We may be a few months behind on getting our hands on the Move, but that’s not gonna stop us from reviewing this and a couple of games that we’ve played with it. Is the PlayStation Move really worth it? Or is it just a substitute for the highly-demanded Wii HD?
Remember when I said most video games based on movies suck? Yeah, I think I officially disagree with my own statement. Back to the Future: The Game is shaping up to be on really good movie game. The reason I say shaping up is because, like most of Telltale’s games, Back to the Future: The Game is episodic. If these are the guys behind The Walking Dead game and the Jurassic Park game, I think it is safe to say I can look forward to these games without much doubts. Back to the Future: The Game Episode 1 is absolutely fantastic.
Starting on a small note, the voice acting in this game is superb. Christopher Lloyd lends his much acquainted voice to the game as Doc Brown, and despite some clear aging, he does a perfect job providing that same nostalgic voice fans of the series know and love. Even the characters of Edna, Biff and Marty’s father are backed up with some pretty strong voices. However, the character that stands out the most is undoubtedly Marty McFly’s characters. Marty isn’t voiced by Michael J. Fox. Bet you didn’t know that, because AJ LoCascio sounds identical to Michael J. Fox. If I would have never known it was a different voice actor, I probably would have thought it was Michael J. Fox doing the voice work. Voice acting is superb in this game, and it will most likely carry on to be one of the game’s strong points in the next five episodes. The character animations were a bit stiff, but that wasn’t anything worth bringing the game down for. However, their were some highly noticeable framerate issues that stood out amongst the game. I started experiencing a good amount of it during the game’s fantastic finale. Graphics aren’t anything t get worked up about either, but they aren’t bad either. For the most part, the game looks great with a cartoony style that suits the game’s atmosphere really well.
The gameplay is your standard RPG mixed adventure style. Make choices on how to communicate with people, move around a town center and solve some puzzles make up most of the gameplay in the game. Making choices on what to say isn’t as dynamic as I might have made it seem. In the end, you’ll be forced to pick the right decision to continue on the story. The town center looked great and made for some pretty humorous interactions amongst the different buildings. The storyline is a great start that is looking to get even better as the game progresses. Episode 1 has Marty traveling back in time during the prohibition era to save Doc from being killed by Kid Tannen, an Al Capone-styled Biff. The game starts off nostalgic, and goes on to leave fans of the series with a smile on their face as they witness the same Doc we know and love in a younger form. The puzzles, for the most part, are simple in nature. At times, they may even seem too easy. There is a help option available, but I rarely found myself using it. This could be a problem as it is merely an episode, so anyone could speedrun through it without any sense of excitement or struggle. I, however, found some of the puzzles to still be rather enjoyable despite its simplicity.
One issue also worth noting is numerous amounts of subtitle typos. Playing in the loud house I live in full of club music and COD action, it was hard for me to hear Doc during one of the puzzles in the game. I had turned on the subtitles and went on through the game with them on to realize that most of the time, they aren’t right. This isn’t that big of a deal, but it is a bit odd. How could this setback even be allowed in the game is beyond my understanding. The typos are clear as daylight. The camera can be quite an issue as well. When roaming through the town center, you will find yourself crossing numerous crosswalks and making your way across various areas. All of this is happening without the ability to control your camera. I found myself struggling to move in a straight line across the street because I couldn’t change the camera angle to better fit the controls of the game. In simpler terms, I would have to hold the analog stick straight despite the fact that it appears that Marty is moving right, all because the camera isn’t controllable. All of these issues are mere minor setbacks, but are issues. Hopefully, they will be avoided in the next few episodes. Only TIME will tell.
Closing Comments
Back to the Future: The Game Episode 1 is a blast from the past. Despite its numerous minor setbacks, the game is great from start to finish. I find myself anticipating Episode 2 as much as I would a retail copy of Uncharted 3. Alright, maybe not that much, but I am really looking forward to it. The voice work is astounding, the gameplay is quite fun and the story is just as great as any of the film’s stories. Telltale Games not only gives us a reason to enjoy movie-licensed games, but also gives us reason to buy this game, and anticipate the Jurassic Park video game and The Walking Dead video game.
The Good:
- Superb voice acting
- A well-written, well-thought out storyline
- Fun gameplay, despite simplistic puzzles
- A good amount of nostalgia for the hardcore fans
- Graphics suit the cartoony atmosphere of the game, which surprisingly fits with the BttF series in general
The Bad:
- Framerate issues
- Camera work sucks
- Subtitle typos
8/10
I love simplistic things with little animals such as puppies and cats. You’re floating through an underwater garden, luminescent plants and fruits bursting through the ground as you touch them. You can pick up little musicians to softly spread their music across the sea as the follow behind you.
Peaceful, eh? But there’s something about The UnderGarden that leaves me bored and irritated.
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| “Nobody wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack” – Illusive Man |
I’m going to feel like such a hypocrite once I’m done with this review.
As one of the greatest RPG series of this generation, The Mass Effect franchise has finally made its way to the PlayStation 3 system with Mass Effect 2, the game of 2010. So has it lived up to the hype? Is the PS3 port just a port?
Mass Effect won’t be coming to the PS3, due to Microsoft owning its publishing rights but fear not. If you buy new copy of Mass Effect 2, you will get a voucher that has the interactive comic on it. The comic is a backstory to Mass Effect and you will have the opportunity to make the most important choices, such as choosing which teammate you will sacrifice or whether or not you’ll sacrifice the Citadel Council in order to save your crew. These changes play out very well in the game and it will show.
