Killer is Dead Review for PS3 and Xbox360

      Killer is Dead is finally among the living! Thank you Suda51 for gracing us once more with another view into your crazy mind. So maybe you're a fan of Suda and you want to know if it lives up to your past experiences of Killer 7 or No More Heroes. Maybe you're someone new to Killer is Dead and Suda51 and you're wondering why a game collecting such low scores and sales is worth talking about, playing, or buying. Maybe you got here from the controversy it's stirred up from it's now infamous "Gigolo Mode." In any case, I'm going to tell you why Killer is Dead is worth some of your time.

Lollipop Chainsaw Review for Xbox360 and PS3

     Lollipop Chainsaw! Suda51! James Gunn! Rainbow Sparkles! Chainsaw Death! Is it fun? Can you eat it? Let's find out!

Celebrate the Month of Suda51 on Aegis Reviews!

     Killer is Dead is upon us, releasing later this month on Thursday, August 29th, In honor of this glorious event, we're (I'm) celebrating by giving attention to its equally glorious creator, Goichi Suda of Grasshopper Manufacture a.k.a. Suda51. Why do we like Suda51? Because he isn't afraid to make what he wants. So, how are we going to celebrate? By writing reviews, streaming gameplay, and hunting trophies. Here's what's going on this month:

Shadows of the Damned Review for PS3 and Xbox360

     Shadows of the Damned was the first project released after Grasshopper Manufacture acquired some new talent for their studio and larger publishers were willing to take a risk on Goichi Suda's (Suda51 (Of No More Heroes, Killer 7 fame)) eclectic and bizarre creations. I have to think that Shadows of the Damned is something Suda51 must be prideful of; It's the first game Akira Yamaoka (Composer famous for scoring the Silent Hill series) was involved with after leaving Konami to be hired by Grasshopper Manufacture as well as enlisting the talent of the great Shinji Mikami (Director/Producer of Resident Evil, Vanquish, Phoenix Wright, and God Hand just to name a few), and to top it off, it's the first Grasshopper Manufacture title to be published by a huge company, namely EA in this case. If there's a time for Suda51 to strut his stuff and show what he can do with a team of visionary Japanese developers, this game would be the right time to do so.

Metroid: Other M Review for the Wii

     I was once on a Metroid binge not too long ago. It all began with Metroid: Zero Mission on the GBA. After that, I'd gone through Fusion, Prime, Super, I was a fan. I was really excited for Other M but found that I was beyond disappointed when I finally got my hands on it. I thought the same as most other disheartened players, that Samus didn't need a voice, the story got in the way of what Metroid's always been, the design was too linear and some design choices left me utterly dumbfounded. In fact, it was due to the game's design that I wasn't able to progress after a certain point and couldn't beat the game- nor did I want to. It's been a few years since I've last played it and I found myself wanting to be able to specify what I liked or disliked about it in a way that I could debate, at length, my position. So I sat down, booted it up, and gave it another go. Who knows, maybe this time would be different.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger Review for the PS3 and Xbox360

      Call of Juarez has presented itself to me as a series with a firm grasp of its subject matter and always having a great sense of what makes for interesting storytelling and fun gameplay concepts. However, for all the good there seems to be, a certain lack of polish seems to keep the Call of Juarez out of real, mainstream success. Well, Techland seems to have got their **** together to make Gunslinger a game worth every dollar and minute you can spare. I'm totally in love...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror or Fate Review for the Nintendo 3DS

       So, Mirror of Fate is the next entry in the Lords of Shadow trilogy for Castlevania, and a faithful sequel at that. From what I've experienced, the purpose of Mirror of Fate is to set up the ensuing drama for Lords of Shadow 2 coming out later this year. Dracula's traditionally been the main villain in the Castlevania franchise and now we're being shown how the Belmonts enter the fray as the vanquishers of the night in the new Lords of Shadow lore. But how well does the game transition onto a portable console? Astonishingly well actually!

The Walking Dead: The Game Review for PS3 and Xbox 360

     I should've gotten around to this game a bit sooner than I did but receiving an award for game of the year as well as numerous other awards pushed me to play it to the end. Now that I've finished every episode, I can say it impacted me in a couple different ways. So, allow me to review it and say my piece.

DmC: Devil May Cry Review for the PS3 and Xbox360

     Let's get this out of the way immediately: This is a straight review of the game. I'm not going to address the controversy behind the game, what a good or bad fan is, etc. I'm going to be talking about the game as it relates to the franchise and what this game brings to the table.

So, this party, is it crazy-good or just plain crazy?

     Well, it's a little of both to be honest. It's kind of hard to talk about the game in one light or the other with how well it straddles the middle-ground. You can't like it without something about it holding you back and you can't hate it without recognizing that it deserves some modicum of credit for being a good effort and just down-right fun. I'm going to give you my take on each aspect that I think is worth discussing, but before that, let's get some bullet-points out of the way.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma Review for the PS3

     So, if you asked me what my favorite games of all time were, Devil May Cry 3 would be at the top and Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox would come right after. They are truly the two best action games I've ever played. If you asked me 3 days before I played Ninja Gaiden Sigma though, I wouldn't have been able to tell you why. This is because Ninja Gaiden 2 on the 360 mired the reasons I loved the game to begin with since they basically changed the entire play of the game, and not for the better. Then I played Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and it's probably what I'd state as being the current action-game masterpiece of the current generation (We'll see if I still feel that way after I play it for review which I'm doing right now). It was so good that I really thought I should pick up Sigma just to see what they added to the old game I'd played so many times over. Ninja Gaiden 3 is looking marvelous to me at the moment so I thought, screw it, let's do a review for Ninja Gaiden,

