I'm Moving! - Sort of.

This just in (or not) – Twenty five years to life with Tetris

Ok people stand up and give props to a game legend: Tetris. This year (it was on June 6 actually) the puzzle classic reaches 25 brains crunching, multi-colored, didy humming years of entertaining us all. Virtually impossible not to play (or love) as it’s available on almost every console (since the beginning of time) and PC with an internet connection. Ridiculously easy to play but impossible to master, it was only equaled to the Rubik's cube in pure puzzle enjoyment. Alexey Pajitnov, the game’s creator, only got a computer for Tetris at first; but now has a company devoted to the Tetris band in all its forms across the world. I am thoroughly convinced (and so is Time) that Tetris is an irreplaceable game that helped make video games what they are today. So thank you Mr. Pajitnov for making a game that changed the world; this is for you.

Character Quotes – Paul Barnett

Ok, ok I know Paul Barnett, Creative Director for Mythic Entertainment and big wig for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning isn’t a video game character either (see Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) but if I’m going to just keep finding quotable quotes about video games from people as well as game characters I might as well as include them as well - it just a good idea. Anyway, this quote was given on the MMO Report with Casey Schreiner explaining to the idea of the ‘Tomb Kings’ in Warhammer Online’s latest “Arms” expansion: Land of the Dead (a land with a clearly Egyptian feel about it).



“Well what you got to remember is that almost everything that the games workshop guys do is English xenophobia, redressed with a bit of comedy. When it comes to Egypt, we gone to museums; over here in American I notice your museums are all about the things your good at; nuclear weapons, flight, space, cinema. Over in Britain, museums are about gloating – it’s about showing all the stuff we stole off people at gun point.”

This just in (or not) – Meet the Spy

You know ladies and gentlemen I hate to be the last to know anything, especially in gaming. That’s why I almost cried (well not really) when they put out the ‘Meet the Spy’ video almost a month ago, and I didn’t find out until recently. Now for people who don’t know, the ‘Meet the’ videos are funny, hyper-violent profiles on the characters of the Team Fortress 2. I love the game but not so much Valve, the creators of the game. Why? Because TF2 first released on the Orange Box and it was good; but then they released it (TF2) for the PC as a stand alone game. Now the PC version get’s regular software updates, new stages, upgraded weapons, and all other bells and whistles; while the console versions are super glitchy, have no type of content upgrades and hacked roughly in one out of seven matches. Valve, I don’t care what issues you’re having with Microsoft and/or Sony about the Orange Box but overlook them and give your console fans some love.

Anyway, enjoy the video and if you want to see more go here.

Game Review - Bionic Commando: A legacy game that deserves some love

Ladies and Gentlemen, while these days I verbalize my game reviews I won’t give up of the written ones so easily. After all you don’t dump the girl that brought you to the dance. Enough about that though, let’s, move on to the star of this review which is Bionic Commando.

Bionic Commando is a game in the Capcom ‘Commando’ legacy series that follows a continuing story from the NES game with the same name. The new game takes place 10 years after Nathan "RAD/ LADD" Spencer and Joseph “Super Joe” Gibson (the original commando) saves the world from the ‘Imperial Forces’. Instead of receiving a hero’s welcome, Spencer and all other Bionics are incarcerated under the government’s ‘Bionic Purge’ act. This causes a backlash between bionics and norms and gave raise to ‘BioReign’, a pro-bionic terrorist group. Their goals are shrouded in mystery, but will go to any length to meet them; which is evident by their nuclear bombing of Ascension City. Now what’s left the city is under the control of BioReign and sending troops in to stop them has been ineffective. Joe, now the Tactical Arms and Security Committee (T.A.S.C) Superintendent, knows only one soldier who can infiltrate the Ascension City ruins and find out what BioReign is up to, and that’s Spencer the Bionic Commando.

