Puzzle Dimension is a puzzle game (no way!) that has you rolling around 3D levels as a metallic ball on a grid, looking to collect all the sunflowers in the area. Simple enough, right?
Well, there’s a bunch of stuff in your way, of course!

The traps in this game are what make it interesting. There are many different kinds of trap squares; from squares that just crumble after you roll off of them to squares that catch fire after you’ve touched and left them. You have to strategize when you’ll activate which traps (because most of the time you WILL have to activate them) to allow yourself access to certain squares in certain sequences, in order to safely complete the level. Sometimes it can get hectic, confusing, and downright frustrating.

The visuals in Puzzle Dimension are fantastic. Squares and things on them are stylishly pixelated until you come within reach of them, at which point the pixels all come together and form an HD texture. It’s pretty sweet.
The music is also deliciously retro and has some great variation to keep things interesting.

But I just can’t seem to enjoy the gameplay.
I’ve really tried to enjoy this game. I was very excited to try it out, after being excited by the screenshots I’d seen. But I guess you can’t judge a book solely based on the contents of the information easily visible. Err… The cover. Or in this case, the screenshots.

Whenever I played Puzzle Dimension, I normally spent half the time frustrated. And it wasn’t due to the game itself being confusing, it was just the gameplay. The controls are pretty simple. WASD controls the camera, while arrow keys control your movement, and the space bar is jump. But, since this game is set in a grid, your freedom in movement is slim. And once you start moving in a direction, if you suddenly realize it was a mistake (be it a slip of the finger or a misunderstood situation), you’re screwed. You can’t hit the opposite arrow to go back, and you die. And you restart the entire level.
This happened to me far too many times while I was quite far into the level. It’s incredibly frustrating, and it was a huge factor in me not enjoying this game.

I can definitely tell that a lot of effort went into this game. As I previously mentioned, the graphics are freakin’ beautiful and the music is fantastic. Not to mention the fact that the traps are incredibly inventive. Unfortunately, that’s about the only thing that kept me playing — learning what traps there were. It sure wasn’t the gameplay, which I can’t seem to get by to enjoy the content of this game.

It’s unfortunate, but I have to advise you against purchasing this game. I would definitely try the demo if you have any interest at all, and if that doesn’t completely shatter your hopes for this title, I’d go for it. Maybe even wait for a sale in that case, however, because this game’s appeal, while interesting to me for a bit, died out pretty quickly as I just was unable to enjoy myself.

4/10

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1. Sonic 4: Returning To The Second Dimension
2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review
3. Review: Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption was a widely-anticipated Rockstar game that hit shelves May 18th this year. Rockstar are the same guys that brought us the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto series, as well as Max Payne, the Midnight Club series, and others. Although it is a spiritual successor to 2004′s Red Dead Revolver, not much relates back to it, other than the western setting.

You play as John Marston, an ex-gangster in the early 1900′s who is being forced by government officials to hunt down and kill the surviving leading members of his former gang if he ever wants to see his wife and son again. As such, your overall mission as John Marston is to save your family and kill your once-friends.

I’ll start off on gameplay… Red Dead Redemption is, overall, a fantastic game, and a lot of its successes and high points boil down to the gameplay elements that hold everything together. I feel that this game is the first that has gotten down the formula of open-world gameplay down to a T. In-between missions, you can do just about anything… Ride around on your horse, start trouble in towns, and even play minigames (such as Texas Hold ‘Em, Five Finger Filet, and Liar’s Dice). It all holds the gameplay together perfectly and keeps things going, even if you’re not currently interested in the story.

But I think the thing that makes this one of the best open-world games available is the random events that occur. Indicated by a blue blip on your minimap, random events occur pretty often in the Red Dead world. These include men asking you to help them catch a thief to stealing a wagon for them, and sometimes to just duel in the middle of town. This really helps the game feel more alive than anything, and gives you something to do (or even just to ride around and look for) when you’re not playing a mission.

These random events, as well as other things in-game, will affect your honour. Red Dead Redemption has a morality system that’s based on how you act toward other people. This changes how people act around you. If you’re a generally good person, you’ll be treated with respect. If you go around shooting old ladies and robbing card dealers, your presence will be met with fear.

Aside from random events, another great gameplay element in Red Dead Redemption is the gunfighting. Gunfights can escalate to huge numbers and are always a blast. There’s a quick-aim system in place, which helps a lot in the midst of battle. You can also choose to take out specific body parts to reach a desired outcome. For instance, if you’re looking to hogtie a hostile, you can temporarily take him out by shooting him in the kneecap. This will put a damper on his short-term fire as well as give you an opportunity to get up close and throw the lasso. You can also just shoot their guns out of their hands if you want to avoid any bloodshed and have enough time to get away. There are so many variables in each showdown, which keeps the gunfights incredibly fresh throughout the entire game.

A feature that will help you achieve these accurate shots with time to spare is Dead Eye. The Dead Eye targeting system allows you to slow down time (think max Payne) to take out enemies with ease, or to make your aiming more precise to fit certain situations. There are three levels of Dead Eye — In level 1, time simply slows and allows you to get a shot off with a huge upper hand. Level 2 of Dead Eye has an auto-target system, in which targets are placed on your foes as your cursor runs over their body, and you can execute the shots with a button press. In Level 3, you are able to manually seek out and place targets on your enemy’s body, and again execute the shots with the press of a button. Level 2 is a bit of a pain, as it feels like you lose a lot of control in the transition (which, of course, you do), but once you get to level 3, you’ll feel like the best marksman ever born.

