VZ Presents

{Review} Killzone 3 -PS3-

2011-04-05T19:09:00.000-04:00

Killzone 3 is the latest entry into the series that took Playstation gamers by storm back on the Playstation 2, and once more on the Playstation 3. Set right after the events of Killzone 2′s ending, gamers must continue fighting the Helghast army on their home world. But this time not alone.

Gameplay: Players will take up the role of Sev once more in the games campaign mode, however Sev is not alone as Killzone 3 now features a co-op mode, allowing players to work with a partner (local only) to take on the the Helghast hordes. The campaign itself is about 6 hours long, but the AI this time around isn’t screwing around, and no matter the difficulty setting, they will be out for your head, and will take several rounds to take out. There’s also a a mode for players to practice against bots in a multiplayer mode simulation, which is a nice way to test out every class and prepare for the menace of the online gamer.

Speaking of the online experience, the multiplayer aspect of Killzone 3 hasn’t really evolved too much since Killzone 2. Returning once more for match types are Guerrilla Warefare, an all out team death match, and Warzone a smorgasbord of game types, such as death match, capture the speaker, territory capture, and so on. However, a nice addition to the game types is Operations, a cinematic spin on things. Players will work to complete a series of objectives, much like Warzone, however the modes are far more specific to the maps, and with each failure and success a cut scene will show the top players of each side battling it out, reflecting the events that transpired. It gives a bigger feeling of satisfaction watching you and two team mates actually execute your foes in cinematic style than to just simply get a “Your faction has won” screen.

Now, as for the controls themselves, I have a big problem with them. The sensitivity just feels off. No matter what I have it set to, it always feels as though I’m fighting with the controller to move around and aim. Also, the control layouts bother me. This is merely a personal gripe, and not really a problem with the game per se’, so take it with a grain of salt, but I cannot fathom why my only two options for my button layout are the standard, which basically just spreads out every command to every button in awkward places, and the alternate, which does its best to make it feel like you’re playing Call of Duty. Why is it so difficult for developers to allow for a custom layout option?

Presentation: Killzone 3 is by far one of the sleekest military shooters out there. It’s visual design is top notch and the voice acting is just as well done as the sound track itself. In its gritty, bleak atmosphere Killzone 3 still manages to work in gorgeous and vibrant colors and detail. Guerrilla Games have really outdone themselves this time around. I’ve only found a few graphical glitches here and there, in online play. Every so often when shooting an enemy their arms would go all Mr. Fantastic and rubber band around their body. But other than that I cannot really think of anything wrong with it.

Value: Now, here is where I get a bit iffy about the game. On the surface, the game has a lot going for it; a campaign that can be played with a friend, an offline copy of the online game modes, and a nice multiplayer mode with different ways to play. However, in the grand scheme of things, nothing has really changed since the last iteration, it’s just more of the same. Sure, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but why are we still playing the same classes? Sure, the skill branching and customization is nice, but why not have some more classes? And even with the new game mode, it’s still essentially a bunch of the same game modes repackaged. If you liked Killzone 2, this shouldn’t be an issue, but if you didn’t, you won’t find any reason to hop onto the Killzone band wagon now.

Final Thoughts: Killzone 3 is an all around fantastic experience if you love FPS games and/or the Killzone series as a whole. Although the story this time around was a bit weak, requiring several deus ex machina to solve the problems of its characters, it was really no different than any other action movie you’d see; just check your brain out at the door and enjoy the ride. The multiplayer aspect is also fun and challenging, requiring a very methodical approach, noobs be ware. But still, as I’ve mentioned before, when you get right down to it, it’s really just more of the same. If that’s fine for you, I’d suggest go pick it up right away. If you weren’t too big a fan of Killzone 2, than you probably wont like Killzone 3 either. I give Killzone 3 a B-.

+ By far one of the best looking games on the PS3
+ Multiplayer that values skill over run and gun tactics
- Honestly just more of the same game we’ve already seen.

{Review} Fallout New Vegas: Dead Money DLC -PS3-

2011-04-05T18:52:00.000-04:00

Fallout: New Vegas may have been a huge game to explore as it was already, but I will never say no to having it further expanded on. Dead Money brings players to a town frozen in time, where the heist of the century is in the making; providing they can survive that is.

Dead Money is accessible from an abandoned Brotherhood of Steel Bunker at any point PRIOR to the final mission of the game; so right away those hoping that this would allow players to continue even after the game is done, ala Operation Anchorage, will be disappointed. However, what players find will be far worth the $10 price of entry.

Once inside the bunker, players will be knocked out; their companions will be gone and they’ll awake to find them stripped of their possessions, and a bomb color strapped to their neck. Welcome to Sierra Madre, town of the dead. Father Elijah, yes, THAT Father Elijah, greets you to this death trap of a ghost town ands explains that you’re here for the long haul; its play by his rules or die. You must assemble a team to break into the towns Vault and obtain its bountiful treasure. Which wouldn’t be too hard, if everything in the town wasn’t out to kill you. Players will traverse through poisonous fog, contend with traps rigged around nearly every corner, and fight a ghastly horde of fiends that require dismemberment to actually kill.

But wait, there’s more! Along side the new story and quests, the level cap is increased to level 35, and 10 new perks are obtainable, giving players far more options to fine tune their characters, and to jack them up to godly stats.

All in all, Dead Money is a must have for Fallout players. The interesting storyline, hostile new atmosphere, and added levels and perks are all good reasons as it is to get the DLC, however, there is one, MAJOR part of this DLC that can easily make the DLC worth a purchase for those who may have given up on New Vegas. No bugs. None. I played through the DLC twice, just to be sure, and it was amazing, the freezing was gone. And not only that but many of the problems that reportedly affected the 360 version of the DLC held no weight in the PS3 version. So go out there and buy this! Solid A!

+Extended Level Cap/New Perks
+Challenging new area to explore
+Well written story
+No bugs that I could find
-360 users had first dibs on it

{Review} Explodemon -PS3-

2011-04-05T18:46:00.002-04:00

A five year labor of love, Explodemon is here, despite the odds placed against it. But does the hard work and dedication show through in the game? Continue on to find out!

Explodemon takes you through a interstellar journey as a fighting robot known as Explodemon. Deemed a failure and a hazard to all around him, he was originally locked up and hidden away in a cryogenic prison. However, when the planet is invaded and the guardians refuse to take up arms, Explodemon is able to break free, and decides to fight against the Void in order to save the universe, and redeem himself.

The game itself is a 2.5D platformer, featuring 12 levels of pure destruction. You’ll be constantly blowing up hordes of alien robots and dashing through a vast array of puzzles, all the while engaging in a boss fight every 2 levels. Explodemon can obtain upgrades, such as faster explosion regeneration, bigger blast radius, and even more armor. The game’s difficulty scales quite well, although the last boss fight is an extreme pain in the back side. And although the controls for the most part are well thought out, the lack of the ability to use the D-Pad for movement, is an extreme let down, as it makes some of the more precision dependent challenges a chore to do with the analog stick.

In terms of a sound track, there almost isn’t one in this game. There’s a few different tunes here and there, nicely done tunes mind you, but after listening to them loop a few times, they start to grow old quickly. The sound effects are rather well done as well, though again, not a whole lot of variation.

The art direction and over all design of this game are fantastic. The colors are vibrant and defined, the creatures, though lacking any real variation, are well rendered and thought out. Explodemon himself feels like an homage to Megaman, or perhaps Protoman would be the better example, due to the red color scheme. All in all, this is a rather enjoyable game to look at.

For the price tag of $10, it’s hard to argue against checking this game out. Sure, it’s a bit on the short side, lasting only about 2-3 hours, but in that same regard, so were the Sonic games of old; and we had to pay full retail price for those. Plus, there’s a lot of hidden items to collect and discover for completionists out there, which will easily tack on another few hours. And if you’re a trophy hunter, the challenge of getting 100% of the trophies will certainly keep you busy for some time to come.

I give Explodemon on the PS3, a 6/10. It’s not a bad game by any means, it just could have used a lot more variation, and the ability to customize your controls would have been a much welcomed feature. Plus, unless you really loved the game, or are a completionist, you probably wont play through the game a second time. Still, any platforming fan, especially those of the 16-bit era, should definitely give this game a buy, as there is still a lot of fun to be had.

+ Balanced scale in difficulty
+ Fun, easy going story
+ Tight game play
- Extremely short
- Not a lot of content

{Review} Bad Company 2: Vietnam DLC -PS3-

2011-04-05T18:09:00.000-04:00

Vietnam isn’t exactly new territory for the Battlefield franchise. Originally released in 2004, Battlefield: Vietnam was the second entry into the series, and was well received among gamers and critics alike, so much so that it warranted a ‘redux’ bundle in 2005 with all its patches and EA sanctioned mods. Now, the ‘Nam campaign comes to us as DLC. But does it still deliver the same excitement as before? Or is this just a quick cash in?

Price: $15

Content: Bad Company 2: Vietnam brings to us a whole new game setting for online only play. Gamers will find themselves in, of course, Vietnam, however, they’ll come to find a drastic difference in game play from the first few moments. The immediate difference being the weapon load outs. Gone are the fancy guns, attachments, and scopes, and in are classic guns such as the AK-47 and M10. Combat is fought out in much tighter spaces, bringing a new strategy focus into the game, as well as a demand for more team like actions, as you can’t just run off on your own that easily. There’s also a tweak to the sensitivity in Nam; myself and several others I’ve played with noticed that the game plays smoother, and is far more responsive.

In total, there’s 5 main maps to play, with variations for each game mode. These maps are mostly divided into heavy jungle territories and desolated landscapes. However, what’s sad to see for long term Battlefield fans is the lack of vehicles in the maps, as only 2 of them really seem to have them readily available, and even then they are easier to take down than in vanilla Bad Company 2.

+ A new experience from the ground up
+ Tightened controls
- Vehicles are almost non-existent
- Not a lot of people like the idea of not having their scopes.

Ultimately, I give Bad Company 2: Vietnam a C. Although EA delivers a solid game experience with this DLC, it can feel a bit barren, due to the lack of vehicles, as well as the decrease in usable guns and attachments. Because of this, I can’t really recommend it to everyone. However, if you don’t mind the $15 price tag and giving up your scopes, you’ll easily find a wonderful new experience to be had.

{Review} Half-Minute Hero -PSP-

2011-01-03T11:38:00.003-05:00

Ah, the many genres that have come to grace the gaming world. If only we could combine them all into a single game. But still, if only we had the time to play them all. Well, Half-Minute Hero is here to answer those pleas. You must save the world in several game styles, ranging from RPG to RTS, but the catch is you only have thirty seconds to do it. Can you rise to the challenge?

Gameplay: As mentioned, Half-Minute Hero is an interesting and unique spin on gaming. Gamers will take up arms to save the world, in several different, yet intersecting, time lines (ala Chrono Trigger) with each time era possessing a new form of game play mechanics to conquer. You'll be fighting your way through enemy hordes RPG style in Goddess Era 100, unleashing your own armies RTS style in the Goddess Era 200, shooting everything you see in a top-down Shoot-Em-Up in Goddess Era 300, and working to protect a wise Sage in a defense style game in Goddess Era 400. There's two other Goddess Era's in the game that I could mention, however I don't want to spoil them. But the main thing to keep in mind is that they all follow the same principle: you have thirty seconds to complete your objective.

+ Fast, fun, varying game play keeps the game fresh and never once do you feel like you're just doing mundane tasks.
- Time constraints can be bothersome to the more hardcore gamer who wants to really explore the game.

Audio: The orchestral score in Half-Minute Hero is both familiar and new. Each song is both fitting of setting as well as reminiscent of songs of old; in fact I believe I heard a few cords from the Zelda and Final Fantasy series used. I'd definitely pay for the sound track to this game.

+ A sound track worth purchasing.

Visual: Instead of going for a more realistic style, or even an anime style, it's all about the 2D sprites of the bit art variety with this game. It's charming, though admittedly acquired taste style is a welcome sight to the eyes for older gamers and those that appreciate the retro feel, however more graphic eccentric gamers won't find this game very appealing to the eyes.

+ Great for the older/retro crowd
- Not for those that want stunning, realistic visuals.

Value: Although you'd think that game designed around lasting only thirty seconds a round would be a rather short play through, the main story is actually about ten to fifteen hours long, with so much item collecting and photo album unlocking to do in the meta-game that you'll be sure to spend at least another twenty hours going back and getting everything. And because this game can be played in short bursts, it's one of the most perfect travel games.

+ Perfect game for both on the go and to grind the time away with.

I cannot praise this game enough. Its simple, yet engaging story and lovable cast of characters keep you coming back for more, while its varied game style keeps the action from getting stale. The game is extremely easy to pick up and play, while still offering a challenge. I have to force myself to come up with negative points to this game, and the ones I can come up with are simply a matter of trivial tastes. With that said, I give Half-Minute Hero for the PSP a perfect A.

{Review} Fallout: New Vegas -PS3-

2011-01-03T11:35:00.000-05:00

Fallout New Vegas is a stand-alone story in the Fallout universe set four years after the events that took place in Fallout: 3. Although it runs on the same engine, don't think for a second that this game is just glorified DLC, for there is a lot to conquer in New Vegas, when you're able to play it that is.

Gameplay: Fallout New Vegas takes the established game play elements of the Fallout franchise, as well as those brought about in Fallout 3 and kicks it up a notch with a slew of new mechanics and concepts. Gamers will play through the eyes of the Courier, a glorified package boy/girl that gets caught up in a crazy storm of events that will lead to the possible salvation or devastation of the Mojave Desert and all that inhabit it. The game can be played in either a first or third person perspective as players will shoot, slash, punch, and explode their way through the desert wastes as they carve their own path through the games ever-branching story.

But you wont have to go it alone, as the companion system returns and is better than ever, allowing for two companions to fight along side you, as well as companion specific quests that allow the player to truly get to know and help those that watch their back. Plus, there's also the new Faction Reputation system. It works much like the karma system, however it is directly related to how you treat the several factions within the game, which will prove to have an even greater importance than your karma itself. Really, there's so much to do in this game that it's hard to just point out any one thing about it. However, the game does have one major gameplay issue: it freezes, constantly. It freezes when fast traveling, it freezes when you enter buildings, it freezes when walking around, it freezes when saving, and it even freezes while loading. Trying to play this game for any stretch of time can be a war of attrition at times because of this.

+ So much content and gameplay elements it's hard to list them all.
- Constant freezing!

Audio: The sound track in New Vegas keeps to that classic 50's feel, which fits the over-arching theme of the game perfectly, however is indeed an acquired taste amongst younger gamers. (And even those that are a bit older) The voice acting however is a bit hit and miss. There's a wide array of personalities, which all shine through in the voice acting cast, however due to the bizarre mix of characters, the game feels almost disjointed and almost too goofy to really invest any interest in. When you're listening to a group of Elvis impersonators while a drunken cowgirl and a group of soldiers are also talking, it just feels so out of place, ya know? Especially when you leave that area and immediately run into people promoting laser weapons, prostitutes, and cheap booze.

+ The music, as always, is spot on.
- The voice acting is just awkward and mood killing.

Visual: When compared to Fallout 3, this game really doesn't seem to have that much of an upgrade, and it can be easy to see why people would call it just a glorified expansion pack. But on its own, it's still a rather nice looking game, with tons of landscapes to explore and architecture to examine. Running around and just exploring the different areas is really one of the best parts about this game, as you never really know what you'll run into. I really can't think of anything bad to say about the visual aspects, other than what I've already stated above.

+ Game looks fantastic, if a bit recycled.

Value: Like I've mentioned a few times in this review, this game is just packed with things to do and places to go. Like in older games, the players actions will play a great roll in shaping the world around them, and not only create multiple ending paths, but also cause a direct impact on the game experience. Not only that, but even after you've gone through the four major story paths, there's two other game modes that can alter player experiences known as Hardcore Mode and the Wild Wasteland trait. Hardcore makes the game far more realistic, to the point where you need to sleep, eat, and keep hydrated to survive. The Wild Wasteland trait will send New Vegas into bizzaro world, giving the gamer access to places, events, and weaponry that are both goofy and power, such as the Alien Blaster and the Holy Hand Grenades. Really, unless you just simply don't like the game from the get go, there is no reason why you wont return to it several times over.

+ More content than you can beat with a stick

Fallout: New Vegas is a fantastic game. It's host to so many unique and lovable characters, familiar yet unnerving landscapes, and a world that is yours to shape as you see fit. It's easy for both veterans of the series and new comers alike to pick up and get into the action. Really, the few minor flaws this game does have almost feel like nit picking. Too bad there's more than just those few minor flaws. The constant freezing is guaranteed to annoy and even enrage gamers. It's pretty bad when you can't even play the game for a half hour without it locking up on you. And this is a shame, as I can't in my heart give as big as a recommendation to a game that's borderline broken. Don't get me wrong, I love this game; freezing issues aside I've put well over one-hundred hours into it. But let's face it, until this issue is addressed I don't see far too many people who aren't already die hard fans of the series putting up with the freezing for long. Which is a shame, because there is an amazing game to be played.

I give Fallout: New Vegas on the Playstation 3 a C.

{Review} Splatterhouse: Killing Floor DLC -PS3-

2011-01-03T11:33:00.001-05:00

The survival arena is an intense feature in the new Splatterhouse title. Fighting constant hordes of enemies to test your mettle is always nice. But what happens when you've completed all the stages available? Simple, you buy more challenges! Welcome, to the Killing Floor!

Price: $2

Content: The Killing Floor is hopefully the first of many DLC levels to experience in Splatterhouse. Gamers will be placed in a pure white room. Well, it won't be white for long as you decimate wave after wave of monsters and bosses. This level is by far the best show of just how hardcore the gore in this game is, as you'll be able to actually see every once of blood that you spill and splatter across the stage. However, there sadly isn't anything else to this DLC. Not even another photo collectible, which would have been nice to have.

+Great price point
+Excellent challenge level
-Lack of bonus content

I have to give The Killing Floor DLC for Splatterhouse a B. Having a new survival level is always a welcome addition to the game, especially for its generous price point. However, it would have been nice to maybe have a bit more with it, as not everyone enjoys this type of game mode.

{Review} Splatterhouse -PS3-

2010-12-04T10:59:00.002-05:00

Splatterhouse is a game who’s history and development has been rather infamous. Originally developed by BottleRocket, the game would be pulled from them to be finished internally by Namco Bandai. On top of this, the game made history by being the only game to ever be featured on the cover of Fangoria.

However, what gamers mostly care about are two fold: can a beat-em-up still survive in this current climate of FPS and RTS action, or has the genre been rendered out-dated? And perhaps the bigger question for long time fans of the series, is this a true Splatterhouse game? Well, let’s find out.

Gameplay: As mentioned, Splatterhouse is a beat-em-up, and is by far the bloodiest one ever made. Whether you’re wailing away on demonic forces with your basic punches, weapons such as 2×4′s or machete’s, or unleashing all sorts of hell with your ‘Splatter Kill’ ability that lets you literally tear apart your enemies in several different ways, you can be assured that your screen will almost constantly be covered in the blood of the fallen. Although younger gamers who missed the age of beat-em-ups might find this kind of game-play tiresome and tedious, the older crowd will find almost no issue with the games set up. I say almost because this game does have a few annoying bugs, such as an infinite death loop that can force the player to restart a mission from the beginning.

+ Solid game play

- A bit buggy at times

Audio: The soundtrack, depending on your taste in music, is either amazing or dreadful. Splatterhouse features a multitude of various metal bands spread across the various sub-genre’s, including Mastadon, Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, and many, many more. The voice acting on the other hand is extremely over-the-top, as it should be. Characters deliver some of the hammiest performances and chew up the scenery more than it already is. While some may find this to be loathsome and unneeded, I find it’s how the original games would have been as well, had they included voice acting. Not to mention, you get to hear the oh-so-wonderful voice of Jim Cummings as the Terror Mask. What’s not to love?

+/- Honestly, this is purely up to personal taste more so than anything else.

Visuals: Splatterhouse goes for two different art directions that work really well for it. In game graphics are done in a sort of comic book style with over-exaggerated lines and colors that just pop out at you, almost akin to how Borderlands was designed. Meanwhile, the cut-scenes are presented in a gorgeous realistic CGI style that truly helps to capture the depth and insanity of the more heart pounding scenes. Sure, it may not look as top notch as other titles out there, but really, when you’re actually playing the game, you tend to not even notice this.

+ Great visual design

Replay Value: There is a lot to do in this reboot of the classic horror franchise. In just the story mode alone there are several hidden photographs to collect and audio files to listen to. Then there’s also the survival mode in which you battle wave after wave of enemies, trying to achieve a high score in a fast time in order to unlock more photos as well as additional usable weapons. Plus, as a special bonus to those long time fans, as well as a perfect introduction for those new to the series, you can unlock the original trilogy in the game! That’s right, no DLC, no hoops to jump through, just play story mode like you normally would and the original games become unlocked for you to play at your leisure! My only real complaint is the lack of the spin-off title, Wanpaku Graffiti, however considering how much is already on the disk, I guess I can let that slide.

+ Several game modes, unlockables, and the original trilogy will keep you coming back for more
- The more die hard fans will be sad to see the exclusion of Wanpaku Graffiti

Splatterhouse is the biggest love letter to a series’ fans that I’ve ever seen. Being a great reboot that pays homage to not only the original games, but many other series that share it’s horror theme Splatterhouse is a fun time to be had. Although the gameplay can feel repetitive at times, this is really only due to it being a beat-em-up, which no matter how you dress them up are repetitive by nature. Also, some may find the over the top nature of the game immature and childish, but honestly that’s kind of the point. So enjoy the ride for what it is, not what you want it to be. I give Splatterhouse a solid B on the rating scale.

{Review} Bioshock 2 -PS3-

2010-12-04T06:51:00.002-05:00

Bioshock was the spiritual successor to the System Shock series that was a love it or hate it title by gamers. Now we find ourselves in this sort of situation again in its sequel, Bioshock 2. Between the shift in time, story, characters and all around setting, can fans of Bioshock appreciate this entry in the series? Can this be the game to pull in gamers new to the mythos? Well, I’m a bit split on my thoughts.

The story of Bioshock 2 is set several years after the original. Rapture has gone straight to hell as a woman named Sofia Lamb struggles to bring about a revolution on the once individual driven society. Right from the begining players will wander around a run down Rapture, covered in barnacles and rust while being surrounded by propaganda exclaiming the power of family, and how unity is the only salvation. Speaking of the player, this time around you will be playing through the eyes of one of the most iconic characters from Bioshock, the Big Daddy. Code named Subject Delta, you awaken from the grasp of death with only one goal in mind: to find your original Little Sister.

And this is where I primarily have issues with the game, the story. Excluding side quests, the game only lasts for roughly 4-5 hours, the first half of which just feels like retread of the first game: wandering around a mysterious new place while trying to save or harvest Little Sisters to help you in your goal as someone guides you via radio to your objectives. However, the second half of the game truly brings the story to life as you begin to understand the events that lead up to this moment as well as the implication of your actions coming to fruition and effecting the pace of the plot by this point. Although it all grows into a fitting end, and touching story, the over all mythos becomes a bit skewed by events and characters within the plot, so much so that I could write an entire article about it. But, let’s move on for times sake.

Thankfully Bioshock 2 has in almost every way tweaked and refined the core game play from the original. Action is fluid and on par with other top shooters on the market. The abilities and powers granted by plasmids and tonics have been retooled and balanced to nigh perfection. However a few things have been tweeked for the worst. Hacking which used to be a fun and chaotic puzzle game has been changed into a simple color coded game of ‘press the button at the right time’. What’s worse is a tool you get early in the game, the hack tool, let’s you hack things at a distance. This normally wouldn’t be an issue, as it runs on ammo, however the distance hacking mechanic was never closed off to just the hacking tool, as you can walk up to any hackable machine, initiate a hack, and run off to a safe corner while still hacking it.

Then there’s the issue of multiplayer. A feature that had fans of the original raging, because of fear that it would pull attention away from single player, which the game was meant to be about. Players can get together in groups of only 10 as they fight out the civil war that tore Rapture apart. The game modes are bare basic, either some form of death match or capture the flag with the Little Sisters. Environments are small and closed in, not really allowing any sort of breathing room and spawning is rather random, just spitting you out in a one of a dozen pre-determined locations, regardless of enemies are in the area or not. A leveling system allows for players to obtain more weapons and plasmids to make use of in battle, but really, it all just feels lack luster. You can tell they were trying to do something with the multiplayer, but really didn’t have a clue as to how to properly make it wrap around the Bioshock universe (which is made even more apparent when you read the art book).

Honestly, this game just looks worst than the first. I’m normally not one to pick on a game for its graphics, but when you compare Bioshock’s 1 and 2 side by side on the PS3 there is a huge drop in visual quality. There could be several factors to this, but ultimately it is a bit distracting regardless of the reason. Thankfully, music is fitting and voice acting is spot on.

Ultimately, this game isn’t bad: the story, once it gets rolling, is very gripping and emotional, and the (single player) gameplay is fine tuned for most part. However, the drop in visual quality, lack luster multiplayer, and plot holes in the mythos being present, it can be hard for a fan of the first to really accept the game. Still, I’d suggest at least a rent, in which you could probably finish the game and decide for yourself if it’s worth the purchase or not.

I give Bioshock 2 for the Playstation 3 a 6/10.

{Review} Crazy Taxi -PS3-

2010-12-04T06:46:00.000-05:00

Originally released in the arcades in 1999, Crazy Taxi was a fresh change of pace from the normal racing games that were all over the place back then. Instead of a focus on supreme racing talent against other players, Crazy Taxi has players race against the clock as they pick up people and give them an insane ride to their destination. The year is now 2010, so what exactly does this game have to offer?

Well, Crazy Taxi is far from lacking in terms of content; featuring original arcade as well as normal play modes, challenge modes, and leader board rankings for every mode and rule set, there is a lot to do for both the casual player and hardcore gamer alike. However, long time fans of the series will be disappointed to notice that the original soundtrack is missing, although this can be fixed by the player thanks to the ability to use custom soundtracks. Gamers newer to the series will probably be a bit annoyed with the lack of a graphics update, but more nostalgic gamers will welcome the lack of change to the games visual presentation.

There is a bit of a major problem with Crazy Taxi, however that can easily affect your ability to enjoy the game, and that’s the controls. They feel both unresponsive and yet over sensitive at the same time. This is best noticed when turning. Any form of precise nudge on the D-Pad or Analog stick will barely cause any form of reaction, forcing you to slam on the direction you want to turn, which can result in either turning the way you want, or spinning yourself out of control. Then there’s also the issue of the skills your character can use when driving. There are a few special moves key to acing the game which require exact timing and practice, however even when executed properly, it’s still about 50/50 whether you can use them or not. This makes completing the challenge mode as well as scoring high in the normal and arcade modes hard unless you truly dedicate yourself to perfecting every little quirk that the controls can have. Then there’s also the issue of a forced ability that sometimes happens, drifting. Far too often I find myself forced into a drift because I was near the rails on the high way and it sent me into a sideways drift.

