kick some ass, you have to work together with fellow gamers in order to kill dem Russians (or Americans if you're playing a communist). Unlike Call of Duty where it's more "do it on your own", Battlefield is structured in such a way that the only way to conquer objectives and push the frontline forward is by using the various classes at your disposal. Whether your squad is a bunch of engineers or snipers, teamwork is key and in order to complete your task you're going to need someone to watch your rear, or spawn as a medic in order to revive fallen comrades. Which leads to another key point: you can revive people in Battlefield!!

You get points for everything: In Battlefield, you get points for just about everything and ultimately leveling has a giant effect on how many kills you'll get. Now I know that sounds just like Call of Duty, but Battlefield makes you work to become better at the game, having you start off with nothing until you finally gain your tools of destruction. There is nothing better than spending hours playing and feeling the amount of accomplishment when you max out a class. You will rarely ever say bul#$3% when you get sniped because there is always a chance of a revive, along with the chance of finding the assailants position in the death cam. The weapons are well balanced and you'll hardly ever curse at your screen unlike with Call of Duty..................Yeah, I mean you, Dual Akimbos.

The Campaign is longer than 6 hours: Call of Duty's Campaign is one for the books: it had fantastic set pieces and solid story and gameplay, along with twist that you won't see coming. Yet 6 hours later and you have a game that only leaves you with a even shorter co-op campaign and multiplayer destined to fail. Battlefield's campaign offered a solid story and breathtaking set pieces. It was literally none stop action and truly improved from the original, but what makes this campaign better is the amount of work put into the characters and how they interact with each other. Battlefield is hilarious and has both intriguing characters and story- the only thing missing is four player co-op.
These are the reasons why I think Battlefield is much better than Call of Duty and hopefully knocked it off its throne.

Alice In Wonderland

2010-04-13T18:09:00.000-04:00

Alice is back, out of the looking glass, and into a land of creepy looking British men. With amazing visuals, a promise of mid blowing 3-D, an A-List cast, and a timeless story, this movie promised a lot, but delivered little. The new story involves the 18 year old Alice being proposed to by your standard snobby, ugly, rich British character. The then runs away and falls down into a rabbit hole, entering wonderland. This change in story is, unfortunately, not a good one, the entire plot is very predictable, seeing as Alice’s goal is set for her within the first 15 minutes of the movie. The red queen has taken over, and it’s Alice’s job to stop her in a way that is so clichéd, you’d think it was a joke. With actors like Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Stephen Fry, and Alan Rickman, the movie has some major talent to work off of, but the shoddy script left the majority of characters feeling very one-dimensional. Luckily, what saves this movie is the visuals, Tim Burton is the perfect director. The art stunning and creative and it is definitely one of Burtons best design. Overall, this movies hits and misses. The acting is phenomenal, the art direction is brilliant, but the writing and story, which should be the strongest points in an Alice movie, unfortunately fall short.

A disappointing

2.5 out of 5

Why May is Going to Rock: Part 2

2010-04-13T18:06:00.000-04:00

In addition to Lost Planet 2 and Red Dead Redemption, several other big titles are coming out in May.
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
For those not in the know, the Prince of Persia series is split into three different series. The second is the "Sands of Time" series, and the one that most people are familiar with. This game, meant to be released around the same time as the upcoming Prince of Persia movie, will take place between the first two games in the series. It'll be out on the 18th for the DS, Wii, PSP, PS3, and 360, though I expect the PS3 and 360 versions will be the ones you'll want to look into.

Skate 3
Now, I'm not a big fan of skating games, so I have to admit I don't know too much about this. It comes out on the 11th for both PS3 and 360, and I'm guessing that if you enjoyed the first two games, you'll enjoy this one as well.

3D Dot Game Heroes
This is one game that I'm really looking forward to. It's a homage to old pixelated games with some new tricks, such as incredibly large weapons and character customization. It's a steal at $40, though it is PS3 exclusive. It will also come out on the 11th.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
I think, as this is a Mario game, I shouldn't have to speak at length about this one. It will improve on Galaxy with the addition of Yoshi and new power-ups, though it will apparently ditch the first game's hub world for a more traditional map-based level selection. It is, of course, Wii exclusive, and comes out on the 23rd.

Alan Wake
Telling the story of an author (named Alan Wake, of course) whose stories start writing themselves, this game features the rather interesting story decision of having episodic content without actually selling the game as seperate episodes. This horror game is 360 exclusive, and will arrive on the 18th.

Also coming out in May: ModNation Racers, a Mario Kart-like racer for the PSP and PS3 that arrives on the 25th; Trauma Team, the follow up to the Trauma Center series, will be out on the 18th- although Wii exclusive, it will only be $40; finally, the Game of The Year edition of Batman: Arkham Asylum will be out on the 11th- it will come with 3D glasses of dubious quality.

Farewell to the old Xbox live:

2010-04-13T17:39:00.000-04:00

I have to admit that i will miss the logging onto my old xbox and loading up some classics. I will miss playing games such as Pariah, Kingdom Under Fire, and Crimson Skies with friends. Although it still makes little to no sense why microsoft Is shutting down such a memorable experience the one game that I will miss most is Halo 2. The groundbreaking multiplayer, long campaign and beautiful graphic will always be remembered even when bigger sequels are on the horizon (Halo Reach). Halo 2 had it all memorable characters, solid campaign, and amazing multiplayer, sure Halo 3 refined it, but the amount of fun that my friends and me shared can't be forgotten. I will miss those days of Halo 2, but am looking forward for what Bungie has in store.

Why May is gonna to Rock

2010-04-13T17:20:00.000-04:00

Lost Planet 2
Lost Planet 2 is shaping up to be better than the original, with the additon of four player co-op and a more refined multiplayer this sequel may be one of the best games this year. The thing that really stuck out to me about Lost Planet is the intense boss battles and how enormous they are, fortunetly that doesnt seem to of been forgotten in Lost Planet 2, due to the mroe enormous bosses. The graphics look breathtaking and the gameplay feels less awkward as the first one. Lost Planet 2 is gonna rock.
Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption..............................Enough said.

Gears of War Follow up!

2010-04-13T16:02:00.001-04:00

Well as Trailers become more complicated, and deeper meanings are put into them. About what you see is Dom, unshaven and looks more depressed than ever, about to die, and seems to give up. But as this short trailer comes to a close you see something new, a new more intimidating enemy pops out of the ground. Simple Faction add-on, or a new type of storyline? we'll just have to find out till 2011!

