GTA IV: First Impressions

I didn't wait in line to get it. I didn't pre-order it either. In fact, I just walked right in to Best Buy first thing Tuesday morning and was able to pluck a copy of it right out of the gates. I'm of course talking about the most hyped game of 2008, Grand Theft Auto 4. In all honesty, I wasn't even going to buy the game; seeing as though I'm not a hardcore GTA fan. But then I started looking at my favorite aggregated video gaming sites and saw the unthinkable. The games average score across almost every gaming web site on the net was a freakin 10. A 10! Meta Critic, Gamespot, IGN, EGM...They all gave it 10's! I had to check out what the damn hype was; so...getting back to my story, I picked the game up.

I have said this in the past and will say it to the day I pass: "I love me a good sandbox game." Crackdown, Just Cause, Mercenaries, GTA, I've played them all and had a blast doing it. The freedom given to you in a quality sand boxer of choosing whether or not to accomplish your tasks at hand or perhaps going to reek havoc on a bunch of poor homeless people is gratifying and comical in its own right. You can explore the cities, go for a ride in a stolen vehicle (or not), or perhaps go and beat down some local thugs hanging out in front of your favorite shanty...its all good. GTA 4 is no exception either; this game is good...in fact its damn good. However, I'm not going to sit her and try to blow smoke up your ass. If you've never played a sand box game or one even remotely close to a free forming experience, this game may come off overwhelming to the newbie.

I know I know, I will save my formulated opinions for the review. I just wanted to say a few things though, 5 to be exact:

1. This game looks GREAT. Perhaps one of the best looking games on the 360 to date.
2. The game play mechanics are tight (the aiming system has improved 10 fold since GTA3)
3. I wish to god there was a better way to sprint other than having to tap the damn A button repeatedly.
4. Story line started slow, yet has picked up 120% after the first 5 hours. Impatient people beware.
5. Coolest protagonist (if thats even what you can call our main character) out of all GTA games hands down.


Look for the full review to come in about a week or so. The game supposedly runs close to 40 hours of game play...Plus, I will be grinding to get massive amounts of achievement points out this game. Until next time...I gotta get back to pimp slappin some BIZZES!

-Game Hard-

Chains of Olympus: My Un-Godly Love

Title: God of War: Chains of Olympus
Platform: PSP
Release Date: Available Now
Tid-Bit: The God of War series makes its first appearance on Sony's hand held gaming unit and packs one hell of a punch! From beautiful graphics to innovative controls and sound FX, this game will not be forgotten for decades to come.

I'm not going to do a fancy pantsy intro, where I banter about the aesthetics of what makes a good game. Nope, I'm getting right down to th nuts and berries of probably the best hand held experience I have ever had in my life. I've been waiting for the killer game to come out for my PSP for a long time now and until recently I had been level grinding in Disgaea for the hell of it and every so often giving Dracula X a go 'round. Thats all history now! God of War: Chains of Olympus has graced me with what I believe to be the greatest hand held experience I have ever had...and that's saying something!

-Wiki-
God of War: Chains of Olympus is a hack and slash, action-adventure game developed by Ready At Dawn exclusively for the Sony PlayStation Portable. The game is the third title of the God of War video game series and is a prequel set ten years before the original God of War. The game was released on March 4, 2008 in North America and March 28, 2008 in Europe.

Set ten years before the original God of War game,^[6] Chains of Olympus begins with the gods sending Kratos to the city of Attica to help defend the city from the invading Persian army. Spotting a basilisk climbing over the city walls, Kratos gives chase through the city. While chasing the basilisk, Kratos confronts the Persian King inside the city and kills him. After defeating the basilisk he witnesses the sun fall from the sky, plunging the world in darkness. Following the dim remaining light on the horizon, Kratos fights his way through the city of Marathon, along the way encountering the black fog of Morpheus which now covers the land in darkness.

As soon as I popped the game disc in, watched the opening cinematic and sat there in my Laz E Boy; jaw wide open and in amazement of what I just saw, I knew this was going to be something special. The game simply looks amazing. There is no other way of putting it. COO looks like a PS2 game, a damn good PS2 game! The colors are lush, landscapes beautiful and the character designs are simply spot on. There has been no other PSP game that has looked this good before, hands down. What amazes me even more is how smooth the game runs even with all these high textures and amazing graphics. For a 3rd person action title, things tend to get laggy when having multiple subjects on the screen, however, there is no lag, no stutter and no texture bump ins...NONE! NOTHING! NADA! Even when your doing battle with a monster that takes up half the screen, blows fire at you and is constantly moving around there are no faults that I could see. To me, this is amazing for a hand held.

The game play is just as gorgeous as the game itself. Combos are easy to pull off at the touch of a button making the game play fluent yet challenging at the same time. Also, in this installment Kratos (our main character) comes packing new special moves specifically developed for this hand held experience. Each new finishing move can be leveled up, varying the ferocity of the impact. Basically, if your in a jam, use these special moves to eliminate just about every living (or dead) creature on the screen. Yes, there are still your typical God Of War "Touch This Button" mini puzzles in order to kill the big bosses, but it doesn't feel old or simply restored due to its predecessors methods. The game play is innovative and comes as a breath of fresh air in this over populated "Action Genre." To many times games fall on their face for simply packing in mindless violence and action. God of War: COO is a perfect example on 'what to do' in order to make a game come to life!

