Posted by Rob on January 20, 2012 – 8:06 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, beast mode, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, co-optimus, cole, cole train, dungeon defenders, gears of war 2, gears of war 3, headset, horde mode, marcus, online, payday: the heist, PS3, px21, ticker, xbox
One of the best games of 2011 that I didn’t get to play til 2012
I picked up Gears of War 2 for my birthday last April. By then most people weren’t playing it as much, so I just ran through the campaign on my own. I never touched the Horde mode or any other online mode. But I felt like it was something that would be a lot of fun online. So for Christmas Gears of War 3 was on the top of my list, and Santa ended up delivering. However, I didn’t really start playing til this week after figuring out how to hook up the PX21 to the 360. Now that I started playing Gears 3 online, I’m pretty much hooked.
I met up with four other guys from Co-Optimus last night and they walked me through my first Beast Mode. I really, REALLY had a blast. If you’re not familiar with the game or mode, it’s basically a survival mode with a twist…YOU’RE THE BAD GUYS! You and up to four friends can team up playing as the Locust. You earn cash for beating up the good guy soldiers and heroes (like Marcus and Cole) and use that cash to purchase respawns of different Locust units, ranging from the usual grunts with guns to gigantic centipedes and beserkers. I’ve grown quite addicted to the Tickers, which are pretty much running suicide bombers. You use these little beauties to run up to enemy troops and with the tap of a button you explode, taking anyone nearby with you. Unfortunately there is a slight delay as you ignite, and it’s easy for enemy troops to evade the explosion. With some more practice I think I’ll get better at guesstimating their reactions and plan my explosions so they are more devastating.
Nothing’s more satisfying than blowing yourself away for the good of the collective
Read More »
Posted by Rob on January 19, 2012 – 8:09 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, collectibles, game review, local, online, platformer, PlayStation 3, PS3, rayman: origins, super mario bros, xbox
Yup, you punch and kick without having arms and legs
I was initially indifferent to Rayman: Origins after playing the demo. The brief sample of gameplay displayed a typical platformer: run about a side-scrolling level, making ridiculous jumps and jumping on top of enemies as you race to the end of the level. Also, IT WAS HARD!!! I really hate being frustrated with video games, and this one seemed like it was full of punishment. But then the reviews started pouring in, not just from review sites but also some several friends who were praising the game. In the end I decided that I had to rent it to see what all the hubub was about.
I think there’s a story somewhere in Rayman: Origins, but I definitely missed out. I think someone was snoring, and this pissed off someone else, and then a bunch of evil inkblot-looking thingys were released into the world, and then you’re running around saving scantily-clad and heavily-endowed fairies. Luckily you don’t play a platformer for the story, so this incoherent attempt at crafting a reason to be running and jumping all over the place is rather unnecessary. You control your choice of one of four characters, all who have the same exact skills and stats. This is quite silly as they look uniquely different, ranging from the normal-sized Rayman to some big fat frog dude to these two little midgets with long noses. I was hoping it would be like Super Mario Bros. 2 where each character brought a slightly different skill to the table (Peach floated, Luigi had his crazy-legs jump), but what are ya gonna do. Also, the game does support four player local co-op, so you and the family can run around jumping on old men all you want. Unfortunately, the game does not support online co-op which is a real shame. I would have really enjoyed playing the game with someone else, and having someone there with me to support me would have probably been beneficial during really frustrating levels.
Four characters to choose from, though it doesn’t matter which Read More »
Posted by Rob on January 11, 2012 – 2:20 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as co-op, co-optimus, combat, game review, knight, online, physics, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, puzzler, thief, trine, trine 2, wizard, xp
Better than the original
I enjoyed playing Trine, but with it’s lack of online co-op I was forced to play it single player. When Trine 2 came out, I was hesitant to make the purchase even though I liked the first game and the sequel sporting a shiny coat on online co-op. However, when two buddies of mine from Co-Optimus purchased it and told me they needed a third, I gave in to the peer pressure and made the purchase. I’m glad I did, because Trine 2 is definitely one of the best downloadable titles of 2011.
