The Beatles: Rockband Review

For Beatles fans out there, who are also gamers, you’re about to take part in a wonderful journey of lights & sounds like none other for this genre of gaming. Rockband: The Beatles is not just a collection of some of their best songs available to play along with, as much as its an interactive mini history of the Fab Four’s musical career.

Developer:Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
Publisher: MTV Games
Genre: Music
Price: $59.99

What your going to gleen from the various reviews on Rockband: The Beatles is either they’ll sing its praises from on high or simply write it off as being just another ok rocker game. For those that love it, you’ll find another die hard Beatles fan more an likely and if you don’t care for this game, then you more an likely don’t like the Beatles.

I can tell you that I loved Rockband: The Beatles and a lot is due to me growing up on their music. It was the playing of my parents 45s on the old home stereo record player that introducded me to the music of the Beatles. Now that I’m in my 40s and living in more of a digital age, its the release of Rockband: The Beatles where I find myself enjoying their music even more now. So what do you really get out of this magical musical experience then?

For starters a pretty nice collection of Beatles songs to play along with and all from their Abbey Road Master tapes. A total of 45 songs have been compiled here, spanning their career together and all with stage performances from their start at the small Cavern Club and taking you all the way up to their final rooftop performance on top of the Apple Corps Headquarters building. You’ll experience a wide variety of their hits and get to take part either on the guitar or bass, play the drums, or try singing solo or in the 3-part-harmonies if you like.

From a games perspective, I think its a visually stunning and very moving title to experience, but I’m also a huge fan of not only the Beatles but the Rockband line of games as well. From the start of the games opening scenes and leading you right into the first chapter at the Cavern Club, any Beatles fan playing this will be hooked from the start. You’ll find yourself playing through song after song and enjoying every moment as you perform favorite Beatles songs.

As you progress from chapter to chapter and locations such as the Ed Sullivan Show, Shea Stadium, Budakon, and Abbey Road Studios; you’ll unlock more of their songs and find yourself diving deeper into their musical experiences. The game does a great job in revealing things in a timeline from their start together and wrapping up sadly with the end of their career together. During the course of the game and based on your performances, you will unlock some old Band Photos that tie into the various locations the Beatles played. In addition to some of these old photos are some very rare and old recordings of the members talking and some of these available only for the first time in this game alone to enjoy.

You will see how the Beatles grew together as a band through this musical journey and learn how their tastes evolved over the years of playing together. Just playing through the song “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and having it build to its sudden stop, you can feel all of the tension and what it must have been like at the ultimate end of the Beatles. From old rock favorites to trippie tunes and even some of their darker songs, this game gives you a taste of just about everything the Beatles created.

DLC for the game is already slated for release and “All You Need Is Love” is the first song available and partial proceeds of this sale are going to the Doctors With Out Borders cause. Later in the year we’ll see the full albums of Abbey Road, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Rubber Soul become available. These albums slated for DLC will be the remaining songs to complete the albums as some of the songs are already in the game. DLC from other remaining albums will more and likely work out the same way I believe.

The game comes in a Collectors edition that features a replica of Paul’s Höfner bass, a mic with stand, and a classic looking set of Ringo Starr’s drums. You can also purchase John’s Rickenbacker guitar or George Harrison’s Gretsch Duo-Jet guitars if you like, both of these have been reproduced with a very high attention to details. The game is also available as a stand alone for those that already own instruments from previous Rockband or Guitar Hero games and if you even own the wireless mics from Lips, you’ll find that these work well with this game too.

The game is perfect for large groups to play and for all ages to enjoy. My whole family from the three year old, my eight year old and up to my wife all had a blast playing through these songs. You have the normal four levels of dificulty to choose from during game play and the nice thing is if selecting the Easy level for the younger members, it allows all to enjoy the game and not have to worry about failing out during the songs. Perfect for the very young gamers like my three year old for example who want to take part in all of the fun.

In closing I can’t find anything really wrong with this game at all and enjoyed this more than any of the games from this genre. Upon finishing the story mode of this Magical Journey, I find the lyrics for ”The End” to be rather appropriate here, “The love You Take, is equal to the Love You Make”. I think what you get out of this game is what you put into playing it and I loved it like crazy and played it like crazy too. (A+)

Robert Owens

Something different from Bungie now

So many episodes of Monty Python have started with that familiar saying of, “And now for something completely different“. If you take a look at the latest VidDoc released from Bungie, then your going to think the same I believe. Sure we are dealing with some of the same players and a somewhat familiar storyline, but soon we’ll be playing a game that is unlike anything Bungie has ever created before.

I have a feeling that we are in for a real treat here with ODST and I for one can’t wait to dive right into this story and explore all that New Mombasa has to offer us now.

Great cast behind Halo 3: ODST

It’s a week away from the midnight release of Halo 3: ODST and as a fan of the game, I’m looking forward to the latest installment Bungie has to offer. In short you’re going to get a full campaign story line, only from the view point of an ODST “Hell Jumper” and this means a different gaming experience all together. So forget about those shields, super jumping and rushing right into the midst of a bunch of Covenant forces.

This game is going to be darker than most in the series and will need more of a stealthy approach at times. The game does have up to 4 player co-op for the campaign experience and the only additional online mode comes from that of the Firefight mode, where you’ll hunker down with some of your friends and face wave after wave of incoming Covenant forces.

