Hot chick on the cover? Check. Kind of resembles the Baroness from GI Joe? Double Check. Guns? Check – check her feet too, cause those high heels are packing heat too. Wait, what? From the get-go, you know this isn’t going to be a normal shooter. But just how far down the rabbit-hole does it go? Come with me for an interesting journey.

To be totally honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this game. On the surface, it looks like Devil May Cry and God of War thrown together, mixed in with a few of the more “respectable” character models from the Dead or Alive series for good measure. In other words, it had the potential for being something very entertaining, or something that felt like it’s been done to death a hundred times before, and that within minutes I would be turning off my Xbox and tossing the game and case back into the Give to Friends I Don’t Really Care About pile of games.

But along comes one of the most over-the-top, guns-blazing, unforgettable prologues I have every experienced in my 20 plus years of gaming. Without warning, you are thrown into what in most other games would be the lead-up battle to a boss fight, with seemingly endless wave after wave of enemies, just asking to be executed in the most over-the-top style you can imagine. Of course, at this point, you have had no proper introduction to the control system or special move-list, so you are basically pulling off random combos and incredibly well animated visceral executions without knowing how or why you are doing so. Did I mention that this was all happening on the face of a giant clock tower – as it is careening end over end down the face of mountain? Bayonetta is a game that reaches through the 4^th wall, grabs you by your face and screams “can you hear me now?” as loud as possible, while punching you repeatedly about the head and neck.

The art style for the game is very unique as well, which fits the over-the-top in-your-face atmosphere, from having still photo spreads for cutscenes (which are actually still images from a roll of film, interestingly enough) with the dialogue played over the images, to full out game-engine animated scenes mixed up to keep you on your toes. Bayonetta herself is apparently the last Witch on the planet, and has just woken up from a 500 year nap at the bottom of a lake, and is on a mission to find her memory and cause general havoc and chaos for the good guys – or bad guys, in this case. Every singles enemy in the game is an “angel”, replete with glowing halo’s over their heads, and your job is to eradicate them in the most awful and punishing ways possible. You even have the option of executing Punishment and Torture attacks, such as summoning an Iron Maiden to crush and destroy your enemies, or at later stages when you have improved your magic abilites, calling larger than life demons to eradicate all the enemies around you.

This just adds to the completely ridiculous, but incredibly enjoyable experience that Bayonetta actually is. Just when you think you’ve seen how crazy Sega let the dev team go with the game, along comes a disco-dance sequence in a graveyard, complete with Bayonetta looking into the camera and quipping that as long as music is playing, she might as well keeping dancing (!). The game continuously breaks the 4^th wall, drawing the player in with subtle references to past games, similar games, and even celebrities (if Joe Pesci hasn’t tried to sue yet, just call me a Wet Bandit).

Having the ability to collect magical items and then mix them together and create new and more powerful potions and spells is utterly engrossing, as only specific items will successfully mix with other items, and each time you try a new combination you are rewarded with a new in-game experience, as well as the ever-elusive Achievement Points. Even if you aren’t a fan of fetch-questing, most of the items are found in fairly mundane places, and are very easy to pick out of the back- and foregrounds. Don’t worry – this isn’t like finding all 240 of the Riddler’s puzzles in Arkham Asylum. These add more depth to the game, but aren’t completely necessary. The overabundance of easy-to-perform, entertaining and highly-stylized combo moves more than make up for magic spells.

From performing backflip executions, to planting your feet (or hands) and rotating the Left Stick to shoot surrounding enemies with your hands (or feet as the case may be) and having Bayonetta move like a ballerina through it all is a sight to be seen. There was obviously a lot of time and effort put into making the action of our heroine as silky-smooth as possible, and it shows; from her vixen-like slow walk to the way she can nimbly jump from one execution to a group execution, Bayonetta looks good. And the other character models throughout the game are nothing to sneeze at either – they might not have had as much time in the oven as Bayonetta did, but they look damn good.

While the sound effects in the game are probably considered standard fare for most shooters at this point, the soundtrack is what stands out in my mind as something that they really nailed. Having a booming orchestral sound during epic fights works just as well here as it does in key scenes if larger than life films- you can feel your pulse quicken in time with the music, which is of course timed with events in the game, and you feel completely immersed in the experience. Which is exactly what you want when you have to fight off a 100-foot Godzilla wannabe. You want your palms to be sweating just a bit, your pulse racing, and then you realize you have to take a breath cause you’ve been holding it for the last thirty seconds in anticipation of just how insane this battle actually is.

Unlike a lot of other games, the Normal mode is Bayonetta is actually set to “normal”, so you shouldn’t feel scared to start there, if you aren’t sure if Hard is really something you want to deal with. With properly balanced gameplay, collectability, customization of spells and magic, and incredible visuals and sound, Bayonetta is a great game that everyone needs to try. Its completely over-the-top, crazy, irreverent at times, but by far one of the most unique entertainment experiences to slide into my disc drive in months. It took what was fun about Dante, furious about Kratos, and threw in just enough comedy to create an amazing final product that you would be very sorry to miss out on.

Graphics: 4/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Replay: 4/5

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I’m going to get something off my chest right out of the gate: I haven’t been a fan of baseball nor baseball videogames for the last decade or so. Watching the game can be downright boring, and playing a virtual representation seems to result in little more than timing mini-games and a few button presses.

Then along comes Visual Concepts’ MLB 2K10. For the first time since I last held aloft a piece of lumber, here’s a video game that actually made me feel like I was playing the game again. Everything feels crisp, clean, and connected – as if you are actually on the mound dueling with the batter, desperately trying to keep the sweat out of your eyes as you look down another full count with the bases loaded.

The presentation of the 2K10 is spot on, from the commercial bumpers during the telecast, to the voiceovers calling the shots during the games themselves. Having spent enough time running bases and trying to make double plays, I have yet to hear a repeat canned soundbite, which was a great surprise and welcome change from previous years’ entries. You get the best of both worlds from Visual Concepts’ setup – all of the stats and random personal facts that hardcore hardball fans crave, but enough of the “seen on TV” presentation that it flows wonderfully into you actually stepping into the batter’s box to see just how far you can crank that sliding fastball.

Your options for gameplay seems to have improved significantly as well. You can play any MLB game currently being played, or set up to be played on a specific day through MLB Today. It’s always fun to see if you can do a better job than the big boys at there own game (or feel as humbled as they do when things don’t exactly work out the way you wanted them to). Home Run Derby is included, and is pretty much exactly what it claims to be: hit homers, anything else is an out, get the most points. My Player is the heart of the game, and you’ll definitely find yourself spending the majority of time grinding away through this mode. You create a rookie phenom, pick your favourite franchise to be drafted into, and then set off to try to become an MLB legend.

Skill points are awarded just about every time you hit the field. Hit a single, and you get points for hitting. Make an assist, and you get points for fielding. Cross home plate with a run, and you get points for baserunning. Strike out the side, and you get points for pitching. You can see where this is going. There are special objectives and clutch situations which provide extra points: you might be called upon to record an out in under five pitches, or work a hit-and-run when standing on first. You take part only in the plays that your player is involved in, which allows you to zip through entire seasons while still playing nearly every game on the schedule.

However, all the action you see depends on the position you choose, of course. If you play a pitcher, you’re right in there with every toss from the mound, and you can even get called up to the majors after making a measly five starts in AA. If you assume the role of a catcher (my personal choice, as that was my position back in the day), you just take your at-bats and step into the field every now and then to try to pick off steals for second, or bunts for easy outs at first. Unless you’re completely committed to your role, you will get tired of seeing the same few animations repeated over and over. Still, the role-playing aspect is superb, and you’ll find yourself feeling a real team vibe.

My Player is not only addictive – you can actually see your player working their way up with each improvement you give to their stats, adding a very nice RPG element to an otherwise good sports game – but very unforgiving at the same time. Especially if you choose anything other than a pitching role. The game becomes very tedious trying to fill out the criteria for being called up the majors. Want a power hitter but not too interested in a Willie Mays Hays? Good luck, because you need to get your baserunning speed up to 65 before a call will come down from any GM for you. This system needs a little tweaking, but overall there’s a lot of potential for something great over the next season. As long as the balancing act is polished up for next years’ release, My Player has the potential for drawing you in and keeping you there for a long, long time.

Visually, the game is beautiful. Player models are spot on, and facial expressions are not only visible this time around, but actually reflect what’s going on during the game. Pitcher has the bases loaded? Not only will you see a reaction on the player model, but you will feel the intensity as your controller vibrates to show how much pressure you’re actually feeling. This definitely makes controlling your pitches more difficult, but adds to the realism of the game – you have to line up where you want your pitch to end up while you’re setting up, then have to lock in your context-sensitive pitch. If you make a messy stick-move, or enter it too fast or too slow, you could throw it in the dirt or into the umpire’s face. This really adds to the dynamic of the pitcher-batter duel, and draws you even further into the game, allowing you to glimpse what it would actually be like to be out there on your own.

A few aspects of gameplay feel off though. At the default slider settings, everything in the field is too frantic when you’re out there, which comes as a bit of a shock when compared to the duel between pitchers and batters. Speed isn’t so extreme that you can’t make plays, but ball and player movements have been accelerated so that catches and throws often look unrealistic. Weird animations make this effect worse. It’s just about impossible to steal a base with anyone but the best runners in the MLB. You have to get off to a perfect jump: go a split-second early, you get picked off. A split-second late, and you’re gunned down by a throw that always seems to be dead. It’s immensely frustrating, particularly when you’re doing baserunning drills early on with a My Player prospect.

But these problems pale in comparison to issues with online multiplayer. The games are lag-filled, and seemingly impossible to get into, and if you do manage it, expect your opponent to quit out on you at the earliest opportunity.

MLB 2K10 is a very good baseball game but still needs to be refined in a number of areas, which keeps it from knocking the ball out of the park. Even still, the franchise has certainly taken a huge leap forward and sets the stage for next year’s game to make a legitimate run for the title.

Graphics: 4/5

Gameplay: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay: 4/5

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To celebrate the launch of Xbox LIVE Block Party, Xbox Canada hosted the ultimate 80s throw back event featuring 80s celebrities and old school arcade games, even with the mullets. Check out the celebrity guests who made an appearance!

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For the most part, sequels of any medium, be they film, novel or video game, have a few important items to address on a checklist: better developed characters, a more enticing story, new locations, and most importantly, a sense of polish and completeness that the original, while perhaps something new and unique, was unable to be fully realized for any number of reasons.

Assassin’s Creed II manages to not only address all of these issues, but manages to throw out the entire list and make you wonder just how far the inevitable sequel will be able to go from this point.

Anyone familiar with the first Assassin’s Creed is aware of the ongoing war between the Assassins and the Templars. The story picks up immediately where the first game left off, with you starting out in the shoes of Desmond Miles. Luckily, this is quickly rectified, and you are whisked away to the Renaissance, landing in the middle of 15^th century Italy. Immediately, the sense of history, structure and life that flows through the city streets is instantly believable, immersing you in the reality of the game world. Merchants sweep the walkways in front of their stores, businessmen walk the streets with an entourage in tow, all the while engaged in private conversations. Doctors and artists hawk their wares to the passing crowds, some of who even stop in for a quick peek before returning to their chore of the moment. The cities feel alive in a way that the first game lacked, and each character walking the streets is unique – very rarely will you see a repeat costume or face in the same block of cobblestone walkways.

