Monday, March 7, 2011

UPDATE

It has been a bit of time since my last post, so i decided to make a quick update. Currently I am playing some older games and replaying some not so older games. Most of my focus has been on Diablo II, which I had never played before, and it is pretty awesome. I now see why people are so anxious for the next one to be released. Another older game I had never played before until now is Black and White 2. I do not wanna say much until I can do a legit review. I am also replaying Metal Gear Solid 4 (quite possibly my favorite ps3 game) and Borderlands, which I promise I will finish and post a review of people. I guess the main point off this post is to let anyone reading know that there will be an actual review not to long from now.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Coming soon.

This is just an update actually. I have just recently started playing Borderlands again because it will most likely have the most votes once the poll has ended. Unfortunately I have forgotten a decent amount about the game so I will not post the review until I have completed the game. It will most likely be a week or so before I have finished it.
Now here is a list of games I hope to play in the near future:
1. Killzone 3 - I played the second one (it was pretty good), and from what I have seen the next one will have better graphics and similar gameplay.
2. Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 - still debating whether or not to buy it. It has a new graphics style, many new characters, a few tweeks in gameplay.
3. Crisis 2 - It appears to be a shooter with a few cool customization tweeks.
4. Brink - lots of customization, free running movement style, and shooter

There are a few others I am looking forward to, but there release dates are kinda far off or they are TBA.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Fallout New Vegas

Fallout New Vegas deserves a solid 9. The beauty of games like Fallout is the seemingly endless options in the story of the game. Every choice made changes the character in that it decides whether he is liked by a certain group of people and if he is good or bad. The game added on factions, which are just groups of characters that you can align yourself with and some have certain karma related alignments. Some are enemies as well so it forces the character to choose sides in some cases. The gameplay itself is pretty similar to the last one. They brought back a decent amount of guns from the last one, including the laser rifle, laser pistol, plasma rifle, plasma pistol, 10 mm pistol and submachine gun, the beloved Fatman, and many others. They also brought in a decent amount of new weapons though. Some of my favorites include the 12.7 pistol and submachine, the antimaterial rifle (heavy duty sniper), the laser RCW (laser machine gun), and Euclid's C-finder (locates point for deathray to hit). The world the character plays in is also expansive and allows free roaming, which often leads to small side quests. Another great property of Fallout is the strategy that the player has to put into deciding the character's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (strength, agility, etc.), skills (hand to hand, energy weapons, etc.), and perks. These help decide how the character will progress through the story. Like if the character has a high speech skill then he will be able to resolve conflicts without pulling out any weapons. The game also has several minigames in it, such as poker, caravan (a card game), black jack, and others. 

The basic plot of the game is you play a messenger that was shot by a mysterious man. You are then revived by a doctor in a small town. As time progresses you find out that there are three main factions in the wasteland. The first one is the New California Republic. The N.C.R. is benevolent for the most part, but they  look after themselves before the good of the people a decent amount of the time. The second faction is Caesar's Legion. They are viewed as the more malevolent faction. The leader has a skewed view of justice and enforces his ideas in a brutal fashion. The last faction is Mr. House. Mr. House puts New Vegas first. He wishes to make a sort of utopia that cannot be touched by the outside world and will do whatever it takes to make that happen.

In summarization
Pros
  1. Massive amount of game play
  2. Many new weapons available
  3. Character customization
  4. Many companions available in game
  5. Faction Alignment
  6. Ability to be independent of factions
  7. Minigames
  8. Many plot options available making the second play through almost as interesting as the first
  9. Many side quests

Dead Space 2

Dead Space 2 overall deserves a 8.5. The game was jam packed with suspense. Throughout the entire plot they kept me on my toes, and left me wondering whether a mutant was behind me or in the vent down the hall. Yet I still walked with confidence further into the game when I came across a wide variety of weapons that have numerous upgrades available. Another thing that kept me well protected from any ambush was array of suits available as I continued through the game. It never got boring though because items were sparse so it kept me on  the edge of my seat wondering if I had enough ammo, stasis, and health packs to get through the story. The storyline itself was relatively short, but it was captivating and full of twists and turns. The game also gave me the option to go through the plot with all of my upgrades and weapons on a different difficulty so it allowed me to finish upgrading everything.The game does not end there though, it also has an online portion. Like any online shooter it has unlockable weapons and upgrades for them. The main characteristic that sets it apart from other online games is the fact that it allows you to play as the people with an objective and guns, and the next turn you play against the humans as one of four mutants. The mutants all have their own style of attacks including long range projectiles and swift melee attacks. The only problem with online is their is no variety in online other than the change in maps and the ability gain new guns and upgrades by leveling.

Summary:
Pros
  1. Suspenseful
  2. Good plot
  3. Variety of suits and weapons 
  4. Ability to upgrade weapons
  5. Limited ammo and supplies to keep things interesting
  6. Four difficulty levels available
  7. Ability to run through plot with items from the last run through
  8. Ability to play as mutants and against mutants online
Cons
  1. The game was relatively short (took me around 15 hours to get through story mode)
  2. Online gets kind repetitive