Since its debut as a tech demo at E3 2005 (and then again at E3 in 2007) Killzone 2 has been a shining ray of hope in the Playstation 3’s list of upcoming exclusive titles. With its jaw-dropping graphics and Guerrilla’s promise to actually give gamers the “Halo killer” that Sony hyped Killzone 2’s mediocre predecessor to be in 2004, expectations for Killzone 2 are understandably quite high. After all, in the wake of the Free Radicals’ embarrassingly bad Haze, the Playstation 3’s library of quality, exclusive first person shooters as of late has consisted of Resistance 2. And that’s about it.

But does Killzone 2 finally deliver to gamers a revolutionary, next-generation first person shooter that can rival the likes of Halo 3, or is it another disappointment doomed to obscurity like Haze?

Killzone 2’s plot picks up after the events of the first Killzone. After repelling the Helghast invaders from the colony planet Vetka, the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) has decided to return the favor by launching a full scale attack on the Helghast, hellish home planet Helgha. You play as Tomas “Sev” Sevchenko, a Sergeant in the ISA military, who is tasked with leading a unit behind enemy lines to fight the Helghast and eventually square off against their charismatic leader, Emperor Visari. The story is pretty weak over all, plagued with predictable plot turns and some genuinely terrible writing. All it really does is give you an excuse to venture to a new location and kill more enemies, but I suppose that’s all a story really is supposed to do in a sci-fi first person shooter starring space marines.

The single player campaign is nothing special, electing to adhere to the conventional norms of the first person shooter genre instead of daring to explore uncharted territories. Armed with the standard armaments of your standard sci-fi shooter (including machine guns, sniper rifles, and a few weapons unique to Killzone 2) you go from one objective to the next, killing anything that happens to get in your way. Things are mixed up a bit with scattered opportunities to commandeer gun turrets or robot suits, but the campaign never really brings anything to the genre that we have not already played a dozen times before in different games.

Fortunately, what Killzone 2’s campaign does feature it executes extremely well largely due to its impressive enemy AI. The Helghast are vicious and smart. They won’t just stand in the open waiting for you to shoot them. Instead, they will take cover, flush you out with grenades, and pin you with covering fire while their comrades attempt to flank you. Killzone 2 does not encourage tactical thinking under enemy fire -it mandates it. Charging your enemies, guns blazing, may work in other shooters, but not in Killzone 2.

The combat itself is viscerally violent, laden with gory blood splotches and tons of explosions. It also strikes an interesting balance between intensity and methodic strategy. Despite the bullets flying around and the grenades detonating left and right, Killzone 2’s combat is decidedly slower paced in comparison to recent war games like Call of Duty 4. Your character moves slower, turns slower, and reloads his weapons slower. You may be a space marine, but the combat is a lot more realistic than the game’s science fiction background would normally suggest. As opposed to a game like Halo where you play as a badass super soldier capable of tackling an entire army, Killzone 2 does a great job of making you feel like you’re just another soldier lost in the chaos of war.

To help you cope with Killzone 2’s savage enemy AI, Guerrilla gives gamers a cover system which is sort of new to the world of first person shooters. Though Rainbow Six Vegas featured a cover system that would pan the camera out and let you fight in third person, Killzone 2’s cover system functions continuously in first person. It will lock you into place behind a wall, debris, etc. and you can pop out to snipe enemies, throw grenades, or sprint to a new hiding place. In theory this would work brilliant, but actually using it is a bit cumbersome and takes practice before you can utilize it with any real degree of efficiency. The game demands that you input an awkward combination of buttons on the Playstation 3 controller in order to lean out, aim, and shoot, and the end result hardly feels fluid. After a few hours of destroying the Helghast with accurate rifle fire bursts, you will probably get the hang of using Killzone 2’s cover system. Unfortunately, it never really felt as second nature as I would have preferred.

Despite a few other hiccups in Killzone 2’s campaign mode (enemy variety is a bit on the sparse side and boss encounters drag a bit) it still is genuinely loads of fun. Stricken with a plethora of glaring flaws, it may be one of the game’s weaker aspects, but regardless, it is well worth playing. It would have been nice to have the option to play through the campaign cooperatively however. Its absence is as noticeable as it is disappointing, especially since a cooperative mode is pretty standard in shooters these days. The campaign mode screams to be played with a buddy. You command a squad of AI controlled marines -why can’t your friend pick up a controller and play as one of them?

Though Killzone 2’s single player mode may have its ups and downs, you would be hard pressed to find anything worth faulting in its multiplayer. I absolutely adore multiplayer modes in first person shooters, and I have to confess that even amongst the myriad of top tier shooters on the market, what Killzone 2 offers is amazing. A creative hybrid of games like Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty 4, you assume the role of a variety of different classes (sniper, medic, saboteur etc) and then head off to war in a number of modes ranging from typical team death match to capture the flag to assassination.

The class based system works wonderfully. Each class may play differently, but they are all a blast to use. And if some reason you don’t like a class, you can always customize its abilities to fit your fragging preferences. As you work your way through the multiplayer, you earn experience points which allows you to unlock new skills and new weapons. If the sheer awesomeness of the 32-man multiplayer was not enough to keep you playing, the incentive of unlockables will definitely keep you glued to your controller.

