Marvel Vs Capcom 3 Review: New game for a new day

Marvel Vs Capcom games hold a lot of respect and dedication from fans who use to play the arcade versions. Amongst fighters, Marvel Vs Capcom quickly ascended to be one of the most popular fighting series ever, right along side Street Fighter. In an age where arcades are almost extinct and you have a brand new generation of gamers, does Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds still hold up to the hype?

Pros:

I could look at you all day: The art design in this game is top notch; from the character models to the stages it’s just non stop eye candy. When you play in Asgard the first time, don’t be surprised if you try to block a few times when you see movement in the background as the world is now alive in direct contrast to previous games. Each character’s animations are fluid well detailed, from the most realistic to the most outrageous fighter you’re not going to be worried about how random movements occur.

Like the bouncer let everyone in: The character roster in this game is pretty impressive with about 35 characters coming with the game and more available as DLC in the future. While special moves are done with more similar movements than in previous games, the game still does a decent job of making you feel like you have a different fighter for different situations. In addition, you’ll find that characters will talk smack to each other before and after their fights which is a great addition (hearing Captain America and Zero go at it was just epic). Trust me, you’ll have no trouble picking favorite characters in this game.

The give or take:

What’s this about?: The story on this game is weak, meaning you really only have a per character ending and that’s it, no intros or anything. You can look at character profiles to get some more background info, but lets not pretend the story isn’t anything more than a tacked on feature. Here’s the thing though: While I’m biased about having a good single player campaign in my games, lets not pretend that fighting games have good stories in general. If you’re looking for a single player experience here, don’t expect it from this game as it’s meant to be a multiplayer experience through and through. Besides, when you think about it do you really need a reason to want to see these characters go at it?

Experience means nothing: Not to say that I was a world class competitor in previous games, but the combat system has been entirely reworked. You’re going to need to take the time to relearn combos and special attacks with your favorite characters if you’re a veteran of the series, or you can use “Simple Mode” and simply perform everything by using a single button. Button smashers and new gamers will like this, but it does take away a lot of skill from the game. In addition, veterans might get tired at first of playing newbs who just button smash and pull off everything while they’re trying to work some skill into the game. You’ll either love it or hate it, but regardless you’ll need to put some time into learning controls again.

Cons:

Dammit I can’t get in!: I’m sure Capcom will release patches to fix this in the future, but it seems like a staple in Capcom games now that multiplayer just doesn’t work when their games come out. Granted, I’m probably in for a world of hurt when I play online with my shotty skills, but the fact is that you’re going to spend more time trying to join game lobbies and actually play then play against other people. The online system just doesn’t work right now, and for a game that’s so heavily multiplayer based it damages the experience a lot.

Marvel Vs Capcom 3 lives up to the hype in many ways but leaves a lot of middle ground for gamers in a new age. If single player experiences are important to you, I recommend only renting this game or downloading Marvel Vs Capcom 2 from Xbox Live or PSN to save some cash and get a similar experience. The hardcore fans will pick this up regardless, but for any other fighting genre fan in general should wait it out a bit while Capcom fixes their multiplayer issues. Unfortunately, the game just isn’t worth the full $60 pricetag.

Recommended buy price: $40
Score rating: 4/5

Trinity Souls of Zill O'll Review: Same old song

Trinity Souls of Zill O'll. Huh, sounds like a fantasy game. Maybe it'll...wait, KOEI?! NO, NOT ANOTHER DYNASTY WARRIORS GAME! PLEASE!! NOT ANOTHER---Wait, it says action RPG. Thank God, maybe we'll get another Ninja Gaiden like ga---OH $#*%!

Pros:

Better graphics than the last one: Considering the last game was Fist of the North Star, the graphics actually improved a little bit.

The combat's faster than the last one: At very least, you can tell the gameplay has sped up the fighting in comparison to Fist of The North Star. Your AI comrades also do more than just stand around, thankfully, so at least you know there's some AI working in the game.

Cons:

TRY SOMETHING NEW: I don't know how Koei has gotten into this rut, but finding a non dynasty warriors game is rarer than finding a gas station selling at $2/gallon now adays. This formula is too old and hanging out by a shrinking niche market. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't improve on the gameplay with each iteration, but that isn't happening.