What helps to bring these vistas to life is the fantastic musical score. From haunting melodies to angelic choirs, the music fits the scenery as well as the action throughout the entire world. Attempting to scale to the top of a church tower results in both an uplifting and equally haunting rise in the score, making the sequence feel scripted, even though you are in complete control of when and where you choose to start climbing, or even if you decided halfway up to perform a swan dive into a conveniently-placed ox-cart; and even then, the sound design doesn’t fail. Dive off a high enough ledge, and you hear the wind whistle past your ears, and your clothes begin to flutter faster and harder the longer you fall. It is this attention to detail that helps fully realize the world in which Ezio lives, and immerses you in a way that few other games have been able to do.

The fighting mechanic has also been overhauled for this second outing, and the changes have made an incredible difference. The controls are tight, responsive and the animations flow perfectly from one attack to another as you combine high and low punches to thwart your enemies. You still have access to your standard hidden blade, but it can now be upgraded to dual blades, one on each arm, which allows for some pretty neat kills, especially when you are surrounded by pesky guards. As you progress through the game, you establish your own stronghold, and can upgrade your own resources (such as armour, weapons and gadgets) as well as decorate the stronghold to your liking. While this is more of an aesthetic choice than a necessity to the gameplay, it does offer a nice break during the game, and a way to wind down and focus on developing Ezio into the assassin you always wanted to be. Teaming up with Leonardo Da Vinci through the game unlocks different suprises, although for the most part, you will more than likely be sticking to your traditional blades to do your dirty work, as they provide the most visceral and “personal” endings to your prey.

At certain points during your historical adventure, Ezio is tasked with raiding Tombs hidden beneath the three cities you are exploring. This is where the tight control and amazing camera-work come to life and show off exactly what the team at Ubisoft Montreal had been working to bring to life when they originally brought Assassin’s Creed to life. These are a mix of old-school platforming combined with fantastic puzzles, very similar to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. While Ezio might not be as nimble as the Prince – he can’t run along walls – he’s still incredibly nimble, balancing on rock outcroppings and deteriorating pieces of timber jutting out from crumbling masonry. These quests are a nice change of pace from the assassinations and other side-quests you come across walking through the pedestrian markets, and are a great tool in showing just how far this series still can go.

Overall, Assassin’s Creed II takes everything that was great about the original game, trims the fat of what wasn’t useful, and adds better controls, better scenery and an amazing voice cast and heartfelt story, and creates the game that Ubisoft (and gamers) originally wanted with Assassin’s Creed. This is a game that everyone needs to play, and if you haven’t already, sneak out right now and get your copy!

Gameplay: 4/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 5/5

Replay: 4/5

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Another big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Another tie-in video game. But this one has James Cameron’s name on the box, so it can’t be that bad, right?

To be fair, I had very low expectations for James Cameron’s Avatar – The Video Game. It immediately brought back horrific memories of playing through another movie tie-in videogame with a title as long as my forearm (Peter Jackson’s King Kong The Movie The Game). It has always amazed me that a videogame form of a film seems to need the suffix “The Game” tagged on to the end of the title, as if the general public wouldn’t be able to figure out that the product they are currently holding, which may say Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo on it, isn’t actually the film that’s currently in theatres, but a game based on said film. But I digress….

If you’re expecting any kind of spoilers about the movie from this game, you won’t find them. The game is set two years prior to the events of the film, and you play a forgettable character that really doesn’t matter. You have a wide range of choices at the start of the game as to your gender and race, but this has no affect on the rest of the game, as you soon become a nameless grunt stuck on both sides of the ensuing conflict on the planet of Pandora. The basic story is similar to that of the film in that the humans are on Pandora and the Na’vi don’t really appreciate them, but since this is a few years prior, things are a little less established, and the invading human force hasn’t set up such a large presence – at least, not yet.

Through the main arc of the game, you progress to fighting with the humans and then with the Na’vi, eventually allowing you to make moral choices as to which side of the conflict you feel more at home with. The problem with this is that the game makes it very hard to side with the technologically-inferior Na’vi, especially when you can pilot mech suits, use rocket launchers and flamethrowers when you’re human, and on the flipside use bows and arrows and command bees. Bees? Really? I think I know which side I’m going to be sticking with, thanks.

Graphically, I have to say that Ubisoft once again has done what I thought would’ve been impossible. They manage to actually portray a convincing representation of Pandora, and do it in a way that respects the original medium. The jungle is teeming with life, from smaller insects to some of the larger predators that you can actually hunt or tame, depending on which side of the fight you’re currently on. The draw-distances throughout that game are beautiful, and the entire world seems to just be going about its business, whether or not you’re tearing through the jungle guns blazing or simple walking down a path taking in the sights and sounds. Character details are decent, nothing earth-shaking, but they get the job done. Cutscenes are presented with the in-game engine, which I was impressed with, as Ubisoft avoided using any clips from the film, instead allowing you to become completely immersed in this unique view of Pandora without worrying about filtering out expectations that come with using images from the Hollywood counterpart.

Sound design is both fantastic and dismal at the same time, but for completely different reasons. The sounds of life and nature throughout the jungle, and the effects from the weapons and vehicles are all spot-on. You can stand in one spot in the jungle and just listen to the variety of sounds coming from all around you, none of which seem canned and repetitive. The downside is when it comes to voice-acting. The dialogue is very stiff, and the actors don’t have any emotion behind what they are saying, which sucks the life right out of every single encounter with them. You just know that each time you have to report back to your superior you’re in for a boring short lecture, which is just repeated in text form about a second after the finish speaking to you. It’s almost like the other characters in the game are just as bored as you will be when they send you on some of the side-missions.

Some of these amazing side-missions are: collecting five types of a plant, but since you don’t know what they look like, you basically follow your map to a field and walk around; fixing sonic emitters that “were tampered with”, even though your character is a signal specialist, and admittedly knows nothing about sonic emitters; and then controlling vehicles that handle like bathtubs with bars of soap for wheels to simply get from point A to point B, even though you could’ve simply walked there instead (but you have to use the vehicles, otherwise the mission won’t continue).

Avatar has a multiplayer mode, but it feels tacked on instead of a fully developed gameplay mode. You have basic game choices, like capture the flag and team deathmatch, but once again, you’re faced with the fact that the humans are just simply better equipped than the Na’vi, and nobody wants to be on the Blue team. I’m still waiting to find anyone else playing this online to get a good feel for the multiplayer portion. Anybody out there?

Overall, James Cameron’s Avatar – The Game is a decent attempt from Ubisoft to follow up on the surprise that their version of King Kong was back in 2006. But at this point in the game, people are expecting more from games, especially movie tie-ins. The story is definitely thought out, but bad acting, lopsided weapon balancing, and a potentially player-less online mode relegate this game to the rental column, and even then only if you’re a die-hard Avatar fan.

Graphics: 4/5

Gameplay: 3/5

Sound: 3/5

Replay: 1/5

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Like blood? No… I mean, do you REALLY like blood?

If you answered yes, and also have a fancy for dragons, fantasy, compelling story, in depth character evolution, complete voice acting, and a really really long story that I believe Bioware’s Edmonton office has created the perfect game for you.

Dragon Age: Origins developed by Bioware (the same fine folks who brought us Mass Effect) have taken the next evolutionary step in interactive story telling in both intensity, depth, and fantasy. Moving back to their Baulder’s Gate style roots and away from the sci-fi they recently gained fame for, Dragon Age: Origins has you starting out in one of six origin stories (as a noble human, peasant human, wood elf, city elf, noble dwarf, or casteless dwarf) but have you essentially fighting to save all races and creeds against the Archdemon and the Blight. However the story begins, it provides insight and a background to where you came from, how you became a Grey Warden (a group of soldiers whom can sense evil and are tasked with defeating the Blight) and sends you off on your merry adventure where you meet dozens of characters who with a little finesse can become invaluable allies in your battle (letting you control up to four characters at one time) or… with a little fast clicking can have you killing them on the spot (trust me, I’ve killed at least two potential allies so far).

He's right behind me... Isn't he?

The game is all about choices, much like other Bioware favourites, but for this one, they go deep in morality it goes beyond just deciding if you want to be greedy, evil, good, or psychotic. For example, a simple choice in the game is whether you want to call down a massively strong dragon to fight against you or just sneak by… easy enough. How about choosing a side between two equally capable and equally evil dwarfs to take the throne as dwarf king? How do you know you’re making the right choice, how will the story evolve if you make one decision over another? So far the hardest choice I made in Origins beyond deciding how to level up my characters was to kill a young innocent boy harbouring a demon inside him, or find a way to exorcise the demon and save the boy… unfortunately for the boy, I have been on a tight deadline to write this review… so he died. Speaking of tight deadlines, since getting my grubby little paws on this title I’ve pretty much done nothing but play, and with well over 24 hours under my belt, I still feel like I’m barely scratching the surface of this massive game, which touts over 80 hours of gameplay.

Aside from decision making, gameplay within Origins can be utilized in two different ways. Players have the option of setting a basic set of guidelines their AI companions can follow much like the Gambit system in Final Fantasy 12. As your characters get stronger, more rules can be set for them (such as if an ally has 50% less health, use health potion on them), while the player controls the main character from an over the shoulder view in a more action type manner. Alternatively, players can change the view to a top down approach (like Baulder’s Gate), pause the game at any time and assign actions to all characters, unpause and watch the mayhem. Combinations of spells as well as elements also provide a deeper sense of customization (throw grease on a bad guy, then cast a fire spell and see what happens).

Graphically, Dragon Age: Origins uses a new engine called Eclipse, and while I’m not sure exactly what it does better than other engines, I do know this… it makes Origins pretty. With plenty of characters on the screen at once, all doing god knows what in the form of attacks, spells, and other abilities, I was amazed that the detail and effects that would be shown on screen without a lick of slowdown. As well, I was intrigued by the blood system. There is A LOT of blood in this game, and often after a battle, that blood will be left on you and your party until either your wardog cleans it up, or after a good rest. The character and location designs are all extremely unique from the DarkSpawn, to demons, to the dragons themselves; they’re all just as varied and detailed as the forests, cities, and caverns you visit along the way. The only instance where I felt a little cheated was in the Dwarven city that looked a heck of a lot like the Dwarven city in World of Warcraft.

I think my favourite thing about Dragon Age: Origins has to be the voice acting. With tons of dialogue between characters, and multiple decisions about what to respond with I was amazed with the amount of voice acting to be found in this game. Aside from your main character (most of the time) every peice of dialogue in the game is voice acted. Consider for a moment how long this game is, over 80 hours long, and with very busy cities and many people to talk to, the amount of voice acting is at such a high number that I cannot even wager a guess to how much hours of speech are included in the game. Music, slicing, and grunts are all included and play well within the game, however I find that the musical change right before battle takes away from the surprise element of it.

Equal rights.

In terms of lasting appeal, while Origins has no multiplayer, the game itself is ridiculously long, and addictive! In a time where I have Borderlands, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Left 4 Dead 2 sitting on my shelf; I find myself playing this title more than all four of those combined. That being said even if you do complete the story and all side quests, Bioware has guaranteed over 2 years of post launch content. They even tout that they will be providing more post-launch content than all other Bioware titles combined.

So overall, do I think Dragon Age: Origins is worth it? You bet I do! Especially now with gaming sales coming every which way, chances are you may be able to find this title for $40 in the very near future.

