darksydex3226

The Witcher 2 is an amazing experience. I'm on the second act now, and I haven't played an RPG with so many good things going for it in a long time. Depth, story, characters, graphics, items, crafting, traps... so much stuff you can do in this game. There's nothing quite like it that's out there right now, and this is easily RPG game of 2011, if not Game of the Year. Well done, CD Projekt Red.

Despite the constant copy & pasted maps, and being pretty much restricted to Kirkwall, Dragon Age II is still a very fun role-playing experience, and I would recommend playing it. I'm on my second run now, and still enjoying it... the game definitely has some low points (hence the 7), like the music, level design, repetitive (but still enjoyable at the end of the day) combat, and anti-climatic boss battles... the story is really good though, and the characters are too. All in all, a fun game to hold me over until The Witcher 2.

If you're looking for one of the greatest survival horror games ever made (if not the best one in general), then look no further than Dead Space 2 (though you might want to play the first one to get caught up to speed, plus that's a great game too).

Everything I could ask for out of a MMO game. Engaging and interesting quest stories (soloing never feels like a grind), fun group content, no crafting, amazing combat, simple and easy looting system. It's like an action game that you can play with tons of other people, instead of your typical grind-heavy, craft-heavy, tedious MMORPG. This is the one I've been waiting for...

The story begins with a god-like entity, calling himself Gades, Sinistral of Destruction, calling down to the people of the world, saying that the apocalypse is coming and all life will soon be extinguished. As this is going on, Maxim, a Monster Hunter with the gift of amazing combat prowess from the earliest of ages, and his Doctor Emmet Brown look-a-like buddy, Professor Lexis, are en route to Gades' location in hopes of defeating him. This quickly kicks the game's story into high gear, and cuts a lot of the unnecessary fat of the original. It automatically gives the story a sense of urgency, and easily draws the player in. The storyline is definitely dated, however, it understands that, and in turn never takes itself too seriously. It constantly has great bits of humor and a lovable cast of character's that make the plain and simple narrative soar to better heights. Speaking of characters, let me jump into the graphics and design. For the DS, the game looks pretty good. The best way to describe it would probably be, "a JRPG from the Playstation 1 era, but a bit better." Lufia also boasts some huge bosses that take up both screens of the DS, and that's epic. Unlike previous Lufia games, this one takes a bold step in a new direction as far as the setting, gone is the plain-old fantasy setting, and in its place is a steam-punk, fantasy hybrid. I was a bit turned off by this in the original preview's, but eventually it grew on me and I learned to love it (and if Neverland intends to make more of these in the future, they better stick with it). On top of a setting redesign, there has also been a redesign on all the original cast. Everyone is back, and looking better than ever. To top it all off, the game shows off some nice hand drawn character artwork during dialogue sccenes, complete with different facial expressions. It all just adds to what is already an awesome package, and really helps sell some of the dialogue in the game, for example, the game's oblivious air-head hero with a heart of gold, also known as Dekar, says something completely stupid... the dialogue art add to what is already completely funny, and makes it so much better in the process, and that's saying something. Now lets jump into the gameplay; gone are the days of slow paced, turn based combat. Lufia: CotS has an all new action-RPG style combat system, complete with special moves, character swapping mid-combo, and different spells. It's a bit simple in the beginning, appearing to be nothing more than an average hack-and-slash affair, but as you add more character's to your party, it becomes so much more. With a simple touch of a character portrait on the touch screen, you instantly swap the party member you're using, which can help create some mesmerizing, and long combo strings. There's a total of 6 playable characters, so the possibilities are seemingly endless. And a Lufia game just wouldn't be a Lufia game without dungeons filled with puzzles, now would it? Never fear, Lufia: CotS has puzzles in spades. Also, never fear of tearing your hair out either, because while the puzzles are thought-provoking, and encourage the use of all your party member's abilities, it never gets overbearing and makes you want to kick your foot through a window. With just a little thought, you can figure out these puzzles and feel rewarded, as opposed to having to read the solution online and then feel like putting on your nearest dunce cap. The puzzles and mini-games are a great way to break up the action, and Lufia never uses the same gimmick twice, so it never gets stale or repetitive. I'd like to say that unfortunately, Lufia: CotS isn't as long as the original, taking only about 14 hours give or take for your first run. I wish the game was longer, simply because of how awesome it is. However, there is a NG+ option with some new dialogue and even a new ending to those who complete the game twice, encouraging at the very least, a second run through the game. However, on your second run you also have full access to the Ancient Cave, which is a special dungeon that drops your level to 1 and removes all your equipment (you get it all back when you leave). There's a lot to be explored in this place, so that does add a good amount of replay value, but other than that, aside from the game being awesome, I see no reason for the average gamer to come back for a third spin. For 30 dollars though, you're certainly getting your money's worth, and a longer journey than what many console games offer. If you know what's good for you, you'll pick up Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, whether you're a nostalgic fan longing for Lufia, or new to the series, it offers a top-notch experience that shouldn't be passed up.

