Army of Two: The 40th Day for Xbox 360

Title: Army of Two: The 40th Day
Release: January 12, 2010
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: EA
Platform: Xbox 360
Rating: M (Mature)
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The first Army of Two left a bitter taste in gamers’ mouths after its release. At the time, the nation’s attention was focused on the actions of a private military company called Black Water which was working with American forces in Iraq. Black Water was accused of committing horrific crimes against the unarmed civilians of Iraq. A few weeks later, Army of Two, a game about two private military contractors named Rios and Salem hit the scene with a very immature, frat boy mentality mixed with sensitive and poignant world events. The end result was an uncomfortable romp in the world of international mercenaries who like to shoot things, fist bump, and play dress up—and not necessarily in that order. EA has decided to release a sequel in the hopes of building a legitimate shooter franchise while erasing the many mistakes of the first game.

The opening missions deliver the most fun this game has to offer. You and your teammate are trapped on the rooftops of Shanghai as the entire city is being bombarded by an unknown threat. The buildings you tread across are literally crumbling around you as you race from checkpoint to checkpoint. After the initial shock, Army starts to slow down into a more familiar and mediocre buddy shooter. From an artistic perspective, the game never takes any chances with style or deviates from the masked, armor-clad aesthetic found with almost every character model in the game. Players have the option of purchasing new masks for either Rios or Salem or creating their own masks via EA’s website. Customization finds its way into your armory allowing you to not only upgrade your weapons but also paint them with ridiculous patterns; picture Flavor Flav with a Bedazzler and you will get the idea. One feature that does look particularly eye-catching in a good way is the GPS navigation which opens up in front of your character in a similar fashion to Dead Space’s inventory and map options. In addition to looking cool, it helps you traverse the landscape which can become monotonous as well as confusing at times.

The sound design is what you would expect from a shooter—bullets whiz and ricochet off metal while the voice acting quality is just passable. Nolan North, who has voiced just about every character in every game released in 2009, continues his streak into 2010 as Salem which is easily his weakest effort lacking any “Drake-esque” personality or charm. Everyone else is either trying too hard to create a believable world or severely hindered by awful dialogue. The game has cut back on the embarrassingly meat-headed “bromance” moments found in the original but the ability to congratulate or scold your friend in a game is still available and is as baffling as ever. It’s also a bit disengaging to hear your character yell orders at the top of his lungs behind an enemy during a stealth mission.

Army relies on the two player co-op to make the game stand out from the rest but having two players is never exploited in interesting or exciting situations. Nothing is completed in a clever way that would require two people to work together. There are no vehicles, two-man weapons or special techniques. The formula that plays out in every scenario is quite simple—one player creates a distraction while the other flanks or snipes. Gameplay closely resembles Gears of War with an over-the-shoulder aiming mode and cover mechanic while Army’s own “agro” system is back where the player causing the most commotion glows red and attracts most or all enemy fire. This system often leads to enemies completely ignoring one player even when they are in point blank range. The enemy AI is pretty shallow and allows for veteran shooters to take advantage of a predictable pattern. For new players, the single player mode actually offers the best chance of survival due to a computer controlled ally who knows what to do in every situation. The computer will always revive you with haste while dragging you to the closest cover. You have very limited control over the computer character but the basic commands of “hold fire” and “fight forward” are really all you need to be successful. This is not a “thinking man’s” shooter by any stretch and players searching for a tactical chess match will be under whelmed.

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a lazy follow up to the previous Army of Two. Opportunities to make a satisfying and unique two player experience are either ignored or muddled and the end product is just as forgettable as the original. The game has its moments, mostly in the beginning, and is worth a rent if you and a friend are tired of playing Gears of War together for the millionth time. Just keep in mind that Gears of War 2 is also available now.

Overall Rating: 2.5 / 5

M. Michael Chwedyk-MuzikReviews.com Sr. Video Game Reviewer

February 5, 2010

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Bookworm for Nintendo DS

Title: Bookworm
Release Date: December 9, 2009
Genre: Puzzle
Rating: E for Everyone
Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: PopCap Games
Developer: Black Lantern Studios
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Bookworm is a wonderful casual game that was released for PC over 6 years ago. The goal of the game is to spell words by connecting letters in a word-search like box. Since this has been a well received PC game, PopCap has put out a Nintendo DS version, something I wish they would do with more of their successful titles.

