Quick Review

Okay so I played these three games recently, I got LIMBO half off, Harry Potter and Halo Reach I borrowed from my Nephew. I will be doing single paragraph reviews for each of them.

First Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. In my opinion the best Harry Potter game out there, The open world Hogwarts is great and it made the game feel more under my control. I also liked using the right stick for spell actions. One question I have when it comes to Harry Potter is why there is no MMO for this universe yet?

LIMBO is a fantastic game, it is very short but infinitely re-playable because it is just fun to play. I hope they make more games like this I really like this company.

Halo: Reach is the best of the series, it plays better in every way and I loved playing the campaign with the Noble team....you finally feel like your teammates can actually fight.

Review

Yeah I am on a bit of a FPS kick right now. I picked up Bloodstone, Singularity, and Killzone 3 at Gamestop about a week ago when I traded in some of my old stuff. Anyway Singularity is one of those shooters that I think is highly under rated. I like shooters that have more to them than just go here shot that guy repeat, it could be unique weapons or gameplay elements. Singularity has both of these things.

Graphic wise it is a standard looking game on today's systems. There are some cool effects with time manipulation and some great art style but nothing that I will remember forever.

The sound is mixed well and provides a nice atmosphere for the creepy factor this game has sometimes. The dialog is also well done, even if some of the accents feel fake.

When it comes to gameplay it feels like most shooters in a lot of ways. However the time manipulation device (TMD) brings a lot of variety to how you play. It does just what it says it does manipulates time, you can age people past dust or revert them to giant crazy blind fetus looking things that go crazy and try to kill everyone. You can also do all this to things in the environment, you also have other powers like a time bubble that freezes time inside it, and a push back melee attack.

I really think that Singularity is a shooter that you should play if you want an FPS with more variety to it. The story line is very cool as well and I think would make a great movie.

Review

I know this game is pretty old but I borrowed it from my Nephew because I like the Naruto series. Just to sum up this game, if you like Naruto you will like this game. It starts at the battle between Orochimaru and the Hokage and goes through the fight between Naturo and Sasuke when he runs away. So I liked it but if you don't like Naruto don't play this game.



As James Bond games go this is not the best one out there. However it is not the worst by far, The gameplay is fluid the shooting works well. The close quarter takedowns are fun to watch. The driving sequences are amazingly done and I think are the most Bond worthy parts of the game. The story fits well into the Bond form and I think it would work just as well as a film. The two problems I have with this game are first that I beat it in 5 hours and secondly is that the skin mapping for the characters is awful. Everyone looks like restructured burn victims, it is just creepy. I would recommend this game as a rental but not a buy.

Review

Anyone who follows my blog knows that Bioware is my favorite developer, and so it should be no surprise that I picked up Dragon Age 2 on opening day. Also that I love this game. To caveat this review know that I play Dragon Age on the 360 just like Mass Effect so none of the issues that some reviewers have about this game are my concerns in fact most of their gripes I actually like.

Graphically the engine had an overhaul everything looks crisper and animations are smoother and more realistic. Not to mention that Kirkwall is a lot brighter and greener than Ferelden, so there is more light and color effects this time around. There is a gripe about recycled locations set up in various ways through out the game but I really didn't care that I was seeing the same places or types of places over and over again.

The soundtrack is composed by the same man (Inon Zur) and it is great. The dialog is better than Dragon Age origins and the fact that your protagonist actually talks now, in the vein of Commander Shepard from Mass Effect, works so much better than the silent protagonist from the Origins.

The gameplay is where some reviewers (mostly the PC gamers) are complaining. It is because the combat has a much more action oriented feel to it this time and the PC version doesn't even have the zoomed out combat camera for strategic views. But as a primarily console gamer the new combat is better it feels more involved and your talents and spells actually have a defined purpose.

The story has taken some jabs as well but that is one place where I disagree completely with those reviewers. The complaint is that in Origins there was a steady and solid narrative and you were on a straight path of stopping the blight. But in DA 2 you are thrown around by a bunch of side quest and such. I think the story works for exactly the purpose of the character you are a regular adventurer type trying to take care of your friends and family and you get involved with all the factions and politics of Kirkwall. The ending did leave a solid opening for a sequel and that is no surprise since this and mass Effect seem to be Bioware's Flagship franchises (and Mass Effect will end when part 3 comes out later this year).

In Closing this game is amazing and I think it is better than Origins. if you like the DA universe there is no reason not to play this game and if you want and RPG with more of an action pace get it as well. Also I played through the campaign the first time as a rouge and I am now going through as a mage in case you are wondering.

Review

Yes I know that Just Cause 2 came out last year, in fact it came out right near Red Dead Redemption which is why it took me almost a year to play it. But I had some interest in the game and it wasn't until recently when I stumbled upon a bunch of videos on YouTube about it that I decided it was finally time to pick it up.

To put something right out there this game has a ridiculous set of characters and an even more ridiculous story. But Just Cause 2 is not about story and the developers knew that.

Graphically the game is right on cue with the current generation but the level of draw distance and the amount of stuff that can happen with out a frame rate drop is impressive.

