Reviews, Video Games
Review: Bioshock 2 - Déjà Vu of a Wet Dream
Daniel Casarella :: Saturday, February 13th, 2010 5:28 pm
I think everyone’s a bit skeptical when it comes to sequels now-a-days. We’ve all been fooled so many times by promise and fancy-pants marketing schemes that we are reluctant to believe part II can be any good. This is the way I saw Bioshock 2 being developed. You want more Bioshock? Let’s cram in an alternative antagonist, add Modern Warfare-esque multiplayer system and replace Big Daddies with Big Sisters . Why 2K Marin thought the name Big Sister sounded as ambiguously imposing as Big Daddy once did is beyond me. For that matter, how Bioshock 2 turned out to be pretty darn good also escapes me.
Video Games
Review: Mass Effect 2
Daniel Casarella :: Thursday, February 4th, 2010 1:39 pm
Here’s the problem; Everyone is talking about how Mass Effect 2 is so great. Like the iPad it’s reputation literally preceded its arrival. Take it from me, Mass Effect 2 is a decent game. It may be introducing a lot of novice role-playing-gamers to the genre and that could be why it’s being so celebrated but for veteran RPG fans, this is a light and sometimes boring affair.
Video Games
Immersed in BioShock 2
Daniel Casarella :: Thursday, January 28th, 2010 8:34 pm
One of the most interesting things about the game Bioshock was that it took everyone who played it into a world they’d never seen before. An underwater former utopia built half a century ago and left to rot in the Atlantic Ocean. On February 9th 2010, BioShock 2 arrives on U.S. shores and I’ve had the unique pleasure of playing the ‘Shock and chewing the fat with the game’s creative director at 2K Marin, Jordan Thomas. His perspective on the game’s development and what it takes to make the sequel as beloved as the original is submerged in BioShock 2’s ability to send you back to the once lost city of Rapture. MORE »
News, Video Games
Bayonetta Review: Bad-Ass
Daniel Casarella :: Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 4:02 pm
So about 10 years ago this guy named Hideki Kamiya claims to have reinvented the Castlevania style game of the generation yore with Devil May Cry. He actually did, and along came armies of clones, God of War being the most notable. Now he’s back with Bayonetta. The game is much like Devil May Cry on the surface, but it’s soon apparent that this time, Kamiya-san has turned it up to eleven. Here instead of fighting demons you’ll play as the last of the Umbra Witches fighting against armies of angels from Heaven. Yeah, you read that right. You fight God and the legions from Paradise. Sounds fresh right? Well that’s just the beginning.
Video Games
Rockstar Dates Red Dead Redemption
Daniel Casarella :: Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 3:18 pm
Rockstar Games has finally nailed a date to the wall for it’s big-time western sequel, Red Dead Redemption. On April 27th, 2010 we finally get our six-shooters back. The sequel to 2004’s Red Dead Revolver has been a traveling rumor for years. It was known that the open-world western would be using the Euphoria engine from Grand theft Auto IV and would take many of it’s stylistic cues from movies like Nick Cave’s Proposition, The Wild Bunch, and 3:10 to Yuma. Those traveling rumors are all but confirmed with this new trailer. Take a gander at Red Dead’s new dude. His name is John Marston and he looks dirty.
Video Games
Review: Tekken 6
Stephen Blackwell :: Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 10:00 am
Between Tekken and Street Fighter, I’ve always been a Tekken fan. For one, Tekken was never made into an awful movie (which led to an awful spin off), and two, the fighting becomes too cheesy. All the flying uppercuts and fireballs shooting from the hands and upside-down umbrella-kick chutzpah, to me, always detracted from the fluidity of the fighting experience. But when it comes to fluidity in fighting games, Tekken has no match.
The bright light of creative fortune was shining on the makers of Tekken when they stumbled upon the idea to attribute each button on the video game controller to the control of a different limb. As such you don’t bounce around matches performing drop kicks — the fighting experience is concentrated and artful, like keeping a beat. MORE »
Video Games
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time
Stephen Blackwell :: Monday, November 16th, 2009 9:18 am
I like little-kid games. It’s always nice to get a cartoony break from the violence of today’s popular titles. Even better with a game like this one, which is as close to playing inside of a Pixar film as you’re likely to get. MORE »
Video Games
Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition
Daniel Casarella :: Thursday, November 12th, 2009 5:40 pm
GODDAMMIT! Doesn’t anybody give a shit about the rules anymore?! I didn’t watch my buddies die face down in the mud so some fucking digital nobody could just hide in the bushes the whole match and shoot me! Yep, I’ve been playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 all week and I want to tear my eyes out. I’m a veteran of this franchise which saw its newest and most notable release on Tuesday, Nov. 10th. Modern Warfare 2 (which is rated M for MADNESS) is pretty much everything you’d expect it to be. This is a double edged sword. While the first Modern Warfare blew minds for a myriad of reasons, the second can’t really snipe your expectations in the same way. So what it does is walk the straight and narrow and it does that very, very well.