Mass Effect introduces gamers to an alternate form of our galaxy where humans discover alien life. Using the Mass Relay, humanity travels to the far edges of the galaxy to run into a bunch of other species. Not many of the alien species trust the humans and our species are struggling being the new face of extra-terrestrial extinction.
Mass Effect 2 kicks off with Shepard aboard the Normandy shortly after defeating Sovereign and now on a mission to fight Geth, but they are interrupted by the Collectors who are trying to kill Shepard and wipe out humanity as we know it. You’ll immediately witness the abrupt and violent death of Shepard and then you will be offered the chance of decided what your Shepard looks like, what his/her background and personality is and what abilities he/she will possess.
As opposed to Mass Effect, ME2 has a better UI and weapons upgrade system but there’s no doubt it in my mind that those who’ve played and loved the original Mass Effect will have a problem with the game’s more action-adventure approach, but there’s no denying that the RPG elements are still as good as ever. One of the strongest things Mass Effect 2 has going is its writing. Beating that of Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2′s writing is beyond phenomenal with each piece of script feeling as genuine as life and the voice acting helps that a lot. Those who play with a female Shepard will likely believe that Jennifer Hale does a much better job at doing the voice work for Shepard rather than Mark Meer. If I had to pick the best voice actor in the game, it’d have to be Martin Sheen, who voiced the tricky Illusive Man, whose been nominated for Villain of the Year over numerous sites.
The story is something to fall in love with. The mysterious Collectors are traveling the galaxy harvesting humans for something unknown to us. Cerberus has brought you back to life because you are the one man who can lead a team into battle and hopefully get them out alive. The Illusive Man will give you dossiers and you are required to recruit these people to your team and gain their loyalty. Each of these members are completely different. You recruit a lonely assassin, a Krogan who was made to fight in the war, a psychotic prisoner and many others. No doubt that you have an unlikely band of brothers on your hands. The whole game builds up to a suicide mission where you will take the fight to the heart of the Collectors. Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 Relay, no ship has ever returned. You will need to gain the trust of your crew members in order for them to be ready and survive the upcoming onslaught. Your Shepard can also die, meaning that you won’t be able to transfer your data to Mass Effect 3.
Dialogue choices would shape your character the same they did in Mass Effect. There’s the paragon options (good) and renegade (evil). Renegade options will strike fear into the hearts of the people you come in contact with and your scars on your face will glow along with your bright red eyes. Paragon makes you more of a likable character. Your crew members feel safer around you and they will talk to you more as a friend than as a commanding officer.
The shooting mechanics made me feel some sort of way. I felt that a Mass Effect with multiplayer would be great. Changing ammo types, a great selection of weapons and classes, a Mass Effect multiplayer would do great. I’m not sure if Mass Effect 3 will have multiplayer, but if so, there’ll be no complaints from me. It’ll just mean it’ll be my permanent #1 anticipated game of 2011.
Closing Comments
When Damien told me about some site that gave the game a lower score than the 360 version, yet called it the best version on any platform, I said that a port doesn’t deserve a 10. Boy, was I wrong. If you’re reading this and you’re still deciding whether to buy this game, you haven’t been paying attention. I can’t verbally tell you how awesome Mass Effect 2 is. Take Knights of the Old Republic’s story and put it with Uncharted’s gameplay and you’ve got a must-own game. BUY IT!!!!
The Good
- Extraordinary storyline
- Beautiful graphics
- Out of this world voice acting, no pun intended.
- Greatest RPG of this generation of consoles thus far
- Yes, it’s better than Uncharted 2
- Suspense drives the game from start to finish
- A good number of side missions
- Crew members are very diverse
- It took me away from LittleBigPlanet 2
- If I could name this Game of the Year, I would
The Bad
- Xbox 360 is still the only place to get the full Mass Effect experience. Even with the interactive comic, you will feel a tad bit lost.
10/10
When I played LittleBigPlanet a couple of years ago, I enjoyed it immensely. Aside from the glitches, I didn’t think there was anything MediaMolecule could do to make this game more fun. My only con was the storyline for LittleBigPlanet but we all knew this game’s online community is what made it shine.
One of the biggest improvements in LittleBigPlanet 2 was the campaign. I had no idea I would enjoy the storyline the way I did. I was only playing it for the review at first but after the first batch of levels, the game’s storyline had me hooked. I immediately fell in love with all the characters as they were introduced and how well the new gadgets were placed in the story.
The storyline kicks off when Avalon and Larry Da Vinci rescue you from the Negativitron and offering you a spot in The Alliance. The story is a lot thicker and more attractive this time around due to the addition of fantastic camera work, unique character personalities with animated movements as opposed to clunky marionettes.
Watch Unboxing of the Collector’s Edition
Remember how LittleBigPlanet was all “run, jump, run, jump”? LittleBigPlanet 2 tosses in 2D side-scrolling shooters that aren’t platforming point A to point B. Using camels to blast obstructions or rolling on walls to slam on top of a boss is exhilarating. You never know what to expect when playing through the LittleBigWorlds. The grappling hook works as advertised and the creatinator can shoot just about anything. The new sackbots show a personality of their own. There will be times when they are obsessed with you like a screaming Usher fan or afraid of you like you are when you failed Chemistry for the 2nd time.