The game runs roughly 6-8 hours of game play, typical for a hand held hack N slash action title. However, there is a lot of re-play value for owners. Once you have beaten the game, you unlock harder versions, full length documentaries on the making of the game, a few new abilities, and more mini games. Things like this go a long way for people who pay forty dollars for a game and then only get 4 hours of game play for it.

The biggest point I want to make and feel very strongly about is the sound FX of COO. They are the best I have ever heard on a hand held and are perhaps better than 90% of the titles out there right now...even console games. If you have a nice set of head phones you owe it to your self to plug them into the PSP port and turn the volume up; way up. The sound is amazing. From the sweeping grand overture and chorus, which are different in each level I may add, make the experience feel epic on all scales. Everything else, sound wise, needs to be mentioned for this game. The clanging of your dual blades, the quite slaps of rain drops hitting concrete railings, the screams of the "Black Medusa's" that whip around you when in battle are all just too good to be true. I've actually had to turn down the sound on my PSP while lying in bed because I had it turned up so loud that even with headphones on, I had woken my wife up. 'NUFF Said!

There are no negatives I can add. None. I'm actually trying really hard right now to come up with one thing I didn't like about the game or hindered my experience. Still nothing. I cant come up with anything and for the first time in Warp 9's history...God of War: Chains of Olympus gets a

outta 10










-Game Hard-

Upcoming Gems: Too Human

My ever dying love for gaming has brought me to play great games over the years. Duke Nukem 3D, Warcraft, The Halo's, The COD's, The Mario's etc etc. Yet, one game I always find myself comparing other games to is the one and only Diablo (The complete series). Perhaps the greatest action RPG of all time...hell, maybe even the greatest straight up RPG of all time. Few have come close to de-throning the kings rein, many have failed at pity attempts to clone the "one and only." However, this may all change once producer and developer Silicon Knights epic action RPG Too Human comes out later this year.

This game has garnered some well deserved hype; seeing as though it's been in development for damn near close to 7 years. Yes, you heard me correct, 7 years! Theres been graphical changes, engine swaps, law suites, litigations, you name it Silicon Knights has been through it with this game. Although things looked rough at first glance, Too Human has since swept the show floor at back to back E3's in 2006 and 2007, having extremely good showings and looking damn near perfect. From gigantic landscapes to Neo-Tokyo like skyscrapers, Too Human is shaping up to pack one hell of a punch.

The Genre? Action RPG. Think of Diablo...pack some updated graphics, set the time frame in the future and ya's got Too Human. Its got everything a fan of the Diablo series has ever wanted and it looks like it will deliver them on a silver platter. Level grinding? Check. Excursions? Check. Co-op story mode? Yes! Dungeon crawling? Abso-freakin-lutley! There truly is nothing like an exciting, well storied, beautiful looking dungeon crawler and we, 360 owners, will once again be able to micro manage some good old inventory, horde some gold/futuristic money, slay some dudes with big honking weapons and have fun doing it over and over again.

-IGN-
As the Cybernetic God Baldur, players are thrust into the midst of an ongoing battle that threatens the existence of mankind. An ancient machine presence has forced the God's hand. In the first of a three part trilogy, Baldur is charged with defending mankind from an onslaught of monstrous war machines bent on eradication of human life. Players are treated to a nonstop barrage of action powered by the seamless integration of melee and ranged firearms combat. Battles unfold in awesome scale as players engage in spectacular battles with vast numbers of enemies.

-A Taste Perhaps -

In the veins of such great games like Champions of Norath, Baulders Gate and yes the one and only Diablo franchise, Too Human looks to be the most promising installment into the action RPG genre...and it couldn't have come at a better time. Look for Too Human Q3 of this year.


-Game Hard-

Cracking Down on the Creed

Damn. Thats right, DAMN. I started to play Assassins Creed yesterday afternoon and got bored within the first hour of game play. I know I know, its all about stealth tactics and walking through large crowds with 'superdy doo' physics and realism! But come on, gimme some action...hell gimme something to kill or mess up. Perhaps I'm jumping to fast to superfluous thoughts of grandeur and didn't delve hard enough into the thick of things; so I will go back to it...I will grind through it...I will beat it. However, in the grand scheme of things I left Assassins Creed to go back to a game that I had a boat load of fun with. A game I haven't touched in a long while:

- Crackdown -

I had forgotten just how good this game is. Basically, to put it simply, its Grand Theft Auto on PcP. PcP laced with anabolic steroids. PcP laced with steroids dipped in crack (see what I did there?). Your a super human cop with a license to kill gang bangers, thugs, mob bosses and your occasional demented mad scientist. Progression throughout the game is based on your growth as a super soldier. You collect things like agility orbs and hidden ability enhancers scattered through out the city. Some high atop massive sky scrappers, some below in hidden water caves. For every kill you make or stunt marker you pass through or even rooftop race you complete, you get enhancers awarded to you as well. The idea is to get you to explore every little sub section of each of the enormous cities you unlock through out your play through. By collecting a lot of these ability enhancers you beef your character up to the point where you find yourself able to jump over buildings, pick up mac trucks like they were muffins, run like the wind and basically beat the ever loving turds out of your enemies. I cant tell you how much fun I've had picking up a car with some thugs still in it, tossing said vehicle 200 yards up in the air, pulling out my rocket launcher and lacing the car until you get one hell of a fire works show. Priceless.