Still, all things considered, Crazy Taxi is just as fun as it was back in the day. The interesting spin on the racing genre will keep gamers on edge as they constantly work to master the game, however when you get right down to it there really isn’t any depth at all to the game. It’s get in the car and drive people to a bunch of check points. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to keep in mind. If you’re a long time fan of the series, this is certainly a must buy. If you love racing games, it’s easily worth looking into. Or maybe you’re just a gamer with an interest in more retro games, if so, do check it out. With a price tag of only $10, it’s hard to argue against this game, it’s flaws aside. Unless you just don’t care for racing games you’ll thoroughly enjoy this game.

I give Crazy Taxi on the Playstation Network a 7/10

{Review} Costume Quest -PS3-

2010-11-15T18:32:00.000-05:00

From the team that brought us glorious titles like Psychonauts and Brutal Legend comes an adventure so simple yet enjoyable. Costume Quest is the tale of twins, a brother and a sister, who are new to town. On the night of Halloween, they set out to rake in a record amount of candy, and maybe even make some new friends. However, all is not well in this suspicious town, as monsters known as Grubbins are out and about, stealing all the candy they can, including one of the twins who was dressed as Candy Corn. Now the remaining twin must set out to fight the Grubbin horde to get their twin back, and still try to score big in candy.

You'll control either twin (it's up to you) on your journey to save the other. At the start, you'll have access to the robot costume, which has abilities both outside and inside of combat. Out of combat, you can use the roller skates of the costume for a speed boost, as well as to jump off of ramps that lay around the various places you'll traverse. Inside of battle you'll turn into a giant missile shooting robot that specializes in dealing fire damage. Along the way you will obtain several different costumes, each with their own unique platforming abilities and combat abilities, as well as multiple party members that will aid you in battle.

In terms of presentation, there is an odd divide in quality. Visually, this game is absolutely beautiful, with well rendered models and an art direction that is both familiar to those who have played other titles from the creators, while still keeping a unique feel to it. In terms of the audio aspect, however, this game is damn near silent. Between the complete absence of voice acting, and the lack of any real musical score, Costume Quest feels rather lack luster. The length of the game is also abysmal, lasting a mere 5 hours and lacks any real replay value.

For $15, there are better games you can get. That's not to say that Costume Quest is a bad game; it's fun, light hearted atmosphere and story are a pleasant experience, and the easily to pick up and play controls allow for gamers seasoned and new alike to be able to enjoy the experience. However, with a short story and lack of any real reason to return to the game after it's initial play through, the $15 price tag is fairly steep. Best to try the demo before buying.

I give Costume Quest on the Playstation Network, a 6/10

{Review} Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3: The Commander's Challenge -PS3-

2010-11-15T18:30:00.000-05:00

The Command and Conquer franchise have been a staple in PC gaming for a long time. Renowned for their tight RTS action and corny, yet well presented FMV cut scenes, the franchise has earned its place in the hearts of gamers. Although now a days the community is split, with older fans hating the series since EA took over the reigns, while others welcome the changes made. This brings us to today's game, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3: The Commanders Challenge.

The Commanders Challenge was originally part of the Uprising expansion featured in the PC version of the games, however EA decided that making it a stand alone would not only provide a way for new comers to get hooked into the series, but make some extra cash as well.

In the Commanders Challenge, you play as a General employed by the company Future Tech, a company that has primarily aided the Allied forces in the war against the Soviet Union and the Empire of the Rising Sun. However, with the CEO of Future Tech passing, it's next in command has other plans. She hires you, the player to strike out against the three world powers and take their technology, in order to bolster the companies power.

When you start off the game you'll have access to all three factions to chose from, however you'll be restricted to the bare basics of infantry and vehicles to fight with. As you progress through the thirteen main missions and forty-seven side missions you unlock the rest of the arsenal for your factions, including some new units that are exclusive to the game itself. You'll be fighting on a pleasant verity of maps, most of which containing special stipulations such as explosive barrels randomly being generated onto the battlefield, three-on-one fights, and even limitations on what types of forces you can use in battle.

Those with Red Alert 3 experience will find the challenge to be exciting, while those new to both games may find themselves a bit overwhelmed at first by the controls. R2 will open the main command window, in which flicks of the left analog stick will select what command to execute, what units and structures to build, and what commander abilities to learn. It sounds simple, but does take time to adjust to.

This is primarily due to each of the three factions acting differently from one another, as far as their basic construction tasks are concerned. The Allied Forces will build their structures inside the Construction Yard, and deploy them when their finished within the base boundaries. The Soviet Union will pre-place their structures within the base boundaries, and build them outside, which frees up your attention. Finally, the Empire of the Rising Sun actually partially builds their buildings and sends them out of the Construction Yard as free-roaming transports that can unfurl anywhere they please, leaving for great tactical advantages and risks.

There's other differences that further expand upon the unique twists of each side, however most of them are actually irrelevant inside this game, as you can't use most of them until after you have already made your way through a good portion of the game, and even then you will find yourself using most of the same strategies over and over again. This creates a bit of a stale, yet harsh environment, but it can be over looked if you're a bit more on the casual side of gaming.

In terms of presentation, this game features a strong cast of actors and actresses who deliver hamminess at its finest. The battlefields range from wide open landscapes of green fields and desolated deserts to industrial play grounds of steel and ocean cages. Every inch of which can hold grand warfare. The only real complaint, and it is a major one, that I can mention about the presentation quality is the lack of surround sound support. EA hasn't given any word on if it's just a bug, or something that they took out at the last minute, but if you try to play this game with surround sound enabled in your PS3 sound settings, the game will only play audio for a brief moment before the entire game cuts out entirely, leaving not even the sound of white noise.

Over all, I really enjoyed the Commanders Challenge. It gave a taste of the main game while still feeling like a full title. The action was intense, if a bit repetitive at times, and although it suffers from a lack of any kind of multiplayer (which would have been an amazing addition) it still gives what an RTS gamer can hope for. With a cheap price tag, if you're looking for that RTS fix, this is definitely something to pick up. But, if you want something with a bit more substance, you're better off just getting the main game.

I give Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3: The Commander's Challenge on the PSN an 8/10

{Review} Space Invaders: Infinity Gene -PS3-

2010-10-04T16:49:00.001-04:00

Space Invaders is one of those games that just about everyone grew up with. Originally released in 1978, Space Invaders was among the first shooter style games, and grew to an immense popularity that literally caused a 100yen coin shortage in Japan. Since that day, Space Invaders, and its many sequels, have seen release on virtually every console, computer, and hand-held. Which brings us to today: Space Invaders Infinity Gene.

The King of Games is back, and is more alive than ever. The moment you boot up the game, you're brought back to the classic game. But in a few moments, the game radically changes on you, evolving into something new. This, is the infinity gene. From there on you will be battling it out in an ever evolving world against foes both new and old while obtaining new ships to fight with. The action is fast and intense, bordering on the Bullet Hell sub-genre of Shoot-em-Ups.

There are four main game modes to play within Space Invaders: Infinity Gene. You have normal mode, which is the main game that is set in 6 DNA strands with each strand lasting roughly five to six levels. You'll fight your way against hordes of enemies until confronted with a boss, and fight a one-on-one battle to the death. Then there's the bonus mode, which features 12 unlockable levels that truly put your skills to the test. Challenge mode, a mode that lasts for ninety-nine levels of pure shoot-em-up action. And finally, there is, what I find to be the best mode, music mode. Music mode accesses any music you have downloaded to your Playstation 3 and creates entire levels based around them, creating infinite possibilities for levels. I'v run through the mode with a vast array of bands (Nightwish, Protest the Hero, Hatebreed, and even the Guilty Gear sound track) and every time it was like experiencing a whole new battle. I'm not sure how the game determines how to make the stage, but damn is it effective.

For most part, this game is flawless. The visuals are well rendered, in their basic kind of way, the music within the game is wonderfully put together, and the game is highly tweakable to match your skill as a player. However, there are some slight issues I have to make note of. Despite the fact that the games loads everything near instantaneously, there is an issue with menu lag. Every so often when I click on a game mode, the game will just freeze for a bit before going into your game. Also, although the variety of usable ships is nice, two of them (The Field and The Original) absolutely break the game, making playing any difficulty outside of Nightmare fairly boring. Also, if you try to use music in music mode that, either isn't readable on the PS3 or in the more likely case your PS3 corrupted the song for laughs, the game will still try to make a level, and freeze up. Granted, it's not a hard freeze; you can still use the XMB to exit out of the game, but it will be stuck in a blank screen otherwise.

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene is pure fun. Its retro-presentation with shoot-em-up action makes for a great experience. Although I can't say that more modern gamers would appreciate it, it doesn't make the game any less great. It's their loss. But if you can appreciate the classic feel, or have a soft spot for it because you grew up with it, give the game a buy. At $10 it's easily worth the price.

I give Space Invaders: Infinity Gene on the Playstation Network a 10/10

{Interview} Ryan and Anthony: The Rona Project

2010-09-20T08:26:00.000-04:00

{Interview} John Evans

2010-09-20T08:08:00.002-04:00

{Interview} John Barber aka Techknott

2010-09-20T08:01:00.002-04:00

VZ: Hello Jon! It's VainZiler from Youtube, but you may just call me David. So, let's get this interview underway! First, tell the readers a bit about yourself, if you don't mind.

Jon: Hi David, well to start my name is Jon, I'm 29 years old and I'm an Electrical Engineer for Network Rail(UK) by day and occasionally a DJ by night. My hobbies include DJing, music production, hobby cnc and obviously creating games machines and various other techy things. Basically I'm the worlds biggest gadget freak.

VZ: Wow, you really like to keep busy. But why make gaming gadgets, what got you into games in the first place?

Jon: Ive always been into gaming. It started when my Mum got me a Tatung Einstein for my first computer. Since then Ive had every console ever made except the original Xbox. But I really like handhelds, however, the handhelds of today just aren't doing it for me(and others it seems).

VZ: Ever plan on picking up the original Xbox? Also, why aren't current handhelds cutting it? Personally, I feel they've been as innovative as ever since there's now real competition in the market, however, I'll admit that the games themselves are perhaps not the best they could be. What else could handheld systems, and handheld game makers be doing to meet customer expectations?

Jon: Well lets start with the DS, I personally love Nintendo, but the DS is mainly just a gimmick as far as im concerned. They're making games that appeal to a wide range of ages but it all feels and looks so childish. The PSP just doesn't have any killer titles for it whatsoever, but I think thats mainly down to developers not wanting to release for a system thats so easily compromised. Thats why I like to make handhelds with newer systems in mind, so many excellent and current games to choose from.

VZ: Let's get into that then. now, I've seen your work with the Dreamcast and Playstation 3 handheld devices. When did you say to yourself "Hey, I can do this." and make those?

Jon: It was a few of years ago on the xbox 360 wvi, that was the first one I did. It started when I was sat watching the TV with my missus, I thought, 'I wish they could make a handheld system that was up to date with the current home based consoles', then I thought it over and came up with these.

VZ: So that makes a 360, Dreamcast, and PS3 WVI. Ever thought of playing around with a Wii iteration?

Jon: Yes I have, im currently throwing some idea's around my little workshop, although a handheld version would be little more than a gamecube that you could dock and use in 'wii mode'.

VZ: We'll be keeping an eye out for it! Now, do you have any plans to try to mass produce your work? If I remember correctly, you have put the PS3 WVI on Ebay, but do you intend to take special orders in the future for these?

Jon: The WVI isn't on ebay just yet, but soon. There has been a lot of interest in these and I may consider making them on commision in the future, but as for mass production, I really wouldn't know where to start. First I plan to completely redesign them to make them smaller and more comfortable and 'handheld like'. When I get around to this though is anyones guess. I just have so many idea's and plans in my head that there aren't enough hours in the day.

VZ: I know that feeling! But what else do you have in the works? Clearly you're never short on innovation

Jon: Currently on my desk is a Gamecube work in progress, this one should be done in a few weeks. Then after that I want to make myself a decent size injection moulder as I've always wanted to try it. I also want to make a bigger cnc machine, maybe 2m square. As I said, its never ending.

VZ: That's for sure! I wish you luck with all your projects. Is there anything else you'd like to share before the conclusion of the interview?

Jon: Id just like to thank everyone for all of the positive comments ive been receiving. Its really nice to be praised for your efforts. Keep an eye on the benheck forums for more in the near future. Thank you.

VZ: I will! And I appreciate that you'll keep me in mind. It's been a pleasure talking with you.

{Review} Modnation Racers -PS3-

2010-09-20T07:45:00.000-04:00

Modnation Racers is what happens when you add the addictive, customizable nature of LittleBigPlanet and the combat kart racing of Mario Kart. Players can take on the solo campaign, mastering the courses and besting the challenges or go head to head with a group of friends in split screen or online.

Gameplay is simplistic yet solid: players race across an array of tracks from simple race ways to insane fire hoop jumping tracks while battling it out with upgradable weapons light a lightning generator or missiles. In terms of kart performance, players can tweak their basic functions by modifying their speed output and handling. Either you can have more acceleration, or a higher max speed, as such, you can have increase drifting control, or overall better handling.

Then there's the real draw in to this game, the customization. Players can create drivers from scratch, create karts from scratch, and even make entire tracks. You earn parts and items by completing the challenges in the campaign mode, as well as earning collectible tokens hidden within each track. Not only that, but every creation can be posted online for others to download and enjoy, with community rating that lead to displaying the top creations in the main game lobby.

The music in the game is well... sub-par. It's very uninspiring and easily forgettable. The visual presentation is cartoony and fun, which is great for the younger crowd, and even some older gamers, but the inability to go beyond basic body molds feels like a lost opportunity here. As for the story? Dull as can be. Basically just a retelling of Speed Racer.

If you love LittleBigPlanet and racing games, this is a must have for your collection. If you love Mario Kart, this is a must have. Even if you're just a casual gamer, you will easily get a lot of play time out of this game. But if you're not already a fan of racing/combat games, this could very well be the game to get you into the genre. Minus the lackluster presentation, Modnation Racers is one of the most solid games on the PS3 library, and recommend everyone check it out.

I give Modnation Racers on the Playstation 3, a 9/10.

{MTG} Loss of Body and Mind: Vain's UB deck.

2010-09-16T11:16:00.000-04:00

// Lands
    4 Island
    7 Swamp
    2 Halimar Depths
    3 Drowned Catacomb
    4 Creeping Tar Pit

// Creatures
    4 Pulse Tracker
    4 Vampire Nighthawk
    3 Guard Gomazoa
    4 Hedron Crab

// Spells
    3 Mana Leak
    3 Spreading Seas
    3 Bloodchief Ascension
    4 Preordain
    2 Traumatize
    3 Suffer the Past
    3 Deprive
    4 Tome Scour

{Review} Yu Yu Hakusho: The Dark Tournament -PS2-

2010-09-10T00:37:00.001-04:00

Yu Yu Hakusho is, in my opinion, the best battle anime out there. With a perfectly strung together plot, great cast of characters, and epic fights. So it's only logical that it should have some fighting games based on it, after all, it worked for Dragon Ball Z. Well... It didn't work out well in this case...

As the name suggests, Yu Yu Hakusho: The Dark Tournament takes place during the second saga of the series, the Dark Tournament saga. In this saga, we find our hero, Yusuke Urameshi has finished his training with Genkai, and learned some new tricks. Kuwabara has also mastered his Spirit Sword. A new foe presents himself when Yusuke and Kuwabara head out on a mission by the name of Toguro. The human turned immortal demon demands that Yusuke form a team and make it to the finals in the Dark Tournament, a no holds bared tournament held in which the winners is granted any wish they want, or else he'll kill everyone close to him.

So Yusuke teams up with Kuwabara, Hiei, Kurama, and a masked fighter in order to compete in the Dark Tournament, and face off against the most twisted and sinister villains they've ever faced.

This game goes for a cel-shaded look, but it turns out a bit more glossy then other anime based fighters with the same art direction. (Budakai and Ultimate Ninja) But all in all it's still not too bad. Also, an interesting thing to note is that the cut scenes in the game are actually scenes completely ripped from the anime itself, which adds that extra nostalgia factor for long term fans like myself.

The voice acting is identical to the anime's, and as such is extremely top notch. The special effects are also identical to the anime, as it should be. The music is fitting, and also rather taunting at times, so it's one of the few times in my reviews that I have no problems at all with the audio of a game.

The game has two main modes of play, fighting and a sort of card battle game. In the main fighting mode, players will select from a range of characters from the Dark Tournament saga, and fight in one on one or two on two battles. Although every character stays true to their anime counter part, the actual controls themselves betray the game. You feel like you have to force yourself to play this game, as every button input is delayed not only when you hit the button, but afterward as well; it's like there's a .5 second cool down between button presses that you're allowed, which makes blocking, ducking, and jumping useless in a close up fight. Even though the special moves and choreography are on par with the anime, the actual fighting combos are extremely lacking in variety, and the odd timing from button delay makes it hard to invent combos. Not only that, but the damage is so high in this game, that a single combo depending on what character you use can end the game; I don't even mean a tricky combo either, I mean a basic pre-written combo that anyone can do. This makes it extremely unenjoyable for competitive players, but still there is some fun to be had in a match with friends.

The card game is actually a lot of fun. During the story modes, you'll unlock the card pieces to use to make a deck. In your deck are these pentagon shaped cards. The way it's played is you summon cards based on their "fan" cost, as you work your way around this small board to acquire as many fans as you can. If you place a card adjacent to your opponents, the card that's stronger will take over the opposing cards fan base. It's over all really simple, but I find myself spending more time playing that then I do actually fighting.

Well, if you can suffer through the controls, there's two story modes, a survival mode, and a more traditional arcade mode. The card game is also good for at least a few hands, and completionists will have their work cut out for them in unlocking all the characters and cards. But if you can't get past the controls, you wont even bother finishing the game once.

Forgive me for going on a small rant here, but this is just maddening. Out of all the Yu Yu Hakusho titles to be released in the past 16 years, only three of them have come state side; Dark Tournament, and two GBA titles, Spirit Detective and Tournament Tactics. Now, I've yet to play Tournament Tactics, but Spirit Detective was just as big of a let down as Dark Tournament is. I beat in in four hours the same day I got it, and traded it right back in. It's seriously annoying that the only games to come state side are the half-assed titles.

Especially considering this game was centered around the most battle heavy saga in the whole series! It should have been so easy to make this game: focus on making tight controls, and then slap on everything from the saga, and bam, epic fighting game. But seriously, you got everything down right (or close to it), but you couldn't handle making responsive controls?! BAH!

I give Yu Yu Hakusho: The Dark Tournament on the Playstation 2 a 3/10.

{Review} Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Souless Army -PS2-

2010-09-10T00:34:00.000-04:00

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army is by far one of the longest names for a game in history. Aside from that, it's also one of the most unique titles out there, blending old school detective work with a combat system that can best be described as Pokemon meets Devil May Cry.

You are a young man without a name who has spent his life training. Now, you are deemed ready to take your final test to become Japan's Devil Summoner, and dawn the title of Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV. Once you've completed your final test and aquire your first demon partner, you are assigned to work for the Narumi Detective Agency, specializing in super natural affairs.

I love the art direction of the Megami Tensei franchise, this one especially. The characters pop out with a very signature art style (the actual name of it escapes me) and really is an amazing contrast to what most games try to go for. The 1920's setting is also a nice change of pace, as oddly enough everything feels new and exciting.

The game has one of the best soundtracks out there. Each song varies in range and tempo, fitting every scene perfectly. From the intro to the end credits, your ears will be in heaven. However, they do tend to recycle the songs a bit too frequently, so if you play the game in long sessions, they can get a bit old and tiresome.

The game has several game play mechanics, which may scare off some gamers, and simply frustrate others. Outside of combat, gamers will have to navigate dungeons and towns that are built like mazes. You'll have to utilize your demons as investigation tools, whether it means reading minds, calming witnesses, or charming others. They also help with traversing puzzles and finding items, as some demons can scout ahead to assess the enemies and items in the area, or even go inside of small areas that Raidou can't fit in to retrieve items.

Inside combat. it's a blend of Devil May Cry and Pokemon, as I've stated. Players will primarily control Raidou, gunning and sword slashing your foes to victory. Guns will take on several properties, depending on the ammo your using, and can hit enemy weak points to stun them, and make them easier to catch inside your demon capturing tubes. Swords also have a unique feature to them, as you can fuse your demons inside of it which will give varied effects. Also, you can control a single demon ally on the field. For most part, your summoned ally will do as they please, however you issue them commands from the battle menu, and even use team attacks for extra damage.

There's a lot to do in the main game as it is, although SMT: DS: RK VS TSA is shorter than other Megami Tensei titles. However gamers who play through multiple files will be greatly rewarded, as this game features a New Game+ mode which gives a harder difficulty, unlimited normal ammo, demon information and store rank pass over, and a whole new unlockable demon will be available. Not to mention, going through a second play in this game will net you extra bonuses inside the sequel title.

This game is truly an impressive game that goes against the grain of what we come to expect. The unique art style accompanied by the music will give the more artsy gamer a delight. The detective system is also a great feature, if a bit under utilized at times. However, there is a lot to this game, so much so that, like with my Disgaea 3 review, I simply can't cover it all. However, there is a lot, and I mean a lot to learn when getting into this game (Though not exactly as much as say Fire Pro Wrestling) so more casual gamers will be completely turned off. Not to mention, in true Megami Tensei fashion, this game features obnoxiously long dungeons, which will quickly turn away those who aren't used to more dungeon crawler-esque RPGs.

I give Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army on the Playstation 2 an 8/10.

{Review} Fire Pro Wrestling Returns -PS2-

2010-09-10T00:30:00.000-04:00

Fire Pro Wrestling Z was meant to be the last entry in the long legacy of Fire Pro Wrestling series, but fans cried, wanting more. So, the makers decided to give them what they wanted, and set out to make one last wrestling game, and that was Fire Pro Wrestling Returns! Filled with more content and customization ever seen before in any wrestling game, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns was meant to be the final good bye to loyal fans of both wrestling and the series.

Sadly, this is one feature that this game is missing, a story mode. The closest thing to a story in this game is Match Maker Mode, where you take on the role of the promoter, choose a federation and use "FP Points" to hire wrestlers and put on shows. You make up the cards and have the shows, then the audience rates them. The better ratings you get, the more "FP Points" you get to hire more and better wrestlers.

Sticking to what Fire Pro Wrestling does best this game is completely 2D, however the wrestling environment is deceptively 2.5D. Normally, this is something I would discuss in the controls section, but it feels appropriate to discuss here. Because the wrestlers are 2D, and the ring is a sort of 2D/3D hybrid, the controls can be vary awkward; moves that look like they should hit perfectly often whiff, and calculating distance can be a challenge. Not only that, but running takes a lot to get used to, because the wrestlers will only run in a straight direction, making bouncing off the ropes for a flashy attack that much harder to pull off.

But, this aside, it's an interesting change of pace from American wrestling games which have all been focusing on realistic 3D models of their wrestlers, and big flashy presentations. The design is truly something that only Fire Pro Wrestling and old school gaming fans can really appreciate.

The music in this game is top notch, but again, is vastly different from what most western wrestling fans have come to expect in their wrestling games. Every song feels so energetic and catchy. The voice acting is also surprisingly well done, and is very customizable. This is a nice touch for those who aim to make their own perfect wrestling creations. The sound effects however aren't overly impressive, but get the job done as far as a wrestling game is concerned.

As I've already touched on, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns take a bit of getting used to... well... that's an understatement. Out of every single game I have played in my nearly 19 year life span, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns has by far one of the steepest learning curves ever. Between the awkward movement inside the wrestling ring, the detailed, yet simplistic controls of the wrestlers, plus learning how each match and creation mode works, it almost feels like you have to study the game before you can even play it. This is guaranteed to push away new comers who don't have the patience to stick with it very quickly.

However, those who stick around will find one of the most rewarding and in depth wrestling games. Right out of the box, Fire Pro Wrestling already has a roster of 327 wrestlers to chose from! Plus, you can create 500 wrestlers, 10 referees, 10 rings, 6 logos, 8 titles/belts, 50 federations, 100 factions, and you can edit 1 of the 4 attires of every default wrestler in the game. That is a LOT of customization, but still only the tip of the ice burg. Every wrestler, ring, referee, and well, everything can be tweaked to your liking. Don't like how the AI handles your custom creations? Change it! Want to have a referee that doesn't play by the rules? Make a referee that likes to screw around! The possibilities are endless.

How about 4 vs 4 elimination tag matches? How does barbed wire death matches sound? Yea, you heard me, barbed wire death matches. That's barbed wire replacing the ring ropes, and on top of that, has electricity coursing through it. You know you want in on that action. Simply put, if you love wrestling, and can get into this game, this will be the last, and only wrestling game you ever need to buy.

Personally, I find this game to be the pinnacle of wrestling games, and I weep to see the series truly end. A complete HD edition with the amount of space we can hold this late into consoles would bring about pure orgasms. But, from a reviewer stand point, this game isn't very accessible to beginners, and those who are used to the 3D wrestling titles might find the design of the game to be sub-par. In my heart, I want to give this game a perfect score, but professionally;

I give Fire Pro Wrestling Returns on the Playstation 2, a 6/10.

{Review} Cold Winter -PS2-

2010-09-10T00:27:00.000-04:00

Cold Winter is a FPS game that is highly customizable. Everything in the game from the weapons, furniture, character model, and even the announcer can be tweaked and modified in some way, whether it's turning a table into cover, combining some rags and liquor for a Molotov Cocktail, or making every explosive that spawns a flash bang, this game has so much detail, and yet is so overlooked.

The game mostly plays out (In cut scenes) through two perspectives, John Grey who wishes to force humanity to fear nuclear weapons by setting off a Cold Winter, in which a series of nuclear missiles blot out the sun and rain down radioactive snow and Andrew Sterling a former MI6 agent who was imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese military and is set free by an old friend of his. Players will control Sterling in his quest to pay back this favor to his friend, which leads to an even deeper story that combines the fates of both men.

This game doesn't look bad, but it's not the best of its time either. Models clearly show what they are meant to represent, however there's a rather dull and lifeless feel to them. The levels though differencing drastically in design, tend to blend in after awhile, as the same color gradients are just constantly reused.

The voice acting in Cold Winter is very well done. The narration really gets the player engaged in the story, and the characters truly feel like their voices fit them. Plus, the match announcer is customizable, with a great array of different voices to give him.

The controls in this game take a little bit of getting used to. To crouch and jump you use the L1/L2 buttons, your primary fire is R1 with your secondary fire is R2. You change your secondary weapon with he circle, triangle, and X buttons, run with L3, zoom with R3, switch weapons and heal yourself with the D-Pad. There are a few options to customize the settings if you don't like them, such as toggling the hold/press once to crouch/zoom, and invert/don't invert your aim.

Featuring an extremely customizable multiplayer aspect for up to 4 players offline, this is a fun party game. With 30 different weapons to choose from, 12 different stages to play on, and 5 different game modes to play, even after the story is done there is so much enjoyment to be had, providing you have friends to play with you. Otherwise, this game can get stale.

Although this game received some decent ratings from reviewers of yesteryear, this game went highly unnoticed, with top titles like Halo, Killzone, Half Life, and many more crowding the scene. Most people I talk to have never even heard of this title, let alone played it. And to be honest, this really saddens me. This is a game that was, and still is an enjoyable experience. Even with the shooters of today, I find myself and my friends returning to this game to enjoy a hell of a good time.

