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Review PlayStation 3 - Gaming for Life

Glancing back: Batman Arkham Asylum

September 29th 2009 10:46


Not so insane review of the latest Batman game.

The Collectors Edition (CE) of Batman: Arkham Asylum comes with a large Batarang, a thick booklet with biographies of several villains, a code to unlock exclusive maps online, a mini comic accounting the behind-the-scenes while Batman takes Joker to Arkham, and the game with the obligatory ‘making of’ DVD (sadly not on blu ray for the PS3 version), which rivals the goodies found in Grand Theft Auto 4’s CE. Does this epic CE talk the talk as well? Or is it compensating for something much like Batman’s armour?


Ok that sounded like a low blow to Batman. But he wouldn’t be Batman without his uber armoured suit and gadgets. He is rivalled against characters from the darker sides of their comic book counterparts. Thanks to the developers at Rocksteady, the character designs fit perfectly within the world it is created for. Special mention goes to Harley Quinn. Her costume design is never worn in the comics, but it complements her figure and character so well, I personally, find it better than any of her previous costumes.

Set on an island housing the most dangerous criminals in all of Gotham, how can Batman instil fear into thugs within their own fun house? Well Batman can take out one of their buddies by grabbing them like a slinky as they walk underneath a gargoyle he is perched on. You can stun them by chucking a flying bat-shaped projectile at their heads from a distance or/then fly in, cape out, drop kicking another. Or sneak behind, choke em out, and use your ever-reliable grappling gun to make a quick escape. Or you can use a sticky bomb spray on any surface to blow in their faces, or/then blow a wall with the bricks hitting them into their faces. There are many more creative gadgets and uber moves I haven’t addressed and it is what makes Batman such a satisfying character to play as and make encounters constantly fresh.


Batman’s hand-to-hand combat is equal to none. If Kratos, from God of War, is a brawler, Bruce Wayne is a technician; methodical as well as bad ass. What made the battles so much fun are the extremely responsive controls; there aren’t any delays from button to screen or having to worry about Batman’s animation to finish. You can counter a punch with a devastating takedown, and continue another counter with a single button as much as you like.

One of the most satisfying sounds in the game is Batman’s fist, in slow-motion, connecting into the ugly mug of the last thug in a room. The back stories of the main bad guys are explained in the form of recordings scattered all over the island, the voice acting is so well rehearsed, it makes listening to them a treat, yet can be totally avoided if you prefer to continue running through the story.

Speaking of story, it is built in such a way, that even people new to the Batman franchise can understand who the person under the mask is as they progress through the game. Each comic book villain is fought in unique ways and circumstances, the world changes constantly, which keep back tracking from becoming a bore, and enemies would change vantage points in familiar territories as well.

The only gripe I have is the anti-climatic ending. And the highlight of the game is a certain villain despatched in such a cool way, you couldn’t help but shout PWN! Like many other reviews on the web; Batman: Arkham Asylum is a great game, where every gamer and comic book fan will find there is nothing wrong with having fun playing a guy wearing a bat suit.

GamerVerdict: 5/5



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Street Fighter IV Review

February 22nd 2009 20:51
Street Fighter IV is an outstanding game and probably one of the btter fighting games that you've probably played lately. Essentially, Street Fighter has been a game focused on a 2D plane, and over the years tweaks and changes have evolved the game into the formula that it is today.

Street Fighter IV allows you to pick your character and fight with another warrier in the ring. Each character has his own special moves and attacks, so you want to make sure that you try them all before you pick which character you want to use in a real battle. But, you will find that the game boils down to balancing physical skills and mind games between the characters.

Gamers of all ages can enjoy Street Fighter IV, as there are many aspects of the game that will make it enjoyable to all.

When playing Street Fighter 4, you can cancel a Focus Attack mid-charge by dashing out of it, meaning that you can play tricks on your opponent. You can even expend a portion of your Super Meter so that you can cancel a Special Move directly into a Focus Attack.

For the most part, the game is easy to get into and easy to learn.

There are two different meters that you may or may not want to keep watch on. The Super Meter fills up as you land attacks and fight, whereas the Ultra Meter builds up as you take damage. If you wait until both meters fill up, you can try a Super/Ultra Combo, otherwise if you want to try more technical moves, you can use just a quarter of your Super meter to perform Ex versions of the Special Moves.