The class balance is not quite as well implemented as Team Fortress 2 despite Killzone 2 borrowing heavily from it. Most of the time, even during team oriented gameplay modes, the matches usually degenerate into a wild free-for-all. In Team Fortress 2, team work and balances is demanded in order for one team to triumph over the other. In Killzone 2, team work translates into merely not shooting your allies in the face. Of course, a well balanced and coordinated team will always dominate over a team that is unorganized, but its rare to encounter a game where you feel like a part of an army instead of a bunch of a lone wolves on the same team. It is worth noting that this problem is endemic to almost every first person shooter (and can easily be overcome by playing with friends or utilizing the clan feature which Killzone 2 supports) but it is more noticeable given Killzone 2’s heavy emphasis on classes.

Though not perfect and technically not even really that original or innovative, I really can not emphasize enough how much fun Killzone 2’s multiplayer is. It is easily the best multiplayer experience available on the Playstation 3 and probably one of the best multiplayer games I have played period. It may borrow extensively from other games, but it blends them all together to create one hell of an incredibly fun, intense, and addicting experience that you will not want to miss. If Killzone 2 shipped with a sixty dollar price tag and only its multiplayer component, it would still definitely be well worth the purchase.

In terms of graphics and sound, nothing I can say can really do justice to Killzone 2’s amazing presentation. Simply watch a few videos of the game in action and you will get a pretty good idea of what it offers. The graphics fully utilize the power of the Playstation 3 and are nothing short of astonishing. From amazing textures to insane effects, graphically, Killzone 2 more than live up to the hype set by the tech demo in 2005 and easily establishes itself as one of the best looking games ever made. Sound effects are spot on with gun fire sounding crisp and powerful, and the character’s voice work is also pretty good. Brian Cox fits the role of Emperor Visari perfectly, but there are a couple of characters in the game whose voices become grating and annoying after a while.

Killzone 2 may not be perfect, but it’s hard to concentrate on what it does wrong when there is so much that it does right. It is true that Killzone 2 does not necessarily add anything new to the first person shooter genre, and it is true that the campaign mode is light on creativity and heavy on terrible writing. Regardless, there is absolutely no denying how awesome Killzone 2 still is. From the stunning graphics to the exceptionally awesome multiplayer, Killzone 2 is a rare gem that completely demolishes its predecessor in every aspect. Gamers should expect to keep the disc in their Playstation 3 for quite some time; Killzone 2 is here to stay.
Final Verdict: Buy it
Final Score: 9/10

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Shellshock: Nam ’67 for the Playstation 2 and Xbox was a title that made its debut almost simultaneously alongside other Vietnam War era titles like Conflict: Vietnam and Vietcong: Purple Haze. However, with the notable exception of Battlefield: Vietnam, almost all the Vietnam War games weren’t all that great and Shellshock wasn’t any real exception. Still, it had its moments and was, at the very least, playable.

It’s been almost five years since gamers had the opportunity to enter the bloody, booby trap infested jungles of Southeast Asia, and the prospect of a sequel to Shellshock running on next-generation hardware was admittedly pretty appealing. After all, we have seen practically every other war featured on the new consoles in glorious HD; it was about time that Vietnam got some attention again. However, perhaps it is this glimmer of hope and anticipation that makes Shellshock 2: Blood Trails that much more disappointing.

Shellshock 2: Blood Trails is a bad game. No, I will go as far as to say it is a horrible game; perhaps one of the worst I have played since Soldier of Fortune: Payback ruined the Soldier of Fortune series for me.

I suppose the first department where Shellshock 2 goes wrong is in its story. The original Shellshock had you playing as an American GI in Vietnam who eventually ends up working with Special Forces behind enemy lines. In the sequel, you also play as an American GI. Only this time you end up in the middle of nowhere, searching for your brother who has been infected with the same super secret, experimental virus that is turning its test subjects into rabid zombies.

Yes, you read that last sentence correctly.

The developers decided to take a franchise based on a realistic recreation of the Vietnam War and added zombies. While radically changing the game’s premise may seem like an absurd idea, admittedly games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein have melded the supernatural with quasi-military realism successfully. All could be forgiven, perhaps, if Shellshock 2’s story was interesting, but it’s like a bad B-grade movie complete with retarded characters and predictable plot turns.

The game play also has also changed, departing from its third person roots to venture into the realms of the first-person shooter genre. Unfortunately, this change does not work in Shellshock 2’s favor either. Everything about the game play is either painfully generic or so incompetently executed that playing through the game is becomes an exercise in endurance.

The levels are incredibly linear and force you to battle your way through waves of spawning enemies and scripted events. Armed with a handgun and a rifle, you wade your way from objective to objective, shooting enemies until the game determines you can continue on your way. That’s pretty much it. Shellshock 2 does try to mix things up by throwing waves of zombies your way near the end of the game, but far from being genuinely frightening, they are just about as interesting as any of the other bland enemies you gun down. It gets old quickly.

The developer’s effort to make Shellshock 2 a hybrid of the shooter and horror genre is evident. It tries to entertain a menacing, disturbing sort of atmosphere that will keep gamers on the edge of their seats, but unlike other games which use horror effectively like F.E.A.R or Condemned, it really doesn’t work here. Shellshock 2 does have a few genuinely creepy moments like when a soldier silences a wounded comrade by slitting his throat, but in ultimately the horror aspect amounts to little more than window dressing, a handful of cheap thrills and eerie, scripted events.

