Dyslexicon

Whether you are a fan of the series or not, Adventure Time will not let you down. Sharply written dialogue and cleverly laid out quests are the draw here. Adventure Time follows the lead of the retro games that it wears on its sleeve, which is a very good thing. I enjoyed the sense of progression, as well as the brisk pace that the game moves at; you're whisked away from zone to zone, earning new powers for Jake and upgrades for Finn. The combat feels right, the music is excellent, the characters are memorable and the dungeons are enjoyable throwbacks to the source material that inspired them. The game does an excellent job of giving you a trail of breadcrumbs to follow through the world map rather than holding your hand through each phase of the quest. The only thing I can deduct points for is the fact that in 2 nights, and 2 sittings, I finished the entire game. My playthrough wrapped itself up in 6 hours, which feels short - even for a handheld. The good news, though, is that there is a new game plus option. The better news is that I began a second playthrough immediately after completing the first. Do yourself a service and pick up this lovingly crafted game.

I've been playing COD multiplayer ever since they changed the game with COD4 MW. I then played MW2, Black Ops, and MW3 now. Well, I can't help but feel like I wasted way too much money on the hardened edition. Unless their new maps coming through DLC are a lot better than the ones they've included on disc, then this game has problems with me. Not to mention there's no real worthwhile changes to discuss. The new killstreak system isn't that drastic a change, and doesn't do much to change the game. It only slightly adjusts the individual users experience with the game. I hate to say it, but Black Ops was the better game for many reasons including: Better maps, better modes, and an overall fresher take on the series. If anyone out there needs to know what shooter to pick up this holiday season, then my honest answer is Battlefield 3. They delivered a smart, and deeply rewarding multiplayer component this year that improves over its predecessors in every way. It's also worth mentioning that the community behind BF3 is much more mature and tolerable on the whole when compared to the 'typical' **** hole COD player. I'm giving it a 2 because the survival mode is entertaining. Of course, we've all played horde modes before, and that modes fun will not last forever. At the end of the day, this game just didn't try hard enough. The teams responsible were spread too thin, and in my opinion, they rushed the product out for holiday release and wasted the potential it could have been with more time and thought.

Just to help anyone who hasn't picked this up yet with their decision, I will provide a brief review of sorts. I got this at midnight release and played for about 6 hours now. 2 outside of the multiplayer and 4 in multiplayer. The gist of it is this: Co-op was terrible and the campaign was equally terrible. Essentially in co-op the connectivity was poor and the gameplay experience was unspectacular. It's just you and some friends slogging through set piece moments. Blah. Then the campaign, which I played for about an hour, did nothing to draw me in. Bland story, yadda yadda, why bother? The reason you all came is for multi and it is great. If you played BFBC2 and loved it, then pick this up. The movement is greatly improved, the gameplay is similar but on a larger scale with more vehicles, improved physics, etc. The guns seem to have more recoil this time around. The stealth takedowns are great. My only real beef is that I can't seem to get my sticks adjusted to the proper sensitivity to suit all my needs. This is either the games fault, or I'm just struggling with my PS3 controller which is terrible for FPS games. Whatever. Pick it up. It's enjoyable.

