Bulletstorm

"A Breath of Fresh Air"

Bulletstorm is a new IP first person action shooter developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly. It is the first installment into the series. Bulletstorm focuses on over-the-top action and crazy sadistic ways to kill enemies. As you began to play this game the first thing you will began to notice is that this game is not your ordinary first person shooter game, but something much more unique and an experience you will not soon forget…..


Story 9/10

Bulletstorm takes place in the 26th century on a futuristic planet that is filled with all sorts of enemies ranging from mercenaries, robots, all the way to huge, ferocious dinosaurs. This is a fun, intense campaign that fortunately doesn't take itself too serious and will have you laughing and will surely keep you entertain from beginning to end. You are in the shoes of a bad mouth, highly skilled space pirate named Grayson Hunt formerly part of a secret black-ops organization called Dead Echo. Early on after finding out you have been deceived into doing “inhumane” things for Commander General Serano, you are betrayed and are dishonorably discharged from Dead Echo. This leads you to go out on a quest for revenge alongside your partner Ishi Sato. After an unsuccessful attempt to seek your revenge on the General you crash on a planet known as Stygia fighting for your lives and looking for a way off. General Serano is also on the planet after the crash. This leads Grayson Hunt to want to continue his quest of revenge which is contrary to what Ishi Sato wants and leads to tension between the two as Ishi Sato already questions Grayson Hunt leadership and decisions. Along the way you encounter Trishka Novak, a female who is also fighting her way through the planet. The three all team up to make a dysfunctional but effective team fighting your way through hundreds and hundreds of General Serano troops, crazy mercenaries and robots in a fun, action-pack, bloody battle for your own survival and a way off of Stygia.

Gameplay 10/10

This is where Bulletstorm separates itself from all the other first-person shooters out there right now. From beginning to end there is action around every corner, heads exploding, guts and insides flying around everywhere. There is absolutely no stop in the action-packed gameplay in here .There a five difficulty settings ranging from very easy all the way up to very hard. Bulletstorm does not focus on the popular run ‘n gun style that more popular first person shooters such as Call of Duty and Medal of Honor focus on. It heavily focuses on HOW you kill enemies. The theme is of Bulletstorm is to “kill with skill” People Can Fly and Epic Games has implemented a very fun, highly addictive, skillshot system. The skillshot system awards you points for killing enemies in very unique, gruesome ways. You can find different ways to kill your enemies ranging from impaling them into cactuses, electrocuting them, kicking them into spinning blades or just your simple headshot. Anytime you knock and enemy in the air it will slow them down so you can line up a better killshot. There is a list of skillshots to complete and more and more are unlocked the longer you play and the more weapons you unlock. With the skillpoints you earn from your creative kills you can use those to unlock weapons, unlock secondary fire modes, and buy ammunition. You have your simple assault rifle, shotgun, and pistol guns, but there are a couple of unique weapons also such as the Penetrator, a very cool drill that has been modified into a deadly projectile weapon that you can use to impale multiple enemies in cool different ways. Also the Flailgun which is a unique weapon that has grenades along with a steel chain that wraps around your enemies, leaving them helpless until their inevitable explosive death. The secondary weapon fire is also a cool feature too. Every weapon has gruesome secondary fire modes. For example your assault rifle has its normal burst mode but also has a “shotgun” type secondary mode which incinerates all the skin off your enemies leaving them with only a skeleton. There seems like endless ways to put an end to your enemy's lives. Going through the same level you are bound to kill enemies in different ways every time. One of the most deadly weapons in this game is also Grayson Hunt's size twelve foot. You will do a lot of Spartan kicking in this game. You can kick enemies in the air and into all types of different things such as electrical cords, blades, and other dangerous environments. There is also a pretty cool slide feature too. You can slide into enemies and flip them into the air, and also slide into cover when things get a little out of hand. Arguably the most unique device in the game is the Leash. The Leash will become your bread and butter throughout the whole game. This Leash can be used to grapple enemies and bring them to you Scorpion style then after that it's all up to you how you want to end their life. The Leash can also be used in other ways once you unlock the Thumper which opens up dozens of more ways to kill your enemies. The Thumper is an upgrade on the leash which also you to throw multiple enemies in the air at once and pick and choose more ways to kill. There are a few more cool weapons you will get the chance to play around with and kill enemies with.

