Celebrations

Around the same time as Christmas and New Year, Gangnam Style (or whatever) reached 1 Billion views. And so...this i guess:

2012, a Year of Games

Call of Duty Mario Warfare

Each year, we play many games, but only some can be the pinnacle of the industry. Some will be fun distractions, some will be utterly addictive and some will be terrible. Let's take a looks at the gaming landscape this year...

The first truly big game to come out this year was the much loved Mass Effect 3. It deliver more advanced shooting mechanics and moar RPG stuff from the previous two games that we loved and it further continued the story of Commander Shepard, a person who we'd all shaped the universe with. It had possibly the best story in all of video gaming and a fantastic setting with great characters and graphics. It also ended the most epic trilogy in gaming with...a pretty mediocre ending. Honesty, the ending itself was disappointing, but I don't think it deserved the hate it got. It was fixed with extended cut and although it wasn't perfect, it totally made it more forgivable. The sad thing is however, that people won't remember Mass Effect for it's great gameplay, story, setting, characters and pretty much everything else. The non players will only hear the rant: "Oh my GAWD, this gaem has, da wurst ending ever it must be worse than anything on the planet!" Although this ending may have tainted it's legacy, Mass Effect 3 is my personal Game of the Year for 2012.

Another game this year that I absolutely loved was Darksiders 2. Although I haven't finished it, I really enjoy being in the world, the design of the characters and just the gameplay in general. It isn't quite perfect as it has some issues, but I really do love this game. 

The actual game of the year was "The Walking Dead" These were episodic point and click choice based story games. Don't get me wrong, I think the show is one of the best ever made, right up there with The Slap, Sherlock and Rake, but for game of the year doesn't really grab me. I mean, this is a game where one of the puzzles involves putting batteries in a radio because a woman doesn't know how to. A small indie title simply cannot contend with a massive game with loads of content and heart such as Mass Effect 3. It just doesn't work.

Halo 4 took best graphics and best Xbox game while Journey (another small indie title that may be cool, but once again can't live up to scope of larger games) took it for PS3 and New Super Mario Bros U for Wii U and X-Com for PC. Boarderlands 2, Mass Effect 3 and Dishonored walked away with awards as well.

But now it's time for 4EVER's awards...

Gaming Sequels

Unlike the film industry, sequels of games are often a lot higher in quality than movies. Sequels are a chance for the developers to get right some things that they maybe didn't nail the first time around. They can improve gameplay mechanics and even story elements as well as graphics and casting. Films tend to be about sucking more money from an already finished concept. It also prevents an idea being used to it's fullest as they wish to continue a series to make more money from it. More about that later, first let's talk about some positive sequels.

A good sequel will expand and improve on elements previously established such as the movement from Super Mario Galaxy to Super Mario Galaxy 2. Nothing much was really different about the gameplay itself, but there was new content, features and things to do in the game, making it well worthwhile the purchase. It wasn't a huge leap forward in direction for the series, but it was better thanks to the additions to the game. Sometimes, you just want to play more of a game, so using similar concepts and ideas in a sequel isn't often frowned upon. Dead Space was awesome, but Dead Space 2 didn't really add anything new. Sure, Isaac had a voice and there was a lame multiplayer, but nothing too inspired. But this really didn't matter as the game was good enough to be recycled. Dead Space 2 was also able to add more to the characters and story, so it wasn't just a cash in. While universally acclaimed, a note from critics did ask for a little bit more from the game as a new title. The developers heard this and added in Co-op to Dead Space 3 as a large change, showing they want to make more interesting and diverse experiences for the player, rather than just forcing them to play the same thing over and over.

Occasionally, sequels improve a fair amount on the original game formula while still maintaining the spirit and flavour of the original. Transformers: War for Cybertron was a great game with few problems. But there were things that were done wrong. For instance, the Transformers all pretty much felt the same despite the fact you could choose between three per level. This was fixed in the sequel Transformers: Fall of Cybertron thanks to the vastly improved level design that revolved around the character you were playing as in each level to accommodate for better gameplay. Another problem of the original was the scrounging around for ammo that needed to be done. The addition of the store system into the second helped with the weapons and added in a slight RPG aspect. Also, Grimlock and the Combatacons made for awesome! 

Every now and then, a game is drastically changed by the sequel that it feels like a different experience entirely. The best example I can say off the top of my head would be Darksiders 2. Adding in the vastly expanding loot collecting and RPG statistics alongside the open world and side quests as well as other features, it hardly resembles the original. This is by no means a bad thing however, as the new one is SO MUCH AWESOME! Another example I guess would be Mass Effect 2. Although the epic story and dynamic choice gameplay remain, the gameplay and cinematic feel were almost alien (pun...geddit?) to the series, which was previously an RPG focused game. 

Unfortunately, not all game sequels are better than the originals. A big telltale sign of a cash in sequel is removing all the powers and equipment that the character earned in the previous game. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is one of these. All the stuff you spent so long getting, all the armour and gear, all that health...gone, within an hour of starting the game. The story is also a bit of a last minute effort to make money. Basically, the piece of eden you spent the whole of AC2 trying to obtain is stolen...again and you have to get it and stop the Borgia...again. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was a fun game and the trailer for the sequel looked promising...however, there was little difference in the gameplay, more repetition, lackluster story and less than six hours of gameplay.


Are we running out of ideas? Are gamers in an industry of evolution and not Revolution? Will we never see another IP?!?!?!?!?!?!

The Types of Gamers

Yes, I have used a meme on my blog.
Sue me.

The Non Gamer: 
As you might have deduced, this type of gamer doesn't play games. 'Nuff said.

The Casual Gamer:
This person might play games every now and then, but they're not really super heavy games like Fallout or Darksiders 2, but can enjoy a good singstar or dance central game.

The Relaxed Gamer:
This person plays games often and enjoys them. They may not be dedicated to deep games and just enjoy a good session of Halo or Batman. Looks forwards to games but doesn't obsess. 

The Heavy Gamer:
This gamer really likes games and will spend a lot of time on them. Games are always interesting to them and they are willing to invest time into games with depth and complexity.