The AI still just stands there: Another reoccurring problem in these Dynasty Warriors games are that there's little challenge from the supposedly massive armies you're destroying and should make you feel like a legend on the battlefield. If all these armies are really an impending threat on your area, why don't they actually come off as threats when you fight them? It's very rare you'll feel like you're in real danger. In fact, you might not throughout the game.

No multiplayer?: Look, for a game thats based on Dynasty Warriors gameplay with party based combat, I don't see why this game couldn't have had multiplayer. Online Coop seems like it would have been pretty fair in the game.

This review might come off jaded, and maybe it is. I'm sure I'm not the only gamer sick of rehashing the same game over and over, but I have to admit the game is slightly better than Tecmo's last release, Fist of The North Star. This still doesn't qualify this as a decent game, though, and isn't really worth your time and money. Rent if there's nothing else you can find.

Recommended buy price: $10
Score rating: 1/5

Fist Of The North Star: Ken's Rage Review: Headache's A Plenty

It's very rare for me to try and play a video game with anime source material without being an actual fan of the anime. I never really heard of Fist Of The North Star before, so when I played Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage I had the unique opportunity to rate the game for what it is without any fanboyism.

This is gonna hurt.

The give-or-take:

You don't have to play just as the protagonist: Just about all the major characters are able to be played, including the protagonist's enemy bosses. While the game is pretty much the same from character to character with very slight differences in terms of battle, this is probably going to be more appreciated by the hardcore fans than anything. Otherwise, new players to the franchise will just see it as the same gameplay with a different model. Do keep in mind that you're not playing the same missions just as a different character, you are in fact fighting different bosses from the point of view of the character you're playing to add into story.

Fans will appreciate almost anything: I'll say this now, hardcore fans will pick this up regardless of what I say. While the story is hard for anyone unaccustomed to the series to follow (main plot I got from it is the world was destroyed by nukes and now everything's all "Mad Max" minus the anti-semite protagonist), hardcore fans will probably be satisfied to know that some major battles of the series are included here. Other than the hardcore, though, I can't see how many newcomers to the series (like I am) are going to be able to follow this or understand who your enemies really are when you're fighting them. One of Ken's first bosses is supposed to be a man who kidnapped his fiance and left Ken for dead. I'd like to say this would maybe stir more emotion in me to enjoy the fight I had with him, but I doubt it.

Cons:

And I thought Spider-Man 2099 was bad: It should be almost expected now adays that when you play video games based on anime, the American Voice Acting will be bad, so it's excusable for this game, right? Oh God no. NO no no. The voice actors either sound like their heads been run over by a bus and they're severally mentally challenged or their voices are so annoying, high-pitched and incredibly fake that I literally felt streaks of fear at times just listening to them. The voice's you hear are so random from the character's they're for, you have to wonder what the developers were thinking when they translated it for the American audience. In all honesty, the VA who did the protagonist's (Ken's) voice was so Keanu Reeve's-like, I was anticipating for him to say "I know Kung Fu."

It's the same game with MORE flaws: It's starting to feel like making Dynasty Warriors games' is all Koei is capable of doing. Don't let anyone make you believe otherwise, this is another Dynasty Warriors game and compared to my PS2 days of playing prior versions, this game feels extremely watered down. I'm not being harsh, I'm being honest as THAT'S ALL THIS GAME IS. I wish I could tell you that it improves on the formula, but I can't and I won't. Your enemies will continue to back away from you while you're attacking so unless you're literally touching them already, you could easily miss your targets. In addition, controls are laggy so when you're trying to attack in different directions, you have to actually pause from attacking and turn in the direction of your enemy which leaves you open to attack from boss characters or hoping grunts don't back up quicker than your delayed combo attack commands hit them. While enemy grunts will attack you, instead of it as feeling like you're being challenged, you're left with annoyance that the controls aren't responsive enough to your commands. In short, you know this is Dynasty Warriors lite and you shouldn't be surprised at all if you actually pick this up after reading this.

