Tag Archives: game review

PS3 Review: Two Worlds II

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Posted by Rob on February 7, 2011 – 8:21 pm
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Before it was released, Two Worlds II was getting a bad rap due to the failures of the first game in the franchise. Having never played the first game, I had none of these thoughts in my mind. What I saw was a massive RPG that had many similarities to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and that was enough to catch my interest. I have spent about twelve hours on the single player campaign, and I think I can now give an accurate review of it. I had a semi-complete review ready to go last week, but I ended up writing way too much and it was too in-depth. Instead, I’m just gonna have a list of the good and the bad aspects of the game, and this should help paint an accurate account of the game, while hopefully being more condensed…because there is a lot to say about it!

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360 Review: Alan Wake

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Posted by Rob on January 12, 2011 – 11:57 am
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I hadn’t seen too much hype around the 360-exclusive Alan Wake, but the few people I have heard discuss it had nothing but good things to say. Initially, it wasn’t an exclusive that made me want to get the 360, like Fable and Mass Effect were. Within minutes of starting up the game, I realized that this was something different than anything I ever played, and the more I played it, the more I got sucked in. The game is very story-driven, so I will make this review relatively spoiler-free.

You play as Alan Wake, a writer who has taken a vacation with his wife to a small Washingon town. Shortly after, your wife disappears and you wake up behind the wheel of a car that has just had an accident, with no recollection of how you got there. Armed with simple weapons (revolver, shotgun, hunting rifle, flare gun) and a flashlight, you set out to uncover the mystery of what is going on. The game was definitely inspired by the works of Stephen King, which can be seen by not only the general story, but also the references. I noticed nods to The Stand, The Shining, Insomnia, and Misery, as well as the couple of times that Wake, through narration, gives a direct quote of King.  Overall, the general story is amazing, and you can really picture the game as a book.

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360 Review: Fable III (spoilers)

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Posted by Rob on January 7, 2011 – 1:23 pm
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I had high praises for Fable II, and I couldn’t wait to get my dirty mits on the sequel, Fable III. I had to wait longer than I would have liked, since I had to choose between Fable III and Fallout: New Vegas (Fallout won), but I have finally received it from Gamefly. Fable III is definitely a step up and makes several improvements over Fable II, but at the same time there were some aspects of Fable II that were removed, and it really hurt the game. Still, if you enjoyed Fable II then there is no doubt that you will enjoy this next romp through the land of Albion. Also, since the game is a sequel, there will be several spoilers, so read at your own risk. Read More »

XBLA Review: X-Men (1992 Arcade)

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Posted by Rob on December 17, 2010 – 3:09 pm
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Anyone who knows me as a gamer knows I’m a sucker for beat ‘em ups. I think I own most of them that are available digitally on PSN or XBLA like Castle Crashers, Final Fight, TMNT, Scott Pilgrim, and probably some others as well. Heck, I even pop in the ol’ Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection from time to time to play some Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and others. So when X-Men, an awesome arcade game I used to play growing up, came out last week, I bought it first thing when I woke up. I was a bit tossed up on whether to buy it on PSN or XBLA, but in the end I felt that I needed some more 360 games, so I went with the XBLA version. Also, I had some free MS points thanks to Bing rewards!

The game is pretty much a direct port of the arcade version. Unlike Turtles In Time Reshelled, the graphics are the same as they were when you were popping quarters into the dual-screen, six-player cabinet. And yes, the game does support up to six players, with drop-in/drop-out co-op, and you can choose from classic X-Men Wolverine, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, and Dazzler. This is a great feature since it makes it easier for you to join in a game, and others can join or leave your game at their leisure without affecting the flow of your game. The other thing that remains unchanged is the ridiculously horrible/corny dialogue. Pyro will still threaten to turn you to toast, nothing will still be able to move the Blob, and Magneto will still proclaim “welcome to die” and call you an “X-chicken.”

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PSN Review: Shatter

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Posted by Rob on November 18, 2010 – 9:34 pm
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Being a proud member of PlayStation Plus, I am one of the lucky few who get a bunch of cheesy games shoved at us for free every two weeks. I try them all, and end up deleting most. However, this week we PS+ members got a bit lucky, and we received free copies of the PSN game Shatter. When I first saw it, I yawned and said “I do not want to be playing a brick breaker game on my PS3.” Still, my curiousity got the best of me, and I gave it a whirl. I must say that I was quickly blown away by the refreshing breeze of awesomeness that was blown into a game that has been re-done over and over and over again.