I give Cold Winter on Playstation 2, a 9/10.

{Review} Arcana Heart -PS2-

2010-09-10T00:25:00.000-04:00

Ah yes, moe fighters. I'll admit, when I first saw this game on the shelf, I thought the prospect of an all female cast was going to end in nothing more then shameless fan service. Thankfully, I was wrong. Arcana Heart delivers what is one of the few fighting games out there that is so unique that it's impossible to tier the characters, despite its small roster size of twelve characters.

There is more than just the world we live in. In a parallel world rests beings of supreme power, known as the Arcana. The power that these being possess can only be called upon by those they deem worthy, the Pure Maidens. However there's one woman who seeks to capture the power of the Arcana, and become an Arcana herself. Now it's up to twelve Pure Maidens to stop her plans, or the whole world will be in great peril.

Everything is rendered in anime style, filled with an array of vibrant colors. The stages are huge, and each one varies greatly; from playgrounds to school yards, and rooftops to holy shrines, every stage breaths life to the game. The characters themselves are just as detailed, ranging from moe styles across the spectrum: school girls, swim suits, ninjas (sorta), french maids, and even androids.

Sadly, Atlus dropped the ball with the audio. A lot of the original audio is missing from the game, because they were too broke/lazy to hire a dub team, and instead just left the audio in its native Japanese, only to realize that hearing nothing but Japanese was annoying their play testers, so their fix was to just remove a lot of the dialogue. Smooth. Real Smooth. Aside from that, the music is a bit dull after awhile, and often times feels like it was altered during the transition; the music before a match for example sounds like someone hit the fast forward button on it.

So, how is it that this game is virtually tierless? The answer is simple: there's two main modes of play: Arcana Heart and Arcana Heart Full. There's a few game balance tweaks between the two, but for most attentive purposes, there isn't too big of a difference. Then we have our cast of twelve characters, each of whom plays drastically different from the other. Heart Aino, for example, plays like a fusion of Captain Falcon and Ryu: the majority of her specials revolve around punch techniques, ranging from a Falcon Punch to a Shoryuken. Kira Daidohji on the other hand is a near exact clone of Zangief.

Now on top of these twelve characters, are the twelve Arcana that you can mix and match with the characters. And these twelve Arcana give both passive abilities to the main characters as well as a whole additional move set on top of the characters pre-existent style. So when you take that into consideration, you'll have 124 move set combination, plus if you count the AH and AHF variations, that's actually 248 different move sets.

The game has a decent story mode, where players will pick their character and Arcana and fight during the week of Mildrid's, the villain, evil plot. There flow of the story will change depending on the battles you chose, and even the end boss will alter depending on your performance in the next to last fight. There's a gallery of videos and pictures which are unlocked by completing the story and arcade modes in various ways. Aside from that, there's the good old fashion player vs player.

With a boss that's extremely cheap, and a fairly steep learning curve, this game is really aimed at gamers with a bit of experience. The action can be either extremely fast paced, or sluggish; it all depends on the players skill levels and set ups. The amount of variation is a wonderful thing to see as well. All in all, it's a great title to add to your collection if you're a fighting game fan.

I give Arcana Heart on the Playstation 2 a 9/10.

{Review} MTG: DotP: Duel of the Dragons DLC -360-

2010-09-10T00:21:00.000-04:00

Duel of the Dragon is the first expansion pack to the Duels of the Planeswalker 360 MTG title. Featuring a new Planeswalker, 4 solo new missions, 4 new co-op missions, 3 new puzzle challenges. 3 new decks, and 3 new cards for older decks, this is by far an impressive add-on.

Duel of the Dragon has a lot to offer, as you can tell. The new missions in solo and co-op offer a great way to rack up cards as well as to get a taste of the new decks introduced. Most of the new cards really aren't that major, so I'll focus on the new decks.

The new decks include:
White/Blue Milling Deck (Jace)
Red/Green Aggro Deck (Sarkan Vol)
Black/Blue Artifact Deck (Tezzeret)

All three decks offer at least two primary ways to play them (For example, the Red/Green deck can be adjusted to be more of a Burn Deck with the unlockable cards), however the White/Blue Milling Deck is by far the most poorly constructed deck in there. It's absolutely broken, both in terms of powerful cards and crap-tastic cards. Featuring TWO Traumatize (Opponent discards HALF of their deck.) and yet, a full play set (four) of Condemn (Target attacking monster is sent to the bottom of their owners deck. The owner is healed by the cards toughness). Seriously, s**t is mad crazy.

Other then that, there's still the new challenge puzzles, however I was able to go through them all in about 7 minutes, as they're a lot more straight forward then previous puzzles.

It's a lot more of what's already there. More cards, more decks, more game play, and yet nothing really new. Not to mention, that Blue/White Mill Deck is a serious problem; most of the decks in the game don't come with any counter spells, leaving really only the Mono Blue Deck to be the only real contender left standing against it. If you really love playing this game, casually, I'd suggest getting it. You'll easily get your monies worth. But if you're a serious online contender, this may just be a let down and game breaker for you.

I give Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers: Duel of the Dragon DLC for the 360 a 6/10

{Review} PixelJunk: Monsters Encore DLC -PS3-

2010-09-10T00:18:00.000-04:00

PixelJunk: Monsters Encore would be the first of its kind in the PixelJunk series: a full blown expansion pack. PJM Encore brings to us the same tower defense action we know and love, along with a few minor tweaks, all at a very inexpensive price.

Inside PJM Encore gamers will be greeted with an entirely knew island of maps to play on. This new island features 15 new levels, each one still providing a fresh and challenging experience. Along with these levels are an additional 5 music tracks added into the game, however they are hardly noticeable compared to the previous tunes. More trophy challenges have been added as well, and each one adds an interesting twist to the levels; there's one that requires the gamer to purposely drop 100 coins into water, and another that requires the player to beat the specified level with only black towers without selling any towers. Finally, there's the tweaks I mentioned. The Ice Tower which once had to be purchased with gems is now ready to use from the get go, and the gem price of the Tesla Tower has dropped.

PJM Encore is the definition of DLC done right. It's not just a small bit of content that's slapped on for a high price tag, or a simple cosmetic face lift. It's a full blown expansion back, much like PC gamers would be accustomed to. If you already love PixelJunk Monsters, this DLC is a must. However, the new levels aren't to friendly to the more casual players of PJM who are playing on their own; the paths of monsters on the new island are far more chaotically varied, often times causing leaks that normally wouldn't have happened.

I give PixelJunk: Monsters Encore for the Playstaion 3 a 10/10

{Review} LittleBigPlanet: Pirates of the Caribbean Level Pack -PS3-

2010-09-10T00:16:00.000-04:00

Pirates are great. LittleBigPlanet is great. Put the two together? The result is a marvelous sea adventure, fighting a mighty kraken, and all on in a world that's mere centimeters high. But even more so, the story of these levels is set at some point in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe, with the players going through levels that either reenact various scenes from the movies, or are original designs that could easily fit inside the universe.

This pack comes with four new levels as well as a new survival challenge. The levels, as stated, either are remakes of scenes from the movies, or original levels that could fit anywhere inside the movies, ending with a sea battle against the giant kraken. However, like with the Metal Gear Solid 4 level pack, the real star of the show is the new level creation tool that comes with the DLC; REAL WATER! That's right, real, working, water. Not only that, but the water has a surprising amount of customization to it; players can change its color, density, wave frequency, and of course when and how the water will appear.

The levels this go around are a hell of a lot easier then the ones featured inside of the Metal Gear Solid pack, and the boss fight against the kraken was rather dull, as all it requires is the player to stand in one spot and shoot it with a cannon. However, the water tool is perhaps the greatest thing to ever be added to LittleBigPlanet, though it makes one wonder why such a basic thing like water wasn't in the game to begin with. Ultimately, if you just want some new levels to play and items to trick your Sack Boy/Girl out with, I'd probably hold off on it. However, if you're big on making levels, this is a must have DLC.

I give the LittleBigPlanet: Pirates of the Caribbean Level Pack for PS3 a 6/10

{Review} LittleBigPlanet: Metal Gear Solid 4 Level Pack DLC -PS3-

2010-09-10T00:14:00.000-04:00

When you're jumping around and exploring the ever expanding world of LittleBigPlanet, have you ever just wanted to go on a shooting spree? Just climb right up that wooden clock tower and blast away at all the sack boys and girls that dare come within your range? Well, now you can. The minds over at Media Molecule have brought us an array of new creation tools, new levels, new clothing items, and most important of all the infamous Paint Ball Gun.

As one would think, the 5 new levels (as well as 2 new mini games) provided within this DLC pack are all focused around the world of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. In the story mode you will find yourself stealthing around just as Solid Snake would in your attempts to bring down the newest threat to the LittleBigPlanet. As mentioned above, you'll unlock plenty of new items to use in level creation, most notably the Paint Ball Gun, or Paintanator. For level creators, this weapon is a gold mine, as it alone can and has provided a whole new game play element. The DLC pack also adds more trophies, most of which include beating the new levels without dieing, obtaining all the prize bubbles, and completing the levels under various conditions. So all in all, not too hard.

Priced at $5, it's hard to go wrong. I'm not a big fan of Metal Gear Solid, but even I was pleased with the design of the new levels, and yes, I just really love that gun. Violence has never looked so adorable. Whether you're a trophy hunter, LBP enthusiast, LPB level maker, or just a MGS4 fan looking for something else to sink your teeth into, you must get this DLC.

I give the LittleBigPlanet: Metal Gear Solid 4 Level Pack Add-On for PS3 a 10/10

{Review} Fat Princess: New Pork DLC -PS3-

2010-09-10T00:10:00.002-04:00

Fat Princess players who boot up their game today will find a delightful little surprise: update 1.30. Inside they'll find the new DLC map, New Pork built right into the update, for free, along side a bunch of class balancing fixes. However, this review is focused on one thing and one thing only, NEW PORK.

New Pork is a new map for Fat Princess players to enjoy, free of charge, because of their support for the title. Unlike its counter parts, New Pork is a completely urban level, with gamers battling it out in modern day city streets. Each base is located on opposite sides of the map, both featuring three main paths of travel: the first is the sewer system located inside of the bases which brings player to the top-center of the map where an outpost sits. The second is through a short cut that's blocked off by boxes, tables, and all other kinds of wooden market goodies. Break a hole in the wall of junk to get quicker access to the center of the map. Finally is the main walking path, which is surrounded by high rising buildings on both ends. In the center of the map, players will find an outpost, as well as an interesting old friend: on each side of the outpost in the center of the map are catapults and outposts for the teams to utilize.

I do have some gripes about this map, one of the biggest being the lack of blind spots. In all of the other maps, there is always at least a few good 'blind spots' as I call them, or places where you can stand and be invisible on the battlefield, unless someone auto locks-on to you. However, there seem to be none that I could really find on this map, which makes ambushing rather difficult. In fact, most forms of strategies other than "Charge!" seem pointless on this map, as every path you take will always take right into combat with the enemy, which, to me, feels like poor level design. But again, it's free, and it does what it was meant to, add a new flavor to the games map line up.

I give Fat Princess: New Pork DLC for the Playstaion 3 an 8/10

{Review} Disgaea 3: The Raspberyl Chapters DLC -PS3-

2010-09-10T00:06:00.002-04:00

Disgaea 3 originally brought to us a unique, thought provoking look at morality that was as funny as much as it was deep, and even gave the same feel that Disgaea 1 had given us. However, throughout the game, and the DLC character missions, a very important plot element is constantly hinted at: why doesn't Raspberyl become a teacher? Well, the developers have answered this question with The Raspberyl chapters.

Originally released in Japan as an expansion disk, and re-released on all PSN stores as DLC, The Raspbeyl chapters bring to us 4 new playable chapters that can only be accessed after the main game. Once you initiate these new chapters, you'll temporarily will loose access to Mao, Almaz, Sapphire, and (if you purchased him) Captain Gordon. For those who (like me) never found much use out of her, and power grinded Mao, this will greatly alter the length and difficulty of these chapters. Loosing Almaz and Sapphire isn't as much of an issue, however, as you'll obtain them after the first couple missions. But on average, I'd say this adds at least about 8-12 hours of game-play, depending on your levels, providing you just run straight through it.

These chapters will also unlock a few new characters to use, such as the demon form of Super Hero Aurum. Each of the chapters will also be host to some fairly good item drops, and each mission will scale drastically in enemy level, which as stated previously, will be a problem depending on your main game party choices. Gamers will travel about several locations, including many nostalgic places of Disgaea past as Raspberyl goes on a quest to become a delinquent teacher. Right from the get go, she's successful and creates drastic changes among the school, only to find her heart empty, unhappy with achieving her goal. She then takes it upon herself to go on a pilgrimage to take her delinquency to the ultimate level, feeling this alone will fill her heart of the void she's feeling.

All in all this isn't a bad experience. Those that really enjoyed the rivalry story between Mao and Raspberyl, as well as enjoy "heart of the cards" style stories will be pleased with this side story. Also, it's a great chance to pick up some extra characters to outfit your party with. However, if you're not big on these ideas, the DLC may be something you want to try out first before really purchasing, which is possible, as you can either buy the DLC whole for $12, or purchase it chapter by chapter for $3 each. But for the length of content, and what you can get out of it, it is worth getting for the more dedicated Disgaea fan. (Which is anyone who plays a Disgaea game beyond the first 10 hours)

I give Disgaea 3: The Raspberyl Chapters DLC on the Playstation 3 an 8/10

{Review} Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned -PS3-

2010-09-09T23:53:00.002-04:00

The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned can be best described as one big joke on the gamers that purchase it: both in a bad, and good way. For a price tag of $10, gamers will come into this expecting two things: zombies and more loot. Although the DLC does indeed plenty of both, it also provides a lot more that gamers probably didn't expect.

The Content: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned can be accessed from any fast travel station in game, allowing players to just instantly hop into the mini-campaign from the get go. Fast traveling there will take you to an island that is under the control of one of the games weapons company's, Jakobs. The island has come under a grim invasion, a zombie invasion. It's up to the gamer, either by himself or with some friends, to find out just what happened to the island, and put a stop to it.

The main story line is extremely short, lasting maybe 2 hours. The side missions offered extend game time by maybe another 2 hours, but are definitely worth doing to find out more about the world of Pandora, as well as to see the return of an old friend from the main game. This add-on, although a bit steep, would have been a near perfect addition to Borderlands; with its extremely humorous plot, horror movie jokes, and new areas to explore. However, The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned brings with it a major problem: 5 frames per second. I still can't quite pin down what causes this, as it seems to occur at random, but there is immense frame rate problems that plague the DLC. One moment you'll be walking along, fighting a few zombies, and the next you'll find yourself chugging across a swamp at a snails crawl with your guns teleporting up and down.

Those that bought Borderlands for its multiplayer fun and RPG elements will definitely want to pick this DLC up, regardless the occasional frame rate problems. The expansion to the story, loot, and added enemy types to go back to back against will fill your needs easily. However, the more casual players, or those only in it for the single player experience may want to give a purchase more thought. The frame rate problems are hard to ignore when you're all alone just running through the game, and the short length of the DLC could be seen as real reasons to not get it.

I give The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned DLC for PS3 a 6/10

{Review} BlazBlue: Continuum Shift: Makoto Nanaya DLC -PS3-

2010-09-09T23:39:00.000-04:00

Those that followed Blazblue: Continuum Shift before its release came to know two vital things: Continuum Shift would have further DLC support than Calamity Trigger, and the first character to be introduced via DLC would be everyone's favorite squirrel girl, Makoto Nanaya. The DLC is now out, but has caught some by surprise. What we didn't know was the price, which is actually $8. So the question is, is Makoto worth $8?

Makoto comes with a fair amount of content for your buck. Not only do you get the completely unique fighter, but you get her theme song and theme level. Not only that, but she has her own challenge mode and two pages of color pallets to choose from. She's completely usable in every mode, except arcade and story mode, meaning you wont get any extension of the story within BlazBlue sadly.

Makoto herself is an extremely fast character, and heavily reliant on precise timing. Her specials are all designed to help her either evade, reverse, or repel opponents. She can create clones of herself, and the player can chose which is the real one in order to help get around opponents, as well as set up punishing combos, create a drive sphere which hangs in the air, causing damage to foes that touch it, and can parry opponents attacks. Makoto's Distortion Drives and Astral Heat are a feast to the eyes, presenting nicely fleshed out animation scenes, as well as have great tactical use.

Final Thoughts: Now we find ourselves coming back to the main question: is this worth $8? Admittedly, the price is very steep. You do indeed get a decent amount of content, however the lack of any extension to the arcade and story modes feel like not only a lost opportunity, but a major reason to lose interest in purchasing this. Not only that, but unless you decide to main her, or are one of those people that like to rotate up your characters, you may very well spend the money for it to sit there. However, if you see yourself using her a lot, or just appreciate having a more complete experience, then you definitely want to check this out.

I give the Makoto Nanaya DLC for BlazBlue: Continuum Shift on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 a 6/10

{Review} Bioshock: Challange Rooms DLC -PS3-

2010-09-09T23:31:00.001-04:00

As a sorry to Playstation 3 owners, Bioshock: Challenge Rooms is a DLC designed to pit gamers against three challenges. These challenges are designed to test the players mind and skill, as each one is set up very differently from one another, as well as contain mini-challenges within the challenges.

As stated, this DLC contains three new stages to test your mind and skill: the first involves saving a little sister from a turret maze, as well as a big daddy. The second is a twisted carnival, with the little sister trapped atop the Ferris Wheel. The last, is a straight up survival mode. The add-on also comes with an array of new trophies, including what is arguably the hardest trophy in the game to obtain: complete the survival mode within 15 minutes.

If you're a Bioshock owner for the PS3 and have $10 kicking around, this is worth looking into. Although it lacks replayability if you're not into completing the mini-challenges/trophies, it's still worth the price tag alone for the single run through. However, seeing as it acts as a built in stand-alone (as odd as it sounds), and doesn't actually add anything new, this could disappoint some.

I give the Bioshock: Challenge Rooms for PS3 an 7/10

{Review} Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Onslaught Mode DLC -PS3-

2010-09-09T19:19:00.000-04:00

For those who were looking for something new to spice up their Bad Company 2 experience, DICE and EA brought together an interesting idea for the game: co-op, well, online only co-op at least. Currently out for consoles, and set for PC at a later date, with a major expansion pack on the way, is Onslaught mode worth the $10 drop?

Well, it depends on what kind of gamer you are. Onslaught mode comes complete with four maps, all of which are rehashes of previous maps. The objective of each map is to team up with three other players online and take on an endless onslaught of computer AI, all the while working your way across brutal landscapes to capture the flag. That's right, you're essentially playing Squad Conquest mode against a lot of AI. Don't get me wrong, going against large numbers of AI with such a small team can prove to be overwhelming for some, especially on Hardcore difficulty, but really anyone who's used to such games, like Left4Dead for instance, won't really find this DLC all that exciting.

Ultimately, Onslaught mode is a nice change of pace. It puts a focus on being a tight-knit squad in order to not only survive, but to win. However, the lack of offline co-op, especially since the game mode is handled by AI anyways, feels like a missed opportunity, and really kills some of the enjoyment factor here. The separate leader boards for Onslaught are nice, and the levels, although few, do provide a decent enough variety to keep you entertained. If you're really not a huge fan of co-op focused game play, especially with random people online, you may want to pass. However, if you're a long term player of Bad Company 2, and are looking for something new, this may be worth checking into.

I give the Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Onslaught Mode for PS3 a 7/10

{Review} Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing DLC -PC/360-

2010-09-09T19:16:00.000-04:00

For the longest time, fans had cried out for the return of the beloved foursome of the original Left 4 Dead. Valve, always being one to please the fans, has brought to us our wishes, and a whole lot more.

The Passing comes quite packed for its price; free for PC users and 560 MS points for those on the 360. The main course is of course the new campaign, The Passing. Players will meet up with the original cast from the very start of this campaign, with dialogue possibilities as random and full of humor as ever. (Such as, Francis developing a crush on Rochelle) From then on the three chapter campaign is a conglomeration of every fascinating and challenging part from previous levels: rain crashing down on your head, tight corridors and sewers to navigate, and even a little bit of scavenge thrown in at the end. Depending on your point of view, this campaigns design is either the brain child of everything fans love, or a sign of pure laziness, with most of the aspects of the level being borrowed.

Along side the new campaign is the addition of the Mutation Mode. This amazing feature will offer gamers new game modes to conquer each week. One example of this was the Realism Versus mode. This mode not only forced two teams to fight hard against one another, it had them at a constant struggle with the environment around them as they tried to collect the scarce amount of resources available. Other rumored modes include Chainsaws Only, Ultra Realism, and even Versus Survival Mode!

A few other additions worth mentioning include a new weapon, the M60 Machine Gun which requires no reloading, but at the cost of not being able to get additional ammo, as well as a Golf Club, which I would put second to the Katana. And to top it off, Valve was kind enough to include a tab for the developers blog right into the main game menu, allowing gamers to quickly take a peak at what's coming up without having to head to the internet.

PC gamers, once again have no fear about nabbing this DLC, it's worth the time to download. 360 players, if you're a fan of both entries in the Left 4 Dead series, it's a must have, despite the forced price tag. Although the story feels a bit lacking, namely in the absence of focus on the fallen hero from Left 4 Dead 1, the short yet sweet campaign will give Versus players the perfect little play ground, much like Crash Course did for the original. Not to mention, the Mutant Mode alone is worth the price of admission, especially since it'll provide new challenges and further expand upon the games already engrossing replayability. You owe it to yourself to pick this up if you love Left 4 Dead 2.

I give Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing DLC for PC and 360 a 9/10

{Review} Left 4 Dead: Crash Course DLC -360/PC-

2010-09-09T19:14:00.000-04:00

Crash Course is Valves' latest DLC pack to hit Left 4 Dead on the PC and Xbox 360. Free on the PC, and $7 on the 360, Crash Course provides new achievements as well as a new campaign, designed to fill in the gap between No Mercy and Death Toll.

Crash Course is shorter than its counter parts, being only two maps long. However, the size of the maps have increased, making rushing through the map a challenge. Crash Course also gives Versus Mode a shorter feel, due to the campaign being shortened from five levels to two. The new achievements are both easy and hard; much like the original set of achievements. They range from killing over 5,000 zombies on Crash Course alone, incapacitating three survivors within five seconds, and even smashing twenty survivors with cars as a tank. The best part is that achievements from before can still be achieved inside Crash Course. The last major thing brought about in Crash Course is the new recorded dialogue. Ten-thousand new audio files have been reported in this update, most of which seem to focus on Francis hating things and Zoey shooting pilots.

If you're a PC user, there's no need to even ask if this is worth the money, because, well, it's free. However, if you're stuck having to pay the bill for Crash Course, then there's only two things you need to keep in mind if this DLC is worth it for you: do you play a lot of Versus? and do you want a more complete game?. If you're a Versus Mode junky, Crash Course is a refreshing breathe of air, as no more will you have to sit through games that can last for hours, now a normal Versus run can last for a half-hour. And if you're like me and enjoy having the complete experience a game has to offer, a $7 price tag is highly justified. However, the achievements and level design are a bit buggy, to the point where some achievements take several times of doing them to unlock, and parts of the maps can be completely skipped.

I give Left 4 Dead: Crash Course DLC for PC and 360 a 9/10

{Review} Tobal 2 -PS1-

2010-09-09T19:09:00.000-04:00

Tobal 2 is by far the greatest game ever developed by Dream Factory; it takes elements from every previous work up to that point and blends them together into a massive pit of fighting game bliss. However, this title never saw light outside of Japan, with English gamers only hopes of being able to fully enjoy this game lying in fan translators.

There's really not too much to it. Some dude by the name of Emperor Udan is hosting a fighting tournament. So, it's the usual stuff; a motley crew of fighters come to compete for their own reasons.

Any long term anime and manga fan will instantly notice something special about this game: the art was done and directed by Akira Toriyama. The full 3D characters are well rendered, and I've seen very few graphical glitches. For it's time, this was the best looking 3D fighter out there.

The music was done by another well known man as well! Takayuki Nakamura, the man responsible for the music of Virtua Fighter and Ehrgeiz comes back to bring his assorted musical taste back to Dream Factory. Every musical arrangment is light on the ears, but still gets the blood pumping. The sound effects are decent, but nothing major to comment on.

In the main fighting modes, players will each take up a character from a roster that starts off small, and beat down their opponents in one on one match ups. However, far more fighters can be unlocked, up to 200 to be exact (including a Chocobo). This is done in the dungeon crawler mode of the game. Yes, back again, this time they scrapped most of the RPG elements and instead stuck to a system that they would re-use in The Bouncer. Players will pick a character to level up as they explore a variety of dungeons. While in these dungeons, they'll come across a wide assortment of foes, all of which can be 'captured' using purple crystals much akin to pokeballs in Pokemon.

Like every fighting game, Tobal 2's primary source of replay comes in the form of beating your friends into a bloody pulp. However, unlike other fighting games, Tobal 2 also gives gamers that exta boost of tasks to complete by allowing them to max out every character inside of the dungeon mode.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Tobal 2 is the best 3D fighting game ever made. Period. You can keep your Virtua Fighters, your Tekkens, your new Mortal Kombats, and even your Soul Caliburs, just let me have my Tobal 2 and I am a happy guy. However, being that this IS an import only title, unless of course you do a google search for the fan translation that Square Soft said "couldn't be done", you'll have to do a bit of homework to find this game and learn its menus. But honestly, if you consider yourself a fan of fighting games, whether you buy it physically, or flip Square the bird and get the fan translation, this is a title that you must have in your collection.

I give Tobal 2 on the Playstation, a 10/10.

{Review} Medievil -PS1-

2010-09-09T19:02:00.000-04:00

Medievil is a gothic-horror adventure game that has a beautiful visual presentation and a humorous story. Released for the Playstation 1 back in 1998/99 and released on the PSN in 2007, Medievil is a title that is known, yet underrated. It was originally known for the reason that is was among the first titles on the PS1 that put the (then) new DualShock controllers to use. However, it was often over looked due to its story and gameplay.

You play as Sir Daniel Fortesque, a knight who is perceived to be a hero, however was killed in vein, loosing all his honor. However, the dark sorcerer Zarok whom Sir Fortesque lost his life to is back to invade the town of Gallowmere once more, and starts by using his necromancy to raise an undead army. However, this causes a backlash that brings Sir Fortesque back to life as well as a jaw-less skeleton. Now, he stands against Zarok to redeem his honor and save Gallowmere.

As stated above, the game has a very gothic style about it, filled with dark yet vibrant environments and enemies. Presented in 3D, Medievil has some of the best visual presentations for its time, and even to this day, though slightly dated, they still have a unique feel and are still beautiful.

The music in this game is top notch, and are 100% computer made. Not one actual live group performed, everything was done with electronic synthesizers. Another great aspect of this game was it's detailed voice acting. Still a new and emerging thing back in those time, the voice acting in this game is surprisingly well done as well as very fitting.

The game controls very well, though can have some timing issues in the small platforming aspects. Aside from this, there are several weapons to acquire and use during the course of the game, and each one has is very user friendly.