If you had LittleBigPlanet, you can export all your items, costumes and levels to LittleBigPlanet 2 so you can have your Sack Thing just the way you left it. You can jump in and start making levels if you please and the 50 friendly tutorials may help ease what frustration you may face. As LBP, it takes time and patience to muscle through the grudge work to make a masterpiece. Variety is key. Link the levels together and they’re no longer just levels, but games in the making. If you want to play, play, play, you’ll probably need to wait a couple of months before the real masterpieces come along. There are a couple of clever levels out there, the most popular among them being Omicron – Neon City and Fallout New Vegas RPG.
“MM picks” is a section of the community where the team at MediaMolecule will hand pick the levels they liked the most and deserve attention. Only the first-rate levels will make it on this eminent list. This section of the community is a wonderful and welcome addition for those who don’t want to look 10 out of 12 levels that say “17 free trophies” while the other 2 may be “super fast speeding car”. Famous levels from LittleBigPlanet are featured on this list, for example, Dragon Slayer by Jaeyden.
While playing, I’ve noticed a number of bugs. The most infamous is the infinite loading screen which normally occurs while playing online with a friend. There are fixes to get around it for a temporary amount of time but that doesn’t really smooth out the experience to make it more fun. Another glitch that has only affect people with the exclusive avatars in the Collector’s Edition is something I like to call the “LittleBigPlanet glitch”. There will be a ginormous craftworld stuck in your pod blocking out nearly everything except a small corner that won’t even display the full body of Sack Thing. Loading times still suck for the most part
Whether you look as this as a massive patch or a new game, LittleBigPlanet 2 does not disappoint. It is rare for a game to maintain the amount of anticipation that was caused the day it was announced to the day it was released and still blow minds away.
The Good
- Great story levels
- New Gadgets
- Fantastic protagonists and antagonist
- Simpler ways to create a level
- It really is a platform for games
- Already a small batch of fun levels
- Voice acting and movie cameras
The Bad
- Infinite loading glitch prevents you from having any fun with your friends
- The “LittleBigPlanet glitch” can make the game nearly unplayable
9.5
Music have taken more than a downfall these last two years. However, FreeStyle Games and Activison released DJ Hero in October of 2009 to a successful surprise. The game was praised for its original soundtrack, unique gameplay and for delivering a new formula to music games. However, the game lacked any good multiplayer and didn’t fully deliver the feel of true turntablism. Now, a year later, Activision releases its sequel, but is taking on the wheels of steel better the second time around?
The concept of DJ Hero remains the same. However, there are some minor additions to the gameplay that work out really well. The first addition are hold notes. They work similarly as they do in Guitar Hero and are pretty self explanatory. Held scratches also appear in the game, and although a bit tricky at first, you should quickly get the hang of it after some time. Those are pretty much the only new gameplay changes, but there are some major additions to the gameplay formula. The newly introduced Empire Mode isn’t more than a beefed up career mode from DJ Hero 1. You are still practically playing setlist after setlist, with occassional DJ Battles. There isn’t much of a change in the Empire Mode. The feeling of being an up and coming DJ still isn’t there. However, it is a start and hopefully an inevitable DJ Hero 3 will deliver.
As mentioned before, the original DJ Hero didn’t give the actual feel of turntablism. All you were doing were following cues given to you. Real DJs mix how they want to. They freestyle. Well, freestyling was added to DJ Hero 2 and it delivers. The first freestyle segment is the ability to crossfade at will. Certain sections of the song will allow you to move the crossfader in whichever direction to give your own song to the mix. The game does give you some suggestions, and although they may sound good at times, I found myself performing some pretty interesting maneuvers with the freestyle crossfading. The second freestyle segment is something any DJ game should gave-freestyle scratching. The path will be highlighted, similar to that seen in freestyle crossfading, and when it is you are given the free will to scratch however you want. The tutorial gives you an idea of what kind of scratches you can perform, and almost all of them sound great. Of course, you can just scratch however you please and it still might sound just as good. From the wicky-wicky-wicky to the wick-wick-wah, all types of scratches can be performed in these fantastic freestyling segments.
Freestyle Crossfading
Freestyle Crossfading
The final segment of freestyling is actually a much improved version of the freestyle sampling seen in the original DJ Hero. In the said game, you would choose from a select bunch of samples and mash the red button when the option was given, with options ranging from Flava Flav’s famous “Yeaaaaaaah, boy!” to the sound of an electric zap. While the effort was praised, very little options were given, and it felt more like a gimmick since you weren’t scored for it. However, in DJ Hero 2, the freestyle sampling has been further expanded. Instead of choosing from select samples, the samples are programmed into each mix uniquely, providing a much more DJ-like experience. Instead of constant Flava Flav chants, you will hear samples that actually sound like it is a part of the song playing. You will get scored during all of these segments, and you will also get graded on your freestyle performance at the end of a mix.
Another addition to DJ Hero 2 is the most wanted Megamix options. Most DJs don’t play one mix of two songs and call it a day. Instead, they perform for countless hours and in those hours produce mixes of ten to twenty songs. Now of course that is a bit much for a video game, but there had to be some way to incorporate it, right? Well, they did. The game packs six Megamixes, four themed after the celebrity guests. Each Megamix consists of three to four individual mixes stringed together. While it isn’t as strong as fans might have wanted, it sure is a start, and it sounds great when played. Hopefully, a third installment could allow the ability for us to create our own Megamix consisting of our favorite mixes. These Megamixes enhance the feeling of true turntablism even further.