One of my favourite parts in this game is also one of the most often encountered. Horse riding. It’s an incredibly refreshing break from driving a car to get from Point A to Point B. The mechanics are fantastic and it feels incredibly authentic, at least with a controller. The running animations are also incredibly well done. All-in-all, it’s a whole lot more fun than driving a car around. It’s something different, and Rockstar pulled it off incredibly well.

Taking a trip with a companion is also a lot of fun. Just like in GTA4, the mission dialogue as you make your journey differs from time to time, meaning that each play-through of each mission may contain a slightly different conversation, and it makes me want to not throw the controller at the TV when I fail a mission that had a long transmit.

When it comes to multiplayer, Red Dead Redemption delivers very strongly. You start off online in a “Free Roam” mode, which allows you to hook up with other players and cause general mayhem with formed possies battling it out or just going around shooting NPC’s and avoiding the law with a character completely separate from your campaign.

From here, you can take the battle to one of several different kinds of play, one of which is a gang shootout. This particular gametype begins with both teams in a faceoff in the center of a town. You draw your weapons simultaneously and quickly try to take out the other team. The last man/men standing represent their teams in victory, all of whom get an XP bonus. After this, you begin a typical team deathmatch kind of gameplay, but with certain elements that still help to differ it from the competition. For instance, you can still use Dead Eye in multiplayer, although it’s a bit dumbed down. There’s no slow motion, but the auto-target system is in place, allowing you to quickly acquire several targets on an enemy’s body before they’re able to aim down their sights. This is incredibly useful.

Through getting kills you get experience points. With experience, you’ll level up. Your higher level will unlock you things, such as new horses. A faster ride can give you a huge advantage in the midst of battle (especially if you intend to flee).

Overall, the online play in this game is one of many elements that will force me to play it for a long time to come.

Now, if you haven’t been able to understand this yet, Red Dead Redemption is absolutely gorgeous. The immense attention to detail that the designers paid is astounding, down to the fibers in clothing and individual strands of hair. All of the animations are also excellent, and it has a very life-like feel to it.

There’s also an immense amount of variety from location to location, which always keeps things interesting throughout your multinational journey across the lands. Each town has a distinctive layout to it, with recognizable NPCs and unique buildings that really allow you to easily memorize each location. I love that.

But good graphics and gameplay can easily be torn apart by poor audio design decisions or recording issues. Fortunately, there’s none of that here. All of the audio in Red Dead Redemption is top-notch, down to the piano tunes that boom through the saloons as you drink yourself unconscious.

As far as voice acting goes, I’ve heard almost nothing as good as Red Dead Redemption in the past. Rockstar has always been known for having great voice acting, and Red Dead takes it a step further, I feel. All of the characters are incredibly believable, and I’ve actually been quite sad to part with a few of them due to the personalities they develop as you spend time by their sides.

But one of my favourite bits of audio gold in this game is the ambience as you sit in the wild at night. It has a very immersive feel to it. It’s all very realistic and well-done. If you have a surround-sound system, this is a game you’ll quickly be able to appreciate.

Overall, I have to give this game the highest possible score. It blew me away around every corner and I don’t find myself tiring of any of it. The replayability is through the roof, with the online play and the morality system to make sure this one stays in your collection.

If you enjoy third-person shooters at all, this is a game to pick up. A video game that has distractions in and of itself (comprised here of many hours of texas hold ‘em) is more than worth it’s salt.

Keep an eye out for a video review soon.

10/10

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“Skate” is the skateboarding series that overtook the subgenre of sports games, knocking Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater out of the public eye. (They also helped to do that themselves with their latest failure of a rebuttal, Tony Hawk: Ride.) With its very advanced and refined Flick-It control scheme, it eliminates the button-mashing trickgasm that once was skateboarding video games. Precision and skill overtaking randomness and luck, it gives users more control, and… Well, they like it. In fact, they love it. The Skate series has been highly praised for its addictive gameplay.

Well, EA Black Box put out another game in the series just a bit ago, and I’ve been playing it almost nonstop. In this review, I won’t compare it to the previous two Skate games too often — I don’t want to dwell on minor things, or isolate anybody who hasn’t played them. (Plus, they were very similar and I find my memories of them blending together.) So I’ll just review this as if it was a brand new game in a never before seen series.

The game starts up with a pretty nice video (not a cinematic, an actual live-action video) of skateboarders building things and creating skateboards. It’s pretty neat, and is a nice start to the game.
The cinematic ends with your character taking an incredibly harsh fall off a huge ramp, and opening his eyes to the idea of starting his own skateboard company.
You are then introduced to Coach Frank, played brilliantly by Jason Lee (of “My Name Is Earl” fame, who actually turns out to be a retired pro skateboarder). In his knee-high socks and short-shorts, you can’t take his character seriously, but he runs you through the motions of hopping on your board and banging out some basic tricks.
After learning the ropes, you can compete in a various number of challenges. Each completed challenge equates to sold skateboards for your company (sometimes in ridiculous numbers for the challenge completed), which help you achieve landmarks in sales and new challenges along the way.

In the photo challenges, you are given a very good control of the artistic direction of the shot. You can manipulate many controls, even depth of field, to get the desired shot on the billboard, magazine cover, or whatever.
Unfortunately, if you want to share your creation with the world, you’re gonna have to shell out $10. Yes, $10 of your real money. I despise when developers do this, but Black Box has chosen to release DLC that could very well have been included in the initial release, right alongside the game. For $10, you get the ability to share any photos, videos, and skateparks you create with the community. Something that very well could have and should have been included in the game.

