There are a handful of well known MMO’s out on the market today.  The most successful, however, would be none other than World of Warcraft.  The folks at Electronic Arts and Bioware hope to steal some of that online thunder by staking their claim in the land of MMO’s.  Originally slated as a single-player Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3, the developers soon realized the more lucrative and greater realm of possibilities with a massive multiplayer PC game.  Taking place 3,000 years before the Star Wars movies, you get to choose between either the Republic (good guys) or the Empire (not good guys).  Once you make your selection, you then choose your class, followed by your race.  Classes consist of Jedi Knights, Jedi Consulars, Smugglers, Rebel Troopers, Sith Warriors, Sith Inquisitors, Bounty Hunters and Imperial Officers.  You are then to select a race and not all races are available for each class.  The races range from Zabrak (think Darth Maul), Human, Twi’lek, Miraluka, Chiss, Cyborg, Rattataki, and Sith (the species, not the Dark Jedi), each with their own unique ability.  With a plethora of decisions at my disposal, I made three characters.  The first was that of a Sith-species Sith Inquisitor.  While you can also play as a Sith Warrior (focuses on saber combat), I chose the Inquisitor (focuses on Force abilities) as there’s something fascinating about electrocuting someone from the other end of the room with Force lightning.

I started off on the Sith homeworld of Korriban.  I found my quest work rather average, though still somewhat entertaining.  As an Inquisitor, you start off with three basic combat abilities; a single saber strike, a triple saber strike that utilizes Force points, and finally Force lightning.  Oddly enough, you’re entrusted with the ability to throw lightning but your melee weapon is a shock stick, not a lightsaber.  There were several side missions, but unfortunately, if I completed a main quest, any side quests within there were now null and void.  Hopefully it isn’t like this in the final cut.

Next I chose a Rebel Trooper.  My character was a cyborg and a rather boring one at that.  Combat options consisted of a a basic blaster rifle shot and a grenade toss.  Speaking with this guy was also less than spectacular.  While you’re usually presented with three response choices in a conversation, I found them unimpressive and the Trooper as a whole just plain boring.  So, after trading some blaster fire, I opted back for the Dark Side choosing an Imperial Officer of the Chiss race (think Grand Admiral Thrawn’s species).  When faced with an adversary, I was given the option of a basic blaster rifle shot and the ability to take cover.  Once behind cover, the Officer can engage his or her sniping abilities, which I found more fun than a barrell of monkeys.  In addition, the Officer utilizes the concept of espionage to drive this class, and overall,  I found it the most engaging of the three classes I played.  The downside was the frustrating zig-zag patterns many of my side quests involved.  It was like traveling from Cleveland to Chicago by way of Dallas.  Express travel is offered but only after you’ve discovered certain waypoints.  The presence of repeated enemies along the way didn’t help here either, though this class’s story and dialogue were still fun to run through.

The graphics were decent enough (never a strong point of MMO’s), but the voice acting was stellar.  If there was one aspect to be impressed with in this game, it was the different characters’ delivery.  Whether it was your own or the PC, the diaogue was intelligent and clear (save for the dumbed-down Trooper with vanilla conversational abilities).  So with that being said, here comes my inevitable comparison between The Old Republic (TOR) and World of Warcraft (WoW).  The graphics are better on TOR so the nod goes to Bioware’s creation in that category.  In addition, the stories are so much better in TOR than WoW.  However, don’t count out the Orcs and Dwarves just yet.  I found WoW more entertaining right out of the box.  The early quests and character building in WoW felt quicker and more enjoyable than TOR.  As I didn’t get beyond a level 5 character in TOR, it remains to be seen how much fun it will be to play as an advanced character.  Once I get that lightsaber, it may change my opinion of TOR.  In the end, I felt The Old Republic offered too few new twists to MMO gaming.  Honestly, it felt a lot like World of Warcraft with a Star Wars badge on it.  While you can choose servers of P vs. E (player versus environment), where you have to agree with another online character to fight one another, or P vs. P (player versus player), where you can attack any online body of an opposing faction, everything feels a lot like you’re in your own little world. This probably isn’t a good thing since the main concept of an MMO is to immerse you in a world with other live players.

I’ll pass on a buy of this title as it just didn’t light my fire.  I had high hopes for this game, especially since all the build-up and press it has received over the past couple of years.  The cinematics are stunning and are nearly worth the price of admission right there, but the game as a whole, well, maybe another day.

From the moment the multiplayer action started I couldn’t help but notice something was different.  Was it the scenery, the guns, the kill streaks, or the new game types?  I quickly found out it was none of those however, the one change I immediately noticed was how quickly I died.  No I don’t claim to be the best at any shooter but I know I am better than average and to start out by dying more times than I had kills in my first 20 matches was a clear indication that something was terribly wrong.  However, I quickly turned things around and found the right weapon class for me.  Aside from this major gripe with this game multiplayer is still the cat’s meow when it comes to the reason consumers will purchase this game.

A new game mode for multiplayer that was added is the new Kill Confirmed mode.  In this game you must recover the dog tags of your victims in order to score and get credit for a kill.  You can prevent the other team from recovering tags by retrieving your fallen comrades’ dog tags before the enemy can swipe them.  I have found this game mode exciting and challenging because I seem to be terrible in actually achieving team victory in this mode.

This is the first game I have not beaten before I have reviewed it but I will say the Campaign mode is always strong for the Call of Duty series.  I have played through a couple of missions and the game play along with the solid story.  It’s weird because a great game can be like a good book.  Once you get involved you have to play and find out what happens next and before you know it your vacation is over and you have to go back to work.  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is one of those games that just draws you in and doesn’t let you put it down.  While I purchased this game for the solid story and exciting multiplayer, I can’t help but find myself completely involved in the Special Ops mode.

In Special Ops you have a couple of options; take on specific missions with a certain map or play a survival game against endless waves of enemies.  On the missions side of things you have several different tasks you could embark on.  One of them involves you finding the daughter of the Russian President while remaining undetected by enemy forces.  It’s an exciting change of pace for those of you who don’t like the run of the mill first person shooter.

In Survival mode you face wave after wave of enemies.  For each kill you get you receive money that you can use to purchase additional weapons, ammo, or kill streaks that give you the edge over the opposition.  It’s a far more different experience from the Nazi Zombies that we have had before but still enjoyable.  I would say if you are a Call of Duty fan you should go purchase this title if you weren’t one of the 6 million people in line on the release date.

Final Thoughts 

Order Call of Duty: MW3 for the PS3!

The story starts out right away Bruce Wayne is throwing his hat into the political game.  Arkham City was developed to be a giant city sized prison and Wayne is standing outside supporting the decision to have this built when all of a sudden he is arrested by Dr. Hugo Strange who somehow knows that Wayne is indeed Batman.  Strange reveals that he has huge plans for Arkham City with a plan called Protocol 10.  Strange warns Wayne that if he or Batman decides to try and stop him that he will indeed make sure all of Gotham will know that Batman and Wayne are one in the same.  Soon Wayne is purchased by the Penguin and is released out of the main compound of the prison.  While walking with the Penguin, Wayne is able to use his shackled hands in a fight that ensues and uses a strong knee to an opponents face to break the cuffs that are behind the thugs head.  Then you beat the thugs and knock out the Penguin and make your way up to the top of the buildings so your trusted butler, Alfred, can send the Bat Plane over with your Batman suit.  Then the real action begins.

You hear a news report from Strange saying that Catwoman is trapped in the courthouse with Two-Face and Batman decides to go in and save her because he believes she will have information regarding this ominous Protocol 10 Strange had mentioned.  Once he rescues Catwoman he finds out she has no knowledge of the plan Strange has in place.  Just as Batman goes to investigate further he gets a weird message from the best villain of all time the Joker.  It says that after using some of the Titan serum in Arkham Asylum his blood is infected and it is killing him.  He thinks that this is just some kind of a trick and goes in search of the Joker to find out if this is true.  Upon finding Harley Quinn sad and distraught that her beloved Mr. J is sick and dying Batman goes to check on an almost lifeless Joker getting a blood transfusion.  However, that was not Joker in the chair and Harley knocks out Batman and when he wakes up he sees an obviously sick looking joker standing in front of him gloating that what was killing him is now coursing through the veins of the world’s greatest detective.

Joker was nice enough to let Batman know that Mr. Freeze was working on a cure for the Jokers’ condition.  Then the search for the cure begins as thought of Protocol 10 now takes a backseat as Batman knows he needs to find a cure before he dies.  Along the way you run into the likes of many criminals that Batman has faced over the years as well as receiving help from old friends and even some help from some familiar foes.

Overall, I would say this is a must buy.  Everything about this game is flawless… except the ending.  In my opinion the ending left me wanting more as well as making me ask really that’s how you end this masterpiece.  It’s almost like the writers got lazy and decided well I don’t have any creative ideas so let’s leave it like this.  If the ending were better this game would have received a perfect score from me but because of this one flaw I am left to give it a score just below perfect.

Final Thoughts

Order Batman: Arkham City for the PS3!

My three year old son Nathan had just spent two days at Disneyland before entering the big extravaganza at the D23 Expo.  For the previous 48 hours, Nathan had been waiting in very long lines at the parks, but had gotten used to the idea that you wait and wait and then go on a fun ride.  After waiting in line to pick up his ticket, Nathan was wondering where the ride was.  It was hard for his three year old brain to understand that we were there to look at things.  Upon entering the show floor, Nathan’s realized that this place was pretty cool and both lightning McQueen and Mater were waiting there to greet him.  While I wanted to look at the Dharma van from LOST but I was quickly overruled.

Nathan approached Lightning McQueen expecting his friend to respond to him and the following conversation followed:

Nathan: Hi, I’m Nathan

Lightning McQueen: Silence

Nathan: This is my mom, her name is Jami.

Lightning McQueen: Silence

Nathan: I came here.

Lightning McQueen: Silence

Nathan: Why are you here?

Lightning McQueen: Silence

Nathan: WHY AREN’T YOU TALKING TO ME!?!?!

At that point, Nathan decided he was done looking at things and it was time to do something.  Luckily, it was time for our appointment to check out the new game for the Kinect for the XBox 360, Disneyland Adventures.

Disneyland Adventures lets you explore the Disneyland park.  I immediately wished we had this before visiting Disneyland.  For anyone who loves Disneyland, they would love exploring their favorite areas of the park.  For us, with a preschooler, it would have assisted a lot in explaining what we were planning to do.  We could have showed Nathan what the park looks like and how we are going to go to each ride, and wait in line.

Whether we want him to or not, when we are playing our Kinect games, Nathan wants to play too.  Inevitably we will ask if he wants to play, he will say no and then see us doing it and want to jump in.  I was happy to see that Disneyland Adventures allows cooperative play, and allows you to jump in or out of game play without disturbing the other player.  Having two players with different skill levels is also not a problem.  I shouldn’t have been surprised that Disney would create a game for both adults and little kids can play together.  The game has a bunch of  fun mini-games based on following rides in the park:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Haunted Mansion
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Jungle Cruise

Disneyland Adventures also allows you to play adventures based on popular Disneyland rides.  Nathan tested out the Peter Pan adventure.  He enjoyed flying through the air, and seemed to understand which character he was controlling (that doesn’t always happen).

One of the reasons our family enjoys the Kinect is because its fun to play and to watch.  The D23  Kinect Demonstration area was basically like a people aquarium.  It was a great advertisement for the game since people could see in to the room and watch you have fun and look a little silly while you are playing the various adventures.

Disneyland Adventures, published by Microsoft Corporation, is scheduled to be released this November.  It’s definitely a game for the whole family that I plan to add to our collection.  I can’t wait to have Nathan try battling Captain Hook.  I will also use the game to introduce Nathan to the concept of collecting autographs from the Disney characters.  The game offers quite a bit of things to do including the ability to:

• Create memories. Whether it’s your first time or hundredth time exploring Disneyland park, relive your fondest memories or embark on a new adventure.
• Discover Disneyland park. Whether you want to go on an adventure in your favorite attraction or explore the entire park, “Kinect: Disneyland Adventures” allows you to play at your own pace and customize your own Disneyland park experiences right from your living room, whenever you want.
• Explore attractions. Experience your favorite Disneyland park attractions as immersive adventures — explore Neverland at Peter Pan’s side and take up your sword to fight Captain Hook; battle your way to the island in Pirates of the Caribbean; or partner with a friend to enjoy the fascinating world of Alice in Wonderland.
• Meet the characters. Share magical moments with your favorite Disney characters — hug a princess, high-five Mickey Mouse, collect autographs and accept quests.
• Collect and unlock. Collect Disney-themed items, rewards and Xbox 360 Achievements as you make your way through the park to discover new game experiences, including themed parades and firework displays.
• Cooperative play. Partner with a friend or family member to explore Disneyland park; have him or her jump in to lend a hand on difficult challenges and help you earn rewards. Designed to adjust difficulty based on skill, “Kinect: Disneyland Adventures” ensures that everyone is having fun and playing together.

This game is a lot of fun to play for both kids and adults and it’s perfect for families that love Disneyland!  Look for it to come out exclusively for the XBOX 360 this November!

Pre-order your copy today!

The presentation this year has dramatically improved.  The only glaring weakness is the repetitive commentary and wrong names of players.  Since playing the game every time I make a tackle with the Browns first round draft pick, Phil Taylor, they always say tackle by Ryan Taylor.  The best new visual aspect is the pre-game presentation of the teams’ entrances.  They come complete with authentic player animations as well as fireworks and smoke affects.  As far as game play goes the biggest improvement by far is the new contact engine.  In previous installments sometimes your player would slide to a position to make a block or catch a pass without his feet moving that has been removed.  So this time around if you want to make a tackle, recover a fumble, or catch a pass you better make sure your player is in position to make contact with a player or the ball.

The modes in the game are the same that they had in the past.  Franchise mode lets you take control of one or more NFL franchises and take them through a 30 year career.  This year you can take up to 75 players into your first preseason game to try out all of your players before having to make crucial cuts to cut your roster to 55 players.  That is the only change in franchise that really stands out.

Ultimate Team Mode lets you purchase player cards to assemble your perfect NFL team.  Imagine combining Michael Vick with Larry Fitzgerald and being protected on the line by Joe Thomas.  This lets you buy booster packs of cards to get players that are different skill levels.  You can either use coins you earn by competitions online or by using money from your PSN account or Microsoft points.  This year they offer legendary packs which offer the chance of nabbing an NFL legend like Jerry Rice, Dan Marino, or Barry Sanders.  This further enhances your team and makes your team closer to being unstoppable.

NFL Superstar is mode in which you pick a current NFL rookie or create your own character.  Then you only play during downs in which your selected player is on the field.  Based on your performance in the game you earn player points that you can improve different aspects of your player like speed, acceleration, and catching ability.  You play through a whole career and try and become the ultimate player of your position.

Madden online is awesome because it gives you the chance to take on people all over the world and challenge them and their skills in Madden.  The only problem I have is that with PSN I notice a lot of lag with its online mode.  However, I believe Xbox Live offers a little bit better connection.  Don’t get me wrong Playstation 3 has superior graphics and sound but Microsoft has been around a long time in the online gaming and have almost perfected it.

Madden is an old formula reformatted to fit the new generations of fans.  I think this is the strongest version of the game to date.  Looking back you can see that the overall presentation has come a long way from the 8, 16, and 32-bit systems we used to love and enjoy.  This game is not perfect by any means and as always I can see room for improvement.  Overall though I give it a 4/5

Final Thoughts

Order Madden NFL 12 for the PS3!

First up was the new web series H+, a science fiction series set in the not too distant future.  The story takes place in a world that has advanced technology and communication far enough to the point beyond in-hand mobile devices, with implants that now have the user literally connected to the internet via their own mind.  However, during the early stages of the release of this new technology, a virus within the system causes the death of a third of the population of the world.  This virus leads to a new world order, as we follow a number of different characters through this whole ordeal.

Producer Bryan Singer was not at the panel, as he is currently in London, filming Jack the Giant Killer, but he did provide a video introduction for the trailer of the web series, which can be seen here:

The series has been directed by Stewert Hendler and has been written by John Cabrera and Cosimo De Tommaso.  It was filmed mainly in Chile, in order to have a place that can represent a number of different continents and countries, as the scope of this web series is worldwide.  The web series will be divided into 48 episodes, each lasting around 3-7 minutes, making for a 3-4 hour total runtime.  The series will have 11 different main characters, with the option to view the different episodes in a number of different arrangements, in order to better focus on certain characters and understand various arcs of the series in different sort of ways, once all the episodes have been released.  H+ is set to premiere later this year.

The second half of the panel was devoted to the Mortal Kombat Legacy web series, created and developed by Kevin Tancharoen.  The panel included Tancharoen, as well as many of the actors who have appeared in the web series thus far, including Jeri Ryan (via Skype) and Michael Jai White.  A brief Q&A with the moderator had Tancharoen address the fan reaction to the series thus far, with Tancharoen being very forward thinking in regards to both the good and bad comments that each episode has received.  The cast and crew present also spoke highly of Tancharoen and what his vision of the series has had to offer.

Following this initial discussion, the audience was finally treated to the still unreleased episode of the series and season finale for the time being – Episode 9: Cyrax and Sektor.  Apparently, the reason for the delay was due to the amount of time it took to have the CG robotic warriors be appropriately rendered for the film.  Comic Con turned out to be a great place to premiere this episode, as it received great reaction, which should be obvious, because who wouldn’t want to see live action robots beating the crap out of each other at a panel for Mortal Kombat?  The robots certainly looked very good, which is promising for the next season, as more confidence has surely been built up, based on the response for the previous episodes as well as this upcoming one, which will be officially released Sunday, July 24^th on YouTube and Machinima.com

One final note, Mortal Kombat creator, Ed Boon, was at the panel and revealed that the recently released Mortal Kombat game would be receiving a new downloadable character.  This character would be none other than Freddy Krueger, who will have his own set of special moves and fatalities for fans to tear into.  This was easily pleasing to both fans of Mortal Kombat and of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

A lot of fun was had at this panel, as people got a nice sneak peak at an exciting and epic looking web series along with some good ol’ Mortal Kombat fun, as the newest episode was premeired.  Audiences certainly seemed satisfied and will most likely continue to be pleased by all the different joys that San Diego Comic Con has to offer.  Check back at Why So Blu to find more coverage of events, panels, and screenings during this exciting time that is 2011’s San Diego Comic Con.

Dungeons and Dragons has endured for decades despite false claims from evangelists, the taunts of friends and family that think it’s a game for nerds, and two movies (especially the first one) that tarnished the good name of D&D.  It’s the best selling and most well known role-playing game in the world, it’s sold over 1 Billion dollars worth of books and accessories, and it’s estimated that over 20 million people have played it – and I’m one of them.  I started playing the original D&D (remember the three small paperback books?) in the 7th grade with my good friend Randy.  We eventually moved on to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and Randy’s brother Ryan joined us and became my fellow loot seeking partner.

Then along came the 2nd Edition rules which their mother liked better since all mention of devils and demons were removed from the game.  By now, we were getting together every weekend and playing as much as we could since Randy always made the adventures pretty epic.  The bulk of our D&D playing time was during the heyday of the 2nd Edition and I have a lot of fond memories of it.  When the 3rd Edition came out it was a big change with the new d20 system and the addition of feats along with a ton of changes to the classes, and ”non-weapon proficiencies” were replaced by skills that were actually useful. A few more tweaks were added which upgraded the game to the 3.5 Edition, which is the point when we gradually stopped playing.  Cue five years later and we are now up to the 4th Edition rules which have changed the game again.