If you're new to the Street Fighter series, you definitely want to play around a bit beforey ou get into any serious battles with opponents. There are a lot of special moves and character-specific moves that you want to have down.

The characters of Street Fighter IV are muscled and the 3D graphics make the new Street Fighter game more appealing to many.

You can purchase the game in both PS3 and Xbox 360, but you'll find the difference between the two consoles are minimal. For both consoles, you'll be surprised about how fun this fighting game really is.

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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Review, Action, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
   


Tomb Raider: Underworld Review

November 28th 2008 00:12


Lara Croft is one of the most known game icons in the world. She is by far the most popular heroine that you will find, as she explores various ruins, fights human and supernatrual threats, and solves numerous puzzles while she becomes one of the best and greatest archeologies in gaming.

Tomb Raider: Underworld is another game in the Tomb Raider series with Lara Croft, and with the most recent addition to the series, there are more hopes for expansion.

For the most part, you will find that Underworld is a continuation of the original storyline. There will be a quick summary and recap of the players as a refresher from Legend. But, Underworld will start as Lara Croft explores the coordinates that lead her to the Mediterranean Sea. She will investigates, she makes an interesting find.

The storyline of Underworld is pretty good, so if your a gamer that enjoys a good story, you'll find Tomb Raider: Underworld entertaining, to say the least. And, you'll find that the blend of cutscenes and exploration will keep the game moving fast.

The pace of the game is caused by a few adjustments and refinements in the game's mechanics. Where in Legend, you were given a large amound of flexibility with a lot of freedom for your agility and speed, it is pretty retained in Underworld. Althouth, you can still manipulate Lara's acrobatics and scale walls, the creators attempted to build on the basics with the gameplay.

The creators fof Tomb Raider Underwold removed the quick time elements and replaced them with Situational Adrenaline, that will give you the feeling that you need to react in order to avoid a particular threat.

They also made minor adjustments to combat. Where Lara Croft still retains her agility for tumbling and firing, she now has the ability to aim and fire at two enemies at the same time, which is rather useful if you are taking out swarms of bats or other creatures. But, at the same time this new ability hampers the progress of other enemies that attempt to close in on you and perform melee attacks.

In Underworld, Lara Croft has sticky grenades that go off in a specific location, which cuts down the frustration that was in Legend.

You are able to trigger the adrenaline at any time throughout the game, which will slow down the actions of your enemies and make your shots stronger. ou are able to store your adrenaline until you've maxed out your holding, to which you are then able to get close to any enemy and bounce off of them in attempts to a one-shot kill.

There is one main concern with the adrenaline system. It makes a large number of the battles way too easy because you are constantly refreshing your adrenaline, which allows you the ability to move quickly, giving you an edge over your opponent. You can still alter the game's difficulty.

Lara Croft comes with a sonar map that will guide you anywhere in the game, which allows you a 3D picture of everything at all times. This is pretty cool, I guess.



You will also find that Underworld has Field Assistance where if you find yourself stumed, you can access hints through your PDA. This is a nice feature for those who have problems visualizing where they need to go.

The game has slowdown and framerate drops that happen a lot throughout the game, which sucks as it is rather distracting. Although, the point is to be a little distracting to get you out of the visual and aural presentation, but the level of them just pop in and snap into place with odd shadows and flickers of light.

Another of the main concerns with the game is that there are a number of clipping and object detection issues. Lara Croft will frequently move into or through walls or blocks, which will sometimes force her into an animation loop as the game attempts to reconcile movements and areas that she shouldn't be in.

And of course the camera is a pain becuase as you move through the environment, the camera will zoom, pan, and tilt on its own accord without your instruction or direction. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a concern, except the camera will stay in place making it hard to figure out the right jumping angle or location to move.

You will find taht the Xbox has downloadable ocntent, which you won't get with the Playstation 3, which gives the Xbox a slightly better edge.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the graphics and sound quality.... They are pretty good. The animations are well done, and the voices are pretty good.

The game is an average action game, that Lara Croft fans will probably get some good gameplay out of, but personally I find there are a good number of technical concerns with the game.

Check out just a few of the scenes that you will encounter.





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Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Review

November 24th 2008 09:19


The PlayStation 3 finally gets its own Naruto video game. It has taken two years, but the PS3 now has the latest from the Ultimate Ninja series from CyberConnect2. The Ultimate Ninja Storm is an anime ninja video game that has cel-shaded graphics and has made fans drool since April of 2008 when the first trailer was released.