Multiplayer 8/10

Bulletstorm does not feature a competive multiplayer component but does introduce a competive cooperative “horde” style game mode called Anarchy Mode. In this mode you are paired up with three more players and must fight wave after wave of different types of enemies competing with your teammates for skillpoints, but you do not advance waves by simple killing all the enemies. In order to advance waves, as a team you all must earn enough total skill points in the wave you are in to advance. As you go higher in each wave the minimum skill points are also raised, so as a team you must all find ways to kill enemies to earn maximum skill points. There is also a ranking up system in which you earn experience points to level up and get a chance to customize your player. You can customize your appearance by changing things such as your helmet character skin, and boots. This push the player to try their best to kill with skill during the waves because you rank up much faster by doing so then just running and gunning. At the end of waves you will have the chance to buy new weapons and also upgrade weapons that you currently have. You can also upgrade yourself. For example, between waves you have the option to increase your speed, which obviously increases has fast you move, you defenses which also you to take more damage, and you power which increase the strength of your Spartan kick. Anarchy mode also introduces Team Kills in which you and your teammates can team up and kill enemies together to earn even more skillpoints. While at first Anarchy mode seems pretty fun and cool. After a few hours it became a little repetitive and I found myself getting a little bored with the multiplayer entirely. It's hard to advance in higher waves because it really requires teammates that are willing to cooperate to achieve team kills so you can make the minimum required skillpoints needed to advance. Another mode introduced in Bulletstorm is Echoes. In Echoes you play through single-player segments but are scored and ranked to create leaderboards to compare with your friends and other Xbox live members. You start off with basic weapons with minimum upgrades on them. You are scored based on skillshots and time taken to finish. These scores are posted on Xbox Live and you can increase and decrease the difficulty settings also. After playing Echoes a few times it also became a little too repetitive and eventually pretty boring. For some reason the decided to get rid of cooperative campaign mode for some reason. Based on the kind of game this is, it seemed like a cooperative campaign would have been a perfect addition to the story mode. This is kind of disappointing because it would be twice the fun to find ways to kill enemies in even more creative ways with a partner. Overall the multiplayer in this game is pretty solid but could have been made more enjoyable by tweaking some of the fundamentals keeping a cooperative campaign and maybe even adding a few more game modes.

Graphics & Sound 9/10

Bulletstorm takes advantage of the Unreal Engine 3 and it looks absolutely fantastic. There is a gorgeous artistic look in here and the game is very colorful. From lighting to the blood the visual looks simply amazing. Character models are done very well and the planet of Stygia looks great also. There were very minor, framerate issues and texture issues, but slowdowns were not an issue at all which is very impressive for a game with this much action going on at one time. This is one of the best looking games to be released in the last couple of months. The sound is also impressive in Bulletstorm. Gunshots sound great, the voice work is one of the best, and Steven Balm did an exceptional job on Grayson Hunt. The soundtrack really puts you into the game. The composers, Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz and Michał Cielecki do a superb job in using the soundtrack to really get you into the action.

Playtime/Re-Playability 8/10

The single-player story mode takes around 8-10 hours to beat if you play Bulletstorm the way it is meant to be played and don't just rush through it but take the time out to have fun and kill people in cool, sadistic ways, and try to achieve different skillshots. There is really no reason to go back and play the single-player mode unless you're going to unlock more skill shots. With the addition of Echoes, more hours are tacked on to this game. The amount of time you spend on Echoes will be entirely up to you. If you want to just play through the levels it will take you probably around 2-3 hours but if you are trying to score high on the leaderboards it will take you much longer as you will play through the levels a few extra times. For people who like the horde type Anarchy mode then you will be playing for a long time as it is another whole ball park online.

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Gran Turismo 5

"Gran Turismo 5 The Real Driving Simulator - Masterpiece - Review"

Racing fans have been sitting around for five years, waiting Gran Turismo 5 and finally the masterpiece has now released. For those unfamiliar with the Gran Turismo franchise is the best racing simulator or should I say "The real driving simulator" available on the market and a PlayStation exclusive. Gran Turismo 5 is for you, if you are looking for a game where you can race off road or in a different weather situation. Gran Turismo 5 is highly focused in which you compete in closed circuit racing competitions and licence test where you can improve your ability to drive.