Let’s talk about what comes in this Essential Starter Set.  Inside every box you will find everything you need to start playing the game including:

• 32-page book for players, with rules for character creation and a solo adventure
• 64-page book for Dungeon Masters, with the rules of the game, advice on how to run the game, and adventure content
• 2 sheets of die-cut tokens for characters and monsters
• Cardstock character sheets and power cards
• Double-sided dungeon map
• 6 polyhedral dice

What’s great about this box set is that it really is geared to people that haven’t played before and don’t have the dice, books, etc. that you would normally need to play.  One of the smart things they’ve done to make this easier and more accessible for new players is how they handle character creation in this.  Instead of doing it like I used to where you roll the dice after going through the player handbook to decide which of the many classes I wanted to play, it’s now like a choose your own adventure story.  As you go through the introductory mini adventure, the choices you make will determine almost everything about your character.

Since all but one of my former adventuring buddies had moved away, I enlisted the help of my wife Jami and her friend Allie who both had decided to give the game a shot after years of mocking others for playing it.  Neither one had ever played it before so I knew they would be the perfect test group to see how well this new starter set would work for the uninitiated.  Although the choose your own adventure character creation system seemed to be designed for a solo player, I decided to use that since I thought that the interactive character creation system would appeal to them more than the traditional way.  It was a little tricky having to go back and forth between the two characters and the choices they made, but the two of them seemed to like doing it that way. Jami didn’t want to be “mean” so she decided to become a cleric while Allie was all for blasting bad guys with magic so she became a wizard.

The introductory adventure begins with a box being stolen from a merchant and the characters are asked to retrieve it.  To do so, they are asked to fight thieves, wolves, and more.  Their fight with the guards and their pet wolves at the entrance of the hideout somehow turned into an epic battle of life and death for the girls.  They had decided that they didn’t need to go to town to hire some extra help (despite the DM’s suggestion to do so) and that decision resulted in a brutal fight that took awhile to finish and left them drained.  Our conversation went something like this:

Jami: It’s over! We’re done right?

Allie: Thank God.

Me: Ummm….no you’ve just killed the guards outside the cave. You haven’t even started the adventure yet.

Jami and Allie: What!?

Me: You have to go into the dungeon to get the box remember?

Jami: Why do we have to do it? Why can’t the merchant get it himself?

Me: Because you two are supposed to be heroes and you told him that you would.

Allie: This is lame.

They eventually went into the cave and defeated the remaining evil doers with the help of some hired mercenaries and even made it down into the dungeon but it was amusing to me to see how differently they played the game versus how my old group played it.  As soon as they entered the main bad guy’s dungeon, they split up and started randomly opening doors even if the other character was already fighting others.  I thought for sure this would result in their death, but between an amazing run of luck combined with the tough non-player characters that they had hired, they actually survived it.  Further proof of of those differences was when Allie walked into a room that had a Dragon and all of his treasure in it and was so nonchalant about it, you’d think she had just walked into a Starbucks.

Dragon: You dare to enter the lair of Farallax you impudent human!  Bow before me!

Allie: Hi.

Dragon: (Taken aback) Why do you so foolishly interrupt my slumber?

Allie: I don’t know. We’re looking for a guy with a box. Have you seen him?

Dragon: Do you speak of the Necromancer Malareth?

Allie: I don’t know. Some guy with a box.

Dragon: Why should I help you and not kill you where you stand?

Allie: That wouldn’t be very nice of you.

Jami and Allie eventually got more comfortable using their spells and abilities, but it was apparent to me that while they were the ideal candidates to test how well the new character creation system worked, they weren’t as suited for running a full on adventure with.  They were good sports but they just didn’t have the patience to play this kind of game.  Despite not really being interested in the game or knowing anything about it, this starter set worked perfectly as intended as they were able to create their characters and play the game.  As the Dungeon Master, I loved how the set had everything I needed including the maps, dice, character sheets, the adventure, a monster manual, and spell cards and playing pieces.  The new 4E rules took me a while to get used to but they work well and seem to be easier for new players to understand.  Playing this again certainly reawakened my love for the game and I hope that we get to continue our coverage of other Wizards of the Coast products since there’s a lot of other cool stuff out now.  I especially love the new map tiles sets that we would have really utilized back when we used to play.  If you are an old player that hasn’t checked out the new rules or if you are someone that’s never played D&D before, this starter set is the perfect way to start your adventure!

If you’d like to purchase this set please click on the image below!

A funny look at the changes made by the 4th Edition rules

If I had $10,000 to spare, this would be mine!

A nice overview of the new game. Part 1

Part 2

Another humorous video for any players that have had to face a beholder!

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If you’d like to purchase this or to get more information, please click on the box below:

The object of the game is to use a gun that creates a blue and an orange portal that you can walk though and go to the other portal.  These are used to transport you to higher ground, through a fence, or to avoid dangerous turrets.  From what I saw, the character is a female with a very slender athletic build and the vocal skills of Link from The Zelda series.  Most of the conversation comes from a robot companion trying to help you solve the different puzzles in the room.

Eventually you reach a room with the main robot from the first game and she is trying to kill you.  You eventually over take her and place your robot companion on her platform and you think maybe this is the end and then all of a sudden your once companion becomes drunk with power and then takes over and tries to kill you now.  There are a lot of and’s in that sentence.  LOL.  He opens a whole in the floor and you fall for what seems like an eternity until you go to a loading screen and then realize you are at the complete bottom of the facility.  From this point on you must take the robot that originally tried to kill you and work your way back up to your once robot companion.

There are very few dangers you face throughout your adventure and they consist of machine gun turrets, falling off the edge and lasers.  These are the three things that can kill you.  Most puzzles involve you going around these obstacles, but sometimes you must find a way to eliminate them all together.  The challenges start out very elementary, but become progressively cumbersome.  The longest it took me to solve a puzzle was 15 minutes, but most I figured out in a short period of time anywhere from 1-5 minutes.

Overall I liked the game.  It was challenging.  The only drawback, as I mentioned earlier, was the lack of story.  I would not recommend this game as a buy, but definitely if you have the ability to rent I would suggest taking it out for the weekend and busting out this game in a little over 8 hours of game play.

I visited a local Gamestop and had the privilege of trying out Street Fighter IV 3D on an aqua 3DS. While the color of the unit is not bad, I’d prefer an all black version to provide less of a visual distraction when playing a game. The newly added round directional control in the top left of the lower pad is a very smooth addition. There is no comparing how fluid this works when going against something like the obnoxiously small and jerky thumbstick on the PSP as the 3DS counterpart was functional and well-placed.  One set of buttons that are not smartly utilized on the 3DS are that of the left and right buttons just outside the unit’s hinges. Yes, they’ve always been here on any DS version though they’re now smaller and less efficient on the 3DS.

Also, for someone like me who is grossly deficient at street fighting games, the one-touch activation of combos on the bottom screen is a blessing. I began to obliterate my opponent with a few well-placed punches as my handlebar mustache fighter delivered hook after hook until a death-from-above combination sent the enemy to the ground. KO!  Speaking of a KO, nothing will knock out your system faster than full use of the 3D graphics. The slide button on the side of the system allows you to change the intensity of the 3D depth. At its maximum level, a Nintendo 3DS will only last 2 hours after a full battery charge. So much for occupying long airplane rides.

One drawback the system may experience in the near future is a lack of quality games.  I tend to agree with most of the ratings Gamespot applies to its reviewed titles, and believe me, a lot of these titles are not getting impressive scores.  For instance, they use a standard 1 to 10 rating (10 being ‘prime’) and a good portion of the titles have received poor ratings in the realm of 4 to 5.  Street Fighter IV 3D (8.5 score) leads the pack followed by Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (8.0 score), though the upcoming Zelda game has yet to get its day in the sun.  Thankfully, the system isn’t relying on only these two to attract cutting edge gamers as other titles such as Nintendogs + Cats and Ridge Racer 3D are deep into the ‘good’ ratings as well with more games arriving in the near future. 

So what about those much-heralded graphics?  THEY ROCK.  I had to see it to believe it but it is 3D to the core indeed and you do not need any peripheral device on your head to enjoy them. One Gamespot.com editor said it didn’t add much to gameplay. I don’t know if I agree with that as it did add to the overall entertainment factor.  Aside from the massive battery drain, the only other downside to the three-dimensional visuals is the fact that you need to be looking at the top screen straight on.  An observation from the slightest angle of deviation and the objects and backgrounds on the screen will play a little havoc with your eyes.  I would have a headache in less than an hour if I wasn’t looking at the screen from the proper angle.  Yet, that’s not the deterring factor of the 3DS   for me.  I am almost sold on the system, but the $249.00 price tag is just beastly if nothing else, especially when a Wii can be had for $200.00.  Rough tide economy aside, these things are selling faster than Evian in the Sahara. To that degree, I congratulate Nintendo on a job well done.

 
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It was last year that I wrote an article of Nintendo’s president adamantly stating that Nintendo was not interested in pursuing 3D technology.  The joke’s on us I guess.  You know darn well this was undergoing testing and development when he said that if the product hits shelves tomorrow, March 27th.  So, we were lied to.  It’s not the first time a company big wig slid one by us consumers.  Soap box complaining out of the way, let’s look at the 3DS itself.

For its initial release, the 3DS will be available in two colors; aqua and black.  The unit will have slightly larger screens than your typical DS along with a telescopic stylus, both of which are needed, beneficial changes to the existing DS family.  You will also find a 2GB SD memory card, gyroscopic playability, and of course, backwards compatibility with your non-3DS games.  However, the meat of the gaming system is found in its use of 3D.  First off, and the most important feature of the alleged tantalizing visuals, is the fact that you do not need special glasses.  Before I go any further, I want to point out that A) I’m surprised this technology is already here…and B) I’m still skeptical until I see the goods for myself.  Unfortunatey, a demo 3DS was not available to me at the time of writing this article. 

The second feature on the system relating to the graphics is the 3D control option, which allows you to slide it up and down for a more (or less) pronounced 3D effect.  A third feature allows you to take three-dimensional pictures with the 3DS, but only for display on the DS.  Oh, and don’t bother looking for 3D footage online as all game videos are shown in 2D.  The 3D effect of the games and picture stills you take can only be experienced on the actual system.  Recording it loses the effect.  

Speaking of games, there is already a solid foundation of titles on their way to grasp and run with the (supposedly) visually impressive technology.  Kicking off the list is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Star Fox 64 3D, Madden NFL Football, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, a submarine game titled Steel Diver,  an old NES title revived and re-envisioned called Kid Icarus: Uprising, and lastly The Sims 3…and that’s just a handful that Nintendo mentioned on their official countdown website.

So how much will all this eye candy cost you?  The handheld gaming system will debut at a hefty $249.99 with games peaking at $39.99.  As impressive as the graphics may be in 3D, I find both prices a little hard to swallow.  For $250 or $40 titles, you can land a PS3 and some decent games.  Yes portability is a convenience that costs more.  Just look at a laptop versus a PC.  Yeah, well tell that to my wallet.  In the meantime, it’s back to Mario Kart on my good old DS for me.

For more information on the Nintendo 3DS, please visit the official website at: http://www.nintendo.com/3ds

Overview

Sanctum of Slime, well, let’s abbreviate and call it SOS for short, can be had from the Sony Playstation Network for $9.99.  Not only does that “SOS” abbreviation help me type quicker, it’s also an accurate cry for help when playing, but I’ll get to that in a moment.  Ghostbusters: SOS is an arcade oriented game where story is minimal at best.  A basic story plays out between locales and features comic book stills of the four new, previously unknown Ghostbusters.  With up to four online players supported at once, the goal in this 3/4 overhead view game is to just clear out as many nasty spirits as you can.  There is a small variety of weapons to be had, most of which work particularly better on some of the baddies you’ll encounter than your basic proton stream.  That’s about as deep as it gets, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Arcade-style games can be just as good or bad as any deep, story-driven games out there.  Trust me though, there are enough downers here to put this one low on the want list. 

Control

Movement of your character is sharp and tight with the left thumbstick while shooting your weapon with the right gets a little off center.  I’ve never been a fan of any game that utilizes thumbsticks as a means of discharging your character’s weapon.  SOS didn’t change my mind on that as it just feels unnatural and a little sloppy.  Plus, with the crazy onslaught of spirits that can attack you at any given time, things can be a little frustrating when trying to avoid getting hit while maintaing a sufficient offensive stance against these little devils.  If and when you do take more damage than you can handle, your allies (computer or human) can rush to your aid for revival.  While this opens them up to a very vulnerable situation, it is an appreciated feature during gameplay.  Sometimes manuevering your guy or gal to the fallen comrade can take some tricky timing to avoid some rapid punishment, but this little challenge is to be expected.

The other key item in controlling your character is switching your weapon or throwing down a ghost trap.  In the heat of battle, it can quite annoying to cycle through your arsenal and switch from the proton pack to the yellow short waves of whatever that’s supposed to be to whatever other color-coded weapon you’re trying to get to.  It’s just not fun.  If you’re going for an arcade-style button masher, why not look back at Contra from the original NES?  You got a weapon and you used it until another one of those pods came along.  When I’ve got a dozen bad guys coming at me, I don’t want to have to change weapons to use the most effective one.  Who does?  You want to go to town and open up a can on these guys with as little interruption as possible.  Such a fluid opportunity is not available here. 

Graphics & Sound

For a $9.99 game, the graphics are attractive and the sound has its little creepy accents here and there.  The colors are crisp and vibrant and the slightly angled overhead view is a nice change of pace from some of the $9.99 side scrollers found on the PSN.  Some finer details are made out adding to the scenery such as various wall hangings and dirty floor tiles.  While in the sanitarium, walking up the hallway will reveal the possessed patients behind locked doors while the occasional moan grips the air.  That creative atmosphere takes a distant backseat once you start getting overrun by ghosts and demons.  With four characters all firing their weapons at once, the eerie sounds of the night get lost in the action.  However, you can’t really fault the game there as arcade games aren’t known for their depth of sound.  With what’s available here, SOS gets a passing grade in this category.

Final Thoughts

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime reminds me of one of those books that has some really wicked artwork on the outside, but once you start to read what’s on the pages, you find a lackluster experience at your fingertips.  The same proves true with this game.  SOS looks like it could be a blast, but the only blast this game offers is the firing of your weapon.  As always, don’t judge a book by its cover.  SOS is lame out of the gate and after about five or ten minutes, I found myself wanting to send an SOS for this game that was headed for a downward spiral.  While this title earns sufficient marks in graphics and sound, it fails in the end with an overkill of rebadged “action” from level to level.  Words of Ghostbuster wisdom; don’t cross the streams and it’s probably best not to invest ten bucks here.

John Milius, who co-wrote Apocalypse Now and wrote and directed Red Dawn, brings us the story for this first-person shooter.  THQ and Kaos Studios bring his story to life.  As far as stories go, this is one of the best concepts I have seen in recent years.  In most shooters it is either America or the world falling captive to some alien race.  This is the first story I have seen that has put America in a state of servitude under another country.  When I heard about this game, I was excited to say the least.  Who doesn’t love being the underdog and then end up coming out on top?

The action starts out right away as your character, Robert Jacobs, is in his home and the Korean Peoples’ Army (KPA) kick in your door.  They knock you into a concussive state as they transport you to a “re-education” camp.  On the way your transport gets interrupted by a group of resistant soldiers looking to free Jacobs who you find out is an ex-marine pilot.  The resistance has plotted your escape because Jacobs is a key component in their plan to try and take back the country.

The game play is very realistic as far as supplies go.  You are not heavily funded by the government so supplies are scarce and you must make do with what is available to you.  When looking for ammo it is best to take that of your fallen enemies because this game only allows you to carry what a normal civilian could carry.  Also, your resistance team members are not highly trained soldiers.  They are just people trying to fight to survive.  Your A.I. help in this game is lacking, meaning most of the enemies you encounter you will have to kill yourself.

The missions in the game all have great significance.  While you are out on the battlefield not only are you fighting for yourself, but you are fighting for the freedoms this great country once had.  Many of the missions involve you and your team pulling together supplies for a monumental finale that takes place on The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.

The campaign mode is very exciting and filled with action from start to finish.  The only problem that I have with the campaign is that the end came too quickly.  I managed to fight off the KPA and start taking back the country in only 5 or 6 hours.  Luckily, I have heard that 3 new missions will soon be available as downloadable content (DLC).  Considering that a resistance to take out country back would not just take place in one region of the country, I would not be surprised if the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest regions of the country would have their own story arcs.

Multiplayer is an exciting experience.  This has a similar leveling system as COD: Black Ops however; it is much more difficult to level up.  Unlike Black Ops, the “Battle Points” you earn for kills and various challenges not only help you level up but also allow you to use bonuses that are selected for your specific class.  If you have enough points you can take control of a small drone and shoot your opponents while you are a safe distance away from the action.  You can also pull out a rocket launcher and destroy opponents’ vehicles.  There are two main game modes, one is a domination type where you must take control of specific areas and the other mode is a death match where your team gets pints for each kill you get on your opponents’.

Overall, I like the game and the concept.  However, I feel it should have been longer.  Just when the story was getting good it ended like a bad movie that leaves you saying “What, its’ over already?”  If the game had been longer, it would have gotten a much higher score than what I am giving it.  I sure hope that the DLC comes out soon because I want more of this story.

Once I started playing the game I said, “Wow, this is a change of pace.”  In a world where the market is heavily saturated with shooters it was nice to try out something that took a little bit of skill and brains to complete.  This game is a combination of various tower defense games, Tetris and Rampage: World Tour.  Small flying creatures rain down from the sky and attempt to attack your already established defense towers and the only way to stop them is to fly towards them with one of six playable characters and punch them until they are defeated and ultimately turn into Tetris pieces.  The object of the pieces is to make a square with the same color pieces in order to create more towers or to increase the size of an existing tower.

The object of the game is to eliminate your opponents’ towers before they eliminate yours.  The bigger your tower, the stronger its weapons are and the harder it is to destroy.  I will tell you that if I was ten years old and just starting out, this would definitely be an excellent game.  However, given the fact I am much older and more skilled than a noob, this game was not that challenging.  I was able to breeze through the game in less than an hour.  Also, I am a gamer that gets very involved in the story of the game, and this one unfortunately does not have one.

Again, if you are a young and new gamer, than I would say that this is a great game to hone your hand-eye coordination and puzzle solving skills.  For the more advanced and hardcore gamers I would say save your money for something more challenging.

This game follows the same basic principal as the prequel.  Exciting 3-on-3 battles intertwine with both Marvel and Capcom characters on the same and opposing teams.  An arcade mode that takes you through various levels fighting random teams of three.   A versus mode enables you to battle your friends that come over and visit.   Mission mode  features different special and combo moves for each individual character.   Finally, a training mode gives you the ability to practice all of the moves before you take your skills to a real fight. And this is all in the offline mode!

In the online mode there are a few different options.  Ranked matches allow you to fight anyone online across the globe in an attempt to prove your supremacy.  Player matches allow you to customize the match to your specifications, however you do not level up as you do in ranked match.  Lastly, lobby mode is where anywhere from 2-8 players can join in a win and keep playing type format.