As you read above, there are celebrity avatars that can be used in-game. Although the Avatars look great, the fact that we are given no customization options is a bit of a disappointment. Seeing Guitar Hero and Rock Band grow in the customization area should be a major hint to FreeStyle Games to include a Create-a-DJ mode. However, I still do praise the ability to pick our own decks and headphones. Along with the wonderful character designs, the set pieces are looking better than ever. DJ Hero 2 has some wonderfully designed club arenas that are packed with amazing light shows and give off a true clubbing feel. Along with the wonderful designs, the famed camera swooping seen in the original DJ Hero does return, and it still goes along great with the music playing. The menu is also much simpler to navigate compared the infamous menus from the original. It is much cleaner with a bright interface and is just outright simpler to use.
New Singing Addition
DJ Hero 2 also rid of the unused Guitar vs DJ feature and instead added Singing into the mix, no pun intended. While it seems like this would be a complete gimmick, it’s actually pretty fun once you get the hang of singing to two songs mashed together. Of course, it isn’t something worth getting excited over, but if someone wants to stretch their vocal chords while a friend mixes the option is there. It was also made clear that Multiplayer was a major focus for DJ Hero 2. After the annoyingly boring Multiplayer seen in the original, it only made sense that it was put more into focus for the sequel. The deed was done, and it was done almost perfectly.
DJ Hero 2 is a major improvement from its predecessor. It not only improved the mistakes the original made, but it added some really great features as well. The Freestyling is a blast and the Multiplayer is a major improvement. While there are some balancing issues, the Multiplayer still proves to be a fun time when you find the right people.The Empire Mode isn’t much of an improvement, but it is a start. The menus are simpler, and the designs are great. Unfortunately, there is little to no customization available yet. The soundtrack is fantastic, but the lack of Daft Punk surprises me.
Their are plenty of game modes to keep you busy playing Multiplayer for a while. Party Play makes a return and is much easier to use and is very similar to that of Guitar Hero. However, seeing as how DJ Hero is more of a party game, Party Play definitely fits in this game series more. In Streak, two players are facing each other for the highest note streak. If you drop the streak, you have to work your way back up. While not my favorite mode, it certainly is fun. Head to Head is the same Multiplayer game mode seen in the original, so if you liked it there you will like it here. Checkpoint has players fighting to hit a higher percentage of notes before the end of a checkpoint. This is most definitely my least liked Multiplayer mode. It gets really annoying to face someone in this game mode on a lower difficulty, as it is clearly easier for them to hit more notes and/or hit them perfectly on time. Accumulator is my favorite of all the game modes, as it is unique compared to many other game modes in music games. Its similar to Streak except that when you earn a streak, you can Bank the streak by pressing the Euphoria button. Banking the streak starts your streak again from the most recent bank if you mess up. It is not only fun, but it is pretty tense if you don’t bank your streaks often. DJ Battle is my second favorite game mode in the game. In this game mode, two DJs battle it out playing checkpoints back and fourth between each other aiming for a higher percentile. This is one of my favorite modes because it feels exactly like what it is called-a DJ battle. Going back and fourth between each other gives that authentic battle feel. The best part about it is the unique mixes this game mode has. My favorite of them would have to be the You’re a Jerk Battle Mix. Along with all of these game modes is the Power Deck Battles, which is similar to the Powers seen in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Essentially, this game mode has you pick a power deck, each with their own unique power-up, and face off another player in a score battle.
Playing these game modes online prove to be the best way to play them as the game also incorporates a leveling system. After each mix you earn DJP, or DJ Points, that increase your level. Each time you increase your level or complete certain challenges you unlock IDs and Tags, which are labels for your DJ Hero Profile. They don’t necessarily serve a strong purpose, but prove for some good bragging rights. The servers work pretty well compared to other games in which it takes an hour before you can find a complete band. However, when you do find people, they aren’t always the best people to play with. I can’t knock people for playing with people on a low difficulty as the game isn’t the easiest music game out there, but balancing can be an issue when it comes to the checkpoint style game modes. Also, getting a higher streak is much easier for the Expert players than it is for the Easy players. Overall, the balancing needs to be greatly improved. The worst part about the balancing is finding rage-quitters leaving the game in between a mix because they are losing. This results in less DJ Points than you would have earned if you completed the mix.
Of course, DJ Hero 2 is a music game so the big question would have to be “How is the soundtrack?” One word can answer that question: Amazing. The original DJ Hero was praised for its unique soundtrack, as it should have been. The one con about that soundtrack was that it felt rather repeated and focused too much on the Rap genre. Lets not forget that DJs aren’t all about rap. A good amount of DJs blend together different genres of house, funk, pop, electronic and techno. Well, DJ Hero 2 solved that problem by including such a high variety of songs and artists of all different types of genres. We also get more recognizable artists this time around, from Lady Gaga to the infamous Soulja Boy. Some of that variety can be shown in the celebrity guests such as Tiesto and Deadmau5. The soundtrack consists of well crafted mixes that have more of a party feel than that of the original. Mixes like Replay vs Rude Boy and the Tiesto Bad Romance Remix would actually have people dancing in their seats while playing this game. Of course there is one question that needs to be asked when looking at the setlist: Where the hell is Daft Punk. The Daft Punk mixes and sections of DJ Hero 1 were arguably the best in the entire game. The inclusion of Daft Punk is what sold the game to many fans. However, in DJ Hero 2 their is but one Daft Punk mix. Human After All is a perfectly well mix, but the lack of Daft Punk is a major disappointment. Hopefully, the original DJ Hero setlist will eventually be transferrable to DJ Hero 2. With that, we would not only get more mixes added to the mix, no pun intended again, but we would also be able to try out the new freestyling bits in those mixes. Another notable disappointment is that the Battle Mixes can only be played in Battle Mode. This is a weird feat seeing as the Guitar vs DJ mixes in the original DJ Hero allowed you to play it alone if you wanted, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
Closing CommentsDJ Hero 2 is a major improvement from its predecessor. It not only improved the mistakes the original made, but it added some really great features as well. The Freestyling is a blast and the Multiplayer is a major improvement. While there are some balancing issues, the Multiplayer still proves to be a fun time when you find the right people.The Empire Mode isn’t much of an improvement, but it is a start. The menus are simpler, and the designs are great. Unfortunately, there is little to no customization available yet. The soundtrack is fantastic, but the lack of Daft Punk surprises me.
