The idea of running, or driving, through a barren wasteland of mostly sand and rotting towns to complete an objective or look for someone to to kill may not be to appealing. Add it to Borderlands’ highly-addictive leveling system and RPG style character-building elements and you have a game that any First Person Shooter fan can instantly fall in love with.
Lets be honest, Borderlands looks awesome. The “concept art” style shaded graphics creates a completely new look. The style adds vibrance to a barren wasteland of dirt, and that is saying a lot in itself, but the players and enemies look great too. I played the Xbox 360 version, which surprisingly held up well, only slowing down when action got extremely intense with a lot of enemies on the screen at once.

Unfortunately, the storyline lacks, well… a story. From the beginning, you are thrown from quest to quest searching for fragments of a key to a vault, all instructed by a girl who randomly pops up in the upper right-hand corner of your screen to give you instruction. She never tells you who she is, why she is talking to you, what is in the vault, or why you are collecting the pieces.

When you begin borderlands, you are introduced to a planet named  are asked to choose between one of four main characters, each of which comes with their own special abilities and weapons of choose. The four main characters are Roland, Mordecai, Lilith, and Brick. I chose Mordecai because his weapon of choice is the sniper, and I always enjoy sniping in other FPS games. After choosing your character, you meet a claptrap, a small robot that you will encounter several times throughout the game  you are thrown into a small battle where you will learn the majority of the very basic, FPS-style button controls.

Now that you are accustomed to the controls, you will start taking on quests from non-player characters or bounty boars that you find throughout the world of Pandora. Players start the game with the ability to use two weapons, but later gain the ability to carry up to four weapons at a time, as well as slots for energy shields, grenade modifications, and a class modification that gives specific upgrades that provide bonuses to your character’s and/or teammates abilities.

weapons, class mods, shields and a host of other things can be purchased at vending machine style stores throughout the game. Items, as well as money, are dropped by your opponents when they are killed. You can also find money and items hidden in small boxes and chests in the game. For the most part, items dropped by opponents are pretty regular, unless it is a boss.

Weapons are one of the best things in this game. Weapons and items are randomly generated when you kill foes, find them in storage chests, buy them from vendors, or get them as a quest reward. Estimated, the random weapon generator can generate over 17 million variations of weapons. This randomly generated content is also used in other aspects of the game for other items, money, and even with the characteristics of the foes that you meet in the game.

Completing a quest is ofter awarded with a cash reward, experience points, and sometimes a special item. You also gain experience points throughout the game when you kill a foe, small or large. Experience points help you level up, which allows you to use more advanced weapons. When you level up, you are also rewarded with a specialization point that can be distributed among three specializations for each character; for example, Mordecai can become specialized in sniping, gunslinging with revolvers, or going rogue and using his pet bird Bloodwing to assist in kills and gathering.

The game can be played single-player, or multi-player with up to four players at a time. Single player will take you a long time to complete, and will get a little boring. Multi-player can be set up and played in a custom game with friends, or you can choose a quick match, which will pair you up with the best possible people in the same area of the game that you are in. While in a multi-player game, you can also duel someone you are playing with by male attacking them. A ring will pop up around you and it’s a fight to the death.

You will also find some downloadable add-on packs associated with the game. So far, The Zombie Island of Dr. Zed and Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot. If you plan on getting Mad Moxxi, plan on having some friends to help you, because she is one tough opponent.

When it comes down to it, this game is one of those games that you and your friends will continue to com back to time and time again just for fun. It has highly addictive gameplay and you will need to go through the story line three times with a single character to get a hold of the rarest weapons. This game is a blast, so definitely buy it or stick it on your GameFly Que.

Building a team of multi-talented members ready to follow you into the densest battles that you could imagine, spilling blood across the battlefield, can be quite an experience. Now add the customization of a game like Dragon Age: Origins and you have a game with potential to win Best PC Game or Best RPG… oh wait, it did.

When you start the game, you are asked to choose between a human, elf, or dwarf. While most games would pretty much end there, Dragon Age goes a lot further. After choosing what character type you are, you then chose your player type, between Warrior, Mage, and Rogue, each type with its own set of special abilities.

I chose an elf warrior, so most of this post will be base on the gameplay that I experienced in this role.

