Some n00b in an Invasion game kept sneaking in the back door cloaked. You can only fool ROBOTtyson once (okay . . . twice).
ROBOTtyson is featured in this clip.

Have a video of you PWNING someone in Halo: Reach? Submit it and we may feature it here on BSR! Send submissions to admin@bigshinyrobot.com!

I haven’t been playing a lot of video games lately, which made me feel a little bit better about my life in general, but I’ve never been able to say ‘no’ to a Metroid game, and this one looked pretty cool. So, a few weeks ago I went out and bought Metroid: Other M, brought it home, and put it in the console, and it didn’t work. I tried it quite a few times, until I finally went to Nintendo’s website to find that there was a common problem with this game, that the older Wii’s lasers weren’t reading the disk. The solution to the problem was that I had to send my Wii off to Nintendo to get the laser cleaned, which Nintendo kindly paid for in full. I eventually got my system back, and the game worked correctly, and my life somehow kept moving throughout the process despite some preconceived notions that it wouldn’t. (In my defense, my hospital laid me off pending a malpractice hearing, so I’m unemployed. In my secondary defense, It’s not easy to transplant a liver while sky diving.) Anyway, on with the review!

Metroid: Other M, (Which is a title I seldom say correctly) is the newest in the Metroid series, and without doing any sort of research, I assume it takes place right after the events of Super Metroid. It’s a first and third person shooter, but for all intents and purposes, it might as well only be a third person shooter because you don’t use the first person all that much. It was hard to tell what they were trying to do with this new system, but I’ll pretentiously do my best to interpret. The third person makes the game feel a lot more like the 2-d Metroid games, and since your weapons auto-target you are practically lacking an entire dimension anyway. Although, I think the third person view is put to good use based purely on how good the Samus model looks. It’s often visually stimulating just to watch her run across the screen. I think it was a good choice.

Which brings me arbitrarily to the story of the game. In my opinion, one of the best parts of the Metroid series is the old school Nintendo story. Therefore it’s not due to the fact that it’s very complex, or even very good, but in virtue of the fact that it’s included. The stories have always been really superficial to me, and told in broad strokes so that you can usually sum up an entire game with only a sentence or two. (Metroid II: Samus goes to the metroid’s home world, kills the queen, and then a baby metroid thinks she’s it’s mother. The end.) This game changed that formula a bit. For the first time taking a little closer look at the character element of the story, but at the same time hitting a lot of the hallmarks of the series. It felt like watching the new Star Trek movie where they manufactured the story to get the whole crew on the deck at the same time, saying their lines, for the sake of gathering die hard fans ejaculate. For example, on the spaceship the story takes place on, they still have a lava world, and the very last thing you do in the game is an escape run as the ship is self-destructing. Though it’s easy to be sarcastic about the story, it actually felt like a really cool science fiction film. The story sequences were engaging, and the cinematics were some of the best Nintendo has ever done.

Next I want to bring up the weapon system. They introduced a new system, where you don’t find most of your upgrades, but that you simply decide not to use them until you get permission from a superior officer. It’s hard to say where I sit on this element, because I think they were going for being more “realistic” because it would seem daffy to have random upgrades to her chozo suit found on a spaceship that has nothing to do with the chozo. (The chozo are the ancient race of aliens that raised Samus.) The dilemma, is that it would be equally ridiculous to not use weapons and armor that would be life-saving at times, just because you were trying to follow orders. I’m not going to paint a clear picture of the paradoxes of this element, but I assure you that they are there. Putting that aside though, I will complement the map layout, and the placement of the weapon upgrades, because they were both really well thought out, something that constantly impresses me throughout all of the Metroid games. I’d also like to mention that the upgrades themselves are pretty awesome.

The mix between third and first person gameplay was definitely interesting, at first I didn’t think I was going to like it because it seemed confusing and awkward to switch how you were holding the controller in the middle of combat, or even just to look around a room, but I have to admit that it was actually very comprehensible. After only about an hour of gameplay I felt I had a real solid grasp of the controls. Which is a pet peeve of mine, I hate playing games that I feel inhibited by complicated controls. Though I didn’t have that problem with this game, I did have a problem that everything felt too easy. I can barely remember any of the bosses, simply because I didn’t have any trouble with any of them. Although, in the games defense, I am a pretty amazing. Basically, I spent the entire time through the game hoping there would be a hard mode, and there wasn’t… though, there is plenty of other things to keep you busy, like hunting for 100% of the items, or giving yourself a time limit to run through the game. There might even be secret modes that I don’t know about! Who knows…

Overall, I think this game was really fun, and worth playing though… Especially if you are a Metroid fan. It’s hardly a disgrace to the series at all, 8 out of 10.