The Hardcore Gamer:
This person is so into games, so often that games become very important to them and they play on high levels. These people are the ones that play games like Dark Souls and know every item in Darksiders 2 and it's effect. These are the ones who play so well they can beat a noob in Street Fighter with their eyes closed.

The MLG:
These people are beyond dedicated. These people are extremely skilled and play at tourneys and have a talent beyond most mortals. They play games professionally and can actually do this as a profession, although this leads to a lot of camping...

Possibilites of Arkham 3

Whether or not the next Rocksteady Batman game is a true Arkham City sequel or a rumoured silver age prequel, we have yet to know. But there are many hints from Arkham City that suggest a lot of ideas. Here you go. Oh, and BTW:

SPOILER WARNING!!! DON'T LOOK BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED ARKHAM CITY AND HARLEY QUINN'S REVENGE!!!

Batman says no to lookin' at Spoilers.

We good?


1.) Harley's Pregnancy? At the end of Arkham City, you can go around and discover at positive pregnancy test left next to Harley's old outfit. Not prizes for guessing who the father is. At the end of New Game Plus in the credits, you can hear her singing "Hush Little Baby" But during Harley Quinn's Revenge, you find the Scarface doll dressed as the Joker with tonnes of negative pregnancy tests surrounding it. What's going on here?

2.) Hush. After completing his side quests, you discover Hush was surgically removing the faces of inmates of Arkham City and grafting them onto his own. He looks exactly like Bruce Wayne now. He managed to elude the Dark Knight and become one of the few people to escape Arkham City's walls before the game's conclusion. 

3.) Azrael. The Watcher in the Wings was following Batman since the beginning. At the start of the game when Bruce and Jack Ryder are entering Arkham City, he is watching from the rooftops. After leaving a map for Batman across the city, he finally speaks to him and says there is fire coming and that he may lose much, saying that he may be the one the prophecy spoke of. Okey-doke...

4.) Ra's Al Ghul. Dead? Again? Maybe not. After being impaled with his own sword on a fence at the end of the game, you can no longer find his body, just his sword. Talia's body also goes missing...

5.) Prometheus. Man, just saying that name sounds cool. If you're not up to speed, Prometheus is essentially Batman's opposite. His parents were criminals gunned down by Lawmen and he swore revenge, so training himself in the art of killing, he goes to hell on the police. There are newspaper clippings with references to him all over Arkham City. He may not be a part of the next game, but he sure as hell might be...

6.) Cadmus. This may be the least tangible, but throughout Harley Quinn's revenge, you'll find numerous references to Cadmus, the group responsible for creating Superboy. Joker cloned? Seems unlikely, but you never know.

7.) Scarecrow. The most referenced villain not appearing in the game. You can find his mask as part of a riddle, and also numerous canisters of fear gas throughout the game in Hush's lair as well as the Riddler's and numerous others. During Protocol ten, you can find Henchmen lying dead wearing the Scarecrow masks. This may be a reference, but some theorise it's just a graphical glitch...right? In Arkham City, there are three radio signals not shown on the cryptographic sequencer. These spell out numbers, each of which can be decoded using real world codes. These three spell out "I WILL RETURN BATMAN" "YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME" and the last one can only be decrypted with the keyword Scarecrow "FEAR WILL TEAR GOTHAM TO SHREADS" The final reference to the fear doctor can be found in a boat on the water which can be opened using the code "City of Terror" Inside the boat, you'll find insects and canisters of fear gas as well as an inmate who sitting on a chair. When you get close, he yells out in fear and dies. The notes on that wall are invoices from a Mr Carmine Falcone to Dr Jonathan Crane. Creepy. Scarecrow may very well be the focus of the next game with this much emphasis put on him.

8.) Other places. Keystone, Metropolis and Bludhaven are all mentioned throughout the game.

With these elements in place, the next Arkham game sure has a lot going for it.

Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare

In a world of money grabbing, cash thievin' DLC it's rare to really see anyone put effort into downloadable content. However, Rockstar again raises the bar for DLC as it did for open world games with the original Red Dead Redemption with the Add on: Undead Nightmare. 

Undead Nightmare takes story elements from Red Dead, but doesn't really fit into continuity very well, so calling it a parallel story doesn't really suit it. So, we'll call the old "alternate universe" card once more. Basically, story wise...ZAMBIEZ!!! A Zombie plague is spreading and it's up to John Marston and some of his colourful friends to stop it and pretty much save the day. Once again, the writing is well done and special props the the devs remembering not to take the story too seriously and putting in some great larffs. The voice quality returns as well as sound effects in Undead Nightmare so the production value is still there and the sounds are even better than the original due to some strange zombie-esque tunes. 

For only $10, you get over 6 hours of story missions, side quests, new achievements, challenges and weapons as well as two multiplayer modes. So worth it. Good thing the bargain doesn't come at the expense of quality. These missions are fun as anything and the side quests are great. The challenges make use of the new Zombies and really make this DLC stand on it's own two feet. This isn't simply more Red Dead with Zombies; this is almost a whole new game. The Karma and fame system is gone, and so is money. Ammo is this game's currency, you'll have to make use of all your equipment to survive. Not to mention zombie horses have unlimited sprint, so that compensates for lack of fast travel from camp. Fighting zombies is very different from Red Dead. They'll charge at you in a variety of breeds. Fast zombie, spitter zombie, fat zombie and even zombie animals. You'll have a blast as you get into a rhythm of headshots a torch swings. 

There are only two real downsides to this DLC. The town saving mechanic and the fetch quest missions. Fetch quests are few and forgivable (same with Red Dead) but in Undead, you have to frequently go and save towns from zombie infection. If you don't, everyone dies and you can't really use that town again. This becomes really annoying when all you want to do is just progress. Luckily, this is really the only downside to the best DLC ever made. If you loved Red Dead Redemption, you'll love Undead Nightmare. Pick this one up. 

Haven't convinced you? Well, you get holy water and exploding bait as well as dynamite. Oh...AND YOU CAN RIDE THE 4 HORSES OF THE FREAKING APOCALYPSE!!!!!!

Red Dead Redemption Review

In 2010, the near undisputed GOTY was a little game we call Red Dead Redemption. And it's obvious why. This game is jam packed with content, great visuals and sound as well a fantastic gameplay and characters. However, there are some parts of the game which do fall a little short, but that's more than forgivable when you have a game as good as this.