Spencer is armed (pun totally intended) for war and gives players many options for taking out BioReign opposition. The quickest method is gunning them down, and the game provides the commando with standard but effective weapons like pistols, shotguns and rocket launchers. However these conventional weapons have limited rounds and ammo cylinders are few and far between so most enemies will be dealt with in melee combat (which is more fun). The bionic arm doesn’t just get Spencer point A to point B; it also trashes faceless grunts. What’s more, as the game progresses Spencer gains new abilities with the arm such as throwing heavy objects, causing shockwaves by falling from great distances, and the like. This commando is ready for war, but sadly so are BioReign. Their grunts, the weakest of their fighting force, can pack a surprising punch especially when they travel in numbers, which is often. Then there are the battle suits which have greater strength than your arm, deceptively quick, equipped with wrist-mounted shotguns and can fly in small bursts. BioReign also have air support vehicles that maybe small but are difficult to hit and dole out missiles like an MF’er. All of these though are just warm ups to the bosses you eventually have to face, which aren’t pushovers and are many times larger than you.

Bionic Commando is a standard action game, meaning ‘you see it, you shoot it.’ No thinking, no experience points, no mercy. Ok, so they try to mix things up by adding combat challenges and finding hidden 8-bits icons of commando games past in stages, but really it is simple text book stuff here. What really set’s this game apart from your standard fare is the Commando’s mode of travel and attack, the Bionic arm. So far Spencer and his famed arm only handled the 2-D plain in the past, but in this game he has length and width to deal with, and does so like a pro. Don’t be fooled by X-Play’s spiteful words (lacking rhythm and flow, indeed!) about the swing mechanic. All it really takes is some practice to get it down; and before you know it your Spiderman. Blaming a reviewer’s failing on the game is just lazy X-Play. This isn’t an isolated incident though; both Miller and Ben of ‘Game Informer’ seem to mirror X-Play complains about B.C. but none more so than the random pockets of radiation in the game, which can kill Specter in a few seconds. They’re present in most stages and server as a barrier to keep the player on track. A simple annoyance that is EASILY avoidable, but to them it some sort of omni-present grim reaper in radiation form that makes the game too linear. This is incorrect. Halo 3 is a more linear experience than B.C, there’s more than enough ways to move about and take down enemies on the fly before the radiation ever becomes a problem.

Both the look and the sounds of the game are excellent, they complement each other well and make the experience feel realistic like ‘Lost Planet: Extreme Condition’. Unfortunately, like that game, it was made mainly for hi-def T.V. playing B.C. without one makes captions hard to read and some graphical details blurry. Combat’s fine (despite opinions to the contrary), but the game definitely leans towards melee and than shooting (which is fine by me). While I rather enjoyed the voice acting of the characters the things Spencer said outside of cut scenes are really corny, and confusing. Honestly though the game’s true weak spot is it online multiplayer; with only three simple game modes it can easily be avoided (though it is fun Tarzan killing opponents) without consequences of ‘missing out’ anything. Truth be told people I’ve played the NES Bionic Commando back in the day, but I don’t remember much from it other than it was fun. This game is also fun, but compared to ‘infamous’ and/or ‘Red Faction: Guerrilla’ it does seem a little outclassed. However I judge a game based off its own merits and not by its closest competition at the time, but at the end of the day is this game worth anything higher than a silver rating? No. It’s a great game, no question and has gotten a raw deal by E3 bound reviewers; but after beating the single game and playing a lackluster multiplayer there is no other reason to play it again.

Character Quotes - Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw

Now normally I reserve this segment for wacky/interesting quotes said by video game characters. Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw may not be a video game, but he’s certainly a character. This is what he said at the end of his review of Velvet Assassin (a WWII game) upon finding out it was made by a Germany company.



“Between this and Valkyria Chronicles what’s with all the World War II games being developed by the Axis forces, what is this – community service?”

Game Review - Punchout

Little mac is back and pulling no punches in this Wii title; here's my review.

Character Quotes - Magus Filinthus

This is a new, but small, segment to celebrate good quotes coming from a video game characters. These quotes are usually ones that bring a smile to my face or give me something to think about. Today it's the crotchety old lush of a mage from World of Warcraft: Magus Filinthus



"A mailbox? Well is that not the salt on the wounds! Twenty years cut-off from the world and now a mailbox! WONDERFUL!"

