Tag: Video Games

Game Review: God of War: Ascension (PS3)

Gaming
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Amazon, God of War Ascension_“God of War: Ascension” at amazon.com

Rated M for Mature, Reviewed on PS3

Kratos and I go back a long way.  The first game, on my beloved PS2, was a revelation.  The sheer power and brutality hit you like a brick, but it was the strength of the emotional narrative that kept me interested and brought me back.  The second game sent the PS2 out in style and the third dragged the still fledgling PS3 to new heights.  The two PSP entries may not have had quite the same impact but they still stand as some of the most impressive gameplay on Sony’s black slab.

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Game Review: Black-Mesa

Gaming
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Black Mesa, Resonance Cascade“Black Mesa” Official Website

Unrated; Reviewed on PC

Black Mesa is an unauthorized, total recreation of Valve Software’s 1998’s seminal classic “Half-Life” using the Source Engine pioneered in “Half-Life 2”.  The large, all-volunteer team spent over eight-years to reach this point and released the first portion of the game, encompassing the first 13 chapters of the 17 chapter game.  Only the questionable “Xen” final sequence of the game has been eliminated but will reportedly be released by the end of the year.

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Thoughts on the Playstation 4 and XBox One

Gaming
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E3 2013 LogoIf you care about video gaming at all you’re probably already familiar with the recent announcements by Microsoft and Sony.  Despite that fact that both of these systems were introduced earlier I wanted to wait to until after the E3 Press Conferences to get a broader picture before I weighed in.  With exciting shows from both companies on Monday the stories are likely as clear as they’re going to be until the actual launch.  Before diving in however let me give you a little background on my current gen experience.

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Game Review: The Last of Us Demo

Gaming
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The Last of Us Cover“The Last of Us” Official Website

Rated “M” for Mature; Reviewed on Playstation 3

This is a short review of the playable demo of “The Last of Us” released on June first.  Here I’ll be focusing on the environments and characters.  Visit our sister site, MoreBrains.com, for our thoughts on the game’s enemies.  I had previously discussed thoughts on the first trailer for the game in E3 Comments: “The Last of Us”.

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Getting Excited for Ouya!

Gaming, Hardware
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Ouya ConsoleAlmost a year ago I gave some strangers $100 of my money.  They promised me that within a year they would give me a small box that would change my life.  (Making it completely different from, but reminiscent of, the puzzle box that releases sadistic demons in HellRaiser.)

The box would allow me to play Android games in full 1080p on my giant TV.  It would give me a high-end wireless controller just as good as my other consoles.  It would use a Tegra 3, turn on almost instantly and feature XMBC thus giving my current go-to media player, the beloved PS3, a run for its money (or at least a chance to rest).  It would be completely open and you could try anything you like before you buy it.

I can’t stress enough: this was a big risk.  There was no guarantee that I would ever get this box.  But me and 60,000 other people gave them our money anyway, crossed our fingers, hid from our suspicious spouses and hoped.

It seems like forever ago but the Ouya is real.  The thing, the actual damn thing, will start shipping to people like me – better than that to people that are actually me! – in three short days.  It just struck me a few minutes ago how God Damn cool that is.

Movie Review: Noobz

Movies
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IMDB, Noobz“Noobz” on IMDB

Comedy, 97 Minutes, 2012

This is sorta, kinda, almost a remake of “The Wizard” [IMDB].  Like that weird little classic a group of friends, in this case a “Gears of War 3” clan, go cross-country to compete in a giant video-game championship.  The major difference is that the main characters here are thirty-something slackers.  The main similarity is that they, also, really don’t seem to know much about gaming.

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Movie Review: Silent Hill Revelation

Movies
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IMDB, Silent Hill Revelation“Silent Hill: Revelation” on IMDB

Horror, 94 Minutes, 2012

This is a sequel to 2006’s underappreciated “Silent Hill” [IMDB].  Where the original movie was more inspired by the video game this movie attempts to merge that mostly original story with the third game.  (The “Silent Hill” video game series tends to vacillate between a loosely contiguous plotline and stand-alone stories set in its universe.  The third game was essentially a direct sequel to the first.  For what it’s worth the second game, which connects to very little, was the best game in the series and one of the best games ever made.)

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Game Review: The Ratchet & Clank Collection (PS3)

Gaming
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Amazon, Ratchet and Clank Collection“The Ratchet & Clank Collection” at amazon.com

Rated E10+; Reviewed on PS3

The “Ratchet and Clank” series, along with the equally excellent “Jak and Daxter” and “Sly Cooper“, made the PS2 the undisputed king of action platform games.  While the “Jak” series soon took on an epic gravitas and Sly Cooper expanded on its trademark cartoon heists Ratchet and Clank were always about having a good time with a massive arsenal of insanely fun weapons.

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Movie Review: Wreck-it Ralph

Movies
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IMDB, Wreck-it Ralph“Wreck-it Ralph” on IMDB

Fantasy, 108 Minutes, 2012

This movie aspires to be nothing less than the “Toy Story” [IMDB] of the video game generation.  It has the same “your playthings have private lives when you leave” theme.  It also features similar “new v. old” and “respect v. apathy” plotlines.  Finally it populates its world with a mixture of classic characters and original characters that fit classic archetypes.  The arrogance!  The audacity!  The cheek!

Damn if it doesn’t (almost) do it.

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