Red Dead Redemption looks absolutely gorgeous. The western setting the devs were granted has been used to it's full extent and it brings the world to life. The towns look great, as do it's inhabitants. Even the lonely and sandy deserts have had so much care that even riding around looking at the place is fun. It also helps that the sound design is equally as impressive, including horse sounds, gun shots and voice acting that make this game feel extraordinary. The only real problem that arises from this is the brightness. I found myself having to constantly switch brightness throughout the game from high to low because at night, you cam hardly see anything, but in the day you're bombarded with sunlight that makes the ground unbearable to look at. And, as expected of a game this size, there's a few texture pops here and there, but it's strangely minimal. 

The story in Red Dead is actually a little disappointing. Basically, John Marston is a former gunslinger who's trying to go straight for his family, but his past is too filled with blood. You'll meet a great cast of characters not all of whom you'll like, but will feel some emotion towards them which is something that not many games accomplish. When I say the story's a little disappointing, I mean that there are certain points within the game that aren't fully capitalised on. An example is you spend time working for two opposite sides in the game and you really expect for the story to bank on this, but it never really does, leaving that section feeling a little anti-climactic. Also, some characters don't get the closure they deserve. The real high point of the narrative is John Marston himself. His character is slowly revealed over the course of the journey as you learn more and more about him. And the game's story when in Blackwater truly picks up to a truly amazing level. But the story mainly feels like you're going around doing a bunch of favours for people all around the world. 

Gameplay consists of roaming the massive world Red Dead has to offer and doing pretty much whatever. You can collect animal skins to sell at the market, complete tasks for strangers around the world, engage in randomly generated events while riding down the road, complete challenges to earn rewards, explore new towns and moar. So much to do in this game. And that's without the main missions. Most of these are really fun as well. You will storm trains, go on rescue missions, fight your way out of immense odds and even blow up mines. It's great! Only a few times do you encounter a mission that isn't fun. As said before, there is the unfortunately boring fetch quest here and there. And at times, the reason you're fighting these guys isn't really all that interesting and some missions do feel a little tacked on to make the game longer. Luckily, the ratio of good to bad is about 90:10 so it's all K. 

Red Dead Redemption does so many things that a lot of games try to do, but fail. Have a lot of content that's interesting, a great open world with stuff to do, great characters, amazing gameplay and a decent story. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn impressive. Loved this game to death, one of the best of this generation.

Dishonored

How will you play Dishonored?

Will you lurk in the shadows and wait until the time is right? Or will you charge into the fray with amazing power at your disposal? Perhaps you'll go the road most bloody and slaughter everyone in your way? But you might have mercy and leave those who wronged you untouched and find other ways to topple your enemies. 
What will you do to achieve victory? Swing metal against metal and fight in swordplay? Blast people with your gun, or shoot them with the crossbow? Slit their throat or put them to sleep?

Dishonored offers something which a lot of games forget: player choice and freedom. You have an objective, but you are not funnelled down a narrow path with only one outcome. You can choose who you are and what you are, explore many powers and change the world around you. This reminds me of Deus Ex...in a great way. Dishonored may just prove to be the experience that true gamers have always wanted.

The Doctor Rants: Dark Souls PTD edition

Dark Souls, one of my favourite games of 2011 now has a PC port. Yes I know I'm late talking about this. still... 
I don't know about the rest of you, but my copy of the game lags. REALLY BADLY. i struggle to get the game to run at 30 fps and it really gets on my nerves. especially when the game moves so slowly than a boss can kill you due to your timing being waaaaaay off. I haven't been able to properly play the game due to this lag, neither have i been able to play online for long periods of time due to framerate being 'insufficient for online play.' 
Whilst in the past i have been the advocate for substance over style, i must make this point. this is a PC game, and the fact that the CONSOLE version looks better than the vanilla PC version upsets me. that goodness that there is a mod that brings the game to its full PC potential without changing the game play in any way. 

WHY MUST YOU TAUNT ME ARTORIAS
WHY

Of course, I wasn't expecting the greatest PC port of all time, considering that this is FromSoftware's FIRST ever PC game, so kudos to them for making it. However, the biggest mistake they made was by far, making the game reliant on the the XBOX controller. ITS A PC GAME! I WANT TO USE MY MOUSE AN KEYBOARD. when I did try to play with the mouse and keyboard, I found the game to be unplayable. Its a real shame. If you are considering getting Darks Souls, get the console version, and wait for the Console DLC. Seriously. Just play the game where it was born, and you will be able to play it and enjoy to its full potential.

It also uses Windows Live for its multiplayer...
yeah,,,

DLC

The three most hated/loved letters in all of video gaming. DLC. At times great, but mostly trash. The basic definition of DLC is downloadable content, something that is added onto a previously existing game that you already have. Some is free but most involve purchase of a usual cost of about $10 on an average. Some DLC is just extra characters, weapons and maps, while others are new missions, while others add whole new levels and change things drastically.

In games like Halo, or Call of Duty, most of the time, the DLC is a map pack, or maybe new weapons. The trouble with this, is that not everybody will buy it, and that can make the community a little disjointed when some people have maps and others don't. The same goes for DLC drop weapons. If you buy weapons and somebody doesn't, you generally have the advantage over the ones who haven't. This forces people to buy the new weapons as well as maps. In something like League of Legends, you can download new characters. While some will most likely be overpowered, most of the game devs take time and effort into making sure they are not broken or unbalanced and that they will cater to the people who like to play as them. But, why not just put in those extra characters in the first place when you buy them in stores? It wouldn't be too difficult to make Freddie Crouger's character from Soul Caliber before release date? If it's a long (and I mean really long) running game like LOL and eventually, you feel like rewarding the players, then make new characters. 

Most of the time though, devs tell you about the DLC they are going to make and then don't actually let you get it on the disc without another purchase or a pre-order. It makes sense that devs might want to reward fan loyalty with Pre-order bonuses, but when you don't pre-order a game that comes: "with early access to the next drop off" you feel a little ticked off. If they're making something which they plan to be in the game from the beginning, then why not just give it to us? Oh, that's right...money. If a game has been out for a while and developers feel like they can make something new and interesting for the player, then sure, DLC could be cool, but most of the time it feels like a money grabbing ploy against your wallet. 