The Good:
- Notable gameplay changes, and fantastic freestyle segments
- The ability to play well-crafted Megamixes
- Wonderful set pieces and camera movements, along with a much improved menu
- The Multiplayer is much improved from the disappointing multiplayer in the original
- Singing is actually much more suitable addition than the guitar was
- Online is fun with an interesting leveling system
- An amazing, much improved soundtrack
The Bad:
- A not so much improved career mode
- A surprising lack of customization
- A few balancing issues with the online portion of the game
- Only one Daft Punk mix
9.5/10
Bad Company 2 is already a fantastic game but the people at DICE has brought us a lot of more reason to play the game with Vietnam. With five brand new maps, six new vehicles and 15 new weapons, is Vietnam worth it?
Yes. DICE has down everything imaginable for the Vietnam setting, including creating new character skins to fit the era, creating weapons that look like they’ve been through war and throwing you in a jungle full of trigger happy opponents. The first thing I notice about the expansion pack was the maps are a hell of a lot smaller than in Bad Company 2 vanilla. Some may not like the idea of smaller maps but I really love it. You spawn right into the action, the atmosphere is just intense as you crawl out of 3ft pits, dodging Vietnamese bullets to get to that one M-COM and save the day.
Another notable change is the lack of scopes for machine guns, so you’ll see less long-range battles. Anyone who’s played Bad Company 2 much are familiar with the medics and their M60 sniping. Well that’s the thing of the past…err, I mean future. But almost every weapon you see in Vietnam is new, especially a devastatingly effective flamethrower. There are a ton of hiding places in Vietnam now. Trenches, tunnels, rice patties and the like are used to change the way you move around and sneak up on enemies.
The music is great and they give a great Vietnam feel, although I could do with a lot less Fortunate Sun. Some may be hesitant to play Vietnam, but when it comes to playing the expansion to the best multiplayer game of the year, Vietnam is the sure way to go.
The Good
- New weapons
- New maps that successfully give you that Vietnam feel
- Making the class choices more diverse
- Awesome music catalog
The Bad
- Too much Fortunate Son
9.5/10
When Damien and I met in our freshman year of high school, we both had our thoughts in DC Universe Online and we had a couple of doubts since we were bigger fans on the Marvel universe. It wasn’t until I saw the cinematic trailer that I took some interest in the DC universe and the MMO. After nearly 3 months of endlessly sitting on my couch staring at my TV watching the first nine seasons of Smallville, I felt that I was at least ready to know a few characters in DC Universe Online. I felt that I was at least ready to fight alongside Superman or Lex Luthor or other DC characters.
To my surprise, that rarely happens. Looking at the trailers that can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store, I thought that my villain could eventually run into The Flash but all of the heroes and villains are in their headquarters (Watchtower for Heroes and Hall of Doom for Villains). That was a personal letdown for me, but let’s get on to the beta.
I’m impressed. I had my doubts about a console MMO for a while. But DC Universe Online feels more than an MMO. If anything, it feels more like an action-adventure with RPG elements. Not only have the nailed the “action MMO” but they did a great job making you feel like a superhero (or villain). There’s nothing more heroic than flying through the skies of Metropolis and helping a lady fight off her mugger and leaving him tied up for the cops or more villainous than speeding through the streets of Gotham and killing police officers on your way to your objective.
That it how it works. This game wasn’t built to shoehorn mining or crafting because it really wouldn’t make any sense. This isn’t a Fantasy MMO. These are superheroes and it’s obvious that the folks at SOE stepped outside the box and said “Forget every other MMO, what do we have to do?” I haven’t played many MMOs (Only Flyff, City of Heroes and Champions Online), but I can’t compare this to either of then and in my opinion, that’s a good thing.
The two problems I faced with the beta are the obvious two things that any beta is expected to have. Freezing and disconnections. Before the recent update, I couldn’t play for more than 15 minutes before the game froze. And what’s even messed up is when the game froze or disconnected, a screenshot of Mr. Freeze would pop up. I froze right after coming out of character create a couple of times. The recent 3GB update made the beta a lot more playable. Text was bigger, freezing rate was reduced and there were more cutscenes. The beta seemed playable but there were still problems. My villain was speeding across Metropolis University and got stuck in surface. Communicating is still a little difficult, you need to pause and then press a few buttons to get to the social area and then you have to wait for the fat PS3 keyboard layout to pop up. It’s definitely a big issue for those who are without mics.
Character create is great. I was worried that, like Champions Online, it would have way too many clothes to choose from. But everything is pretty simple, you start out looking like a basic, weak fella (or gal) as you should. You can choose from 3 mentors (3 for heroes and 3 for villains). Each mentor will somehow influence your character in a way, but I have yet to see that in the beta so hopefully there will be a meaning to mentors other than just the sake of people picking their favorite of the bunch.