Let’s get a few things straight. Firstly, it is a sequel to the original game, so the knight, thief and wizard return to once again save the kingdom. As I already mentioned, Trine 2 supports online co-op, so up to three players can meet up online to take on the puzzles that the game throws at you. In case you’re not familiar with the Trine series, let me give you a brief rundown: there are three characters who each have several distinct skills that are needed to get through the puzzles littered about each level. Along the way you are on the hunt for XP potions which will enable your characters to level up and unlock addition skills that are needed to get through levels. The knight has a sword, hammer and shield and is good for blocking projectiles, breaking down walls and beating down the baddies. The thief has a bow which can be used to take on enemies safely from a distance and she also has a grappling hook which can be used to access areas that other characters cannot. The wizard is not what you would expect, as his spells are limited to creating wooden objects (boxes and planks) and levitating objects, including obstructions, other players, and enemies. The three characters have to work together to make it to the end of a given level, and often times a single puzzle may require several different abilities from each character. A great example I encountered when playing is that the thief (me) had to grapple onto a platform of water to make it spill to one side. Then the wizard player had to levitate a box he created to angle the water flow off to one side. Finally the knight had to use his shield to further direct the water onto a tiny little plant that then grew, allowing us to climb it to the next section.
The game is much prettier but this is the best image I could find with three players
Read More »
Posted by Rob on January 1, 2012 – 11:52 am
Filed under Music, My Personal Life, Randomness, Sacred 2, Site Updates, TV Shows, Video Games
Tagged as 2011, american idiot, big bad bob, bigbadbob, character build guide, firefox, ghost, google analytics, google chrome, green day, high elf, internet explorer, jurassic: the hunted, nedna, oneonta, PlayStation 3, PS3, ps3 review, rogue, Sacred 2, safari, shadow warrior, Simpsons, skyrim, stumbleupon, top ten, undertaker, web traffic, wrestlemania, wwe
With the start of the new year, I will once again take a brief look at my ten most popular blogs of the past year (thanks to the cool tools available through Google Analytics. I’m really curious to see which old blogs are still getting activity, and which new ones were strong enough to make their way into the top ten. Before I get into that, I just want to spout out some statistical info:
- My site had 69,771 unique visitors over the past year
- 9,536 of these visitors liked my blog so much that they became repeat visitors
42,852 of these viewers found my blog off of a typical Google search, while 16,831 came across my site via StumbleUpon
42,969 visitors were from the United States, 6,282 were from Canada and 5,536 were rocking from the UK
The average visitor spent 31 seconds looking at a particular post before leaving the site
31,240 visitors used Firefox, 20,858 used Chrome, 11,540 used Internet Explorer and 8,665 used Safari (I wonder if next year will be the year that Safari beats IE)
Now on to the blogs!!!
Posted by Rob on December 31, 2011 – 11:44 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, activision, big bad bob, bigbadbob, brotherhood of mutants, button mashing, colossus, comics, cyclops, destiny, game review, Juggernaut, magma, magneto, mutants, mutie, PlayStation 3, powers, PS3, psylocke, pyro, redbox, super hero, Wolverine, x-gene, x-men, x-men destiny, x-men legends, x-men legends 2, x-men legends 3, xbox, xp
Destined to be yet another mediocre Marvel super hero game
When I first heard the announcement concerning the release of X-Men: Destiny, I was excited yet pessimistic. The fact that the game allowed you to create a unique character with their own powers was a great idea, but I immediately thought about how horrible this idea worked in Activision’s X-Men: Legends game, in regards to the character Magma. I enjoyed both X-Men: Legends games in general, but how would this game, that was focused so much on a non-cannon character, end up being. I can tell you that after spending twelve hours across two complete playthroughs, X-Men: Destiny is a mindless, fun little romp yet leaves you yearning for quite a bit more. Spoiler alert: Activision has failed to live up to its work with X-Men: Legends.