And most DLC's are short anyway. Most of the time, reviews criticise DLC for being short or unpolished. Take most Mass Effect DLC. Short and probably not all that worthwhile. Even Batman's "Harley Quinn's Revenge" DLC could have been much better as it was fun, but short and didn't really add anything new to the experience of Arkham City.

The absolute best DLC comes from some of the best minds out there. Valve's TF2 comes out with lots of updates frequently as well as things like Maan vs Machine which is free. Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption got Undead Nightmare which was a long, well crafted and cheap add on to RDR that really made the future of DLC look bright. But most likely, DLC will remain a cheap way to con cash.

The Amazing Spider-Man review

Ta-Daaa!!

With Spider-Man getting a reboot with the new movie, there is of course an inevitable move tie-in game. But here's the thing, it doesn't suck. Beenox has had a while to develop this and although it doesn't come away with a full cartridge of webbing, it serves to impress both gamers and fans.

For starters, the game is a mixed bag graphically. Character models are a bit off for everyone but Spider-Man and the quality of the texture isn't fantastic. This is a bit of a contrast to Shattered Dimensions, which makes me a little sad, but in the end, it's merely annoying. The city of New York is absolutely amazing graphically though, with it feeling like a living, breathing city more than any other Spider-Man game. Swinging through the sky is also great. The camera is pulled close to Spider-Man giving you a huge sense of vertigo as he dives off tall buildings and swings himself away with his trademark web. Amazing. As for the story telling, well it's decent. The story is well written and does some pretty shocking things for the narrative, but I have an issue with the way it's told. Every cutscene is just one continuous shot. I don't know why, but I absolutely hate it when games do this. All I want to do when this storytelling technique is used is move around and get back to the game. Still, it's forgivable. The loading times are actually pretty obnoxious though...

The gameplay is a pretty big mix. Most time will be spent swinging around in Manhatten as the web slinger, running up buildings and collecting comic book pages. Swinging is the most fun thing to do in the game, no question. You always feel like Spider-Man when traversing Manhatten, and thanks to the new "Web-Rush" feature, you can slow down time and point Spider-Man towards a direction and land with precession, something you always saw him do in the movies and TV shows but could never do in a game until now. Manhatten is littered with little comic book pages to collect, which I swear to god is more addictive than gambling (not that I do such a thing outside Super Mario 64 <ahem>) And best of all, they unlock actual comics.

Don't look behind you...

When fighting as Spider-Man, you will notice...the fact that they completely took the Batman fighting system and used it in their game. It works for Spider-Man and is actually harder to get the higher combos than it is Batman, but the combat isn't as deep. The true fun from Batman lay in trying to get a perfect run without taking any damage and working out when to use what move and such. Spider-Man's fighting is simpler (not as deep) and while it is harder (you will die more) that's only because enemies do so much damage. It is still thrilling to see Spider-Man beat up thugs and you'll never tire of it. The stealth gameplay is what was really surprising. When faced with heavily armed foes, you'll sneak about the shadows using his acrobatic abilities and wall crawling to silently take out the guards. This is really fun and you'll feel like the web slinger himself as you sneak about, picking off enemies. The only time this feels clunky is when upside down on the ceiling. You can hardly control the way you look and are forced to use web retreat to return to a wall. What really makes the stealth fun is that these guys will search the walls for you with torches. This adds an element of stress as the enemies can actually find and beat you, forcing you to stay on your toes. (I was playing on hard the whole time)

The boss fights against the cross species are fun, but really easy compared to the rest of the game, while the boss battles in the open are amazing and some of the best bosses ever made in video games. You feel like a total swinging around as Spider-Man fighting giant flying robots. Ah, my childhood dreams realised!

The Amazing Spider-Man makes you feel like Spider-Man, but at the same time, some of the indoor levels leave a little to be desired and the side missions are a little repetitive and they aren't random like in Spider-Man 2. This means the game isn't perfect, but it's still fun, especially if you're a Spider-Man fan, and who isn't?

Mass Effect 3 Review

Oh god...this....this game is truly amazing. One of the greatest games of all time, period. No game has ever stirred up the same feeling that Mass Effect 3 has. 

Mass Effect 3 takes the story from your last two games and uses it to continue the universe you've built. This is easily one of the best features of the game, as you feel as though what you've done really affects the world and that all the decisions you made actually mattered (note: I downloaded the extended cut before beating the game) The story needless to say is masterful, finally bringing all your efforts all you've fought for into one, final climactic struggle for survival. The characters a fantastic. If they survived the story of the previous two games; then you will see a lot of familiar faces, but if not, you will love the new characters (except for a few) and literally fall in love with them. The crafters of this game have put time and effort into making this script and setting feel closer to that of a Hollywood blockbuster (the good kind) rather than a video game. 

Sometimes, you'll forget you're playing a game while you sit back and watch an epic cutscene play out, or have a conversation with a character. And this all looks great thanks to the powerful game engine, making everything look fantastic with few exceptions. A graphical glitch and the occasional poor lip syncing might throw some of the illusion away, but that's forgivable since Mass Effect 3 is so good, you won't really care. The voice direction is also great with the amazing Jennifer Hale reprising fem-shep (she is in everything!), Seth Green as Joker (Scotti Evil from Austin Powers) and Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man (Uncle Ben from Amazing Spider-Man as well as numerous others) The other actors are also super impressive with great lines and moments.

The gameplay brings back the great shooting mechanics from ME2 and adds in more layers of RPG like modding weapons and armour back into the mix, bringing back some of the depth that was lost from the transition from ME1 to ME2. Luckily, there are a greater selection of weapons to choose from as well as the levelling system becoming more complex and useful. Some of the scenarios you'll find yourself in do more than just entertain, you really do feel a part of the action with some great back drops and moments in the story. The game will often change on the fly where a new threat might pop up and you'll have to deal with it as well as your mission. But the biggest device in ME3 is the choice making system. Being forced to make choices constantly means that you're experience will end up differently than the other person who you're forced to live with...uh...

