"I wanted to see things die. Not just people, bigger things. Ideas. Nations. Cultures. Gods."

Everyone must bleed. Monochromatic graphics make up your canvas and every person you maim and rip to pieces is your brush as you paint the walls red. That is the basic premise of MadWorld and Platinum Games is more than ready to help you deliver the pain like never before in their debut game.

The graphics in MadWorld can best be compared to manga, graphic novels, and comic books. A stark black and white color scheme complemented by enough blood to flood a small nation, and in one section turquoise alien goo just to spice things up. The graphics not only give the game an absolutely original look that's heavy on the styIe, but also help push the Wii's weaknesses aside, making them just as heavy on the substance end of the spectrum. If you've seen any screenshot of this game before than you know what to expect, a moving comic book where a man who has a chainsaw on his arm kills anything that moves.

It helps that the game's presentation is one of its strongest points as well. MadWorld fully embraces its visuals and presents it's story in a similar way as the plot unfolds as if you were looking at a different panel on a comic book page. The fact that a written line accompanies all of the sounds on the screen, like when you jump the word "zoom" pops up, makes MadWorld's presentation go off the charts.

But looking past the graphics it becomes obvious very quickly that MadWorld is one of the best beat-em-ups released in some time. Every level of the game is merely an arena that you're placed in where you have to kill as many enemies as you can in as creative a way as possible to rack up more points. Attaining certain amounts of points in any round unlocks new things in the arena, from new weapons, to health, to new traps that open up in the level for you to better kill your enemies with and BloodBath Challenges.

The BloodBath Challenges are hilarious highlights in MadWorld where you're basically told to play a very fun mini-game in almost every level, and it's a fantastic way of earning more points. These games range from launching enemies to hit a target found either on a nude woman's breast or her beaver after ramming a bottle of soda down their throats, or teeing off zombie heads with a golf club. Every single challenge is brutal and an absolute joy to play.

One of the highlights of MadWorld are the absolutely insane bosses that are waiting for you. None of the bosses really count towards the game's story, but they are a ridiculous amount of fun to kill. Many will tower over you, though some will face you at eye level, each more brutal than the other. You'll fight them in a fashion that can only be topped by No More Heroes, but if you love your games violent, bloody, and at times sexy than MadWorld's bosses really help seal the deal on an excellent beat-em-up.

While the game's bosses don't add anything to the story, it is worth mentioning that MadWorld has a surprisingly deep and engaging story. Though the game comes down to be a five to seven hour beat-em-up it only helps the game's story, as it never loses focus. You may be wondering why MadWorld has you maiming people on giant spikes placed all over the city, and the game is more than willing to let you know. MadWorld may not compare to any great literature out there, but it makes for fascinating pulp fiction.

The game's sound deserves as much attention as the visuals. The music playing in the background is reminiscent of the Office Space soundtrack, hardcore rap blaring as loud as you can make it. But it deserves recognition as it actually helps tell you about your current situation, though mainly be letting you know how badass you are. Meanwhile, two hilarious announcers sit through the game talking about the events happening. These guys are rude, savage and hilarious. If you've ever watched any form of sports you know what to expect from these guys, minus any sort of professionalism. If you love profanity-laden commentary that can only make you giggle while ramming two signposts down some loser's face before continuously ramming him ass first into a spiked bus than MadWorld has you covered.

Despite the praise for the game there are a few flaws that need to be mentioned. One that will become obvious right from the get-go is the game's camera. It isn't a horrible camera and you will adapt to it, but there will be times when it simply isn't looking where you want it to or expect it to. Another minor issue is that the announcers often repeat themselves, oftentimes in the same level.

Despite it's brevity, MadWorld is a wonderful, brutal and creative game that belongs in the collections of anyone that collects games or simply loves the zany mature titles found on the Wii. Heavily stylized graphics, addictive beat-em-up gameplay, over-the-top boss battles, a surprisingly engaging story, sharp writing and an oddly superb soundtrack all add up to make MadWorld one of the best games released on the Wii.

Score

I just got home from work a little while ago (damn consumerism to fuel these stupid holidays that people take for granted), and after reading some blogs about Uncharted 2 winning GotY from Spike I remembered: There's going to be a Halo: Reach premiere. So I checked Bungie.net and found it.

Then I watched the trailer.

Then I turned the lights off and watched the trailer again.

Then I turned the lights on and watched the trailer again.

Then I watched the trailer. Again.

My excitement for Reach has gone up quite a bit with the trailer. People were asking me what my most anticipated games of 2010 were just like yesterday and my response ended up something like this:

1. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
2. Mass Effect 2
3. Alan Wake
4. Super Street Fighter 4
5. Sin and Punishment 2
6. Tatsunoko VS. Capcom
7. Metroid: Other M
8. Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
9. Bayonetta
10. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

The one thing that these ten games all have in common is that I've seen them either in gameplay trailers or screenshots.

Halo: Reach has no trailers aside from a teaser and there are no screenshots. That is, until recently. With the arrival of that Halo: Reach trailer my most anticpated games list is looking like:

1. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
2. Mass Effect 2
3. Halo: Reach
4. Alan Wake
5. Super Street Fighter IV
6. Sin and Punishment 2
7. Tatsunoko VS Capcom
8. Metroid: Other M
9. Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
10. Bayonetta

Basically, this is what that first Halo: Reach teaser should have been. I'm sick and tired of developers creating trailers that are like flashing lights and a logo (Modern Warfare 2 did this too very recently).

Anyway, I tried uploading the video and it took like forever so I didn't even bother. You can find it on YouTube and I'm sure someone else has the patience to wait for the upload but it's 2 AM on my end and I'm ready for bed. But for the best quality you can check it out here at Bungie's official site.

EDIT!- GameSpot put the video up!

It isn't the most exciting cinematic ever, but this is basically what the first Halo: Reach trailer should have been. Anyway, here's what's what.

• The graphics have had a major, MAJOR, overhaul. The detail on armor, vehicles, weapons and the environment is better than Halo 3 and ODST. A lot better
• Faces look natural. It was OK in Halo 3 in 2007, but in ODST, as a 2009 release, it jut looked a little funny to have faces like that. Seeing both the woman's face as well as the Captain's shows great detail in the facial features. It's been radically improved. Like, Mass Effect quality kind of improved if you catch my drift
• Lighting is fantastic! I mean, you'll see it change to various portions of the guy's armor depending on the shadows. This is especially apparent when the Elite is in the black room and turns on it's Energy Sword.
• It looks like you'll be fighting as a squad. One thing Bungie is famous for is hitting you with info without saying directly themselves. The Captain of the squad tells you, "No more of this lone-wolf business." It seems like you'll be in a squad.
• The captain might die in the game. I don't know if I'm right or wrong on this, but let's face facts, every game under the sun has a leader and that leader tends to die and you're put in charge. The Reach teaser image shows us five Spartans. The trailer shows us six. Someone's going to die and it isn't going to be you or the girl (girls never die).
• You may be a silent protagonist. Not everyone in the trailer speaks... well, not the main character nor the guy with the skull on his face, but it's funny that four of the characters out of the five you meet speak and you don't say a word. I hope this isn't the case. I love Master Chief but it's because he is his own character. Admittedly, Bungie may be going the Half-Life/Modern Warfare route and going for the silent protagonist that has to handle the craziest events that occur. We'll see, but we've come too far for a silent protagonist.
• You'll be fighting Elites! I wasn't expecting to see that Elite. But it was a dark screen and the energy sword started from his hand until it was fully extended. As he moves the energy sword you see how it changes the lighting until he brings it to his face and opens his mouth into four parts. He looks scary, and I'm ready to beat up on some Elites. The past two Halo games I've fought Brutes, now it's time to fight the first true foes that made Halo famous.
• Spartans seem to be very worldly. Not all of these guys have the typical American voice. The Commander does, but they all have accents of some kind. Then again, it isn't like everyone in space is American. Besides, Americans are the most Xenophobic people I know.
• Spartans all have different armor. It isn't just different armor, none of them have the same armor as the Big Green himself. Being a prequel to Halo it makes sense that the armor isn't the same, afterall, Master Chief's armor was upgraded to the newest version in the beginning of Halo 2 when he returned from the Halo ring with his armor totally busted up.

We'll see whether I'm right or wrong, but the graphics are there, the promise is silently there and this looks to be the next real, and I mean, genuinely real, successor to the Halo trilogy.

Tales of Vesperia is the kind of game that once you start playing it you simply can't stop. Vesperia doesn't really do anything new for the genre, but it manages to be everything you could ask for in a videogame. From fun and exciting battles, beautiful graphics, a moody soundtrack, a good story that shines because of it's brilliant characters, wonderful dialogue, and how surprisingly mature the entire game ends up being. Tales of Vesperia is like a dream come true, especially for fans of the role-playing genre.

The game starts off at a brisk pace as you're introduced to a world run by blastia, stones that manage magic in the game's world from weapons to the barriers surrounding towns to keep the monsters out. In fact, Tales of Vesperia may be the only game that really explains why there are so many monsters running around on the overworld right from the very start. You control Yuri Lowell, an ex-knight who may get into trouble often but means well, as he chases after a blastia thief in the city. As Yuri continues on his misadventures he and his dog Repede befriend an eclectic cast of characters, from the naïve and innocent Estelle, the young and frightful Karol, headstrong and feisty Rita, the mischievous and perverted Raven and the mysterious and beautiful Judith. What initially seems as a group of clichéd characters in a Japanese game turns out to be one of the best cast of characters ever put in a game as the core group outshines and leaves behind there seemingly trite descriptions. You'll want to see how each character overcomes his or her struggle, what they're truly striving for and how they achieve it.

The characters are all brimming with sass and charm and work together wonderfully. Even victories following a battle, which are usually forgettable in most RPGs really shine as a humorous outlet for these characters to further interact with one another. Various skits come up while playing as well, though they are all completely optional you'll be compelled to see them all through, or as many as you can. They end up being the equivalent of talking heads on a screen, but the sharp writing and dialogue really help them show what the characters are feeling after a shocking event or good for simply a laugh. In particular seeing the group banter with Raven provides some of the funniest moments in the game.

One of the most surprising aspects of Tales of Vesperia's writing and characters is that it doesn't try to force a good VS evil story on anyone. Every single character has their own motivations and whether it comes down to some of the more questionable decisions made by characters, or seeing the light on how some of the villains were thinking, you never really get the idea that your group of characters are stopping evil. They do mean well, yes, but they make some very surprising choices through the story and develop really well for it. The villains you come across all have their own reasoning as well and it really does feel refreshing to fight against foes that aren't out to control the world or become gods or some nonsense. They're all merely looking out for their own interests or what they believe to be correct. In particular, hearing the final boss before fighting him hits you hard as he actually has a point for what he's doing and whether he is right or you are right is a question that's left for you to decide.

Aside from the great writing the first thing that really pops out at you in Tales of Vesperia are the graphics. From the opening intro sequence that plays to the game's title song until the finale, whether the graphics are in game or you're looking at some of the animated cutscenes, Tales of Vesperia is a beautiful game. The overworld isn't ugly like many other RPGs, the towns all look unique and the actual dungeons are absolutely gorgeous. Many will make the obvious comparison to Eternal Sonata, also published by Namco Bandai, when it comes to the game's graphics. Though they may have slight similarities, Tales of Vesperia goes for a more muted look while Eternal Sonata tries to be as unique as possible in order to properly create its dream-like setting.

The music itself is really catchy. It won't standout as something truly fantastic but it is really good. The overworld music is nicely done, each town has a unique song, from the lazy melody of Halure to the lively tune of Dahngrest, the songs help set everything up for you. Music while in battle also changes depending on if you're fighting regular foes, a boss or a battle you simply can't retreat from. They all give you a different sense of what the game is going for. The sound effects are pretty good too, especially in battle, as enemies are hit, spells are cast and so on. It isn't truly groundbreaking but it is well done.