As I mentoned, Shatter is a brick breaker-esque game. You control the moving platform (called a bat in this game), and use it to hit a bouncing ball into bricks. Once all the bricks are gone, the level is complete. While Shatter definitely delivers this common experience, it spices it up by adding in a multitude of tweaks that will really shock you if you aren’t prepared. Read More »

PS3 Review: WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011

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Posted by Rob on October 27, 2010 – 5:53 pm
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I got SvR 2011 in from Amazon last night, and after the first twenty four hours of ownership, I’d like to share my impressions of the game. This isn’t a true review, but more like a laundry list of my likes and dislikes, as well as plenty of my own personal pics, since I get tired of having to scour the interwebs for pics of the game.Though as a side note, since I took these pics from my TV with my camera, the quality is not 100% awesome, as the rest of the game actually looks. A second side note, as always, is that I do not watch WWE programming…I am simply a fan of the games, and view them as the best fighting and co-op games ever made.

My Likes

For me, the most important part of any WWE game is the ability to “create-a-wrestler”, which will henceforth be called CAWs. CAWs are the backbone of the SvR games, since this is where every fan of either WWE or just fighting games in general can come and create their own custom character. This year’s edition is no different, with plenty of customization options for you and your friends to create. Ever since owning WWF War Zone back in the 90s on my PS1, I have always made a “BigBadBob” character to represent myself, and this year is no different.

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PSN Review: DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue

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Posted by Rob on October 19, 2010 – 1:53 pm
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I was a huge fan of the first DeathSpank game, so when I heard a second one was following shortly behind, I was sold. The DeathSpank series was initially going to be episodic, but in the end they decided to pop the series into two different installments. What this means is that DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue is practically the same game as the first DeathSpank, with a few minor changes here and there.

The first DeathSpank game ends with DeathSpank recovering one of the Thongs of Virtue from an evil dude who was kidnapping orphans. The sequel continues this storyline as DeathSpank heads after the remaining Thongs of Virtue. There is an all-new world map to explore with new areas and environments. Most notably is the fact that the person who controls the Thong of Generosity is none other than Santa Claus, who is actually controlling the orc army from his mighty North Pole base.

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PSN Demo Review: Sonic 4

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Posted by Rob on October 13, 2010 – 6:37 pm
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Sonic 4 is yet another classic game revamp with today’s hardware to give it the nostalgic feel while still looking damn good. Mega Man did it, Super Mario did it, heck, even Earth Worm Jim had a tweeked game (mind you it was still the original game for the most part), so popping out a Sonic game along the same wave length was a great idea. Sega has been claiming from the start that it picks up where Sonic & Knuckles left off, and maintains the same look and feel. Once the demo popped up the other night, I couldn’t wait to check it out. Sadly, the demo only allows you to play through Act 1 of the first stage, so there isn’t a whole lot to do, but you do get a feel for what’s in store.

First and foremost, I have to say that the game is beautiful. The graphics are simply amazing, and you can really tell that it incorporates today’s technology while still sticking to a classic 2D Sonic game. It really feels like you’re playing an HD remake of the classic Genesis game, except that the world and enemies are different. The game plays the same as the originals, where you run, jump, and roll around collecting rings and busting up robots to release little woodland critters on your way to the end of the stage. Of course, there are a few things that are different.

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360 Review: Fable II

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Posted by Rob on October 5, 2010 – 4:43 pm
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I finally got the chance to rent Fable II from Gamefly, and the past two days have been a pleasant experience in the game. Fable II is a pretty in-depth and customizable RPG, and it’s environment and amount of control given to the player reminds me of the Elder Scroll series in many respects, but taking it a bit further as far as relationships and interactions with others go, while having less control concerning the over-all build of the main character. I have been tossed up on the thought of writing up a full review of the game, and I don’t really see a point in it: the game is two years old now, and most everyone who has a 360 has played it (or they should if they haven’t yet.) So instead of prattling on in one of my normal reviews, I’m just gonna mention a few aspects of the game that I liked and didn’t like about the game.

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PSN Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

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Posted by Rob on September 26, 2010 – 1:16 pm
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I was pretty unfamiliar with the whole concept of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I had never heard of the graphic novel, and was not really interested when I heard about the movie. When I first heard about the game, I ignored it thinking it would be another cheesy movie/game tie-in. But then I started hearing good things about the game…it was a multi-player beat em’ up with  retro-esque graphics and soundtrack. The more I heard about it, the more interested I got, and after playing the demo it wasn’t long before I made the full purchase. I can’t say much about the graphic novels or the movie, but I can say that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World makes for one hell of a great downloadable video game!