Gameplay:      4.5/5

Graphics:        4.5/5

Sound:             5.0/5

Replay:            4.0/5

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In yet another case of The Music vs. Acitivision, No Doubt are filing a lawsuit against the makers of Band Hero.

The suit contends the game “transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act,” and the use of the band members’ avatars far exceeded anything agreed upon in the contract, according to the Los Angeles Times. One aspect of the game allows players to manipulate their characters into singing songs by other artists, for example having lead singer Gwen Stefani sing “Honky Tonk Woman” by the Rolling Stones.

“While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones, the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes,” the complaint reads.

The complaint also claims Activision withheld information on the Character Manipulation Feature, and allegedly told the band after they had requested to the have the function disabled that it would be too expensive to do so.

Initially, No Doubt signed on to having their likenesses used for only three of their own songs in the game, but wound up appearing in more than 60 songs either as a band or solo. The lawsuit  asks for actual and punitive damages that are as yet unspecified, a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction stopping the distribution of Band Hero, as well as a recall of any existing copies.

The complaint argues the songs No Doubt appear on “include lyrics, contained in iconic songs, which are not appropriate for No Doubt and have not been chosen by No Doubt for recordings or public performances.”

“The band [members] are bitterly disappointed that their name and likeness was taken and used without their permission,” band manager Jim Guerinot told the Los Angeles Times. “They agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band. . . . Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up [and] never even asked.”

As for Activision, they must be getting used to this sort of thing after coming under fire from both Dave Grohl and Courtney Love on behalf of Kurt Cobain when his likeness was used with the same Character Manipulation Feature.

Activision is claiming No Doubt’s suit is “without merit” and the company is now exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt’s obligations under the agreement.”

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The pig skin never looked so good

I’ve never been a huge fan of football (American football for those reading overseas). I never enjoyed playing it in the real world, I never enjoyed watching it. But playing it digitally was always a blast. My first Madden experience was on my original Gameboy in 1996, and would you believe it spoke? Like real audible words!

Now, before I dive into the game, I wanted to point something out. Madden 10 is not for someone who doesn’t understand the finer details of football. You can get by with basic knowledge, and with the help of the Madden quiz, practice, and the virtual trainer included in the title, you can pick it up very quickly. Just don’t expect to buy the game, read the manual and kick ass online.

As the game evolved with technological advances and thanks to EA’s talented abilities, the graphics grew astronomically. From legs jittering, yards moving by slowly and other players moving frame by frame towards you to full motion captured pretty movements from all over the field, Madden 10′s attention to detail were just astronomical. The fluid movement in each player as they hurl forward, deke in a hundred different ways, and look around for openings give players an eerie feeling that they are actually controlling real people in some alternate universe of god-like power. The texture of grass, fans chompin hotdogs and tossing towels, and even the detail of each stadium; from the biggest effects like weather to the smallest details like seat arrangement. Madden 10 raised the bar yet again for graphical quality in a football game. Just as long as you don’t mind seeing freakishly odd shaped facial features of the players up close. My favourite graphical aspect? The shakey cam as players run for a touchdown. What I didn’t like graphically? The sponsored replays, granted it does make things more realistic, but for the amount I’m paying for a game I don’t want sponsored ads in my face. What’s next to increase the realism, commercials in between plays?

Sound wise, while Madden 10 boasts Hammond and Collinsworth’s commentary. I understand it’s hard to have good commentary in a game people will play for hours on end, over and over again. I just wasn’t feeling it. They tried, I feel the effort is there, but otherwise it just seemed a little unpolished, especially compared to the graphics. Again, the commentary at times sounds like it was just random words pieced together after the fact, not smooth and realistic in the forms of speaking to say the least. While the commentary is varied and often times customized and useful, after a while you begin to hear the same phrases and comments time and time again. In terms of the sound track, I would have to admit that while I first expected many frat anthems, after playing through and taking a look at what the game had to offer, I think this may have very well been my favourite sound track in a sporting video game. Music from 2Pac, Alice in Chains,Beastie Boys, Mastodon, System of a Down, and Nirvana, just to give fans out there a feel for what’s available. As always otherwise the smashes, tackles, and whistles all sound realistic and well done. EA is good with these kinds of noises by now.

In terms of gameplay, there is just so much depth and detail to every aspect of Madden 10 that I would be here for months writing about it all, and you for weeks reading and soaking it all in.  For the sake of both time and sanity I’ll just provide you with a rundown of ALL the modes of play and the feel of gameplay itself, and trust me, there’s a lot to discuss. To start off, let’s talk about what’s new and all the talk about Madden 10 over Madden ’09; Online franchise mode allows up and coming NFL manager types to take the franchise mode they loved, and play it online, much in the same way one could play it offline in ’09, this is again souped up with things like The Extra Point a little segment that summarizes what had happened in the week before. As well, aspects throughout the game have been somewhat tweaked (some times well, sometimes not so well) as the passing system and feel have been improved to new levels as well as the tackle system which provides gamers with new and more innovative ways to bring the pain to their competition. Other aspects new to the game also include more realistic gameplay including pile-ons, fumbles, and a somewhat slower – less arcade like speed to simulate real life. My favourite new feature in Madden 10 may have to be the small details they added in, like Superbowl patches to the jerseys during, well… The Superbowl. Actually playing the game gives a lot of power to the player, being able to tweak nearly every aspect of Madden and having access to so many plays, variables, and being able to alter all of these gives fans nearly endless possibilities… That is, IF you know what you are doing, which takes time, research, and practice for those new to the Madden world. For those that are new to the game, again, there are methods to get you up to speed, but for those who are seasoned pros – the difficulty levels are there for them. Personally, I found Madden 10 to be challenging, hard even, on the easy difficulty… But then again, I found NHL 10 to be just as hard, and I’m a bigger hockey fan than football. The control layout for Madden 10 has been perfected year after year, and from what I can remember from last year’s title, they have remained the same, an aspect myself (and I hope many others) appreciate. The controls are set up perfectly for this football romp and from controlling the QB to audibles, the flick of a joystick or click of a button is all that is needed to score that hail mary touchdown. Like I said before, there are A LOT of game modes and options; for an overall feel, check out our Madden ’09 review which can be found here, otherwise just play the game and see for yourself, I think you’d like it – especially if your a football fan.

Overall like most sports titles, lasting appeal is never an issue. You can play against computers over and over again, play against your friends until you go blue in the face. If you get too good for the game you can always up the difficulty, choose teams with lower stats, or play with one hand tied behind your back. Beat everyone you know, all the computer settings and used every team out there? Madden 10 boasts one of the best online modes available from single games to leagues to online franchise mode. While I enjoyed playing (and getting beaten severely) playing online, I did experience quite some lag while playing my opponent, both of us located in Canada, and both with broadband connections.

Madden 10 is exactly what you would expect from the leading football developers who launch a new title every year. Some new features, some improvements, some aspects that still need work (but mostly all improvements in themselves). If you’re a football fan you owe it to yourself to pick up Madden 10, if however you are on a budget and can’t afford a new title, Madden ’09 can still do what you need it to do and enjoy on a regular basis. You just won’t get the best of what’s available without Madden 10.

Graphics: 4.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 4.0 / 5.0
Sound 3.5 / 5.0
Lasting appeal 4.5 / 5.0

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Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the goddamn Batman.

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?  It’s something I ask of all my readers… I just like the sound of it.

And with that not-so-obscure reference, we begin our review of Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is the best game of 2009.  Yes, I am saying that in October.

I have been drooling over this game for months now, and anxiously anticipating doing this review.  Now, as much as I would like to give an unbiased and honest review of Batman: Arkham Asylum, that is impossible.  I am a huge Batman fanboy (Batboy?) and although this will be a fair and balanced review, I am obviously biased in some respects.  I mean, I am literally wearing a Batman T-shirt right now, and not even for the purpose of this review.  Just ‘cause, suckers.

But I digress.  This game is set over the course of one night on Arkham Island.  Batman has apprehended the Joker, and hauls him back to the asylum.  Joker doesn’t really mind though, and proceeds to take over the asylum and release the inmates.  Great. Now Bats has to pick up all the pieces.

Quite possibly the coolest feature of this game is the nature of the gameplay itself.  You don’t just run into rooms to find a group of baddies and subsequently dispatch them.  Okay, you do – but not all the time.  You don’t just prowl from room to room in the shadows, sneaking up behind guys and taking them out without a sound.  Okay, you do – but not all the time.  You don’t just solve puzzles and riddles.  Okay, you get the point.

I'm totally going to win that giant stuffed gorilla.

The seamless transition from the gangbang combats to invisible predator rooms to the riddles and whatnot in between really make this game flow exceptionally well.  That’s actually the primary element of this game -flow. The combat is actually called Freeflow Combat – using your various attacks to open up a can of Bat-Whoop-Ass on the various miscreants you encounter throughout the game by seamlessly landing blow after blow on opponent after opponent rather than one at a time.   You can even mix in attacks from the various gadgets you acquire over the course of the game – the Batarang, Batclaw and Shark-Repellant Bat-Spray.  Okay, not that last one.

There are some games out there that have alternative modes of play that are not exactly the greatest thing to ever happen to gaming.  Arkham Asylum is not one of these games.  The challenge modes are amazing – each of which is basically one of the different combat rooms you will encounter throughout the game.  This allows you to pick up Arkham Asylum anytime, and run through as much or as little of the different facets of this game at your leisure – which I have done ad nauseum.  Even more awesome – there is downloadable content that allows you to go on a murderous rampage as none other than the one and only Clown Prince of Crime – the Joker, however, only on the PlayStation 3.  The lack of grappling hook and gliding is made up for with the awesomeness of walking around the challenge rooms dispatching guards with kicks to the nuts, exploding-chattering teeth, kicks to the nuts and a legit gun.  Yes, Joker straight-up murders people with a gun.  Also, he kicks them in the nuts – did I mention that?

In this reviewer’s not-so-humble opinion, the pinnacle of the gameplay is the Invisible Predator mode.  When I think of Batman, I think of moments like the scene in Batman Begins where the criminals are being picked off one by one, growing ever more terrified as their numbers dwindle.  This is the epitome of Batman and also the core element of the Invisible Predator style of gameplay.  For me, it just doesn’t get any better than grappling from gargoyle to gargoyle in the shadows, gliding down behind a gun-wielding psychopath and choking him into unconsciousness, then hanging upside-down in the shadows and grabbing his buddy when he comes to help.  If the criminals are terrified, then bonus – more on that later.

Hello, my name is Joker. And this is my friend, Obscenely Large Revolver.

The Detective Mode is more likely than not the mode you will view the majority of the game in. Although sacrificing the gorgeous graphics somewhat, you can see everything that is pertinent to the mission at hand and more, from vent covers that can be removed and entered, to lingering bad breath or tobacco traces in the air.  While reducing the challenging element of problem solving, it doesn’t really matter – the game remains moderately challenging puzzle-wise with the ever-narcissistic Riddler hitting you with clues to the hundreds of enigmas and brain-teasers throughout Arkham Island.  Detective Mode also allows you to view enemies through walls, and examine their armament and status – status meaning whether they are Calm, Nervous, Terrified or Crazed.  Try to keep the enemies Terrified – they start shooting at noises in the darkness, and basically turn into whiny 8-year old girls.