In arcade mode you battle randomly generated teams controlled by the CPU.  You fight through 7 rigorous battles before you encounter the final boss battle.  In the final boss battle you find yourself with the World Destroyer from the Marvel Universe known as Galactus.  In this battle you have 99 seconds to complete this battle which consists of two phases.  The first is a painstaking task of battling two metal models of playable characters from the game and then the second phase is where you take on Galactus himself in a simple yet exciting battle.  Galactus does not move much.  So that makes long combos the way to go to defeat him.  However, when he does move it is to unleash a devastating move that will significantly damage your health even if you are blocking.  Once you defeat Galactus you will be treated to a unique ending associated with the character that was active during the final blow to his health.

Versus mode is exactly what I explained earlier.  If you have friends over and you want to beat each other up, than this is the way to go.  Mission mode was a disappointment for me, when I was following this game before its release, as I was under the impression that you would actually have a mission designed for each individual character.  When I jumped on this mode and saw what it actually was I was completely disappointed.  A mission consists of me simply putting together a complex combo?  Come on, where is the challenge?  I wanted a mission that would involve Sentinel taking on all the X-Men from Marvel without dying.  What takes place in mission mode is a disgrace and is just and is just an extension of training mode, practicing moves before the real battles.

Ranked mode is where you put all your skills to the test.  Yeah anyone can beat the CPU after they use ten continues, but are you skilled enough to take on fighters from all across the world?  With various ranks to reward those who have battled many online opponents, it makes ranked mode very easy to get hooked on.  I know I was hooked the moment I found an opponent, putting my favorite team together to take on someone I have never met before was exhilarating.  Rising through the ranks from Rookie to Amateur to Fighter and levels beyond is enough to keep anyone coming back for more action.  It also keeps account of your online record so every opponent you face knows how well or how terrible you actually are.  My only critique of the ranked matches is that it has been very difficult for me at sometimes to connect with an opponent.

Player matches are more relaxed.  This is for the players whom just want to take on opponents, but do not want to be judged publicly for their success or failure.  If you are new to the game and want to get your feet wet with online gaming, then this is the route I would suggest you going.  The other mode that does not put your rank at risk is the lobby mode.  The only record that shows when you face them here is what your current record is for the lobby.  If you are the champ and have beaten all challengers, then everyone in that lobby will know.  However, if you are having a hard time gaining any momentum, then the only folks that will know are those in your specific lobby.

Along with these great fighting modes this game also offers a gallery where you can view bonus content that you have unlocked such as character endings, artwork, movies and bios.   I would recommend this game to any and all fans of the fighting genre.  Also, if you are a fan of Capcom or Marvel, this is definitely a title that is worth checking out.

Dead Space 2

(Note:  There is an option to recap the events of the first game in the main menu, for those who need a refresher or are new to the franchise, but suffice it to say – a space crew is sent on a rescue op, to check out a desolate space ship that is running wild with human/alien hybrids.)

The sequel begins in a way that is true to the spirit of this franchise, by placing the player in a situation where they are incredibly vulnerable and forced to flee for their life, as chaos begins to reign in their new location.  Once again, the player assumes the role of engineer Isaac Clarke, lone survivor of the events that took place in the first game, this time haunted by visions of his dead girlfriend, Nicole.  This aspect sets up the most intriguing elements of the plot of the game, as the creepy Nicole moments provide an interesting inner turmoil for Isaac, which in turn helps the narrative of the game along and informs us more of Isaac’s character.  But enough of that stuff, the games is about blasting big, nasty creatures in the dark, and that’s what most of the game features.

Isaac is now aboard the Sprawl, a city built on one of the moons of Saturn.  Due to an artifact known as “the Marker” (we know about this from events in the first game) having been built and stored in a locked off section of the Sprawl, the creatures known as “necromorphs” have reemerged and are now swarming the city and causing chaos everywhere.  Isaac finds himself in contact with a few human survivors, as he makes his way through the now darkened city, and does what he can to destroy the Marker and escape the ruined city.  Of course, Isaac has also dealt with these creatures before, so hopefully there is some room for him to make payback his bitch.

As with many modern video games that fall within the genre realm, the narrative of this game (and the first) obviously takes inspiration from many familiar and classic sci-fi films.  Whether or not you are engaged by the plot is up to you, but this game does a good enough job at establishing its central character and keeping you clued into his psyche.  While the first game had Isaac as a silent and mostly faceless hero (his suit has a mask), this sequel has Isaac constantly speaking and removing his helmet, well establishing a personality for him.  For me, this worked.  I liked being able to see Isaac this time around and finding ways to relate to his character (it also helped that every time the game would try to scare me enough to yell out an expletive, Isaac would do the same).

The narrative is good enough, but really, this game’s strong suit is easily its sound and art design. While it fits more into the category of an action/survival horror hybrid, the game is at its best when you are stuck in pitch black corridors, lit up only by your own flashlight.  The structure of the game plays incredibly well with having various sounds pull your attention all over the place and keeps you on your toes.  Adding to that is the incredible work with light and shadow, as all of the elements of the environment have a way of suggesting that something creepy with intent to kill is right behind you, ready to strike.  While Dead Space 2 is heavily reliant on “jump scares” as well, this is a game that features amazing atmosphere and knows how to create an unnerving environment.  I only play this game at night, in the dark, and with the speakers turned way up.

As enjoyably scary as this game can be, it also goes well to say that this is a very good looking game, once the light comes on and you are tasked with disposing of many enemies.  The environments have a way of coming off as varied, as you follow Isaac’s journey throughout a major city.  That’s not to say that all of the environments are drastically different from each other, but there are certainly many different looking locations compared to the first game.

The game is also incredibly M-rated.  Looking at pretty environments is all well and good, but this game also delivers some very gory deaths to both the enemy and you.  It is kind of disgusting in the many different ways that you can see Isaac succumb to his own demise, but it can also be darkly comedic at times to see the amount of effort put in to showing you why certain decisions may have been very, very bad ones.  The game also makes sure to create some pretty jarring moments in regards to what people tend to be more sensitive to.  Suffice it to say that some mistreatment of eyes may come into play.  So lots of blood and gore for the kids to interact with here!

In addition to the sound and art design, the voice work and score are both effective enough.  All of the actors do a good enough job to keep me from being taken out of the experience of the game.  The music by Jason Graves is a blend of ominous tones and intense “this friggin’ headless alien is coming right at me!”-type beats that work their way well into the game too.  Further helping this sense of atmosphere is the presentation while playing.  Just as in the first game, there are no actual health bars or ammo gauges on the corners of your screen.  Instead, these elements are all incorporated into your actual character.  So you have a health bar on your back, and you can figure out your ammo when aiming your weapon, etc.  This all helps to keep you within the experience, while exhibiting a cool twist on a standard game mechanic.

As far as the gameplay goes, little changes have been made to improve upon the first.  The controls feel more responsive, Isaac feels a bit faster, some inventory buttons have been mapped to the controller, and playing the game feels a whole lot more intuitive.  Dead Space is, at its core, a third-person shooter (akin to something like Resident Evil 4), and the ultimate goal is to dismember your enemies.  That’s right!  To you newbies, the only way to fight off your enemies is by using the weapons you have to blow apart the limbs of the foes coming after you.

The weapons you have, similar to the first game, are not your traditional weapons.  As Isaac is an engineer, he does not use hand guns and shotguns.  Instead, Isaac uses various types of tools and cutting equipment, perfect for detaching pieces from the enemy.  Along with some of the old standards from the first game, the sequel introduces a couple new weapon types, including “the Javelin”, which acts as a rod you shoot into foes and then trigger it to electrocute all who are around it.  It’s the little things like this that make you appreciate quality monster carnage.

Besides these new weapons, the sequel also makes your other two abilities all the more necessary.  I am referring to your “kinesis” and “stasis”.  The kinesis acts as Half-Life-like gravity gun, which pulls items close to you, and you can then shoot those items back at enemies, such as their own sharp, severed limbs.  The kinesis has been greatly improved this time around and is a very helpful tool, given the ammo saving that you always want to be doing.  Now you are able to switch between weapons and pinning foes up against a wall with various sharp objects.  Stasis serves as a way to freeze objects and enemies around you for a short period of time.  Again, this tool has become more necessary in this game, as you have many moments where multiple enemies are rushing you, and slowing some of them down can be a very good thing.

Finally, in regards to gameplay, the previous game featured some awkward platforming type elements, when Isaac would be moving around in zero-gravity environments.  He would have to jump from surface to surface, which tended to become somewhat confusing at times.  In this game, Isaac is freed from these movement shackles, and is now able to travel freely through zero-g environments, which is a worthwhile improvement.  It is still easy to become disoriented, but a nifty jetpack to help you through space is nice to have.

As far as difficulty goes, the game offers many different levels of difficulty to choose from, with an unlockable “hard core” difficulty open to the player after beating the game.  Just like the first game, much of the challenge comes from inventory management.  Saving up your ammo is the key to survival, but that aspect is countered by being flanked by tons of enemies at one time.  The game offers a store and upgrade station to purchase and improve the abilities of your weapons, so it is important to figure out which weapons suit your play style best.  In addition to ammo conservation, you will be challenged by the various set pieces that this game has to offer.  At many times Isaac may be blindsided by sudden perspective changes, which will alter how the camera positions you, which is both exciting and very intense.  One example of this is a sequence where Isaac is suspended upside down, by his foot, while enemies surround him.  These types of moments certainly mix things up for the game and serve as some intense challenges.

Dead Space 2 does offer a number of features to keep that disc in your console after you beat it.  Along with the unlockable “hard core” game mode, the game gives you the option to replay it with all of your same upgrades and weapons from the start.  It has trophies/achievements of course.  There are lots of behind the scenes goodies packed in as well.  The game also features some downloadable content as well, such as additional costumes with their own strengths.  Finally, there are some online multiplayer modes, which I will address in a moment.

The game does have some flaws.  Isaac’s internal struggle is very interesting, but the overall story is not as memorable.  While you are less of an errand boy, as you were in the first game, your main goal is basically to go from A to B, while monsters chase you.  This game mostly eliminates backtracking, which is nice, but still plays out in a fairly linear fashion.  Your fascination with this world is what effects your appreciation of the story the most.  The game also features multiplayer, which I have honestly yet to dive into, simply because I do not really care about having that option, nor have I heard very good things about it.  I like the claustrophobic experience of the main campaign; online multiplayer, not so much.  Finally, an aspect I found missing from this game was epic boss battles.  The first game had a few encounters with some pretty large scale creatures, but I was sad to not find those same encounters present here.  In terms of the way the setting is handled, I can understand why, but it is still an element that I miss.

As both an obsessive filmgoer and big gamer, among other things, I have to balance the time I spend playing video games accordingly.  It is not often that I blast through single-player campaigns very quickly.  However, once in a while, a game I have been anticipating will come out and satisfy me a great deal.  Dead Space 2 delivered that experience.  I was enjoying spending time with this game so much that I had trouble putting it down, even as I continued to stress myself out by playing it in my optimal settings to expand upon the unnerving sense that this game naturally builds up.  It is a fantastic game that surpasses the original (at least as far as the gameplay is concerned) for sure.  Under the right settings, any player can find both a game that is scary and full of hard core, sci-fi action.  I had a lot of fun playing through this game and I can only hope this series continues to deliver in its inevitable sequel.

For those of us that loved Duke Nukem 3D, its been a long twelve years to wait for the sequel but that day is close! On May 3, 2011 the game will finally be released for PC, XBOX 360, and PS3! Check out the trailer!

17 and older only please:

Order your copy today!

There’s been a lot of superhero videogames in the past and some of them were licensed and others like City of Heroes tried to replicate the licensed superhero universe and ended up getting sued for infringement by Marvel. Other than City of Heroes, there’s never been an officially licensed MMO for comic book superheroes until now. DC Universe Online has now been released for play on the Playstation 3 and the PC.

Game  

I’m sure a lot of you are wondering the same thing I did…is the game any good and how does it play on the PS3? The quick answer is that it’s very good and it surprisingly plays very well on the PS3. When I was offered the chance to participate in the PC or the PS3 beta, I requested the PS3 one specifically because I wanted to see how well a game with thousands of online players inhabiting a massive universe would play on the system.

Right at the start, there’s a massive download to install the game on the PS3 which is expected but it took forever. Now that the game has been released, I’m hoping that this has been improved but I don’t know if it has. Once I was finally able to get into the game, I had the usual difficulty in finding a name for my superhero that wasn’t already taken. I have this problem with every MMO so this wasn’t unexpected. Once I had my name, I was allowed to pick my super power and my fighting abilities. I went with the ability to fly along with the talent to shoot energy from my hands. I also picked martial arts as my fighting ability since I thought it would be cool to fly up to a bad guy and do some kung fu. Basically, my character is a cross between Superman and Batman which is fitting since they are my favorite heroes.

There are countless variations you can pick as far as powers, talents, and looks go, and you also decide where you want to start and who you want to have as your mentor. I decided to do my apprenticeship to Batman and to patrol Gotham City, because who’s a better tactician than Batman? Plus he has the best villains of all time. I also really wanted to see the Batcave!

Starting out however, you don’t get to begin in your origin city but instead on an alien ship where you have to fight your way out while you learn how to play the game. Eventually, you will get to fight alongside Superman which was cool and once that was over, I was on my way to Gotham City. Now while my flying wasn’t too effective in the cramped ship, it was fantastic in Gotham. I loved the option of doing my own thing and not being forced to automatically follow some pre-ordained path. I could talk to DC characters to get missions or I could venture outside of the police station to beat up any criminals that crossed my path.

The controls were easy to use and I didn’t really suffer from any lag like I thought I would.  I have a fiber optic connection so others may have different results but I was pleased with how smooth the game ran.  I loved the endless amount of options the game allows for your costume and I spent a ton of time customizing mine only to discover that once you start equipping the items you pick up from fallen foes your look completely changes.  So learn from my mistake and don’t spend a ton of time customizing your outfit unless you don’t plan to ever utilize the upgraded equipment you pick up.

Video  

The game looks great on a high definition screen and the characters and the cities look amazing.  The colors are vibrant and the dark levels are suitably dark for Gotham City which is appropriately gloomy.  I especially enjoyed flying over Gotham City and seeing so many landmarks from the comics and even ones from the movies as I saw the bridge from Batman Begins.  The detail is impressive for even far off areas and the game’s engine does a great job.

Audio 

The audio for the game is also fantastic and I especially appreciate playing this game on my PS3 which allowed me to hear the game through my home theater set up.  Every punch, energy blast, or kick is felt and I loved every minute of it.  The music can be on the loud side but the sound effects and the dialogue (from a lot of the original actors like Keven Conroy as Batman) is clear and true to the characters.  Just for the audio on my speakers alone, I would pick the PS3 over the PC to play this game.

Final Thoughts  

I played City of Heroes for around a year and I enjoyed it but eventually quit because I didn’t feel like my character was really accomplishing anything.  With this game, it actually feels like you are making a difference and the chance to take missions and fight from iconic DC characters added an unprecedented amount of enjoyment for me.  Honestly, this game blows City of Heroes out of the water.  I love the Marvel universe but my heart belongs to DC and this is the game to beat if you are looking to become a super hero!

Order the game today!

]]> http://whysoblu.com/ready-to-be-a-super-hero-dc-universe-online-game-review/feed/ 7 http://whysoblu.com/marvel-pinball-rolls-into-the-ps3/ http://whysoblu.com/marvel-pinball-rolls-into-the-ps3/#comments Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:28:54 +0000 Gregg Senko http://whysoblu.com/?p=17364 The great thing about the Playstation Store is the amount of highly entertaining games that can be had for those frugal at heart.  With games usually topping out at a cost of $14.99 and most hovering around $9.99, you can build quite a library on your PS3’s hard drive in no time.  One of the most recent additions to store is Marvel Pinball, brought to us from Zen Studios, creators of Zen Pinball.  Pinball tends to focus on a specific audience and can easily fail in the transition from physical table to video game.  Does Marvel Pinball do the format any justice?

Overview

In a word, “beautifully.”  As of today, there are currently four tables to play, all of which have their own personality and challenges.  These themes include Wolverine, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Blade.  Each features amazingly lush colors, character voice-overs, and enough flashing lights to rival any Vegas slot aisle, and to reiterate, the boards are not just rebadged copies of one another.  They truly are unique from one to the next. For instance, the Spider-Man board contains a more ramp and track-oriented playing experience than Blade, which focuses more on keeping the silver sphere on the board’s surface.  Iron Man’s table is very bright compared to the dark, vampiric overtones of Blade’s. 

Additionally, each board contains the standard two flippers at the bottom and sometimes one or two (depending on the table you’re playing) closer to the top and off to the side.  The special challenges are challenging indeed, conjuring a more repeat playability attribute.  You will often find that those side flippers can be paramount in encouraging the pinball to navigate to a certain pit or jump that ignites a challenge.  I’ve had Marvel Pinball a week now and have only completed one of the four boards’ small handful of challenges, that of which said I won some hidden treasure on the Blade table.  The game does have a trophy feature for accomplishments like Blade’s treasure find, with each table harboring a short range of possibilities.  Though the arsenal of competitive proposals is not a grand one (3 trophies per table), they are difficult to get to, making the game’s replay value quite high.

My only real complaint with this game stems from these challenges. Often times, it’s not very clear how you even get involved in the special task. The Iron Man board, which I felt was the only weak one of the four, is a clear offender of this. You may hear Tony Stark tell you he’s ready to fight or you may hear a nemesis of his taunt you, but neither really help clarify the task at hand. With all the flashing lights, it’s extremely easy to be distracted (or just plain confused) when figuring out which lit path is supposed to be the one you’re after.

Other features of the game include numerous viewing perspectives that range from a 3/4 overhead view of the table to a close-up that follows the ball as it maneuvers its way around the color-happy table top.  You can also go head to head with others online and the game will keep a running tally of your scoring records for each table as well as the scores of those on your PSN friends list. 

As for the four different boards currently offered, I’d have to say my favorite is the Blade board, with Spidey coming in a close second.  Wolverine is enjoyable as well, but Iron Man is a complete mess.  While it looks attractive, I still have no idea what I’m supposed to do when I’ve initiated a mission ball.  Stark dons the red and gold and then gets blasted by a flamethrower.  How do I fight back?  Is that even an option?  Whiplash is standing off to the side and who know when he gets involved. 

On that board, I often find myself hitting the ball into entry ways of one of the ramps, only to have it run flat into a post that doesn’t earn you any points.  How is it that I can score fifteen million points on Spidey, but only a fifth of that on Iron Man?  The layout is poor, whereas Spider-Man offers a clear cut path on where to go and what to do.  Blade and Wolverine provide the same positive experience.  Three out of four isn’t bad I guess.