Based on what you chose, you will begin the game in a different area of Ferelden, a dark kingdom located where death and violence lurk in every shadow. You travel throughout the kingdom of Ferelden during the game, finding new villages and areas to play mini-quests. Ferelden is an extremely large place with many different areas to explore.

The storyline is completely different based on the choices you make at the beginning of the game. 12 different storylines can be played through in Dragon Age: Origins. I chose to be an Elf Warrior from the Alienage in the city of Denerim. I chose to start in a place where elves are not well respected, poor, and frequently must fight for their lives.

The core of the game, no matter what story line you chose, is the fight against the blight, an army of Darkspawn lead by a malicious dragon known as the Archdemon. You will come across many small, scattered groups of Darkspawn throughout the game, but they are only considered a blight if they are lead by an Archdemon. This is also when they are the biggest threat.

After choosing your story line, you start by placing some points on your attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Willpower, Magic, Cunning, and Constitution. After beafing up your attributes, you also need to choose what skills you want. These vary based on if you are a human, elf, or dwarf, and if you are a warrior, mage, or rogue. Starting in the slums of the city of Denerim, I chose to add the skill of being a thief.

This all sounds a little confusing, but it plays out in a way that makes it very easy to understand and use. You increase the skills that you have based on the amount of points you put on certain attributes.

So, now that you are ready to start the game, you are placed wherever you chose and must complete a few trivial tasks before moving into the real battles and core of the game. I had to save a group of female elves from being raped by the prince of Denirim.  After doing this, I needed to get out of the city, so a friend of my mother’s, a Grey Warden, escorted me out. After leaving the city with the Grey Warden, Duncan, I was taken to become a Grey Warden myself.

The Grey Wardens are an organization of the most elite and feared of warriors, dedicated to the destruction of the Darkspawn in all of the lands. Throughout most of the game, you will find that the Grey Wardens are frowned upon due to the lies of the tyrannical “hero,” Teyrn Loghain.

After you become a Grey Warden, the real journey begins. You must go to several different locations throughout the Kingdom of Fereldon to gain allies and find willing and able warriors to fight by your side against the blight.

You will build a small team that travels with you at all times to help you battle through all of your encounters with Darkspawn, thieves, and anyone else who gets in your way. I was a warrior, so I tried to keep a mage, a rogue, and an extra warrior with me at all times. I used the mage to deal all of the distant damage, keeping her away from direct harm. The rogue was used to open locked doors, chests, and armoires. The third team member was Shale, and DLC stone warrior that can deal some serious damage.

DLC is another piece that makes this game so good. The above-mentioned Shale is not just a downloadable player to join your team, but an entire mini-quest that you have to go through to unlock the character. As I said before, Shale is an extremely powerful force that can throw massive amounts of damage to your opponents.

You will find that in the game, the decisions that you make when you are talking to people effect how the game is played out, unlocking new skills, finding new and powerful items, and a ton of amazing mini-quests.

The mini-quests are so great, that sometimes you do not even realize that they are not part of the main quest. This is why it took me nearly 50 hours to complete it one time through. I went through and tried to do as many of the side quests as possible. I cannot keep myself from talking to every single person that I walk past, which is why I found myself spending 5x more time on mini-quests than on the actual quests.

The Good

Character customization is incredible with a lot of different way to create your own persona.

The core story itself is strong. Building an army to battle an army of Darkspawn lead by a massive dragon known as the Archdemon is pretty cool and the steps that you have to take to get there make it even better.

This game has the one of the best replay qualities that I have ever seen. You can essentially play through 12 different story lines, which can be played out in just about any order and find thousands of different ways to get to the end of the game.

For an RPG of such massive caliber, the graphics are great. They aren’t pushing any graphical boundaries, but they are amazing.

Combat in the game is simple, but extremely effective when you add in all the skills and abilities.

There are huge amounts of weapons that can be found in the game, some with the ability to have enchantments placed on them that can add a lot of additional damage such as ice, fire, spirit, and lighting damage.

Like the weapons, a lot of armor, and other items such as rings, necklaces, and belts can be found or purchased to beef up each player.

You have control over the people on you team, which is pretty standard in this type of game. The great thing that BioWare has done is give you the ability to change your teams abilities, skills, the weapons they use, the armor they wear, and the accessories they wear to improve each character.

The ability to improve and add skills based on your decisions in each conversation, like the decision I made to betray the urn or Andraste so that I could drink the blood of a thousand generations of dragons.