Summer time! - Wooooo!

Here already and it's a beautiful thing. For the new season the blog has a new name: "Switch On"; it's chic. Anyway, to get us started with the awesome gaming summer we're all going to have, here's the latest audio words from me; the One, True Omnigammer. Enjoy:

A.V.G. - Demo of the Dead

Avi's back and this time he's playing the Resident Evil 5 demo; hopefully his luck is better this time around. Enjoy!

Resident Evil 5: Demoview

Ok people I’ll be honest; I’ve played a lot of Resident Evil games but I’ve never beaten one before, not a single one.

Why? Not sure.

I didn’t like the game; I got bored with it, etc. It could be any number of things but it is what it is. And you know what; I don’t feel any lost for not finishing any of the series games. That being said, Resident Evil 5 could be the first of the series I will finish to completion. Thanks to Capcom and whatever geniuses at Microsoft, the masses got a sneak preview of RE5 in a form of a short (but sweet) demo for the Xbox 360. Don’t worry; PS3 owners will get a taste later on. Players start the demo with two stage choices; one in which you fight for your life against a zombie horde, the other is a standard ‘shoot one, turn two, collect one, boss two’. One of the main characters of this adventure is a Zombie killing vet: Chris Redfield he now works for an anti terrorist organization Jack Bower style. The other main character is hot number name Sheva Alomar, who works for her own agency: the B.S.A.A. Whatever fates brought them together, they must combine their skills in order to survive Capcom’s latest sign of the apocalypse.

That’s right! It’s takes two to tango with the dead in RE5, and might I say it’s about freaken time. My favorite of the Resident Evil games (and a ‘very’ crude prototype of Left 4 Dead) was Resident Evil Outbreak. It was a game with no mic support, crazy camera angles and a somewhat random storyline. But it allowed players to work together, pull their talents, and take on the zombie hordes of Raccoon city in a fun and interesting way. RE5 brings back that sense with cooperation, focusing on no man (or woman) left behind because if one of you dies, you both do. I liked what I played, everything looked smooth and there were no graphical glitches. The demo didn’t enlighten me to the story (of course), but as long as I was shooting something I was happy. The CPU partner was spot on, saving me from damnation a couple of times - really though the experience comes alive with another player. My only true compliant is the controls scheme, when you’re being hunted by a pack of pseudo-dead (just as speedy as you are) the ability to run ‘and’ fire your weapon at the same time is not only common sense, but a good idea. Instead Capcom still holds true the ‘turret target’ style of shooting that Resident Evil is so known for; meaning players can’t run-&-gun as the same time. Unfortunately this combat style cannot be changed and in turn does slow down (and cheap-up) the game play somewhat - but in no way, shape, or form is this game breaker. It just takes getting use to.

This demo has already broken record numbers for Xbox live downloads. If people weren’t already foaming at the mouth like some brain obsessed zombie, they will be after playing this. Fortunately the full game’s release date is March 13, 2009; so they won’t be waiting for too much longer.

World Premier of ‘Average Video Gamer’

Nope, it’s not a movie, but my very own comic based off the video game world I love so much. The main character is ‘Avi Gamer’, who is a (you guessed it) game player that lives in a video game parody of reality. When he plays games he takes on the character he plays (for good or bad), always adds his own personality to the mix. Outside the games, he’s his own character and acts accordantly to the world (if our world was full of question blocks and 1980’s game sprites walking down the street). As long as I’m doing this comic, I will make it as entertaining as I can (and at least get a little chuckle from ya). After all, I can’t make it look any better ;-). Enjoy

By the by, if anyone wants a better look, I put this and all future comics on my brother's Deviant art account located here: Here

Join the Red Ribbon Armanda today!

Normally I don’t put non-game material on my ‘games and nothing but’ blog, but I believe this is a special case. See my brother (True Backlash) and I have started our own jointed account in youtube called Red Ribbon Armada. It’s (and ours) purpose is to entertain the masses through parodies and abridging series. We want to become the next (and one day rival) Team Four Star. Right now we only have trailers and teasers, but soon we’ll have full episodic content for all to enjoy; so everyone subscribe while the subscribing good. I promise you’ll have fun and kill a few boring minutes out your day.