The replay value is where I feel the game hurts a bit. All in all, unless you really loved the story, there isn't too much reason to go back and play this. Sure, you can go back and tool around with all the weapon variants and what have you, but to some that may not be enough.

Medievil is a great title if you're in an adventure mood and are wanting a twist. The game can be fun for new comers and older gamers alike, however if you want a game with constant lasting appeal, you may have to look elsewhere. But, for $6 on the PSN, it's a hell of a bargain.

I give Medievil on Playstation, an 8/10.

{Review} Final Fantasy Origins: Final Fantasy II -PS1-

2010-09-09T18:59:00.002-04:00

Final Fantasy II was a turning point for Square; the first title had sold just enough to merit a squeal, and not only that, but Final Fantasy was actually starting to put a small dent in the popularity of the Dragon Warriors series. So now they had to come up with something new, something unique, but retain that same vision and hope that the first game gave them.

The Paramecia Empire has an iron grip on the world, and a rebel army, led by the king of Fynn, tries to organize a coup against the Empire. However, they fail time after time. The empire eventually is overrun, thanks to the kingdom of Kas'ion, because of the actions of Borghen, its general, who betrayed the kingdom. Gordon and Scott, the princes of Kas'ion, travel to Altair help the king out in his ventures.

In an attempt to regain Fynn Castle, an attack is launched. Both the king of Fynn and Scott of Kas'ion are fatally wounded. The king's daughter, Hilda, takes the king to Altair, the rebel base, and takes over in his stead. Scott, unable to escape, is hidden underground by a member of the Rebels.

It's at this point that four youths, Firion, Gus, Maria, and Leon, are fighting against the Empire. They are wounded in battle and Leon is taken by the enemy, but the rebels rescue the other three. They are taken to Altair, while Leon is brainwashed by the Paramecian Emperor. He then takes on the persona of a Dark Knight. Now his friends must try and save him, and even possibly the world.

Combat is identical to the first game, selecting a party of characters to take their time dishing out the damage to enemies, however leveling has been completely changed. Now players will occasionally gain stats after battles, which are usually dictated by actions done in combat. For example: if a battle is ended with a character with low health, there is a chance he/she will receive an increase to their HP stat at the end of combat. This is, by far, the most obnoxious leveling system in the entire Final Fantasy franchise.

On top of that, the difficulty curve to this game is far sharper then the first, which actually forces the players to spend hours literally beating their own party to death, just to try and rack up the stats they need for boss fights. Weapons and Magic are even leveled this way, forcing the players to grind hour after hour just spamming the command button as they either hack everything on screen, or dump all their MP blindly, just work towards mastering their weapon skills and magic.

This game really isn't for everyone: the amount of grinding needed to get your characters up to par for bosses, is dull and repetitive due to the tedious leveling system. However, if you can get past the game play, it actually has a very rich story to be told, so the more hardcore RPG and Final Fantasy fans should try and tough it out for the story, and of course, the music.

Ultimately however, this is far from the top of the litter when it comes to Final Fantasy. It really hasn't aged well, even less so then some of the other 8-Bit iterations, and more importantly, although the story and sound track are great, the game play is just too bothersome to really allow for anyone that isn't more on the hardcore side to actually enjoy it. If you pick up the Origins bundle, it's at least worth an attempt, but trying to buy this game on its own, may not be the best option.

I give Final Fantasy Origins: Final Fantasy II on the Playstation a 4/10.

{Review} Final Fantasy Origins: Final Fantasy I -PS1-

2010-09-09T18:57:00.000-04:00

Final Fantasy was developed at a time when Square was dealing with bankruptcy, way back in 1987. Director Hironobu Sakaguchi feeling almost defeated at this point boldly declared that his final game would be a fantasy role-playing game. And now, we'll never live to hear the end of it. This version that we'll be taking a look at; Final Fantasy Origins: Final Fantasy I is the most accurate remake to the original Famicom version, with only the visual presentation and sound track being enhanced, as opposed to the Dawn of Souls remakes which actually alters the script and story.

An endless time loop begins when Garland, a knight from the present, enters into a deal with the four Fiends to become the demon king Chaos. He sends the Fiends 2000 years into the future to wreak havoc. Then warriors of light are chosen to to save the world and put an end to Chaos.

Sound familiar? Yea, Final Fantasy VIII. But I'll cover that at another time. As for this, the story honestly isn't that gripping, in part to the fact that there isn't a set cast of characters, making any form of character development neigh impossible at this time in gaming.

This version includes enhanced visuals as well as some great cut scenes. The battle design is more akin to that of FFIV, however the core game is still in its classic 8-bit style. Retro gamers will love this, however newer, more graphic focused gamers won't really be digging it.

With an enhanced soundtrack that's brought out to its finest, this musical score sets the ground work for every Final Fantasy game to come. Although great for its time, however, it doesn't carry the same kind of impact in today's gaming world, or even when compared to the other Final Fantasy title; but it's always important to give thanks to the origin.

Game play is simple: when you start the game you pick your party of 4 characters, choosing from Warriors, Red Mages, White Mages, Black Mages, Martial Artist Monks, and Thiefs. Each character class has their own unique sets of equipment and abilities they can learn as you progress through the game. Combat is turn based, with the player and the A.I taking turns whacking away at one another with their attacks.

However, this game isn't exactly the hardest to beat. In fact, the four strongest weapons in the game are fairly easy to find, as I found them all by complete accident, and they're so powerful that two swings from my WHITE MAGE AND BLACK MAGE killed the final boss. There's no reason for that!

This version packs a bit more for the die hard fans. There's a collection mode allows players to unlock monster data as well as art work from the game as they play the game several times over; it took me a good 3 play-throughs to collect everything. Also due to the interesting team dynamic, there's several different team combination to try out, which can help to keep battles fresh from play-through to play-through.

If you ever wanted to see how Final Fantasy got its start, or if your looking for a nostalgic fix, this is the game to get. Also important to keep in mind is that Final Fantasy Origins is actually a combo deal, featuring both Final Fantasy I and II all on one disk. If that's not enough to sweeten the pot for ya, then there's no satisfying you.

I give Final Fantasy Origins: Final Fantasy I on the Playstation a 7/10.

{Review} Final Fantasy Chronicles: Final Fantasy IV -PS1-

2010-09-09T18:53:00.002-04:00

Originally developed as a NES game, Final Fantasy IV would be pushed up to the SNES for development, and see a 1991 release date. When Final Fantasy IV hit the market, it was a huge event in the world of RPG's, as it brought about many changes to how we would forever perceive the genre, as well as how future games would build upon what Final Fantasy IV had laid down.

The game would see several re-releases and remakes, totaling over 4 million sales combined. Today, we'll take a look at the Final Fantasy Chronicles iteration for the Playstation.

The Dark Knight, Cecil, is sent out to collect the Water Crystal from Mysidia. Despite succeeding in his goal with minimal effort, a doubt forms in his mind; the doubt of whether what he was doing is the right thing or not. His doubts cost him, as he demoted from being the Captain of the Red Wings Air Ships. After his demotion, Cecil, along side his best friend Kain, are sent on a quest to the village of Mist, to deliver a package. The package was a trap: monsters spring forth and slaughter the town, leaving a lone girl left alive. The girl cries out in agony as she see's the corpse of her mother, and strikes out against Cecil, who tries to help her. Summoning a massive earthquake, which splits the area, separating Cecil and Kain then passes out from exhaustion. Waking up from his attack, Cecil now has an idea of what he must do. Bringing the girl with him so that he may protect her, he sets out to find out just what is going on within the Kingdom of Baron.

Final Fantasy IV brought about several game-play changes, to both the series and the world of RPG's as a whole. Now players find themselves using set character classes, which are bound to the characters themselves. On top of this, gamers are able to use up to five party members in battle. The biggest change, is in the battle system. Previously, the Final Fantasy series, as well as most RPG's from the time, used some form or another of a turn based system, in which the player and the A.I. would take turns swinging at one another. Now, a full fledged ATB, or Active Time Battle system has been implemented, which makes character actions and turns be dependent on the speed of your characters.

Depending on which iteration of the game you pick up, will determine the quality of the games presentation. Seeing as we're covering the Playstation version, my work here is a lot simpler. The game is near identical to the original Japanese version of the SNES game, otherwise known as Final Fantasy IV HARD. 16-Bit sprites at their best with Uematsu once again at the helm of the musical score. The only real change made to this game from its SNES counterpart would be the addition of a single FMV scene.

This iteration is easily a must have for collectors, however with other versions of Final Fantasy IV out there, it's hard to say this is the best of the bunch. When it comes to the game itself, if you still haven't given it a try, either because you weren't around for the craze or you just never gave it two thoughts before now, do yourself a favor and give this game a play through.

I give Final Fantasy Chronicles: Final Fantasy IV on the Playstation, a 9/10

{Review} Final Fantasy Anthology: Final Fantasy VI -PS1-

2010-09-09T18:46:00.000-04:00

Final Fantasy VI is a game that needs absolutely no introduction if your an RPG fan, regardless of your interest in the Final Fantasy legacy itself. For those who may be new to RPG's, or simply are younger, allow me to explain: Final Fantasy VI was once, and by many still is, regarded as the pinnacle of RPG's. Originally released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo, Final Fantasy VI took the world by storm. Its deep, engaging plot, flawless musical score, and lovable cast of characters entranced gamers then, and still does to this day.

Final Fantasy VI follows the adventures of a young girl named Terra. Terra is a girl possessing unparalleled magic power, and in the prologue of the game she is used as a tool of destruction. However she is shaken free of her mind control and works together with a young man named Locke, a thief, or 'treasure hunter' as he prefers, to escape capture from the Empire. From there the story snow balls into an epic tale of love, war, and utter decimation.

This game features 14 main characters, the most of all in the series. Surprisingly, it actually does an amazing job of balancing everyone's backgrounds and development. Along side Terra and Locke are the likes of Sabin, a royal heir who abandons that life and trains his body and mind with martial arts. Shadow, an assassin that has no problem in completing any task, for the right fee. Celes, a former general of the Empire who was set to be executed.

But out of all the hero's in the game, the true driving character isn't even a hero; the real power house character is the games main villain, Kefka. Kefka, for reasons I wont spoil, is arguably the strongest villain in all of Final Fantasy. A man who's mind has become so warped by magic that he seeks nothing more than the utter, and total, destruction of everything in existence, Kefka is a jester that makes The Joker from Batman look mentally healthy.

For most part, combat in the grand scheme of things remains the same; players will pick party members, arm them, and duke it out while the ATB ticks away. However, much like Final Fantasy IV, this game introduced a new mechanic to the battle system that would forever reshape the series, desperation attacks. Now, when a characters health is low, they can tap into their hidden potential and use a special attack. Outside of this, as I've stated, it's pretty much business as usual.

This game is 16-bits of pure love and affection. The world of Final Fantasy VI drawn so beautifully, with every character of the main cast having a unique feel to them, as well as the places you explore will feel new and exciting. The music arrangement is honestly Nobou Uematsu's best work, and the several full length sound track releases only help to compound that opinion of mine. Almost every piece is easily recognizable. The Final Fantasy Anthologies version also includes a couple of FMV scenes to enhance the visual presentation, however for most part it leaves things as they were.

However, it's important to note that there is some mild censorship at work in the North American release of the game. Scenes depicting nudity were completely covered up, as well as whole parts of character dialogue were changed, either for being deemed 'too violent', or even for seemingly no reason at all. Granted, they also had to work with the space restraints of the SNES carts, but even in later revisions of the game they still included these censorship changes. Why couldn't they have changed these, especially since they did make the changes for the other Final Fantasy titles to be featured in the Chronicles and Anthology bundles? This kills what is otherwise a nearly perfect game: sure, covering up the nudity I can somewhat understand, as here in the state's we're more tight-assed about sexuality. However, changing dialogue is a big no-no in my book. This is especially since the changes made alter the over all effect of what the characters are trying to say. Also, as a final note, nearly everything was re-named in the game, becoming more Americanized, but given that to this day I still look back and remember the characters by those names, and not their original Japanese ones, I can't fault the game for this.

Arguably the best in the Final Fantasy series, and one of the best RPG's of all time, Final Fantasy VI has it all. The Anthology edition comes with a bestiary and an art gallery to unlock, much like Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy's VI and V saw in their collection revisions. If you have yet to ever try out a game in the Final Fantasy franchise, this is the game to go with. The only people I can see having a problem with this title are those who are more accustomed to Action-RPG's, as the old-school ATB system can feel a bit slow and monotonous at times.

I give Final Fantasy Anthology: Final Fantasy VI a 9/10.

{Review} Final Fantasy VII -PS1-

2010-09-09T18:39:00.002-04:00

Well, as expected, it's time to give my thoughts on one of the most controversial games in all of video game fandom. Final Fantasy VII marked a huge turning point in the franchise: the games jumped from their old-school sprites to horribly rendered polygons, huge cinematic sequences are tossed in, and the story receives so many plot twists, that even M. Night Shyamalan would feel out done. It also marked a change in it's audience; no longer were the games only accessible to gamers, now anime and manga fans began showing in interest in the series, mostly due to the over the top character designs presented in the game. That's not to say that the game is all bad, which we'll get into shortly.

The story to the game is both simple, yet overly complex. A terrorist group known as AVALANCHE has been bombing power stations that are owned and operated by the Shinra Corporation. Preparing to go on their biggest raid yet, they hire the help of a mercenary, Cloud Strife, to watch their backs, knowing that Shinra Corp. will have something in store for them this time. However, as time passes, things get complicated as a flower girl named Aeris (Aerith in the original Japanese) gets thrown into the middle of the fray.

Along the way, things begin to get even more complicated, as a renegade member of SOLDIER, Shinra's private first class military, decides to go on a killing spree at the same time as AVALANCHE fails a raid against the Shinra headquarters. Now the story of the game is no longer to stop the planet killing corporation, but to save the world from an unmatched swordsman who wields a six-foot sword. I wont say too much more, but we start getting into crazy mind-f**k territory from here on, and most of it isn't done right.

The characters themselves are all spread out in terms of race and background, but many of them are either stereo-types, or just unbearable to deal with. There's Barret, the only black guy in the game, and he swears constantly and acts ghetto non-stop. Yuffie, an obnoxious ninja who is ALWAYS trying to steal you s**t, though admittedly a character that I have a soft spot for. Not to mention our main hero himself, Cloud, who is virtually a puppet for the entire game, and his only redeeming quality is he's the only character that can match Sephiroth in the ability to wield a giant sword, only Cloud's is as wide as it is long. (Compensation much?)

But how is the game play you ask? Well, FFVII follows up on some of the principles brought in from FFVI: the limit break system returns in full glory, as now characters have full tiers of limits to learn and utilize in combat, which vary drastically from character to character, which will influence your three-man party choices. Also a returning concept, is the ability to learn spells with every character, however instead of learning them from summons, the characters will be able to harness the power of magic from crystals (because what's a Final Fantasy game without crystals?) which need to be equipped to your characters through their weapons and accessories. Battles are still conducted with the ATB system, and overall hasn't changed much. The game actually shines here, as combat is fast, and the difficulty spikes are appropriately placed. It never gets too challenging, but stays just challenging enough to keep you focused on what you're doing.

But how does the presentation stack up? Well, the graphics didn't even look that great back then, and they sure as hell haven't held up to today. Any character models outside of (most) cinematics are blocky polygons that make everyone look like Popeye the Sailor Man. Inside battle, we get semi-realistic character models, and mostly well designed monsters. The cinematics themselves are done very well for most part, as they constantly try to push this new technology to the limits (and falls short every time). The musical score on the other hand is very well done, with each piece being easily recognizable. The music is so well done that like many other scores from games, it constantly gets fan remakes and remixes, not to mention has been performed in live orchestras several times.

Ultimately, this game is, well, average. Sure, back in the day this thing was gold for raging weeabo's and RPG fans alike, but looking back on it with a critical eye, the flaws the game are just endless. The characters are mostly just given roles to play out, and rarely act outside of them. The only characters that really get any true character development are Cloud and ironically enough Cait Sith, and really the final boss fight of the game was both climatic and anti-climatic at the same time. Not to mention the ending of the game, which makes absolutely no sense what so ever. But still, this game can be enjoyable at parts, and the controls are spot on. It's not broken in any real sense, however it's really not trying to do anything new either.

I give Final Fantasy VII on the Playstation, a 5/10.

{Review} Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring -PS1-

2010-09-09T18:34:00.000-04:00

Ehrgiez was originally an arcade fighter back in Japan that caught a lot of attention for its full 3D fighting action as well as the fact that half of the character roster was comprised of Final Fantasy 7 characters, including Cloud and Sephiroth. The game would later see a home console release on the Playstation, which added in several new game modes such as mini games and a full RPG side game which further explains the games back story. Despite doing well in Japan, its reception over seas was abysmal, with the game never reaching the Greatest Hits list.

In the Fighting Mode, your character is fighting in this tournament to win a mythical sword called "Ehrgeiz" that holds the secret to immortality. The RPG Mode takes you on the quest to find the history behind the sword. All in all, there really isn't a whole lot of depth here, so there really isn't that much to say.

For its time, this game was stunning. The in game graphics were beautifully done, and the FMV cut scenes were a very nice added bonus. The HUD is rather simple, and although the levels have different areas to explore and fight on, the player isn't overwhelmed by the height and distance differences of each area. My only real complaint with the graphics would be some projectile attacks can look very grainy, such as Tifa's fire spell, and Sasuke + Yuffie's shuriken throw.

The sound effects were nicely placed in this game, and the announcer truly makes the game feel like an intense experience. However, that's about where the compliments end. The music is easily forgettable, and sometimes the music can actually be annoying. But, this is mostly a matter of personal taste than anything else, as there are many who enjoy this games soundtrack.

Aside from the graphics, one of the biggest things this game does right is deliver in the controls department. The controls are highly responsive, and take little time to learn. However, like in many fighters, although the controls are easy to pick up, they're hard to master.

So, would you come back to this game more then once? Of course! Between the several game modes to play, and the wide variety of the character roster, this game is easy to revisit to enjoy several times over, especially if you have friends that enjoy the game as well; after all, a fighter just isn't as fun without another person to beat down.

Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring is one of those lost gems that you come by every now and then. The main fighting game is some of the best 3D fighting action, even by today's standards, and the full hack-and-slash RPG mode as well as the mini-games give so much life to this game. But, some people will dismiss the title for its inclusion of Final Fantasy 7 characters, feeling that they over-shadow the roster, or the reverse can be true as well, and people who play this may feel disappointed that this isn't a pure Final Fantasy related title. Which ever the case, if you're willing to simply take the roster for what it is, and if you can get past the music in this game, there's so much fun to have.

I give Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring for the Playstation, an 8/10.

{Review} Deception: Invitation to Darkness -PS1-

2010-09-09T18:21:00.000-04:00

Ah yes, Techmo and their crazy games. The appropriately titled, Deception: Invitation to Darkness, started off the niche Deception series in which players would work to kill, capture, and torment other living beings for all sorts of reasons. However, this title specifically has some extreme flaws that make the overall game sag down.

You are a Prince returning home; everyone is glad to see you and you have a conversation with the king. Just as hastily as you had arrived, however, the king is magically killed, and your brother barges into the throne room, declaring that you are the one who had killed him. You are then tied to a stake, having been sentenced to death. You beg for some dark, dark, power to assist you in getting revenge as you begin to draw your last breathes; lightning strikes your body, and flame erupts. Your wish was granted. Now you must take control of the Castle of the Damned, and defend it from invaders, as well as work to resurrect Satan in order to accomplish your revenge.

This game has classic, blocky, 3D graphics, however the character models are rather hit and miss. Some characters are actually rendered very well, with their bodies and faces feeling natural, while others look like the creators lost their budget, and they just slapped together a bunch of blocks and used a JPEG for a face. (Think WWF Warzone) The UI is extremely clustered, with a lot that the player is forced to keep track of at all times, which can become a strain on the eyes.

The music in this game is amazingly well done, with each piece really bringing the mood of the game to life. The sound effects however are more akin to the graphics, and are rather hit and miss. Weapon sound effects sound spot on to how they should, while the 'creepy' mood setting sound effects like demonic growling sounds more comical than anything.

As I've mentioned, you'll be using a wide assortment of options to either kill or capture (And in some cases, torture) any who dare set foot inside the Castle of the Damned. You can use capture traps like cranes and cages, deadly traps like spikes, pits, and even weights, plus so much more. Players will also be able to use taunts to lure enemies into traps, cast spells, steal souls to power spells, and even use body parts to make zombies! However, with each action you do, it will effect the ending of the game, which is something to keep in mind.

Now, the gameplay itself is extremely fun and customizable, however the controls... not so much. This game predates Analog Sticks, so you have to move around using only the D-Pad; this is something that in a First-Person 3D game is a pain in the ass, as you move like a tank than anything else. (Wait, where have I heard that before...?) Also, there can be occasional input lag, and in a game that's all about timing traps, that is a very, very, dangerous thing.

The game is host to two main endings that I know of, the morally good ending, and the morally wrong ending, with each on having slight variations depending on the actions taken during the course of the game. Even the story itself as you progress will alter slightly depending on your actions. Although this sounds like a good thing, it's really nothing amazing, and as a whole adds little to the experience, especially when taking into account having to go through the game again just to get these slight alterations. Honestly, unless you fell in love with it the first time you went through the game, you're not going to bother doing it all again.

Don't get me wrong, I love this game; it's story is so beautifully woven with several twists and turns, and the trap mechanics are so engaging, however, this game is extremely flawed. You'll constantly feel like you have to force your character to move as you play, and the tank-like movements really slow you down, giving your enemies that extra bit of time to either run away or take a shot at you. The Castle, though customizable, will get tiresome to look at after some time, and for most part all of the effort you go through to set up traps goes to waste very quickly, as you'll either never end up needing them, or you end up getting yourself caught up in them because of button lag.

I give Deception: Invitation to Darkness on the Playstation a 4/10.

{Review} Warstorm -PC-

2010-09-09T16:43:00.000-04:00

Ah yes... online CCG/TCG (Collectible Card Game or Trading Card Game, whichever you prefer) is an interesting genre indeed. Blending the addictive nature (to me) of the CCG and opening it to the masses through their web browser is a great idea, in theory.

In order to add depth to the game, there is actually some form of a story to Warstorm. Though to be honest, it was so mundane and basic that I literally forgot every bit of it. Basically, you're just going on war campaigns to take over or defend land. If there wasn't a story to speak of at all, I wouldn't mind, but just tacking on a rather dull and basic story just to give the feel of a deeper game, makes me want to club some seals. If you're going to add a story, actually put effort into it people...

Arguably either the most, or least important part of any CCG, whether online or physical, is the art. The card art is actually rather good, however it's no where near the caliber that say Magic the Gathering posses. Also, because this is an MMOCCG, there are several spell, attack, and other various animations. However, a few of them tend to not make sense, like various Archer cards using sword animations, but that's just nit picking.

Well... how to say this? This is the most involved, uninvolved MMOCCG I've played. In Warstorm, you make squads, not decks. Each squad has a hero to command, and that hero has a set number of units, spells, and equipment that he/she can lead into battle with him/her. Players make their squad around their hero, while taking in mind the unit/spell/gear limits, the hero's race, card effects, and several other game play factors, perhaps the most important of which being the time counter of each card. This, brings us to the uninvolved part of the game... the game itself.

In Warstorm, when you actually go into a battle against either the CPU or another player, you will select your squads based on your level or campaign conditions, and once the squads are decided... that's it. The servers automatically calculate who the winner or loser will be, and from there it's up to you if you feel like watching the battle or not. That's right, you have no actual control of the cards in the duel. Cards will be played based on their timer counter, and will take actions completely on their own. It's this very reason that truly kills this game for me. Although I have another major gripe which I'll mention in the next section, it's this aspect that drives me up a wall. I've both won and lost matches because of the automatic responses of various cards. Plus, isn't the point of playing a CCG, MMO style or otherwise to PLAY the CCG?

Well, this brings us to my second biggest issue with this game. The main campaign is fairly short, I did it in about 2 days. They offer a side quest which I am actually stuck on, but other than that... there ain't much to do single player wise, and multiplayer is extremely hit or miss due to the lack of steady players. Often times I find myself going against not only new comers to the game, but the same exact players over and over again. I swear I fought this guy, Dr Octave, like 8 times already.

The main issue in all of this stems from the fact that if you want anything other than basic cards and the starter missions, you have to purchase not only expansion sets to unlock new missions, but you also have to purchase card boosters in order to get anything other than the basic set up. This right away cripples players who either can't afford to be buying $13 add-ons and booster packs, or who (like myself) have an issue spending their cash on intangible items that can (and will) simply vanish if/when the online service is no longer provided.

All in all, this is really nothing more than something to waste time on when you're really bored, or to have running while playing other games to keep you amused during load or respawn times. At first this game seems to have a lot of potential, offering a lot of depth in strategy and even a complete achievement system (And yes, it's even actually called Achievements) however, unless you're willing to spend an obscene amount of money ($91 plus tax just to unlock all of the campaign missions, let alone all of the booster packs) on an intangible CCG, you wont find yourself sticking with this for more than a week at the most.

I give Warstorm on PC, a 3/10.

{Review} Torchlight -PC-

2010-09-09T16:39:00.000-04:00

Runic Games brings to us a new entry into the Hack and Slash RPG genre. With a development team consisting of some of the minds that brought us Diablo, Diablo 2, Mythos, and Fate, already you go into this game with some high expectations, even if it is a budget title. However, the question is, does it deliver?

Players will take control of one of three characters, the Alchemist, Destroyer, and Vanquisher as they arrive in the once peaceful mining town of Torchlight, each for their own reasons. Mayhem as has been unleashed, as hordes of monsters are attacking the town, coming out from the mines. You must travel inside the mines to stop the evil that lurks below the town. Everything else at this point is nothing more than a thinly veiled reason to go kill things.

The game definitely goes for a more vibrant, cartoony look, and a UI that is nearly identical to that of Diablo, right down to the hot keys. Character models are highly detailed, however the town of Torchlight is rather dull. The dungeons vary greatly in design, which keeps the dungeon crawling fresh, as well as various elements in the levels can actually contain enemy ambushes which adds a bit of paranoia to the gamer.
The soundtrack in this game is very well orchestrated, with each piece further adding to the tension and adrenaline that players will feel when engrossed in the adventure. The special effects are nicely done, with everything sounding as it should. Voice acting, however is average at best.

Each of the three characters have their own set of three skill trees, with each skill tree playing to a certain play style. However, unlike the skill tree system found in Diablo, there are no skill prerequisites, meaning any skill can be obtained so long as you're a high enough level to use it. Gamers also get a pet that will act as a combat buddy and mobile stash that can run back to town and sell stuff for you.

The core game play is essentially traveling from dungeon to dungeon, grinding levels and killing waves of enemies.

The game has a lot to offer those that play through the game multiple times. There's the Endless Dungeon, which is literally a never ending dungeon that is unlocked when the game is completed for the first time, the retirement system which allows gamers to restart their character at level one with increased fame as well as special bonuses to a select item of their choosing.

Also, the game is designed to be extremely moddable, and the mod scene for this game is running very rampant. I've seen everything from new dungeons to classes and even new pets. I've even seen the Shaman from WoW be completely recreated.

