Backlog Dead Space – Xbox 360
Well Mister Isaac Clarke that was a fun eight and half hour experience we shared together on the USG Ishimura. The music, the atmosphere, the ambience and the Necromorphs scared the living daylight out of me more times than I can count.
Here is a summary of the story, one of my favourite stories in the last 12 months. Isaac’s ship the USG Kellion received a distress signal from the USG Ishimura, the Kellion ship tries to dock with the Ishimura but a malfunction happens and the Kellion is badly damaged. The Kellion crew explores Ishimura to find a way home, the crew notices the Ishimura is pretty much abandoned. Captain Hammond recognizes the Ishimura is suffering from serious malfunctions and sends Isaac Clarke on 12 gruelling missions to fix the ship. During the course of the game you stumble across various text and audio logs that explain the captain of the ship belong to a religious cult that sought a religious artefact “the marker” from Aegis VII by the means of illegal mining. The marker was brought on board and the crew attacked each other, killing each other. Than an alien orgasm ravaged through the ship turning all the dead bodies into necromorphs. What keeps Clarke going is the fact he is looking for his girlfriend who was a member aboard the USG Ishimura. With the critical systems repaired, they launch the distress beacon which attracts the USM Valor. The bad news, a necromorphs were already on board the Valor. Clarke than boards the Valor, fights out the necromorphs and takes the ship power core so he can fix a shuttle and leave this awful area. Dr. Kyne later contacts Clarke and urges him to return the Marker to Aegis VII, believing that it was a means of restraining the Hive Mind that controls the Necromorph. Dr.Kyne is later murdered by Isaac’s fellow crew member Daniels, who states she works for the government and she needs the Marker. Daniel tells Clarke that the Marker is actually reverse-engineered version based on an artifact found on earth. The government placed it on Aegis VII to monitor its effects (never trust the government!). The back stabbing Daniels, takes Clarkes shuttle and leaves. Luckily, Isaac’s girlfriend Nicole arrives and together they recall the ship. Together they take the shuttle and head down to the colony and replace it. Obviously, Daniels arrives and tries to stop Isaac. She returns to the marker to the shuttle, when she’s attacked and killed by the Hive Mind. Leaving Isaac to kill it and escape from the planet.
Well as you can tell I loved the story, it was very deep and interesting. The text and audio logs would fill in little details about what had gone wrong on the ship. This little concept worked great for me every time I found a new log; I would crank up the sound and listen. Even the background noises in the logs were very well done. In order to kill the Necromorphs the best approach is to dismember their bodies; my approach was to first use stasis and then shoot each leg. This gave me ample time to stop their arms and head to death. The physics and dismemberment technology was very well done and very interesting way to play a game. I hate to admit it but yes, Dead Space scared the shit out of me at least once per level. I could literally only play a level a day or so, it was truly a scary fun experience. Throughout the game you find power nodes, these allow you to upgrade your armour or your guns, I managed to find enough power nodes to upgrade my plasma cutter to the maximum, it sure made my day easier!. I had heard before I started playing this game that ammo was precious commodity, throughout the 12 levels I only had 1 section of the game where I ran out of ammo and had to use a force gun to plow my way through the enemies. Other than that I found enough items to sell at the store to buy ammo. The zero G sections in the game literally made me sick to my stomach, I’m not sure what it is about these types of scenarios in game that make me sick but they just do.
Overall I had avoided Dead Space when it launched back in 2008, there was so many games on the market that I wanted to buy and play. I regret not playing it sooner!. For $29.99 price tag, it was a great experience, I even bought some of the downloadable content to support the developer. I really hope they take what they started here in Dead Space and improved on it for Dead Space 2. I surely won’t pass up Dead Space 2 on launch.
read moreTetris For the Iphone/Itouch
Tetris has been released for the Iphone and is published by Electronic Arts. I saw this in the app store for $4.99 (50 % off holiday sale) and I thought to myself, “You need to pick this up!” As soon as I clicked the purchase button I felt some sort of nostalgia come over me. I instantly flashed back to 1992, walking out of a store (the name I can’t remember at this moment) with my grandmother who had just bought my Nintendo GameBoy with Tetris and Blades of Steel – At least this time I didn’t have my parents screaming at me for this purchase of Tetris.