As I mentioned earlier, the graphics in Arkham Asylum are gorgeous.  Simply gorgeous.  The dark, gothic atmosphere of Gotham and Arkham (hey, did you ever notice those are spelled similarly?) are captured perfectly.   The environment almost has a personality – brooding, dark and malicious. The animations on the enemies are smooth and functional at worst, disturbing and frenetic at best – exactly what you would expect from the psychos and maniacs stalking the halls of the asylum.  However, they tend to fall limp in unrealistic ways when you knock them out, but it’s a minor issue. The animations on the main characters are even better.  By main characters of course, I mean Batman – and his cape.  The cloak is almost a character unto itself, flowing behind you when you run, snapping out into a wing-like profile when you glide, and gradually becoming more tattered and ripped as Batman’s night gets worse.

Where the hell did I park the car?

The sounds of Arkham are also very conducive to the mood – the only way the soundtrack could be better would be if it had a bit more variety to it – low strings and baritone throughout – or if Danny Elfman just did the score.  Speaking of nostalgia, the voice acting is superb, with the quintessential voices from the DC Animated universe coming on board – Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight, and the amazing Mark Hamill as the Joker.  Heath Ledger, step aside – for this incarnation of the Joker, the Force is strong with this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed Batman: Arkham Asylum.  It combines all the elements of an exceptional game – graphics, solid and intuitive gameplay that isn’t oversimplified or overly complex, and an atmosphere and story that draws in the gamer allowing them to fully appreciate all the other elements of the game.  All these elements come together to stomp more face than a professional face stomper – wearing stompin’ boots.

You didn’t think really I’d end my review of a Batman game without mentioning face-stomping, did you?

Cheers.

Gameplay – 5/5

Graphics – 5/5

Sound – 5/5

Replay Value – 5/5

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Jordan had the opportunity recently to preview the latest big name from Bungie as he took out covenant scum with some of the best in Halo 3: ODST exclusively for the Xbox 360 out now. I guess dropping into hell feet first ain’t so bad.

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There are two things I have never done. 1) I have never gotten so into a sporting event that I yelled for (or at) a team or player. 2) I have never gotten so into a video game that I jumped up, yelled at the screen, and swore. NHL 10 for the Xbox 360 made me do both, and I have to admit, I liked it.

I’ve never been an emotional gamer, and I’ve never been that much into sports (then again, as a Canadian, I feel there’s a default certain level of national pride we all share with hockey), but when playing as the Toronto Maple leafs and winning 2-1 on game seven against Ottawa for the Stanley Cup and with less than 1 minute left in the third period you can’t help but get a little into it when Ottawa scores the tying goal with seconds left on the clock. Yes, I jumped up, yes my voice got loud and shrill, and yes I did say some things that would make a sailor blush. I think this was the most rewarding aspect of NHL 10, that after 17 past NHL titles, EA still has what it takes to make a casual hockey fan into a raving sports fanatic, and I didn’t see it coming.

Basically what’s new from last year to this beyond some new features such as playing the boards, first person fighting, and last ditch attempts at shots is the focus of the game, which now has a much stronger scope on the intensity and fierceness of playoffs and winning the Stanley cup.

For those new to video games, NHL 10 is a hockey simulator (more so than a game as each year passes) in which you are presented with a myriad of gaming options beyond just playing a game of hockey (oh Blades of Steel, how I miss you). How many game modes you ask? well there’s: Battle for the Cup Now Mode in which you are sent straight to the finals of the playoffs, Playoff Mode where you can take part in any type of post-season play from any of the leagues available (NHL, OHL and more), Season Mode in which you choose a league type customize your season preferences and decide if you want to take part in a fantasy draft with all new full roster control mode. We are also given one of my favourite features, Be A Pro Mode in which you create your own character and control only that player as he is drafted, trained and even sent back to the minors based on your personal performance. I found this mode to be extremely interesting as it seemed to be the most realistic, heck, if you get a penalty you have to sit in the box and watch from the side as you feel shame (Slapshots reference anyone?). Performance Tracker Mode shows off your hockey cards (bonuses and achievements… kind of), stats, and milestones related to your profile career. Tournament mode allows for 8 or 16 teams in a world tournament to see what country is the best, and apparently the Montreal Canadiens Centennial team is the one to beat. Create a Play mode allows you too… well, create a play, Practice mode gives you a minimal tutorial (sure it shows you how to play, but no matter how much I practice, I still suck at the game). Online play mode allows for multiple online variations of the game including league play, My NHL 10 mode allows you to create your own custom player, manage rosters, deal with media via the media hub, and more. My Pro mode allows you to go into the hockey shop and buy new equipment, track your performance, and edit attributes. Finally my favourite mode in the game, Be a GM Mode.

Rock'em Sock'em Hockey!

Now, as you can see, there are ALOT of ways to play NHL 10, and as my favourite is the new Be a GM Mode I guess you can decipher that I’m just not that good at the actual hockey playing. I can hold my own (in rookie mode), but for the life of me I rarely ever score goals. In comparison to other sports GM modes however, I found NHL 10′s to be lacking, aside from making trades with your Blackberries (the higher your rank, the more Blackberries you get to use) and drafting there really isn’t much more else involved, you can increase your employee stats but from what I found in the 5 years of being a GM, it doesn’t really make a difference. The good news though, is that if I become the GM of the Maple Leafs, they will win the Stanley Cup in 2014!

We’re not here to read all about the different modes and what I thought of them though, we’re here for hockey! so lets talk about how it actually plays out. The default controls are intuitive, left stick controls your skates, right controls your stick for easy deking and aiming shots. If it gets a little complicated there are many other control schemes to choose from, my alternative favourite being NHL ’94 mode with the only buttons being B to shoot (or check) and A to pass (or switch players), simple. Now otherwise the only other control schemes I think worth talking about in this review would be the wall play and fighting. Wall play if you have the puck and are near the wall push Y and you brace yourself against the wall so that you may kick the puck to a teammate. Alternatively if you are near someone doing just that, you can force a player onto the walls and steal the puck from them. Now fighting is by far my favourite part of actually playing the hockey game, first person fighting, after the whistle action, instigation, it’s all improved in such a way that you can fight almost whenever you want. When fighting you’re brought into first person mode: left stick moves your body, right stick aims your fists of fury; as well you can tug on your opponent’s jersey, perform upper cuts and if you want to chicken out, you can pull both shoulder buttons and turtle.

Graphically NHL 10 is superior to NHL ’09, but then again, isn’t that always the case? Smooth animations, motion captured skaters, reflections and now especially crowd interactions (banging on the windows, swinging team colours around during playoffs and whatnot). This is EA Sports, the annual NHL title, it’s got to be the best of the best, the most polished out there and as such it has a lot to live up to. I’m here to tell you that it does live up to it’s expectations, amazing realistic graphics and not a single glitch to be found.

Dragon Force just screams hockey anthem, doesn't it?

Music is another story. While NHL 10 has a number of big songs from the likes of Green Day, CKY, and Dragon Force; and they’re all great songs, I found they didn’t really mesh with the game. Especially when playing in non-hockey modes like Be a GM the heavy strong songs just keep playing over and over and while I enjoy the tunes, songs that pump you up for a game, kind of confuse you when negotiating a trade. Grunts and whistles are standard fair but what I feel most players are interested in would be the voice commentary? Is it annoying? Does it repeat often? Luckily the answer to both is no. As Gary Thorne and Bill Clement come back from NHL ’09, NHL 10 has similar banter from great voices in hockey and there are enough specific commentary calls to keep players interested in what they have to say time and time again.

Overall if your a fan of hockey games, you probably already own NHL 10, however, if you’re like me and haven’t really gotten into a hockey title since NHL ’99, this year is as good as any to dive back in due to the many options in terms of difficulty and control. However, I have to warn you, there is quite a steep learning curve for those new to the title, trust me, I’ve been playing for a while now and I still suck (yes, I guess it could be that I just overall suck but… let’s not go there). With a plethora of options, game modes, and online play (I was just invited to an online team for online league play) this title will keep you busy for a long long time… or at least until NHL 11 comes out. Hopefully then the GM mode will expand to something more in depth, more in line with other GM modes like Madden and other GM specific titles.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 5/5

P.S. I’ve never given a game Editor’s Choice before, congrats EA Sports!

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PARTY ON!

In early 2006 Harmonix split ways with the Guitar Hero series and went off with MTV to create Rock Band leaving Activision to contract Neversoft to re-build the game that Harmonix arguably perfected. This move marked the day that split the plastic instrument community right down the middle.

While some people saw no problem with the direction that Guitar Hero went in there is a hardcore contingency of people that would like nothing more than to see Guitar Hero vanish into obscurity and let Harmonix’s Rock Band franchise rule supreme. It has been said that ever since Rock Band was released Guitar Hero has been scrambling to avoid doing just that by “ripping off” Rock Band any chance they get. Well if that’s the case then on September 1st, 2009 they finally caught up.

Guitar Hero 5 seems to have fixed everything “wrong” with Guitar Hero World Tour and thrown in all the improvements we have received from the side games that followed (Metallica, Smash Hits). What we have now is a sleek interface with incredible graphics which still retain the trademark over the top Guitar Hero style mixed with a bit of Rock Band’s low frame rate use to give the illusion of a music video. Guitar Hero 5 also boasts a different take on some of Rock Band’s innovations: the ability to “save” your band mate once they fail through maintaining a long enough streak of notes hit, individual star-power for each member of the band which if maxed out will overflow to other members, and band moments which work much like Rock Band’s “Unison Bonuses” however focused on band multipliers rather than added star-power/overdrive.

The really big feature however is Party Play mode which combined with the fact Guitar Hero 5 allows any instrument to join allows you to have just that- a party. As soon as the game loads up the music starts playing and all you need to do is press Yellow (Y Button on your controller) and you are able to join instantly! Pick your instrument (Guitar/Bass) your difficulty and off you go! Same thing applies to vocalists and people with drums, I especially liked how it remembered my hyper-speed settings dependent on the slot my instrument was connected to (Player 1, Player 2) and yes Hyper-speed is now in the options of quickplay- it’s no longer under cheats!

Another nifty feature in party play is making playlists of up to 125 songs and you don’t even need to play them you can just sit back and watch the animations and join at anytime! If your group of friends has a fondness for the music Guitar Hero licenses this will no doubt be a hit at parties- I mean come on… Who doesn’t like a bit of Rammstein followed by Stevie Wonder.

Contraversial digi-Kurt, an in-game character.

Track lists are of course subjective by nature but I really feel that the setlist for Guitar Hero 5 while not having the most insanely difficult “ow my hand hurts please make it stop mommy” songs it still has some fairly challenging Guitar songs (Scatterbrain by Jeff Beck, Done with Everything Die for Nothing by Children of Bodom) it does have a 14 minute song by Peter Frampton after all complete with Talkbox solo and an outro solo that may take you by surprise. If I had to guess though that as we go forward with these games the focus seems to becoming more about drummers and vocalists because with Guitar Hero 5 it surely delivers on that front. 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson and Brianstorm by Arctic Monkeys will give any expert drummer a run for their money- or hard difficulty drummer even. Another plus is that the Rock Band drum kit which is 4 pads as opposed to Guitar Hero’s which is 5 has been modified so that the orange crash note is now on green- which allows more a much better feel while playing the reduced charts.

As vocals are primarily my main instrument there are some real interesting picks here, who would’ve thought singing Bush’s 90s hit “Come Down” would be so fun! There’s quite the challenge in store for you as well if you play expert vocals as vocal phrases are now scored by how much of each phrase you hit. Singers with high lung capacities and accurate pitches are rewarded with higher scores and Neversoft has finally given us a visual feedback meter to help us determine how much of the phrase we are hitting akin to Rock Band’s pie meter.