Torchlight is H&S RPG action in its purest form. If you enjoy the genre, this is simply a must have title, especially considering it's at a budget price. However, this game is a bit lacking compared to other titles; there's no multiplayer and for those that find themselves unable to mod the game may be disjointedness by the limited amount of quest chains and few selectable characters.

I give Torchlight on the PC an 8/10.

{Review} Starcraft -PC-

2010-09-09T16:36:00.000-04:00

Improving on the formula that Blizzard had established with Warcraft, they set out to go with a more futuristic take on the RTS genre, which brings us Starcraft. It's man vs alien vs alien animals in face paced action. Featuring superior controls to Warcraft (up to that point) and a fun new mythos to learn, Starcraft would become the biggest thing to ever happen to Korea.

Set in a futuristic universe, the humans, known as Terran, have been colonizing deep space in an effort to get a true foothold in the galaxy. However, a bizarre alien race known as the Zerg have been decimating everything it's come across. Sent out to try and fight back the Zerg are Jim Raynar, a marine with great skill and cunning, as well as a Ghost by the name of Sarah Kerrigan, whom he has a love for. However, things quickly turn bleak as alliances are not what they seem, and to make matters worse, the technological, as well as psychologically advanced race known as the Protoss have also begun a war campaign against the Zerg, although they don't seem to be up to working alongside the Terran.

Honestly, it's not the deepest story out there, and often it does follow many cliche's, however its presented very well, and the characters are both extremely likable and hate-able. It goes through many twists and turns, but many of them you can see coming.

For its time, this game didn't look half bad. However, it certainly hasn't aged well. Aside from that, the designs of the three races are very unique, not only from one another, but in general; especially the Zerg. Terran will feature your standard military style fair, as well as giant robots. The Zerg are all organic in design, with rather macabre entities that serve as warriors and structures. And finally the Protoss who remind me way too much of the Predators.

The soundtrack to this game is decent at best, clearly not Blizzard at their best here. The sound effects are honestly laughable, but for that time period, it was kind of expected.

Players will work to collect Ore and Gas, all the while maintaining their unit reserves. Featuring a character food limit of 200, which can lead to massive battles (All be it, still on the smaller side when compared to Command and Conquer at the time) The main goal is to amass your army and destroy your opponents bases down to the ground. The units you can use will be dependent on the race you pick:

Terran are true militant gunners; rifles, sniper rifles, flame throwers, giant robots, and fighter planes.

Zerg are sneaky and are truly powerful en mass. Most of their units have the ability to evolve, allowing the powers like burying beneath the ground to surprise foes, or even to add radical enhancements to their abilities, allowing for different mutations.

Protoss are all about efficiency and air domination. Their ground troops are a bit lacking, though a single Zealot is enough to handle 3 Zerglings. However, should their elite Carriers, or even their strategical Arbiters enter the battle, chances of stopping them are slim.

When this game was at its prime, there was a massive community, dedicated to not only the main game, but the custom maps that players could make with the World Editor as well. In fact, this was the origin of the AoS genre of game style, or as it's more commonly known, DotA. Alas, unless you have a few buddies for a lan party, skirmish mode will only entertain you for so long.

Back in its prime, I would have given this game a solid 9. However in today's gaming world, although the gameplay itself is still enjoyable and solid, everything else about it has fallen to the pits. So by today's standards;

I give Starcraft on the PC 3 a 6/10.

{Review} Quake Live -PC-

2010-09-09T16:32:00.000-04:00

Have you ever found yourself wishing that you could have a fully functional FPS at the tip of your fingers at all times? Ever found yourself broke, unable to get any shooters? Well, the solution to this is out there, and it's in the form of a browser plug-in. That's right, a browser plug-in.

The game doesn't look half bad. Character models are well made, and offer a wide variety of body styles, levels are nicely rendered, as well as offer many areas to explore and see, and the UI is bold, yet easy on the eyes. However, he frame rate can get a bit choppy in full screen mode, and character models will glitch up pretty hard during lag spikes.

If you've played any multiplayer PC game from id, then you already know how to play. For those new, there's not a whole lot to learn. Movement is done with WASD, and the gun is controlled via the mouse, with left click firing and right click zooming. The controls, however, can be completely customized to your liking, whether it's adjusting mouse sensitivity or mapping weapon hot keys.

Players will find themselves facing off in several different game modes: Free For All, Death Match, Team Death Match, and Capture the Flag, are all rather self explanatory. However, there is also Clan Arena, which is a more hardcore form of Team Deathmatch, in which all players only have one life for the round, and the round ends when only one team is left standing.

If you like running and gunning, this is it. Quake Live offers some of the most balanced, yet competitive gun fights that one can participate in. The game will assess new comers and offer them server suggestions based on their performance in the tutorial; the gamer is still free to choose what ever server they wish though. Other than that, the only real reason I can see to not come back to play this game is if you simply don't like it from the start.

Quake Live is certainly an interesting little gem. Absolutely free to play and acting as a normal browser plug
-in, I'd highly suggest everyone to give it a go at least once. It's rather fun, and light weight so most machines should be able to run it. The ranking system is also rather nice, as it's constantly updated, as well as features an 'awards' system. (Read, achievements)

Other than that, there ain't much to say. If you do give this game a go, shoot me a message, I'll gladly play a few rounds. (Disclaimer, I am absolutely terrible)

I give Quake Live on the PC a 7/10.

{Review} Dragon Age Jouneys: The Deep Roads -PC-

2010-09-08T02:44:00.000-04:00

Stop for a moment and ask yourself: what's the best way to promote my game? The answer: with a free to play game that also unlocks stuff in my game! The Dragon Age Journeys sagas are a flash based marketing scheme, that are still playable in their own right. Out currently is the first of three chapters, The Deep Roads.

There are multiple character paths to choose from at the beginning of the game, however they all lead down the same exact adventure: you are with a group of people, you separate yourself from said group, the group gets nuked into oblivion, and you manage to run away. Now you must band together with a variety of allies to unravel the mystery of the powers that slayed your dead group.

Well, it's a flash game alright. But sadly, it's still not even the most impressive looking flash game I've played. The characters all lack any fine detail, and instead receive minor changes to their appearance based on the armor and weapons they have equipped. When you make your character, there's a few different hair styles to choose from, depending on your gender, as well as a couple different faces depending on your race, but nothing too fancy. Any environment you find yourself in, whether it's the main town or in a cave will look and feel extremely bleak and uninspired.

It's point and click SRPG action at its most casual. You'll move around with the mouse, battle with the mouse, and talk with the mouse. That's about it. Battles take place on a grid, which will be affected by the terrain you're on, which sometimes causes rocks and trees to obstruct the battle field grid a bit. You'll command yourself and up to two allies in the battle, and from there it's simply kill or be killed. Leveling is a tad annoying at first: when you start a new character, the game is automatically set to distribute your stat points for you, a fact that the game FAILS TO MENTION. It wasn't until I was already level 4 on my main character (Max level of 7 mind you) that I learned this tid bit, in the FAQ IN THE PAUSE MENU. Not a single tutorial bubble that popped up mentioned that! It's a bit of a minor flaw, but damn it when the game gives me the ability to allocate my stat points, but doesn't even tell me that it's automatically set to auto spend, it's damn annoying.

The game will take you about 2 hours straight to complete; that's including unlocking and killing everything. However, it is kind of nice to go back and try out every class type, as they all have fairly deep skill trees which can be fine tuned to your play style. Plus, with three allies to choose from, it's a satisfying experience to test out the many different combat tactics that you can create.

Eh, it is what it is. It certainly wasn't the worst game that I've played, and the fact that it unlocks gear in Dragon Age Origins for you to use automatically warrants at least a single play through. However, this first installment into the Dragon Age Journeys saga certainly didn't set the bar too high. Let's just hope the future releases will bring us more items, and an overall better game.

I give Dragon Age Journeys: Chapter 1: The Deep Roads on the PC a 4/10.

{Review} A Kingdom for Keflings -PC-

2010-09-08T02:42:00.000-04:00

A Kingdom for Keflings originally made its debut back on the Xbox 360; its relaxing game play and simple controls made it easy for people to pick up and play. Now, A Kingdom for Keflings is making its mark on the PC, promising to bring the same fun that was had from the original. Perhaps, too much the same, me thinks.

In A Kingdom for Keflings, you play as one of four giants and help the tiny people known as Keflings to build their society. Whether working alone or with friends online, players will build the entire Kefling kingdom from the ground up. Gamers not only have to build everything, however, but they'll also have to do some RTS style micro-management, as they direct the Keflings to mine for various resources; this keeps the game from getting too stale, as there's always something for the player to be doing. A final interesting thing to note is that during the course of the game, the weather will change according to the seasons, which also has a direct impact on the mining speeds of the different resource types.

There are some flaws to this game, however. Despite the unique art direction of the game, the music direction is rather lack luster, as the soundtrack grows tiresome and repetitive at a rather fast rate. Then there's the fact that this is indeed a direct port of the 360 version, meaning that if you already have that version, there's no incentive to actually buy this version. Scratch that, it's actually missing two things compared to the 360 version: avatar support and achievements. Though these don't hurt the game in the grand scheme of things, the lack of any custom character detracts from the personal touch that the original gave, and the lack of achievements can alienate the more goal eccentric gamers, as there isn't too much of a major goal to drive this game to begin with.

Honestly, this is a good game; its addictive and relaxing, a nice change of pace from the norm. Though slightly stripped down from its 360 counter part, it's still worth checking into. However, the lack of any additional features brings the overall worth of this game down pretty hard, especially since they could have really taken advantage of the PC user base by at least offering a map editor of sorts. Still, if you haven't already picked this up on the 360, and are looking for a great way to kick back and relax, this is worth looking into.

I give A Kingdom for Keflings on the PC a 8/10.

{Guide} Using A-Fear in Cross Edge

2010-09-08T02:24:00.002-04:00

{Guide} How to fix PS3 error 80010514

2010-09-08T02:20:00.000-04:00

Start by having the system in standby.

Hold the power button down till the system will turn on and turn off.

Press and hold the power button again, and hold it: it will beep as it turns on and then it will double beep. When you hear the double beep immediately take your finger off the power button

You will be prompted to plug in your controller via USB and then hit the PS button.

Now you'll see a series of options, this is VERY important, as a miss click will result in erasing your PS3 HDD.

The option you want to click is RESTORE FILE SYSTEM.

Finally, it is going to restart and bring up a screen reading Corrupted System Data. Your PS will now replace this data Then you choose continue and that should be it.

{Let's Play} Xardion -Episode 2-

2010-09-08T02:11:00.001-04:00

{Let's Play} Xardion -Episode 1-

2010-09-08T02:10:00.000-04:00

{Review} Mortal Kombat: Unchained -PSP-

2010-09-08T02:06:00.000-04:00

Mortal Kombat: Unchained is the PSP port/revision of Mortal Kombat: Deception. Far too often, the hand held ports get the short end of the stick in fighting games, especially in the case of Mortal Kombat, however Mortal Kombat and fighting fans alike who have PSP's will find a pleasant surprise awaiting them with this title.

Mortal Kombat: Unchained doesn't alter the story of Deception, however it does add onto it. Set right after Deadly Alliance, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were successful in killing most of Earth Realm's greatest champions; the only one left to oppose them was the Thunder God, Raiden. However, the might of the two sorcerers was too much for even Raiden to handle, and they defeated him. After their victory, the two turned on one another for true supremacy, and Quan Chi came out on top. But, this last victory was meaningless, as Reptiles possession was complete, and the Dragon King, Onaga returned to take Outworld. Returning to consioness, Shang Tsung and even Raiden work together with Quan Chi to stop Onaga, but the combined might of all three wasn't enough, and in a last ditch effort, Raiden focused all of his energy to blow up everything in and around the Outworld Palace... Onaga was the only thing left standing.

Now Onaga aims to conquer existence itself, while the realms are at their weakest. Only one old fool finds himself able to combat the Dragon King, Shujinko, the warrior who had brought Onaga back to power in the first place.

For a PSP port of a full 3D fighting game, this game is absolutely beautiful. The animations are well done and the character models are near flawless; there's occasional clipping problems, and the frames kind of chug at times, but considering they tried to take the complete models from the console iterations and scale them down to fit on the PSP, they did a fine job.

One of the things that Mortal Kombat has always been able to provide is a great sound track to enhance the mood of the games, and this game is no exception; I'd even go as far to say that Mortal Kombat: Unchained has the best sound track in the series. Even the sound effects are nicely done, and the voice acting is fairly top notch, with only a couple of voices that irk me. Also, a nice feature in Unchained is that players can play the songs from the game right on the PSP from the content menu.

The main fighting aspect of the game is the same as Deadly Alliance, with each character having three fighting styles; two hand-to-hand and one weapon focused martial art styles. However, some enhancements have been made since Deadly Alliance: a breaker system has been implemented, allowing players that are on the defensive to force their attacker back, however these breakers are limited to three per match to prevent spamming. The roster is also far more diverse than both Deadly Alliance and even Deception, from which it is a port of. Not only does Unchained come with Shao Kahn and Goro who were present only in the Gamecube version of Deception, but Jax, Kitana, Blaze, and Frost return as well to fill in the events up to Armageddon better.

Also present in Unchained is Deception's mini games, Puzzle and Chest Kombat, which both feel very welcome on the portable, as both offer quick, on the go challenges to play. The rpg-esque Konquest Mode from Deception returns as well, however the scale of items and unlockables have been toned down, with every character starting unlocked, so the hidden keys inside Konquest mode have been altered to reflect these changes.

But, new to Unchained is the Endurance mode: a survival challenge that's common in other fighting titles. This mode is a great chance for gamers to test their might against an onslaught of foes, till they breathe their very last breath.

If you love Mortal Kombat, this game will never get dull. The ability to wirelessly fight one another, whether it's in a one-on-one fight, a battle of whits in Puzzle Kombat, or even a more strategic elimination style fight in Chess Kombat, the game offers enough variety to keep fans busy. However, if you're only a casual fighting gamer, you can still enjoy what this has to offer inside of its unloackable content and mini games.

Mortal Kombat: Unchained is one of the best 3D fighting game on the PSP, period. The controls are very tight, and although there's minor clipping problems, they can be over looked if perfect graphics aren't important to you. Also, if you're a Mortal Kombat fan, this is the definitive version of Mortal Kombat: Deception. Even if you're just an all around fighting gamer, this is a must have.

I give Mortal Kombat: Unchained on the Playstation Portable, a 10/10.

{Review} Dissidia: Final Fantasy -PSP-

2010-09-08T02:03:00.000-04:00

Someone at SE finally got around to making a full feature fighting title involving most of their big name Final Fantasy characters. Thus the RPG Fighting Game, Dissidia: Final Fantasy was born.

For eons, the cycle of war has raged on. The goddess of harmony, Cosmos, and the god of discord, Chaos call upon warriors from various realms to fight for them in this eternal struggle. But, something is amiss this time around, as it seems the power of Cosmos is waning, and the forces of Chaos are working tirelessly to crush her guardian warriors. You will fight as the 10 heros of Cosmos; Warrior of Light, Firion, Onion Knight, Cecil, Bartz, Terra, Cloud, Squall, Zidane, and Tidius as you try to stop the plans of Chaos' minions.

Well, back in my MK Unchained review, I stated it was one of the best looking 3D fighters on the PSP, and it still is, however, Dissidia is hands the the best looking one. The in game action is beautifully rendered with highly detailed stages popping out at you. The cinematic cut scenes are wonderfully done as well, especially the intro and ending scenes which really show off what the PSP can do, graphically.

If there's one thing that SE can do, it's orchestrate a game soundtrack. There's a lot of songs from the original games, all of which have been enhanced, as well as a few original pieces. The sound effects are great as well. Now, for the voice acting... It's a bit hit and miss. Some characters, like Squall and Terra have the perfect voice talent behind them, while characters like Zidane and Cloud of Darkness just seem to be uninspired and poorly cast.

The gameplay is deceptively shallow. Combat revolves around two stats: bravery and HP. Bravery is essentially how much damage you can dish out while HP is how much damage you can take. The idea is to use bravery attacks to drain your opponents bravery, thus making you hit harder and them weaker, and then blast them with an HP attack to kill them.

There's a few other mechanics tossed in, to try and give some depth. The characters will level, like in a traditional RPG, and you can customize their gear (read: further insure your ability to end a fight in one combo), and to some degree customize your characters move set.

If they did something right concerning the game play, it's the amount of stuff packed in to unlock and do. The story is extremely expansive, lasting around 100 missions, each of which you literally HAVE to complete at least 3 times in order to unlock everything inside the story mode. There's also the classic style arcade mode, a time attack mode, and a duel colosseum where you fight in a sort of stylized survival mode. On top of that, you can unlock all of the music to listen to, cut scenes to watch, save matches to watch later and even upload to the internet, and every character has an alternate outfit to unlock. (Although most are just recolors)

Well, in terms of presentation, this game deserves a lot of praise, but honestly, the combat leaves a lot to be desired. I can't see any serious fighting gamers enjoying this, as it's not really competitive at all, it's more about who can bust out a bravery to HP combo faster. Also, unless you have friends with PSP's and Dissidia, or a PS3 with Adhoc Party downloaded, this game will amount to a single player adventure, which really hurts it. But, if you love both fighting games and Final Fantasy, or even if you're just a big Final Fantasy fan in general, it's worth checking out.

I give Dissidia: Final Fantasy on the PSP an 8/10.

{Review} Jump Ultimate Stars -NDS-

2010-09-08T01:56:00.000-04:00

Jump Ultimate Stars is the squeal to Jump Superstars; both games are 2D fighting titles on the Nintendo DS. Jump Ultimate Stars brings an interesting strategy focus to the fighting genre, as up to four players compete in either death match, point match, or capture the item matches with characters from over forty manga series, including: Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Bleach, Death Note, Gintama, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Rurouni Kenshin, Shaman King, Saint Seya/Knights of the Zodiac and many, many more.

The story is fairly simple. Someone is causing all of the worlds in the (Shounen Jump) universe to shatter apart and regroup into collective constellations where they have traits in common. (For example, there is the 'Spirit' constellation where manga titles like Yu Yu Hakusho and Bleach are grouped together) So it's up to the only warriors left unaffected by this crazy plot to rescue the other survivors and try and set things right. From the beginning, players will take control of Naruto (Naruto), and Monkey D. Luffy (One Peice), to use as battle characters, while Goku (Dragon Ball Z) stands by to lend a Kameha-meha Wave when they need it.

The art direction of this game is very... interesting. Incorporating all of the styles and designs of over forty manga is an amazing feet, one that truly had to have brought about many complications. The characters and animations are beautiful and vibrant, yet at the same time the levels themselves are extremely dull in both art direction and game design. Often they try to incorporate so much into them that it just feels like one big colorful mess. This is interesting, because even the menu schemes are a lot more involved in terms of art direction, as they are completely customizable. The player can pick characters that will be their 'guide'. The guide will greet them at the main menus, and act as the sort of tutorial/announcer figure for anything outside of the actual game play. (Personally, I like having Botan the most, but I'm biased when it comes to Yu Yu Hakusho) Also, an important thing to mention is the design of the koma, or panels. I'll touch on what they do in a bit, but as for their art direction, I really love what they've done. They took actual scenes and events from each manga that the characters were in, cut them into various Tetris shapes, and colored them; this not only gives the manga mash-up a more authentic feel, but it also gives fans of the manga characters a nostalgia trip each time they customize their koma decks.

Remember those terms I threw at you earlier: koma, panels, koma decks, strategy focused fighting game? Well, allow me to explain.

Jump Ultimate Stars plays like a mix of Tetris, Super Smash Brothers, and Trading Card Games. The player has what's called their koma deck, or simply their deck. Inside this deck is a set amount of blocks that they can use to fight with. The blocks are filled with Tetris style koma, or panels, which will act as the players fighting characters, support characters, and special abilities. Special koma only take a single block, while support koma can take two to five blocks (in almost any shape), and character koma usually range from six to ten blocks. On top of this, there is a sort of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' mechanic inside the fighting and support characters. The fighting characters, as well as their attacks, all have an attribute: strength, knowledge, or humor. Strength attacks deal more damage to knowledge characters, knowledge attacks deal more damage to humor characters, and humor attacks deal more damage to strength characters.

As for the actual in game controls, players have an array of attacks at their disposal. Each character has two primary attacks, (A and B) that also change depending on the direction you hold on the D-Pad. For instance, hitting 'B' while using Super Sayajin 2 Gohan will do a basic ki blast, while holding 'Forward'+'B' will unleash a flurry of ki blasts. Players also have super attacks, which range from teleporting around the screen, blasting the whole screen, or the complete annihilation of anything standing near them. Not only that, but players can link together all of their fighting characters special moves in what's called a 'Dream Combo'.

The amount of customization this game offers, in both terms of game play options and characters to use will leave almost every fighting gamer in awe. Plus, there are tons of challenges to complete in the game, and if you aim to not only unlock but max out every single character in this game, that alone will leave you with hundreds of hours of game time. The only reason for someone to not go back to this game is if they don't like it at all to begin with.

Jump Ultimate Stars is simply amazing. The amount of depth and fun this game provides is simply top notch. There's really only two downsides to this game. The first is the fact that it's import only. There's just no way a game this license heavy could ever dream of leaving Japan, so unless you're big on importing, you might have to pass this game up. The second issue I have is more of a personal one, and it's the fact that Bremen wasn't present in the manga used for the game. I mean come on, they have Yu-Gi-Oh, Cobra, Death Note, Slam Dunk, Eye-Shield 21 and even Prince of Tenis, but they couldn't make room for Bremen, a series that actually had fighting in it...

I give Jump Ultimate Stars on the Nintendo DS, a 9/10.

{Art} E'tuam Mar by Izumi

2010-09-08T01:51:00.000-04:00

{Review} Zoids Legacy -GBA-

2010-09-08T01:47:00.000-04:00

Zoids Legacy, or Zoids Saga 2 back in Japan, is a SRPG that bends the reality of the Zoids time line, bringing Zoids Chaotic Century, Zero Century, and Fuzors together to face off against all of their known foes, as well as the foes from the previous entry in the Zoids Saga series. However, many seem to think this game has too much to offer. Wait... what?

Players take control of a young man named Zeru who aims to become a great Zoid pilot. But it's not that simple, as a mysterious girl crosses paths with Zeru, and from there all hell breaks loose. An evil organization is out to wreck chaos on the planet Zi by using time traveling riffs to alter the events of the past and future.

Along the way, Zeru will team up with nearly every main character from the Fuzors, Chaotic Century, and Zero Century, as well as obtain an Organoid ally, Pulse.

The amount of detail in the Zoids designs is top notch. Every single Zoid looks damn near identical to its real life toy and anime counter-part. The same can be said for the characters as well. However, the landscapes take a bit of a hit; every town looks nearly identical, and big important towns from the anime series are hardly recognizable. It feels like the art team just got lazy and quickly did up some buildings and tossed it all together. Even the dungeons are rather bland to the eye.

The music in the game is very nice, in small doses. Although it sets the moods for each town and battle right, it just drags on because of the length of the game. The sound effects are also nicely done, but when battles can drag on for hours, they can be very annoying.

Being that Zoids Legacy is an SRPG, it has everything you'd expect to see and then some. Players will control up to 6 Zoids and Zoids Pilots on a grid. Each Zoid comes with a stable list of weapons and abilities they can use, as well as the pilots come with a set of passive bonuses that can alter the abilities and stats of the Zoids that they're piloting. Players can also buy new equipment for their Zoids, so even the smallest of Zoids can enjoy the pleasures of a Charged Particle Cannon.

There is also the Organoid, Pulse to discuss. Pulse will change colors throughout the game: the change in color is in direct connect to the choices the player makes in conversations. There's four colors total, and each color gives Pulse a different set of stat bonuses and abilities. Red makes the Organoid more speed and strength focused, blue makes the Organoid focus on speed and defense, white puts more focus on defense and health, and black has a big focus on strength and defense.

Zoids Legacy features tons of replay value. Seriously, if there is any game that can rival the Disgaea games in terms of longevity, it's Zoids Legacy. Between the hundreds of Zoids and all of the weapons to choose from, there is never really an end to it all. Plus, the game offers a puzzle mode, setting players into challenges where they have to win battles with set Zoids, usually with the odds stacked against them. Also, because there are different Organoid colors, as well as two different specialty Zoids for the main character, there is much replay value to be had in just trying out all the combinations.

This game truly isn't for everyone. The amount of depth and customization can be an enormous headache and turn off for gamers who aren't into serious SRPG grinding and action. The charm of the story is also greatly hindered if players aren't already going into this game with full knowledge of all the Zoids characters from the three anime series, or even from playing the previous Zoids Saga game. The game tries to correct that, by offering a built in dossier that gives a brief background on the characters encountered in the game, but it's really not the same. So unless you're a big Zoids fan, and/or a true SRPG gamer, this may not be the game for you.

I give Zoids Legacy/Zoids Saga 2 on the Gameboy Advanced, a 7/10.

{Review} Final Fantasy IV: The After Years -Wii-

2010-09-08T01:44:00.002-04:00

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is the direct sequel to Final Fantasy IV. Originally released back in 2008 in episodic format for Cell Phones, this game has been released on WiiWare shop to download... in episodic pieces. The main game that you will pay 800 Wiipoints on, is the first half of the main game. The second half of the game, as well as all of the side quests, must be purchased separately.

The story of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years follows the tale of Ceodore, the son of Cecil and Rosa. He is but a squire, however he is currently among the ranks of the Red Wings, and is en route to his trail to become a full fledged knight. However, while he is off seeking his honor and status, chaos breaks out in the kingdom of Baron, as the moon once again splits into two, and monsters start raiding the kingdom. Cecil, Cid, and Rosa try to protect their homeland, however find themselves overwhelmed by their numbers, leaving Rosa and Cid to retreat while Cecil stays behind.

This half of the main game will focus mostly on the stories of two characters; Ceodore and Kain, with the game changing points of view at various intervals. The plot is as deep and entrancing as the first games, however after 5 hours of game time, the story comes to a dead stop, leaving a total cliffhanger, and a very irritated gamer.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years makes a delightful return to the retro style of play, with none of the game mechanics nor visual presentation changing from that of the 16-bit style of the original Final Fantasy IV. However, in an attempt to set itself apart and keep things fresh, the game borrows a page out of the Megami Tensei playbook and has the flow of battle affected by the phases of the moon. For example, during a full moon both you and the enemy will deal a reduced amount of physical attack damage, however all Black Magic spells will deal increased amounts of damage. This game mechanic sadly doesn't really do much in the grand scheme of things though, as gamers will constantly find themselves at odds with the enemies anyways, despite the phase of the moon. Either they'll be under leveled and need to grind out a few levels, or they'll find themselves over leveled and killing everything before the enemies can fight back, in spite of the reductions to their attack power.

Honestly, I can't highly recommend this game. Although I found myself enthralled in the story, as well as the constant nostalgic feeling this game provides, the ride is a bit short, considering the price of admission. Not to mention that the price of commission doesn't even cover the cost of the entire game. I could maybe understand if they sold the two halves of the story together and sold the side quests separately, but to have to buy both haves of the main game, on top of buying the side quests? That's just pushing it.

If you're a fan of Final Fantasy IV, this game is at least worth checking into. Otherwise then that, I see little reason to pick this up, as what redeeming factors this game has, are based within having previous knowledge of the Final Fantasy IV story and game play.