At the start of the game you select one of three unique characters. Which character you choose doesn’t necessarily matter… they all have access to the same pool of powers and there are no unique missions or anything associated with each different character (though there will be dialogue changes to coincide with your selected character’s backstory.) Once your character is selected they immediately find themselves in the midst of an attack, during which they will finally discover that they are mutants. As you continue through the game your character will develop their skills, equip the genes of famous mutants, and ultimately decide if their loyalities lie with Cyclops and the X-Men or Magneto and the Brotherhood.
Your three character choices: the football jock, the ninja chick and the ex-soldier
Read More »
Posted by Rob on December 30, 2011 – 11:13 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bluetooth, christmas, co-op, co-optimus, headset, mac, microsoft, official, online, pc, PlayStation 3, PS3, px21, socom, Sony, trine 2, turtle beach, voice chat
When I first picked up the PS3 and was in need of a headset, I went with the Official PS3 Bluetooth (since for some bizarre reason Sony refuses to box even the lowest quality headset with consoles like Microsoft does) At the time it was bundled with some SOCOM game, and I immediately traded in the game once I had the Bluetooth in my possession. I’ve been using it for almost three years, and it got the job done. However, over the past year I have begun to find it uncomfortable in my ear. With Christmas over, I decided to use up some cash and treat myself (and my ears) to a new headset. Enter the Turtle Beach PX21 Headset!
Here are the things I like about it:
- It’s versatile: It works with my PS3, 360 and PC (and a Mac if I was silly enough to blow my money on such an overpriced piece of junk)
- It’s comfortable: The official PS3 Bluetooth was extremely uncomfortable when I had to jam the bud into my ear hole. The PX21 is a nice comfy set of headphones that fit nicely over my entire head and are made of a much softer material. And while the headset is wired, the wire is long enough (16 feet) where it’s not an issue at all. Read More »
Posted by Rob on December 15, 2011 – 7:42 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bluray, dead island, dragons, harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2, lord of the rings trilogy, PlayStation 3, PS3, skyrim, ups, wwe 12, zombies
I’ve been waiting patiently all day for that beautiful brown truck to pull up in front of my apartment and drop off the precious cargo. While it says it’s the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ bundle, I call it the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, WWE 12 and Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition BluRay” bundle (thanks to the Amazon promotion for purchasing the PS3.)
The first two things I’m going to do is install Skyrim and Dead Island and make sure those two bad boys are ready to go, because I’ve got a hankering for going dragon and zombie hunting.
Posted by Rob on December 15, 2011 – 5:59 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, aliens: colonial marines, amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, borderlands, campaign, co-op, gearbox, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, release date, xbox, xenomorph
Not the best screenshot but if you click on the pic you will be it clearer
I was zipping about Amazon today and for whatever reason decided to look at Aliens: Colonial Marines. I was shocked to see a release date set there for March 31, 2012 (which happens to be my mother’s birthday.)It’s still officially set for “Spring 2012″ but could Amazon have leaked the release date details?
All I know is that this is a guaranteed purchase for me. Four-player campaign co-op from the Borderlands studio set in the Aliens universe? Sign me up to kill ‘dem xenomorphs! Who else is excited for this potential 2012 Game of the Year release?
Posted by Rob on December 14, 2011 – 5:36 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, aliens: colonial marines, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bluray, bulletstorm, bundle, co-op, crimson alliance, dead island, dead space 2, elder scrolls v, gears of war 3, harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2, lord of the rings, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, saints row the third, skyrim, war in the north, warhammer 40000 space marine, wwe 12, xbox
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two weeks since I sent my PS3 back to Amazon after it got fried. In that time I’ve been keeping busy by playing on the 360. I rented Saints Row the Third and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine through Redbox, rented Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm through Gamefly, purchased Crimson Alliance and played through Lord of the Rings: War in the North (which I won.) But I still missed the PS3, particularly Skyrim and Dead Island. Even though I got my $250 back from Amazon I still wanted to know I was getting a deal.