As stated above this is a word search type game, but you don’t have a list of predetermined words to find. Your goal is to create any words from the available tiles. In addition to regular tiles, if you create long words sometimes tiles will change color. Green tiles are worth extra points; gold tiles are worth even more and so on. On the flip side, if you select a lot of small words you will be introduced to burning tiles. Burning tiles will eat through the letter directly below it until they reach the bottom of the screen and burn up your entire board, ending your game.

There are two game modes; Classic and Action. Classic mode is an un-timed mode, where the player can take as long as they wish to scour over the board and choose the highest scoring words. In Action mode the player is forced to take less time when choosing tiles. Burning tiles work on a time limit in Action mode, catching fire and burning down the longer you wait. In Classic mode, the fire tiles only destroy lower tiles after each word is submitted.

The graphics are nearly identical to the PC versions, something that rarely happens when a game transitions to the smaller screen. Sounds sound good coming out of those little speakers but the background music, while amusing at first, gets bothersome the longer you play. Menus are easy to navigate since all actions are performed with the stylus.

A lot of little extras are included in the DS version of Bookworm. In addition to bonus words during the game, there is a word of the day that also offers extra points. Soon into the gameplay you will notice there are indexes of related words. For example; all family member words are in one index; Dad, Son, Mom, ect. There are also indexes for celestial bodies (Sun, Moon, planet…), insects (ant, moth…) and many, many more.

The game also keeps a collection of everything you’ve done. Including charts of how many words you discover per day, month and year, how many three, four, five … twelve letter words you have submitted, how many fire tiles you’ve extinguished, as well as your highest scoring words and longest words. Little things like these keep nerds like me entertained.

This version of Bookworm is only available for Nintendo DS, whereas other versions can be played on your computer. Free versions of this game can be found all over the internet, but none of them have the same amount of extra features as the DS game. For only $20 this is a great game for the Bookworm fan that is often away from their computer.

Overall Rating:

The Gaming Savant, Ryan Smith-MuzikReviews.com Video Game Review Staff Team Leader

12/31/2009

For questions or comments on this review send an e-mail to rsmith@muzikreviews.com

Rogue Warrior for Xbox 360

Title: Rogue Warrior
Release Date: December 2, 2009
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Rating: M for Mature
Platform: XBox 360
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Rebellion
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Let’s face it – if you want a game to be counted among the good titles in a genre, you have to make it stand out in some good way. Whether it’s the potential for hours of enjoyment, a new idea that nobody’s seen before or something else, there’s got to be something there to hook people.

Rogue Warrior, unfortunately, offers nothing to hook gamers in or differentiate itself from the many better first-person shooter titles around, resulting in a lackluster game that can safely be avoided by FPS fans.

In Rogue Warrior, you play the role of Richard Marcinko, a real-life soldier – according to Wikipedia, the guy founded both SEAL Team Six (a counter-terrorist unit) and Red Cell (a unit designed to test the United States’ Navy’s security against terrorist actions). At the beginning of the game (which takes place in the 1980s near the tail end of the Cold War), Marcinko and a small team of commandos land in North Korea in an effort to gather intelligence on ballistic missile launchers. An ambush leaves the rest of Marcinko’s team dead, however, and Marcinko eventually finds evidence that there’s a lot more to the ballistic missile plot than originally thought – so much so that it could bring the world to the brink of nuclear disaster if it’s not stopped.

Let me get right to the point with my major gripe about the game: there is absolutely nothing new to be found. Everything you see in Rogue Warrior, from the first-person shooting action to the “kill moves” (which allow you to instantly kill enemies in inventive and brutal ways) has been done better elsewhere. The weapons are pretty standard Cold War-era stuff, with not much in the way of variation between them other than basic capabilities (machine guns and assault rifles have fully automatic fire, sniper rifles have targeting scopes, etc). The action, while it has its moments, never quite gets revved up to the heights found in Halo 3 or even the first Killzone on the Playstation 2. Even the online multiplayer portion of the game isn’t much fun.

A second flaw in Rogue Warrior, in my opinion, is the ridiculous overuse of cursing. Before anyone accuses me of being some tightwad about this, let me assure you that I’m far from a prude when it comes to coarse language – there are times when I make the stereotypical foul-mouthed sailor look gentlemanly by comparison. But the protagonist in this game overuses profanity in such a way that he comes off like an immature high school freshman trying to sound cool or “hardcore,” failing miserably in the process and making the game even more of a joke than it already is.

No first-person shooter fan should feel compelled to bother playing Rogue Warrior. There’s nothing interesting or new to be seen, and too much fun missing from the action to make it worthwhile.

