VGA's.....wow

And that wow is not for a good reason folks, overall the VGA's this year was a fail. Between Neil Patrick Harris' game porn titles and the most akward appearance from "online dude who has been playing for 20 hours straight" (if you watched it you know) it was full of random things that had nothing to do with games. A few redeemable moments popped up with the announcement of Mass Effect 3 (HECK YEAH!) and the fact that something other than Black Ops won GOTY (it was Red Dead Redemption btw). The biggest fail comes in the form of the-stereotype-known-as-Frank-Woods winning character of the year over Ezio Auditore, John Marston, and Kratos. To be honest I didn't know his first name was Frank for the whole game. They completely screwed up some awards like that, or left them out completely (Best 360, PS3 and Wii game were nowhere to be found). Mass Effect 2 won Best RPG (announced IN A COMMERCIAL) and Bioware won Best Studio, which I agree with. And while the trailer for Batman Arkhum City was cool, it can't make up for the fact that the VGA's were one big fat bust. Oh and Neil, most of your porn names sucked.
-Smith

Ok so two quick things.........

Ok so one of them is quick and the other is long. The quick one is that Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (ooooo scawy twitle) was announced with a short teaser and five screenshots that look freaking insane. The second is the fact that EA Games President came out and send that single player only games are dead. With all due respect to this....man I would like to tell him to Shut THE HECK UP. What is it with people (gamers and reviewers alike) who cannot accept a good single player experience for what it is?! Take one of my favorite games of all time, Fallout 3. That game is insane, with atmosphere of isolation and a destroyed D.C that is the most realistic game world I've ever played in. NO MULTIPLAYER WHATSOEVER. Do I care? Not at all. That game is amazing as a single player only experience that give you more actually fun content than any online multiplayer mode can. Or take the Mass Effect series, one of the most affecting and emotional stories in the games industry. Would it be as effective with a co-op mode, not at all. It is your choices that matter in that game, and there's not a second player that you talk to in the mic that takes you out of that world. Or take ANY horror game (besides RE5). If you are with another person, the scare factor goes out the window. Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2, all amazing games this year, and none of them have any kind of multiplayer. Why can't people accept that you can get just as much content (and probably more fun) from a single player only game rather than one that has a shoehorned multiplayer mode? Now don't take this the wrong way, I love some games with multiplayer. Reach, Black Ops, Left 4 Dead, those are games where the multiplayer adds value (and in the case of L4D) essentially makes it worth playing. In some games the multiplayer is totally worth it and adds immense value, but let's not go shoehorning a crappy multiplayer mode into a game that doesn't want it, simply because it "needs it".
-Smith

I'M BACK!! (and scarred for life)

Ok, so turns out the government captured me. They tortured and interrogated me for this last month. Then they decided to take the information about my life that they got and turn it into a video game, and that game turned out to be COD: Black Ops. So yes, I feel it fit to review it. I'll start by saying that i was VERY skeptical of the first "yearly" installment of the now Maddenized COD series. Well, Black Ops both failed and met my expectations in different areas. I'll start with the account of my life, the campaign. You play as me (no I'm not Alex Mason the name was legal purposes) as I am captured and tortured by government officials in order to explain a set of numbers. Of course you (or me, or Alex Mason depending on your view) have no clue what the numbers mean. The missions are flashbacks of my (mason's yours etc. man this is confusing) service across the world, and I definately mean across the world. You go everywhere, from Cuba to Vietnam to Russia and back. The campaign was the area where the game actually exceeded my expectations. With a more personal story that has many references to World at War instead of a "this army kills this army" approach, the campaign feels different from any other in the series. It has awesome set pieces, a ton of variety, and is paced at the speed of a Michael Bay movie on crack after taking three 5-hour-energies and drinking six Monster's. Suffice to say, playing the game actually managed to wear me out. Whether this is a testament to the insane pacing or my own incredible lazieness remains to be seen. All in all the campaign will last about six hours, and has a less than stellar ending. The main problem with the campaign though is the lack of direction at certain parts. Some parts literally require you to die and then and only then will your objective be clearly stated to you. In a shooter, this is more than a minor annoyance. In the end though, it isn't enough to tarnish the overall quality of it. On the graphics side, Black Ops definately impresses. The texturing is perfect, the frame rate is solid, and the number of enemies on screen is sometimes jaw dropping (Vietnam base siege I'm looking at you. The multiplayer however, failed to impress. Essentially, it is Modern Warfare 2 with new killstreaks and guns, and instead of earning guns you must buy them. The new contract system is cool, challenging you to complete a specific task in a match for extra points. The wager matches allow you to bet the points you earn, and while the match types have awesome ideas the fact that you will most likely lose credits will keep you from playing them over and over again. Also on a side note, the return of Nazi Zombies is hilarious and quite awesome except for the fact that it is now so horrendously difficult that it verges on unplayability. Overall, the first "issue" of the now yearly COD franchise is a good game, with a better than expected campaign and the same multiplayer that people all over the world love. I'm starting to wonder though, when will players stop buying a new COD game each and every year?
Final Score: 8.75 out of 10