While all of these seem like they're done well, the one thing you'll be left wondering about is the battle system. Initial impressions are that it isn't that good. You control one character and simply run and attack with either regular attacks or an arte (magic) attack or take up a defensive position. But once other characters are added to your party it opens up and you can choose which character you want to control as well as choosing which artes your party should use. But if micromanagement isn't your thing than simply let them run and attack as they see fit. Your companions in Tales of Vesperia are more than competent and will heal you when it's necessary, revive you when it's necessary, and attack with all they have when it's necessary.

As you continue to play other options will open up as well in battle. Overlimits are revealed to you after a few hours of playing and basically allow you to go on an attack spree where you can combo artes and eventually use a burst arte to do massive damage to enemies. As you continue playing your overlimit gauge will get larger, allowing you to stay in that mode for even longer. Fatal Strikes become another key part of battle. Once you combo enemies enough a light will flash on them and with a button press you can kill them off in one hit. This becomes invaluable against stronger foes that will pose a threat to you as you progress through the game.

The great thing about Tales of Vesperia's battles is that they never really feel forced. You can play however you like and use whatever strategies you choose to, but even with all of the battles you go through, it never really feels like the game is forcing you to battle. You can often avoid encounters if you choose to but the battles become so fun and engaging, along with the witty banter between characters at the end of each battle, that you'll feel compelled to keep fighting. They may not be particularly challenging but the enjoyment you'll get from simply fighting will make them more worthwhile than you would expect. Of course, the bosses require even more strategy and are actually far more challenging. They are all really fun to fight, from the beginning until the end, and as a bonus there's a secret mission attached to each boss fight and if the conditions are met for it than you'll unlock an achievement for your effort.

Tales of Vesperia is a long game but it never panders, it moves at a wonderful pace and always keeps you interested in what's going on. If you choose to wander on your own and try to discover sidequests than that's your decision, but the game always guides you in the right direction. It doesn't spell things out for you but there is a journal of events that will tell you where the characters intend to go. It will take most around fifty hours to go through the main quest. In addition, side quests, from hunting hidden bosses to searching for hidden treasures, along with the EX Game Mode that unlocks upon completion of the game make Tales of Vesperia a wonderful and lengthy package for the value-conscious.

Tales of Vesperia is the kind of game that manages to impress on all fronts. It isn't a particularly unique game, nor does it try to be, but it ends up being one of the best games released on the Xbox 360 with great characters, fun battles and beautiful graphics. In an era of gaming dominated by the gray landscapes of Call of Duty and Gears of War, Tales of Vesperia stands tall and proves that an anime-inspired cast of characters in a fantasy setting can make for as compelling an experience as any when done right, and no game does it better than Tales of Vesperia.

Score

It's no secret that I don't enjoy handheld gaming. I figure if I'm going to play a videogame I'm going to sit in front of TV or Computer Monitor and play. If I'm out, why should I play? And if I have the option of playing a console or a handheld, why choose the handheld when it's usually meant to be a bite-sized game to be played on the go? And like I said, I don't like to play while on the go.

I have endured long car trips without a handheld. Instead, I'd take a book. I'd read or sleep. When we got to the location I'd usually find a nice patch of grass, sometimes a tree branch, whatever really looked comfy, cool or dramatic (I'm weird like that) and read my book.

But as of late, I've been considering a handheld. The reason is there haven't been long family trips in a good while. Economy went down, prices went up, blah blah blah, no more trips to Yosemite, Redwood Forest, Grand Canyon, cruise to Mexico, etc. It's been atleast two years, I'd say since the last trip, if not more. Either way, I'm clearly not setting out anywhere with a book in hand. Siddhartha, Dracula, Candide, What Makes Sammy Run? and The Catcher in the Rye are all finished this year, so I've been doing a fine job reading on my own at home. The thing is, there's the waiting. And the waiting is horrendous.

"The Waiting" is literally just that. I'll go to school and at night there are screenings I attend, some in the afternoon as well. There's the waiting either after a lecture is completed, or between screenings. There's literally nothing to do at school, in the dark, by yourself. There are some other instances as well, so it isn't just unique to school.

As much as it pains me to say this though, I'll sometimes see people with their handhelds out on campus and I can only think, 'oh boy....'

Basically, I hate handhelds, but I may be in need of one. Not today, not this week, probably not even this semester. But by sometime in February, depending on how my schedule looks, I may be the owner of a DS or a PSP. There's the other problem.

Back in the day there was really ONE choice. Sure, there were some other choices as well, but everyone had a GameBoy. It was small, fit anywhere and had pretty good handheld games. Super Mario World, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission, Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/Gold/Silver and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon all come to mind for me as great GB games I played.

I'm obviously looking at the prices of these systems just as much as their game libraries. I think the DS would be the safer choice since I do enjoy Nintendo games a lot, it's a little cheaper too. But going with the PSP I'd finally own a Sony system and could go about broadening some gaming horizons and at the very least getting portable exposure to some of their console games.

DS/DS-Lite (Not DSi, it sounds stupid)- I'd go with this one, it's about $130 at most and I believe it has backwards compatibality with the GBA which should allow me to play Astro Boy: Omega Factor as well! Ignoring backwards compatability for a second, these are the DS games I'd be interested in looking into, though I'd ultimately settle on maybe two or three of them, not the whole list.

The World Ends With You- I've heard only good things about this contemporary RPG, and how it tells a story unlike any other, has great design from top to bottom and can stand up to the best games in terms of story-telling relevancy.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor- I always wanted to give these SMT games a shot. They look so cool and they only end up on PS2. This'd be the first shot!

Knights in the Knightmare- It looks too unique and crazy to pass up. I'm sure this'll be one game that people will be talking about in the same vein as other forgotten gems that didn't have any hype. From what I gather, deep role-playing and insane bullet-dodging. I'm in.

Mario and Luigi games- Possibly the biggest reason for me to get the DS are the Mario and Luigi RPGs. Both Partners in Time and Bowser's Inside Story look fantastic and are their own RPGs to go alongside Paper Mario. Plus, backwards compatability gives me access to the GBA games like Superstar Saga as well.

Zelda games- I've never played a handheld Zelda but I do enjoy the console versions. Plus, these games apparently have the same cutesy look as The Wind Waker, my favorite Zelda. The new one involves a train. BOYS LIKE TRAINS!

New Super Mario Bros.- Uh, 2D Mario on the go? Of course I'll play it.

Castlevania games- Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow are both supposed to be really good. I'll take a look, of course at one or the other, before diving into the other!

PSP (not PSPGo, that sounds stupid too)- It's about $170. So only $40 more for some added horsepower. I don't care about the other features on it, so I don't consider it as more bang for my buck. I just consider it $40 more, but more powerful than the DS. Although, that Lilac Hannah Montana Bundle is going for $160 on Amazon... I'm just sayin'. I also heard that Persona 3 is being ported to PSP. That'd be an instand purchase for me.

MegaMan Powered Up- I love the look of the game. I haven't had proper playtime with a MegaMan game, and this easily looks like one of the coolest PSP games out there. I hear it's challenging to boot, and I'm up for that!

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII- Let's face facts, Advent Children is a horrible film by anyone's standards. Cloud is a sulky, emo-pretty boy that feels misunderstood and wants to sulk around the story until the end when he gets to fight Sephiroth, who for some inexplicable reason isn't dead and has an Oedipus Complex, but comes back to life through the body of Kadaj, who also has an Oedipus Complex along with Loz and Yazoo (who the hell names these freaks anyway?) because of Jenova's Neck or something. If that made ANY sense to you at all, you are not a sane person. But apparently, Crisis Core is supposed to be really cool AND really fun. Also, it's a prequel. So while I do already know that the main character will die and set the events for that blond loser Cloud and that long haired guy with an Oedipus Complex, this is also a prequel to one of the most famous RPGs of all time. If I get a PSP, this will be one of those first two or three games I pick up, if only because I'm curious to see what all the fuss is really about (though FF13 comes out next Spring, but that's besides the point, because the overly emo trailers are already pissing me off. Can I get a 360 port of FF12, it looks fantastic compared to 13).

Sorry for the Advent Children rant, I hate that movie. But Crisis Core does look fantastic!

Tekken Dark Ressurection- I have heard it called the best fighter on PSP by many people. You know what? I like Tekken. I think Tekken is fun. And I will Super Bubble Punch any punk that gets in my way! YARGH!!!!! Fantastic looking graphics, great gameplay, excellent design. This will also be one of those first few games I pick up if I go the PSP route. Nothing kills time like a fighting game and nothing kills time better than an excellent fighting game.

Darkstalkers Chronicles- I think Morrigan is HOT! Plus, ever since I was kid I wanted to play a DarkStalkers game. Also, I think Morrigan is HOT!

Half-Minute Hero- The game is supposed to be genuinely humorous and all battles/scenarios are designed to be 30 seconds. Basically, this RPG sounds like it was designed to be made specifically for a handheld. I could use a few chuckles, and great designed games are not too shabby either!

Brave Story: New Traveler- This would probably be one of the first PSP games that actually caught my attention. It looks, simple, charming and absolutely wonderful. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the first one I picked up.

Sony games- I hear God of War and Daxter are both excellent, and it'll give me some exposure to those respective series as well. Not to mention Resistance is supposed to be pretty good, and apparently Knights thinks Killzone Liberation is the Bee's Knees.
------

Like I said though, I'm not even sure yet if I'm going to dive in or not. I'm still looking into what system can offer me what. But there's no guarantee that I'm going to buy one. I want to see what my schedule looks like, if I'll have a friend around or not during those wait times (this semester I don't). I'm also not looking at too many upcoming games right now because I'm not too big on portable purchases. Basically, it doesn't matter what's on the horizon because the lists alone that I have here may never even be completed. So I'm also wondering if I'll be wasting my money on a handheld.

We'll see, I'm just not too keen on all of it. But I do have this sudden urge, y'know? It's weird.

Eight years ago today Nintendo's Purple Purse that tried really hard was released.
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Warrior's Call

Back in 2001 when the GameCube launched it lacked a definitive killer-app to go up against Microsoft's formidable Halo and Sony's excellent line-up. But the GameCube's savior wasn't too far off as a mere two weeks after its launch Super Smash Bros. Melee was released. Melee not only stands tall as the GameCube's best game released in 2001, but for some folks it may even be the best multiplayer game available even today.

For most the real meat of the game comes through its insane multiplayer. The core gameplay is still based on the same model as the first game. Combat is relegated to two buttons and pressing the control stick in a different direction with that button will cause a different attack. There are other evasive moves and the combat requires a ton of strategy against skilled players but Melee is one of the best games of the 'easy to play hard to master' philosophy. There are twenty-five characters in all, and each set of characters has at least one level dedicated to them from their own universe. Add in items and the "oh snap, did you see that?" moments or only a second away.

While there is clearly a refinement in gameplay from one game to another in the series, the first thing to notice about Melee is just how much stuff there is to do for those that can't play multiplayer. The same CIassic Mode is back where you'll select a character and go through the stages though things are mixed up with a team composed of Mario characters, fifteen Kirbys all running rampant, giant Donkey Kong and more and the best part is that it's different each time you play. The other new modes also include Adventure, where your character will run on a 2D world attacking enemies as you advance from fight to fight. It presents a wonderful homage to each of Nintendo's various series and is well thought out. The third and possibly best single player addition comes in the form of Event Mode where there are fifty-one events to go through, each with the odds stacked against you and going up in difficulty with each stage. Some memorable bouts are to be found here. There are other modes as well scattered throughout, Cruel Melee comes to mind as one of the crazier modes, and there's no doubt that folks will find a good time playing alone.