Enter Vanquish, a game that takes the TPS genre and flips it on its head with craziness. You are Sam Gideon, a special DARPA agent in control of the Augmented Reaction Suit (known as ARS in game). San Francisco is destroyed by turning one of America's space colony's into a weapon of mass destruction. Russian Terrorists calling themselves the Russian Star are to blame for this despicable act. Sam is sent with a crew of Marine's to find the one responsible and take him down. Now onto the meat of the package, the gameplay. Sam's AR Suit is equipped with some neat abilities. One of the best of them being his ability to boost around the battlefield with thrusters that are attached to certain spots of his suit. This keeps the frantic and fast gameplay intact as you run from enemy's to safer cover, or run in for a melee kill when the opportunity presents itself. Speaking of melee, that's another interesting feature in the game. Instead of swatting at the robot forces with your gun, Sam decides it's more effective to just give them a mean right hook and call it a day. I respect a man who punches a robot in the face, it shows character. This does have its drawbacks however, after you rock the jaw piece of an enemy, your suit will overheat, forcing you to take some cover and wait for the power to come back to the suit. I tended to use my melee attack in 1 on 1 situations, or if an enemy got to close to me. If you try to fly in, kill a foe, and then fly out, well you have another thing coming to you. Aside from that, there are a variety of different weapons you can pick up as you go about your mission. Though I normally kept my assault rifle handy, I always experimented with other weapons when possible, and it proves quite useful. Sure, you can get through the entire game just using an assault rifle, but it's much more rewarding when you knock back a giant mech into a pit with your LFE gun, or dismember a giant mech with the Disk Cutter then give him a nice swift speed boosted kick across the map. The game rewards you for trying out different weapons, but in the end, you can get through the entire game with the assault rifle, though I wouldn't recommend it as it would really kill the fun of the experience and the versatile weaponry. On top of all this, there's also the AR mode, which is basically a super slow motion effect that helps you aim. Sure, this has been done all before, but I can't help mentioning it considering it's one of the suit's most useful abilities. It really helps you line up those head shots, or go for weak points (which it also points out when you are in the AR mode). The gameplay is frantic, rewarding, and just down right fun. It can be repetitive if you want it to be, but for those looking to go into Vanquish and take all it has to offer, you'll be often changing your weapons and tactics and finding out different ways to take out your foes. Not only is the gameplay great, but so are the graphics. Gone are the boring greys and browns that plague just about every single shooting game on the market, if not all of them. This game is full to the brim with whites, silvers, greens, and the occasional blue and red. Heck, there's even a forest level. That's right, with trees! If only the trunks of said trees weren't brown, then there wouldn't have been any brown in this game at all. On top of the amazing visuals, there is also the fluid animation and excellent designs of enemy's and characters. Well, except for Lt. Col. Burns, he looks kind of stupid... but in a funny way that someone who can appreciate cheesy designs (like me) can enjoy. Also considering how quick the gameplay is, I never saw any slowdown. Last, but not least, the replay factor. The game's single player campaign, on my first run, not specifically rushing through the game, on hard mode, took me about 6 and a half hours. Perhaps that sounds like a bad thing, but in my opinion it's not. It welcomes you to play the game again, beat your high score, and go for a better time. It's very old school in that sense, and I think it was deliberately built to be this way. I love quick games like this, because I can sit down and play them over and over again without having to worry about committing myself to it. Like a Mega Man game, I can sit down and beat it in an hour. I'm sure I'll get this game down to 2 or 3 hours eventually, allowing it to happily be played again because of the fact that it's short, and it's competitive nature with scores, speed running, and leader boards will always have me returning to it. On top of that, there is Challenge Mode, which is basically a survival mode where you have to kill all the enemies in a small arena, and then you get a time after you complete it. If you're into this sort of thing, you'll certainly be going back to beat your time's (or someone else's for that matter). This game is just oozing with replay value, for a person who enjoys that.