News, Video Games
The Biggest Launch in Entertainment History
Stephen Blackwell :: Thursday, November 12th, 2009 1:45 pm
Modern Warfare 2, the most anticipated video game in history, was officially released on Tuesday.
In the first 24 hours of the game’s release, reports publisher Activision, the game earned an astonishing $310 million in sales, cementing it as “the biggest launch in history across all forms of entertainment.” Bananas. Especially when these are just the United States and UK numbers. Could it have made half a billion bucks worldwide in one day? We’ll know soon enough.
So how much money is that, broken down?
Modern Warfare 2 earned $12,916,666 per hour, earning $215,277 per minute, or $3,587 per second. That’s a lot.
[Kotaku]
Video Games
Review: Grand Theft Auto - Episodes from Liberty City
Daniel Casarella :: Thursday, November 5th, 2009 1:15 pm
I’m not going to lie. I run several night clubs owned by Anthony Prince. He can be a bit of a pansy but I’ve made many connections and a lot of paper cleaning up after the guy. You should come to one of my clubs. Depending on the night, I might be working the door or working the floor. Catch me on an off night and I might just have to put you in a box. I’ve also been known to do favors for some very powerful people you know. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not the best hitman-driver-pilot-bodyguard-dancer-base jumper, but I can do all those things and I can make them look like fun. My name is Luis Lopez, and you can find me in The Ballad of Gay Tony, the second of two episodes found on the Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City experience.
Video Games
Review: Forza Motorsport 3
Daniel Casarella :: Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 1:26 pm
I don’t usually play a lot of racing simulators. That is, games in the Forza or Gran Turismo series. The gameplay tends to be dry and overly nuanced, you never get to start the game with any of the cars you want, and quite frankly the sheer size of these racing sims can be overwhelming at times. So when Forza Motorsport 3 arrived I naturally shivered at the thought of having to play through 50 lap races on an oval course with a fucking Subaru hatchback. Like most guys, I can admit when I am wrong. I misjudged this one, seriously. Forza 3 is hard not to like.
News, Video Games
DJ Hero Out Today
Stephen Blackwell :: Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 2:00 pm
Armchair guitar heroes, it’s time for you to go out and delve into the kinetic world of being a DJ. Activision have launched DJ Hero today, the hip-hop / dance / electronic counterpart to their ubiquitous Guitar Hero franchise.
The brand is launching with quite a few peas in the pod: Eminem, DJ Shadow, Jay-Z, Daft Punk, Kid Cudi, and The Beastie Boys are all on board, lending their music to the soon-to-be franchise.
Solid work licensing all this stuff, Activision. Because, I suppose, all songs are basically licenses at this point, anyway. Not that that takes the magic out of anything.
Video Games
Brütal Legend Will Melt Your Face!
Daniel Casarella :: Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 1:35 pm
Brütal Legend has finally arrived. This is an experience conceived by Tim Schafer and Jack Black as a homage to Heavy Metal mythology and comedy. The Legend survives a storm of controversy over publishing rights and the casting of Metal God cameos. Jack Black stars as Eddie Riggs, the best roadie that ever lived. One day while Eddie is performing his duty to the stage, he is struck with an accident that knocks him into the land of Metal. Get ready to romp in an open-world tribute to classic Heavy Metal album covers. Praise Ormagöden, The Fire Beast, Cremator of the Sky, and Destroyer of the Ancient World!
Video Games
Shadow Complex takes you back to Old School
Daniel Casarella :: Sunday, October 11th, 2009 7:01 pm
Shadow Complex is a game built by Metroid fans. Metroid was first released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. So can a modern game, using the brawn of Epic’s Unreal Engine, really capture the magic of Nintendo’s 2-Dimensional platforming adventure? Will traditional audiences accept this homage as such? Or is Shadow Complex just standing in the shadow of the big N?
Video Games
What to Expect from DJ Hero
Stephen Blackwell :: Thursday, October 8th, 2009 4:21 pm
DJ Hero, the latest iteration of Activision’s Guitar Hero series, will be hitting shelves at the end of the month. Folks are wildly excited about the game, as it will allow users to set up a DJ booth in their living rooms. And everybody loves pretending to be a DJ — here’s the proof. Now, will DJ Hero stop people from showing up at parties, clubs and bars with an iPod and “spinning”? Probably not. But here’s what it can do. MORE »