Overall Rating:

Christopher Mastey-Muzikreviews.com Video Game Reviewer

December 31, 2009

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Brutal Legend-Xbox 360 Video Game Review

Title: Brutal Legend
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Genre: Action: Hack & Slash
Rating: M for Mature
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Double Fine Productions

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Brütal Legend’s months of build-up, including a cover story in one of the industry’s biggest magazines, was severely put in jeopardy when Activistion merged with Vivendi Universal and absorbed Brütal Legend’s original publisher, Sierra. The months to come were filled with doubt, uncertainty and even a lawsuit once Electronic Arts stepped in as new publisher.

Brütal Legend is an action game that focuses around Eddie, who is voiced by Jack Black, a disgruntled roadie for a glam-metal band. He loves his job but can’t stand doing it for a band that doesn’t respect true metal. Through an unfortunate series of events he finds himself transformed to an alternate primitive reality where an underdeveloped region fights for survival. Everything in this new world has a musical tie. Eddie uses a guitar to unleash magical attacks and summon additional items, like his vehicle. He is also brandished with an axe which deals close range melee damage.

At the beginning you are watching the opening demo and during which you are offered options to censor the game. Before the first time Eddie swears a pop-up appears asking if you want to censor the vulgar language. Then before he lops off a demon’s head, you are asked if you want to censor blood and gore. Turning both of these on would probably warrant a teen rating rather then a mature one, but since these aspects are in the game, the rating must remain as mature.

The art style is reminiscent of the Guitar Hero games. Every character could easily pass over as a member of a band on Guitar Hero. The graphics are pretty good-they go for a comically realistic feel. Every once in a while you will get choppy slow-downs. I received them when I was racing around in a vehicle with a lot of enemies present.

The story is very funny, I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. The comedy style is similar to a lot of Jack Black’s acting except it’s a lot less physical, since you only hear his voice and can’t see him jumping and gyrating around. Also a lot of the comedy is subtle, which is my favorite kind of comedy.

The game goes for an open-world feel. You get to drive around in an expansive world but unlike most other open-world games, there isn’t a plethora of extra side-quests to do. It makes you want to think it’s an open world game, but the absence of extra content just wastes all the unused scenery.

It did come as a relief that the game didn’t feel too repetitive. There is always a danger of getting that way with hack ‘n slash style action games but this one introduces enough extra gameplay elements that you’ll stay entertained long enough to play through.

Brütal Legend is available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This type of action, hack ‘n slash can be found just about everywhere in the gaming world. Brütal Legend succeeds by being funny and delivering an excellent story. What sets this one apart is the long line of popular voice actors, which include Jack Black, Tim Curry, Brian Posehn, Lita Ford and Ozzy Osborne. If you are a fan of Jack Black’s work this game is something you should check out.

Overall Rating:

The Gaming Savant, Ryan Smith-MuzikReviews.com Video Game Review Staff Team Leader

12/22/2009

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For questions or comments on this review send an e-mail to rsmith@muzikreviews.com

New Super Mario Brothers Wii-Nintendo Video Game Review

Title: New Super Mario Brothers Wii
Release Date: November 15, 2009
Genre: Platformer
Rating: E for Everyone
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo

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Any gamer in my generation knows the significance behind this game. New Super Mario Brothers Wii isn’t just another crapshoot game in a long line of new Wii releases; it might possibly be the most important Wii release this holiday season.

New Super Mario Brothers Wii is the first side-scrolling Mario game for home consoles since the days of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or three console generations ago. This type of game is aimed towards gamers who grew up playing the genre and would like to rekindle the excitement they used to get from playing them. Another version of this game, New Super Mario Brothers was released for Nintendo’s portable DS system but the game was way too easy and could be completed in just a couple afternoons. This version is much harder. There are quite a few levels that it took me half a dozen attempts to complete. However this isn’t a bad thing, because I’d much rather have a challenge in games like this rather then blow through them and have them sit on the shelf collecting dust.

One thing I noticed when I first started playing is that the wireless controller is slightly less responsive then it’s corded counterpart. It took a couple minutes of playing before I was able to get the right timing down and stopped jumping too far over enemies and completely missed hitting boxes and platforms.

Within the first couple stages I was presently surprised to find Yoshi as a ridable companion. He had all the actions and abilities that he did for the SNES and they all look a little sweeter with better graphics. The more I played the more I realized it was just a teaser, since he rarely appears in the game. Also it’s not as if I can keep going back to that level to grab him and take him to additional levels because you lose him at the conclusion of the stage.