However, I digress. As I furiously mentioned, you can create skateparks in this game. It’s pretty sweet… They give you a lot of control with what to do, and I’ve found myself able to build up some pretty hot spots. It’s much more satisfying to pull an awesome line off when you create a spot just FOR that line.
However, I only find myself messing around with the park editor every now and then. Most of the time, I like to find ways to make due with what the world throws at me. Either way, both ways of accomplishing awesome tricks have their own sense of creativity, and that’s what I love about this game.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Tony Hawk. THPS (original for N64) is one of my favourite games of all time. I had some great times with it as a kid. But the series is unable to keep up with the immense momentum that EA has kicked so hard to achieve with Skate. Everything you do feels like you actually did it, because it takes some now-how in the controls. Sure, you can randomly flick around the right stick, but that’s not NEARLY as satisfying as going and intending to do a specific set of tricks, and then flawlessly pulling them off. (And even if you don’t want to buy into EA Black Box’s profiteering to share your videos of these sick tricks with the world, you can just show them to a friend or two when they’re next to you.)

The campaign mode always finds new challenges to throw your way. I’ve found myself struggling for a while, not knowing how to do something that a challenge requires. I then go to another challenge and end up accidentally figuring it out, only to go back once more and defeat it with my fist in the air. It’s a great feeling to overcome challenges in this game.
Playing online is a whole other story entirely. My favourite game mode, by far, is S.K.A.T.E. This is very similar to HORSE in basketball, in that you have to set a specific trick (flip only, no grind or grab), and everybody else has to mimic your trick to avoid gaining a letter. Five letters and they’re out of the game.
It’s a ton of fun playing with other people, and it also leads to learning new tactics and tricks. Every once in a while I get bored with the missions. Hopping online for a while fixes that right up.

A great new addition to the series that I’ve been dying for since the beginning is the ability to do a darkslide grind. This is when you flip the board upside-down, onto the grip tape, and grind on that. A flip is required to get out, and it’s a lot of fun to pull off, especially at long distances.

All in all, this game is awesome. If you’ve played and enjoyed any of the earlier iterations, I highly recommend you pick this one up. I wouldn’t even bother renting, it’ll turn into a purchase.

9.5/10

See larger image Skate 3 (Video Game) List Price: $39.99 USD New From: $36.98 In Stock Used from: $28.00 In Stock Release date May 11, 2010.

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1. Skate 3 Demo Rolls Onto PSN & XBL [In-Depth Look]
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Plants vs. Zombies currently is the most popular download at the Itunes store and for good reason. The game was released in February of this year, and in this short period of time became the number one downloaded App in the App store, the number one downloaded game at the Itunes store and is the number one paid application on average. In other words; the game is Apple’s top item and bestseller all around! This being said, I think the popular game is going to take a shot at becoming the most popular zombie arcade game in history.

The game itself is simple enough to get the hang of, but it’s addictive qualities are quite amazing, in fact, since its proven success, lots and lots of new games are coming out, copying the game’s gaming system, adapting it to their own variant of the game. It is starting to look very much like Tetris all over again! Strictly speaking, the Zombie game can be categorized as a Tower defense game. There are plenty of those to play already, but the twist Plants vs. Zombies uses to set the game apart from the rest is that instead of using all kinds of missiles, arrows, or other projectile shooting weaponry, the Zombie survival game uses plants to accomplish the same task, which is; keeping the waves of zombies at bay. There are several types of plants(49 to be precise), each with their own unique capabilities either for defensive or offensive purposes. Like other Tower defense games, the plants have to be placed strategically in order to provide protection from the undead creatures, who will invade your house if they break through. Upon being successful in keeping the bloodthirsty zombies at bay, sunshine points are gained, with which more and different types of plants can be purchased.

Game play – Rating: 9/10

As the game advances, it will become harder and harder to stop the Zombies in their tracks, and a player will need all of his strategic skills for keeping the zombies from breaking through. Using the right plants in a good defense/offence combination, will do that job. There are 49 types of plants to choose from, which are shaped to make it easy to remember which plant does what in terms of offensive or defensive capabilities, and because the level of difficulty increases very slowly, players will have plenty of time to master the basics and enable themselves to maximize the usage of the plants.

Despite its unique features, Plants vs. Zombies has all the advantages arcade games have over regular games. Rounds play within minutes, and after a round is played the game can be left alone, and picked up at a later time, making it a perfect game for all intends and purposes, whether you want to play a few quick rounds during a break, or sit down with a cup of java and put in a few hours of quality gaming. Plants vs. Zombies will deliver.

As the player enters the higher levels, the game gets harder, and the playing fields will also become more complicated, making it harder to defend.

Graphics and Sound – Rating: 7/10

Technically Plants vs. Zombies is a zombie killing game, but the style it uses, to do this is funny, cartoonish and there is no blood at all. Watching zombies get dismembers, arms fall, without the accompanying blood that is almost mandatory in a zombie game, works more for making the zombies cute, rather than frightening. Perhaps the youngest should refrain from playing, but overall the game is pretty much harmless, and suitable for all audiences.

The plants are functionally shaped and colored, making it easy to remember their uses, and all the different zombies are easy to recognize. Shielded zombies are tough to kill, those without are easy. It’s all very functional, though never graphically challenging. In other words the graphics are adequate and serve their purpose, but no more than that. A game like this, does not rely on being graphically attractive, it relies on sheer addictiveness, because it is simply a lot of fun, to test your strategical abilities and find out if you are smart enough to keep the zombies from your doorstep.

As with the graphics, the sounds of the game are the same way. Functional, adequate, but nothing to write home about.

