Nerd Rating

Author: Scott Simmons

  • Review: Little Big Planet PS Vita

    Can Sack Boy Save The Vita?

    It has been a rough summer for Vita owners. After the system’s initial launch there has not been much to be truly excited about. The games have been on a slow trickle out to retail with Gravity Rush being a small bright spot. There are only so many PS Minis and AR titles one can download before thinking that your cool piece of handheld technology is becoming a $250 paperweight.

    But there is a change coming and it began with the (early) release of Little Big Planet PS Vita as well as Sony giving the system some practical uses (PSOne classics, Cross-Buy) and a fall lineup that is shaping up to be better than expected. But right now, this is Sack Boy’s system.

    Little Big Planet PS Vita had me wondering if Tarsier could take over for Media Molecule and not only bring a complete LBP experience to Sony’s handheld but make use of all the Vita’s bells and whistles to change the way you play the series. Quite simply, the answer is a resounding yes.

    If you are familiar with the Little Big Planet series then initially you are not in for many surprises. You will be introduced to our hero Sack Boy and taken to the comfort of your world hub, known as your Pod. Here you will choose between three worlds of adventures. The first being the games story mode, the second is the community creations world where you download all of the weird (sometimes really weird) levels made by other Vita players and the third being your world of your own wonderful creativity.

    When beginning the story mode there is a comforting voice at the beginning, that of Stephen Fry which returns to give Sack Boy a new journey. Now trying to explain a Little Big Planet story is like explaining War and Peace to a five year old, there are some things you just don’t try to put into words. Like all other stories in the series it is perfectly understandable if you are in a constant state of….let’s say consciousness. (This site would never endorse illegal smoking) Sack Boy’s journey begins with a tutorial that will introduce players to all of our hero’s skills including all the new uses of the touch screens, both front and rear, as well as jumping and grappling. In no time you will be swinging and pad bouncing around like an old pro.

    Community Is King

    The level design in Little Big Planet is second to none and that is before you even leave the story mode to explore the creative community. Here is where you will find creations from all other LBP players all over the world. The best part about this is discovering what people can create with just a mind for creation and a lot (A LOT) of time on their hands. Levels range from the truly remarkable to the downright frustrating especially when you fight through a level and see that the creator really made no way to beat it. Annoying? Yes, but the beauty is in looking around and discovering the truly amazing levels of creativity that even puts some real game makers to shame.

    One of the best features to the entire game is the Memorizer. With this you can actually save inside someone’s user created level. This essentially means that people around the world can make entire games, not just one off levels. Imagine if someone wanted to make a LBP version of Gears of War. There are almost limitless possibilities with the use of this tool and really does make the game almost never ending.

    Now on the opposite side of playing other people’s levels is the level creator itself. Now I will just go ahead and tell you that this is one part of the game that I am not in love with but that is not to game’s detriment, it is to my lack of time to truly sit down and create the levels that are swimming in my head. Some of the menus are a little difficult to navigate through and place items exactly how you want them but as I said I lack the patience as some people to really delve into the nuts and bolts and focus all my energy on it. I have created a few basic levels involving jump gaps and grappling but when I think about the amount of time it took me to create them against some of the community levels I have played it staggers my mind to imagine how much time was spent crafting those levels. Again, that is not the game’s fault but my own feeble brain.

    If you have played through any of the first two Little Big Planet’s on Playstation 3 and own a Vita then this should be an instant buy for you. I would even recommend buying the system to get your fix for LBP. It is really that good. While the story mode is a little on the short side that does not affect the game at all with its robust and seemingly never ending user created content that should keep the game fresh and playable for months and maybe years to come.

    Nerd Rating- 9/10

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  • New Game Releases. Week Of September 30, 2012.

    Skeleton Bunnies, Zombies and LeBron. Oh My.

    Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3) $59.99

    Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games of all time then Resident Evil 5 came along and completely turned me off of the series. Now the sixth installment is here and I can tell you from playing the demo that a lot of things have been fixed. Three separating storylines taking place across the globe is quite ambitious for the franchise but it just may pay off.

    NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, PC, Wii, PSP) $29.99-59.99

    It has been a long wait for a basketball game for this fan. The 2K series has never been my cup of beer even with glittering reviews every year. Now EA has cancelled NBA Live…..again and I may be left without a b-ball game again this year. But this year’s 2K has changed the control scheme to give a more arcade feel with the use of the right dribble stick so here’s hoping I will finally get to play this year.

    Hell Yeah: Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (PC, PSN, XBLA) $14.99

    Reviews for this game have been all over the place from ” a wonderful side-scroller” to “stay the hell away”. Both sides seem to agree that is has a great look and art style so it is really a toss up if you want to give this game about a skeletal bunny’s revenge a try.