I don't know what it is, perhaps its my ADD or something, but I need action. Which, I may add, is really weird and has one exception. RPG's. I love RPG's and can play through just about any of them; Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star Universe, Diablo, Eternal Sonata, any Tales installation, Disgaea (my favorite of all time). I don't know why but I love me some good old fashioned RPG level grinding. But stealth action? Not so much. Assassins Creed looks great and yes it plays pretty well, its just...slow. For a 3rd person action title I need constant gratification that what I'm doing is paying off; like in Crackdown...see what I did there, full circle people.

Like I said before, I'm not giving up on AC. I will hit it up again, probably over the weekend when I can sink a lot more time into it. But for now, I'm sticking with a past gem known as Crackdown, blowing up some dudes and shaking the very foundation of a great sand box experience.

Perhaps this excellent display of the absurd stuff you can do in the game will further your appreciation of it, enjoy:



-Game Hard-

Crowd Surfing with an Assassin

I was sitting in my chair late last night, approximately 12:00am or a 'lil bit after that, and was trying to figure out what I wanted to play. In all honesty I was stumped; I had no clue if there was even anything for that matter that I actually wanted to play. Then it struck me...right upside the face. I needed a new game.

As I awoke this beautiful fine morning, I got up, stretched and then danced a little morning jig in anticipation of my recently decided mentality to go out and buy a game on a whim! I arrived at work and tried to get some stuff done; however the thought of getting a new 360 game was too immanent and I just had to run to the local Best Buy (not even a mile down the road from work). I entered the front doors, was greeted by the overly happy Best Buy greeter-man who had a really odd shaped head, kinda like a bowling pin if I were to explain it. It irked me out a tad but I didn't let it slow me down. After seeing the "Missing Link" at the front door I speed walked to the 360 shelving units and began my dissection of the various titles displayed. Yet, It only took me 1 minute to pick something out. This game has been on my mind for some time now and I felt the need to give it a whirl seeing as though every aggregated video gaming site out there has given this particular game a 9 or better. What game am I speaking of, you ask?

ASSASSINS CREED






















I will be delving into this game at exactly 4pm this afternoon and grind through a good 4 to 5 hours of it. A full preview will be uploaded by tomorrow morning. Until then....

-Game Hard-

Hands On With Unreal Tournament 360

At this years NY Comic Con I was able to get my meat hooks around one of this years most anticipated games coming to the XBox360, Unreal Tournament. Gamers all around the world have been clamoring over the recently announced news that Unreal III would not only be making its first appearance on the 360 later this year, but it would also have exclusive content for Xbox Live Subscribers, i.e. user created MODS of in game maps and levels.

Speculation is that Epic's (the developers of the Unreal series) Unreal Engine is better suited for the 360 and makes the development process much easier for the people responsible for developing the games exclusive content. However, in my opinion, a Play Station 3 re-release with all content is inevitable and will happen late this year, perhaps Q4. Now, enough of the console war jargin and onto my hands on experience with this FPS juggernaut.

In the past, I have played the Unreal series on my PC...especially in college at a few LAN parties I held in my dorm room. They were fun, fast paced FPS's that were extremely popular in the early 2000's and still pack a pretty rabid fan base in 2008. The focus of these games has always been the multi player aspect and thats pretty much it. The series has never really been big on story lines and in my opinion thats an ok thing. In a nut shell, your in the future, you wear big honking armor, pack a wide assortment of overly large weapons and speak in heavy monotone bicuspids that you usually see in movies like Rambo. This leads me to begin my dissection of Unreal 3 seeing as though the only thing I was able to play was the multi player in fact.

I waited in line for about an hour to get a match in and in all honesty it was well worth it. The game (due out Q3 of this year) felt like a near final version. There was no texture pop ins, the graphics looked slick as hell and I couldn't have been happier with the sound FX. In my personal opinion sound is one of the moist integral parts to a video game. If your not totally enamored with the sound of a game it can ruin the whole experience. Unreal 3 is a perfect example of spot on sound. The best part, for me, was listening to the ambient noises while in a match. You could hear far off voices yelling to their partners, small explosions, fire fights, air ships flying overhead and even foot steps coming from afar. It helped me in the few matches I got to play before being rushed away to the next gaming kiosk.

The game play was spot on as well. It was super fast paced and had virtually no lag what so ever. I believe it was running at a smooth 60 frames per second seeing as though after a few seconds into my first match I blurted out, "Holy shit this looks nice!" I got a laugh out of just about everyone there. The first couple of matches was a feeler stage for me, i wanted to get the mechanics down quickly and was able to do so without a hitch, which is nice. The HUD is easily accessible and the controls felt tight. Want to reload? Just push B. Want to run? Hold the right bumper. Its the simplicity of this Unreal installment that got me pumped. After getting a grasp on which button did what, I started to dish out what can only be described as a brutal ass whipping to every one there...and I'm not lying. I won 7 matches in a row and died a mere one time...from self suicide accidentally dished out to myself... by myself; not bad if I must say so myself.

-Heres a Little Taste-

I have to say, there wasn't one thing I didn't like about my experience with this near finalized version. if I had to poke one hole in its brutal armor it would have to be the lighting. Make it a little brighter and I'm on board 100%. Unreal Tournament comes out (hopefully) Q3 of 2008 and will have 360 exclusive content supposedly ready on day one of its release. Here's to hopping for good things and for this shooter to get the console respect it so deserves.

