When the release for Dead Rising 2 hit the streets, my first thought was, “Eh, wasn’t too thrilled for the first one.” So I didn’t give the info much more thought. Enter: Dead Rising 2 Case: “0″(Zero) for the XBLA. This would be Dead Rising 2′s prequel to its upcoming release. I saw people on my Friends List playing it, so I asked one of them how it was. The response I got was better than expected. I then asked the local GameStop’s Assistant Manager about what he had heard…

The AM gave me an “uninformative” answer, but threw in a couple excited remarks about “upgrading” weapons and the price tag; $5 (400 M$ Points) He also said that it was easy to get all the achievements. This got my attention. Killing zombies with a chainsaw is one thing… but strapping that TWO chainsaws to a Kayak paddle and flailing it carelessly and getting GamerScore for it is squeee-tastic! I’m fairly certain that as soon as I got home that day; I Queued it up for download, poured myself a drink, and loaded it up.

The story took a page from an old horror flick right from the start. Refugee Protagonist pulls into a small town in the middle of nowhere, something happens to his vehicle, Hell breaks loose. Chuck Greene and his daughter, Katey is running to find a “living” civilization and they come across Still Creek, a small town already quarantined by the military at one end… they just didn’t make it to the other. I’m not going to give you the full story here, I want you to play it and experience it for yourself. It’s $5, take my word for it, “You won’t regret it!”

The Good: –>Combo Weapons.<-- There are many ways for you to dispatch these zombies, then you can put weapons together for even more ways to do so. The "Boomstick" is my favorite, of course. You can even make combo food items to help heal yourself as well. (The “Beer Hat” is amazing!) <-- and there's a free hint for you. For an XBLA game, it's got hours of zombie killing fun, better storyline, and Broadswords…that is all.

The Bad: The AM at GameStop said it’d be easy and quick… easy?; depends on who you ask…quick?; only if you’ve played it five or six times already… The town is small, but you have to learn the layout quick because you don’t have much time to do everything. It will take a few playthroughs to get there… but at least you have six different endings to view. Yes…I did say SIX.

SadFace: No Bruce Cambell yet…

The Price: $5 (400 M$ Points) as previously stated. WORTH IT. You’ll play it a few times, see the endings, kill thousands of zombies….but best of all; your progress in leveling up Chuck (Cap at 5), Combo Cards, and money moves from your game save to the full version of DR2 when it’s released!

If you plan on getting DR2, pick Case “0″ up, who doesn’t want a head start in leveling and upgraded weapons?

Platforms: XBLA
AMMIH Rating: 5/5
SMS Rating : 0/5

So, Plants Vs. Zombies finally hits Xbox Live! We’ve been patiently awaiting its arrival, too. (If you can believe that…)

We became addicted to this game a while back, and since have given it a rest. But now that PopCap has dropped it to our favorite console, it’s on once again. The game comes with its original zany madness peppered with new twists that make it that much better.

Choose sides in the new Versus Mode or take up arms (or leaves) against the Zombie horde in Co-op, either way, PvZ is a lot more fun with friends. Unfortunately, you can’t do it over Live. It is strictly local only. This was done intentionally from what I’ve read earlier. ( I will post the link as soon as I find it. )

• Versus- This mode was indeed a blast! Plants side is played just like the Adventure mode, meaning you have to protect your houze (yes…that was intentional), but you need to kill Zombies that are holding targets at the other end of your yard. Zombies side is a bit different, you need to protect those targets while trying to get just one zombie to eat the other player’s brain. The zombies get Tombstones that give you “brains.” These brains act as a currency just like sun for the plants… Creative, isn’t it?
• Co-Op- This is where it gets interesting. Each player gets to choose what plants they can use in the yard, but only have four slots for seed packets. In this mode you can play short, quick games, or go all out in Adventure mode. Be sure to do the quick games first so that you have your strategy down before you take on Adventure Mode. You need communicate to your partner to keep a sound strategy. Sun is shared. So you each need to be careful not to bogart all the sun. Another thing that’ll keep you on your toes, is this thing they call a “double-sun.” Occasionally two suns will appear side-by-side, when this hits your grass, both players need to hover over it to pick it up.

With the new modes to play in, it seems like this game is full of zombie-killing fun…But wait, there’s more! PopCap has also given you more mini-games, puzzles, and survival mode to conquer, and of course, the Zen Garden is still waiting for you. Did I mention the Tree of Wisdom? Yup, it’s there too. There’s even a cool way to view the Leaderboards for Survival mode. You get to view what your friends have done by what their virtual house looks like.

The Good- Plants Vs. Zombies is chock full of replay value! So much to do in such an addicting game, it will be hours of undying fun!

The Bad- The only problem I have with it is the inability to play with my friend over Live. They say that Live would be an ill experience (with people dropping out of the game just because they’re losing) for this game, but I’d like for them to let us judge that. I would say just make it an invite only deal, I just want to play with friends anyway. Other than that, the game is phenomenal.

The Price- 1200 M$ Points ($15) This alone should be the reason to buy it. The PC/Mac version is $19.99 and you get MORE with this version. How sweet is that?!
Add it to your Xbox Queue now!

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AMMIH Rating: 5/5
Sicky’s Motion Sickness: 0/5

First thing’s first, this is not a game for kids. It’s creepy, there’s gore (you can turn that off, but it wouldn’t be the same experience), there’s suicidal tendencies, and the main character is a little boy that gets F’ed up repeatedly. Now that that’s over with… This game, in it’s simplicity, is probably one of the most creepiest games I’ve ever played.

The story starts with you waking up in the forest. That’s it. That’s all they give you. But, that’s all they need to give you, really. As you progress, you get hints as to what you’re doing there. But let it be known they are very, very subtle hints. The final parts of the game working up to the end are very interesting, though. I’m gonna stop there. You just have to experience it for yourself.

Gameplay is simple; Jump and Action (Moving boxes, pulling switches, etc). Now the Achievements are different. There is one for beating the game, one for beating it with dying 5 times or less, and the rest are for finding hidden eggs all over the world and breaking them.

The Good: This game will keep you entertained for hours trying to figure out each puzzle. You will also die… A LOT. There is no way around that. But you say, “How is that a good thing?” It is…Trust me. The only way to learn is through trial and error. Also, every different way you can die is almost unexpected. Not only will you *gasp*, *flinch*, and *cringe*… but you will laugh hysterically at least once.

The Bad: This game could be frustrating is so many ways. Not only that, but the replay value behind it is based on the Achievements. After finding all the eggs, beating it in under 5 lives (it’s called “No Point in Dying”) is the toughy. But once you’ve done that… What else is there to do?

Price: 1200 MicroSoft points ($15) To be honest, I’m not sure it’s worth that much just because of the weak replay factor, but, to each his own. I had a really fun time playing it.

Overall this game is awesome. It’s a great play, it’s entertaining, and it’ll keep you thinking all the way through.
Limbo
Platforms: XBLA (Xbox 360 only)
AMMIH Rating: 4/5
Sicky’s Motion Sickness Rating: 0/5

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!