Anyhoo, the gameplay is fantastic, even though I found the armour to be useless (I never used it) And the game just has so many big moments that you'll just be amazed at how well everything comes together. The combat is always fresh as you'll be tasked with different missions and have to fight interesting and varied bunch of enemies. One things that they've brought back from ME1 is having one super powerful enemy as well as several of the smaller grunts. Super fun times will be had playing dis gaem! :-)

Now, the ending...
oooohhhhh bbbooooyyy
Now, most people blindly say: Whhhaaoooror de ending sucks cos the internet says it does!

And let me tell you, they're sort of right. The original ending (without the extended cut) is pretty terrible. It looks like it's about to wrap up the story nicely while showing you the consequences of what you've done tie into the game's final hurrah...except it doesn't. It just abruptly ends. Like, immediately, right when you think that your choices are about to matter. With the extended cut however, you are pretty much safe. This ending inspires, it truly does. It shows you the true consequences of what went down during your journey and you truly feel great when it's done. Mass Effect 3 is also the game that has taken the most emotion from me ever, nearly to tears (not quite though...it's not Toy Story 3, or Marley and Me) and it was a blast to play through.

Pick up ME1 and begin the greatest gaming trilogy of our time if you haven't already. If you have, then pick ME3 up and get ready for the ride of a lifetime. Mass Effect 3: one of the best games ever made.

Go, go Normandy Rangers!!!!!!!!!!!

Heavy Rain Review

Ethan Mars: JJJAASSSSOONNN!!!!!

Heavy Rain is an awkward attempt at interactive story that blends both choice and emotion into gameplay. It's weird, clunky and has trouble telling an interesting narrative...for about half an hour. After that, Heavy Rain proves to be an amazing experience that lies somewhere between game and movie that is throughly engrossing and engaging.

Scott Shelby: Champion among men

The presentation of Heavy Rain is everything. You play as four characters each trying to find the Oragami Killer (as the press label him) for their own personal reasons. Ethan Mars is a father who's son is kidnapped by the killer, Norman Jayden is an FBI detective with a strange pair of glasses that act a lot like Batman's Detective mode, Scott Shelby is a private investigator who has been hired to find him and Madison Page is a sexy journalist...'nuff said. The motivations for the characters are truly astounding and Heavy Rain makes you do something you hardly do in video games: care about the characters. You want them to succeed, you want them to survive and most of all, you want this murderer to be brought to justice! The graphics are excellent, with technical prowess that would make you swear you were in the moment and excellent use of split screen, colours and other aspects. In short, it's a visual delight. Not to mention the sounds and the voice acting, and atmosphere...and everything else.

Madison Page: Never actually seen
doing journalist work...

Norman Jayden:
YYYEEEEOOOOOWWW!!!

Gameplay is vastly different from most mainstream games. The whole game is literally quick time events. This sounds boring, but it isn't. The real meat of Heavy Rain is in the story and characters. Making you perform easy quicktime events to perform actions such as closing a door or opening a cupboard may not be exciting, but they do emerge you within the world. Other times, quick time events are extremely successful in wrapping you into situations. Fights become dangerous as the game makes it entirely possible for you to die. In fact, you can kill each character in the story. The game has multiple endings to make sure what you do and how you react really matter in the grand scheme of things. These types of quick time events add stress and real danger to scenarios we would find amusing if Heavy Rain was a movie. The only other gameplay devices are walking and pressing the right button to initiate a choice/action. Walking is probably the hardest part of the game. You hold down a button to walk and then use the control stick to change direction. This sounds fine, but when the camera changes, this quickly becomes disorienting and frustrating. This aside, Heavy Rain feels real, almost like you could be in these character's shoes.

Heavy Rain might be shunned by gamers because of how different it is, but they're the ones missing out. Heavy Rain is incredible, and while not all games should be like this; it's great to have a game this special and different that it takes you completely by surprise and blows you away.

4EVER's worst boss fight of all time MEGA Sandman (Spider-Man 3)

OHHHHH GGGGOOOOODDDDDDDD

Boy this game was lackluster. Poor graphics, mashy gameplay, and quicktime events everywhere you look. But, the game is forgivable until you reach the final level. After beating Venom as Spider-Man, the New Goblin comes in to his Sky Stick to beat up Sandman. First off, you've never played as the New Goblin before in the entire game. So what better place to begin than in the final level? AWESOME HUH?!?!? You have no control over the Sky Stick as it relies on the Sixaxis motion control in the playstation controller, which is clunky as sin. So, you end up circling Sandman as he occasionally hits you with his fist and you throw bombs at him for 10 minutes. You then have to endure the hardest quicktime event ever and if you fail more than five times, you die and you have to do the whole fight again. What? R-really? NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is truly astounding how these game developers screwed up this fight. Did they even play test it? Maybe not, but when if they did they probably went: NAW GIYS IT'S FINE?PEOPLEWON't MINDE OFTHEY"RE GAME SUCKS BRB, going of to make Call of Duty Black Ops now harararararaararararararardedededhohohhohohohoho


Never again, for this game has been sealed in the Negative Zone for safeguarding by the Sentry. We are safe. For now.

RPG-itis

When you think of an RPG, you think of some sitting in a room in the middle of the night, clutching a controller to his chest, staring blankly at a screen filled with menus and statistics of weapons. He is only jarred from this state when he is prompted with some kind of food or drink. I'm not sure I like RPG's. Here's why. First off, most RPG's rely on your statistics of weapons and armour and skills as opposed to actual skill. Many would disagree, but I find that's it's more about gear than your actual ability to perform the tasks required. In other words, you can be amazing at a fighting game because you train enough, but you won't get much better at an RPG if you keep practising. Another thing that I find I don't like: you can spend a lot of time and money into working on a weapon or piece of equipment, when all of a sudden, A BETTER PIECE ARRIVES! Making you feel as though training the equipment wasn't worthwhile and you could have used up those resources on the piece of equipment you got just now. 
Most quests in an RPG revolve around collecting 3 buttscratchers and killing 7 peanuts. Sure, in most games this is the case, but RPGs do this consistently without making it interesting. In something like Arkham City, the gameplay is dynamic and exciting and the scenarios change, making the experience more interesting, while some RPG's literally say "Go to 1, collect X, return" Uncool.
However, some of the elements RPG's bring to the table make the gamer deeper and more strategic. Choosing which weapons to upgrade and how to level up make you think as opposed to forcing players to mash X all the time. For a game to be great, it should have fun combat and missions, but enough depth in some of the subjects to provoke thought as to how to play the game well.

