So….. I’m not a huge wrestling fan, people who know me know this. However I am a fan of a game that makes sense. And a lot of stuff in WWE does not. For instance, how in the hell does a ring get to 500 degrees Fahrenheit without my characters skin melting off? Just saying, physics should apply no matter how many PBRs you’ve had before playing. This game is pretty much high voltage redneck rock and roll loops, while a bunch of steroid pumped dudes, punch each other repeatedly.. And… if you can figure out how to power bomb someone, then more power to you.. The physics work, the character models look really good. The audio is well done. The controls are just too sluggish, and weak to make me excited that my gold covered ICP wannabe may or may not burst into flames at any moment. (Seriously try an inferno match, it makes no sense.) All in all, if you watch WWE regularly, think Miller High Life is classy, or have a truck with any of the following items on it: A confederate flag, antlers, a gun rack (with or without a gun on it.), Lift kit, Metal Mullisha decal, or if you’ve ever said the phrase shit y’all. Buy this game, its for you.
Score

• Graphics – 9
• Audio – 8
• Controls – 6
• Replay – 7

• overall – 7.25

This game starts by making you smile. Four, a rusted, broken looking bus carrying four different merceneries,
cruises through the waste-land of Pandora. Allowing you to jam along to Cage the Elephant. The cell shaded animation gives this game a unique feel, that most gamers seem to shun. I honestly believe that if this game weren’t cell shaded it wouldn’t be as interesting as it is. Right from the beginning the odd sense of humor that this game portrays is thrown in your face, as your escort known as “Clap Trap” begins guiding you toward the first town, occassionally stopping to dance away his sorrows. Once the tutorial is finished you are thrown into the immersive questing system, which reminded me strongly of WOW. Find character, get list of stuff to kill, or items to find. And return them the quest-giver for XP, and money.
However that only scratches the tip, as weapons drop you find yourself spending more time comparing each weapon in your arsenal to the one on the ground to decide which to keep. And of course as you use more of a certain style, Sniper, Machine Gun, Shotgun, you gain proficiency which adds accuracy and damage. To gain critical hits you must shoot enemies in certain spots, or areas. Like in the mouth in the case of the Skags. Night and day transitions very smoothly in this game, and I found myself losing track of time instantly. 20 minutes became 2 hours, and the zany characters are too much to even go into detail on without ruining the comical surprises. All in all this game is a solidly put together title, that should not be over-looked. Fans of Fallout, Oblivion, and most shooters will find this exciting and hilarious. And once you finish the story, you still have a list of side-quests a mile long, and challenges to complete that will keep you coming back for more.
SCORE

• graphics – 9
• story – 9
• Audio – 9
• Replay – 9

• OVERALL – 9

BUY IT ON AMAZON

Let’s start from the top, I love Jack Black’s work, and I love Tim Schaffer’s video games, so you can imagine the excitement behind this game coming out. The list of voice acting talent is amazing, Jack Black, Ozzy, Lita Ford, Lemmy, Rob Halford, Kyle Gass, David Cross and a slew of other musicians and comedians. The story behind this game is for any music lover, amazing well biased towards those who are music purists. Metal is and always will be the ultimate form of expression, and this new pussy stuff coming out can go right to hell. Eddie Riggs finds himself killed in a stage accident while roadying for the worlds worst band, and awakes in a metal hell, surrounded by demons, chicks, and axes. And with that you begin fighting your way through, after re-playing the demo level because it really was just the first part of the game, you are put into an intense dodge and race sim, blasting through the ungodly landscape.  I found myself really impressed with how detailed the landscapes are and how nice the art style of the game is.  They definitely followed that dark, rockband/guitar hero graffiti metal blend, and it shows through out the level, that their artists truly cared about the product they were putting forward.I really liked the sandbox feel they give to the game as well and enjoyed it not being over-bearingly shown, and its not easy to lose your path, which is always a bonus for us add gamebots.
All in all this hack n’ slash is a great example of Double Fines commitment to fun and  different IP. And I look forward to seeing more titles of this caliber throughout the years.