Gears of War 3 Trailer Impressions:

2010-04-13T15:31:00.000-04:00

Gears of War 3 trailer:

Overall the trailer was a nice surprise, now that we can see that Epic is taking the series in a much darker direction. From some speculation I think the guy we first see is Dom, he was depressed after Maria and most likely let himself go. Its possible that Epic is trying to go for a new look with the characters and these are what thier gonna look like now and the two gears seen later are baird and cole. This cant be a flashback cause they all didnt met till gears of war 1 before the whole first conflict. Looks nice and dark, i doubt the single player will be bad, but i hope they add more to the multiplayer. I am very happy that four player co-op will be in this one, but also i hope that someone in delta squad dies, mostly because of the big impact that that would have on players. Overall im very excited for this game, and it may even get me to stop looking at Red Dead Redemption gameplay just to see what Epic has in store for us next.

R.U.S.E Beta Overview

2010-04-13T14:26:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, the RUSE multiplayer beta took the PC by storm, with thousands of download, obviously marketing towards the PC crowed, but seeing as any beta has yet to be announced for consoles, I've decided to give a brief rundown on what we can expect when it comes down to gameplay and design for RUSE multi-payer.

Design:

The design of ruse is very unique. When you zoom out, you are given a view of a war room, with a 3D map, scattered with icons of units and buildings. This is a good way to see all of your units, and makes it seem more like a board game. RUSE really shines when you zoom in, and can see all of the details of your units. This makes the gameplay far more interesting. RUSE has normal controls for an RTS, but introduces a very simple menu, making it easy to select and build units.

Gameplay:

There are some very clear issues with multiplayer, where it is nearly impossible to find a game that doesn't lag, or simply freeze every minute or so. But seeing as it's a huge beta, it's understandable. Overall, when you find a good game, the action is non stop, and very addicting.

Consensus:

Overall, when RUSE works, it works very well. And if every match works well when it's released, It will be a must-have for any RTS fan.

Hello Tzu! (yeah, I know, another introduction

2010-04-12T22:42:00.000-04:00

Yeah, it's me, the noob. (Actually, I'm used to being one, seeing as I recently switched from Console to PC).

Anyways, about me,

I'm a gamer at heart,

I love just about every kind of game,

And I love movies even more.

I can't wait to post my movie review for Alice In Wonderland, and will be reviewing a game soon.

I might review a classic movie or two, seeing as the number of people who haven't heard of Humphrey Bogart or Hitchcock never ceases to amaze me.

Feel free to contact me through my email or facebook,

Don't forget to be awesome.

2010-04-12T22:26:00.001-04:00

Hey gamers! im testing the texting communication for this thing! this will be 100% more convieniant!

Well, hello everyone.

2010-04-12T22:17:00.000-04:00

Hey fellow blog-reader...people? I guess thats how it goes, anyway like the fellow authors on this blog, I'm a gamer. I'm gonna be writing helpful reviews towards games and pointers on what to do in those games to make them, playable. Other than review games, I'll also be putting the spotlight on the latest of machinima and really what ever I think of at the time. Yeah so, ask me random questions at cheatcommandosos@gmail.com or hit me up on Xbox, my gamertag is ghostsniperzw.

New Badass on the Block!

2010-04-12T22:07:00.000-04:00

Hello GAMERS!!!!! I am Melonman56, or formally known as Kiel. I am here to give you the most recent news on the gaming network. I belong to a group known as Tzu, we play for Fun, and try not to ruin a game. I have the most current news from the near and far, even from programmers themselves! Yes i am here for you! any Questions send me a whisp! Kielsouders@gmail.com

Clash of the Titans

2010-04-12T21:50:00.000-04:00

Clash of the Titans

    Remakes are hit or miss, but for the most part they are miss. Their are a few occasion where the directer actually nails what made the original so memorable, yet "Clash of the Titans" does the exact opposite. Rather than keeping the story from the first clash, this sequel adds more characters and subplots that not only add numerous plot holes, but also stray away from the original too much. Clash focus's more on the poorly executed 3-d sequences and visual special effects than remaining to the lore and story.
   The acting is hardly passable due to a wooden performance from Sam Worthington, which is disappointing because of his entertaining performance in "Avatar". Sam can hardly led the movie due to the flawed script and the overwhelming C-G effects, in all honesty sams performance is almost as bad as Hayden Christensen's in "Jumper"(maybe not that bad).
   The film missed its mark, by a long shot and could of succeeded if the movie kept the plot from the original rather than leaving it for a more action oriented script. Liam Nessen can't even save this film. The acting is horrible, but with a few exceptions such as Ralph Fieenes who plays Hades. Ralph' brings a surprising amount of sadness to the film and actually makes you feel sorry for the lord of the underworld, but even a solid performance like his cant save the film.
   In conclusion the Acting is terrible, the plot is overflowed with subplots and the ending is as unsatisfying as the last "Transformers". The only thing keeping clash from no stars is that it was still entertaining at some points, Medusa's lair was by far the most well executed scene in the film, but the special effects were really the selling point for the film and it shows due to the underdeveloped plot. My advice would be to watch the original rather than wasting your money on a mediocre film, especially with so many good films just around the corner,such as Kickass and Iron Man 2. Clash of the Titans will only be remembered for being one of the worst remakes thus far.
1 1/2 stars out of 4

Are you the Hunter, Survivor, or Prey?

2010-02-24T10:28:00.000-05:00

Alien vs Predator Review:

The premise of Alien vs Predator is that you play as either a alien, predator, or marine in this all out war between the species. In the Marine campaign its your duty to fight to survive. As a Alien its your mission to escape captivity and reek havoc on your captives. You are a predator that's objective is to bring a end to the madness that has been unleashed. In Alien vs predator you play as either a alien, predator, or marine in this all out war between the species. In the Marine campaign its your duty to fight to survive. The marine campaign plays out like a typical survival horror game, offering plenty of scares and action to quench your thirst. As a Alien its your mission to escape captivity and reek havoc on your captives. These missions move away form the survival horror aspect and more into a strategy game where you mus pick off the marines one by one. In the Predator campaign, you are a predator that's objective is to bring a end to the madness that has been unleashed. Each campaign has their own unique feel and story behind it making the characters and environments more engaging as you play through them. I found the Marine campaign to be the most fun out of the three thanks to the added polish, since this is the campaign that most people would play first. The Alien campaign is a mixed bag, I found it fun to kill and harvest soldiers, but a bit repetitive after the first hour or two. The Predator campaign was fun and action packed and I would recommend playing this one first if you wanted to jump into the action right away. Overall the was well tuned and interesting, and seeing of how it unravels in the three campaigns is a lot of fun, but the conclusion is a unsatisfactory cliff hanger that will hopefully be answered in DLC or a new title.The game really wasn't that challenging thats to some of the weapons that you acquire and the dumb AI. I was a bit dissapointed in how the AI played out at many points in my playtime I saw enemies get stuck in walls or stand completly still even though I was right in front of them. The predator and Alien campaign are a joke as far as challenge thanks to the predators weapons and the Aliens stealth. The predator campaign was simple, but was unique in some ways I had alot of fun using the voice of a fallen marine and luring his friend into my trap, yet that fun didnt last too long after the third hour. The Alien campaign was the same old "Go to this area, kill these guys, Go to the next one." type ordeal making it hard to play and really engage the player. Both the Alien and Preadtor campaign could have done more unique things, such as with the Alien one it would have been nice to play as a face hugger or a different class, rather than the old black serpent. Dont buy Alien vs Predator for the story or else you will be dissapointed, but the multiplayer is alot of fun and is worth the money on its own. All in all Alien vs Preadator was a mixed bag. but was alot of fun and a enjoyable experience, I would recommend renting the game, but a purchase is only if you are a big fan.