Overall – Rating: 9/10

Overall the game has turned out to be a very entertaining Zombie arcade game in the Tower defense category, with highly addictive qualities, that are typical for games in the genre. The version I tested was made for the Ipod and Iphone, but the game is available for free on most platforms like PC, handheld and Ereaders. It basically plays on anything capable of making an Internet connection. Judging by its popularity I think it is safe to assume that many of you already played a few round of the game, but if this is not the case I highly recommend for you to do so, because you are missing out on some good old fashioned arcade fun!

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2. 13 More days in Hell Game Review
3. The Last Stand 2 – Fighting For Your Life

Where the first 13 days of Hell was only a shooting game, that would only require you to aim shoot and reload, the new  installment entails much more and is a full fletched first person shooter, that  looks and sounds every bit as uncanny as the famous Doom PC games.  In 13 more days of  Hell you will walk through a maze of corridors and hallways, guided by a guardian who also doubles as the store sales man, where you can buy ammo, weapons and health potions during the game(And you will need them!).  weapons and ammo can also be found through the levels, and like with the first game the number keys allow you to select the various weapons, provided that you have them in your arsenal.

Sound – Rating: 8/10

The sounds in 13 more days of Hell are minimal, yet very effective. The sounds are simply integrated into the atmosphere adding to the tension, which is the same kind that provided so much excitement in the early Doom games. Throughout every step of the way a player will have the same eerie feeling that an undead creature may jump him at every corner, and usually they will. While the maze of corridors and hallways is large, the sounds and looks will at times make a player feel slightly claustrophobic, which is exactly the feeling one should have when walking through an area, knowing creatures can and will pop up from anywhere. The sounds of the different guns are well done also. A gun sounds like a gun and a gun with silencer will sound as such.  Overall, the sound effects are very well done, without overdoing it.  For example, when a player uses a health potion, you hear him sigh in relief, as the bar becomes full again. 13 more days of Hell definitely is not a game, with your average sound effects, that plague so many other flash games.

Graphics – Rating: 7/10

The graphics are well designed, especially the surroundings. Like with the sounds, much thought has gone into designing the hallways and corridors, creating the perfect atmosphere for a Doom like first person shooter game. The creatures themselves are adequate, but in that area there is room for improvement, as they often look a little blurred. Of course one cannot expect graphics like Far Cry yet from a flash game, but they still can be a little better than they are in 13 more days of Hell. Looking at the game in general one can’t escape the impression that most of the thought and detail has gone in to  the surroundings, and the lost souls were simply ported in from the original game. The guardian looks crisp and very detailed, but does not move, which is another minor drawback from the game. It’s not a big thing, and certainly does not take away from the game, but it is one more detail, that could be improved upon to make the game feel just that little bit more realistic. One little detail I also was sorry to see go, was the eerie reddish mist they used in the original game, where the undead creatures would emerge from. Adding that to the new game would in my opinion be the crown on the project, and would have given the whole game that finishing touch. Perhaps this will be a good suggestion for part 3.

Game Play – Rating: 8/10

The game plays, looks and feels very much like the first two Doom games, or Castle Wolfenstein for that matter. The controls are similar, just like the well known current FPS games, like Counterstrike, Far Cry and the others.  “W” to walk forward, “A” for walking to the left, “D” to go right and “Z” to walk backwards. The mouse is used to turn, aim and shoot. The number keys are used to switch weapons. And the space-bar is used to reload. To anyone that has ever played a first person shooter game, this should be very familiar territory. In addition to the well known keys there is the “H” key that obviously stands for health, and if in possession of a health position is used to restore the hero’s health.
It’s all very intuitive and will take the average gamer less than 2 seconds to master.

So, have we got a perfect game here, game play wise? No, like with everything else in this game the game play is good but there certainly is room for improvement. A player is able to turn to all sides, using the mouse, but cannot look up or down, something that is very common in other first person shooter games. This is something  13 more days in Hell also has in common with the first Doom and Wolfenstein games. The first versions of the FPS gaming genre, also lacked that feature. Again this is nothing major, and won’t  keep you from having loads of fun with this game, but having the feature, makes it just this much more realistic, while playing. The same goes for the inability to jump or crawl. It is not necessary for this  game, but being able to do so, makes movements that much more natural and real. Also the limits of the small flash screen take away from the game play, as it makes movement not as natural and swift like we are used to while playing Doom full screen. This can be easily solved by playing the game full screen, provided the arcade site you are playing on offers this feature.

Re-Playability – Rating 7/10

As far as replay value goes on flash arcade games, it is usually the addictiveness that holds the attraction, but once all levels have been conquered, the game loses its attraction, and it’s off to another game, to kill some time with. This is certainly not the case with 13 more days in Hell. This game is a whole different beast, and with its Easy, Medium and Hard settings, it will keep you coming back for at least 3 more rounds, after you have finished the last level. In fact it will be hard to compare this game with most arcade games, as it looks, feels and plays like a fully fledged first person shooter, that does not have to shy away, next to famous titles like Doom I and II, Castle Wolfenstein and even next to the ground breaking Quake I. Of course, it lacks features especially Quake I already possessed, but it comes close, so close, FPS developers, should start getting worried, as Flash games are catching up at an amazing rate.