• graphics 8
• audio 8.5
• gameplay 8
• replay 8.5
• overall -8.25

	BUY FROM AMAZON

Continuing where the first Uncharted left off, this cinematic masterpiece drops you(no pun intended) into action right away. The story improvements are phenomenal, and you get a great feel for the characters personalities, and actually find yourself caring what happens to some of them as the story unfolds. The voice acting is done very well, and feels more like a movie than a video game, and they completely utilize the 3d spectrum and phenomenal audio mixing to really bring home what the story tells, and especially not just in the cut scenes but in the actual game play as well. Naughty dog has managed to outdo themselves, I along with pretty much the rest of the gaming industry loved the first uncharted, and this one took everything good about Drake’s Fortune and expanded it. The graphics, the lighting, the play controls, everything was very well done. my only complaints would be that when using cover sometimes you can get ‘stuck’ to a wall when you’re trying to run away, and if you’re right up against the edge of a map during combat the camera angles can be somewhat difficult.
Those small issues aside this is an amazing game. playing out just like a modern day Indiana Jones story, while on the hunt for what marco polo left behind in the orient in Shambala.
If you own a Playstation 3 and didn’t buy this game, email me your address and I’ll come slap you.

graphics- 9 audio- 9 gameplay- 9 replay- 8.5 (if you include the multiplayer) Overall -9.5
	BUY FROM AMAZON

Disclaimer: if you or your child is a Star Wars fan under the age of 12 this game will blow their minds

everyone else, read on

Over the last few years working in gaming, this decrepit robot has noticed a trend in Star Wars games. They seem to lean on the theory that fans will buy anything with the franchise name on it, and therefore deliver a sub-par experience overall. (Knights of the Old Republic, and Lego Games not included, and Battlefront was ok too.)
And following right in line with the assembly line of generic games comes Republic Heroes.
Upon first booting the game it has quite an amount of charm to it, visuals matching the quality and style of the animated series, well done voice-overs, and a heavy duty battle scene introducing you to the characters, they  even have witty banter to keep you engaged.

Upon taking control of Anakin, I began jumping around all ninja and jedi-like and thus far the game controls are functioning. See droid, see lightsaber, see droid die. Wash, rinse, repeat. See droid, jump on droids head, take control of droid, shoot lasers. See pile of boxes, push b, boxes are destroyed via the force. See narrow platform, push A, your Jedi awesomeness allows you to make the jump perfectly. Thus far I’m happy with the experience enough to shove on. And now we get to boss fight number one, where apparently the development team just stopped making the game.
My AI counterpart Padowan Snigsnoobity or whatever fancy alien name she had, literally stood in the center of the map and got shot for the entire battle (thank god for unlimited lives). At least the other characters in the Lego games help you hit stuff, faking that they want you to succeed. Using my force powers I pinned the giant droids legs to the ground, and was commanded by Rex to, “Climb the leg and destroy the blaster cannon!”. So I climbed the leg and swung my lightsaber at said blaster cannon…for 30 minutes… I’m not saying that I had everything figured out… I mean it turns out that if you sit in exactly the right middle spot of the leg it will randomly launch you into the air to attack the droids giant head(not its blaster cannon, unless there’s a Star Wars joke I’m missing. ) But getting launched only happens if you are in EXACTLY the right spot, which my guess is probably a pixel that’s white instead of gray on the droid that you can see if you purchase the George Lucas “DROID SLAYING” x-ray specs or some horrible thing like that. But the point stands that literally the entire fight was broken. And all the while Snigsnoobity stood at the same point getting shot in the face, dying, re-spawning, running to the same damn spot she got shot to death in before, and then…. take a guess… Got SHOT AGAIN!

Overall playing this was as frustrating as playing hide and seek with a child you’re babysitting that just tells you the carpet you’re standing on is lava before you catch him so you’re dead and you can’t win.

Star Wars fans deserve better..

And young Star Wars fans, won’t know any better.

• graphics – 8
• controls – 2
• story – 5
• sound – 8
• overall – 5.5

This album is much better than their previous ‘Manipulator’. It simply flows from one track to another and musically they returned to the style that made them who they are. Equal parts screamo and melodic, quick, breaks downs, change ups and harmonics. It’s hard to believe they are a three piece at times, but it’s a sign they are honing their craft and pushing themselves to make better music this time around. The production on the album is solid all of the way through, the mix is very warm and balanced. All in all, I am very impressed by the album as a whole.