Control

There isn’t a whole lot to say here as it really is an accurate representation of a real pinball game.  Just like a real machine, your only options are to pump it full of quarters, activate the flippers, and bump the table.  Thankfully, the only money you have to put into this is the $9.99 price tag.  At first I thought that was a little steep for pinball, but I’ll come back to that argument a little later.  Outside of that, the other two actions remain.  The controls are responsive as the flippers instantly react to your L1/R1 button taps.  It can be a little tricky, but you’ll eventually need to time your ball hits just right to send it in specified areas that earn you more points or initiate challenges.  The game is pretty consistent with this so you won’t have to worry too much about, “Hey, why didn’t the ball go that way this time when it did before??”  Timing is key when the ball rolls onto your flipper.  There’s also a table nudge that can slightly alter the direction your ball is headed, sometimes enough to steer clear of flipperless corridors at the bottom of the table.  I haven’t found this feature too effective, though it’s nice to have as far as keeping the realism of an actual pinball table.

Graphics & Sound

Don’t expect Metal Gear Solid graphics here.  This is, after all, pinball mixed with comic book characters.  Nevertheless, this is an easy A for what we’re dealing with.  The colors are bright and vivid and do well in carrying the pages of Marvel over to the pinball tables, blending for a combination of cohesive themes.  There is no visible frame rate breakdown either, as the ball, and sometimes multiple balls, zip around from lane to lane while board animations come to life.  Whether it’s the Green Goblin flying around on his hoverboard or Tony Stark suiting up, these little nuances add atmosphere to an already attractive layout. 

The sound was a little surprising and that is meant entirely in a good way.  A few bings here and a whoop-whoop there, right?  How much can you do with pinball?  Let’s not forget those well-timed voice-overs on each board.  Sure they may get a little repetitive at times, but combine that with some instrumental hard rock, gunshots, growls, and the clanging of adamantium and you’ve got yourself a cool array of sound files that fit this game like a glove.  Not only that, but they all flow symphonically through both the front and rear channels, even giving the subwoofer a blistering workout.

Final Thoughts

So, back to the $9.99 being a bit steep for “just pinball,” think about how much we spend on disc-based games; $60.00 a piece, right?  Sure, they’re usually more in-depth than these downloadable titles but in-depth doesn’t always mean more fun.  A perfect example is Tron: Evolution.  I paid $40.00 for this game and it’s pretty close to garbage, save for a few fun moments in multi-player.  While the experience for Marvel Pinball is somewhat limited, it’s an absolute steal compared to the cost of other games out there. 

I’m looking forward to whatever add-on boards are on the horizon.  If you head over to www.ZenStudios.com, you will find a poll asking what the next one should be.  Currently, Ghost Rider is leading the tally followed by Captain American, Hulk and the Fantastic Four (I’m pulling for the Hulk).   There’s no word on their release date, if it will be in pairs, or what the cost will be, if any (though I doubt they’ll be free).   Future levels aside, Marvel Pinball gets a grade of a ‘B’ making it worth a buy.  It’s a great pick-up-and-play experience for those looking to pass a few minutes of time, as well as for those who want to indulge themselves in some pinball wizardry. 

Sure you can just skip the middle-man, but if you buy from the Amazon link below, a portion of the proceeds will go towards the St. Jude’s Children Hospital.  Get your game on and buy Marvel Pinball today!

Special Mention:  Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare – I may be tipping my hand early on with this one, but the work done on this downloadable content for Red Dead Redemption is so well put together that it deserves to have special mention made about it.  Taking the already brilliant game design of ‘Red Dead’ and applying that to a brand new story, which is about a 6-hour long experience was a nice excuse to continue playing an already great game.  But to up the ante even more, Rockstar decided to develop a zombie-themed story expansion, which made it amazing and right up my alley.  Hilarious, fun, and fairly involving, this is why DLC exists, to deliver awesome twists on already proven concepts, without betraying the original spirit of the game.  It is a great feeling to get some Red Dead headshots. 

10.  Shank – I can understand the arguments made regarding there being not much to this 2D, side-scrolling beat-em-up, but the game has so much style and fun with its story, art style, weapon variety, and M-rated violence.  As far as downloadable games go, this is a nice little package.  Featuring a story that is all about paying homage to a Robert-Rodriguez type flick, the character you inhabit in this game is out for revenge and equipped with pistols, a chainsaw, a katana, and a shotgun, among other weapons. These weapons can be switched between instantly and the mayhem you cause can become fun combos, as you shoot and dice your way through enemies, akin to something like Devil May Cry or this year’s Bayonetta.  The game even manages to fit in 2-player co-op, which has levels that serve as a prequel to the main single-player story.  It’s over-the-top, violent, funny, and a blast to play through…literally. 

9.  Modnation Racers – May, 2010, was a busy month for racing games.  Along with Modnation:  Split/Second and Blur both came out around the same time.  As a result, all three games ended up not doing as well as they could have, despite all receiving solid critical regard.  Modnation was the game I was rooting for the most.  It is essentially using the formula of Little Big Planet and bringing it to the world of Mario Kart.  Thus, you have a very cartoony, but very addictive cart racing game that looks great and has plenty to offer in terms of customization.  The only problem is how bad the load times are.  Once you get going in a race, it’s tons of fun, but the time in between really kills the flow of your gaming experience.  Thanks to a downloadable patch, this has been improved upon, but still a small issue.  That being said, everything concerning the actual gameplay and how easy it is to pick up and go is a lot of fun. 

8.  Bioshock 2 – The sequel to the critically hailed 2007 hit.  This game did not really reinvent anything that the first had to offer, but it improved off of a lot of little things and managed to delve further into the world of Rapture.  Just like the first game, I was compelled to play it do to how much I liked being in this world and experiencing the horrors of its retro design gone to hell.  The addition of multiplayer was an interesting one.  It may not have had the addictive qualities of a game like Call of Duty, but it certainly managed to work quite well at delivering a fun competitive experience.  I am glad that the next game, Bioshock Infinite, is moving away from the world of Rapture, but taking this second trip was very much worth it.  Taking on the persona of a Big Daddy and fighting a bunch of crazy splicers was certainly a challenge under the sea of dreams. 

7.  Rock Band 3 – I honestly don’t know how to rank Rock Band 3.  It’s the one game that I’ll be playing the most, when all is said and done, because that core gameplay is not going to change, and more and more songs will continue to be added to its already ginormous playlist.  Be it with friends, or online, or by myself, I love the experience of rocking out on my plastic instruments, belting out songs as I strum the Fender Stratocaster.  This newest entry only ups the ante by giving you even more creative freedom and making the overall experience an easier process to play through.  In addition, having a keyboard now in play will lead to many more song varieties to be added.  A room full of people playing and harmonizing to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is a very good thing.  While last year’s Beatles Rock Band managed to apply a unique feel to the Rock Band formula, this game is a true sequel that brought some much needed elements to an already very fun game. 

6.  Mafia II – At this point in the list, I think it is a good idea to point out that most of these games all delivered on having very well written and involving stories.  With top games from last year, such as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Batman: Arkham Asylum, I have very much been drawn to games that delivered on having fantastic stories and characters, in addition to being a games that are fun to play.  Mafia II is a great example of this.  It takes a fairly simple gameplay format and sets it in an open world; however, instead of giving you a huge variety of submissions to play through, the path of the game is very linear, with rare opportunities to stray from the game’s main story.  As a result, you have a game that on lasts a good 15 hours, as opposed to 50+, but I was so drawn into the story, characters, and overall atmosphere of this game, that it hardly bothered me.  I don’t tend to play one game, straight through, in a short amount of time very often, but this was a game I burned through, because of how much I wanted to see where its narrative would take me.  Add to that the great amount of work, visually, which the game delivered on to portray a world set in the 1940s and 50s, along with strong voice-over work, and plenty of Tommy-gun fights, and you have a pretty sweet gaming experience that could make Marlon, Al, James, and Robert proud. 

5.  Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – The exciting thing to point out about this game, is that it may be Assassin’s Creed 2.5, but that is a completely awesome thing.  Curiously, the only thing that the build up to this game was highlighting was the fact that it had multiplayer.  Besides the fact that the multiplayer is awesome (which I will get to), this game has a whole 15 hour single-player story mode, which is fantastic.  The plot may not progress much (leave that to Assassin’s Creed 3), but the tweaks to the combat and other new additions are all very welcome.  Given that the game’s design is to make you feel like the ultimate bad ass assassin, having a new feature, where you can call upon assassins to help you out in battle and send them on their own missions only works to emphasize your grandiose nature further.  Who needs difficulty, when you can simply feel satisfied with leaping across buildings and delivering swift death to various historical figures, as you travel around a beautifully recreated, 15^th century Rome.  Then you have the multiplayer, which is essentially the coolest version of Clue you can play, as you have various modes requiring you to find out who is trying to kill you, as you attempt to locate your own assigned target.  This is a well crafted gaming experience, delivering plenty of bang for your buck. 

4.  Enslaved: Odyssey to the West – This game will continue to get all the love in the world from me, because as much as these other blockbuster games deliver on what they set out to do, Enslaved emerged practically from nowhere and delivered a pretty great experience, which is unfortunately not being taken advantage of by enough buyers.  This is a platforming, action-adventure game, taking a few notes from Uncharted, but playing out in a simpler fashion.  However, while the gameplay may be fairly straightforward, it is how this game is constructed that makes me love it.  The story is an adaptation of the ancient Chinese story Journey to the West, written by screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine).  The lead character, Monkey, is voiced by Andy Serkis (Gollum, King Kong), who also did his own motion capture performance and directed all of the cutscenes.  As a result, the work done to create a great story, set in a beautifully realized future dystopian society, along with how well handled the characters are, led to a fantastic game that I did not want to stop playing.  I did say the gameplay is straightforward, but the design of this world (the depiction of the future features an America full of overgrown plant life, which is a nice change in pace over more gray wastelands) and the effort put into the motion performances and vocal work of the characters are all highlights that I will continue to emphasize.  It also is still fun to play.  I initially downloaded the demo, and a twist in the opening level of this game had me hooked immediately.  I am glad I stuck with it, as it gave me exactly what I wanted out of it. 

3.  Heavy Rain – Perhaps the most innovative game of the year, Heavy Rain definitely delivered one of the most ambitious and visceral gaming experiences I have ever had a chance to get my hands on.  Poke holes and have fun with the story and voice acting all you want (I certainly do; “Jaaasooon”), but the way this game has been constructed is pretty fantastic.  Modeled on the plot of a crime thriller akin to Se7en or Silence of the Lambs, this game puts you in the shoes of four different characters, all looking to stop a menace known as the “Origami Killer”, who kidnaps and murders children.  Whether you are in the role of the father hoping to find his son before it is too late or of the detective putting everything together, it is up to you to stay ahead of the curve.  Differing from traditional gameplay, the experience here requires the player to interact with the environment and other characters using a system of quick time events that lead to various discoveries in the story and fast-paced action sequences.  Depending on the choices the players make, the game can literally shift the narrative, leading up to a variety of different scenarios and endings.  The look and mood of the game is matched with intense gameplay sequences, as players are literally tasked with keeping their characters alive or making heavy moral decisions.  It is unique, engaging, dark, and a wonderfully artful experience, as the cinematic quality of this game stands to bring the medium to a new level. 

2.  God of War III – Now a unique experience is all well and good, but the “if it aint broke don’t fix it, just make it more awesome and epic” strategy, which the God of War team used to create this final chapter in the series, unquestionably did just that.  I have long been a fan of this series, with its easily accessible control mechanics, over-the-top violent tone, fun revenge story rooted in Greek mythology, and of course the anti-hero of the tale, Kratos, whose drive is set on killing all of the Gods of Olympus.  Fans of this game series finally got to sink their teeth into an entry made for the PS3, and this game certainly delivers on all fronts.  One of the best looking games on the console, God of War has stunning animations throughout, only to be matched with a smooth-framerate and enough power from the console to let you battle tons of enemies on screen at one time, while literally on the back of a Titan, which the game is sure to remind you of, as the camera frequently zooms way out, emphasizing the sense of scale this game is delivering on.  This was another game I was craving more time in the day to play all the way through in order to have a fully satisfying experience.  The addictive gameplay and gleefully over-the-top bloodshed that this game delivers on was certainly one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I had this year.  Special mention must also go out to the fact that this game delivered on having all of the best boss battles of the year, including the knock-down, drag-out brawl that was Kratos vs. his half brother Hercules, voiced by none other than Kevin Sorbo.  “By the gods.” 

1.  Red Dead Redemption – In 2004, Rockstar released Red Dead Revolver on the Playstation 2.  It was a third-person action shooter, set in the realms of a western.  While that game was not without its share of problems, I loved it; played it repeatedly; and would continue to play it for years (as well as the multiplayer, which some friends and I have a certain affinity for).  In 2010, Rockstar revisited this game and gave it a huge overhaul in design, in order to match the potential that a game like this has for next-gen gaming consoles.  As a result, the experience of playing Red Dead Redemption, the amount of fun I had, the amount of work that clearly went into crafting this world, the characters you play as and engage with, and the story so wonderfully written, all paid off to deliver what was an easy choice for me as my game of the year.  An open world experience set in the world of a western that is not just Grand Theft Auto on horseback.  Of all the elements I can praise about this game, which includes the amount of fun I have getting into shootouts, the beauty this game has to offer from its wild west design to the sight of a sunset on the horizon, the addictive multiplayer, and the amazing score, I think it all comes down to how much I respect the main character, John Marston, and the way the story functions around him.  While indeed fun and at many times very funny, the game never winks at the audience, the story is presented as a mature one, where you follow a man, sorry for his past deeds, looking to make up for his sins and earn back his family.  Some may find the pacing of this game slow in its beginnings, but it is all wholly appropriate in order to develop these (fully realized) characters and settings.  The script for this game is incredibly well written, and while certainly a long game to play all the way through, the final “missions” of this game are fully worth it, as the investment placed in these characters reaches a natural conclusion, which is very well handled.  I reckon that this is not only my favorite game of the year, but one of the ones that makes me proud to be a gamer. 

Game of the Year – Red Dead Redemption 

Honorable Mentions: 

3D Dot Game Heroes, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, Def Jam Rapstar, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Darksiders 

Other Games Worth Noting: 

Donkey Kong Country (Wii), GoldenEye 007 (Wii), Angry Birds (iPhone), Cut the Rope (iPhone), Infinite Blade (iPhone), Dance Central (Xbox 360 – Kinect) 

Games I am Looking Forward to in 2011: 

Dead Space 2, Infamous 2, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Batman: Arkham City, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Resistance 3, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Portal 2, L.A. Noire 

If you would like to purchase any of the games listed, click on one of the links below:

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Overview

New on the Playstation Network from Namco is Pac-Man Championship Edition DX.  What else can you do with the beloved yellow sphere of hunger?  We’ve all seen the simplistic yet addicting 2D romp through the maze chasing pellets and ghosts.  Then we’ve seen the 3D landscapes he’s explored in Pac-Man World.  When it seems like you’ve run out of ideas, go back to what works and add a little different flavor.  Pac-Man DX takes the old wire-framed maze, translates it to more of a wide-horizontal feel for today’s TV’s, and adds a little opposite spin from the original version.  Instead of going from board to board, trying to clear paths of pellets, you stay on the same board for a specified amount of time.  The mazes are nearly devoid of Pac-Man’s favorite food at times with only a few stray pellets here and there.

The object is to clear those bi-symmetrical pellet paths which generate special edible items and new rows of of the little white dots in other areas of the maze.  As for the typical 5 or 6 ghosts that try and chase you down, you are now faced with anywhere from 1 ghost to a figure that can get as high as 30!  Some of the mouthless baddies will appear out of the familiar old box in the middle of the screen while others lie sleeping at various points on the map.  Pass them and they’ll awaken, eager to chase you down with the other train of ghosts already hot on your tail. 

Like the original, there really is no ending to the game in a story sense.  However, levels are more finite and infinite than the original at the same time.  Finite, in the respect that you’re on a clock that’s ticking down.  Infinite as you can clear the board countless times in your designated time period.  One helpful addition in your board-chomping duties is a new time bar that appears when you eat a power pellet that makes the ghosts edible.  As it quickly evaporates from right to left, you’re able to see just how much time you have left before the Inky, Blinky, Clyde and company turn back to their normal selves.  An added feature is the use of bombs.  Tapping the L1 or R1 buttons near ghosts that are in close proximity to you will unleash a bomb that sends them back to their middle-of-the-map home where they quickly regroup to begin he chase once more.

As far as each map’s time limit is concerned, it depends on the level you’re on.  The amount of time on the ticker can range in length from 1, 5 or 10 minutes.  Completing a level in your specified time records it and sets that as the new clock for that level.  If you completed a 1-minute map in 29 seconds, the next time you play that map the clock starts at 29 seconds.  The addiction to keep replaying these time trials in hopes of defeating your prior time is pretty ridiculous.  I had some non-video game matters to attend to and I found myself reverting back to my 6th grade years, “Just one more time, then I’ll turn it off.  Okay, maybe just one more time, then this will definitely be it.  Alright, this is definitely the last time I’m playing this level…for sure.  Oh man, I know I can beat that time.  Let’s just do one more.”  It was at that point I discovered this game has time warp capabilities, turning what feels like 15 minutes of playing time into over an hour of real time.

Control

In this game of simple ups, downs, lefts and rights, you have the option of using the thumbsticks or the directional pad to guide Pac-Man on his merry way.  I prefer the directional pad since A) that’s what I grew up with on Nintendo, and B) in a game of sharp turns, I’d rather not use the flexibility of the sometimes overly liberal thumbstick which, I  fear, could send me in an unwanted turn into the clutches of a vile ghost.  The pace of Pac-Man DX, while it starts off slow, can get pretty hectic as your time on a board progresses.  The exits on the map that take you from one end of the board to the other can be numerous, and with sleeping ghosts blocking some pathways, you need to be on your toes when choosing your direction of momentum.  

You will find a little frustration in trying to negotiate some turns when the speed of the game hits its peak.  On more than a few occasions, I tried to make that hard left or that sudden right to glide down an open path, only to have old Pac keep on going in the same direction.  Am I getting older and is my reaction time deteriorating?  Well, yes, but certainly not to the point where Pac-Man is too fast for me to play.         

Graphics & Sound

There are a variety of boards to play on, each with its own styled layout, most of which need to be unlocked before you can play them.  The simple blue wire frames are now colored in an array of designs ranging from a uni-color standard to a rainbow-esque neon look.  When using that new multi-colored look, the game looks absolutely beautiful in high definition.  The colors jump out at you in structured psychadelic fashion.  In addition, you can also change the grapics from game to game.  The options include the traditional 1980 look, neon character outlines, lego-esque style blocks, a more pixelated appearance, and a 3D look that gives Pac some and the ghosts some added personality. 

The sound is not something I expected a whole lot out of considering the game consists of the traditional pellet-gobbling sounds, along with that of scaring ghosts and getting eaten.  However, the game’s creators managed to do a lot with a little.  There are six different music options you can choose from (or opt to use no music at all), which offer a similar variety of techno-beat tunes.  The music thumps pretty well out of a surround sound system, making surprising use of the subwoofer.  Granted, you’re not going to feel like the ghosts are right behind you through the rear channels, but given this is an overhaul from the 1980 classic, I was quite pleased with the resourcefullness that game director Tadashi Iguchi and company utilized.

Final Thoughts

For the price of $9.99, I thought it was a bit high for the same old game of ghost chasing and dot digesting.  Good thing this isn’t just the same old game of Pac-Man.  The facelift makes the price easy to swallow and the replay value is through the roof.  This is easily a no-brainer buy and even when you’re not competing against yourself amidst three difficutly settings, the in-game scoreboard keeps a running tally of where you rank amongst the world’s Pac-Man DX players.  Bon Appétit!