The West is beautiful.....

I suppose I should start of this review of Enslaved (if the title didn't cue you in) by saying that I was extremely hesitant about buying it. I mean it had gotten good reviews, but Fallout: New Vegas is coming out soon, and while I have the money for both, I still don't want to waste sixty bucks. Well I will say that I believe my leap of faith on buying it payed off, as Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is one of the most....unique games I've played in awhile. Now, when you put in on paper it doesn't sound very unique. Post apocalyptic world, melee combat against robots, platforming segments; I mean, it sounds like most of the non Wii shovelware these days. But the execution of Enslaved is such that it reinvents all of those and more. The game isn't perfect though, and it stumbles along the way. Let's start with the good first, the story, graphics, and platforming. You play as Monkey, one of the few survivors in a world populated by dormant killer robots and remnants of old cities and technology. He's a loner, and it shows through his dialogue. Through a certain set of circumstances involving the destruction of a ruined New York City block he ends up "Enslaved" by a girl named Trip. While he is knocked out, she puts a slave headband on him, and as long as he does what she says she lets him live, mainly getting her home to a commune her father established. It's these circumstances and characters that make the game. Ninja Theory has set the new bar for motion capture in games, and most of the time the emotions Trip and Monkey portray are seen in they're expressions, rather than their words. Andy Serkies (Gollum in Lord of the Rings and who also stared in Ninja Theory's other game, Heavenly Sword) does an amazing job portraying Monkey, showing his reluctance and anger toward his situation in the beginning, which grows into genuine care by the end. The actress of Trip also deserves high marks, and her and Serkis play off one another perfectly. The pair grow as the game progress, and the attachment I felt by the end of the game to them has only been rivaled by Heavy Rain and the Mass Effect's series characters. The game progression is also the second best part about the game, as it is the best paced game I have played since Uncharted 2. If you get this game on a Friday night, I can guarantee you will finish it Saturday morning. It's a game that you won't want to put down, and the ten or so hours it takes to complete means you better set aside a weekend to play it. Enslaved's graphics are also above the line in every way. The lush vegetation and the way nature has reclaimed the world stands in stark contrast to the brown, light brown, and dark brown worlds of most post apocalyptic games (Killzone and Gears I'm looking at you). Now onto the not as good parts. While the platforming and teamwork with Trip portions of the gameplay are immense fun and incredibly satisfying, the straight up combat isn't so much. Monkey's staff is a very effective weapon, and can bash, bludgeon, and shoot bolts of plasma at the numerous mechs that come at you. The combat would've been one of the better parts of the game if it weren't for the fact that the controls are delayed beyond belief. It's a good two seconds between each button press and Monkey's block/swing and it leads to many many cheap deaths. It isn't unbearable, and when you find the much needed health regeneration upgrade in the "Trip Shop" the game's combat becomes much easier and more fun as a result. Monkey's moves can be upgraded, his health increased, and all the other upgrades you would expect are standing at attention. Enslaved's combat can be very exhilarating, as long as the controls are being cooperative. Like I said earlier though, the teamwork and platforming sections are outstanding and show how fun the game can be to play, in addition to being very entertaining to watch. The best combat sections are the boss battles, which show some very good imagination on the part of the developers. All in all, Enslaved is an entertaining Odyssey with an ending that leaves a question that is very difficult to answer. This is a cult hit that should not be missed.
Final Score: 9 out of 10

-Smith

You won't be forgetting this one for a long time.....

