Category Archives: Games

[Game Review] Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 (Wii)

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System: Wii (Also on: PS3, PSP, PS2, XBox 360, Nintendo DS, iPhone, Wireless)
Developer: Yuke’s Media Creations
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Wrestling

Each year the WWE releases a new, retooled version of their franchise video game, Smackdown vs. Raw. The 2010 edition boasts a few new gameplay additions, and the THQ-published game proves that by improving steadily a good game can become a great game within only a handful of years.

The one major addition that takes this game from standard entertainment to something truly special is the new Story Designer mode. The one thing professional wrestling has that more mainstream sports lack is the fan’s ability to “fantasy book.” Fantasy booking is taking these characters and charting their path and careers to suit your own personal taste. With the new Story Designer mode, you can take your favorite personalities and really make your own show. You can do everything from craft a backstage promo on Raw to build your own personal Road to Wrestlemania. Continue reading →

[Sadistic Childhood Game Review] Red Rover

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Back in September, I got “doped up” and went on a fanatical rant about a particular item which ruined my childhood and permanently scarred me as a human being. Sure, drug addiction is a serious problem, but after getting literally dozens (five) of reads and being named a site admin for the most socially relevant Facebook group ever created, I’d say the experience was worth it and I was looking forward to sharing various “trippy” experiences with our beloved readers.

Unfortunately, while the crippling addiction has continued, the mind bending posts have not. But fear not, as another of my most hated childhood memories came flooding back as I sat committing minimum wage time theft at work today.

Now that the four generic sleeping pills are down the gullet, it’s time for your cummupins, Red Fucking Rover! Continue reading →

[Game Review] Bioshock 2 (Xbox 360)

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System: Xbox 360 (Also on: PS3, PC)
Developer: 2K Marin
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: First-Person Shooter

Bioshock was a wicked game. It had a great story, great visuals, and was an interesting shooter. It earned the awards given to it and became a platinum hit.

Bioshock 2 released last week for 360, PS3 and PC atop a lot of hype from the underground. It would have mulitplayer, a new story, Playing as the Big Daddy sounded hella tight and I was excited to try my sea legs out inside a massive 50’s era diving suit, and all the bells and whistles that would make it a smash sequel were present. Sadly, while it is a good game, 2K Marin fails to deliver the punch that 2K Boston, the team behind the original, did. Continue reading →

[Game Review] Trivial Pursuit (Wii)

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System: Wii (Also on: Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, iPhone)
Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Board Game/Trivia

Few games capture the desire for people to show off exactly how intelligent they are like board game staple Trivial Pursuit. The game is both simple and complex all at once, as you circle a spoked wheel game board acquiring pieces that encompass a variety of subjects. With this game, you can truly prove just how many obscure books or 3 AM History Channel specials you’ve watched.

When I stumbled across a version for the Wii, I was incredibly curious and not just because I have a kitten that enjoys swatting any and all game pieces from a board at every crucial moment. But because I have actually had a good experience with board game based video games. Ironically, it’s the exact opposite of film based video games, in that the developers keep the heart of the game true to the base of the board game. Continue reading →

[Game Review] Trenches (iPhone)

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System: iPhone
Developer: Thunder Game Works
Publisher: Thunder Game Works
Genre: Strategy

If you’re anything like me, that is you spend tremendous amounts of time playing flash games at school/work, you might have come across the game Warfare 1917. Trenches takes a lot of cues from the popular flash game and strips down the gameplay to make a simple, enjoyable World War I strategy game for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Continue reading →

[Game Review] N.O.V.A. (iPhone)

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System: iPhone
Developer: Gameloft
Publisher: Gameloft
Genre: First Person Shooter

A lot of people have been said the iPhone would be a pitiful replacement for mobile gaming, they say. Touch interface alone cannot stand with the contending champs such as the DS or the PSP, they say. Well, Gameloft is here to prove whoever “they” may be wrong. N.O.V.A. was actually a well-hyped game for the iPhone leaving expectations quite high, but thankfully, N.O.V.A. lives up to every bit of it.

The story is pretty standard for a futuristic shooter. Your an ex-military soldier who gets drafted back into the fight to take care of some invading aliens. You follow the orders of an A.I. reminiscent of Cortana in Halo. You also have a suit kind of like the Mjolner armor. I feel like I know where some of the inspiration came from. Continue reading →

Mass Effect 2

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System: Xbox 360, PC
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: RPG

One month after stopping a race of large sentient machines from wiping out all life in the known universe Commander Shepard is used as a figurehead for humanity and subsequently put on bitch missions to kick the last of the Geth in their robotic nads. This is where Mass Effect 2 begins, and where one hell of a ride starts.

Mass Effect 2, from the start, is a major upgrade from the trilogy’s start. The game has a fresh feel, while still keeping very close in the realm of Mass Effect. Many, many changes have been made to the sequel, both good and bad in my opinion. The story has the same idea as ME1, but with several changes. The opening of the game has you scrambling to save Joker (Seth Green), everyone’s favorite crippled, wise talking pilot, as a menacing ship appears out of hyperspace and begins an assault. The end of the opening cinematic has Shepard floating through space, suit badly damaged, and oxygen failing. The crew escapes as Shepard is seen on a crash course with a nearby planet, thus Mass Effect 2 begins. Continue reading →

[Game Review] Mass Effect (Xbox 360, PC)

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System: Xbox 360 (Also on: PC)
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: RPG

In light of Bioware’s new title, Mass Effect 2, and the embarking of this noble gamer on a nonstop binge of the aforementioned game in the sake of this website, I’d like to take a step back and go over the first in this new space trilogy.

Mass Effect, spawned by Knights of the Old Republic creators Bioware, is the first in a planned trilogy of space video games. You take the role of one Commander Shepard, by either using the preset John, or devising your own spin on Shepard. You pick from a sort of amped up RPG class list — soldiers, archers, thieves, mages — but with a serious futuristic twist. Continue reading →

[Game Review] Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii)

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System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: First Person Adventure

I’m going to go ahead and say it. Metroid Prime Trilogy is fantastic. Amazing. Outstanding. Three of the highest rated adventure games of the past decade totaling at least 80 hours of gameplay jam packed onto a single disc, stuffed inside of a gorgeous collector’s tin packaging, loaded up with Medals and unlockables, and put on store shelves for $50.

If you own a Wii, there is no reason you shouldn’t have this game in your collection. Period.

I really don’t think I need to say anything else, but for those of you who need a tad bit more convincing, feel free to read on. You’re just wasting time you could be spending driving to the nearest video game store, though. Continue reading →

[Game Review] Army of Two: The 40th Day

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System: Xbox 360, PS3 (Also on: PSP)
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Third-person Shooter

Some of you may be familiar with a game that dropped a few years back called Army of Two. It was a third person shooter much akin to Gears of war, but it featured two bad ass ex army rangers turned mercenaries. The game boasted the use of co-op (both AI and a second person) to complete the game’s many missions set across the globe and the past two decades.

You play as Salem or Rios. Salem is a wise cracking little guy with a temper to boot and a trigger finger to match. Rios is a lumbering behemoth who, though bearing the face of one caught making out with a wood chipper, is more subtle and easy going. (Easy going for a Bad ass Ex Army Ranger turned merc that is.) Continue reading →