You can choose to select an inspiration or do a custom build of your character’s costume. No matter which you choose, you will be able to change the color (both during the creation and prior to it). Inspired costumes won’t affect your character in any way, shape or form. It’s there for those who don’t feel as creative as other players in the game.
The beta is fantastic and I’m very excited to buy it. DC Universe Online will be released on January 11th, 2011 for normal retail price and $14.99 per month but you will get your first 30 days free. As a beta tester, I’m extremely worried that this game will have issues. Most MMOs have betas six months before its initial release. Hopefully the game will have its shit together and not be a disaster like Final Fantasy XIV.
It is finally here…but how is it?
Call of Duty has evolved into something more than your average first person shooter. With the release of Modern Warfare 2, the hit series turned into a blockbuster franchise. It won many awards and was successful both critically and commercially. Now, a year after its release, Treyarch brings the newest entry to the series-Black Ops.
Before I start the review, I would like to apologize for the time it took to get the review up. I wanted to make sure I can give an in-depth opinion on the online components.
Let’s Start With the Campaign
Call of Duty: Black Ops’ single player campaign puts players in the role of Alex Mason. Sure, you’re given the chance to play as other characters, but it is clear that the storyline is focused n Mason. In short, Black Ops’ campaign is perfect in every way possible. The voice acting is absolutely amazing. Sam Worthington puts on a strong performance as Mason. Gary Oldman does an amazing job as the World War II veteran Sergeant Resnov. Even Ice Cube does a wonderful job as Bowman. The lead characters, especially Woods, are some of the most likable. characters in a Black Ops game to date.
Aside from the well-though out characters, Black Ops also tells one of the best stories seen in the series. The missions are all essentially flashbacks. In these flashback sequences, we are taking to different, well-crafted settings such as Cuba and Vietnam. The main plot has Mason and company attempt to stop Dragovich, the lead antagonist, from hitting the United States with a deadly gas known as Nova 6. With the minor confusions seen during the beginnings of the campaign, players may not have a clue as to what is going on. However, it all ties in at the end with a surprising twist that will leave players in complete shock. Unlike Modern Warfare 2′s weak storytelling, Black Ops tels a well-thought, well-organized storyline with the same dynamic and tense moments seen in that of Modern Warfare 2.
As mentioned above, the settings of Black Ops are particularly stunning. Cuba looks fantastic, as well as Vietnam. However, the details behind just about everything else are subpar. Compared to the beautiful Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops is rather lacking. There are plenty noticeable jaggies as well as some Frames Per Second issues. Black Ops doesn’t look bad, but it isn’t as visually impressive as last year’s title.
Next Up: The Online
The Call of Duty series is also notable for creating one of the most fun, most addictive online experiences to date. Black Ops is no different. Black Ops refines and revamps Modern Warfare 2′s online component drastically. For starters, Treyarch introduced a new money system known as COD Points. With that, you can purchase Perks, weapons and even custom reticles for your Red Dot Sights. As noted, the customization was definitely stepped up a notch. Now, players ar giving the option to have custom Red Dot Sights, facepaint, loads of gun camo, clan tags can be engraved onto guns, and players can now create their own emblems. Having seen some pretty nice creations, the features are robust in every way. Treyarch sure did a wonderful job in giving players the feel of their custom class being their very own custom class. The leveling system remains pretty much unchanged, aside from the fact that there are now fifteen Prestige levels rather than ten. Essentially, aside from customization and improvements to the options given to players, the main core of the online game remains the same. This isn’t a bad thing, as the online has always been fun the way it was. Custom Killstreaks make a return with the addition of some nice new killstreaks.
One problem seen in Modern Warfare 2 was balance issues. Black Ops sought to fix this issue, and for the most part, did a splendid job. With the removal of perks such as Danger Close, Stopping Power and One Man Army, Black Ops is probably one of the most balanced Call of Duty titles to date. It is now impossible for one person to have stronger guns than others. Although there are still some n00b tubers running around, with the removal of One Many Army, it is now impossible to see the same person constantly hitting you with it. There are several balancing changes to Black Ops’ online aside from these, such as the removal of Commando as well. Overall, the core of the online components is still as addictive and fun as always. Wager Matches have proven to be a blast to play as well. My favorite being Sticks and Stones, each of the game modes have something special about them that make them all fun in their own way. Combat Training is another nice addition to the online. Playing with friends enhance the feature and can even help get to learn the maps of Black Ops. It also serves as a fun time to just put the enemies on the lowest difficulty and rack up on kills and killstreaks. Theater mode is definitely intriguing. Although intimidating at first, once one gets used to the system, it becomes a simple and fun way to show off your skill or even your lack thereof.
One of the major issues in the online would have to be the servers. It isn’t exactly hard to find a game, but it is hard keeping one. When hosts are picked, it seems like the Black Ops servers like to pick random people, seen by the fact that games will constantly end to a “Connection Interrupted” error. The party system also has several issues. At times, players in my party cannot hear me through my mic, and vice versa. Other times, party members would get separated going into a game. One of the most memorable moments was having a party of three and all three players were sent to various different game modes. A patch could fix this, and it supposedly has, but I am yet to see a difference. Despite these several issues, the game is still as addictive as ever.
And Finally, the Brain Munchers
Treyarch took a gamble with the inclusion of a Nazi Zombie mode in Call of Duty: World at War. After its surprising success, Treyarch continued by releasing three Zombie maps in several map packs. Treyarch made no mistake in choosing to add the Zombie mode again to Black Ops. It was an addicting game mode in itself. It was not only fun, but it also packed a wonderfully thought out backstory hidden behind several Easter eggs. There are three Zombie maps this time around, with one being a surprisingly weird addition.