This game features a huge collection of cars and real tracks from around the world. Just about every sporty vehicle that I can think of is accounted for. Even my Toyota MR2 MK1 is available in the game so I can race my very own car on famous tracks. Paint it silver and everything. In addition, there are many great exotic cars available to race like Ferraris and the great McLaren F1. Basically if you like cars you will find a car in this game you want to drive. To be able to use these cars is another story. This game is not designed for the casual gamer who plays one or two tracks on a weekend. If you want to play with some of the super exotics and unlock all the cars this game has to offer, expect to dedicate yourself to playing this game a few months.

GT5 is very much like a Japanese Role Playing Game (JRPG). Instead of collecting little monsters or weapons you are collecting cars. In a JRPG you can train and level up your abilities whereas in GT5 you upgrade and maintain your cars. Also like a JRPG to get the best equipment in the game requires grinding many hours, days, and months. The main differences between a JRPG and GT5 are the fact that there is no awful plot that you are forced to sit through, and there are no walls of text that need to be read. Progressing through this game is slow, as you will need to find a car for many of the events.  For example, for some events you will need to have a French car, a front engine rear wheel drive car, or a Toyota Yaris (worst race ever). They occasionally will give you cars for winning events, but in some cases  it is cheaper to buy a used car then upgrade the car they give you for another event. You will likely need to repeat a few events to get enough credits to buy stuff for your cars or afford new cars. Avoid buying many cars early, as the higher level events give you significantly more credits so you will not be stuck in a loop of having not enough cash to buy a car to play a specific high level event.

Grinding for credits is not the only way this game eats up your time, GT5 has some of the longest loadscreens and slowest navigation menus of any game I have played on the PlayStation 3. The initial install will take about 40 minutes and 8GB of your system’s hard drive. If you have the 40gb PlayStation3s or the early 20gb model defiantly look into buying a higher capacity 2.5 inch laptop drive. There are already two patches for the game out so you will need to wait, download and install them before you can even play the game. Loading races takes a while and loading back the main menu sometimes takes longer than loading the tracks.  One good area for loading times is when you have to restart an already loaded event, the reloading is fast enough for the wait when you restart the race to be relatively painless.

The racing in GT5 is acceptable but not exactly executed in the best manner. The cars drive and handle very much like you should expect from a racing simulator which is great. The tires and speed that you enter a turn can really make a different between making the turn and sliding into the nearest wall. Invest in a good set of tires and it will make a world of difference, however tires are not transferable to other cars even if realisticly they should be compatible sizes. Drifting is not as fun and  predictable as it is in arcade racers like Burnout and Need for Speed, in fact its a bit scary as you will lose control of the car. The game supports a wide array of 3^rd party wheels and petals however I did not have one to really try it out.  If you have played other racing games on the PS3 you might find the default controls not to your liking. Luckily allows for configuration of your Sixaxis duelshock controller, a feature that is missing from many games these days. The racing is not perfect, the AI players skill does not adapt to your skill, it is based on your level and event. Early races will be very easy and not challenging in the slightest, so you will need to play a good amount of hours before they start to match your level of playing. This makes some of the first races rather boring to play through, which may make it hard to keep attached to the game. Someone who is new to the Gran Turismo series might rent this game for a weekend and find that it was not enjoyable because lots of the good cars and features are locked up and not apparent until you play the game a very long time. If you do stick with the game through some of the boring beginnings it starts to get better and unlock more stuff like Kart racing, NASCAR and GT5′s damage system ( a very odd thing to lock out until the higher levels).

Graphically, this game is hit or miss as the “premium” cars look exceptional and include detailed interiors while the “standard” cars lack the interiors and do not have models that are as detailed as the “premium” ones. From here the graphics go downhill, as the tracks have poor details like cardboard cutout trees and people. At times, the tracks feel like they are half complete or more fitting for an early PlayStation 2 game.  In fact, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit looks much better. The shadows are the biggest eyesore in this game, while the level “baked” shadows look good all the dynamic shadows look awful and very low resolution. I would like an option to turn them off as they really make the game look worse than adding to it. The digital Jeff Gordan looks laughably bad, like seriously looking at other games ability to render faces well this looks pathetic. Photo mode allows you to take pictures of the car from the replays which is a nice feature. While taking photos in this mode GT5 greatly improves the shadows and edges but still the some things still look awful. Also why does it need 500mb of free space to export the Photos to XMB? This message makes no sense and likely is incorrect.

When it comes to sound, GT5 is, once again, a bit disappointing. It has good car noises and usually sounds great on a good surround system. The exhaust you install on your vehicle will effect its sound, with standard mufflers being a quiet pur compared to adding a racing system to the car. Twice while playing the sound bugged out and looped a sound painfully loud. I first thought it was my sound system but when I realized that the sound error didn’t follow the game into the pause menu, it was obvious that it was an in game glitch. When it comes to collisions GT5 is rather lackluster, as the collisions sound like someone slammed plastic containers together. The music in this game is tacky, the menu music ranges from public domain songs to music I would expect to find in a bad porno movie from the eighties. Every time I get a new car the music reminds me of the song “Hip to be Square” and that one scene from American Psycho.

I mentioned earlier about the menus being slow but they are also awful to navigate. There just feels a tenancy to over engineer the menus and require you to go multiple multiple menus for relatively easy tasks. When it comes to car selection this game is stupid. When you try an event that you can only drive a  Toyota Yaris or a GoCart will it select your only car that can race that event? NO, you need to go through the garage menu, then find the car you want then “right-click” change car, then it will ask “are you sure?” damn right I’m sure I wouldn’t of gone through those other 3 menus if I wasn’t sure already!!! Then you back out and can start the event. That was more painful that it should have been. Also if you have the Go-Kart selected you can’t even press the buttons for the A-spec or B-spec events so you need to change your car before you can see what car you will need  for the event to meaning you at worst will need to do a car change twice. The game also likes to occasionally hang while loading the main menus after a race, it took so long that  was considering hard resetting the system thinking that it crashed.

The final thing I want to talk about is one of the game modes, B-spec racing. Normal A-spec racing is where you drive the cars so what is B-spec? In B-spec you play as the manager of a driver.  All you get to do is yell at yell at your driver while telling him how to drive his car. Sound boring already? Its worse, you have only four commands to issue them, “Pace-down”, “Maintain-Pace”, “Pace-Up”, and “Overtake”. Whats the difference between these commands? I’m not exactly sure, as the Driver seems to do the same thing, regardless of what command you issue. In fact, I found that I won as frequently when I didn’t issue any commands as when you actively issued commands to your driver. So, this is a good way to gain credits while not doing anything, as you can leave the game alone to play itself and come back in 30 minutes and press next. Sitting and watching them race is painful, as no matter what, the Driver likes to spin out and crash in a mid-engined car. He will also stop with no apparent reason and sit there.  I recommend not watching the game while you play B-spec as its frustrating to watch the Driver fail at driving your favorite car. Another thing is the length of the B-spec events is significantly longer than your A-spec events as 10 laps around the track can easily take over 30 minutes to complete so you can go to the bathroom, make dinner, eat it and then clean up. Just remember to press X every once and a while once the Driver is done racing to continue getting credits for doing nothing at all. I suspect at the higher levels this strategy will not work but up until B-spec level 10 it was working effectively.

Overall Gran Turismo 5 is a good racing game but not perfection you would expect from a game this long in development. The occasional bugs and load screens really can suck the fun out of the game. Some these problems might be able to be fixed in later patches.  Still, it does have a very impressive list of cars and tracks that make it worth a look. If you start this game and really get into it this will be a game that will last a long time in your collection. To really unlock all the things this game has to offer expect to play this game for a few months. So, it might be better to pick this up used in a few months when it is cheaper. Few more patches won’t hurt either.

To recap the story of the first game, you played the first level as Darth Vader himself, destroying wicker huts and throwing wookies across the Kashyyyk landscape.  At the end of the road, you are tasked with eliminating a Jedi on the run.  Upon dispatching the do-gooder, Vader finds the knight had a young son who is very sensitive in the Force.  That boy becomes known simply as the Apprentice, but covertly as Starkiller (a name Lucas had come up with 30+ years ago for Luke Skywalker’s original last name).  The story had plenty of twists and turns as it took you from the Chewbacca’s homeworld to a massive scrapyard planet to the Coruscant and several points in between.  Starkiller’s talent makes him arguably the greatest Force user of all time, though he falls in the end to the hands of Vader and Emperor Palpatine.  In Force Unleashed II, you begin as what appears to be a clone of the former villain turned hero on the rain-soaked planet of Kamino.  The Apprentice’s travels will highlight new locations for him, previously unvisited in the previous installment, such as Kato Neimoidia and Dagobah.  After throwing a few stormtroopers around and jacking Vader’s ride, the chase begins.

Overview

The game can play at a pretty feverish pace at times (regardless of which of the three difficulty settings you use),especially when turning a corner and running into a nest of Imperials.  You begin with twin lightsabers and a core set of Force abilities which include the Force push, Force lightning and a levitating grab-and-throw.  As you progress, you can utilize the lightsaber throw and Force bubble that releases a shockwave of energy in all directions.  One new addition to this title is the mind control ability.  Using this will either cause an enemy to leap from the nearest ledge or turn him against his comrades.  In addition, you will also find the level-up concept back in a slightly different form (cubes instead of spheres).  Red cubes provide different lightsaber abilities, but as Starkiller has two sabers, you need to get both crystals of the same type to be able to use them.

With the red cubes unlabled, you won’t know what the box holds in store until you obtain it.  Yellow cubes provide Force points which allow you to upgrade your abilities, blue cubes increase your in-play Force meter while green adds on to your health.  Quite often, just as before, these are creatively hiddenAs far as the story goes, this time you’re out to rescue love interest Juno Eclipse who’s been captured by Vader.  In the meantime, Starkiller is blinded by his pursuit of the blonde while the new Rebellion takes a beating at the hands of the Empire.

Control

As with the first Force Unleashed, the sequel also runs off of the proven God of War engine.  Melee actions revolve around combos which are uber easy and fun to perform.  Believe me when I say I sucked at just about any street fighting game that ever game out.  The ability to look like an acrobat with glowing swords is pretty darn sweet when all I had to do is enter a random sequence of three buttons.  Defeating level bosses works the same as before (and in God of War).  After taking down the villain to a certain energy level, the player is prompted with a button sequence that they must exactly follow and within a fairly quick amount of time.  For those of you that haven’t played either game, it’s not the difficult.  The square button will appear on screen and you have a few seconds to tap it on the controller.  If you do it correctly, another prompt will appear and so on.  If you wait too long or botch it, it’s time to bring the boss’s energy down a bit again and start the sequence all over.

Directing your attacks, using your Force abilities in the heat of the moment, and mastering the art of the double-jump require minimal effort.  All of this adds to the attractiveness of the game and the ability to play it right out of the box.  Tensions teeter in Kamino’s cloning facility as you make one leap of faith after another, trying to position the character at just the location above a seemingly bottomless pit.  Combine this with the ease of use of the Force dash in mid-air and you’ve got yourself one wicked clone to be reckon with.

Graphics & Sound

The animation sequences are nothing short of incredible.  In-game play movements and backgrounds are fluid and detailed for the most part.  There are occasional glitches with something just doesn’t jive…let me explain.  In one scene, you’ll see Vader taking a knee.  Somehow, the foot he’s supporting himself with is gone.  It looks like a black-clad stump in the floor grating.  I’ve also experienced a few hiccups in frame rate in the form of two slowdowns.  These occurred when there were so many enemies on the screen, the system didn’t know how to handle it all.

One massive improvement in this game over the original is the animations.  In the first game, your lightsaber was pretty much a scorching baseball bat.  It would do little more than leave a few burn marks and knock guys across the playing field.  Now, however, you will find that limb dismemberment is ever present.  A few well-timed slashes to any Imperial troop can sever limbs like the old hot knife through butter.  My personal favorite animation has to be the realism of a jammed gun.  From time to time, you will find a very frustrated and panicking Imperial who’s trying to get a few shots off on you, only to discover his gun won’t fire.  The enjoyment in walking up to one of these poor saps is a true highlight.

The sound surpasses the graphics on the ground level.  NPC chatter during gameplay adds a great deal to the atmosphere of the game, most notably when allies or enemies are off in the distance.  Blaster bolts, saber strikes, explosions, grunts, groans, and vehicle thrust all come across with a beautiful resonance here.  This attribute is certainly a standout here and outdoes its predecessor by a recongnizable margin.  More sound effects and their impeccable timing (except during those hiccups) will dazzle any surround sound system fortunate enough to relay the sounds of this game.

Final Thoughts

Whether or not George Lucas categorizes Force Unleashed II as official storyline material remains to be seen.  Nevertheless, LucasArts delivered yet another solid title here.  This game can suit button mashers as well as those looking for a more definite sequence of attacking the opposition through the Sony controller.  The storyline does an impressive job of supporting the gameplay and the worlds you will embark upon.  Game saves are enabled throughout, but don’t count on picking up EXACTLY where you left off in every case.  This can make some situations annoying as you’ll have to likely go back and replay significant portions of a level you’ve already struggled through and completed.  Speaking of the levels, they are definitely longer than in the first Force Unleashed.  This can be good or bad.  Good, because it’s more substance to the game.  Bad, because you may wonder if it’s ever going to end.  When all is said and done, this game easily earns a grade A for the sum of its parts, flaws included.  Everybody wants to be a power-wielding Jedi and with the Force Unleashed II, you can return to that role.

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Dead Nation‘s Main Page - http://uk.playstation.com/psn/games/detail/item228392/Dead-Nation%E2%84%A2/

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Splatterhouse Main Page - http://www.splatterhousegame.com/

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God of War - http://www.spartansstandtall.com/

Epic Mickey - http://disney.go.com/mickey/#/video_games/disney_epic_mickey

Red Faction - http://www.redfaction.com/

Bonk: Brink of Extinction - http://www.hudsonent.com/bonkboe/

Magic The Gathering: Tactics - http://www.soe.com/mtg/

Dark Spore - http://www.darkspore.com/

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Twisted Metal – http://twistedmetal.us.playstation.com/

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions - http://spidermandimensions.marvel.com/

Marvel Super Hero Squad Disk Based Game – http://marvelshsgame.marvel.com/

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online – http://www.heroup.com/

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Sly Cooper Collection for PS3 - http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/the-sly-collection-ps3.html
SOCOM 4 - http://www.socom.com/
Dead Rising 2 - http://www.capcom.com/deadrising/
Samurai Heroes - http://www.samuraiheroes.com/
Splatterhouse - http://www.splatterhousegame.com/
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - http://38studios.com/
Metal of Honor - http://www.medalofhonor.com/
The Force Unleashed 2 - http://www.lucasarts.com/games/theforceunleashed2/game/index.html
Battleblock Theater - http://www.battleblocktheater.com/
Dead Space 2 - http://deadspace.ea.com/
Abobo’s Big Adventure - http://www.abobosbigadventure.com/

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The Skinny
Available for just $9.99 from the Playstation Store, Tecmo Bowl Throwback unites the original concept and playing style of Tecmo Super Bowl with modern high definition graphics and online multiplayer ability.  You can still expect the same side-to-side action as is traditional with the franchise along with the same old run and pass plays, but that’s a good thing.  With that comes familiarity and obviously a development team that adhered to the old adage, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

Each team has a small playbook to pull strategies from that comprise an in-game arsenal of four run plays and four pass plays with the additional option to perform a simple dive-over-the-pile maneuver on those goal line and fourth-and-inches plays.  You will also find the option to kick field goals, call timeouts (of which you get 3 per half) and call in-game substitutions.

What you won’t find are the NFL and NFLPA licenses. What that means is no Chad Ochocinco, no Chicago Bears, no NFL shield, etc.  Instead, you will find creative logos like a great white shark on New England’s helmet, a hissing snake on Cleveland’s and so on.  In addition, since this is a remake of the 1993 classic, that means 28 teams, so don’t expect to see Baltimore, Jacksonville or Carolina on the team selection screen, nor will you find the ability to try for a 2-point conversion.

Injuries still occur, upon which a quick substitution is easily made.  With only a couple backups for each position (or one in some cases), the transition is about as uncomplicated as it can be.  Character creation is absent, but you do have the ability to rename existing players.  As for those players hanging onto the ball, fumbles are still present as are varying weather conditions ranging from clear to rain to frigid snow-laden fields.

Game options include single preseason matches, an all-star game and a full length season that includes the ability to focus on one team throughout the season or switch teams from week to week.  Online play is smooth with little to no hiccups, and depending on your opponent, can provide a much heightened nail-biting experience.  Until we reach the point of Skynet, human intelligence is still superior to artificial intelligence.

Controls
Though there are more buttons on a PS3 controller than there were on an SNES controller, the control concept is relatively the same.  The thumbsticks will function the same as the directional pad, but I found the directional pad to provide a more accurate and far less jittery experience when finding my way around the field.  In regard to executing plays, the X-button will allow you to cycle through receivers while the O-button throws the pass.  On special teams, the O-button will allow receiving sides to down the ball when caught in the end zone. On defense, the O-button will allow defenders to dive at ball carriers to make a diving tackle.  Whether on defense or offense, there’s nothing like some good old button mashing to break from tackles or make them when locked into one of those famous Tecmo Bowl grapples.

Kickoffs are still made with a power meter while extra points and field goals are made with an arc-swinging arrow that must be timed just right to aim the ball at the correct angle down field.  Despite removing the power meter for these instances, you will still find the same sense of urgency to execute your well-timed button tap as oncoming linemen will break through your wall of players if you hesitate.

One big difference from its predecessors is the old zig-zag ball carriers could pull off to keep pursuing defenders at a distance.  Sure, you can still try to do it, but it doesn’t have nearly the same yardage-gaining effect that it used to in previous titles.  Feel free to zig-zag to your heart’s content, but don’t expect to run the length of the field in doing so.  Speaking of low yardage, both kickoff and punt returns can be frustrating.  As far as I can tell, it is purely impossible to run either back for a touchdown; punts especially.  It would have been nice to include the magnitude of the little zig-zag trick from the old game into this new one.

Graphics & Sound
The graphics are nothing to write home about, but then again, if that’s what you bought this game for, you’ve surely missed the point of the unparalleled fun of this franchise.  To hardcore fans, the enhanced graphics, compared to previous versions, are a welcomed update.  The game is vibrant and colorful, but details from higher end games such as the Madden series are not present.  Absent are details like paint scuffs on helmets and turf stains on jerseys.  However, a nice touch is the slow motion cinematics from accomplishments in passing, receiving and rushing.  Halftime animations feature the typically hokey, but atmosphere-adding events such as dancing cheerleaders and hovering blimps.  Lastly, one very unique feature in the list of graphic options is the ability to switch between the new enhanced graphics or the old 2D classic pixels.  This is a much-welcomed addition to the list of enhancements that the late-20 and 30-somethings will appreciate from their earlier days of Tecmo Super Bowl.

The sound is basic at best, but on a system like the PS3, basic is still pretty good.  It will make use of a surround sound system, although like the graphics, is no spectacular feat.  The subwoofer is pretty quiet and nothing really jumps out at you from behind in an audible sense.  You will be playing this game for its simplistic yet fun entertainment factor and maybe even for a little reminiscing.