Everyone should know by now that Kurt Cobain is in the game as a playable character and unlike Hendrix (in Guitar Hero: World Tour) you can play other songs with him! Of course if you choose to do that Kurt won’t be left handed anymore and you wouldn’t want to do that, now would you? It’s great to play Lithium and Smells Like Teen Spirit with his character however and it’s an experience only had in the career mode of the game, which can be played with any combination of instruments and online!

Use your Xbox Live avatar as an in game rock god? SCORE!

To add to the replay value each song in career mode has a challenge associated with it I won’t list them all but to get some of these diamond challenges you are either going to have become really good at expert guitar or find someone online to play with you and that goes for any challenge (vocals, drums, bass) as long as they are in your band you get the challenge unlocked.

Another great thing about Guitar Hero 5 is the ability to import my World Tour DLC into the game which feels brand new in comparison, and additionally a portion of songs (which is rumoured to expand eventually) from World Tour and Smash Hits for a small fee of $3.50 US for each game (approximately on Xbox Live). However you must actually have the manual from the game in your possession, and with the way people are I could see the code being copied at stores and people being unhappy when they buy it and have their code show up as invalid. It’s nice to see my song list up to 195 songs though.

The online mode has also been revamped with new competitive modes that while still are about hitting all the notes provide an added challenge through modes such as Momentum, Do or Die, Perfectionist, and Streakers. I’ve played them and they were a blast and a nice change from who can use starpower at the better opportunity while hitting every solo ever.

In short while Guitar Hero 5 doesn’t have the level of expert difficulty Dragonforce gives us or Guitar Hero: Metallica it’s still a great game with tons of replay value especially if you are willing to play different instruments. This game is great for parties I can’t stress it enough- being able to join instantly in the middle of a song may be the best idea ever for these games. Plus the game has King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man if that won’t sell the copies I don’t know what will.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 5/5

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Once again, we are presented with not only a movie tie-in game, but another reboot of a product from the 1980s – G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero. Except this time, the subtitle is The Rise of Cobra. Which is interesting, and a let down at the same time. What makes this interesting is that the writers of this particular adventure had the option of reworking characters many of us grew up with and expanding on their history and tenuous (at best) relationships which had been established within the G.I. Joe universe. The let down however, was that they chose to completely ignore that option, and instead push another lackluster, under-developed game out the door in time to coincide with a summer movie release, and pray that the name alone would trump up some sales numbers.

The basic gameplay of GI Joe is that of a third-person action adventure. And it really doesn’t expand from that point. You run, you shoot, you find some computer-controlled doors, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll even use a vehicle or two, if the controls don’t force you to hurl your controller at the screen within the first few minutes. GI Joe tries, albeit pathetically, to add shall we say, “unique” controls to the game – and by unique, I mean a cover system which is an obvious rip-off from Gears of War, although the developers didn’t seem to find the time to test whether the cover system worked, or if pressing the A button would simply result in your character doing rolling dives right into the path of an enemy tank. Repeatedly.

The game also borrows heavily from the Contra series, in that you are constantly working through each level with a partner character (of your choosing – there are a total of 18 playable characters, including 4 COBRA characters as well, if you can find the necessary items to unlock them), who is controlled for the most part by the computer. The benefit of this is that your partner is invincible; you can hide behind some cover and simply let them take the brunt of the damage as you wait agonizingly for your health to recover. Having this secondary character is also the gateway to the game’s Co-op mode, which allows for another human player to grab and controller and hit start, and immediately drop-in or drop-out of the game. And for the most part, they’ll be dropping out.

At least it looks nice...

The camera in this game is not only laughable, it’s an insult to everything that has been developed since Super Mario 64 was released. You have no control over the angle, height, distance or zoom of the camera, which means you will more than likely end up shooting at a wall, bunker, health container, or enemy at the other end of the map than at the turret/tank/ninja who is slashing your face. The manual even boasts that you can control the target lock-on system, but I have yet to find it successfully follow my instructions and stay locked on the target that is actually killing me. It will track for a few seconds, but if you’re moving around (and you will be – there are sometimes as many as ten enemies all shooting incredibly large missiles and laser bolts at you at any given time), and the camera will simply choose another enemy at random to lock on to.

The level design is just as simple as it was back when the original Contra was released – Jungle Level, Ice Level, Desert Level, Factory Level, etc. At least you know where you’re going, since you can move around the globe pretty easily after completing only a few missions in each zone.

The GI Joe we remember and love.

There are a few spots of light within the drab existence of GI Joe, and that mostly comes from the special features you can unlock by collecting dog tags, briefcases, and file cards scattered throughout the levels. Some unlock concept art for the game, others information on the new – and even the original – characters and vehicles, and others unlock old public service announcements and characters to be used in the game, should you want to go back to replay any of the missions. This is probably the best nod to the original series, since the only other indication that GI Joe is based on anything is when you activate the Accelerator Suits that were used in the film. Once you’ve beaten up or killed enough baddies, you can unleash your supersuit to cause more wanton destruction – and for the duration of this act of ridiculousness, you’re treating to a tiny, heavy metal version of the original G.I. Joe theme-song opening. The first time you hear it, you feel nostalgic and happy, and you want to see if there are any other hints at good things to come. By the second zone, you’re ready to unplug your speakers if you have to use the suit one more time.

I’m very tempted to say that GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is something that only a true, die-hard fan of the original series could really enjoy or appreciate. Unfortunately, even they will be disappointed with this sorry offering – there’s hardly anything more to be found here than on the recently released DVD of the original cartoon season, and the fact that you have to struggle through an incomplete game to try to find it is unacceptable. To borrow an overused and clichéd line, knowing is half the battle. The other half is never dropping this disc into your drive.

Graphics: 2/5

Gameplay: 2/5

Sound: 2/5

Replay Value: 1/5

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I still remember the summer when Guitar Hero 2 came out.  It was a summer not unlike this one.  The sun was hot and the air was clear, but I did not go outside.  I stayed in and worked my way through career mode on medium, then hard, and then expert.  Would you believe, I started impressing girls with my button-shredding abilities?

Video game fans, take my advice.  Stay in this season and hone your fake guitar skills with Activision’s Guitar Hero: Smash Hits.  Some may scoff at this newest entry, a compilation of the greatest hits from previous guitar hero releases, but the core gameplay remains tight and challenging as ever.  The tracks have been taken from Guitar Heroes 1, 2 and 3, with entries from Rock the 80′s and Aerosmith.  All of the tracks are now playable by the whole band – guitar, bass, vocals and drums – just as in Guitar Hero World Tour.  The selection features lots of reliable favourites, but like the rest of the series there’s a heavy weighting on classic rock and metal.

GH has always separated itself from Rock Band by playing up the competitive aspect of the game.  Where Rock Band 2 added favourites like Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads and Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Guitar Hero 3 saw soul-crushing entries like Raining Blood by Slayer and Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce.  As a devoted Guitar Hero player since the series started, I could simply not get through either of the latter songs, even on hard mode.  Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has remedied the problem by smoothing out the gap between difficulty modes.  It took me lots of work to beat Raining Blood on Hard in GH3, but the song has been rejigged to make it less complicated this time around.  The difficulty definitely ramps up in Expert mode – but even Through the Fire and the Flames lets you play most of the song on the slider bar without worrying about strumming.  On the other hand, it means that the note layouts on your favourite song have probably changed.  If you had almost memorized The Sword’s Freya, for example, you might be as bothered as I was to have to learn the song again.

As the music genre slowly evolves, gamers are becoming more familiar with plastic instruments.  Guitar Hero: Smash Hits doesn’t quite offer anything new in the way of gameplay that a previous entry hadn’t already done.  Guitar Hero: Metallica brought us Expert+ mode on drums – and it’s back.  Some really tough songs have a skull and crossbones icon, meaning you can attach a second bass pedal to your drum kit and blast your way through Lamb of God’s Laid to Rest, among others.  The bass has recently been improved with an open note, where no buttons are pressed, and this makes songs like Rush’s YYZ all the more dynamic and enjoyable.

Despite these subtle changes I have described, this is still a Guitar Hero game, and you have definitely played this before.  The game runs on the same engine as World Tour, and features many of the same options including customizable avatars, guitars and tattoos.  Activision has recently announced a downloadable licensing patch that will make Guitar Hero 5 backwards compatible with most of the tracks on the Smash Hits disc.  This will certainly give the GH franchise some legs, as it jostles to dethrone Rock Band 2 as the reigning rhythm game.

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has the same visual style as its predecessors.  There is a cartoony feel to the characters on screen matched by realistic motion capturing.  The venues are exotic this time around, everything from the pyramids in Egypt to the strangely-chosen final level in Quebec City.  The sound is generally pretty good in this game, but there are some slight discrepancies between the tracks as they appear here and their original recordings.  No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age suffers from this – the bass is way too quiet in the game mix.  Audience effects are pretty minor here, and I’m fondly reminded of Rock Band here; nothing sounds as exhilarating as when the audience sings along with your song.

Ultimately, the gaming enthusiast has two distinct choices on the console.  Rock Band is known for its lengthy list of downloadable tracks.  Lots of popular genres are represented, including simpler tracks that demand less skill to play.  This can make it boring for extended play sessions.  Guitar Hero, on the other hand, has always curated a list of challenging songs.  Sure, the series features I Love Rock and Roll and other ultra-basic tracks, but the difficulty ramps up fast.  The career mode of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits is where it’s at.  Practice with this game, and you will be a fret-shredder in no time.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 4.5/5

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Wolfenstein, the first, first person shooter I ever played has come back with an all new story, new powers, and yes, zombie Nazis. But do powers, a unique story and zombies really make a game great? I figured since I have history with this title that I would put it upon myself to find out by writing up a full review about Wolfenstein on the Xbox 360, below see what I thought.

Taking place during Nazi Germany during WWII, Wolfenstein focuses on the paranormal studies both the Nazi’s and the allies looked into. Experiments using a Dark Force known only as the Black Sun are extremely close to giving Nazi’s the power needed to rule the world and all that stands in the way of total domination is a spunky young American soldier known lovingly as BJ. A straight up WWII FPS for the first few minutes, players quickly see where this game veers off course into a sci-fi shoot-em-up with everything from space-aged weaponry to zombie Nazis, what more could a gamer ask for?

BJ has a number of weapons at his disposal, from melee attacks using his gun butts and shovels, to occult powers of the veil and a mysterious amulet that lets him use and recharge his powers. These powers are somewhat out of place, but give the title a little more depth to the already shallow story. With the ability to see an alternate world around him (complete with exploding freaky metroid type monsters only you can see), slow down time, create a shield, strengthen bullets, and more you will find yourself constantly utilizing these powers (more than I would have liked), and constantly looking for pools to refill your veil energy. Like Wolverine’s feral sense, Spiderman’s spidey sense, and Batman’s … bat sense? You will find yourself playing through most of the game in veil view, taking away from the graphics and textures… which might not actually be a bad thing.

Expect to play most of the game through this perspective.