Nothing new on the game play front, with the exception of the ability to listen to your Itunes music collection while you play Tetris. It does feature 4 original soundtrack songs. The game features 2 modes called Marathon and Magic, and 15 Levels. Marathon mode features level 1 through 15, can you beat all levels? I couldn’t get pass level 9. The difficulty in this game sky rockets from levels 9-15. Magic Mode offers special tools that take advantage of the Iphones capabilities. Magic mode gives you 5 powers that you earn throughout the levels to manipulate the pieces to your advantage so you can clear all the lines. The powers are Bubble Wrap, Magic Crayon, Wrecking Ball, Minimizer and Smashdown .Like most other Iphone games you touch the screen and drag ,rotate drop the pieces where you want them to go, just tab the piece on screen and the block will flip positions allowing you to place it just perfectly. Like most other Iphone games you touch the screen and drag the pieces where you would like them to go, simply tap the piece on screen and the block will flip positions allowing you to place it just perfectly. The controls are just perfect. The touch screen suits Tetris. There have been a lot of complaints that Tetris will crash your Iphone/Itouch.
If you are a Tetris fan and have an Iphone or Itouch and are looking for a game to play, I recommend you pick up Tetris before it goes back to regular price.
read moreNHL 09 – Be a Pro
NHL 09 – Be a Pro
Every year EA Sports launches their annual sports titles and this year’s version of NHL 09 is very addictive.
From the moment you create your “Be a Pro” character you have a vast amount of choice in how you mold him. You can create a winger, center, defenseman and a goalie. You decide how you want your character to look and even get to decide what kind of equipment he uses in game. Here’s one of the best parts of creating your “Be a Pro” character: you get to decide what team you want to play for. Being Canadian and growing up in Toronto you’d think I would want to play for the Maple Leafs but I am a big Ottawa Senators fan so I was placed on the Senator’s farm club.
One of the first things you notice when you suit up for your new AHL team is that you’re following your character via 3rd person perspective and, when your shift is over, you watch the game from the bench. If you take a penalty you watch the game from the penalty box. Very cool touch. Speaking of cool touches in the “Be a Pro” mode, your new team’s management watches every game. They analyze your every move. Score a goal or throw some big hits and management will applaud you. Lose the puck or take a lot of cheap shots and, well, management may not be so receptive.
It took my character three quarters of a season to get noticed by the big club and get called up. Once I had arrived, I proceeded to tally 8 goals and 6 assists in 10 games before being demoted back to the minors and placed on the third line!
“Be a Pro” is a solid game mode but the judgment seems overly harsh at times. If EA can find a way to tweak this mode a little bit more, they’ll have a huge success on their hands.
read moreMirror’s Edge Gets Release Date!
I can’t describe how excited I am to play this game. When you think FPS, the running/climbing sport Parkour might not be the first thing to come to mind. That being said, EA has developed a game that blends those two elements.
Taking place in the future, Mirror’s Edge features a Runner (information courier) named Faith. With an amazing amount of stamina and agility, Faith can run around the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop rushing to avoid danger. She doesn’t get any weapons to start but she has some advanced hand to hand combat skills. The heavily armed troops pursuing her carry guns but are quickly (and brilliantly) disarmed – their weapons becoming hers. Keep in mind, though, that Faith isn’t trained in firearm use so sometimes weapons are more of a hinderance than a blessing. Her aim may be off and simply carrying a gun will weigh her down, affecting her ability to run and jump slightly. Don’t worry, she can drop your guns at any time for more speed. Developers took Faith’s lack of weapon based experience into consideration and made it possible to beat the entire game without firing a single bullet. There will even be a special achievement for doing so.
A North American release date of November 11th (November 14th for Europe) has been confirmed by EA. This game will be mine as soon as it is available. Anybody else interested in getting it? Hit TehForums and let’s discuss shall we?
Via: Kotaku
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