Conclusion

13 more days in Hell, has turned out to be an excellent sequel to a game that was great, but no more than that. With this latest installment the creators truly show what they can do when they set their mind to it, and though there is room for improvement, one cannot help but be amazed about what they managed to do with a flash game, that requires no lengthy installs, downloads but simply plays from your browser. 13 more days is a fun game that will provide you with hours of good clean gaming fun, bringing back the days we played doom on our 386 personal computers, preferably with the lights turned off in order to gain a greater shock effect. Currently, 13 more days in Hell is one of the best zombie games available on flash arcade sites. Looking at the way the game has evolved, I for one cannot wait until the third installment will be released, and hopefully they will manage to amaze us once again with an FPS game that comes even closer to the ones we are used to playing today.  From the looks of it, I think it won’t be long now, until we see the first flash FPS multi player game.

Overall – Rating 8/10

13 more days in Hell, has turned out to be quite a surprise. After having played the original game, I expected more of the same, perhaps with other characters thrown in the mix, but nothing could have prepared me for this sequel, that is more like a recreation of the game, and this time the way it should have been. All the elements that make for a great FPS are there, and save from a few minor factors that do not take away from the gaming fun, they have come close to releasing a perfect game as far as I am concerned.  I rate it 8 out of 10, and if they continue developing down this road I expect to be able to rate even higher when the next installment will be released.

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Uncharted 2: One of the most linear, scripted, predetermined games I’ve ever played in my life. Oh, and one of the best.
Normally, these qualities hit below the belt, decreasing the overall fun factor of a game. The same cannot be said for Uncharted 2. This game takes linear gameplay, mixes in lots of scripted events that happen around you to make the world come to life, and, with all of this, tells a great story that is very gripping and has very well thought out characters. The whole time, you’re aware that you’re not in control… Your’e just along for the ride in a huge cinematic experience. But the ride is freaking fantastic.

I can’t say that it’s much of a rollercoaster, story-wise… There aren’t any HUGE twists, except for one in the beginning that caught me off-guard. That being said, it is still a great story, completely separate of the first game in the series.
Seeing as I had never played the first game, before jumping into this one, I asked my Twitter stream if I should read up on what happened prior to the adventure I was about to partake in.
The response was an overwhelming no, with positive overtones. While the stories don’t connect much on any level at all, there are some characters in this one that are also in the first that give familiarity to early-series adopters. All I was told was that there was a blonde love interest in the first game… That’s all that needs to be known going into this one, and it served me well.
The story in this incredibly hyped-up game is based on false history and out of this world skepticism and superstition… Again, normally a recipe for disaster in my book, but Naughty Dog pulls it off with shining brilliance that came as incredibly unexpected.

I can’t say I really thought much going into this game… I mean, it looked alright, but I didn’t think it would be that great of a game, and that maybe all the prestigious game of the year awards that it got in 2009 were somehow misfired, and that I wouldn’t enjoy it very much.
I can honestly say that I’ve never been more thrilled to be so wrong.

With some of the best third-person adventure gameplay I’ve ever experienced, stunning graphics, amazing voice-overs that lead to believable characters, a gripping story, and fitting music… Well, there’s not much NOT to like.

The story mode of the game took me a total of ten hours and eighteen minutes to complete… All in all, not a terribly long story… I was hooked to the TV every waking hour since I got the game in my disc drive, so it took me just two days to beat it. A bit disappointing, sure, but still an amazing ride while it lasted.
Oh, and it’s still lasting.. There are some awesome online multiplayer modes, like deathmatch and plunder (pretty much like capture the flag), among others, that add lots of time to this game’s load out. Not to mention the co-operative game types, including playing through levels together (not quite the same levels as in the story, and all made to better fit multiple human players), and “Co-op Arena,” which can be most accurately described as being similar to Horde mode in Gears of War 2, or Nazi Zombie mode in Call of Duty: World at War. This happens to be my favourite multiplayer mode, and teamwork is important.

There are also unlockables, but I won’t get too much into them… Basically, you earn money, through doing things such as collecting treasure, throughout singleplayer and multiplayer modes to purchase unlockable things that really add to the replay value of the game, even if they don’t affect gameplay much at all (like concept art, which is awesome to look at).

Let’s get into one area of this game that is amazing and that I haven’t much touched down on… The gameplay.
This game has you climbing walls, making impossibly long leaps, swinging on ropes suspended hundreds of feet in the air, and solving incredibly satisfying puzzles, all while killing armies upon armies of enemies.
The controls are easy to pick up, and you’ll feel like an absolute master by the end of the first level.
And while you may get frustrated at times, nothing is nearly impossible… Just look at things with a different angle or tactic. Maybe try going loud instead of stealthy, or hang back and snipe a bit instead of rushing in, guns blazing… Figure things like this out, and it will be satisfying.
Now, throughout the entire game, I was well aware that I wasn’t in control of anything… As I said earlier, it’s incredibly scripted and linear. But it’s so satisfying, seeing the story progress, and how seamlessly the game transitions from a cinematic sequence to gameplay (similar to Metal Gear Solid 4). At times in the game, it actually feels like you’re IN a cinematic sequence while you’re playing… Things are falling down around you in a scripted-yet-beautiful manner, the environment around you moves as you fall…
Let me share with you my absolute favourite part of this entire game. It’s in the very beginning, so I’m not spoiling much here.
You’re on a train. Bleeding pretty badly, unable to move as quickly as when you are in good health.
You make your way out of the train (not by choice — it’s hanging over a cliff, and you fall out the back of it), and end up having to clim up it.
You eventually make your way into a higher train car. You start running to the opening in the front, and everything is looking fine and dandy… Until it starts falling backward. The environment around you moves as your vision shifts skyward, and you’re running for dear life to the open door just a few meters ahead of you… Just as the train and cliff part ways, you find yourself in the air, hurdling toward the icy cold, yet incredibly comforting, embrace of the snow-covered precipice that was almost your demise.
At this point, I knew I was in for an amazingly wild ride. The game failed to prove me wrong.