FINAL SCORE:

7 out of 10

Pros:

Fun campaign
Great multiplayer

Cons:

Alien and Preadator Campaign are repetitive
No real challenge
Gets repetitive after a couple of hours.

Are game reviewers corrupt?

2010-02-18T10:21:00.000-05:00

Is Call of Duty the new standard?

I am now apart of the group of gamers that are sick of COD, and get annoyed that newer games are being held to its standards. Although Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was undoubtably one of the best games of 2009, the fact that games that are coming out now are being critized for not having the amount of depth that COD. Last Tuesday, I went to the store in order to get a copy of Alien vs Predator. After playing the game for a few hours, I saw just how well made it was and of how much replay value it had, unfortunately that isn't enough for the gaming community today, seeing of how it was criticized for its visuals (which are fantastic and look just like the movie) and the fact that when you rank up in its muliplayer, you only get skins. Does multiplayer have to have perks, persistent stats and customizations in order to get good reviews? The only issues that I found with the game was the Alien controls are extremely hard to get used to and the fact that the campaigns were a bit repetitive, mostly the alien. Its unfortunate that such a well made and extremely fun game is being criticized for not being up to Call of Duty's standards. To be honest you can't help but wonder if every under the radar game will get the same treatment.With big games like Bad Company just around the corner do you think it will recieve the same treatment, or be praised for giving the same experience that Call of Duty offered. With AVP I myself love the game and found it quite enjoyable, yet because of the supposedly sub par graphics and controls the game has received mixed reviews. Sure graphics are being hammered more by reviewers, but it doesnt mean that your experience would suffer because of them. Many of the reviews have given it a poor score make little to no sense, but rather make the game seem much better, a example would be the Game Informer review. I would highly recommend AVP due to its decent campaigns and excellent muliplayer, but if you have fallen victim to the corrupt review system that we have now, than your missing something truly excellent.

Avatar Review:

2010-01-27T11:12:00.001-05:00

AVATAR

After a decade of anticipation, Avatar has hit theaters both living up to its hype and being a box office smash. Avatar tells the tale of a paraplegic veteran named Jack Sully, who ventures to the planet of Pandora in 2154, but is soon torn between siding with his people or the natives of the planet. As the movie continues, you find out the reason for the human occupation, but you are given an even more insightful look at the native people and why they fight for their homeland. The film does a superb job of establishing its narrative and conflict, but at points felt like a revamped “Dancing with the Wolves.” The films narrative features a typical romance, but also an endearing back-story that helps make the conclusion all the more intense. Avatar has also received high praise for its technical aspects, mostly due to the photorealistic characters interacting with the live action characters. The visuals are breathtaking due to the terrific 3-D technology, which literally makes you feel like you have entered the world of Pandora. James Cameron puts a lot of detail and back story surrounding each character which makes them all engaging, and the world all the more stunning, but toward the end many of the plot twists are predictable and make the film feel cliché. All in all, Avatar is a war movie chronicling a final battle between humans and the natives, but without falling into the category of “Pocahontas-In-Space.” The action is intense, but never feels out of place like most films of the genre. Avatar is a perfect film for friends and family, but is the one movie that you have to see in order to get the full 3-D experience. Avatar is a cinematic landmark and is truly deserving of all the praise that it has received.

3 ½ out of 4

Running From A Naked Woman in Fear 2

2010-01-14T22:23:00.000-05:00

Title: Fear 2

Designer: Monolith Productions

Company: Microsoft

Number of players: 1 (1-16 online)

Platform: Xbox 360

ERSB Rating: M+17

Genre: Horror
Fear 2 Review

You are apart of a elite team of soldiers that are given the task of fighting the paranormal and enduring the supernatural. Alma is free and has released her rage upon the earth, so its up to you to uncover the conspiracy, and bring a end to the horror. You play as Micheal Becket who is apart of a elite team of soldiers that are tasked with fighting the supernatural. The opening mission picks up at the same time the ending of the first game is occurring. Your first mission is to apprehend Genevieve Aristide who is the head of the organization, that imprisoned Alma. Alma was a young eight year old girl that had psychic ability's that made her a outcast. When her abilities were discovered she was put through numerous test ending in her death. The events surrounding her death made it so that even though her physical form was gone, her psychic abilities allowed her to seek revenge. In Fear you constantly see hallucinations of her in the shadows, along with interactions as she sets revenge on her enemies. Thier will be moments where you will see alma killing enemy troops or stalking them. Their are numerous audio logs and text, that help give you a little back story to what happened. These audio logs are well implemented into the games and help make each level worth exploring. As you unravel what happened to Alma, the game becomes more and more engaging, but at the same time horrific. Many characters die to her hand, and these moments were truly emotional and horrific. While in Fear one Alma was a little girl, in this sequel she is a woman, which make your interactions with her are more personal and mature. Fear one followed a similar storyline, but the events and clues that were found throughout are constantly brought up in the sequel, so if you haven't played it the story is hard to follow. The games pacing and layout was well made and some of the more frightning experiences were memorable. Fear has been known for having some of the best AI in the business and that assumption holds firm in this sequel. The game is simplistic as far as gameplay, but has alot to master when fighitng alot of enemies. When you shoot at enemies they'll hide behind cover, or try to flank you, these reactions make the games characters more endearing. Each level i harder than the last and gives you a larger amount of enemies or harder ones that require most skill. Your character is given the ability to slowdown time which may sound like it makes things easy, but instead adds even mroe depth to the combat and is highly satisfying. You could lose hours with Fear, just with its single player campaign, but its multuplayer will keep you playing for months. The amount of work put into the atmosphere and characters help bring you into the world of Fear and actually make you care about each one of them. Thier are plenty of audio logs that add to the atmosphere, along with plenty different pathways and objectives that will leave Fear in your console for months.Your goals are well implemented into the game and help make it so that you dont have to go from menu to menu, in order to find out what you have to do. When you complete a objective your given another one or rewarded with a new weapon and awards. Thier are instances where you will not understand what is occuring, but these instances are few and dont effect the experience. Fear was a solid game as far as combat, but really the story didnt become as engaging as the first, until the end. The ending was annoying and the campaign felt short. The multiplayer was fun, but unbalanced compared to other games. I would still recommend Fear if you want a fresh take on the genre and solid gameplay.
Final Score
8 out of 10
Pros:

Solid Combat
Great characters
Good scares
Fun multiplayer

Cons:

Ending isn't satisfactory
Lacks the amount of Story in the Original.