The game does follow the basic storyline of the graphic novel and (I’m guessing) the movie: Scott Pilgrim is a kid in a band who meets and falls for a girl named Ramona. However, in order to date her, he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Thus, you take control of Scott, Ramona, or two other friends who are in Scott’s band, and you take to the streets of Toronto to track down and defeat the ex’s. Right off the bat, from the main menu, the display, music, and sound effects all take you back to the hayday of the NES and Sega Master System. In fact, the game feels like you are playing River City Ransom, as you walk through town, beating up bad guys with your fists or weapons, and walking into shops to purchase health and stat upgrades. The main world map is extremely reminiscent of that of Super Mario Bros. 3.  Each level ends with you taking on the boss of the stage, who is one of the seven ex-boyfriends, and each one has some kind of unique power/ability that makes each fight a little different.

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PS3 Review: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

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Posted by Rob on September 19, 2010 – 10:57 pm
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Spider-Man (or any super hero game, for that part) games tend to be hit or miss. If it’s a movie tie-in, chances are the game will be limited due to having to work within the terms of the film, and will also need to be rushed in order to meet deadlines. If the game story is not following a movie’s script, then there is a chance that the game will be pretty decent. I was a huge fan of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and the other Spidey games that allowed you to move about in a sandbox environment. Sadly, Shattered Dimensions drifts away from this by offering 14 different stages rather than an open area to explore and find missions to advance the story. Still, despite this huge limitation, Shattered Dimensions proves to be a very pleasant Spidey experience…so long as you don’t mind playing a game that only lasts nine hours.

The plot is pretty straight-forward: Mysterio steals a tablet that gives the user great powers, but the tablet is shattered, and the fragments go flying across four different “realities/dimensions” and fall into the hands of Spidey’s villains. Thus, four different Spider-Men explore their world as they track down each individual villain to reclaim the fragments so that they can repair the tablet and stop Mysterio. There are four different Spider-Men to take control of. The Amazing Spider-Man (the one I’m used to…his storyline is the classic one) is the main one and his levels are pretty straight-forward and basic. Ultimate Spider-Man (similar to Amazing, but has some differences in the environment and story) is a Spidey with the black suit, so he has some different “aggressive” abilities. Spidey 2099 is a Spider-Man from a future world. Finally, Spidey Noir is from a 1920s-themed era and is a bit more “realistic”, in terms of the abilities of himself and his enemies. Each Spidey has three levels, and then all four are playable in the final level. Each level is a different environment, and the different Spideys have different abilities, making each character a tad different (with the exception of Spidey Noir, who is completely different IN A GOOD WAY.)

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XBLA Review: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

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Posted by Rob on September 14, 2010 – 11:33 pm
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I recently received a free copy of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light from a Good Samaritan I know from the co-optimus site. I’ve been rocking through the game and enjoying every minute of it. Initially I wasn’t interested in the game, since I never played any of the previous Tomb Raider titles. However, when I found out that this game was a top-down twin-stick shooter, I was watching it closely. Now that I’ve had some time with it, I think it’s safe to say that it is a very solid downloadable title.

The basic premise of the game is that Lara Croft chases some dudes into a temple and they all end up awakening an evil spirit, who will destroy the world at dawn. Lara teams up the the Guardian of Light, and the two of them set off through the temple, attempting to track down and stop the evil spirit from making his move. Thus, the game is initially a co-op title, with a player able to control Lara and one to control the Guardian. Sadly, the online co-op is not available yet, and since this is one game I won’t be able to get Shell into, I have not been able to try out the local co-op yet. That being said, I have not been able to personally play as the Guardian yet, as the single player campaign only has you playing as Lara. So this is mostly a review of the campaign, from a single-player perspective (though I will update this entry once I am able to get a shot at co-op.)

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PS3 Review: NHL ’11

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Posted by Rob on September 12, 2010 – 10:22 pm
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As big a hockey fan as I am, I have been slacking in the hockey game department. I have been using NHL ’08 for years now, and have never upgraded to one of the newer versions. The main reason is that I was not initially a big fan of the control changes that took place. Since ’08, it has become a lot more complex, and was not something I was used to, so I shied away from it. However, after spending a few days with NHL ’11, I think it’s safe to say that I am officially won over to the new controls. I am pleased to say that I am sending ’11 back to Gamefly tomorrow, but it is going to be my number two game to get this Christmas, right behind Borderlands GOTY. So what is so cool about the newest edition to the EA’s epic hockey series that finally won me over? Pretty much everything!!!

