Review: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on Xbox

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was released in 2008 and was one of the most successful Star Wars games released both critically and from a sales stand point. A sequel was expected and it has finally come. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 is the continuation of the story of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice taking place between the 3rd and 4th movies in the series.
The gameplay is very similar with finishing moves still using a sequence of button combinations shown on screen and with the basic powers still being controlled by the same buttons. (B is force push, for example) The big difference is the addition of a second light saber that Starkiller uses. This allows for more combos and more destruction. The world is fairly destructible, about the same amount as in the first. There are some environmental puzzles to solve but none are too challenging.
Visually this game hits the mark, the graphics and ambience are superb and the cut scenes are fantastic. The animations on the characters are great and you can see emotion in the faces of the main characters.
The story is thrown together and doesn’t truly advance the story of Starkiller, most of the game focuses on Starkiller trying to track down Juno and protect her from the empire. The whole game seems like a prologue and just when I felt the game was about to begin it was over. That’s another issue with this game, the length is unacceptably short. It only took me a couple hours to beat and there are only a few levels. The first game was great for its numerous locales that contrasted one another nicely; there are only two real locales in this game with the rest happening on a ship in space. What we do see of the two worlds is impressive but it still is an underwhelming showing of the vast and colorful universe of Star Wars.
With the vast array of possibilities for this game it should have soared even higher than the first but it ends up falling far short in the story department. The gameplay is fun and wreaking havoc on tons of storm troopers is fun but I can’t help but feel disappointed over the throw away story and the lack of locales. The game does lead into another sequel so hopefully the story will pick up in the third installment but if this is any indication the story is stuck in stagnation.
Overall the game if fun to play but is too short, too one dimensional in its story, and is overall not the sequel I was hoping for.
Pros
-Fun gameplay
-Awesome Force Powers
Cons
-Too short
-Thrown together story
6/10

Review: Fallout: New Vegas on Xbox 360

Fallout: New Vegas, is a sequel to the 2008 RPG hit Fallout 3. Bethesda Softworks tapped Obsidian, the developers of Knights of the Old Republic 2 to develop the game while Bethesda developers are busy at work on Fallout 4. The game was hyped up heavily and there were a lot of expectations going in, did the game live up to the hype? Let’s find out.

The game takes place a few years after the events of the previous game but on the other side of the country so is no story overlap and you do not see a continuation of the Lone Wanderer’s story. Instead you play a courier who is ambushed by some thugs, shot in the head, and left for dead in a shallow grave. A robot named Victor pulls you out and brings you to the local town of Goodsprings where the local doctor patches you up. From there the game begins in earnest and the entirety of the Mojave wasteland is open for exploration.

The Mojave wasteland is about the same size as the Capital wasteland and there are just as many, if not more, things to see and do. Numerous side quests are available as you venture into the wasteland but if you want to find out who tried to kill you, the main quest is the way to go.

A key difference from Fallout 3 is the reputation system. In New Vegas there are numerous groups vying for control and you will earn a reputation with each group as a loved figure, a villain, or something in between. This is not in place of the karma system which is still in place but is not as prominent as it was in Fallout 3.

The controls have remained mostly the same so players should have no trouble slipping into the shoes of the courier and going for an adventure. The VATS combat system has remained unchanged and a new “iron sights” mode allows you to look down the sights of a weapon, which makes it feel more like a shooter.

The level of detail in the game is amazing; there are so many quests, items, upgrades, ammo types, and other things that you could spend an eternity trying to figure it all out. The Fallout mythos from the first two games is brought back to life as the New California Republic makes an appearance along with the Brotherhood of Steel. The super mutants are not the same yellow monsters from Fallout 3’s vault 87, they are much more like the ones in the original two Fallout games.

One main attraction of the game is the New Vegas strip, which is still receiving power from the Hoover Dam and several casinos are up and running. When the bombs fell in 2077 none hit Vegas directly so many of the buildings and infrastructure remained intact. Once the player gains admittance to the Strip all kinds of things can be enjoyed like shows, card games, slots, and more. Although the Vegas casinos still run the developers did an excellent job of showing the decay that would occur from almost 200 years of non-use. The buildings are not clean, the streets are cracked, and it still looks like Fallout. There is definitely a 50’s vibe to the city with one group being a bunch of Elvis impersonators.