I finally found the deal I had been waiting for today on Amazon. They had the 160GB Harry Potter bundle for $250 with a $50 trade-in credit. So the way I see it, for $250 I get a 160GB system, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II on BluRay and a game of my choice for $260. That’s just the deal I was waiting for, and I’m pretty happy. The best part of it all is that I get to choose any game I want, though I’ll definitely wait until after Christmas. Maybe I’ll pick up WWE ’12 or Gears of War 3 if I don’t receive them for Christmas, or maybe I’ll save it for a future pre-order like Aliens: Colonial Marines.
Either way, I’m pleased as punch to finally get a PS3 back in the house. Worst part is that it must be on back order or something since Amazon is quoting me with a delivery date of Tuesday, even with my Amazon Prime two-day shipping. I can’t wait to get back to the ol’ PS3!
Posted by Rob on December 2, 2011 – 12:59 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, big bad bob, bigbadbob, DVD, food lion, gamefly, harris teeter, movie, netflix, PlayStation 3, PS3, redbox, rental, saints row the third, video game, xbox
No more feeling guilty when you hand the video clerk a copy of “Disney Universe”
With my recent console dilemma I was stuck with PS3 games from Gamefly yet no PS3 to play them on. I only have a handful of games for the 360 so I wanted something new to play for a little bit to tide me over until Gamefly can send me a 360 game. Enter the Redbox. I had never used one before, and Netflix has always fulfilled our movie needs just fine. Now that Redbox offers games too I figured I would finally give the service a whirl.
In case you don’t know, Redbox is a giant vending machine located in certain grocery and pharmacy stores that dispenses movies and games. You select your title, slide your credit card through, and they pop the disc out for you to take home. You have until 9:00pm the next day to return it and only pay one day charge ($1.20 for movies, $2.00 for games). If you keep it longer it’s an additional days charge per day. The really neat thing I discovered is that you can go onto their website and see what each kiosk offers, as each one not only has a few different titles but you can also see which discs are available and which are currently being rented. You can even rent a disc off their website and have it reserved so you can pick it up later! Read More »
Posted by Rob on December 1, 2011 – 6:28 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bundle, christmas, dvr, Gamestop, Jurassic Park, microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, power supply, PS3, refund, repair, surge protector, Wii, xbox
Only slightly exaggerated
So there I was…Shell was doing some research on the computer last night, which meant it was time for me to play a bit. I turned the PS3 on, booted up the new Jurassic Park game, and was in the options screen getting things situated when all of a sudden my PS3 just died. There were no blinking lights, no beeps and blips, just complete and utter silence and stillness. I pushed and held buttons, plugged and unplugged wires, gave the PS3 a tour of all the outlets in the apartment, but no such luck. I was horrified, and it got even worse as I tried to turn the system back on without success. I was crushed.
This morning I gave Amazon a call to see about getting an exchange. I had purchased this system in September, so the 30 day return policy was long overdue. But I didn’t let Amazon’s policy stop me from getting what I wanted. I spent an hour talking to two customer service reps and one supervisor before I convinced them to give me a refund. It was a battle, but a battle worth fighting, as the alternative was to wait weeks for Sony to “fix” it, and we all know those don’t always go as planned. So I packed the PS3 up and took it off to UPS so that Amazon can do what they want with it. Read More »
Posted by Rob on November 29, 2011 – 5:16 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, alchemy, archery, argonian, assassin, big bad bob, bigbadbob, brotherhood of darkness, character build, dragons, elder scrolls v, giants, hunter, khajit, lockpicking, perk, pickpocket, PlayStation 3, potions, PS3, quests, rogue, RPG, scout, skills, skyrim, sneak, stealth, thief, thieves guild, wood elf, xbox, xp
My character, the Wood-Elf thief/assassin/hunter (let’s just call him a “rogue”) Roland
Skyrim is a massive RPG that allows you to make pretty much any character you want. While this is an awesome feature, it can also be quite a lot for the average gamer. Since there are no classes to choose from, the player is forced to build their character from scratch without any guidelines, and with so many skills and play choices to choose from the novice player can quickly become overwhelmed. That’s where this guide comes in: I knew what I wanted from my Skyrim character and through over sixty hours of character development (plus hundreds of hours of playtime logged into Oblivion) I believe I have the information you need to make an unstoppable rogue character. The rogue is also the build you will want if you have dreams of being a sneaky thief or deadly assassin as well.