‘Kino Der Toten’ puts players back in the roles of Dempsey, Richtofen, Nikolai and Takeo as they time travel to the future (the Cold War era). They land in what Richtofen calls “a theater of the damned.” The gameplay for Zombie Mode remains pretty much unchanged: get the power on, pick up a random weapon from “the box,” and Pack-A-Punch it. However, this time around, the Pack-A-Punch machine also adds a nice little attachment to your weapon. Also, single shots turn into three round bursts while three round burst weapons, namely the M16, turn into full automatic. The Hell Hounds also make a return for some zombie dog fury. Lastly, is the game mode’s newest addition: gas zombies. Upon death, these zombies will unleash a large amound of gas, likely Nova-6 gas seen in the story, that will disorientate targets and can lead to death. The quotes said by the above mentioned characters are comedic and the co-op is as fun as always. However, Zombie mode sees one of the most exciting movements in its unlockable map.
‘Five’ puts players in the role of either John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon or Robert McNamara. This is the first time players actually get to play as non-fictional characters. It is weird for Treyarch to do so in an extremely fictional gameplay setting, but it is all-in-all very interesting. This map sees some pretty neat little additions. For starters, it rids of the Hell Hound rounds for something much more tense and rather difficult. The Pentagon thief comes every couple rounds after the power is turned on, and like his name states, he goes after a player to steal the weapon he is currently holding. It may sound like a simple task as there is only one of him and you can just kill him, correct? No, as for the fact that not even two clips of a Pack-A-Punched Spas-12 will take him out. What’s worse is the fact that your teammates cannot see if he is chasing you. All they will see is a group of numbers fly through the halls. Although annoyingly difficult, these moments prove to be incredibly tense for the average Zombie Mode player. Security system DEFCON also makes an appearance in Five. It isn’t a large addition, but it is important as it provides access to the hidden Pack-A-Punch room. Five is a nice change to the zombie formula, and it is always great to bust zombie heads while listening to Eminem and P!nk nail a track together.
The last Zombie map isn’t exactly a map. Dead Ops Arcade, unlocked by entering a special code in the computer at the main menu, is a leap from the normal Zombie formula. It plays out like a class arcade shooter, similarly seen in recent zombie titles Dead Nation and Zombie Apocalypse. The style is extremely different, but the same point is there. Face waves of zombies in different sections of a rather large-scaled area. You must also collect various treasures along the way to score some points, as it is indeed an arcade shooter. There are also several power ups along the way, some seen in the other zombie maps. Certain rounds bring out another “special” zombie, if one may call this that. The Cosmic Silverback is actually an extremely powerful gorilla. Dead Ops is certainly something very different based on what we’ve seen before, but it doesn’t make it any less fun. It is actually an incredibly fun game mode that can prove to be as addicting as the normal zombie mode. It also supports full online co-op, leading to high potential.
Closing Comments
All in all, Call of Duty: Black Ops is the same addictive experience as Modern Warfare 2. Gameplay remains pretty much the same, and “the feel” is still there. Minor tweaks to the online system created a much more balanced experience, leading to hours of endless fun. The customization seen in Black Ops is a dream. Sadly enough, the servers need some working on. Luckily, this can either be a long-term problem, or patched in the coming weeks. The story is just about perfect in almost every way, and the zombie mode provides the same co-op experience we grew to love in Call of Duty: World at War.
All in all, Call of Duty: Black Ops is the same addictive experience as Modern Warfare 2. Gameplay remains pretty much the same, and “the feel” is still there. Minor tweaks to the online system created a much more balanced experience, leading to hours of endless fun. The customization seen in Black Ops is a dream. Sadly enough, the servers need some working on. Luckily, this can either be a long-term problem, or patched in the coming weeks. The story is just about perfect in almost every way, and the zombie mode provides the same co-op experience we grew to love in Call of Duty: World at War.
The Good
- The story mode is just about perfect-10
- The voice work is astounding, minus the very minor characters-9.75
- The online is still as addicting as ever-8.5
- The customization is dream, although actual custom Red Dots would have been nice-8.75
- Zombie Mode makes a much-wanted return and succeeds greatly in positive variety-9
- The online experience is also much more balanced in its own sense-9.25
- The money system gives players the ability to level up in their own way-9.5
- Wager Matches are a blast to play, and are beneficial in the money system-9.75
- Theater mode is not only helpful, but allows players to show off their true potential-8
- Private Matches have been reworked to give a ‘LittleBigPlanet’ feel in the Create, Play Share formula-8.75
The Bad
- The story is still pretty short lived-7.95
- Servers are painful at times-6.5
- Graphics are subpar compared to Modern Warfare 2-7
8.6/10
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| The Liberation of Roma Has Begun |
Assassin’s Creed released in 2007 and successfully mixed parkour and open-world gameplay with an unpredictable story. Assassin’s Creed II had more depth and righted all the wrongs from the first game. Brotherhood was probably the least anticipated installment among fans as many were unsure whether this was a canonical game or just a standalone game that wouldn’t be necessary for the main series.
If you weren’t a big fan of Assassin’s Creed II, then Brotherhood won’t convince you. If you are a fan of the series, then you can not go onto Assassin’s Creed III without playing this. In Brotherhood, we return to fill the shoes of Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The game kicks off at the moment Assassin’s Creed II ended in the Vatican where Ezio spoke with Minerva. Afterwards, Ezio goes back to Monteriggioni with his uncle Mario with the Apple of Eden. Ezio enjoys his small retirement until the Cesare Borgia leads his troops into the small city in order to retrieve the Apple of Eden. Now Ezio must go to Rome and retrieve it.