Now if the cast of voice actors for this project gives us any indication of what we might have in store for ODST, then I think we’ll be very pleased with the performances and what unfolds before us. Fans of the sci-fi TV series Firefly will be thrilled to know that not just one but at least three of the Crew from Serenity are back together again to entertain us all.

Nathan Fillion, who played the lead Capt. Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds in Firefly is behind the familiar voice of Sgt. Buck in Halo 3: ODST. Adam Baldwin will play the voice of Dutch and was the actor who played Jayne on board the Serenity. Last but not least from the Firefly crew comes the wise-cracking pilot Wash, Alan Tudyk lends his voice for Mickey in the game.

The voice behind our fourth ODST team member is no stranger to video game voice acting at all and perhaps it would be better to list games he has not been involved with. Nolan North takes on the role of Romeo and you might recognize him as the voice of Desmond Miles from Assassins Creed. OK, enough about the boys in the game… how about a female role at least? Well fans of the sci-fi hit show Battlestar Galactica will be happy to hear that familiar voice of Number Six and none other than Tricia Helfer, she plays the role of the ONI agent named Dare in ODST.

So you can see its quite the cast of characters bringing ODST to life and the game so far looks really great. Here is another VidDoc to tease you and narrated by Sgt. Buck, as he introduces the members of the Team to us all.

Late to the Party: Fable II review

When you’re thinking about some of the most recent RPG games for the Xbox 360, you have to think about Fable II being on that list of games then. Being out on the market for almost a year now, Lionhead Studios has also revealed their plans to continue on with their tale next year in the release of  Fable III.

Developer:Lionhead Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: RPG
Price: $39.99

To look at Fable II, you have to look back to the beginning and the first games of Fable or Fable: The Lost Chapters, for the ground work a bit then. Well, you can play Fable II with out even playing the first game if you really want, I mean they do take place about 5oo years apart from each other after all, but I’m someone that finds the value in checking out the earlier versions of a game and getting a feel of where things have come from.

If you look around, you can pick up the first game still in some places and its at a fairly reasonable price. You can even go as far as purchasing it online from the Games on Demand section if you like, but this is not the expanded Lost Chapters version of the game. After playing through the first game, you will see that Lionhead Studios has made a number of improvements over the past 4 years now.

To mention just a few of these improvements, we have to list being on the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to start with here, earning or recieving Achievements for playing the game and now the addition of online Co-op right at our finger tips. All of this has to make for a better gaming experience over the first games?

Well lets take a longer look at more of those good improvements to start with now. The Xbox 360 and being Live enabled makes the wonderful world of Albion a real joy to explore and play around in with friends. Graphic wise this game is beautiful and stunning to experience, from those incredible sunrises, sunsets, rainy conditions or even snowy lands; the game has just about every element you can imagine a hero might face.

Either visiting the shores of Albion’s coast or climbing the high mountain sides to explore various cave systems or the huge forests of Albion. Only now your not stuck to those simple pathways you might have found in Fable: The Lost Chapters. If you feel the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, then hop on over and check it out for yourself. You’ll find in Fable II, that there is a lot more to see and explore around Albion and its all spectacular to view with the naked eye. 

 

So how about a possible 1350 points you can earn now just for playing the game? Well this has to be one of those areas I’m not as happy with in the game. Yes I like that you can earn points from playing a game, but with Fable II, 43 out of the possible 66 to earn, can be done simply while watching a friend complete those  tasks.

Wow, thats well over half of them and all available by taging along in someones game or having them along in your game. Some of these are what I like to call negative achievements. For example a friend and I were in the same game and he decided to take a 2nd wife, next think I know I’ve earned the Bigamist Achievement. Oh that’s just great now isn’t it?

I find it funny that  a number negative achievements are available to earn, coming from someone who likes to play the good guy in games. But not only did I loose my choice to take a wife to begin with, I was tagged with the Bigamist for hanging out with one I suppose.

That brings us to so many other areas in the game. for example you have the ability to decide if you want to be good or evil as well as corrupt or pure at heart. The game is an RPG after all and so your part of Albion now and get to interact with the various AI through out the game. Take a husband or wife and raise a family if you see fit… or simply watch your friend do these and reap the rewards so to speak.

So achievements are here in the game, but in no way are they perfect in my mind. I even experienced some what of  a glitch when one of my characters decided to start a family and the Swinger Achievement unlocked. Wait a 2nd nobody else was in the room or taking part in this act, how is that possible then?

Its clear Lionhead has created a game filled with lots of choices here from good to evil and they even steer you to becoming somewhat evil if you like and will not hold back in letting you know that the recent act you performed makes you out to be a jerk and if you’re cool with that, then go ahead and continue acting like a jerk then.

Seeing that so many of these can be earned by a friend doing these, well then you must have guessed its the co-op that makes this all possible. Sure its fun to play in friends games or have them join your game. In fact you can even earn a lot of gold as a henchmen in a friends game now, so thats a plus right? Sounds good to me in that aspect, just keep in mind it helps to hire your friends as well from time to time.

But co-op is not pefect by far, the camera handling makes the game a pain at times. Unless your friend sticks to your heals, you’ll find out really quick the limitations as one of you goes left and the other goes right and you only have so much screen to work with. Its a shame that such a wonderful place limits you in co-op mode and keeps you both tied at the hip so to speak.

Lets look back at the earning gold some more now. You can also purchase properties that earn gold, like a Tavern for example and the cool thing is it keeps track more or less how long you’ve been away and makes sure to add that gold when you return. But that is not the only way to earn gold you can even earn gold from those wonderful game masters in what is called the Pub Games.