The Naturo franchise keeps with its mischievous, energetic ninja with his free spirit throughout this new casual fighting game. The anime series gives you the change to fight Naruto battles, play mini series, and roam the Hidden Leaf Village.

The first thing that you will notice about Ultimate Ninja Storm is the games wonderful visuals. The character animations are unreal. You can definitely see the attention to detail with the movements of hte characters and the camera angles.

The anime characters move with relatively simple actions, but the simple moves cut down from having to memorizing a long list of moves.

The Ultimate Ninja Storm video game is broken into two different modes- the Ultimate Mission Mode and the Free Battle Mode. For the most part, you'll probably find that you'll be playing in the Ultimate Mission Mode, unless you are playing with a friend.

Remember that the Ultimate Ninja Storm is a more casual fighting game, so the missions will last much longer, especially when you can purchase items adn collect unlockables. You can also access missions by talking to different characters. You'll find that the missions range from standard fights to mini-games to massive boss battles.

As for the mini-games, they actually involve a lot but they are pretty fun. The definitely add up your game time.

You'll find that most of the battles are one-on-one fighting with a few support characters that will throw a punch or two, but for the most mart the Ultimate Ninja Storm isn't the traditional street fighter type game. The simplicity of this actually both a strength and weakness of the game.

There is a lot that you will be able to do with the Circle button in fights and battles, there is still a lot of stratgy behind the video game. You will ally need a good bit of skill to push through the more difficult battles, having to manage your Chakra meter, block and deflect incoming attacks, and using accurate timing for Jutsu.

The main problems with the game are pretty simple. There is a mandatory install that takes bouta 11 to 12 minutes, which isn't that bad, but for the size of the game, there is just a lot of overall loading that occurs. Meaning that it's pretty slow at times.

The storyline isn't that in detail and there aren't many cutscenes. It seems that in places, the developers spent more time with the technology and graphics than with the actual gameplay experience and story.

The overall IGN rating for Ultimate Ninja Storm is 8.4.

You can purchace the standard Ulitmate Ninja Storm for $56.99 on amazon.com

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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Review, Action, PlayStation 3
   


WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Review

November 11th 2008 00:12


Yes, there is another wrestling game, much less another SmackDown VS Raw game... But since it's been released and since we're all playing it, I'm writing a review for those who haven't played it yet.

SmackDown vs. Raw seems great, and in a way it's a little impressive with over 60 wrestlers and 14 different one-on-one matches, but when you get down to actually wrestling- punching, grappling, and slamming, it's not the most impressive.

Don't get me wrong SVR 09 is fun, but there's not much improvement from last years game. The basic controls are still there, but they've added a few minor touches like "Signature Move" when you set off a stored special and the ability to enter the ring via steel steps.

Otherwise, the game is reversal heavy, but it does sotre Finishers, break up pins in tag matches, and it'll give you some run for your money.

You have sliders to adjust the game's thinking if you're not 100% happy with the AI. Basically, adjust how effective the Finishers are, how much the computer reverses, and modify momentum rates. You can customize the sliders.

Using the game's Roster Editor, you can actually mold the WWE as you want by changing what brand people are on, giving and taking championships, and deciding who's clean or dirty. This is actually a pretty cool feature of the game, if you ask me.

You will also find alternate attires for some characters such as CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, and a few others.

There are 19 arenas that you can play in, not to mention that you can unlock the WCW brand and classic championship. You'll also find that you have a few gimmick matches such as the Inferno Match, Falls Count Anywhere Match, Parking Lot Brawl, KO-only match, and a few others.



There is also emphasis on the tag team scene. I won't give you many details, but let's say that there is something a little different about it. You'll just have to check it out and see for yourself.

The biggest change that you will notice is with the Superstar/Diva's Fighting Abilities. With SVR 09, the broad styles have been replaced with specific abilities. Every character has 6 fighting abilities that will give them special advantages in the ring, which makes them unique and varied. For example, Santino has the Dirty Pin ability so that he can use the ropes for leverage when going for the three count, whereas Big Show has the Hammer Throw ability which allows him to hurl his opponent over the top rope with a strong Irish whip.

