Review: Fly Fu

Apparently when flies are not being swatted at or stepped on, they are using kung fu moves to destroy an evil army of insects in order to save the ones they love. Fly Fu is a simple, yet fun beat em up that does nothing new to revolutionize the genre in any way shape or form whatsoever. Sure, it is probably one of those games that most people will look at and go “what the hell is that”, or “how can a fly possibly know karate”, but sometimes a strange idea could possibly end up being a good one. Can killing other insects while playing as one be as fun as it sounds?, read on to find out. (more…)

Paper Wars coming to PSP

Not sure why the developer changed the name of it, but oh well, here’s the announcement anyway. Developer Ifun4All has announced today that they will be bringing an updated version of their IPhone game Crap of Defense to the PSP Mini Store later this month. (more…)

E3 2010: GOW: Ghost of Sparta Trailer

The only game that I actually finished in the series, God of War: Chains of Olympus, is finally getting a sequel. While the hack and slash gameplay might be old news to some gamers out there, there is no denying that these games are alot of fun to play. Ghost of Sparta is set to release in the fall of 2010. Enjoy the Trailer!

E3 2010: Sony PC Highlights

Even though it went for just a little too long (around 3 hours or so) there were still plenty of things to enjoy about the Sony press conference. Die hard fans of a certain series are finally getting the game that they have been waiting for, a release date for a popular racing title has been announced, an epic speech was given, a popular puzzle game gets released onto the PS3, and even the PSP gets a new peripheral. Keep in mind that I missed some parts of the show due to the lag of the online feed for certain websites. Nevertheless, let’s take some time now and look at some of the highlights from the show. (more…)

Preview: Half-Minute Hero

I enjoy Role playing games as much as the next person, but let’s be honest, most of us do not have enough time during the day to sit down and play through one of them. Earning money, level grinding, and epic boss battles just take so much time to complete. Wouldn’t it be nice if it could all be condensed down into little segments that we could pick and play at a moments notice? Well look no further, Half-Minute Hero has you covered. (more…)

Week in Review: Jan 3-9, 2010

It’s 2010, and with that comes more episodes of Week in Review.  This week’s topics include: Spyborgs, Half-life 2, Little Big Planet PSP, Ikaruga, PulseMan, Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno, Tvshowking, & Space Invaders X2

Intro music performed by: Qualitybeats; Outro music performed by: Necro off 2002′s NonPhixion album “The Future is Now”.

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Week in Review June 27- July 3, 2009

Now that the Fourth of July weekend is past us, some of the Rejected Gamer crew return to give their thoughts on the games they played the past week. With a short week for most, Mike, Jeff, and Matt had a fairly easy, laid back discussion. So sit back and enjoy! Make sure to check out the reviews and leave us feedback.

Reviews:

• Xbox 360: Portal
• PSP: Rockband Unplugged
• Xbox 360: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
• WiiWare: Swords and Soldiers
• Xbox 360: Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at:

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PSP Review: Rock Band Unplugged

I am as much of a fan as anyone else when it comes to games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band on the 360 and Wii, but let us face it, the handheld versions of Guitar Hero just are not really all that fun. The idea of a new peripheral for a handheld rhythm game might sound good in theory, but the one made for Guitar Hero failed in the execution department. Not only did the peripheral feel uncomfortable to use, but the lack of ability to able to download songs did not help much either.

Then comes along a game like Rock Band Unplugged that forgets about trying to sell you on a new peripheral, and focuses on a concept that makes a game that is not only easy to understand, but a lot of fun to play.

Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: EA
Genre: Music, Rhythm
Rating: T (Teen)
Price: $39.99
# of Players: 1

I think we all know the concept behind Rock Band at this point. You are a band trying to make it big, and are performing at different venues, collecting stars and cash so you can upgrade your crew, gear, etc. The idea is all the same, the only thing that is different here is the gameplay concept, which I will explain later. All of your regular modes are here, Quickplay, Tour, Training, Band Survival mode (pick your own phrases), etc. You can play each mode in one of four levels of difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert), but other than being able to play some songs on the go, there is not much else to do, so most of your time will be spent in the Tour mode.

Rock Band Unplugged for the most part looks ok, the character designs, stage lighting effects, and crowd all look like they were scrunched down to fit on the PSP, so you can tell where some corners were cut in order for all of this to fit on the miniature screen. The crowd basically looks like cardboard cutouts, your band mates look like PS1 versions of band mates. None of this will matter however, since most of your time will be spent switching from side to side, and tapping buttons to hit the notes in each instrument (Vocals, Drums, Lead Guitar, and Bass Guitar). All in all, the game looks ok, but does need much improvement if this game ever gets a sequel.

As we all know, music and sound is the area of this review that matters the most, and for the most part, it is really good. There are over 40 tracks, all of which are master recordings, and include bands such as 3 Doors Down, Nirvana, Weezer, The Who, Foo Fighters, and even the Jackson 5. A headset is required to enjoy these songs in all of their glory, because some of the songs will sound either choppy, or out of tune without them, and that is unfortunate. The sound is great with headphones, and terrible without, so listener beware, the choice you make might just ruin the entire experience for you.

Rock Band Unplugged uses a unique control scheme that sets it apart from it console counterparts. Instead of just playing one instrument, you are in charge of playing each and every note from every instrument in your band (Drums, Guitar, Vocals, and Bass). As hard as this sounds in theory, it really is not as hard to accomplish as you think, and that is where this game shines in my opinion. All of the instruments are presented left to right, and will have notes appear in segments, you play the notes in the segment, and then they will disappear for a few seconds, another set of notes appears in another instrument appears, you play the notes, then rinse and repeat until the song is over.

You switch from instrument to instrument by pressing the left and right shoulder buttons on the top corners of the PSP. Then you wait for the notes to appear, and press the up and left buttons on the d-pad for the red and yellow notes, and the triangle and circle buttons for the blue and green notes. You can change the control scheme if you want in the options menu, but honestly, the main control scheme they give you works out quite well. There are long and short notes, overdrives, and solos you can play, just like in all of the other rock band games, so you will feel right at home with this setup, as it just changes how you play the song, and not the overall concept of this game in general.

Simply put, Rock Band Unplugged is a fun, yet challenging, portable music rhythm game. The idea of switching between instruments, hitting the notes, then moving to your next instrument in just enough time to play the next set of notes adds a unique amount of challenge and depth to a game that has already established the fun concept on home consoles.

There is some replay value to be had with the option of being able to download songs through the PSN, but the lack of even local multiplayer support still baffles me as this was a game that prided itself on both a fun single player and multiplayer experience. Still to its credit, Rock Band Unplugged is a fun portable game that fans of the series will love, and is also a great game for those who are on the go, but still want to rock out to their favorite tunes. A must buy for rockers of all ages. (B+)

- Matt H