Saint's Row 2 - Audio Review

Behold, my audio review. The first of many; enjoy.

Where does the time go?

I know, I know, I hasn't posted in a couple of months. But between wrapping up my collage semester and playing the massive onslaught of games this fall (only finished half of them)I just didn't have the time. Well to make up for it; here's a article I wrote about a local library in my area. Don't worry, it has something to do with video games. Anyway enjoy, and stay tuned.



Dewey Decimal meets Donkey Kong

Libraries - centers of information in the world since the time before Common Era.

Providing people places of quiet learning and scholarly studying to all, free of charge.

Even with the intention of the computer and the creation of the internet, the library still remains as the undisputed.

The times though keep changing, and the Point Park University Library changes with them. Soon along with classic books like ‘Moby-Dick’, ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘The Death of the Salesman’ they with include the rental new age media of video games.

Its Gustave Flaubert meets Gears of War.

Phil Harrity, access service coordinator, and Liz Evans the director of the university center library were the main advocates for this new service. They were happy to provide information on the service as well.

While the details of game renting are not finalized yet; Evans and Harrity both believe it will resemble the way they rent out DVDs. The games will be on shelves, in locked cases. They will be separated by the console systems (Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii) capable of playing them.

The time limit for keeping a rented game is also undetermined; however it’s leaning towards seven days. And the renter can re-rent the game (and any book or DVD) at their website up to three times.

Harrity and Evans said that at this time they don’t plan on selling any accessories (RWY wires, battery packs, extra controls, etc) nor do they plan on renting consoles to the students. The consoles especially for the reason that there are too many things that can go wrong, and it would too expensive to fix or replace.

“The day we went to ‘The Exchange’ and bought $1,300 worth of video games” Evans remembers “I’ve went home and said to my youngest: we’re bought all these video games for the library. He said that’s cool. Then I said we’re going to buy the systems and then loan them out. He looked at me and said ‘Are you crazy? Things are going to happen (to the consoles) and then what are you going to do?’”

A ‘console lab’ won’t be in the foreseeable future either; one of the factor’s for this is noise. The university center is still in part a library, having a console lab would disturb more than a few students doing research for essays and the like.

The other issue is space.
“Most people think the whole building is the library, it isn’t. We have to share space with other classes, offices, the TV studio and the auditorium. Another lab just wouldn’t fit.” said Evans

What they will provide is reading material in the form of ‘Game Informer’, video game centered magazine and Wizard, a magazine dealing with not only video games but comics, and pop culture.

Finally, and as always, they will lend an ear for students at the library; if someone want the library to stock certain item, game, book, DVD, or service they can suggest it anytime. If they are capable, they will provide.

Now all this covers the what, as for the why?

“We are doing this for the students.” Harrity said “Especially for the students who live in campus and have noting to do in the evening.”

Downtown Pittsburgh is an city that is it not known for its nightlife, most shops and services close down around 5:00 o’clock. With the renting of games (along with DVDs and books) the library staff hopes to give students more entertainment options.

Now at first, there were those who believed that video game rentals in the library weren’t such a hot idea. Over time, however those detractors soon saw how important this program is for students; in fact Harrity believes that video games will help support the rental of books and DVD.

Video games today use a lot of source material from early works of fiction. The ‘God of War’ game series takes a lot from ancient Greek and Roman history; while the ‘Call for Duty’ series closely follows the events World War II.

The way Harrity see it, if a person wants to know more about the background of a game they easily find that information in a book, DVD or online, and found in the same place they rented the game.

A one stop-shop for information and entertainment.

The library staff believes that students will have no trouble finding out about the new feature once it gets started. They expect a lot of word of mouth; but will also advertise on their website and sent out flash e-mails to all students.

What really will get the word out for them is the soon, upcoming all night game-a-thon. A collaboration of the library, the point park I.T. department, Gamestop and even the school own video game club.