The graphics found in Wolfenstein are a mixed bag, sometimes it looks fantastic, other times, not so much. Case in point is a cutscene with BJ is talking to two other soldiers, all their heads and hands are well textured and animated, while the room around them, their bodies and their suits look absolutely horrible, Call of Duty 2 graphics (and no, not Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2). Character animations in game are pretty underwhelming as well, while the Havoc engine is at use to create the necessary physics in this one, you would never know by the way npcs moved around during gun fights. When you will notice it however is whenever a special effect is present. Shooting Dark Force barrels will send enemies floating in the sky where they will grab at anything to balance themselves, a nice touch but really nothing new since Star Wars: the force unleashed. The lighting effects are overall very nice, however as mentioned before, more often than not you won’t even be able to appreciate most of them as you will be using your veil view throughout most of the game.

While I may have slammed the graphics a little for this game, it’s nothing in comparison to how bad the audio experience was when playing. Bad voice acting is one thing, but Wolfenstein takes the top spot for wishing my ears would just give out a little. Poor voice acting with horribly bland german accents of English throughout most of the game gets extremely tiring very quickly. Even when Nazis are talking to you and think your another german citizen, they still speak English with bad heavy German accents. The biggest issue I had with the voice work in this game came from the design of gameplay. Walk into one of the secret hidden ally hideouts (conveniently painted logos on their doors by the way) and walk past 3 npcs and you will hear 3 separate people telling you 3 different stories at the same time with the same volume. It gets so bad that unless you stop and listen to each person as you come up to them and wait for them to finish talking, you won’t know where you are supposed to go next. Explosions, and gunfire are standard fare and don’t merit discussion.

Zombies... and Nazis... combined into the ultimate enemy.

The game itself plays fine and is in fact a fun game to play. There’s a level of patience necessary when traversing the city as you are constantly being hunted down and chased by Nazis if your not holed up in a safe house. Utilizing basic gaming form, hidden passages, exploding barrels, collectible items such as gold and intel and finally earning cash for completing missions which can then be used to upgrade your weapons and powers provide enough reason to retry a mission or two but in the end, you will be playing this game to stop the Nazis and nothing else. Zombie Nazis look ghoulish and outlandish, which I feel, is a plus. How could anyone not want to shoot two of the most hated being types in the world (zombies and Nazis) put together into one monster? There’s definitely a level of satisfaction coming from the death of each one (by the way, you don’t even see your first zombie Nazi until a good 4 or 5 hours into gameplay).

Nazi Moby directs traffic in Berlin.

Another aspect Wolfenstein holds is a decent multiplayer mode in which up to 12 players (only 12) can battle in team death match, objective, and stopwatch modes and pick between three different classes such as solider medic and engineer. As you play, you gain experience to allow you to unlock items such as flack jackets, extra grenades, weapon upgrades, and power upgrades.  While the addition of multiplayer modes is always welcome, with games such as Modern Warfare offering so much more it almost comes as an insult thinking that Wolfenstein could get away with such a meager offering.

As long as you can handle the bad graphics, bad voice acting, and ridiculous story, you might very well enjoy Wolfenstein. While it is somewhat reminiscent of the original Wolfenstein 3D (such as the old school loading screen and the difficulty levels being the same as the original PC ones), Wolfenstein is a completely new game for a new generation.

Gameplay: 3/5

Graphics: 3/5

Sound: 1/5

Replay Value: 2/5

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andPOP was given a special opportunity to have a look at EA NHL 10 which comes out very shortly. Jordan and Josh spoke with Patrick Kane and John Tavares about being on the cover, and also had a quick play of the game. What we can say is it’s the best EA NHL game yet!

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Less Than Meets The Eye

Normally, video game tie-ins to blockbuster movies suffer rush-to-release, loosely-based-on, terribly-voiced products. In all of these categories, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen excels. Once the disc starts spinning up, you get the standard “voice-over to bring you up to speed” cinematics. Which would be tolerable, except Peter Cullen sounds completely bored out of his mind, and is just waiting to see the recording light in the studio shut off so he can go home. Not the best way to get the player into the mood for what follows. Although, it is an honest measure of things to come.

From a technical standpoint, Revenge builds on the original Transformers game, itself a tie-in to the 2007 film. There were numerous issues with the original, from poor environment detailing, shoddy controls, boring missions and a general lack of feeling like you are controlling a 30 foot mechanical behemoth. In Revenge, you have much better looking character models, almost identical in scale and detail as their movie counterparts, and you have decent enough environments to play around in. The most inconvenient thing is that you are always forced to remain within the confines of a pre-determined “action zone”, and there is simply no way to escape it. See a neat skyline in the background of Shanghai? Forget it – you’re stuck in the same quarter-mile block of identical buildings, fighting identical looking robot drones.

Controls haven’t improved much either. In fact, they’ve taken a few evolutionary steps backwards from the original. You are now forced to use the right trigger to transform – and hold it down to remain transformed. This wouldn’t be such a big issue, except that this is also your acceleration function. So once you transform, you’re always moving. And if you want to brake? Well, don’t take your finger off the trigger, or else you change back to your robot form. Sure, you’re saying, that’s not so bad. Okay – but the same button also controls you’re primary weapon in robot mode. I lost track of the number of times I would fight to target an enemy, lock on, and then ….. change into a truck and drive straight into a wall. All the while taking potshots from enemies the camera refused to allow me to focus on.

Now, I’m all for head-scratching controls. But combined with boring, tedious, and worst of all, repetitive missions, it feels like the game was specifically designed so you would scream at the top of your lungs “Yes, I actually like the movie better!”. Escort missions where characters fail to appear where you need them, or appear and disappear once you arrive at their destination; Protection missions where your allies are completely useless and will head straight for new enemy fire while you are still attempting to recover from the last blitz of generated enemies; pointless race missions where you never feel like you can control your vehicle, mostly because when you need to take a quick turn, you’ll inadvertently transform into your robot mode.

Bumblebee, Flame on!

To add even more salt to this wound is the atrocious voice acting. Megatron and Optimus Prime are voiced fairly well, although both Peter Cullen and Frank Welker seem to have had a lot less fun with this round of studio time than the last outing. The rest of the Autobots and Decepticons however, leave a lot to be desired. For the most part it seems as if their volume controls were somehow lost during post-production, or their robotic sound effects modules are cranked past eleven. The human voice-overs are even less tolerable, which is good because they only show up every now and then.

Something very odd, and very off-putting, I found during the cutscenes between missions where your current leader will tally up your bonuses and mission objectives, was that Optimus Prime seemed to be a lot harder on his troops than Megatron ever was. I’m not afraid to say that I actually felt put down when I was told I needed to start finishing more secondary objectives or we would lose the war. And then I felt mad for the designers thinking that they could ever force people to keep playing this disaster of a game.

The only time this game has a chance to actually shine is in the multiplayer component. This is quite simply, the games most redeeming quality. It’s not amazing, but it’s much more fun to fight against actual people than the shoddy A.I., and the modes are all generally fun. There’s classic Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, along with a Transformers version of Capture the Flag, where you need to capture five pieces of the All-Spark. There’s also One Shall Stand mode, where the goal is to take out the other team’s leader; and Control Points, which is something very similar to what you find in Unreal Tournament III. Working together with other people to take down the enemy leader is actually quite a rewarding experience – as long as the game doesn’t freeze mid-session.

Don't forget the DLC packs for new Transformer skins.

Overall, I have to say that this is a game only the most die-hard of die-hard fans can enjoy. There are a number of unlockables, such as classic Generation 1 television episodes (S.O.S. Dinobots, Fire on the Mountain), as well as G1 single- and multi-player skins for some of the robots, and you can start accumulating enough points to unlock things within the first few missions. However, the presentation, controls, repetitiveness and general lack of polish simply make this another quick-release money-printing vehicle – wait until this one ends up in the bargain bin.

Gameplay: 2/5

Graphics: 3/5

Sound: 3/5

Replay: 2/5

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Marcus, Dom, and all the Locust hordes you could ever hope for are back in what I would like to call the Ultimate Gears 2 collection. Unfortunately I am not allowed to name these DLCs so instead, Gears of War 2 would like to proudly present the All Fronts Collection.

The Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection is exactly that, a collection of every GoW2 map add on to date. With this collection, the over 5 million gamers who have clashed with the Horde since it’s launch last fall will not only get access to the Flashback map pack, not only get access to the Combustible Map pack, not only get access to the Snowblind map pack, but also get access to the brand new Dark Corners map pack as well as the elusive deleted campaign chapter entitled Road to Ruin. That’s right, a chapter campaign and 19 maps are being released in the All Fronts Collection this July 28^th, for 1600 MS points. For those of you who have been keeping up with the horde and already have Flashback, Combustible, and Snowblind; the Dark Corners map pack with Road to Ruin chapter will be available by itself for 1200 MS points. Now that the general details of this glorious package have been taken care of, let’s move onto the details of the All Fronts Collection and revitalize one of the best titles of last fall.

First let’s talk about the 7 brand new maps that come in the Dark Corners map pack of the All Fronts Collection. While this DLC only comes out July 28^th, I was able to test and explore the following maps utilizing AI combatants. I was unable to find a full game to play it in online although I did find one other person online at 4 in the morning looking for a team once, that was as close as I got.

Allfathers Garden: This map takes place on the sacred grounds of the Coalition founders and half the time when I wasn’t killing or being killed, I would just stroll around and enjoy the scenery. With plenty of places to dive for cover and even more high power weapons popping up, this map will either have you raging on or being raged upon. I found the balance of this map interesting as it either came down to sheer skill, or whoever could grab the beefiest weapon the fastest. Interestingly enough, the corners in this map aren’t very dark…

Memorial: Again a fan of the heavy weapons in Memorial; this map is set near the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Sounds ominous and a bit over the top if you ask me. Overall this map will be pretty much run by whoever has the Boomshot, and only if they actually know how to use it properly. Memorial is a fairly large, brightly lit open area. It features a small upper area as well as hallways below so while there is some open space, you can still strategize and catch your opponent off guard. The corners are not dark at all.

The boys are back in town.

Highway: This feels like you’re in the belly of the beast. A Locust themed level has you fighting through a number of complex passages underground as you try to keep your team alive and decimate the enemy. With plenty of grenade happy locations as well as sniping vantage points, I can easily see this becoming one of my favourite or most hated of the new maps. The corners in this map are Locusty.

Nowhere: You play in the middle of nowhere, a desert. This aptly named map will have Longshot fans jumping in glee with everyone else jumping out of the way! Scrapped cars and shuddered store fronts litter Nowhere as timely gusts of sand will come and minimize visibility. With shields, staircases and rooftops (that have heavy weaponry), Nowhere turned out to be one of my favourite new Horde maps to play on. Again however, no dark corners in this map!

Sanctuary: I’m not sure about you, but when I look for sanctuary… I want it to be somewhere safe, not a dark dreary grave yard looking map. Many staircases, barriers, and yes dark corners to hide around make Sanctuary one of my all time most frustrating maps to play on. Take my word, be careful when climbing stairs as there is often a barrier at the top, and with barriers in strategic places often come mean online gamers ready to blind-blast you. Definitely this map will have the highest kill counts of any of the new maps.

The diner gets a little rowdy around lunch time.

Way Station: I enjoyed Microsoft’s explanation of this map so much I had to quote it, “In the limbo between death and ‘processing’ you’ll find Locust way stations like this one, filled with COG soldiers. Tread lightly and practice patience – it’s best to sacrifice firepower for stealth while navigating this minefield of hidden grenades.” I could not have said it better myself as while playing this map, I feel the majority of my deaths came from grenades stuck to walls. This Locust map I think is my favourite to peruse as in the centre of the map, you find a huge river of lava! This somewhat interactive map has a few dark corners (far away from the lava) as well as a secret or two.