     

    Next week is a big one with the releases of Dishonored, the return of XCOM and the Kinect only Fable: The Journey.

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  • Remember Me’s Combo System Is Either Wonderfully Complex Or Insanely Obtrusive.

    How In Depth Do You Like Your Fighting Skills?

    Remember Me is one of the most unique looking games to come along in some time. It has the look of a futuristic Uncharted with a fighting style that looks to replicate the Rocksteady Batman titles.

    Previous footage has shown off the games unusual game mechanic of invading people’s thoughts and change the way they remember certain events to achieve objectives. Now the developers are showing off the combo system and I honestly have no idea what to think of it yet. While playing you will enter what is called the Combo Lab where you can pre-set combos using four different trees of attacks known as pressens which open up your character to have almost 50,000 combo possibilities.

    The game in motion still looks wonderful and the combat is very Arkham-esque but I am still undecided on pausing the game whenever I want to create a new combo. While I do see the possibilities of basically having an RPG inside of your fighting system and how deep this makes the game we will just have to wait and see if it all comes together.

    Remember Me releases in May 2013.

  • The Dark Knight Rises Trilogy Collections Revealed

    The Dark Knight Rises Collector’s Edition Also Announced.

    Warner Bros. has already announced that the final film in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy would be coming home on December 3rd and they have just revealed the packaging for the movie as well as unveiling the collector’s edition of The Dark Knight Rises and that they will be releasing all three Bat films in a trilogy box set.

    No price or list of special features has been announced yet. Both trilogy collections are shown with The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy book. It has not been announced if the book will be coming with the box set but I can say from owning it that it is a large high quality book that chronicles all of the three movies very well and is worth a buy.

    The Dark Knight Rises Collector’s Edition (Blu-Ray Broken Cowl Edition)

     

    The Dark Knight Rises Trilogy (Blu-Ray)

     

    The Dark Knight Rises Trilogy (DVD)

     

  • Here Is Your Official Wii U Launch Lineup.

    24 Titles Announced For Day One Of Nintendo’s New Console.

     

     

    For everyone that was lucky enough to get a Wii U pre-ordered a few weeks back the only question left was which games would be available on launch day so you could decide what you want to pick up with your system. Today Nintendo announced a 24 title lineup that has a little bit of everything for everybody. From Mario to Call of Duty to Tekken, Nintendo seems to have all the different age groups and game types covered for the November 18th launch.

    Take a look at the list below and let us know what games will you be picking up when you pick up your Wii U.

     

    • Nintendo Land
    • New Super Mario Bros. U
    • Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition
    • 007 Legends
    • Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
    • FIFA 13
    • Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge
    • Zombi U
    • Skylanders Giants
    • Assassin’s Creed 3
    • Game Party Champions
    • Just Dance 4
    • Scribblenauts Unlimited
    • ESPN Sports Connection
    • Transformers Prime
    • Wipeout 3
    • Sonic and All-Stars Racing
    • Epic Mickey 2
    • Darksiders 2
    • Warriors Orichi 3 Hyper
    • Sing Party
    • Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
    • Rabbids Land
    • Your Shape 2013
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  • Mass Effect Trilogy To Touch Down In November

    Rejoice Playstation Owners!!

    Well if you own a Playstation and haven’t had an opportunity to play the first Mass Effect game you should rejoice in moderation.

    Bioware announced today that all three of their award winning Mass Effect games will be released in one set on November 6th for Xbox 360 and PC and retail for just $59.99. The Playstation version will be released at a later date that has not been announced yet so if all you know of the first game is the motion comic that greeted you before your playthrough of Mass Effect 2 you will finally get a chance to complete the most RPG-feeling of the trilogy. The first Mass Effect will be available for download on the Playstation Network at a later date also.

    All three should come packed with all the downloadable content that were attached to the games.

    If you have not played through any of these games then this is the perfect opportunity to get on board and experience one of the best stories ever told in gaming. You really are in for a great time. $60 bucks for almost eighty hours of historic gaming? Sounds like a great deal to me.

     

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  • Review: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 (Blu-Ray)

    Can This Animated Film Stay Faithful To Frank Miller’s Legendary Work?

    To say that adapting The Dark Knight Returns is a daunting task may be an understatement. Frank Miller’s 1986 classic is considered by most to be one of the greatest Batman graphic novels (along with Miller’s own Batman: Year One and Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke) ever published. DC Animated has already adapted Year One and did a good job of it but The Dark Knight Returns is a different beast. The “futuristic” dystopian feel of a Gotham fallen back into a state of hopelessness ten years removed from the last sighting of Batman has such an identity in the comic as well as involving a group of Batman’s and DC’s most iconic figures you begin to think that this could become a lost endeavor before you begin to watch.