The date is still undetermined, but what is guaranteed is that there will be fun to be had for all who attend. No matter if it’s rocking out to a heavy metal ballet, getting a hard fought 1st down or saving Sera from the Locust Horde.

At the end of the day what the library is doing is only following suit of other libraries. Who more and more of them are including the rental and sale of video games along with their traditional services. Why those libraries are doing it for their community is unknown, but Evans ultimately knows why Point Park University is doing it.

“The library here is for the students of Point Park, we will do whatever we can to make the student’s time here at Point Park, productive and enjoyable.”

The Fall of Games – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Before I get started with this feature, I want to say something to (and anyone connected with) ‘Lucas Arts’: *ahem* Stop with the prequels already. I love Star Wars, who doesn’t really? But they dug from the original movies (IV, V, VI) far too much for my taste. All I see from them is prequels, prequels, prequels! Outside the books (seriously, books Lucas Arts?) the only advancement of the series is through video games, (Jedi academy in particular) quite a shame. For the love of all things good and sci-fi please start doing sequels (movie or otherwise) or I swear to you, you’ll curdle that great galactic cash cow we all know and love. Ok now that I’ve said my peace, let’s move to gaming business with ‘The Force Unleashed’




Available via download through X-box and Playstation, this sampling was short, but gave me enough to see what I’m working with. You play as Vader secret Sith apprentice named Starkiller (how Vader got that apprentice is unknown), but to finish his training Vader sent him to an imperial shipyard to kill a Jedi and his rebel forces that went there. The imperial troopers at the base also must be silenced, because if the Emperor finds out Vader took an apprentice there will be trouble. I’m proud to say that I’ve played my fair share Star Wars games; Force Unleashed is definitely different than the games that came before it. Starkiller is able to use the force at an extreme level; sending entire battalion flying using force pull, throwing giant explosive cores at rebels and watching them blast away like shrapnel, and even throw enough force lightning to make any obstacles into ash in no time. Of course any Sith worth their saber can use it (the Lightsaber I mean) to carve carnage into all who stand before them, Starkiller is no different. Another uniqueness about our boy is that he’s able combine his force attacks to rack up the points and cause maximum damage. Use your imagination and think of the chaos one could cause in the full game. The enemies in the demo weren’t stupid either; they do their best to work together, however against a force-user normal tactics won’t do at all. It only got challenging when the AT-ST showed up. Even then, once I figured out how to fight it, the mecha-chicken when down pretty hard. After that the playable demo ended and went into advertisement mode for the game and its release. All and all I was satisfied, total domination of the battlefield through the force was fun. Though I’m sure it won’t be like that when we come across Jedi in the full game. If I had to classify this game, it would be a mix between ‘Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy’ and ‘God of War’. Two great gaming concepts that are perfect together, but nothing set in stone. I’ll reserve my final judgments for the release.

The Fall of Games – Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People

In the wide world of webbing there is never a shortage of time wasting entertainers; Youtube alone could keep the world in a catatonic state for who knows how long. However if your like me (the world could be so lucky) you want to log in to something with a little substance, thought and comedy gold. One such site is homestarrunner.com. It stars an armless athlete of sorts, a balloon best friend, a bell shaped girlfriend and many other colorful characters that live in Free Country, USA. And while they’re the funniest flash characters I’ve ever seen, the main reason myself (and other people) come to the site is for the man, the myth, the PG-13 jerkiness of Strong Bad and his net famous emails segments.

