The game starts off with your usual training levels and dishes out some back story so you know why you end up in Paris fighting against the Nazis. Sean is the main character and you learn a little ways into the game he has a bit of a sordid past. After the opening level, the training wheels are kicked off and you join the French resistance movement. That is where the real fun begins, and by that I mean running around Paris blowing up Nazi stuff. Of course you can steal their cars too if you want, but until you get the garage unlocked that is a moot point.

Some of the game just felt…wrong. It felt unpolished and occasionally you would hear dialogue that just seemed out of place. Then again, writing dynamic dialogue for games is nothing short of an art form that few games ever really get correct. Other than that, my only beef was with the driving. I know I am driving a 1940’s car, but the handling of those things was atrocious sometimes. I often found myself making good use of the perk that lets you call in a resistance member to deliver your car to you. Always called in a race car since they seemed the easiest to drive. That or the Gestapo cruiser, not much beats hood mounted machine guns.

Blowing stuff up. That and the unique way of displaying whether the Nazis or the resistance controlled an area of Paris. Nazi control always equals a washed out environment in terms of color. A few things retain color meant to draw the eye and the like. The resistance owned areas are vibrant and rich with color to show that the people support the resistance and are rallying against Nazi occupation. It was an interesting concept to use in a game, and worked well with the overall story.

The game is fun, open ended, and you get to blow things up while liberating Paris from the Nazis. I’d have to recommend this as a rent to anyone wanting to try it out and maybe go buy it used if you want to own it. On the other hand, there is a download token for a special code that unlocks the Midnight Show. This little tidbit removes the bras and the pasties on the dancers in the gentlemen’s club that you end up in after the initial level. Basically boils down to this. Don’t care about owning a game you can see boobs rendered in all their pixel glory, rent or buy used. Anyone in the other category, go pick it up new since the usual DLC code rules apply.

The Saboteur was a fun game, good story, and had that interesting way of displaying occupation of Nazis versus resistance. I won’t knock it for anything, but it does few things original overall. The game does offer up plenty of Nazis to mow down and things to blow up. In fact a majority of the missions will have you employ your arsenal of explosives in order to finish it. Combine that with the perk system that lets you upgrade Sean’s abilities and various weapons/explosives and he will end up a one man reign of terror for the occupiers.

Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3

AMMIH Rating: 3/5

SMS (Sicky’s Motion Sickness) Rating: 2/5

Coming from those who created Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars is BLUR, an action-packed arcade racer that just keeps the thrills rolling.

Every gaming blog I’ve seen has tried to come up with a way to describe this game by combining two games to create this “love-child” of sorts. Well I’m going to complicate it even more…

I’m going to call out four games that are could be involved, which would mean that this is the grandchild of previous generations. Let’s say Twisted Metal and Wipeout got together, then the other tree is PGR and Mario Kart. So we’ve got a mix of genes that infused to make this sweet gem of Arcade Racing mayhem. The most prominent showing would be PGR and Wipeout, which give the main feel of the game. The multiplayer’s Motor Mash/Mosh (whatever you want to call it) shows the Twisted Metal attributes, while, really, the only thing Mario Kart-ish to me would only be the commercial aired close to it’s release…

Career- I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of the Career mode. Bizarre Creations throw in a great system to get things rolling. There is a progression system much like Modern Warfare, but instead of Experience they give you “Fans.” As you accumulate more fans you unlock more cars available to you (and yes, the cars are licensed). They give you 9 Rivals to face throughout your career. These Rivals have a set of “Demands” you must complete before they give you a one-on-one. These Demands are set up like the challenges you have available as you progress. Rivals’ cars have special paint jobs and have a slight tweak making them a tiny bit better than one of the cars you unlock for yourself. Defeat your Rival in their one-on-one and you gain their car.

MultiPlayer- This is where Blur shines through. On the MP side of Blur you are given 9 gametypes to stir it up in.

1. Driving School- This is meant for the beginners, just to show you the ropes. Only players leveled 1-10 are allowed in.
2. Skirmish Racing- Racing events for 2-10 players. Skirmishes are good for a balanced run, a good race with a good walloping from time to time.
3. Powered-Up Racing- Want to get down and dirty? This is the way to do it. This is pure chaos in the track. Powered-Up is the way to go when you want to get plenty of action and fans. From 4-20 players, you know you’re in for a crazy time.
4. Motor Mash- Basically, you’re thrown into an open field or a close street course and then it’s all out war… Weapons are strewn all over the map and it’s Twisted Metal… BLUR-style.
5. Team Racing- 20 players, 2 teams. The teams are allotted one of two colors so you can tell them apart and points are given for position finished. The team with the most points wins.
6. Team Motor Mash- Just like Team Racing, but Motor Mash instead.
7. Hardcore Racing- You a big fan of PGR, but don’t like getting blown up? This is the playlist for you. All racing no weapons.
8. Community Events- These are Popular user created “custom” events.
9. World Tour- Random car, random track, and random gametype… a complete mix of everything Blur Multiplayer has to offer.

Pitted against random opponents in many different play styles you race, blast, and boost your way through numerous tracks and countless hours of fun.