For those of you who are unaware, these control scheme changes I speak of are quite daunting to someone who has been playing basic hockey games since NHL ’96. The biggest change is that shooting and other moves with the stick are primarily done with the right analog. This allows you to actually have a great deal of control of your shot, compared to past games where simply hitting square or circle performed an automatic shot on goal. Now these controls have been around for the past three or four games, but this is the first time that I gave the patience to retrain my mind to use them, and stop referring to the old-school controls. Once that is accomplished, it’s amazing how fun it is to deke the goalie to moving to the right, and then firing off a shot over his left shoulder, which is now open and exposed.

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360 Review: Mass Effect 2

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Posted by Rob on September 2, 2010 – 7:11 am
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It’s not very often where the sequel to anything, be it a video game, movie, book, or some other medium, surpasses the original. Mass Effect 2 is one of those rare cases where everything good about the first game is included in an improved way along with some new features that make it better than the first time around. Whether you carry over your character from the first game or create a new one from scratch, the continuing adventures of Shepard and Co. prove to make a great story and amazing game.

The game picks up weeks after the first one, but Shepard’s adventures are briefly cut short when his ship is ambushed and he is left for dead. He is picked up by a mysterious company and over the course of two years his body is healed and he is ready to stand on his feet again. A new alien menace known as the Collectors are threatening the galaxy, and Shepard joins up with the company (who is headed by someone called the “Illusive Man”, who simply reminds me of the “Cigarette-Smoking Man from the X-Files), recruits his own hand-picked team, and prepares to take the fight to these new enemies on their homeworld. Along the way, Shepard will also have to gain their trust to make them completely loyal to him and their overall cause. To do this, you will need to talk to your new allies a lot, and also go on special “loyality” missions for them. These missions consist of helping that squad member deal with some demon from the past, which, upon successful completion, technically brings them at peace with their past so that they can give 100% devotion to the mission.

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PSN Review: Deathspank

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Posted by Rob on August 21, 2010 – 2:53 pm
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I am a huge fan of hack-and-slash, dungeon crawler RPGs, so when Deathspank came out and I saw that it fit the genre nicely, I just had to check it out. Deathspank is a solid game for the PSN…that being said, it would not have held up well if it was a PS3 disc-based game. While the game succeeds in many ways, there are a few factors holding it back from being an extremely epic RPG experience.

You take on control of Deathspank, a hero for hire (who wears  a magical purple thong) who sets out to claim a magical artifact, which he believes will make him the strongest hero in the world. Deathspank will explore a somewhat small world that does have a few unique environments, but at the same time is limited in the amount of space given to play in. Like any good hack-and-slash dungeon crawler, Deathspank will dispatch countless hordes of enemies with a wide variety of weapons, armors and magical potions. Up to four weapons can be equipped at a time and are hotkeyed to the controller, and potions and other items can be hotkeyed to the directional pad. As enemies are slain and quests are completed, you will gain xp. When Deathspank levels, he is given a choice of three stats and can raise one of them up a level. For example, at level 2 he may choose to raise his melee damage, ranged damage, or speed at which he moves by 5% (this is just an example, I don’t recall what the exact three choices were at level 2.) Other stats to be raised include amount of money dropped by enemies and the ability to equip weapons and armors that are up to two levels higher than your character.

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360 Review: Mass Effect

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Posted by Rob on August 11, 2010 – 4:26 pm
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Ahh, my first 360 game review. Playing games only on the PS3 until about  a week ago, I missed out on a lot of great RPGs designed by Bioware…the two that come to mind are Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect. I got my first taste of Bioware when I played through Dragon Age: Origins FOUR times (I did get a nice Platinum trophy for that one, too), and I loved it. So when I received my 360 last Thursday, I quickly popped Mass Effect onto the top of my Gamefly queue. I’ve had a few days to check it out, and so far I am totally loving it.

What Mass Effect does is that a fast-paced third person shooter and add to the gameplay possibilities by making it into an RPG. The story is basically about a human who is drafted into an intergalactic organization and must stop an alien from unleashing terror across the galaxy. First off, the main character, last name Shepard, can be a male or female, and there are a variety of different classes to choose from. Like an RPG, the classes are all distinct, ranging from warriors (the soldier, with automatic weaponry and heavy armor) to the “mage” characters, who are able to manipulate machines or create force fields. You can create a party of three out of seven characters (three human, including the main character, and four different alien species), but you can only directly control the main character. However, you are able to bring up a menu during combat to order your allies on which action to take. So it’s basically your typical fantasy RPG in a sci-fi environment, and the combination is pure awesome.