Moving on.
You’ve got a handy dandy notebook / journal where you archive all sorts of information that comes in handy at various parts of the game (which definitely adds to the overall feeling of immersion), and is just really fun to flip through and see all the different pages.
I’ve found myself laughing out loud at some of Drake’s notes. The writers of this game really did an amazing job at making Drake, plus all the other characters, seem really… Well, real. With most of them, I was able to go “Oh, man, so-and-so is just like that person!” This definitely isn’t a game filled with cliches that lead to unbelievable situations and characters (within the realm of the plot).

And… Well, that’s about all I can really say about this game without going insane or spoiling anything.
Don’t let the hype fool you — this game is worth every penny you can spend on it, and more.

WRAP-UP
——

The Good
__

- Great story, completely detached from the first game.
- Eye-popping visuals. (I spent a good ten minutes looking at hair.)
- Amazing voice acting and music / sound effects
- Superb gameplay
- The most cinematic video game I’ve ever played
- Great online multiplayer (regular game types as well as co-op).
- High replay value

The Bad
__

- Somewhat short single-player mode
- No local multiplayer

THE VERDICT – 10/10; One of the best games I’ve ever played.

See larger image Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Video Game) List Price: $39.99 USD New From: $31.50 In Stock Used from: $27.00 In Stock Release date October 13, 2009.

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It took 3 years of developing, and for the fans 3 long years waiting on the end, but now the wait is over, and God of War III has arrived, bringing us the grand finale to Kratos and his relentless quest for revenge. God of War III may not be the last installment of the series that continuously hovered in the top 3 on many gaming fans wish lists, it does bring the final part to this story.

There aren’t many changes made to the game play, just a little bit of polish here and there, but basically everything works pretty much as it has been working in all 3 parts of the game. Gamers, that were hoping for ground breaking new features, will be disappointed. On the other hand, why try to fix things that are not broken?

The graphics have always been one of the key features in the God of War games, but in this last part, the creators really have outdone themselves, leaving us with eye candy that takes our breath away. This is an M-rated game, meaning lots of blood and gore being shown throughout the game. It is safe to say this game is not for the weak hearted (Or youngest among us.)

The only downside to this otherwise awesome game series, was that, though there are many weapons that can be picked up and used throughout the game, the swords pretty much seem to be the only weapons that are useful in just about any situation. No more in this last part, where there are at least two other types of weapons that are equally useful then the blades, if not more useful in certain situations.

The only thing that provided a minor annoyance to me was that the new weapons are very similar to the swords, which does little for variety. But that’s just a very minor annoyance.
Overall God of War III turned out to be a game worthy to the series, and will be in the familiar top 3 on many gamers wish lists, just like the other installments to the series.

See larger image God of War III (Video Game) List Price: $59.99 USD New From: $37.00 In Stock Used from: $28.84 In Stock Release date March 16, 2010.

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As one of the greatest shooting games ever made, Call of Duty Modern Warfare seemed to have it all; great graphics, an exciting story line, awesome gameplay, and cool multiplayer features. Now after high anticipation and much excitement Activision has finally brought us Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 which has completely blown away the original Modern Warfare game. Modern Warfare was full of dramatic moments, action packed scenes, and intense game play, Modern Warfare 2 has brought this back and made it 10x better. The graphics are amazing, the story is awesome, and the multiplayer gameplay is to die for. Also newly added in Modern Warfare 2 is a new campaign mode called “Spec-ops”, which has received a lot of attention since the games release, and is a great new mode for the game.

Storyline

The storyline of Call of Duty Modern Warfare pretty much starts off where the events of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare left off.

Even though Zakhaev, the ultra-nationalist Russian leader, has been permanently dealt with, his lieutenant, Vladimir Makarov has managed to get control of Russia’s military forces and is now an even bigger threat to the world then his predecessor ever was. International intelligence agencies have received credible, actionable intelligence that Makarov is aggressively extending the reach of his influence well beyond the borders of Russia.

This has caused a huge dilemma in the international community, resulting in the deployment of an elite multinational task-force codenamed “Task Force 141″, consisting of Navy Seals, Delta Force teams, CIA and British SAS units. If playing the single player campaign mode, you play as Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson, whose mission is to eliminate Makarov and his henchmen at any cost, regardless of where the battle takes place.

Cooperative “Special Ops” Mode

Special ops features independent missions similar in design to the “Mile High Club” epilogue mission from Call of Duty 4. These are “campaign inspired” missions which are not directly related to the story of the campaign itself.

This great new mode allows you to pay in solo mode, split screen with a friend, or go online for the full experience in two player co-op warfare, giving you and your friend a chance to go on many challenges together. Special ops mode encourages you to learn tactics and maneuvers to successfully complete your challenge.

There are five special ops mission groups with a total of 23 missions, each of which can be played at different difficulty levels of regular, hardened, or veteran. One to three stars are assigned after successful mission completion, with the number of stars awarded based on the difficulty level chosen. More missions are unlocked as the player earns more stars.

Some of the Special Ops scenarios include capturing an enemy compound, one player providing air support from an AC-130 gunship while the other player conducts ground operations, seek and destroy operations and even a snowmobile race between the two players.

Multiplayer Mode

The multiplayer mode in the 2nd version of Modern Warfare is outstanding, with the only downside being on the PC version of the game since dedicated server support was removed, thereby eliminating the ability for mods or user-created maps to be used, which has angered many PC gamers.