Other than that, SVR 09 has Road to WrestleMania, which is probably one of the best storylines that you'll come across in a wrestling game. You get to choose to play as one of seven playable Superstars and take to the grappler into his original storyline. Chris Jericho, Triple H, the Undertaker, CM Punk, John Cena, and Rey Mysterio/Batistia all have angles that are unique to their own thanks to original voiceovers, branching storylines, cutscenes, and more. Each show starts with fireworks and an announcer's summary of what's going on and then ends with the WWE copywrite logo and the usual dramatic scene that you'd expect from a WWE program. Jericho has to figure out who the masked man that keeps attacking him is, Triple H has to choose between DX and Evolution, and Cena needs to figure out how to contend with MVP's new world order. And although this mode is only open to 7 characters, you'll find that once you get started, you'll be having loads of fun unlocking entrances, characters, and creating superstar pieces.



If you decide that you're not a fan of the Road to WrestleMania mode, you can always fall back on the Career mode. Unfortunately, though, the Career Mode is just the barebones. No matter who you choose, you'll start out with a pitiful rating and you'll have to choose a championship path- Cruiserweight, World Heavyweight, WWE, WWE Tag Team, World Tag Team, Intercontinental, Women's, United States, Hardcore, and ECW championships. When you get the required stars, challenge the number one, and unlock the next match, you can go face the chapmion, win the title, and then choose another career path.

There is more to the Career Mode, but you'll have to play it to find out all of the details that surround the mode.

Another new addtion to SmackDown vs Raw is the Create A Finisher, which allows you to create a finisher that is all yourse. There are supposidely over 500 moves that you can choose from, but as you begin to choose the options you become more and more limited as to what you can really do.

But, in all seriousness WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 is for the most part the same game that we see every year. There are a few upgrades, but it's really just a remake of last year's game.

But, you will never know if you will like the game or not until you try it. You can purchase SmackDown vs Raw 09 in the following consoles if you think that you can handle it...

Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
PSP
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
Xbox 360

The IGN rating is 7.8

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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Review

November 9th 2008 18:41


The first Madagascar was probably one of the better animated films of the year, but with the second film, it's not as great, if you ask me, but anyway, we're all here about the Madagascar Escape 2 Africa video game, not the movie. Although, if you are looking for a purely entertaining family friendly movie, Madagascar Escape 2 Africa is definitely it


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Fallout 3 Review

October 29th 2008 12:26
Fallout 3 is probably one of the newest role-playing games that offers full deliverance and a gripping, action packed game. The game paints a picture of the dstopian future where people are on the cusp of the atomic revolution in the 1950s, as seen with a sci-fi view in terms of if several thousand bombs were dropped on it. The game is dark and dreary, but it is filled with dark humor and desperation.

As Vault Dweller, you are a blank slate and write your own story. You'll start the game with your own birth, but quickly move toward childhood and various pivotal events via snapshots. But, since that would be a boring video game, you'll wake up at the end of your childhood with various alarms and mass confusion. You father has opened the vault and left, which has shattered the existence of the other inhabitants of the vault. You have to go in search for him


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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Review, Role-Play, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
   


Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

June 28th 2008 18:56
Call of Duty 4 was released on November 7, 2008 for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It's a new innovative war game that takes into the depths of war, and it's not pretty. The creators took great care in recreating WW2 weaponry and bringing it to life in the modern day.

Modern Warfare tells a continuous story, where you hop between the British S.A.S and the U.S. Marines. With each change, the storyline continues while still revolving around stolen Russion nukes and Mid-Eastern terroriests


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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Review, Action, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
   


EA Sports: Nascar 09

June 18th 2008 15:10
Released in June 2008 in the U.S. Nascar 09 is probably the newest driving game created for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Now, although I'm not much of a racing fan, I love me some driving games. It's so different than sitting in your living room and watching however many cars race in a circle trying to win. All the drivers and cars blend together, and it can be hard to tell who's who and what's what, but when you're in the driver's seat, and you're the one in control, you get a whole new respect for racing. Granted, of course you're not in danger in your house racing in comparison to on the track, but you get the idea.


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Kane and Lynch Review and Trailer

June 16th 2008 15:14
Kane and Lynch: Dead Men is named after the two main characters- Kane and Lynch- who you will find on death row in the beginning of the game. Together the unlikely team must survive together and make a few killings along the way.

The amount of violence pulled in the Kane and Lynch video game is top-notch when compared to other action games on the market. The curse words just fly out of their mouths, and the motivations behind the characters are enough to make anyone feel for them


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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Review, Action, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
   


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