These e-mail fuelled misadventures has not only spawned new features & mini-games for homestarrunner.com, but also propelled the site into the humorous juggernaut that it is today. So were does the series go from here; TV? Movies? Nope, they take their next steps to the most interactive entertainer in the world today – Video Games, and more to the point, the Nintendo Wii and the PC. Attractive ladies and gentleman I present “Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People”. This game puts you the shoe-boots & non-finger mitts of Strong Bad, you control him and interact with his environment by pointing and clicking with the Wii-mote or mouse. From there, you can do whatever you want to get through the game with Strong Bad looking cool & awesome as possible. Also you can choose to make him a nice guy or the Baddest Strong Bad the pre-teen censors will allow. Tired of kicking ‘The Cheat’ already? No worries, ‘SBCG4AP’ has other mini-games to enjoy like ‘Snake Boxer 5’, some rock & roll treasure hunting, some non-rock & roll item hunting, and a fan favorite – ‘Teen Girl Squad’ comics (impress Strong Bad by bring the pain to the squad). This is a simple point & click adventure, but chock full of that Homestar funny that fans know and love. It also gives those same fans the inside look of Free Country USA and how everything connected in their little world. Add to the fact that SBCG4AP cost only $10.00 (through Wii shop channel anyway) and new episodes will appear monthly (until December) makes this an attractive addition to any gamers library. Now if you all will excuse me, I’m going to kick The Cheat just because I can now, it feels good to be Strong Bad.

The Fall of Games – Too Human Preview

Yep, summer is almost over – which means some of us will be going back to our studies; while to others it just means it’s getting colder. If you’re one or the other, and also a gamer; you know premium games will be around the corner as well. Quite a number of exciting titles in fact - a lot of sequels true, but a lot originals titles as well. So to aid people during this time, I’m going to post up coming games that I personally think will go distance in the coming months. Thanks to the demo on Xbox live I’m able to post my preview of “Too Human”; a game about Norse mythos with a sci-fi slant to it. See the gods and goddesses of this universe are not mythical, but rather cybernetically enhanced. Such enhancements give them powers and abilities that normal folk believe to be divine (even though they live in a sci-fi reality).

You play as Baldur; son of Odin, ‘God’ of Justice, and bringer of Ragnarök in his death (foreshadow much ‘Too Human’). Anyway in the demo Baldur and his troops are sent to destroy an android that has been killing humans in the land. How the machine kills (drinking its victim’s blood) has Baldur particularly worried; so he wants to take care of the mission personally. The first thing I’ve notice about this game is how epic-movie it feels; scène transitions, speaking parts, battle, etc - like weird fusion of Starship Troopers and Lord of the Rings (more or less). The game is visually beautiful in many areas in the game, and even more so on the character’s faces. I’ve never seen more realistic faces in the video game; they had creases, wrinkles, indentations, the whole nine. Very impressive but the most unique thing about the game (and the most advertised difference between itself and other action RPGs) is its fighting system. Most games of this type would use a single button for attack like ‘A’ or ‘X’ but Too Human wants style & substance. Its main attack, is the right thumb stick. That’s right (pun intended), the ‘RTS’ (pun not intended), the part of the controller that usually reserved for looking around. Funny enough though, I think it’s do-able. Just press the thumb stick in the direction to attack, and watch little Baldur go. Even enemies all around the character, can be cleared easily. The left & right triggers fire twin side arms (the all purpose stick is used to aim); great for those who want to keep their distance. It’s also a simple system to use, and allows for quite a deal of carnage; which is good because for every one of you there is a hundred of them - all wanting to kill you. The game has five classes to use, but the demo only has two to use – champion (all-around warrior) & berserker (melee damage maestro). I liked using the berserker class out of the two because it brought pain; even though it has the worst shot in all of Asgard. Sadly the demo didn’t last too long, and left me wanting more. Mission accomplished Microsoft; they got me wanting to game, even now. August 20 can’t come soon enough. That’s just me though; go to Xbox live and download the demo for yourselves - I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Game Review – Battlefield: Bad Company

The Battlefield series has always been massive warfare; using realistic weapons (most of the time) and tactics to defeat the enemy forces. It is indeed a staple for the PC and now console multiplayer, what it lacked however was a barely entertaining single player. I love the single player experience and (at the time) didn’t have a good PC at the time so I didn’t play this series very much, and what I did play on demos bored me. However this new Battlefield game entitled ‘Bad Company’ will give this online legend a 1^st player focus for the first time.