 

Now here is where Lionhead was a little more innovative and combined two games so to speak. Available in the Xbox Live Arcade is the standalone Pub Games and this gives you all three of the game types found within Fable II, best of all any gold you earn outside of Fable II in the Pub Games can be transferred or tied with your in game hero. That means you can simply play the Pub games and later make use of all that gold you’ve earned… or lost just the same.

A clear favorite feature for most fans of  Fable II has to be their addition of a companion and one that takes the form of none other than Man’s best friend. The dog is your guide in many ways to finding treasure around Albion and in letting you know about approaching danger. The dog can be hurt as well and its amazing the power this can hold over you, seeing that dog limp and wimper along after you for help. Unless you want to be a total evil character, your going to save your Dog.

The map for the game is not the best for games, but the use of the golden bread crumb trail comes in very handy in pointing you in the right direction. You can fade this out or turn it off if you like. I personally think you’ll get lost with out it and find it works fairly well. You can also select fast travel to various areas you’ve already visited now and that works out nicely as well.

Lionhead has made a pretty nice RPG when all is said an done, sure I’d love to have seen somethings handle differently, but for the most part its leaps and bounds better than the previous games. Now with Fable III coming out in about a year, I wonder what they might do differently and improve upon. We’ll have to just sit back and wait for Peter Molyneux to tease us with more news from Albion in the meantime. (B+)

Robert Owens

Preview: Halo 3:ODST ‘Firefight Mode’

This past Friday we had a chance to drop in on the Halo 3: ODST Road Tour at the first of three stops scheduled in the Lone Star State of Texas. The spirits were all high for those that came on out for the start of this event at the Southlake GameStop location, which I must say is one of the biggest GameStops I have ever stepped foot in.

 

It was really hot outside for those of us waiting in line for things to kick off and perhaps this helped set up a fraction of the mood in what it feels like for an ODST to drop down from above and into battle; they don’t call them “Hell Jumpers” for nothing after all. We’ll have to wait to experience that portion of the game on September 22nd when it releases, but for those of us dying to get a first hand crack at the latest from Bungie, it would be this road tours experience and the Firefight mode of Halo 3: ODST to satisfy us all.

The time to enter that tricked out M820A2 truck had finally arrived and the two four man teams stepped on inside to play for at least 10 minutes. Now I wasn’t allowed to take any photos of the inside action and game play, but I can tell you what I saw and experienced first hand was simply amazing and well worth this little teaser.

 

 

The games graphics look really great in the Firefight mode and my team played on one of the darker levels, giving us all a chance to try out the cool VISR mode for ODST. The game pretty much has the same functions and setups for game controls that we’ve been use to using. For this event it was nice that they allowed us a little time to select the perfect control settings that we liked to play with (boxer mode for me). It was now time to play and under the black lights of the transport truck, it was time to defend against that first wave of Convenant forces.

The game launched and one of the things we noticed right off the bat was that we were not all in the same location to begin with. It was also very dark when we stepped into the main area and the perfect time to use the ODST VISR. Clicking on the X button enhances your vision and it gives a really cool green color outline for your team mates and the enemies get a nice red outline around them. Items like the mounted turret gun would appear with a blue outline around them.

With the ability to see what was in store for us, we figured out that we were fairly close to each other in proximity. I think this also adds to the whole experience in trying to regroup and form a plan as to what we will defend and how to approach that first attack wave. Making our way into the main area for our level revealed that we had an upper elevation area with stairways leading down on the right and left sides to a fairly open area below and then it mirrored our side with stairways leading up the same way to upper levels on the far side of the map.

What I noticed off the bat was these forces appeared to be tougher in some ways and seemed a bit closer to their descriptions from the books in the series that I’ve read. The Grunts for one don’t appear to run away from you and tend to charge a bit more, perhaps this is because we are no longer Spartans and they don’t fear us as much as they might fear the Master Chief.

That being said, your not the Master Chief or a Spartan in ODST and so you don’t have the super jumps or sheilds to protect you. So you’ll quickly learn that sprinting right into the middle of a pack of Covenant forces is not the smartest thing to do. This game is not so much about run and gun anymore and you might find a stealth approach will gain you better results.

The new SMG with supressor equipped handles really well and I like that it has a scope equipped for targeting from a distance. The pistol as your sidearm weapon felt pretty good too and you can still pick up other weapons through out the game session. I noticed one of the mounted turrets early in the game and grabbed a hold. Taking out a few of the Convenants and providing some sustained fire power for my team was my goal.

I started taking on some return fire from Covenants and decided it was time to move and take this turret gun with me. Looking back on this now, I wonder if an ODST should have the strength to actually more around an carry this type of gun and perhaps the Spartan should be allowed to move around a bit easier then.

Its such a blast to feel the presure of various Convenant forces all coming at you in what seems to be an endless wave of re-enforcemants. Better yet to experience this with up to 4 of your friends on Xbox Live or local and all set with in the Halo unieverse; I can’t think of a better game mode from Bungie and their Halo series now.

Well like the ole’ saying goes, “All good things must come to an end” and that is what happened as that familar sound byte of “Game Over” was heard and it was time to step on out and make room for the next wave of guests. Halo 3: ODST will launch later this month and for any fan of the Halo series, you need to pick this game up really soon.