The controls are so terrible that it makes you realize that gamers have been taking the fluidity and precision offered by games like Call of Duty 4 for granted all this time. No matter how you adjust the control’s sensitivity, there is a noticeable lag whenever you try to aim, making shooting with any degree of accuracy next to impossible. You do have the option of using your weapon’s iron sights for increased precision, but again, using them becomes difficult when the controls rarely respond when you want them to.

And then there is the issue of AI. Your team mates are useless. They stand around and do nothing. The enemy AI is just as bad. Sometimes they spawn in the open, sometimes they spawn behind cover. When you get too close, then they’ll charge at you every time, allowing you to easily shoot them in the face. The only reason why you will find yourself dying in this game is because they spawn in the most obscure locations, often times right behind you regardless if you just finished kill everyone there. They also have perfect accuracy. The combination is a frustrating one. It is not uncommon at all to find yourself being shot to death and never knowing where it’s coming from.

And then there are the quick time events. If there’s one thing I can not stand about video games, it is quick time events. Shellshock 2 has them in spades, Every now and then something will happen and you will need to quickly jam on a series of buttons in order to survive. The quick time events are, as usual, entirely superfluous and annoying.

Fortunately, you won’t have to suffer through Shellshock 2 for very long. It clocks in at a brief six to eight hours and has no multiplayer.

The graphics in Shellshock 2 are a clear representation of the limited budget that the developers probably had to work with. The graphics look absolutely awful. Textures are bland, the guns you use are equally unattractive, and the character models are incredibly redundant. Shellshock 2 does have some gruesome gore when you shoot enemies in the face, but it is largely overshadowed by all the other lackluster effects that plague the game’s presentation. For instance, when you throw a grenade, the subsequent detonation looks more like a smoke bomb than an actual explosion.

Shellshock 2’s voice acting is decent. You have a cast of meat-head grunts, Vietcong, and R. Lee Emery sound-a-likes, and while none of them particularly stand out, they do manage to get the job done. The other sound effects, however, are unimpressive. Gun fire sounds more like pop guns than real firearms, and quite a few sound effects are blatantly recycled. For example, while walking through a zombie infested mansion, you will hear the same exact zombie moan. Over and over and over and over.

Shellshock 2 is like a low-budget direct-to-DVD sequel to a Hollywood film. It may have had a promising beginning, but something went horribly wrong along the way. There is so much lacking in Shellshock 2’s presentation and gameplay that it’s hard to believe that someone thought publishing this game was actually a good idea. It is a glaringly generic game that is derivative and inferior to first person shooters that came out years ago. It looks terrible, it sounds awful, and the brief six hours of game play that it does offer are incredibly straight forward and tedious.

Maybe if this game came out five years ago when no other noteworthy game was coming out Shellshock 2 might be worth a rental. But with heavy hitters like Killzone 2 coming out soon, even at its budget price there is absolutely no reason to waste your time or money on this garbage.

Verdict: Pass it
Final Score: 3/10

According to MCV, Japanese RPG developer Square Enix announced this morning that 45 percent of Eidos’ shareholders support their bid to acquire the British gaming development studio.

Square Enix confirms that Pioneer Investment Management, who controls 10 percent of Eidos, has joined Time Warner and other shareholders who are in favor of the acquisition. Time Warner, who owns 20 percent of Eidos, was previously considered to be one of the contenders to buy out the creators of critically acclaimed games like “Tomb Raider” and “Hitman”. However, Time Warner announced that they would instead be supporting Square Enix’s bid to buy Eidos for $120.0 million.

Earlier this week, Square Enix announced their intent to buy Eidos, causing many to speculate that the Japanese developer may be attempting to use Eidos’ portfolio of Intellectual Properties to strengthen their market presence. In August of 2008, Square Enix made a failed attempt to acquire a majority of shares in Japanese game developer Tecmo.

Over the last several months, Eidos has suffered a number of setbacks. The latest installment in the Tomb Raider franchise, Tomb Raider Underworld, sold below Eidos’ expectations, leading to the laying off of thirty employees across various departments.

With the support of 45 percent of Eidos’ shareholders, there is a very strong chance of Square Enix’s bid to be voted through. What this means for the future of both game development studios is still largely unknown. Eidos is still publishing Shellshock 2: Blood Trails later in February, but Square-Enix has recently announced that the highly anticipated release of Dragon Quest IX has been pushed back in Japan from March to July.

Eidos’ board will meet in March to vote on the possible acquisition.

Gaijin Entertainment’s next-gen title, (available on PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3) X-Blades, is a rather formulaic, hack-and-slash button masher, but despite that, really isn’t as horrible of a game as one might expect from a title that seems to be desperately trying to sell itself by plastering a skimpily dressed anime girl on the cover. It definitely does very little to advance the genre -it even falls falls grossly short of meeting the expectations set by better action titles that precede it like Ninja Gaiden, Heavenly Sword, or Devil May Cry- but regardless, there is enough going for X-Blades to save it from total condemnation.

The story to X-Blades is almost non-existent, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a reason to care about what’s happening to the story’s protagonist, a treasure hunter named Ayumi who apparently has taken the Lara Croft mentality of “the less clothes you wear the better treasure hunter you’ll be” to the extreme because she runs around wearing practically nothing. There’s some talk about a dark, ancient evil, an equally ancient race of creatures, the end of the world, etc. etc, but like I said before, there’s really absolutely no motivation for you to care about the paper-thin narrative X-Blades half-heartedly attempts to entertain. It’s pure window dressing and while X-Blades does have an alternate ending depending on which branch of magic (light or dark) you adhere to, like I mentioned before, you probably won’t care all that much.