-Game Hard-

This Week In The "Box" [4.20.08]

It's been a dry couple of weeks for the Xbox 360's Live Arcade Service. We've had only one title come out in close to three weeks (Ikaruga: A 'Shmup' of Epic Proportions) and thats it. Seriously, that pretty weak Xbox seeing as though the promise of releasing a new title every week (albeit a port, re-make, new IP or whatever) hasn't really happened. Yes, we've had a few weeks in a row here and there when one or two titles have come out sequentially but its never been a prominent "pan-handler" of weekly goods. Thus, when we do get a release...I make a big deal about it; call me old fashioned.

This week on XBLA we will see the release of, "Lost Cities."

-Joystiq[dot com]-

Lost Cities will continue in the proud tradition of XBLA games born of German card or board games when it arrives on the service this Wednesday. The card game, designed by Reiner Knizia, pits two players against eachother as they try to mount the most profitable expedition to the the titular lost cities.

In a nut shell: if you like board games/card games please by all means download the demo for the game, check it out, give it a whirl and let us here at Warp9 know just how good this title is. You can try your hand at venturing to the Lost Cities for 800 points ($10).

-Game Hard-

A New York Shalacking...A Metal Gear Catastrophy!

Since this past Thursday I have been in the Big Apple appeasing my inner geekdom by attending the NY City Comic-Con. This all out, 3 day nerd fest held in the "City That Never Sleeps" has been going on for three years now and since its inception, I have attended it with my good friend one 'Scottini' Proulx. From comics and movies, to anime and toons, to the occasionally odd but gratifying cos player, this Comic Book Convention of epic proportions holds true to its one overlaying purpose: its a damn good time! We didn't even get back from the show until last night around 1:00am, which is the reason for me not posting until this afternoon...needless to say, I'm exhausted.

This year was a little different in the fact that Scott and his brother Chris decided it was high time to set up a booth at the show for the comic book shop that they own right here in Manch Vegas: Double Midnight Comics. It was a good showing for our first year; we learned a lot and jotted down ideas for next year but in retrospect nothing else matters than having a good time, hanging with some close buddies and geeking out for a long weekend.

For me, however, there were a few things that I needed to do. For the first time since the start of this gigantic show in 2006, video game producers and developers made a very prevalent showing and I couldn't have been happier. I got to demo some upcoming titles that aren't even out yet, talk to some of the key developers on these titles and ask as many questions as I wanted to without being smacked over the head by some ripped body guard 'joansen' for some confrontation.

First off: Metal Gear Online for the PS3. This game is basically an online only multiplayer 3rd person shooter. Theres no story line (from what I can tell) and for that matter no sequential levels. Now, I'm not going to sugar coat anything here people, this game needs work; hell it needs a "hook" for that matter. I waited in line for about 40 minutes to play this game because I know there are a lot of PS3 owners out there and even more Metal Gear fans. However, the game isn't polished at all. There were texture pop ins every where, the look and feel of the game was almost that of Playstation 2 quality and the sound FX sounded like they were almost nullified by ambient gargle. Ouch, right? I was unimpressed to say the least and even more pissed off at the fact I waited in line for it. Now, before the hate mail infiltrates my inbox I do have one positive that came out of it. The game play mechanics were innovative in the fact that the maps I played made you interact with your surroundings. I could hide under a box, behind a lamp post, underwater, hell I could even take the form of a manikin in a shopping window. Neato. Like i said: Needs polish, needs a hook. To me thus far this game just look slike an average online shooter in the likes of Shadow Run for the 360 and PC.

For me, Metal Gear doesn't play a huge role in my gaming life. Yet, I do feel somewhat bad for those of you out there that are looking forward to this game. I know in retrospect Metal Gear Solid 4 is the real title you all are looking forward to and this title is just a "Side of Fries" to spruce up the occasion; but come on! The game is due out quarter 3 of this year and has some time to appease its con's and iron out the kinks; so there is some hope of this being a valuable title. So keep an eye here for the latest word on this Metal Gear title!

*Still to come: Naruto: Rise of a Ninja for the PS2 and the one we've all been looking forward to...UNREAL TOURNAMENT FOR THE 360!*

-Game Hard-

Live from the NY Comic Con

Hello from The NY Comic Con. So much going on here people...so much stuff that at 8:14am on Saturday (while I sit here in my boxers blogging at my Hotel "The New Yorker") that I cant even begin to start and describe the games I have demoed. But, before I make posts on all things NY Comic Con, I just wanted to post the high def video of what fellow editor SS Soulstealer has reported on: MK Vs. DC.

(A full wrap on the NY Comic Con coming Sunday ya'll!)

For you peeps that haven't seen this yet, here's a high def version of the video clip shown at the Midway event held in Las Vegas:

Half Life 2: Secondary Post

Well I have some great news for Half Life 2 fans. The game does get dramatically better, around the time you get the gravity gun and beyond. After 8 strong hours of gameplay, I have just finished the mines part, and my next job is to save the hot girl's dad, because he got captured. The game has gotten harder as I complete areas, which is pretty cool. I actually don't like the gravity gun too much. Don't get me wrong, it's cool to use, but when you grab something it blocks the screen and you can't really see what you are throwing it at. My favortie weapon is still the RPC 90 (in Goldeneye terms), because the off weapon launches an awesome gernade thing that rocks anybody.

