This just in, here at BSR we sometimes kick ass and take names on Halo. Due to the large quantity of ass we kick, we’ve decide to document this for your viewing pleasure. Stop back here every Friday for amazing pwnage of n00bs.

You got pwnd – Collision from Lucas Ackley on Vimeo.

Pwners

Pwnees

	Alpha Protocol – XB360, PS3 Save the world in Obsidian’s modern day, espionage RPG.
	Tropico 3 – Absolute Power, PC: Woo more Tropico stuff
	Sims 3: Ambitions, PC, Mac Ambitions will let Sims 3 players join their little computer people at work in all-new professions, such as inventor, sculptor, and tattoo artist.
	Back Breaker Football: PS3, XB360 Woo more football!
	Hexyz Force – PSP A new JRPG for you PSP kids.
	Pure Futbol: XB360, PS3
	City Builder – Nintendo Wii The title says it all!!

Also noteworthy this week, the Playstation folk will be receiving the Modern Warfare 2 resurgence pack June 3!!

So Lost is over and we’re all wondering what can fill this void we have in our lives. Well if you happen to have Rock Band you can get more Lost goodness today! The folks in charge at the Rock Band Network have released two songs from the show on the X-Box Marketplace today. PS3 and Wii users will unfortunately have to wait a while as songs released on the RBN are exclusive to X-Box for 30 days before they can be released on other platforms.

First up is a song from Driveshaft. Y’know… Charlie Pace’s band! Well we can all sing and jam out to their hit #1 single, “You Are Everybody.”

And secondly you can bust out your Dharma jumpsuits to make you feel more at home when you play “Dharma Lady” by Geronimo Jackson. This fictional band was referenced througout the series and we finally got to hear a song by them in the 5th season opener called “Because you Left.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda excited for these. Though I will have to wait for them to be released on the PS3, but it does give me something to look forward to!

Anybody who’s anybody remembers days spent playing Mario Kart. Hours passed yelling at your friends after being blasted with a shell. On a more recent note a huge portion of gamers now remember hours spent building up their sack boy or girl into a scary monster, cute creature,or anything and running through the most openly creative platformer we’ve ever played. United Front Games has now combined those two experiences utilizing characters inspired by Urban Vinyl, and a battle racer weapons system.

Modnation is built on a simple premise, create your own unique character and kart, and race them to your hearts content. When you’re done racing through the store, or feel like a change of pace you can then move into the track creation tools, I will say the advertising mentioned the tools were simple and quick, and for the most part I’ll agree. I found myself struggling to put items correctly and straight, or fully populate the area with items, I am exceptionally thankful that if I make a bad map, (and I plan on making plenty) another player will be able to download it and remix it, fixing my follies, or improving on my genius!!

The load times for Modnation are bit painful, roughly 30 seconds to a minute in between races when switching tracks, and about the same amount of time when switching screens, UFG has promised a patch to fix this soon, but until the patch hits i’m willing to suffer through the load screens to enjoy the racing mechanic.

One of the biggest joys i’m finding in Modnation are the the simple details in body and engine type. When you choose a different body the weight, speed, and control all change for that kart, my box racer also known as boxy brown (which is literally built from a cardboard box), is much faster than my 1950s Mercedes Benz looking kart is clunkier, handles better, and is definitely slower.

The creation of your character or “Mod” is also something that gets progressively more fun as you win more races, or accomplish more racing feats, for example placing in the top 3 or taking first in some races unlocks more items for your mod, karts, or track creation. Some of the feats including scoring a certain amount of drift points, draft points, taking out racers at certain points on the map, or even taking out a certain number of racers coupled with winning first.

Modnation isn’t perfect, but it has every element I loved about LBP, and every element I loved in a good kart racer. I’m sure after a few weeks the amount of custom content will far outweigh any issues the game has, and after a few patches from UFG, i’m sure Modnation will be found flawless. I can hope only for this game to have large amounts of success.

Loved:

• Quick and easy creation system for users
• Slapstick humor
• Solid kart controls

Hated:

• AI bombarding me with weapons right before I hit the finish line costing me my first place ranking.
• Laggy menu screen while driving my kart to the different areas.
• the occassional opportunity to get my kart stuck off track, or in wierd crevices causing me to lose

Score:

• Graphics – 9
• Audio – 9
• Replay – 10
• Gameplay – 8
• Overall – 9

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the gayest game I’ve ever played! Why would you want a game that you could sit down and start playing at noon and not put down until midnight? As a die-hard gamer, I want a game that I can start, get tired of in 10 or so minutes and trade it in for something really kick-ass like Trauma Team.

Expanding off the first game (which sucked) you have all new challenges! There is this annoying green dinosaur (Sinclair, I think) that helps you by sticking his tongue out and eating enemies and/or pulling them into his dirty mouth. Depending on what this dumb-ass eats (or what you force him to) he gains Sonic-like abilities to scale walls?! How could that be helpful? He can also use his largest muscle (tongue) to swing you and your mustached friend around obstacles.

What’s the deal with Mario’s fighting anyway? If you were in a universe were you can run around, upside down, and all-around wouldn’t you want more of a combat-style fighter to whoop some ass? I would. I played this game called Super Smash Bros. and Mario was rockin shit in that game. How come he can’t do it here? For Super Mario Galaxy 3 I’d say adapt that!

