Street Fighter IV Review

Capcom’s anticipated heavyweight is back for another go and ready to take on all challengers.

The Good:

Street Fighter is back and just as good as it ever was. In this installment you’re free to choose from any of the original 12 characters plus 6 new characters (more on them later) for some toe to toe with your friends, the AI, or a stranger online. By completing arcade mode with different characters you can unlock some other familiar faces, such as: Cammy, Fei Long, Dan, and more. The fighting system has been reworked and now includes the powerful focus attacks. These attacks are unblockable, and if landed successfully, will knock your opponent to the ground. Also new to the game is the revenge meter. This meter fills up as you take damage, allowing you to unleash a powerful special attack on your opponent when it is full. Basically it acts as a contrast to the EX meter, which fills up as you land successfull attacks on your opponent. Things like hadoukens are also much easier to pull off than they ever were before. Despite all these new additions to the battle system it still feels like classic Street Fighter, so veterans won’t be left in the dark.

There are plenty of great modes this time around, inlucding the classic arcade mode. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it seems to be the mentality here. You play through a random selection of characters, eventually facing your rival (which differs depending on your fighter) and ending with a battle against Seth (who is unlockable). At the beginning and end of arcade mode you are shown a video shedding some light on your chosen fighter’s reasons for entering the tournament, their situation following the tournament, etc. These videos aren’t very long or story heavy, but since when were Street Fighter games story heavy anyway?

Street Fighter IV’s online play runs very smoothly. I had no problems finding an opponent and experienced no lag whatsoever from either side. Players can adorn their online profile with various titles that read everything from “Go Easy On Me” to “Merciless”.

This game looks beautiful. From the character models to the stages they fight in, everything is visually pleasing. There are even some familiar stages such as Guile’s airbase and Blanka’s Brazilian jungle. Character models have an almost cel-shaded look to them which works out very nicely combined with the detailed muscle tones.

The Bad:

Where the hell are the bonus stages?! I was looking forward to engaging in a car smashing frenzy in between battles, but this feature is sadly nowhere to be found. Another sorely missed feature is the tournament mode, I have heard something about it being available in a DLC package somewhere down the line, but if you ask me it should have been included with the game.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably stick to the classic characters because the new ones are pretty ridiculous. I wouldn’t consider a luchadore wrestler who has a knack for cooking to be on par with characters like Vega or Akuma, and Rufus just seems to be a joke character more than anything else.

It is possible to set-up arcade mode in a way so that players can challenge you on XboxLive as you play through your single player game. This is a great idea, but, you have no choice but to accept every single challenge. This makes playing through arcade mode with this feature on pointless, because you will be receiving back-to-back challenges. A good concept, but would be much cooler if the option to decline were present.

It's Super Dynamic Cooking Time.......

The Ugly:

That intro theme, I don’t think I’ve ever came so close to bludgeoning my own head before.

The Verdict:

Street Fighter IV doesn’t dissapoint. This game will please fans and newcomers alike. However, Capcom have this way of releasing revised Street Fighter game after Street Fighter game, and that makes me a bit weary about buying this game. Although, with the emergence of DLC onto the gaming scene this could change. We’ll have to just wait and see until then.

Grade: A

Read Full Post »

Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage Review

This is long overdue, so let’s get to it:

The GOOD:
The Alaskan landscape looks simply incredible in this DLC. It’s a nice change of pace to go from barren wasteland to beautiful Alaskan mountains and terrain, and Bethesda pull this off well. The combat that takes place on this terrain is very fun. Bethesda have succeeded in capturing a World War I-like experience, complete with trenches and all. There is a ton of new weapons/equipment in this installment, which is probably one of my favorite things about the DLC. We are introduced to the Winterized Power Armor, Chinese Stealth Armor, and Gauss Rifle, among many others all available after completing your objectives.

The BAD:
One question you really need to ask yourself is if 800 Microsoft Points is an appropriate price. The DLC does not take very long at all to complete, I clocked in at about 3-4 hours. Maybe it would take a bit longer if the game weren’t so easy. There is no more need to hunt for ammo and medical aid, both of these have been replaced with machines that automatic refill one of the two for you an unlimited amount of times. These machines are all over the place, and having everything just layed out for you dulls down the gameplay a bit. Also, for those of you who loved the roleplaying aspect of Fallout 3 (which I’m assuming is a great percentage of people), you will be dissapointed. The content relies heavily on combat and stealth, leaving very little roleplaying at all. Overall the game just doesn’t feel like the Fallout we all know and love, the looting and RPG elements just aren’t there. It isn’t a bad game at all, but it just feels like something is missing.