Blur also has a social twist to it. Bizarre has incorporated Twitter and Facebook into the game so you can let everyone know how you’re standing in leaderboards and Multiplayer Rank.(Make sure you enter your accounts in through the option menu, though.) You can also challenge your friends to try and keep up. If they accept the challenge and beat it, they can send it right back to see if you can best the new score. The Friend Challenge can even be edited to make it tougher on them. Speaking of leaderboards… Blur has a stat tracker built in to keep things up-to-date. Link up your account online here to let your friends (and the rest of the world) know haw awesome you are at this game.

The good- This game has so much potential for replay it’s scary. I’m sure I’ll hit it through at least twice for career mode, but the multiplayer will get may too many hours of my time. Every time you level up in rank it’s always exciting to get that new unlock. Then, you just can’t wait to see what’s next.

The bad- There have been way too many reviews I’ve seen that complained about the Career mode being a breeze from the start, then becoming the most frustrating racing game ever. I have seen this for myself. It can get rough (but I don’t think it’s as bad as they’ve made it out to be). Multiplayer can get that way too, especially if the people you play with/against have mastered the tracks and have an ungodly knack of nailing you with a reverse fired weapon from a crazy distance.

My advice- Through Career don’t get picky trying to master every event the first time around… like I did. Focus on getting one thing done at a time. If an event is giving you trouble, move on to the next, unlock some better cars, then go back to it. It will keep you from getting frustrated and you might have fun through the whole thing. I know there’s a certain satisfaction with getting all the lights in one shot, but getting 1st-3rd is hard enough without trying to get the Fan Runs or Fan Demand at the same time.
When it comes to Multiplayer, don’t do it unless you’ve gone through Career first. It will give you time to learn the tracks. But, if you’re stubborn and just want to jump in to play with your friends, don’t push yourself to get first right away. It won’t happen. You get Fans and ranking for everything you do in a race. Take your time to get to know the tracks and the weapon layout. For those who played Career first, the weapon layout is different in Multiplayer… keep this in mind.

The price- Most outlets have already dropped the price of this gem since its release. I think that is because it didn’t get the publicity it deserved. Red Dead Redemption and Split/Second came out around the same time so they might have hindered Blur’s sales. It’s ranking in at $49.99 in most cases. But it doesn’t matter how/where you find it, or how much it costs, I advise grabbing it quickly. It’s worth it. I’ve added a link to Amazon below to make it easier on ya…

AMMIH Rating: 5/5 (Awesome!)
Sicky’s Motion Sickness Rating: 0/5 ( Hours of Fun!)
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Do you remember Crimson Skies? Who doesn’t, Right? Well everything you knew about that game has been put on the XBLA in the form of Peanuts…

Snoopy: Flying Ace by SmartBomb Interactive hit the marketplace yesterday, and I had NO idea what it was. It literally crept up out of nowhere. It’s a good thing, too… It made me curious, so I took to the computer to look up some info. The FIRST thing I came across was an article comparing it to Crimson Skies. I was like “Nah, no way…that can’t be.” But indeed… check this out —->

This game is incredible! You get an arcade air combat game that incorporates a bit of a platformer (for a lil Story telling) and a multiplayer that exceeds the experience from Crimson Skies, all wrapped up in a tight little bundle of joy.
The story mode takes you through numerous types of off the wall missions. From dogfighting waves of the Red Baron’s forces to taking down Zepplins of Doom, and with two modes of difficulty, this game has proved to have great replay value for me already.
The MultiPlayer is what makes thing game more interesting… It offers a wide range of customization for your plane and weapon choices. Choose from one of their many custom pilots, or you can take your Avatar to the skies! ( I might have to put my Recon helmet on to see what that looks like in my plane…) The game supports up to 16 players in one match, and has a lot of gametypes to choose from.

The best thing about this game…is that you get all this wonderful sweet glaze of goodness for 800 MS points… That’s $10 people !!!

So what are you waiting for? GO GET IT and meet me in the skies!

Sicky’s Motion Sickness Rating: 4/5

AMMIH’s Overall Rating 5/5 Yes!

I won’t lie – I hated Red Dead Revolver. It was the first game other than Harry Potter to make me swear as a child. It wasn’t a memorable experience. All I remember was that damn mini-gun/coffin boss, the guy who got his arm shot off, and that I kept calling a playable character Castro. So, when Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar San Diego was announced, I was kind of reluctant to care. However, I was in GameStop last week with some friends on the release date of Redemption, I saw the box and figured I may as well try it.

I regret nothing.

The story takes place during the days of the Wild West where the Federal Government was beginning to take in all of its land. Automobiles are just now being prototyped, weapons are evolving, and the government is cashing in all its checks. The FBI (Technically referred to as the Bureau of Investigation, but everyone says they work for the federal government and they are in fact Federal Agents, therefore, they are the damn FBI. Just call ‘em that.) have taken farmer and former gang-member John Marston’s family into custody and told him that if he doesn’t round up his old gang members and either put them down or capture them, his farming days are over… as is his family.