A bunch of power-ups can be collected throughout your travels. The normal set is here, mushroom, fire-power, star-power, but a few new ones have been added too. An ice-flower can be collected and used to freeze enemies. The frozen enemies can then be picked up and thrown. There is also a penguin suit that, much like the frog suit in SMB3, can be used to swim faster underwater, but this isn’t the limit of its abilities. It also shoots ice balls and can be used to slide, kind of like a koopa, but only on icy surfaces. There is even a helmet that causes Mario, or whatever character you are, to briefly fly into the air when you shake the Wii-Mote, an action that can be accidentally triggered with the slightest move of the controller.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is only available for the Nintendo Wii. Although there are some minor headaches to overcome, the overall game is as solid as you would expect from the Mario franchise. The game is long in length and the levels are so vast it could take months to discover every hidden path and collectable coin.

Overall Rating:

The Gaming Savant, Ryan Smith-MuzikReviews.com Video Game Review Staff Team Leader

October 24, 2009

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For questions or comments on this review send an e-mail to rsmith@muzikreviews.com

Tekken 6-Xbox 360 Video Game Review

Title: Tekken 6

Release: October 27, 2009

Genre: Fighting

Developer: Namco Bandai Games

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

Platform: Xbox 360

Rating: T (Teen)

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Tekken 6 is the home console port of the updated arcade version of Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion which has been in arcades for years prior to the console version. As a result, the graphics are not exactly cutting edge or mind-blowing but still maintain the high caliber quality found in past Tekken games. The animations are fluid as fighters maneuver, twist, evade and counter throws and punches. A match between two veteran players will always yield something akin to a violent ballet or a well choreographed action movie fight sequence. The way in which the fighters respond to each punch, kick or grapple is realistic for the most part—knocking fighters into the sky and juggling them with straight jabs still looks ridiculous though. The FMV cinemas are as frantic and confusing as ever, but the opening single player campaign retrospective does a surprisingly good job of quickly and thoroughly explaining the main story of Tekken across five titles which is no easy feat considering all the corporate espionage, evil battle gods and the complete lack of cliff safety.

The user interface is unnecessarily cumbersome to navigate. The game divides its play modes into three categories—offline, online and single-player campaign. The way the menu is displayed suggests that there are online and offline versions of every play mode such as versus, team versus and survival. Instead, all of these modes can only be found under “offline” while “online” only grants you ranked match or a player match. You can only play the game online in a ranked or player match so why does the game section it off from the main menu? In addition, wouldn’t the single-player campaign be listed under “offline”? If anything, by listing the single-player campaign mode separately, Tekken 6 inadvertently highlighted its worst feature before any fighting takes place.

The single-player campaign is a continuation of the “Tekken force mode” which started back in Tekken 3 for the Playstation. Imagine playing a 3-D action game as your favorite Tekken fighter. On the surface it sounds tantalizing, however, none of the fighters you select play exactly like their arcade counterpart due to technical limitations and poor gameplay decisions. Also, not all fighters are immediately available from the start. Players begin with Lars, Alisa and one fighter of their choosing. The rest need to be found within the branching level paths in the soul-less garbage that is the single-player campaign. The voice acting can pass for a terrible anime series while the plots and subplots never make sense or come together in a believable or satisfying fashion. Namco Bandai attempts to cram just about every Tekken fighter in history into a story that bursts at the seams with outlandish tripe. The gameplay is mind numbing and exasperating without any redeeming qualities to speak of. You earn cash, which can be spent on costume changes and accessories, but cash can be accumulated in other modes found in the game making the entire single-player campaign awful to play as well as useless.

Now if we remove the single-player campaign like cutting off the head of a dead fish, we are left with something much more appetizing. Tekken, in its original, familiar form has never been more refined or more enjoyable. The balancing of characters has undergone extensive updates and tweaks since being in the arcades and in the end presents a wonderfully crafted fighting game. Each fighter has a plethora of attacks and combos that is accessible for people with Tekken experience while encouraging players to become masterful at creating their own style. Tekken provides as much as the player is willing to learn; it is a highly technical fighter that will require training much like playing a sport. The game becomes deeper and more fulfilling as you learn not only the entire repertoire of attacks and counters, but how to use and execute them effectively. With over thirty fighters to choose from, you will no doubt find someone best suited to your particular play style. The only misstep to be found is the final boss encounter with Azazel which is a cheap, overly-powerful monster that undoes much of the skill and practice needed to play Tekken 6. You have to find an attack that works against him, spam it repeatedly and hope for the best.