4EVER's 2nd worst boss fight of all time: Steroid Joker (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

This Joker form was inspired by an episode of "The Batman"
where Joker steals Bane's serum and uses it to fight Batman.

Ah the Joker. Immortalised by some of the greatest actors ever like Heath Ledger and Mark Hamill. Arch nemesis of the Dark Knight Detective, this man is responsible for some of the most treacherous deeds in Batman's life. That crippling of Batgirl. The murder of Robin. All through this time, he is a master planner with a fanatical devoting to Batman. Remember what I said about Matriarch Benezia? Well, that doesn't apply to the Joker. We don't want a fight with the Joker. His strength is his intelligence, not his brawn. We want a death trap that would be impossible for Batman to outmanoeuvre without pushing himself to the limit. Throughout the entire night, Joker has trapped, tormented and tortured the Caped Crusader and put him through hell. Now, we face one last challenge. We have to foil the plan of this evil Mastermind. Batman must somehow stop the Joker's plan...
oh...his plan was steroids...oh...ah...$#!7
What the hell? Really? That's it? Joker on steroids? Arkham Asylum is an amazing game, with much love and thought put into it, except for this last moment where Joker spoils his illusion of being an evil mastermind and jacks up on drugs to make himself buff. GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD OOOOOONNNNNNEEEEEE GGGGGGUUUUUUYYYYYSSSSSSS?!?!?!?!q

4EVER's 3rd worst boss fight Galactus (Marvel Ultimate Alliance)

OMGTHISGUYEATSPLANETSHOWTHEHELLAMISUPPOSEDTOBEATHIMHESINVINCIEBBBLELELLELELELELELLE

Huuuurrrrr...

Well, it turns out, all you need is QUICK TIME EVENTS! When you fight the devourer of worlds, he simply stands around on the platform and slowly raises his fist and slams it into the ground. That's about it. All you really have to do is turn on three machines to weaken him, then perform a quick time event. Do this three times and it's over. Yeah. Epic. Galactus is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe and being able to defeat him so easily is an insult. I mean, in a previous cutscene, you see him smash a building! If he can't defeat four guys, he clearly has some issues.

4EVER's 4th worst boss fight Matriarch Benezia (Mass Effect)

There is nothing worse than having an epic character that you engage in conflict in, but not directly. Take this character from Mass Effect. sPAcE WiZarD Benezia is exactly like that. When you go up to her, ready to beat her to pulp, she sends her goons at you and just stands there. You can't hurt her, but she keeps using CRAAZZY biotic powers to hurt you, make you fall to the ground and of course...lift your cover. While this happens, the frame rate drops and you get lag beyond being able to be forgiven as well as making the game very difficult. When you do eventually waste away her goons, all it takes is a few shots and she's down. While the rest of the game is well done, this battle made my throw my controller down (on the bean bag so it wouldn't break) and change games. This boss was the worst problem I had with the first Mass Effect, but I was glad it was over and I could move on to the master piece that was Mass Effect 2! :-)

4EVER's 5th worst boss battle: Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man 2)

You'd done it. You'd swung about for hours in the wonderful open world of Manhattan and had fun beating up thugs and hoods as well as saving civilians. You'd fought some of the worst and now it was time to defeat Doctor Octopus, the most powerful threat  of the entire game. You'd fought him on the train, beaten him in the bank and at last it was time to fight him and save Mary Jane. But instead of an epic boss fight, you get a guy who simply cannot be beaten without resorting to cheap tactics. His attacks do so much damage, as well as having the ever awesome function of making them nearly impossible to dodge. So eventually, you resort to swinging back and forth on the same web line and cannonball kicking him. Fuuuuuuuuunnnnn. I hate this battle and so should you.

Demon's Souls

so i finally got my hands on this game, especially now that ive completed darksouls, I REALLY wanted to play this.
I thought Dark Souls was meant to be the harder of the two.


I was wrong




Very, Very wrong...

What do we see?

The video games industry is huge, even bigger than the film industry, so naturally, we have rules and regulations about what we can and can't see in video games. We have the rating system and with Australia moving even closer to an R18+ rating, we should have the same access to the content as the rest of the world. However, there are some problems. What do we really see in video games and do we really want people to see this? In games like Mario or little big planet, there is almost nothing that any parent could consider wrong for a child or anyone else to view. Games like Super Smash Bros may be violent, but not in a way that encourages or glamourises real fighting. It's not realistic and overall it feels a bit like a game show. But there are some games which have explicit content. 

The Batman games stirred up controversy for the liberal use of the word "bitch" and other adult themes like drugs and torture. Now, these games are rated M, but I know plenty of kids under 10 who have their hands on content these games. Batman is great, so kids will naturally want to copy what they see on the screen. They're not stupid enough to try and expose themselves to radioactive waste to get super powers, but hearing the word bitch used so often may desensitise them to it's intended effect. Adults know the effect that the word has, so they won't go around calling girls after female dogs, but kids may just think it as an insult to use freely. I'm not calling this a certainty, but it is indeed possible. 

Games like Heavy Rain have drug use, violence and torture, but then again, so do movies. Some movies that have these elements wouldn't be the same without them, so you can't really ban drugs, so what's the difference for games. Games require your own input to shoot that person, or stab that enemy. So do we really want to put this stuff in our games? In a COD game, you torture someone by forcing glass down their throat. That's a cutscene, but there's another instance which makes you strangle someone to death by using the joysticks? Do we really put these things in games? Is it alright? The rating system helps, but at the same time...how many kids play COD? A lot. So is what we see in video games alright for anyone to see?

