Yeah, apparently some stores received it earlier, or at least the distributors released it earlier. Thanks to this, my importer managed to grab a couple of copies and I bought one. Now, from what Ive heard, its safest to play until the 29 unloged just to avoid an IP ban in the console, so Im gonna be offline when I play this. Now, on my opinion of the game.

I love it. The presentation is good though it could have used a regular store instead of needing us to go to character creation to purchase the items. The SP mode has 4 modes (redundancy): Story, Tower of Souls, Arcade and Training. Story is our usual story mode, pick a character, and play through his story (5 stages only, most of the time its you against 3 to 4 enemies). Tower of Souls is a 60 floor survival battle divided into 60 events, each with its own restrictions and prizes. The first stage lets you tag team 2 characters (havent tried the upper ones) There is also the option to descend, but its locked so maybe its unlocked when you finish it.

You can customize every character, adding them some slick skills to increase stats, or gain new moves (I mean every character as in the story ones too including Vader). The gameplay is great, feels much lighter than SC 3 but at the same time has all the same old movements (cant change much on a series that is so good. The new characters (so far Ive unlocked Angol Fear and Shura) feel good, though so far Ive tried only Shura and Vader.

Shura is a great figther, she has 2 Katanas, and those familiar with japanese lore may know her also. The design was made by the Gantz team (which is why she was my most expected character). She combines Takis ninja moves with Mitsurugi moves, though she has an arsenal of herself, including a really cool move that teleports her back 2 steps, then launchs her to the enemy (its a double edge move, since you can get a ring out).

Now, the character most were expecting: Vader. Adding Star Wars to any games is sure to displease many. Why? Because even though SW is an extremely big franchise, its still a love or hate thing, thats why we will see reviewers who love this, and others who hate it. Im a SW fan since I was 4. I carry SW in my veins and I always loved the idea to have them here from day, one, though Yoda never pleased me since I dont like the new movies as much as I like the oldies.

Vader has a wide variety of moves (I just now learned to use the force). Most of his force moves involve infusing the sword with it to execute powerful moves. He also has other moves, a really strong push and the usual pull move. You can also raise enemies with the force. But, many thought that the force was going to overpower this guys. Truth is that it doesnt, it only takes 3-4 uses to deplete the bar, and you cant use them again until you have enough power. And believe me, the battle will be over before that happens. His moves are sometimes sluggish, sometimes not. He has a mix. He also has some counter moves, that protect him from back attacks, which give him an edge. His force powers though dont reach far distances, so you will need to be close to use them. His grabs are good, and really powerfull. Its good how he retains his fighting style from Return of the Jedi (that movei was first titled: Revenge of the Jedi. Funny isnt it?) so its a good character.

Ohh by the way, the install is optional, the game though needs an update as soon as you insert it 1.01. The install is more or less 2.4 gigs and the save takes 2mb. Each created character though occupies more space.

Character creation is back, this time it has been improved, now you can change the body shape and the voice pitch too. You can also use japanese voices if you want, but Vader goes to japanese too which turns into something very funny.

Havent tried the online yet, Im afraid that Im going to be banned, but Im writing an email saying Im from an Argentinean gaming magazines (have some friends in that editorial) just in case.

So far, in my book its a 9/10. The music is great as usual, combat is fluid with no FPS drop, the graphics are amazing, stages can be blasted (depending how strong you fall, you will break the floor), armors can be completely destroyed and I forgot to mention. Each main character represents an style, this styles can be leveled up to give them access to new skills. This can be done in any mode too .

Even though the E3 show of this year was, to call it in some way, "poor", especially when Miyamoto is asked what he wants to do in the next Zelda, and he says: Bring the series to more people, making it more accessible, which basically means we have to say "Bye Bye Link, been nice to beat Ganondorf and save helpless blondie Zelda".

So after the disaster that was the Nintendo conferece (how long has it been since they had a good one?) we are left with many new (rather old) games that are not only high profile, but will also give us lots of gaming hours. So if you are not one of the closed emoboys in System Wars and own 1 or more of the current gen consoles and just like games for what they are and not where they are, let me present you with my picks for 08 and 09.

Now, this games, are mostly sequels, as probed by numbers, sequels sell more than new ips, though MS has certainly had a great streak at introducing new IPs, with Halo (a series that I will already state now, "I HATE") or Gears of War. Mainly MS succeded here because unlicke Sony or Nintendo (or as I will start calling them if they dont wake up: Kidtendo) they heavily advertised them (Gears received publicity almost on launch time).

So, this are my picks for the year 08 and 09

Developer: Sony Santa Monica Studios (can you believe that someone posted that it was going to be multiplatform¡? Laugh at the stupidity of some, it helps relief stress)

Platform: PlayStation 3

Release date: 2009

What we know?: Nothing, aside from a couple of images from the trailer with Zeus remembering the Titanomachia (the fight between Titans and Gods as well as othe mythological creatures) and saying that Kratos will not only fail, but will suffer, to what Kratos answers, that in the end, there will only be chaos. Chaos, just for those who care, is also the first being, the creator in a way, also, the life cycle is ordered in Chaos then creation with chaos refering to the lack of order, life, etc.

Developer: Square-Enix

Platform: PlayStation 3; XBOX 360

Release date: TBA 2009

What we know?: Not much has been said about Final Fantasy XIII as far as gameplay goes, but we have received some background story for our new Final Fantasy world. The region where we are is called Pulse, centuries ago, the civilization created a ship thats called Cacoon (not the movie) where technology has grown exponentially too. In this world, our story will take place, not much more on the info here, the "heroine" (not confirmed to be the main character yet) is called Lightning, there will also be a partner, a blond guy with a resemblance to Seifer from Final Fantasy VIII. Summons will return, this time they will also be useable as other things, so far Shiva has been comfirmed to act as a motorcycle. The combat system is supposed to be a mix of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XII.