Race: Of the eight races available in Skyrim I would recommend a few as being built for the rogue class. The following three races have initial skills or abilities that are beneficial to a rogue:
- Wood-Elf/Bosmer: The Wood-Elf receives a +10 to archery as well as +5 to alchemy, light armor, lockpicking, pickpocket and sneak. Wood-Elves also have a 50% resistance to poison and disease (meaning there’s a 50% chance you won’t catch a disease or be affected by poison). The Wood-Elf is my personal choice because this rogue build is heavy on archery and sneaking, and not having to worry about diseases is always a nice perk.
- Argonian: Another great rogue choice with a +10 to lockpicking and +5 to alteration, light armor, pickpocket, restoration and sneak. Argonians also have a 50% resistance to disease and also have waterbreathing, meaning you will be able to hide in a body of water to avoid enemies that are chasing you.
- Khajit: These felines receive a +10 to sneak as well as +5 to alchemy, archery, lockpicking, pickpocket and one-handed. The really neat thing about the Khajit is that they have night vision which allows them to see easily at night (which just so happens to be the best time to sneak.)
The Khajit make a great rogue thanks to their night vision
Any of these three races will make excellent rogues. They all receive an initial bonus to sneak, lockpicking and pickpocket, which are the bread-and-butter of the rogue build. Since the game is so open as to creating own character, you could technically make a sneaky Orc if you wanted to, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The Wood-Elf, Argonian and Khajit are the three races you want to look into if you want to make a really solid rogue.
Read More »
Posted by Rob on November 18, 2011 – 8:08 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, fallout: new vegas, gamefly, lord of the rings, mail, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, skyrim, war in the north
I generally love Gamefly, and most of the time they provide great shipping service. However, sometimes things take a bit slower than usual, and this week has been one of those times. I recently rented Lord of the Rings: War in the North and shipped it back to Gamefly. Now they had shipped it on a Monday (10/31/11) and I had the precious in my hands by Wednesday (11/2/11). A two-day shipping time is what I’m accustomed to with Gamefly. So after finishing it up I returned it on that Saturday (11/5). Then on Monday (11/7) my friend e-mailed me saying that Gamefly had just shipped his copy. I wanted to play the game online, so I decided to just re-rent it. They received my old copy on Tuesday (11/8) and on Friday (11/11/11 AKA Skyrim Day) I received the e-mail that they had sent out my second request for War in the North. Problem is that as of today, 11/18/11, I am still gameless. I contacted Gamefly yesterday and they responded today saying they would send out another copy of the game whenever it’s available.
You know somethings wrong when it takes over a week to receive a game. I don’t know if the game was lost at the facility, lost in the mail, lost at the mailbox, stolen, or whatever, but all I know is that I haven’t had a Gamefly game in two weeks. Thank the gaming gods that I had Fallout: New Vegas to occupy me until Skyrim arrived or I would have been going nuts!
So Gamefly…you messed up this time ’round. I don’t appreciate the fact that I’ve been gameless since November 5th. Pick up the pace!
Posted by Rob on November 17, 2011 – 11:59 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, bioshock, birthday, castle crashers, co-op, co-optimus, dead island, elder scroll, infamous, oblivion, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, ps4, Resistance, Resistance 2, Sacred 2, skyrim, Sony, trophies, uncharted, voice chat, wal-mart
On November 17, 2006, the PS3 was released here in the United States. I wanted one pretty badly back then but the price at the time was astronomical. I had went from the PS1 to the PS2, and I was intent on going for the PS3 once the price was right. And on November 8, 2008, the price was indeed right. I had $400 saved up and Wal-Mart had a promotion where if you bought the PS3 (which was $399.99 at the time) you got a $100 gift card. So I went to Wally World early that morning, waited on a line for over two hours, and eventually snagged my PS3. I’ve now had the PS3 for three years and I have to say I’ve really enjoyed it as a system. It introduced me to so many new features like online play, trophies, wireless controllers, affordable downloadable games and voice chat that I hadn’t experienced with the PS2 (no, I never played PC games).