Slenderman

So, you're walking through the forest at night armed with nothing but a torch and all of a sudden you see a large tree in the distance. You walk over to it and see a piece of paper on it that has the words: HELP ME! Scrawled on it in pencil. After this, you continue walking, because that's all you can do. You need to collect 7 more pieces of paper. You walk and walk and walk. You feel an eerie sense of being followed. Each tree begins to resemble a figure and each footstep starts to sound like something sinister. You turn the other direction an see a monstrosity. A creature with unnaturally long arms and no eyes walking slowly towards you. You visions turns to static. You turn and run. Run like your life depends on it. You turn around to check if he's still following you, but he's gone. Literally disappeared into thin air. You continue to walk everywhere, looking for that piece of paper and eventually find it. As you continue you search, it becomes clear that he's following you. You see this creature every so often and you run away terrified. At last...page five. You read the words: He is everywhere on the page. You turn and...oh god...HE"S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! All you see as the static fills your vision is the faint outline of a head and shoulders, before you die. 

Ladies and Gentlemen...this is Slenderman. Fear him. 

The Doctors Top 10s- Characters

So Before we begin, i must state the obvious.
SPOILERS.
This list is also made from characters that I know and from games I have played. 


At number 10: Norman Jayden (heavy rain) one of the games 4 playable characters, Jayden is an FBI agent assigned to work on the case of the oragami killer. however, he is also addicted to a substance called triptocane. the good thing about heavy rain is that you can get jayden to break his addiction and, to quote terfle, tank the cravings.


At number 9: Solaire of astora, aka Brolaire or the Sunbro (Dark souls) The sun bro is, quite frankly one of the most useful NPCs in dark souls. without him there would be no jolly cooperation. If you manage to save him from his ultimate fate in lost isalith, he will even help you with gwyn. PRAISE THE SUN!




Number 8: Jak (Jak 2 renegade) after the first game, Jak became far more awesome. after spending the first game as a mute, jak was finaly given his albeit gravely voice in Jak 2. his quest for revenge fuelled by dark eco puts jak at number 8 on this list.









Number 7: John Marston (Red Dead redemption) because John Marston...
ok, in all seriousnes, John Marston is trying to escape his old life as an outlaw, and the game red dead redemption allows you to go with him on his journey.




Number 6: Joker (batman arkham city) The joker, played by mark hamil, puts on an amazing performance in arkham city. The Joker was, by far, the games liveliest character (in terms of attitude anyway. 












Number 5: Sora (Kingdom Hearts) Keyblade wielder Sora comes from the destiny islands. however, after they are consumed by darkness, he must go on an epic quest to find and rescue his friends, Riku and Kairi. Sora's place on this list is based on his resolve. He will stop at nothing to reunite with his friends. 












At number 4: Master Chief (Halo series) Chief is, quite frankly, the definition of badass. problem? hell shoot his way out, just to mix things to a little.















Number 3: Cole Mcgrath (infamous and inFamous 2) Cole, the greatest hero or greatest villan in videogame history, depending on your choices. Cole's journey takes him through empire city and new marais in order to find out why he was given his powers and to stop the beast.





 










Number 2: Goku (Dragonball Z games) Why is goku on this list? hes an anime character, not a Videogame character! well, he's actually starred in almost every dragon ball game.




















Number 1: Zeke Dunbar (Infamous 2) Zeke at the end of the first infamous had a questionable character, but after playing infamous 2, my respect for Zeke increased tenfold
from launching nukes at the beast and down 5 armed men with nothing but a revolver, Zeke has earnt his place at number 1

FIRE THE DUNBAR BEAM!

Romance in Video games

In books. movies and TV series, an often compelling plot point is romance. And I mean actual romance, not the Game of Thrones type...
Anyway, games don't always get it done the right way. In games, we like to make things happen. WE WANT DEM BADD GUYS TO BLOW UP!!! Going to a flower store and buying gifs for your sweetheart before she cheats on you isn't exactly a compelling gameplay device. However, romance can be somewhat interesting. Often in games, there is a cliche of going on some EPIC QUEST to save your girlfriend. It isn't exactly original, but it does give you something to fight for. Also, in Skyward Sword, the time taken in building up the relationship between Zelda and Link is almost masterful and it really makes you want to save her. I remember playing Spider-Man 2 and the mission was "meet Mary Jane at cafe" AARRRGGGHH IT WAS SO INTENSE!!!!! I felt as though if I didn't make it, I would be f-f-FOREVER ALONE! But the absolute pinnacle of this is Mass Effect. The way you talk, learn more about these characters feels real, not tacked on as some sex appeal...even if each game does have a sex scene. So, if Mass Effect is at the top...I guess something like Assassin's Creed or GTA is the worst. In AC...you just sort of, get together with them. Nothing compelling. In GTA you hire...ladies of the night to get in the back seat of your car.
Ahem.

Game of Thrones (game)

If there's any TV show that I think is overrated and completely stupid, it's Game of Thrones. Although my voice probably won't be heard over the tonnes of fanboys screaming that it's the best TV show ever made, I HATE THIS SHOW! People always say it's an epic fantasy world, but really, it's light on actual lore and story. As opposed to a tense conflict human drama and the unweaving of conspiracies, it's a tale of "warring families fight for throne in boring fantasy land" The characters are so forgettable and boring and the plot twists and turns are simple. Also, the production value, camera work and set/costume/sound design are low as well as the worst turn of events ever where a freaking teenager becomes king and marries the daughter of the father whose head he chopped off after the girl betrayed him to the evil family. But the absolute best thing about the series is the scene were the "tension" builds up and there's about to be a huge battle, but then the protagonist is knocked out and all of a sudden would you look at that; war's over! Despite all this crap, everyone loves the show. Why? INCEST! 


So what better way to celebrate a terrible TV series is to make a terrible game. Awful graphics? Yep. Crap voice acting? Yep. Gameplay where you choose what attacks to use at the start of the fight and then sit back and wait? Yep. Behold: Game of thrones in all it's crap!

AMAZING!!!

Bunch of Reviews

Here we go;

Mass Effect 2 is the excellent sequel to the first in the trilogy. It features more great storytelling and characters as well as some epic choices. The best thing about this game in my opinion is that it carries over all your decisions from the first game and completely changes your experience. As far as new gameplay goes, it's amazing. The shooting mechanics have been tightened and powers are much more useful. However, they removed a lot of the RPG elements that were present in the first game, which I kind of missed, but overall, the game is much better than the first and even the resource collecting plant minigame is fun. 