The game itself is pure hack-and-slash. You’ll enter a level and be forced to take on wave after wave after wave of enemies until a little red bar on the bottom of your screen is depleted. Then, with absolutely no fanfare, the level will abruptly end and your stats for the stage will be displayed. Periodically you’ll square off against a boss (who most of the time you’ll only be able to damage with a single attack) but for the most part, get used to pressing the attack button over and over and over.

To vary the combat from the rather mundane and repetitive button mashing (on a side note, Ayumi dual wields gunblades which I haven’t really seen since Final Fantasy VIII so kudos to that) Ayumi can learn or upgrade different spells and attacks using the souls she has reaped from her enemies. Sort of like Devil May Cry. And Ninja Gaiden. Well, no, just kidding. Exactly like them. As you take damage or kill your enemies, you progressively accrue rage which you can then use different abilities. For instance, Earthquake is an area of effect spell which helps clear out some room when you get overwhelmed, and Fireball is the only spell that will defeat certain ice elemental enemies. Some of the different skills you learn are actually pretty flashy and well animated, but again, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

The game varies from being super easy to being annoyingly cheap. There are times when you can breeze through a level by sitting in a corner and mashing buttons, and then there’s others (particularly during boss fights) where you’ll find yourself being consistently demolished without really knowing what to do. These movements of these extremes in difficulty though are rare though, and on a medium setting, X-Blades presents a decent challenge that casual gamers will be able to surmount in 10-12 hours of game play. Hardcore action junkies more akin to the Devil May Cry 3 or Ninja Gaiden school of hack-and-slash will want to turn the difficulty up to hard right away, and even then, veterans of the genre will probably find it too easy. You do have the option of running through the levels again for the sake of gaining more souls to unlock Ayumi’s entire arsenal of magic and abilities, but only perfectionists will feel the motivation to do so.

While the gameplay itself may feel somewhat derivative and archaic when compared to other titles in the genre, it does control pretty well. The action is fast paced, and it is simple to pull off special moves and use spells as they can be mapped to the face buttons (or keys for PC users) on the controller. The camera is usually pretty consistent and does a good job of keeping track of the action, but the lock on system is what really mars the experience. There’s really no way to designate what you want to lock on to specifically, and as a result, you’ll often find the lock on bouncing from one target to the next as you move around. Normally this isn’t that big of a problem since enemies die quickly, but against bosses, it’s annoying to find yourself accidentally attacking some random monster when you want to target something else.

Though X-Blades may play like a game that would feel more at home on a last-generation console, graphically it is pretty respectable. Cut scenes utilize cel-shaded models that look sharp and fit X-Blades anime-styled presentation, and the environments are exceptionally detailed and look great. Additionally, the game runs at a very fluid pace even when the screen is bogged down with special effects and enemies. X-Blade’s soundtrack isn’t too shabby either, but the voice acting (and writing) is pretty subpar. It won’t be the worst voice acting you’ve ever heard in a video game, but it definitely has its share of lines that will make you wince.

Perhaps my biggest gripe about X-Blades is just how little it brings to the table. It doesn’t strive to reinvent the wheel, and that would be fine if it managed to execute the fundamental gameplay elements of the genre correctly. But it really doesn’t. In every sense of the word X-Blades is a mediocre, mindless, hack-and-slash that is glaringly inferior in every sense of the word imaginable to games like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. In order to succeed in this genre, a game needs to bring something unique about itself to distinguish itself from the masses. Devil May Cry brought style and Ninja Gaiden brought difficulty.

X-Blades tries to hide its obvious shortcomings by starring a scantly clad anime chick. That’s really it’s only selling point and I’m almost sure the developers know this all too well. There’s nothing remarkable about the game itself, so it tries to sell itself using sex appeal. It’s almost insulting really, and tragically, more than a few copies will probably be sold exclusively because Ayumi wears a dental-floss thong throughout the game. While games like Fear Effect and Tomb Raider have played the sex appeal card in the past, at the very least there was actually a strong game standing behind it. X-Blades has no such luxuries.

Aside from functioning almost exclusively as eye candy, Ayumi has the misfortune of being one of the most annoying, unlikeable protagonists ever. If games like Mirror’s Edge, Half-Life 2, or Beyond Good and Evil have done anything to advance the viability of females being strong protagonists who can fight evil without it being necessary to strip down to their underwear, X-Blades is a game that sets that notion back several steps.

It is entirely possible that I’m underselling X-Blades, but I can’t help but play this game and think that this is the sort of uninspired mediocrity that prevents games from evolving. It’s entertainment in its most shallow form, but at the very least, it never makes any pretentions of being something it isn’t. It’s a mindless, repetitive hack-and-slash game that stars an annoying anime-looking chick in a metal bikini and thong who uses gunblades. That’s X-Blades in a nutshell. If that sounds like the kind of game you want to spend ten hours (and sixty bucks) playing, then you probably won’t be disappointed.

For anyone else, you’re much better off saving your money. Sixty bucks is ridiculous for a game like X-Blades. Wait a few months if you simply must play it -I guarantee you it’ll be in the bargain bins before long.