What I love the most when playing in multiplayer mode are the Kill Streaks. Everything is pretty much the same as in COD4 when it comes to kill streaks with the exception of several hot new features. There are new Killstreak rewards which unlock weapons drops and air strikes. To be exact, there are 15 different kill streak rewards which can be unlocked by the player. Some of these new rewards is the ability to receive a supply drop after achieving four kills in a row, calling in a missile strike after five kills, you can even call in an AC-130 gunship to strike death from the skies after achieving 11 kills.

Players also are given substantially more options when it comes to customising their multiplayer experience with new character classes such as Ranger and Overwatch, as well as some bonus unlockable classes like Riot Control. In addition, you are now able to unlock the option to create your own classes, which opens up endless possibilities of new ways to enjoy this great mode.

Since COD4 some of you may have noticed that you are walking around like you have a huge bag of rice on your back, well, this is because the great developers at Infinity Ward have added more realism to the game; this way you would walk and run at a more realistic pace, but after about 5 minutes you will probably get used to this and won’t even notice it. Another thing which has added quite a bit more realism is Frag Grenades, which are my personal favorites. The explosions have been toned down a bit compared to COD4 but this really does make it much better, it also means no more spawning then dying.

But what have I not mentioned about Modern Warfare 2 yet?      Guns… Now no need to get overly excited, but I love the guns in this game, for primaries there are: 9 assault rifles, 5 sub machine guns, 5 light machine guns, 4 sniper rifles, and the Riot Shield. All of the primaries (except for the sniper rifles) have 10 different weapon customizations (scopes, gear, etc..) to choose from. There are even more, secondary weapons, we have: 4 machine pistols, 6 shotguns, 4 handguns, and 5 launchers!

Now that is a hell of a lot of fire power for one game, and all you bad ass gamers love it! This gives you so many ways to customize your profile (weapon and perk preset) and then gets straight into the game and start killing that one guy who complains all the time.

We all know that COD4 had some networking issues, these have all been resolved by now, and something much better has been added. Remember in COD4 when a guy couldn’t take being killed over and over again and left the game, only to find that he was the host and the entire game ended for everyone?
Well no more, the new in-game host migration feature gives you a small pause while it looks for a new host, you than get a 5 second countdown so you can get ready to start exactly where you left off!

Now as maps are concerned in Multiplayer get ready to be lost, many of the maps are very big, but great fun to explore and find all your new sniper spots, but do not worry as with the large number of players that can fit into a match (up to 18) you will never find yourself on a corner with no enemy’s.

Campaign Mode

We have covered the cooperative and multiplayer modes, and now it’s time for the long awaited campaign mode! The campaign mode takes you through several exotic area’s including Rio de Janeiro’s favela’s and through the cold terrain of Russia. Campaign mode still had me dazzled with the falling ceilings, exploding walls, and other scripted events. Not only where they well timed, but the graphics where absolutely impeccable. Infinity Ward and Activision decided to keep co-op out of campaign mode this time, and honestly, after playing through I couldn’t agree more. The dialogue is best suited towards 1 person and not 2, for example, on one of the first levels Makarov betrays you and ends up shooting you after you have helped him through the entire level. That one moment would only suit one person, if you deployed another player into that scene it would have ruined the atmosphere it had created.

Campaign mode only takes around 6 hours on average to complete, but since the very first Call of Duty game, the campaigns seem to be getting shorter and shorter. With multiplayer mode, however, I think we can forget that one downside about the game, because the rest of it is so well done, even if I did complete it in a day or two Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 still stays within my top 3 games for my console.

Bottom Line

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 easily gets into the must have category of video games as it is the finest game in its genre. It offers an unmatched first person shooter experience, an excellent story mode, slick mini missions and an unparalleled multiplayer experience. Anyone who considers themselves a fan of first person shooter has definitely got to pick up a copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

See larger image Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Video Game) List Price: $59.99 USD New From: $42.66 In Stock Used from: $30.00 In Stock Release date November 10, 2009.

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3. Review: Battlefield Bad Company 2 Demo

Now, I know that this is just a demo, so it doesn’t really deserve a review, but it’s a pretty hyped-up game, so I figured I’d give it one anyway.

The demo hit the Playstation Network today, and I grabbed it as soon as I could. After the long download, and the short-but-seemingly-endless installation, I jumped right on in.
I’m actually playing as I type this up… Taking breaks in-between sentences. I can’t put this controller down.

Alright, match over. Time to take a break.

As you may know, a beta for this game hit PSN a while back. I participated in the beta, but only played one round and put it down because of how terrible the map was. I really didn’t like the map, and it ruined the beta for me.
Luckily, the demo has a much better map to play on, so I was able to give it a better shot.

One great thing I noticed right away was the simple system for the online play. I think one of the main reasons the Modern Warfare series is so successful is because of how straightforward and simple the online system is. There’s not much to figure out, and it’s easy to jump in and play.
Bad Company 2 matches the simplistic system, and it works out amazingly well. I was parachuting into the battlefield in a matter of seconds.

The graphics in this game are outstanding. I personally feel that they’re better than the graphics in Modern Warfare 2, especially the lighting. (Please excuse all the comparisons to MW2, but… Well, that will happen.)
One thing that I know is better is the sound design. The sounds in Bad Company 2 didn’t disappoint me… They were amazing in the first game, and they’ve gotten even better. All of the sounds are incredibly crisp and unique, and really help with the overall immersion of the gameplay.

Speaking of gameplay, you’ll be happy to know that it’s… Well, it’s great! Everything feels responsive, the controls are sometimes a bit irritating when you spend so much time play MW2, but not too difficult to get used to.
There’s a very nice feeling of satisfaction with just about any kill in this game. It takes more than it does to take someone down in MW2, and I feel very accomplished every time.