Liked:
Farmer John – John Marston is a family man, even with his life on the line and his family in custody. In the opening of the game we see some whores in a saloon and, this being a Rockstar game, I wondered what kind of controversial content there may be here. Surprise! Only ten or so minutes into the game, a character asks John of his intentions with those women and John replies how he is happily married. John only wants to do what is needed to see his family again. While that sounds somewhat cliché, the way it is conveyed over the course of the game is very refreshing. Marston knows he’s no saint, but he isn’t some gruff character either. He makes jokes and is polite to most strangers. He has a short enough temper, but he is very much relatable and lovable (not unlike Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV).

“…everyone will eventually pay for what they’ve done” – The story of Red Dead Redemption is not so much one of Redemption as it is “Mediation.” While Johns Honor and Fame changes with the player’s choices, the main story stays overall the same. Marston isn’t looking for anyone’s forgiveness (well, one person’s) but he wants his family back. This means he is willing to do literally anything. At one point in the game, John goes south of the border to play an important role in a Mexican Civil War. John plays both sides willingly, because both sides offer to take him to his enemies, and therefore his family. John walks the fine line of outlaw and savior in a neutral way not explored by many games. John just wants his family, not fame or shame.

It’s a Western! – Red Dead Revolver was a “spaghetti-western” and served really only to be an entertaining game. Redemption aims to be the first modern attempt at recapturing our long lost love for the Wild West. While it still is rather cheeky and carries that sort of GTA “charm,” Redemption is still very engaging and even emotional at times. This is a believable story during a time period I’ve never really seen before. When you see a car after hours of horseback shenanigans, your first reaction will probably be “Whoa.” Horses are very intuitive and fun to use, though I absolutely loathe the “breaking” mechanic.

“The Day John Marston Stopped Shooting” – My favorite parts of the game are the climaxes, of which the game has about three. There’s the main story climax, and then two endings I’d declare the “You care about the story” ending, and then the final, “You care about these characters” ending. The game’s story is arguably never about John Marston, his gang, his troubles or the government. When players finally see those credits, and you know the story is over, things will feel complete and fully wrapped up, unlike Niko’s journey. Those that I know who finish to the credits have not stopped talking about it with me. It’s a good one.

South of the Border – Mexico is in the game as half of the huge world. The missions there start out about more of the same as the first half in the U.S. but when things pick up, they really do. During my shenanigans in GTA IV, I pondered what a Rockstar game set in a war would be like. Now I know, and it’s freakin’ sweet. Mexico is also home to some of the games most beautiful vistas that. In multiplayer, my friends and I sat back and enjoyed while we discussed the game. Never have I seen a more beautiful sunset in a game.

Dead-Eye – When I found out cheat-codes in the game disable saved games (Not just achievements) I was pretty annoyed, but when you get used to using the Dead-Eye mechanic, something you can do after racking up a few kills, you can really have some fun (and stay alive) during some tough spots. Time slows and you line up your targets for some fun.

Multiplayer – I won’t lie, my time with the game’s multiplayer was mostly limited to Free-roam, but even therein lies hours of entertainment. Make a posse with some of your friends and haul-ass across the desert in an effort to make a name for yourself. It harkens back to GTA IV’s multiplayer, but it is fun in big numbers. Just don’t get too used to respawning and living when in combat. It can be a bugger.

Hated:
Not Without Its Flaws – Red Dead Redemption has some serious bugs. From half-woman, half-donkey hybrids to no audio in dramatic cut scenes, the game has a serious need for some patches. While a glitch that made some items and characters invisible has been addressed, there are still so many more it really is quite annoying… not always game-breaking, but still annoying. You know that scene in Goldmember, with the guy who had the mole? Yeah.

Red Deadrising – My room has no fancy HD Widescreen. While it is opted for HI-Def, it ain’t a widescreen, so I’ll never be able to read most of the text in the upper left corner of the screen that tells me important stuff. The game looks fine, but some stuff is too small to make out or cuts off across the screen.

Broke Back Mountain (C’mon, I had too!) – Horse breaking, at least for me, is a pain in the ass and even when I’m balanced on my horse it seems I just get knocked off. It can be easy and fair at times but, varying from horse to horse, it can be very tedious. Horses are a very fun part of the game when you get the hang of them, but this is one function I wish I could eliminate.

Red Dead Redemption is definite game of the year material – and I just got off of the Halo: Reach Beta. When all is said and done and you hook up to the Rockstar social network looking at fun challenges, multiplayer, and soon DLC, you can’t help but marvel at this spiritual successor to a mediocre game. Rockstar recently stated its games were for mature people. This game shows that in a high-light and is in no way for kids. But for those of us who can understand it, the struggle of John Marston is a very valid chapter in gaming, and even more so in Westerns.

Rating: 5/5
Sicky’s Rating: TBD
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego) is available on PS3, 360, and soon, PC.

Once again, the same disclaimer from part 1 applies to this post. If you missed Part 1 go back and check it out now.

Generator Defense has launched and we’ve had our time to poke at the game type and map a bit. Most matches have a noticeable amount of delay when doing certain actions, but Bungie did warn us to expect that. The game is two rounds long, with three members on each team. Spartans spawn at the top of a hill near a barn with three generators they must defend from the Elites who spawn at the bottom of the hill. Elites must shoot, slash, and ‘nade spam the generators until they explode. Don’t think the Spartans have no defense against this though as they can run to each generator and activate a blast shield that will completely protect the generator for thirty seconds allowing them to regroup and help their team mates without worry.