I have died too many times to count, which is good news. The game gets hard, real fast, but once you determine where to go, you can fly through it. Its always fun to blast these monsters, but you run outta bullets fast. I actually got to use my next weapon a few times, when it shoots a blue line follows the bullet, and you can zoom it. This gun seems like it will be the best of them all. I think once I find this guy, the game might be near end, but then again, I would love to rock every last one of these nublets. The game is great, and finally somewhat challenging. Hopefully I get some good hours in this weekend, maybe even finish. More coming soon...

MK News

I am hoping that this Kontinues to be a rumor, but announced on some 'all things Mortal Kombat' websites (Mortal Kombat Online, Mortal Kombat Informer, TRMK) is that Mortal Kombat 8 will be released under the title of MK vs. DC Universe...Lame. This is what I consider to be a slap in the face to long time MK fans. This is not Mortal Kombat at all.

This has been going around in some forums for a few weeks now so it has to be fake right? Please??? It seems like it just wouldn't work. Sure it is a cool Koncept, but why even go there.

The good news is that none of this information is on Midway's official website. Secondly, the proposed official website for the game - www.worldscollide.com is registered to some law firm. Keep your fingers crossed that the legendary MK rumor mill is running at full steam with this one.

More news will be out later today I suspect as evidenced by this clue: The time is up on the noob.com countdown timer. The phrase at the bottom of the picture reads: Gemorab Stifl Wormotor. If you rearrange the letters for each word you get Embargo Lifts Tomorrow, which means the press embargo lifts and we will get the real deal. Keep your fingers crossed.

Hand Held Excellence

I like to game. I like to game a lot in fact. You see, its a part of my life (as a whole) and I'm not afraid to hide it. I have a loving wife who supports my habit 100% and has often said for me to traverse the fields of actually "finding a job in the industry." I love her. As my fellow Warp 9 Crew and myself take those small baby steps into developing this site into something special; we pledge to you, the reader this: We will delve into every avenue of the gaming industry and speak our minds. Whether it be on the gaming industry as a whole or a tiny little video game that we bought at a flee market for 5 bucks, we'll be there grinding through it! This of course brings me to my overlapping and somewhat drawn out point: I will be taking on portable games on top of my services to reviewing console gaming. I have a DS and PsP and use them quite often, so making the trek into the hand held realm isn't very scary to me. However, there are a crap-ton of games for each hand held system so expect (for the time being) fewer hand held reviews than console reviews...sorry thats just the way the cookie crumbles.
Last night after dinner with the misses I decided it was time for a new PSP game. I had recently finished up Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles as well as Disgaea (a port of my favorite RPG of all time), these titles were great and provided me with weeks of hand held bliss. I'm not going to lie either, I had been eying a certain game for about a month prior and knew exactly what I wanted: God of War: Chain of Olympus.

"Bad ass Mofo"

The God Of War franchise first made its appearance on the Playstation way back in 2006 and made such an impact that a sequel was demanded and in return made immediately. Both titles are two of the biggest selling games of all time and have sprung movie deals to boot. Now, I have to be perfectly honest with you, ok? I played the first one and loved it but have yet to play the second installment because Mr. Playstation went into hibernation since the XBox 360's inception. I know I should dust it off and play through the sequel but I felt that perhaps with buying the PsP version I could make up for not playing the sequel. The first one rocked, and I mean really rocked. The graphics pushed the Playstation hardware to the next level and I can just imagine what the sequel was like. Let me tell you one thing, the portable version does exactly what its' forefathers succeeded so well in accomplishing: Kicking some serious ass!

I've only played the game for about an hour or so and am completely blown away by the sheer tenacity of it. This game is the whole package (for hand held's of course) and blows my mind as to how they packed in such great graphics, sound FX and hulking landscapes...its beautiful! The controls are fluid and don't hamper your experience as you may think having only one analog stick may do. You're moves are mapped to each button and you can pull off combos with the utmost ease. This is what hand held gaming has become and is the reason why portable gaming is evolving at such a rapid rate. Who knows, maybe someday we will be playing full ported versions of games like Halo and Call of Duty on a slick and sexy hand held machine. Its absolute bliss for us hardcore gamers who like to game on the go or at any chance they can get.

Thus far, my experience with Chains of Olympus has been excellent and if I were to try and think of one hiccup to quell on it would probably take me weeks to come up with...so I'm not going to at this point. However, I will be getting in some serious playing time with the game this weekend seeing as though I will be traveling to NYC this Thursday and not coming back until Sunday; so expect a full review (alongside Eternal Sonata for the 360) this coming Sunday/Monday.

-Game Hard-

Half Life 2: Primary Post

Ok, so the game is good. I havent got much to compare it to at the moment, but gameplay is carbon copy of Halo. I am playing on normal mode, and I have a few sad faces to make. One, I dont really understand what I am, or what I am doing. I bet playing Half Life 1 would have helped that though, so I cant complain. Two, the enemies are pure nublets. Not only do they move like rookies, but their aim is horrible. You can honestly move through the game by running around the corner, looking all the enemies right in the face, and killing them all. Three, this alarm keeps telling me that all available enemies are coming to kill me, and then two or three show up. At least tell me something honest like, "Hey, we see that our guys cant kill you, so we are gonna send like three or four around this corner. They are horrible shots, so kill them fast and move to the next area. Thank you and have a great day."