Graphics: Excellent 10/10
Polyphony Digital has been developing this game over 5 years so there is no doubt that the final version of Gran Turismo 5 looks very stunningly beautiful. There are 200 premium cars which are very detailed in every way and you can even see every single detail in cockpit view and it looks the same as the real cars. The other 850+ is the standard version which is from the previous series and you can even import your cars from the PSP if you want to see how they look like in High Definition. The standard cars looks beautiful as the premium cars but they don't have a cockpit view, but it's really ok, not everybody want to play in cockpit view. Weather system is new in the series; you race on snow or even on rain and the time changes day to night as you drive your car. The physics model is absolutely superb, with cars given enough weight and inertia to somehow feel absolutely real. They'll spin if you push them too vigorously, drift wide if you break too late into a corner. The damage model are so realistic, for those people who is complaining about the damage model, it can be unlock at level 20 and the level 40 for the full damage model. The damage model at the beginning of the game is little because it's for the beginner so that, you can spend fewer credits to repair your damaged car and Polyphony want everyone to play through the game and discover it by yourself.

Sound: Excellent 10/10
The in-game soundtrack is amazing and you can choose in variety of music which is suit you the best. The sounds of the cars are realistic and it's like the cars are beside you. The premium cars engine sounds is customizable, depends of you tuning. The standard car engine sounds has been upgraded from their previous game.

Gameplay: Excellent 10/10
Gran Turismo 5 has loads of mode like GT mode, Arcade Mode, and the Course Maker and specially, online multiplayer gameplay. The GT mode starts out with a few credits and level 0. This mode has A spec and B spec, A spec is a mode where you can drive the car and B spec is when you can command an AI like an RPG game to compete with other AI's. You can enter on a competition or go to licence test to improve your ability and you gain experience throughout the game. Arcade mode is where you can customize your race and play with your friends and family. Course Maker is the new mode in Gran Turismo where you can make a random track and race. You can as well drive newly introduce cars such as Nascars and Kart racing. The game is enjoyable if you are using a driving wheel and you can get the full experience of the game. Online mode is where you can compete with your friend or strangers around the world and show off your ability. 16 vehicles can take the track at any one time.

Presentation: Excellent 10/10
The presentation is excellent. The cinematic scene when you insert and start the game looks stunning and it shows how the cars are being made. The menu layout is user friendly and it's easy to navigate. Overall, it's amazing.

Overall Score: 10/10 Amazing
Upon inserting the game on your PS3, you can expect some installation and the latest patch for online and you can still see the installing letter at the side of the screen but it doesn't distract your gaming experience. Gran Turismo provides an incredible number of events and races to test your driving skills and takes up to 100+ hours of gameplay and collecting every single car from around the world. The cars are obviously the true star of the game and if there's one thing that Gran Turismo has always done particularly well it's manage to cram in more vehicles than you'd spot inside the multi-tiered garage. I recommend this game for casual player and hardcore player who interested in collecting cars and racing simulators. Gran Turismo is the absolute best racing game ever in a gaming console. Well done Polyphony Digital!

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Killzone 3

"Welcome back to... *puts on shades* Hell-Ghan!"

Now that I'm done trying out my comedy routine it is time to prepare you on what to expect in the latest installment to Guerrilla Game's series, “Killzone” . Killzone to me has never really been anything to write home about for both the Campaign and Online. Killzone 2 was plagued by Rico, your teammate that dropped more F-bombs than Joe Pesci in Goodfellas and who's dialogue was just unbearable to listen too. It killed any enjoyment I could have found in Killzone 2. When I was reading up on Killzone 3 and learned that Rico would be toned down and not an annoying assclown I went straight to Gamestop and placed my pre-order. The lore and Killzone universe has always interested me. I read summaries of the first 2 and went into Killzone 3 with a clear mind, and I have to applaud Guerrilla Games because Killzone 3 is stunning and insane nonstop action packed with variety from the beginning all the way to the end.