You play Preston Marlowe who did something, at sometime, somewhere, to someone(s) that could have meant ‘X’ amount jail time for him. Instead of rotting in the hole somewhere, they put him to work by serving in the army, fighting a new war with an old enemy; the Russians. Marlowe get pared up with the army’s worst and least combatively trained ‘B’ or Bad Company; who only job is to die in the service of their country. Players will then meet their new best friends: Sweetwater (nerd with gun) Haggard (red-neck demo) and Sergeant Redford (military archetype). While Sweetwater and Haggard are in the same boat as Marlowe, Redford opted to B Company for a way out of his tour of duty quicker (if he’s lives anyway). While finishing up a crap mission they were lucky enough to survive, they discover that mercs known as the Legionnaires are operating with the Russians. These soldiers are the best of the best; and they get paid solid gold bars. It didn’t take these four long to get ideas in their heads; and thus starts their adventure of personal gain without getting caught by the U.S. army or killed on the field. Bad Company is a text book military FPS, complete with numerous gun types (from AN-94 to XM8), rocket launchers, explosives, tools and vehicles. Depending on what kind of shooter you’re used to, the transition we’ll be easy or annoying, but there nothing complicated here so it won’t take long to figure it out. The game gives you various objectives (kill enemies, destroy stuff, etc) to deal with, however it doesn’t care how you do it. For example; the army wants B Company to escort three tanks to their next mission. Of course to get there you all must cross a narrow stretch way, packed full of baddies wanting to give those tanks new ventilation holes, which simply won’t do. So you must figure out the best way to protect the war machines; do you climb into one of them and man the turret, or you stay outside with a repair tool and let the tanks do the fighting while you patch them up, you could even use the RPG you snagged a while back to give your attackers a taste of their own warhead. Players can do all these options (and many more) if they so do choose, but be careful, your opponents’ do not pull punches and will catch you off guard. Sometimes it’s good to go Rambo, but other times it’s better to be a team player. Speaking of which, your team will accompany you through most of the game and can’t be killed. That’s the good news, the bad? They have the aim of a blind, drunk hippie. If anything they make good distractions, but game leaves you to do all the fighting.

Which is irritating, but not the only irritant in the game. During the single player you can collect the various weapons off ammo areas or dead enemies. The then marks them as collected on a list – and that’s it. You don’t get to go back on the list and pick a weapon you’ve collected to use in battle (which would have been preferable); it’s just there to look at (lame). Why have an impressive array of weaponry if you’re only going to use a certain type of weapon once or twice per level (ultra lame). The game itself is the next thing a bring into question; it looks nice, sounds great and characters are solid but all and all it’s something I’ve seen before on more impressive games. There is nothing in Bad Company that truly wows’ me. Single player makes no mistakes, but it also doesn’t do anything to make me go back and replay the stage over and over again (which is something I do all the time, and why I’m always late with my reviews/post J). Even the game destructible environments’ are only an amusing gimmick; as it falls destroy everything, completely (i.e. houses, guard towers). My greatest ire stems from the multiplayer of Bad Company. Maybe it’s me, but it all seems to be more frantic and simplistic than the norm. It doesn’t help that the game comes with only one mode of play (combination of capture the flag and destroy the objective), and handled poorly. The multiplayer classes (Assault, Demolitions, Recon, Specialist, and Support) are terrible because the most of the weapons and gear for them are locked. They only become available after players level up, which won’t be easy. Chances are you’ll die in the first few seconds of play, if you spawn at the front lines. You won’t know where it’s coming from, or how they got a perfect shot while you got shotty at someone close range and get nothing, but death will happen - especially to Battlefield newbs(like me). Even when players get used to this multiplayer frenzied style, it still won’t help; it’s better to be lucky than good in this game. I could say more how much I hate the multiplayer, but I don’t want that to ruin the whole review for you all so I’ll just close this up.

Bad Company was a great single player experience for me, story-wise anyway. Generally though; the game as a whole was just average; full of missed opportunities, plain/unimpressive combat, and hell-spawn multiplayer (sorry, last time) holds this title back. I’ll give EA credit for trying but I hope the sequel will be at least 5 times as better as the original or I’m just going to give this a pass. Bad Company get’s an average score of a Sliver rating.