Sore thumb's: Button mashing isn't uncommon in gaming today, but Fist Of The North Star really pushes it. The gameplay combat is very bland with light, heavy and special attacks controlled by 3 separate buttons. However, combat requires a lot of combos to try and damage enemies (especially bosses) and you'll quickly start feeling some ache's in your thumb. I tend to wonder if maybe Koei thought this would be a good idea to try and make you feel like you're actually performing Ken's signature move, a 100 fist attack. I also tend to wonder why they would ever think that would be a good idea.

At this point in the review, I've either convinced a lot of gamers oblivious to the series this game isn't great or I've offended hardcore fans. To each of you I say "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it." Don't get me wrong, there ARE decent anime video games out there, granted not all of them are good and not all anime games of anime I like are good either (I can openly admit it. You think this would be different if it were Dynasty Warriors Gundam?), but you have to judge a video game based on the game itself, not the material its based on. As such, I really can't recommend this game to anyone other than the most hardcore fans. Don't even rent it, you're not missing anything. In fact, I felt like I missed more playing this than doing anything else.

Recommended buy price: $8
Score rating: 1/5

Superman Earth One Review: Get Schooled.

Sometimes I'm presented with work that I can't help but acknowledge and praise. A friend of mine works for an awesome website you should all bookmark called Nerdiest Kids.com. If you could have a PHD in Comic Books, Jeff "Darkspirit" Adams would be the professor who inspires you to take the education seriously. As such, I have received his permission to post a copy of his review on this blog. Keep it mind that if you follow this link back to the original review he posted, you will find a much more aesthetically pleasing and detailed article.


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Nerdiest-Kids reported earlier this year that DC Comics was embarking on a new frontier. They were going to release original graphic novels of their top characters, Superman and Batman, introducing them to the world as if they were created today. The first one released was their flagship character Superman, who is rife with revitalization techniques since his very inception. Each decade a writer seems to want to reinvent Superman for the new audience, so how did the creative team do?

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Superman Earth One
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Shane Davis
Inks: Sandra Hope
Colors: Barbara Ciardo
Lettered by: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $19.99 regular; 10.79 on Amazon

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Pros
The supporting cast:
JMS manages to made every single one of the supporting cast shine in this script. Pa Kent is his advising best as he tries to guide his son to his best destiny. While I might disagree on the approach, the impact of Pa Kent on Clark’s life is handled well. Ma Kent is still doting, wanting what is best for her boy but also nudging along the same ideals that her husband did. Lois, though appearing briefly, has lost none of her sass or attitude. Jimmy is likely the biggest change as he is very fearless, getting into the middle of things, and in some cases stealing a scene or two. The supporting cast truly allows the book to shine. Finally, Perry White has a few great appearances, that for readers will be both rewarding and frustrating, but he is still a great character that inspires. That is really the key thing about the supporting cast, they inspire.

Cons
Mission Statement
The Earth One books are about reexamining a myth and putting it into modern times, and I find that the book has failed at every measure on doing so. Starting with the fact that Superman is still running around in absolutely skin tight costume that is a relic from the 30′s. If you want to reinvigorate or promise a change, actually deliver and don’t wallow in the past. This goes for the Daily Planet that is “re imagined” as a struggling newspaper. If it is so bad, how do they hire such great people? There is a story reason, and it seems heavy handed and there are better ways to search for truth and justice.
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For the more detailed and aesthetically pleasing, including more cons and summation of his views, head over to NERDIEST KIDS NOW!

Enslaved: Odyssey To The West Review. What a wonderful world.

The fall flood of games this year has been rather underwhelming with all the delays and postponements for a lot of games, not to mention that the majority of games that came out are sequels or prequels in a franchise, no new original games. Enslaved: Odyssey To The West is a great counter argument to that and has honestly been under my radar for a very long time. Should I have kept my eye on this?

Pros:

Post apocalypse doesn’t have to be dirty: To say the graphics and visual design in Enslaved is beautiful is an understatement. After playing so many games of a post apocalyptic world, it’s refreshing to see a new take on what the world could look like. In direct contrast to games like Fallout, the world is very lush with plant life and accentuated by bright, powerful colors. The developers did a fantastic job of blending New York City with plant life to give a very believable, vibrant world.