While there are many things to see and do the game does suffer from flaws that hold it back from being a great game. Several of the side quests are glitched and one cannot be successfully completed as of right now. There were several instances of unusually long load screens, freezing, clipping, and other technical problems that should have been polished out.

Along with these problems are followers who don’t follow you, or appear randomly in a fight. Also whenever the last enemy of a group is killed there is a slow motion kill cam but this can be triggered by your companion and when this does happen your character turns around. It may be a small thing but it is annoying to be pointed in the opposite direction of where you want to go just because your companion decided to not bypass the radscorpion 200 feet away from where you were walking.

In terms of the ending, without spoiling anything, I will say that is suffers the same problem that the pre-Broken Steel Fallout 3 had. They develop this massive world but don’t let you explore in it after you have completed the main quest. Hopefully this will be fixed with DLC like Fallout 3 was but for the mean time it is a big annoyance.

I could go into detail about a lot of the other aspects of the game but that would drag on. The game is fun for sure but it doesn’t meet the high bar that was set by Fallout 3. The technical issues are annoying and the whole world just doesn’t seem to have the same charm as the Capital wasteland, even the disc jockey isn’t as charismatic or as fun to listen to as Three Dog. Overall the game is a fun romp through Vegas but not on par with its predecessor.

Pros

-Massive open world with incredible detail and tons to do

-Imaginative storyline and well developed characters

Cons

-Significant technical bugs

-No exploring after main quest

8/10

Retro Review: Aladdin on the Sega Genesis

Aladdin for the Sega Genesis was one of the best, and most frustrating, licensed games to come out for the Sega Genesis. The game incorporated scenes and elements from the movie along with a great soundtrack to create a memorable experience. The game, however, suffers from some gameplay issues that hold it back from being a great game.
First off the story is the plot of the movie plus some extra content to make it exciting. The locales will range from the desert, to the genie’s lamp, to the dungeon, and more. The graphics are great for the Genesis and the character models are all spot on. The music is a great 16 bit rendition of the music from the movies with some new tracks added in to avoid redundancy.
The gameplay is simple, the A button throws apples that you can collect throughout the course of the game, the B button swings your sword, and the C button jumps. The jump button was a little tough to get to work but I think that was probably due to the age of the controller and all the use. There is a lot of platforming as you would expect and there is a variety as you climb ropes, hang on to clothes lines, and jump onto platforms.
There are some weird things in the game like the women throwing pots at you in the first level, you only see their arms and Aladdin chops the arms with his sword. They disappear into a puff of smoke but still. Also I never understood why there were guards trying to kill you inside the dungeon, for that matter why are there skeletons with bombs on their heads? Why are there ghosts in the cave of wonders? Why do the snakes in the desert have little red hats on? Well, whatever, the game is a little weird but then again it’s a game based on a children’s animated movie.
The biggest issue that annoys me about this game is the difficulty spike, the game become unbearable while you are trying to escape the cave both on foot and on the magic carpet. I’ve never been able to pass those levels and though I have seen the later levels thanks to a cheat code, it is still annoying that I have never been able to beat the game.
Overall the game is a fun title that offers good gameplay, solid graphics, and a lot of variety. The game suffers from some flaws but at least it is a good adaptation of the Aladdin movie.
Pros
-Good Graphics and Sound
-Good Gameplay Variety
Cons
-Ridiculous Difficulty Spike
7/10

Review: Halo: Reach

In 2001, Bungie released Halo: Combat Evolved on the brand new Xbox console and it quickly became one of the most popular video games and the new gold standard in first person shooters. The campaign was a fun, fresh, and original experience and the multiplayer was the perfected version of the social gaming experience. Bungie followed with Halo 2 on the Xbox, and Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST on the Xbox 360. Now Bungie has released its final Halo game, Halo: Reach, and it is everything Halo fans could have hoped for.

The game takes directly before the events of the first game making this, chronologically, the earliest Halo game. You play as a replacement member to Noble Team, an elite group of Spartan soldiers, on the human planet Reach. You are simply known as Noble 6. Covenant forces are invading and you and your team are tasked with stopping the invasion and protecting Reach.

The game is the standard Halo faire, with the exception of Halo Wars, with the first person combat system and many of the same weapons. The assault rifle is slightly remodeled but is basically the same. The battle rifle has been replaced with a single shot weapon, the DMR, with a 15 round clip. Other new heavy weapons have been introduced but the pistols, both covenant and UNSC, have remained the same. The new variety of weapons rounds out the game and makes it possible to attack the enemy in a large variety of ways. Whether you prefer the run and gun method or attacking from a distance there are plenty of weapons to suit your tastes.

