Gears of War 2

Backstory:

Cliff Blezinski easily has a more beautiful mind then Russell Crowe(at least in my eyes) and has done work with the unreal engine for some time now and has done a crack job of it. Then not so long ago he started development on Gears of War. My first thoughts around this time were “CliffyB talked about being the shy kid around a bunch of meat heads. Why would he want to make a game like this?” Well, shortly after it's release and the 5^th or 6^th time I'd beaten it, I realized that this game had more of a sci-fi nerd novelist feel to it then anything else. I continued to play it and still own my copy of the first though I have yet to actually purchase the second.

Gameplay:

I eagerly awaited it's arrival and was far from disappointed. Everything that I thought was wrong or a little wonky from the first game was mostly fixed. The storyline wasn't so much “Go here! Blow that up!” as the first; We actually had character development. The shotgun had been powered down enough that you couldn't rely on it the whole game and in multiplayer, and the lancer chainsaw didn't always mean a one hit kill anymore. There were now chainsaw duels which could possibly save you if the fourteen year old on the other end of multiplayer didn't spaz out on the button faster then you. One of the most notable changes is the many new executions(Which my personal favorite is the Sniper Hammer). I see people who purposely switch weapons just to do the weapon specific executions which really does say something. The one useful one however, is to use a meat shield. You pick up the corpse and block shots with it. It isn't as awesome but is very very useful.

Weapons:

The gorgon pistol is a little burst fire/high caliber pistol which is a welcome addition, because if you mix that with a shield, you can be damn near unstoppable. Next is the flamethrower. The flame boomers are EXTREMELY overpowering but easy to take down if you shoot their gas tanks(which they kinda stole from the game Pariah but it's the same company so meh) which makes taking down almost a joke. The ink grenades are annoying but fairly useful in certain situations such as a wretch stampeded. They bring up a cloud of ink which blinds opponents and slowly damages them and they prove useful against campers and people who like to run away a lot. The smoke grenades are the one choice I really disagreed with however. Not only do they bring up a cloud of smoke, but they knock you down and it takes so long for you to get back up that you can get rushed and killed before you can even know where the fuck it came from. Worst yet, this is used by some people for EVERY kill they earn. It's a practical use for a grenade but the knockdown shouldn't last as long as they make it. The last change I can think of in the weapons is that the hammer burst now fires as fast as you can tap the fire button instead of the traditional 3 round burst. This sounds great in theory but it gets tiring quite quickly in a match of horde or submission when you have to jam out a lot of shots. The last two weapons that come into play are the mortars and the mulcher. Both are exactly what they sound like. One shoots mortars, and the other turns enemies into mulch. If you think I'm kidding then you are dead wrong. It will literally tears your victim into tiny little bite-sized chunks. Also, there is a shield which protects you from gunfire and you can use it as a decapitation execution.

Maps:

Another thing that CliffyB triumphed in was innovative level design. The new maps are all fun to play and are without the many glitches the first one so kindly shoved in our faces. Each one shares it's own uniqueness and innovation to overall gameplay. Jacinto is a map from the story which has you able to jump over flowerbeds and refuses your ability to jump back over. This makes using them for cover very strategic. Day One gives you many places you can hide in such as the fire escape or the trench. Good for holding up in but never truly safe. River is probably the best one of them all. This level is versatile enough to have team vs. team matches having semi identical landscapes on both sides while having multiple ways to cross the river. This level also works well in horde matches because it has houses you can hold up in and it helps raise the intensity quite a bit. They also brought back some of the cool maps from the first one(namely canals and gridlock) only altered a slight bit. By a slight bit I mean covered in snow. Unfortunately it's only for those who buy the game and it's a one time use code which is kind of a rip off but an effective marketing tool nonetheless. They plan on releasing more maps which I won't pay for but will stand to be spectacular anyways.