Final Verdict: Pass It
Final Score: 5.5/10

It’s really no secret that the video game industry (and more specifically its fans) love video game sequels; understandably so. When you get a game as distinctly badass as God of War or as addictive and fun as Super Smash Brothers, it only makes sense that you would want more and more and more. After all, more of a good thing is never bad, correct? For the most part, that sentiment rings true, and subsequently, for the most part game developers have been pretty faithful about not only maintaining the quality of their franchises, but adding little twists of innovation to keep things fresh. Sure, EA Games has the unfortunate tendency to release practically the same damn game each and every year, and sure Nintendo has been accused (and blatantly guilty) of repackaging their games for the Nintendo Wii (see: Animal Crossing for the Nintendo Wii). But at the end of the day, there’s a good reason why gamers get excited when Uncharted 2 or Killzone 2 were announced -they know the games are going to be absolute kickass.

But with every current successful franchise getting a sequel to some extent or another (not an exaggeration really) there are a whole lot of old-school or less popular franchises that have tons of potential to not only be fun but also financially lucrative that are being neglected. Here are five games that I would kill to see in the near future.

5.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
It’s not that the fearsome four-some (does that sound weird?) haven’t had their share of video game titles since this addition on the Super Nintendo in 1992, but the problem is that all the Ninja Turtles titles for the Playstation 2, Gamecube, Xbox 360, etc. have all sucked. Not a single one of them has managed to retain the nostalgic, addictive, and enjoyable fun of Turtles in Time which allowed you and your buddy to engage in some of the most awesome, co-op side, scrolling beat-em up’s since The Simpsons or X-Men arcade games (not coincidentally these were all made by Konami). So what’s the deal, Konami? The Xbox 360 saw the classic arcade version of the Ninja Turtles on Xbox Live which was a good step in the right direction, but why not a full blown sequel?

4.) Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
Eidos simply baffles me. They have a plethora of highly successful franchises to work with, and yet for some reason they insist on continuing to make sequel after sequel after sequel of Tomb Raider. While the quality of these Tomb Raider sequels have varied from respectable to crap, sales of these titles haven’t been stellar, and yet for some reason Eidos continues to churn out games starring Lara Croft with the ridiculous expectation that gamers are just as enthralled with her pixilated breasts and short shorts as they were back in the 90’s. They finally just announced Deus Ex 3 (which better be a whole lot better than Deus Ex 2) but what about Fear Effect? A game featuring cold-blooded mercenaries, witty writing, dark humor, awesome graphics demons, guns, breasts, lesbians (yes, lesbians) and zombies, Fear Effect has always had the winning combination of intense, challenging gameplay, sexieness, and style. A sequel was planned for the Playstation 2 (but was ultimately scrapped for -you guessed it- another damn Tomb Raider sequel) but there’s no reason why it wouldn’t succeed this generation. The series has everything a teenage boy would want…with the possible exception of difficult puzzles that actually require thinking. This generation of gamers seem more predisposed to mindless shooters that don’t require a whole lot in the IQ department, so tragically, a Fear Effect sequel may just have to wait.

3.) Snowboard Kids 2
Some love ‘em, some hate ‘em, but there’s really no denying that the go-cart racing genre was a huge staple of the 90’s. Whether it was Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing, Chocobo Racing, etc. go-cart styled racing games featuring cartoon characters were popular. Buried amongst them (and largely overlooked) was this gem by Atlus -Snowboard Kids 2. While you rarely actually ever boarded on snow, each map would have up to four players barreling down mountains, mansions, haunted houses, etc. collecting items and coins in order to ensure you were the first one to the finish line. Essentially Mario Kart meets snowboarding, Snowboard Kids 2 is a prime example of a game where the critics were just flat out wrong when evaluating. It didn’t get the best critical reception, but it was an an incredibly fun single and multiplayer experience and it came packed with tons of replay value, including challenges that let you unlock hidden snowboards and characters. Atlus is currently busy making terrible strategy RPG’s for the Xbox 360, but hopefully they’ll see the light soon and focus their attention on getting gamers back on the slopes once again.

2.) Vagrant Story
If you were alive in 2000 and had a chance to play this masterpiece by Squaresoft, I really shouldn’t have to explain how badly this game needs some sort of sequel. In short, it’s an amazing hybrid of genres, a game that not only entertains a fantastic, deep story full of conspiracy and betrayal, but also one of the most indepth battle systems ever invented. Challenging and difficult to master, Vagrant Story really had everything that a RPG fan could possibly ask for. With Square-Enix exploring the whole entire Ivalice Alliance thing, it seems only natural that Vagrant Story (which is a part of that particular Final Fantasy universe) would be a likely candidate for a sequel. On a completely unrelated note, does anyone think that Vagrant Story’s protagonist, Ashely Riot, has one of the dumbest names ever?

1.) Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Before Working Designs closed down a few years ago, they were renowned for their talent in taking JRPG’s and localizing them, providing awesome voice acting and stellar translation work. The Lunar series is a example of the work they did, and also a constant reminder to the gaming world what a tragedy it is that Working Designs is no longer around. While the game play and graphics were distinctly old-school (even for when it was ported from the Sega CD to the Playstation back in 2001) Lunar 2 easily compensated for its outdated appearence with personality and charm. The story was gripping, the characters memorable, and the was writing witty and periodically even hilarious. It is true we did see a Lunar title pop up on the Nintendo DS a little while ago, but face it, it sucked. What the world needs is a true Lunar featuring the staples of its universe -dragon masters, flying cities, cat dragons, and lots of humorous pop-culture refrences.