Dark Void: Demo Impressions

2010-01-12T09:11:00.001-05:00

Dark Void was created by the award winning team of Crimson Skies. The game mixes aerial and ground combat throughout, it also implements a cover system much like "Gears of Wars". The aerial combat looks and feels like Crimson Skies along with adding in other elements that help change up the pace. The demo is short, but does offer up a taste of both gameplays, weather your shooting down alien vessels or mowing down infantry. From what i could tell from the demo, you will be given a wide variety of objectives and will be awarded with points in order to upgrade your suit and weapons. Dark Void tells the story of William Augustus Grey who is sent to a parallel, after crashing in the Burmuda Triangle. Augustus is now given the task of helping humanity fight a alien menace called the Watchers along with trying to get home. Dark Void seems to even have a variety of bossfights which could be seen at the end of the demo, which appeared to be a giant lizard. Now for the verdict, From what i could tell from the demo Dark Void is organized well and the transition between flight and ground combat feels in place, but the controls are sometimes to diffentuate. Although the voice work is well done, the main character seemed too cliche and less than engaging. The camera was a huge frustration for me, and way to complicated to target a enemy. Although a demo, the fact that the game is a few weeks away means that what we see is what were getting, and with that Dark Voids visuals look like they could be on the original Xbox. The controls were confusing and hard to get used to because of the mixture of ground and aerial combat, such as you could be in a intense firefight and all of the sudden your character will fly, hit a wall and die. The games AI is as dumb as they get and with my time with the demo they would usually stay in one place and not even fire at you until you shoot a round. Once again these are the isues that I found in the demo. Hopefully these issues are only for the demo, but once again the fact that the game is only a week away means that these issues could be seen in the final product. I would like to see how the story develops and also understand more about the main protagonist, yet the annoying camera could interfere. I had high hopes for Dark Void and I hope that the issues that I found in the demo stay there and it turns out for the better.

2009’s Biggest Gaming Disappointments

2010-01-12T09:01:00.000-05:00

2009 was a good year for gaming, but it still had its share of disappointments that can’t be excused. Mostly this year we saw our share of multiplayer and single player games that were over hyped and didn’t live up to their potential. Other disappointments would include the increase in hardware failure with the Xbox 360. Game or Console, 2009 should have been a groundbreaking year, but instead was just a decent one. These are 2009’s top disappointments.
5) Halo ODST

Now I am a huge Halo and have followed the series from day one, but Halo ODST was one of the biggest wastes of money this year. The single player campaign was by far one of the shortest that I have encountered, even on the hardest of difficulties. Bungie promised a brand new experience and a long campaign, yet ODST never feels like a new Halo, but rather just a revamped Halo 3. I was hoping that ODST would live up to the hype, which it did as far as delivering new characters and environments, but the whole open world gameplay became rather annoying. Hopefully Reach will deliver a longer campaign, unlike ODST’s four hour run-time. The new mode firefight is fun, but could hardly justify the full price of the game. ODST did have one good aspect and that’s the Beta that came with it, but who knows when Bungie will finally release it.

4) Delays

2009 is a year for the books, as far as the numerous delays that occurred. Many games were pushed back weather do to Modern Warfare 2 or issues with the company. Games such as Splinter Cell and Bioshock 2 were set to release late 2009, but were soon pushed into early 2010. 2009 did still give us a decent amount of games, but the inconsistency in reviews and releases, such as the summer drought is still a big disappointment. Although 2009 was a fairly good year, as far as the releases that made it, it still would have been nice to of seen more variety than FPS after FPS.
3) Movie Tie-Ins Still Suck

Movie tie-ins have grown a reputation for being mediocre and rather awful experiences. This year we received some of the worse including Terminator Salvation and most recent Avatar tie-in. Movie Tie-ins would be bearable if only more effort was put into them and given new gameplay rather than borrowing from other games. GI Joe proved that developers could care less about what their putting out there, but rather the money that they make from it. The fact that their have been promises for much improved movie games, and very little results is a disappointment on its own.
2) Lack of hardcore games for the Wii

2009 should have been a great year for the Wii, but instead it showed that Nintendo’s best games are in the past. With few exceptions such as Dead Space: Extraction, the Wii has a lot to live up to which should hopefully change next year. The wii has lately only had mini party games, that don’t cater to the hardcore market. Their have been exceptions such as “The Conduit” and “Dead Space: Extraction”, but the fact that this year alone has offered very few of these games, is a disappointment.

1)System Failures still over 50%

The Xbox 360 May offer one of the most entertaining and most addicting experiences out there, but it all comes at a price mostly due to the increase in Xbox failures. The Red-Ring plagues the 360 even after nearly five years of being released. I myself am on my third Xbox and know many that have had to send theirs back more than once this year alone. Who knows, maybe next year will hold the solution to this rather annoying epidemic.

Unraveling the Truth in Dead Space

2010-01-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

Title: Dead Space

Designer: Electronic Games

Company: Microsoft

Number of players: 1

Platform: Xbox 360

ERSB Rating: M+17

Genre: Action/Adventure

Premise: You are a engineer sent aboard the mining ship Ishimura after hearing a distress call. You soon find that the ship is overrun with a alien infection and you are soon separated from your squad. You alone must complete numerous objectives in order to uncover the horrifying truth beneath the outbreak.

Story: You play as a engineer named Issac who is a mining engineer sent aboard the ishimura in order to investigate a distress call. In the beginning of the game you are introduced to Isaccs motives, which include a quest to uncover the fate of his girlfriend. That aspect of the story becomes more fascinating as Issac's perception of what is real of hallucination becomes more changed. By that i mean that throughout the game you see things that may not be there and those moments have a overall effect on the games conclusion. In the beginning the game starts out as a tutorial giving you various weapons and enemies to dispose of. The story is handled through your HUD and by various audio logs that give clues to what happened to the people of the Ishimura. The story pacing is flawless as you make lonesome tracks from each corridor of the ship, fighting bosses, unraveling the truth, and fighting the necromorths. The necromorths are the enemies that you encounter in the majority of the game. The enemies are the crew of the mining ship and can come from any direction. That is what makes Dead Space so memorable where at every corner you could be attacked or dragged by the alien menace. Each chapter has a dead conflict and meaning, but also helps to move the story along, without having it drag on. The characters are well design and acted out and even though Issac doesn't talk, you still grow a deep bond and actually care about what happens to him in the conclusion. Each part of Dead Space is fantastic, but the most engaging character is the Ishimura itself. Throughout the entire game its the Ishimura that helps set the mood and the atmosphere which help make the campaign more engaging and more likely to venture through again, long after the main game is finished.

