Castlevania: Lords of Shadows Review

Lords of Shadows takes the Castlevania franchise in a different direction, mixing series staples with elements borrowed from other games.  This departure might make hardcore fans scorn in dismay, yet at the same time, attract a new following.  Regardless, let’s see if it’s worth your time and money.

Gameplay

If I could describe LOS, I would say God of War meets Assassin’s Creed meets Zelda.  This is definitely a hack-and-slash, with quick-time events, wall climbing, and platforming thrown in for good measure.  The game consists of gaining experience, using magic, and purchasing new moves to add to your skillset.  The combat is fluid, but is much faster than God of War.  Dodging can be done instantly, even mid-combo, whereas surprisingly I felt blocking was a bit delayed at times.  You’ll probably find yourself using the same subset of moves, but that seems the same for most games in this genre.  That being said, the acquisition of new abilities keeps things interesting, and they’ll be used pretty evenly throughout the campaign.  Quick-time events mostly involve pressing ANY button at a certain time, which worked well.  Wall climbing and scaling of buildings is alright, although there is a bit of hand holding involved…ala Assassin’s Creed.  Everyone thinks those games are the best thing since sliced bread (I, for one, do not), so I’m sure a majority of people will love it.  The platforming on the other hand, is my biggest gripe with the gameplay.  The jumping and maneuvering of Gabriel is too “quick” and isn’t precise enough for some of the situations you face (and you don’t get the awkward double jump until late in the game!).  Granted, I managed my way through the game just fine, but there were plenty of times I got frustrated trying to jump from platform to platform.  What really bothered me is that you can grab onto some ledges while others you can’t…this was the difference between me living and dying many times.  They can make it either one or the other, but it should be consistent throughout. 

Graphics

Ok, this game is pretty.  There haven’t been a ton of games that have made me say “wow,” due to the graphics, but this is one of them.  The environments here are absolutely gorgeous looking and range from lush, vivid jungles, to looming, snow-covered castles.  The variety in level types really helps keep the game fresh.  You can really tell the developers took their time with making sure no levels looked like graphical “filler”.  The game has a unique “wet” look to the graphics, which is a little different than most games, but works just fine.  A few of the larger enemies could be a bit more detailed, but this is minor complaint when taking the rest of the game into consideration.

Sound

There is a ton of voice acting in this game, and normally that might make a gamer cringe.  However, here it’s very well done and actually to the story.  Patrick Stewart lends his voice to Zobek, an in-game character who also serves as the narrator.  I listened to every level introduction on my first playthrough and they were all pretty good.  The other sound effects sound great, from the tings of picking up daggers, to the crack of Gabriel’s whip.  The enemies all make their own noises, which are very crisp and distinguishable.  The soundtrack however is nothing special and lacks the standard creepy-organ music.  Even though I’m not a devoted series follower, that’s a staple, especially when in the castle!  Someone over at Konami dropped the ball there.

Campaign

Say goodbye to a large sprawling map and trying to figure your way around.  I’ve played other Castlevania games, including the beloved Symphony Of The Night, and while I liked them well enough, I never was driven play them through to 100% completion.  I didn’t want to scour all over the map to find objects and upgrades.  The progression through LOS is much more linear, which I’m perfectly fine with.  Each level has a collectibles count; making it very easy to go back and carefully search to find missing items.  The campaign spans multiple regions and environments, keeping repetition to a minimum.  Bosses in almost every chapter are fun to fight, although the strategy for a few of them is pretty similar.  However, the pacing leaves much to be desired.  The first 2 (of 12!) chapters have many levels, none of which are very thrilling…they don’t pull you in.  Because of this, there was once a time when I thought I may never finish the game, simply because it wasn’t much fun.  I decided to stick with it, and I’m glad I did.  Halfway through the game the pace really picks up and the levels are exciting and fun.  Those first two chapters can really be a barrier though, and I recommend you push past those to the real meat and potatoes.  Also, the conclusion is very satisfying and cool, so hopefully you can get there.

