Tag Archives: PlayStation 3

Mass Effect 2 Complete…On to NHL ’11

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Posted by Rob on September 2, 2010 – 12:41 pm
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I beat Mass Effect 2 early this morning. In truth, had I known I was so close to the end, I would have stayed up last night to finish it. Anywho, it was a really fun game, and I can’t wait for the third one to come out next year! PS- my entire crew survived, so I will definitely be importing my character once again. I think it’s neat that I was able to play the same character from the first game through the third…kudos to Bioware on giving players that option.

I realized that, based on todays date and the fact that NHL ’11 releases on Tuesday, I should be able to snag it from Gamefly as my next game!  A nice plus to owning a PS3 and 360 is that I added both versions of the game to my queue, so I have a pretty darn good chance of getting the game next week. Although I just don’t like the fact that EA is making me pay an additional fee to play online since I’m renting the game…

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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Pros and Cons of Mass Effect 2 Going Cross-Platform

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Posted by Rob on August 19, 2010 – 8:11 am
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To the horror of 360 “fanboys” and the cheers of PS3 users, it was officially announced yesterday at Gamescom that Mass Effect 2 would be released on the PS3 next January. To add on to my anti-fanboy argument, when I looked at the post on Joystiq (see above embedded link) for this news, I saw several comments where people were either saying “nooooooo” or “this sucks now all we have is halo and fable”. That is just stupid talk, and I hate it. I would be pleased as punch if God of War went to the 360, and I think it should!While this is a major victory for gamers who only own a PS3, it also has some problems.

The Pros

First and foremost, the biggest pro is that more people will be able to enjoy the wonder world of Mass Effect. If I didn’t have a 360 I would be just as happy, and being a 360 owner I’m not crying over this…I hate console-exclusive games. The fact that before I had a 360 I never got to touch the likes of Left 4 Dead, Mass Effect, and Castle Crashers, and that I know that there are people out there in the world who have never played Uncharted, God of War, or Resistance, just makes me so angry. There is absolutely no way any gamers win from console-exclusive games…unless they count “bragging rights” as a pro. Personally, I don’t, and I think the only people who benefit from exclusive games are the system owners (Sony of Microsoft), since a person like me has to own both systems to enjoy all the greatest games. Not even the game developers win, because they would sell a hell of a lot more units of a game if it appeared on both systems.

So that all being said, gamers will win because more people will be able to enjoy the story of Mass Effect, and Bioware will win because more copies of the game will sell. It can also be assumed that, with this happening, that Mass Effect 3, due out next year, will also be a cross-platform game, which is great. Read More »

Fifth Platinum Trophy: Fallout 3

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Posted by Rob on August 18, 2010 – 3:19 pm
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It took me quite some time, and a few playthroughs, but today I finally received the Platinum Trophy in Fallout 3, making it my fifth one total (would have been my sixth if Lego Harry Potter hadn’t glitched out on me). I had to wait a bit since SOMEONE had my copy of Fallout 3 for over a year. However, when I first popped it back on I was shocked to see that I had a level 19 “evil” character, so I quickly went on a rampage long enough to hit level 20 and snag that trophy. I then started a new good character from scratch and went through the game again, making sure that at levels 8, 14, and 20 I was “neutral”, to snag those trophies, since I already had all the “good” trophies.

Along the way I picked up all the missing trophies, which included some side missions I had missed, doing some speech challenges, hacking some computers, and hunting down all the super mutant behemoths. I will admit that, in order to find everything I was missing, I did turn to the Fallout 3 Wiki for guidance. Mind you, even though I now have the Platinum trophy, I do not have all the trophies. As of right now I have 54% trophies for Fallout 3, due to the five DLC add-ons, which I am not ready to pick up now. I will wait it out a bit still, and maybe pick up one every now and then to space them out, simply because there are five of them and they are expensive, considering each add-on is $10.

Anywho, playing through the game again made me realize how much I missed exploring the Capital Wasteland. I had a heck of a lot of fun going through the game again, and I look forward to expanding it more with future DLC purchases.