I give Final Fantasy IV: The After Years on the WiiWare a 3/10.

{Review} Savage Moon -PS3-

2010-09-08T01:43:00.000-04:00

Tower Defenses; to me they never grow old, and to the average console gamer, they are a new and exciting trend that's slowly starting to gain momentum. However, seasoned PC gamers know the style of game play inside and out, so to impress those with both a PS3 and PC takes a lot of effort. Savage Moon is one of those Tower Defense games that can surely impress both sets of gamers.

For being both a cheap PSN title, and a tower defense game, Savage Moon goes that extra step visually delivering some of the best HD visuals I've seen for a PSN title. Each level looks and feels like a whole new experience, however if you're not a sci-fi theme fan, the style of the games art direction can get rather stale after some time.

All the standard sound effects are there, as well as a limited music track. Sadly, this game is dragged down from an over all lack of any serious audio.

The controls are relatively easy to pick up and learn, however various aspects of the controls, such as the camera positioning for instance, feels useless, as often the camera will reset itself based on where you set the camera, leaving you with a Devil May Cry style camera fight. Aside from that, all your main actions and strategies will rely on a rotating menu, which is easily accessible and not at all hard to work with. However, placing towers can sometimes be a pain, as they have the same control as the camera movement oddly.

There's quite a lot left to do once you've stomped through the main game. Savage Moon offers many different play challenges, such as completing levels without leaking or completing levels with a set amount of minerals saved up. There's also the Vengeance Mode, in which you select a level from the main game and enter an endless survival mode, fighting wave after countless wave until your defense has finally fallen.

Savage Moon is a great tower defense for its price. Visually stunning and featuring a nice array of command strategies and tower types, there's more than enough to please a tower defense gamer. However, the lack of multiplayer co-op and difficult camera/tower placement, brings this game down, especially when compared to the other tower defense games on the PSN such as Comet Crash and PixelJunk: Monster. But, if you can look past these flaws, you'll find a fun time to be had.

I give Savage Moon on Playstation 3, an 8/10.

{Review} Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic -PS3-

2010-09-08T01:39:00.003-04:00

RDKF: FoP is the PS3 re-release of the classic, yet bizarre PC fighting game Rag Doll Kung Fu. Featuring an actual control scheme now, several challenge modes, fighting modes, and a very special hidden character, RDKF: FoP is to Sony as Smash Brothers is to Nintendo.

RDKF: FoP is very visually pleasing. The backgrounds are beautifully rendered, and the character creation options give for a lot of character diversity. The team color coding featured in the game doesn't take up much space, which is pretty good.

The game features an oddly addictive intro song, despite the fact that it's really nothing more than a woman singing the name of the song over and over again. But aside from that, it's rather standard. The sound effects are also standard fair; don't really expect much from this game in the audio department.

Unlike the original Rag Doll Kung Fu, which featured absolutely no pre-programmed controls, Fists of Plastic has a rather shallow move set, accompanied by special moves that are activated by using the motion controls of the Six Axis controller. Gamers will fight on several levels, which each offer all kinds of obstacles and strategic options. With up to four players, and the option of having teams, things can get fairly hectic. Not only that, but there's a few different game modes, including a basket ball-esque fish game.

Aside from the fighting, there's also a few challenge modes to try out, and honestly, they are pretty damn hard. There's a survival challenge, juggling, king of the hill and more. Getting platinum in all challenges will take an immense amount of skill, and will earn gamers the secret character.

Being a party fighting game, RDKF: FoP is highly replayable. The controls are super basic, so anyone can pick it up and play it. Just get a few friends over and you've got yourself a fun time. However, that is the ONLY way to do multiplayer, as there's no online mode. The challenge modes will also keep gamers who are completionists busy for some time.

Really, there's isn't a lot wrong with this game, it does what it aimed to do: provide a pick up and play part fighting game experience. But this formula gets stale rather quickly, especially considering the utter lack of any online versus mode, which makes absolutely no sense this generation. If you're looking for an intense fighter to play in between other fighting games, I'd suggest looking elsewhere, as this really doesn't deliver. However, if you're a more casual fighting gamer, or just a casual gamer in general, there's a lot of fun to be had.

I give Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic on the Playstation Network a 6/10.

{Review} Penny Arcade Adventures: OtRSPoD Episode 1 -PS3-

2010-09-08T01:37:00.000-04:00

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 is more than just a mouthful of a title, it's a sort of look back on classic RPGs. Bringing together the characters and art style of the Penny Arcade comics with a basic RPG combat system, this game can have a lot to offer, however, if it's already something you're interested in.

You are the main character. You can make either a boy or a girl and can dress him/her up with a very limited amount of clothing options and you start your journey from there. In a nut shell, some evil giant robot has crushed your house, so you take to arms with your pole-arm (Read: Gardening Rake) and set fourth to get some revenge and find a new place to live.

Meh is really all I can say about the visual aspect of the game. If you love the art style of the Penny Arcade comics, you'll love it here in game form. Personally, they could have done a lot more with it; the most you get is JRPG style dialogue scenes involving renders of the characters that have very few variations in order to reflect emotion, and the occasional and very brief animated cut-scene. Even in battle, everything felt as if they just did the bare basic.

Honestly, this is one of the quietest games I've ever played. There's a few sounds for combat, and some sound effects here and there for event stuff, but other than that there's just a couple of music tracks that are very light in sound and are easily forgettable. Plus, there's no voice acting.

The gameplay this is where I get mixed feelings. On one hand, I love the control scheme. Everything looks and feels tight, and everything is extremely user friendly, from the combat system to just running around and exploring. However, this game despite its lack of content, has slow down issues that can become very noticable. Now, in a normal RPG, this isn't a problem, and in this case it mostly isn't. However, the block system is extremely reliant on perfect timing, something that is hindered by the occasional slow down. I've actually lost fights early on from this.

There's NO replay value to this game. Unless you're a trophy whore and didn't get everything the first go around, you wont want to bother with this game again. Why? There's no changing experience. The game is extremely linear, and simply replaying it multiple times will simply just lead to redoing everything you did in the last play through.

In the end, this game is roughly 6 hours, you can literally go through it all, and collect everything and kill everything in one sitting. Plus, this game is the prime example of why I hate the Torque engine with a burning passion. Torque and I go way back, back when I was first working on getting into the game programming and design field. And so I picked up Torque because it was cheap (Roughly $100 for the engine) I figured it'd be worth it. WRONG. This engine is the worst thing to happen to game programming. It's only merit is its oddly reliable net code, which does absolutely NOTHING for this game. So about all I have left to say, is at a $15 price tag, unless you're a hardcore Penny Arcade fan, or are just simply desperate for some RPG gaming, stay the far, far away from this scam of a game.

I give Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 for the Playstation 3, an 2/10.

{Review} flOw -PS3-

2010-09-08T01:33:00.000-04:00

Originally a flash game, flOw has been brought over to the PS3. Featuring stunning graphics and a unique design that's reminiscent of prehistoric fish, flOw can either be the the most relaxing Pac-Man style game you've played, or a glorified screen saver.

Perhaps the only thing going for this game is its stunning visuals. The bizarre looking creatures, though simple in design, are vibrant and colorful, and the sea that you'll be exploring will reflect how far deep you are appropriately. However, the levels can be barren at times, leaving you hunting for an escape... food... I think... in order to go to the next part of the level.

The sound track is very calm and relaxing. That's about all I can say about the audio though.

When you first start off the game, you're literally already playing it; there's no menus, no tutorial, not even an explanation as to what your purpose is. You're simply told "move with the SIXAXIS movements, and everything else gives you a boost to get through.". I was seriously confused, and had to look up online what the objective was. The point of the game is to race to the bottom of the sea, all the while eating food and other creatures to grow bigger and evolve. But none of it is actually necessary, all that matters is you get to the bottom. You don't die, simply move back up to the last 'level' if an enemy eats you, and the game is said to have an adaptive difficulty, however now matter what I did to test this, whether it was killing myself a lot, or just trying to speed to the end of the game, I noticed absolutely no difference.

Sadly, there's almost no replay value to this game. You get six critters to run identical levels, and if you actually have three friends who want to play this with you, it does support up to four players to play together. But really, there isn't a point. Unless you're a trophy hunter going for every single trophy, you probably wont want to play it after you finish it.

Honestly, this game isn't 'bad', it's just lacking. Once you get the hang of what you're doing, it is a nice little time waster, and it can be used as a trippy screen saver for your PS3, if you wanted. However, because it's lacking one major thing, substance, I can't honestly recommend it to most gamers; this game is definitely for that niche' market that enjoy Flower.

I give flOw on the Playstation 3 a 5/10.

{Review} PixelJunk: Monsters -PS3-

2010-09-06T19:24:00.000-04:00

PixelJunk: Monsters is the third game in the loosely tied PixelJunk series. PixelJunk: Monsters keeps with the PixelJunk tradition and focuses on a different game play aspect: tower defense. Using a nice assortment of towers that can be upgraded, as well as using gems to purchase power ups and different tower types, gamers will be facing off against one of the most beautifully made, yet very challenging tower defenses I've been fortunate enough to own.

Evil monsters have come to destroy your remote island. As one of the village chieftains, it is your sworn duty to protect your land and your people from these invaders.

Like I said, this is one of the most beautiful tower defense games I've ever played. The levels all have a unique design that not only gives a constant fresh feeling to the scenery, but also has a great impact on the players viable strategy options. The enemies are very nicely done, with each type of foe being easily told apart from one another. The weather system is also a small, yet nice touch, with an occasional rain storm that can occur in levels.

The sound effects are fairly well done. As for the music... Eh... It's honestly not bad: each piece sets the mood of the game well, whether its the main menu music or music inside a level, but because it IS a tower defense, the sound of destruction really drowns it all out. Plus, it can get stale easily if you play the game for an extended period of time.

The player will take control of the chieftain and build towers on top of trees inside the levels. Each level is specifically designed to give the player some flexibility in how he or she can go about setting up their defense, however it can feel a bit limited when compared to other TD's on the PSN like Comet Crash. Players can also participate in local co-op, teaming up with a friend to tackle what the game has to offer. The co-op system is ranked separately from the single player experience, so any rainbows achieved won't be reflected when playing on your own, however the levels actually change a bit in order to fit a two player setting, with starting gold being lowered and waves attacking with slightly higher numbers.

The towers themselves are mostly your standard fare: arrows, freezing, anti-air and siege. However, they do add in some interesting spins, such as the Hive Tower which produces bees that swarm around the chieftain and attack anything around him.

Just getting through the game the first time around (whether it's in single player or co-op) is a fun but difficult feat. However, there's still more to do, as each level that is completed get entered into a world ranking system, so players can compete for true supremacy. The trophies add a lot to the game, even for those who aren't trophy hunters, as most of them add a unique spin on the levels, setting different goals to achieve while still completing the levels.

PixelJunk: Monsters is one of the cheapest games you can nab on the PSN, and for that price, it's a hell of a deal. Some people may not like spending money on what they could play on a flash game site, but PixelJunk: Monsters has so much to offer that it's worth every penny. If you like tower defense games, or even if you just like having a game that you can pick up and play with friends, this game is a must have.

I give PixelJunk: Monsters on the Playstation Network, a 9/10.

{Review} Mortal Kombat 2 -PS3-

2010-09-06T19:21:00.000-04:00

Mortal Kombat was a huge success; fans loved its over the top violence and took an interest in its digitized graphics. Mortal Kombat 2, released a mere year later, was everything fans loved and more: double the roster size, triple the secret characters, the whole new friendship finishers, and much more. Now, on the PSN, it's everything we expect it to be.

Shao Kahn's attempt to take over Earthrealm through the Mortal Kombat tournament had failed, for now. The defeated sorcerer, Shang Tsung demanded a winner take all rematch against the forces of Earthrealm, to which they were forced to accept. The god of thunder and lightning, Raiden, now leads the warriors of Earthrealm into Outworld, to confront Shao Kahn, to hopefully put an end to the conflict.

This game looks just as perfect as it did back in the day, however that's not to say it isn't dated. The digitized actors which make up both the fighting cast as well as the characters in the stage backgrounds really stand out against a sea of well crafted sprites and models, and can kill interest in gamers who have a thing for quality art direction in their games. The levels are great, each one with a fun design, and even a degree of interactivity in some stages. As for the roster themselves, the pallet swap army truly starts to grow, making the game a bit of an eye sore at times, even though they were made for legitimate reasons.

The sound department is where the game really takes a hit. Dan Forden, the music mastermind of the MK series did a wonderful job with this game, and during the time used one of the best sound boards to craft the soundtrack. However, in the PSN port, although it's indeed the arcade perfect release, there's still audio clipping in the game, which sadly makes listening to the stage music a bit hard at times.

Combat is simple: you have a low/high punch and kick, and a block button. You can walk around, and jump in any direction. Aside from that, every character pretty much plays the same, aside from their special moves, which vary drastically from character to character, allowing for a potent mix of tactics. Johnny Cage and Liu Kang, for example, are great punishing characters, although for different reasons; Johnny Cage for his distance control and stun, and Liu Kang for his fire ball playground and instantaneous kicks.

Online play is a bit lacking though, as it's hosted by your own internet, making matches with players across the seas painfully lag filled unless you have great internet.

Like any fighting game, if you have some friends to sit down and play this with, it's replay is endless. However, if you're the loner kind of guy, there is still a lot of fun to be had, especially when it comes to the daunting task of fighting against Jade, Noob Saibot, and Smoke, the games three hidden characters.

Nearly arcade perfect MK2 for $5? That's a hell of a deal really. Although the online play is a bit weak sauce, it can still be enjoyed; just ask SamualTehG33k about how much fun it can be to play with friends in MK2. However gamers newer to the fighting scene may not understand the appeal of MK2, even if it is considered by most to be the best in the series.

I give Mortal Kombat 2 on the PSN an 8/10.

{Review} Marvel vs Capcom 2 -PS3-

2010-09-06T19:16:00.001-04:00

{Review} Marvel vs Capcom 2 -PS3-

2010-09-06T19:07:00.000-04:00

Marvel vs Capcom 2 is the follow up to the original Marvel vs Capcom. Featuring a staggering roster size of 56 characters, with each character having 3 different assist styles, Marvel vs Capcom 2 has a lot to learn and master.

When the Earth and everything on it begins to die, Ruby Heart traces the source to an evil being known as Abyss, the Armor of Erosion. She summons the greatest heroes to her airship to find the being. Ultimately, its source of power is revealed to be a mysterious black metal ball within its center. That's about all the story I could dig up, aside from the more character specific stuff.

The game got a small graphics tune up, making it HD compatible, but unlike SFIITHDR, it didn't receive a complete overhaul. Over all, this game still looks pretty good, but some models (Alright I'll say it, Morrigan's) could have used some actual detailed work.

I. Hate. This. Music. Some people enjoy it, but after hearing "I WANNA TAKE YA FOR A RIDE" for the 9001th time, it just makes me want to bash my skull into an iron table.

Each player picks a team of three characters from both Marvel and Capcom and selects their assist types. Battles are primarily a fight to the death, unless the timer is on, then who ever has the most life (not the most characters) at the end of the timer wins. Gamers will be able to call in their partner characters at any time to use their assist abilities, or tag out their main character when the heat starts to be too much. Hyper combos are also doable, allowing one, two, or all three of your characters to pull of an extremely damaging move, which also can vary depending on your assist type.

Over all, some characters are a bit higher up in stats and usability, but with a roster this huge, that is something bound to happen, and ultimately isn't a big deal once you learn your characters.

Got a friend? Then this game will never get old. Playing with a friend in local vs, or getting together with all your friends and just passing around the controllers is some of the best damn fun you'll have with a fighting game. Even those who don't get into them will find themselves enjoying just the novelty of the game alone. Online isn't that bad either, but like with any game, you tend to bump into rage quitters. And Wolverine spammers.

What used to be a game I detested with all my might I have actually grown to love. In my younger days this game was crap to me. But now that I am older, I find myself able to appreciate the game mechanics and design a lot more. Though I still feel it has some flaws, namely in the menu system and the lack of an ability to cancel out character selections, there honestly isn't much negative to say.

I give Marvel vs Capcom 2 on The Playstaion Network, a 9/10.

{Review} Fat Princess -PS3-

2010-09-06T18:10:00.000-04:00

Fat Princess is an interesting little game to say the least. Blending action RPG and RTS style elements into a team based game is certainly an interesting sight to behold. And speaking of interesting sights, the fact that one of the core game play elements is an obese princess is just maddening. But, this game doesn't even take itself seriously, so why should you?

I didn't think they could do it... but they did. They actually made a story for this game. Short story even shorter: Two princesses are chilling out, maxing, relaxing outside in the forest all of a sudden this cake was growing from the ground, so they devoured it and became round. Now this prince is on his way to take the hand of a princess some day, when the kings start panicking to fix their daughters it turned out the prince was a chubby chaser. Yea... I'm not making this up.

The art direction of this game is actually top notch. The scenery of each level just jumps out at you, and not once was I ever really bored of looking at the landscape. Each level brings new areas to explore, which is good for a bit of fun on the side for those that like to wander around. I cannot give it enough praise.

The controls are extremely tight. Everything is highly responsive and despite the varying classes, the game is actually very well balanced. (unless you just like farming points, in which case nothing can top the Priest) Every class has unique features to them: Villagers can slap their opponents so hard they stun them, Workers can mine minerals and wood then use the stored resources to build tactical structures and class upgrades, Warriors can block projectiles and power through crowds of enemies, Mages can both burn and freeze their targets, and Priests will be giving the team heals, and even draining life from the enemy. All around a nice balance.

There are two main single player modes, the story mode and Gladiate. Gladiate is essentially a class specific survival mode in which the player must fend off 12 waves of enemies. However once both of these modes are completed it's just the multiplayer that's really left. Featuring a few different modes such as Capture the Princess, Snatch and Grab (A sort of Best out of 3 capture the princess), Death Match, Territory Control (Capture outposts to slowly drain away your opponents control), and soccer (or football depending your country) there is always a nice change of pace.

I wanted to like this game, I really did. I know what you're thinking: "But Vain, you've been praising this game for most part" I know. There's just something about this game that I personally cannot get into. I find it too easy, both to learn and to master. I'm never really finding myself being challenged in the game, unless I'm stuck on an incompetent team, and even then I usually manage to make it to at least the top three. But, this personal feeling has no real bearing on my review. It's just me. I may not fully be able to enjoy this game, but that doesn't deter away from the fact that when the servers aren't being laggy, this is a great game.

I give Fat Princess on Playstation 3, an 8/10.

{Review} Earthworm HD -PS3-

2010-09-06T18:06:00.000-04:00

For those of us that grew up in the 1990's, this game need absolutely no introduction. But for those younger gamers, or those who just didn't get into gaming until recent years, allow me to explain. Earthworm Jim was a game that originally released on the Sega Genesis, and would be ported to virtually every console and hand-held gaming device at the time. It would also be remastered for the Sega CD, featuring tweaks to the graphics and music, and a whole new stage. The game would take the world by storm, being declared the best game on the Genesis in 1994, and would go on to produce several sequels, a cartoon series, and Earthworm Jim himself would cameo in Clay Fighter, Sacrifice, and Boogerman. Flash forward several years, and we have the HD remix of this beloved classic.

The tale of Earthworm Jim follows Jim, an ordinary earthworm. During a battle in space between the evil Psy-Crow and an unnamed space rebel. In the ensuing space fight, the suit was dropped to Earth, and fell on Jim. For reasons behind comprehension, Jim is able to craw into the suit, which morphs his form into that of a true hero. Now armed and ready for battle, Jim sets out to save the universe.

The game play itself is simple, yet challenging. You run around as Earthworm Jim, gunning down hordes of bizarre and comical foes such as crows, ghosts, fart monsters, and monkey-headed scientists. As you'll be blasting these foes, you'll also be engaging in tricky, yet rewarding platforming and puzzle solving while you travel across many landscapes such as a junkyard, an underwater base, and even a huge science laboratory.

There's also co-op, which is a great experience, both online and off. Up to four players can team up to face the forces of evil, going through remastered versions of each stage that were specifically designed to take advantage of at least two players playing together. Offline co-op is great, and online co-op is virtually seamless; never once did I run into any lag problems. Also exclusive to this version are three unlockable stages, which introduce the computing world. Here, Jim has to fend off the 'bugs' as they wreak havoc, and stop the most heinous villain of them all.

The presentation is absolutely gorgeous. The graphics have been completely redone in HD glory, and the soundtrack has been remixed. Although a lot of fans of previous entries of the original Earthworm Jim may not enjoy the remixes compared to the older versions of the songs, I personally find them just as enjoyable.

However, that's not to say that this game is perfect. Older gamers who still have copies of one of the many reiterations of this game may find no real need to buy this. Although the changes made are indeed worth the price, it's main flaw is that it IS a digital title, and really lacks that true nostalgia value that comes from popping the actual game into a console. Plus, the changes may really not be enough to warrant the repurchase. But for those that embrace the changes, or are simply new to the game, there's the problem of game length. This game can easily be run through from beginning to end in 50-60 minutes (in fact, there's a trophy for it!) and doesn't really have too much replayability. Sure, co-op extends the longevity of the game to a degree, but even then you can actually get through the game even quicker; one group I was in got to the last level in nearly twenty minutes.

All in all, this game is easily worth a purchase. Sure, it's short, and if you already own a version of this game, there is less of a reason to pick it up, as at the core it's essentially the same, but for such a cheap price, combined with the remixed music, enhanced visuals, and new levels, it's a hard game to pass up.

I give Earthworm Jim HD on the PSN a 9/10

{Co-Op Review} Bleach -Manga-

2010-09-06T17:59:00.001-04:00

{Co-Op Review} Sailor Moon -Anime-

2010-09-06T17:57:00.000-04:00

{Co-Op Review} Inu Yasha -Anime-

2010-09-06T17:55:00.000-04:00

{Music} Empire

2010-09-06T17:52:00.000-04:00

{Music} Private Party

2010-09-06T17:50:00.000-04:00

{Music} Sex in the Night (Working title)

2010-09-06T17:42:00.001-04:00

{Music} Dard's Nightmare (Nightmare Requiem)

2010-09-06T17:36:00.000-04:00

{Music} Ashtray 2.0 (Prelude to War)

2010-09-06T17:33:00.000-04:00

{Review} Comet Crash -PS3-

2010-09-06T17:28:00.000-04:00

You know what's missing from Tower Defense games on the PSN? Competition. Sure, Savage Moon and PixelJunk: Monsters have score boards, but there's no direct conflict. Well, Comet Crash is the correction to that problem.

This game rivals Savage Moon in terms of the realistic HD graphics, however due to its smaller scale of towers, the polish feels a bit lack-luster in comparison. The towers look almost identical to one another, which can make it hard to tell them apart until you get used to the small differences.

Sadly, Comet Crash features a rather sub-par sound track, combined with very basic sound effects. There's really not a whole lot to comment on here.

The gameplay however, is where this game truly shines. Tower Defense junkies like myself will feel at home with Comet Crash, however more casual players will need to get used to the new game play mechanic. Comet Crash plays similar to an "Income/Versus Defense" style of Tower Defense, in which gamers actually spawn the monsters themselves to send into a competing defensive teams base while earning money to spawn more towers. Even more so, unlike in PixelJunk: Monsters and Savage Moon, Comet Crash is extremely reliant on mazing, or creating a defensive maze with your towers for enemies to run through in order to maximize the damage you can dish out. The main game takes place on 3 main comets each offering a serious challenge that can either be tackled alone or with a friend. Even better, is the fact that the game also has a versus mode, in which up to 4 players in either free for all or team combat can face off against one another.

Kind of like a fighting game, the main replay source in Comet Crash is found within battling against with other players in a true test of your skills. Of course you can always re-tackle the main game to compete for rankings, but it can be tiresome just playing the levels over and over again without any real variation.

I'm not ganna lie, this game isn't for casual TD players. The amount of concentration this game demands can be a bit much, especially if you have ADD; between getting resources to build the towers, making mazes with your towers, building units to send at your enemy, sending said units, and for the more advanced players, actually destroying and raiding enemy towers with your own towers, Comet Crash is a game you can't take lightly.

I give Comet Crash on the PSN a 7/10.

{Review} Critter Crunch -PS3-

2010-09-06T17:21:00.000-04:00

With a name like Critter Crunch, you already can safely assume two things. The first, is that you're going to be playing some kind of Kirby-esque game, and second, that it will be adorable as hell. And certainly, these two things are true. However, getting beyond the adorable factor of the game, you will find an equally fun, and frustrating experience.

When entering the adventure mode of the game, we're offered a sort of loosely tied story. A man goes on a study trip to record and report any information he can gather on the critters of an unique island. He primarily follows one particular creature, whom is named Biggs. This fluffy and rounded character tosses animals and bugs into one another, to create jewels, which is the Biggs primary food source. As you complete the levels, the guy will chime in with more humorous observations, as well as give huge clues on to how to play the game more efficiently.

At its core, Critter Crunch is a frenetic, fast paced, puzzle game. Gamers will control Biggs, the fluffy goof-ball that has an iron stomach that can match Kirby's. The object of the game is to create color-coordinated chains of bugs and other animals and pop them by feeding them smaller bugs and animals. When the critters pop, they drop gold coins and gems, which Biggs will eat for points. Fill up the points meter, and you win. However, the game tosses in plenty of modes, giving a lot of replay value to the title. There's a wide array of puzzles to complete, all of which require precise, yet quick thinking and acting to solve, a survival mode to test your skills, a co-op mode to team up with friends both online and by your side with, and a VS mode, allowing you to go head to head with a friend both on and offline to see who the true Critter Crunch master is.

The art direction in this game is gorgeous. The environments are colorful and lively, the critters are wonderfully detailed, and the overall game just feels so... alive. You can't help but feel the love that was put into this game, from the corny, yet humorous dialog, the over the top characters, and just the laid back feel of the game. However, the music feels a bit lacking. Sure, it is fitting to the overall theme of the game, being equally cutesy and heartwarming, however it often just peters out in the background, hardly recognizable after only a few minutes of playing.

This is by far one of the best puzzle games on the PSN, and perhaps ever released. It's lighthearted atmosphere and gradually increasing difficulty ensure that people of all ages can enjoy the game, while still retaining several modes to keep the more hardcore and competitive gamers happy. There's very little wrong I can think of when it comes to Critter Crunch, aside from the soundtrack. I suppose if I wanted to nit-pick, there is an extremely minor delay in the controls, that can screw you over when things really get frantic. Also the online is fairly dead, so unless you luck out and find someone trophy hunting, odds are you will have to organize matches before hand.

I give Critter Crunch on the PSN a 9/10

{Review} Braid -PS3-

2010-09-06T17:17:00.000-04:00

Braid is a game that holds so many meanings. On the surface, it's a throw back to the golden days of platformers with a unique puzzle twist. However, the game itself is a puzzle, as not only will players have an array of puzzles to solve in order to make their way through the game, the whole story is a puzzle.

It's hard to talk about Braid's deep story without spoiling it, so I'll try as best as I can. When you first start off the game, you are a young man who is working on finding his princess, who always seems to be in another castle. However, things aren't as they seem, as players will soon realize that the first world of the game is missing, so in order to learn about the past, they must traverse to the future to solve the mystery of what led up to the events of the game.