War Machine: another train themed map, this station includes Longshot, Mulcher, and Boomshot fun; but wait what’s this? You’ve been here before? Oh you must have been a fan of the original Gears of War as this was taken from that game of yesteryear. And yes, dark corners abound.

Overall, I found there was a great variety of maps included in Dark Corners, however, I may have missed something as I don’t really know why the pack is titled so as the maps included rarely involve corners without light. I guess it’s a metaphorical dark corner? Perhaps a metaphysical one? Either way, these 7 maps bring a new flavour to the Gears world of online play, now all I have to do is practice practice practice.

Onto the lost chapter dubbed, “Road to Ruin”. While you cannot continue your campaign into this chapter, nor save in the middle of it, Road to Ruin is essentially a world of it’s own. When you click on the deleted chapter you are immediately introduced by Cliff Bleszinski, design director of Gears of War 2 who sheds a little light on this missing storyline. He explains that sometimes parts of the game get cut, tells you what to expect in this little extra piece of gameplay, and informs you that you may run into an old friend along the way (here’s a hint, you do run into this old friend no matter what, and it is Franklin) sort of like a deleted scene introduction on a DVD, Cliff introduces this small piece of gaming well… but every time I hear about him all I can think about is how he brought Jazz Jackrabbit into the world, and our hearts.

THIS is Cliff's claim to fame in my book.

This chapter, or at least little extra bit of story-based gameplay takes place immediately after *SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT* Dom finally connects with Maria. He’s depressed, he’s lost his way, and he wants to take it out on the Locusts. As Marcus Fenix, do you do as Dom wishes and go in, ‘guns a blazin’ or do you use your noggin, and do things a little differently? Here’s what I liked about Road to Ruin. You’re given a choice, you can push one trigger and fight your way through, or you can push the other, don some Theron guard armour and sneak your way in.

I’ll start by discussing what I consider the more entertaining of the two and go in guns blazin. Here you literally just go in and kill everyone, there are A LOT of Locust beasts to destroy, a lot of weapons to use, and a lot of ammo to keep you going. The basic formula for this chapter is that you blast your way through a room with baddies hiding everywhere, pick up their ammo and grenades (I highly recommend holding onto a Boomshot and as many grenades as possible until you get to the end), clear the room and go into the next waiting area. Here you climb a ladder and flick a switch to open the next gate, but not before sounding an alarm bringing bigger and badder Locust hordes out. This happens about 3 times until the last gate instead has you fall through the ground and you must defend yourself in small corridors until the coast is clear. Once out you begin to cross a bridge only to be confronted by a Brumak! Time to high tail it to the near by turrets and take that bad boy down! You fight a little bit more until you are introduced with pretty much the first bit of story since the introduction and decision at the beginning of the chapter as you release Franklin from his jail cell and toss him a shotgun for support. Here’s where the fun happens though folks because the next bit gets intense. Without giving too much away your led into a big room with plenty of cover and must defeat wave after wave of increasingly difficult Locusts, culminating with a face to face battle against a Reaver. Remember when I said to keep all your big explosives, it was pretty much for this whole last battle. The chapter ends after the Reaver is slain and you get your achievement for taking vengeance on the Horde. Over all I found going balls to the wall very therapeutic – limbs flailing, grenades lobbing fun. While short (it took me 15 minutes on normal, 2 hours on hardcore with lots of dying, and will probably take you a lot less with co-op) and light on the story, I found that this little addition was a fun treat as long as you’re not buying the entire DLC just for Road to Ruin.

sometimes even big burly soldiers like to dress up and feel pretty.

Now about the stealth mode; while I fully appreciated the fact that Epic gave us a choice here and a new way to play Gears – I would have liked it to be developed and explored a bit more. Perhaps not just sneaking but also introducing stealth kills or something. So you start out by putting on your trendy Theron armour, but your faces are still shown and your guns are as blue as the sky… but the Locust don’t seem to notice, it’s only when you get close enough for them to smell you (???) That they will sound the alarm and kill you almost instantly. Again you take the same path (more or less) that you did when you went in with guns prepared but you must follow Dom past the rotating guards from room to room keeping as far away from the guards as possible and not firing a single shot. In two instances do you turn a wheel to get the grubs to look the other way by making something fall, but otherwise it feels like a game of ‘red light / green light’ (remember when you were a child and you tried to sneak up on the one who was ‘it’ without them seeing you?). When you get to the Brumak, you just run by it, down the stairs and underneath it in a tunnel, meet with Franklin and from here on out the rest of the level is exactly the same (big battles) but you don’t have the benefit of 4 grenades and 9 Boomshot bullets. Finish the battle and the deleted level is over; you get a different acheivement and pat yourself on the back. Passifism in one of the most gruesome games to date. Again, this should take roughly 15 minutes or so if you know what your doing, longer if your like me, shorter if you have a buddy to play with.

I enjoyed both modes of Road to ruin, stealth was a different take on Gears while guns blazin was just really good mindless fun. Overall a very short bit of extra gameplay and like I mentioned before no matter which method you choose you still meet up with Franklin and have the big battle at the end (at which point the game would continue on with the main story line if it was never deleted in the first place). While it’s cool to dress up as a bad guy, it’s even cooler to kill the bad guy in my opinion. The Road to Ruin was filled with tons of variety not only in enemies, but weapons and level design as well as one of my favourite portions of the stealth mode has you look on as a Locust jerk tortures and kills a thin human, should you have blown your cover and tried to save him? Was it in the interest of the greater good that his sacrifice kept you hidden? This area of the game is pretty much wrought with moral dilemma.

So, there you have it, for 1600 MS points you get 19 maps (6 of them brand new, one new to Gears of War 2) as well as the Road to Ruin deleted chapter. Or for 1200 MS points you get just the Dark Corners map pack (6 new maps and one new to Gears 2) and Road to Ruin. If you never downloaded a Gears 2 map pack before I highly recommend getting the entire All Fronts Collection. If you have a couple of the map packs, I still recommend shelling out 1200 points for the Dark Corners pack and Road to Ruin. If you want to get it for Road to Ruin by itself, I’m not sure if it would be worth it for a maximum 3 hours of gameplay. While it would have been nice to see a stealth option for some parts of the GoW 2 campaign, it was refreshing to at least get a taste of what could be coming in the future in terms of more campaign downloads or even Gears 3!

For Road to Ruin:

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 3/5

Replay Value: 2/5

For the All Fronts Collection:

Gameplay: 4/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 3/5

Replay Value: 5/5

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This review marks a number of firsts for andPOP. It’s the first time I’m reviewing a Disney title, it’s the first game I get to play and write about before the official launch date, and it’s the first game I’ve ever reviewed… in 3D! That’s right, today I’ll be reviewing, nay, PREVIEWING Disney’s G-Force video game on the PlayStation 3; talking about what I liked, what bugged me, and all the interesting cute little things guinea pigs do that now freak me out when I see them in real life. With the movie comes out this Wednesday on July 22^nd, and the game being released July 24, this is your first look into the inner workings of a super secret group of spy rodents.

Following (but expanding on) the story line of the movie, G-Force has you taking the roles of Darwin (guinea pig) the commander of G-Force and his infiltration comrade Mooch (house fly). Throughout the game you progress as the movie progresses, however, in this rendition, you take an active role in saving the world as you interact with other members of G-Force. Beginning with a training level to show you how to make best use of Darwin and Mooch, you are taken through a fairly basic tutorial that looks like it’s been ripped right out the pages of Portal, while the level design is simple and pretty, I feel like this short training session was not nearly enough to prepare you for world savings and robot fightings.

As an action / espionage / adventure title, you are presented with times where you must sneak by lumbering humans, utilize your partner mooch to by-pass defense system (you can access Mooch for a limited time whenever you like by pushing up on the D-pad), upgrade yourself and your weapons, and cause general havoc throughout different parts of the game. What I enjoyed most about G-Force was the variation in gameplay you got to deploy throughout, as different obstacles and objectives gave you new and interesting methods of progressing to your goal.

While you have many different styles of gameplay to enjoy in G-Force, I felt that in order to include all these variants made the controls way too complex, especially considering this game is intended for children, the target demographic of the movie. I think the main reason I find the controls confusing is because not only does every button do something, but as well, depending on the context you are in these buttons can do something else. The best example of this is the X button, while walking it will let you jump, push it again and you double jump, push it a third time and you hover, push jump again and you use your rocket boost. As well, if you push jump while targeting a bad guy, you dive and roll. There are a number of techniques like this that you acquire throughout the game. Beyond this every direction of the D-pad gives you access to a tool such as your hints radar, Mooch, or heat-sensor vision while every face button changes your weapon equipped. The shoulder buttons allow you to attack, target, or scurry across the floor; really there is a lot to do with your controller and in the heat of battle it can get a little flustering. On the flipside, the reason you have so many buttons do so many things is because you have that many weapons, gadgets, and tools at your disposal. Weapons and items such as Mooch, heat-sensor vision, hint PDA, Electro-whip, Plasma gun, scanner, Nanohacker, Saberlizer (That allows you to weaponize every day appliances yourself) and much much more. One thing to note as well when talking about the controls behind this game is that there is no motion sensitive gameplay utilizing the PS3 controller; I would take this as a good thing as a) the controls are confusing enough, and b) I have yet to play a PlayStation 3 game that made good use of such a feature.

The sound in G-force is as expected, but done well. Action packed generic music; zappers, snapping, and appliance related sound effects sound as realistic as I guess we could assume them to sound, as the ambient noise that comes from action and infiltration fill the air I feel that at least, they are appropriate as they are used in the game. The voice acting is decent as well, while I don’t really know what rodents mouths would look like when talking, I take it as them actually speaking in the game, spot on and when talking through their voice communications, the radio-ish distant sound works well. Voice acting is another story however, while Disney was able to keep some of the voice actors in the movie for the game (namely the main character Darwin played by Sam Rockwel, G-force friend Zach Galifanakis, and Saber himself Bill Nighy), a lot of the more unique voices are absent. I guess Will Arnett, Nicholas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Steve Buscemi, and Tracy Morgan had conflicting schedules. Instead, similar sounding voice actors were used in their place but these I feel were hit and miss as I could not really tell the scope of these voice actors in the film based on trailers alone. For the most part I enjoyed the voices used but in some instances a faux Tracy Morgan just doesn’t do it for me.

Oh Mr. Pink, when are you going to make the leap into gaming?