Rage is extremely engrossing and endlessly addicting, until you start to realize it's all a facade. I'm a big fan of this game, and I enjoyed it immensely. My complaints are legitimate though, and held me back from giving it anything higher than an 8. But make no mistake, this is a very solid 8 ****. You will not walk away from this thinking, "what did I spend my money on?". I've just recently finished the single player campaign and figured I'd weigh in, so this doesn't concern multiplayer. The atmosphere is amazing. Level design and art direction are some of the best. Even when you retread an area, they seem to make it fresh again. It's oppressive walking through some of these broken down, dank areas anticipating an enemy attack. The gun play is top notch. At 60 fps the action flies and the enemies are pretty intelligent. They are certainly the most unpredictable enemies you will face in any shooter. Very resourceful, and agile. The best thing about this game is the bullet impact. Every shot you land seems to directly translate into an enemy animation, and it's very satisfying. There were no less than 5 stand out moments in my opening hours with the game where I literally killed an enemy and said "whoaaaa" out loud because of how cool and unexpected his death was. Even 10 hours in, I landed a kill that I may never forget. I was moving through the sewers below town and was faced with a pack of mutants. I backed into a room and began firing at them and taking others out with my wingstick from the small room. The final enemy jumped into the doorway, suspending himself in the frame with his hands and feet and just kind of hissed at me. I threw a wingstick at him, which severed his head. His head fell to the ground below him, and his body landed behind it in an almost seated position. It was so f***ing cool I had to pause the game and contemplate whether they had a team of amazing animators, or if they use some type of physics based animation system like that seen in Read Dead Redemption. At the end of the day, I deducted points based on linearity, repetition of mission types, and a story that only half heartedly tries to materialize in the last half of the game. In particular, the last mission of the game is fairly pathetic. It almost feels like the developers were just trying to get this game out of the door. It plays out like a typical mission, the challenge is low, and just when you think you're on to something - it's over. For the first disc of this game I was decided it was a 10. By the time I began disc 2 I knew it was working its way down as things became less impressive. At the end of the day, it's a stellar game and a shooter that any fan of FPS action can't afford to miss. Lastly, the driving action is surprisingly entertaining. It's not a perfect game, or the game they had been promising us, but it is worth playing - if only for the superb shooting mechanics, animations, and gorgeously realized world.

I've never done this before, or felt the need to. Then I saw a few people giving it 0's and being real uninformed, narrow minded scum bags and I had to chirp in. I loaded this up, and for the first time in my life, after 4 years of waiting and wishing, I was playing Crysis. I'm sky diving out of an airplane and falling toward an island. Then the first mission begins... but I don't jump to it. No, I walk around the sandy beach at night for 20 minutes enjoying my night vision, the moon shining through the palm trees, and the gorgeous water effects as I unload a barrel into the surface. Then I spot a turtle. Oh fancy that, a turtle. I throw the turtle 200 feet into the air and shoot it while it's freefalling. I shoot trees until the trunks snap and they fall gracefully to the earth. I run fast. I walk slow. I do all of this without realizing that I'm still ignoring my objective. This is the point my friends. This is Crysis on a console. Everyone is talking about graphics, and I would think that would have no place here. Do we really expect it to look anywhere near as good on a console? NO. Furthermore, we are gamers and the fun factor is what matters. That's why people will still go back and play the original Mario Bros. It's fun. I just described to you my first 20 minutes with Crysis, and there's still more pointless things I did before running into my objective. The gameplay is great, the controls are tight and responsive, and the graphics are really impressive. This looks better than a lot of full price retail releases that have dropped in the last 2 years. While it's not on the level of Gears 3, or even Crysis 2, it's damn close. At 20 dollars, you can't afford not to get this game. The atmosphere is completely believable. There is wildlife all around the island (for you to shoot and toss), amazing physics, and smart enemies. They're not always geniuses, but when things work right they will be outflanking you, and providing a nice challenge. I beat Crysis 2 earlier this year and I loved it, but Crysis takes the cake. If you're still reading : I went on a mission early in the game and died 3 times trying to get into base, then it occurred to me - 'sandbox'. My options were greater than "walk up the road into the base". I sniped 2 patrolling officers out of their boat, swam out, stole the boat and drove it full speed onto the shore. I then switched into the turret position and laid waste to everyone that came down the hill to get me. After a minute there were only 3 guards left. I jumped out, went into predator stealth mode and took out the three remaining guards. The final guard I grabbed by his throat and flung a 100 yards off of a cliff into the ocean below. It's epic, and these moments can only be found in a game like this. Until you melee your first beach hut into a pile of debris, you just wont understand. This was made for people who haven't had the opportunity to enjoy the gameplay of Crysis, and it was done very well. The framerate stays consistent, actually much more stable than Crysis 2. Oh, and it's not 'missing' a level. The dev's removed it because it was a point of contention for PC players. So in short, they nerfed the graphics to a respectable level, kept the gamplay experience intact, and delivered an amazing game without the frustrating level that everyone hated to begin with. buy this game. AAA title for 20 dollars. You deserve it.