Challenge: Dead Space is a hard game, that barely lets up on the intensity nor action. Around each corner is a potential enemy and in every vent is danger. You never feel safe in dead space, thanks to the well throughout and original combat. Rather than shooting your enemies in the head your objective is to strategically dismember them, by cutting off their arms legs and making them immobile. The Necromorths are living tissues that has been reanimated which makes it harder the cut them down and kill them, making each encounter with one of them a interesting and intense fight. The game only gets harder as the game progresses, giving you new enemies and objectives that require different skills and weapons. The game also includes a detailed progression system that allows you to upgrade Isacc giving him new armor and weaponry in order to take down the harder foes. From start to finish Dead Space is a hard and atmospheric shooter that never lets up until the last credit rolls.

The Transformation of Time/Engagement:: You could easily lose twelve hours along on the single player campaign, but when the game is done you are given the opportunity to do another run through with a pimped out Isacc. The game is a bit on the short side, but with the in depth back story ranging from hundreds of different viewpoints and characters you could lose even more time exploring the various rooms of the Ishimura. The game has depth and well worth playing thorough multiple times in order to get every part of the story and characters out of it. The games characters are engaging and the the levels are well thought out and well made, but more of how the story unravels is what really makes Dead Space one of the most memorable experiences to date. The fantastic voice acting and engaging story help aid Dead Space differentiate itself from the other horror games out there. I found the back story of the various character the most engaging part about Dead Space. Dead Spaces story is cut into three parts the colony where the Artifact was uncovered, next the Ishimura where the artifact was brought to, than the story of Issac and his crew. (The artifact is a huge piece of the story thats value is uncovered as the game goes on). Dead Space gives you a engaging main story along with a fantastic side stories that make you wish that you could have seen the full set of events that led up to the present endeavor.

Information Structure/Clear Goals and Feedback: The game implements very little HUD and most of the information that is given to you will show up on the start screen. The game shows you how to get to your objectives by the player clicking the left thumbstick. Doing so puts out a blue light that sends you to your next objective, this helps keep you inside of the world, rather than have you going between title screen and the in game screens. Whenever you complete an objective you are rewarded new gear and weapons along with more objectives that must be completed in order to advance to the end of the game.
Authors Note: Dead space was one of the most memorable and scariest games that i have ever encountered. It is definetly going to be remembered for its well thoughout plot and characters along with the breathtaking atmoshphere. Dead Space is a amazing game, and i would recommended it and the movie and comics that are out now. Dead Space 2 cant come soon enough.

Killing Skags in Pandora

2009-12-13T14:36:00.000-05:00

Game: Borderlands
Company: 2K Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Number of Players:1-4(co-op)
Developer: Scaleform
Genre: RPG,Shooter
Platform: Xbox 360, playstation 3, PC
ESRB Rating: Mature+17
Borderlands Review
Premise: You play as one of four mercenaries that explore an alien planet for a treasure.
Story: In the beginning you arrive on the planet of Pandora and are greeted by a very mysterious girl that wishes to help you on your journey. Throughout the game you have to do many MMO style quest in order to gain EXP and level up your character. Each character has their own personalities and attributes that help make them all feel unique, such as Brick whose special ability is to go on a rampage while another character such as the soldier can deploy a sentry turret. The game goes up to four players allowing the players work as a team as you deal with the large numbers of enemies and harder bosses. Pandora is a wide open world encouraging sidequest and exploration while encouraging you to search for the unknown treasure. Each part of world feels more complex and different than the last making each region feels its place. As the story progresses you are given little pockets of clues from the mysterious girl. Overall Borderlands isn’t story driven and the last level isn’t something to push for, but rather how you get there is what makes borderlands all the more engaging.
Challenge: The games challenge is handled through your level, as you level up the enemies get harder and larger in numbers. Each boss fight will be more complex and challenging because of the increase of the boss's level and the henchmen. As the game progresses you will level up your character giving you a wider variety in gameplay and make your experience different than someone else’s.
The Transformation of Time/Engagement: The game is engaging thanks to the open world and unique characters. The game also has a unique art design that helps it stand out from other titles. Every time you level you feel as if it means something as you see your character become more and more powerful. Thanks to the variety in weapons and quest you are sure to spend hundreds of hours on your first playthrough alone, but thanks to the much harder second playthrough the world of Pandora will become your home away from home.
Resources: Borderlands offers the play literally billions of guns. Throughout the game you will uncover an unprecedented variety in weapons from a lightning shooting shotgun to an alien sniper. Whenever you kill an enemy you get loot that includes ammunition and money which allows you to purchase more weapons and shields. Shields give you extra health and protection from the other enemies.
Information Structure/Clear Goals and Feedback: The games information structure is handled through menus and quest. In your HUD it will highlight where your quest is and how to get there. In you menus it will layout how many quest you have and where to go on the world map. As you complete quest your character levels up and a new quest is available to play. The game had a simple information structure and a even more rewarding feedback which helped make each quest more engaging.