Lasting Appeal

When there’s no multiplayer, I’ll always grade a game’s lasting appeal.  Is it worth coming back to?  Does the first playthrough take a decent amount of time?  The answer is yes and yes with Lords of Shadows.  I almost guarantee you won’t find another game in this genre that lasts this long.  The first playthrough is easily 15+ hours, and after playing each level, you unlock a trial, which is a special objective to achieve when playing the level again.  Some of these range from stupid easy to pretty difficult, but they have enough variety to keep you trying “just one more”.  The hardest difficulty setting won’t even open until you’ve beaten the game, and going through again with all your moves and magic is quite a good time.  The maybe could’ve included an additional chapter or alternate ending for those who achieve 110% in the campaign.

Summary

Castlevania: Lords of Shadows represents a vast departure from the standard series of Castlevania games, and in my opinion, it’s for the better.  It combines multiple gameplay styles, including a fluid fighting engine, the progression of abilities, magic, puzzles, and platforming.  All of these work pretty well, except for the platforming, which can cause frustration.  The campaign is lengthy, offers a lot of replay value, and is varied enough to keep things interesting.  Trudge through the first two chapters to really get to the best parts of the game.  Although I’m not sure I would recommended this game at its release date price tag, picking it up for $20 or $30 is definitely worth it if the aforementioned gameplay elements are up your alley.  

Gears of War 3 Review

Releasing with lofty expectations, Gears of War 3 had fans clamoring for the trilogy conclusion nearly two years before its release.  The first trailer featured new COG members and enemies, plus awesome music (Check out “Gears 3 Ashes to Ashes” on YouTube).  Information leaked slowly, followed by a beta, and finally the full release.  Is Gears 3 worth the wait?

Gameplay

If you’ve played either of the first two games, you’ll already know the gameplay has been polished from the start.  However, as the 2^nd game brought new additions, it also brought new headaches, mapping many actions to one button, causing frustration.  Thankfully Epic listened to the user community and corrected these issues this time around.  In addition, they sped up character movement by roughly 15%, creating a more frantic pace in both the campaign and online.  The cover system has been tweaked, and although there are inadvertent “attachments” to certain objects in the game, it happens very little and the game does a good job of interpreting what you’re trying to do.  Everything thing feels very solid, albeit a few hiccups here and there, and my only wish is that they would’ve tried to innovate a bit more over Gears 2.  Best and smoothest controls of the series.

Graphics

Epic chose to run Gears 3 on its Unreal 3 engine and the game looks fantastic.  They’ve made many adjustments, especially with lighting and the color palette.  Most of the environments in previous games looked “the same”, populated with washed out greys, browns, and oranges.  The first level of the campaign takes place on an aircraft carrier, and you’ll see a bright blue sky, sunshine, and lush green vegetation.  The new lambent enemies explode in bright yellow bursts.  I think one of the coolest effects for me were the lambent “trails” left by the Lambent Berserker.  Once you check them out I’m sure you’ll agree.  The graphics aren’t perfect however, as I noticed quite a bit of clipping in places and some other strange glitches.  However, it doesn’t hinder the experience, and overall, the game looks great.

Sound

Everything sounds crisp and clear.  Gears has always been known for the one-liners tossed around by players in-game, and they certainly don’t disappoint here.  Griffin (Ice-T) will definitely make you laugh out loud on more than one occasion.  Explosions, guns firing, and character voices really jump out of your speakers and the music is dramatic and fitting for all of the set pieces throughout the game (catch Mad World playing on Gridlock!).  My only gripe is minor, but can lead to confusion.  Footsteps sound like they are coming from everywhere.  They are a good indication that someone is nearby, but even with my surround sound, at times I can’t distinguish from where.

Campaign

Fans of the series have been waiting a few years to see how this story would pan out.  Thankfully, Gears 3 has a satisfying conclusion and closes out the trilogy well.  The campaign itself is the best since Gears 1, and Epic added 2 more players for co-op, which means you can bring 3 friends along for the ride.  This is definitely the best and most fun way to experience the campaign.  The change in environments throughout the game is welcomed, keeping things fresh and fun.  The new enemies are well thought out and require strategy to take down, and large scale boss battles make their return, requiring the player to do more than lay down some mortar fire to finish the job (ala Gears 2).  Epic also added Arcade mode, a way to play through the campaign while competing for high scores.  In this mode you can turn on mutators (similar to Halo’s skulls) to change your experience, all the while being rewarded with multipliers for holding it together as a team.  Although it seems like a small addition, it works really well and gives players another reason to tackle the campaign a second (or third) time.  I’ll close by saying the final boss battle is a bit much, and is almost impossible to beat with a team of four (humans) on higher difficulty levels.  It can definitely be frustrating.