I could get into this: The revision of the classic “Odyssey to the East” is handled pretty well in the sense that the game draws you into the story. While the developers kept some parts the same (the protagonist is still named Monkey and they give him a scarf that can resemble a tail), modernizing it was well done into a believable sci-fi adventure. There are times the game stops to remind you that Monkey and Trip (your tech-savvy companion) are really just trying to get home and survive. The two characters will become closer as the game goes on, and you begin to appreciate the characters more as you play.

Parkour!: While Enslaved might not do parkour to the level of an Ubisoft game like Assassin’s Creed, it’s pretty cool to watch the climbing animations Monkey does as he finds his way around obstacles. It’s also nice to see another developer try to handle parkour and make gamers feel that gravity isn’t so restricting.

Cons:

Not the hardest controls ever: While it’s nice to have a non-complex game, the battle system is pretty basic. Light attack, heavy attack, try to chain them, it’s all stuff we’ve seen before and makes it a little harder for Enslaved to stand out amongst adventure games.

You’re annoying me: Your female companion, Trip, is a rather annoying character to have to deal with. While the game doesn’t restrict or frustrate you as much as other escort missions/games, it can be annoying after you’ve destroyed a group of enemies and have to wait for her to catch up so you can move on. Granted, there are moments in the game that the protagonist relationship is very similar to the Prince of Persia, I rather have Trip be more useful.

One run and you’re done: Like many games with no multiplayer, you have very little reason to keep Enslaved after you’ve beaten it. I would have really liked to have the game be co-op instead so that you can try playing the game as both Monkey and Trip, but the developers wanted to focus this as a single player adventure game. The story is a great one to play, but I wouldn’t say it should be one of your must haves in your collection.

Enslaved is a fresh face in a season of sequels. While it has its flaws, it makes a bold move into the market by being original. I can’t recommend buying the game immediately if only because the game will probably last as a week rental, but it’s definitely one of the games you should play this season.

Recommended buy price: $30
Score ratings: Horrible– Pass – Meh – Good - Epic

Dead Rising 2 Review: Undead Casino Fun

Dead Rising 2 recently came out for some more Zombie genocide fun. This go around, things are a little different.

Pros:

There’s a lot of you and a lot of ways to kill you: Like the original, Dead Rising 2 has a plethora of make-shift weapons to kill zombies with, from the conventional to the ridiculous. Dead Rising 2 takes it a step further with the ability to combine different weapons to improve them. The combo weapons are fun and keep their appeal deep into the game. There’s still a feeling of badassery when you ride a motorcycle with chainsaws on it for the 20^th time as much as you had the 1^st.

Smarter than your average zombie: Survivors this time around have gotten worlds better than their Dead Rising 1 counterparts. Now they’ll actually try to defend themselves instead of being zombie buffets and you can give them your weapons to defend themselves, even food to regain health. While escort missions are seldom fun, these improvements make it a little more bearable to try and rescue survivors.

Making Multiplayer worth it: The multiplayer portion of the game, Terror Is Reality, is a bunch of Mario-Party style mini games that gives you cash for your campaign story. Surprisingly, it actually can be pretty fun. It also removes a lot of the frustration from the main game from trying to earn cash to buy Zombrex. I’m actually surprised at how well it works.

Cons:

Needs more Co-op: Maybe I’m just spoiled, but having only 2 player co-op in any game now just seems antiquated. I get that you can have a survivor party in the game when you’re out doing rescues, but playing with more people always seems more fun to me, especially since…

Psychos are frustratingly hard: Let me make this clear, psycho’s (bosses) in this game are not friendly to casual gamers. I honestly was playing against one boss for about 30 minutes because I had to go keep finding food to heal, only to come back to see he had fully healed himself doing the same thing. The only times I beat psychos were when I was playing co-op. I could blame it on my own lack of skill, but truthfully boss battles shouldn’t become a chore, they should be a satisfying challenge.

Racing the clock: The clock based game-play from the original returns in Dead Rising 2. I understand why it’s used, but I still don’t like it. There are times in the game that I have to just wait in the safe-house for 5 minutes for an event to start and that just seems wasteful. In addition, the clock makes you have to move to your next objective quickly or you lose out on story, but why can’t I take more time to just collect as many survivors as I want or kill zombies with fun weapons?