Gameplay

+ A Gentleman's Challenge - While this unfortunately doesn't stick around through Sigma in the later chapters, the following is essentially why the original was so incredible and original. Ninja Gaiden asks the player to give their best, not give up, and to find the ninja inside of themselves. I know that sounds REALLY cheesy but stay with me. First, why is it a "Gentleman's Challenge?" When I think of God of War, the enemies just seems like orange cones I just need to run over in my car. They're not specifcally put there to be styled on like Devil May Cry, your goal is just to remove them from your path asap, mash those buttons and destroy them, don't think about it, just do it. Well, that tells me to play as sloppily as I want because it doesn't matter. You don't remember the enemy types for how they fought against you, the cinematic QTE that let you kill them instantly is probably what you remember most. Well, while you can treat Ninja Gaiden like that, you'll probably make a really hard time out of it for yourself. The game starts off placing one enemy in front of you, you kill him no problem. You may have thought it was cool that he blocked your attack a couple times but that didn't stop you. Then you get two at once directly after. It's a bit more hectic but you're thinking that this fast paced battle between the two is what it's all about, still manageable and pretty cool. The game attacks you in pair a few more times and you realize you're getting awfully low on health and you only have a limited way to recover that health. Then they toss three ninjas at you and you're getting your butt handed to you because you're just trying to kill as fast as you can. It's at this point you need to realize you don't play Ninja Gaiden like some meager beat-'em-up. These enemies don't want to die, they want to live and they're not afraid of standing up to you at all. They don't want to give you breathing room and time to think because they'll die if they do.
     Now, don't get me wrong, they're are programmed with some form of restraint, you never truly get mobbed and they usually focus on only tossing a max of three enemies at a time your way. What Ninja Gaiden does is it puts you in a place where you need to think defensively first and how you can turn those conditions you're up against back at your challengers. You need to block and look for openings. You can't get greedy with your attacks because they'll get you from behind. Knowing your combos allows you to put vulnerability at a minimum while you maximize the efficiency of the damage you deal. Now crank up the speed on that thought process and you're playing a "Gentleman's Challenge." Dirty tricks are frowned upon and clean precise play is rewarded. It's essentially going at the same pace as Devil May Cry but it's more about defense and survival over creative aggression and reflexes.
     So then you make it to the boss, and you die, and die, and die. It's only the first level and you just can't do it! Well FUCK that! Ninja's don't give up and they don't fail. They look inside, gather themselves and the beat the shit out of what stands in the way of their success. This happens often in NG. I guarantee you will get pounded to death a lot of times on your first play through the game. You need to pick yourself up, find the ninja in you and succeed. To give up is a shame but to succeed is to feel unbeatable, invincible, empowered, and beyond whoever steps in your path. THAT is Ninja Gaiden. After you get through that, you're ready to play what the game has to offer. I also have to add that because of this challenge and empowerment of the player, as well as Ryu's lack of dialogue and emotion, the barrier of stepping into the shoes of a ninja disappears. You feel like beating this game is a task only someone as determined and skilled as you can hope to attain. To me, this is the ultimate motivation you can give to a player. And that's probably why I beat this game 10-15 times in a row without touching another game way back when. There's nothing like the challenge this game provides and there still isn't. Ninja Gaiden is a truly unique game and it should not be ignored by anyone truly invested in what games have to offer.

+ Exploration - Another aspect of Ninja Gaiden that helps it stand apart from other games in the genre is how much exploration there really is to do. It's a nice fifty-fifty split between combat and running around discovering things and climbing about. It gives you the time to become a little more intimate with the game in front of you and ties you to the experience.

= Weapon Diversity - There are eight weapons or so available for use ranging from small to large, quick to slow, they pretty much have their own uses. It's probably not the most fleshed out system simply because they wanted you to be able to use a weapon that fits your style, but they also want certain weapons utilized for specific sections of the game although it isn't clear most of the time. Overall, it's not a very large problem but it could've been fleshed out a bit in this updated version more than it was. But the weapons themselves are very cool with very unique designs. It'd be hard not to find one or even a couple that fit you and your style of play.

- Sigma Unfortunately Dropped The Ball - Well, first off, this isn't a game made by Tomonobu Itagaki, the original creator of the game. He kinda watched it develop from afar, really just hating Sigma's guts to begin with. He didn't like that one of his subordinates wasn't truly evolving the game's experience and believed Yosuke Hayashi, Sigma's director and producer, was just trying to copy the original's success (Which if that's the case, who can blame him? It's one of the highest rated games of all time). So how did the game fail to deliver? Well, it was a few things. First of all, they added too much to make the game harder and easier at the same time. That sounds confusing but you'll see what I mean.
     I don't know what the hell they were really trying to do with the water sections of the game, they probably should've left them alone. Originally, you could skillfully tap the jump button in a rhythm to run on water, it wasn't difficult by any means. You also had a breath gauge when you dove under water to add some pressure to certain sections of the game that had puzzles or mazes under water. Well, now if you want to walk on water you can just hold any direction on the stick when you hit the surface and Ryu will automatically run and do whatever you want, easy as can be. They also give you an oxygen tank so now you can breathe indefinitely under water. Well, we got automatic water running because in chapter thirteen there are these flying sentry bots that shoot missiles at you so now you can just run at them and kill 'em without frustration (as if they were in the first place). There's also one more way they utilize the running but I'll talk about that in a sec. And then, they removed a lot of the water puzzles/mazes that relied on the breath gauge so now they made the addition of an oxygen tank almost without reason... Very confusing.
     They also rearranged levels to flow in a more straightforward fashion so that the player doesn't get lost or end up not knowing what to do. It backfires if you have played the original before. There's a point where you're gaining entry to a military base and you have to get a bow that shoots stronger and farther than the one you have now. Originally, you'd go to where you think you're supposed to be at, find out you need an item, someone shoots you from up in a building, you aim the bow to shoot them back, and then you see a bow on the wall in room the enemy shot at you from. You also happened to a new key that you haven't used yet so you're supposed to find your way to that room and switch out your bow for the upgraded one. Then you look out the window there and you see a switch in a tower across the way, above the gate you need to open. You shoot an arrow to hit the switch, you proceed. In Sigma, you just fight some guys and a boss that's an exact copy of Chapter 3's, which is insanely out of place by the way, and you get the bow. Then the gate opens for you and you have no idea what you have this new key for... I did it in the original order and became extremely confused why the upgraded bow wasn't there and then I wondered what the point of coming to this location was. I mean, you really don't have to use it for anything anymore and it added to the exploration aspect beforehand so they swapped exploration for a ham-fisted battle against one of the worst bosses in the game...