Grade: C

Read Full Post »

Skate 2 review (360, PS3)

The good, the bad and the ugly!

The good: They kept the winning formula with good add-ons that don’t hinder the superb controls. The add-ons include: getting off your board, moving objects around, invert plants, footplants, fingerflips and ollie variations (boneless and no comply). The new game modes this time around are Thrasher’s Hall of Meat mode which can be accessed online and off, and online co-op objectives. The bruises you get from falling and dirt that builds up on your shirt just adds to the realism of this game. The pro rider line up in this game is the best ever in a skateboarding game, you get classic skaters like Ray Barbee and new comers like Braydon Szafranski. The photo challenges are improved as well with your character is able to do frame by frame photo captures. The way you get a board sponsor in this game is better than the first as well, at anytime in the game after you get your first board sponsor you can call up a pro and ask for his affiliate company to sponsor you no questions asked. The addition of Cougar Mountain is also very good, all you speed demons out there, you’re gonna have a ball.

The bad: Getting off your board, while it is good, the animation is too clunky which is bad. The story, it’s unoriginal, you get out of jail, San Van is rebuilt, and you have to rebuild you’re reputation and save San Van from the evil Mongo Corp, who has placed caps on the great skate spots. The ‘rebuild your reputation’ plot is ripped straight from T.H.U.G (Tony Hawk’s underground). I guess I was just looking for a better story but this really doesn’t hurt the game. The customization is a step up but then again a step back, there are less products to be bought but more options in how to wear your equipment.

The ugly: EA Blackbox the developer of skate recently had to dissolve, we miss ya Blackbox.

Score: A-

Check out the gameplay vid below.

1love, Peace

Read Full Post »

F.E.A.R 2 Preview

Fear Alma again!!!

Last Thursday the Fear 2 demo was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace as well as the PSN store. The demo starts off with a city blowing up, and you waking up in the city with a red aura around you. This is one of those famous moments in Fear that give you some insight on Alma’s character, but in this one you don’t learn very much. After the (I don’t know what to call it lets say your premonition), you end up next to your chopper that crashed during the explosion, you are then radioed in to do what you were trained (kill some bad guys hoorahh) to do. Now you’re going through a school, shooting up some bad guys, holding your breath at the scary parts Fear is famous for, and then all of a sudden you’re going to go “holy shit these graphics are awesome!”. The detail in this game is AAA quality in my opinion and the blood squirts, oh my goodness best ever. So after your done your gamegasm (I’m gonna trademark that lol :p), you finally exit the school and right in front of you is a bad ass mech (google it if you don’t know what that means 😦 ). It looks similar to the ones in Metal Gear. Now you’re walking through the city streets shooting people in half and battling other mechs when boom demo over, and then you play it again cause its so freaking awesome!!!!

Be sure to wear your diapers February 10th!!!!

1love, Peace

Read Full Post »

Left 4 Dead review

The good, bad and the ugly!

The good: Finally a zombie (or should I say infected) horror fps, and it’s made by Valve :0 . Left 4 Dead pits you and 3 other survivors in a post-apocalyptic zombie horror movie. There are 4 movies in total with future DLC to add more! The movies are: No Mercy which places you in a city in which you have to find your way to the local hospital to await rescue on the roof, Death Toll which places you in a rural area much like you would find in Maine where you have to make your way to the river and get a boat ride out of that hell hole, my personal favorite Dead Air where you have to travel through a city much like No Mercy to get to a airstrip of a zombie riddled airport and take a military plane the F@&k out of there, and last but not least is Blood Harvest which is the best map on versus, but I’ll get to that later :p. In Blood Harvest you have to follow the train tracks to an abandoned farm house, and from there wait it out until the army saves your ass. There are 5 special infected in the game. They are: Boomer, who looks like he was an avid WoW player before he turned jk :P, Hunter who looks like a suburban drug dealer, Smoker who looks like an office employee who took a lot of smoke breaks, Tank who looks like wrestler Brock Lesnar, and last is the Witch who looks like well a girl in her bra and panties.  The game features a single player campaign with a online version as well, but the feature that will really suck some time out of your life is VERSUS! In this mode 4 survivors play against 4 boss infected online.

The bad: The game is too short for now to justify the 59$ game tag but go pick it up anyway :p. Versus only has 2 maps, Blood Harvest and No Mercy, but they said with future DLC they will add more. The weapon selection is too small, M16, Uzi, 2 9mm, 12 gauge pump shotty, an auto shotty and a semi-auto sniper rifle.

The ugly: You need to play this game with people you know. Too many immature 12 year-olds bought this game OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Score: A

1love Peace

Read Full Post »