PC Review: Tales of Monkey Island – Ch2

When we last saw our hero Guybrush Threepwood, he had found himself at the wrong end of a Sword and at the mercy of the mighty pirate huntress, Morgan LaFlay. We soon learn that it’s the Marquis de Singe who is not about to let Guybrush get away with that infected hand of his. Guybrush’s plans to save his wife Elaine from the evil clutches of LeChuck will have to wait at least a bit for now.

Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Lucas Arts
Genre: 3D Graphic Adventure
Price: $34.95 (Complete Series)

Telltale Games doesn’t waste any time in slipping right back into all the witty banter and swashbuckler fun with the release of Chapter 2, the Siege of Spinner Cay. Before Guybrush knows what he’s really up against, its off with his hand and only to be replaced by a cliche hook of course. I’m not about to sum up the battle between Threepwood and LeFlay for you now, but I’ll tell you that Guybrush will soon be setting course for none other than the Jerkbait Islands to locate Elaine.

What I will say is that this Adventure game has a wonderful story line once again, great graphics to support that, excellent voice acting and a large cast of new characters to bring it all together. If you loved Chapter 1 of this series, then you’ve been dying like the rest of us to get back into this tale of high seas laughs & adventure and to learn what will happen next to our Pirate Hero.

If you’ve happened to skip out on Chapter 1, then your more and likely going to be lost at sea with all that is going on here, not to mention you’ve missed out on a very entertaining introduction to the whole Monkey Island series. Hopefully you’ve purchased the full set of the Tales of Monkey Island and you’re simply waiting for each chapter to finally release.

What your in store for is a fun adventure this time around and you’ll be introduced to the mysterious Merfolk of the Jerkbait Islands and a new band of Pirates that have come down with a case of the Sickly Pox. Its now up to you to solve the various puzzles in this set of adventures and to reach the conclusion for Chapter 2. 

The games controls are pretty much the same as before and you will use the mouse to point and click your way around the screen or the keyboard if you prefer that perhaps. As you meet characters in the story you simply click the available dialogs to interact with them. You have the same inventory storage space as before and may carry a number of objects around with you just like last time.

This chapter is just a little over two hours in length for the most part and every minute of that is entertainment at its best. Funny dialog and great voice acting makes this game a real hit I think. As the game draws to a close, it will be like those old movies from way back in the day and finish with another cliff hanger of an ending; setting us up nicely for the release of Chapter 3 next month. If you loved the first chapter, then your going to love Siege of the Spinner Cay as well.

I’m still new to all of these adventure games and so far I’m loving these interactive stories here. Telltale Games has some very talented staff working on these stories and with two out of the five chapters complete, I can only imagine what they will do with the remaining three chapters next. (A+)

Robert Owens

Bip. Bap. Bam! ODST Firefight

To all of the Halo faithful, its almost here now… the drop date for ODST hitting the streets is only 22 days (September 22, 2009) away now and you still have time to get your pre-order in for a chance to unlock Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson, as a playable character in this all new Firefight co-op mode for Halo 3:ODST. I could tell you myself about all the cool stuff coming in this new version of Halo 3: ODST, but I think its best to turn things over now to the man himself and let you hear it like it is.

You can pre-order your copy of Halo 3: ODST from select participating retailers listed below and you’ll receive a token to unlock Sgt. Johnson for use in the all new cooperative mode, Firefight. If your regional retailer is not on the list, please contact them directly to determine whether or not they are participating in the per-order bonus offer.

Participating Retailers:
U.S.:Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop, Wal-Mart, Target, GameCrazy, Toys R Us, Buy.com, and NewEgg.com
Canada:EB Games, Wal-Mart, Future Shop, Best Buy, Amazon.ca, Blockbuster, Toys R Us, and HMV
France:GAME, FNAC, JV&Co, Virgin, Amazon, Pixmania, Cdiscount, Rue du Commerce
Germany:Amazon and Gamestop
Italy:Gamestop
UK:Game, Gamestation, Amazon, Play
Australia: EB Games
New Zealand: EB Games

XBLA Review: Shadow Complex

To say Shadow Complex is a lot of fun and a blast to play would be an understatement in my mind. What we truly have here from Chair Entertainment and Epic Games is one of the best Arcade titles ever to hit the Xbox Live Arcade. After playing just a fraction of this game, your’re going to be truly amazed at what they have created in this download able arcade game and at such a steal for only $15 at that.

Developer: Chair Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Action
Price: 1200 MSP ($15)

Having read Orson Scott Card’s Empire book, as the background for this games story, I’m thrilled with how well the game has turned out and I love the story arc that Peter David has created for the game based on the Empire book. The events in this game run parallel to that of Empire and they fit really well together. Now I don’t want to give away to much from the book or the games story here and will simply say that a Rogue group within the United States has brought us towards another Civil War and our Hero has suddenly found himself right in the middle of all of this.

Jason Flemming sets off to find his girlfriend while out on a hike and equipped with only a flash light in hand, he soon discovers a strange group of men are leading his girlfriend into a hidden mountain side facility. You quickly learn the game controls and how the features of the map work here in these first few levels, as you begin to explore the surrounging areas and make your way inside the facility. You also learn that the group who took your girlfriend, will do what ever it takes to stop you. While searching from room to room, you’ll discover that you need more than a flashlight in order to survive and soon begin to locate other items that might help you progress along.

The controls are laid out nicely and are fairly standard to most games and easy to understand. You move left, right, up and down with the left analog stick and then aim at various targets & objects with the right analog stick. The right trigger is used for the primary firing of your weapons and the right bumper will fire any special weapons such as grenades. The left trigger allows you to crouch and will become your friend on the harder levels, as you look for cover and the left bumper turns on and off that trusted flashlight and clues you in on how to pass certain areas.