Story: Killzone 3 begins immediately where Killzone 2 left off. The Helghast Dictator Visari is now dead thanks to the ISA (Interplanetary Strategic Alliance) and the Helghast Empire is in a sticky situation. The Helghast Council find themselves arguing over what to do next and who should now lead. This is where 2 new characters come in; Stahl and Orlock. Aside from being voiced by the great Malcolm McDowell, Stahl is a weapons manufacturer with a lot of stroke within the Empire. His plan is the gung-ho one. In this case it consists of hitting the ISA and Earth with everything they have including a nuke. He competes against Joseph Stalin... err... Orlock. Orlock is the Military Commander and the more rational of the 2. I really do mean rational by the way as one of the more interesting aspects of the Killzone universe is that you can feel everything the Helghast do is justified and not look like an idiot. Neither faction is clear in the right making the story that much more interesting.

Nevertheless, you do play as Sev of the ISA again ready to kick some Helghast ass. Sev and a slightly less annoying Rico will make their evacuation as Killzone 3 begins right after Killzone 2 ends. The ISA regroups and is ready to stop the invasion of Earth. There are also new ISA characters too like female soldier Jammer. However, the characters on the ISA side just aren't as interesting and as fleshed out as the main characters in the Helghast Empire. Sev is your average and generic war hero while Rico is still a pretty forgettable teammate with no character whatsoever. None of the ISA characters go through any character development. From start to finish it is just about kicking Helghast ass which isn't necessarily a bad thing but there is room for say in Killzone 4 maybe to shake things up and make me want to kill the Helghast. As of right now I just shoot everyone because I'm supposed to, not because I want to see the ISA win the war. The overall story though is great and worth anyone's time. Every scene with Stahl and Orlock going at it is entertaining. My only other complaint is with the ending. For such an intense and epic moment in story and gameplay I can't help but feel Guerrilla dropped the ball giving us an abrupt and anti-climactic ending that doesn't rival anything previously seen throughout the game in any way, shape, or form. Things do keep improving in the Killzone franchise though so hopefully with Killzone 4 Guerrilla Games can nail it.




Gameplay: Let me start off by saying that all modes of Killzone 3 are easier and more accessible for players. The enemy AI is still very smart though so don't worry at all. Killzone 3 to no ones' surprise plays just like the first 2. R1 is your fire button and L1 melees. There are a numerous amount of different ways to tweak the controls though so every First Person Shooter shooter player should feel right at home within minutes whether you're using basic Killzone controls or the basic Call of Duty set-up (L1/R1 aim and fire). Aiming down the sights really isn't that necessary in Killzone though. You can of course sprint, reload, and change weapons on the fly. The cover system also returns in Killzone 3. Basically, if you crouch near a surface you can snap to it and take cover. You can peek around corners and shoot and overall play really tactical. Killzone 3 does feel less weighty than Killzone 2 but that doesn't mean it now mimics Call of Duty. It just feels a little more responsive and more natural to pop Helghast heads now. The battlefields are all pretty big with a lot of different ways to go about each section. My personal favorite although not the most strategic is going gung-ho and performing Brutal Melees on the Helghast. There's a lot of satisfaction to be had gouging out Helghast eyes with your thumbs. Killzone 3 truly does resemble a warzone as you go from point A to point B killing everyone in your path. A large part of this epic in scale battlezone feel comes from how much variety in level design and mission structure there really is. There are numerous types of enemies such as exploding spiders, jetpack Helghast, and Capture Troopers. These robotic looking Helghast look awesome and are very acrobatic as they try and melee you head-on. During a few sections you will commandeer a jetpack and actually have firefights in mid-air. I have to say it controls very well too along with being awesome. The locales you visit throughout the game are fantastic, especially the Arctic chapter Icy Incursion which looks phenomenal and simply awesome. There's also a jungle which is very detailed and fleshed out featuring plants that burst out a deadly poison that kills Helghast upon shooting them. You can even sneak around the jungle and not get into a single fight. There are quite a few on-rails segments where you'll control mini-guns and canons from tanks or various types of aircraft where you will cause massive amounts of destruction in huge set-pieces that are simply epic. The whole MAWLR battle spans a whole chapter and is just one big battle against a massive titanic in size walking Helghast creation of death. The final battle is where the game peaks incorporating Zero-Gravity into the firefight. There's also an insanely epic space battle at the end that resembles the end of Star Wars: Episode 4. The variety isn't just in the set-pieces though. There are some awesome Helghast weapons for you to use too such as the Arc Cannon that shoot a big green ball of energy and causes any enemy stuck inside it to blow up. The Pistol Shotgun also returns and is fun to use. Even the standard assault rifles are fun to use as popping off Helghast helmets and shooting them in their bald Stone Cold Steve Austin resembling domes never gets old.