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PS3 Review: Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4

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Posted by Rob on July 31, 2010 – 3:30 pm
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The first Lego video game I played was Star Wars, and I loved it. The ability of the Lego games to take a well-known franchise and tweak it into a cute, simple, and most importantly, FUN game is what makes them so good. I played quite a few of the Star Wars ones across various consoles, and enjoyed them all. However, when Indiana Jones and Batman came out, I could not get into them. I don’t know what the problem was, but I didn’t find them as enjoyable. It was with this notion that I approached Harry Potter with caution, but the fact that I love the books and movies made me have to do it. I’m happy to say that I do not regret my decision to rent it from Gamefly, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing through it.

As the name implies, the game roughly follows the storyline of the first four Harry Potter movies. I say “roughly” because, as Lego does, they add in humorous little things here and there to change it up. Also, to ensure that there can  be two people playing together anytime, there are always at least two characters on screen (which makes some of the levels where it should be just Harry weird, like the Basilisk from Chamber of Secrets and all the tournaments from Goblet of Fire.) Still, a lot of it is done very well, and the game maintains that level of “magical wonder” that the books and movies had.

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PS3 Review: Just Cause 2

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Posted by Rob on July 13, 2010 – 9:21 am
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The demo for this game blew me away. You had a grappling hook to move around swiftly, and endless supply of parachutes to float around in, and you blew up enemy fuel tanks and missile silos to cause “chaos”, all within a free-roam world. I loved the demo, and threw the game on my Gamefly queue. I got it in yesterday, and I’m sorry to report that the game is already repackaged and in the mailbox to be returned to Gamefly. The game simply did not live up to what the demo presented it to be.

In the game, you play an international superspy/spec ops guy. You are dropped onto a southeast Asian island nation and ordered to track down a rogue agent. In order to find him, you will need the help of the three island rebel armies, who are attempting to overthrow the newly empowered dictator. Thus, the game has a lot of you running around to the three armies and doing missions for them, which eventually unlocks the next story mission from your agency. Most of the missions are basically “go to this government outpost, blow up everything that is destructible, and kill everyone who gets in your way.” I only did a handful of missions, but they got old fast.

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PS3 Review: Transformers: War for Cybertron

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Posted by Rob on July 8, 2010 – 8:31 am
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First off, yes, I know the above image is for the 360. Oddly enough, it was the best picture I could find for the game’s cover art, so I had to make due. But enough of that…onto the review!

When I first heard about the game, I was nervous. There had been a few Transformers games previously, and they all sucked. I assumed that this one would also. Then I heard that it was an original story, independent of the films, and set before the Transformers ever set foot on Earth. That was interesting, and got my attention. Then I heard that there was going to be co-op and other multiplayer modes, and I made sure that my Gamefly queue was totally empty so that I could have it shipped out release date. In the end, Transformers: War for Cybertron totally lives up as a great, engaging game and also removes the stain left by previous movie-based games. I can only hope this is the start of a whole new series of games!

War for Cybertron is a third-person shooter which takes place exclusively on Cybertron, thus there are no humans to be seen…only awesome robots. The game’s campaign mode is short but very, very sweet. There are ten chapters, and each chapter has a several sub-chapters, and each chapter ends with a boss battle. The first five levels are Decepticon levels, where you control Megatron and his minions as they strive to develop the ultimate weapon, kicking Autobot butt along the way. The fifth chapter ends with Megatron acquiring his weapon, and it appearing that all is lost…until a new hero emerges. Chapters six through ten of the game are played from the Autobot point of view, as Optimus Prime and his allies fight to stop Megatron’s plans by staging a series of counter-attacks. It is done very well, in that there are two totally different campaigns (not just different versions of the same stage for each side.)

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Wii Review: Wii Sports Resort

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Posted by Rob on June 14, 2010 – 11:22 pm
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While on my honeymoon, I stumbled across a $50 Best Buy gift card in my wallet, and was itching to head to the mall and buy something neat. In the end, I decided to finally pick up the Wii Motion Plus, which came packaged with Wii Sports Resort. I enjoyed the casual games of Wii Sports, so I figured I would equally enjoy Wii Sports Resort.

Wii Sports Resort is kind of a mixed bag, with some great games, as well as some lame ones. There are twelve total, though two (golf and bowling) are basically clones from Wii Sports, but with the Motion Plus controls. Before I get into the game, let me talk about Wii Motion Plus. It’s a small device that attaches to the bottom of the Wii Remote, but the problem is that the Motion Plus is encased in a silicon sleeve, so you have to go through some effort to attach it each time. The Nunchuck then connects to the bottom of the Motion Plus. This makes the controller bulky…what was initially a nice light controller in your hand is now getting weighed down with the Motion Plus and the casing. However, it’s only a minor annoyance, and if anything I hate it more for the effort to hook it up than the weight it adds (which is actually minor, but I just want to complain about it.)

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