If you don’t already own the game, you should pick it up at amazon, through this link here!
While you’re at it, you should also take the time to pre-order the new Legend of Zelda game that’s coming out for the Wii, Skyward Sword!

PS3 is finally getting a week with some major games after a recent drought. The last few weeks haven’t been very exciting if you don’t care about MOVE. You should definitely be playing some of these games. With the exception of Sly Cooper (Friday) everything is coming out on Tuesday, 9/28/10.

• Dead Rising 2 (Get the collector’s edition for only $20 more)
• Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Guitar and Super bundles available)
• Atelier Rorona: The Alchemists of Arland
• Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
• FIFA Soccer 2011
• Quantum Theory
• MySims Sky Heroes
• Front Mission Evolved
• Rapala Pro Bass Fishing 2010
• Get Fit with Mel B
• The Sly Collection

Seriously, you need to be excited for Dead Rising 2 and Sly Cooper. Quantum Theory has a lot of potential as well. Enslaved has had me curious since I first heard of it last year and it’s only looking better. It might also be the the most disappointing title of the week. I need to read some reviews on this one. Let us know if you play any of these and what you think.

I’ll probably post later this week with a list of 4th quarter’s major titles to help you decide what and where to pre-order. It’s no secret I’m aching to play some New Vegas.

SenatorKooche, ROBOTtyson and ZOMBIElucas are featured in this clip:

It has been one week now since the release of Halo: Reach, and to say that myself and Kill-Tacular-Tron have put in our fair share of hours playing the game at this point is reasonable to say. It may seem that perhaps this review is a week late, but we both wanted to beat the game and get in some hours of multiplayer play to form a solid opinion about this final entry in the Halo franchise from Bungie. So without further adeau, here is our review!

Arse-Bot:

Campaign: I have always been a fan of the Halo campaigns. For me, they are some of the most epic story lines ever portrayed in a FPS video game and Halo: Reach continues this tradition beautifully. In fact, I am going to be as bold as to say it’s the best narrative of all the Halo games thus far. I really don’t want to ruin the story for any of you out there yet to finish the campaign, but the story is epic and dramatic as all hell – and be sure to play the mission after the end credits! It’s what truly completes the story!

As far as actually playing the campaign goes, it was tough. Bungie has made it very clear that this is the most difficult campaign to date for any Halo game, going as far to state that trying to beat it on Legendary mode solo is almost impossible (though, there are many who have claimed to have done so already). I personally went through the campaign on Heroic – and it was a bitch. What makes this campaign so different from other Halo games is that the planet Reach is under an all-out invasion, so you are constantly massively out-numbered by hoards of Covenant. And this Covenant seems different, the Elites are more brutal, they all work in formation, they can evade you weapons, and they have a lot of fire power. Luckily though, you are usually with at least one of your Noble team mates, and they can actually be pretty helpful as far as AI go. The game took me about 11 hours to complete on this difficulty, and it was a hard-fought battle. It’s been a long time since I was this challenged by a FPS game, but a welcome challenge. Far and away my favorite mission is one in which you and your entire Noble Team (there are 6 of you) are storming up a hillside to storm a Covenant strong hold. It was something else being one of six Spartan’s running up a hill kicking ass and taking names.

I think overall, the main thing that makes this campaign so different from the other previous Halo games is the grand scale of things. Previously, you were a one-man army with Master Chief and were spending your time infiltrating ships, bases, etc. This time around, it is all out war. There are other Spartans helping out, more UNSC troops, more vehicles; everything is on a bigger scale. I noticed that before I felt like a super-soldier going it on my own in previous Halo games, now with this game, the scale feels way too big for it to be up to just one man. It’s chaotic, loud, and fast – and a hell of a lot of fun.