The gameplay varies drastically over the course of the game and this is one of the best features of the game, it keeps the game fresh and you never get tired of playing it because the action gets mixed up frequently. There are ground fights, fights in tanks, warthogs, space vehicles, and a lot more. Many of the vehicles are only in the game slightly, the Scorpion tank only making a brief cameo, but for the sake of the gameplay it works well.

The graphics are fantastic and some of the best visuals that we have seen from the Halo franchise. The gameplay is pretty smooth, there was only a loading slow up once or twice in game, not a framerate issue but a pause as the game loaded as I was turning a corner or something like that.

But where this game really hits the mark is actually on an emotional level. Though anyone who knows Halo will know how this game ends, the end is still an emotional ordeal. Familiar faces return and it really makes you feel nostalgia for the past 9 years of gaming that the Halo franchise has given us. Bungie does a great job of making you connect with the characters and it actually affects you when someone sacrifices themselves to protect you or your squad. The only problem is that there isn’t a whole lot of time to develop the characters because it is only one game, it took us 3 games to truly understand the Master Chief and Cortana so it would be impossible to develop these characters like that but for the time available Bungie did a good job.

It is sad to think that Bungie will no longer be providing us with these fantastic games but at least their last chapter in the series tied everything together and gave the franchise the right send off. The Halo franchise will move on with Microsoft’s game studios at the helm but it won’t be the same.

Pros

-Fantastic Gameplay

-Great Story and Characters

-Great Visuals

Cons

-Minor Difficulty Spikes

-This is Bungie’s Last Halo Game

10/10

Review: Alan Wake on Xbox 360

Alan Wake is a new psychological thriller from Remedy, the people who made Max Payne. The game follows the story of fiction writer Alan Wake who goes on vacation to Bright Falls with his wife Alice in the hopes of finding some peace and quiet. He finds everything but that after Alice is abducted, he loses a week of memory, and he is hunted by a dark presence.
The story is a big part of Alan Wake, as you move on through the game you realize that pieces of a manuscript called “Departure” are all over Bright Falls. This manuscript was supposedly written by Wake but he doesn’t remember it. To keep spoilers to a minimum I won’t go any further into the story itself but it is a bit of a mind bender at times and slightly confusing especially towards the climax and end.
The gameplay is classic over the shoulder third person but with a twist. The enemies you encounter are called the “taken” and they are villagers that the dark force has possessed. They are protected by a layer of darkness that makes them impervious to damage. In order to do damage to the taken you will have to peel off the darkness with your flashlight, flares, or flash bang grenades. Once the darkness is gone conventional weapons like pistols, shotguns, and hunting rifles will dispatch the enemies. You will need to put more batteries in the flashlight periodically since focusing the flashlight drains the batteries quickly, and focusing the light is the only quick way to deplete the darkness.
Poltergeists will also possess inanimate objects and hurl them at you so you need to constantly be running, dodging, and destroying possessed objects. There is also a tornado of the dark presence that chases you throughout the game. These chase scenes are always very intense and get your blood pumping.
The game is full of great action and fantastic cinematic experiences. There are several supporting characters like Barry, Wake’s publicist, and the sheriff who add to overall experience with witty dialogue and realistic portrayals of ordinary people in an extraordinary circumstance. Wake himself is an interesting character because he doesn’t start the game as the traditional “super soldier” of most action games. He is a writer who is forced to adapt to his situation to try and save his wife and keep himself alive.
The graphics are fantastic, both cut scenes and in-game sequences are truly impressive. The gameplay mechanic is pretty smooth but dodging attacks can get a little weird at times, the run button and the dodge button are the same so Alan will kind of do whatever he wants to.
The content is episodic with six episodes to the game; a seventh and eighth are planned and the seventh will be free with the code that came with the game. After each episode there is an intermission with a song and then a recap that starts with “previously on Alan Wake.” This makes it feel like you are watching a TV series and it is done very well.
Overall Alan Wake is a fantastic new IP that I hope to see a lot more of. The creative story, well written characters, and awesome graphics serve to add to a solid core of great action gaming.
Pros
-Awesome graphics
-Creative story
-Fun gameplay
Cons
-Running and dodging can get a little mixed up
-The games difficulty can spike a bit at times
10/10