This game is stunning. the fresh, beautiful levels are amazingly rendered, with bright colors popping out at the player at every turn. The visuals are also a key part of the game, as various puzzles will be solved based around color coordinated doors, keys, and enemies.

The music is a bit dull and lifeless. Honestly, after playing for a half hour, I totally zoned out and paid it no mind. When I went back to really listen to it, the music really didn't add to the experience. Over all it just felt like it was put there for the sake of having music.

The game shines brightly in two areas: story, and gameplay. Gamers will be traversing through 6 worlds in classic, platforming action. However, there's several twists, as I've mentioned. Each world has its own set of 'rules'. For instance, in one world, your shadow comes to life and acts as a doppleganger when you rewind, and in another world the entire world moves in direct proportion to your characters movements. This game isn't for the faint of heart, however, as each world gets more and more challenging, and honestly, the last level requires absolute precision, and took me a good amount of time to do.

The game itself, depending on your skill level can take 2-5 hours; it took me roughly 6. (That last level was a pain). But after that, there isn't too much left to do. There's a speed run challenge for those interested, but it doesn't provide anything really new.

It's great to see a well made platformer this day and age, and not only that, but it's great to see a deep, complex story and message in a game. Again, it's hard to really delve into why it's so ground breaking in this day and age without giving away every twist and turn in the game. So I'll simply say that you have to play it to find out for yourself. However, the lack of replay value, and lifeless music ultimately drag down the enjoyablility of this game, and for a $15 price tag, a 5 hour experience may be a bit steep.

I give Braid on the PSN an 8/10.

{Review} Sacred 2: Fallen Angel -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is the prequel title of the original PC game Sacred. Developed by Ascaron Entertainment, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is a Hack and Slash RPG made for the PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. However, each port of this title differs from one another, so in this review I will be dealing specifically with the Playstation 3 version, which was built from the ground up specifically for the PS3. (As opposed to the 360 version which is an altered port of the PC version)

The land of Ancaria is in great peril. Although the Creator has left behind his loyal guardians, the Seraphim to watch over the land and to bestow great knowledge on the chosen High Elves, many used this knowledge to abuse the very energy that generates existence, T-Energy to cause war. Some time has passed since that war, and now a new civilization has risen, however there are those that still abuse the power of T-Energy, even causing it to purposely leak out across the land. This causes inanimate things such as the dead and even mountains to obtain life and becoming beastly creatures that threaten life. Now, it is up to six characters; The Seraphim, The Inquisitor, The Shadow Warrior, The High Elf Mage, The Druid, and the Temple Gaurdian to either save Ancaria, or plunge the world further into madness.

This game is bar none one of the beautifully done games I have seen this generation. Filled with lusious visuals ranging from wide open landscapes, bright blue waters, and highly detailed characters, Sacred 2 is a feast for the eyes. However, it also suffers from many graphical errors, such as screen tearing, and creatures and water not loading properly.

One of the most hyped things about Sacred 2 was the German Metal band, Blind Guardian was doing a single exclusively for the game. This single, in the form of an actual in game concert, could be scene via a quest chain (A guide on how to access and complete this quest can be found here on the site) which would allow players to assist Blind Guardian in getting their instruments back from undead thieves. This song is also heard throughout various towns, as NPC's will sing a partial bit of the song. Aside from Sacred (The name of the song Blind Guardian composed), a wondrous soundtrack can be found within this game. Not a single song feels lacking nor out of place. The voice acting, however is fairly average to terrible, and one of my biggest complaints is that the players characters never... shut... up... They will continuously babble as you explore, fight, and return quests. It's interesting to listen to the character's personalities for the first 10 minuets, but after that it gets old.

The controls for this game are extremely tight for most part. The face buttons control all skill, item, and weapon usage while the analog sticks move the character around. The L/R 1 and 2's are reserved for menu's, picking up items, and talking to NPC's. My only real gripe is the fact that L1 which will primarily be used for picking up all items in a small area around you, is also used for conversing with NPC's, so often times when you want to pick up an item with an NPC next to you, you'll find yourself talking with the NPC instead of picking up the item. Or vise versa.

With 2 starting difficulties, 3 unlockable difficulties, and a max level of 200, Sacred 2 will take players quite some time to finish. Featuring over 600 quests, offline 2 player co-op, online 4 player co-op and pvp, 6 classes with 3 skill branches and 5 skills per branch (That's 90 skills total), plus skill modifiers and character modifiers, players will find themselves glued to this game for a long, long time.

If you're a PS3 owner and are looking for a good old fashion Hack and Slash RPG to add to the shelf, this is the game to get. Being one of the most in depth games of this console generation, this game is fun both on your own and with friends, whether its on or offline. Although this game does have its fair share of bugs and annoyances, the gameplay and soundtrack more than justify looking past them.

I give Sacred 2: Fallen Angel on Playstation 3, a 7/10.

{Review} Resident Evil 5 -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:40:00.000-04:00

Resident Evil 5 is a game that needs little introduction. Loved and hated by gamers, RE5 is a third person shooter that puts gamers into the shoes of Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar. The two BSAA agents find themselves in the fictional African town of Kijuju as reports of a new biological threat have surfaced. What the two discover however, is a conspiracy far bigger than they could have ever predicted. Along the way gamers will find a lot of story buried inside of hidden documents throughout the levels, as well as unlockable data files that can be viewed from the main menu of the game.

The controls take quite a bit to get used to, but become second nature once you're familiar with them. Players will control either Chris or Sheva in single player or co-op action. You'll run around solving puzzles, finding and upgrading weapons, and slug it out with Majini. However, actions cannot be performed while moving. This is what will throw most newer gamers off. But this isn't a major deal, however, as you'll learn fairly quickly the timing and movements of your opponents attacks and will be able to plan accordingly. As mentioned, there's an array of weapons to unlock, primarily consisting of pistols, machine guns, shotguns, magnums, and other assorted goodies. Most weapons are upgradable, increasing power, magazine size, and even adding special properties to the weapons.

However, there is a bit of a problem, the AI. The partner AI is borderline stupid. It has two types of command settings: attack and cover. Attack will make the AI go through ammo like crazy, steal all items, and more often then not send it running off to do its own thing, which will more than likely cause either it or you to be surrounded while on the brink of death with no way out. Having it on cover will cause the AI to constantly stay up your ass to the point where even though it's far more conservative with its shots, most of them will hit you instead; thank Capcom for making there be no friendly fire. Not only that, but while on cover, the AI will almost never use any weapon other than the pistol or Shock Rod. And regardless of which setting you have the AI on, it will always seem to find some way of slowing you down, either by getting stuck on simple obstacles, or getting caught in obvious traps. (Playing chapter 4-2 in single player is a nightmare)

This game looks gorgeous. The levels are extremely varied in both design and atmosphere, giving gamers a new experience to discover with each chapter. Character designs... are a bit hit and miss. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the only character who was done justice was Chris; all of his unlockable outfits look good on him, while Sheva wears even less and less with each outfit. Some may argue that Sheva wearing less is a good thing, but honestly it just comes off as boring fan service to me. The musical score for the game is good, with each piece fitting the theme of the environments, however it's not very memorable. The voice acting on the other hand is spot on, with the voice talent giving amazing performances in their roles; Sheva and Wesker especially were very well done.

There is a lot to uncover and do in this game. If you have someone at your side, or buddies that you can play online with, this game is easily a must have. For those lonely gamers, it's still playable, although the AI may be frustrating to deal with. The only people I see not enjoying RE5 are those that cannot get passed the controls.

I give Resident Evil 5 on the Playstation 3 an 8/10.

{Review} Heavy Rain -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:36:00.000-04:00

{Review} LittleBigPlanet -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:33:00.000-04:00

Ah... LittleBigPlanet, the game that dreams are brought to fruition, and the player(s) is(are) in control. A unique 3D platformer, LittleBigPlanet, or LBP brings some fun to the table for everyone, however even this adorable game has a dark side.

You are the main character, Sackboy (Or girl if you don't have anything dangling down there). Something is going wrong in the world of the Sack People, as lands are being torn apart, and the creators are being kidnapped. It's up to you, and your friends (if you have any) to bring back the peace of the world, and stop who ever is behind it.

This game is beautiful. End story. Everything in this game is made out of 100% real world items, and even hosts actual physics. The amount of creativity found within the games core levels are breathe taking, as the player will find themselves traversing through all sorts of different lands. There's not a single bad thing I can say when it comes to how this game looks.

This is where things get a little hit and miss. This game truly makes every level feel unique, both visually and soundly. And although most songs fit the level their in well, the songs themselves often feel 'meh' in quality, and can get rather annoying in some cases. (I'm looking in your direction stereotypical Mexican world)

Again, this is where the game lacks a bit. You play on a 3 plane grid, and traverse it using the analog stick. This, depending on the person and controller, can be an extreme annoyance, as often times I find myself (As do several others) accidentally slipping into a different plane axis, which often times makes platforming tricky, and even sometimes undo-able.

There is nearly unlimited replay value. With a community driven level creation system, players from all around the world create and upload their own custom creations, some of which are simply breathe taking, and others... well I would rather play something Barny related than touch them. However, this is all a matter of personal taste, and if there's anything the LBP community has shown us, it's that everyone has their own personal taste in levels.

LBP is a great game, providing you have others to play it with. There is a lot to unlock in this game, however a good chunk of it cannot be obtained without 3 other people playing along side you to do it, and unless you can find 3 random people online who are seriously focused on completing everything, it's going to be annoying to do. So if you're a single player kinda gamer who's also a completionist, this game will amount to contracting the clap for you. However if you're big on hanging with friends, both offline and on, this game is so much fun your mind will explode.

I give LittleBigPlanet on Playstation 3, a 7/10.

{Review} inFAMOUS -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:30:00.000-04:00

Sucker Punch, the creators of the Sly Cooper series, bring to us this free roam... well, everything hybrid. inFAMOUS brings to the table Action RPG, Platforming, and FPS action mixed near beautifully with a gripping plot that changes on the whim of the players moral choices.

inFAMOUS follows the story of Cole MacGrath, a bike carrier who carried a device that nuked his home city of Empire City. The device, known as the Ray Sphere, had killed all within its blast, all expect Cole. The blast had actually left him with super powers, all centered around electricity. Now, with the city under lock down and gangs ravaging Empire City, Cole must work to either set things right, or further push the city into madness.

As mentioned, this game meshes together several game elements: players will fight their foes either by running up to them and punching their face in, or shoot lighting at them in a FPS control style. Gamers will also be able to climb and run on anything they see in the city (minus water, because of well, water and electricity don't get along well), and along the way pick up side-quest that range from platforming races across the city, escorting civilians, and even hunting down hidden power-ups. Beating enemies and completing quests will earn experience points that can be spent on increasing the abilities of your powers, which will be affected by your moral standing.

The moral standing is a fairly interesting system in this game. Civilians will act differently toward you depending on your actions during the course of the game and characters will live or die according to your actions during key cut-scenes. Your moral standing will also alter the upgrades you can learn; for an example, a good moral standing will allow you to instantaneously capture weakened enemies with your lightning grenades, while a negative moral standing will enable your lightning grenades to spawn more grenades after exploding.

inFAMOUS is a very visually satisfying game; in game graphics are rendered near perfectly, with only a few buildings having noticeable graphical hiccups. Cut scenes consist of a stylized comic book presentation, telling the story and often giving players the opportunity to alter the course of events. The voice acting is top notch, with each character sound appropriate for their designs and conversations flow naturally. The sound track is fitting enhancing the games atmosphere, but honestly, it's not very memorable.

I can see just about any kind of gamer at least giving this game a try, and sticking with it for at least a single play-through. The story is griping, filled with twists and turns, controls are extremely tight and responsive, and the action is so varied that it never gets old. My only real gripe is when players reach the 1/3 mark of the game, it feels a bit rushed: the story will constantly just push you from plot point to plot point, and the amount of side quests really dwindle from island to island. Also, quests at the 2/3 mark end up being nothing but rehashes of everything else up to that point in the game, which despite the added challenge tweaks, could get repetitive for some.

I give inFAMOUS on the Playstation 3 a 9/10.

{Review} Heavy Rain -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:24:00.000-04:00

Quantic Dream's third title, Heavy Rain, brings to us a unique, deep, and heart pounding story. Having been surrounded by controversy, from its use of nudity and sex by the news media, as well as its Quick Time Event control scheme by gamers, it seems that, from the get go, it's a love it or hate it game. And after experiencing the game first hand, as a skeptic of this title, I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised.

The game will jump around the perspectives of a multitude of characters; Ethan, a father who has lost one of his sons in a car accident, Jayden, a FBI officer with state of the art technology at his finger tips, Scott, a Private Investigator, and Madison, a woman who seems like a guardian angel.

Set two years after Ethan's oldest son died in a car accident, gamers will be taken through a journey as they try and solve a murder mystery that's been plaguing the town for several years. A serial killer, dubbed "The Origami Killer", has been drowning young boys for years, leaving no trace of himself behind, except for an origami animal and an orchid on each body.

As mentioned earlier, the actual control scheme of the game is set within Quick Time Events, or QTE's for short. Depending on what difficulty the player has it set to, (Easy, Medium, or Hard) will depend on how many buttons are utilized in total. Easy mode, for example, will only utilize the face buttons, while hard will have the player playing a game of finger twister, as every possible button combination possible on the control will be used. It seems hard at first, but regardless of the difficultly you have it set to, the game will begin to feel natural with time.

Now, as you progress through the game, every single action you take will affect the final outcome of the game, much akin to the Clock Tower series, for those familiar with that old school series. Characters, not just the main characters, but even the supporting cast, can be saved or killed on your very whim, or false move. In total, there's 18 endings to obtain; talk about your replay value.

Now, this game certainly isn't for everyone. It's dark, gritty story can be a bit much for some people, as well as the extreme violence and the occasional nudity may be found in poor taste by some. However, if you enjoy a good point-and-click-esque title, and love a good story (not to mention can handle the content maturely) then this is a must have game.

Heavy Rain has certainly been an interesting experience: after my first play though (and starting up my second) I feel both a great sense of satisfaction, as well as a desire for more. Don't get me wrong, this game isn't perfect: it has a few glitches, some which hinder trophy completion, as well as one in particular with an event revolving around guns that make an investigation section of the game a pain to complete. Not to mention the fact that despite the beautiful rendered graphics, there's the occasional screen tearing, as well as collision detection issues with character models at times. Still, it's a thoroughly enjoyable game, so long as you're willing to give it a chance.

I give Heavy Rain on the PS3 an 8/10.

{Review} Final Fantasy XIII -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:22:00.000-04:00

Oi... Where do I begin? So much to cover and so little space to do it. Final Fantasy XIII has been a hot debate for both fans and haters alike; whether it's the console war drama that was sparked when it went multi-plat, or the rage that haters spouted every time the subject came up. Now that it's out and people have had the chance to play it, reviews are just as split as the early perceptions of the title. My review is no exception.

Final Fantasy XIII follows the story of six heroes: Lightning, who is basically Cloud with a vagina, Hope who's sole purpose is to kill every bad ass moment in the game with his boomerang, Snow who has the biggest balls out of every Final Fantasy character (Next to Saban, of course), Vanille who can't make up her mind if she's Australian or not, Fang who is a raging lesbian, and Sazh who is the only sensible character in the game.

All these characters share a joint destiny. They are L'ce, or chosen warriors of their homelands. It is their duty to fulfill their Focus, which is a task that is never explained at all to any of the L'ce at any point, ever. If they fail to achieve their unexplained tasks, they become C'ieth, which are soulless monsters. If they do fulfill their unexplained Focus, they get turned to crystals and live forever. Makes perfect sense, right?

It really doesn't get too much deeper than that; there's a bit of character development, mainly focusing on Hope, Lightning, and Sazh. But it's really not much. Oh, and for those who hope that the ending is worth getting through the game I have three words for you: DEUS EX MACHINA!

As for the gameplay, I have mixed feelings. Combat controls like a mix of the classic ATB system with intense real time action. You'll only control the party leader, while the games A.I. takes over the other two characters in your party. While some may have an issue with this, the speed of combat barely allows you time to manage one character, let alone three, so this I can deal with. However, the A.I. controlling your companions is as dumb as a sack of rocks; too often they waste their time when it comes to buffing as they'll only ever cast one buff at a time, even though the characters are more than able to cast three at once, not to mention there seems to be a bug in the programming when it comes to the Sabatour class, as on several occasion the A.I. never even bothered doing anything. But the second they switched to anything else, they were acting normal again.

The leveling system is also a pain. Battles earn you CP, points that will be used to pump up your characters in the class grid. These leveling grids however are capped at every section of the game, and only until AFTER you beat the game are you able to reach the final grids.

As for the main game itself, you'll pretty much be running in a straight line until the final three chapters of the game. Sure, other Final Fantasy titles have been linear, but at least there was still EXPLORING to do; in this game you are literally stuck to running in a single path in every area. And even when you DO get to go exploring and obtain side quests, they're the same standardized "go kill this" kinda stuff.

The visual presentation is top notch, yet uninspired. Graphically speaking, I really can't think of any games off the top of my head that rival this game. However, the actual design just feels so... sub-par. Characters range from 'realistic' to future-fashion styles and the places that you'll run through are really nothing but standard dungeon fare, with the occasional stylized city thrown in.

Even the musical score falls short in Final Fantasy XIII, which is extremely disheartening. Not a single track leaves any impact on the gamer. It sounds nice at parts, but honestly, it's nothing compared to older titles. And the voice acting... It's just so hit and miss. Some characters like Lightning and Sazh sound just fine, while others like Vanille cannot make up their minds if they want to have an accent or not. The dialogue itself isn't too bad, but is indeed filled with endless "heart of the card" or "the power of friendship" speeches.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some redeeming factors to this game: the characters, for most part, are fairly interesting. Although little time is actually spent developing them, for what we do get dedicated to them is highly enjoyable. The battle system, though flawed, works quite well. And although there is absolutely NO balance in the encounters you'll face, even the 'toughest' of enemies can be taken down with clever thinking, and not just grinding your levels or getting better weapons. Hell, I cleared this game with low tier weapons and most of my characters not even beyond their starting classes. All in all, it's still a better game than say FFXII, but that's honestly not saying much. If you are a die hard Final Fantasy fan, it's worth at least checking out. But if you never cared for the series, this certainly wont be the game to convert you.

I give Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 a 4/10.

{Review} Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:20:00.000-04:00

Ah Disgaea 3... As the name would imply, it's the third in the main Disgaea series. Following tradition, Disgaea 3 is set in another Alternate Netherworld. Within this Netherworld lurks a school that teaches (Interpret the meaning of teaching as loosely as possible in your mind) demons to become the baddest they can. It's within this school that we follow the tale of Mao, who is the Overlords son; an evil genius, Mao is extremely ill tempered and hates his father with a passion. Sounds a bit like Disgaea 1's Laharl doesn't it? Minus the whole evil genius thing. But, is Disgaea 3 really just a repaint of Disgaea, or does it have a life of its own, much like Disgaea 2? Read and find out.

As mentioned, players will initially take control of Mao, and evil genius. The story starts off simple, telling the story of a quick tempered demon who just wants to kill his father, however as the story unfolds and more characters are met, a truly unique and rich story blooms from the humble begining. Players will learn for the first time what makes a demon tick, litterally, as well as experience what is, in my opinion, the best story in the Disgaea series. (Which is saying a lot). The characters the player will take over are also just as rich as the story, featuring all types from Martial Artist Chefs, Blood Thirsty "Kill or Be Killed' Princesses, Law Biding Demons, and of course many staple characters and guest characters appear such as Axel the Dark Hero, Laharl, and even more thanks to DLC.

If detailed realistic graphics are what you seek in your games, don't even touch this game. Sprites are still the name of the game in Disgaea 3, however that's not to say that this game in any sense. The cartoony look of the characters, as well as the lush scenery of the battle grounds are a much needed breathe of fresh are from the dingy, greys, blues, and greens we're so accustomed to in this generation of consoles.

Keeping in the tradition of Disgaea, the soundtrack of this game is beautiful. Filled with the same staple music remixed, as well as whole new tracks, this game is non-stop in bringing the gamer with an overwhelming sense of enjoyment, as not a single track feels out of the place with the mood of the scenes that take place. I cannot give it enough praise.

This game still features the same controls and even the improvements made in Disgaea 2, as well as mixes in its own fresh blend of strategy, bringing in the Geo Blocks, tower climbing puzzles, and even destructible environments. The classes and spell/skill learning system has also been completely revamped, requiring more focused on the mana system, as now mana doesn't only buy new characters, motion for bills, and purchase minor character and shop upgrades, but now all skills and evalities are learned by purchasing them with mana, even upgrades require some mana. This brings a much needed balance in Disgaea's leveling structure, as now players cannot simply hack away mindlessly at enemies, and have to actually mind their mana supply. There's several more revisions and new additions made, but it would take me some time to explain it all.

If you have ever played Disgaea 1 or 2, this is a question you don't even have to ask. But if you're new to the world of Disgaea, Disgaea 3 offers a multitude of different endings, and with hundreds of different monsters and character classes to try out and go through, there's always something to keep you visiting. Take it for someone who has spent 1000 hours in both Disgaea 1 and 2, and am close to 300 hours in Disgaea 3.

Like SRPGS? Like Disgaea? Like a game you can spend countless hours on? Have a PS3? Then why are you still reading this? Launched at a budget price, and still cheap to this day, Disgaea 3 is a must have title if you said yes to any of the above. Although those new to Disgaea as a whole might find Disgaea 3 a bit overwhelming, and long term players of the series will have to make adjustments to the new set up of the game, with a bit of time, anyone can get the hang of Disgaea 3. And with DLC being released bi-weekly, ranging from new characters and quests to full new chapter add-ons and the much talked about Item World Survival Challenge, this game wont get old any time soon.

I give Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice on Playstation 3, an 10/10.

{Review} Demon's Souls -PS3-

2010-09-06T16:01:00.001-04:00

Hard games are nothing new. But games that seem custom made in order to make you cry out in bitter agony from sheer frustration? Yea, that's something you don't always run into, especially in this console generation that spoon feeds gamers. Developed by From Software, Demon's Souls brings to us one of the hardest, and yet satisfying games to come around in recent years.

The story presented in Demon's Souls is by far one of the least intrusive stories presented in game. You play as a warrior who has been slain in battle against a demon. Your soul, instead of passing on into the afterlife, becomes bound to the Nexus; a places between the realms where the threads that keep existence going reside. You are then given the task of putting the legions of demons to rest and saving the worlds. However, how you go about saving the world, if you do indeed choose to do so, is entirely up to you.

The game play itself is the main driving factor of Demon's Souls, much like Monster Hunter. You make your character, choosing your gender and appearance, select a character class (that ultimately don't matter), and go out to fight demons. How you go about fighting the demons, is also entirely up to you. Feel like punching them in the face? Go for it. Feel like dual wielding katanas? Nothing's stopping you. Or maybe you want to go spartan and dive into battle with a pike and shield? Do it up! Seriously, there is an amazing array of weapon styles, magic, and faith abilities that you can utilize to create a character that's truly yours.

Along the way you'll also be acquiring two types of souls, basic souls and demon's souls. You'll use basic souls as both a means to level up your characters stats, and to use as currency at merchants and blacksmiths. Demon's souls serve a far greater purpose, they serve as forging materials for legendary weapons, catalysts for learning powerful spells and faith abilities, and if consumed give you a plethora of normal souls to spend.

The way players navigate through the worlds is the Nexus that has their soul ensnared. There's five giant stone tablets that will transport the gamer to each of the worlds, ranging from a dank kingdom setting, a molten mining colony, and even abandoned prisons. The enemies will also vary just as much as the places you'll explore. Lesser threats like the Mind Flayers, Zombies, Goblins, and even flying manta's will try to slow your pace as you make your way to the true demons, such as the Dragon God or the Fool's Idol. The visual presentation as I've touched on is simply gorgeous. The landscapes and scenery truly help to emerge you in the experience, which is further helped by the haunting soundtrack and great voice acting.

However, there is a major problem with this game: Demon's Souls is absolutely unforgiving. During the game, everything is out to not only kill you, but completely demoralize you. Between constantly being outnumbered by lesser fiends, out sized by the demons, and even potentially out classed by other players who decide to invade your game and kill you. As you die, you enter soul form, reducing your total health in half until you manage to kill a demon again. Not only that, but you also drop all the souls you've collected ala Diablo. However, if you fail to retrieve your dropped souls before you die again, all the souls are lost permanently.

The game can also be extremely overwhelming for new players, as there is a lot, and I do mean a lot, to learn. Between learning the different damage types, how every weapon type handles, the differences between magic and faith, how stats effect your ability to use armor, spells, and weapons, and balancing the game mechanic that effects everything within the game, Tendency. All of this can be daunting to take in all at once, and it's almost a guarantee that gamers will make several characters just to learn the ropes before actually making their main character. And even then, there's so much packed into this game that it takes, at the very least, 3 play-throughs to experience and obtain everything.

However, if you can handle the challenge, there's a very rewarding experience to be had. For every defeat you will certainly suffer, you'll feel that much more heroic when you finally smash your targets face in, or get that legendary item that required a pure world tendency in order to obtain. Like-wise, although the story isn't the strongest out there, it has its impactful moments, and the fact that you can experience it in any manor you wish truly adds to the immersion. So if you're willing to accept the challenge, and even do a bit of homework on what's ahead, this game is easily worth looking in to.

I give Demon's Souls on the Playstation 3 an 8/10

{Review} Cross Edge -PS3-

2010-09-06T15:40:00.000-04:00

Cross Edge is what happens when five game companies kicked backed one to many on Saturday night. The result, nine months later, is this crazy child that looks like all of them, but still has a unique look of its own.

When players first start up the game, they are introduced to two characters, York and Miko (Two original characters) who are sucked into a strange world, of which they know nothing. They are soon attacked by a bunch of monsters, however help is already on its way as Capcom's own voluptuous succubus, Morrigan, comes crashing in and helps them pick off the monsters. And thus begins the tale of Cross Edge, as the group meets up with May, a girl who asks their help in freeing the trapped souls of this world. There are a wide array of story paths to take in the game, each on based around decisions made during the game, which all ultimately lead to what type of ending you obtain (Bad, Normal, or True).

During their quest, the player will obtain a wide arrange of characters, such as Filicia from Darkstalkers, Etna and a Prinny from Disgaea, Marie from Atelier Marie, Raze and Lily from Mana Khemia 2, Lyner from Ar Tonelico, Meu from Spectral Souls, Zelos from Absolute Blazing Infinity, and many, many more.

This game is HD sprites at their finest. Though the characters and environments are 2D, some of the enemies encountered in the game are actually rendered in 3D, which gives it an interesting feel. There is an interesting cut scene feature in this game that Nippon Ichi fans will be used to: the sprites will act out the emotions and some of the actions on the field, while high resolution stills will be displayed in the foreground as they talk. Though this may seem dated and dull to some, others will rather enjoy it.

Bleh. Sadly, this game is home to perhaps the worst voice acting, both in the English dubbing and the Japanese dubbing (Which can be changed at any time) that I've ever heard. The music is also rather bland and tends to get old fast. It's rare I ever play this game with the volume on, it's just that bad.