The Bad

The only bad thing about this entire game is after the ending. You will be faced with an extremely difficult task in the end of the game, fighting against endless waves of Darkspawn and eventually the Archdemon. It is a great ending to a game, but when you finish this and order is restored to Fereldon, be prepared to be upset. Any standing mini-quests that you had yet to complete are no longer accessible, even if they had absolutely nothing to do with the blight.

The only other thing you can do when you finish the game is play through the very short DLC mini-quests. Though these mini-quests are fun, they are no match to exploring the massive depths of Fereldon.

Final Thought

I willingly put 50 hours into this game in about a week. Even though you can’t finish your mini-quests after you finish the game, it doesn’t really take away from the overall gameplay. Even though I lost some mini-quests at the end, I was ready to restart the game and play through one of the other 12 storylines. This is an incredible game, and it belongs on the shelf of every gamer.

EXTRA

If you got the PC version of the game, it came with the Dragon Age Toolset, a completely limitless and expansive way to create your own game within Dragon Age. The toolset offers modders and editors the ability to not only create the environments, but also the ability to do your own voice-overs, sound design, cut scenes, cinematics, and even the visual effects that accompany them. Check out the video below and go over to the BioWare website for more information.

Infinity Ward is amazing at what they do. COD 4 was amazing, and Modern Warfare 2 is even better. Right off the bat, everything you do in this game is so extreme, that you have to brace yourself for each game. The deaths are just as bloody with bullets whizzing right by your head while your ducking for cover. With the new weapons and perks they have provided, this makes Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 better than anyone could have imagined.

Kill Streaks – Everything has pretty much changed when it comes to customization in Modern Warfare 2. You can also customize your kill streak order.

3 Kills – UAV – After 3 kills in a row without dying, you are able to throw up a UAV that reveals enemy players location on the map.

4 Kills – Care Package – After 4 kills in row without dying, you can pop a smoke grenade and a care package is dropped where you popped the smoke grenade. The care package contents are completely random. Also, be careful where you pop the smoke grenade. Make sure it’s a secure location that is well guarded; otherwise the enemy team can take it for themselves. Just one last thing about the care packages. Don’t stand by the smoke while waiting for the care packages. It will crush you. You will die. Just an F.Y.I.

4- Kills – Counter-UAV – This disables the enemy radar for a short period of time, even if they don’t have a UAV up.

5 Kills – Sentry Gun – Another airdrop brings a great addition to the new COD, the Sentry Gun. This is a mounted turret gun that is placed where you choose and automatically fires at enemies when they are spotted. This Sentry Gun has full 360-degree rotation capabilities and is most effective when placed above ground level.

5 Kills – Predator Missile – This allows the player to gain control of a Predator missile. Make sure your character is placed in a secure location before opening the laptop. After opening the laptop, you have only 5 seconds to control the missile targeting system. You can take damage while controlling the missile, but if you die,  you still have the control over the missile.

7 Kills – Harrier Strike – This is an air strike with a hovering Harrier that drops bombs, and sticks around and guards the area. This Harrier has one hell of a chain gun.

7 Kills – Attack Helicopter – This is the same chopper from COD 4. This chopper can be destroyed with guns and most effectively, a missle from an RPG.

8 Kills -  Emergency Airdrop – This airdrops 4 random kill streaks or ammo. It is pretty much the same exact thing as the care package, but for your whole team pretty much.

9 Kills – Pave Low – Another helicopter deploys, except this one is heavily armored.

9 Kills – Stealth Bomber – This calls in a Stealth B-2 bomber to bomb the selected area. This air strike does not show up on enemy radar (Hence the STEALTH)

11 Kills – Chopper Gunner – This is where you (the player) are able to take control of the gunner in a helicopter. Once again, one sick chain gun now in your control.

11 Kills – AC-130 – Another Gunship called from a laptop and you control it remotely for 30 seconds. You can use the 25mm, 45mm and 105mm guns to shoot at enemies.

15 Kills – EMP – EMP stands for Electromagnetic Pulse. This disables all enemy electronics. Things like Red Dot sight and Thermal Scope will not work during the EMP.

25 Kills – Tactical Nuke – Getting to this point ends the game and you score a big W for you and your team.

The PERKS

There are of course, new perks. I mean come on, new game, new perks. They are just extremely powerful and they come packed with their own challenges now. You are now able to upgrade your Perks to a Pro status. This just makes that Perk all the better.