Multiplayer

This is crazy.  That’s what I thought to myself after first delving into the multiplayer modes.  There are SO MANY things to do here.  Versus returns, leaps and bounds better than the 2^nd game.  Host advantage is nearly gone, with dedicated servers powering the online matches.  Shots and damage are consistent and the game emphasizes team play, much different from COD and other online shooters.  Team Deathmatch debuts for Gears, and it’s a great addition.  King Of The Hill is a blast, and other modes such as Capture The Leader, Execution, and Warzone have returned as well.  The maps are all well designed, with only a few exceptions.  The guns are VERY well balanced, and you can play in a way that best suits you and still compete, regardless of the weapon you choose.  Horde 2.0 has been completely overhauled…waves no longer have the same enemies every time, and fortifications make their debut.  Building up your base is the focus, and setting up sentries, turrets, and barricades is a fun and creative addition to Horde.  My only complaint is the inability to place items where you would like, as you are restricted to pre-determined locations on the map.  Beast Mode puts you in the role of the Locust, scrambling to take out the COGS and other humans.  Although there are only 12 waves, using the abilities of each unique Locust and working with a team towards victory is a lot of fun.  Lastly, Gears 3 adds medals and ribbons to the multiplayer and campaign universe.  Working towards acquiring these is challenging, yet rewarding, even though you may never achieve them all.  There’s not much more you could ask for from the material Epic has crammed into this game.

Summary

Overall, Gears of War 3 is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy and improves upon its predecessors in almost every single way.  The campaign environments are fresh and colorful, and Arcade mode gives you a reason to give the story another whirl.  Boss battles are engaging, aside from a rather extreme final confrontation.  Multiplayer offers so much for the player to do.  Versus loses the lag issues of the past, Horde is completely revamped in all the right ways, and Beast mode is a fun way to work together towards a common goal.  Medals and ribbons provide incentives to keep working at becoming a better player, and are very rewarding to achieve.  In addition, there are many unlockables you can work towards, from additional characters, to executions and mutators.  They are laid out in manner where they don’t ever seem completely out of reach, providing a good goal to strive for.  Last but not least, Epic is very reasonable with their DLC, charging $30 for a season’s pass, and even giving away 5 multiplayer maps!  Gears 3 might not be a perfect game, but judging based on fun factor and value, it’s pretty damn close.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Review

The fifth Call of Duty in five years comes to us in the form of Modern Warfare 3.  Continuing upon what seems to be a yearly record breaking release; MW3 looks to expand upon the games that have come before it.  I personally have chosen to skip every other COD release.  I only own the Modern Warfare games and will be taking those games into account when reviewing this year’s title.

Gameplay

If you’ve played the Call of Duty series (I can’t imagine many people HAVEN’T) you already know what to expect from a gameplay perspective.  Not a lot has changed here.  Staring down the sights, reloading, running, and throwing grenades are all smooth and feel like they have in previous entries.  There may have been some improvements over MW2, but honestly you probably won’t notice them much.  For the most part, gameplay is very solid, albeit for a few hiccups in the form of “curving bullets” (dying after you’re around a corner), knifing sometimes not registering, excessive shots needed to down an opponent, and headshots that don’t amount to much.  There are a few other small missteps, but nothing earth-shattering.

Graphics

Graphically, MW3 feels as though it’s getting a bit dated.  I thought that Infinity Ward might overhaul the graphics and step it up this time around, but there are times in the game where I actually feel as though MW2 looked BETTER.  That’s not to say this game doesn’t look good, but I remember playing MW2 for the first time and being amazed at the level of detail and art style throughout the first few campaign levels.  That wow factor is just not there this time and it’s a little disappointing.  There are still some great environments and views, but it doesn’t push the envelope.