    The movie opens just as the comic does with Bruce Wayne involved in a horrific wreck while racing F-1 cars in Gotham and right off the bat I am thrown off by the lack of internal monologue. It plays such a huge role in Miller’s work that it will take a few minutes to get past the exclusion of it especially if you know a lot of the source material by heart. But after a few minutes you become involved with the story that you know so well that it becomes an afterthought.

    As Commissioner Gordon prepares for his retirement, Gotham is being overrun with a string of murders, rapes, kidnappings and robberies by a gang known as the Mutants. Their leader broadcasts their hatred for the law and that the will kill Gordon and take the city. Thankfully for the purists the Mutant gang’s weird speech type has been left in tact as well as their distinct look.

    The smartest thing that DC did was to split this feature into two parts. The story is such a large event that it would have felt bastardized trying to fit it into 75 minutes. Even with two parts there is still so much story to digest in part one. Harvey Dent’s release from Arkham with a new face and new lease on life that doesn’t last that long, Carrie Kelly taking it upon herself to pick up the mantle of Robin and prove herself to the returning Batman, all of the interspersed news coverage showing the political and cultural overtones of Batman and what he represents to society and the caped crusader’s pair of fights with the hulking Mutant leader. It is all handled well in the movie with a few slight changes to the story that are subtle and only will be noticed by avid fans but none of them really had me cursing at the screen yelling ” YOU RUINED IT!”

    The animation is on par with every other DC release over the past few years. It’s mostly clean looking but sometimes feels like a little more care could have been given to it. I was excited to see what they could do with the look of Gotham considering the source material but was left feeling disappointed when it looked like a mostly bland city instead of the dirty, neon filled streets from Klaus Janson’s art style. The look of the characters is mostly intact with the only noticable difference being how young The Joker looks when you finally see him full frame at the end of the movie.

    The voice cast is good, not great. Gordon’s light undertone voice takes a few minutes to get used to but Carrie and the Mutant leader are pretty close to how I imagined when reading the graphic novel. Robocop himself Peter Weller has the opportunity to voice Batman and it is a mixed bag. During some scenes he seems to just be reading lines as Peter Weller, with no inflection or emotion at all but then will deliver one of the classic lines from the story and have you thinking “so that’s why they hired him”. Don’t worry Kevin Conroy, you still have nothing to worry about.

    A few minutes into the movie I was beginning to wonder if this movie could attain the lofty goals it set for itself by taking on such a beloved and legendary work. But the more I watched, the more I became engrossed in the story that I have read time and time again and by the time Batman gives his “This isn’t a mud pit. It’s a operating table” line near the end of the movie I was sold that despite a few missteps the animated department at DC took a chance and it paid off with a good feature that does have me looking forward to the second part.

    Well that and wanting to see an old Batman completely kick the s*** out of Superman.

    Nerd Rating: 8/10

     

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  • Take It Home Tuesday- 9/25/12

    I Said Goodbye To My Wallet Today.

    The Avengers

    I know a lot of you missed this small indie flick in theaters due to its limited release in only a few cities. It is really well crafted and amazing considering the small budget it had…………….

    Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection

    You will find no better time to get these films on Blu Ray than right now. Amazon has the set for only $150 bucks (hit the link below) which is just under 7 bucks per movie. Take it from me, the packaging is quality and even comes with a slot for when Skyfall is released on Blu Ray next year.

    Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1

    DC Animated has put out some good Batman titles over the past five years so let’s hope they haven’t bitten off more than they can chew by taking on Frank Miller’s graphic novel which is considered by a lot of people the greatest Batman graphic novel written.

    American Horror Story: Season One

    My favorite new show of last year. Maybe that says a lot about me considering how disturbing and depraved this show was. Still, if you haven’t experienced this weird ride you need to hop on before season two starts in a few weeks.

     

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  • New Game Releases. Week of September 23, 2012.

    Warcraft Goes Panda, FIFA And Dead Or Alive Both Involve Bouncing Round Things.

    World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC) $39.99-Normal/ $79.99- Collector’s Edition

    If you are still playing World of Warcraft after all these years I applaud you. That and weep for your bank account. But Blizzard knows how to keep the expansions coming and this week sees the release of Mists of Pandaria. Level up your character to 90 and play as a new class (Monk) as you uncover the mysteries of the land of Pandaria. And The Pandarans are neutral if memory serves me. So they are like Swiss pandas?

    Dead or Alive 5 (360, PS3) $59.99

    Tecmo’s fighting series has been to the beach for volleyball and the wrestling ring and I guess now it’s time to get back to the fighting. Well, that and watching the jiggling boobs. Let’s face it, the DOA series is known more for their jiggle technology than their fighting engine but plenty of people keep buying it to keep the series going.