Well it has been a while but so begins another "season" of blogging you could say. I don't really know why I go on these long hiatuses, cause I'm sure it annoys the heck out of you, but I'll try to be better about that from now on. Either way I'm here with a Halo:Reach review, and Bungie's swan song to Halo is as good as it looked and more. That's both figuratively and literally, as the game is both impressive graphically and in the absolutely insane amount of options you are given. So I'll be dividing the review into sections so it won't seem like I'm rambling. Well it'll still probably seem like I'm rambling.

Campaign:

The campaign starts with a very atmospheric first level as an elite group of Spartans dubbed Nobel Team (who consist of Carter, Kat, Jorge, Emile, Jun, and Nobel Six, the character you control who is replacing the latest member to fall in battle) investigate reports of power outages by "rebel insurgents". Turns out, it's the Covenant and if you are crying spoiler then you better leave it anonymous or I will personally ban you from this blog. Yes, the Covenant are in a Halo game, NOT A SPOILER. Ok, so the rest of the game has Noble Team doing whatever they can to keep Reach from falling, which (as we all know and therefore isn't a SPOILER) they fail at. The sense that no matter what you do you are not going to win hangs over the entire game, and it is easily the best and most thoughtfully put together campaign in a Halo game to date. While the rest of Noble Team isn't as personified as, say, the characters in Mass Effect, it is a step in the right direction, and even when the tagline is "From the Beginning you Know the End" they still manage to throw curveballs you won't see coming. Overall the campaign is going to last you around eight hours on normal, but believe me when I say that this is the hardest Halo game yet, even without Jackal Snipers. Legendary is hard as heck, and due to the scaling difficulty, bringing your friends along only adds to the challenge. There are some truly standout moments, and I would recommend Reach for the campaign alone, even if you didn't get the stellar multiplayer package.

Multiplayer:

Bungie pulled out all the stops for Reach, and it shows most in the expanded multiplayer offerings. Fighting across eleven maps and ten game modes, the multiplayer package is EXTENSIVE. Taking a cue from COD4 (like every other shooter these days) you can level up and purchase new armor and other extras I won't spoil here in the new Armory. It's surprising how much you'll play just to get a freaking helmet. But beyond that, the multiplayer offering is truly stellar. The excellent matchmaking service is back, and works quicker than ever. Invasion is as awesome as it was in the beta, and a few things have changed since then. Grenades have changed from being small rolling balls of death in the beta to being slightly less effective in the finished game. However, I found myself using them more than I had in Halo 3. Melee attacks are weaker than ever also (they only drain an opponent's shields) but the awesomely gratifying assassination moves make up for it slightly. The great thing I've always loved about Halo multiplayer is how balanced it is, and even with the new power weapons like the Plasma Caster (I refuse to call it the Plasma Launcher and Focus Rifle it retains that level of balance where something is never strong enough to where something else can't beat it. The only negative thing I would say about the multiplayer is the maps themselves. While most are quite good, none of them are really knockouts, and none rival the amazing map selection in Halo 3. Overall, the multiplayer is addictive, balanced, and fun as heck, and the new modes like Headhunter and Invasion don't hurt either.

Forge:

This is the part of Halo: Reach that truly stunned me. The simple act that objects can now float opens untold possibilities. Me and my friend built a city in two hours that would've taken us two years in Halo 3, that is if it would've been even possible in Halo 3 to begin with. Forge World itself is huge, with many different areas to create actual maps to play on or just fun structures to share with your friends. I saw a guy who built the Death Star, THE FREAKIN DEATH STAR. Forge is truly endless, and if you've got a mind for creativity then you're gonna have your hands full for a long long time.

Firefight:

Yes Firefight is back, and as Cliff Bleszinsky would put it, it's bigger, better, and more badass than ever. You can now essentially Forge on Firefight, and you can create different game modes (all grunts all the time is included don't worry) with innumerable permutations. You can set what weapon you spawn with, the amount of health you have, the enemies you want to fight, it's just truly stunning what Bungie has let you do this time around. Also, having Firefight work toward your Multiplayer progress as well doesn't hurt either. The Firefight map selection is also very good, possibly better than the Multiplayer ones, with Courtyard and Corvette the true standouts.

In closing, Halo: Reach is Bungie's magnum opus, and they've let you have everything you wanted and more with this final "true" Halo game. The story, the graphics, the sound, the multiplayer, and everything else is equally fantastic, and it's got more content on the disc than nearly any game on the market. If you want a game that satisfies and keeps you coming back for more, Halo: Reach is a necessary buy
Final Score: 9.75 out of 10

-Smith