I have no idea how far I am in the game. I hate riding in that stupid boat thing. The only fun part is jumping out to kill morons. Yes, these enemies are morons. The first time I died, a train hit me. The first alarm that triggered scared the crap outta me, so I hid, and then tried to sneak away. So now this loud, annoying, and pointless flying machine alarm thing finds me. OH NO I AM GOING TO DIE. Actually, it just takes your picture. The flash is mad annoying, and I am sure it is supposed to show my location to some guys that will kill me, but they dont come. Even when they come, they are cake to kill. When you get a gun you can kill those alarm things, so dont worry. The hard part of the game is figuring out where to go, and doing the occasional puzzle to move the the next area.

I am hoping that the game is long, real long. I have put in 3 strong hours of gameplay so far, and I have died at 3 events. A train hit me, a burning barrel exploded, and a sewer monster ate me. The key for me has been knowing what weapon to use on what enemy. The crowbar is actually very useful as a weapon most of the game. So far, I am not impressed. I do love the game, and I do love playing it, but the plot is too much of the game. I am running around too much. There are not enough enemies in each area to even pose a threat. Hopefully I am just moving very slowly through the game, and the best parts are to come. More coming soon...

The Importance of a Second Chance

There have been many times in my gaming career where I have played a game for thirty minutes, gotten frustrated with it beyond the point of sanity, thrown the controller across the room, ripped the game out of the console and put it away for eternity; it happens all to often. It's roughly (of course in my opinion) due to the sheer fact that so many crappy games come out, get pimped in magazines and game sites because publishers stack a fat sac of dough in front of the "Suites" at said media outlets (I'm not looking at you Gamespot, I swear!) and we all get tricked into either purchasing or renting the titles. This is something that has become a problem in the industry today and only looks to stay prevalent for a very long time.

I can name two right off the bat that nearly ended my gaming career: King Kong for the 360 and Command and Conquer for the 360. These titles lack of innovation, storyline, smooth controls and even balanced A.I. was so horrid that it damn near gave me an ulcer. Prime example: I was playing King Kong (I know...for the points) and got to the second level. It strung me around to a part where I had to save my companion A.I., easy enough right? Well guess what; neither the story narrative nor my counterparts informed me of my "saving" tasks ahead. So I wandered around for damn near two hours trying to figure out what in Sam's Hell I was suppose to do! I got so infuriated that I tossed my controller, yelled at the screen and took the disk out swearing to the gods above that I would never touch this game again, and I haven't!

However, there are two side of the coin as they say "down yonder." There have been times were I've just gotten side tracked from a game due to another title coming out that I had either been looking forward to for a while or looked interesting enough for me to purchase. Case in point: Eternal Sonata, an RPG that qualifies to be one of the best RPG's to come out in decades. I had asked for this game last year for a Christmas gift and started playing it non stop for almost two weeks; being a RPG this title packs a bolstering 70+ hours of game play (that's if your a completion freak and do all the side quests...which I am). Yet, for some reason another title caught my fancy (I think it was F.E.A.R.) and I set aside the epic tale that was Eternal Sonata.

Until just recently I was knee deep in FPS's and coop shooters like Army of 2, Halo 3, COD4 and Rainbow 6 Vegas. I was having a blast playing these games; so don't get me wrong or anything. Yet, every time I turned my 360 off after a gaming bender or what have you I would look over to my games shelf and see Eternal Sonata staring at me, almost like it was saying, "WTF dude, I'm a good game, get back to me...seriously." I would feel bad, look away and ignore the voices coming out of the plastic game box. I didn't know if I could pick up and finish what I had started, simply due to the fact that A.) I had no clue as to where I was in the game's progression and B.) Could I sink enough time and effort into the game in order to get the most out of it. The simple answer: YES I COULD!

It was two weeks ago when I was playing Vegas 2 when it clicked. For some ungodly reason, right in the middle of game play I ejected Mr. Clancy's Vegas 2 from my 360, looked over at my games, took out Eternal Sonata and popped it in. It was like something came over me, perhaps the box's voices had gotten to me or something, dunno. I tossed it in the 360 and actually started a brand new campaign, opting out of continuing my last save. I haven't looked back since, seriously. This game is unbelievable and I constantly kick myself in the ass for never finishing it. The graphics are damn near close to a 10, the game play is flawless (all battles are in real-time) and the story is brilliant. I have never been so keen on the expression "the importance of a second chance" in my life.

Expect a full review on Eternal Sonata this weekend!

-Game Hard-

BlizzKid: My Mission

Even though I have been PC Gaming for nearly ten years, I haven't played that many games. I started with Warcraft III, Dungeon Siege, Diablo, and Return to Castle Wolfenstien in a heavy rotation, up until World of Warcraft came out. Since that day, it is the only game I have played. Most of my time now is spent working, being engaged, and changing diapers, so my free time must be carefully managed to settle my hunger for gaming. I can't drop World of Warcraft, but I will make time to fully examine some other games. The best part of the idea is that I have never played these games before, ever.