Game Modes:

HORDE!!! FOR THE HORDE!!!!!!!! Sorry. Just had to say it. This is easily my favorite game type. This is not only because it's killing a lot of enemies, but it's not killing other players and having them whine words like “Cheap!” and “Noob” at you all the time. You go through 50 waves on varying difficulties and the longer you last, the stronger the locusts get. There is an achievement for beating every wave. I have done it, Twice. This is easily the most fun cooperative match there is, because you can just kick back and kill loads of locusts and have 4 others to back you up(if they haven't left the game yet). Then there are the obvious kill everyone, destroy everyone's heads, and smear the queer. Ok, the last one ain't so obvious but I hate that old bastard. The most innovative game type in this game is easily meatflag where you have to down a civilian and carry him to your side of the map. This may seem like capture the flag, but there's a catch. That old $*%&$ bastard has a revolver and pops more headshots then FPS Doug. You have to fight him just to get your flag EVERY time. This is as annoying as it is fun. They also have 2 forms of king of the hill. One is time based, the other is points based. Both aren't very original or fun for that matter but for those who like to camp, I will SHOOT YOU!!! Wingman is the last one and it's easily the most hectic of them all. 5 teams of 2 instead of 2 teams of 5. Everyone's your enemy. Easy way to win, Point your gun at the nearest ammo crate. You'll shoot your partner half the time but usually you'll kill the greedy bastards on the other team too.

Campaign:

I have to make a good mention of this just because of how much work this must have went through. It only lasts between 5-10 hours for the reasonably experienced players but you'll enjoy every second of it. There's just the right amount of dialog for an action game; enough to keep you hooked and little enough not to take away from the action. You also fight a fish the size of an A-Bomb, a worm the size of the Chrysler building, and a locust with a chainsaw on a spear. Seriously, they're probably waiting for gears 3 and everything and everyone will be covered in chainsaws. Oh, and you also get to learn about the digestive tract; Can't all be fun can it?

Final thoughts and Score:

This game is cool; Very very cool. Cooler then the north pole. Cooler then liquid nitrogen. Cooler then the other side of the pillow. There's not much more I see them adding unless they wanna go the halo 3 forge root or add vehicles to multiplayer. I definitely enjoyed this game. Despite the minor flaws, the game as a whole is very good. I give it 9.0. This game is worth buying if you didn't already stick it under your christmas tree. Only reason I haven't bought it is because I'm a poor college student(hint hint) and need that game money for ramen. I hope you enjoyed this review.

Tales of Symphonia; Dawn of the New World Review

Backstory:

The people at Wolfteam have been making games in the tales series since 1994. Ever since then, the series has been seeing decent sales which merits them to continue making games under the concept “why fix what's not broken”. The original game which this review is named on is Tales of Symphonia* and so far, it's proved to be the most successful game in the tales series. The game was credited for addictive storytelling, Fast paced action RPG gameplay, beautiful environments, and exceeding long game time clocking in at a suggested 80 hours of gameplay. From my perspective, I still hold this game as one of the best because I loved every part of it. Now we have the sequel to this prominent tales game, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World* so, let's see if it's up to snuff.

Characters:

The game manages to focus a lot of attention on the first game's protagonist, Lloyd Irving. Throughout the game you manage to see many familiar characters that haven't changed much since the first game; Collette is still a klutz, Zelos is very shallow, and Presea is still expressionless. The new characters in this game are named Emil and Marta. Emil is a wimp and Marta is an annoying girl with daddy problems. These new characters however, are still just as deep and humanly flawed as the last set of characters. Emil turns out to be a pile of angst, but it becomes easy to ignore; Marta is hyper and bipolar, but the same still applies. The characters remain lively and likable no matter how you try to look at them and they continue to make you altruistic as you play through the story. The one issue that is brought up however, is that they replaced the voice actors of Lloyd Irving and Sheena Fujibayashi. For most people who played the first,this will get a little annoying mainly because the new voice actor for Lloyd did a terrible job. The one good thing is that you don't hear him talk much anyways.

Storyline:

The end of the first game leaves you at a real cliffhanger and basically, doesn't give you an ending. The game takes place two years later and for those wishing to fill the gap that the original left off, you won't be disappointed. The game focuses around Emil wanting to get revenge on Lloyd for killing his parents in Palmacosta. He makes friends with Marta and the guy trying to kill Marta so it sets the plot very quickly. He decides to help Marta on her quest to wake up the lord of all monsters which has you find his minions; Most of them are around places you visited in the first game. You have numerous encounters with the original eight characters and you get to use them from time to time. You spend most of your time listening to Marta confess her love for her prince Emil and most love stories are ok, but Tales of Symphonia 2* attempts to shove it down your throat. The ending doesn't leave you at a cliffhanger so you feel more fulfilled at the end.