Coming Soon: Game Reviews and E3 2010

So, I've been a little absent the last couple of months while I was finishing school but I'm ready to get back into the groove of things. I have played several games that I am looking forward to reviewing including Alan Wake and Splinter Cell: Conviction.
June 14th marks the start of E3 2010 and I'll be sure to cover the press conferences and any other media that comes from the show floor just like last year. So stay tuned

Memory in Video Games

I recently rediscovered my Playstation 2 after coming home from school and after playing through Tony Hawk 4 for about five hours I realized that I needed to find the memory card to pull up my old game saves. This got me thinking about how we have become so disconnected from external memory cards in just one generation of systems. I thought it would be an interesting topic to take a look at the history of memory in games and to look forward into what may be down the road.

When games started in arcades the only real reason for memory was to record maybe the top ten scores on a particular machine. The arcade games were meant to kill you quickly so you had to keep putting quarters in the machine and because the experience was quick, story was not a big part of the game. This changed when RPG’s began to make their leap to video game consoles. These RPG’s (like Zelda) needed memory so the player could complete the game without sitting at the TV for hours and hours. The game itself held some memory but it was mostly seen as a thing that was only needed for those types of games.

Before external memory cards were introduced the password system was implemented in many games to allow a gamer to pick up where he left off. Usually at key points in the game the gamer would be given a code that they could write down and then enter when they restarted the game so they could pick up where they left off. The passwords were hit and miss; some were too long and complex (like using upper and lower case letters as well as numbers) and some were so spread out that it was easy to forget to jot down the password when it came up.

Eventually games began to become more involved with storytelling and it was necessary for there to be sufficient room to store the data. Passwords weren’t cutting it and something new was needed. Around the generation of PS 1 and N64, memory cards were a must have for most games. The memory allowed for more features like a franchise mode in a sports game, longer and harder challenges in action games, and much more. The cards had to be purchased separately so it was another strain on the wallets of gamers. The cards usually held a good amount of memory so you only needed a couple to cover an average size game library. The N64’s memory card plugged into the back of the controller, which stopped you from being able to put in a rumble pack which kind of stunk. The Playstation 2’s card plugged into the system itself, which was an improvement.

But at the same time that the PS2 was using cards Microsoft’s Xbox had a significant amount of memory built into the console itself so the need for cards went away. When the Xbox 360 came out in 2005 and then the PS3 in 2006, the idea of a hard drive with gigabytes of memory was second nature to gamers. Now gamers could save profiles, videos, and other features. This corresponded well with the push to make game consoles more of a “media center” and not just for gaming.

Now, the higher end hard drives have upwards of 120 GB of memory and can store a ton of information. But game developers are pushing to add to digital distribution with full length games. (The Xbox has about 20 titles that can be downloaded and saved to the hard drive) This will cut costs and if games eventually become a solely digital thing, the used game market will disappear however, before Gamestop has to worry about being out of business, memory on consoles needs to skyrocket. Each game takes up several GB and that is the smaller 8-10 hour experiences, not the massive 100+ hours of a game like Fallout 3. So, until hard drives hit the terabytes, I think it is safe to assume that our game libraries will not become just digital space. We will still have discs, boxes, and manuals.

Memory has always been a part of gaming in one way or another and now with hard drives built into systems it is easier to hold all kinds of information without remembering passwords or switching out memory cards.

Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 2 DLC News

The second sequel in the popular Gears of War franchise has been announced after quite a bit of speculation as to when or if it would come out. The game has been dated for April 2011, about a year from now. The first trailer has been released called the "Ashes to Ashes" trailer. I'll keep you guys up to date on the new developments as they come. For now you can check out the trailer at: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ashes-to-gears-of-war/64419

The new Mass Effect 2 DLC on the Cerberus network has been priced, making the slew of free DLC, apparently, come to a close. It was nice while it lasted, the new DLC includes a new squad member and several missions. I'll post a review in the near future.