The music is tolerable at best, most fans and record producers will “dig” the sound effects, score, and overall auditory pleasures this game brings. I thought it could have used some Vasco Rossi but again that’s just me.

So you own 5 games for your Nintendo Wii right? Want to make it 6? Buy this game it’ll grab hold of you, choke the shit out of you, and starve you until your dead! It is the worst game Nintendo has ever made and I’m happy to say I will own several copies so you can’t find it in stores, remember how long it took to find Super Mario Bros. last Christmas? That was entirely my fault.

LOVED:

• The sequences between levels/sub levels.
• Smooth game-play
• Challenging & fun for all skill levels.

HATED:

• The signs and menu’s during game play felt sticky. They didn’t always pop up when selected.
• I selected my Mii character to play the game and Mario was selected, fuckin Italians!
• The goal of the game is to save Peach, why are we doing this over and over again?

SCORE:

• Graphics: 9
• Sound: 9
• Replay: 10
• Controls: 9
• Overall: 9.5

In case by my robot name you can’t tell I’m a Halo fan… I am. A dear friend and I spent the better part of the last three weeks tearing it up on the beta. While none of these videos feature anything too spectacular, it’ll give you a taste of what the game is like.

Senator Kooche – Oddball from Lucas Ackley on Vimeo.

Senator Kooche – Stick & Assisination from Lucas Ackley on Vimeo.

Senator Kooche – Oddball from Lucas Ackley on Vimeo.

Zombie Lucas – Jetpacks from Lucas Ackley on Vimeo.

Zombie Lucas – Guardian from Lucas Ackley on Vimeo.

Zombie Lucas – Pro Pipe from Lucas Ackley on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for a new weekly Halo article I think you will all really enjoy.

This is just fucking awesome. I thought that I had caught most of the references to video games in the books but the people at ugo.com have gone through and gotten every single one. Check it out HERE

3d Dot Game Heroes was made by Atlus for a certain type of gamer. This gamer, much like myself, remembers long hours spent in their bedroom or living room playing the original Zelda on the NES. Wondering if there was a story, or if they cared as you hacked through pixelated monsters, and navigated dungeons, wondering how you ever lived before video games.

Every moment spent playing this game is a delight. Creating your own 3d character is brought down to a simplistic level, and is only as complicated as you make it. 20 minutes in I had a Mooninite looking creation with a few combat and walking poses and was ready to start the game. As it begins you are shocked to have your hero awakened at the Inn, the king has requested your presence(surprise). Walking through the world I soon realized that Atlus spent most of their time copying the original Zelda, and a minimal amount of time creating their own world or characters. The only real changes are your giant sword, the comical people placed through-out the world, and the 3-Dimensional Landscape that you navigate. The zones remained basically the same and they simply built different maps in them, as well as added a few new baddies like the evil 3d bunnies.

The sound design in this game is a touch of genius, recreating a classic midi feel, they still allow you to hear the full frequency range of your speaker system, and even mix the game in surround sound. While swinging your giant sword it actually moves through the sound field based on the map. Attacking something in the bottom left sent sound to my rear-left channel, and so on. The bass created by the pushing and sliding of objects made my floors shake, while still giving me that classic NES soundscape that we all first fell in love with.

If I have any gripes, its that the map system for the game is still very closely related to the original Zelda, which sadly means, little direction, and a small amount of guidance. Luckily, you’re so overwhelmed with nostalgia while playing the game you barely notice when you’re lost.

3D Dot is a great addition to any gamers collection. I don’t think Atlus was trying to at all insult nintendo by parodying their game. Rather, I feel they were giving a giant hat-tip to the team that started the genre that dragged most of us into the gaming world. At a scant 39.99 this game is worth a pick up if only to have in your library.

Loved:

• Beautiful soundscape reminiscent of classic NES titles, with modern day mixing techniques.
• The consistent amount of humor put into the game
• The simple character design system, as well as large amount of pre-made sprites

Hated:

• The controls feel a bit sloppy at times, and make technical fights (Giant Bee Boss) a bit more challenging than it needs to be.

Score:

• Graphics – 9
• Sound – 10
• Replay – 6
• Controls – 7
• Overall – 8

Here’s your busy list for this week, it isn’t small.

	Red Dead Redemption:XB360, PS3-May 18: Follow John Marsten as he cleans up the west in this open world western.
	Alan Wake: Xbox 360 – May 18: Horror, Mystery, and Story combine in this new thriller.
	Split Second: XB360,PS3 – May 18 Battle racing to the max as you strategically destroy parts of the course to throw off your competitors, or even change the routes.
	Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, XB360, PS3 – May 18 The newest Prince of Persia game returns to the Sands of Time timeline, and will be released in conjunction with the live-action film next year (which it is not based on.)
	Trauma Team: Wii – May 18 Play as six different specialists in this hospital thriller.
	Attack of the Movies 3d, XB360, Wii – May 18 Attack of the Movies 3D transports players to six fantastic movie-themed worlds where they will battle large alien space cruisers, shoot underwater monsters, join the resistance against the machines and more
	Shrek Forever After: PC, PS3, 360, Wii – May 18 It’s Shrek, need I say more?
	Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow, DS – May 18 For the first time in the series, the player can assume the role of the main character, choose the character’s gender, and customize their loo