Final Thoughts
On a personal note, I have always been a fan of each and every addition in this line of titles, from the original NES Tecmo Bowl up to the Tecmo Bowl Kickoff for the DS.  The keys to the ongoing success are keeping what works in place and making sure your changes are subtle ones.  In addition, the sheer easiness to just pick up the game and play was always a plus; something that can’t be said for the Madden series.  With that in mind, you will definitely get your money’s worth in this title that is nothing but fun from beginning to end.  It’s easy to learn but offers a challenge through the progression of your season.  The Tecmo Bowl franchise always possessed an unmistakable charm that has carried on through the ages and though you won’t find QB Eagles or Bo Jackson on any of the rosters, the nostalgia is ever present with a little bit of a facelift. 

*** Check out the video review below ***

*** Candid Gaming’s Video Review of Greed Corp ***

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Download Hustle Kings today!

NINJA ASSASSIN GAME FOR IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH NOW ONLY $.99

Find your inner Ninja for only $.99!

Get the Ninja Assassin app for iPhone and iPod touch at the New Lower Price $.99

Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Legendary Digital are converting iPhone and iPod touch-users’ fingers into deadly chain blades, razor-sharp shurikens and lethal katanas in Ninja Assassin, a brutal, action-packed game unleashed today on the App store.

Ninja Assassin is a stealthy side scrolling hack n’ slash action game featuring an innovative touch-based, gesture control scheme.  The player controls a single combatant against a number of different mobs and bosses identical to the primary enemies found in the Ninja Assassin movie. The gameplay is intense yet intuitive, while the gesture system allows the player to pull off stunning attacks that provide rich, over-the-top visuals along with a feeling of empowerment.

The game follows Raizo, one of the deadliest assassins in the world, after he was taken from the streets as a child and transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth.  Haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free and vanishes. Now he waits in the shadows, preparing to exact his revenge. 

Ninja Assassin’s story mode is designed around the film narrative and organized into four acts.  In addition to story mode, players can experience the ultimate challenge of “survival mode” where they must outlast wave after wave of enemies. Players can then upload and share their high scores online within the game or post to their Facebook page for the world to see.

Game Features:

·        Intense 3rd-Person Combat – Visceral “Hit-point” system allows player to sever enemy limbs

·        Intuitive Hack-n-Slash Gameplay – Gesture-based combat controls enable the user to attack with a simple swipe of the finger

·        Engaging Story – Featuring 12 action-packed levels spanning over 4 harrowing acts – separated by original hand-painted artwork inspired by the film

·        Stunning Visuals – Showing-off highly stylized, vector-based character models

·        Global Leaderboards – Player can rank themselves against the rest of the world

·        Personalized Playlist – Listen to your own music while slicing and dicing your way through the game

·        Multiplayer Mini-Game – Using Bluetooth connectivity, fling razor-sharp shurikens from one device to the other

For more information on the Ninja Assassin game click here http://iphone.warnerbros.com/ninjaassasingame/

Due to the graphic nature of the app, Ninja Assassin is intended for mature audiences 17 years of age and older.   

Both companies plan on having their respective titles ready with tentative fourth quarter 2010 release dates.  Teaser trailers are officially up for both games though I found The Force Unleashed 2 trailer not to load on the LucasArts site, so we’ll be providing a You Tube link below as well.  The graphics look to impress yet again and it will be interesting to see how the storylines play out.  If you haven’t played the first Force Unleashed, there is a spoiler alert here.  Starkiller, otherwise known as Vader’s Apprentice, died at the conclusion of the first game.  Since you play as him yet again in this sequel, it will be interesting to see where this title’s timeline falls into the grand scheme of things.  Considering the Force-induced anti-hero/hero now wields two blue sabers though still casts out Sith lightning, one can wonder if this has to take place somewhere before the last few levels of the original game when he started to ‘see the light.’ 

As for Mr. Wayne and his next round of adventures, expect to see the Joker as the mastermind once again, though in a weakened state, as Gotham is about to face another round of chaos and mayhem in this beautifully rendered game.  It looks like there will be plenty of hoodlums and street thugs to pummel and hopefully another scattering of puzzles to solve.  Arguably, this sequel will have a tougher time living up to its predecessor when compared to Force Unleashed.  That’s no knock against the Star Wars title.  While Force Unleashed was great, Arkham Asylum was simply amazing.  If your first effort is a 10 out of 10, how do you follow that up?  Gamers will have to wait with baited breath before igniting their sabers and donning the cape and cowl as these two highly anticipated titles are on the late 2010 horizon. 

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2

http://www.forceunleashed.net/unleashed2010/

Batman: Arkham Asylum 2

http://www.arkhamhasmoved.com/

 Play Thexder Neo today!

Onto the solo campaigns!  There is a story that remains consistent across the board with all three species and you will find that each will infringe upon the other at some point during gameplay.  Things start to get hazardous in a hurry when corporate behemoth Weyland-Yutani forces open an ancient tomb-like structure with Alien and Predator markings.  Not too long after, the plasma hits the fan and all three races start crossing paths with one another.  What I thought was absolutely brilliant was the fact that the Marine and Predator opening cinematics contained the same unfolding events, but from different perspectives.  This extra bit of work in storytelling goes a long way in setting the mood for the adventure you are about to embark on.

Trying to remain competitive with other first-person shooters out there, AVP comes up short in online play.  There are a variety of multi-player games available with deathmatch likely to become the most popular.  The single player game is where this title truly shines.  The controls are just too herky-jerky when chaos ensues online that this proves to be more a flaw than a style to get used to.  This isn’t always the case, but when a sprinting Alien is charging at you with other enemies nearby, good luck trying to dispatch them while tending to other threats.  The same applies for trying to do melee battle on a narrow platform high above the ground.  It’s just too easy to slip and make a rapid, undesirable descent while focusing on multiple targets.

Predator

Which species is the strongest of the three?  Is there even a strongest species?  Preliminary reports of the game late last year claimed the Predator to have an unfair advantage over its two competitors.  I can tell you that simply is not the case in the final version of the game.  While they do have the very revealing thermal vision capability, it is rendered useless on Aliens since these vicious creatures do not give off a heat signature.  The shoulder-mounted plasma caster of the Predator, while arguably one of the most destructive weapons in the game, is very limited in its use.  You can send a white hot ball of inhumane technology across a map to some unsuspecting poor soul, turning him or her into human confetti, but don’t expect to do it a lot.  Your Predator character has limited energy and as a result, only allows three or four shots from this weapon.  While it takes out the fun of trigger-happy bliss, it does level the playing field so you’re not smoking everything in sight on one shot.  There are one-time use generators on the various maps that allow you to recharge your energy level.  It is important to note that these are often guarded so they can be a challenge to get to. 

Another plus/drawback is the Predator’s cloaking device.  Since Aliens do not have eyes, you’re just wasting precious time turning invisible while that razor-sharp tail is closing in on you.  This trick will work on the humans, but only to an extent.  Just like in the Alien movies, the humans have those very handy location sensors.  So, whether you’re transparent or in plain sight, you will get picked up on their Garmin-esque toys. 

The Predator has the largest range of weapon types in the game which include wrist blades, plasma caster, smart disc, proximity mines, and collapsible spear.  They all have their place raining destruction down on the enemy, but I found the wrist blades most difficult to use.  The quick attack is simple and mildly effective (appropriate for its speed).  The heavy attack is nearly useless.  If you connect, it does a fair amount of damage, but this maneuver is so delayed that timing is a bigger challenge than aiming.  It shouldn’t be this difficult to land a basic melee attack, yet this move accomplishes exactly that along with a mild case of frustration.  It just takes too long to carry out from the time you activate it with the push of a single button.  The Predator raises his arm, thinks about life, reads War and Peace, does the dishes, then extends his arm in a one-time slashing motion.  Meanwhile, the humans emptied a clip in your torso and the Aliens carved you faster than a Thanksgiving turkey. 

There is one very cool new feature that the Predator has in the single player missions that can only be used on the humans.  While hiding, you can select a patrolling Marine you want to distract.  Once confirmed, the screen will prompt you where you want to set your distraction point.  After that has been selected, the Predator plays a random human audio file.  The Marine you chose will then head over to the distraction point to investigate.  Sneaking up behind them will enable a trophy kill.  While the Predators aren’t the only species with this gratuitously violent ability, they do have some of the coolest.  A trophy kill will earn you extra points and shows off the graphics of the game.  How about body-slamming an Alien over your knee?  Maybe pulling out a Marine’s head and spine is your shtick.  Whatever doom you shall wrought, AVP is your playground.

As far as maneuvering the Predator, you will find the controls to be pretty solid at times and a little too loose other times.  With its wide range of weapons, it can be a slightly confusing when it comes to switching between equipment.  However, after a few hours of this, it should become second nature.  Finally, the galactic hunter does have one last trick up its sleeve.  Because of its strength and physical prowess, the Predator has the ability to make very long and very high jumps.  The jump cursor will let you know if the selected area is a location that your character can reach.  This comes in very handing when setting up an ambush or trying to escape one.

Marine

Leave it to humans to make a mess.  Once again we’ve stuck our noses where they don’t belong.  Now it’s time to play janitor-with-a-gun and mop up the mess.  The human doesn’t seem to have a really noticeable advantage over its unearthly competitors, save for a shoulder-mounted flashlight and a seemingly infinite amount of hand-tossed flares.  Both will light your way but each has its drawbacks.  The flashlight doesn’t run out of juice, but has a narrow path of luminescence.  The flares, however, are good at lighting up a room, though they burn out rather quickly.  There is the motion/location sensor located in the lower left corner of the screen that will reveal vague blips of nearby bad guys, but it is exactly that…vague.  It’s difficult to get an enemy’s bearings with this thing, yet it is helpful in letting you know that you’re not alone.  As for controlling the Marine, they move pretty fluidly for the most part, though aiming took some getting used to when running.  The controls seemed a little a too loose and giddy when it came time to run and gun.       

When it comes to human armament, the Marines are well-equipped.  Though they do not possess the variety of toys the Predator has, they do have an impressive arsenal of firearms including a pistol (which is sometimes as effective as a pea shooter), shotgun, pulse rifle (as featured in the Alien movies), smartgun, flamethrower and a scoped rifle for sniping.  As for melee combat, yes, you are able to do this.  I advise running instead.  You’re a fleshy bag of bones.  Why try and take on the black chitinous Alien skin or muscle-pounding mass of the Predator with your hands?  I had to laugh at one point when I was being clawed to death by an Alien and the screen prompted me to block the relentless attack.  Block with what?  I couldn’t find a titanium wall to hide behind so I blocked with my arms against those big old claws.  I think this action extended my life by a few seconds.  While the Marine may not have any grand pluses over the other two races, the environments they patrol and the single-player storyline adds a very eerie and Resident Evil-like feel to the campaign.  Though I found varying aspects of fun between all the races, the Marine’s role was a much more enveloping experience than the other two, largely due to the tension-filled aspects of the levels you walk through. 

Alien

What?!  No gun?!  Well, what would an Alien do with one anyway?  The fact that they only have what Mother Nature or some lab experiment gave them is part of the charm of playing as one.  They are by far the fastest character in the game, able to cover lengthy hallways and other distances in mere seconds.  Their vision, for a creature without eyes, is also impressively functional.  Any lifeform is easily noticeable from the hazy outline that surrounds them, and as a result, can be spotted from fairly long distances. 

The Alien’s agility is also a strong point of the race as you can scale walls and ceilings with the simple press-and-hold of a button.  The only issue here is your perspective will become really disorienting in a hurry.  I’ve found this ability to also be a hindrance at times as I’ve lost sight of my prey, only to be sniped while clinging to a ceiling grate.  Still, a few more hours logged as this character should settle any player in comfortably with this race and its insect-like ability.  A related ability is to be able to see a ventilation shaft and make a single leap towards it, through the opening.  I can’t say how often this comes in handy when you need to make a hasty escape or a quick exit from someone’s line of sight. 

When it comes to attacking, the Alien keeps it simple but deadly.  There’s no ammo to run out of, no enhanced vision or flashlights to turn on; you just dash and slash.  The game also gives the Alien the option to lock onto an enemy and make a rabid sprint and swipe attack.  With multiple Marines or Predators patrolling an area, this style of attack quickly takes one of those bodies out the way in the blink of an eye.  And if stealth is more your game, which is kind of necessary for the Alien, you can coax an enemy towards your location with the use of your hissing sound.  It works similarly to the Predator’s distraction ability, just with less accuracy and complexity.  

Graphics & Sound

The game is beautifully rendered with a variety of lush colors to fill a jungle landscape or dark, dreary grays and blacks to elicit the harsh, scary moods of space and powerless rooms.  The animations are realistic and sometimes jaw-dropping though there was an eye-catching glitch I noticed during the Predator’s training level.  The frame rate came across rather unimpressively during a scene when the camera panned from ceiling to floor.  Fortunately, though I have not finished the game, I have yet to encounter this distracting flaw a second time. 

Alien vs. Predator makes the best use of surround sound that I have encountered in any video game.  This of course only adds to the environments, creating a realism that quite honestly, just freaked me out on a few occasions.  I’m used to playing games, not actually feeling like I’m the one walking down that tattered corridor.  The random Alien hisses and Predator crackles become welcomed enhancements to the game’s experience, even offering a more exciting ‘concert’ than many movies I’ve come across.   

Final Thoughts

In closing, Aliens vs. Predator is not the best first-person shooter out there.  If that’s what you’re after, I suggest Modern Warfare 2.  However, AVP does offer a deeper, better story and more varied single-player experience.    There are some minor details in the game that should have been worked out before being released, specifically with the Predator.  These include your invisibility turning off when performing a trophy kill (why would it turn off??), getting attacked while performing a trophy kill (the animation continues while taking damage so you’d think you’d just drop the dramatics and move on to the next target), and having humans alerted to your presence as soon as you lock onto them with your plasma cannon.  These are mildly frustrating occurrences that could have easily been sorted out before arriving on store shelves.  Nonetheless, the game is better than average on the whole and worthy of a 7.5 out of 10 rating.  There is an addiction being able to play as these really wicked characters we have watched on the big screen.  That addiction is easily satisfied in Aliens vs. Predator.      

Bring home Aliens vs Predator today!

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We hope to be doing a lot more of this in 2010, but in the meantime  please give your full undivided attention to video game reviewers Sam Bushman and Dan Morrison of WhySoBlu.com as they give you the low down on their ‘Top 10′ favorite moments in gaming for the year 2009.   Check out the You Tube hosted videos embedded below for a raw behind the scenes look at Dan and Sam delivering the video goods. 

Part 1 of 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLBsheqEAgA

Part 2 of 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CDtxjpEzXc

Check out the official whysoblutube’s channel here.

With a highly detailed story, strong psychological aspects, upgrade abilities and some of the best graphics to ever hit a gamer’s eyes, Arkham wowed players everywhere with its intuitive gameplay and just plain spooky atmosphere.  The physical environments, the riddles that dotted the landscape, and the chain-combo fight sequences were also strong pluses that sent this title straight to the top of our voting.  Few games drew me in with the dark intensity you’ll find while delving into the rusty depths of Arkham.  This was intelligently complemented by the nightmarish sequences that occur with unnerving fear and dream world anti-realism, courtesy of the Scarecrow. 

The sound was second to none with one such example taking place in the eerily silent cooridor strolls, save for the leaky pipe overhead.  Things would often change to the intensity of a knuckle-cracking fight when Batman would have the opportunity to spring an ambush on the Joker’s crazed minions.  The grunts and groans from a connecting kick to the abdomen or the solid left to an unfortunate cheekbone were released with painful, calcium-crunching realism.

The graphics cannot go unnoticed though.  The cinematics that played out were absolutely gorgeous.  My personal favorites were any of those scenes that involved Killer Croc making an appearance in front of the camera.  This hulking reptilian brute was portrayed with a grizzly hate that was only matched by the visible lunacy of his fellow inmates and super villains.  Other optically appealing highlights were the structures you would have to pass through, as every nook and cranny of the hospital walls and beyond were finely detailed and colored.  Even the Dark Knight’s costume grew more tattered as the game progressed, which was just another bit of icing on the cake of graphic realism.  Finally, how can we overlook the ‘detective view’ that you could turn on at will, turning the world around you into a clue-revealing environment.

Hats off to the team at Eidos who put together this stunning piece of work.  Before I close this out, I cannot end the article before giving an acknowledgment to Game of the Year runner-up, Modern Warfare 2.  Just when you think an existing title couldn’t get any more innovative, MW2 stepped in and brought an even more hectic single player campaign and more elaborate multi-player online experience.  Still, Batman: Arkham Asylum contained an originality that MW2 couldn’t touch.  True in that they are two different types of video games, but in the end, they are both still all games. 

I’m already anxious to jump into next year’s fray with an even more competitive line of titles approaching the sales front.  God of War III for the PS3 has been on the waiting list for some time and gamers are clamoring for a chance to shell out some vengeance in that title, which arrives this spring.  Later in 2010 will be the arrival of the massive multi-player online title, Star Wars: The Old Republic.  With the ability to play as a bounty hunter, soldier, Jedi, or Sith, expect this game to be a frontrunner for our 2010 top pick…that is, if all the hype holds true.  Nothing is for certain though and you will always have your sleeper titles that come out of nowhere to make their own case for ‘Game of the Year.’  

Bring home WSB’s ’2009 Game of the Year’ today!

Shots are fired by aiming the right thumbstick in the direction of the alien onslaught (Romulans are the enemy of choice in the single player mode), while the L1 and R1 buttons activate special weapons like homing missiles or a complete annihilation of everything on the screen.  The graphics are displayed in a very crisp 1080p with four different play modes in single player version; deathmatch, assault, conquest and survival.  The game also has online capabilities so you can match up with friend or foe from around the globe.  For multi-player, players can choose between the Federation or Romulans, and jump into a versus, co-op or survival mode.  In the end though, Star Trek D-A-C is nothing more than a glorified game of Atari’s Asteroids. 

Instead of flying rocks, you’ve got manned spaceships that waste no time in in trying to turn you into galactic dust.  The game is fast-paced and has a very brief learning curve while the only crucial in-game stats to mind (at least in single player) are your shield and weapon bars at the bottom of the screen.  If you’re a fan of good old Asteroids and you like Star Trek, well, this game is just a match made in Trekkie heaven.  Otherwise, I’d stay away and save the ten bucks for another day. 

An enemy plane just shook hands with the Royal Air Force’s bullets

<<Overview

What we liked about IL2>>

Bones we have to pick with IL2>>

Our conclusions>>

Likes

Dan: The graphics in this game look fairly good.  The attention to detail on the planes is amazing.  The planes looked very believable.  The details like the flaps, the landing gears, and even damage on the planes are all noticeable.  Weather effects such as a rainstorm are great fun to play in.  Not only can a player fly in the middle of a chaotic storm, but he can fly above the storm and into the clouds above.  The terrain was also rather good on a few maps, most notably being the Berlin missions.  In Berlin you are flying over a dense city that is on fire.  The city and surrounding area just has the prefect atmosphere.  The area is torn up, chaotic, and looks like a war zone.  The damage to your plane was visible and added to the overall experience as well.  Flying a plane with holes in the wings really made you feel like you were close to crashing at any time.