Audio

Historically the audio within the Call of Duty series has been really good and that doesn’t change here.  Every explosion, bullet, grenade, and helicopter whizzing overhead sounds crisp and clear.  It never manages to get lost in itself, especially with the large amount of things happening all at once.  The voice acting in the campaign is pretty well done, and the music, in both the menus and in-game is appropriate to the action on screen.  The only small complaint is that sometimes characters will get stuck on loop and someone will shout “take down that chopper” ten times without taking a breath in between.

 

Campaign

As of writing this review, I’ve completed the campaign with 100.3%, going through twice, once on normal and once on veteran.  The story is about what you’d expect (COD4 was amazing and it’s been downhill since), with a jumble of characters thrown at you, a bad guy they want you to hate, and jumping between locations and missions on a whim.  The first half of the game feels really disjointed and you’ll often wonder what you’re doing.  It gets better in the second half, but it never truly feels like a cohesive story.  There are some really cool set pieces here, but many of them feel a bit empty.  You fight in NYC, but not many staple sites make you feel as though you’re really there…same with Paris and London (although the Eiffel Tower shows up).  I found myself missing the lack of stellar sniping and specialty missions, however, the last few levels are very fun and the conclusion is definitely satisfying.  My biggest gripe is the omission of co-op.  This many games into the series, you need to start adding some notable new features.  The lack of co-op is almost unforgiveable, regardless of what they may say about working it in.  Just a side note, for those of you worried about the difficulty of veteran, don’t, it’s not too tough this time around (expect endless spawning still though).

Multiplayer

In the world of online multiplayer, again, everything is pretty much as you’d expect it to be…unlockables, a bunch of guns, and a ton of ways to customize your classes.  The addition of weapon leveling is nice, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t do much other than make you hear the “leveling up” noise more often.  You’ll unlock weapon level “perks” like kick, range, and focus for the specific weapon you’re working on.  The new streak system is nice, catering to those who can or cannot string together kills without dying.  Support streaks keep going even after you die, but the rewards are more team oriented rather than offense/kill oriented.  Assault is the same as previous COD games, and Specialist enables a player to turn on more and more perks until you’re running around as a super soldier with everything.  These are cool ways to customize the game to fit your play style.  Keep in mind all of these additions mean more menus and screens to get through, even when simply choosing a gun, which can become cumbersome at times.  As you can see, multiplayer is very feature-rich, but unfortunately it’s held back by the map designs.  After putting 12+ hours into the online component, I can’t help but feel as though the maps are pretty weak.  They are filled with debris, and every room and hallway has 3+ ways in and out of it.  This translates into getting shot in the back a lot.  Some say it discourages camping, which I find is both true and false.  More people seem to be running around, but I find others sitting behind “that burning car over there” quite a bit too.  I’m not saying this because I’m bad (I’m almost always positive on my k/d every game) but the maps just aren’t that FUN.  There are no areas to fight over as a team, and I often find myself running around without a purpose.  The lack of standout maps make almost all of them forgettable (with a few exceptions) and, to me, they don’t match the quality of MW1 and 2. 

Spec Ops returns and there’s the new Survival mode, which is fighting off waves of enemies.  Spec Ops saves multiplayer for me, because it’s a lot of fun working together with a buddy to figure out each scenario.  There could be a few more missions, but the selection in the game is fun to play through.  Survival mode is a good addition, and is similar to zombies in BO and Horde in Gears…except its only 2 player instead of 4.  Again, it probably wouldn’t have taken much additional time to add this capability.

Summary

In conclusion, MW3 is another solid effort from Infinity Ward, but this time around the lack of progression in the series is pretty glaring.  From a gameplay perspective, it’s smooth and quick, it looks good graphically, and the audio is on-point.  However, the campaign is short and confusing, with some good set pieces and scenes thrown in the mix.  The online multiplayer is full of great features, but poor map selection (Bootleg and Downturn may be the worst maps I’ve ever played, in any game) holds it back from true greatness.  Spec Ops and Survival are great modes and a lot of fun for fans of series.  On its own, MW3 is a good game and will provide many hours of entertainment…but when taking MW1 and 2 into account, it’s tough to recommend paying the full price of admission to experience something you have before. 