Now on to those button controls and starting off with the A button for jumping… lots of jumping from one place to another I’ll say. The B button is for any special actions you might need to perform and you’ll be prompted in most cases when to do so. The Y button reloads your weapons, unless you forget and the hero will auto load for you then. That leaves us with the X button for running to an from all sorts of danger and don’t forget to try some combos like sprinting towards a guard, followed by a nice jump and then landing on top with a finishing melee attack (X, A, B for those following along), all at the right time of course to be successful now.

Shadow Complexis a 2.5 D side scroller and is visually stunning to see and explore; all of this in crisp 3D animation graphics and with great physics provided by the Unreal Engine. Some of my favorite levels have to be the ones with water involved and I’m thrilled, as well as other fans of Undertow, that Chair Entertainment has included a few of these with in the facility to experience. For the most part the game is perfect graphic wise and I only found a couple places where the AI fell into a wall as I took them down during game play, other than that the game was perfect from a visual stand point. 

The sound effects, music and voice acting I think are really good in Shadow Complex and help with setting the mood to all of the action on the screen. From the firing of various weapons or explosive devices, you will have a nice experience in the sound department from Shadow Complex. Even the side elements of fire, water and electricity that you come in contact with will add to this whole audio experience and give you a enjoyable experience.

 The cut scenes and voice acting portions are well done and add to the progression of the games story line, something I’ve always been pleased with by Chair Entertainment and their handling of cut scenes in Undertow. I also like their use of melee cut scenes for the various hand to hand combat attacks through out the game, so don’t always reach for your gun now.

In beating Shadow Complex, as far as the story line goes, it took me just a little over 10 hours on my first play through and it allowed me to explore about 79% of the map and find 42% of the items with in the game. This scored me 6 out of 12 Achievements once I completed my first run through the game. I started out playing on the Hard Core level (3 out of 4 difficulty levels) and found this to be very challenging and I could drop down a level or two in some of the harder portions if needed; a nice feature of this game, that can be done on the fly and at various times.

Finding items through the facility will help you power up and gain access to more areas and is key to your success. As you begin to level up it will become easier to aim and hit your targets and take them out. Leveling up in health and weapons is also a must when taking out some of the boss levels in Shadow Complex and your going to love these levels. The game is also a puzzle game as you try to come up with the best paths to take and find ways in to more areas.

The games playable area in Shadow Complex is a vast area made up of a variety of terrains to explore and as you progress into various areas they will become viewable on the games map screen. If I have any hang up in this game, its with some features of the game map. The game is not exactly scaled to a 1 square, 1 screen, here you are relationship. The problem is if your looking for a certain item in a square, it might not exactly be on the particular screen your located at. Sometimes you will need to climb up an over and around into different areas that appear to be a square over. So keep this in mind while your looking all around for certain items.

This game is filled with so many rooms and situations and each seems to build over and over as you dive deeper into the game. Most of the levels stick to the side scrolling theme, but the use of depth of field comes into play with AI in the background and it gives the game a totally different perspective at times. At least a few times you will locate a mounted gun and at this point the game will switch into a first person view as you lay waste to all of the opposing forces that are attacking you. 

I tell you I really enjoyed the ending of Shadow Complexand how they wrapped stuff up in this game, even though it seemed to pop up all of a sudden and was perhaps a bit over the top in some aspects, but it was still a real blast to play. I feel that they have concluded this story arc and left plenty of room to bring back Jason for a sequel later on. If you hadn’t heard about it yet, Orson Scott Card is expected to release his second of three books in the Empire series this December, so perhaps we very well might see a Shadow Complex 2 & 3.

That’s not all, there is even more value and play with the Proving Grounds section and it extends the fun for this game well past the fairly long story line. I think you should wait and play these levels after beating the games story mode first. Some spoiler information and things could show up early if you don’t. This section is set up as more of  a training simulator of sorts with the levels designed in pretty much black, white, and shades of gray here. You have various speed challenges to complete from some standard training levels and then on to three sets of Challenge Packs, that have a total of seven levels to beat in order to move on to the next. You can play these over and over and work at earning higher medals in the Proving Grounds portion of Shadow Complex.

Checking out the Leaderboards area allows you to keep track of your progress and see how you stack up against your friends. Its also cool to see which friend is next on your list to bump off with the latest kill or bomba punt you perform as you play in the game or simply take a break between the action and check out the full leaderboards and see where all of your friends are stacking up at.

Shadow Complex recieved lots of praise after it was announced at this past years E3 and it clear lives up to all of the hype. Fans of classic side scrollers like Metroid and Castlevania will love what this game has to offer on the Xbox 360. Shadow Complex is a game you will want to play over and over, from speed run mode and trying to get through with as few of the items or in completing other challenges and trying to hit every part of the map and gather 100% of the items, you will clearly enjoy this sure to be an instant hit from the Xbox Live Arcade. (A+)

Robert Owens

Activision set to Blur the competition

Activision and Bizarre Creations is hoping to take the pole position away from the other racing games this fall. Now set for a November 3rd debut comes Blur, a fast paced, hard hitting game, with cinematic realism and filled with lots of power up action for all racing fans on the Xbox 360, the PS3 and the PC.

