Assassin's Creed Storyline Review

A storyline is an essential part of a videogame just as in a movie. If a story is not interesting it will be disappointing to the gamer and will be a flop in sales. The Assassin’s Creed series is an excellent series that is excellent for weekend or hardcore gamers.

Bass Pro Review

            You must really love to fish for it to be fun, and I am talking about real fishing. Sitting there in a boat waiting for a fish to go after the bait, for a very long time is not very exciting.  But, being out in the middle of the water with the wind and the sound of the water splashing against the boat or even on a dock is peaceful. In real life it’s a relaxing activity like sitting by a fire. However in a video game it’s one of the most boring things you can do.

Alan Wake Review

Alan Wake an action thriller game developed by Remedy follows an unaccepted protagonist Alan Wake. His dream of a quiet peaceful getaway from the fame of being a well acclaimed fiction writer with his wife turns into a living nightmare. In the cleverly named town of Bright Falls a dark and mysterious force has kidnapped and now attacks Alan Wake. The only way to destroy them is through the powers of light and bullets. He must fight his way through eerie woods, abandon wood mills, and other areas of the little town of Bright Falls to find his beloved wife who is coincidentally afraid of the dark.

Left 4 Dead 2 Review

Left for Dead 2

 Do you like blasting through hordes of the undead? Do you like doing this with buddies? Well if your answer is yes then Left for Dead is for you. You play as one of four survivors in a world infested with all different types of zombies. The main concept of the game is to survive,simple enough. Survive and blast away hundreds of zombies with Uzis and shotguns. How can life get any better than this? The answer to that is with friends. This game has a huge multiplayer concept. You can play with three other people online and go through the campaign with help.

Pokemon Black and White 2 Preview

               For everyone that doesn’t know, Pokemon is a long running rpg in which the player plays as a pokemon trainer with a goal of trading and fighting monsters known as pokemon, in order to catch em’ all and become a pokemon master. The Pokemon series is one which usually features minimal new additions and features each generation in order to save more new stuff to put into the next generation.

Chrono Trigger Analysis

Chrono Trigger Story Analysis

               The storyline in Chrono Trigger is one of redemption. Basically the characters have to travel through time to make things right by way of performing an action or solving an ongoing conflict, therefore preventing it from happening in the present. One interesting element of the game is that each of the partner characters in the game come from a respective time period each with their own story backgrounds and moves that fit there time period.

Sonic the Hedgehog 6-story analysis-BAD

Sonic the Hedgehog 06 Story Analysis

                  The storyline in Sonic the Hedgehog for the xbox 360 was random and abysmal which made a poorly designed game even worse. The first problem with it before I even get to the plot is that there are way too many characters for this type of game. There are three many characters to play as, each with a storyline to play through and also each with an additional two or three characters to play as in each story. There are three problems with this story set up.

Sonic Generations Review

The game Sonic Generations is a refreshing re-imagining of the glory days of Sonic on the Sega consoles as well as possibly the best playing 3d Sonic game to date. The game has the player control both classic sonic and modern sonic in 9 different stages, with a level for each sonic to play through in each. The stages are simply redesigned levels from 3 eras which include classic, dreamcast, and modern. The stages include Green Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog, City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2, and Rooftop Run from Sonic Unleashed, among others. The player navigates to these worlds via portals in a hub world which is very well done with designs from their respective games which are part of the scenery around the level. The levels are actually a lot of fun to play as both classic and modern sonic. Classic sonic’s gameplay features vivid 2d levels with some 3d effects while modern sonic’s gameplay features 3d levels with some use of 2d perspective. In terms of move sets classic sonic has the basic spin jump to attack enemies as well as the spin dash, while modern sonic has the homing attack as well as the boost which is burst of speed used to make sonic run faster. The main difference with the gameplay of the different sonics is that classic sonic’s gameplay has a larger focus on platforming while modern sonic’s gameplay has a larger focus on speed. The controls for both sonics are responsive and work fine. The only small complaint I have about the game play that the frame rate can dip a little bit in the modern sonic levels buts its not a big deal as it doesn’t happen much. The levels, despite being redone levels from already established games still felt fresh for the most part, partially because the retro stages have never been done in 3d and the modern stages have never been done in 2d. The flow of the game is also well done in that the progression is quick and easy unlike some of sonic’s more recent outings which forced the player to collect things to move on. The only thing you have to do to move on is beat both levels in each stage and beat 1 out of 6 missions from each of the stages. The missions are fairly bearable with easy objectives such as collecting rings, racing a character, or getting through a specially designed level. There are also a lot of bonuses in the game which are rewarded to the player for completing missions and collecting the red rings in which there are 5 in each of the 18 levels. The bonus content includes music which can be used in any of the levels as well as artwork from the past games and special abilities such as super sonic and the homing attack for use with classic sonic. If you’ve ever enjoyed a sonic game whether it be nearly 20 years ago or now then Sonic Generations is a solid pick up with a good amount of nostalgia and strong gameplay. It is isn’t the longest or deepest game , though it is one of Sonic’s best and a worthy pick up for any long time fan or newcomer who wants to get into the series.