Resistance 3 Officially Announced

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Posted by Rob on August 17, 2010 – 7:32 pm
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Insomniac has made it official…Resistance 3 is officially in the works (though this is technically nothing new, since it was leaked many months ago.) Unfortunately, no release date is mentioned or hinted at. The announcement was made today at Europe’s Gamescom gaming convention, and as a special treat they produced a three-minute or so live-action teaser (including chimera goodness), which I have snagged off youtube and put here. Enjoy!

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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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My First 24 Hours of 360 Goodness: The Technical Stuff

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Posted by Rob on August 6, 2010 – 5:06 pm
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I’ve had the system for a full 24 hours, and I wanted to lay down my first impressions of the system and the games I’ve checked out so far. Firstly, I would like to address the controller. It’s nice, and is very comfortable in my hand. I like how the left analog stick is slightly higher than the right one, giving you a more natural feel. I was also glad to see that there was a sync button, like the PS3 controller has, to get to the main menu, and to turn the system on. Good stuff! However, there were two things I’m not as big a fan of. First, I don’t like the directional pad. It feels kind of wobbly, as it is on a raised, circular platform of sorts. The PS3 controller has the directional just as four separate buttons, while the 360 has it as one big button. It works fine and all, but just feels a little odd. Secondly, I was disappointed in the controller power situation. I like how the PS3 controller has a battery installed right inside the controller, and to charge it you just plug it into either the system or a computer…wherever you can find a nearby USB drive. The 360 controller CAN do that, but only if you purchase a separate device that hooks it up to do that. Otherwise, your two options are to use two AA batteries per controller or to purchase a battery charging station, which is the path I chose to go. Don’t get me wrong, this is not going to kill me or anything, but I just liked the convenience of being able to use my PS3 controller out of the box and never have to worry about changing batteries. The 360 controller is still pretty awesome.

The PS3 Directional Pad:

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The 36o Directional Pad:

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I’m Finally Getting a 360!!!

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Posted by Rob on August 4, 2010 – 10:24 am
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Last week, the good folks at co-optimus.com had a contest to celebrate the fact that their database now contains over 1,000 co-op games. As I was getting ready to eat breakfast Sunday morning, I received a PM from the owner of the site, with the subject being “Grand Prize Winner.” I got excited and started cursing, and Shell was confused. I ran into the computer room and went online to read the PM, and sure enough, I had been selected as the grand prize winner. The prize is a 250gb 360 slim, as well as a copy of Crackdown 2. I gave my info to the site owner, and I should have the 360 in my possession by the weekend.

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I never talked much smack about the 360, and I was actually on the verge of buying one when I was ready to purchase a current gen system back in 2008. However, in the end I was diswayed from the 360 due to the RROD problems, as well as the high start-up cost (having to buy a system, a $90 wireless device for it, and having to purchase a Gold account just to play online.) These issues, coupled with the fact that I got a PS3 for $100 off, caused me to go with Sony over Microsoft. However, I always wanted to get a 360 as well, especially within the past year as I have made friends with people online who only have 360s, and not PS3s. Read More »

No Platinum Trophy for Lego Harry Potter due to Glitches

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Posted by Rob on August 1, 2010 – 3:53 pm
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I’ve put in a few hours to Lego Harry Potter, and the game is currently 99.9% complete. I found 20/20 red bricks, 200/200 gold bricks, 96/96 house crest pieces and…166/167 character tokens. The only character I am missing is simply called “boy”, and, due to a glitch in the game, I am unable to unlock him.

This random boy is located in the Charms classroom, in front of a bookcase. You are supposed to go in front of the bookcase, cast the levitation spell to move the books around, and the boy’s token will appear. However, in my current game, the bookcase is inactive, meaning I cannot cast the spell on it to move the books around, meaning I cannot get the character, meaning I cannot get 100% complete, meaning I cannot get the platinum trophy. I have 90% of the trophies, and am only missing the 100% complete gold trophy and the platinum. I am pretty upset over this silly glitch, as it is the only thing standing between me and my sixth platinum.

I’m perusing the internet looking for a fix, but it seems that it has been a some-what common glitch, though not as common as the “dungeon of doom”, which I didn’t come across. I hope I find one soon so I can ship this piece of junk back to Gamefly.

