For this review I’m going to break down this game in three, different sections .

1.) Singleplayer

Well when I bought Bad Company 2 I didn’t plan on playing singleplayer at all but with all the server issues that EA has been having I started to play singleplayer. My first impressions were…. Wow this really sucks. It was dull and boring and felt like it was just tagged on. I kept on playing and it slowly starts to do more things then just run with a gun, shoot a rocket at the tank and pwn noobs. I still have yet to finish the singleplayer but from what I’ve heard it’s a great ending. One major thing that really bugs me is the amount of cussing in the story it seems like every other word is a guy screaming a F Bomb, which is a MAJOR turn off. Overall 6/10

2.) Graphics and Sound

Before I go ANY further in this review I must say the sound in this game is AMAZING! With my Tritton AX Pro headphones I could hear everything from a tank to a boat-from afar to the rockets being shot at my building. The graphics could be better, they don’t seem very polished. Not enough to make the gameplay any worse just something that EA screwed up on.. Overall I give the sound a 10/10 and the Graphics a 7/10

3.) Multiplayer

Now this is why everyone bought the game and I must say this is a BLAST. There’s always something to do whether it be raining down gun fire from a blackhawk or storming the base with tanks. One thing that I don’t enjoy about the multiplayer is the fact that the guns you get at a levvl like 23 can destory a team of level 10s. Overtime I could see it being a issue. One other thing I really enjoyed was the fact that you get blow up anything in your way like being a wall or a tank. I give it a 9/10

Overall I have to say this game is one of the best games I’ve played and if anyone asked me if they should buy the game I’d say YES!

My Overall score for the game is a 8.5/10 with a boost in the graphics for this game it would be a 9/10.

Before you read my review, please answer these questions:

#1: Do you like to rock and/or roll?

#2: Do you have a deep and abiding love of The Metal™?

#3: Do you like games that experiment with established genres (even with mixed results)?

#4: Do you enjoy a liberal dose of humor injected into your games?

#5: Do you heart Tim Schafer?

If you answered “yes” to any of the preceding questions, you’ll probably dig the heck out of Mr. Schafer and Double Fine’s latest metal-infused creation, Brütal Legend. If they all scored a “no,” go ahead and stop reading. I don’t like wasting anybody’s time.

For those that remain: Brütal Legend is an adventure/real-time strategy hybrid with a wicked sense of humor, metal-inspired fantasy trappings, and Jack Black starring as protagonist Eddie Riggs. Eddie is a roadie who is transported to another world in which everything—and I really mean everything—is inspired by heavy metal. Imagine a world where every environment (and the people and creatures that inhabit them) resembles the cover art for a metal band’s album: that’s the setting for Brütal Legend. (more…)

This year’s edition of Tiger Woods does not disappoint. The biggest difference overall is the increased realism in which the game plays. With the increase in realism, you automatically get an increase in difficulty. Some players may be turned off by this, but it isn’t something you can’t compensate for in a short time. If you played ’09, you’ll regain your swing in no time. In this game you can expect the same great graphics that we’ve become accustomed to. The professional golfers really do look like themselves, and the courses all look amazing. You also have the ability to use the Live Vision cam to create your golfer, and it works. My created character looks just like me.

A number of features are returning from last year’s game. You will still be able to play the entire PGA season event by event, daily online tournaments return, simultaneously online play, and all of those mini-games. (more…)

When Burnout Paradise was released in January of 2008, one of the first promises developer Criterion Games made was that the already massive city would be expanded by a new downloadable island. They also promised that it would be free.

Fast forward 18 months and the situation has changed. The island has been released, but not for free. It was announced long ago that after a series of free DLC updates, there would be premium DLC packs, but so far none of them have really felt worth the cost. Big Surf Island is arguably the first “real” DLC released for the game. But is it still worth the price?

After downloading the latest update for the game and purchasing the key to unlock the island, you’ll immediately have access to a dune buggy and plopped down onto 4th Street. Long time players may have noticed a bridge being constructed next to the parking garage here for the last several months, and now that bridge is accessible. Begin tearing through the bridge and you’ll immediately begin to understand just what Big Surf Island is all about.

Jump. Lots of jumps. Lots of crazy big insane jumps.

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The first The Godfather game from EA was hit or miss for some people.  Either you liked it a lot, or you hated it, there wasn’t much mediocrity when it came to the general consensus.  Apparently enough people loved it to justify producing a sequel though we know how EA can sometimes rehash games just because they can.

The deal with The Godfather II is this, you start relatively early in the game as a Don, you try to control other rival families territories, rinse and repeat.  It’s open world in the sense that before taking on any main mission you can choose to secure all of the rival families rackets for your own.  There are some side quests like doing favors for cops or city officials to gain favors from them but in the end there isn’t much value to doing the side jobs as the game is fairly easy.  You can also take on assassination side quests which will allow you key information in finding the rival family’s made men and killing them to make the final family campaign easier.

As a Don you have the ability to recruit people into your family and level them up as you go.  Increasing their skills like recovery and accuracy.  You can then promote your family members into key family positions that give them more specialties.  Some of the specialties are demolitions, engineer, arsonist and safe cracker.  Each specialty helps with different missions so it behooves the player to recruit a variety of family members.  You are also able to send your family on missions to take over other businesses without you, which proves worthy if you don’t feel like raiding an establishment on your own.  You can recruit 3 family members to follow you wherever you go, swapping them out for different specialties at your leisure.  The Godfather II still incorporates the ability to intimidate shop owners and perform assassinations as well.

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Tritton brings the gaming community pure audio brilliance for an affordable price.