Activision is now looking to do for the racing genre what Call of Duty has done for the shooters in this photo realistic racer. Set in real world locations and with 50 licensed cars to select from, you have some very high impact, street racing fun from the single player story line and all the way up to the huge community of multiplayer offerings as well in Blur.

Activision plans to build a huge Social Network of racers behind their Blur title, providing them a platform to make friends both in and out of the game. You can create or join racing teams and clubs, then meet up for various races or perhaps become a fan of certain teams if you like. Activisions goal is to offer something really cool for the multiplayer racing fan that extends well beyond the game and to larger group outside of the game itself.

• Real racing: Stunning racing environments in real world locations combine with licensed cars that look and feel great.
• Power-ups: Collect addictive dynamic power-ups and gain an advantage over your competition.
• Cinematic realism: Experience insane collisions with licensed photo-realistic cars, all brought to life with panning, cinematic camera work.
• Multiplayer: Features four-player split-screen and online multiplayer supporting competitive and cooperative game play for up to 20 racers.

Fans of the Forza and Gran Turismo racing line of games better watch out now, because that blur flashing past your eyes is going to be the latest to make a push towards the finish line now and if you blink, well you just might miss out on a lof of the high octane fun from this game. Visit www.blurthegame.com to learn more and preorder today.

Indie Games – I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1

Developer Jamezila and SKA Studios brings you one bargain of a shooter for any gamers that love taking on Zombies. You might remember James Silva and  the Dishwasher, the first winning game for the XNA Dream Build & Play Challenge. That game went on later to be fully released on Xbox Live Arcade and we’ve now seen a few other titles from James and Ska Studios.

James is back at it again now with I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 and under the Indie Games section of Xbox Live now. I first learned about this title via Twitter and I wasn’t sure if it was real or not at first, but I’m glad that I went ahead and purchased this one.

I can tell you this as well, just skip the download demo all together for this game and go straight on to purchase this one right now. Its the best 80 pts that you’ll spend for a singal game and if your a fan of top down shooters & dual analog stick games, then this game has it all, plus plenty of Zombies man and its only a $1.

Developer: Jamezila
Publisher: Ska Studios
Genre: Top Down Shooter
Price: 80 MS Points ($1)
Rating: Unrated

The old school, block letter graphics that greet you first in this game will perhaps have you worried, but don’t be scared just yet. The game will soon launch with what appears to be a grassy field and a loan Zombie slayer on the screen, all ready for some action now and then the music will start to play. James said the lyrics for this game were created on the spur of the moment and I have to say its a fun little tune to listen to as you play through the game, as you start to fight to stay alive now. I think I’ve actually played this game so much that the tune is now stuck in my head, but I don’t mind that all.

You have the ability for up to 4 slayers to play locally if you like in this game, but I recommend that you make a go at this on your own for your first outing and see what this game really has to offer here, you can always add friends locally later on if you like. The pressure will slowly begin to mount as more and more of these Zombies arrive and soon you will be over whelmed with a flood of them.

As you work on clearing out the levels here, you will start to find various upgrades for your weapons of destruction like flame throwers, lasers, machine guns, rocket launchers, and many more. The game also gives you power ups of extra health and what appears to be protection shields of sorts. The only thing I think that is missing here is perhaps some online play with your friends and some leader boards for high scores, but that doesn’t take away from this fun little Indie Game at all.

I hope  I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 will really climb to the top of the charts here on Xbox Live and that Ska Studios will do really well with this one in conclusion. Its a highly addictive game to play over and over and it will have you working to beat your higher scores in no time. Trust me here and take a look under the Indie Games section and get this one, you will have a blast killing off these Zombies. (A+)

- Robert Owens

“Halo 3: ODST” Transport Vehicle on a nationwide tour

To all the Halo faithful, you just might get lucky and have a chance to see Halo 3: ODST early and in person at a local GameStop near you. Starting tomorrow a nicely tricked out M820A2 expandable truck will make its way across the US from Seattle, Washington and then finish up a few days before the Official Launch of Halo 3: ODST in New York City, New York. I myself plan to head on out when they set up here for the first location here in Texas. Hopefully you’ll find a location near you to check out the game an perhaps score some really cool SWAG. Check out the official press release listed below for more details on dates and locations for the Halo 3: ODST road tour.

“Halo 3: ODST” Transport Vehicle embarks on a nationwide tour to bring the thrill
of “Halo 3: ODST” to fans at GameStop locations in advance of the Sept. 22 launch

Can’t wait for “Halo 3: ODST” to drop on September 22? Then suit up and get set for the “Halo 3: ODST” GameStop Tour! Microsoft and Bungie have created a massive, transforming “Halo 3: ODST” Transport Vehicle to take the game directly to players at GameStop locations across the United States, providing a hands-on sneak peak at one of this year’s most anticipated games.

The action begins this Saturday, Aug. 22, in Redmond, Washington when Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson and Bungie kick off the nationwide “Halo 3: ODST” GameStop Tour outside the Redmond Town Center GameStop (17128 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA). The “Halo 3: ODST” Transport Vehicle deploys at noon and will remain active until 8:00 p.m.

Fans in each city of the tour will have the opportunity to experience the all new Firefight multiplayer mode in “Halo 3: ODST” and score “Halo” swag for proving their skills (all participants must be age 17 or older).

Built from a modified M820A2 expandable truck, the “Halo 3: ODST” Transport Vehicle provides a fully customized mobile gaming experience. Measuring 27 feet long and 14 feet wide when fully expanded, and weighing a beefy 13 tons, the “Halo 3: ODST” Transport Vehicle is a “Halo” party on wheels, outfitted with eight Xbox 360 console rigs featuring “Halo 3: ODST.”