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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Just Hit Level 13 with PS3 Trophies

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Posted by Rob on July 28, 2010 – 1:58 pm
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Yup, I’m moving up in the world as I reached level 13 in trophies, with a total of 1,161 as of right now. That’s pretty shibby, and it’s taken me almost two years to get there. That being said, I don’t see myself reaching level 14 anytime soon…at this stage in the game, it takes a crud more trophies to get to the next level.

Recent Gaming

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Posted by Rob on July 21, 2010 – 10:15 pm
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Well I don’t want to make a bunch of little posts about stuff I want to say about what I’m currently playing, so I figured I would pop it all together.

First and foremost, I have beaten Oblivion! It was extremely challenging in the end, especially when I had to go into a zombie-infested dungeon. However, I luckily had an invisibility spell so the remainder of the game was spent sneaking around from point to point. In the end there was only one boss, who wasn’t much of a challenge, so I was able to survive and complete the game. That being said, I already started a new thief/assassin character who is just starting out.

I have Lego Harry Potter in from Gamefly, and so far I am really enjoying it. I loved the Lego Star Wars games, but I wasn’t a fan of Batman or either Indiana Jones game. However, I find Harry Potter a lot more enjoyable. On the plus side, I played with Shell a little bit, and she enjoyed it. The beauty of the Lego games is that they take some great source material, and throw in some ridiculous humor along with a lot of fun environmental interactions and a really easy game difficulty, making the games accessible to anyone. I will definitely be holding on to it until I beat the game, and then I’ll probably go through on free mode to unlock other stuff. Read More »

Close to Completing Oblivion

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Posted by Rob on July 17, 2010 – 8:34 am
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Yup, I’m doing it again. Only this time, I’m going to succeed.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was one of the first games I bought back when I bought my PS3 two years ago. I love the game, and I must have started up new games with at least six different characters, and I always had the intent to complete the main quest. However, shortly after firing up the game and getting a little bit of the main quest done, I would get sucked into the massive world. I spent so much time on all the side quests with the different factions, that after putting 30-40 hours into the game, I would be ready to move on to the next, and the main quest would go unfinished, and unattempted at that.

This time was different. I told myself from the beginning that I would focus on the main quest. I built myself a battle mage, and basically made a tank with plenty of magic capabilities. I did do the Shivering Isles main quest right away though, but only because there are plenty of good weapons, armors and other items to be had there. I also did the first stages of the Dark Brotherhood quests just to gain access to the sanctum, so that I could purchase lockpicks and the invisibility spell (makes the game sooo much easier, especially in those crazy Oblivion gate worlds). But once that was done, I went right to the main quest, and have been doing it since. I cheated a little, and looked at the Oblivion wiki to see how many other parts of the main quest there were to go, and I’m ridiculously close…only three more to go!

By this time next week, I hope that I will be able to climb to the tallest mountain and shout “It took me two years, but I have “beaten” Oblivion!!!”

PS3 Review: Trine

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Posted by Rob on July 15, 2010 – 9:23 pm
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The game received quite a bit of hype when it was released, but I was dissuaded due to the price sticker at the time. Now that this game can be purchased over PSN for $10, I decided to give it a whirl and see what all the fuss was about. I was quite pleased with the results.

Trine is a platformer at heart, with some RPG elements thrown in. The main gist of the game is that a warrior, thief, and wizard have to join forces to save the kingdom. Together, they venture across a variety of different platforming environments, overcoming puzzles and undead forces. Combat is only a small part of the game, and the puzzles (many of which are physics-based) and level navigation definitely take precedence. It is in this where you see the differences between the three characters.