The aesthetics in Melee hold up pretty well, they aren't quite as spectacular as Brawl or any recent titles, but it is easy on the eyes and the wonderful mishmash of levels from Nintendo history really help push the game forward. The music on the other hand is absolutely wonderful, coming with a few new tunes for Smash Bros. and a lot of remixed music from favorite franchises.

Back in the early days of the GameCube, Super Smash Bros. Melee was the game to have, and for some it's still the best available game on Nintendo's Purple Purse. It's a fantastic self-homage to the company's glory and a total blast to play either alone or with some friends. Melee may not be as wild as Brawl, but it is just as good.

Score

"It's a Me.... Oh...."

One of the major launch games for Nintendo's GameCube back in 2001 was Luigi's Mansion. Poor Luigi finally steps out of his brother's shadow to have an adventure of his own and while Luigi's Mansion may not be what you would expect, it is good old-fashioned fun!

Luigi has just won a mansion and he's out to claim it. It turns out though that the mansion is haunted and big bro Mario has been captured. Suddenly, it's up to Luigi to jump into the fray and save his spotlight-stealing brother from harm. The game isn't a platformer, but something different entirely. As Luigi you carry a vacuum, ala GhostBusters, on your backside, a flashlight and a Gameboy Horror that serves as a map and scanner of sorts. You can't jump, but you can hunt ghosts.

Combat can get pretty hectic against groups of ghosts since you will be in the dark and have to scare the ghosts with your flashlight before sucking them up with your vacuum. There are regular ghosts and Portrait Ghosts in the game, the latter of which were once trapped in paintings and are now running your mansion. Capturing them involves a puzzle and then taking them down. The real fun comes from the boss battles though, which are absolutely creative. You'll go from facing a giant baby as you run around in its crib while giant rocking horses are launched at you from every direction, to a giant shadow monster inside of a tombstone that spawns more giant shadow monsters. It all culminates in a very challenging and surprisingly epic final boss fight that really should be experienced by anyone that's into great ending battles.

Luigi's Mansion is short though and it will take most around six hours to run through it. But Luigi's Mansion wasn't designed as a Mario game. This is like an old school arcade game where you keep on playing for the higher score. The better you are the more money you'll find in the mansions from ghosts. The money is like a high score tracker and at the end of each area the game lets you know how much money and treasure you found before moving on. I've played through the game over six times and it's always fresh and fun to get better and better at it.

The graphics for Luigi's Mansion are beautiful. The mansion itself plays a major role as a character in the game, being suitably dark yet still wonderfully charming so that even a child can enjoy the action on hand. The ghost designs are silly and the boss fights are in worlds outside of the Mansion providing a trippy backdrop for everything. The music holds a suitable amount of wonder too, as the game has the ominous, haunting feeling, but when you find a Toad to save at the music becomes wonderfully upbeat and will only put a smile on your face. Another adorable aspect comes from Luigi himself as he runs through the Mansion his feet leaving dust behind him as he calls out Mario's name.

Luigi's Mansion is a wonderful and readily replayable game. The aesthetics are well done and lend the game some much-needed charm. It may not have been the next big Mario game, but it sure was nice to see Luigi in a starring role for once. Here's hoping for a sequel soon enough.

Score

Real Fantasy!

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker turned quite a few heads with its cel-shaded graphics and many fans were outraged that their favorite franchise could a take turn like this. Regardless of what side of the fence you were on for the graphics argument, Wind Waker is easily the best and most creative of the 3D Zelda games.

Wind Waker uses the same Zelda gameplay formula as seen before, but it mixes it up with creativity and fresh ideas. The most noticeable of these is that the overworld is on the ocean. Sailing is a big part of Wind Waker and you will spend a lot of time on the sea. But each new area provides that much more excitement as there is more and more hidden places and treasure to find. The game captures a sense of discovery not seen since first running through Hyrule Field in Ocarine of Time.

The combat is deeper as well compared to other titles in the series as certain moves will let you rip the armor straight off of your foes, something that other games in the series do not possess. It also stays away from Hyrule as the game is far into the future. You are merely a young boy who must dress as the legendary Hero of Time when children reach a certain age. Of course, you hate the clothing, but what young man would want to wear white tights anyway?

The dungeons are particularly exciting and in many cases the game doesn't even let you know that you are in a dungeon until it finally dawns on you. Wind Waker is such a well-realized and cohesive experience that it's hard to imagine any other game trying to match its splendor. The boss fights are suitably epic and take up the entire screen at times. The game's visuals allow these monsters to be even craftier than if Wind Waker went with a realistic look.

Wind Waker captures a sense of light-hearted adventure that the other Zelda titles do not match. In the other games you are usually out to save the world. In this game you just want to rescue your sister and hang out with a few pirates in the process. But when the story takes a turn for the dramatic you feel it more than in the previous games. The final area as well as the final showdown with Ganondorf not only exemplifies this fact but they have yet to be bested by any other game in the genre. Twilight Princess and Okami's endgames simply can't match up to Wind Waker's finale and that is a testament to its greatness.

Wind Waker's visuals stand as one of the best parts of the game. They convey emotion and that's something few games can do. Link's animated eyes scan ahead for enemies and you notice it. Other characters beam with gratitude and you can tell they mean it. The game is very well designed in this regard. Every area feels unique and exciting to explore because of the visuals. The sound is also well done with an at times light-hearted and at other times epic soundtrack that really captures the feel of the game.

Wind Waker is a testament to how great games are made. Not only is it one of the best games released on the GameCube but it also manages to be even better than the other games in the series. It has heart and ambition, two of the key ingredients for a great game, and Wind Waker succeeds on all fronts. Don't miss this creative and heart-warming adventure.

Score

I totally did this all on a whim.

Depending on your interest and overall skill in fighting games, Marvel VS Capcom 2 will be one of the best fighting games released on the Xbox Live Arcade or one of the most difficult, manic and absolutely insane games ever made. Either way, the game is enjoyable, but if you are a casual fight fan then don't expect to make it too far into this game if you aren't willing to commit to it.

Marvel VS Capcom 2's first console appearance was on the Dreamcast and later there were Xbox and PS2 ports as well. The presentation has received no noticeable upgrade, so the graphics and sound are about the same as they were before. These are Dreamcast level sprites fighting and the same horrendous soundtrack, backed by the usual battle cries of each individual fighter. The main difference between those three versions and the new XBLA and PSN versions is online play.

Depending on your skill level though, you may not even have the guts to step online, and that's the biggest fault with this game. Marvel VS Capcom 2 is hard to grasp because it's a three on three fighting game that can have any of your three characters on-screen at once filling the screen with a brightly colored attack that can combo enemies for sometimes hundreds of times. But the game makes no concessions to beginners: if you don't know how to play this game then it's all trial and error until you figure it out.

The original version enticed gamers to enter the training mode and learn the game's mechanics by unlocking the roster of 56 available fighters. In the new version the 56 fighters are all unlocked, and this is definitely good news for those who adore the game and simply want to test their skill online against other skilled opponents, but it essentially eliminates the chances of a newcomer to feel motivated to learn the ropes. It helps that all of the characters only really have around four or so move sets to learn, but with 56 characters and a lack of overall balance in the roster it will take a lot of time and dedication to figure out who your favorites are, how to string their moves together for massive combos and how to read your opponents' moves.

The game's multiplayer is pretty much the focus of it all with online play. Otherwise there is Arcade mode, which allows you to go through the game's seven stages with as many continues as necessary, Score Attack is the same idea only with one life and Training Mode, which is very bare bones and explains almost nothing to the player. On the multiplayer side you have local matches and online matches.

The difficulty of the game's single player again depends on the skill level of the person playing the game. If you have never touched Marvel VS Capcom 2 before then don't expect to even finish the game on Easy. It takes time and practice to become good enough to complete the game on the easiest mode and most folks simply won't have anything to do with that. Basically you will have to spend a lot of time in Training Mode, the problem is that it doesn't really teach you much and there's no real incentive to get into it. Chances are that if you can't even complete the game on Easy that you won't have anything to do with the online mode either, and that creates a problem for newcomers.

There is one major caveat though: Marvel VS Capcom 2 is good. In fact, it's really good. The core gameplay is just downright fun and the manic action is a blast to see on-screen. The 23 available characters from each universe make a diverse cast that makes the game really exciting to play, especially for fans of either universe. Well-known and relatively obscure characters are all here and your favorites, either by the character designs or simply their execution in fighting will be a tough task since the game's roster can range from badasses like Cable to laughable yet adorable additions like Servbot. For many beginners the Local Matches will be their go to destination if they have friends around. The game's quality mechanics will take up hours out of each time it's booted up for play.

Marvel VS Capcom 2 was designed with long-term fans in mind. If you loved the game before than the $15 asking price for this game with online play is a no-brainer. It's just a shame to see Capcom and Backbone not flesh out the Training Mode for newcomers because it does effectively limit the appeal of the game to many. However, if you have local competition around then expect to put dozens of hours into this game's multiplayer. You can go on through the whole thing without touching the Arcade Mode or Online simply because going head to head with others is just that much fun. Marvel VS Capcom 2 may not be the best at teaching gamers how to learn the game's mechanics, but it is ridiculously fun right from the outset.

Score

I haven't beaten Arcade or unlocked a single achievement. But this game is just so fun to play in local matches with people I know that it's great to just bust it out and kill a few hours!

A stripper with a Wii remote pointed straight at your heart: when a game starts like that you know you're in for a treat and that's simply what The House of the Dead: Overkill is. This hilarious, brutal, gory and sometimes sexy (if that's your thing) game is like a welcome treat for the Nintendo Wii as it reinvents the series and embraces its new 1970's pulp horror themes.

Overkill, like its predecessors, is an on-rails light gun game. You have no control over your character's motions; the game guides you through the levels. You do have control over aiming and peripheral vision, and as swarms of mutants gang up on you, you simply point and shoot. The Wii remote is a perfect fit for this kind of gameplay, eliminating the need to purchase another plastic gun.

The characters in this game are absolutely aces and include the odd couple duo of Agent G and the ladies' man Detective Isaac Washington who are both out to hunt down the nefarious Papa Caesar. These men will also cross paths with Varla Guns, an ex-stripper who has her own vendetta. The scenarios are absolutely funny, the profanity is over-the-top, and the cutscenes are intentionally done in a cheesy manner, and poorly edited at that. But it all makes the game feel like a unique experience that really should be played through as Agent G and Isaac are constantly at odds with one another as they travel through the game's areas and form one of the weirdest friendships seen.

The mutants you encounter in the game can be any sorts of person really, from rednecks, nurses, doctors, and of course hobos! The boss battles are fairly disgusting in their own right, as each boss is far mutated beyond any normal foe. The game does show you the weak spots though, so the battles can be pretty easy. The final boss battle on the other hand, in fact, the final sequence as a whole, is so well done, so grand in scope, brutally sexual in a way that only Oedipus could love, and so disgusting that it can't help but go down as one of the best finales ever put in a game.

The graphics in Overkill on a technical level are fairly plain, but artistically are quite wonderful. You'll go from each level to the other and none of them look alike. They are all based on B-quality horror films and your locales will be a mansion, a hospital, a swamp, etc. Each level is presented with a movie poster showing the names of the actors (the game's characters) and what the story will be about in that level in a cheesy catchline.

The soundtrack on the other hand is just downright ridiculous and you might just find yourself staying in the menus to hear the bizarre lyrics play out. It has a 1970's feel to it, much like the rest of the game, and it really helps push the feel that Overkill is trying to capture. The voice acting is wonderfully done, even if all of it is profanity. Agent G and Isaac will constantly be chattering as they run through the levels and it only further adds to this humorous game. The characters really are cheesy, but they work out so well, just like Gears of War's Delta Squad, they are endearing even though they shouldn't be taken seriously. The sound effects on the other hand are about average, mutants won't send chills down your spine, guns don't sound powerful, but then again, that isn't necessarily what should be expected from a game like Overkill.