It's been a long time since I've played any Spidey games personally, ever since the sand box style gameplay came around I pretty much gave up on the series, even though I used to purchase just about all the ones that came out. I gave up on it all though after Ultimate Spider-Man. There was a gleaming light of hope however when this gem was announced. Gone is the repetitive free roam style, and Spidey returns to real, level by level gaming (or in this case, split up in Acts). You play as four different Spider-Men after the Amazing Spider-Man **** the Tablet of Order & Chaos, a mystical relic that apparently grants great powers to evil minded villains (even when only in pieces), in a scuffle with Mysterio. This begins Spidey's journey to recover the tablet shards and restore order before these villains dish out complete havoc. The storyline is basic, and doesn't change from start to finish, which I personally don't mind, I'd prefer an overly-simple story over an overly-complex one (which most comic books and games in general do now-a-days), so I suppose it's a breath of fresh air to not get any dumb plot twists and other stupid things of that nature. The graphics are pleasing to the eyes, looking they were torn straight out of the comic book pages and onto our televisions. Every dimension (Amazing, 2099, Noir, Ultimate) has a unique look and feel to it. Amazing looks just like the comic books, 2099 is very bright with lots of lights and flashing, Noir is very dark and mysterious (the sky looks awesome, just thought I'd mention that), and Ultimate looks pretty much just like the Ultimate comic (probably the more lackluster of the three since the Amazing universe does that too). Gameplay is where this game shines. Each universe has a different gameplay style, from the Noir stealth, to the crazy free-falling 2099. Amazing and Ultimate are a bit more on the normal side though, but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable to play through. Each stage has a lot of variety, and plenty of nooks and cranny's to explore for Spider-Emblems, and Hidden Spiders (which give you more Spider Essence to purchase upgrades). There's plenty to do in this game, due to the Web of Destiny, which is a series of challenges or goals that you must do to unlock the entire web. As you unlock more challenges, you gain access to more of Spidey's special moves and new costumes, so you don't want to ignore these. Some of them are inevitably unlocked (such as defeating a boss, etc), but a lot of them are not, and you won't want to ignore them. I also must mention that zipping around the stages couldn't be easier with the easy to learn control scheme, and beating the crap out of enemies is a real pleasure too. There's also the first person view brawl scenes with the bosses, which I thought were weird thing to add at first, but it grew on me very fast. The camera has its problems I suppose, though to be honest I've only had issues with it when I'm wall crawling, which I rarely do anyway. The sound is great, notably due to the amazing voice actors of the Spider-Men and their foes. A lot of classic Spidey VA's are here, with funny lines and witty phrases being spout at every corner. It was a trip down memory lane for me, hearing Noir Spidey in particular, since I loved the 90's animated series, though I'm sure others will be partial to other VA's. The music isn't memorable, but that doesn't mean it's bad either. It gets the job done, to say the least. I particularly enjoy the music of 2099 and the Noir universes. I'm guessing by this point it's obvious that my two favorite dimensions are those two, since I continually mention them with praise. This game is a must buy for Spidey fans, and fans of the action genre, or just plain anyone that's into a good game. There's a lot of potatoes with the meat with the Web of Destiny, 3 difficulty levels, rankings, and alternate costumes, so there's a lot of reason to go back and continue playing (probably more than the reasons I mentioned here). This is a great direction for Spidey, and I hope Activision keeps Beenox on board for their next Spider-Man release. Crossing my fingers for an exclusive 2099 game.