Multiplayer: In the interest of full disclosure, I “quit” playing Halo 3 about a year ago. I was growing tired of the multiplayer strategy of “charge, empty clip, melee, repeat” over and over again in every match. Once CoD Modern Warfare came out it offered me something new, so I have spent my online gaming hours playing that up until this point. I was anxious for this new Halo multiplayer after hearing about all it offered in the Beta – and I must say, it has reignited my love for this game’s multiplayer aspect.

Gone is the same old strategy of rush, shoot, hit; in its place is the need for adaptability and actual strategy. The melee has been adjusted in two ways to prevent this old style of play: 1. It takes two hits to take a guy down if he has even the smallest amount of shield left, 2. You no longer “lunge” when you melee. Some people may complain about this, but I think it adds a lot better game play value and puts more reliance on the use of weapons. The weapons have been adjusted as well, with the introduction of some new weapons along side old favorites. The new DMR, which is a mid to long-range rifle is a new trusty go-to weapon and the much-loved magnum pistol -with zoom- is back from the original Halo. There is also the introduction of new “Load-out” options, which gives you different abilities to choose from depending on your style of play; if you want to fly around like Boba Fett, the jetpack is for you – but if you want to be more sneaky, you can equip yourself with some active camo; there is also the ability to sprint, armor lock, deploy a bubble shield, and produce a hologram of your self to fool your enemy. All of these loadouts have great purpose and I personally find myself switching between a lot of them depending on the game type, situation, and how the match is being played. Between the new weapons and these load-out options there is an incredibly diverse way the game is being played in any given match, creating the need for adapting to new strategies and learning to use these new tools Bungie has given you.

Finally, there is armor customization. This isn’t the same customization from Halo 3, you have a LOT more control over the appearance of your Spartan. As you rank up, more armor becomes available to you and you can use your credits earned during gameplay to buy them. This is a great model. Prior to this, in Halo 3, when you ranked up your only reward was the “privelage” to play bigger assholes – now, there is an actual “reward” system that keeps you coming back to play the game to unlock new armor permutations.

Now, this game isn’t perfect. There seems to be some one-sidedness on some of the multiplayer maps that gives one team the advantage over the other, and it’s hard to recover from that advantage if you are the other team. Also, it seems there needs to be some better stability in the multiplayer matches; I would say that in about 50% of the games I play at at least one point during the match the game stopped, had to find a new host, and restarted – in fact, this happened four times in one game. It’s infuriating since it can take up to a minute or two for the server to find a new host and get the game going again.

Summary: It’s safe to say that up until about a week before Halo: Reach was released, I was skeptical. I hated the interim game between Halo 3 and this –Halo 3: ODST– and was thinking my days of enjoying Halo were over. This game has reignited my love for the franchise and has introduced enough change to keep the game interesting and prevent n00bs from just deploying the same tactics over and over. While I’m sure I will still grave the more “life-like” carnage from Call of Duty, Halo: Reach has definitely stepped up Halo’s multiplayer game and will be in regular rotation for my online gaming.

Kill-Tacular-Tron:

Campaign: I honestly can’t say I have a whole lot more to add to what Arse spoke about. The campaign is gripping and epic. For the entire time you feel you are fighting a nasty uphill battle and you aren’t sure how to win it. The only thing I’ll add… be sure to stay after the credits.

Multiplayer: Alright, this is the meat and potatoes of Halo for me. I’ve always been a big fan of big team slayers with friends. Halo 3 was always a lot of fun for me, but it certainly felt uneven. Especially with the BR’s. Nothing was more frustrating then some asshole pinning you down in a corner and spawn-killing you.

With Halo: Reach’s multiplayer, it is so much more varied. Getting stuck a lot or run over? Grab the Guardian over shield. Want to cut some corners and surprise attack the other team? How about the jetpack?. So awesome.

And on the subject of the old Battle Rifle, its replacement the DMR is awesome. Its powerful enough that you can get away with having it for an entire game. But its weak enough that you can’t dominate an entire team without some serious skill.

The maps on this game are epic as well. All of them having been incorporated into the campaign. So if you play through it before hopping online, even the new maps will seem familiar. Really great touch.

The vehicles have always been my favorite part of any Halo battle. And being the “wheelman” that I am, they’ve done a good job of crippling some of the things I would take advantage of, as well as beefing up some of the weak points. I can still drive a Warthog around and tear it up, but I have to be more cautious of the path I take so I don’t bounce out of control. And my gunner has to burst shoot as to not overheat the gun.