Top 10 Things To Do On Xbox Live

So after making Xbox Live one of my main hobbies a friend and myself decided to randomly make a list of the Top 10 things you can do online. Believe it or not, playing against real people over the Internet and blowing them to bits can be a blast. If you've played on Xbox Live and you don't suck, you've probably experienced the thrill of at least some of things. If you've never gotten a chance to play, but might consider it, this is what you can look forward to.

10) Toasting someone via vehicle kill.
- Although I'm not the biggest fan of vehicles in multiplayer online matches, I gotta admit that seeing someone go squishy underneath your tires is pretty sweet.

9) Multiple kills with single shot
- Even though my personal favorite is the Boomshot in Gears of War, the Rocket Laucher in Halo 3, or even a sniper in Call of Duty will get the job done. When you pull the trigger and watch two opponents fall, you know those guys are filled with shame.

8) Curb-Stomping
- Yes, I'm sure you might recognize this horrible act from American History X...but it's translation into Gears of War makes for an amazing finishing move. After downing an opponent, run over, slam your boot through their dome, and ask em "How's it taste?"

7) The Two-Piece
- Unique to Gears of War, the Two-Piece might be one of the most fun ways to destroy your opponent. Essentially, you run over to your enemy, melee them, and while they are stunned, blow them away with your shotgun. They normally explode into a bunch of pieces. Honorable mention also goes to the shotty in Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4.

6) Planted Claymores or Grenades
- First seen in Call of Duty, the planted claymore essentially is a small trap for all opponents. Normally placed around the corner or at the top of stairs, when a player enters a certain proximity, they will go boom before they knew what hit them. Recently included in Gears of War 2, the grenades does the same deed, but is slightly messier. Doesn't get much better than standing at a distance watching an enemy barrel toward you, only to explode into pieces.

5) Sniping
- Although I'm against camping, being a sniper and popping off domes is amazing fun. Numerous headshots in succession will do nothing short of bring a smile to your face. There are two great parts about sniping. One is the fact that your opponent usually has no clue it's about to happen, and two, you know it involved some skill to get the job done. Once again, Gears does it best I feel.

4) Tea Bagging / Gloating Tactics
- Yes, it may be a little childish, a little boastful, but sometimes it just needs to be done. Say, for instance, an opponents is continually running their mouth before a game. In this case, it's perfectly acceptable to give them a sound tea-bagging after you kill them in-game. In Gears of War you can go the humping route when your opponent is downed, or the wall hump when you pick them up. Just be cautious of the extended humping sessions...remember sometimes your opponent can get back up.

3) Knifing / Assassination
- Few things are more gratifying than running up to an opponent and knifing them or smacking them in the back of the head. Actually, what is better, is finding a room of campers in Call of Duty, and knifing all of them before they even know anyone entered the room. That'll teach you to camp!

2) Misery Loves Company
- Started in Call of Duty 4, Misery Loves Company is a challenge to hold a grenade until it explodes but then take an enemy down with you. Basically a suicide bomber-type tactic. Usually the other team doesn't know you are there, or are shocked to find you not attempting to kill them by traditional means, only to explode seconds later. One of the best all-time moments on Xbox Live was a triple kill Misery Loves Company done by one of my buddies. Aaaannd boom goes the dynaaamite.

1) Sticking
- First appearing in the Halo series, sticking refers to any action or weapon that can be stuck to an opponent that will explode seconds later. In Halo, you have sticky grenades. Once thrown and stuck to an oppoent, they'll hear a slight charaging noise followed by their death. In Gears, there are grenades, which after stuck will beep before explosion, as well as the torque bow, which simply makes the memorable "ffffffink!" noise before blowing it's victim to millions of pieces. I love me some sticking.

So there you have it. The Top 10 things to go on Xbox Live. You agree with the list? Disagree? Just want to comment? Let me know what you think.