There are a few flaws though. The actual checkpoint system is fine but the saving system is weird. I backed out to the main menu to see which scene of a chapter I was on ( I was aiming for a chapter specific trophy) but when I hit continue I was brought back by about 15 minutes instead of my latest checkpoint. There's also the First Person Shooter staple complaint of dumb partner AI during combat but it's made up for by Rico being able to revive you (if he is near) if you fall during battle. Thanks Rico, but you're still an annoying jackass. My only other complaint is the pointless use of motion sensing to turn valves or place explosives. It always breaks the flow of gameplay and is a minor annoyance. Since I am on the topic, Killzone 3 can actually be played using the Move and it apparently works well, so there is even more variety. This is not necessarily a complaint but since Killzone 3 allows split-screen co-op Campaign it is a bit of a bummer that there is no online co-op Campaign. There's always Killzone 4 but for now Killzone 3 pretty much exceeds expectations and is one near perfect roller-coaster of a ride that you do not want to miss.




Graphics/Sound: I might as well just say it, Killzone 3 is the greatest looking First Person Shooter ever. The amount of detail is insane. Seeing debris flying all over the battlefield, the guns, the dropships, the character models, it all looks insane. The lighting effects are amazing and the framerate rarely drops which is a massively impressive feat when a game looks this good. The character models and facial expressions look very good too. You can just tell that Stahl is an evil bastard up to no good just from his evil smirk. By far my favorite aspects though are the blood. Killing a Helghast and seeing his blood spurt out and stain the snow looked incredible. I just stood there in awe staring at how detailed everything was. Everything about the chapter Icy Incursion from the visuals to the set-pieces will just blow you away. The Arctic landscape and jungle alone make Killzone 3 hands down the graphics king for shooters both in technical power and artistic design. It is beyond beautiful for a warzone and needs to be seen by everyone. Amazing sound is also here to compliment the outstanding graphics. The music is so good that whenever I start up the game I have to listen to the music in the pre-menu screen. If anything, that is what makes me want to kick some Helghast ass. Killzone 3 has the greatest musical score for a First Person Shooter ever. It truly gets your heart pounding and makes every battle feel intense. The amazing detail in the sound of explosions also helps too along with the distinct voices of the Helghast soldiers. Some of the voice acting from the ISA members isn't that good but over in the Helghast Empire you have Malcolm McDowell and Ray Winstone bringing it and nailing their respectable characters. It is worth mentioning that if you have a 3D-TV and want a game to show it off, this is the game to buy. Killzone 3 succeeds above and beyond here.




Online: There are 3 different modes with each holding up to 16 or 24 players a game.. One team is the ISA while the other is the Helghast. The first is Guerrilla Warfare which is your standard Team Death-Match mode. Then there is the new mode Operations which is a bit of a spin on Capture The Flag. You either have to plant bombs or defend areas. This mode actually comes with small amusing cut-scenes too. The final mode and my personal favorite is Warzone. It is a 24 player mode compromised of 7 rounds with each featuring a randomized objective. Sometimes you will have to protect a specific teammate, some rounds are just Death-Matches, and some are essentially Search And Destroy rounds. Killzone 3 has 5 unique classes to choose from each with abilities resembling Team Fortress 2. You can play as a Medic and revive people, an Engineer and build turrets or ammo stashes, a Tactician and capture spawn points, an Infiltrator who can don an enemy disguise, or a Marksman who can use an invisibility cloak. Each classes' perks can be upgraded too using the Career Points you earn from ranking up. Of course you can also choose to unlock new weapons. One of the coolest things about Killzone 3 is that some maps contain jetpacks or mechs to handle. For these maps it adds a whole new dynamic to the Online modes and makes you want to play them more. There are 8 maps total resembling the various chapters of the Campaign and most are designed evenly. A few maps feel a little too small and claustrophobic but that's my only complaint there. Most games seem to take a hit in the graphics department when heading Online but Killzone 3 surprisingly does not. You can invite your friends to your games but it is a bit of a bummer that there's no private lobbies. There is Botzone though which allows you too hone your Online skills against the AI. It is worth noting that I sometimes have trouble connecting to games but it isn't that big of a deal. Overall the Online component of Killzone 3 is a blast and should keep gamers busy.