Killing Locust

2009-12-03T20:21:00.000-05:00

Title:Gears of War 2
Designer: Epic Games
Company: Microsoft
Number of players: 1-2 (co op) 1-10(multiplayer)
Platform: Xbox 360
ERSB Rating: M+17
Genre: Action/Adventure
Gears of War 2 Review
Premise: You play as Marcus Fenix the leader of a rag tag group of soldiers, whose sole purpose is to save humanity from the locust horde.
Story: The games story takes place a year after the first game giving players new incite into the war, along with new characters that help to make the overall conflict seem more emotional. Throughout the game you play as Marcus Fenix with the option to play as Dom if you play in (co op). Each mission has meaning as it gives you objectives ranging from saving a tortured soldier or riding a Brumak into the Locust hive. Throughout the game you are mostly pushing the assault on the Locust as you and an army of COGS move underground in order to stop the Locust assault. As the campaign unravels you see the real loses of the war, such as the scenes where the main characters have to pay the ultimate price in order to push the fight forward. In each level of the campaign your given little back story of what happened in the year in-between the first and second game. The game even gives you a side story for Dom which implies that his wife is captured by the Locust, which begins to unravel more and more as the game goes on.
Challenge: The games challenge is handled through the pacing, which has you holding off an impending army or killing a Locust general. Each level is harder than the last mostly due to the increase in enemies and of how each level gives you a new creature to fight. Throughout the campaign the difficulty is also increased by set pieces and environments because of the games cover system which allows the player and AI hide behind cover in order to avoid fire from their enemies. Each map gives you different options of where to hold off and how to get to each objective which range from destroying an enemy camp or even saving a captured comrade.
The Transformation of Time: The games campaign is engaging giving you different stories to each characters back, along with giving you a better over view of the overall conflict found in the game. The inclusion of (co op) makes each level feel like a completely different experience which makes the campaign much longer and easy to spend hours on. The new multiplayer mode called horde is highly addictive, as it puts five players up against wave upon wave of enemies. The competitive multiplayer is even more addictive as each mode goes up to ten players allowing them to duke it out, while using many of the elements found in the games campaign which allows for different strategies and makes time fly by.
Engagement: The games story and characters are more engaging than the last game mostly due to a better back stories for each character along with different incites to each of motives for fighting. Each level has a sense of lose as you fight through ruined cities and abandoned warehouses making each part of the campaign feel emotional and more fascinating as you see how the world ended.
Characters/Player: Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago return from the first game, including their fellow Delta Squad COG soldiers, Augustus Cole and Damon Baird. These four characters are the characters that you will see throughotu the game, but for the most part you are accompinied by Dom. Each character has their own unique story and motives for fighting in the war. The game also gives a wide variety of Locust enemies which gives the game another side of the war making the enemy encounters feel more meaningful and unique.
Information Structure/Clear Goals and Feedback: The information structure is handled through the HUD as it gives you different objectives and weapon ammunition. The game gives you clear goals as it marks on the screen where you have to go making each objective seem easy and clear to get to.
Authors Note: I found the game to be a lot of fun when playing with a lot of friends. I found the campaign to be a lot of fun and really satisfying compared to the predecessor. Each character have their own unique personality and look which helped make each encounter meaningful and help make you care more about what happens to them as the story unravels. I would give the game a 9/10 mostly due the engaging campaign, but the games multiplayer was unbalanced compared to the last game.

Cleaning up the City In Crackdown!!!

2009-11-19T17:19:00.000-05:00

Game: Crackdown
Company: Microsoft
Developer: Realtime Worlds
Number of players: 1-2(co-op)
Platform: Xbox 360
ERSB Rating: M+17
Crackdown Review

Premise: You are a super powered agent that was designed to destroy the gangs that terrorize the cities district.
Player: As the player you choose from a large variety in avatar's as to whom you play as in the game. Throughout the game you will conquer different objectives and task throughout which effect your characters skill development which alters your characters appearance much like Fable 2's leveling system.
Challenge: The games challenge is handled by your level. Throughout the game you are tasked with different bosses and supply points that you has to conquer. In the game your given a wide openworld which you must explore in order to find the different bosses and supply points. The main boss that leads each clan is always in a heavily guarded fortress which can be taken in many different ways. Each clan is difficult because you must reach a certain level in your strength, agility, driving, and explosive skills. In each district a different clan owns it which gives you a wide variety in enemies, and vehicles. I found that each district was really hard because my skill level was so low. Every boss has their own officers that have to be taken down in order to increase the percentage of success that you have at taking down a clan’s main base. Each base is different ranging from towering fortresses to everyday malls and gyms.
The Transformation of Time/Engagement: You could easily loose hours in crackdown due to the addicting and clever leveling system along with a large variety in enemies and environments. Every level and district is well made in crackdown making everything have a different feel, especially with the citizens as the react to the environment along with cheer for you as you run by. When your character is maxed out the game opens up to you even more allowing you to jump from rooftop to rooftop and hit cars and citizens hundreds of miles into the air. The game ultimately has no story until the very end which is a satisfying twist, but even in the beginning you feel attached to your character as you see him go from a wimp to a one man army. The different classes and customization were even more engaging as they encourage another playthrough. The games large variety in weapons, characters, and vehicles in the world could give the player an endless amount of replay value along with possibilities as to what can be accomplished.
Characters/information Structure: Beyond your agent the game offers many characters ranging from the main peace keepers (police men), to the more elaborate bosses that inhabit the city districts. The game also features an announcer that gives you Intel on bosses and enemies, but will also send backup when you’re in over your head. The games information structure is handled through the announcer who gives you different information such as how many enemies that is ahead or if Thiers agents nearby that need help. The information is also handled through pressing the (Back Button) which gives you an overview of the map, but also boss location and supply points that are in gang control.
Resources: Your main weapons range from the standard pistol, shotgun, grenades and even more elaborate guns like your harpoon gun. Yet the best weapon by far is your hands.
Authors Note: The game was a lot of fun and the sequel couldn’t come soon enough, but the games lack of narrative was really disappointing and the game wears thin after as day of playing. Overall I would highly recommend it due the the solid character development, and gameplay, but also with the fact that it’s only $12.

Ranking Up in Call of Duty

2009-11-12T08:22:00.000-05:00

Title: Modern Warfare 2

Designer: Infinity Ward

Company: Microsoft

Number of players: 1-2(co-op), 1-18 multiplayer

Platform: Xbox 360

ERSB Rating: M+17
Premise: You are apart of an elite team that’s main objective is to bring down a terrorist group that has caused a World War.
Story/Engagement: In Modern Warfare 2 you play as different soldiers that each has their own distinct personalities and viewpoints of the conflict. The games story for the most part picks up right where the last one left off, letting you see different sides of the conflict such as how in one mission your play as a terrorist mowing down civilians in a airport, while in another your player as a soldier pushing the Russians out of America. Overall the campaign takes you through different scenarios and battles that are much more complex than the first Modern Warfare. Each scenario from the campaign is different from the last, due to the increased action and well crafted level design. Other parts of the story can be found in the multiplayer mode called spec-op which allows up to two friends to play through a large variety of levels that tie into the story. The game is engaging thanks to the large variety in missions and characters along with the fantastic scenarios, especially the scenario where you’re fighting through American suburbs. Throughout the course of the game each character gives you different weapons and tactics allowing you to grow attached to each viewpoint. Many of the scenes throughout the game show you realistic combat and situations that the world is stuck in today, this is engaging because if gives the game a more realistic tone along with giving the main story a different feel.
Characters/Transformation of Time: The games story lets you see different sides of the conflict, such as how in one mission your play as a terrorist mowing down civilians in a airport, while in another you’re a special-ops agent who’s hunting down a terrorist leader. Each character has a different viewpoint along with back stories that grow more fascinating as the game goes on. Thanks to the improvements to the single player and the multiplayer the game is much improved and will be in your console for months. Due to the fantastic story and excellent multiplayer you could easily spend weeks if not months ranking up in the multiplayer, killing terrorist in the campaign, or surviving a onslaught in special-ops.
Challenge/Resources: The games challenge is handled through the difficulty bar and pacing. Throughout the campaign the game will progressively get better due to the increased amount of enemies and more sophisticated guns. Guns include the Assault rifles, sub machine guns, light machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols, and shotguns. All of these weapons are fully upgradeable and can be used in both the single-player and multiplayer modes.
Authors Note: The game is excellent and was well worth the long wait. The single player was breathtaking and multiplayer will keep me playing for months on end. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the series or shooters. The games pacing is excellent and the improvements are much appreciated. If I could give out a score it would be a perfect 10/10.