A list of cities and tour dates is below*:

 

City Seattle (Redmond, WA) Portland (Hillsboro, OR) San Francisco (Union City, CA) San Jose (Antioch, CA) Los Angeles (Pasadena, CA) San Diego, CA Las Vegas (Henderson, NV) Phoenix (Avondale, AZ) Dallas (Southlake, TX) Austin (Cedar Park, TX) Houston (Tomball, TX) Memphis, TN Nashville (Murfreesboro, TN) Indianapolis, IN Chicago, IL Detroit (Shelby Township, MI) Cleveland (N. Olmstead, OH) Pittsburgh, PA Philadelphia (Fairless Hills, PA) Wash., DC (Woodbridge, VA) Baltimore (Owings Mills, MD) New York (North Babylon, NY)

Location Redmond Town Center Tanasbourne Town Center Union Landing Center At Slatten Ranch Hastings Village Carmel Mt. Ranch Whitney Ranch Gateway Pavilion Shops of Southlake Lakeline Plaza Spring Cypress Wal-Mart Center Marketplace at Wolfcreek College Central Shopping Center Target 31 Shopping Center The Brickyard Shopping Center Shelby Town Center Great Northern Plaza South North Hills Village Fairless Hills Towne Center Smoketown Station Garrison Forest Plaza Sunset Plaza

Date 8/22 8/23 8/25 8/26 8/28 8/29 8/30 8/31 9/3 9/4 9/5 9/7 9/8 9/10 9/11 9/12 9/13 9/14 9/16 9/17 9/18 9/19

*For the most up to date list of tour cities, times and locations, visit http://www.gamestop.com/halo
 
To follow along with developments from the “Halo 3: ODST” GameStop Tour and to keep abreast of the latest “Halo” news, follow the Halo Waypoint Twitter @HaloWaypoint or by searching for tweets tagged with the #ODSTTour hashtag. You can also learn more by visiting the Halo Waypoint Facebook page at , including news about future promotions and developments on the road to the “Halo 3: ODST” launch.

The “Halo” franchise is an entertainment phenomenon, with more than 27 million units sold worldwide. “Halo 3” redefined multiplayer gaming through the power of Xbox LIVE and boasts more than one billion online multiplayer games played to date, and remains one of the most popular games played on Xbox LIVE with an average of one million daily players.

Back to school comes early this year as “Halo 3: ODST” invades college campuses later this summer. Students will get to join in all the action and play the new co-op mode Firefight at select universities around the country. More details will be available soon via the Halo Waypoint Twitter and Facebook page, so keep an eye on them for details!

“Halo 3: ODST” will have a suggested retail price of $59.99 USD and the Collector’s Pack available at GameStop (which includes an exclusive, laser etched “Halo 3: ODST” Wireless Controller) will have a suggested retail price of $99.99 USD. “Halo 3: ODST” launches on Sept. 22. and is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB.

Fable III set for 2010 Holiday season

Fable II episodic content announced for Games on Demand section

Lionhead has finally revealed what all of those Revolutionary figures shown on their web site recently had in common, the quest for power and greatness. Its official now that we will be seeing Fable III during the Fall of 2010 Holiday Season and the race for the Crown has begun. Taking place five decades from the time you left off with your Hero, its now your child that will become the King or Queen in Fable III.

They claim big things are in store with the latest installment and you can either rule justly or become a tyrant and perhaps risk it all. Only thing that I hope for my King is the ability to throw out the people and shut the door to my very own chambers if I so choose to do so.

They have released a teaser trailer for the upcoming game, but I don’t think it really shows that much to excite anyone just yet. That will all very well change between now and the early parts of next year and as more information is released for Fable III.

More ways to enjoy Fable II
If you haven’t had a chance to experience Fable II, then you’ll get a chance to do so as a download of episodic content. Lionhead Studios and Microsoft have decided to release Fable II in the Games On Demand section now in 5 installments, the first chapter being free for all to explore. At the end you can decide to pick up the next chapter or purchase the remaining portions if you like.

The episodes will also work with the retail versions if you select to buy the game later and they include all of the same achievements and features as well. The episodic content will allow those who are not sure wether they would like Fable II or not to actually play a good portion of the game and get a better idea and feel for the game.

Lionhead about to reveal something big

What are you up to Lionhead Studios? Over the past few days I’ve read some twitter feeds from Lionhead that simply had their web site address posted. So it was enough to make me click, only to be greeted with a splash page showing a picture of Che Guevara, a quote of his, and then a call to action for either selecting thumbs up or down.

Pretty much each day has brought us a new splash page with a new historic figure and quote from them, as well as that simple call to action again for the thumbs up or down. The thumbs up takes you to a certain look of their main page and the down takes you to a totally different look and that is pretty much as far as this all goes.

Each splash image also contained a light number and appears to have marked a count down of sorts. We have finally hit the last image now and it appears that this speculation marks some news to be revealed from Lionhead Studios out at the 2009 Gamecon Convention in Cologne, Germany. Here are the figures and their quotes as they were revealed and what appears to be the final figure now. 

Che Guevara – “At the risk of seeming ridiculous, Let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love.”

Maximillien Robespierre – “Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; is it a less distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country.”

Abraham Lincoln – “Be not deceived. Revolutions do not go backward.”

