jonathanM21

By now you probably know all about Red Dead Redemption. It had a harsh development life at Rockstar, it won all the awards and it's "awesome." But you haven't bought it yet - so you're probably wondering if it's for you. Here's some perspective. If you felt disappointed, bored or simply satisfied and done with the last GTA than you probably won't find much to love with Red Dead Redemption. No, it's not fair to call RDR simply GTA on a horse but it does play much like it. There is an interesting story here, the world feels alive and is gorgeous, there's plenty to do but in the end the game plays very similar to GTA. That is a good or bad thing. Additionally while the overall story is interesting and engrossing it takes its time to progress. It started, something happens at the 4ish hour mark and another thing happens at the 8-9 hour mark. Nothing is happening in between. Nothing. So what goes on there? Favor quests. Do you know those sidequests games throw in with strangers asking you for a favor? Yeah, most of RDR's main quests are just like that. You'll meet someone, they'll tell you to do something and you'll need to do it. The main character will begin commenting on how ridiculous this is in the 6th or 7th hour of this constant favor quests which doesn't make it ok. It feels lazy. "I'll help you if you do **** this...great! Now let's do this! Ok. I have a friend. Go see them and do this and they'll help you. I have to go and can't." Get used to that. For all there is to do in RDR I've been focusing on the main missions simply because they already feel like side missions so I have no desire to do extra favors for extra goodies on the side and the game is pretty long which is good (10th hour right now) but they could have made the missions more story or main character oriented. The combat is good, this is a great shooter at it's core. You can also use a bullet-time system to mark enemies and do quick executions. You can fight on your horse. You'll lasso and tie enemies from afar. Occasionally you'll make important decisions. You'll enjoy horse riding from mission to mission although there comes a point where it takes too long and gets a bit old, so you'll probably switch to the instant travel option in the menu. There are some fun games to play, old movie shorts to watch, and some system to buy property for money but you'll never need it. I've never needed to worry about money, buy health or buy a **** if you want to it's there. There's multiplayer in here too but it feels as unpolished and fun as GTA's multiplayer - so can decide on that for yourself. So is Red Dead Redemption for you? This is a game worthy of it's hype. The story is good, the voice acting is even better, the graphics are usually gorgeous and the gameplay is topnotch. It appeals to a mass audience and is a better package than most games last year. Is it worthy of the hype? Yes and no, for reasons I've noted. If you're interested in cowboys, love GTA or want a deeper action experience then give it a try. If you don't like games with a ton of excess fat that is labeled as "depth" or if you've had enough of the GTA sandbox-littered-with-favor-missions setup than you will not find much to enjoy here. While it is a better overall package than most games last year I'd have to give it an 8/10 at most due to some lazy structuring, extremely slow pacing and poorly implemented mechanics.

Se claims the disappointment with this game is western audiences expecting open worlds. In truth this is a bad game even for JrPG and FF fans. So linear, confusing and boring story, battles that require you only to monitor classes if you wish, horrible **** all so bad. I want to love it but I can't . Skip this.

Funky Lab Rat is a gem. It's extremely enjoyable to play with the Move controller. The platforming and puzzles are satisfying and the graphics and music are very charming. Funky Lab Rat ties Trine for my favorite PSN platformer and really deserves more attention. Pick up this game and you'll be pleasantly surprised (and addicted). At least try out the demo - Funky Lab Rat is a great change of pace.

The multiplayer is balanced and made the emphasis on gunplay but the maps are pretty bad and huge with plenty of hiding spots (you'll constantly be shot from the sides when traveling unlike MW2 where maps weren't so open) and everyone is silent. It's not bad, it's very fun, but it's not worthy of the hype. The engine is showing it's age, the graphics are plain and a step down from MW2 and the action is slower. Still a blast, but COD needs innovation fast.

A lot of people are hard on this game because of the automatic platforming and the battle system being good but not the deepest experience compared to other action games like DMC. This is an action adventure game. The story is great, the voice acting is amazing and so are the facial expressions (best in a game yet). The controls are good and allow you to enjoy the experience and while the game is linear there are puzzles, boss battles and other challenges to keep it from being a simple affair. This is one of my favorite games of all time, it's worth the money and play-through if you like deep experiences or adventure games like Beyond Good and Evil.

I was primarily interested in this game because of the dancing and have played for an hour so far, none of that singing. If you like Singstar games in the past you'll like this, so let's talk about the dancing. That being said this is an AWESOME dancing game. I had read reviews and many of them said the dancing experience feels tacked on because you imitate the dancer on screen, there are no flash cards like other games (Kinect). That's true. However this is a plus to me. As one review said, real dancers will really like this game. Many of the routines are complex and it takes practice and multiple attempts to master. You won't breeze through with an A on the first try, but in a couple you'll get the hang and soon you'll master it. Plus, Singstar Dance's Poker Face routine slaughter's Kinect's clap-and-fist-pump routine. For people that aren't great dancers you'll still have fun and there are easier routines, but others you may not want to venture off of "easy" anytime soon (PCD's Don't Cha, for example). This is a great game and I'm really happy I picked it up. The reviews were too harsh but I can see their complaints, flash cards or more breakdowns would have helped. Even so, some said dancing was tacked on, a small visual in the **** you hit O you take up the whole screen instead of the music video, so while watching the dancer you see a large YOU in your peripheral and it helps you stay in sync.