Fighting off Splicers in Rapture!!!!!

2009-11-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

Title: Bioshock

Designer: 2K Games

Company: Microsoft

Number of players: 1

Platform: Xbox 360

ERSB Rating: M+17

Genre: First Person Shooter

Bioshock Video Review

Premise: You have been in a plane crash and you are the only survivor. You find a underwater city called "Rapture" which is full of lunatics and mutants. Soon you are befriended by a fellow survivor and forced to unfold the horrors of the once utopia, along with make your way out of the city.
Player:
Challenge: The game gets more challenging based on how strong your character is. If your character is weak then you are in for a much harder and more frustrating experience. If you characters is maxed out and has all the weapons than you are in for a evened out experience. Each part of the campaign can get harder based on where you encounter your Big Daddy's or how many splicers are in the area. "Rapture" is a living breathing city where the inhabitants will wonder about searching for you even after you wiped out their comrades.
The Transformation of Time: In Bioshock you are immersed into a world like no other, due to the breathtaking visual and art design, along with the decisions that you must make in order to make your way thought the game. The main campaign could range from ten to twenty hours based on the skill of the player. Each part of the game can be explored and revisited giving the player a new layout of the levels and enemies rather than just repopulating them with the same ones. The game could also be classified as open world as each space of "Rapture" is open to go to and explore based on the part that you are at in the main mission. With a engaging story, upgradable characters and weapons, Bioshock could easily take hours to get to through, along with the curiosity to do it all again.
Engagement: In the game you are immersed in a world where things are completely different and unique, where anything is possible and is ruled by a mad man. Throughout the game you are given little details to your origins along with the overall plot that circles what made rapture such a utopia. The plot unfolds at a excellent pace and brings the players into a world of power and question. The games themes are clear and really touch on the issues in the world today, such as anorexia, and the stereotypes that we have in our culture.
Characters/Player: : In the game you play as a unnamed character who survives a terrible plane crash resulting in him being the only survivor. Throughout the game you are given different upgrades such as plasmids which help your character become more powerful and make the game much more enjoyable. In the game you face enemies called "Splicers" (these are basically the inhabitants of rapture that have gone mad) who are led by a man named "Andrew Ryan". In the game you are given a large amount of choice as far as how the ending will result and how each encounter will vary. At certain points in the game you face boss like characters called "Big Daddys" that protect another character called "Little Sisters". Both of these characters are a big part of the story because in order to upgrade your powers you need "Adam" which can only be found within a little sister. After a Big Daddy fight you are given a choice of either saving the little sister and getting little Adam or harvesting the little sister and getting tons of Adam. This part in the game is the most fascinating because you really feel like the character as you save a little girl or devour her soul. The games battles from the usual splicers to the more tough and more intense battles with the big daddy. Each character in the game has their own unique story which is told through many audio logs that can be found throughout. Each encounter feels meaning full and each objective is made clear by your friend guiding you the whole way.
Information Structure/Clear Goals and Feedback: The information structure is given through a microphone which allows you to get information and objectives from different characters in the game. In each part of the game you meet new characters who give you new ideas, tips, and objectives that must be done in order to advance throughout the whole game. With this system you are never far from where your objective is along with a arrow key that shows up when you are near your objectivel. When you finish a mission you gain money or Adam which can lead to you upgrading your weapon, buying new powers, or even some vodka to ease the pain.

Surviving the Zombie Apocolypse!

2009-10-28T18:35:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-21T19:07:00.000-04:00

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"

2009-10-13T18:16:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-08T17:13:00.000-04:00

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.

Exploring "New Mombasa"

2009-09-29T19:00:00.000-04:00

Title: Halo: ODST

Designer/Author: Bungie

Studio: Microsoft Gaming Studio

Company: Microsoft

Platform: Xbox 360

Genre: First Person Shooter

Halo: ODST

Story: Halo Odst takes a different tone on the Halo series by taking you through a more open world environment and weaker main character. In Halo: ODST you play an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper whose mission was to infiltrate a covenant ship. Due to a mysterious change of course you and your squad and separated and it’s up to you to uncover what happened through a series of flashbacks. The games story immerses you into the mind set of each Odst throughout the campaign giving you new perspective on what it means to be a marine.
Premise: You are a Orbital Drop Shock Trooper and your mission is to find your squad and uncover the mystery behind you what happened during the six hours you were knocked out. The only problem is that you are alone with covenant patrols all around.
Challenge: If you were used to being able to jump ten feet in the air, regenerate health, and have a over shield than "ODST" while be a much harder experience for you. The Game stripes down on what made up the past Halo games making you have to keep close watch on health and ammo due to the fact that you are a regular soldier. As the game progresses you will find that the enemies become more and more hard making better maneuvers such as flanking. Due to the strip down of supplies and regenerating health "ODST" is a much more intense and harder experience than past "Halo" games.
The Merging of Action and Awareness: As the player progresses through the game they begin to feel what "The Rookie" feels during his lonesome tracks through the city of "New Mombassa". In each flashback though the player feels like their apart of a bigger conflict due to the excellent fight sequences and well laid out narrative. The controls work well and help keep the player immersed in the characters rather then frustrated at the lack of good controls.
Clear Goals and Feedback: In this Halo your goals are clearly placed throughout the city and way points are helpful in finding the safest route to get there. When you activate a flashback you are immediately dropped into the mindset of that individual, and after each mission you complete you are given another objective of where to go and how to handle the new point in the story.
The Transformation of Time: Throughout "ODST" you are given a wide open world where you can tackle each objective in any order you want. With the fantastic pacing and excellent narrative it is easy to lose track of time. Another great contributor is the new game mode “Firefight" which pits four players against a increasingly hard army of Covenant troops. Although this mode has been done before it is by far the installment making player make wise decisions along with giving them different objectives throughout each mission.
The Nature of Play: The game is a war game giving you different objectives form destroying a covenant ship or holding out against a onslaught. The tone of the game is serious and humorous due to the differences in each character. One moment you'll be the silent "Rookie" (serious moments) and the next you will play as the hilarious "Dutch" (humorous moments).
Types of Players: The game will appeal to Halo fans, but will also be a great way for non-halo fans to get into the narrative. The game will most likely appeal to "The Artist" due to the different type of art style compared to other halo games. The game could also appeal to "The Explorer" due to its wide open world that features different district and areas. The game could also appeal to "The Storyteller" because of its intense narrative and fascinating plot.
Levels of Engagement: In the beginning of the game it feels open and very different from the past games in the series, but if you aren’t interested in the narrative than the game will drag on as you go from flashback to flashback in the wide open world.
Characters: In Odst you play as multiple characters that have their own distinct personalities and fascinating backgrounds. In each sequence you see their role in the main plot along with their part in overall conflict. For the most part you play as "The Rookie", but those sequences change throughout. The Rookie doesn’t talk throughout the game, but you begin to feel as if you are the lonesome soldier through his reactions to each encounter and overall part in the fall of New Mombassa.
The Dramatic Arc: The narrative becomes more and more intense and dramatic due to the experience and missions that are laid out before you. You begin to see how each Odst has their own tale to tell and their own relationships and issues that they have to deal with. In the beginning you see a city in ruins and hundreds of bodies littering the streets. The game becomes even more fascinating and intense as you see how it all went down.