     The original game had superb challenge which really lied with their collection of enemy types. It slowly introduced you to enemies with varying behaviors and modified them into newer, more challenging types as the game when on. When it wanted to impose a challenge to the player late in the game, it'd see how you could deal with four enemies at once of an advanced type. Bosses were fine before too. You were able to take a few hits and still be alright. Sometimes they'd get you with a very damaging attack but it wouldn't necessarily be the end. Well they must've wanted to inject their game with a little juice from Ninja Gaiden 2 because new enemy types were introduced in the oddest of places and they were kick-you-in-the-teeth hard. I mean, it's hard to deal with a spike in difficulty so large, so fast. The majority of the new enemies were just terrible designs in the first place. Maybe they thought they needed a new enemy for the water sections now that you can run more easily on water. BAD IDEA! Those new mermen enemies were garbage. They wanted to be under water, but on top of the water, and if you hit them once, they'd fall under water but if you tried to go into the water, they do an ultra damaging attack to you that you can barely dodge because you still aren't extremely mobile on water - it was a cluster****. They showed up the one time and then never again. WHY WERE THEY THERE? The good new enemy type however, the purple cat-ladies that you also fight only once, were pretty good. They'd toss about five to six of them at you and they were designed with mob mentality so they just charged you but they didn't really block. They provided a good change of pace to the usual enemy types where it was more about offensive juggling as opposed to staying defensive.
     the bosses were made to deal more damage this time around, some even got new attacks designed to take more health from you. I essentially couldn't beat the game. Yeah, that's me, the action game extroadinaire, couldn't beat the game on Normal.I got to the very final chapter and I couldn't beat it because I had no items and the final boss could clear my entire health bar in a few hits... If I recall correctly, on the chapter before, there was a shop that existed where you could buy items and upgrade weapons before you fought the final boss. At least it would make sense that it would be there since you should have gotten a TON of souls to use at the shop by the time you get to it. Well, it's not there in Sigma. I had to beat the game without items and my currency was useless to me. So I had to take advantage of their last flaw to speak of -
     Every third death you incur, the game asks if you'd like to give up the path of the ninja. That's code for, "So we noticed you died another three times. Would you like to step down to easy mode?" First off, this is annoying as hell when you just want to continue and there's no way to disable it. Second, it makes you feel TERRIBLE if you select yes (of which it asks you to confirm this decision three times before you go through with it). Ayane shows up over your body and basically talks about how she thought you could do this mission but she was wrong. Then she reluctantly claims that she'll be there to support you the rest of the way. I didn't stay in "ninja dog" mode long enough to find out specifically what happens in length but the final boss seemed to be balanced the same way as he was in the original xbox version. You know, beatable with tactics and no items.
      Yeah, so at about the halfway mark, Ninja Gaiden Sigma loses the luster of the original game and just becomes an infuriating and inane experience.

- Rachel's Playable - I hate this woman. I hate the reasons for her existence, I hate the style of her weapon, I can't stand her design, she doesn't have a strong personality, and none of her sections add to the game in any meaningful way. It's cool that they fleshed out her move-set with some really spectacular attacks and combos but she was a total waste of time and even on occasion interrupted some very good exploration you accomplish with Ryu originally. She also put a lot of length into the game that absolutely wasn't needed. Without her, the first playthrough of the game might take you like 15-20 hours. With her, you kinda hope that the game's going to end sometime sooner rather than later.

+ Mission Mode - Anytime you get an action game with a mode like this, it's a plus. Sigma's Mission Mode has a huge set of challenges for you to accomplish where they toss different enemy types and quantities at you in varying locations. There are fifty-one missions with every five missions belonging to a themed set. There are also leaderboards where you can compare your score to others for specific missions (there's also a leaderboard for your scores in story mode).

- Now Loading Critique..... - I installed the game to the hard drive and I still have my game interrupted by last second loads. Anytime you're playing a game and your game freezes to load in the middle of what you're doing, that's unacceptable. This never occurred in other versions of the game.

- Needs Autosave - Let's say you made it to chapter 6 and the last you saved was in chapter 3. You die and go to the game over screen. It asks if you'd like to continue and you say yes. It won't restart where you died or even at the beginning of the chapter you're currently on, it just reloads your last save. Pretty big problem for a game such as this. I also find it ridiculous that it'll save how many times you died so that it's able to offer you a lower difficulty though. It just won't put you back at a reasonable point to try again because it doesn't save that particular data. SILLY!

- Glitches - Chapter thirteen was a nightmare for me. The camera got stuck at one point and prevented my progress in a level (I also hadn't run into a save point for the entire level and I had just got done with the mermen jerks. I REALLY didn't want to do all that over again and I was placed out of the map as I was swimming through a tunnel. I got lucky though because it put me in the animation for running on water and I was able to bypass the entire tunnel as well as regain oxygen. Then it put me back in the game. Still, glitches, man...


Story & Presentation

- Don't Play Sigma For Story - There almost isn't one here. I mean, if someone wanted me to explain to them what was going on in any given moment in the game, I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you much. Sigma's even worse as it excludes the intro cinematic for starting a new game which essentially serves the entire purpose of setting the stage for the game so they REALLY dropped the ball there. To sum up, you're Ryu Hayabusa, someone stole a sword you're clan was keeping out of evil hands, Ayane from Dead or Alive pops up from a neighboring clan and wants to aid you, you run into Rachel whose sister has become a powerful fiend-monster, and then anymore is a spoiler. You're literally like 2-3 plot points away from the end after my summary. Don't play for story, play for the overall mood and experience.

= Everything Else Looks Slap-dashed - It's nothing terrible but it just seems that all the menus and text weren't given much thought and were kind of tossed together as fast as they could so that they could get on with the game. Kind of made me feel like I was playing a rip-off at times.

Audio & Visuals

= Reminds Me of Mortal Kombat - Did you ever buy the soundtrack to the 90's movie? If you did, you'll feel like you're going through a time-warp when you hear the soundtrack here. Except it just lacks anything special to make it stand out at any given time. It's kind of sad when a game can't utilize its soundtrack to highlight sections of the game to really stick the game's special moments to the inside of a gamer's mind. That's why I recommend using your own music. Then you'll always remember your time with Ninja Gaiden, assuming they're times you'll want to remember... If not though, no worries. It's never so bad that you just want it to stop. At its worst, it just fades into the background and you never notice it had a soundtrack in the first place.