Overkill is a brief experience. For those that want to simply run through the game's story it will take them about three hours. Replayability is the key though. On my first few nights playing Overkill I stayed only on the first three levels, replaying them to aim for a higher score and a higher overall grade. After about six hours spread across many nights I finally continued into other levels and repeated the same thing. It isn't necessary to play the game that way, but constantly striving to better yourself and being replayable are essential to gaining full enjoyment out of the game. Once the story mode is completed, the much more challenging and lengthier Director's Cut is unlocked providing more on-rails shooting action, just with a more traditional life system that makes the game a bit more challenging than the regular mode. Coop is an essential part of the multiplayer and any portion of Overkill can be played with another person. There are also some mini-games available to play as well, though chances are most folks will stay with the story.

Overkill also earns its M rating. Don't be fooled by this game being on the Wii that somehow it's less mature than other M rated games. Some folks may be so appalled by this game that they may not agree with the M rating, especially for the finale. Overkill is filled with blood and gore, profanity and has a thing about strippers. This game is definitely not for the sensitive folks, nor should it ever be played in front of any child regardless of their maturity or age. Playing Dead Space or Grand Theft Auto in front of a child is more appropriate than playing Overkill.

The House of the Dead: Overkill is one of the best light gun games around. It has a wonderfully unique and cheesy atmosphere. The game is brutal, intense and funny. Any of age gamers that own a Wii should definitely look into this game, as it is one of the year's best. There aren't many games quite as risqué as The House of the Dead: Overkill, which may explain why there aren't many games that are this funny and absolutely inappropriate: basically, show it off to everyone you know.

Score

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALO! YOU'RE EIGHT YEARS OLD YOU SEXY OLD DOG! Cortana, you get hotter every year, my lovely peach.

Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Those two names should be enough to warrant some nostalgic views on the days when men were men and videogames were videogames. The two games reigned over the 2D exploration genre and since then there hasn't been much activity on home consoles as the handheld is the preferred home for the games. Enter Shadow Complex, the first major release in the genre for a home console in over a decade. But don't be fooled by the marketing hype behind it because at the end of the day Shadow Complex's title is a fitting one, as it can never surpass the shadow cast over it by the games that pioneered and perfected the genre.

Shadow Complex plays just fine. There's nothing inherently wrong with the game. You run, you jump, you shoot, and you find power-ups in various nooks and crannies. It sounds like a good time, the problem is, the core of Shadow Complex isn't particularly good, nor is it particularly bad. The combat is fine, it takes place on a 2D plane but the environments are 3D so enemies can surround you. The problem is that the 3D environments actually take away from the fun, forcing you to use an unintuitive aiming system. If anything, Shadow Complex would have been better without this gimmick that really adds nothing to the combat.

Shadow Complex is a game that's coasting by on hype and hype alone. The level design is basic, the secrets are obvious and everything is spelled out for you. Shadow Complex's greatest sin is that it lacks subtlety. Where in genre greats the atmosphere truly brought you into the game, made you understand your situation by letting you discover the mysteries through the environment itself, Shadow Complex spells things out for you and it does it all the time.

In Symphony of the Night the game never stopped to explain things to you in detail, it let you discover things on your own. For instance, using a certain item at a certain position by a clock tower will cause a new path to open up, this path isn't necessary to complete the game, but when discovered it gives you an overwhelming sense of joy. A copycat game like Shadow Complex holds no such subtleties to it, it simply can't because it has the single-minded focus of trying to be like the other games rather than being it's own game.

The game goes into great detail to tell you a story about some terrorist group that apparently no one has noticed and they can somehow control giant robots and are ready to attack. Of course, one man with a flashlight and a shotgun is all it takes to stop this threat to world peace and let Americans rest safely at night.

The game's protagonist is even a ploy at recent trends. Jason Fleming is this guy, he meets women at bars, and he has a half-tuck shirt and some torn jeans. It's like Chair and Epic looked at as many Abercrombie ads as they could before designing the character, or just at Uncharted's Nathan Drake, though it really does amount to bad character design either way. There's no mystery behind Jason. He was a soldier and he hates killing. Of course, the game only mentions that to you as Jason quickly picks up a firearm and starts blasting everything in sight. Rather than let us discover Jason's hatred of violence and let us explore as we try to survive and learn more of his past, Epic and Chair saw fit to make us an unstoppable shotgun-toting badass with an unlimited supply of grenades. You can almost hear Mark Rein and CliffyB in the background chanting "USA! USA! USA!" as they over-glorify something that they try to pass off as wicked and cruel.

The game's bosses are truly pathetic. You won't remember a single fight. Not a single one. In most games that fall into this genre the boss fights are highlights of the action. In Shadow Complex it simply involves you spamming the grenade button until you win. The designs are lackluster and clearly inspired by Metal Gear Solid in more ways than one. Others might even notice a horrendous amount of GI Joe influence in the game. These machines all look alike; they never pose any real threat or challenge either. Even the finale of the game lacks a final boss, as it is nothing more than a setpiece that you are clearly meant to win. Creative enemies are nowhere to be seen in Shadow Complex and while it is a game that aims to be a bit more realistic than Super Metroid it at the very least should have tried harder than giving us only two real enemies: foot soldiers and little spiderbots that you can kick.

The graphics are what you would expect from both Chair and Epic games: they are technically proficient if not excellent. But based on artistic merit it basically is again what you would expect from both Chair and Epic: gray things blowing up. That's all this game really amounts to really, and there's no better way to say it: grey things blow up a lot.

The sound on the other hand is surprisingly good. Not only does Shadow Complex boast excellent effects, but there are even a few sections where hints of subtlety can be felt struggling to break through as soft piano music plays. But those moments are not only exceedingly rare, but far too brief for the games own good. They also manage to make the rest of the game seem that much more average, including the obviously Metal Gear inspired soundtrack. The voice acting is really good considering this game is an Arcade title, but there are no standout performances.

Shadow Complex is a case of (very cheesy) styIe over substance. The developers apparently love Super Metroid and have made that no secret. The problem is that the game plays like any other game would, it looks like any other game would, and it even sounds like any other game would. Shadow Complex is sort of just there. It lacks the feel of originality, it lacks the magic, it lacks the heart and it lacks the soul to be anything special. It is one thing to make homage to Super Metroid and other genre greats, but it is another thing entirely to blatantly rip them off.

Score

The platforming genre is almost synonymous with videogaming. However, when most people think of a platformer their minds turn to a certain Sicilian in red, hopping over turtles, mushrooms and fire-breathing Koopa Kings. Acceptable as it is, other platformers can turn the genre into an art form, an exhilarating ride that somehow captures the magic of the impossible. Mirror's Edge is one such game, coming from EA Dice, and is one of the most innovative experiences released in a long time.

Mirror's Edge paints a picture of the future that isn't too bright for the masses. In the name of safety the government controls all messages being sent from anywhere and anyone. The reaction to this comes from the Runners, a group of highly skilled individuals that carry sensitive information from its original source to the receiver. The story in Mirror's Edge however follows Faith, one of the Runners, and her mission to clear her sister's name for a murder she's been framed for.

The story in Mirror's Edge is fairly interesting, it won't necessarily open your eyes to anything, but it is motivation enough to see what happens. However, the method in which the story is told is pretty pathetic. The game employs hand drawn cutscenes that simply do not do the game justice. Some of the story is told while you play and these events are far more interesting than watching the poorly animated cutscenes play out.

You probably aren't playing Mirror's Edge for its story though. The real draw here is the exciting platforming action awaiting you. In the strictest sense of the word Mirror's Edge doesn't necessarily do anything new. You run and leap over various obstacles trying to not fall to your doom. But it is the manner in which you do it that makes Mirror's Edge truly shine. The game's first innovation comes from the first-person perspective used. It really gives you a sense of speed, danger and excitement for every leap you take and every wall you run on. The game is an exciting thrill ride in this regard.

The first-person perspective really immerses you into the game. Faith's entire body is put into it; it's the immersion of being this full-bodied person that carries the game so far. When you roll, you'll see Faith's legs coming down at the end, her hands coming forward to stop herself when she reaches a wall after running towards it, her arms moving back and forth while running. The immersion not only makes Mirror's Edge feel unique, it makes you feel like you are in absolute control of everything going on.

The second innovation is actually the game's graphics. The stark colors not only help paint how dreary the world is with total government control, but the bright, over-saturated colors that are mixed in with the bland ones really helps provide an unique contrast to the game's setting. Of these bright colors you'll want to keep an eye out for red. Anything red is not only a sign of where you should go, but also a sign of something you can interact with. The red colors are meant to show you how the world looks to a Runner, which obstacles can be used to jump, pipes to climb on, etc.

Mirror's Edge is one of the most exciting games around. Taking its two great innovations, the game sets you loose and tells you to run. The game is all about momentum and speed, in a sense like the newest Prince of Persia, but it ends up being the far superior platformer. As you get into the groove you simply just go and the game's world becomes almost second nature to you as you glide through each level. That's the beauty, Mirror's Edge simply wants you to go, not to stop and think. The folks that can't follow the simple idea of just going need not apply to Mirror's Edge because they'll only be stuck waiting while everyone else is leaping across buildings.

One fault with the game does stem from combat however. It isn't necessarily that the action is bad; it just doesn't mesh too well with the game. Mirror's Edge is all about speed and going from Point A to Point B in whatever way you choose. It's a platformer, there isn't anything complicated about it, but once the combat situations arrive the speed comes to a crawl. In most cases you can avoid combat and keep running, though enemies will keep shooting at you, or chase after you, but that only adds to the excitement. On the other hand, there are sections where you might be stuck inside and your best bet is to fight. Depending on the number of enemies it may be a quick fix or a quick death. The combat simply isn't as well implemented into Mirror's Edge and the game feels far more natural when you run without a weapon in hand.

Mirror's Edge might have the great graphics and gameplay, but it also brings the noise. The game's sound design is magnificent. When you run, you can hear Faith breathing, hear her every footstep. When guards fire their weapons it will make you move quickly in the other direction. These aren't peashooters that your enemies are carrying and they sound deadly. And when a helicopter is chasing after you, firing at every chance it gets, as you run across rooftops you'll know you're playing one of the best sounding games ever. Add in the wonderfully ambient music and Mirror's Edge is a real knockout for folks that take their audio seriously.

At the end of the day, Mirror's Edge is a platformer, but it's also one of the most important and best platformers ever made. It follows it's own path and separates itself from other games in the genre with bright, contrasting graphics, and fully immersive gameplay that sucks you into the world. Despite some horribly animated cutscenes, Mirror's Edge arrives in high styIe and teaches people one of the simpler things in videogames: just go.

Score

Relish this treat kiddies! It isn't everyday that I review a game on a platform I typically don't play videogames on. Of course, I'll try and net in a PS3 review one of these days, but the only games I've played are Call of Duty 4 (already reviewed 360 version) and Guitar Hero III (already reviewed 360 version).

He's alive! So happy!

This game is awesome!

He died... he died.

Punch-Out is back for a new generation of gamers and one that should readily appreciate just how fun, exciting and addicting a game like this can be. The first two installments were released originally on the NES and SNES, but the series never really continued from there until this year on Nintendo's little motion-sensing console! The charm, spirit and challenge are all intact and ready to give you the old one-two punch that only 'fun' can.