Before the PS3, I only had a small handful of friends that I knew that played video games, and it was always a local co-op affair. With the PS3 I was able to play with people from anywhere and I made some new online friends. In my quest for finding co-op partners I happened across C0-Optimus which is a site dedicated to co-op games and meeting fellow co-op gamers. Now I never have a shortage of gaming buddies to hit up when I jump online for a co-op game.
Of course, the biggest part of the PS3 are the games. I will now regale you with tales of some of my favorite ones: Read More »
Posted by Rob on November 12, 2011 – 11:41 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as archery, big bad bob, bigbadbob, dragons, elder scrolls v, elf, giant, mammoth, PlayStation 3, PS3, roland, skyrim, vampires
I’ve spent a good chunk of time with Skyrim yesterday and today and I wanted to talk about my experiences within the game. This isn’t a review but more of a run-down of my character and the stuff he’s encountered. I won’t go into too many specifics so don’t worry about spoilers.
Let’s start with my character who I named Roland. I wanted to create a rogue/thief/assassin type character for my first playthrough so I went with the Wood Elf since they have an aptitude for stealth and archery (and I also liked his ability to have wild animals fight for him). As you level up you can assign your character perks from different skill trees. Here’s what I’ve been assigning to Roland to make him one heck of a sneaky archer:
- Archery: In Oblivion I was unimpressed with archery and found it to be too weak. In Skyrim wielding a bow is as deadly as a sword, so once I saw how devastating the bow was I focused on archery as Roland’s main form of combat. The archery branch has several perks that increase the damage of regular bow attacks, the chance of hitting a critical attack and the chance of staggering an opponent. There are also non-damaging perks like increased arrows found on bodies, the ability to zoom in and the ability to slow down time while zooming in. All this, combined with the fact that arrows don’t count against the weight capacity that you can carry, make the bow a great weapon to play. Read More »
Posted by Rob on November 9, 2011 – 7:51 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, caesar, caesar's legion, casino, fallout: new vegas, mr. house, ncr, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, trophies, trophy
Yup, it’s official…Fallout: New Vegas will be the next Platinum trophy I snag. I’ve gotten through all of the annoying trophies such as the casino and caravan ones and I have received all the trophies for using all the different weapons. I’ve also completed the game on three different occasions, so I have unlocked the trophies associated with siding with Mr. House, with Caesar, and for going rogue as a wildcard. Today I broke the casinos so the only thing left standing between me and that beautiful chunk of Platinum is completing the NCR story missions. The tricky stuff is over, all I have to do is play on until the end. It’s going to be a sweet Platinum indeed.
Posted by Rob on November 5, 2011 – 5:07 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, agandaur, andriel, big bad bob, bigbadbob, ccg, champions of norrath, co-op, dragon age: origins, Dual Wield, dwarf, eagles, elf, elrond, eradan, farin, game review, gandalf, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, middle-earth, online, orcs, peter jackson, PlayStation 3, PS3, rivendell, RPG, sauron, snowblind, the hobbit, trolls, war in the north, xbox
That scary dude is Agandaur, and I think he raided the Witch King’s closet
I’m a pretty big Lord of the Rings fan. My mother tried reading The Hobbit to me when I was like eight years old. I’ve read The Lord of the Rings series at least four times, possibly five. I own and cherish the lame 1970′s Hobbit movie. And I spent probably $500 or more on The Midde-Earth CCG game when I was a teenager. So when I heard there would be a Lord of the Rings game that took place at the same time as the War of the Ring, I was pretty darn excited. Oh, and did I mention it’s been developed by Snowblind (the studio behind one of the best hack-and-slash/ dungeon crawlers ever; Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms)? I was so excited I actually decided to pass up Uncharted 3 for the time being so that I could check out Lord of the Rings: War in the North. While it’s not the perfect game, it makes for an above-average RPG that any fan of Tolkien’s work will enjoy.