Overlook is a relatively small map, and I would have to put it about the same size as Heretic from Halo 3 maybe a bit smaller. When you play G.D., don’t expect a long drawn out game. While there are going to be networking bumps here and there, the game type is designed for fast paced and intense combat.

Now to the sad part…
The Halo: Reach BETA ended this morning, but Bungie had posted that it went through “Sudden Death.” This apparently means that the servers were still running for a bit afterwards, but players that were still battling it out, dealt with some issues… They seem to have been actively messing with the servers to get a tad bit more info out of them… “Experimenting,” shall we say?

Here’s the good part…
The full Halo: Reach title is available for Pre-Order at various locations. They are also available in three Editions. Amazon is offering free shipping and the September 1st release date for the game. Pre-orders are going quickly, so if you haven’t jumped on it, now would be a good time.

With everything that Bungie threw into the Halo:Reach Beta being only a taste of what’s to come, I’m sure that we’re going to be completely satisfied with the retail version (if not overstuffed). This will be the most promising Halo game to land on our plates.

Now, to get this straight… this may be a review, but it’s on a BETA! Remember that. This is also meant to be taken simply as observations of what we’ve seen so far and by no means are we judging this beta. Both PsychoVandal and Ryokea co-wrote this to bring out a few points and some information about the beta. We both realize we may leave stuff out, but that is likely because we are not actually giving any sort of grade or score on this beta. There will be a thorough review of the final product when it is released by Bungie this fall.

So we got our chance to throw down in the BETA version of Halo: Reach, and oh boy we CANNOT WAIT for the real thing. If you have not had a chance to check it out, you don’t have much time left. The BETA test phase ends May 19. Also, those who are Silver Xbox Live members will have access to the benefits of Gold members for the 14th -17th! Want to know how to get in on it? Go here. If you’ve already been enjoying the BETA then you know much of what we’re about to spew..

Now, I bet you’re expecting a little paragraph or two about how to move from Halo 3 game play into the Reach beta. Well, let me dish it out to you straight. Reach feels like a completely new game, and honestly needs to be approached as such. Don’t go into it with high hopes of nabbing that BR and getting some headshots, mostly because the BR has been replaced. This has caused a bit of a stirring in the community, but really if you think about it. Change is good.

One of the biggest changes, and will be the most noticeable ones during a game of Slayer, is the addition of Armor Abilities. Not only do we get to run around as Spartan-III’s but we also get to rock some cool abilities such as: Armor Lock, Sprint, Active Camo, and a Jet Pack. Of course you can also play as Elites under certain game types, their Armor Abilities are similar but they get Evade instead of Sprint and there is a decided lack of Armor Lock. Keep in mind this is just the beta, and the retail game may or may not include more abilities or possibly give the Elites access to Armor Lock.

Another fun note about this game is the fact you get access to a wider array of customization options for your Spartan. Elite’s will also have some options, but they are in full armor sets unlike their human counterparts. The beta has given us a peak at some of the things we will be able to purchase using the credit system implemented in the new game, and occasionally due to a glitch some have seen other options not purchasable until the retail release. Spartans will be allowed to customize their helmet, shoulders, and chest plate to whatever they wish from the options available. So get crackin’ on making your “unique and deadly snowflake.” The Spartan you make for yourself will look the same whether you are part of Noble Six in campaign or beating heads in during multiplayer. To buy all this eye candy goodness for your killing machine, you will make use of the credits that you earn from every game. To help line your pockets with that digital cash, Commendations can be earned by collecting so many of a certain type of medal from kills. Once you get a Commendation it gives you a nice boost to your earned credits at the end of the match, so they give you a better incentive to nail some multi-kills and headshots.

Remember the Veto system introduced with Halo 3? Well it has been done away with. Now before you start raging, it has been replaced with a far better system. The new voting system shows you a small selection of map choices with game types listed by them and lest you vote on one of them or you can opt to choose None of the Above for one round to get a new mix of maps and game types. As of right now, if a vote ties the system will choose the one higher on the list.

Map selection is limited since this is the beta, no big surprise to anyone who played the Halo 3 beta. We have Powerhouse, a bit of a circular map with four buildings to offer cover and power weapons contained in tight spaces to make fighting for them a fairly intense battle. Sword Base is the other common map you will be choosing. Yes there is a sword on it, but this is also a multi-tiered map that makes Jet Packers jump for joy due to being able to navigate the tiers quickly. Other armor abilities are handy here too if you know how to properly apply them and maybe you can cut a Jet Pack Spartan short of reaching a power weapon placed on a center platform. There was one more map available as of the 7th, but we’ll touch on that one in a moment.

Playlists:

The Arena rears its head for the first time in this beta for us to scrutinize and prod at it’s various aspects. Arena is the proving ground for the hardcore players to try and get ranked in as high of a Division as possible. The Arena pulls from your standard sets of four man Team Slayer game types you would expect to see on the two maps Powerhouse and Sword Base. Arena also has seasons that last for a set amount of time, and at the end you are given a rating depending on how well you played compared to your peers. Divisions are listed from lowest to highest as: Steel, Bronze, Platinum, Gold, and Onyx. Play three games in the Arena playlist to get your rating for the day, and do that enough times you will be classed into a Division. When the season finally comes to a close, you will get a statistical layout of how you did that season. Your rating is scored by your “Best” three games of the day, so if you don’t do so well in the beginning you can still improve in later matches.