= Now With More Ayane! - Well the voicing was never a selling point for Ninja Gaiden, probably because story was never focused on to begin with, but it's decent enough to get the job done without turning off the player from the characters. And for whatever reason they came up with, Ayane's voice is now everywhere, from tutorial menus to narration. I guess they wanted to give her more involvement in the game, which is perfectly fine. If anything, it's a good thing! But I'm not sure that it really added all that much, so...

+ Improved Visuals - While it may not stand up to modern era games, it really does bring the original's visuals to today's standards and some of it stands out in a beautiful way. Like in the tutorial level, cherry blossoms are falling from the trees while you're outside. It was such a nice feeling! We're also looking at improved textures, models have been redone with more polygons, and lastly, cutscenes have at least been reformatted to fit a widescreen television. It is a very attractive game in its own right.

- Jiggle Physics - They're everywhere now. They weren't before. Before, we had realistic bounce given what the characters with breasts were wearing. Now, breasts jiggle almost about as crazily as they do in Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. It REALLY takes you out of the experience and it felt out of place.

Should You Buy?

    Rent it. You should go through at least half the game to understand what Ninja Gaiden was eight years ago and how it's still relevant even today. I don't blame you for wanting to stop part way through though. Sigma doesn't do the original much justice and I'm happy that I still own the original game. Ninja Gaiden Sigma is convenient though and now people who never had Xbox's can play through a bit of what was such a great game.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma was developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the PS3. Played slightly over 10 hours to completion with a switch from normal difficulty to ninja dog on the final chapter due to terrible level re/design.

Batman: Arkham City Review for Xbox 360 and PS3

     Well, Arkham Asylum won game of the year and one game of the year always deserves a sequel, am I right? At least Rocksteady and Warner Bros thought it did. Getting to release was sort of haphazard towards the end with the intentional spoilers and the announcement that Catwoman, who was touted from the beginning as a key feature of the game, was now locked out of the game as $10 DLC, unless you bought the game new, just 4 days from release.

     I dunno, I was a fan of Arkham Asylum even though it took me a second playthrough to really get a more positive feel for it. I'm a rather large Batman fan, not in the sense of having an extensive background knowledge of the comics (Though I've dabbled here and there in some ****ing awesome stories (Hush, anyone?)), but rather that he's been my favorite hero since I could walk. Arkham Asylum took a bit for me to catch on to so I was only mildly excited for the sequel and was hoping that there'd be more villains and more polished combat mechanics. I don't have enough money to buy every game that comes out though, so I had to play it without Catwoman since I use Gamefly. Let's get down to what I thought of it.

Captain America: Super Soldier Review for PS3 and Xbox 360

(Simon was having trouble with his post so I had to post it for him. This is not my (Ashton's) review)

*Groans.....cracks knuckles......rubs eyes......puts the kettle on*

Ladies and gents. Boys and girls. I'm back on the reviewing train. Whether that's a good thing or not is beyond me but I can't let Ashton do all the work (even though it's fun to watch him struggle). ;-)

With the slew of amazing Marvel films lately, there was always gonna be movie-game tie-ins. Historically, games based on films (and vice versa) have been for the most part.....well......crap! Does Captain America have what it takes to buck the trend of quick cash-ins? Or will this Avenger completely disassemble (comic geek reference there) your hopes?

**Please bear in mind folks that although I'm a MASSIVE comic-book fan, I will be reviewing this as a game with only mild comparison to the comics........well, that's my theory anyway!**

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Review for the Xbox 360 and PS3

     Assassin's Creed 2 (AC2) saved the series for me. It updated the game in just the right way so that everything worked mostly the way it was supposed to the first time around. The story was also very character-driven and delivered several hours worth of varying gameplay. But then, it was given plenty of time to change for the better.
     What's going on with the series now is that Ubisoft wants their AC team to produce a game every year. Most games take several years to make from scratch with some series being able to pump out a sequel in about 2 years using the same, updated engine. But what you get with those sequels are improvements for the series, worthy additions that create new, staple mechanics or features for that game. With that in mind, when Ubisoft touted releasing this game only a year after AC2 and all they wanted to talk about was the new multiplayer mode, I was completely put off and I never picked it up. My thoughts were that AC shouldn't be about multiplayer and I didn't believe Ubisoft was a capable enough developer to pull off a complete, hazard-free game in one year.
     Now, Revelations is on it's way out and I've heard very mixed things from longtime fans of the series saying that Brotherhood was either very decent or a letdown so I thought it would be time to play the game for myself and draw my own conclusions. Allow me to shed some light on the release. Also, in this review I'm going to assume you've played the previous Assassin's Creed games or at least know a fair bit about them. This sequel isn't exactly a departure from what the series has been doing thus far.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair Review for the Xbox 360

    When it comes to this new release in the Castlevania family, I've never been more disappointed with gamers' reactions to it. A lot of it actually seems to stem from playing the game like a ****ing noob. I'm extremely opinionated on this topic thanks to things like previews and reviews from "gamers" on Youtube, the majority of which only played the demo or chose to play this as their first Castlevania game. Mainstream reviews haven't helped it along either as they slashed the game's score to bits. In fact, it seems hard to get a true opinion from someone who actually TRIED the game. Well here we go, I played the game for 40 hours strong, and I'm still going. I got both the Castlevania noobie and fan in mind, so here we go!

+ Tell me how it feels! - Imagine an arcade version of Castlevania and that's just what Harmony of Despair is. It's Castlevania without the story and giant castle maps. It introduces you to the boss at the beginning of each level and it's up to you to discover how to reach the boss and figure out the other nuances inbetween. 

     Compared to the other games in the series, the gameplay is a bit more sluggish. It's similar to going from Devil May Cry 3 to Ninja Gaiden; You feel sort of cemented in your animations compared to what feels like a free-flowing ballet of attacks. Attacks feel slower as does just walking around the castle. You get used to it pretty quick though and there's never even a second thought about the sluggish feel after that. For the new player, it helps them focus on the smaller details of battle and platforming, introducing complicated mechanics that have been series staples in a slower, simpler fashion. It's a good idea since it doesn't pull down the vets and helps the new ones move along together.