According to War in the North, Minas Tirith and Rohan are not the only areas threatened by the forces of Sauron. To the northwest of these cities, a necromancer named Agandaur is raising an army of orcs and trolls in support of Sauron. It is up to a different fellowship of heroes to defend this area of Middle-Earth while the Fellowship we all know (Gandalf, Frodo and company) head east in an attempt to destroy the One Ring. This new, smaller fellowship is made up of three heroes; Eradan, Farin and Andriel. These heroes are tasked with hindering Agandaur’s actions and defending western areas such as the Shire and Rivendell. The game draws heavily from Peter Jackson’s trilogy in a visual sense, and you will recognize the looks of creatures like orcs and trolls, as well as major characters like Aragorn and Gandalf. As a fan service to other Tolkien nuts, you will also recognize names and areas that are never or barely mentioned in the movies such as Radagast the Brown, Gundabad, Elladan, and Ettenmoors. If you can’t tell the difference between Elrohir and Gwahir you may not be as awestruck as people familiar with Tolkien’s work, but that won’t stop you from enjoying a really solid RPG.
You were wrong if you thought Legolas and Gimli were the only elf-dwarf tag team around Read More »
Posted by Rob on November 4, 2011 – 2:19 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as bethesda, big bad bob, bigbadbob, dragons, elder scrolls iv, elder scrolls v, oblivion, PlayStation 3, PS3, RPG, shivering isles, skyrim, trophies
A week from now, on the epic day of 11/11/11, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim launches from retailers to fire up a world of anxious gamers. This is not only my most anticipated title of the year, but I’m pretty darn sure I haven’t been this excited for a game ever (previous contender was Bethesda’s other masterpiece, Fallout: New Vegas). I first got introduced to the Elder Scrolls series when I made Oblivion my first PS3 game purchase after getting the system. I had heard how amazing the game was and how much replay value there was so I just had to check it out. I was blown away by the depth of the game, from the vast environment to the character creation to the seemingly limitless number of quests to undertake and dungeons to explore. The Shivering Isles expansion did so much more for the game and is probably one of the best pieces of DLC ever assembled. Plus it took me well over two years to beat the game since I would always get sidetracked into some other side quest and totally ignore the main quest.
With all that being said, I am really looking forward to losing myself in Skyrim. The graphics blow away those of Oblivion, the new dual-wielding combat system sounds awesome (you can now have one item in each hand, be it a weapon, shield, or magic spell), and the inclusion of dragons, and LOTS of dragons at that, (plus TROPHIES) mean this is going to be one epic game. I’ve had it pre-ordered for quite a few months now and I’ve just been waiting relentlessly for release day. Next Friday can’t come soon enough!
Posted by Rob on October 25, 2011 – 12:10 pm
I’ve been playing through Batman: Arkham City for the past few days and I’m really enjoying the game. Everything from the gameplay to the storyline to the crisp graphics are amazing. And then they go and throw in a little treat for Lost fans, and I couldn’t believe it. I went online and sure enough someone else had found it and went through the trouble of putting it on the ol’ youtubes. It’s not really a spoiler, and it is story-related, so you won’t miss it if you’re currently playing through the game (unless you’re not listening carefully.)
Posted by Rob on October 20, 2011 – 2:43 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, competitive, dlc, gamefly, Gamestop, lord of the rings, multiplayer, online, online pass, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, rental, resistance 3, Sony, used, war in the north
Within the past few months, more and more games are requiring an “online pass” to play online. Granted, the code is provided in all new packages of the game. So you run into this problem when you either buy a game used or rent a game, in that you will have to pay $10 (every one I’ve seen has gone for $10 so far) in order to play online. Is this fair to gamers? The game companies think so.
The Defense:
Game developers believe they have a right to charge people who did not purchase the physical game $10 to access the online co-op and multiplayer features. They argue that they should be properly compensated for the time and effort they put into creating and maintaining these modes.
My Argument: Read More »