The online play is tricky to compete effectively on. Lag becomes your toughest foe and degrades the quality of bouts. At the time of writing this review, however, a patch should have already been released to help alleviate this issue and create a stable fighting experience. Tekken has always worked better when played with friends who are in the room with you. Your ability to round up friends who like fighting games and can play consistently will ultimately decide how long Tekken 6 will last in your console.

Tekken 6 is an impressive fighting game from a long line of quality 3-D fighters. The single-player campaign nearly ruins the overall package that is deep as well as a blast to play with friends. With the addition of Tekken 6 to the list of fighting games along with Street Fighter 4 and Blazblue, The winner for best fighting game of 2009 will be a hard decision to make.

Overall Rating:

M. Michael Chwedyk-MuzikReviews.com Sr. Video Game Reviewer

December 3, 2009

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Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes-Xbox 360 Video Game Review

Title: Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

Release Date: October 6, 2009

Genre: Action
Rating: T for Teen

Platform: XBox 360

Publisher: LucasArts

Developer: Krome Studios

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The animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars is one of the best things to happen to the Star Wars franchise in recent years. It has nice voice acting, good plots and some great character interactions. Unfortunately, Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, a game based on the series, isn’t as good as its namesake.

In Republic Heroes, you get to play the role of just about every key figure in the series at some point, including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex. As these characters, you must foil a Separatist plot to create a super weapon that could spell doom for the Republic.

You would think that after the success of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the designers of this game would have adopted that game’s over-the-shoulder perspective for this game. Unfortunately, this is not the case – instead, they went with a third-person perspective. This, more than anything else, drags the game down to the rating that it earns, because the perspective creates so many problems.

For starters, there is no way to adjust the camera angle you are viewing the action from like there is in many action games. As a result, the platform-jumping action that makes up certain parts of Republic Heroes gets extremely frustrating at times, as it’s tough to judge exactly where to jump to avoid missing the ledge. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there are quite a few times in this game where you get so far away from the camera during the action that it’s tough to see what the heck is going on.

As for the controls, they’re decent enough for what the game is. The Jedi and clone troopers have somewhat different controls, reflecting their different combat styles. The only gripe I have is that the clone troopers’ aiming controls could use a little work. Basically, you fire by pointing the right control stick in whatever direction you want to shoot in. This feels kind of awkward to me, and definitely doesn’t give you the same feeling of combat intensity as pressing the right trigger would. This is only aggravated by the aforementioned bad camera, which makes it tough to draw an accurate bead on enemies.

One cool feature of the game is the “droid jak,” which allows a Jedi character to jump on top of an enemy droid and control it for a certain time. For example, you can jump on a super battle droid and force it to march around shooting its allies, or you can take control of a chameleon droid and use it as your own personal mine-layer. It’s a nice feature that adds some strategy to the action, which can get somewhat repetitive at times.

Another good thing the game has going for it is the feel of animated series. The voice actors from the series reprise their roles for the game, and I can’t think of one major character they missed featuring in this game. Even the new bounty hunter character Cad Bane makes an appearance.

Unfortunately, none of the game’s good points can make up for all of the frustration that the fixed third-person perspective causes. If it weren’t for that, Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes could have been a decent title. As it is, though, it needs some serious fixing before it could be considered as worthy as the series it sprang from.

Overall Rating:

Christopher Mastey-Muzikreviews.com Video Game Reviewer

November 30, 2009

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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves-PS3 Video Game Review

Title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Release: October 13, 2009

Genre: Action

Developer: Naughty Dog

Publisher: SCEA

Platform: PS3

Rating: T (Teen)

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During the past few months, Sony has had to bounce back from staggering fiscal losses and a bipolar handheld device. Despite these setbacks, Sony has regained momentum and capitalized on the PS3 price reduction strategy by releasing both strong exclusive and first-party content for the console. The biggest and most publicized weapon in their arsenal comes in the form of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves which was the show-stopper at E3 2009. The gameplay shown at the event was so spectacular that people almost forgot about Naughty Dog’s original Uncharted which struggled to find its place in the market. Uncharted was the developer’s first attempt at a third-person shooter and was the victim of many rookie mistakes which, for the most part, have been tweaked and refined in the sequel.