Now, I’m a sniper. I love sniping… It’s what I tend to stick with most of the time in first-person shooters. I’ve become so used to the sniping in MW2 that Bad Company 2′s sniping is just… Incredibly easy.
I haven’t decided yet whether that’s good or bad, but it’s definitely fun. This game takes out the realism of breath patterns and holding in your breath to get a good shot. It’s always just like your rifle’s being suspended perfectly in the air in front of you. It’s an incredibly steady shot. And while it is easier than in MW2, it’s still very satisfying to get a good headshot.

And if you don’t get a headshot? Say you shoot a guy in the chest, and he manages to get away. Some other guy comes up behind him and blows his brains out. Now, he had barely any health at that point… You did most of the work. In Modern Warfare 2, it doesn’t matter; you get a standard assist no matter what.
Now, this is something that I am loving about BC2… So far, I’ve come across two assist severities. That’s probably all there are, but I’m not sure. There’s a standard “Assist,” for which you get 10 points (a kill is 50), and a “Critical Assist,” which is when you do more damage to your enemy, resulting in you banking 30 points. While you still don’t get credit for the whole kill, you’re definitely treated better as an assist killer here, and it feels nice.

Speaking of things feeling nice, nothing feels better than blowing the cover from in front of an enemy. This game brings with it the brilliant destructible environments from the first iteration, and they feel even nicer.
I’ve seen several buildings actually collapse in on themselves entirely, swiss-cheese walls buckling under the pressure of the roof they’re supporting, and just giving way to the force of destruction. This was not possible in the first game, and it adds a whole new sense of realism and “Oh my god, that was awesome” moments to the game.

This game feels very polished. I’m enjoying the demo so much that at this point, after spending less than a day with it, I know for sure that this is a must-have game of 2010 for any first-person shooter fans. How it stands up to MW2? It’s too early to tell right now, but it’s looking good. And this is coming from a huge Modern Warfare fan.
To sum this review up, I’ve gotten several messages from friends of mine on the Playstation Network, asking “Is it good?”, as they see that I’m playing the demo. I’ve replied to every one with “Dude, amazing.”
Download. This. Demo.
I’m not going to give this game a score out of ten yet, because… Well, this is just a demo, and I don’t want to be mistaken as judging the entirety of the game. But I will tell you again and again that this game is a freaking blast. This is worth your time.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is due to be released on March 2nd. Pre-order your copy today, I know I did.

See larger image Battlefield Bad Company 2 (Video Game) List Price: Price Not Listed New From: Check Amazon For Pricing In Stock Used from: $25.95 In Stock Release date March 2, 2010.

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3. James Cameron’s Avatar The Game Review

James Cameron’s Avatar Game was one of the games I had to buy after I had seen the outstanding movie, 5* rating on the movie.
The game was a big let down considering the movie was amazing, I mean overall the game looked really good visually but the game play itself was not as good as it could of been had they had put more thought into it.

This game really reminds me of Prince of Persia but in the way that Assassins Creed doesn’t, the way the character you play moves and in combat is very much the same, but much less free running compared to Prince of Persia or Assassins Creed.

I would say its a game worth getting, but only if you have a very good graphics card, if you get it for any other platform apart from the PC then it really is not worth your money, but then again that is my own opinion, you can still get the game to try it out.

Anyway, this game takes place 2 years before the movie story, and if you haven’t already seen the movie, the game is about 2 races, the Humans (yes your brothers and sisters) and the Na’vi, the Na’vi is like a super race, very strong and very fast, they are at sanctuary with the environment around them.
If you have played World of Warcraft, as soon as you see these guys you will immediately think OMG they are half Draenei and half Human; or you may think they look like blue space goats.

Now back to the game. You start off as a Human, and you get put straight into a Na’vi, where you go through a small walkthrough and then dive straight into the missions, where you can enjoy exploring, killing things and driving around, but after a short time the game takes a twist and you find yourself choosing to turn into a Na’vi and fight against the Humans to save the environment, or you can become Human and try to kill all the Na’vi for the land.

If you choose the Human side your thinking more along the path of a Third person action game, but if you go for the Na’vi your going more along the line of an Adventure game. If you enjoy the game on 1st play through you should try going for the other side on a 2nd play through.

This game is also available on the Ipod and Iphone, which is a fun little game to pass time, through school or even a meeting, as long as you don’t get caught that is.
The creator’s of this game said it was supposed to change the entire world of gaming, they mentioned how this game would have no boundaries and you would be able to explore anywhere, but as I got into the game, I came across a boundary, you know the annoying invisible wall blocking off the sacred area you wish to step on.

This game thought it could be like some of  it’s very strong competitors; such games as Oblivion or Fallout 3 which are my favorite single player RPG games, both created by Bethesda. I very highly doubt that any single player RPG game created by a different company would be as well made as these 2 games are.

Avatar, has amazing vegetation and the scenes you will see are outstanding, I absolutely love the visuals in this game, it may be the best I have seen (for vegetation anyway)and is what keeps my rating of this game up, but after playing this game, which might keep you busy for 10-20 hours per campaign (remember you can play two campaigns, 1 for the Human side and 1 for the Na’vi) so this give about 20-40 hours of gameplay.

A good time passer waiting for a new game, but not something to get terribly excited about, i give this one a 4/10 mainly for the Graphics, the gameplay unfortunately makes this game feel like a bad copy of good games.

See larger image Avatar (Video Game) List Price: $29.99 USD New From: $21.25 In Stock Used from: $10.41 In Stock Release date December 1, 2009.

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