Game Review - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King – Only just the beginning

When it comes to video games I’m some-what a purest; meaning I only buy games that come in a box (or a Gamefly envelope). Before, I thought all those console ‘download service’ games weren’t worth the time or the carnie based points to buy them. However when I saw Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King as a preview on Game Informer, I knew this was going to be something good. Admittedly I forgot about it for a time, but it only took one review of the game to jog my memory (and excitement). So were my good vibes justified; in a word yes. So much of a yes that I might have to change my opinion on such games from being just rewritten, reworked games from the past to something more credible. Before I move into the game, I confess that I’ve never played the Crystal Chronicles series of Final Fantasy. I thought it was stupid. So my take on the story is a little fragmented, but in the beginning of the game three characters find themselves a castle town, minus the town. They been on the run since their old home was destroyed by a force called ‘miasma’ (A force that has been taking care of in the first Crystal Chronicles, I’m assuming anyway). These three: one old knight, one chancellor/court magician, and one little aire apparent (the main character) of the bygone kingdom must now rebuild what they lost in this new land. Simple, right? Well in final Fantasy nothing is as simple as it appears, especially for a king - which is you.

This is not a RPG or action game, it’s more a like a micromanaging simulator with a little strategy added. If non-twitching isn’t your thing then stop reading this and go play Halo, however if you give this game a good hour you may be pleasantly surprised. Now the king has a power called ‘Architek’ which allows players to build building instantly; a useful skill but not a free one. Players need to get ‘elementite’ to use the power and the only places to get the stuff is where the monsters live (of course). Normally player would just gear up with the big, baddest weapons, armor and magic available and go tearing into the wild; bring back enough treasures to choke a moogle. However… Kings don’t do that sort of thing; they delegate jobs like to more expendable ‘heroes’ of the realm and My Life as a King is no different. Check the adventurer’s stats, tell them where to go and sit back while they do all the hard work of grinding monsters for you. Next day they bring back any elementite, treasure, and funds for you to use at your leisure, sweet deal. Where players come in though is pimping out your kingdom, and while it is busy work it’s also exciting create your own kingdom from the ground up. Each structure players choose (or not to choose) to build will affect your home and the people around it. For example; later on in the game, you’ll have the ability to build mage academies. In which will not only give your adventures the option to become mages, and make future defenders of the realm near the academies more intelligent (thus better mages), but they will provide a scenic bell tower chime every morning, afternoon and evening in the kingdom (which does nothing really, but sounds nice). Academies are only one of many building the king can form; but it’s up to the player to decide ‘what’ go’s ‘where’ and ‘how many’. There is only so much room in your kingdom and in order for you to survive and prosper you must keep both your citizens safe and your soldiers happy. Heavy is the head that holds the crown.

This game is simple looking, but very beautiful. Which has always been Nintendo’s greatest visual strength; (in my opinion) they can’t compete with PS3 and 360’s realistic graphics. The Wii was built for colorful, expressive art style; the sooner more 3^rd party developers figure this out, the better Wii games will become (visually anyway). The game’s tutorials are also very simple to understand, clearly explaining the less than pulse-pounding functions of the game. I have to say though my favorite thing about the game is the charm of it. Not once was I bored doing practically the same thing in the 7-10 minute intervals that counted as the in-game days. I always wanted to hear what the villagers had to say, even though they tend to repeat themselves. And when the adventurers head out to their latest dungeon I’m always excited to see the results (being good or bad). Of coarse that’s just me, to another gamer all this may just seem to be a striped down final fantasy tactics mixed with Sims element. Which it is, but it doesn’t making any less fun and at a cheap price, it’s a great find for Wii owners. Players can even invest more money into the game by buying new avatar skins, useable races, high level dungeons and upgraded buildings. Totally optional, but they do keep things interesting. If more downloadable games are like this (creative & fun) then I have nothing to worry about for future titles. However despite how enjoyable this title is to me personally, I can only give it a Sliver rating because at the end of the day this game will only appeal to a certain crowd, not the majority of gamers. The features that make it great are also what holds’ it back.