• 1Dec 09

  Left4Dead 2 (Game Review)

  

  Do you enjoy zombie video games? Did you have a blast seeing the movie Zombieland? Did you like the original Left4Dead? Do you love co-op video games? If you answered, yes, to any of those questions, then please go cop Left4Dead 2 immediately. The developer here, Valve, has been known as one of the best in video games for years, with masterpeices like Counterstrike, Half Life, Team Fortress 2, The Orange Box and Left4Dead under their belt. If you play this game just by yourself, then you might not see what all the hype is about. It was made to be played with others, whether you are doing co-op campaign missions or you are playing Versus Mode.

  This time there are four survivor characters, they include:
  - Coach, who looks like Shaq and is a high school football coach with a bad knee (voiced by Chad Coleman)
  - Rochelle, an assistant reporting on the evacuation for a local TV station (voiced Rochelle Aytes)
  - Ellis, a mechanic who makes hick remarks (voiced by Eric Ladin)
  - Nick, who looks like a young Italian gangster (voiced by Hugh Dillon)

  
  

  Left4Dead 2 has upped the ante in every single way possible. The game is also much harder this time around. There are now melee weapons (which provide very gruesome deaths for the zombies), more guns in general, as well as new add-ons for guns and new kinds of ammo (incediary, etc). On top of all that, there are new modes for online play, improved graphics, and some aweswome death animations! Another HUGE addition is the weather engine that brings some crazy rain and storms that make it hard to see and move.

  In this sequel there are five campaigns (one more than in the original) and they feature some awesome locations. My favorite is the Carnival Level where you find yourself fighting zombies in an amusement park and even on a rollercoaster track. Did you watch Zombieland and say to yourself, "I would love to play a video game where you're fighting zombies in an amusement park!" I sure did, and this is like a dream come true. There is also one level that has you running across this huge damaged bridge and there are hundreds of zombies chasing you...loads of fun.

  The action is intense and teamwork is a must to survive the zombie apocalypse. Some games you can just do everything solo, but that is not the case here. A lot of people where pissed off that Valve made another Left4Dead a year after the first one came out, but that's not an issue for me at all. They have improved on the original by listening to the issues that people had with it. There is not much of a storyline here, but that didn't really matter. I need a good plot in an RPG game or a drama film, but this is a zombie game where you are the last people alive...not much of a story is needed.

  You can get Left4Dead 2 for Xbox 360 or PC. Both versions have the same gameplay and the same content. But if you have the choice, I would suggest the PC version, as it runs better, has better graphics, and has the ability to make and play your own missions like the first Left4Dead.

  My only complaint about Left4Dead 2 really has more to do more with the online community than the game itself. A lot of people seem to quit Versus Mode if they start to get their ass whooped. It would be nice if somehow Valve could punish people for quitting, instead of just showing how many times someone has quit. Make the quitters lose access to a weapon or something like that. If you are going to quit whenever you get beat, then just play the co-op campaigns and don't come online.

  Need some excitement during the holidays? How about stopping the zombie apocalypse?

  http://movie-music-videogame-reviews.blogspot.com/

  http://www.thickonline.com/reviews/index.php?mod=cnt&act=cnt&id=4651

  REVIEW POSTED ON THESE TWO SITES!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  • Posted Dec 1, 2009 1:02 pm PT
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• 1Dec 09

  Ap.9 - Reality Check (Album Review)

  AP.9 - Reality Check

  

  Like most careers, being a musician is all about improving and growing. AP9 has been improving with every album and with Reality Check, he has not only dropped his best solo album yet but has also dropped one of the year's most consistent albums. Reality Check has no skits and no filler whatsoever. Every song is worth listening to and none are skippable, in my opinion. Of course there are the gangster tracks that we have come to expect from AP9 and the Mob Figaz, but that's not all he's got this time.

  Streets starts the album off perfectly with a slappin' beat that AP9 completely rips to peices. This a good way to start the album, gangster tales and street raps done the way they are suppose to be.

  Tonight has AP9 spitting double time with an extremely fast flow that we have not really heard from him. This beat really has to be heard to understand how well put toegether it is. Jallah Beats is an up and coming producer to keep an eye out for. This beat here is simply a thing of beauty.

  The title track is my personal favorite song on the album, as AP9 gives the listener a view into some of the things hes been through in his past. He talks about being in the hospital for long periods after being shot. It's a very personal track where he speaks on his weight going from 165 pounds to 95 pounds and the doctors saying he had a 20% chance of living. For those that have gone through a lot of health issues and lost a lot of weight or been in hospitals for long periods, this song will really hit home. It hit me hard. It's rare that you get a musician (especially a rapper) opening up this much.

  Good Die Young is another deep track. It's about AP9's cousin who died at 19 years-old in the hospital. It is always sad when someone dies too young and AP9 does a fitting dedication to his little homie. This track would make anyone proud, you can almost feel his soul hurting during this track.

  To see more of this review and others I have done for westcoast rap, foreign movies and videogames, check out my blog review site!

  http://movie-music-videogame-reviews.blogspot.com/

  • Posted Dec 1, 2009 3:21 am PT
  • Category: Music
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• 24Nov 09

  Dragon Age Review

  DRAGON AGE Review
  
  These days it seems like RPGs are not as good as they should be. Either the story is cliche or characters are annoying. Dragon Age: Origins is the latest RPG from Bioware, who have made some of the best roleplaying games of all time, such as KOTOR, Mass Effect, Jade Empire and Baldur's Gate. It's a fantasy RPG that is basically a more mature/adult version of Lord Of The Rings.
  
  It might have the best story I've seen in a video game! Usually it is in a good novel or foreign film where you find a story this amazing, not a video game. One word describes this game - EPIC. As the game unfolds you cannot help but say the words "epic" and "amazing" to yourself over and over again. You also get alot of choices in this game (ie: whether to kill someone or help them out), doing good or bad things not only effects your character in the game, but the world and story as well.
  
  Bioware really has crafted an amazing game with so much depth that it's scary. You can just run through the main questline if you want, or you can do tons of side quests in each city, which really adds to the game. As you level up, you get to pick new moves and such for your characters. You not only control your main character but you control three others too. When you go into combat you can pause the game and set-up your moves, or you can just jump in and fight in real time. The combat is not just hack and slash fighting, it's a combination of realtime and turn based action.
  
  This is Bioware's best game since Baldur's Gate and KOTOR, and in my opinion the best RPG in the last five years or so. It's very rare that a game like this pulls me like this, I literally felt like a young kid while playing. It is very well crafted and has a high fun factor. If you want a big adventure this winter that can last you anywhere from 30 to 70 hours, then please do yourself a favour and pick this up.
  
  Not only the game of the year so far in 2009, but the best RPG this generation for videogames, simply an amazing game that everyone should try out.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Below is a link to my REVIEW Blog! Where I Review music, games and movies!

  http://movie-music-videogame-reviews.blogspot.com/

  • Posted Nov 24, 2009 6:24 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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