I'm sure MOM's release is a long time coming for many Metroid fans, such as myself. The game starts off with an amazing recreation of the final encounter with Mother Brain at the climax of Super Metroid for the SNES. This scene right here really sets the stage for the quality of the game from here on out. In the beginning, there are a lot of cutscenes, which really slows down the beginning, but once you take in the story and head out into the Bottle Ship to explore, things start to move at a fantastic pace. The gameplay is really incredible, as soon as the controller is in your hands it really feels like classic Metroid, but with all new twists. For example, to aim at enemies with your missile's, you must quickly aim your Wiimote at the screen and lock onto your enemy and fire away. It takes a moment to learn, but once you get it down, it's a really simple procedure. It's also possible to charge your beam before aiming at the screen for when you unlock super missiles, you just simply use the 2 button instead of the A button, so that makes the process even more painless for later in the game. Aside from the aiming there is also the dodge technique Samus has called SenseMove. It works like a dream, a quick dodge and Samus auto-locks onto the closest enemy. This also auto-locks you in first person, so you can quickly dodge and dive into Samus' visor for a clean shot. On top of all this, there's also the Overblast technique's, where you jump on your enemy's head and fire a charged shot straight into there head, and the Lethal Attacks, which are pretty self explanatory, but if you need to know there pretty much flashy finishing moves that are always awesome to watch. The only things that are annoying are the three or four points in the game where they make you walk in an over the shoulder view for whatever reason, and the "Find a clue" first person parts where you can't progress until you find the clue. For me, these parts only took five minutes at most, but apparently there are a lot of people having problems with it. There is also the concentration system, which removes the annoying "go back and forth to respawning enemy's and kill them to recharge your health and ammo" with a simple but effective system where you hold the Wii mote up and Samus recharges her health (when it's really low) and missiles naturally. Exploring the Bottle Ship is a lot of fun, even though the game is linear, at the end of the day exploration is exploration, even if you know what direction you're going, everything you're seeing is still new to you (unless you're on a second playthrough of course). The areas are polished and easy on the eyes, and everything fits nicely. All in all, the gameplay is superb with tight controls and amazing attacks and power ups. Speaking of power ups, they finally decided to stop making Samus' suit bug out and lose all her power ups in the beginning (which really made her suit appear to have some faulty design, lets hope they stop with that for good), and instead replace it with an Authorization system. It makes a lot more sense to me, considering she's following the orders of someone else and not just doing her own thing, she figures out of respect instead of going buck-wild and blowing the entire place up with super missiles and power bombs, she would wait for proper confirmation, like a soldier should! Kudos for the brilliant work around that bothersome issue with these games. The graphics are equally as impressive, Other M is probably one of the best looking Wii games made to date, which is perfectly normal coming from the graphic obsessed developer's at Team Ninja. Samus looks awesome, the monsters are really sweet too, especially a lot of the awesome throwback monsters from Super Metroid and earlier games. It's great to see them all new in 3D. The cinematic cutscenes are also top notch, some of the best FMV work I've seen in a long time. For graphics, this game definitely goes above and beyond, and delivers the goods. The story is also very interesting, not quite the best I've ever seen in gaming, but definitely stands well on its own. Samus receives a distress signal from a Galactic Federation ship called the Bottle Ship. When she arrives she meets up with her former Commanding Officer, Adam Malkovich and his team. Samus decides to co-operate with Adam and his team due to their past history, so she follows orders from him and that's how the game progresses, similar to Metroid Fusion, just minus all that annoying text every time you hit a save room. Instead, you get a small gold dot on your map that shows you the next area to go to, kind of like in Zero Mission. Unlike earlier Metroid games and the Prime series, you won't be lost without a clue for hours on end, and thankfully can go through the game at your own pace and not get lost a lot.