The sound effects are great making explosions rock and gun fire different for each weapon. The dialog is ridiculous, it isn't actually horrible because it is delivered well like the actors knew they were reading a B movie script.

The gameplay is.....well in truth it is completely ridiculous too, but the awesome side of ridiculous. Seriously where else can you tether a guy to a gas tank and shoot it sending him miles into the air only to have the tank explode and watch him fall to his death. Or ride on top of a jet like a surf board and jump off it at the last minute as it does a nose dive into a gas refinery. And lets not forget your parachute that seems to be able to replicate itself so you always have one to use but every time you release it it still floats off like any other parachute would.

This game get extra love from me simply for the fact that there is an island with little Easter egg secrets dedicated to the TV show LOST. Like the crashed flight and the hatch, not to mention the smoke monster (who doesn't actually hurt you but is just creepy) All in all this game is silly but extremely fun, at this time I have about 45 hours of play time and there is plenty left to do because like all sand box games after you finish the story you are free to roam the world and complete other tasks.

A Gamer's Rant

Okay so let me start by saying my PS3 is my primary system that I game on. However I own a 360 and a Wii as well and I consider myself a true gamer because I have a very broad taste in games. I am not an FPS gamer or and RPG gamer, I am just a gamer. I play games that look interesting and I keep playing games that I like. For example I have MAG for my PS3 and I am looking forward to Dragon Age 2 while I am currently playing Just Cause 2. My tastes are very diverse.

One thing that I am really just starting to get into in the last few years is online gaming, and here is where my rant begins.

Why are we paying for XBOX live? I have a PSN account that let's me do everything that XBOX live gold does without me paying Sony for it. Case in point Netflix, I can not watch Netflix on my XBOX without a Gold account. But I can watch it on my PS3 even if the PSN is down because it goes through my Internet access on my PS3 not the PSN.

People keep trying to tell me that we pay $50 a year for XBOX live gold because of everything it gives us access to. So tell me where I am wrong then.

PSN - Free

Online play
Demos
free content
content available for purchase

XBOX live Silver - Free

No online play
No Netflix access
No Facebook access
limited access to game demos
content available for purchase

XBOX live Gold - $50 a year

Online play
access to your Netflix and Facebook
Demos on day one
No free content
Content available for purchase

Now we need to consider one more thing in this situation. Playstation Plus a pay program from Sony that is still in it's first year.

Playstation Plus - $50 a year

Free downloadable games and content
Access to special promotions as well

Now I have paid for Playstation Plus since day one and so far it has paid for itself about twice over because of all the free content that I have downloaded. So if you think I am wrong tell me so, but don't just hit me with "you are a Sony fan boy!" or some crap like that. If you are going to argue with me about this then show me where I am wrong show me how paying for XBOX live Gold is worth the money when the PSN seems to offer everything that Gold offers only they do it for free.

Review

Dead Space 2 by Visceral games is simply amazing. When they announced the first Dead Space I had a mixture of excitement and dread. Mainly because survival horror is a genre that is hard to get right but Dead Space was amazing and part 2 blows it out of the water.

The best way to explain Dead Space one and two is by comparing them to the only two good movies in the Alien series. Alien and Aliens, Dead Space felt a lot like Alien, being someone who was thrown into a situation that he really wasn't ready for and using everything around him just to survive.

Dead Space 2 feels like Aliens because Issac Clark is a lot like Sigourney Weaver's character Ellen Ripley. They both survived a horrible situation and even though they are dealing with the trauma from it they both step up and deal with the threat when it rises again.

The improvements made to how Issac controls actually makes this feel real. In the original he was a little clunky and slow to move now everything about his movements are smoother and faster. He handles his weapons better and his Kinesis ability is actually a viable way to deal with enemies this time around. Everything about the gameplay is improved without messing with what made the original great.

Graphically the series is still amazing everything in Dead Space 2 looks sharper, the effects are great from the weapons and smoke to how everything floats in zero gravity is amazing, seriously seeing blood floating in bubbles is fantastic.

As with the original the sound is perfect the score under lays the tone without missing a beat. The voice acting is great I like Issac more now that he is not a silent protagonist. But this game shines with it's ambiance using the subtle sounds to punctuate the scares. I actually jumped a few times and the entire game is unnerving in the best way possible.

I won't give away anything about the story, but needless to say it flows great and shows just how deep this universe is. Dead Space could go on for years in movies (one anime is all ready out with another about to release as well as a major motion picture in the works), books (there are all ready a few of these as well), and the games. I am impressed with how well Visceral developed this series when there was a chance it could have bombed with the first one. And I am so happy EA is no longer the devil of the industry and supports games like this.

In closing there is no reason to pass this game up, and if you haven't played the original get it first and play it then move right into this one. But don't play it in front of the kids, I certainly did not. Also I will be posting a review of Dead Space Extraction (the rail shooter game that was originally on the Wii and was redone in HD and packaged with the collectors edition on the PS3) once I finish it in a few days if I can keep myself from starting my second play through of Dead Space 2.