The World:

You end up revisiting many of the towns and landmarks from the first game from Altamira, to The Iselia human ranch, all the way to the infamous Hot Springs. You end up seeing many different places changed due to the combining of the worlds such as the desert oasis Triet being covered in snow. The land manages to be just as beautiful as ever even figuring that two identical worlds had been crammed together. You don't get to trek it yourself however, you just get to say where you're going and it will send you there post haste. The one main failing with the world is that you revisit many of the old dungeons and because you already finished them in the old game, a lot is done for you. They do add on little pieces to it or alter it to make it into a “new” puzzle but old players will feel like they've done it all before.

Gameplay:

You have the option of fighting your battles alone, with some friends, or not at all. You have artes like the last characters and the health and TP bar remain. They decided to change the unison attack though; Instead of telling each character what move to perform, the character you're controlling does the same move and sometimes people in your party join in if they're feeling sassy. This becomes irrelevant as later you get the option of using a special attack which does fours times the damage and throws the old unison attack right out the window. The one issue with this is that it's so easy to use, you end up with the option of finishing every battle with it. They also added a monster taming element where you get to capture poke.. monsters. You can feed them and they evolve and I feel like I've seen this somewhere before. This is a good addition though, because there will be battles where you are by yourself and without those monsters, you'd turn into lunch meat. The Katz guild also makes a return in which you can do little mini quests for them in exchange for items. Many of the quests are just copy-paste versions of the dungeons you already finished but doing these adds more time to the game. The puzzles are much the same in most places but there are extra parts which gives you more to do. The wiimote comes into play for you using the sorcerer's ring. It opens up a world of new puzzles they could have put into the game, but they didn't utilize it very much. The last thing is that there are a few points in the game in which you make choices which can effect the ending, although this isn't an issue because you'll end up picking the choices which move the game along which gives you the full ending anyways.

Final Judgment: 8.5 out of 10

This game despite it's little flaws is a welcome addition to the series. The storyline is gripping and as immersive as ever. The characters are interesting and you'll enjoy all the bits of dialog. You get 30 hours of gameplay so you know you get your money's worth. If you haven't played the first one and are interested, I recommend the first one because you're getting the same game but once you finished the first one and you want a bit more, this is the right place to turn.

Prince of Persia Preview!

Try saying that five times fast.

Intro:
Ok, here's a little back story. Prince of Persia started the concept of realistic platforming, when you can jump only 2-3 feet and falling more than 10 turns your legs to pudding, your torso into cream, and your head into a delightfully bloated cherry. Then in the later years, They made him in flat shaped little polygons in PoP 3d. Then back in 2003, PoP: the sands of time came onto the market. For me, I was never a fan until this point when my brother made countless suggestions of games HE wanted to play on my Christmas list. I got me a helicopter game, a 007 game , and PoP Sands of Time. Now I inevitably sold him the first two because they were bloody boring and short. However, I consider it a Christmas miracle that my brother's poor judgment in games led me to have the most fun that winter sitting in front of my TV. The levels were truly innovative, the story was one of the best I've ever seen and the combat was not half bad(even though I've heard countless people tell me otherwise). This made me anxious to try the new one when they said they were going to make PoP Warrior Within. I rented it first though because I was a bit confused about the cover art and some of the looks of the game. I started by killing a small legion of baddies and my eyes started glowing at the amount of fun I had just from the combat, not to mention the fact I could pick up and duel wield enemy weapons. Then I got to the first real cut scene and stopped. There was the villainess with an insurmountable amount of flesh sticking out. This always is one of the worst omens in games for me, right next to a chapter skipper being mentioned on the back of the game case. Every time I heard the prince talk, I could think of some kid I know who puts that same raw emotion when they talk about how much their parents don't love them as he talks over his 500 Dollar cell phone. The prince I came to know and love turned into a sad, angry man and it just made the storyline much less enjoyable then the first. That to me is a serious kick in the balls for anyone who ever enjoyed the sands of time because it had such a gripping edge of your seat storyline, believable characters, and much less cleavage. Call it what you will but that's the way I see it. If you want tits then use the computer you're on right now and search for it because there's bound to 1000's of fan artists who like to get commissioned by the lonely sweaty nerds who have nothing better to do then brag about their WoW characters and complain about people they wish they were better then. Now after that, I tried to go through and like it solely for the game play and environments but I had a strange little niggling doubt in the back of my mind; I thought i'd seen this all before. The puzzles felt very similar and the texturing was a lot like SoT. This was yet another kick in the aforementioned balls by ubisoft because it seemed like they wanted to cash in on the fact that they were dominant in the platforming industry as Mario sunshine turned out to be a load of horseshit and chips. Then I gave the game back to the retailer and went on with my life. Then I heard of the next game that apparently would make this the "trilogy of time" and I was really baffled because I didn't know how to feel on this one. It was either going to rock harder then jesus on ice or it was going to suck more than a prostitute genetically combined with a vacuum cleaner. Well, as the avid gamer I was I went back to my happy retailer who rented me my game and I went home with high hopes and a torrent of both sad and happy coursing through my veins like a game of Mario cart run by only baby luigis. Then I sat down and ran through the game, in about 7 hours; I felt ripped off. The storyline was much more comforting and understandable then WW, not to mention that the added platforming abilities and physics had been honed to a mirror perfect sheen. However, the combat had turned to mush. I liked the violence from WW, i'm not gonna lie. However, TT had introduced the quick kill system making the entire combat of the game feel a lot like one big motherfucking quick time event; Not to mention the linear boss fights. I was appalled by the combat changes but the platforming I had come to know and love was better then ever. I'm still having a hard time getting to see this series ever hitting perfection because the characters and story of the first, The combat of the second, and the platforming of the third, could be just the best damn game this world will ever know.