Perk Slot 1

Marathon – Unlimited run/sprint
Marathon Pro – Move over obstacles more quickly

Sleight of Hand – Reload faster
Sleight of Hand Pro – Reload faster, plus left trigger zoom/aim faster

Scavenger – Full ammo restock from dead enemies
Scavenger Pro – Extra ammo magazines

Bling – 2 Attachments for Primary Weapon
Bling Pro – 2 Secondary Attachments

One Man Army – Switch classes during gaming/round.
One Man Army Pro – Switch class more quickly.

Perk Slot 2

Stopping Power – Improved bullet damage
Stopping Power Pro – Improved bullet damage against vehicles

Lightweight – Move faster
Lightweight Pro – Quick aim after sprinting

Hardline – Kill Streaks requirement fulfilled with 1 less kill
Hardline Pro – Death Streaks require fulfilled with 1 less death

Cold-Blooded – Undetectable on enemy radar, air and thermal
Cold-Blooded Pro – No name tag or reticle on you when sighted by enemy

Danger Close – Increased explosive damage
Danger Close Pro – Increased killstreak damage

Perk Slot 3

Commando – Melee hit from farther away
Commando Pro – Reduced fall damage

Steady Aim – Increased accuracy when firing off the hip
Steady Aim Pro – Hold breath to steady aim with scope, like old Iron Lungs perk

Scrambler – Jams enemies’ radar for a small radius
Scrambler Pro – Enemy claymores trip more slowly

Ninja – Invisible to heartbeat sensor
Ninja Pro – Silent footsteps, same as old Dead Silence perk

SitRep – See enemy explosives and tactical insertions, similar to Bomb Squad
SitRep Pro – Louder enemy footsteps

Last Stand – Same as COD 4, except you can crawl now
Last Stand Pro – Use equipment while in Last Stand

Primary Weapons

Assault Riffle, Sub Machine Guns, Light Machine Guns, Sniper Rifles, Riot Shield

Secondary Weapons

Machine Pistols, Shotguns, Hand Guns, Launchers, Equipment, Special Grenades, Weapon Attachments, Bottom Line

Saying that this is a great multiplayer game is an understatement. This game has hours upon hours of fun and original game play. My only one complaint about the game is the blood splatter on the screen can be a bit distracting or disorienting at times. Other than that, this is THE must have multiplayer game of the year.

Click Here To See The Image Gallery!

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Let me just start by saying one thing, Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best comic book game that I have ever played. Just to add to that, I am a HUGE Marvel fan and read their books, so it pains me deeply to say such things for a DC game. Now, on to the review.

Everyone and their mothers have heard of Batman. Even those who have never picked up comic book have heard of the Dark Knight. The one thing that people may not know about the new game is the story line of Arkham Asylum. The most diabolical psychiatric hospital is where the most craziest of all of Gotham City’s villain spend most of their time when Batman puts them in there (then they magically escape, ALL THE TIME!)

The new game puts Batman in the middle of Arkham’s craziest night of all time. Batman is there to make sure the infamous Joker (voiced by the legendary Mark Hamil) is finally put behind bars and in a straight jacket for good. But if that were the case, then there would be no game right? Exactly. The Joker has a plan. All hell breaks loose and the Joker escapes. He gets a hold of Commissioner Gordon (your best buddy!) and you have to save him. The Joker releases most of the prisoners and you have to fight your way through to say Commissioner Gordon.

The Game Play

During this game, you face main comic book villains like Joker, Killer Croc, Bane, Poison Ivy, Harvey Quinn, and a whole bunch of Bane wannabes.

The fighting style of the game is pretty much a free for all. You can fight about ten guys at once and not take any damage. The counter moves are a nice touch for spinning around and stopping the thugs from knocking you in the back of the head. They also make for really cool takedowns and throw a different kind of mix into the fighting as opposed to button smashing like most games.

After most of the thugs take a beating, the game camera slows down for the final blow to the last enemy. If and when Batman gets injured, it causes his vision (your screen) to get blurry and become black and white. The combos throughout the game become more effective and you are able to take down more thugs at a time.

While crouching during the game, Batman changes his whole demeanor. If you are trying to be stealthy because enemies are around, Batman won’t kick open doors or grates as he normally would. He slowly pries open the grates and slowly and silently moves aside the grates.