Replayability: The Campaign lasts around 8 hours and is a blast. You will unlock Elite mode upon completing the game. Add in the Online component and I think it's safe to say Killzone 3 will keep you busy. Granted if you're not a fan of Online there isn't much else to do or reason to play. The trophy list is more accessible this time around meaning it won't take 100's of hours to obtain the platinum trophy.

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Call of Duty : Black Ops

"Welcome to the Classified 1960's"

Call of Duty: Black Ops is no doubt the most anticipated game of the year and compared to last year's predecessor in Modern Warfare 2 , Treyarch follows up with a grand entrance into the turbulent 1960's with top secret missions featuring some of the worst fighting in Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, and plenty of exploits through the Soviet Union. Following up the new warfare setting, Call of Duty: Black Ops reintroduces the outstanding multiplayer experience online with a few new features but same style of play as well as the fun and very quirky zombies mode in which I think we'll see again as its own stand alone game.

Campaign

The story of Black Ops follows the trail of secret operative Richard Mason who is introduced to us while being tortured to divulge information about his past. Each time Mason comes in and out of consciousness the story picks up where he starts to remember. So throughout the game you get to revisit some of the most memorable military incidents in the 1960's starting with the Bay of Pigs and as the plot develops you start to find out how the story of Black Ops correlates with these events. What results is a James Bond/Max Payne like walk through the campaign. Playing on normal or recruit will get you through the campaign in a few hours as there are not that many missions to the game and each has its own bits where we are cut back to Mason in the present day as he comes to in the interrogation room.

I would have to do my fact checking on some of the weapons featured in the campaign but I guess they were introduced that early on in the 20th Century. The MP5 and M16 are very prevalent as well as the AK47, which defined the Communist armies of the era. As for the sentry guns in multiplayer...I don't know. The game play is very standard and fans of Call of Duty will have no trouble picking up the controls again for Black Ops. Taking cover is always a necessity to not get shot up too quick or to recover from wounds but it's too bad you can't peak out from cover. Enemies will immediately find cover and peak out from time to time until you flank them out or borrow a flamethrower and melt away all opposition. A lot of the campaign experience can be best described as a Michael Bay film where you can be in the middle of a heavy firefight and as soon as a checkpoint is reached all fighting stops and it is back to normal again. I'm not too much on how realistic this game feels as to how realistic it looks.

My greatest dislike of the modes of Black Ops was definitely on the campaign. I found the campaign to be full of glitches due mostly to having to be at the right place at the right time for a scripted event to happen. Getting ahead of somebody you are supposed to follow seemed to be the biggest result of the game glitching to the point I had to restart the second mission over. Other glitches such as enemies getting stuck in midair or freezing in place were also prevalent. No update can cure that. The campaign starts to take off once you get to the Vietnam missions but a lot of the sequences of these missions are not too original since all of the ideas for the missions are taken from Vietnam war movies. There have been plenty of games to take advantage of the same exact ideas (such as the much overused Russian Roulette) so originality takes a beating with the game's campaign. I'd dare say the last scene in the final mission is a poor attempt at an armed forces recruiting commercial.

Multiplayer

Call of Duty's multiplayer is still the best online and while you can't improve on something that is the best a few new features are added to take your interest in playing and reaching the prestigious prestige mode to the next level. My favorite experience was the Combat Training where you compete against the AI who take on the role of random members of your friends list so that you can improve on your skills or unlock achievements. Unfortunately, what you earn in Combat Training does not cross over to the online multiplayer so you have to start from scratch when you take to the gritty streets of combat against other players. So if you have a friend online that is a mega fanatic you can get a video clip of him stepping on a claymore you placed in plain view and send it to him asking what's up.

Once you hit rank 5 online you are pretty much home free to start creating classes and purchasing challenges to help boost skill points to purchase more items like perks and weapons and gadgets. There are more multiplayer modes and you can even take the Zombies mode online. Customization is a bigger feature as well as you can virtually design what your favorite weapon will look like from color to writing and even the dot sight shape.