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Now before I get into the individual characters I want to explain how the game works. You can play either by yourself or with up to two buddies locally only…there is no online play, sadly (it will be a shared screen, so no running off on your own.) All three characters are necessary to get through each level. That being said, if there is only one player playing the game, you can quickly swap between the characters with the touch of a button. So let’s say that you are the thief, and you are walking down a hall, and all of a sudden the ceiling collapses. If you are quick enough, you can swap to the knight and pop your shield up to protect yourself. If there are two players playing, a player can swap between their current character and the other unused character (so that no one is fighting back and forth for control of the knight or whatnot.) While you can swap out the characters, they each have their own health and energy bars, if someone is on the verge of dying, you can switch to another character with more health. Also, if a character dies, heading to the nearest checkpoint will resurrect all dead characters, as well as give them about 80% health and energy. Read More »

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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Book Review: God of War

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Posted by Rob on June 13, 2010 – 12:57 am
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Yes, it’s true…there is a novel out for God of War, which is based on the first game. Being a huge God of War fan I had it pre-ordered, and I read it during my down time on the honeymoon. I was a bit skeptical at how the author would tackle turning an action game into a good read, but I was pleased with the results.

The book follows the action of the game very closely. All the puzzles that you must battle your way through, the enemies you must dispatch, the events that occur in the game…it’s all in the book. It was a bit tough to read at certain parts, especially the three-page sections devoted to a single trap or puzzle that I already knew about from playing the game. So some parts of the book did drag on in this respect. Read More »

Rock Band 3 (and maybe Billy Joel) Will Have a Keyboard

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Posted by Rob on May 25, 2010 – 8:45 pm
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So I downloaded and checked out the Green Day Rock Band demo today. After playing through the demo’s two songs, Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Welcome to Paradise, there were a couple of ads about Green Day Rock Band, and then the last ad was the above image (except this one is from the 360 demo apparently).  As you can see, there is a icon now that appears to be that of a keyboard. Thus, it is correct to assume (as most of the internet community has done as well) that Rock Band 3 will support a new plastic instrument in the form of a keyboard.

This could be fun, since keyboards are one of those instruments that everyone plays as a child. Also, I can see the keyboard being integrated more functionally in it’s true essence as opposed to the guitar. Also, what songs will there be? Will we be getting a Billy Joel Rock Band? Only time will tell…

PSN Demo Review: Rocket Knight

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Posted by Rob on May 21, 2010 – 7:02 am
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You might recall a game called Rocket Knight from back in the day. I do, though I never played it, I know of it. Rocket Knight stars Sparkster who I believe is an opposum in a rocket pack knight armor and wields an awesome sword. Anywho, Rocket Knight is the next game in a long series of old-school games that are getting redone with today’s graphics, yet maintain their original gameplay (see Mega Man 9 and 10, Earth Worm Jim, Sonic 4, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, etc.)

The demo was a lot of fun. The game is a basic side scrolling platformer. Sparkster has a small set of moves (common for an old-school game) with a basic sword attack and a few different rocket pack-fueled attacks. Using the rocket pack, you can dash a short distance at incredible speed to get past obstacles (traps or pits) or plow through enemies. You can also use the pack to briefly hover, which will extend the distance that you can jump.

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All in all, Rocket Knight has it all…the simplicity of an old-school 16bit game, but beefed up with today’s graphics engines. As fun as it was, I won’t spend the $14.99 price sticker to get it, but if they were to ever give it a nice 50% off sale, I’ll be sold. Definitely check out the demo for a blast from the past.

PS3 First Impressions: Red Dead Redemption

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Posted by Rob on May 19, 2010 – 7:17 am
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I got to check out the game for about two hours yesterday. While I had some friends playing online, I wanted to check out the single player mode first to get a handle on the game. I did not like GTA III and IV, so I never really got used to their controls, and Red Dead Redemption has similar controls. After playing in single player for a bit, I must say that the game is enjoyable, and I feel comfortable trading in an uncontrollable car for a solid steed.

RDR is a third-person shooter that takes place in the Ol’ West. Basically, your character is an ex-criminal who turns over a new leaf and settles down with a family. However, the government comes by, kidnaps his family, and orders him to rustle up some outlaws (his ex-partners) in order to free the ones he loves. The single player has missions that move this story along, but there’s plenty more to do. You can take on side missions from strangers, hunt animals and sell their hides and meat for a profit, pick wild plants, which can be used to make items or can be sold, play mini games (like poker at a saloon), tame wild horses, and other things as well. There are towns scattered across the world map where you can go to buy and sell supplies, weapons, outfits, or get a room of your own (which allows you to save and restock your ammo.)

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