    FIFA 13 (every system imaginable, maybe even the Virtual Boy) $29.99-$59.99

    Like with NHL 13 you already know if you are buying this or not. You do not need convincing with all the new bells and whistles in this year’s game. Although let’s not forget that their is Kinect and Move support this year so you can give that a try before realizing how bad it probably is. If you curse at the game on 360 you might get carded by the ref? If every game did that I would get past the intros.

    Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (360, PS3, PC) $59.99

    Take control of Stewie and Brian as you make your way back through multiple universes to stop Stewie’s evil brother Bertram. The Family Guy writers have had a hand in writing this but for me the Family Guy train passed five years ago and if I am going to play a video game based on a long running cartoon I will wait for South Park: The Stick of Truth.

    Bad Piggies (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone)

    Rovio is looking to keep their cash cow (or pig) rolling with the release of Bad Piggies. Where Angry Birds focused on destroying structures to get back at the pigs for kidnapping their eggs this game focuses on the pigs building things to help them get through the level. Seeing as Angry birds has been downloaded over 1 billion times I think it is pretty safe to say that Rovio’s pockets will be flush with cash for the forseeable future.

     

    Next week brings back the evil Umbrella Corporation and hopefully a better game than Resident Evil 5.

    Happy gaming!!!

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  • Review: Dredd

    Karl Urban Brings New Life To The Man Of The Law

    Dredd_Movie_Wallpaper_hd

    First off let’s go ahead and get the blasphemy out of the way. I liked Sylvester Stallone’s Judge Dredd. It is a guilty pleasure for me. Like Demolition Man or Cobra, it was a big dumb action movie that promised a lot of explosions and Stallone overacting and it’s exactly what you got. It doesn’t apologize for it’s shallowness and it really doesn’t need to for an action movie. Now that we have that out of the way how does the 2012 version stand up to the mostly reviled 1995 flick? Dredd takes it’s predecessor out back and judges it guilty then puts one clean in the head.

    The judges are the police force in Mega City One, a massive concrete jungle with a population of almost a billion people. After a brief introduction to Judge Dredd complete with motorcycle chase and harsh judgment of a trio of criminals, Dredd is called back to the Hall of Justice where he is given a rookie to give his assessment on in the field. But this rookie is unlike any others because she is a psychic and despite being on the low end of testing is believed to be worth a badge because of her abilities. The two go to investigate a murder call at Peachtrees which is a “megablock”, a huge building that houses thousands of people and here is where you spend the rest of the movie.

    Dredd Hard?

    Peachtrees is under control of Ma Ma, a woman who controls the manufacturing of the newest hit drug on the street known as Slow-Mo. Not wanting to let the judges leave nice and quietly Ma Ma has the building locked down and sends all of her men hunting after them. One of the reasons Dredd works is that it keeps the action confined to enclosed spaces. In essence, it goes Die Hard with the action. Dredd and his partner are on a track to mow through every criminal from floor one all the way to two hundred. If this movie had tried to be a spawling sci-fi, futuristic epic it would have lost some of it’s appeal.

    I think I would define the shootouts in the film as beautifully gory. Blood flows freely and often complete with exploding heads and visceral slow motion bullet piercings. It easily earns it’s R rating and some folks may find it gratuitous but I felt it holds true to the character’s comic roots. Anything less would have seemed like a cop out by the film makers and thankfully there were no compromises made.

    One problem many had with the Stallone version was he spent half the movie sans helmet in an attempt to humanize Judge Dredd. Karl Urban had gone on record while they were filming that you would never and should never see Dredd without his headwear and they have stuck to their guns here. All you see is a black visor and Urban’s grisled mug scowling the whole movie. Urban, over the past ten years has carved a niche by taking over roles and making them completely his. From Eomer in The Lord of the Rings to his amazing turn as Dr. McCoy in Star Trek and even to lesser extent as “Reaper” in Doom and now with Dredd Urban keeps adding to his bada** character profile. Hearing him say “I am the law” should put a devilish smile on any fans face.

    Dredd-1

    Olivia Thirlby plays Dredd’s rookie psychic partner Anderson with an emotional strength that shows a few cracks but never breaks and Lena Headey is almost unrecognizable as the scarred up drug queen Ma Ma. Past that the rest of the cast should be filed under gun fodder, simply there for our twisted viewing pleasure.

    Dredd is a dirty, bloody and borderline NC-17 violent movie that keeps the spirit of the almost 40 year old character alive and well. Fans of the character, comics in general and utter gruesome violence should go and see this. And see it quickly.

    Nerd Rating- 8.5/10