Had this game been made simply as a multiplayer game I actually would have given it a 10/10. Between remote detonated RC cars after a three kill streak, napalm strikes, and the ever wonderful Semtex grenades there is plenty to enjoy online. The Zombies mode has been given more of a story as the bonus mode features key figures from history banding together to fight to the last man and you can also jump into an online game in this mode so you do not have to wait on your friends to stop playing the multiplayer to join you.

The graphics are very detailed and remains the reason why the Call of Duty games have such a realistic feel. The only thing I did not think worked are the napalm strikes in multiplayer because they do not create the wall of fire you see in the vintage footage of such strikes. Certain weapons will cause enemies to lose limbs so this game takes a more gory tone than with the likes of the Modern Warfare games. This is an outstanding game visually with so much split second video to give even the most unfazed a seizure and plenty of time to take in a view of the action during large battles going on. The musical scores are quite good but the dialogue during interrogations is the only thing we have to keep up with the story, but things do finally fall into place at the end.

The multiplayer is the greatest selling point of Call of Duty: Black Ops and it will make this game last long into the years ahead until the next Call of Duty game is made. Achievements are easy to get with a few tricks to perform during campaign missions and finally we have a few multiplayer achievements available for the Call of Duty series. Picking up intel items during the missions will score being able to take the black tape off of classified documents so you can read up on the background of each mission you complete. There is always an Easter egg hunt with these games.

Final Recommendation 8/10

Call of Duty: Black Ops is everything that I expected it would be and having expected the campaign to be as far out as the Modern Warfare 2 story this game did not exceed expectations. Still, the multiplayer is a fun and engrossing part of this game that I would have paid full price just for the online play only. Will there be another Call of Duty to top this and Modern Warfare 2 in the future? Without any more competition from the Halo series I would say next year may be a bleak year for online shooters, but Black Ops will be a top game for online gaming well into the end of next year. There were plenty of other games preceding Black Ops but if you were thinking about another game to get while waiting for the word on Black Ops the word is: get Black Ops.

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Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Since the late 90's, Street Fighter fans had been asking for a true sequel to one of the greatest and most successful fighting games in the industry. In 2009 Capcom answered the call with Street Fighter 4. Having successfully taken the series back to it's 2d roots, and familiar gameplay, the next obvious demand from fans was a sequel to arguably the more demanded, Marvel vs. Capcom series. For those of you living in a cave for the last two decades: Marvel Vs. Capcom is a team based fighter featuring popular characters from each universe. With the re-release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on Xbox live and the Playstation network, an all new versus series exclusive to the Wii, it seemed a no brainer Capcom would follow suit with a new Marvel vs. Capcom. In 2010 the company once again answered the call with the announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of two worlds. Fans across the globe immediately began to day dream of seeing their favorite Marvel and Capcom heroes battle it out in all their high definition glory. Rest easy knowing Capcom has delivered not only a nostalgic trip back to the arcade days, but possibly a sure contender for fighting game of the year.

Gameplay 10

Those of you familiar with the series won't have much trouble picking up the controller and jumping right into the action. You'll soon feel like your on familiar turf. The game responds as smoothly if not smoother than you remember. You will however, notice the button remapping. The four kick and punch buttons have been removed and replaced with a four button low, medium, high and special button layout. Not only has the buttons been remapped, but swapping and calling in your teammates have turned into a single button press. Some veterans may not like the changes, but it makes sense and seems to give a more fluid feel to the action. Not only has Capcom changed the buttons around a bit, but they have also added a new ability called the X-factor. Down to your last teammate and think all hope is lost? Activate the X-Factor and not only does your character become faster, he/she also becomes stronger defensively and offensively. It's actually a really neat addition to the game, because not only can it turn a match around, it also serves as a cancel for some really crazy combos.

Despite the changes, this is still Marvel vs. Capcom at it's core. There's really nothing too new or groundbreaking for the series. The only gameplay mode available is the same as always, three on three battles. Despite this, MvC3 is as addictive and fun to play as ever. The characters are all well balanced and have their own feel to them, this is great as it encourages you to lean away from your normal three and experiment with some of the other characters. Speaking of characters, the roster has dropped down from 56 to 20 less to a mere 36. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. From the sacrifice we have gained some really great new characters like Xmen's Phoenix and Devil May Cry's Dante. However, I was a little disappointed not to see Venom or Mega man return. I was also hoping to see Ghost Rider and Carnage enter the series. Nevertheless, considering the amount of characters for each IP, it would be impossible to please everyone. With obvious DLC packs coming, I'm sure we will see more characters, as well as costumes for many months to come.