Peace,
B Best

Call of Duty 4

So. Call of Duty 4. Why would I write a post about a game, when I'm usually reviewing them? For the first time in my history of playing video games, I love the online aspect of this game. There, I said it. For years and years I've been saying that online is usually just an added bonus for me and the main game is where it's at. There are some online features that I love, most notably online co-op (to go through the main game with someone else), but the pure online modes have never really been my thing. Sure, they are nice, but I still enjoyed the single player aspect more. To me, completing a game is more rewarding than winning a section of the game online (bc you're always just playing a section online). For the first time though...my theory has been disproven. Let's explore.

Call of Duty 4 had been hailed as an amazing game by reviewers, but after purchasing Halo 3 I felt that my FPS fix was fulfilled. It wasn't until after doing more reading and seeing friends pick it up that I became interested. I bought it (super deal btw) and started going through the campaign. It was solid, but after playing Bioshock, was nothing special. Then, I hopped online. My friend and I were soon in battles getting absolutely pwned (owned, aka, beaten badly) since we were new at the game. My pride wasn't shattered and I continued playing. The more I played, the better I got. My statistics not only displayed my improvement, but also made me realize how incredibly terrible I had once been. I began working on getting my k/d ratio up (number of times I died compared to people I killed) and eventually my numbers were positive. I never looked back.

At this point I had soon found myself always wanting to play online. After beating single player on the hardest difficulty, I had absolutely no desire to play it again, and found that my playtime with CoD4 became exclusively online. I was shocked. I still am really. I need to mention the real reason that I became so fond of the online aspect. The people. Still, I will insist that the single player aspect of games is my favorite...but playing online with people YOU KNOW is a super close 2nd. Now for the why.

It started out with myself and one friend. Soon the number of people with the game grew from 2...to 4...to 8. To play on one team we had to enter the biggest gameplay mode available. The chatter amongst us during, before, and after games was tremendous. We'd talk about everything from work, to movies, to news....whatever really, just like friends would I suppose. If I tried to play online and none of my real life friends were on, I found my play sessions would end quickly. Just wasn't as much fun. I also need to mention I'm located far from most of my friends. This game was a way for us to connect together even though we were hundreds of miles apart. Working together online was fun and rewarding. I've had a couple people mock the amount of time I spent playing Call of Duty 4 in the last few months. To those people I say this: What have you been doing with your free time? Although I'm playing a video game, the whole time I'm talking and laughing with my real life friends, which for right now is the best way I have of doing so. I still go out, I still enjoy summer, I still talk to people in real life, but before you point fingers and question my motives around the game, maybe think twice or ask me why. I can almost guarantee I have laughed harder while playing this game than most people have EVER laughed.

So in closing, if it's tough to hang out with your friends in person, online video games are a good way to connect. Call of Duty 4 is a great one. There's my review. Playing online honestly makes you feel as though you're just hanging out. If you live far away in reality...online you don't. You're right next to the person. Pretty convenient if you ask me. So if someone ever thinks you're crazy for playing games or talk down to you about it....screw 'em.

B Best

Top 10 Xbox Live Moments (if you can think of any others leave comments)
10. Watching Kummer be the only person left in S&D and making no attempt to leave his claymore protected room.
9. "We lost Paint My Boat AGAIN!! Back out!"
8. Hearing Trevor complain, think he's not doing that bad, then seeing he went 2-18.
7. "I'll rub my poo on you."
6. The day Fat Irish Man took a verbal beating. Bonus: The day NJ Prodigy accidentally landed on our team mid-match.
5. That one guy with a vocabulary that included the word "Motherf*cker." Oh wait, that was his whole vocabulary.
4. "Hey little kid, I can see the sticker on the back of your helmet! Do you have a shirt with your age on it?"
3. Mcdade's Misery Loves Company triple kill. Ouch.
2. The unveiling of the true meaning of IMLP.
1. Smashing a team of gold crosses, blasting "Never Gonna Give You Up" and changing our clan tags to "rick rolled".

NBA Street Homecourt Review

My second review of many to come.
NBA Street Homecourt Review.

Mario Kart Wii Review!

It's been done a long time, but I didn't have the opportunity to put it up! Here is my first video game review of many to come! Comments appreciated!

Mario Kart Wii Reivew