     And finally just some odds and ends: You don't gain levels, you obtain new equipment and perform actions with each respectable character to make them stronger. How to do that exactly, you'll need to play each one and find out for yourself. In Multiplayer, Loot is given to every player (given that they haven't died and been turned into a skeleton) and every character is given equipment specific to the item set of that character i.e. If Charlotte and Jonathan are working together and they open a chest, Charlotte will get an item belonging to her and Jonathan will get an item belonging to him. 

+ Our heroes come together to battle evil! - Jonathan! Charlotte! Soma! Shanoa! Alucard! They're working together and combining their skills in ways that, surprisingly, work! Honestly, you gotta wonder if they had this game in the works since the release of Dawn of Sorrow. All of the characters work so differently from one another yet work together in perfect harmony. Also, breaking down one character and their specific set of mechanics to build them up to an unstoppable force can take hours upon hours! It's a bit more addictive and fun than it sounds, I promise. Every character gains potential in a different way and playing with others online will make you want to burn the midnight oil to get them all performing at 100% perfection. There's talks of DLC to bring Maria Renard and Julius Belmont which tickles my desire to master more characters. Be warned: You will be addicted.

+ Six heads are better than one - In multiplayer, up to 6 players can traverse through the castle maps at a time. The difficulty of those maps are scaled depending on the number of players present in the map. I gotta say, when you have a full party and the character selection is diverse between you, the game feels like the ultimate crossover of heroes pulling together to destroy evil. There's a constant desire to pull through for the rest of the group and make your hero shine and become their best. And no worries about lag, it's basically non-existent.

- The noobs... - Noobs are annoying. Noobs approach every situation with a mindless solution regardless of whether there's a more useful one right in front of them. Unfortunately, this generation of gamers have not grown up on platformers and they have NO idea what they're doing and they chose a rather difficult game as their first platformer/Castlevania game. Unfortunately, there are troves of these noobs on the game and you can tell that the reviewers of the game are noobs as well, reporting some bosses as difficult asses. Here are some tips to avoid being a noob:

• Choose a simple character: Too many people use a character that's no good for their skill level. This is mostly true for girls since they want to choose Charlotte and Shanoa since they're girls. This is a dumb notion and should be snuffed. Charlotte and Shanoa are for advanced players. If you're not doing well with a character or you can't figure out their growth, switch to another. There are five to choose from. Here's a list of the players so you know who to go for when starting out:

1. Alucard: Simple use. Good for beginners. Medium growth over time, maybe a bit too slow for most.
2. Soma: Easy use. Also good for beginners. Medium growth over time, introduces different powers and feels rewarding right at the get-go and beyond.
3. Jonathan: Good for understanding the way the game works. Super slow growth so I wouldn't recommend sticking with him for too long unless you get attached to his style. Making him stronger is for the determined and patient, though.
4. Charlotte: Advanced. Unless you work on her strength in single player, she will never be worth a dime in a group. Grind, grind, grind.
5. Shanoa: Advanced. She gets nothing to work with until the later stages. Before then, she's not worth it unless you know what you're doing. If you do, you'll be rewarded early on but there isn't a whole lot of variation with her play, so she'll get stale soon after use.

• Double Jump: You have two jumps. Learn to use them. You jump once, and at the height of that jump, jump again. Some situations may call for more distance than height so delay the second jump to accrue more distance.

• Bosses: DO NOT MINDLESSLY ATTACK A BOSS. This is an old-school platforming-action game. Bosses have patterns. Focus on those patterns. Only attack when you know you're out of harm's way. Most of the time, the safe spot is behind the boss. If you get demolished by an attack, learn the signal for the attack and think about how it can be dodged (Can you slide under it? Can you heel-stomp the boss to get behind them?). If you get hit by something, work on figuring it out so that you don't get slammed by the attack again. There is a way to dodge every attack and most of them very easily. If you continue to get pummeled, you're not paying attention.

• Puppet Master: ATTACK THE PUPPET, NOT THE MASTER. The Puppet Master (Master of Illusions) uses iron maidens with a summoned puppet to transport you into in the iron maiden either killing you or bringing you to the brink of death. These puppets have no health. They are destroyed by a certain number of hits that increases depending on the number of players in the party. The number of hits is based upon the attack speeds of all characters in play so 3 players cannot destroy a puppet for a 5 player team. All 5 must attack. When traversing through the level, push crates in front of iron maidens. When the Master leaves the boss room, stop attacking, look at your map (you have lots of time) and figure out what iron maiden he's headed for. Get there and wait for him. If you don't get there first, he can actually block you from reaching the puppet so really, get there first or you're all dead.

• Pay attention: Please don't go on autopilot. That's what a bad Castlevania player does. If your whole party is doing something, maybe they're doing something you should be doing too. If you know better than them, don't follow the lemmings off the cliff. By the way, attacking the Puppet Master while everyone is attacking his puppet means you're being an idiot. Play smart, not rushed. If you can't get hit, you can't die and it won't matter how long the boss is alive. 

+ Good times - There's a 30-minute timer on every run in a level. I've heard the complaints and whatnot. They're all completely unfounded. Playing solo you can take your time grabbing every chest, killing every monster, and defeat the boss with time still leftover. If you ever run out of time, it's likely that you really had no sense of how to get around the stage but that really only applies to people who have never played a game like this before, and since the levels are meant to be played again and again, it doesn't really matter if you run out of time. 

     Other than that, it's a great built-in timer for speed-runners, it keeps some form of pressure on players to keep moving, and since it subtracts 3 minutes from the clock if you die as a skeleton, it keeps people from being a hero and making stupid decisions. It's a really small addition to the game that seems like it could make the game worse or not matter at all, but it does serve a purpose to keep the game going whether you know it's there or not.

Story and Presentation

- This is not the story you are looking for... - There's really no story here. It's just an excuse for the action


- I'm so confused! - The menus can be confusing. After you get used to them, it doesn't really affect you but just jumping into the game, you could be confused about where to go to do what. Clarity on these menu options should've been present and I'd make the call to say it was lazy that it was absent.