When some companies receive criticism about their products they usually just ignore it and move on to create more products with similar problems.  Not the case with Tritton.  In fact they took all of the criticism from the gaming community in regards to the AX 360 headset and improved it to what we know as the AX Pros.

With the AX Pros you can easily control the volume of each channel of audio with a lighted button interface that allows you to make your adjustments in the dark.  The buttons use a color coded system that as you increase the volume it changes to darker colors and lightens as you decrease the sound.  The microphone provides 2 channel mono input, so instead of having the voice chat in only 1 ear you are able to hear it in both of your headsets.  The voice chat is very clear and has it’s own channel which means you can adjust the volume to compensate for the volume of the game being played.

The AX Pros use real bass instead of adding a rumble feature like the AX 360s.  This allows for longer gaming sessions with the Pros because your ears aren’t vibrating constantly with the headphones.  You connect your headset via the optical cable to the Tritton’s direct box which you plug into a wall outlet.  There is a noticeable difference with the sound quality of the Pros.  With the 360’s you could faintly hear the digital optic noise which sounded much like being connected to a dial up connection via modem.  That noise is greatly reduced with the Pros.

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If the 1980’s Movie Running Man and Gears of War had a baby and said baby had had an abusive nanny, that baby would be Madworld.  The ultra violent gore-fest for the console most demanding it (the Wii) is a mixture of fun beat-em-up gameplay and violent moral degrading action.  One part of me wanted to truly enjoy this game, while the other side had to watch out for the children who were playing in the same room and eventually had to turn the game off until they went to bed.

The plot of MadWorld completely resembles the idea of Running Man.  The world is enthralled by violence, so much so that it’s become a game show where men compete for money and their lives by brutally killing their enemies.  Each level of MadWorld is technically a rinse and repeat process where you kill some baddies to reach a certain score-in turn unlocking a challenge.  The challenge consists of murdering as many people as you can within the allotted time frame in a very brutal way such as throwing them into a jet turbine, or baseball-batting them into a human sized dartboard.  Then it’s a boss battle.

The major problem I had with Madworld wasn’t the violence.  Though some who are squeamish may very well have an issue with it.  The problem for me was the amount of language.  There is a gratuitous amount of unnecessary language, enough to make the Dice Man blush.  You are able turn the commentators down, which does help keep the ears safe, but unless you want no talking at all you will still hear some foul words from your character Jack and the guys he interacts with.

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Let’s get something out of the way. This is a game about 50 cent. If you don’t like 50 Cent’s music, G-unit, vulgarity or Gangster Shootouts, this probably isn’t the game for you. Just making that absolutely clear. If you do want to play this game, I suggest you take the same method I did and check your brain at the door, you won’t be needing it. Thinking is actually going to hurt the experience. If you think too long about a game based around 50 cent trying to chase down a skull covered in diamonds all over the Middle East, well your going to get confused and probably develop a headache.

50 didn’t get paid for his last show (apparently his music is very popular in the Middle East) and the diamond covered skull he was given for compensation was abruptly stolen. You’re going to have to help him get it back through gameplay that is easily described as Gears of War meets The Club covered in a thick layer of 50 cent. You’re playing 50 cent, you’re listening to 50 cent, and your AI or co-op partner is often heard shouting about 50 cent. “Yeeaah, Go Fiddy’”

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I must confess that although I am a JRPG veteran, my experience with the Dragon Quest series is limited to one game: Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2. Thankfully–or unfortunately, depending on your point of view–Dragon Quest V – Hand of the Heavenly Bride for the Nintendo DS doesn’t deviate from the JRPG formula. Dragon Quest V is the second remake of a Dragon Quest game for the DS, virtually identical to its predecessor in every category. It has the same color art direction of Akira Toriyama (of Dragonball fame); the same 3D world structure with 2D sprites; the same tired, recycled plot (unlikely hero goes on adventure, meets new people, fights monsters, saves the world); and, if I’m not mistaken, some of the same music. Hardcore JRPG fans won’t likely be turned off by this, but mainstream gamers surely will.

The greatest flaw of Dragon Quest V–and all JRPGs, for that matter–is its reliance on tried-and-true gameplay mechanics and story structure. Surely anyone that plays RPGs will recognize this scenario: walk into a new town; explore every nook, cranny, and closet; talk to everyone; rest in the inn; buy new equipment and health items; level-grind in the area outside of town; then move on to a dungeon. Repeat this scenario ad nauseum for 40-plus hours and the most hard-headed gamer will be frustrated or bored (likely both). Dragon Quest V is guilty of this scenario repeat, forcing players to do the same tasks beyond the point of tedium. (more…)

Shell Shock 2: Blood Trails

Premise – Alternate Reality Vietnam

Searching for your brother in the jungles and tunnels of Vietnam after he his injected with viral infection that turns all who come in contact with it, into mindless killing……..Zombies!

The Good-

Easy 1000 gamer score that is easy to achieve.  No farming of collectables or doing any crazy things in order to get all 1000 (requires two playthrough’s ).

28 Days Later style Zombie!

Graphics are hit and miss, over all they are decent

Give that creepy feeling that I think the developers intended to create

The ending songs as the credits are rolling (I know it’s sad, but this is actually a highlight of the game)

The Bad-

Simplistic Level design that repeats itself

VERY LINEAR

Can only carry a small amount of ammo

Short game, only about 4 hours on the hardest difficulty

The Ugly-

Needles Cursing (maybe it’s just a Vietnam thing)

Horrible voice acting

Final Thoughts

Not sure why I had such high expectations for this game, Rebellion (developers) doesn’t even take credit for this game on their main website.  I think that pretty much says it all. 

Worth a rent if for nothing else than an easy 1000 straight forward gamer score.