Little Mac and Doc Louis are back. The 5' 7" 107 lb kid from the Bronx and his chocolate obsessed trainer are ready to take on the world, starting with Glass Joe. A lot of people tend to love the underdog. There is something particularly exciting about seeing some young up and comer handle the big boys and be crowned champ. But Punch-Out!! lets you experience that for the entire time you play through. Little Mac doesn't look like the kind of person that should be allowed to walk alone at night let alone legally enter a boxing ring against beasts like King Hippo, but that's part of the joy. You are this little guy and you are going to dole out a whooping to anyone that comes your way, or more likely earn a whooping or two first but that's besides the point.

There isn't much story to Punch-Out!!, you are simply Little Mac and you have spent your time training and are ready to fight in the ring. The game doesn't set much up for you; you just enter the first fight and begin. The gameplay is very pattern-based making Punch-Out!! unlike any other fighting game out there. In fact, some might even call it more of a puzzle game. You dodge, duck, and punch. There isn't much else to it. What makes the game exciting is every unstoppable opponent you face off against, with the exception of Glass Joe.

The other boxers have their own sets of attacks, and while much of it is pattern-based you should be aware that they do mix up the patterns all the time. So instead of focusing on your opponent's patterns you have to focus on their movements. What are they going to do so that you can read their moves and find an opening or create an opening? That's the name of the game. The match may start out with your opponent using the same patterns but as you continue fighting him he will mix things up, and in many cases use some one-hit KO moves. You cannot slack off in Punch-Out!!, you have to be aware during the entire fight. Even if you knock your foe down, keep Little Mac punching the air since it will recover stamina so he can fight longer when the other boxer gets up.

As for the game's cast of loony fighters, they are absolutely fantastic and breathe character and life into the game. Seeing these cartoon-like graphics and each gargantuan (some of them practically fill up the whole screen) opponent act in their own unique and silly manner during the fights makes them so exciting. The fighters are like over-exaggerated racial caricatures but no one should find them offensive, they are all in good humor and work wonderfully for the game. Nor does Punch-Out!! discriminate since it clearly has a hand in putting up some wonderfully silly characters from anywhere, whether it's a fighter from Hollywood, Japan, India or Canada, the game's cast of characters simply rock and do a wonderful job of making Little Mac seem so endearing and Doc Louis look like a crazy chocoholic.

The characters all sound excellent as well and the punches landed sound authentic to the feel of the game. The music is also wonderfully catchy. However, there isn't much to the game's graphics aside from the characters, nor is their much to the sound aside from the characters. However, it also makes those characters seem so much better than they should. The entirety of the gameplay is focused on you and your opponent, so it makes sense to focus the graphics and sound on that as well, and it really helps make Punch-Out!! not only one of the best looking Wii games, but also a game that would look good even on the more powerful consoles.

Punch-Out is challenging. There's no other way of putting it, this game will beat you if you hail from the impatient, button-mashing group of gamers. It takes patience, dedication and practice to make it through the game's various tiers. Long time Punch-Out fans should have no trouble getting through the game's cast of thirteen fighters, but newcomers will find each victory to be blissfully rewarding. However, the game doesn't stop there. Once you become the champ you have to defend your title. Title Defense is going to be what old-time fans have been craving for years. The other fighters are all sore that you beat them and they want payback. They are tougher and more resilient and their new tactics might just cause you to even lose to Glass Joe, and no one loses to Glass Joe.

But Punch-Out is like a buffet of gaming goodness since it doesn't stop there. The real meat of the game comes, surprisingly, from Exhibition. Every fighter you defeat is available in Exhibition. But it isn't the fact that you get to fight these guys at any time you want, it's the challenges that are waiting for you. Each fighter will have three different challenges that vary not only from challenge to challenge but also from fighter to fighter. Some challenges are easy, like landing every punch you throw without have them blocked, while others are a bit more challenging, like knocking King Hippo's crown off of his head before knocking him out. There is tremendous replay value here, and the game will keep just about anyone occupied.

Punch-Out!! also incorporates a multiplayer mode, but it simply isn't very good. It amounts to two boxers in a ring throwing punches at each and if one gets angry enough they'll become an Incredible Hulk version of Little Mac and destroy the other guy. It is creative in concept but is overall unnecessary. Punch-Out!! may technically be a single-player game but it truly shines in a party setting when everyone is taking turns fighting and losing, throwing out advice and laughing, and generally having a good time at watching people come so close to winning and then losing it all. Punch-Out!! is in a sense a better party game than the many multiplayer games out there since even the people not playing become emotionally involved in what's going on.

As with many recent Wii games there are various control options to choose from. Punch-Out!! lets you use either the Wii remote held sideways on it's own or to fight with motion controls using the remote and Nunchuk attachment. Both of these options are also compatible with the Balance Board. While holding the Wii remote sideways is probably the most accurate way of playing, the most fun way is easily using the motion controls. I myself have never told anyone who has come over to play the game about the other control options simply because they aren't as engaging. When the motion controls are used people just get into it. They start moving their feet, ducking when they make Little Mac duck, bobbing side to side, and literally putting their entire body into the punches they throw. In fact, that control option alone is what makes Punch-Out!! so engaging as a party game. It's a marvelous way of playing and there simply isn't enough praise that can be said about the controls.

Wonderful motion controls, an endearing cast of characters, and excellent gameplay make Punch-Out!! one of the year's best. If you own a Wii you owe it to yourself to play this game.

Score

Back in 2005 Resident Evil 4 changed the entire survival-horror genre and in its wake came other games that were influenced by it in some way. The most obvious of these inspirations is Dead Space, a lovingly crafted survival-horror experience that still manages to adhere to genre standards but still stands out on its own with unique ideas and gameplay twists that truly make it more than a mere homage to Capcom's masterpiece. Dead Space is a radical improvement of a tested formula and is easily the new standard for survival-horror games.

Dead Space begins with you, Isaac Clarke, an engineer being sent to investigate the USG Ishimura, a deep space mining ship. Upon landing with your crew it becomes clear that something is amiss, and the game's frightening opening sets up the rest of the mood. The story will take some twists and turns as you play. It is a very intriguing story if not particularly unique. Despite that fact, you will feel compelled to play to see what happens next.

From the very beginning of the game there is no HUD. Everything is directly linked to your suit: your health, inventory, stasis, objectives and more. With a simple press of a button any of those will come up, though they will never pause the game. In Dead Space, no matter what you are doing the game never stops. Even conversations with other characters away from your position appear on a video monitor directly in your suit. There are no elements to break up the atmosphere, the gameplay or really anything; you simply just play.

Should you by chance get lost or haven't played in a bit the game also incorporates the use of a guide. You press down on the right thumbstick and a blue line shows you the general direction you should be headed in. The idea is reminiscent of Fable II's guide though that one is always on, or Perfect Dark Zero's guide that shows up only when you become lost. Dead Space's guide is at your command at any time you need it and is incorporated, again, straight into your suit. It really comes in handy, especially when you need it most.

Your foes are the Necromorphs, disgusting, savage beasts that deserve only to be killed by your hands. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and you will need to mix up your strategies for each one. The Necromorphs are wily foes though, some will pretend to be dead in groups of corpses and attack you when it is least expected. Others will sneak up on you, and they'll get you good if you don't pay attention.

The Necromorphs may be hideous and sometimes crafty foes, but fighting them is the best part of the game. EA has called Dead Space's combat "strategic dismemberment" and silly as the name sounds it absolutely applies to the game and works wonderfully. The focus is taken away from shooting your foes in the head. Instead you have to cut off their limbs. It's gruesome work, but it's also very rewarding to stand in a room filled with the severed limbs of all of your foes floating with their destroyed corpses.

Sometimes you will have to fight enemies in zero gravity situations and on rare occasions, without oxygen. Fighting without having the ability to breathe may ratchet up the intensity but the encounters are brief. The zero gravity situations on the other hand are truly fantastic. You can jump from wall to wall and enemies can attack from any direction. It's a nice change of pace and the areas for zero gravity are nicely interspersed throughout the game.

You will also have two other powers directly linked to your suit and those are Stasis and Kinesis. The two powers are used more or less for puzzle solving though they do come in handy for combat as well. Stasis will slow down fast foes and give you a breather when you need it most while kinesis lets you throw objects at foes, whether it's a fire extinguisher or one of their own torn limbs.

Many of the weapons in Dead Space are truly satisfying to use against the Necromorphs, though not all of them work as well as they should. There are seven weapons total in the game and you may carry up to four weapons at a time. A lot of them are great for cutting off limbs but others, like the Flamethrower, simply do not work that well with Dead Space's combat. Regardless, everyone is bound to have their own favorite sets of weapons and with each one upgradeable in various areas you can tear through the Necromorphs with all of your favorites.

One weakness to the combat is the boss battles. Dead Space has three of them and while all three of the bosses are huge, screen-encapsulating monsters, they are absolutely disappointing to fight against. All three of them have the same weakness, giant yellow balls that explode when shot at, and it not only makes them far less intimidating than they should be. In fact, the battles against some of the stronger foes you encounter in the game are more exciting and action-packed than any of the boss battles. But disappointing bosses simply cannot ruin Dead Space's gruesome combat or spine-tingling atmosphere.

Dead Space is a horror game, though the actual horror seems to stop after the first third of the game. From there it seems like a given quantity. You know how the enemies will act and react to your presence. But the game still keeps you on edge at all times. Dead Space's atmosphere is absolutely chilling, gruesome and haunting. The game is just so suspenseful that you won't open a door without having your weapon raised first. The organic growth on the ship, the corpses of the Ishimura's crew, blood splattered on the walls, and the flickering of lights everywhere. Dead Space nails the visual department with technically proficient graphics and the right sense of artistry to make your fear very palpable. And while it seems like the horror aspect comes to a close too soon, it surprisingly picks back up for the final few chapters.

But the sound is the one true claim to fame here. Dead Space's sound design will wrack your nerves. From the sounds that thump out of your view, a lullaby playing over a room full of corpses, the shrieks of enemies before the ambush begins, moans of suffering people still left on the ship as they kill themselves off. What few survivors there are seem hard to trust but what choice do you have? Their voices whisper fear, but they are in the same hell as you and want out as fast as possible. The music is so underplayed; in fact, it's hard to remember any of it being played in the campaign. The whole game is filled with your heavy breathing, the ambient sounds of this ship once filled with life, and the footsteps of something away from your line of sight.

Dead Space is a marvelous game; in fact, Dead Space is the best survival-horror game since Capcom's Resident Evil 4. It is a deeply satisfying and gruesome experience that has its fair share of intrigue, gore and suspense. The chilling atmosphere not only rivals that of games like F.E.A.R. and BioShock but it utterly destroys them. The game may hold a few too many similarities to Resident Evil 4, have less than entertaining bosses and the scares may disappear for the mid-game, but those minor grievances don't hold Dead Space back at all. If you want a grisly, suspenseful, well-designed and oftentimes frightening game than Dead Space is easy to recommend.

Score

Originally intended as a three-hour expansion to the superb Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST finally arrives and is anything but an expansion pack. Taking place mere moments before Master Chief destroyed the first Scarab in Halo 2, you are an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, ODST, known only as "The Rookie." Your squad has been given orders to drop into the Covenant ship holding the Prophet of Regret that's still hovering over New Mombasa. As you drop the ship enters a slip-space rupture and the iconic cast of the Halo trilogy follows after them as your drop pods crash into one another and the squad spirals out of control in the coolest opening in a game since Quake II.

You wake up six hours after the drop; your pod crashed into a building and the only way down is to jump. The first thing you'll notice after jumping down is the new health system. The health bars are back and the rechargeable shields are gone. Your first order of business is to find one of the health kiosks around the city before setting out. An AI called the Superintendent will be there from the very beginning to help guide you through the city. It will have helpful hints that flash warnings to keep back or arrows to guide you through certain areas, and in some cases, detours. Either way, it's a creative guide and while not necessary to enjoy the game, following the helpful hints of the Superintendent only make ODST that much more satisfying.