Here’s the part I assume most of you are most interested in, the graphics. As a current generation game based on a movie which boasts it’s fantastic computer graphics, you would assume G-Force to look great, and it does! From little guinea pig hairs and whiskers, to Mooch buzzing around your head, the modeling of the rodents used in this game are extremely detailed. I wish the same could be said however for the humans roaming around the game as they seem to be a little less rendered than your average first year PlayStation 2 title. Luckily, you do not interact with humans very often as your main enemies are appliances that have been transformed into killing machines (almost exactly like the kitchen appliances at the beginning of the Transformers 2 movie). One thing I enjoyed about the Saber branded appliances however was that with each one introduced, their entire model name complete with number was shown (as if you could purchase these appliances in catalogues) as well, utilizing your scanner, you have the option of discovering each enemy’s weakness and exploiting them during your attack. Overall I think the graphics used in G-Force the video game weren’t exactly up to par with the movie (that took millions to produce) but were still pretty slick for a PlayStation 3 title with all the particle effects used and whatnot… what? That’s not the big thing you were interested in? Ohhhhh, you want to hear about the 3D? Well, let me tell you all about it, gather around children. As the first console 3D game, I was a little worried as to how it would work out because, to be honest, I always had a hard time seeing 3D in movies (like Monsters Vs. Aliens, Up, and Ice Age 3) but to my surprise G-Force came with two paper blue and red 3D glasses, like the old school ones instead of the new polarised technology. Now, the 3D-ness of G-Force can be turned on and off whenever you like in the options menu, which not only do I think is a fantastic idea for those who get headaches easily, but also extremely useful if you have more than two people in the room watching the game. I find the 3D welcome, but a mixed bag of usefulness from time to time. Mooch, your whip, and the jetpack will actually pop out and look amazing; but other times such as during some cutscenes and menus it is very hard to see what’s going on or what you are choosing. The most prominent example of this issue is if you are playing in 3D and your hint screen tells you to push a certain direction on the D-pad to activate a new ability, every direction looks the same in these 3D glasses and you cannot tell what direction the screen is telling you to push. Reading text in general while in 3D mode I find is also quite challenging. Overall however, the introduction of 3D into G-Force did not in any way make the game harder to play or control and in the end I think is quite amazing in short bursts, I don’t think I could play the entire span in 3D alone.

Now for the rest of the review that didn’t really fit in anywhere else. The instruction manual that came with G-Force was abysmal; I find more often as time goes on that companies stop using instruction manuals as well… manuals for instruction and rather as promotional pieces. I say this because I went through G-Force’s instruction manual a number of times looking for instruction on saving, controls, gameplay mechanics, screenshot explanations… anything that I would like to know before diving into the game and I could not find any. Instead there were just instructions on how to turn on the system and the rest of the manual was just an explanation of the characters, weapons, story, and levels. Playing through the game you collect health, ammo, chips, and silver and gold discs. Chips are a form of currency you use to purchase upgrades and new weapons, upgrades and weapons you unlock with gold and silver discs. In order to purchase these weapons and upgrades you must find a Saber branded vending machine. Two things about these vending machines, 1) you cannot see what you are selecting in the vending machine menu in 3-D mode, and 2) if these are machines… why aren’t they transforming and attacking you like every other machine in the game? Silver discs that provide upgrades are hidden (along with extra lives) throughout the game in strategically placed spots so for the completionist gamers out there, you have a little extra something to look out for while playing through G-Force. Maps showing the location of these silver discs can also be purchased at vending machines.

Overall I was impressed with G-Force, while it is not my type of game, I thoroughly enjoyed the graphics, control, gameplay, and innovations found within, and I know I’m not the only one that enjoyed it as you all will see soon enough when Jenn’s video interview and demo of G-force is published in the near future. One thing I have to ask though, is how vicious flesh tearing waffle irons get into the heating vents of an office building…

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 3/5

Replay Value: 2.5/5

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This was one title I was excited for, for a while. Not because any of the press releases talking about its sandbox dealings and all the cool powers, but just because of the sheer bad-assery this game exudes. After popping Prototype in for my initial test drive, I got all giddy from the intro trailer alone! Dude jumps off a building, cuts people in half, survives an explosion, and more… in the first 30 seconds of the game!

So as those who have been following gaming news might guess, this game shares a few similarities to the recently released inFAMOUS, while I assume this to be poor timing, it is most unfortunate that everyone playing these two games will begin by comparing them directly. While some parts are uncanny copies, for example the introduction of inFAMOUS has Cole in the centre of a giant catastrophe, no one knows what happened or why and why this one guy is the sole survivor and has all these powers, but they think he’s a threat and is labelled the most dangerous terrorist in the United States. Ditto for Alex Mercer in Prototype. I think this is where the majority of similarities end.

So prototype starts off with Alex plowing through hundreds of zombies, soldiers, monsters, and freaked our civilians. You’re given a quick tutorial and a taste of all the powers available in the game (minus the body surf ability, which you can access with the following code: right, right, left, down, up, up, up, down), you absorb their commanding officer, and the screen goes black as Mercer explains himself to a mysterious stranger on the roof of a building. He then goes back to the beginning explaining what happened, how he woke up on a morgue table and how he all of a sudden was being hunted by the Black Watch and had all these insane powers, you go on from there.

This is an open ended action game where you can pretty much run up any building, pick up and throw any item (including trucks) and do nearly anything you want without fear of running out of people to mess up or damage done to buildings. And yes, unlike inFAMOUS, you can scale chain link fences. Basically from as far as I can tell there are only three things that cannot be done in Prototype, go in water (he automatically jumps out), enter buildings (unless they’re for missions, and even so, it’s usually the same military looking base or hive infected base), and destroy buildings (again, unless it’s for a mission). Developers Radical Entertainment did an amazing job with this title, and it provides a lot that most other games say they offer in theory but fall apart in practice.

Falcon Punch!

The basic gist of the game is that you lost your memory (of course), are being hunted down, and the city of New York has been infected by some sort of virus, turning people in zombie-like monsters. As you track down your answers not letting anything stop you in your path, you have choices. Will you cause destruction and use brute force to get to your objective, or will you use your shape shifting ability to sneak to your target? Transitioning into Mercer’s shape shifting powers, Alex has a lot to offer and a lot to gain. Alex has the ability to regenerate his health, leap high into the air, run (or crawl) up buildings (much like Spider-man: Web of Shadows… which was also published by Activision), morph his arms into a number of different shapes, change his appearance into anyone he consumes, gain the ability to use military weaponry (yes, even with all your powers, you can still pick up a gun and blast away old-school styles), and much more.

Moving on to what we see in this game, first off, I think Radical made the right choice sacrificing amazing graphics for amazing gameplay. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks fantastic, it’s just not as polished as say… oh, I don’t know what to compare it to… inFAMOUS. The upside to this negative is that since the character models require less detail, there can be many more of them on the screen at any given time. Imagine walking into the centre of Time Square, picking up a truck, and chucking it at some unsuspecting blond wearing Uggs (yes, Uggs make their first game appearance in Prototype… as far as I know). Now imagine the ensuing panic and chaos that follows. Hundreds of people running in all directions, taxis backing away and crashing into other cars, you running and throwing people out of the way (reminding me of Altair in Assassin’s Creed). Now imagine all this without a single lick of slowdown. As well, climbing up the Empire State Building you get a magnificent view of all that is New York, and still are able to see cars driving by below and even throw items and see them hit the ground! The detail to the outside is where I find this game really shines most as it is (as far as I can tell), a full replica of New York City. Finally, the downside to the lack of polish in graphics, the character’s faces during cut-scenes really weirds me out, while the eyes and mouth move when they talk, expressing emotion, I feel like I’m watching a puppet. It’s hard for me to explain without knowing the mechanics of creating facial expressions, but the way these people look up close seems very dated in terms of modern gaming. A second issue with cut-scene graphics come from shading issues and glitches from time to time, ironically enough, on the shadows of the faces (which happens often as Alex Mercer wears a hoodie throughout the game… the same clothes he was ‘killed’ in at the beginning). Finally in order to accommodate all the locals of New York without slowdown, the last issue I noticed was that there really weren’t that many different character models around, Radical did try to fix this as best they could by offering the same character model in different colours to differentiate them all a little bit though.

Utilizing both Dolby Digital or THX, this game sounds amazing with the volume pumped up and surround sound in action. From one direction you could be hearing a helicopter approaching, another, a monster being hatched, and all around a hundred people screaming and cars honking. The voice acting in this title is decent enough, not so bad that it would draw my attention, but not good enough for me to want to praise it. I feel though that when I see the characters talking, the audio lost some points because of the visual aspect of it. As well, during certain ‘heated’ parts of the game, the ambient noise turns into this industrial hard music that really fits the mood.

Call me Cole one more time, I DARE you.

Now, when I said before you could pretty much do anything you wanted in the game, I meant it, for example, at one point in the game I was fighting a bunch of army dudes that were coming down from a helicopter, a strike team if you will, so I grab a rocket launcher and shoot a few missiles into the helicopter bringing it down to low health as it began to fly away. At this point my launcher ran out of ammunition so what did I do? What any self respecting monster of limitless power would, I grabbed a near by flattened car and chucked it into the distance towards the fleeing copter, as it was nearly out of view, I saw a small explosion and something fall. I run, flipping myself over cars and through street lights, towards the downed item only to find the remains of a burning helicopter. I then proceeded to grab this flaming carcass and throw it at another low flying copter, bringing that one down as well. Just for fun I decided to see what would happen if I threw that copter carcass (still on fire) into a lake, and wouldn’t you know it? The lake put out the fire! The small details in this game really made me smile as I played through, cars swerving into each other to avoid hitting you, people running around and massive battles between soldiers, civilians, and zombies going on while you do your thing, Radical really put a lot of thought into their latest title.

Aside from playing the story mode (and replaying it in “NEW GAME +” (allowing you to play again with your powers and experience carried over, there is a lot to do in New York. There are three sets of collections to travel around and find, for starters, there are purple orbs hidden throughout the game that not only give you experience boosts, but also provide tips (that you probably already knew anyways). As well, one can find blue orbs hidden around New York’s most popular landmarks (like the top of the Empire State Building or Time Square), these orbs are called Landmark Collectibles. Finally to get some background into what actually happened and why it happened to Mr. Mercer, from time to time if your close enough, a red icon will appear on your map targeting a specific person who has information about the infection and your past. By walking up to these people and consuming them, you get a little glimpse into what they know, a little bit of experience, and you expand your “Web of Intrigue”, which is like a time line of the story, for every one you unlock, a few more become available… like a web. There are also mini-games / side-quests that you unlock as you progress through the story. By approaching these green icons on your map you get little challenges to try and complete and earn either a platinum, gold, silver, or bronze medal and experience points based on how well you do. These side quests can be races, killing sprees, helping a side of the conflict out in a battle, and more. You can also try and wipe the military, the infected, or both from the face of New York altogether.

While this review has gone on for much longer than I anticipated, I still feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface, but like everything in life, for every good, we find a bad side as well. Prototype isn’t without its own issues aside from the graphical ones I mentioned before. This title suffers from one of the worst cases of “Overloading” I have ever seen. By overloading I mean that there are so many times where you will play for five minutes only to be interrupted by a loading screen, it feels like almost 20% of the game consists of loading screens alone! As well, something about the menu rubs me the wrong way, I think it’s the way they ask if you’re sure about every decision you make in the game when purchasing upgrades or saving. Would you like to save? Press A, are you sure you would like to save? Are you sure that you are sure you would like to save? (no, it doesn’t really do that, but that’s what it feels like sometimes). Now that that’s out of my system, back to the praise. Prototype is a blast to play, the chaos you can create feels great in your hands and you can’t help but smile when you cut a helpless soldier in half with your blade hands, this along with the gore and profanity give Prototype a rightful M rating, and it makes me feel that much more sadistic to say I enjoy it. As I said before, there’s a lot I didn’t mention about prototype, heck, I didn’t even say anything about the story beyond the introduction, but that’s mainly because half the fun of this game are the surprises (I didn’t know zombie / infected people were in this game until I started playing myself) and the story being so convoluted if you don’t collect all your memories that it really isn’t all that important to the game (besides a final goal). In the end, Prototype was not what I was expecting at all, but you know what? I’m thrilled with the outcome and enjoyed every minute playing this challenging wide spread game.

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4 /5

Replay Value: 4/5

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