Score4 / 5

Favorite tracks:

• Straight-Jacket Keelhauled
• Battleship Graveyard
• Single
• Dirty Pillow Talk

Top: 2k10 bottom:NBA Live

A stunning difference

As we set down for a night of Mountain Dew and Hoops, we decided to compare the top franchises and give our recommendation.

From the get go, I thought NBA Live looked half-assed, and not at all what I’d expect from EA after playing NCAA and MADDEN 2010. The models were choppy, and the texture-popping and clipping was something I couldn’t get past, I understand with the amount of motion on the court your characters will clip, but at least the team working on 2k10 did everything they could to prevent or hide the problem. The next thing that caught our viciously scathing glances was the skating motion the characters in Live seemed to take when heading to the hoop. I found my character clearing distances of 6-9 feet with a single sweeping step, reminiscent of figure skating in the Olympics. Not to mention once you’ve started you move to the hoop, its easier, and more likely to go through a player, as opposed to around them. After trying to deal with these problems I then had to deal with the controls. They were sluggish and felt unresponsive I had to press Y three times to convince my player to jump and every character felt exactly the same, same speed, same motion, same physics…. same same same same same. HOWEVER I will not short NBA LIVE of what it does well.. The interactive menus, and animations were FANTASTIC… rivaling those of NBA 2k10, So EA I tip my hat to your menu animating capabilities. Maybe next year the menu guy can make the rest of the game as well.

NBA 2k10 however seems to understand what a basketball game should include. Upon starting our game the visuals were night and day better. The models were smooth, the textures were decent and after 2 quarters we had only seen 2 or three pops on the jerseys as opposed to the 35+ we saw in NBA Live. The court was bright and reflective, and unlike the poor attempt EA made at showing the reflection of the stadium lighting, and banner advertising in the floor, you can actually read the items reflected on the court in 2K10 thus adding to the realism of the game. Upon setting up the pick and roll with my characters they were colliding realistically and actually playing off of each other. When I went to the hoop for a shot, I didn’t skate 10 feet, I took a jumper, or dribbled in closer before attempting the shot. Surprisingly enough 2K10 decided that we should hear announcers during half-time discussing realistically what happened during the game, and what was going on. Whereas EA didn’t want the announcers to record extra voice-overs I suppose. As I changed players through passing, I also noticed that the players seemed much more realistic in controls the guards were quick, responsive, and dodgy. And the centers were slower, and felt like I was playing a 6 foot 5 monster as opposed to everyone feeling like Andre the Giant.

In summary if you want an arcade style game reflective of NBA Jam on the SNES, then buy Live and wallow in your misery. If you want a real gaming experience, built for people who not only love the NBA but love games, then purchase 2k10 and support a company that takes pride in their work, and believes in giving you something worth playing.

NBA 2k10 SCORE

To order NBA Live 10 or NBA 2K10 just click the Amazon links.

To begin, I’ll openly say I was impressed, I played the demo of this a year ago when it was in the hands of Brash Entertainment, and within a year Konami turned it from broken garbage into a serviceable survival horror.

mmmmmmm headgear

This game is great for a few types of people: those who love survival-horror games, those who are into the Saw series (namely the first movie), or achievement whores. The game doesn’t have the best character models ever or the best graphics in the world, but in a way it’s part of the delivery, the grittiness doesn’t take anything away from the atmosphere or the story. You play as Detective Tapp, and like the movies Jigsaw has set you into one of his traps, only this isn’t totally about you as you are set to save those who’s lives you’ve directly or indirectly destroyed in the process of chasing down the madman. The game does the quick cut scenes at times to show you the layout of a trap or an area very much like the movies do, and gives you a glimpse into a classic survival-horror, as you are always switching out or digging for new weapons due to lack of ammo, or breaking bats. Being what it is, Saw is more focused on the puzzles than the combat aspect. Even the combat encourages you to avoid direct confrontation by laying or re-arming traps, electrifying someone in a puddle of water if possible, or simply bolting a door shut to avoid a fight for a bit. The puzzles are entertaining and challenging at times as well, sometimes it’s just seeing things from a certain point of view, other times it’s logic or even trial and error. The achievements are easy to get if you pay attention to them, some are story based, the ones that aren’t are not head-scatchers at all. If you beat the game 1000 points shouldn’t be too hard to obtain.

• graphics 7
• Audio – 8
• Gameplay – 7
• Replay – 7
• Overall – 7.25 / 10 (7.75 if you are into the things I mentioned in the review)

To order SAW on Amazon, just click the link.