= Skin and bones - The presentation is nothing flashy but it still manages to feel like Castlevania. More effort would've been nice.

Graphics

= Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! - All sprites and backgrounds are brought over from the DS games. They look fine on the TV though. It just would have been cool if they had remade the sprites with a little extra detail since this is an HD title and high definition is the name of the game. I still enjoy all of the visuals regardless.

Sound

+ REMIX!!! - They took many different Castlevania themes and remixed them into high-quality works of art. Music to my ears so to speak. They even let you customize the game soundtrack with over 30 remixed and reworked Castlevania tunes.
     Adding to that, all of the sound effect samples and voice work are crisp and superbly recorded. 

Should you buy?

     Buy it if you've been a lasting fan of the franchise. Please, if this is your first Castlevania title, don't play this game. At least not yet. Purchase Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the Marketplace and use that as your first romp through the franchise.
     There's LOTS of replay value and even some future DLC in the works so it goes way beyond it's $15 asking price. Unless you're a spoiled gamer, it's hard to be disappointed with what Castlevania: Harmony of Despair has to offer.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair was developed and published by Konami for the Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace. Played over 40 hours and generally mastered each character available aside from Alucard.

Batman: Arkham Asylum review for Xbox 360 and PS3

And I'm back! Many apologies, ladies and gents, for not posting up reviews for a while but here goes nothing.

First of all I'd like to say that I've been reading comic books for over twenty years now so this review may seem biased but I assure you I'll give it a fair trial.


Batman has, once again, captured the Joker and has transported him back to Arkham Asylum (a nut-house for the mentally insane and super-criminals). Things quickly take a nose-dive as you find out that Joker was counting on being taken back so he can act-out his newest plan to defeat Batman and destroy Gotham City (guy needs a new hobby if you ask me).


It's then up to you, as Batman, to track Joker down whilst beating several other recognisable faces (Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Scarecrow etc) along the way. Well, that's the story and, in all fairness, it's not the most complex of storylines but when the game is as good as it is, it doesn't need to be.

GRAPHICS

+ Graphically this game is a visual feast! For anyone who's read Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison, you'll have a rough idea of the visual style. A very dark and gritty pallette has been used to fantastic effect. The scenery design, as well as the game design in general, is simply stunning. Eidos have really created a superbly dark and moody atmosphere within the twisted walls of Arkham Asylum. Character models are brilliant (for most of it) although the henchmen are a generic character model but it's a small price to pay.
Action takes place all over Arkham Island and you'll find yourself in Botanical Gardens, Intensive Treatment Plants, Medical facilites and much more. Each location just feels right and never out of place. The level layout is open without being daunting. There's lots of little hidden areas that just dare you to find them but are never necessary to the game as a whole.
     Batman, himself, moves with all the grace and power we've come to expect from him whilst other characters are portrayed just as well, if not better. From Harley Quinn's schoolgirl-ish swagger, Ivy's seductive poise and Joker's frantic movements. Even the every-day cops seem to move with purpose. This isn't just a game of Batman, you're entering into the world of Gotham. :-)

SOUND

+ All the characters have brilliant voiceovers. The exception to this is Batman who can sound a bit wooden at times. The voices compliment the visual movements and styles of the characters perfectly. Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker from Star Wars) reprises his role as the Joker and is, to put it simply, magnificent!! Ambient noise and music is also used to great effect without ever becoming intrusive. Combat noise is damn-near perfect and feel like they were ripped straight out of a Detective Comics issue.

GAMEPLAY

+ Gameplay could be described as simple yet satisfying but I feel that this would be doing the game a dis-service. You're given an XP system that allows you to unlock one of Batman's gadgets per level gained. This could be throwing multiple batarangs, extra armour, more comat moves etc. Speaking of combat, this is how it should be done!! Punching two goons, countering another, performing a takedown move on the next before leaping up and flying across the room to kick someone in the head, launching a batarang before using your grapple hook and explosive gel to take down crowds of enemies. Combat really feels fluid and makes the game even more enjoyable.
     Some sections of the game will have you picking off armed guards in true Batman style as you stick to the roofs and the shadows. A gung-ho approach WILL get you killed very quickly so don't try it!! However, the best part of this game (for me) were the set-pieces. By this I mean, certain cut-scenes that normally led-up to a boss battle. Never, will you look at the Scarecrow the same way again!! :-) I really want to say more but I would spoil what is a great piece of the game!
     There is also a lot to do once you've finished the game, not to mention free downloadable content from Xbox Live! Combat challenges, Predator Challenges, riddles to solve, trophies to find. Batman offers a lot of value for your hard-earned cash.

= During your adventure around the Asylum, you're given access to certain gadgets such as electronic doorhacking, grappling hooks etc. One such gadget is the ability to enter into Detective Vision. This is esentially X-Ray vision which is absolutely vital in the game. It also shows you the enemies heart-rate and emotional being (ranging from calm to terrified). This is a great touch but I found myself with Detective mode turned on for the majority of the game. This is a shame as it has a tendency to detract from the amazing graphical surroundings.



- You're Joking right (pun intended). The last boss fight is fairly lame. Almost as if the developers didn't know how to live upto the rest of the game. Such a shame. Thankfully, it's more of a missed opportunity than an out right game breaker.


Should I buy?

Oh hell yes!! Okay, so I'm biased but doesn't stop Batman: AA from being the best game of 2009. There is so much to do even after the main game has finished. Regardless of whether you've read 100+ comics or are stepping into the world of the Dark Knight for the first time, I think you'll be more than impressed.

Mass Effect 2 Review for Xbox 360

     Why have I taken so long with this review? When you have something that is regarded as perfection in your little world, you just can't form coherent sentences. Your speech is muddled by affection surpassing that of your own mum (Simon's rubbing off on me TOO much). I didn't know how I would end up writing this review; Would I write too much? Would I write anything that someone could objectively understand? I think I'm going to try to write as little as possible, leave a lot in the unknown territory of things. I personally believe that the less you know about an amazing game, the better it is. I don't want to ruin perfection for anyone.