Grab Bag is pretty much exactly as it sounds. A mix of various Slayer and objective based game types with teams of four pitted against each other on Powerhouse and Sword Base. This is where you will see your Oddball and its variant Headhunter along with CTF and its variant Stockpile. This playlist also allows Spartans to face off against the Elites in SvE Slayer. Team Crazy King and its variant 3 Plot pop up in the rotation from time to time as well. One last game type that likes to stop by for a chat is Team SWAT, lovingly referred to by some as “Host Advantage.”

Free For All makes a return for those wanting to go Lone Wolf with eight players total in the game to run about bashing each other’s heads in on Powerhouse and Sword Base. In this playlist you’ll see what you would expect from the usual mix of Slayer and objective game types. This is also where you will go to try and score a game of the new and improved Juggernaut, or as some call it “Oh f@#k, here comes the flaming dude with the Grav Hammer.” Crazy King makes its appearance here as well for some good times ‘nade spamming the hill, if that’s your thing. An important note to mention about FFA is you shouldn’t jump into this playlist with the hopes of playing as Elites since there are no Covy game types in the rotation.

The final playlist we have access to, until tomorrow, is Invasion. Six Spartans versus six Elites with teams broken down into three fireteams composed of two people each. This effectively gives you a mobile spawn point as your team mate stomps around Boneyard. You are allowed to choose from several spawn points other than your team mate if he happens to come under fire or is in enemy territory. One quick note, Boneyard is the largest map that Bungie has cranked out for one of their games and definitely one of their better ones. There are two game types in the rotation, Invasion or Invasion Slayer. Invasion is objective based with the Elites fighting their way through the Spartan defensive checkpoints to gain access to a navigation core from the decommissioned frigate that composes part of the level. The Elites have to steal the core and bring it back to their Phantom to win the match, but they lose if the time runs out before they can make it past any one checkpoint or fail to get the core to the ship in time. Invasion Slayer is just as it sounds, Spartans versus Elites with the team to reach one hundred kills as the victor. But in this mode there are Drop Zones available to capture and hold until a weapon or vehicle drop is made. As Invasion games go along, the teams gain access to increasingly powerful load outs and vehicle drops.

As far as part 1 goes, this is where we will give you a breather and let you get back to running and gunning. Look forward to Generator Defense as it drops on our plates tomorrow. Soon as we get our fill we’ll give you the low down on that with part 2.

The Splinter Cell series has always been about many things, but the core of that has always been sneaking up on people for a stealth kill. The news of a new Splinter Cell was cause for celebration since I had all but tired of the last in the series. This time around, Sam Fisher wasn’t going to be playing entirely by the rules. Sounded to me like a recipe for a little brutal revenge.

Finally getting to play as Sam Fisher again was a treat in itself, but seeing him actually show his age in his physical appearance just really helped you get a feel for how long it’s been. The controls felt familiar and the first level introduced, as it should, several key aspects of the game that you would have to use to your advantage. Well, you didn’t have to but Sam would likely end up looking like Swiss Cheese if you didn’t. Visually, the game delivers on realistic looking environments and clever lighting physics so take a moment to stop and enjoy the way things look before you rip that guy out of the window to his death.

Length. The campaign is about five hours on your first run. Less if you are really good at this style of game. To make amends for that though, there are challenges for you to complete while playing the campaign and there are Deniable Ops which are just extra little side missions. Of course the game also has online multiplayer to experience so while it has a short campaign, it does make up for it elsewhere.

Gotta say, one of my favorite things about this entire game is the Mark and Execute system. Take a guy down with a stealth kill and get the ability to Execute. Mark some of his buddies and tap the Execute button to deal out a swift death. There are some other interesting combinations of that same tactic that really helps clearing rooms out in the Realistic difficulty.

The game could have had a bit longer campaign, and they could have left in the improvised gadgets system they had planned on. With the Deniable Ops and the multiplayer, I think the game is reasonably priced. It’s kept me coming back to finish unlocking everything and teaming up with a friend to ambush the bad guys.

Conviction is a great addition to the S.C. series, and returning fans will appreciate the fact they finally tied up a loose end with the story. Some of the new avenues opened up by the story of this game will likely be used to great effect if they decide to ship out a new installment later down the road.

Platforms: Xbox 360, iPhone, PC

AMMIH Rating: 4

SMS (Sicky’s Motion Sickness) Rating: 3

Well, I’m sure that’s jumping the shark, but that’s simply how I feel. Pokémon means a lot to me. When I play it, it is one of those rare instances in my teenage life when I completely become a child again. I go on planned “adventures,” sleep at night with fond dreams of venturing across the Orre region (Pokémon Colosseum / Gale of Darkness), and have a good time during the day playing with my friends. When the remakes of the Silver/Gold/Crystal games were announced, I looked at one screen shot on Serebii (Possibly the best Pokéfan destination) and went “Hey, sweet!” My DS and I have a mixed relationship, but this game helped rekindle my fondness for it.