I know I missed several games in this list. For instance, I would love to see a Thief sequel, or maybe even finally Baldur’s Gate 3. In the meanwhile, though, I guess we’ll just have to content ourselves with the variety of other sequels that will be bombarding our consoles and PC’s in 2009. Starcraft 2 and Diablo III? Yes please.

What about you guys? What games do YOU want to sequels for?

There’s nothing better on a cold winter’s day than to spend it huddled in your living room, wrapped in a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate, and listening to some of your favorite gaming tunes. Or at least that’s how gaming dorks like me spend the holidays (all alone…in a dark…cold…lonely room)  Fortunately, Larry Oji, Brian Arnold (Tweek),  and the team at OC ReMix are here with a fresh, Christmas-themed Mario Kart 64 track to help spread some holiday cheer.

The team at OC ReMix is best known for their work on the remixed soundtrack for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix which was recently released on Playstation Network and Xbox LIVE to a warm reception from critics and gamers alike. (IGN gave it a 8.7, and the game broke sales records with over 250,000 units sold)

“OC ReMix, creators of Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix official soundtrack, have put out this year’s Christmas OC ReMix, Tweek (Brian Arnold)’s Mario Kart 64 “Holiday Frappe”.

The ReMix is a jazzy arrangement of the “Frappe Snowland” theme, and features musical cameos from “Frosty the Snowman” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” Tweek also provided last year’s Christmas mix with the haunting Final Fantasy VII “Frozen Landscape” from our huge Final Fantasy VII album Voices of the Lifestream.

Whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Festivus is your speed, have a Happy Holidays, everyone, from us at OCR! Follow us on Twitter and give us a holler!”

I just downloaded the song and it’s  pretty awesome. If you’re a fan of Mario Kart 64 you’ll definitely appreciate the innovative and fresh take on a familiar, old-school classic, but it is still definitely a must download  for casual  fans who are merely looking for some catchy music to listen to during their late night gaming sessions.

Check out  “Holiday Frappe” at their website here

When people protest, sometimes things get out of hands. Sometimes people end up setting themselves on fire, sometimes they end up shutting down international air ports, and sometimes they end up rioting so much that the national guard has to come down and shoot a few college students to make a point.

Fortunately, Bob Pelloni, an independent game developer who has labored all by himself for five years on the home brew title Bob’s Game, has decided to take a considerably more passive, Gandhian approach to resolve his beef with the head honchos at Nintendo. Instead of taking a gun and holding Nintendo HQ hostage until his reasonable requests are met, he’s decided to lock himself in a room for 100 days (with food and water, but no television or internet) until Nintendo gives him what he wants.

See, Bob is trying, just like everyone else, to live the American dream. He’s worked hard, made his own game over the course of five years and 15,000 hours of hard work (including coding, music composing, etc.) and now all he needs is a silly development kit from Nintendo to finish his work. He’s not asking for a loan from Nintendo, he’s not asking them to publish the game, hell, he’s not even asking them to invest anything into his game. He already has that taken care of, because apparently, there are publishers that are genuinely interested in Bob’s project.

But is Nintendo impressed with Bob’s achievement?

Apparently not. Despite Bob going through all the red tape (filing applications, meeting with people, etc.) Nintendo has decided to repeatedly deny his requests for a development kit. According to Bob, this development kit is the only thing he needs before he can make his game and it would cost absolutely nothing for Nintendo to give it to him.

So what’s the deal Nintendo? All this guy wants to do is prove that he can make games just as good if not better than the myriad shovelware that Nintendo insists on pouring out on a weekly basis, and all you can give this poor guy is a giant “Fuck you?”

If this were a sports movie, Bob would be the underdog, minority football team from the streets and Nintendo would be the Aryan, prep-school dickheads.

Nintendo may have its reasons for denying Bob, but I certainly can’t think of a legitimate excuse for not giving the guy a chance. If his game sucks and no one wants to play it, that’s for the publishers, the critics, and the gamers to decide. It shouldn’t be Nintendo’s call. It’d be like a doctor going up to a parent and telling them that they can’t deliver their baby because the staff thinks it’ll turn out to be ugly or something. Bob’s not asking Nintendo to rear and nourish his baby, he’s just asking them for a chance to deliver the damn thing.

Nintendo champions all this Wii (as in “we -together, all of us) garbage and yet apparently all they’re thinking right now is more about the Mii. See what I just did there? Har har har.

Joystiq and Kotaku have already picked up this story, but this writer also wants to throw in his support for Bob also. This is America where hard work, ambitions, and dreams should be rewarded. Nintendo shouldn’t bend over backwards and make every average joe’s homebrew title into a video game, but that’s not what Bob is asking for. Not at all. He’s already made the game all on his own, and now he just wants the chance to transform his hard work into a viable product that he can pitch to publishers.

Independent film makers don’t have to put up with this crap in order to pitch their reels to studios, so why should Bob’s situation be any different.

It’s an interesting story that I’ll definitely be following, and I think you should to.

Visit his site here for regular updates or
Write to Nintendo and tell them that you want to play Bob’s Game
Check out Youtube for video clips from his game.

No idea if you’ll ever read this Bob, but good luck all the same. I’m cheering for you.

Your thoughts?

Note: Thanks to Tony “Master Jawa” Diaz (or wherever he learned this from) for teaching me the steps.

Edit: An initial search for a news article pretaining to this didn’t turn up anything -a secondary one, however, led me to the guys at 360 Kombo where this handy tip initially surfaced. Thanks!