Review: Mass Effect 2

The original Mass Effect was critically praised for its unique blend of RPG and shooter elements as well as its incredibly detailed universe of alien planets and alien species. The storyline was large in scale and creative. For the second game of the announced trilogy Bioware took everything that was criticized from the first game and fixed it creating one of the most immersive and impressive games in history.
I really can’t explain the plot without spoilers so here they come; you play as Commander Shepard, a spectre and the commander of the SSV Normandy. The Normandy is attacked by an unknown alien vessel at the beginning of the game and Shepard is lost in the evacuation of the ship. A pro-human organization known as Cerberus takes in Shepard’s dead body and resurrects him. It takes two years and for that period of time Shepard is considered dead by the entire galaxy. The Reaper threat from the original Mass Effect has been discredited by the council and most of the galaxy so Cerberus has resurrected Shepard to help them stop the Reapers. Whole human colonies have been vanishing and it is up to Shepard to find out who is behind the abductions and how to stop them.
The game relies heavily on the choices that you made in the first Mass Effect if you still have a save on your hard drive. Many characters will reappear or plotlines will change based on how you played the first game. This is one of the best applications of this idea ever to be put forth in a game, you feel like your actions had actually consequences and will have additional consequences in the next game.
The story is superb and is presented in a very cinematic and dramatic fashion. The end of the game feels like watching an incredible sci-fi action movie and it will keep you on the edge of your seat while you play it. Your actions have dynamic consequences and you may lose many of your squad members in the final battle if you make the wrong choices.
The missions are laid out in a semi-linear fashion but there is still plenty of freedom for the player to do missions however he wants to. A big part of the game is recruiting specialists for your mission and each of them has a quest to recruit them and a loyalty quest to gain their loyalty. (duh) There has also been a huge emphasis on exploration of the cosmos and you can scan planets in a system to find resources you will need for upgrades. While scanning planets you will also come across some that have an “anomaly” and this will lead you to an unmarked quest.
There are tons of weapons and armor that can be upgraded but in a different way than in the original Mass Effect. Instead of buying completely new armor, you buy or create upgrades to your base N7 armor. You can also upgrade your weapons damage and the amount of rounds that you can carry for it. About halfway through the game you have the choice to become trained in the use of another weapon that you don’t already have training for. Leveling up allows you to evolve your biotic powers and each one, when evolved fully, will allow you to choose one of two options, usually increasing either the intensity or the range of the power. You can also have ammo powers that you can equip to your weapons to increase damage to certain opponents, the ammo power will last an entire mission and can be re-equipped for the next mission.
The different classes of character allow for different abilities, Vanguards can use a biotic charge to slam into their enemies even if the enemies are far away. Tech specialists can utilize tech armor to increase damage resistance. The other classes have similar perks and it is fun to replay the game with a new class of character. There are a large variety of weapons to choose from, heavy weapons in particular, and they all deal a lot of damage when used correctly.
The dialogue system is the same as the first game but with an added feature where an icon will appear on screen with either the left or the right trigger button symbol next to it. When this happens you can choose to hit that button an Shepard will perform a renegade or paragon action (left trigger is paragon, right trigger is renegade) This on-the-fly system adds a nice new element to the dialogue which is already very well done.
The missions have been streamlined so there will be no more aimless wandering through cookie-cutter landscapes in the Mako. Each mission has unique cut-scenes for the way in and out and instead of the Mako you have a shuttle craft.
Wall safes and datapads can be hacked just like the first game but you don’t need to be at a certain level and instead of a small game of Simon, there are unique mini-games for wall safes and datapads. They can be slightly confusing at first but after a while they become relatively easy.
The graphics are stunning and the assets don’t take 10 seconds to load like in the first game, however the load screens are pretty long which is slightly frustrating but understandable. The gameplay is even more polished than in the first one and really feels more like a third person shooter than an RPG. There is a new cover system and you can send your two squad members to two different locations unlike the first game where they both flocked to one. Though tactics will still be pretty straight forward in this game the cover system and the new squad commands will help make the battles easier.
One last thing that is great about Mass Effect 2 is that along with the game you get a code to register with the Cerberus network, all DLC will be available via the Cerberus network and it is all free to download once you are signed in. As of right now there is a new squad member with a loyalty mission, 2 new heavy weapons, and a new vehicle pack that includes 5 missions. There is already another new character will several new missions slated to be released in April or May. It is a great change of pace to get free DLC and I am hoping that this formula will catch on.
Overall Mass Effect 2 is one of the best games on the market right now, it has an immersive storyline, awesome gameplay mechanics, fantastic graphics, and free DLC. It is an early contender for 2010 game of the year and rightfully so.
Pros
-Awesome Gameplay
-Stellar Graphics
-Dynamic Consequences for your actions
Cons
-Mineral Scanning can get boring
10/10