Uncharted was released in 2007 as an exclusive PS3 game which usually meant outstanding graphics and little else. Uncharted 2 keeps the bar set high with the tropical locals while adding the infinitely more interesting slums of Nepal and snowcapped mountain ranges. The graphics and presentation as a whole are cinematically brilliant. The engaging nature is due to Naughty Dog’s insistence that the voice actors be motion-captured while performing their lines not unlike a virtual play. The result is a seamless epic movie feel that makes Uncharted 2 the undisputed champion of playable cinema. The game opts for the hard road of graphics rendering by pushing the hardware into a realism test instead of creating a more cartoon-like, less graphically demanding art style. The result is a beautifully vibrant, gritty look that fits well with the Indiana Jones aesthetic. The sound effects and voice talent are identical to that of the original game which was pitch perfect. The music has an uncanny ability to slip by unnoticed throughout much of Uncharted 2. The music is not lousy by any means, it just isn’t very memorable.

The biggest upgrade from Uncharted to its sequel is without question the gameplay. The original game was overly difficult due to poor choices made to balance the damage inflicted as well as taken. In a standard shooter, the enemies start off as weak and progressively take more damage to make the game challenging throughout. Uncharted made the enemies equally hard to kill from the start and made the weapons you picked up later on more deadly. Enemies who were wearing nothing more than cargo shorts and tank tops seemed unstoppable. Certain pistols did more damage than shotguns at close range and head shots were insanely difficult to pull off even at point blank opportunities. Instead of fighting a steady stream of enemies within a level, players were forced to stay in one location and fight off wave after wave of henchmen mercenaries; death would result in having to complete the battle royal all over again. Uncharted 2 seems to have learned from the more frustrating aspects of the original and removed the underlying bone-headed design of Uncharted’s fight sequences. Enemies no longer take a full clip to kill, headshots are plentiful and battles, no matter how one-sided, can be won without super-human reflexes and patience. This is not to say that there are no more frustrating areas, they just feel less cheap and more rewarding to play.  Shooting mechanics simply feel more attuned with the player making fighting just as enjoyable as the climbing/puzzle aspects that are synonymous with the franchise. The gimmicky motion controls from the original are no longer required to throw grenades or balance your footing on narrow bridges. As a result, using grenades is now useful instead of aggravating.

Uncharted 2 introduces two new major features—stealth sections and online multiplayer. The stealth sections are the least enjoyable sections of the game. Being spotted by guards causes you to fail the level; the problem lies with the unequal spotting abilities of the guards. Some guards will not notice you at all from a few feet away while some will spot you from across the room. These sections require a precise course to complete them successfully and punish any form of improvisation. These sections are mercifully short, but slow the otherwise terrific pacing of the game. The new multiplayer offers the standard modes such as deathmatch, capture-the-flag, king of the hill, territory holding, etc. None of the modes present anything you haven’t seen before in most other multiplayer shooter games, but they are done well and grant extended playing time with Uncharted 2. The two-player coop mode does not allow you and a friend to play through the story mode; instead it offers a side-story that features multiple characters working together so playing with a friend makes sense. As you progress through the single player and multiplayer modes, you will collect money used to buy abilities, attributes and even new character skins granted you have already unlocked them by completing the game. Attributes are only used during multiplayer and you can only equip two at a time which makes going into online battles a tad more strategic depending on what mode you enter and what attributes you want equipped.

Everything about Uncharted 2 has either been overhauled or made bigger and louder. The story, which is strangely similar to the script of the first game, explodes with plot twists, new faces, old acquaintances and crazy supernatural portions that are just as unwelcome now as when they were in the original. Still, the story is engaging enough to help tie together reasons for shooting people all over the globe. Nathan Drake, the main character, seems to have grown as a heroic figure. He now appears to be better equipped to kill and fights more comprehensively while at the same time endures more punishment this time around making him less fragile. The entire supporting cast is remarkable in their ability to be liked; it is impossible to root against any one of them.

Uncharted 2 is an excellent example of how to handle a sequel—fix what is broken and make what works work better. Issues with combat from the first game have all been addressed while unfortunately creating new issues with the stealth sections, but these portions are miniscule when compared to the rest of the game. Cinematically the game is unmatched and the cast is so likeable it will be difficult to wait for the next sequel to see what happens next with these characters. Naughty Dog may be better known now for developing the Uncharted franchise than creating the critically acclaimed Crash Bandicoot games of the PS1 era.