Summary: I can’t stop raving about this game. If you have liked Halo games in the past, you’ll love this one. If you hate Halo and are a die hard CoD fan. You won’t like it. So STFU and GTFO.

From the BSR Forum:

Vivalalance: “I have already sank about 20 hours into this game online and I can tell you its well worth its 60 dollar price point. I know I have been hearing this a lot lately, but it really is the best halo to date. I have ONE gripe with the multi player being that the level design colors are very bland. And Zombietron was quick to point out that with the vast universe that halo could be all we ever seem to see is: the interior of a ship, desert, and mountain escapes. That aside the load outs are a great addition along with the armor unlocks seem to be a much more rewarding part of the game. The balance within the game is probably the best I’ve seen out of all the halo’s. And did I mention they brought back 3 of my favorite halo 2 maps? ivory tower, blood gulch (technically from one) and ascension. On a note for the campaign, I RARELY play a campaign…..it has to be arkham asylum amazing or I won’t touch it. And I am ACTUALLY into this campaign and its REALLY good.”

You can check out the rest of what BSR Forumer Vivalalance had to say about Halo: Reach and share your input as well over in the Forum! Plus keep an eye out for our new articles You Got PWND.

Time again to check the PSN Store. But, of course, before we can we must update our firmware once again. At least version 3.50 gives us something (as opposed to the hack-killing 3.42). Specifically, we can now play 3D blu-ray discs – assuming you have a 3DTV.

Once your update is done there is actually a lot to see this week. Starting with the continuing celebration of the 15th Anniversary there is a free avatar and a discount to the PSOne Classic International Track & Field ($2.99).

Moving on to Sony’s new motion controller, Move, there is a selection of new videos, demos (Kung Fu Rider, Sports Champions and Eyepet) and updates to older PSN titles. It seems Planet Minigolf, Hustle Kings and High Velocity Bowling are now Move-compatible. Note that the free update to High Velocity Bowling is available only for Plus members.

Fans of Japanese games will be excited to see the new section of the store, Japanes PS One Imports. The first two games available in this area are Cho Aniki and GaiaSeed. both are $5.99 ($3.00 for Plus members).

If you’re shopping for a new downloadable game there are a few options. First, the sequel to DeathSpank is out. Subtitled Thongs of Virtue ($14.99), this game has a demo option if you want to test run it first. But if you download by the 27th you get the Mountain Dungeon and Tankko the Warrior multiplayer add-ons free. Also sporting a pre-buy demo is Blade Kitten ($14.99). I think this is an action RPG starring a sword-wielding cat and I have to admit, I am intrigued. Other new games are the Dreamcast port Sonic Adventure ($9.99) and Swords and Soldiers ($9.99, Plus exclusive).

Games that are not available on PSN right now are still making a showing in demo form. If you’ve been looking to test out DJ Hero 2, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West or NBA Elite 11 now is your chance. I’ve been sort of following Odyssey and I’m getting that demo.

The major news this week on the store is in the add-ons department. Rock Band has an extensive list of DLC on sale. If you’ve had your eye on any songs or packs I strongly suggest you check this out. Mega Man 10 has bundled Endless Attack Mode, Bass Mode and Special Stages 1, 2 and 3 for $4.99. New add-ons are plentiful:

• EyePet Farm Animals Pack – $2.99
• EyePet Race Car Driver Pack – free
• ModNation Racers Nathan Drake Mod and Kart (previously a pre-order exclusive) – $1.99
• Red Dead redemption Liars and Cheats Pack – $9.99
• Skate 3 San Van Party Pack – $6.99
• Clashof the Titans: Zeus’ Challenge Quest Pack – $1.99
• Sonic Adventure DX Upgrade – $4.99
• Planet Minigolf Stronghold Island – $2.49
• Gladiator Begins: Animal Gladiator, Animal Print, Crown, Cursed Panoply – all free
• Rock Band DLC ([L]=LEGO RB Compatible)
• Snoop Dogg Pack 1 (finally bundled) – $13.49
• Bob Marley Legend (album) – $19.99, songs are $1.99/ea (Buffalo Soldier, Could You Be Loved, Exodus, I Shot the Sheriff, Is This Love[L], Jamming, No Woman No Cry[L], One Love/People Get Ready, Redemption Song, Satisfy My Soul[L], Stir It Up, Three Little Birds[L], Waiting in Vain[L])
• RBN ($1.99/ea unless otherwise noted)
• Chelsea – The Summer Set ($0.99)
• Crash Years – The New Pornographers
• Packet Flier – Terror Horse
• Riot Act – Exodus
• Step Up (I’m On It) – Maylene & The Sons of Disaster