Rome is the biggest map to appear in the Assassin’s Creed series yet and Ubisoft took advantage of that by fixing a problem from ACII – money. Those who enjoyed rebuilding Monteriggioni in Assassin’s Creed II are definitely in for a treat in Brotherhood. You can now purchase safehouses for Courtesans, Thives and Mercenaries, reopen shops that will give you discounts on products, rebuild the aqueduct and you can even buy famous landmarks such as the Pantheon and Colosseum.
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| Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted. Our Creed lives by these words. |
After a few hours into the game, Ezio realizes that there’s no way in hell he can take down the Borgia all on his own, so he decides to recruit citizens and train them to be Master Assassins. Your recruits will gain XP each time you summon them and sending them out on contracts. It is possible for your apprentices to be killed in battle or out on a mission, so you should to take great consideration on how many a recruits go on a mission and measure their chances of survival.
The AI improved a bit and there seems to be more of a variety. Though enemies take turns in striking Ezio, they will grab you in order for the other guards to strike you. This may be a little annoying to the player if they’re trying to get a killstreak, but it definite adds to the realism. Guards on rooftops will aim down at you with their crossbows and guns and take shots at you. On foot, there are plenty of more heavier guards with heavier weapons and it will take more work to kill them, such as kicking to break their defense. Smaller enemies are extremely fast and it’s wise to keep a close eye on them so you can counter their attacks and start a chain
Combat is a lot more fun this time around. Not longer is it ‘hit, hit, kill, hit, hit, kill’. Brotherhood now allows to player to dance around enemies killing them one by one with one hit, each weapon having their own special attack making Ezio and unstoppable force and your enemies be no issue to you.
Missions in this game are diverse, like ACII, but include a little more variety, but not always for the best. Occasionally, you’ll find yourself escorting someone someplace while talking about the Borgia. While this may seem boring, it does get better. Later in the game, you’ll need to disguise yourself as a Borgia guard. One of my favorite missions was to break a woman out of prison and this time the princess isn’t in another castle.
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| “May the Father of Understanding guide us” – Templar Blessing |
Perhaps the biggest change in the game, Brotherhood’s multiplayer is not something that players should overlook. The multiplayer is addictive and absolutely nothing like anything I’ve experienced in another game. As a big fan of the series, I was shocked when I played the multiplayer beta and actually enjoyed it because I’m a real single-player junkie and I didn’t want to see one of my favorite series go down and join the masses. As everything else, it fits into the single player. Abstergo is building an army to defeat the assassins and you get to play as one of the Templars preparing to fight against the assassins.
There are four game modes in the multiplayer – Wanted, Manhunt, Alliance and Advanced Wanted.
My personal favorite is Wanted, which is a variation of Cat and Mouse. A picture of your targer will appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen and there is a compass pointing you in the direction of your target. While you look for your target, there will also be someone hunting you. You can avoid being assassinated by stunning your hunter, though you will need to be fast because the opportunity to stun is only available for less than a second. Blending in and taking your target out unexpectedly is the surest way to gain more points, but if you want to be on the rooftops and perform an aerial assassination, you will get points here as well.
Manhunt is essentially Wanted, but there will be two teams. One will be the assassins and the other will be targets. Assassins have to sweep the area to find their targets, of course, while their targets hide in the crowd. Finding your targets will be more difficult, since they’re not really as active as you are and it requires a lot of patience since they’ll be hiding in a crowd of people who look like them. I’m not really a big fan of this game mode, though it is a favorite to all of my friends.
Alliance is a mixture of Manhunt and Wanted. Three teams of two and you will be assigned a specific team to hunt and kill while being hunted yourself.
Advanced Wanted is something players will need to work for. Being unlocked at rank 12, this game mode doesn’t have much of a change to it. The only change is you won’t be told whether your target is above you or below you. I would have preferred if you weren’t told how many Templars were chasing after you.
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| “Leonardo expects me to maneuver this thing? With no instructions, of course” – Ezio |
There are a great number of side missions to take part of during and after the main storyline has been completed. There are Christina missions, which shows Ezio around the time his father and brothers were murdered and shows how much he loves Christina Vespucci. Leonardo da Vinci appears again, but with a less important role. He wants you to destroy a number of war machines that Cesare Borgia has forced him to make schematics for. Lastly, players can go into temples of Followers or Romulus and retrieve keys to unlock special armor, just like how it was in Assassin’s Creed II. Ubisoft made it hard to put the controller down for this game. Subject 16 returns with more glyphs for the player and this time around, it will explain how Abstergo controls a lot of what goes on in the world that we don’t notice.
Lastly, one of my favorite parts of the game, Virtual Reality Training. There are four modes available, Free-Run, Stealth Assassination, Locate and Combat, each loaded with different tasks and you will be given medals depending on your performance. There is also a leaderboard feature which will drive you to outdo your friends and will ultimately help you in the game. Those who get at least a bronze medal in each challenge will be given the Metal Gear Solid 4 Raiden costume.
The Good
- Interesting story from start to finish
- The ability to go back and replay Ezio’s memories
- Combat system improved
- Runs smoothly
- Beautiful landscape
- Spectacular voice acting
- Cesare Borgia is the greatest villain featured in an Assassin’s Creed game
- Virtual Training that improve the player’s skill in the game
- Addictive multiplayer
- Loads of content
- Best Assassin’s Creed yet
10/10