Overall Rating:

M. Michael Chwedyk-MuzikReviews.com Sr. Video Game Reviewer

November 17, 2009

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For Questions or Comments on This Review email me mchwedyk@muzikreviews.com

Forza Motorsport 3-Xbox 360 Video Game Review

Title: Forza Motorsport 3 Release Date: October 27, 2009 Genre: Racing Rating: E for Everyone Platform: Xbox 360 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: Turn 10 Studios Product Link It’s no big secret that I am a big fan of racing games. Recently I’ve reviewed a lot of stinkers that have tried to pass themselves off as viable simulation racers. Forza Motorsport, however, has been Microsoft’s answer to Gran Turismo, which is Sony’s franchise racing series. This is their first attempt at producing a game for the current console generation, hopefully they can retain their excellence with this edition. Forza Motorsport 3 is visually stunning. Beauty glistens around every corner, from the cars to the tracks to the background scenery, everything looks excellent. The cars take on all the aspects of their real life counterparts, a friend of mine who is a huge car enthusiast complimented this game on correctly placing the location of the back-up lights on the cars. Instead of just making the break lights change to white like some racing games do. There are a few tracks that are stationed on the side of a mountain. Off in the distance you can see other mountains, as well as trees and houses. All of these items look much better then I would have expected them too, especially for them being background objects. Another really neat aspect comes when exiting tunnels. Much like the human eye, when you leave a darkened area for a brightly lit one, the screen becomes very bright, and then fades back down to normal. Yet another little aspect you might not expect to be there. The bulk of your gaming time will be spent in the career mode. You start off with your choice of a low level, affordable car, I took a Chevy Aveo. You then run groups of races and depending on how you perform in the races you are awarded credits and experience. Credits are used for buying new cars and upgrades. Experience, or XP, comes in two categories, driver and car.  Driver XP awards you with progressively better cars the higher the level you achieve and car XP awards you with manufacturer discounts on upgrades for any vehicle from that company. One really cool thing is the gamer’s ability to use any car for just about the entire game. Depending on how much you are willing to spend you can upgrade the cheapest car to become competitive in the highest race classifications. For example, I bought a MINI Cooper S for 12,000 credits, added 134,000 credits worth of upgrades to it and was able to use it to win races in the second highest classification tier. I was able to use the MINI Cooper S to drive around a Dodge Viper SRT10 and a Chevy Corvette Z06. But upgrading cars can only take you so far. A lot of races are for a certain type of car, like Ford Focus only races. This is where the game forces you to dip into some of the free cars you’ve been given or visit the dealership and purchase cars. With more then 400 cars from over 50 dealers each with the ability to be tuned and customized, the possibility of coming up with the exact same car some someone else is nearly impossible, unless you use the automatic upgrade feature.  The tuning also allows you to increase single aspects such as handling or acceleration. This game is extremely realistic. There is a noticeable difference between driving rear-wheel drive and front-wheel drive vehicles. The damage is another aspect that is rendered excellently. Barely bumping another car will result in a few scratches whereas going balls-out into a guardrail will ensure quick, catastrophic mechanical failure. The only issue comes when I am awarded achievements. All Xbox 360 games offer the player achievement points, something like a brag list for gamers to show their friends. These achievements often appear before I realize what they are for. For example, right after a race I will get a pop-up awarding me achievement points for gaining a level when the game hasn’t added up my XP yet. This isn’t as big of a deal for a game like this as it is for some other games. Developers need to choose better times to display these messages that won’t ruin the anticipation a gamer gets from finally finishing a game. Forza Motorsport 3 is only available for Xbox 360. This is an outstanding simulation racing game. They have been able to hone their craft over the years and are now the proud owners of one of the best simulation racing games available today. Gran Turismo should be watching their rear-view mirrors closely, because a new contender is out there, vying for best racing game. Overall Rating: The Gaming Savant, Ryan Smith-MuzikReviews.com Video Game Review Staff Team Leader October 24, 2009 ©MuzikReviews.com For questions or comments on this review send an e-mail to rsmith@muzikreviews.com

Video Game 2009 Holiday Shopping Guide Gamer Edition

Another Holiday season is upon us and chances are if you are reading this you have a gamer on your list and are clueless as to what to buy them. Fear not, my friend, I have compiled a list of some of this year’s best gift ideas for gamers of all ages and genders. From games to gift cards to accessories to what not to do, I have it all covered. Just listen closely and you will increase your chances of seeing a happy face on Christmas morning rather then a disappointed one.

Games:

When entering a gaming store, or the gaming section of your local electronics retailer, it’s very easy to become disoriented by the vast selection of available titles. Instead of rifling through box after box and guessing which one your recipient might like, approach a customer service representative and ask for one of these following hits:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Available for: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Target Audience: Adult or mature gamers, online gamers, fans of first-person shooters

Why: CoD:MW2 has received praise from all its critics and is heralded as one of the best online multiplayer FPS games available for consoles. The game has only been out for about a month but is already setting the standard for realistic console shooters to come.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Available for: Nintendo Wii

Target Audience: Gamers of all ages and both genders, retro gamers

Why: The original gaming generation, people currently 25-35, new have families of their own and young children who are probably also gamers. NSMBW has an easy learning curve, co-operative multiplayer and takes that first generation of gamers back to a time when this type of two-dimensional side-scroller was all the rave.