Liked:

• “It’s a whole new world” – That quote is from the anime cartoon’s theme song when the series went to the Johto region, and I find it fitting because the Johto region was almost completely forgotten by me. See, the Hoenn region from Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald is fresh in my memory because I played that almost daily for years. The Sinnoh region in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum is memorable as well, being the last region I trekked across. Kanto, the setting of the first Game Boy Color games, was also in my memory because of its iconic nature, and the Fire Red and Leaf Green remakes for the GBA. Johto was exclusive to G/S/C and I felt like I was in a place I’d never been to, thanks in part to the complete graphical overhaul of the region to make it look nice on the DS.
• Touch It – The first DS Pokémon titles seemed to hardly use the feature outside of a few in-game gimmicks, most of which were simple touching on the lower screen or blowing into the mic. This disappointed me and kind of put me off in those games. But now, HeartGold and SoulSilver have been made very compatible with the DS. The controls are relatively the same, but the touch screen is a quick access menu and while still rather simplified, it was nice to see the game being designed specifically for the DS.
• Three Dimensions – The graphics are very nice throughout, and I actually thought some areas were nothing short of beautiful (The Autumn Forest that leads to the Bell Tower). They take a page from previous titles, not only having a more 3D look to the world, but also going a bit beyond that. Some areas have a more depth added in: going down stairs looks like you’re actually going lower and walking down into a pit or cave looks like you’re going through a small window, as opposed to regular two-dimensional graphics. With the recent announcement of the 3DS, I wonder if this implies more games will be compatible with it than previously thought.
• PokéWalker – Part of the gimmick behind these games is the in-box pedometer. Using this, you can transfer a Pokémon from your in game PC to the pedometer, and with every step you build up little points referred to as “Watts”. For every three watts, you can scan the area in a little mini-game for items. For ten watts, you can pit your Pokémon against a wild one and potentially catch it. This sounds tacky but is actually kind of fun, and I enjoyed the extra encouragement to bring the DS places – and in a way, I can see parents telling their own kids about how, if they walk around more and get more exercise, they can unlock new stuff (A flying Pikachu!? Thanks Nintendo!). Then again I am no parent, but it seems like a nice incentive.
• It’s Still Fun – Again, I’ve been with this series since I was maybe… four? These games are still fun to me, a sixteen year old high school student. They are easy to pick up and play, and are something fun to enjoy in between time on my consoles. I can still say I giggle with glee when I whoop one of my friends’ rear end with my old pal Totidile. I’m sure not everyone still even plays the games if they once did, and I’m sure a lot of “hardcore” gamers scoff at the concept of it, but this game is very enjoyable and is probably my favorite RPG series alongside Mass Effect, .//Hack and Knights of the Old Republic. There is also a lot for fans of the series to see and laugh at, from inside jokes to familiar faces.
• “Follow Me” – Having your Pokémon first in your party now means it will follow you around the game’s Overworld. I found this to be pretty fun. It doesn’t dramatically affect anything, except making your Pokémon like you more, but it does look pretty cool walking around a city with a giant bird flying behind you. Just sayin’.

Hated:

• Story – Yeah, I know… criticizing Pokémon for its story is like criticizing the sun for rising: it’s moronic. But hear me out here. In Pokémon Platinum, you were facing off against “Team Galactic,” a gang of thugs that wanted to literally destroy the entire universe and create a perfect one, without the “filthy” emotions we carry with us. In something of a dark twist, after hearing the Team’s leader, Cyrus, give a speech about this goal, you learn that he doesn’t even care about those fighting for his dream (“I seek an entirely new world solely for myself. If not, it could never a complete and perfect world. You’ve seen my minions of Team Galactic. You yourself must know that they are uniformly useless and incomplete.”). That sounds innocent enough, but think about it for a second – he pretty much wants to exterminate everything that exists, just so he can have some peace and quiet on his own world with absolutely no interference being possible. Sounds kind of badass, but then we come back to “Team Rocket” in Pokémon Soul Silver/Heart Gold. Team Rocket in this romp, are a bunch of annoying bullies who whine about their boss having left them after losing three years ago (See Fire Red/Leaf Green) and are trying to get him back. Anticlimactically, their plan almost succeeds but then they just vanish. Thanks to a special (Japanese only as of this writing) event, a time-traveling Pokémon takes the player around through time and you learn that the message that Rocket wanted to get out actually made it. Unfortunately, due to the intervention of “Future You,” their boss decided to pansy out of it. Thanks, Game Freak.
• Kanto – When you beat the Elite Four at “The End” and unlock the Kanto region, you are probably expecting, like me, for there to be a second sort of storyline. Not so much. No more Team Rocket (well, okay, one who missed the memo and his story ends almost as anticlimactically as the previous time) and only the Kanto Gym Leaders to take on. This adds some features and time to the game, and also, lets you unlock one last area that features a cameo of the main character from the “first” games. Unfortunately, there’s almost nothing to do beyond that. Exploring and nostalgically having some shenanigans is nice, but it’s just so . . . well, boring. It also makes the game feel kind of like a colorful rehashing which G/S/C kind of were when they first came out. But still, there’s little excuse for a lack of features.
• The “Pal Park” – Man, eff the effin’ pal park. I want to refrain from using the F-Bomb in my reviews, but my god… Okay, to transfer Pokémon from the Game Boy Advanced games, you need to plug it into a DS/DS Lite’s bottom loader and hit up the icon for transferring Pokémon on the main menu before you start your game. You choose six Pokémon in your box, and then save, and start up. Now, instead of them going into your PC, you have to go to Kanto’s Pal Park in Fuchsia City. Basically, you talk to some guy, and run around in some water and grass to re-catch your Pokémon. Don’t worry, you won’t have to battle them. You just throw a Pokeball and catch it. You have to nab all six you chose, leave and save your game. To add further insult to it all, you’re asked if you “would like to keep the Pokémon you caught.” Well no shiz I wanna keep the effin’ Pokémon! That’s why I’m here! And now I get to reset my DS and do this all again. Oh and by the way, if any of your Pokémon know a HM move, one that has to be removed by a Move Deleter, it can’t be transferred, meaning you have to hunt ‘em down in the GBA title you’re using. This is tedious and doesn’t even need to be here. I can understand the HM thing, and maybe the technical issues with the six Pokémon at a time limit, but running around for about ten minutes just to re-catch my Pokémon was excruciatingly annoying and repetitive.
• Voltorb Flip – Okay, so in past Pokémon games, “Game Corners” (little casino-like areas) were around in certain cities. You could play slots, get some coins, and go buy yourself some rare Pokémon or items. In Pokémon Platinum’s European release, the British (I believe) government had made some new laws about gambling. This lead to the Brits getting a modified Game Corner featuring a machine where you basically walked up once a day, poked it, and got coins. Whoop-de-effin’-doo. In the original G/S/C, there was some card game along with the slots. And now a reimaging is here: Voltorb Flip. It’s a mixture of Minesweeper and ripping out your hair. The Japanese copes if HG and SS keep the slots, but everyone else gets this annoying as hell card game that is nearly impossible to win without an online fan-made calculator. It’s hell and almost encouraged me and my friends to toss our DS’s against the wall.

In the end, most of my beefs with these new games are nitpicks. This series has always been mainly aimed at children, and children will love this game, especially if they loved previous titles. This is a good DS game, and a good game in general. While Pokémon White and Black were recently announced, this is a good way to help stem the boredom until their release. It’s just that as a fan of the series, I kind of liked Platinum, and even some of Emerald on the GBA better. And as a certain cartoon hedgehog that I watched along the same time as Pokémon once said, that’s no good.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were produced by Game Freak and Nintendo for the Nintendo DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, and as of yet unreleased 3DS.

AMMIH Score: 3/5
Sick’s Motion Sickness Rating: 1/5

“Fear the Future”

That tag line stuck with me after seeing the trailer for the then called “Metro 2033: The Last Refuge.” Metro’s trailers peaked my interest the moment I first saw them, primarily because it was based off a Russian novel. While the post-apocalyptic world has been covered many times before, this looked to be a fresh take on the genre.

When I saw the “Launch” trailer for Metro, using the “In a Heartbeat” track from 28 Weeks Later I found myself craving the game, so I went out and got it. Jumping into the game, my first impression was a bit mixed. At first the game seemed good but not groundbreaking or anything. As I played deeper into the story and looked around this dark and eerie world, I became more and more drawn into the characters and the events.

You play the role as Artyom, a young man who is tasked by his friend Hunter to find a way to stop the “Dark Ones” – mysterious beings thought by some to be the future of evolution in a world ravaged by radiation and toxic air.

Loved:

• Eye of the Beholder – Possibly one my favorite things about the game is that as much as people fear and want to destroy the “Dark Ones,” the player is never directly told or even understands what a “Dark One” is. You get a glimpse through mental hallucinations, and if you move quickly you can even spot some when roaming the surface of Moscow, but it’s up to the player to really determine what they are or if they are really even a threat.
• “Welcome Home, Artyom” – The surface levels are about twenty-five or so percent of the game, but they are a great example of survival horror done right. Players must do their best to conserve ammo as best they can and try to survive traps, beasts, and the air itself. The gas mask mechanic can take getting used to, but when you figure out how to scrounge for items and check your watch, it can be really entertaining.
• Silent Observer – For a few levels, there are “present day” communists warring for turf in the Metro tunnels and surface against the “Fourth Reich.” While the presence of Nazi’s and Reds is an important part of your journey, it never explains why they are there in the first place. It’s not bad that things in the world happen without you being directly involved however. There are achievements for not interfering in their little “war,” and it’s only a small illustration of how you do not decide how the world turns. There are other cases as well, but this is one of the more obvious examples that you will not be rescuing princesses or signing treaties.
• Storyline – I have read a lot about the novel, but not the actual novel itself. From what I can tell, the game is rich with story, and I’m sure the novel is as well. Something about being in the universe as these characters and walking with them made me feel more like there is a purpose to the story, as opposed to just reading it. I felt like there is more going on than I was even aware of, which tells me a sequel is possible. Characters felt human, and the events in the story did carry a certain moral that speaks a good truth. You may not need a game to tell you that, but it does have impact.
• Rambo/Splinter Cell – You are given the tools you need from the beginning to either blast or sneak your way through. While the game can be very exciting, Ramboing, I found myself doing a number of missions repeatedly until I could perfectly sneak through them.