Detective mode lets Batman see things that he normally would have not seen. What it really does is keep you not to get lost in the game. It helps, because if you didn’t have this mode, you would definitely get lost. (I know I would) One of the many problem I had when I was lost was I neglected to look up. That would have solved 75% of my problems during this game.

SPOILER ALERT!!

In your second Scarecrow encounter, Batman’s back story as Bruce Wayne is greatly portrayed as you reach a certain point in the game. As you walk down a undisclosed corridor, you relive the moment of the death of both your parents. Batman actually becomes his former self as a child as you walk. The reason this happens is because you are gassed up from the Scarecrow’s secret mixture.

While running away from the huge 300 foot Scarecrow (remember, your all drugged up), the game becomes kind of a 2D game and you have to hide behind certain objects. This happens several times throughout the game, each time it gets longer and harder.

There is a sequence that I would like to call “Did you catch the game last night?.” The reason I call it that is because that is the last thing you hear before your Xbox makes you think its broken. Everything becomes all staticy and shaky, and then everything goes black. While everything is restored, you are actually playing as the Joker, and the whole beginning scene is reenacted with a little twist. Batman is strapped up and being wheeled away. (This happens to the Joker in the beginning)

The ending I could have done without. The Joker injects himself with what Bane normally takes and becomes a huge Joker like THING. I swear it looked like The Joker mixed with a Spawn villain. Or The Joker and Bane had babies, you choose.

Bottom Line

This game is a mix of comic book meets Metal Gear Solid. This is a great game that everyone should play regardless if you read comic books or not. Great graphics and great game changing game play. This is a MUST PLAY!

“Who ya gonna call?”

I hope everyone has their PKE meters and Proton Packs, cause were talking Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Let’s just get one thing straight. When it comes to Ghostbusters, I am a CRAZY fan. I say CRAZY very loosely. It’s more of a PSYHCO fan kind of thing. I sat down in front of the TV each and every day and watched movies over and over again. Ghostbusters were those two films. But enough about me, we’re here to talk about Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

Just to cut to the chase, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is one of the best video games I have played all year. The game was written and Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis and holds true to the originals. The game is set in the year 1991, which is two years after the second Ghostbusters film. This game is meant to be the third film of the franchise. All the original actors are back to voice their characters, and they do such a good job! (Sorry, geeking out) The Ghostbusters, with their heavy banter and tech savvy dialogue, return to game consoles around the world. And let me tell you people, they do a damn good job.

You join the gang as an experimental weapons technician, and you are only there to test Egon’s new proton pack. Well as always, things tend to go wrong and they get a phone call about some paranormal activity at the Museum. Mind you, this Museum is holding some heavy Gozer materials for an exhibit. Things get out of hand in the museum and all hell breaks loose and spreads across New York City. You become the new “rookie” of the group and you’re off to save the day. They keep your character quiet and nameless throughout the game. The reason for the “Rookie” part is so the other four don’t get attached to you in case something happens throughout the course of the night. (Which is completely understandable)

The Proton Pack has four different firing modes. First, there is the Classic Proton Pack from he movies, but also packs a Boson Dart as a secondary fire. (Which is a condensed ball of energy that explodes on impact) Then you have your dark matter functions, which is a dark blue Shock Blast (like a shotgun) and a Stasis Stream, which makes enemies slow down so they can be blasted. Then there is the Meson Collider, which tags an enemy with a tracker, then quickly fires particles at the target. The last one is the Slime Blower. The Slime Blower is most commonly used to coat enemies and objects in positively charged goo like matter. The secondary fire is the Slime Tether that brings two objects together.

If you are a fan or not, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is fun, witty, and contains hours of game play. Not to mention the online play which features games like Containment, and Slime Dunk.

THE BOTTOM LINE

This is a fun game from beginning to end. Not the hardest game to beat, but fun none the less. If you are a die-hard fan boy, then you’ll absolutely love the witty banter from all the original characters and all the original game play. This game does in fact feel like the third movie in the franchise, although, I am VERY happy that they are making another film. I’ll be there, 12:00am opening night, wearing my jumpsuit and my home made Proton Pack (which is AWESOME BTW!). I recommend this game to anyone who likes humor in video games as well as people who appreciate original game play.