As an ODST you aren't as tall, swift or strong as a Spartan and the game makes that evident from the very moment you touch down. The new health system (or is it the old health system) adds an immediate benefit to Halo 3: ODST: the Covenant are scary again. And the dark, gritty feel of the city only adds to that feeling.

The most noticeable thing about Halo 3: ODST is the atmosphere: the game absolutely nails it. If ODST were not as atmospheric as it is it would have been a lesser game. Bungie had stated that they were taking their cues from Noir and it's a breath of fresh air for Halo. The entire point of Noir is to tell the story more through the visuals and sounds than anything else and as you play as The Rookie you'll see the destroyed city, dead soldiers and Covenant all over the streets, phones ringing off of the hooks, tickets being spewed out by machines and cars flashing their lights on and off as the sirens tear through the night. Add in an ODST's relative fragility compared to the Master Chief and you're suddenly all alone in a huge city with a half-empty submachine gun, Covenant forces that tower over you in combat and a whole lot of loneliness.

Combat still feels like Halo and that's a very good thing, but it's the subtle changes that make it seem different. You can't dual-wield as an ODST, so you need to be more careful with which weapons to go forward with in any situation. And with your more fragile state combat isn't quite as gung-ho as in previous Halo games. That's where the new VISR comes in. It's basically night vision and it highlights enemies in red, friends in green, weapons in blue and important objects in yellow. It helps penetrate through the darkness of the night and let you know what you're getting into. In previous Halo games, avoiding combat would have been pointless, but in ODST sometimes it's just a smarter idea to not get caught by the patrols or the squads holding down certain locations. Being in the city at dark it's a wise idea to keep your VISR turned on as often as possible since there could be Jackal snipers above any rooftop or Brute patrol squads, and if you're truly unfortunate a pair of Hunters will not only work your health down but whittle away your ammunition and supplies.

As The Rookie your job is to find out what happened to the rest of your squad. Scattered throughout New Mombasa are clues that can be found using your VISR. These clues, once located, will provide one of the most creative methods of storytelling I have ever seen. The clues take you back in time to when your squad mate, whichever of them it was, was fighting and how their situation came about. These flashback missions play out like a greatest hits compilation of all things Halo. You're given UNSC Marines to fight alongside, tons of firepower and a lot of enemies. Unlike The Rookie's intimate crawl through the city at night, the flashbacks have all the bombast of previous Halo games. Vehicular battles, rockets, waves of enemies and more await you as you go through the stories of your squad mates.

Upon the completion of each flashback mission you're returned to The Rookie as he continues his search. However, the New Mombasa hub is more than just a means of walking from one flashback to the other. There are audio logs, thirty of them, hidden throughout the game, that tell their own story. These audio logs are called Sadie's Story and gamers with a keen eye will find them tucked away, some in obvious spots, and others deviously hidden. The story told on it's own is actually not that good. In fact, the less said about Sadie's Story the better. However, keen observers will find that each arc of the story depicts one of the nine circles of Hell, and that finding all of the audio logs not only nets you achievements but also ties into the game's main story and broadens your understanding of it. It's a very creative method of using audio logs, it just would have been better if the actual story told through them were a bit more compelling at first glance.

The campaign also includes coop, however it ruins the game. Coop is a mode added into ODST simply because every other Halo game has it, but it isn't necessary. The atmosphere and loneliness of the game are lost, as it simply becomes two to four guys running through the city. It isn't well implemented into the flashback missions at all either since again, it's two (or more) of that same character even if there are others around. If you're going to play cooperatively there's another mode, a multiplayer mode that blends together the competitive spirit of Halo and the excellence of it's single-player: Firefight.

Firefight is Bungie's take on the new "it" multiplayer mode that was originally brought to the forefront in Resident Evil 4's Mercenaries mode and later popularized by Gears of War 2's Horde mode. It's nothing new, but with the core Halo formula running the gameplay Firefight ends up feeling fresher than it should. You can play the mode on one of ten maps, two of them are set at night making your VISR a necessity, and the mode can be played with one to four people making this the destination of coop gamers.

Firefight is a success because not only does it feel competitive since you'll be aiming for the high score but it's also a very cooperative mode with other players. You'll have a pool of lives that are shared with each of the players. This emphasizes cooperation since one weak link can ruin the entire match. Firefight also feels fresh because of the randomization of each group of enemies. In Gears of War 2 there were ten different waves that repeated five times, making for fifty total waves. In ODST everything is random and it's never-ending. As you play more and more skulls will be activated and these will cause you to mix up your strategies each time. One will cause bullets to deflect off of enemy shields; another will cause them to always avoid danger while another has the Covenant throwing grenades at you with any chance they get. Teamwork is a necessity though skilled lone wolves will also find one of the most rewarding modes around.

One aspect of ODST that demands to be praised is the sound. The soundtrack is marvelous. There is no amount of fancy hyperbole that can be used to describe it because there's only one way of saying it: it's mature. ODST's soundtrack is refined, soft and delicate when it conveys the loneliness of The Rookie. It's a pleasant surprise when you hear it, because the music just sweeps through and adds to the game's wonderful Noir feel. There are also the musical pieces that will get you pumped up for the fights ahead, though these pieces are typically found in the flashback missions.

Playing as The Rookie at night, the game comes alive. You'll be able to hear enemies following you. You'll be on edge as you hear two Hunter's prowling the streets or a group of Brutes that spotted you. The sound design in Halo games has always been excellent, but it's the different spin on the soundtrack that really boosts ODST's atmosphere.

The visuals from an artistic standpoint also add to the game's atmosphere. The city is dark, oppressive and moody. You are alone and it's up to you to solve the mystery at hand. The cars lighting up, the ticket machines going out of control, they all seem so real that you can't help but believe in ODST's world. From a technical standpoint however Halo's engine is showing it's age. It looked good in 2007, but it's time for a new engine that can take better advantage of the system. This is especially obvious in the character models. The world might look great, the guns too, but the characters are looking a little outdated. Then again, there is a reason why it's called Halo 3: ODST and not Halo: ODST.

As an added bonus for customers, ODST comes with a second disc that contains the full Halo 3 multiplayer experience. Not only does it include the three new Mythic Maps, but it also includes all of the previous downloadable maps and everything that came packed in with Halo 3. These maps make one obvious point: if you have never played Halo then ODST is the best place to start. It is it's own stand-alone game with it's own story that's wrapped up by the game's end. But as an added bonus it also includes Halo 3's full multiplayer suite.

Halo 3 ODST may have been originally intended as an expansion pack to Halo 3, but it ended up exceeding expectations. This is a case of quality over quantity. The game's campaign may be a few hours shorter than Halo 3's and it's multiplayer may be cooperative only, but ODST shows just how flexible the core Halo engine is. An innovative storytelling method, wonderful atmosphere, exciting campaign and addictive multiplayer make Halo 3: ODST not only one of the year's best shooters but also one of the Xbox 360's best shooters.

Score

Much to the disbelief of many, Halo was originally envisioned as an RTS game. Somewhere along the way Bungie decided it would be good fun to make an FPS instead and an entire genre thrived on consoles since then. Eight years after the fact Ensemble was called upon for their swan song: Halo Wars. Halo Wars may have a redundant title but the game itself is anything but. The genius of it in fact doesn't stem from the insane amount of features and new ideas shown in the game but in its simplicity.

Halo Wars is designed not only with Halo fans in mind but also with console gaming in mind. It strips away the cumbersome commands and features that other console RTS games are saddled with; there are no modifier keys, resource collectors, etc to keep track of. You are given a mission and a base and from there resources are flown in to your position and you choose how to approach the battle.

Many genre diehards that live and die by the keyboard and mouse will find Halo Wars a simplistic affair that won't quite satisfy their needs. But that's the point. Halo Wars succeeds where other console RTS games failed. The controls are easy to use, you never forget which button does what, you don't have to press on the d-pad and then press that button again to find another feature and so on. Simplicity is the name of the game and when all you have are four buttons to play with that sounds like a good game plan.

The experience itself is very streamlined as you push forward or defend certain points of interest. The missions don't go on for hours and hours like many other strategy games, RTS or otherwise. They were designed with consoles in mind, taking anywhere from twenty minutes to maybe an hour for the longer and more difficult sorties. But it works, and that's where Halo Wars succeeds. It strips away what other PC ports do not and it works wonderfully because of it.

In the game's various missions you must typically scout out a base or start with one. These bases always look the same and are not customizable; you may only make them larger to add in more buildings and turrets. From there you train your units in your base(s) and go after your objective. The missions all have an action feel to them and come in two flavors. There are the linear ones where you follow a set path across the level or there are missions where you are put in a large area and told to tackle the situation in whatever way seems best. The missions do get exciting though, one of them literally has your ship under attack so you will call units out of the ship as you fight on top of the hull to defend it. Another has you helping Spartans evacuate a city being attacked by the Covenant.

These missions start out as very simple for the beginning of the game, though that is by design. These missions teach you how to play the game and while fun they won't give you the sense of fulfillment and excitement that the rest of the game takes starting from the fourth mission.

While simplicity does a lot of favors for Halo Wars in the overall gameplay department it also carries over to other aspects of the game that didn't exactly require it. There is an overall lack of variety in the units for one, which is a bit of a shame. You'll have access to Warthogs, Scorpions, UNSC soldiers, Spartans, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, Hornets and the usual Halo arsenal along with a few new ones created for the game. However, these units are not varied enough. They are all upgradeable but once you get used to what you have you know how to use it all. The same is true for the Covenant units in the game and they control almost identically to the humans. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would have been great if there were more units, or at least if the Covenant units played a bit more differently than the human units.

Another point of contention for many is that the campaign is only playable through the perspective of the UNSC. The Covenant is only available in multiplayer. It would have been nice if there were a second campaign for the Covenant to extend the campaign's lifespan and considering the quality of the game's actual campaign it would only be a bonus for the player to have more to dive into. But the campaign that is present in Halo Wars is actually fun to replay as there are Black Boxes and Skulls hidden throughout to find and the strategies can be mixed up in some of the missions.

The multiplayer has two different gametypes, Skirmish and Deathmatch, so it is a bit of a disappointment in that sense as well. This game reaffirms that while simplicity helps the game on the whole it shouldn't have been applied to every facet of it. The multiplayer has some well-designed maps for various types of matches. They're all wide open for the most part and simply involve you destroying your opponent, so in a sense the two modes practically play the same way too. The multiplayer however is fun for those looking for that sort of action on their Xbox.

The story of Halo Wars is largely forgettable. It's a simple story that takes action to the forefront and is largely told through gorgeous CG cutscenes. The one that takes place prior to the final mission is full of so much fanservice that you can't help but smile. The story told in Halo Wars is nowhere near as compelling as the story told through the trilogy nor is it as well told and nowhere near as deep. The game's plot is entertaining while it lasts but it's sort of funny to see the RTS game in the series tell a more action story while the FPS games take on a more dramatic edge with their story.

The game's graphics look great, and those CG cutscenes only help it that much more. It's bright and crisp; the units are large and well designed. You'll never squint at the screen wondering what you're fighting against. Ensemble did a great job of creating these large, excellent units and the structures and levels have that authentic Halo feel to them as well.

The same can be said of the sound in the game. You may be telling various Gauss Warthogs to attack something instead of controlling it yourself but when they move and fire it sounds like Halo and Halo sounds fantastic. The music in the game also captures the spirit of Halo. It's very surprising to see an RTS game capture the spirit of the series, but it does so without any trouble. Whether you're watching Halo Wars or listening to it the game sounds like authentic Halo.