Prince of Persia (next-gen)Preview:
Now from what I've seen of this game so far, it looks like we have an even more sheer shine of the platforming then TT. I believe ubisoft took a point from assassin's creed and used it properly to perfect platforming as we know it. However, they took away the prince's dagger and he has a magical girl who follows him around and fights with him. This could breed one thing that I don't like to see in most games; linearity. In some games, it is a good thing but in games like this, I don't want it. I've been playing Mirror's Edge lately(expect a review in the future)and the fact that almost every level has 2-4 ways of getting to your destination is totally sa-weet. This is something that should be in EVERY platformer regardless of concept because it adds so much to the replay value. Ubisoft has emphasized the fact that you can go "anywhere" in the game from the get go but I haven't seen any game except for GTA pull stuff like that off with finese. PoPng might have this, but the magical girl saves you from every fall and every death making the prince virtually invincible and throws the realistic platforming out the window. However, he has added a good chunk of new platforming abilities to his arsenal such as sliding down through tunnels, Now from what I've looked up from reputable sources, most other reviewers say that you need to stop caring so much about the old stuff and start caring about the new stuff or you won't enjoy it. well, i'm thinking I might play this game, and then go back and play SoT. If SoT continues the feeling that ubisoft is trying to cheat me out of a few dollars by exploiting my love for the series, then i'm going to lose all hope that they'll do a proper job of perfecting the series.

Rock Band 2 vs. Guitar Hero World Tour

Intro:
For those who do not know what these two things are, I'll keep it brief. Harmonix has been making games that require you to rythmatically sync yourself with a game to accumulate a score. In recent years, they have refined this to attempting to make it's participants feel like rockstars. This is simply acchieved by using plastic controllers in the shape of real-life rock instruments and attempting to replicate it's feel by making you the center of attention. You press buttons and strum the bar at the same time to make music or as there has been recently, make a lot of thumping noises. There is also the ability to sing and play bass which makes you and up to 3 friends feel like your actually opening for a big band's like Aerosmith.