Don’t feel like waiting until January to play the highly anticipated, Japanese exclusive Resident Evil 5 demo? Don’t feel like going through all the hassle of setting up a Japanese Xbox Live Gold Account? Then just use these quick, easy to follow steps and you’ll be blasting zombies (either solo or with a buddy) in the demo’s two, short playable levels.

Note: The demo is incredibly on the short side (maybe twenty minutes in total) but it’s a must play for any Resident Evil fan who’s hungry to get a taste of what’s in store for them this March. Also, the entire process is risk and pain free (assuming you can spare a DVD-R that is)

1.) Download the torrent file from the internet (file size is around 470 mb)
2.) Rename downloaded folder “content”
3.) Burn “content” folder onto a DVD-R
4.) Pop disc into your Xbox 360
5.) Go to your game library and the game demo will be waiting for you.

Fast, simple and effective. Enjoy!

Quick Impressions

-Incredibly badass. Control scheme feels a lot like Gears of War 2. It’s easy to use and it’s very responsive.
-Feels like Resident Evil 4. A lot. I swear the handgun sounds are recycled from Resident Evil 4.
-Streamlined inventory system works really well. No more cumbersome and cluttered suitcases to endure.
-The graphics are gorgeous. Zombies are ugly and mean.
-Co-op multiplayer potential is enormous. Just from playing with a buddy for twenty minutes or so, I can already tell that this could be one of the best co-op gaming experiences ever. Trading weapons and supplies, guarding each other’s backs, running in to rescue a downed comrade -the experience felt like a unique hybrid of Left 4 Dead and Gears of War 2.
-From the menu, there’s online cooperative gameplay and split screen offline multiplayer. No system link though?

It has been quite sometime since our favorite acrobatic Persian prince graced consoles last (almost three years since the Sands of Time trilogy concluded with Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones) and Ubisoft has decided to revamp the franchise with brand new gameplay mechanics and a brand new look. But does the Prince’s next-generation debut exceed the stellar expectations set by its predecessors, or does the franchise need some more work before its ready to be finally crowned king?

Surprisingly, Ubisoft has elected to depart from the norms of the Prince of Persia franchise and made the story relatively non-existent. You’re the Prince and you find yourself teamed up with the magical girl/inevitable love interest named Elika. It turns out that a malevolent evil force has been released (which of course threatens the safety of the world) and it is your job to seal it away. There definitely is not a whole lot of depth to the rather one dimensional and bland storyline, which is really unfortunate given the complexity and actually good narratives of past Prince of Persia titles. What more, none of the characters are particularly likable this time around. While it’s true that in the last generation of Prince of Persia titles the Prince changed personalities from one game to the next (from normal, to brooding and angsty, to a hybrid of the two) he was still a genuinely interesting character that gamers could empathize with to a certain degree. In the new Prince of Persia, however, the Prince has the personality of your typical pretty boy, popped-collar, beer guzzling, chest bumping, frat-boy douchebag. He has the annoying tendency to crack the most awkward and inane one liners, promptly destroying whatever immersion you might have had in the game to begin with.

The gameplay itself is a mixed bag. Some will love it. Some won’t. Essentially, the new Prince of Persia has taken the game play elements of the previous titles and tossed it out the window. No innovative time manipulation techniques, no intricate sword play, and no nerve-wracking acrobatics. Everything about the game has been streamlined to become more accessible to the casual gamer, but ultimately, the gameplay feels rather soul less. The combat is dully simplistic and is comprised of spamming the same combo attacks without any need for strategy, and the platforming mechanics are equally as dull. Though they look brilliant and are pleasing to watch (and even execute to a certain extent) the fact that you can never die in this game removes a great deal of the tension and excitement that made jumping over bottomless cliffs so much fun in the old Prince of Persia games. If you mistime a jump or jump when you should have ducked, Elika is always conveniently around to save you. In the old Prince of Persia titles, every jump and trap was an obstacle as you would have to carefully ration your sand. This time, though, you can waltz more or less blindly into any predicament and feel confident you will survive.

There is one department that Prince of Persia nails perfectly -the visuals. The game looks absolutely gorgeous with beautiful cel-shaded graphics and some of the smoothest animations I’ve seen in a game to date. Though playing the game may be a rather simple affair, it is almost worth it just to appreciate the expansive and detailed level designs and stunning effects.

Conclusively, the new Prince of Persia does some things very well. I really can’t emphasize how awesome the game looks. Whether its the character models, or the amount of detail invested into the level designs, everything looks absolutely fabulous. Additionally, it is very possible for gamers to enjoy the gameplay given that they walk into the experience with the right mindset. The game has been altered to be more user friendly and appeal to a larger audience, and with its awesome visuals and simple but effective gameplay, it certainly succeeds in that respect.

However, simultaneously I feel that this game isolates fans of the old Prince of Persia. With a forgettable story, unlikeable protagonist, and the removal of pretty much everything that made the last-gen Prince of Persia titles so appealing, fans expecting more of the same Prince of Persia goodness will be in for an unpleasant surprise. I am not against the new innovations that the new Prince of Persia makes (the game does entertain a non-linear approach and unlockable powers that I found cool) and to a degree I can even appreciate the effort Ubisoft has made in creating a beautiful world that you can freely explore without fear of being killed and restarting at some obscure checkpoint.