Exploring Halo

2009-09-20T13:45:00.000-04:00

Game: Halo Combat Evolved
Company: Bungie
Published by: Microsoft
Developed by: Bungie Software
Platform: Xbox 360, Xbox
Genre: First person Shooter
Number of Players: 1-2 (co op);
1-16(system link)
Premise: The premise in "Halo: Combat Evolved" is that you play as a super soldier called "Master Chief" who is given the mission to save earth and stop the alien alliance known as the covenant from destroying humanity.
Player interaction patterns: Single Player versus Game
Story: You are apart of an elite unit of super soldiers called Spartans that's duty is the protection and safety of earth. After your ship comes under attack by the covenant you crash land on an ancient ring called halo that’s sole purpose is to destroy humanity. It is up to you and the rest of the UNSC to stop the covenant from destroying all sentinel life. The story unravels throughout fourteen different missions that range from ground combat to mowing down covenant grunts with tanks. It is up to you along with a little help from artificial intelligence called Cortana to stop the covenant from destroying earth.
Invitation to play: Although Halo may use a regular controller the game immerses you into the world with fluent controls and solid gameplay that has you feeling like the nine foot soldier.
Dilemma: The game's dilemma is the choice of how to handle each objective such as weather to go running and gunning or take out aliens stealthily in order to preserve health.
Boundaries: The boundaries surrounding halo range from the mountains on the "Halo" plateau all the way to walls of the covenant ship. The boundaries do a amazing job on of making you feel enclosed in the environment along with helping you feel as though you really are there.
Player: You play as Master Chief throughout the games levels.
Inventory: Your inventory includes, frag grenades, plasma grenades, assault rifles, and pistol. As you encounter the covenant you could receive different guns such as the plasma pistol and needler.
Character: In halo you play as a soldier called "Master Chief" although his origins are a little shaky you find out that he is the last of Spartan out there. Throughout the main mission you are aided by Cortana (artificial intelligence) that aids you by giving you information on the enemy presence along with giving you little back-story of the halo lore. Although master chief may be a bit far from human, you begin to feel the loneliness that he is faced with along with the decisions and choices that he has to make in order to finsh the mission.
Conflict: The conflict in halo is that the covenant is trying to destroy humanity and it’s up to you to stop them from doing it.
Challenge: Throughout the games levels you are given different objectives that range from saving captive soldiers to capturing and destroying covenant ships and weapons. As the game continues you face different kinds of aliens such as the usual grunts to the cloaked elites set on ripping you to shreds. The player is given an array of weapons ranging from the usual assault rifle all the way to more complex weapons like the alien needler. Although it may sound like it had been done before when you are faced with a large number of enemies the weapons work well with the combat allowing you to take on large numbers with little to no help from your allies.
Obstacles: The Obstacles in Halo range from the usual squads of grunts and elites to more complex enemies and vehicles such as the flood and banshees. Throughout the game their is always something in your way of completing you objective weather its other objectives interfering with yours (example-saving marines) or a ambush by covenant soldiers.
Play: The games pacing ranges from fighting through hordes of covenant grunts and elites to storm the battlefield with vehicles such as tanks and the infamous warthog. (I found the driving instances to be the hardest of the instances due to the increased enemy presence and the low amount of health that your vehicle has.) The game has a large open environment that encourages you to explore every aspect and tackle each objective that is laid before you.
Engagement: The game immerses you into the sci-fi world that “Bungie” has created. The game shows you the darkness surround the war along with making you feel as if you’re the giant super soldier. Although at points it lacks a human touch you are still immersed in the long and engaging story of a soldier faced with a great mission. You are the last of your kind and each step that you take could lead to your victory or your extinction.

My dive into Arkham Asylum

2009-09-10T21:50:00.000-04:00

Game:Batman: Arkham Asylum
Company:Microsoft
Published by: Eidos Interactive
Developed by:Rocksteady Studios
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Genre: Action

Batman Arkham Asylum

Premise: The premise is that you play as Batman as he tries to regain order in Arkham Asylum after the prison takeover by the Joker himself.
Story: Batman Arkahm Asylum takes an even darker twist on the Batman universe than its groundbreaking film "The Dark Knight". It features a simple and satisfying combat system along with enough stealth elements to rival games such as "Splinter Cell". When the game starts out you see "Batman" returning "Joker" to the hospital for the criminally insane formally know as "Arkham Asylum" after "Artimus Arkham". As the introduction progresses you are introduced to more of Batman’s most infamous villians such as "Killer Croc" and "Harley Quinn". Soon Joker springs his trap which consisted of the take over of Arkham Island, along with the invasion of the villains and Criminals that inhabit it on the inhabitants of Gotham. It’s up to you (Batman) to stop the prison break and restore order to the war torn facility. The voice acting is done by the actors of the original cartoon series and Jokers voice acting is done by none other than "Mark Hamil".
Player: The player plays as the Dark Knight himself throughout the course of the game with the option to play as the "Joker" in challenge maps.
Challenge: Throughout the game you are given different objectives that require you to use your arsenal of gadgets ranging from the "Batarang" all the way to gadgets such as the "Bat Claw". Throughout the game you face bosses such as Poison Ivy along with the hordes of criminals at Jokers command. The Game worked well with the combat truly making you feel like the Ninja that Batman is as you fly from man to man taking them down in a satisfying flow.
Play: The Games pacing ranges from you fighting through hordes of enemies all the way to stealthily taking down a few of heavily armed lunatics that want you dead (I found these instances to be very challenging due to the amount of strategy and depth that is required to complete them.) . The Game encourages backtracking along with loads of unlockables that encourage another play through.
Engagement: The game immerses players into the comic world of Batman bringing them to make the hard choices that he has to make on his war on crime. The games environment is roughly based on the "eastern state penitentiary" showing you the darkest parts of the asylum that have players thinking if the place is humane. In the end the objective is simple, stop Joker at all cost, yet theirs always the number one rule to follow.