Good video games are about what they give players the freedom to do, not about what restricts them. Dead Rising 2 improves upon many flaws of the original, but keeps many that can frustrate gamers. The game is still very much enjoyable and funny at times, but it’s not a AAA contender.

Recommended buy price: $40
Score ratings: HORRIBLE – Pass – Meh – Good - EPIC

Halo Reach Review: Let it begin

Halo has been Bungie’s beloved child for a decade, delivering great experiences that brought many gamers to the Xbox. The final Bungie Halo game goes back to the beginning, Halo Reach. Let’s get to it:

Pros:

Aesop couldn’t have told this: The story in Reach is by far the strongest of any of the Halo games, and it’s something to really be appreciated. Considering this game didn’t even use the protagonist for the 3 major releases, Master Chief, you invest enough time into these characters that the eventual tragic end is only accentuated when it happens. This is the legend of a team of Spartans who entered a battle they couldn’t win, but they sure as hell made the enemy earn their victory.

This is MY story: Perhaps one of the best ideas of Reach was making Noble Six, the protagonist you play, a completely customizable character to use. The number of different options for armor you have is staggering and you get to use your Spartan in every mode of play in the game. It’s pretty cool to see your custom armor in a cut-scene and it adds extra incentive to play more and level up in the game to unlock more options. While you do wish you had more customization options (I would LOVE to put an emblem on my EVA helmet like Emile does in the campaign), they really give you enough that you barely can complain about this.

Multi-player is as strong as ever: It’s refreshing at times to know that a successful formula for multiplayer isn’t really touched that much. While the loss of dual-wielding weapons leaves some sour, you know you’re playing Halo when you pick this game up. Firefight is a lot more fun now (especially since you can actually survive the game this time, not just fight till you die), and new multi-player modes like Headhunter can be very addicting. Invasion is my favorite new team multiplayer type and improves on the “King of the hill” game-type. In short, you’re going to be kept entertained in this version.

Cons:

Needs more polish: One of the things I hoped for most out of Halo Reach was an updated graphics engine. While it is a little smoother, the jump isn’t that big, if at all really. Landscapes still look like they’re missing skins and the character models look at times, dare I say, cartoonish. Maybe I’m spoiled after playing games like Mass Effect 2, but the graphics really didn’t impress me that much this time outside of explosions.

Sometimes Lone Wolf IS better: Without trying to give too much of the story away, a friend and I were playing a mission where you needed to fly around a city rescuing soldiers and clearing covenant out in a Falcon. In the single player experience, it’s rather awe inspiring to explore this gigantic city from the air, but when playing co-op it got downright boring for anyone NOT flying the vehicle. I could forgive this if it were Bungie’s second run at co-op, but by now they should have been innovative enough to make it work.

You still suck at driving: If there’s absolutely one constant in a Halo game, it’s that your AI comrades can’t drive to save their lives. The classic problems of Halo 2 of being driven in circles, stopping in the middle of the road for NO reason, getting stuck on almost nothing at times remains. I’ve been patient with this in other Halo games, but there’s no excuse this time. After 3 other games of having the same problem, Bungie still hasn’t really fixed this and it really ruins the experience they were going for when you’re not playing with a friend.

You can’t hate Halo Reach because it’s still an entertaining shooter to play, but the biggest problem that Halo and Bungie face with this game is age. Over the course of a decade, we’ve gone from having just one reason to own an Xbox/360 to having numerous reasons. While Halo may have been a gateway into a great experience that Microsoft has made, combat hasn’t evolved enough in this last iteration to really make me think “This should be game of the year” like the main trilogy games have. If you’re a Halo fan, you will love this game. If you hate Halo, this game probably won’t convince you otherwise, but if you’re entirely new to the franchise you should definitely pick this up. Between a solid story and entertaining multi-player, there’s really enough here to keep a newcomer busy for a long time coming.

To any Halo fan, remember the story of soldiers who looked at a death demanding army and answered “No.” Remember the sound of a pummeled opponent as you lead your team to that fast-closing target. Remember what was given to prevent anymore loss.

Remember Reach.

Recommended buy price: $45
Score ratings: HORRIBLE – Pass – Meh – Good - EPIC