Simplicity is the name of the game and for that reason alone Halo Wars is a great stride forward for the RTS genre on consoles. It's a bit unfortunate that the same rule was applied to almost everything about the game, from units, multiplayer, playable campaigns and so on, but the game doesn't suffer for it. The quality of it is so high that while it isn't the greatest RTS ever made, nor is it the greatest on consoles, it does take the right steps to ensure the genre's success on consoles. For everything Halo Wars does it ultimately ends up being the catalyst of change the genre needs. That and it's just cool to give a squad of Spartans orders on how to kick ass!

Score

Number 51... damn... 51 reviews. I feel old as ffff....

This might be better as a forum post but I know better than to ask those people for an opinion. Four and a half years I've been on this site and I know better than to waste my time with them. If I'm wasting it I may as well waste it with the people I like.

I'll set up the story so you guys know what's going.

I was driving back home after visiting my friend. Today was a cool day. Around 70 degrees Fahrenheit or so the whole time. But the weather was OK for a while. As I was driving home though I noticed that the wind was picking up very heavily. I took my exit and noticed that the sign that says "Exit 116" or some number combo, it doesn't matter really, was blown off of it's post... like, the whole thing.

So I pulled up home and got out of the car and the wind had picked up like crazy ever since I left my friend's place. I took the garbage bins inside and as I walked in I was informed that the computer had shut off on it's own. I inspected it, turned it on and the thing was fine. I decided that since I was home however I would play some videogames. Considering that I have five new games (Dead Space, Perfect Dark Zero, Tales of Vesperia ^_^, Crackdown and Project Gotham Racing 4) it seemed like a good idea. The fact that I had done my socializing for the day also made it seem like a good idea. And the suddenly crappy weather outside made it seem like a good idea.

So I popped in Dead Space and played for a good while, like 30 minutes or so. And then poof. The computer shuts off, the Dish satellite goes insane and the Xbox 360 red rings all at once. My reaction was, "oh... great." My cousin woke up and said, "great, I guess we're playing Wii?" (He was asleep on the couch).

So I turned off everything and waited a bit, read about 100 pages of a book I'm supposed to have read by Thursday (I should state that read the FIRST 100 pages ) While I was reading the book though the lights in the house were flickering as well.

The thing is, I want to blame it on the weather. When my 360 first got the RROD last year I was playing Fable II. The game started stuttering for a few moments and then the console died. This one was just a flash in an instant. The 360 just got the RROD in an instant despite the fact that it didn't show any of the usual signs of the problem before it occurs. Not to mention the computer and the Dish satellite crapping out simultaneously with the 360.

So, tonight I thought I had an Astronomy Lab due... turns out it's due November 3. So I decided, what the hell, I'll play some games. First I popped in Dead Space. I got all the way to the part where the 360 turned off and then kept playing afterwards until the end of the level. I've got three more chapters, so I'm basically at the end of the game. Just need to kill 30 enemies with the Contact Beam and then I'll have all of the weapon achievements!

After finishing the level I changed games and popped in Perfect Dark Zero. I completed the whole level and turned off my 360. It seems to be running just fine, as well as it ran when I first got it actually. The three red rings (RROD) mean there's a "general hardware failure" and I guess that it is what basically happened because of the wind, right?

You guys think I should get this checked out? Or should I just chalk it up to the weather? Have any of you had problems with your own consoles, whether it's a 360 or not, due to bad weather?

As many of you know I hate these stupid, "I TAG DIS N00B TO TELL ME ABOUT HISSELF!!!!!!" things. They're hella dumb. I once ranted that I would not support them. Well, I figure, why get mad? Why not turn this $*** on it's head? I mean, you tagged NeonNinja. So you'll learn about NeonNinja.

1. I am made up of 10 electrons, 10 protons and (most commonly) 20 neutrons. Also, I'm apparently Noble. Go figure!

2. I once had a killer penguin implanted in my head by Orochi_RockMan causing mass hysteria in the tavern for many weeks... >_?

3. I once thought bullet was threatening me so I called him out... but he was joking... V_V Sorry bullet....

4. There are people out there who claim that I am "The Man, The Myth, The Legend: NeonNinja."

5. There are other people out there who hate the folks that claim I am "The Man, The Myth, The Legend: NeonNinja." They say, "You're no myth, you're the real deal, brah!"

6. I have many nicknames, some folks call me IceMan, others call me Cheek, some RammyRam but the honest ones call me handsome. The flirty ones just say cutie.

7. BioShock is a n00bfest.

8. I was born in a Nuclear Fusion Reaction in an unknown, as of yet undiscovered, Super-Giant CIass star once He burning and C burning came to an end and Ne burning began. Basically, I'm awesome on an intergalactically stellar level!

9. I died on The Road to Fifty... yeah, I killed myself off IN MY OWN STORY.

10. I probably think your mom is hot. Don't take it personally... just take it. Besides, you should accept it as a compliment, it probably means you're pretty good-looking yourself.

First of all, five of these facts are completely made-up. Figure out which ones if you like. The last one is a joke. Four of them are related to GS. Two of them are scientific fact that have nothing to do with me. Basically I just made the stupidest list of stupid lists ever. I did not mention one thing about myself and that was intentional.

As is tradition, I refuse to tag any and every single person I know. I find this to be an annoying habit and I will not spread it to other users. The only reason why I went ahead with this is because MadVybz is a new friend of mine and after I complained he mentioned he did it because I'm awesome. I respect people who state the obvious when it is to my benefit so I posted this up for him. It doesn't contain an ounce of anything about me off of GS, everything is about something that happened on GS or is based on the element of Neon in some way aside from the fact that I probably think your mom is hot.

My stance is that you don't need to know anything about me. My blog is like a voice. It should tell you about the kind of person I am, what kind of personality I have, what my tastes in games are, etc. You do not need to know about what kind of girls I'm into, if I'm in a relationship, how my car is functioning, what my political views are, etc. I fully expect people to be able to make their own judgment calls on me based on what they know. Sure, sometimes I mention I did four hours of homework... but that's it. I don't actually blog about school. Go figure. I've been a part of this community for 4 and half years, you either know what kind of person I am or you start figuring it out by checking out what I have to say in this blog, in your blogs' comment sections, on the forums, etc. I just like to write about games and stuff. So, to save this blog from being a humiliating failure in every way I'm going to talk about something game-related.
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So, I am now eight hours into Tales of Vesperia. Certain events have happened and have taken some turns that seem a little, well, wrong (in a good way). But the best thing is that we have been reintroduced to Raven! OH YES, BRAH, YES!!!!!!!1 After he breaks you out of jail in the beginning of the game he's was gone for the longest time.

I hope this guy eventually joins your party. I swear, he talks to people exactly like I would. Please, make this character playable, I want only to control him and kick some SERIOUS MOFO ASS!!!!!

"Yer, ladyship." I love this character already and he is one of the biggest reasons why I bought Vesperia. Ever since I saw that bit where he fired an arrow at an assassin I was just like: I COULD BE THAT GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Minus the arrow. I just like his unkempt demeanor and how he treats people so far. It really clicks with me and I didn't find that with any RPG character yet, neither in Eternal Sonata or Lost Odyssey). If I did Cosplay, which I think is a lame hobby since it's just like Halloween without the candy (what's the point, man, what's the point without the candy? Forget the costumes, just gimme some f'ing candy, brah!).

Rita is a great addition to the cast too. I love her spunky attitude! Estelle is just too goody two shoes and innocent for my tastes. Rita is a blast to see in action! "Great, watch out, here comes our Amazoness." says Yuri to Raven. Yuri is a great main character too. Sure, he's out for justice in his own way, but he's so cool and such a jerk that I already like him more than Kaim (Lost Odyssey) and Allegretto (Eternal Sonata). However, Yuri is NOT as cool as Jansen (Lost Odyssey) or Chopin (Eternal Sonata). Nor does he hold a candle to Joker (Mass Effect). Not yet atleast, but he is growing on me and the game is just, I don't know, it keeps on bringing me back to it. I'm still waiting for it to just blow up in my face like a can of awesome worms, but again, it feels like it's just about to start getting there. Who's the main bad guy? Is it the dragon rider? Is it someone else? Is there even a main bad guy? What are these guys fighting against? And why on Earth is Tales of Vesperia the only RPG I have played that actually starts with an explanation of why there are monsters in this world rather than simply putting them in the game?

Yuri, Repede, Estelle, Karol, Rita and soon, hopefully Raven, all have great chemistry together. I'm really enjoying the way the characters are interacting with one another. It reminds me of Gears of War (the original not that stupid, pathetic excuse of a sequel) and how Delta Squad constantly chattered and developed the characters. I'm really enjoying seeing these guys together in action. However, the story is probably going to take forever. While Eternal Sonata was a tightly, TIGHTLY focused game that took you down it's story with no filler at all, just taking you through the story in a 20-30 hour game, Tales of Vesperia is going on a much more epic scale compared to Eternal Sonata's intimate tale. Basically, 8 hours into Eternal Sonata and the $--- had already hit the fan. 8 hours into Tales of Vesperia and the fan isn't plugged in yet and the $--- is still being excreted. It's probably going to be about the same type of game as Lost Odyssey where even 30 hours into the game you still received new party members where as in Eternal Sonata after a while, you had just about everyone there is to have.

We'll see how it all turns out, but I'm getting so excited to play this game. Hopefully it's as good as Eternal Sonata and Lost Odyssey by the end, because it's pretty good right now, but I can feel it: this game is going to get exciting fast. ...And I hope I'm not wrong on this because feeling this kind of build up is just too fantastic!

Perfect Farce Zero or Launch Hero?

The internet is serious business and this $*** just got real, brah!

I don't quite understand the excessive scrutiny that Perfect Dark Zero has been under ever since it launched. Apparently, people think it sucks. That's cool, y'know, that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, I'm going to go out on a limb and just say that Perfect Dark Zero is the victim of it's own hype.

I've played through the first five or so missions on Secret Agent difficulty and the game is fun. Yes, the acting is comical, the villains are silly (crazy Asian gangster with red and black eyes backflips out of a three-story night club? It's a possibility), Joanna infiltrates a snow-covered mansion with a bare midriff. I understand that the game is silly, but the fact is that the game never takes itself seriously either. PDZ knows it's silly and stays silly. I get it, the plot isn't epic, it's funny to see a badass gun having a silencer put on it by hand with purple nail polish on. I get it, games are serious business and all have to be treated in that way. That's fine. Go play Gears of War 2 for your "serious" giant worm infested story. Nah, really, that's cool.

Sarcasm aside, I have no idea what the hell's going on in the plot. And that's fine. The core shooting action is fun. Now, I did say that I'd be comparing this game to other 2004/2005 releases so that means F.E.A.R. on the PC is the best bet and if we wanted to Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 as well, but I'll keep it with F.E.A.R. since they're both released around the same time. Perfect Dark Zero nails things that F.E.A.R. doesn't: recon and espionage. Sure, it isn't exactly the best recon and espionage but when your title stands for First Encounter Assault Recon and you do everything but Recon there's a slight problem, right? (It's an over-exaggeration of course, there is some recon in F.E.A.R. but it's never really a central part of the game). In PDZ there'll be missions where it's preferred that you don't kill certain enemies but find out info on them, or if you have to sneak in somewhere and not carry your weapons so you don't draw attention to yourself. It mixes up what you have to do (a rooftop sniping mission early on is a blast!), and it really helps with how fun the game can be.

The actual combat itself isn't bad. The shooting action is fun and the gun's are great fun to use, and all of them come with crazy alternate fire modes. The enemy AI isn't too hot though, especially in comparison to F.E.A.R. and Halo 2 which were both out at that time and still have fantastic enemy AI. They aren't exactly cannon-fodder, and some do take cover, but the majority of them will come guns-blazing in your direction. It may seem over-whelming, but just find a nice spot to hide and take them out. These guys aren't too big on the tactics. They do take advantage of the fact that you reload and point that out so that everyone shoots at you, but for the most part you don't have to worry about dealing with them any differently each time. Higher difficulty settings might change that (I'm on Secret Agent), but again they're not the most intelligent foes. They aren't bad, but they aren't that great either.