The game feels like it was lazily coded, as there is a rather annoying input lag that often causes problems for people, and this is even with the hard drive install. The game plays in a 3x4 grid for your characters to move about and attack from. Equipped skills and attacks are all mapped to X, Circle, Triangle, and Square, and special moves are accessed with a tap of R1. Several attacks can be chained together to create destructive combos, and it's because of this combo system that input lag can be a huge problem.

There is a ton of replay value to be had in this game. Featuring three difficulties, each one working differently with the New Game + feature, a massive character roster to try different game play strategies with, and an in game reward system for completing various challenges (some of which are also trophies), this game has a lot to keep coming back to, providing you enjoyed your first stay.

I'll say it here. Cross Edge is not for everyone. At first, this game can look intimidating, with the combo system and battle gauges that the player is required to keep in mind at all times, and with a hard mode that makes you feel like you're playing a classic Techmo game, this is not for those who don't already enjoy SRPG's. Also, unless you are already a fan of at least two of the sets of characters you are going to miss out on a lot of the inside references made, and probably wont understand most of the characters. (And in an RPG style game, being able to relate to and understand the characters in the game is vital) So, if you like SRPG's and like the roster, then this is definitely a game to pick up, otherwise, I'd suggest maybe a rent to test the waters.

I give Cross Edge on Playstation 3, a 6/10.

{Reviews} Borderlands -PS3-

2010-09-06T15:31:00.000-04:00

Gritty, violent, expansive, and all around good fun, Borderlands promised to be the best FPS RPG, not that there's that many to begin with. Toting hundreds of different guns and a classic skill tree style leveling system, Borderlands seems to be the perfect blend of both worlds. However, not everything is up to par, and this game has some flaws.

The game starts off with a group of bounty hunters arriving on the planet Pandora. They're seeking the fabled Vault; a treasure trove said to contain a vast amount of alien weapons and gold. A guardian angel seems to take an interest in the bounty hunters, and informs them that she will help them make their way to the Vault. However, Pandora is an extremely hostile planet that's been overrun by bandits, and the corrupt Atlus Corporation that governs Pandora wants to take the treasure of the Vault for themselves.

Borderlands can be played in so many different ways; either you can go the adventure alone, team up with a buddy in split screen, connect your consoles together for a LAN party, or just take to the internet to work with up to three others in the quest for the Vault. While playing, you'll mostly spend your time completing quests, both to advance the story and obtain more powerful weapons.

The weapon variety is just as plentiful as promised, with there being a set 'core' series of weapons; Combat Rifles (Assault Rifles, Machine Guns), SMG's, Pistols (Revolvers, Repeaters/Fully Automatic), Rocket Launchers, Sniper Rifles, Shot Guns, and Melee Weapons. Although this might not sound like much, the game features a vast multitude of stat modifiers and special abilities that the weapons can contain. For example, I was once using a single shot SMG (Named the Malevolent Thumper), as well as a Shot Gun, THAT FIRED ROCKETS. Yea, you read that right, a SHOT GUN ROCKET LAUNCHER. How hardcore is that?

As for the characters themselves, there's four character classes to choose from: The Hunter, who excels in long range combat, the Berserker, who is the games tank, or damage absorber, The Siren who specializes in causing status effects, and The Soldier, who is the games balanced class, featuring several offensive and defensive options. Each class has three skill trees, which they can learn skills from as they level up, as well as a main Action Skill that will act as their special attack.

For the most part, combat is flawless. The only real problem I've ever had with it is that if you reload your gun while using a scope or zooming in with your gun, it locks up the scope, rendering you unable to use it without double tapping the scope button. Also there's major texture popping problems. Although not as apparent in single player, when playing any type of multiplayer, even if it's just split screen, the game will look like one big blur of colors whenever you travel, until the textures finally load up. One final gripe I have with the game is the ending. Without actually spoiling anything, both the final boss and the ending sequence are gigantic WTF moments. Not to mention the fact that NOTHING about the guardian angel is EVER explained.

This game is easily enjoyable by the FPS and RPG crowds alike, and this is indeed speaking from experience. RPG gamers will love is expansive territories to explore, classic leveling system, and fun quests, while the FPS crowd will find the controls to be extremely tight, and the seemingly endless weapon variations a blessing. Not to mention the game offers an Arena for players to go head to head in organized combat, whether it's One vs One, Two vs Two, or Free-For-All.

Why are you still reading this? Go get this game. There's so many reasons that this game is addictive and enjoyable, that I can't fit them all in this review. But if what I've mentioned already isn't enough, how about the New Game + feature the game offers? In New Game +, the game actually scales high in difficulty, which makes the carry over of your level, weapons, and money seem like you're still starting over again anyways. Trophy hunters will also rejoice, as this game can be platinumed in two play throughs.

I give Borderlands on the Playstation 3, a 9/10.

{Review} BlazBlue: Continuum Shift -PS3-

2010-09-06T15:26:00.000-04:00

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift is the sequel to Aksys latest fighting game series. Coming complete with the full roster from the last game, on top of three new characters, further DLC support, and more ways to play the game than you could have hoped for, Continuum Shift set up to do everything the first game did, do it better, and do even more.

The story is set three days after the True Ending of Calamity Trigger; Hazama was successful in his plans, and it seems like only Ragna, Jin, and Bang truly have what it takes to stop him. However, the effects of the Continuum Shift have caused even more possibilities of events, causing a for more chaotic world that the fighters must try to save.

The story itself is still presented much in the same fashion as the last; you'll work your way through each characters story paths, unlocking different possibilities until you eventually achieve the true ending to the game. However, unlike the last game, it's far more specific the actions you must take in order to achieve seeing everything in story mode. Every character (Excluding Hakumen) have three possible endings: their Good or True endings, which shows the events that befall the characters, the Bad or Possibility endings which usually end in the characters demise or break in their resolve, and their Gag endings which is meant to relieve a lot of the tension from the game.

Also, every bad ending comes with a new segment to the story called "Help Me, Professor Kokonoe!" Done in the same comical, borderline satirical style of the "Teach Me, Miss Litchi" segments (which also make a return in this game) Kokonoe will be there to give advice to those that had goofed up and point them in the direction of how to get the true ending for each character.

But Vain, you say, it's a fighting game! How does it actually handle? Well, it handles perfectly, well, almost. Controls are near identical to Calamity Trigger; players will pick their characters and duke it out in one-on-one fights to the finish. Attacks are executed with the A, B, C and D buttons in connection with the movement of the D-pad/analog/fight stick. For those that played the first game, they'll notice tweaks to all the returning characters, primarily giving them all revised specials, that do indeed impact who your main and side characters will be, however in the grand scheme not too much as changed. New players will find themselves a bit overwhelmed with the varying styles of each character, and thankfully the game has a beginner option for a control layout, which replaces the 'newbie stick' from the first game. And for further assistance to new players, there's now a full tutorial and combo practice/challenge to help learn the game mechanics.

Speaking of which, there is a lot to do in this game. As stated, story mode makes a return, as well as there is now a combo challenge mode and a tutorial mode. On top of this the arcade, gallery, VS, score attack, and network modes return. Plus, there is now the legion mode, which had been introduced in the PSP version of Calamity Trigger.

The presentation in Continuum Shift is by far one of the best out of any fighting game I've played. The menu system is basic, yet colorful, the art direction is absolutely top notch, with the older character models receiving some cosmetic tweaks, and character portraits being completely redesigned to get that extra personal touch. The only real complaint I can think of is that the voice acting for some characters is just a bit annoying, but it's more of a personal gripe than an actual problem with the game.

If you loved the first game, you probably already own Continuum Shift. If you never played the first, it's OK to jump straight into Continuum Shift, as they give enough explanation from the first games story to understand what's going on in this one, and the tutorial mode makes it easy for anyone to get into it. My only major complaints are in the overall tone of the game, and the way the story is done. This game has a very deep, and somewhat mind bending story to try and grasp. The problem is that everything just about everything in the game, even the serious dialogue, is some kind of joke. Don't get me wrong, I love BlazBlue's sense of humor, and it doesn't get old at all, however it can be a bit jarring to go from a serious scene of tragedy and chaos, and shift immediately into a gag reel or pun. Also the story is done in the typical fashion for Japanese RPG's, using character stills in front of a background image with very little changes in pose and emotion in order to tell the story. For the first game, this was fine, but with a far more action eccentric plot, all sense of immediacy is killed when you're constantly just narrating the action. It would have been nice to see more of the anime-style cut scenes presented in some of the characters stories, or at the very least do some form of presentation with the character models. Hell, even Disgaea which uses this same story telling method at least conveys action on the screen using the actual characters. Also, one minor thing that bothers me is the inability to actually keep your saves. The game only allows you to use five save spots, and anything more than that you have to delete. This makes absolutely no sense in a console generation that has constantly expanding storage space. This just makes it so if I want to watch the endings in story mode of the characters, I have to actually go back and redo them all.

But, complaints aside, this is a must have game if you're a fighting game fan. It delivers probably the most stable network play out of any fighter, and the fun factor will almost never die.

I give BlazBlue: Continuum Shift on the Playstation 3 an 8/10.

{Review} BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger -PS3-

2010-09-06T15:19:00.000-04:00

The spiritual successor to the Guilty Gear series, BlazBlue has a lot to live up to. BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, however, doesn't disappoint and even delivers a lot more. With a vibrant, yet small, cast of characters, easy to learn, hard to master controls, and a story that's both dark and hilarious, there's a lot to be found.

In the 13th hierarchical city, Kagutsuchi, the Librarium regulates the amazing power of "Armagus", a fusion of magic and technology. Currently they are after a wanted criminal named Ragna The Bloodedge, also known as The Grim Reaper, who wants to destroy the Librarium. While the Librarium hunts Ragna, several other fighters, known is Vigilantes, are also on a mission to defeat Ragna for bounty on his head. However a darker force is at work, as the world is on the brink of destruction once more, and but a lone vampire, Rachael Alucard, can alert the others to what's about to unfold.

Good ol fashion 2D sprites rendered in 720p HD. Some of the character designs feel a bit too close to older Guilty Gear characters (Namely Ranga and Jin), but aside from that the cast varies greatly from one another, giving this game a truly unique feel. The stages are also done very well, and are often times filled with activity in the background; whether it's kittens playing or Librarium soldiers taking amongst themselves.

"I wanna take ya for a ride!"... Yea... Now we have "HANDS OFF THE PANDA!" But all joking aside, the music is great, with each track really getting you pumped for a fight, although some of the tracks kind of follow in the shadow of Guilty Gear. The voice acting is a bit hit and miss, in both the English and Japanese audio. Characters like Jin and Litchi feel a bit forced, while Rachael and Noel just roll off so naturally.

All the intense, fast paced, action is still here! However this time around they offer noobies a saving grace with the right analog stick. Mapped to it are two special moves, one distortion drive, and (when it's unlocked) their astral heat. Fights themselves are what you'd expect, one on one rumbles to the death. The cast plays far differently from one another, and offer an array of different play options. For example, my main, Noel, is both the shortest and longest range fighter as she wields two guns that can be fired from a distance, and used to pistol whip for very punishing combos. On the other hand, Rachael is a flying trap master that lays down lighting rods and throws toads, all of which she can use to channel lightning blasts into, all the while flying around the screen like a feather.

There's also several other modes, aside from the regular fighting. There's the classic arcade mode, story mode, training, and the score attack mode, each one offering new and exciting challenges. Online play is a bit awkward though, as it takes awhile to find a match that you can connect to, and the initial match start up will lag hard for most part. However once the match starts the lag usually subsides.

The replay value is higher than the average fighter. The story mode is fairly deep, with several different paths for each character to take, resulting in many different possibilities. The challenges inside arcade and score attack modes also provide some intense action, such as fighting Unlimited Ragna, who has a vast amount of health and power compared to his original form. Aside from that, the online modes allow for a challenge any time you want to fight.

BlazBlue is everything you'd expect it to be, only a little more accessible. Although it does a lot to stand out from its predecessor, you can't help but feel like some of the styles in both character design and music score are a bit rehashed. Although the game is easier to get the hang of, going online is still a death with, least you want to do nothing but get stomped several times over by rank 50 players. If you enjoy 2D fighters, it's worth checking out.

I give BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger on the Playstation 3 an 8/10.

{Review} Battlefield: Bad Company 2 -PS3-

2010-09-06T15:14:00.001-04:00

The Battlefield series has long since been a staple of the PC shooter games. So back when the first Bad Company debuted on consoles, the community was taken by storm. For the first time we had a fluent narrative, and it was a hilarious one at that, spoofing all of the major shooters at the time. Fast forward to now and what do we get? Well...

The story takes a far more serious turn than its previous title. A secret military operation during WW2 has both revealed and hidden a super weapon developed by the Japanese. In the present day war, our 'heroes', the members of Bad Company, are back on the battlefield, as they get swept into the events of the past. Promised a military discharge if they can complete their mission the group seek to find out more about the super weapon.

The dialogue, has its humorous moments, with the characters taking stabs at Call of Duty and just talking general non-sense. The flow of the story does indeed go in a more 'action movie' style, and doesn't slow down for a moment. However, I have a bit of a problem with this, as it takes away the charm of the first game: in BC1, we knew these guys were here because they were the bottom of the barrel, the f**k ups. Sure, they did heroic things, but that was never their intention. Now, they purposely set out to be heroes, Preston especially. It felt like it stepped over that border between parody into rip-off.

The gameplay however took a turn for the better. The destruction has been revamped and perfected, as now virtually every structure is free to be blown into oblivion. The weapon system, both in single player and multiplayer has been fine tuned, giving a nice variety for players to choose from and modify as they see fit.

The single player will have gamers running around completing the same routine objectives while blowing up M-Com Stations and finding collectible weapons. New to the collectible weapons is the ability to switch them out for your current weapons any time you come across a supply create in the game. This makes it so that as long as you keep an eye out for weapons, you'll always have the right gun for the job. Also, the respawn system has been changed. No more can you plow through your enemies, die, and respawn where you were with all your enemies dead. Now you have to be revived at check points, with your enemies returning as well, making for a much tougher experience. However, the campaign itself is extremely short, lasting maybe five hours depending on your load out. Also, the final encounter feels a lot less epic than the first game.

Multiplayer is truly at its prime. Using the basic foundation from the first game, Bad Company 2 further expands on the class system: the amount of classes are reduced, however their overall customization have been expanded upon. Every class comes with their main weapon of expertise, a side-arm, a gadget, and three modifiers which can be used to alter your characters specialization. Along with Rush and Conquest, the guys over at DICE have also through in Squad Rush and Squad Death Match. These modes are designed to be a simple squad VS squad match to give a sense of quick satisfaction. Although personally I stick to normal Rush, none of these modes, nor their maps are really that bad. There's a few camper spots that can be troublesome, but their nothing a skilled Medic or Recon can't fix.

This game is easily a must have if you liked the first Bad Company. Although the single player mode felt like it got weaker, the multiplayer aspect, which many would say is the point of the Battlefield series, certainly took a change for the best. Between the intense vehicle warfare, and the heart pounding attacking and defending action in the Rush and Conquest modes there is more than enough to keep any FPS gamer happy. There is, however, some bugginess to the multiplayer, namely problems with lag and the knife not always registering hits. However, lag has sadly always been an issue with EA games, and the knife is rumored to be fixed soon. Keeping all of this in mind;

I give Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the Playstation 3 an 8/10.

{Review} Army of Two: The 40th Day -PS3-

2010-09-06T15:11:00.000-04:00

Army of Two brought to us two goof ball bad asses with a mission to save the world from their corrupt employer and his bat-shit insane goon Clyde. This time around things have changed as the two find themselves in China. We were promised everything from the first game and more, but the delivery was rather hit and miss.

Rios and Salem are on a new mission in China when shit really hits the fan. Everything around them is blowing up and an army is sweeping the city, capturing and killing civilians. However this time the two are really on their own, as it seems that everyone who tries to help them gets caught up in the hell, and even their own friendship will be put to the test.

But, any real depth to the story is hidden within the radio logs, which makes enjoying it a pain in the ass. Why they couldn't just put the story in there to begin with is beyond me. I guess EA's writing staff never learned one of the basic rules of story telling: show, don't tell.

For most part you'll only be in the main city, which is pretty dull. You'll get to see the place ablaze, and the occasional park and water area, but other then that there's nothing really stand outish about this game. Even in the first game there was more variety then this.

One of the things I loved about the first game was the dialogue interactions, and this game doesn't disappoint in that department. The comic relief is top notch, and some of the jokes are so damn random and well played that you can't get the scenes out of your head. Especially that panda fucking line.

This game hasn't changed too much in the controls department, it's still third person, you still have a wide array of guns to obtain and customize. There is three big changes though: one is the ability to shift the camera view from shoulder to shoulder, which makes a huge difference, and is a feature that you'll find bothersome at first, but be thankful for as you get used to it. The second is that now you can customize your weapons on the fly, instead of having to wait for check points. This makes missions a lot easier when you're able to stay geared up. The final change however is a bit of a pain. In the first game, your partner and you could swap your weapons, which allowed for a great co-op tactic, however that feature has been removed for some reason. This makes parts where your partner is low on ammo a real pain, as now you're forced to either do everything yourself, or risk your partner by having him melee everything.

There's multiple endings to this game, as well as several moral choices that can be made during your progress. The game will alter depending on what choices you make, which allows for a varying experience every time you play. For instance, the more civilians you save throughout your progress the easier the last section of the game will be.

Honestly, this game has a perk for every flaw. The online is better then the first, but honestly that's not saying much. And although the controls are mostly better, the story is all kinds of stupid; especially the ending. Seriously, it just reeks of laziness. Not to mention, most of the problems from the first game are still present, such as being blown into glitched spots where you can't be revived, as well as the lack of any ability to save between check points, making you loose your customization effort, and you can't skip cut scenes. For the final nail in the coffin, unlike in the first game, with this title, THERE IS NO SUBTITLE FEATURE. I've looked up and down for it, but it's not in there. It makes catching the conversations pretty damn hard when you're in a fire fight, and there's no subtitles around to fill in the blanks.

If you liked the first game, it's at least worth checking out, but otherwise I'd maybe pass on it and just get the first game.

I give Army of Two: The 40th Day on the Playstation 3 a 6/10.

{Co-Op Review} Army of Two -PS3-

2010-09-06T15:06:00.000-04:00

{Review} Army of Two -PS3-

2010-09-06T14:50:00.000-04:00

Army of Two is a team focused shooter that is set in modern times. Whether you're playing on your own, or with a friend, the key to victory lies in your ability to work with your partner. Not only is the game based heavily on team work, it also is very driven by customization, offering an array of different weapons at the players disposal, all of which are customizable, right down to being able to paint them gold.

Army of Two plays around with history a little bit. At some point in time, private military contractors began to make a foot hold in warfare; so much so that the U.S. government has given sanction for these private military to be put to use for all combat situations that its own military might is struggling with. This is where the player(s) takes control. You'll play as private military contractors Rios and Salem, and will be sent out to various missions, most of which will involve taking care of terrorist threats. However, not everything is right with the private military, and a dark plot is in the works, giving the story plenty of twists and turns that make it a lot more interesting.

This game is well rendered, however being a military game it suffers from a lack of real beauty. Sure, in its own right it looks impressive, but with an endless sea of well rendered games, it just kind of feels like just another shooter.

This game truly shines in its dialogue. The characters feel extremely realistic, having their own personal goals and ambitious that aren't just "Let's save the world!", and this is primarily shown through conversations had amongst the two main characters. They'll take situations seriously when needed, however the second they feel they have a moment to breathe one or the other will be quick to make a joke or initiate a non-war related conversation in order to ease the tension. Some could argue that the characters talk too much, and this is a valid stance, however, I feel the game wouldn't be the same without the witty and sometimes thought provoking conversations had between the characters.

As stated, players will take control over two characters, Rios and Salem, and work their way through the game using customizable weapons. Players will be able to utilize three weapons at a time: a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, and a special weapon. Primary weapons range from semi-automatics to chain guns. Secondaries are mostly all pistols, and special weapons consist of sniper rifles and rocket launchers. On top of that, players can customize their weapons, such as changing the barrels to increase fire power, painting the guns gold for a unique flare, or modifying the grips, and more!

This game also features an agro system. Normally found within MMO style games, the agro system in Army of Two is no different. The player who is firing the biggest gun and is making himself the biggest nuisance will attract the enemies attention, allowing his ally to sneak around the enemies for a better shot. However, this game goes one step further, and enables an agro boost system. When enabled, the player holding argo will be an unstoppable tank, while the other player will be completely invisible, for a short period of time.

Normally, a shooters' replay value in this day and age is found within the online play, however, the online in this game is extremely weak. Between being very dead (at least on the PS3 front), and extremely boring, there isn't much to do if you're big on online competition. However if you got a friend and love the campaign mode, there are several game difficulties to go through, as well as several ways to complete the game. This clearly isn't for everyone though, as unless you truly love the campaign, there isn't much reason to go back to it in the first place.

For its first attempt, Army of Two has done a good job. The story is extremely satisfying, and even gives us one of the most psychotic villains and some of the most insane dialogue ever made, however there are some annoying bugs that lurk around the corners of the game which, all though rare, are capable of forcing gamers to reload their older saves. And unless you really enjoy playing the campaign with friends, there is little reason to go back to it after a single play through.

I give Army of Two on Playstation 3, an 8/10.

{Review} Alone in the Dark: Inferno -PS3-

2010-09-06T14:46:00.000-04:00

Alone in the Dark: Inferno is the PS3 port/revision/what ever of Alone in the Dark (The 5th title in the series) that had previously been released on PC, 360, PS2, and Wii. Boasting bug fixes, tightened controls, and a whole new scene in the game, Alone in the Dark: Inferno has a lot to live up to. But did it fulfill its promise?

You play as a man who's lost his memory. Awaking to find yourself the hostage of two old men, you are forced along a hotel building until this bizarre fissure opens up in the walls and consumes one of your captors. Now you must escape the hotel and solve the mystery of what's taking place in Central Park. This to me is one of the biggest driving points of the game, its story.

The game doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look good either. Character models looks fine with many small details shining through the chaos of terribly shaded buildings and a see of image crops consume the world around you. I've seen worse, but I've seen a hell of a lot better.

Though the voice acting is average, the music in this game is stunning and beautiful. This is (to me) the second driving point of this game. Every track is appropriate for the mood and helps to keep you in an eerie and paranoid mind set, while level completion music feels like movie credits relaxing you after a thrill.

Though this game claims to have fixed a lot of controls (and when compared to the other iterations of Alone in the Dark, they are) they still feel rather unmoving, leaving the player feeling like they have to force themselves to play the game. This makes for a rough time in the game as well, as several puzzles in the game require precise button control, and when your controls are fighting against you, it makes it tough for an enjoyable game experience.

There's virtually no replay value. Sure, you COULD go through the game twice, as there are two different endings, however one of the games unique features, the already-to-go-and-use chapter AND level select make it rather pointless. Seriously, why include this feature from the get go anyways? I bet day one of release when people saw that feature they used it to skip to the last 2 minuets of the game, 'beat it', spoiled the endings on the net, then turned it back in.

Alone in the Dark: Inferno is without a doubt the superior version of Alone in the Dark (5). However, this still really isn't saying much. This game has a lot of potential and is really enjoyable if you can look past its flaws, however some of the flaws still present in the game, such as trophy unlock bugs that make you unable to complete the trophies, or jumping bugs that cause you to stay in air and fall to death in place, are rather bothersome bugs that may (and have) enrage many gamers. But, with a $18 price tag at most game retailers that I've seen, these flaws, though aggravating, are a bit easier to coup with.

I give Alone in the Dark: Inferno on Playstation 3, an 6/10.

{Review} 3D Dot Game Hereos -PS3-

2010-09-06T14:40:00.001-04:00

Older gamers, do you remember when Legend of Zelda came out for the NES? The feel of the action packed, yet simplistic game play? The puzzles that took a bit of thinking and logic to solve? The grand boss battles? What if you could re-live it all? Well, you can. Welcome, to 3D Dot Game Heroes.

The kingdom of Dotnia has survived an attack from an evil force. Its champion became the cause of much tourism, and Dotnia prospered for some time. But as the days rolled on, people became less and less interested, and stopped visiting the kingdom. As an attempt to save the failing economy, the ruler of Dotnia recreates the kingdom in 3D. As for the hero, he travels to the sacred forest where he leaves his sword in stone, for a time when evil returns.

Skipping to present day, that evil has indeed returned. The Dark Priest threatens the kingdom of Dontia, while the princess as gone missing. It's now up to you to travel to the sacred temples of Grass, Forest, Desert, Aqua, Fire, and Wind to retrieve the magic orbs that'll give you the power to stop him.

Although the core game play of 3D Dot Game Heroes is identical to that of classic Zelda titles, even down to the very weapon tricks such as boomerang stun, it has a lot going for it to set it apart from the series that it's paying homage and parody to. Players will play as characters that are sorted by classes and gender. The three classes, Hero, Scholar, and Royal, have varying stats from one another; the Hero has the most health, but the least magic, Scholar's have more magic and less health, and Royals have a balanced amount. However, players are free to both create and import custom character creations, making for a truly personal experience.

On top of this is the weapon system. Your main weapons consist of swords of all shapes and sizes, and sometimes fish. Your main weapons can be upgraded in a multitude of ways, such as increasing their length, or even allowing them to slice through walls. Sub weapons consist of items that will mainly be used for platforming and puzzle solving, though have limited combat usage. These range from boomerangs, bombs, hook shots, bow & arrows, and magic spells.

In terms of presentation, this game is nearly perfect...nearly. The sound track is beautifully done, with each piece feeling not just like Zelda music, but like other RPG's such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior as well. (Both of which the game also parody during various events) The art direction was indeed a job well done, as the game sets itself apart from every game out there. Everything is designed like blown up pixels (hence the Dot in the title), and enemies die with a satisfying exploding of pixels. However, two problems do persist in the game that really hurt it.

The first is in the games screen transitions. Every so often, when you travel from one screen to another, the camera will sort of blur the background, making it hard to see, especially for those like myself that have seeing problems as it is. The other issue is in the attack detection. Whenever you enter an area, you're unable to attack until you move around first. This normally wouldn't be an issue, however it seems like the developers got sloppy with this mechanic as various places in the world map (and especially in the final dungeon) seem to be riddled with small areas where you're unable to use an attack when you should be perfectly able to.

Now, the game is only about 20-30 hours long, which might not seem like much for RPG fair, however there's several hidden difficulties to unlock to put your skills to the test, as well as an array of mini games to try and master. The mini games are all custom versions of well known game styles such as Marathon Running, Tower Defense, and Break Out! Also, as a token to fans, players can unlock the loading screens of the game as they view them, however this is bugged as I personally haven't unlocked any, while a friend of mine using the same disk on the same PS3 has unlocked several.

If you're and older gamer looking for that lost spirit of the NES days or a newer gamer that can appreciate that retro feel then 3D Dot Game Heroes is a must have in your collection. Despite not being as polished as it could have been, it's still a very satisfying and enjoyable game, and I'd gladly welcome a squeal.

I give 3D Dot Game Heroes on the Playstation 3 a 9/10.