Hated:

• The controls – At least on 360, they start out terrible. If you have an Xbox LIVE connection, you will immediately be given an Auto-update that allows for a more console-suited control system, but this is something that should have been there out of the box. Without being changed, the controls took a lot of getting used to. There was also no quick way to equip melee weapon, which lead to a lot of deaths.
• Bugs – The game, while good, did have a good number of bugs. I found myself stuck between walls/doors, and occasionally killed when I should not have been. There were also some scenery pop-ups in Moscow that soured things.
• QuickTime – There were a few QuickTime events in the game where you are knocked to the ground and told to “Press ‘X’ to not die” (quoted from a highly respected fellow reviewer) so you can stab whatever put you on your back. These moments were gripping in the right scenarios, but just annoying when they kept happening.
• Enemy Spam – There are a few “hold the fort” moments which weren’t that bad, and were actually pretty tense on certain difficulties, but when you constantly have five enemies just running forward biting and clawing into you or a comrade, it got a little boring.
• “We’ve got hostiles up in here!” – Get used to hearing that. A LOT. Enemies constantly shouted the same lines repeatedly until my gun shut them up. While interesting one-time pieces of dialogue are present, it became annoying hearing “Look, my money’s running around” while sneaking and trying not to kill everything.
• Red Screen – The screen turning red while getting wounded is nothing new to FPS’s, the red blotches on my screen annoyed me and sometimes covered portions of my vision on the wrong side instead of telling me where I was being hurt. Med kits were present to fix this, but it was still annoying and almost as bad as Modern Warfare’s jam-blood screen.
• Trading – It worked well when you get used to it, but it did get tedious managing bullets.

Honestly, there’s a lot more good than bad here, it’s just that this is a game not everyone will appreciate. If you liked Half-Life or maybe Prey – FPS’s that had the nuts to walk in other directions than some others in the genre – I highly recommend this game to you. It was sad to see how under-promoted it was, as it was so fun and beautiful in many ways. From what’s been said on other websites, it was also one of the best games to own if you are getting one of those fancy new 3D TVs. In bang for your buck, I got my copy with my GameStop machine-gun shotgun DLC and had a good time. This was worth the sixty-five, but then again, I am a huge fan of games like this. So if you’re into CO-OP, multiplayer, hardcore first person experiences, don’t get this game, it is not for you. Rent it maybe, but don’t buy. But for those who enjoy games like Dead Space or Bioshock for the narrative and story, you will love the atmosphere and story of Metro and I advise you to borrow, rent or buy it (well maybe used).

Metro 2033 is available on Xbox 360 console and PC
AMMIH Rating: 4/5 (higher is better)
SMS Rating: 4/5 (lower is better)

So I finally managed to get around to beating this game that I nearly didn’t purchase on release date. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a sucker for a Square Enix game so I had high hopes this new addition to the FF series wouldn’t disappoint. I waited and waited for the US release date to roll around, all the while shaking my fist at Japan for getting the game several months before I could even think about playing it.

After my usual ritual of bugging the Game Stop employees, I finally had my chance to play the game. Immediately I was greeted with an impressive cut scene. After the initial introduction of the first two characters, I took control and ran off to get into a fight to test out the battle system I had heard some people complain about. I can see why some people didn’t like it, but I found it to be a pretty good battle system. Not all the time do I want to be tactical while grinding so the “Press A to beat on enemy” option was nice to have.

Hope. Yes, I hated the character Hope. I found him to be excessively whiney, and yes I know he went through a tragedy but his logic he uses to come to all his decisions afterwards is just so twisted I really don’t know what to say about it. Let’s see…oh yes, Adamantoise. I really really hate Adamantoise. They were the last thing in between me and my party having their ultimate weapons, I wont spoil anything for you so go have fun trying to kill one. Keyword is trying after all.

The return of Eidolons was a big hit with me, and the fact they have a vehicle form they transform into when you turn on Gestalt Mode. I liked the explanation of how they get magic, and the fact the only way your enemies on Cocoon have it is if they use a technological device known as a Mana Drive.

The game itself is worth the full price if you ask me, but under no circumstance should you buy the strategy guide. There is absolutely no reason to. All the levels up to chapter eleven are linear so you don’t need a map. You can use Libra on enemies to see their weaknesses, and mash the hell out of the lazy button to win most normal fights. Anything else you need can be found with a simple Google search or asking a question on a relevant FFXIII board.

Final Fantasy XIII is a great addition to the line up of games made by Square Enix. Granted they removed towns and made it slightly linear for the most part, they did have some tweaks in that made up for it if you ask me. I’m still waiting to try out ultimate weapons and five star the final boss, but with some grinding, which is something you should get used to if you play this game, I should be able to pick up the last few things in the game I’ve missed. Expect to put many hours into this game, I beat it and have over sixty hours into that save file.

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360

AMMIH Rating: 4

SMS (Sicky’s Motion Sickness) Rating: 1