Ok. Now you are going to have to trust me. What I am going to do will test myself, as a gamer, and the game difficulty of the title I choose. I will accurately document the time I spend playing the game. If the game has levels, I will note how long each level took me to beat it. If I feel like I will not be able to complete the game, I will admit shameful failure, and give the game infinite praises. Rules, and yes we need rules, are simple. I must play the game on the normal difficulty setting, not beginner. I can not use any health or ammo cheats. I can seek help if I get stuck on a part in the game, but I must note it. I will give weekly progress reports for whatever title I am on and all notes will be included. Last rule, it must be a game that I have never played before. Please feel free to comment me any titles that you think I will not be able to complete. I love challenges.

This leads me to my first challenge. I was in Circuit City looking for some RAM when I glanced at the PC Games section. I was looking for something cheap, but I wanted the game to be good. I was amazed to find that "the best game ever made" (as it stated on the cover) sold for $19.99. This game has won 35 Game of the Year awards, and I have never played it, or seen it played, ever. Half-Life 2 seems to be something I will enjoy. Noah at the checkout told me that this was the hottest game ever. Let the games begin.

One Hell of a PS3 MOD

I've never been one to MOD my consoles; in fact I've never even tried. Its one thing to be "that" guy who can duel boot two graphics cards SLI style while daisy chaining a pair of PSU's to an all output Intel Motherboard...Whoa whoa whoa, sorry for that, I'll stop right there. Sometimes my computer geekary gets a hold of me and takes over, I apologize. I do however find enjoyment in looking at MOD'ing web sites to see all the latest and greatest MODs out there in gaming culture. Some are inspiring, some are meager at best...then you get the ones that are simply jaw dropping, like the one you see here:

Compliments of Joystiq.com and Engadget.com:

Forget that "PlayStation Portable" nonsense you've got sticking out of your pocket. If you're going to be carrying around a PlayStation, why not make it a proper one that can play Warhawk and Uncharted? Consumer electronics crammer, Ben Heck, has finally completed the PlayStation 3 Laptop, a beautiful black contraption packed with all the blue rays, cells and ex em bees you can shake a Sixaxis at. Seriously, you can shake your Sixaxis at it and it'll work.

Other fancy things in it:

• Original backwards-compatible 60GB model
• 17-inch LCD HDTV screen: 720p
• HDMI-DVI connection
• Built-in keyboard, USB ports, stereo speakers, headphone jack
• Size: 17 x 13.75 x 3-inches
• Weight: 16 pounds!

Since it's clearly too heavy for anyone to lift, we're hoping a reader manages to walk off with this laptop as soon as Engadget begins auctioning it for charity. In the meantime, be sure to have a look at Ben Heck's Wii Laptop and his assorted Xbox 360 offerings

Oh and BTW...Here's one of the most classic MODS ever created:
The Creator only goes by the name "Chet" - Built this MOD in 2005

Nintendo Game Cube Star Wars ATAT MOD

-Game Hard-

This Week In The "Box"

This week In the "Box" we are treated with the fantastically difficult "shmup" cult classic Ikaruga. When I say I played the turd's out of this game on the Nintendo Game Cube thats a gross understatement. When I use the terminology "Shmup" it refers to the ever so popular genre of Arcade Shooters (still widely popular in Japan). Ikaruga is a top down space shooter that is said to be the hardest shmup ever created. I couldn't agree more; yet this is what draws me to this game for some reason.

-Wiki-

[Ikaruga (斑鳩, Ikaruga^? lit. Japanese Grosbeak) is a vertically scrolling shooter video game developed by Treasure Co. Ltd. It was released in the arcades in 2001 on Sega's NAOMI system, subsequently ported to Dreamcast in Japan and then worldwide to the Nintendo GameCube, and was released on Xbox Live Arcade on April 9, 2008. It is a spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun, and the introduction says it is "Project RS2" (usually interpreted as "Project Radiant Silvergun 2").

The gameplay consists of shooting enemies who come in one of two polarities: either black (red) or white (blue). The player's ship can be either polarity, and can be switched at will. This yin-yang gameplay mechanic was previously explored in another Treasure game for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation called Silhouette Mirage. Ikaruga was well received by critics, with scores averaging around 85%.]

The game on Live will run you a cool 800 Microsoft Points (roughly 10 beans) and is ready for downloading as we speak. I'm picking it up this afternoon and looking to run the gambit of extreme shooter difficulty once again in my life!

-Game Hard-

Viking: Battle for Asgard [Review]

The Good: Visceral Graphics, Great Sense of Continuity, Bloody Fun, Epic Music
The Bad: Lack of a Run Button, Quests Get Repetitive, Visual upgrades (i.e. sword and axe look)

Viking is by all means a simplistic rendition of Conan The Barbarian which came out a couple months back. However, it surpasses Conan ten fold then knocks it out of the park with excellent combat, beautiful graphics and one hell of a music score.

As stated best by GameRankings.com: "Viking: Battle for Asgard thrusts players into a twisted mythological world overrun with demonic warriors unleashed by Hel, the Norse goddess of death. As Skarin, a rage-fueled Viking hero, players will wage all-out war to free mankind from the grip of evil and ultimate annihilation. Enemies will suffer graphic dismemberment with disturbing realism from an array of Skarin's melee, range and magic attacks.