Nailing headshots is a reward in itself in this game. Good aim nets you good results and Rare do deserve to be commended for their work on the shooting, even if the enemy AI is a bit basic. There's the early sniping level where you're providing cover for another character from the rooftops, sniping foes in his way. It's awesome stuff, the shooting. And that's what matters in a shooter: that the shooting action is fun.

I know that there are people who believe Goldeneye and Perfect Dark are somehow the best shooters ever made, and while they were good for their time they do not hold up at all today. The original Doom holds up better than Goldeneye. Trust me, I recently tried playing both. However, those same Nintendo fanboys might want to point the finger at PDZ as some inferior product: it's not. I never played Perfect Dark (I refuse to play it on the N64 with it's stupid $40 N64 expansion pack, essentially making it a $100 purchase back in the day... BOO!) but I do have Goldeneye. Goldeneye is more serious than PDZ which is silly, but again, having that game and having played TimeSplitters 2 I have to say, if you enjoy those games you'll enjoy Perfect Dark Zero. Quit bashing just because the hype for it was: "greatest game ever made." It's still really damn good.

Initial Reactions: =)

Tales of What's-peria?

So I started playing this little RPG called Tales of Vesperia. Apparently everyone thought I'd enjoy it so much or thought it was so good that well, everyone recommended it to me (almost). Turns out they're right on. Vesperia ROCKS!

I don't what it is about the game but it keeps on dragging me back. I want to play Dead Space (which I'm almost finished with) and Perfect Dark Zero (which is better than everyone has been telling me it will be), but I keep going back to Tales of Vesperia.

First off, this game holds some strong similarities to Eternal Sonata. The main character is a street rat named Yuri (see Allegretto), encounters a good girl named Estelle (just like Polka!), helps good girl, encounters other characters including a scared boy named Karol (think Beat from Eternal Sonata) and a tough-as-nails cutie named Rita (think Viola from Eternal Sonata). They journey together, and so on.

The difference is that the characters in Eternal Sonata are actually good guys and want to do good things because they care. The characters in Tales of Vesperia are breaking out of jail, breaking into people's homes, etc. They seem like good guys since they do help people around them, but they're constantly beating the crap out of the law.

The difference comes in the battle systems. Eternal Sonata takes the edge over Vesperia as the superior playing game. The battle system is the business and let's you play out encounters more strategically and is definitely more nuanced. Watch out for shadows as your attacks will change or your foes will morph. Set up you characters however you like to further humiliate your foes.

In Vesperia, you control one character (you may choose who it is, but I recommend not using any of the mages). This character chains combos and may use Artes against his foes in tandem with his fellow characters running around hitting stuff too. The higher the combo, the more damage the enemy takes. Over Limits are in place too after a few hours and you can go all out and whack little tree bunnies until you hit level 20.

In Eternal Sonata, if you snuck up on an enemy they started the battle with their back turned on you and your entire party got the first attack. The same was true for the reverse so sometimes it would be a smarter choice to fight the enemy rather than run away for fear of them getting you from behind. Vesperia has a similar idea introduced where you can stun enemies with aer and then attack them first while they're stunned. However, should an enemy get you from behind you start the battle with your back turned to your enemies and any character from your party, chosen at random, will be in the fight in place of the crew you had assembled before.

So, they do have a few similarities, but the big difference is plot and characters. The characters in Eternal Sonata spell things out for you while the character's in Vesperia are definitely better at being subtle. Yes, they seem to live up to the genre standards, etc, but they're so much fun to see in action together. Yuri is a sassy street punk and shows it off and Estelle has no clue what he's talking about. "It'll take you a hundred years before you can fight me." "That's because you've lived a lot longer, right?" "Mmm, not exactly."

Or when she asks Rita to stick her hand out and gives her a high five and Rita is just like, "What the hell was that?" Of course, it's all funnier in-game than it is written, but I'm saying that the characters all have chemistry in this game. They work well. Karol is a scared-cat so Rita beats him up and Yuri makes fun of him. Repede only likes Yuri so when he and Yuri win a fight he barks a cry of victory, but when Estelle says to do a victory cry Repede just yawns. Estelle proudly supports Karol's "quest for love" and so on. The character's are constantly talking and developing but it's never drawn out with 45 minutes cutscenes etc. I've spent almost the full time playing the game, not once wondering when I could start pressing buttons again instead of watching the game play itself.

The graphics in Eternal Sonata have a much dreamier look to them, but Vesperia is crisper and on the whole looks sharper than Sonata.

It's still WAY too early to tell if Vesperia is going to be a spectacular game or not, I mean, it's an RPG and five hours simply isn't enough for a 60 hour game. The first five hours of Twilight Princess was just build-up for the rest of the game, and Lost Odyssey took five hours before you suddenly went: Holy $*** this game rocks! But I've been going back to Vesperia more than the other games. I've got a good feeling about this one, the battle system has been opening up bit by bit as well. It's early, but I've got a hunch this game will hold up with the best I've played this gen and that's a very strong list of games.

Initial Reactions: =)

WTF?

I haven't played Crackdown or Project Gotham Racing 4 yet. I want to finish up Dead Space (I'm on Chapter 9 and there's 12 total), as well as Perfect Dark Zero before diving into Crackdown and PGR4. I want to focus my attention more on the game's I've made progress through to finish them and then jump in the ones I haven't touched yet. If PGR4 is anything like PGR3 I'll be playing the career for weeks. Crackdown looks like good fun too, but again, I want to finish the two other games and play these as companion pieces to Vesperia since I think an RPG will last me a lot longer than three ten hour shooters and a racing game combined.

LOL, this $*** just got real, brah! (I am of course talking about how the 360 fanboys are currently gloating over "their" 9.5 )

Every now and then a game comes along that within the first minute of playing it you know it's going to be something truly special. To say that Resident Evil 4 is the greatest thing to happen to survival-horror games since it's creation is a bold statement and one that can be backed up by the quality of the game at hand. Resident Evil 4 is the end all, be all that the genre has strived for since its inception and is a fond love letter not just to fans of action or survival-horror but to people that simply like to play games.

Resident Evil 4 begins as Leon S. Kennedy, now a government agent, is in Spain on a mission to rescue the President's daughter. He arrives at a small village with his escort of two Spanish police officers and begins his investigation. Within moments things go wrong as Leon discovers that the villagers are no longer truly human, the two police officers are killed and the bridge you crossed to enter the village has been destroyed. Your only option is to press forward and uncover the truth regarding these villagers and to find the President's young daughter.

The first encounter you come across the game shows you just how fantastic Resident Evil 4's gameplay is. You don't have quite the maneuverability of many other action game characters like Ryu Hayabusa, but Leon moves much more fluidly than characters in most other horror games. When it's time for combat to take center-stage you press one button to aim and another to fire. The weapons you use have a laser sight for precision aiming. This allows you to shoot weapons thrown at you or out of an enemy's hand as it prepares to throw it your way or you can shoot an enemy in the legs to make it stumble to name a few examples.

The enemies in Resident Evil 4 aren't zombies per se. They're far more human if that term can be applied and are referred to as the Los Ganados. They'll swarm you, ambush you, and use tactics that zombies typically do not. For instance, if you're bunkered in a home that has two floors and are on the second one, they will distract you with enemies bringing ladders up to each of the windows to come in while others will break in through the bottom and flank you from the other side. The Los Ganados are simply spectacular foes to fight and as a surprise treat you'll find more gruesome foes as the game progresses.

Though the Los Ganados are spectacular foes to fight and killing them leads to the most disgustingly pleasing blood baths you can imagine it's Resident Evil 4's bosses that truly shine. Every boss with the exception of the pushover final boss is a joy to battle with. Their size, design and overall gruesome nature make them awe-inspiring. They are a cinematic delight as they often take up the screen and demand your attention because at any one moment they can kill you. There are other bosses that simply aren't that large, but a foe your size and more powerful than you, chasing you through tight corridors or waiting to fight you on the rooftops actually provides a different and more refreshing perspective than simply having each boss become larger than the other. These more intimate battles are actually spine tingling on a personal level as the enemy nears you and can rip your head off at eye level.

The boss designs are ridiculous. There is no other way to say it. They are visually appealing and disturbing all at once. You'll find one grab you only to have his entire body detach as you see his skeletal portions with every useless chunk of flesh being discarded. Another is a monstrous beast covered in bumps and warts, crawling as its juices are left behind in its wake. The amount of effort put into designing these foes pays off as Resident Evil 4 not only has some of the greatest boss designs but also some of the greatest boss fights ever.

The game also comes with a game mode called Mercenaries. This is a spectacular mode that works with the Resident Evil 4 engine and is surprisingly reminiscent of the new Horde-type game modes found in games like Gears of War, Halo and Call of Duty. Unlike those newer modes you will go through Mercenaries alone and are tasked with surviving waves of the Los Ganados for as long as you can. Every character you can select has a different set of weapons and health supplies that you can use so each character will have a different strategy for survival. It starts out easily enough with regular villagers chasing after you but as shielded foes rush towards you like a wall and a dual chainsaw freak is screaming in the distance your survival instincts will kick in as you maneuver around the game's various maps.

Frenetic action and giant boss battles aside, where Resident Evil 4 succeeds, as a survival-horror game isn't so much that it's a frightening game, though there are moments where you will be scared, but its haunting atmosphere. Resident Evil 4 will send chills through your spine as its atmosphere takes center stage against seemingly impossible odds as you go off in search of the President's daughter. The game has the right feel to it, it does have it's action go to the forefront as it's greatest strength but it never lets the action get in the way of the atmosphere and the mood. The two combine together to make Resident Evil 4 one of the most masterful games ever made and an example of how to do the genre justice without abandoning what makes it a survival-horror game.

As a GameCube release Resident Evil 4 features some of the best graphics ever for its time. The character models are startling close in design to human beings showing the Capcom team's artistic talent. On a technical level Resident Evil 4 is the greatest looking game released on the GameCube but it's spooky artistry comes together with those technically proficient graphics to make an experience that is wholly absorbing.

The sound effects in Resident Evil 4 are, again, the best the GameCube has ever been treated to. Enemies will mutter in Spanish phrases such as, "Morir es vivir!" and so on as they go about the game. Some foes shriek in the darkness. Animals leave out cries that are reminiscent of a land lost in death as crow wings flutter about in the background. Most importantly, when your bullets hit flesh it sounds painful. It's the sound that makes your weapons seem powerful, but your enemies even more so than any gun you have. Every footstep crackles, every bullet explodes out of the barrel, every enemy sounds imposing, every hit sounds painful and it is this attention to sound that makes Resident Evil 4 such a wonderful game.

The music ties together this haunting feel with the spectacular effects. There aren't any out of place pieces. The music for major setpiece battles ramps up in the intensity but for the most part the music is muted and lets the atmosphere further engulf you in the experience.

Resident Evil 4 is a lengthy adventure and is more than worth the $50 price tag it originally came with. These days you can find it at a significantly lower price on the GameCube, PlayStation 2 or Wii. However, regardless of price, console generation, controls, and so on, you will be lost in Resident Evil 4's game world for at least twenty hours and you will be compelled to play through it again, either on harder difficulties or with all of your previous items in tow for the second go around. The game is truly fantastic and is well worth a purchase today for those who have never played it if only to see how it's influenced games like Dead Space and Gears of War in different ways.

Whether you're a fan of Resident Evil, the survival-horror genre, action games, adventure games or simply good games, Resident Evil 4 has all the bases covered. This is the kind of game that comes along once in a console-generation and it needs to be experienced. It's a bold statement to call a game one of the all time greatest ever made but I can make that claim with Resident Evil 4 and have no reservations about it.

Score