Sam: Along with the cities, I felt that the cockpit was also very detailed and felt accurate.  Dials and other instruments reflected the real status of my plane in the air.  Reflections from sunlight played with my visibility inside the cockpit, and the interiors of the cockpit were unique to each plane as well.  I really felt like I was flying the real plane.  I must agree with you about the atmosphere set up in Berlin.  I felt that the hectic and chaotic scene created by the radio chatter, explosions, smoke, and gunfire acted as a suitable climax to the tour through World War II that IL2 provides.

The fall of Berlin

Sam: As someone who hasn’t played a flight simulator before, I was nervous that the controls in IL2 would prove too complicated to just jump into a game.  My worries were soon laid to rest as the tutorials were a great help for getting started and the arcade control layout felt very natural.  I felt that the arcade difficulty in particular was very easy to pick up and play.  One stick steered the plane while the other controlled my airspeed.  The shoulder buttons handled targeting and shooting weapons.  This implementation of the shoulder buttons reminded me of many console shooters I have played in the past.  This level of familiarity eased the adoption of IL2‘s control scheme.

Dan: I also found the controls to be adequate for the game.  The default layout works well for me in the arcade mode and are easy to figure out.  IL2 avoided using the face buttons for things in combat so that you could still fly and shoot the targets without moving your fingers around much.

Sam: I really appreciated that attention to layout.  It really helped to prevent any strange hand acrobatics on the controller.  This was very impressive considering how the developers had to map controls usually found on a PC peripheral or keyboard to a PS3 controller.

Sam: Surprisingly, given the few available actions of bombing, dog-fighting and escorting, IL2 manages to to keep things interesting and no mission ever feels repetitive.  By adding multiple objectives to each mission, spacing similar missions apart with different types of objectives and making each mission all about fast paced aerial combat, IL2 keeps every mission interesting and enjoyable.

Dan: The game did do a very good job of keeping missions varied.  I think the variety helped keep the pace of the missions strong.  The decision-making missions, while few and far between, were also appreciated.  For example, there was a mission to destroy some tanks on the ground, but when you look at them you notice they are friendly tanks and you are given the option to abort the mission and find the real enemy tanks.  The campaign missions also included voiced journal entries written by the player’s current pilot.  These entries were played after each mission and added a bit of depth to the characters that you are flying as.  I liked that small touch to the game.

Dan: The music in IL2 also helped to add depth to the overall experience.  It was nicely orchestrated and really matched the game.  The music added to the experience by setting the overall mood of the game.  The traditional instrumental music was noticeable throughout the game but was not invasive.

Sam: The soundtrack seemed very spot-on considering the subject matter.  The music did a very good job of filling in some of the audio gaps left behind by the occasional lack of radio chatter and gunfire sound effects.  In this way, I always felt like something was going on in a mission.  The soundtrack kept the game moving forward with the marching pace and grand scale it provided.  The heavy use of brass instruments gave the soundtrack a military band type of feel.  The music was big, triumphant, powerful and mimicked the forceful and proud emotions associated with war.

IL2 allows players to get a first hand view of the cockpit

Dan: The variety of difficulty settings really did a good job of appealing to a casual crowd and a more hardcore crowd simultaneously.  The way IL2 accomplished this was mainly by the physics model used on the planes.  In arcade mode you can fly rather easily without much worry of stalling your plane.  By contrast, the realistic difficulty makes this a difficult task.  Quick, erratic movements will easily put your plane into a spin and such spin-outs are hard to recover from.  Flying well in the realistic difficulty felt rewarding as it was not something that you could just pickup and play.  Skilled flying took a few hours to get good at.  The removal of the lead-assist makes shooting down enemies harder as well.  Because of this, successfully shooting down an enemy plane was much more rewarding.

Sam: I found it very interesting how the difficulty of the game was increased by means other than simply making enemies tougher or putting artificial limits on the player. IL2 has three difficulties; Arcade, Realistic, and Simulation.  With each increase in difficulty, the game removes automated assistances provided in easier difficulties.  These assists include a targeting reticule that denotes where the player should shoot in order to achieve an accurate lead on a moving target, a mini-map to denote points of interest on the map, and on-screen indicators of enemy and ally positions.  On top of this, as the game’s difficulty is increased, the plane takes on a more detailed and realistic physics model.  As you’ve explained before, the planes spin out easier and are overall harder to keep in the air.  In this way, the game increases the difficulty by making the game mechanics (systems the game uses to define rule of play, player limitations, etc) more sophisticated.  Each difficulty therefore not only becomes harder to play, but a different game in its own right.  This idea of increasing sophistication with difficulty makes for a very unique and interesting means of defining a game’s difficulty.  I hope to see future games experiment with such a concept.

Sam: Along with an interesting application of difficulty, IL2‘s amount of single player content was extremely impressive.  I had spent about 10 – 12 hours playing through the campaign.  After which, the missions that are unlocked by completing campaign missions was simply astounding.  There is at least 25 additional hours of game to be had by these missions alone!

Dan: I feel much the same way.  At first I was skeptical of the amount of content.  I was more than half way through the campaign and wondered where all the content was.  Once I saw the unlocked missions though, I was very impressed.  They were harder than the campaign missions and added more options to how you played it.  The singles missions of the game had options to limit the amount of extra planes and even fuel and ammo in the single missions.  While I never did it, I’m glad that the option was there just in case I wanted a more realistic experience and added challenge.

Sam: These missions in many ways reminded me of Crazy Taxi‘s training missions.  The function of these missions was to help the player perfect certain skills needed to really do well in the game.  This was achieved by putting the player in a very specialized level where only absolute perfection in execution of a certain technique offered in the game would mean success.  These unlockable missions in IL2 acted much the same way with their more difficult focused scenarios.

Sam: IL2 presented a number of weapons.  The player could spray bullets at enemies, fire air to ground missiles and drop bombs.  In all cases, firing these weapons was extremely satisfying.  Bullets pepper enemies with holes and act just as I expected them to.  Missiles feel heavy, inaccurate, but very powerful.  Dropping bombs was probably my favorite thing to do though. I would fly nice and low (<100 ft), slow my speed, and when everything looked right drop my bomb, pull up, and crank my speed to 100%.  This was an absolute joy and was very thrilling.  The lead necessary to hit a target only added to the last minute calculation needed to ensure that successful bombing.  This was very fun.

Dan: I enjoyed the weapons in IL2 as well.  The whole ‘leading’ mechanic was an interesting experience.  Most games do not require leading machine-gun fire like it does in planes.  In arcade mode, you have the provided lead assist.  I found that it not only assisted new players, but after a few hours actually taught me to follow leads on enemies.  I began using the assist much less.  This really helped to set a player up for realistic mode, where the lead assist is removed.  The missiles and bombs were also fun to use.  The kill camera on the bombs and missiles allowed you to watch as you destroyed the ground targets.  The kill camera would show the bomb hitting the ground in the lower right part of your screen.  It was very useful for telling if you had hit a target with a dropped bomb, as you were usually past the target when the bombs hit the ground.

Sam: I really found it interesting that the developers could take a difficult challenge that all WW2 pilots had to deal with and simulate it in an accurate way while also integrating it as a game mechanic.  In essence, meshing the challenges presented by reality with challenges posed by the game world itself. Very well done, 1C.

Dan: Along with the variety of weapons, the variety of planes was also very impressive.  All planes had a distinct feeling to them, they would fly different depending on the model and type.  Bombers felt much heavier and couldn’t maneuver as quickly as the smaller airplanes.  All the planes felt very vulnerable, especially the larger ones.  You sometimes got a sense of helplessness when being tailed by a vastly more maneuverable plane.  Bombers could take out ground targets much better than anything else so you overall got a sense of balance.  The Spitfires were lighter and faster than the bombers.  This made them great for taking out bombers and other planes, but not effective against ground targets.  The smaller planes typically handled much better than the larger bomber planes.

Sam: You know, I got the exact same impression when flying these different planes.  There were times flying a bomber that I felt vulnerable and the plane handled like a boat.  I also grew an appreciation for the Spitfire.  This plane made for a very formidable foe in the skies.  When on a mission, I would see one of these things coming towards me and know I was in for a very twisty and fast paced fight.  Moments like these really made me appreciate the attention to detail when it came to how different planes handled.

Sam closes in on a group of targets in his British bomber

<<Overview

<<What we liked about IL2

Bones we have to pick with IL2>>

Our conclusions>>

Dislikes

Dan: While I liked how realistic mode brought the game play closer to reality, I thought the steps taken towards a simulation introduced by simulation mode made the game impossible to play.  While locked into cockpit mode, your view is very limited.  On top of this, the icons used to denote friends and foes was missing from the screen.  I understand this is supposed to be a simulator, but at this point I personally found the game no longer fun.  I think it would of helped to have a lot larger screen and a real flight stick.  You can’t simulate flying with a DualShock controller.  The DualShock controller works great for arcade mode and acceptable in realistic mode, but really feels out of place in simulation mode.  The fact that you are trapped in the cockpit mode without much GUI assistance doesn’t help at all. It was enough of a task just to fly that combat felt impractical.  Planes where not much more than tiny dots on the screen making them hard to distinguish from everything else.

Sam: Well….everything you are saying is true.  The controls and graphics really seemed to drop the ball on providing a competent simulator.  However, given IL2‘s background I don’t see the how developer could get away without including the mode.  IL2 is a game that is very renowned in the flight simulator world.  Thus, making an IL2 game for the consoles without a full simulation mode would have been too big of a departure from the series.  The tutorial provided for the simulation mode was also very flawed.  In one part of the tutorial, the player is expected to follow the flight instructor’s plane in order to adjust to maneuvering in the new mode.  In my experience with the tutorial, I had accidentally flown past the instructor before I had approached the former mentioned part of the tutorial.  As such, when the instructor has asked me to follow him, I had no idea where he was.  I accept that the features removed from the interface were removed to bring the game closer to a simulation of real flight, however, I doubt in a real training mission the instructor would have simply flown away without ensuring the trainee, who is supposed to follow him, was indeed behind him before beginning the exercise.  Little flub-ups like this really made simulation mode frustrating to play.  The kinds of details overlooked in scripted events and the AI seemed to depend on game world interface assists in order to make up for it.  When these assists were taken away, the game’s various actors couldn’t compensate.  The insufficient hardware and expectations from the franchise fan base seem to come at odds with one another.  I feel that modifications to the simulation mode’s interface and better constructed tutorials would have eased the simulation’s transition from the PC to the game console.

Dan: While IL2 has a strong single player component to it, the multiplayer was disappointing.  Mainly I just couldn’t find enough people to play online with.  Maybe I was looking at the wrong times of the day, but IL2 just didn’t have very many people to test the online multiplayer out fully.  I really wished there was an option to play the campaign co-op.  That would have made the game more enjoyable to me.  I think the addition of a cooperative mode would have been extremely beneficial.  In the single player mode, the AI wasn’t to my liking, as I will explain later.  Because of this and the lacking existing multiplayer, a co-op would have had a great opportunity to steal the show.

Sam: I know exactly what you mean. I found that there were very few people playing.  Those that were played in were games with few people in it.  I had also ran into some serious net bugs that caused many sudden unexplainable deaths.  In one case I was playing a game mode when the objective was to protect owned airports and take the enemy team’s airports.  During the game I had accidentally crashed my plane into the ground.  When I respawned my plane immediately exploded in mid air.  The game indicated that I had crashed my plane, however I was over 1,000 feet in the air.  I continued to explode for six or seven respawns.  After this, I quit the game out of frustration.  This was the only major multiplayer bug I has found, but it was certainly a game breaking one.  Most of the dog fights I got myself into were not bad.  Lag was never an issue, but there just were not many people to play with. Perhaps the inclusion of bots would have been helpful.  This being a game based in a niche genre, relying on multiplayer modes that require lots of active players seems like a questionable decision.

An empty server browser, a screen we saw all too often

Sam: Another questionable design decision was to allow the WEP mode (an overdrive for the plane’s engine) to be easily abused and never had a downside in arcade mode.  The tutorial warns against overuse of WEP, however, there are no repercussions.  If a feature is mentioned, than I expect it to be implemented. I spent much of the game easing off of the WEP thinking it would blow my engine up or something.  This made some of my fights rather tense.  The WEP would always blink when I used it too much, which happened to always be at the worst times.  Later on, I realized that after the WEP blinked for a few moments, it simply stopped working for 3 – 5 seconds, then resume normal overdrive functionality.  I began to abuse the feature and missed the tension I had experienced before.  While I understand arcade mode is supposed to be easy to play, I feel that including a downside to WEP would have made the gameplay more interesting.

Dan: This seems more like nitpicking to me, I thought the WEP was useful and kept the pace of the game faster, it would make some of those far missions take longer to get to the battlefield.  The WEP allowed you to travel fast in one direction but I found that in combat that amount of speed was usually unstable and caused accidents.  So in that way I thought WEP was overall balanced.

Dan: One feature that was severely underdeveloped though was the AI teammate implementation.  There were only four orders you could give them and their success felt very hit or miss.  They usually were too far behind me to help much it seemed.  You could set them to group up, defend you, attack x target or follow mission.  Whatever you picked really didn’t seem to matter.  I sometimes wasn’t sure if commanding them really helped at all.  Again this goes back to me wanting co-op, I find human players are much more reliable than bots and are more fun to play with.

Sam: Yes, I agree that the AI partners were rather lacking.  I had run into a couple strange occasions where I completed mission objectives by shooting down only a single plane or a single target.  Some other times, I would have to destroy every single target an objective required.  This kind of sporadic performance by the AI wingmen led me to simply not rely on them.

AI partners have a habit of flying into your line of fire, which can often get them killed

Dan: The last thing that bothered me with this game is the lack of control options.  While the default controls are adequate, there were no options to really change them.  The one thing I wanted to do is swap the the analog stick’s functions but you can’t do that.  You can’t rebind any of the buttons making it impossible to change the POV camera to an easier button.

Sam: It seems surprising that given the niche market of flight simulations, such a feature wouldn’t be implemented.  I would expect that the intended audience would have been a mixture of standard breed gamer and flight simulation enthusiasts.  Options such as control configuration seem to be something that any enthusiast would expect to find in the software they purchase.  Perhaps this was a concession made since the title was trying to reach a broader audience, but I don’t think the omission of customizable controls was a very good idea.

<<Overview

<<What we liked about IL2

<<Bones we have to pick with IL2

Our conclusions>>

Conclusions

Dan: IL2 feels solid for a $50 game.  Its single player is strong and has a decent amount of content to play with.  The graphics are great mainly due to the attention to detail.  It has good music that matches the game perfectly and the difficulty is challenging if you try ‘realistic’ while being enjoyable and easy to pick up in ‘arcade.’  Other than simulation being too hard and multiplayer being a little lackluster, this is definitely a game that feels worth the price.

Sam: IL2‘s gameplay mechanics are extremely polished.  Everything in the arcade mode and realistic mode controls extremely well.  Graphically there are few rivals to IL2.  There is no texture pop-in, no real issues with aliasing, and the level of detail just makes the world look beautiful.  The audio brings the march of war the the player’s eardrums.  The muliplayer was rather weak with this title as well as the simulation mode.  These flaws would have hurt the game more, except that the overwhelming amount of single player content more than makes up for IL2‘s shortcomings.  Novice players can easily get into IL2, experienced players have room to grow with realistic mode, and there is enough content to keep a player entertained for at least 40 hours.  I think IL2 is worth $50 -$60 because the single player content and technical polish are on par or exceed many triple-A titles in that price range. 

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]]> http://whysoblu.com/sam-and-dan-take-it-to-the-%e2%80%9cdanger-zone%e2%80%9dwith-il2/feed/ 6 http://whysoblu.com/demons-souls-a-glass-thats-half-empty/ http://whysoblu.com/demons-souls-a-glass-thats-half-empty/#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:18:13 +0000 Sam Bushman + Dan Morrison http://whysoblu.com/?p=3697 Gaming has changed quite a bit since its beginnings in the 1970′s with Magnavox’s Odyssey and its first steps into mainstream pop culture in the mid to late 1980′s with Nintendo’s NES.  Games have gone from tests of skill with steep learning curves such as Deadly Towers and Ghosts and Goblins to more cinematic titles such as Halo and Heavenly Sword.  Developer “From Software” has produced a title that attempts to bring these hard-boiled games of yore back into the modern spotlight with Demon’s Souls.  Demon’s Souls is a third person action RPG placing the player in the ruins of the kingdom of Boletaria, which has been invaded by Demons bent on taking the souls of humanity.  You play as a demon hunter who intends to free the kingdom of its pestering demon problem, and gain some ever powerful demon’s souls in the process.

A heroic knight ready to save a fallen kingdom

The game is divided into five worlds.  Each world has two to three levels.  Each level ends with a battle against a boss demon.  The player can initially choose from one of ten classes for character creation.  The character’s class determines initial character stats as well as starting equipment.  The player is given a sophisticated level of control over their character’s appearance as well.  Once created, the player goes through a brief tutorial and is then killed.  This is where the meat of the game begins.  As a dead soul, the player’s avatar must complete the first level in order to reclaim his body and unlock the ability to spend “demon’s souls” on upgrading his character’s stats.  This all-in-one currency also acts as money for purchasing weapon upgrades and items.  The main selling point of Demon’s Souls is the fact that if the player dies, he loses the souls hes collected by defeating enemies.  This along with the many upgrades and purchases that require souls are the primary attempts at making this game difficult to master.

<<Overview

What we liked about Demon’s Souls>>

Bones we have to pick with Demon’s Souls>>

Our conclusions>>

What we like about Demon’s Souls…

Sam: First off, I wanted to compliment From Software on their combat system.  I found that when I was facing off against one or two other enemies, the fighting mechanics lent themselves to a very patient and controlled fight.  When I fought against bosses or a single powerful enemy, I found myself analyzing their fighting style, their tendencies, and looking for holes in their attacks to lay that deadly blow.  This was exhilarating and very rewarding when a foe was defeated.  It managed to integrate the strategy and intelligence of a sword fight into the system instead of just brutishly hacking away.  This was especially apparent when facing off against either knights or the final king boss of the first world.

Sam getting his tail kicked by a nasty demon

Dan: Yeah, I found that to be true as well.  When it came to one on one boss battles and single enemy encounters, the combat system worked very well.  However, in mobs of enemies, the combat system seemed to be clumsy, mainly because it was hard to quickly do multiple tasks at once.  The targeting system didn’t always behave like you expected with multiple enemies either.  Still, I have to say I really enjoyed the boss encounters in the game.  They are definitely the highlight of the game.  They were challenging but never impossible and were rewarding to beat.

Visually I thought the game looked amazing.  This game had a great attention to detail.  It handled interior and large outdoor environments very well and you got a great sense of size, especially on the castle map.  It felt very dark and gritty which I liked.  All the weapons had believable and unique animations.  This helped give the weapons personality.  It did not feel like I was swinging the same sword with a different skin, and I appreciate that.  Enemy animations were also overall smooth and believable.  Larger enemies had a sense of weight when they walked, and there was a distinct movement for each enemy.  The sounds and music were acceptable and felt like they went with the world; the changes of the music during boss encounters is a nice touch.