As announced through Kotaku

Nintendo have just announced a price cut for the Wii in both the US and Japan, putting an end to weeks of speculation.

In the US, the cut will take effect on September 27, and as expected we will see the console go from $250 to $200.

In Japan, the reduction will kick in on October 1, and see the console dropping from 25,000 (USD$273) to 20,000 (USD$218).

This marks the first time Nintendo have officially reduced the price of the console in any market since the console’s launch in 2006. That’s an impressive run.

Hmmmm.. maybe this Zombie will finally invest……

It’s been a while since I’ve watched a show and participated in the online community that follows it. This one seems to bring the most naysayer’s, conspiracy theorists, and others that decry it is highly scripted / thoroughly planned to the table to speak their minds. You watch the show and see the colonist reactions, their despair and desperation, then you turn to VH1 and see a bunch of d-bags on a ‘reality show’ and wonder why the Colonist look like they actually (mostly?) believe that the world has truly ended, this is their reality.

What comes to my mind is watching in college a movie about a ‘Social Experiment’ conducted in what I think was the late 70’s, you’ve probably heard of it. Students at a college were given two jobs in a basement at a school one group were prison guards, the others prisoners. After a couple of months, the experiment had to be shut down because the subjects were seriously believing that this was their new role in life, either in a jail cell on full lockdown, or a prison guard given near absolute freedom to exert their authority. I think The Colony touched on that vein in a sense, and cranked it up a thousand notches. The human mind is a wondrous tool but, it can shut out your rational thoughts when given the right opportunity.

The Colonist looked like they were not only food, water, and sleep deprived from searching for resources in their surrounding areas, but you could tell by looking at them they weren’t themselves we saw in the beginning of the show. I think things took a slight turn downhill on remembering that this was only a show, and they had to know they would never die, or get harmed without a large lawsuit was when they lost the doctor George Fallieras. He was taken off the show by the producers when he was wandering the basement of a hospital, they did this to really mess with the Colonists heads and see how they would react to suddenly losing on of their friends. I think that was the tipping point where the emotional toll finally gave out, and they seemed to accept their gigantic warehouse as their temporary living space until their evacuation truck could be used to get the hell out of dodge. Their last morning, when the marauders were given the green light by show producers to make a full engagement to take over their Sanctuary, as the show called it, I actually found myself silently rooting for them to kick some butt. I would have said it louder, if my wife wasn’t sitting next to me on the couch, and I didn’t mind the rolling of her eyes and deep sigh that she does when she remembers how much of a geek she married. Come on, who wouldn’t have wanted to be the one that was firing the home made flame thrower from the second story of the warehouse and blowing up the marauders’ car? Or throwing Molotov Cocktails off the roof? I would have been the first to sign up. I think the final morning, where they had to defend with weaponry, traps (the guy getting shocked on the electric fence was hilarious), and oil slicked doors was what all the naysayer’s wanted…every episode.

Defending yourself violence, so as to show what you think may be the most realistic interpretation of what would happen after a huge disaster was not the focal point of this show. This was a show about learning, which I think a lot of was going on by viewers like myself who always smirked that they could know how to survive, but don’t even have something basic like a knife and flint at home to start a fire. Yes, the odds were slightly stacked in their favor with three engineers, a doctor and nurse, a machinist, personal trainer, marine biologist, and two exceptional handymen/contractors. The addition of John C.’s wife toward the end seemed to help bring the colonist back together. Though they had the odds in brain power and know-how, I’m willing to bet a few hundred million Americans don’t, not in this digital day of age and highly introverted ‘me first’ society that lives off of McDonalds, and spends the rest of their time watching bad TV or on the internet looking for porn before their wife catches them.

I learned a lot from watching this show, which is one of the intentions that I think the brilliant creators, were trying to do. I may never need the knowledge in my life time, we may all end up being McDonald fed and online porn sedated until the day we die without a major catastrophe that ends the world. But, I am sure as hell glad that I now have some basic components that might extend my life span just long enough to find what is truly important in life after a world shattering epidemic that leaves humanity crawling back to the Dark Ages. That’s Shelter, Basic survival know-how, Companionship, Determination, and Accepting that you can do a lot with very, very little, if you put your mind to it.

How cool is that?