The game itself isn't going to win any awards, so don't let the introductory paragraphs fool you. The game does have its fair share of problematic counterparts; with that said lets stick with good points right now. Visually the game looks excellent. There's virtually no texture pop-ins that seem to plague developers final products lately and to boot: the environments are vibrant and full of life. Just last night (before finishing up the game) I was standing on a what seemed to be mile high cliff overlooking pretty much the entire continent. I was amazed to find almost no fogging! I could actually see my hide out village way "yonder" with little biddy vikings walking around, very cool. The character designs are spot on as well. You really get the sense of Norse mythology and all its Viking glory. From swords to horned helmets, to huge vast lands the developers make every last bit of detail look amazing.

Two other great components of this game need to be mentioned as will. First off, the music score in Viking is excellent. It really sets the mood for every single segment of the game. My favorite pieces come when the huge battles take place in either forts or castles. I seriously found myself getting way too pumped up during battle while listening to the battle drums roar! Hats off to the composers; they did a great job capturing the feel of this game and directly inserting it into their music. The second thing I want to mention is the fighting/combat of the game. I loved it! Its downright some of the bloodiest I perhaps have ever played. From chopping ogres limbs off, to bluntly pounding on some poor monsters head with an axe until it "pops" is blissful fun. The button combos are super easy to learn and perform for that matter and this is what makes Viking shine. The simplicity of combat makes this game worth playing. Two button combos, aerial attacks mapped to the jump button and even use of the triggers for parrying and blocking set this game aside from the rest of the competition.

Ok, enough of me gawking over this sleeper hit. There are a few problematic things that tag this game. First off, the lack of a run button or even horse for that matter makes traversing the vast lands that surround an absolute chore. There are times in the game were you will have to run from point A to point B and it will almost take you 5-10 minutes to do it. Yes there's a few baddies in between to chop up but come on, gimme a damn run button so I can at least get there before falling asleep. Which actually brings me to my most prevalent point, repetition. The game has you run a lot of errands for fellow Viking soldiers in camps. These tend to pretty much be the same tasks with perhaps a little twist. Free some soldiers from a cave prison, bring back some explosives to base camp, summon your dragon stone (which is fun at first but looses its feel after the 20th time performed). Don't get me wrong, if you like chopping a lot...AND I MEAN A LOT...of dudes in half (like me) you will not mind some of the repetitiveness of the levels.

At first, I wasn't too sure about Viking: Battle for Asgard, but about two hours into the game I honestly could not put i t down. I thoroughly enjoyed the concept, the art work and especially the combat. Sega (The developers) did a fantastic job in creating a world the sucks you in, make you want to seriously kick some monster ass and play for hours and hours. Hats off...because this little gem will make my games of the year list for sure.

out of 10

-Game Hard-

Viking: Battle for Asgard *Update*

Full Review of Viking: Battle For Asgard will be up by Wednesday of this week. I've grinded through most of the campaign; In fact I believe I'm on the last Continent (you'll understand that reference come Wed.) and have put in a good 20+ hours of game play overall. My perceptions of this game were low at first, yet as time elapsed and I got further and further into it I found myself strangely drawn to this hidden gem. This comes to a shock to me seeing as though many of the aggregated gaming web sites out there have given it less than stellar reviews.

Full Review Wednesday
-Game Hard-

Unleashing My Force (Get 'yer Heads outta the Gutter)

The announcement of a Star Wars game each and every waking year comes to no surprise to any fan boy (and trust me when I say I'm a huge Fan Boy). In contrast, sometimes...just sometimes the force comes along, does a Jedi mind trick on some developers and plop; out comes a juicy nugget of excellence in video game development. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed looks to be said juicy nugget.

In this SW installment, coming to every console known to man (PS3, Wii, 360, DS, PS2, PsP), you get to play the role of Darth Vader's secrete apprentice. That alone gives me the chills to say! The main purpose of the game or storyline has been pretty much kept under wraps since the game's inception. However, they have given word on some pretty neat tidbits of information having to do with [not limited to] completely destructive environments, stellar A.I., a graphics engine that quite possibly could "revolutionize next gen graphics," completely customizable characters and...wait for it...Play as Darth Vader himself! In a recent pres release Lucas Arts (obviously the developers) has stated that, "The game's opening moments sees you taking control of Darth Vader and wreaking havoc, shortly before encountering your secret apprentice."


The game has put much emphasis on your Force Powers and how destructive they can be not only to the environment but to the player as well. "With great power comes, err great destruction and chaos" is how the quote goes I think! Project lead Haden Blackman has also stated: "[The Force Unleashed] means you have access to force powers that are amped up, over the top and in some cases, totally out of control."

The game is Due out in September of this year and has gotten some well deserved hype as the "Savior" of Star Wars games. I couldn't be more excited! Here's some footage to satiate your SW appetite.


-Game Hard-

Unreal Tournament Still on for 360!

Since its' inception, Unreal Tournament has only been played on the PC and Playstation 3. Now? Well, even though its been shady at times and the information blips far and few between; Unreal is set...match...and ready to roll out on the XBox 360. The news has swamped the information highway today, yet I have to give credit to Joystiq for this one.

Epic's Mark Rein (developer of the innovative FPS) has stated on Epic's forums, there is no "particular release date yet," but that the title is "coming along really nicely." Very Nice! The 360 port is due to be shown in a couple of weeks at Midway's Gamers' Day in Vegas and to put it simply, all eyes will be on Epic due to the rabid fan base that the Unreal Tournament series has brought about. More information on this to come after Midways "Mini" convention and of course we will have the full story.

-Game Hard-