Sam: I agree.  This game was very pretty to look at.  I was especially pleased with how each world in Demon’s Souls took on its own color palette.  In my opinion, this gave each world its own visual identity.  This helped to make each world more memorable and distinguishable.  One could look at a still image from any one world and be able to instantly identify what world was being shown just from the colors.

The musky, dirty pallet of the swamps

I also loved the style of the armors, weapons, and other equipment.  All of these items looked just as cool as they did deadly.  When I would see one of these items on an NPC or equipped one myself, I stopped and took a few minutes just to study it.  Every item had its own distinct design and I was very appreciative of that.

As far as the design of levels goes, I was especially impressed with the design of the castle world (the first world) and the tower world.  These worlds seemed to focus on all of the strong points of the gameplay of Demon’s Souls.  The enemy counts were controlled well, there were never many unfair ledges that could lead to accidental player death, and each world did an effective job of establishing the world’s function in the game world as well as establishing itself in a real world area.  What I mean is one could look towards the horizon and see mountains, forests, and other buildings.  These worlds felt like real places and not just isolated areas to kill baddies in.  Overall the layout was interesting to explore, the enemies fit well in each world and were themselves fun to fight.

Dan: Another notable feature I liked about this game was the checkpoint system.  The levels would open up as you progressed through the map.  For example, you start the game on a bridge looking at a huge gate and two smaller gates left and right of the large gate.  As you progressed through the map you would find levers to unlock these gates making replays easier as you didn’t need to go through the whole map, and eventually unlock the main gate to the boss.  So after you had gone though the whole map the path to the boss was usually easier when you needed to retry.

Sam: The flow for the castle map was very cool.  I also liked how well the checkpoints were integrated into each level.  Given the fantasy nature of this world, I could imagine there being a temptation to simply place teleport nodes in each level and explain their existence away with a lazy story addition.  Instead, each checkpoint has an activation method and function unique and appropriate to the world it’s based in.  One example of this is the wooden plank bridge that the player must knock over to bridge a gap that connects the beginning of the swamp world’s 2nd level beginning to the boss portal.  The shanty style bridge fit with the rest of the theme and activation made perfect sense.  This was very creative and certainly deserves mention.

Dan: One bad thing that this checkpoint system introduces is it makes it hard to make levels enjoyable to replay.  They don’t change much overall so after one walk through many areas never need to be explored again.  I do understand that the game has a thing called world tenancy which causes new areas to appear and disappear, but these are few and far between.  These branches are also optional and therefore not needed to beat the game.

Sam: Overall, I really liked how the art direction and environments told much of the tale of Boletaria through the demon’s exaggeration of the more negative points of the kingdom.  I had started to question the purity and greatness of this kingdom due to the demon’s exploits of the darker side of Boletaria.  From the apparent treatment of the mentally insane to the slave-like treatment of the miners of Boletaria, this dark angle added a lot of depth to the presentation of the game world.  The concept of dropping the player in the middle of a ruined kingdom without any explanation was brilliant.  I felt like I was given the opportunity to explore and form my own conclusions about what Boletaria was and why these areas existed.

The nexus, the hub area of Demon’s Souls

Dan: I found the story very hard to get into.  There really wasn’t much substance to the story.  It felt like story was tacked in after the game was done.  The locations felt very separate with very little connecting them other than as you being the “chosen one” your required to go there and beat up anything that moved. I felt the story was generic and shallow.  One thing I missed was lore. I wanted some way to learn more about the world I was in.  There was no journal or place to read about Boletaria.  The only source of lore were the few conversations I had with NPCs.

Sam: This is very true.  The dialogue wasn’t much to write home about.  I do feel that the stark differences in the world were both necessary and did not feel isolated.  Each world was able to establish a visual image by being so different and I feel that the architecture and level of technology shown helped to keep all of the worlds connected in the same general area.

<<Overview

<<What we liked about Demon’s Souls

Bones we have to pick with Demon’s Souls>>

Our conclusions>>

Bones we have to pick with Demon’s Souls…

Dan: The first thing that really bugged me was how short and useless the tutorial was.  Sure you learn how to target and attack, but that’s about it.  By the time you are done with the tutorial, you are thrown into the real game, and I still didn’t know how to do everything in the game.  I quickly found on my first character that after dying 3 times trying to beat the first map, it was better to re-roll a new character than to try to salvage the current one as I used up all my heals and could not afford new ones or repair any of my stuff.  Also, I should mention some classes start out a lot better than others.  The barbarian starts naked with a club while the Temple knight starts with full suit of armor and a great weapon which you can play with the whole game though.

Sam: Well, I can’t completely complain about the tutorial’s length.  It was refreshing that the game didn’t bog me down with a long tutorial before starting.  Many RPGs and actions games will force the player to devote 15 – 30 minutes of the beginning of gameplay to instruction and tutorial.  I appreciated the fact that the game tried to get me in the action quickly.  That being said, after the first level I did find that certain features and functions (such as how to aim a Bow and Arrow) would have been extremely helpful.  I had learned some needed skills purely by accident.  It could have been longer, but at least they tried to make is short and sweet.

Aiming your Bow, one important undocumented feature

Dan: Bows, spells and miracles were not covered in the game very well.  While they are in the manual, their description is short and I really prefer all the stuff you need to know about your game to be included in game.  I was getting so annoyed with the NPC that was supposed to teach you spells because I had the intelligence to remember spells but apparently not the magic.  While playing in-game, there is no indication that my magic ability was too low, he just kept telling me to piss off.

Sam: One very big issue I had noticed was the often troublesome menu and UI system.  I found that the menus for changing weapons and selecting specific items took up the whole play screen.  While this would be fine normally, Demon’s Souls does not pause the game when the user goes into a menu.  I feel that if the user cannot pause his game, then the main game screen should always be visible.

Dan: I found that the menus did get in the way very often, but I hated how you could not drop or deposit equipped items.  Furthermore, when you are trying to scroll through your quick spells or quick items, it becomes very easy to accidentally pass by the desired item.  When this happens, you have to scroll through everything else again to get back to it.  Usually the time taken proves to be too long in situations that require quick use of items.

Sam: Exactly.  Also, I found trying to change items while holding up my shield and strafing very difficult.  If I was fighting a boss or something, I would have to perform some very interesting finger gymnastics around the controller in order to get it to do what I wanted.  I think the item-switching process should have been simplified or at least provide me with a paused menu to properly change strategies.  This isn’t to say the control scheme was completely broken, but it only worked well about 60% – 75% of the time.  This left a lot of moments where I was fumbling my controller more that I cared to.

Dan: Another thing I didn’t like was the targeting system.  The lock-on didn’t work on stairs sometimes and didn’t always target the thing you were expecting.  Flying enemies cause a lot of issues at times as it would lock on to them and spin the camera quickly and made you disoriented.  It was frustrating.

Sam: I know exactly how you’re feeling.  I found that I would fall off ledges, turn my back to an attacking enemy, or just have to stop short to re-adjust my lock-on due to its sporadic implementation.  This game would cause me the most frustration when my character’s death was caused by these issues.  I felt cheated and out of control of the results of the battle.  This is an example of how the battle system would break when too many enemies were in a battle.  Aside from a lack of nimbleness, this lock-on made multiple enemies and ledges much more deadly than they had to be.  I would have appreciated some sort of ledge-grab mechanic to give the player a chance to recover from slipping off of a ledge.

Players will see this screen….a lot

Dan: The back of the game says it is an “Ever-changing World,” but in actuality it is a very static world with one or two doors that open or close based on “world tendencies.”  Even where the enemies are static, they are always in the exact same spot standing there waiting.  It’s really amusing to back-stab all the monsters in the previous section of the map as they are all facing the wrong direction, but this gets old quick.

Sam: Yeah, I had noticed how static the levels felt.  Even when checkpoints were toggled, and thus changing the level layout, the enemy placements and items were still statically placed.  Considering how much this game relies on grinding in order to progress, I would have really appreciated some deviation in enemy placement.  After running through a level for the eighth or ninth time, I knew where everyone was and was never surprised.  If the developers expected players to grind, there needs to be more dynamic content.  Otherwise, the player ends up just going through the motions.

Sam: The quality of the levels in Demon’s Souls for the most part had a reasonable level of quality.  The Castle and Tower worlds definitely stole the show.  As a stark contrast to this, the Swamp world was just god awful.  The ledge falling issues discussed earlier became immediately apparent considering how most of the level consisted of walking along narrow edgeless paths over bottomless abysses.  Add to this the inclusion of three different status effects that all cause a loss of health over time (two of which are rarely if ever seen anywhere else) and the overall effect was downright frustrating.  The status effects and ledges made the level treacherous and the enemies didn’t even drop a reasonable amount of experience.  I felt like I was in that level only because I had to be, not because I wanted to explore it.

Dan: The swamp was probably one of the worst designed maps I’ve ever played.  Especially the empty second section of the swamp world. It was a big flat map with poisonous water covering 90% of the map.  The wooden structures where also frustrating as it was hard to tell what you could walk on and what you couldn’t until it was too late and you fall to your death.  I found that the environment was killing me more than the monsters in this game at times.  Why are shacks built over bottomless pits anyway?  This doesn’t make sense.

The endless flat abyss that is the swamp

Dan: One big disappointment was the online play.  When two of the three features on the back of the game mention online play, only to be really lacking, online is very disappointing.  There is no way to easily play with your friends in this game.  Your options are to summon or be summoned to help beat a demon, invade a random persons game and try to gank him, or if you could duel people on your second play through.  I felt that I had very little control over the online aspect.

Sam: To me, the online implementation seemed to rely a lot on circumstance and randomness for determining who you played with and if anyone was available at all.  That lack on control really made this feature feel half-implemented and more of a gimmick than a feature.  Furthermore, the benefits of joining an online game seem few and far between for the helper.  As the helpee, the player can progress through the game and collect boss souls.  As for the helper, the only reward they get is their body back.  Having one’s body only really allows for summoning others and increased health.  Considering that one could get their body back through use of a common item and the changes to gameplay are few, I don’t see why I would want to help some random person kill a boss.  This is especially odd since as the helper I wouldn’t get to progress in the game from the experience.  Given that the Playstation Network supports friends, voice chat, and other modern features, this anemic multiplayer feature has no purpose for being so underdeveloped.  It feels very half-finished to me.

Dan: Other than reviving your body and gaining experience, there was very little motivation to play online.  It helps the living player a lot, as he is progressed forward in the campaign as well as gaining the boss’s soul.  Helpers do not get either of these, so the experience ends up feeling like a waste.  Now while you are logged on to PSN, you can see hints and others playing the game.  The big issue is that hints are severely limited to fill in the blank.  “Beware of the enemies ****.”  No, seriously, that is a hint you can leave.  The catch is that you need to fill in the blank so it’s not nearly as funny to leave.  I have to admit with an item called “White Sticky Stuff,” you can make enough bad jokes.  This game desperately needed a way to talk or type to other players and plan attacks as all you can do is make hand gestures to other players.

Sam: When playing Demon’s Souls, the enemy AI seemed to show some major flaws at time.  There was one instance in particular in the first level where I could lead several enemies through a fatal bonfire.  By drawing the enemies’ attention, then standing so the fire was between the enemies and me, they would blindly walk into the fire and die.  Stupid moments like these happened rather often throughout the game.  While the fighting-AI was very good for one-on-one fighting, general aggressive approach-AI seemed to ignore many hazards that I would think a competent enemy would have avoided.

Dan: Definitely, the AI is dumber than rocks in this game.  They will walk off the map at the sight of you.  The “stealth” in this game is even more hilarious.  It really should be called the ring of apathy because that’s what it really is.  The enemies just give up very quickly when you have a stealth ability.  Ranged attackers can’t see you in plain sight until you are a few feet from them.  As the AI is mainly stupid, the challenge is added by increasing the heath and attack power.

An enemy knight stares in awe as the player clips into a nearby wall

Dan: While I previously talked about how good this game looks, there was one big flaw I didn’t mention.  The physics in this game make it hiccup and crawl at times as you destroy the destructible items in the map.  The rag dolls are very erratic as they flail around like weightless puppets.  The slowdowns due to the physics in this game are inexcusable.  This is a Playstation exclusive and Havoc is a common physics engine used in many games.  For there to be this kind of technical difficulty in this kind of game is ridiculous.

Sam: I was also disappointed that the physics didn’t really add anything to the gameplay either.  I think it would have been cool if I could have rigged falling traps for enemies or something.  It was cool to be able to break objects into pieces, but since none of that effected gameplay, it may have been a wasted effort for a purely cosmetic feature.

<<Overview

<<What we liked about Demon’s Souls

<<Bones we have to pick with Demon’s Souls

Our conclusions>>

Our conclusions…

Sam: Overall, I found Demon’s Souls to have some excellent one-on-one fighting mechanics.  These mechanics had trouble with several enemies and was further troubled by a flaky lock-on system.  When these issues did not occur, however, the player was left with a very satisfying experience.  Due in part to the difficulty and in part to the satisfying fighting mechanics, I often felt a strong sense of accomplishment when new equipment was found and levels were gained.  Demon’s Souls really made me appreciate the progress I made in it.  The art and environments were very cool to look at.  Each area had a unique feel and told just a little bit about Boletaria.  I was left with wanting more from the game though.  This game seemed to only scratch the surface of a fascinating land.  The armors and weapons were also designed in a very smart and cool way.  The artists on this project managed to bring the fantasy and darkness of Boletaria out in the equipment’s design.  Furthermore, using these weapons against bosses was great fun.  Between the great one-on-one fighting mechanics, fascinating weapons, and larger than life bosses, these fights felt very epic and tense.  I was very thankful that I was allowed to really fight these great demons as well.  Many modern games use cut-scenes, quick time events, or set piece gimmicks to keep the player safe.  Demon’s Souls took a different route and put the player in harm’s way by standing toe-to-toe with powerful bosses.

Standing mono-a-mono against King Allant, a powerful demon boss

On the flip side, the fighting mechanics don’t work well at all with more than one enemy.  I found myself dying more often from clumsy movement and bugged lock-on targeting than from my lack of fighting skill.  To make matters worse, many of Demon’s Souls’ levels ignored these shortcomings and put the player in situations that seemed to showcase these flaws in design.  Many levels featured narrow paths with deadly falls, flying enemies that would bug out the lock-on system, and enemy placements that require a level of player maneuverability to prevent death that just cannot be done.  Many additional features, such as how to aim a bow and arrow, are never discussed in game to any extent.  Many of these features are required to fully understand how the game world operates in reference to the player’s decisions.  This lack of documentation was baffling and made much of my play though more difficult than it had to be.  The online feature also felt half-implemented and ultimately didn’t motivate me to use it much.  The addition of more communication options and control of who you play with would have improved this feature tremendously.  The act of invading other peoples’ games seemed more like a minor distraction than a true feature.

Overall, I would say Demon’s Souls is worth a $35 – $40 purchase.  The gameplay can be very enjoyable and the game’s length is 40+ hours.  However, many of those hours are spent grinding and the gameplay has some major design issues that keep it from achieving full listed retail value.

Dan: Overall, I was disappointed with Demon’s Souls.  I was expecting more of a game like Diablo 2, going into the game with lots of loot, monsters and multiplayer.  What I got was a repetitive single-player game with very little story and AI that gives up on fighting when faced with the powerful stealth ring.  It admittedly looked great and had some great boss battles, but after going through the game I felt like it was an unfinished game.  The game really hates you that first level.  They wait to unlock the rest of the game on until completion of that first map.  I gave up on my first try as a barbarian and suddenly had a substantially easier time with a different class the second try.  The difficulty curve will likely make many players frustrated initially, but after the first map the game gets a lot easier.  Grinding seems mandatory to upgrade your weapons or recover from a double death.  Since the characters are all statically placed, there are no surprises the second time running through an area.

Spending souls to upgrade stats, something hard to do with no souls

I would say Demon’s Souls is worth a $30 purchase.  While it looks nice and has fun bosses, there is very little past that I really enjoyed.  The multiplayer is a joke and not very rewarding or useful mainly due to the complete lack of reasonable means to communicate with others in this game.  Preset messages and hand gestures can not replace a voice chat or text chat.  The game’s story is very forgettable and lacks depth.  You are the chosen one and apparently can not have a more than one-sided conversation with anyone.  It’s like a medieval Gordon Freeman; people want to talk to you even though you are a mute and you are here to fix the world.  I felt this is a $30 price point because I’ve played more enjoyable RPGs on my DS.  When it comes to full game console RPGs, I expect a lot more from them, as they eat up a lot of time and chain me to one location to play through it.  The frame rate drops from physics are inexcusable.  This is an exclusive game on a system that has been on the market a while.  There really should be no technical hiccups on games like this.  Pick it up used in a year when it drops in price.

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Story

In the sequel, the studio built on the Marvel Comics “Civil War” storyline that made its debut in 2006 where the United States government passed the SRA or Superhero Registration Act.  This forced those with superhuman abilities to register their true identities with the government split the Marvel Universe right down the middle.  Some, like Iron Man, chose to follow through with the registration while others, like Captain America, stood to rebel against what they viewed as an unconstitutional law.  In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, you actually get to choose which side you want to support.  Each of the two decisions leads down its own unique path of mission sets.  It’s hero against hero in this super hero free-for-all. 

Graphics & Playability

The game plays with a solid fluidity that’s right on par to its predecessor.  The ability to switch amongst the four members of your team is quick and responsive, as is the ability to unleash hell on the screen.  Welcome to the world of Fusion moves.  A fusion move is something where the character you are controlling pairs up with another member of your team on screen.  The two will work in tandem to deliver a wicked amount of energy to at least one opposing force you are up against.  You have a few types of these fusion moves at your disposal which include targeted, clearing and guided.  Clearing works well with several enemies on the screen while a targeted fusion is great against a single enemy, like a boss. 

One of my absolute favorites has to be the Deadpool-Juggernaut pairing.  In this targeted fusion, you get to watch Juggernaut rip a section of concrete out of the ground while Deadpool tosses a handful of explosives to the underside of the hunk of masonry.  With a heave-ho, Juggernaut throws the mass with a crushing blast to the unfortunate baddie on the receiving end…KABOOM!  You’ll find pulling off attacks such as these are done quite easily providing a very small learning curve.  This is just one of those games you can play right out of the box.  Instructions?  Who needs instructions?!

The graphics are not a strong point of this title.  The cinematic sequences look great but close-ups during interactive conversations are shoddy at best.  There’s pixilation around strands of hair that rest against the characters’ bodies and it just looks very previous-generation-console.  The in-game graphic quality is sufficient as the ¾ overhead view doesn’t require a lot of the details that a 1^st person shooter would.  In short, you’re buying this game for the fun factor and playability, not the eye candy.   

Conclusion

With a much more solid story than the previous Ultimate Alliance and in my opinion, a better selection of characters, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is fun ride with unlockable characters (Juggernaut was only available via code if you pre-ordered from EB Games or Game Stop), unlockable abilities and a slew of power-ups and PS3 trophies to add to your collection.  The replay value of this title is through the roof with hours of button-mashing excitement awaiting your thumbs.  The first title let you acquire up to four costumes for each character.  Different get-ups allowed for different abilities.  My only real downer in the new title is changing your costume in Alliance 2 is nothing more than alter your appearance.  Your powers stay the same.  Still, it’s not a deal-breaker and won’t diminish the excitement value of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

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