Nerd Rating

Tag: Video Games

  • New Game Releases. October 9, 2012

    Stealth Steampunk And The Return Of Real Time UFO Defense.

    [amazon_link id=”B005C2D2MO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dishonored[/amazon_link] (360, PS3, PC) $59.99

    One of the most unique looking games of the past year that has been on our radars finally releases today. Bethesda’s first person game mixes a little Bioshock, Half-Life and Thief and places the game in a Victorian, steampunk environment and leaves the options up to players on how to seek out your revenge. The game can be played (according to the creators) with killing no one or you can go through and have a bloodbath.

    [amazon_link id=”B006WQR3GA” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]XCOM: Enemy Unknown[/amazon_link] (360, PS3, PC) $59.99

    Firaxis brings back the classic strategy game to a new generation. Control the XCOM force and keep the world safe from an alien invasion. Take your squads out to meet the threat head on using a cover based real time strategy play style that requires more patience than running in blind to a firefight so some Call of Duty fans may not be able to grasp it.

    The Walking Dead Episode 4: Around Every Corner (XBLA, PSN) $4.99, 800 MS Points

    Telltale’s wonderful game based on the comic book reaches its penultimate episode. Lee and the group of survivors have finally made it to Macon but will there be the relief that they all have been searching for? My magic 8-ball says no. If you have not been playing this game and don’t want to download all the episodes separately don’t worry, they will all be released on disc in December.

    [amazon_link id=”B0050SY8UK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fable: The Journey[/amazon_link] (360) $49.99

    Fable continues on after the departure of Peter Molyneux. This game has been pointed at as the reason Molyneux left Lionhead Studios to create yet another studio. The game will be used strictly with the Kinect to attack, cast spells and travel with your horse throughout Albion. I wish there were a lot of kind words to say about this but it seems the the Fable franchise is still in decline since Fable 2.

    [amazon_link id=”B0086V5UF0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Just Dance 4[/amazon_link] (360, PS3, Wii, Wii U) $39.99- $49.99

    Another fall is here so that means another iteration of the best selling dance game. I am sure that Sony and Microsoft enjoy these games since they give players a reason to use the Kinect and Move. The roster this year includes “music” from “artists” like Justin Beiber, Flo Rida, Maroon 5 and human punching bag Rihanna.

     

    Next week get ready to return to hell with Doom 3: BFG Edition and Daniel Craig returns to take on six classic Bond missions in 007 Legends.

    Happy gaming!!!

  • Paper Mario: Sticker Star Trailer

    Can The 3DS Title Stick The Landing?

    Sorry for that pun by the way, I try.

    November 11 will see the release of [amazon_link id=”B0053BCMAC” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Paper Mario: Sticker Star[/amazon_link] on the 3DS. It is the fourth in the series with the last being 2007’s Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

    This new trailer shows off more of the use of stickers to make your way through levels and for attacks on enemies. Paper Mario has always been in a class all by itself when it comes to Mario titles with its unique look and RPG elements and Sticker Star looks to keep that tradition going.

  • All WWE 13 DLC Content Revealed

    DDP!!! Finally!!!

    Today THQ took the wraps off of all of their downloadable content that will be making its way to the upcoming [amazon_link id=”B0085L2T0A” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]WWE 13[/amazon_link]. Like last year they will be available separately for purchase or can be bought all at once in a Season Pass called “Fan Axxess”.

    The individual prices vary on the content but the Fan Axxess pass can be purchased for $19.99 or 1600 MS Points. Buying the pass also gives players a 10% discount and lets players download two more classic superstars (HINT- “Self High-Five”). The DLC will be released in three packs between the game’s release date and January 2013.

    Attitude Era Superstars Pack (Oct. 30)

    – Superstars Rikishi, Scotty Too Hotty, Grandmaster Sexay, Gangrel and Val Venis.

    – Accelerator (players can unlock all in-game items and change all superstar attributes.

    WWE Superstars Pack (Dec. 2012)

    – Superstars Tensai, Ryback, Drew McIntyre, and Yoshi Tatsu. WWE Divas AJ Lee and Natalya.

    – Undertaker Ministry of Darkness alternate attire

    – Championship Title Pack – 10 new championships from WWE, WCW, ECW, and AWA

    You’re Welcome In Five Languages Pack (Jan. 2013)

    – Superstars Damien Sandow, Antonio Cesaro, Jimmy Uso, and Jey Uso.

    – WWE Diva Layla

    – Moves Pack – 20 new moves, including the Lionsault and the Kimura Lock.

    Fan Axxess Program

    –  Legendary WWE Superstars Diamond Dallas Page and Goldust

    – Online Badge

     

     

  • Six Flags: Skyrim Adventure

    How Long Is The Wait For The Dark Brotherhood Ride?

    After 100+ hours in [amazon_link id=”B004HYK956″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Skyrim[/amazon_link] I pretty much thought I had seen everything. Every bleeped out fake curse word video, every arrow to the knee meme. But this blew me away.

    Misty Manley over on FakeAnything.com has crafted a more colorful, Sesame Street friendly version of the massive open world map. I would think that using this map may be the perfect mixture of M-rated content in the game and a slightly more Mario feel.

    “I remember where I dismembered that pack of vampires, it was just past that cute Christmas tree near Falkreath.”

  • Assassin’s Creed 3 Announces Season-Pass DLC And An Evil George Washington?

    DLC Pack Will Have George Telling Plenty Of Lies.

     

    Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed 3 will be selling a Season-Pass for it’s DLC that will save buyers a total of 25% and a week early release on the first downloadable pack. But the biggest news seems to be that three of those packs will be a big single player add-on story entitled “The Tyranny of King Washington” which sees America’s beloved first president become mad with power and places himself on the throne as America’s king.

    “As the revolution comes to a close, a new and most unexpected enemy emerges. Driven by the desire to secure the fate of the colonies, the greatest hero of the revolution, George Washington, succumbs to the temptation of infinite power. The new King is born and his reign leaves no one untouched. To return freedom to the land our new hero must dethrone a tyrant he once called friend.”

    The Season Pass will include 5 DLC packs in all and cost $30 or 2400 MS Points.

    [amazon_link id=”B0050SYLRK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Assassin’s Creed 3[/amazon_link] releases on October 30th for 360, PS3 and PC with the Wii U version being available on launch day, November 18th.

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  • 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.

  • 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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  • 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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