Gameplay

+ Take cover, aim, shoot - That’s all there is to it. Just take the gameplay of any cover-based third person shooter and you got Mass Effect 2. Find cover, press the button to cling to it, aim, then shoot as much as you can. You can also hurdle over and sprint to other cover which is new for the series.  Stats used to be the focus of the gameplay in ME1 but this time, around, it’s all about the action. It all works great too. I had problems with it but I have a loose thumbstick (thanks Resident Evil 5...) so my guy would keep going out of cover because it kept thinking I was pushing out of cover. Other than that, it somehow feels more refined or deeper than the mechanics of a "Gears" game and that's a feeling I enjoy.
     Another aspect is that every mission is not just shoot this and that. You will be presented with different missions dealing with stealth, investigation, protection, and more. All of them are completely welcome additions and none of them were annoying in the least. It's rare that you see a development team take new directions within it's formula and succeed everytime. 

+ Pro-Biotics - With biotics in their current state, you control a bit more than what you used to in Mass Effect 1. Now you use biotics to change ammo type, use psycho-kinetic powers, and utilize technological powers. You also get less of them due to the new skill trees so you have to be more strategic when it comes to what class you choose and what party members you choose to work with. Playing on normal, you don't really need biotics very much. You pretty much just use them for fun. 

     On the harder difficulties however, you really need to think about what powers to use on who and when the best time is to execute it. You also want to combine powers for maximum effect. For example, there's a move where you dash at your enemy and you make impact using your whole body and they get thrown back a couple of feet. If you want to get the most out of this though, you might want to have a party member levitate the target causing them to fly across the entire room when you crash into them. They also gain damage from the impact, the hitting of the wall and then hitting the ground. 

     Some of the biotics also have unique ways of being executed. For instance, the pull biotic will should out an energy blast that levitates targets out of cover. You can tweak the way it seeks out targets though. The blast will alway home in on the target but you can aim up hight making it curve down from the sky or shoot it to the side making it swing around corners. It is EXTREMELY satisfying. You can even advance the power to pull multiple targets at once as well.

+ War has changed - Guns ain't like they used to be. Now you use thermal clips or what a normal person might call regular ammunition clips with a set amount of ammo that you have to reload. In other words, they work like normal guns now with the exception of universal ammo. They no longer overheat and have infinite ammo... Well they do still overheat but that's only in the story's context. Sorry, I'm confusing things. Anyway, now you need to look in the environment and around fallen enemies for ammo clips. This was extremely hard to get used to as I had JUST came out of Mass Effect 1 and you never had to pay attention to ammo. The clips themselves don't call a lot of attention to themselves either if you're not specifically looking for them. They do make a extremely visible flash to show themselves to you, but once again, if you're not looking for them you won't see them. I played the first 20 or so hours with a good friend of mine watching me and he was constantly pointing out during the entire 20 hours that I had missed a lot of ammo clips as I progressed. This doesn't even come close to being a problem, but it's worth noting. Should you come into ME2 without playing ME1, I don't think you'll have any problems with this.
     Guns are also more strategic in ME2, at least they appear to be. Certain guns work better against shields, barriers, and armor so you have to think of what guns you want to use in certain situations. And instead of constantly getting better guns, you normally just get a few different guns for each type there is, i.e. 3 different snipers, 2 handguns, 2 shotguns. They instead choose a different feel in exchange for different power stats. This sniper rifle could shoot faster, have more ammunition, but will be balanced with less power and less accuracy, or you could choose the other sniper with opposite stats. All of the guns and their variables are purpose built and are designed to take the specific play of your character and his/her biotics into account. There's a deep layer of strategy that comes into play when you get on the harder difficulties and it's EXTREMELY satisfying when you get everything to work seamlessly together. It's likely, however, that you won't notice any of this if you play on a lower difficulty setting.

+ Choose your destiny - There are numerous missions in ME2 and they all feel like they have some substance to them unlike the side missions in ME1 which just felt repeat missions with different contexts. Also, along the path of the game, you need to make heavier decisions than you were faced with in the first game. It felt as though a number of them had consequences that would lead to being further explored in the next game. And one more thing, you always know where you're going now. All of the major hubs are marked on your star charts and all of your missions, both main and side, are marked next to the corresponding planets and galaxies associated with them. You always know where you're going and how much you need to do.

= Less RPG, more action-adventure - If there was something to be disappointed about is that the RPG elements that were present in the first game are almost not even present here. They've either been streamlined or omitted which, even though some of them were good, the result feels like a more polished game. They also left enough of it in to still customize characters the way you want them to be for your preferred performance and style. Anyone that loves stats and equipment shouldn't be expecting it here. Expect a moderate choice of skills and a deeper real-time action experience.

- Scanning... Anomaly detected... - They replaced exploring worlds in the vehicle with scanning planets for resources. The only thing the resources are good for are upgrades but it's so annoying and slow that you would never do it if you didn't need those upgrades. Just the fact that it's bland and slow and needs reworking for ME3 is all that really needs to be said about this.

Story and Presentation

+ And our hero's struggle continues - The story is very deep, very emotional, and very intimate. Even without having choices to reflect on from the first game, you could still believe the story was custom tailored just for you. Should you have data from the first game, your choices will indeed be reflected in ME2's story making it that much more personal. Running alongside of the main cannon for ME2, I had a deep, personal struggle within the game. Because I made an uninformed choice in the first game, I performed a great deed but with a large cost and now the galaxy loathes humans and doesn't trust them. So at the same time that I'm trying to save the galaxy again, I'm dealing with my mistakes from the past and trying to correct them by proving humans aren't these hidden-agenda, meat-bags. I haven't tried different story paths yet but I believe the game is structured in a way that would not have the galaxy hating human beings if you had gone in a different direction. I really don't want to say anything more specific than I already have, just know it's worth all of your time and that you won't be able to resist late-night excursions through the game just to find out what happens next.


+ Our choices shape the future - Almost everything you did in the first game is reflected here, some in larger ways than others. It also leads you to think very carefully about the choices you make in this game. The fact that your decisions are so much larger this time around also adds to the previous statement. I cannot imagine how my choices will take shape in the third installment but I'm dying to find out.