Developer: Sega

Platform: PlayStation 3

Release date: November 2008

Famitsu Score: 34/40

What we know?: This is not a secret game, and has already been released in Japan. The story will focus on the fight between 2 kingdoms. Our main character will enlist in one, and will for and command an army. The enemies will have an special soldier called Valkyrie that also has special powers. The game is an SRPG (Strategy RPG) with an amazing artistic look. The music is done by the same stuff as Final Fantasy XII so we can expect a quality soundtrack too. The main quest is supposed to take 50-60 hours, the rules here are the same as in any SRPG (they are more similar though to Final Fantasy Tactics) where if a character dies, as long as its not a main character (which is auto Game Over) that character will die in the story too. The game will mix many ****, including traditional RPGs, Action, strategy and Third Person Shooter mechanics.

Developer: Lionhead Studios Published by Microsoft Games

Platform: XBOX 360 (with a possible PC port in the future)

Release date: October 2008.

What we know?: Fable was once released for the not so succesful XBOX. It was a different RPG where our actions changed the course of the story and how people appreciated us. It was innovative and an amazing game. Fable 2 comes from the same studio, under the hands of Mr. Molyneux. What can we expect of it? There are a lot of things that composed Fable, but Fable 2 will not only take those features, but will also add many more, expanding the experience. The artistic look is still the same, as seen in the videos of the game, this time guns will also make an appearance alongside ou blades and spells. We will be able to make a family, and have sons who will grow depending on our actions. We will have more moral choices, that will enhance our experience through the game, but not only that, the game is accompanied by some gorgeous graphics too. This is one of the most waited WRPG (Western Rol Playing Game) for this year, and it deserves that place.

Part 2 will contain:

Star Wars the Force Unleashed

Gears of War 2

Resistance 2

Heavy Rain

Wow, most of us who have seen the E3 be it live through the channels here at GS or their repetitions (some of us still have to work sadly) were presented with some shocking news.

So, we received 3 main events, one for each company with a console in the market, and I wanted to show what I thought of each event.

Lets start with the worst event.
Nintendo. As in the previous E3 event, Nintedo continues to shaft us medium to hardcore gamers and continues to focus on casual who like to play imo morronic games. I mean, we all love those games, but to kill time once in a year or to give them 5 or 10 minutes of our lifes when we dont know what to do. All in all, Nintendo focused a lot in this sort of games, with something that made me eyes bleed called WII MUSIC. Just what the Fu** was that. I mean, I dont think even Penn Jillete would be able to stress the WTF! enough to express my disgust agaisnt that.

After that pathetic thing, we also had a couple of meh announcements, as a new Pokemon, more entertainment for the Wii and possibly a "re-imagine" of the first 2 GTAs called GTA Chinatown or some crap like that. remember people, you can still get GTA and GTA2 for free from the Rockstar website.

Now lets move to one of the big guys, MS. MS held a sort of meh show, much better though than Nintendo. It showcased the games that we all already knew, but held a bomb for the very end. In terms of sales number, it was as big as a bomb as Bioshock coming for te PS3 (which should have been kept a secret till E3) but in terms of Name, and reputation it was way bigger. Im talking about the multiplatform title FF XIII which was until last week, Sony Exclusive. Other than that, (I expect the game to suffer the same fate as DMC 4 though selling more on PS3, but at least it will help double the sales of the title). Then we had more info on HAlo Wars, new info? No, just a confirmation that Master Chief wasnt going to be present in the game. More info on Fable 2, again nothing new, and then Gears of War, MS new flagship. Not much more new material, still looking good.

Finally we had the Sony event, which imo was the only one with new stuff and deserving the best press event of the E3. They talked about numbers and the GH edition for PS3, all using the LBP creation tool which shows the flexibility of the game, then they showed more games, a heavy focus on PSP titles with the main one being Resistance Retribution. More than 130 new games for the PS2 showing Sonys support for it. New PS3 titles as MAG and new trailers for Resistance 2, Motorstorm Pacific Rift, Killzone 2, etc. More info about Home and then usual multiplatform titles. Sony held imo the most charming event, especially with our new host, SackBoy

So I finished this game, and Im comfortable enough to say that this is the best piece of software my hands ever touched. Everything from beginning to end is great, the replayability is just inmense. The story unfolds perfectly and the conclusion is just great. Everything is great about it.

So, I just did the review for it, once I translate it into english I will be uploading it here. And you will be able to see a more detailed exposee.

Today or yesterday the open Beta for Spore was made available at http://www.spore.com/trial. The truth is that I wasnt looking forward for this particular game, never been fond of such games. But, against my better judgement, I decided to give it a run.

And I was wrong. Spore is an addiciting game that will let you create creatures and fight with them. the possibilities though are not unlimited, and 99% of your creatures will have cartoon like designs (which killed my idea of creating a Dragon). Apparently to create you creature you will use money to buy the pieces. By pieces I mean body parts, such as eyes, horns, faces, etc. Each piece can then be resized to fit your ugly visage to your liking. This creatures that defy nature itself can then be uploaded to be shared in the Spore Community.

Some samples of creatures:

Ok, will be experimenting a little bit more later on .

See Ya all later!

PD: added my new God of War 2 Review, you can check it here: "The End Begins: God of War 2"

Yeah, but it has nothing to do with any of you guys. Im just leaving this place till I finish MGS 4. The game should arrive next week (or since I ordered the LE maybe in 2 to 3 weeks) so during that time, I wont be coming here to avoid possible spoilers from kids. I may end up checking my blog, well, will actually keep you updated through this place most likely.

Anyway, see ya, till next time. Stay Tuned!. Always wanted to say that