Review of: Call of Duty Black Ops

  

Reviewer: David Lam

Title: Call of Duty Black Ops

System: Xbox 360

Genre: FPS, Action

            Alright so this game came out and I felt like I had to analyze it since all I could hear from my brother recently was vulgar profanities that was caused by playing Black Ops. So I asked my brother what the problem was although I knew because I have played and looked over previous COD games. The problem that day was that he lost his killstreak from a person camping in the corner. Now that incident caused him to yell loud vulgar language resulting in my sister telling my mom, leaving me a sad brother and unoccupied Xbox 360. So seeing as it was unoccupied and I was looking for something different I played Black Ops although I generally dislike Call of Duty and their style of gameplay.

            So one positive from Black Ops was an interesting and well done plotline for the campaign. I am a history junkie and seeing JFK along with other well known people such as Fidel Castro caused me to become delighted. Black Ops presented us with a couple of conspiracy theories and also the majority of the game is played through memories. Even the main menu which consists of TV’s and an interrogation room gives this tension to the game. The plot kept my interest as I attack Cuba in the Bay of Pigs and defended against the VC in the Vietnam War. 

Review of: RadianGames Fluid

  

Reviewer: Joe Ruffini

Title: RadianGames Fluid

System: Xbox 360

Genre: Indie Game

                Indie Games are getting bigger and bigger in the gaming world. They are getting more attention and plays. It is creating a new set of games.  My personal favorite indie game is Fluid. It is like an extreme Pac-Man.  You play as this little tadpole like thing that races around collecting all the golden orbs, yeah sounds like Pac-man. BUT here is the twist, every single golden orb turns into a red enemy that chases you and if you get touched, you die. So it creates the problem of not only having to get all the orbs, but also having to avoid the enemies when they are multiplying. There are special things that if you collect then something special happens. With one you grow big and can eat the red enemies, another is a vortex that will suck the enemies into it, but it doesn’t kill them. And finally are the boosters and teleporters, which get you away from the enemies in a quick instance. It is a highly addicting game and it will keep you playing for hours.

Graphics: B

Sound: B

Gameplay: A

Lasting Appeal: B+

Overall: B+

Review of: Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare

 
Reviewer: Joe Ruffini

Title: Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare

System: Xbox 360

Genre: Sandbox Action Adventure

***Spoiler alert! There are possible spoilers in this review. Read at your own risk***

                So Undead Nightmare picks up in red dead redemption around after John Marston is reunited with his family. It starts with you returning home during a storm, and obviously meeting up with your wife and kid. Everyone goes to sleep and is awoken by Uncle who is now a zombie, but since you are in the Wild West, no one knows about zombies yet. So they are extremely puzzled and you have to end up killing him. But not before he bites your wife, who then in turn bites your son. So you have to tie them up and it’s a whole fiasco. Horrible. Absolutely horrible.

Review of: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

Reviewer: David Lam

Title: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

System: Xbox 360

Genre: Action Adventure

                The Assassin’s Creed franchise is huge and very popular. It has given the fans a well  developed story plot and well done combat system involving free running and parkour techniques. When ever there is a sequel to a franchise we complain about the few years it takes to make it. The time is necessary for the sequel to be actually good yet Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood was released only a year after the second game. That worried many of the gamers who believed that the game would not be at the full potential.

                Fortunately these gamers were not disappointed because Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood  surpassed the previous games with another plot twist and altered combat system.  The addition of a kill streak in the combat system definitely solved the biggest problem gamers had in Assassin’s Creed II. People complained about constantly blocking and waiting for a counter kill when faced with a group of guards. In Brotherhood the kill streak allows you to continue killing after you have countered resulting in very quick deaths for large groups of people. Throughout the whole time you are amazed at the kill and grace you see as Ezio dances around the guards slicing them in any open vital spot. No longer must we complain about not being able to move around with eagle vision. Now you can free run with it on allowing you to follow your target with ease.

Review of: Halo Reach

Reviewer: David Lam

Title: Halo Reach

System: Xbox 360

Genre: First-person Shooter

            That common feeling has come once again this fall. Remember the past years of Halo games

coming out in the fall with Call of Duty right on its tail. Well prepare yourself to experience that feeling once again. On September 14,2010 Halo Reach was released in stores and within weeks the game sold millions of copies. That statistic can tell us one thing about Reach and it is that Reach did it’s job. We have been anticipating this game and it came with new features on the campaign, multiplayer, and forge.

Review of: Epic Yarn

Reviewer:        Amy Pistone

Title:               Epic Yarn

System:           Wii

Genre:             Platformer

            Yarn used to be something only grannies loved, but Kirby has managed to bring the stringy fluff to a new level – stardom. Epic Yarn is a true gem of the Wii, combining elements both old and new to create something truly innovative. This game takes the sidescrolling style of previous games, a character we all know and love, a new concept, and amazing graphics to yield a truly “epic” game. While the style is certainly “cute”, this game has substance in its variety of gameplay styles – one minute you’ll be racing and in the next you’ll be a spaceship. The game has its flaws, but Epic Yarn is sure to be an acclaimed game for years to come – a little more than a week after its release, Yarn has already been top-ranked on some video game lists.