+ A dream come true - I believe that everyone has at least one sci-fi, fantasy, or anime that features a large cast of characters working towards a shared goal; Whether it be Serenity, Cowboy Bebop, Stargate, Outlaw Star, Star Trek, Buffy, Xena, the motions that those characters go through are all represented in Mass Effect. If someone said you had the opportunity to build personal relationships with those characters and to work with them to achieve your goals, would you let it pass you by? I don't think so. Then why aren't you playing Mass Effect already?


+ Encyclopedic knowledge of the galaxy - I read it all, every word. In the game, you have access to a codex which will inform you about nearly every imaginable aspect of Mass Effect's world: How it's weapons work, classifications of space ships, different races' biologies, religions, governments, technologies, wars, militaries, etc. The thing that's so great about this is that it's not throw-away information like in Final Fantasy 13. It gives context to the way the game and the story plays out. Here are some examples:

• Guns now use heat-sink clips because it has been researched that a soldier can reload his gun faster than waiting for the entire thing the cool down. The result is now reloading your guns instead of having infinite ammo and overheating weapons. They also explain how the ammo is universal.

• Element zero takes extremely high heats to form. The result is that if you're looking for that resource, you might want to look for planets that are closest to the suns of their respective systems.

• All of the bios on the different races will explain how they react in certain situations and conversations as well as explaining why they normally take certain roles within a community. It allows you to feel more informed when communicating with other species. Why are there so many Turians in Citadel Security? Because Turians are a race that believe very highly in serving out justice. They almost have no crime on their planet because justice is such a revered thing where they come from.

     It's not as detailed as in the game but you get the idea. Your codex is something that if you take the time to read, you're almost instantly rewarded for it. It just adds so much to the overall experience that it's definitely something not to be skipped over. 

+ Oh, all the places we will go - All of the environments are a bit smaller than they use to be but as a result of that, they end up having more personality and life within them. I would say that it did slightly suck not being able to go around the Presidium at the Citadel anymore. I might suggest that if you want a closer feeling to the environments in this game, at least a closer one than what's offered here, do play the first Mass Effect. It helps build the worlds around you in your mind. I wouldn't say it's required at all though. 
     The places you go in ME2 are also a lot darker and in-depth. You're given the feeling that you are thoroughly exploring all there is to any given environment and it connects you even more to setting of this epic story.


+ Tell me what I want to hear - The dialogue is priceless in this game. It never gets old or boring. Having already gone through the game, I'm trying to speed through the harder difficulties but the longer I play, the less I skip the conversations. Now I sit there listening to every single one another time, just as interested as I was the first time I heard them all. The voice acting and dialogue is amazing.


+ Everyone is different - The characters and their personalities are so varied and different this time around. And they're all so interesting that any time you have something you can do to find out more about a character or gain a new one, you'll do it as fast as you can. I assure you that you'll rarely skip out on any conversations you could have with them since every one of them are so interesting. You can also do what are called "loyalty missions" which serve as buffers for that given character's background. Once completed they will gain a new ability and appearance. There should be a good handful of characters that have the ability to appeal to everyone who plays this game. There's someone for everyone, and I wouldn't dream of spoiling any of them... Well maybe one...

+ GARRUS!!!!! - He's ****ing back and just as badass. He's one of the characters that I share an extreme camaraderie with. Unfortunately, he's one of the characters with the least amount of conversation pieces. I do feel something deep with this character though. He just feels like a friend I've known my entire life and I feel compelled to sacrifice anything if it meant his well-being. Without spoiling too much, I actually felt compelled at one point to go back in time (play a previous save) just to see if I could make things swing more in his favor only to be saddened that my efforts could not change the future. If you love this character as much as I do, Bioware's going to have a field day with your heart in ME2. I'm not suggesting anything rash happens, you'll just have to play the game and find out what I mean.


+ All you need is love - I'm not going to dive into this one very much at all but this time, with the exception of just a couple characters, no one is off limits when it comes to romance. I will say that there's a lot more choice as a male Shepard than a female Shepard which is disappointing. Sorry, ladies...

Graphics

+You're gonna want an HDTV for this one - Character models are very detailed. One of which is a krogan that is so well rendered that I feel like it's a high-res cutscene every time I talk to him and see the way his face moves and what his skin looks like. There's detail in every nook and cranny of this game and I can imagine feeling very left out if I couldn't view it all in HD. 

Sound

+ Flawless Victory - Just as it were in the first game, sound was obviously important to BioWare when it comes to Mass Effect. It seals the deal when it comes to how believable, visceral, and tangible the world around you feels. Prepared to be blown away by earth-shaking explosions and seduced by detailed voice work.

- Where'd you go? - There is a problem in a few copies of the game where in one scene on disk 2, the dialogue just cuts out. It's not a widespread problem so I wouldn't be worried about it if you go to pick up a copy. But the problem exists and there's no known fix for it. It did kill the mood for me... *Weeps...*

Should you buy it?

     YES, a billion times over, yes! And if you haven't played Mass Effect 1, pick that up too. This is one of the greatest games I've ever played. BioWare officially has me sold on anything that has Mass Effect on the cover. I loved the game so much that I actually bought it twice! I bought the game for $30 around the time of it's release (I got lucky getting it that cheap) and I felt terrible that I didn't get the limited edition. I recently came across one for $100 and I snatched it up immediately without hesitation. I have no regrets. This game is worth almost any amount of cash.
     Despite how much I wrote, I left out A LOT of things. I could go into a lot of detail about the many aspects of Mass Effect 2 but it's very important to me that people feel like they discovered this game. If you can't get the personal feeling that goes with this game you'll miss out on a lot and that becomes a greater risk when you know too much about it. So I hope I didn't spoil much at all while convincing every one of you that if you don't have this game, there isn't even a way to express how lame you are as a person. Seriously, play it. NOW!

Mass Effect 2 was developed by BioWare and published by EA for the Xbox 360 and PC. Played through normal mode as a Vanguard Paragon for 50+ hours and still struggling to finish the game on Insanity mode, clocking in at 20+ hours so far. That's a lot of playtime for one game.