Aristotle – “He who is to be a good ruler, must have first been ruled.”

Emma Goldman – “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be in your revolution.”

Joan of Arc – “I am not afraid…I was born to do this.”

Winston Churchill – “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it”

Pretty interesting group of Historical figures if you ask me, now we just need to wait an learn what they will announce soon. I wonder if we are looking at some game that will span a number of years and involve each of these historical figures. Perhaps we’ll even have something with Project Natal and a chance to be emeresed into this game and interact with these figures.

I’m hoping this will be something totally new and different from the Fable line of games. I’m really not sure how or why they would select this cast of figures to reveal something about Fable. What ever it will be, I think we are just hours away from learning now.

New Saboteur trailer from Pandemic Studios released

The Resistance needs your help over at Pandemic Studios, for their latest project, the Saboteur. If you haven’t heard anything about this game yet, then stop what your doing and take a peek at their latest video trailer being released from Pandemic Studios. After your done with that, then head on over to the newly designed Saboteur web site and keep up to date with all the latest information about the game.

In the next few months, we hope to bring you more information and details on the upcoming release of  the Saboteur. The open world, single player, action game has been slated for a December 8th, 2009 release date. If your looking for something different this year for the Holidays, but you still would like it set in the World War II era, then mark this one down on your list of games to watch and buy.

From Empire to Shadow Complex its on XBLA

With less than a week left until the launch for one of the best games to hit the Xbox Live Arcade, Chair Entertainment and Epic Games has all the makings of an instant hit with Shadow Complex. This is the final title in this years Summer of Arcade line up from Xbox Live and it’s about to hit hard and fast on August 19th with the release of Shadow Complex.

It was during this years E3, that a new side scroller game was revealed for the Xbox 360 and based on The New York Times Bestselling Author, Orson Scott Card’s book titled Empire. The story line is set in the very near future of the United States, as the lines have been drawn between that of Red vs Blue and no I’m not talking about those Spartans from Halo here. The United States is on the brink of another Civil War and suddenly finds itself divided after the Assassinations of key Political Figures in our Nation.

Card delivers a real political thriller that is not only very visual in the telling of its story, but will draw you into these events that suddenly take place. His descriptions of the areas in Washington D.C. are very accurate and believable. With his close attention to the details, he weaves a great story and sets the tone of what could possibly happen to bring about a 2nd Civil War. Empire sets the background for not only the events in Shadow Complex, but it also lays down the ground work for a sequel that is due out on December 22, 2009 from Orson Scott Card as part of the Empire Trillogy.

Video game creators Donald & Geremy Mustard were huge fans of Orson Scott Card’s work and they approached him in a meeting to write a book for an upcoming game that Chair Entertainment wanted to produce. After talking with Card, he agreed to write their back story and the basis for their game, as long as they held off on the release of the game until the completion of Empire. The story arc for Shadow Complex ties into the events of Card’s Empire as a set of parallel events to those that take place with in Empire.

To help with this parallel story arc, Chair Entertainment brought in the renowned Comic Book Author Peter David to help with the writing of this games story line. If your a fan of the comics The Incredible Hulk, Supergirl, Aquaman, Spider-Man, Star Trek, or Wolverine to name just a few, then you will be very familar with Peter David’s work. This looks like a real Dream Team has been pulled together here between that of Orson Scott Card, Chair Entertainment, Epic Games, and Peter David for Shadow Complex.

Shadow Complex is not just another everyday side scroller here for Xbox Live, it also pays a real tribute to those classic 2D side scrolling titles such as Metroid and Castlevania, only with an ultra modern look and feel that is brought to you from Epic Games and their Unreal Engine. This takes all you would expect out of those favorite 2D side scrollers and then ups that a few notches in what has been called a 2.5D side scrolling game world to explore. You will still find yourself traveling back and forth as well as up and down with in this Side Scroller, but with rich 3D graphics and action to enjoy. In some cases the AI will appear in the distant backgrounds and you are still able to aim and fire upon or be fired upon. In one of the demos from Chair Entertainment it was even revealed that the game has a few instances of FPS view and allows you to operate a mounted gun at this point.

Shadow Complex starts you off on a picnic near a wooded lake area and something has happened to cause your girlfriend to turn up missing. You soon discover that she’s has been grabbed by some strange men and taken into a strange facility built into a mountain side and now its up to you to get her back. Once you find your way inside the facility, you pretty much will start off with just a flashlight and then its up to you locate and make your way through the various parts of this game and to aquire the additional items along the way to help you progress along in this game.

To compare the size and scale of this game with that of other side scrollers, you simply have to look at the 250 to 300 map Squares in Super Metroid and then the 780 map squares created for Shadow Complex, its easy to see where you will have hours and hours of game play here with so much area to cover. In most cases the game should take you at least 10 hours in your first play through, but its been noted that playing through a 2nd time and with a character that has more of the items at hand, as well as the knowledge of what to expect and which routes to take, you can easily beat the game in a lot less time as a speed run through.

This game looks like a real blast to play and from those who’ve already had some hands on time, they are simply loving what is available in this game. Next week the huge buzz will continue to build up until the release date approaches. Shadow Complex is one arcade title that you don’t want to pass up on here, giving you high quality graphics & game play, a great story line for fans of Orson Scott Card and Peter David, and all of this in a side scroller that is only available on the Xbox 360 and from the Xbox Live Arcade on August 19th, all for only 1200 MS points and well worth every point.