But when it strays so far from the very foundations that made the franchise so awesome in the first place, it is difficult not to be disappointed.

Final Verdict: Rent It

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One thing that gamers have come to expect from Valve is that delays are inevitable, and Valve’s latest title, Left 4 Dead, certainly fails to disappoint in that regard. Originally slated for a release date in 2007, the co-op zombie shooter from the makers of Half-Life and Portal has finally arrived after months of eager anticipation, but does Left 4 Dead live up to Valve’s standards of excellent quality, or is this finally a blemish in their otherwise flawless portfolio?

Unlike Half-Life and various other Valve projects, Left 4 Dead isn’t focused on a narrative, but it never really suggests the pretense that it is either. While there are scattered little hints that help flesh out the game’s back story (sketched messages in graffiti on the wall of safe houses etc.) all you really need to know is that you are one of the four survivors stranded in a world populated by the undead. Escape and survival are your only objectives, and the only help you’re going to find is in your three team mates. And a whole lot of guns.

Left 4 Dead is a massive accomplishment in at least two different departments. First and foremost, it’s probably the most faithful video incarnation of the zombie genre that fans have ever been treated to. Yes, even better than Resident Evil 4. The other is in its cooperative gameplay.

While the game does offer you the chance to run through the game by yourself (with the aid of three fairly competent AI partners) you won’t get very far. Gunning through easy and normal mode is fairly straight forward and feasible though not entirely rewarding, but the inability to coordinate as a team and ration your equipment will more than likely spell out your demise on harder difficulty settings. It’s nice that Valve threw in the option for a single player mode, but let’s face it. This game was built for cooperative game play.

You and three other players are tasked with getting from point A on a map to point B. There are safe houses scattered throughout the four scenarios (each of which is broken into multiple levels) offering you a moment’s respite from the zombie horde to heal up and restock on guns and ammunition. Other than that, though, while you traverse through a subway, a forest, a city, etc. waves of zombies are constantly going to be after you. Sometimes only a few zombies might amble towards you, but more often than not, you and your fellow survivors while find yourselves contending with armies of screeching monsters. On top of that, you’ll also need to deal with “special” zombies -monsters with unique abilities that will be sure to make your life miserable. Whether it’s the Tank (a humongous zombie that will stomp you flat in a second), or the Witch (a sobbing zombie that will freak you out every time you run into her) encountering one of these special breed of undead ensures that gamers stay on their toes at all times.

Fortunately, you’ll be well armed to fight the legions of the undead. You’ll find shotguns, sniper rifles, assault rifles, submachine guns, pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails etc. -all the tools you’ll need to paint the walls red with zombie brains. Each weapon has their own unique feel to it, and each weapon serves its own purpose. A submachine gun is weaker but excellent for nailing faster zombies, and a shotgun blast at close range will normally always put a zombie down for good.

The way the levels are paced allows Valve’s new AI to show it’s stuff. Essentially, the stage AI directs the tempo of the game, ensuring that each play through is unique. Items and weapons are staged in different locations, zombies are moved around, the “special” zombies are randomized, etc. Also, if the game ever feels like you’re taking too long or trying your best to turtle your way through the level, it will send packs of zombies rushing at you to encourage you to move things along.

What more is there to really say? When played with other people, Left 4 Dead genuinely makes you feel like you’re in a zombie movie. You’re consistently on edge, consistently worrying about what may lurk behind the next corner, consistently rationing your limited health and ammunition -the frantic nature of the game creates a wonderful atmosphere of tension, dread, and excitement that subconsciously encourages gamers to cooperate in order to survive. Sure, periodically you’ll run into some dickhead who will do their best to screw things up (and you will -trust me) but when played with a group of mature gamers, Left 4 Dead offers a multiplayer experience unlike anything you’ve ever played before. It may be true that the levels are a bit on the brief side -you can burn through a scenario in around forty minutes depending on the difficulty level. However, despite that, between the game’s inherent awesomeness and the constantly changing level AI, I’ve easily logged in several hours of Left 4 Dead with friends without ever finding the gameplay repetitive.

And in the unlikely event that you do tire of the campaign, Valve also included a zombie vs survivor mode that allows you to play as one of the “special” zombies. I haven’t even had a chance to play that though honestly. I’ve been too absorbed in the campaign to get the chance yet.

The graphics, perhaps, are Left 4 Dead’s weakest aspect. It’s running on Half-Life 2’s Source Engine, and while it’s been tweaked and refined to look awesome and run smoothly on the Xbox 360 and PC, it’s starting to show its age. It still displays some awesome shadows and lighting effects, but overall the visuals look somewhat dated in comparison to newer titles in the FPS genre.

In conclusion, Left 4 Dead is an amazing game that is an excellent addition to Valve’s vast repetoir of quality titles. While it is severely lacking in the single player department, Left 4 Dead isn’t made to be one. It’s intended to be played cooperatively, and in that respect, you will be hard pressed to find a game that does it better than Left 4 Dead. There may be, perhaps, some concern that the game’s four scenarios may not be enough to satisfy the hardcore FPS fan, but I can assure you, Left 4 Dead has a way of bringing you back for one more scenario even after you’ve played each of them multiple times. Maybe it’s because you’re playing with a new crew of team mates, or maybe it’s because the game just happens to switch up things on you, but each time you play is always unique, fresh, and one hell of a good time.

Final Verdict: Buy It
Final Score: 9.5/10

For more of Mark’s reviews check out my Sazze page