Graphics 9

MVC 3 is a visual treat. Seeing all these great characters battling it out in high def will have you awe struck. The art style seems to fit every character perfectly. You never get the sense that a particular character doesn't belong. Spiderman fighting Okami's Amaterasu fits as well as Iron Man fighting Wolverine. The art style blends the two universes together perfectly. Not only do the characters look great, the stages are also very vibrant and busy. It's also neat seeing different stages (although limited in number) based off the different worlds retrospective to particular characters. The visuals are great from the ground up, from the screen filling fireballs to the explosions. The face melting, on screen action never skips a visual beat.

Sound 7

Let's be honest here. MVC isn't exactly known for its outstanding music. Not much has changed. I don't know about you, but I got my feel of “Gonna take you for a ride” in MVC 2. I was slightly disappointed to still have to hear that song every time I play the game, but I'm guessing Capcom considers it the official MVC theme song. And no Capcom, the remix isn't any better than the original. But while I do have my gripes about the “theme song” the music during battle isn't too bad, its not all that spectacular on the ears, but it does serve it's purpose with a fast tempo to fit the speed of the game. The voice work for the characters were done pretty well. The voices sound about like you would expect from the series. All the fighting noises are good as well. Don't worry too much about the mediocre sound track, more than likely, you'll be so wrapped up in the action you won't notice anyway.

Replay Value 10

You will no doubt be spending some time with this game. With the numerous characters and abilities for each, there will be plenty to keep you occupied for some time. Given the fact that DLC will be released, it only adds to the value. And of course, what makes fighters of this generation so great is online multi-player. I've spent a bit of time online with the game, and with the exception of losing the host a couple of times, online play has been mostly smooth and lag free. One complaint I do have is when your in a lobby with your buddies, your forced to watch their health bars instead of the actual fight. This gets old really fast. I'm really hoping that somehow Capcom fixes this annoyance. But with this minor issue aside, with the mind blowing amount of characters you can combine for different teams and the staggering amount of combo's, MVC3 will keep you busy for months if not years to come.

Overall 9

If you're a fan of the series, you have no doubt already picked this up. If your on the fence about rent our buy; there is just no way you can experience what this game has to offer in a weekend. This team based fighting game delivers on nearly all fronts. This fighter is packing great characters, stellar gameplay and enough visual candy to more than make up for the price tag. The only thing missing is the arcade cabinet. Marvel Vs. Capcom: Fate of two worlds should not be passed up from fans of the series or from fans of the genre.

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Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol

 

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown is Brown's third Robert Langdon thriller. In Brown's first two Langdon books -- Angels & Demons and The Davinci Code -- Langdon uncovered conspiracies within the Catholic church that involved art and science. The Lost Symbol takes place in Washington D.C. and explores the secrets of Freemasonry. Brown is not the first to use the Masons as a launching point for a thriller. Indeed, I couldn't help but compare my experience reading The Lost Symbol with watching National Treasure. I enjoyed the movie more because it took itself less seriously than The Lost Symbol and enjoyed a visual advantage (always nice to be able to see the symbols and buildings involved in a conspiracy). Still, there is plenty of Mason folklore to go around, and The Lost Symbol does a fine job of creating another mystery in our nation's capital.
So why do I consider The Lost Symbol merely an average read? First, Brown does not create anything new -- no new character development, no big surprises in plot trajectory. Furthermore, his signatures "twists" are not nearly as tantalizing as in his previous books. After so much build up, I found myself let down by the reality of the secrets revealed in the end. Finally, there are several points when it seems as if Brown is trying to make his book more intelligent or profound than it actually is. Langdon's rants about religion and truth, when not directly tied to the mystery, are tedious and even a little preachy. In fact, the last 50 pages of the book try a little too hard to be enlightening.
My recommendation: If you're planning a trip to Washington D.C. in the next year, this would be a fun read to accompany your tour. Otherwise, unless you're a die hard Brown fan, I'd get on your library list or wait for the paperback release.

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Lady Gaga - Born This Way

So hold your head up, girl and you will go far

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