Concept:
Since the original Guitar Hero for the playstation 2, adults and children alike have been tapping and strumming their way to rockstar glory, doing covers of songs that at least a good group of people enjoyed at sometime between now and the 1950's, Which means you could be playing songs by The Who, Nirvana, or even Metallica. Many of those people you've probably seen on youtube or at that drunken christmas party no one ever talks about know someone who likes to do the air guitar thing. Since the people that are ever inspired by Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure can testify, Guitar Hero has to be the best thing since sliced bread and wool undergarments. You might be ashamed of these people, you might be living with them, you might be raising one, you might be one yourself, but what you get out of this game is imitation superstar glory. Not the same as real glory, but so close it still tastes a little like Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Back story:
Up until the fourth installment, Harmonix was the main developers of the guitar hero game and they did a mighty fine job with it. Then Activision came in and bought the property out and Harmonix ran away. While Activision laughed menacingly, Harmonix realized they were still game developers and started up a new property with the same concept; They made the game Rock Band. Then, Activision sat back and made the new shiny Guitar Hero 3, but to people like me who cared about the series, it's shinyness was enough to make my eyes bleed. They changed it too much, axed the good characters and bastardized the old ones. They also focused on filler and final difficulty (like all activision games nowadays) and it made they a boat load of money due to advertising.  Since Guitar Hero 3 came out first and in time for the holiday season, it made activision a boatload of cash. However, they weren't actually looking into the long run. Rock Band came out later and didn't meet to the sales specs at first but because they featured weekly downloadable songs and the entire experience, they came out on top in the gaming community. This must have made someone in activision blow a gasket because they immediately started work on their Guitar Hero World Tour game which was essentially the same as Rock Band with the drums and the singing, but also the rhythm guitar. They released it right after Rock Band 2 and because they're essentially the same looking games now, new players aren't sure what they should sink their money into.

Judgement GHWT:
Guitar Hero World Tour has a fully multiplayer and single player campaign with little animated cutscenes like the 3rd one and god-awful background coloring like the 3rd one and a slightly confusing interface like the 3rd one.  There are unlockable characters like Billy Corgen, Sting, Travis Barker, and Ozzy Ozzebourne. Some might say "Ooo baby, I wanna play with the prince of darkness!". Well, there's a small problem with that. While he is there, they didn't acount for the fact that having him in your all star line-up, he'll sing whatever you put him in. You wanna see Ozzy sing La Bamba? You see Ozzy sing La Bamba and dance around like a schoolgirl for the entire song. After growing up listening to him and seeing the people that idolize him, it's a little disturbing. There's a pretty solid setlist and the audio quality is ok. The create a rockstar is there but it's pretty uninspired. There's also the create your own song studio. I used this to make some songs but realized that it's hard when you can't immediately control every little detail. You have to adjust so much that it becomes frustrating. Also, just going to the studio to "jam" is a little boring. Without the structure you get from actually playing guitar, you run out of good ideas 10 minutes in and it suddenly dawns on you how stupid you look and sound. Also, the downloadable content they added is the same price as Rock Band but not updated as frequently. You can however download other peoples songs but there aren't many worth playing yet.  Also as per the new hardware,  the guitar is essentially the same except for the slider bar and it's frustrating to uses and will break if you even look at them funny,  and the drum set works but the cymbols break down much to easily but hopefulle activision will remedy that soon.
Overall, the game is solid but it's still not the fun you'd be expecting with a game so overly hyped as this. 8/10

Judgement RB2:
Rock Band 2 is exacly what it sounds like, Rock Band 2.0. Why fix what's not broken? The gameplay is as solid as ever, the backgrounds are lively and original, The songs from the first one are there if you import them, the new instruments are fairly reliable, and Tour mode is less clunky. You can play as any instrument by yourself, there's a battle of the bands feature which lets you do events and compare yourself to other players and your character isn't confined to one instrument. All that sounds great but the real selling point is the fact that Harmonix is all about the music. Most of the people who work there have their own bands so they know what people want to play. Every song has some reason you'd want to play it which gives it a substantially higher replay value then normal. The audio quality is downright breathtaking and the songlist is as strong as ever. The online is top notch now and bands can be played online.
Overall, They kept all the good, fixed all the bad. It's a very very refined game which makes it very good. 10/10

Final Judgement and Overall Opinion:
I know that GHWT will get better, but Rock Band is already better. The one feature GHWT has on Rock Band is the song creator. It means that as of right now, the hardcore Guitar Hero players should get it. Not however, the hardcore rockers, because they should make music with real instruments. If you want a game for people who wanna play casually and have a good time at parties, then Rock Band is your boy. I rented both before and I chose Rock Band because it was a more reliable choice and also because I had a good amount of downloaded songs and i wanted to still play what i came to know and love.