Forza Motorsport 3

Available for: Xbox 360

Target Audience: Gearheads, men of all ages

Why: Forza Motorsport 3 is this year’s must-have racing title. The realistic graphics, long career mode and excellent gameplay ensure great replay ability and a long life in your gamer’s collection.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Available for: PlayStation3

Target Audience: Action gamers, men 18-35

Why: Uncharted 2 is this year’s must have PS3 title. The stunning graphics and movie like storyline are big reasons it is winning over critics and gamers alike.

Plants vs. Zombies

Available for: PC, Mac

Target Audience: Men, woman, children, teens, adults, casual gamers, experienced gamers, gamers with lower end PCs

Why: Plants vs. Zombies is a very simple concept that is performed excellently. Its story mode is easy enough for the most casual of casual gamers and the extra modes will keep the experienced gamers coming back for weeks to try to get higher scores. Plus the under $20 price will keep your wallet happy too.

World of Warcraft

Available for: PC, Mac

Target Audience: Men, woman, fantasy gamers, a lot of free time gamers

Why: It’s no secret I love WoW and I praise it ay every chance I get, but this season adds extra incentive since Blizzard is selling it for only $5. You now have no excuse for passing on trying it, unless you’re doing it just to spite me.

But what if the gamer you’re shopping for already has all the games they want? Here are some non-game ideas:

Accessories

Every gamer can use some accessories for their systems, most popular would be controllers. When buying controllers try to stick with the first party manufacturers; Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, they may cost a little more but they are usually the most reliable, responsive and comfortable to use. Another accessory is rechargeable battery packs as well as recharge stations. Most battery packs consist of two AA batteries, which can get costly and annoying.

Another excellent idea is gift cards. These could come in many forms, such as a predetermined amount to a favorite brick and mortar or online store, a subscription to a game magazine, a few months subscription to a rental service like Gamefly or Gametap, Xbox Live memberships or currency in online games or services like Xbox Live or PlayStation Network.

Things to avoid:

Just with any hobby in life, if you are unfamiliar with gaming as a whole you may be clueless when it comes to shopping for a gamer. My first tip of advice is to avoid general merchandise stores. Although they often have the best prices on everything else, their video games are overpriced. This doesn’t include new releases since they have a common starting price but these stores are often the last ones to reduce prices on older games. On top of this their employees, though probably nice people, are less likely to be knowledgeable on all things gaming, especially during the holiday season, when workers may be asked to work outside of their normal departments during peak hours. Stick to gaming or electronic specific stores.

With so many sequels in today’s market it is imperative you get the right edition of a game. With Guitar Hero for example there are a half dozen editions that have been released in the last couple years that can easily be mistaken for each other, this is where going to a general merchandise store could affect you.

Finally, make sure you are purchasing for the correct console. Not only can games be crossed up across the current generation’s platforms, but distinguishing PS2 from PS3 is a must. Funny story, when I was a young teenager I wanted Final Fantasy VII for the PC for Christmas because I didn’t own a PlayStation. My Mom wrapped up a good sized box and put my Dad’s name on it. I wasn’t paying attention when he opened it but he pulled out a handful of games and handed them to me. I was disappointed because although one of them was FFVII, it was for PlayStation not PC. My mom acted shocked and couldn’t believe she had bought games for the wrong system. My Dad then pulled a PlayStation out of the box and I couldn’t believe it. Feel free to use this on your own child, but don’t be expecting it to work as well on them. I am a gullible person. A few weeks prior, my sister asked my opinion on which system I preferred, PlayStation or Nintendo 64 claiming her boss wanted to buy one but wasn’t sure which. I was just glad to give my opinion, not at all thinking the system was for me.

Following these ideas might not win over every gamer, but it will be successful for most of them. Also, if anyone who might be buying me something is reading this, all of these ideas would make a great edition to my gaming library.

The Gaming Savant, Ryan Smith-MuzikReviews.com Video Game Review Staff Team Leader

December 8, 2009

©MuzikReviews.com

For questions or comments on this article, or for gift ideas for the special gamer on you list, drop me a line at rsmith@muzikreviews.com