Transformers War fot Cybertron takes place in the official Transformers cannon universe, before the Transformers land on Earth. It has a strong story that spans an Autobot and Decpticon campaign. The graphics are great, especially because the game in built across an entirely robotic planet. The story is perfect. It has all the characters you want, with just the right voice acting you crave. Also, the plot is crafted so well it could be ripped out of the original TV series. War for Cybertron is a third Person shooter that doesn't employ cover. This may seem odd, but I think it's a good choice. Players should feel like powerful robots, not like guys who need to duck every time they get shot at. There are plenty of weapons and grenades to play with and transforming is seamless. The boss fights are awesome, with the exception that some have 1 hit kill moves. The only real problem is that the characters (the whole lot of them) don't really feel all that different. They each have a rechargeable power and an energon power, but aside from that, they're all pretty much the same. Luckily, that problem should be ironed out in the sequel. (Note: I didn't test multiplayer)

E3 overview

The Electronic Entertainment Exopsition. An event for all gamers to watch and marvel at the spectacle of gaming. 
This year however, I can't shake something. I was underwhelmed. Not overwhelmed or just whelmed, but underwhelmed. Some of the title at E3 will no doubt be great like Halo 4, New Super Mario Bros 2 and U, Pikmin 3, Bioshock 3, Crysis 3, Darksiders 2 and various others, but where are the new things?
All these best looking titles had numbers on the end. Is it truly that hard to think of something new and interesting? The Last of Us, Watchdogs and Dishonoured all look refreshing, that's a puddle compared to an ocean. Games which puke out sequels like the industry depends on it seem to be the way of the future (Call of Duty Black Ops 2/ COD9...Assassin's Creed 3/ AC5) which is a shame. Overall, E3 was fun because we got to see some more footage of some old favourites. It was boring because so few was new.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is awesome. Awesome movies. Awesome TV series. Awesome books. SO PLEASE, PLEASE VIDEO GAMES! DO NOT RUIN HOLMES FOR ME! I know now there is a Sherlock Holmes video game which will be unveiled at E3, but I have so many doubts. For one, releasing a game on the height of a character's popularity is akin to making a movie tie in game. Cashing in on something while it's being talked about. I loved the Sherlock Holmes movies and BBC TV series, so this had better now ruin him now. If the gameplay is something like L.A. Noire, then it might be impressive, but if it turns out like one of those CSI games, then fond memories of Sherlock Holmes will evaporate. So...video games...I'm asking you nicely. Please don't kill him.

Harley Quinn's revenge Idea

K, so the new trailer for Harley Quinn's revenge is out, but I won't put it up as it has spoilers for those who haven't beaten Arkham City. Anyway, it involves Batman being shot in the chest. I had an idea. What if they killed off Batman? Not only would it come to the player as a massive shock, but it would open up for the Scarecrow in the next game. The two previous Arkham games have been about Batman and the Joker, but with Mark Hamill saying the Arkham City was the last time he would take the role of the clown prince of crime, the new villain for the next game is most likely Scarecrow (as hinted through Arkham City) So what better way to set up a new story than by killing off Bruce Wayne and making Nightwing the new Batman. The voice actor must be Bruce Greenwood from Batman: Under the Red Hood and the fantastic TV show Young Justice. 

Mass Effect Review

Mass Effect is the first game of the now famous trilogy and boy is it something. It blends some amazing storytelling and cutscenes with fun shooting and RPG elements to create something awesome. Flawed, but awesome.

The story in Mass Effect is amazing. You'll want to keep playing just to find out what happens next. It also helps that the story is one that you create. Choice is a very important aspect of Mass Effect as you can dictate the way the story goes and weather to save or kill certain people. Some of the BIG decisions you make you know will have consequences later in the trilogy, even in the small things. The characters are all wonderfully done with enough back story and emotion behind them to make them feel real. The setting is in the future where humans and aliens live together in peace and harmony across galaxies. Mostly. Humans have not yet fully been accepted by the council and must prove themselves. You play as Commander Shepard of the Galactic alliance. The great thing about this is that he/she is your shepard. You can make him/her heroic or ruthless, and choose how he/she looks. I chose male Shepard, but found his voice acting really dull and boring, so I switched to female Shepard and found she was much better. 
The graphics are strong, even for a game of this age which really speaks about how much effort Bioware's put into this game. The game has this whole feeling of being cinematic and epic, which is one of the few times I actually was truly engaged in cutscenes and felt as though I was watching a movie. The voice acting is generally great, except for the Asari who seem to all have the universal power of sounding WEAK!!


Gameplay wise, Mass Effect is a blend of Third Person Shooting and RPG. You can upgrade and change gear anytime with equipment you buy or find around the world and can spend points on talents on specific trees like the power of a weapons or one of you specific talents. At the beginning of the game you choose between a soldier, a biotic, an engineer, an infiltrator, a sentinel or a vanguard, each has different powers and skills. The cover system is good, but there's no button to go into it, so you have to press yourself agains the wall and that takes you in. This works, but it's clunky. Same with activating your powers and changing weapons. You pause the whole game and activate them. As with before, it's a bit clunky, but it functions. Teammates however are beyond frustrating. They rarely listen to your commands, and take cover in inappropriate places and shoot walls. The enemies do this as well, but not as often.
On top of shooting, upgrading and getting new weapons, there are also driving sections which are fun and an interesting distraction. These involve little of the levelling up skills you've used and put the action mainly into shooting and exploration. Overall, combat's fun, but a little awkward. You also have dialogue trees when talking to people to change the outcome of the story and character relationships. This is really fun, and these talks can influence the whole game. Sometimes, it'll be a small thing such as deciding to be nice or mean to a character, or at others, who lives and who dies. You can tell Bioware put a lot of effort into this game with all the different story branches and lines. Some things won't affect the story now, but you know they will in later games. 


Mass Effect is a great game with some flaws the keep it from being amazing. While combat is a tad clunky, so rarely do we see a game with such a movie like experience in every moment. If you want to start the Mass Effect Trilogy, then start with this and you'll have a great time.