An odd little piece that doesn’t fit anywhere is Dead Rising 2. This highly anticipated game launches on Tuesday but there are already several pieces of “DLC” available. Basically, if you haven’t pre-ordered this game from the same place your friends have you will have different exclusive costumes and content. The free DLC available lets you all play together anyway.

In lighter fare there’s a decent update to avatars, premium and non-premium themes and videos.

• Premium Themes
• EyePet Summer Dynamic – $2.99
• Kung Fu Rider Dynamic – $2.99
• Sports Champions – $2.99
• Mega Man 10 Bundle (1, 2 and 3) – $5.99
• NCAA Dynamic – $2.99/ea (Army, Auburn, Michigan State, Ohio State, USC, U. of Michigan, U. of Wisconsin)
• Free Non-Premium Themes
• Sports Champions General
• Sports Champions Individual Sports (Archery, Table Tennis, Gladiator Duel, Disc Golf, Bocce, Beach Volleyball)
• PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap Wallpaper 3
• Avatars
• Sports Champions Bundle – $2.99 or $0.49/ea (Belle, Boomer, Connor, Dallas, Rin, Kenji, Kat, Jackson, Giselle, Tatupu)
• Mega Man 10 – $0.49/ea (Commando, Dr. Wily, Sheep Man)
• Videos
• Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 Trailer
• Shaun White Skateboarding Transformation Trailer
• Medal of Honor Trailers: the Catalyst, Consulting, Hammer and Scalpel, The Mission, Singleplayer, The Wolf Pack Trailer
• ModNation Racers Artist Spotlight: Tanner vs. Tyler
• TV Superstars Trailer
• Bulletstorm Announce Trailer
• Mafia II: Developer Diary #4
• Mass Effect 2 Announcement Trailer

Finally, only because I don’t where to include this, is a free download called PlayMemories. This looks like some sort of interactive slideshow and allows for 3D viewing and multi angle photos.

That’s your update folks. Log on and enjoy. I’ve got a few things downloading as I finish this up.

P.S. I just noticed Androidika on my Friends list. He’s playing Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. I am officially jealous.

This pwnage brought to you by SenatorKooche:

As of this writing no publisher or developer has confirmed the existence of such a title, but Gamestop does have a listing for a “kollection” of Mortal Kombat hits redone in HD. Apparently being done in the same vein as the top-selling God of War Collection and the upcoming ICO and Sly collections, this set is rumored to include Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

There a few key things to notice. First, the listing on Gamestop is for PS3 and I haven’t been able to find it for 360. Exclusive? Second, PS3 is capable of 3D gaming; could one or more of these titles have 3D effects? Third, release date is November 16, 2010. This is good timing if the Mortal Kombat reboot game is really coming in 1st quarter 2011 as rumored. Finally, the list price is $39.99. Forty bucks for three classic fighting games seems like a reasonable price, especially in HD.

Wow, what an incredibly thin week for retail releases on Sony’s console! Unless I’ve made a ridiculous mistake it appears there are only two games coming.

The first is F1 2010, just the next game in the Formula 1 franchise. If you’re into the series, good for you.

The second is the Move-enabled version of High Velocity Bowling. I have this on PSN but have only played three or four times as it was barely entertaining. The weird thing is that it’s pretty cheap on PSN and I believe the Move capability will be added via free patch. So why is anyone buying this on disc?

It looks like Sony is shaping up to have a better online week than a retail one but we’ll have to wait and see for the actual store update. The rumors look good but I never believe it until I see it on my console. Dead Rising 2 is set for next week and that should just be the first piece of the wave of awesomeness coming in fourth quarter.

I’ll be back in a day or two with the PSN Store update.

This pwnage brought to you by ZOMBIElucas: