Review: Assassin's Creed Revelations

Well I have been putting this off because of Skyrim and Christmas so now that I have some free time I can finally write this review. Unfortunately not much has changed from the last game so go read that review and then come back here.

So the story picks up right after the last game. Desmond is now trapped inside the Animus and has to finish what he started with Ezio so that he can find out where to go next before the partition he's trapped in collapses. As for Ezio, he's out to uncover more information about Altair and his search has lead him Constantinople to find the keys to Altair's library and while he's searching he's helping the local Assassin's guild.

The game plays exactly like the last 2 games but now they've added bombs and bomb crafting to the equation. They also added a tower defence game for when your notoriety level gets too high but it's easy to avoid having to do them since you can just keep your notoriety level down. Other then these the only new things are a hook blade for riding zip lines and the new city. Seriously there isn't much new.

As for the multiplayer I didn't bother playing it since I don't care for multiplayer and it just a mediocre tacked on feature. I know there are new modes but I don't really care.

Like I said you can just read my Assassin's Creed Brotherhood review to read what I didn't write here. I just can't be stuffed writing the same review twice. Is it a good game? Yes. Is it better then the last one? Ehh about the same. Assassin's Creed is still a great game series but it's starting to show it's stuck in a rut. Maybe if we get a 2 year break, it might become fresh again.

Score 4/5

Review: Legend Of Zelda Skyward Sword

I can honestly say I never expected to say these words but Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is no longer the best Legend Of Zelda game. I know it's hard to believe but somehow Skyward Sword managed to take the crown, even with it's motion control stuff ups. Yes I'm giving it a perfect score so those who only look for score can piss off because I can't stand people like you. Anyway I finished it on my birthday of all days so happy birthday to me and a review for you.

The story of Skyward Sword it a deep narrative that is the start of the Legend OF Zelda series and chronicles the origins of those bound by fate, the creation and purpose of the Master Sword and the Triforce. I would tell you the details of the story but just buy a Wii since most of you got rid of yours, play the game like you all should and enjoy it like those who never gave up on Nintendo.

The game plays like Twilight Princess but with more precise and finicky controls. Links sword will swing in one on 8 directions pre programed depending on where you hold the Wiimote and you can trust thanks to the Wii Motion Plus. All the tools Link earns are designed to use the motion controls and you'd be surprise how well the majority work. Links tools range from classics like the bombs, bow and slingshot an new ones that are useless for combat like the beetle, whip and a bug net. There are others but I'm going to try and keep it as spoiler free as possible.

The game has a heavy focus on it's motion controls and the Wii Motion Plus usually works but be warned that it can stuff up when using items and requires to be recentered frequently. It can be frustration sometimes but it doesn't always happen if you don't fidget too much and remember that the game doesn't use the sensor bar at all.

Combat in the game can be done in 2 ways, flail the remote and hope for the best or patiently wait to see how the enemy is holding their weapon and hit them in the open spot and a third method that takes some skill and is how I approached combat for the most part(other then flailing like crazy) is wait for the enemy to attack and shield block the attack to leave them open and flail like crazy!

The game also brings another companion to the Zelda table named Fi, the spirit or A.I. of the sword you wield. She essentially does everything Navi did but doesn't bug you every 3 seconds with garbage. She also has a robotic voice and personally that never grow on you. Along with Fi to help you a gossip stone in Skyloft is also there to help you with hints to get through sections of the game if you need help and if this is your first Legend Of Zelda, you'll most likely need the help of the gossip stone often to continue on if you get stuck.

The game has 2 main worlds and is set up with a central hub town called Skyloft where you'll keep going back to with 3 locations to visit plus lots of little islands in the sky to visit. To get to these locations you have to fly on your bird called a loftwing. The islands you can fly to are useless to visit until later in the game so I suggest wait until some reason comes by to visit the little islands.

There are 7 dungeons in the game and a lot of retreading the 3 locations. Each dungeon is a bit smaller the previous Legend Of Zelda games but the areas that the dungeons are in make the trip to each bigger. Speaking of bigger the game feels really big but constrained at the same time because the sections of the world are separate to each other. The 6 main dungeons follow the old Zelda formula while the 7th is just a big puzzle. One thing that's good is the compasses have been removed because now the map shows you where the chest are and the compass function of keeping track of where you came from is there naturally.

Saving in the game is handled a little differently to other Zelda games and is similar to Majora's Mask since you use bird statues. You also use these statues to return to the sky or exit a dungeon when you need to leave for some reason. You'll also need to examine every statue if you want them marked on the map so you can land at that location from the sky for the main areas.

Like most Zelda games it has mini games and they all use motion controls... so they are annoying to play but some need to be done for heart pieces. Speaking of hearts there are less hearts to earn in the game now thanks to a new thing called the Adventurer's Pouch which stores items like medal to enhance stuff include your maximum hearts, your shield, bottles and extra bags for ammo.

The boss battles in the game are also some of the best in the series and usually require some skilled swordplay that forces you to stop flailing and start playing right. Like normal they have weak spots to hit to do damage and are satisfying to complete, especially against Ghirahim( the new character who looks like an albino emo. There is also a boss rush mini game for those who want to challenge themselves and earn a couple of essential items to help in the game but it gets unlocked late in the game.

Legend Of Zelda Skyward Sword has the best story in the franchise and has such a beautiful music score and art style. Even with motion controls and having to continually recenter the damn thing it still 50 hours of fun and if that isn't enough they added a new mode called Hero mode that allows you to replay the game in a harder difficulty that requires serious skill to play and you get too keep all the treasures you found in your previous play so you can upgrade earlier.

Is this game good? No... it's EXCELLENT! It's fun, has beautiful music, looks great for a Wii game and has 50 hours of gameplay for the first playthrough. This is the best game on Wii and the best Legend Of Zelda game released to date. If it's the last game to be released on the Wii from Nintendo other then Kirby's Adventure, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower then at least it's going out on a high note. I recommend buying this game because it's the best game this year in my opinion and doesn't disappoint.

Score 5/5

Also it's the 25th Anniversary of the Legend Of Zelda so Happy 25th Anniversary Legend Of Zelda!

Review: Super Mario 3D Land

Yes! Finally a game for the 3DS that actually uses the 3D well and was built with it in mind. A game worth owning the 3DS has come out for those who haven't already gotten one and it's a great game. TANOOKI IS BACK!


The story like most Mario games is Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and now Mario has to save her. This time around they added a tree with Tanooki leaves that also has all it's leaves blow away and Bowser and his minions are using them against you.

The game plays like every other Super Mario game, mainly like New Super Mario Bros but with a 3D world to run around in instead of 2D. You'll do the usual running, jumping and ground pounding you've done before but in a 3D environment.

Power ups will be your main weapon since Mario is back to the basic get hit and you lose the power up game we're so used too. The main power ups like the Super Mushroom, Power Star and Fire Flower return along with an old friend from 1990 know as the Tanooki Suit only this time it's a Tanooki Leaf. The game also has a new power up and it's the second time we get an enemy power up, the Boomerang Flower which gives Mario the power of a Boomerang Bro. If you die a bunch of time you'll also get access to an Invincible Tanooki Leaf as well as a Power Wing which will warp you to the flag pole at the end of the stage.


The game has 8 worlds each with 6 stages(7 in World 8) and each one has the same goal, get to the flag pole before time runs out. Even the Castle stages follow the same formula but you have to take down a boss before getting access to the flag pole. Within each stage there are 3 Star Coins to find and collect, these are used to unlock stages to progress and are also used in the Special world you unlock once you finish the game. Also in each world you'll either find a mushroom house which will have an item or a bonus cube which will get you a Star Coin if you finish it within the time limit.


The first run is fairly easy to finish for veterans and Golden Age gamers and will take about 4-6 hours depending on how efficient you get through the stages. Once you finish the game you'll gain access to the Special world which has more challenging stages to complete and you can also unlock Luigi to play as. The stages vary from the regular kinds, low time limit that require you to find clocks to boost the time and Dark Mario chase stages. These stages are designed for the highly skilled and some of these can be real tests of patients and can and will be REALLY FRUSTRATING! Picture this, Bowser castle stage with a low time limit and you have a Dark Mario chasing you with no check points... absolute frustration, especially when trying to get all the Star Coins in one run on the stage.


Believe it or not the 3D actually helps with playing the game. It helps determine jumps a little better and you notice how well it works more when you're lining up a jump from above while the camera is above you. I played the entire game in 3D but if you decide not to play it in 3D it will be tougher to play.


Man Mario game reviews are hard to pad out with waffling. Is the game good? Hell Yeah! The game is fun during the first round and the special worlds are really challenging. Plus the return of the Tanooki Mario! THE TANOOKI! Sure you could clear it in a day, that's what I did but I recommend doing maybe a world a day to extend it. It a game to enjoy, not rush through. What's the score? Duh Perfect Score! It's a Mario game and like all Super Mario games it's never a waste of money and will be fun guaranteed!

Score 5/5

Review: Halo: Combat Evovled Anniversary (sort of)

Is 10 years really enough time for nostalgia to sell a game? 343 Industries thinks so. The big question is "is Halo in HD worth buying" Well that's the thing... it's really a matter of how devoted you are. This is going to be fun... and short.

Halo's story is a simple one. A space marine of the United Nations Space Corps(UNSC) name Master Chief has been woken up to stop the Covenant from taking over the Pillar of Autumn and taking the A.I Cortana. He escapes and now has to fight the Covenant in his search to find out what Halo is and what the Covenant want with it.

For those returning the game is EXACTLY like the one you played 10 years ago only with a HD coat of paint and uglier face models. For the very small amount of you who haven't played it before it's a first person shooter so you already know how to play it. The thing is that nothing has changed at all in the game... well they did add terminals with extra info into the story but they are there more for a couple of achievements instead of expanding the story and skulls like in the other Halo's.

While 343 Industries did do a remix of the original soundtrack of the game and reskined the game, they missed out the opportunity to fix Halo's problem or better yet remake the entire game using the REACH engine and make it play like Halo Reach instead of it's clunky original. Also the remixed music is crappier then the original and the HD reskining looks good for everything except the human characters faces and the lip syncing is worse then the original. Fortunately you can switch between the original game and reskined version by pressing the back button at any time and you can switch the music back to the original in the menu.

The multiplayer is Halo Reach's but with new maps and it comes with a download voucher to download the maps into Halo Reach. This will be the main reason to buy the game in my opinion for most people. Personally don't bother playing the multiplayer through this game and just load up Halo Reach instead.

So is Halo's HD re-release worth buying? I'd have to say it depends. If you never played a Halo game I say go buy Halo Reach and forget the others. If you never played Halo Combat Evolved but played the others then no unless you're desperate to find out how it began. If you already own the original version then don't bother unless HD makes everything better. If you love Halo Reach and want more maps, just wait for the anniversary DLC to come out. What I'm trying to say is that it's all up to you if you think buying a re-release of a mediocre but fun shooter is worth it. It's not a bad game but it's not the best choice when other, better games are available.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is just a lazy HD reskining of the Xbox classic that is selling itself on a 10th anniversary nostalgia trip. If it came bundled with Halo 2 as well then I'd give it a better score but they didn't. At least every PS3 HD remake is bundled with 2 or more games. I bought it originally because I thought I'd be fun to replay Halo and it still is but I feel ripped off for paying AU$60 for it.

Score 3/5

Review: Batman Arkham City

Well you know what they say, better late then never. Every time I've tried and play this game I've had really hot days, my PS3 freezing due to overheating and both Sonic Generations and Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One come out and stop me from playing it and I can now FINALLY review it.

Before we start I'd better admit that I LOVE BATMAN! Always have and always will. Out of every super hero ever created he has the best villains, no super powers unless unlimited funds count, and he's very relatable. I also collect Batman theatrical and animated movies, comics and soon statues/figures.


The story confuses me on where in Batman continuity it fits exactly and why Scarecrow isn't in this game... I like Scarecrow. Anyway it's been nearly a year since the events in Arkham Asylum and since then Quincy Sharp (former Arkham Asylum warden) has become mayor and has turn North Gotham into a newer bigger asylum called Arkham City and Hugo Strange has been charged to run the place(Now if you want more into the events before the game buy the hardcover Arkham City trade paperback. Trust me it's worth it and helps frame what happens in the game). Batman/Bruce Wayne has suspicions about the place and is campaigning to shut the place down and gets thrown into Arkham City by Strange's Tyger soldiers. Now Batman must uncover what's going on and try to survive in a place where everyone wants him dead. Also Catwoman's there and is part of the story so buy it new like a good boy/girl or pay more then the new price in total to download her.


Gameplay hasn't changed much since the last game and if this is the first one you are playing, STOP NOW and buy Batman Arkham Asylum, finish it and come back to this game. The major changes are quick fire abilities for some of your gadgets, the ability to counter more then 1 enemy at once and some new combat skills. Unfortunately these extra abilities make choosing combat tactic overwhelming. Also stealth is always the best option but if you're like me you just love jumping into the fray and start throwing gadgets all over the place... and getting turned to brooding Swiss cheese.

The city is also bigger then Arkham Asylum but is cluttered unless you're on the rooftops. Navigating the city on rooftops is the best way to get around since the streets are small and you can see things better on the roof. You also get a new ability to dive while gliding and it's useful for keeping up in the air.

Batman also comes with some of his old gadgets from Arkham Asylum and we also get some new tools like ice grenades and a weapons jammer. Thanks to the ability to quick fire a far few of these weapons, you won't need to swap them to use in battle and if you're really good you can even use them normally this way. Most are unlocked through story progression but a couple are found in side missions.

Thanks to the fact that you're in a large sandbox, the games structure lets you faff about collecting Riddler trophies, solve riddles and complete side missions but be warned, you can miss some missions when concentrating on the story and you won't be able to complete some of them in the end game. The side missions usually involve detective work and combat or in the Riddler's side mission's case, solving a puzzle through"cheating".

Boss fights have also improved since Arkham Asylum. Boss fights are now more then just fighting waves of goons alone... now you fight goons and the villains. On top of that they are memorable and fun. As much as I want to tell you about them it's best I let you find out... assuming you haven't already finished it since this IS a late review.

As mentioned before you can play as Catwoman during the story mode. She plays similarly enough to Batman to not feel crippled in combat and while she navigates the city at a slower pace, she's actually a lot more fun to play then you'd expect. She fights faster then Batman and unfortunately gets her ass handed to her faster then Bats, so you'll need to use stealth more frequently and evade a lot. She also gets her own pink Riddler trophies to find and she has to pick up some of the green ones too.

On top of the main campaign, you can play challenge maps just like before and these are more challenging then before and with DLC you can play these as Batman, Catwoman, Robin(Tim Drake) and Nightwing. Unfortunately I am not that good at these but it gives you something to do after playing the game or to use as a training tool. Speaking of finishing the game you can start the game again in a New Game+ mode with everything you've unlock, tougher enemies and no counter indicators. Guess who keeps dying in this mode... this guy... oh right, you can see me pointing at myself.


Batman Arkham Asylum was a great game, Arkham City is an even greater game. It's a great experience playing as Batman and playing just like the character is in the comics and animated series. Arkham City improves on Arkham Asylum and gives us a better game then we expected. With tons to do and DLC to come, this game will last a long time. You can clear the story at your own pace too so it's worth every penny.

Score 5/5

Review: Sonic Generations

Another year another Sonic game right? Well at least this time it looks like SEGA has finally started to care about both the fans and Sonic... a little. Has this 20th anniversary game proven Sonic should stay or is it another nail in the coffin that the blue blur keeps escaping. Keep reading to find out.


The basic story of the game goes as so. A beast called the Time Eater has torn through time and space, disrupted Sonic's party and has kidnapped all of Sonics annoying friends. Now Sonic and... Sonic have to team up and restore time to each piece of their history and save their friends from the Time Eater. The story isn't too interesting but it does kinda poke fun at Sonic's previous games and unfortunately classic Sonic doesn't talk. Couldn't they get Jaleel White?


The game has two distinct play styles to suit each Sonic. Fans of the Megadrive/Genesis era Sonic will be glad to know that Classic Sonic plays exactly as he does in good old Sonic 2 and for added nostalgia and precision I recommend using the D-pad for that more authentic feel. Classic Sonic also has a dedicated spin dash button so you can keep the flow going better and trust me, as a Sonic veteran from the glory days of Sonic it's useful. Modern Sonic on the other hand plays like the Sonic Unleashed(should of stayed leashed XD) Sonic and has every button mapped for a function. He also handles like a trolley with a flailing cow in the basket but if you've played the 3D Sonics then it's nothing new.


There are 9 stages, each with 2 acts 1 for each Sonic. Each of these stages are recreations of classic and modern Sonic stages and have various paths to the end of the stage and 5 special Red rings to collect to unlock music and artwork. Sounds simple and fun right? Well I hate to piddle on your salad but that's not the end of it. See after completing a stage with both Sonics you unlock challenges for each stage and you need to complete 1 per stage just to get a key to advance to boss and unlock the next era. Now these challenges vary from the simple race to the finish or beat a doppelganger and some that involve Sonics friends and many more. These are a bit tedious and you'll need to complete these to unlock more music and artwork and even skills. So much to unlock ugh....

The skills you can unlock are mainly stuff to either make the game play a little better to you're style or just give you an edge to help through the tougher stages... like that crappy Crisis City stage! What idiots wanted this stage in the game anyway? Ahem.. The skills also require a certain amount of points to equip and you have 100sp and the best ones require high amounts but to cater they've given you 5 skill setup slots to work with so you can make one for a specific Sonic or both or whatever.

Along with the normal stages there are rival battle and boss battles to complete to get to the end of the game. These battles unfortunately focus mainly on modern Sonic and resort to mainly "run until the enemy is open to attack and then attack X amount of times" and it seems both lazy and ripped out of the previous games. It's not a bad thing but there are so few and it would have been nice to have had a boss per stage instead of the way they did it.

The game will last you 8 hours on a normal playthrough but with all the challenges and unlockables, it can last double the time or even longer. The main advantage of doing these challenges is unlocking the music to use in any stage. With the large track list this game has you can play say Green Hill Zone(Sonic The Hedgehog 1991) with the music from Green Forest(Sonic Adventures 2 2001) or maybe Sonic Boom(Sonic CD 1993) while playing through Rooftop Run(Sonic Unleashed 2008) you get the idea. Unfortunately some of the music is remixed and some of them sound crappier then the originals.


The big question... is it a good game? Yes it actually is. It's nice to see another good Sonic game come out from the cesspool Sonic has been in for the last 10 years and it should keep you occupied until Sonic 4 episode 2 comes out. Playing as both Sonics can be fun but depending on which one you grew with will determine your preference and sometimes switching between them can be disorienting but I personally never had that problem. The game has a STRONG focus on modern Sonic so you have been warned. Regardless I highly recommend it for hardcore Sonic fans and especially those with families that have parents who grew with classic Sonic and kids who grew with modern Sonic. Too bad a Wii version wasn't made though. It's a great celebratory game of one of gaming's true mascots.

Score 4/5

Yeah decided to make the score colour blue in honor of Sonic and his 20th anniversary celebration.

HAPPY 20th ANNIVERSARY SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!

Review: Ratchet and Clank All 4 One

I actually don't really want to review this because of the mood I'm in but it's best I review it while it's still fresh in my head. I was excited to see a new Ratchet and Clank when it was first announced but after slogging through this one I really want a new game but from the part of Insomniac Games that actually made the previous ones. Doesn't sound to good already doesn't it? Well if you're a fan... it's about to get worse.

The games story has Ratchet, Clank, President Captain Qwark and Dr. Nefarious getting kidnapped by a giant sphere like drone.After waking up in a facility and being helped to escape by a girl names Susie, they are forced to team up to survive on what's left of the planet Magnus and to stop the Ephemeris creature collector and Nevo's evil plot. The humor of the game is still in tacked but it's not like the previous games, this is more kid friendly.

They game plays like a castrated version of previous games... what does that mean you ask? Well let's start with the fact you can't control the camera at all! Instead the right stick selects your weapon. The targeting is automatic and it almost never targets what you want to hit. It's easy to get blindsided by an enemy because the camera can't be controlled and puzzles require not thought to solve. Also the game is designed to force multiplayer.

Those who know the series knows that the game is a platform/shooter. While this is true the auto targeting screws up the shooting for veterans ands to make matters worse weapons no longer upgrade through use, they instead require you to buy upgrades with bolts. This makes it not worth using certain weapons because most people will just focus on the most powerful or most ammo weapons. There is also a weapons overload ability that makes the damage higher when more then one player uses the same weapon on a target. This is a great addition but people will fight over which weapon to use and the A.I. always wants you to use what it wants... which is always the most powerful weapons. Fighting the A.I. over what weapon to use is more frustrating then people without headsets! Ammo is also no longer in boxes, instead there are ammo refill stations placed at specific locations.

Now while the plaforming isn't too much different, it now require you to team up with either an idiotic A.I. or other players(online or offline) to activate devices or cross larger gaps. While it doesn't sound bad it's actually frustrating when players are fighting each other over camera focus or the A.I. goes brain dead and you can't proceed. Also co-ordinating anything is frustrating both with players and with the A.I.

The enemies also have an extremely high amount of health and what's worse is that the bosses while fun to fight, have WAY to much health and make the fights long and boring somethings. They all have patterns that are way to easy to follow but it's because this game is after all for families and kids to play, not us Ratchet and Clank veterans.

Skill points return to the game and this is where the veterans will rejoice because they are still as fun and challenging to obtain unlike the golden bolts. Yes they even dumbed down finding the golden bolts by making most of them extremely easy to find... by putting them in plain sight! Completing Skill points will earn you cheat like in the past to have extra fun with the game and the golden bolt unlock costumes for the characters... but you need to find them for all the characters, not just the one.

Playing with people online and offline is essentially the same experience except lag issues and lack of headsets makes playing online frustrating sometimes... what am I saying sometimes, I mean all the time. Also because of having more then 2 players at one time the frame rate sufferers dearly for it. I mean it's bad enough it's got a lower frame rate to other Ratchet and Clank games but when you've got 4 players on screen and a ton of enemies onscreen the word "Clusterf*ck" doesn't do it justice and it's a low frame rate clusterf*ck that can freeze on you sometimes too.

Ratchet and Clank All 4 One is a game that tries to force multiplayer on you and is a watered down experience. This game was designed with kids and families in mind. If you're a veteran playing with your family you will be frustrated by both how it plays and how your family plays. If you play single player the A.I. is so brain dead that you'll want to play with people for slightly less frustration. All and all it's not a bad game, just not really meant for veteran fans to be challenged with. The story and all the stuff to obtain will keep you occupied for a long while if you're patient but if you pass on it I won't blame you. Also if you don't like playing with other people I would pass on this game, it punishes the loner!

Score 3/5

Review: Xenoblade Chronicles

Well before I review this let me just sit back and revel in the fact that for once a game came out in Australia and not the USA. Just give me a minute... ahh! Ok enough of that. Believe it or not Xenoblade Chronicles actually is a good step forward in the realm of JRPGs, keep reading to find out more.

The story of Xenoblade Chronicles is deep and interesting. It starts with 2 giant titans called the Bionis and the Mechonis having a big fight and kill each other and there corpses become 2 land masses. Then we go into the main story itself. The Mechon(a machine race) has been attacking Homs(Humans with a different name) colonies for years and after the battle at Sword Valley a whole year has passes since Mechon have appeared on Bionis. Then They attack once again and attack Colony 9 and a new breed of mechon arrives that have a face and can't be killed by the mechon slaying blade the Monado. Now Shulk and his friends have to seek revenge for the death of Fiora(Shulk's would be girlfriend) and the Homs killed by the mechon, while unlocking the true power of the Monado.

I admit summarising the story is hard with this game since it's so deep but on to gameplay. The game being a JRPG means turn-based combat right? Well yes it does have it but in the same way as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XII. You see it uses an auto attack combat system that you can use skills in, the difference is that the skills have a cooldown effect and don't rely on mana points(MP). This is the reason why you keep seeing the tag Action RPG for the game, but it's a TURN-BASED JRPG.

The combat is simple, since the monster roam the field instead of you being bogged down with random encounters you just target an enemy and spam skills that do damage... well that's one option. The skills you can use in battle is limited to 8 per character so choosing skills that are well rounded is a good way to go. Strategy for battle has the usual style of RPGs where each enemy has things it's weak against but this game also included an actual strategy set up for physical attackers. In this game you can make enemies fall to the ground by toppling them, making them unable to attack while grounded. There is also a chain attack that can be activated once the chain attack gauge is filled to bombard the enemy with attacks with bonuses for using the same coloured skills. Skills are broken up into different categories like ether based(magic) and physical and each colour represents the type of effect they have eg. yellow are buffs, blue is healing and red is heavy attack focused. While in combat you will also have a button come up on screen to push, pressing the button at the right time will allow you to boost the abilities of your party through tension. This also makes them harder for enemies to kill.

Navigating the world is pretty much filled with running around but a consolation to it is if you find a landmark you can warp to them using the map screen which will cut down travel time while questing and you'll be doing a lot of that. Also you will need to run around a lot to reveal the entire map, but be warned that some monster can target you if you are lower level then them. An Icon above their heads will help you know which ones to avoid.

A draw back in this game is it's sidequest. Why you may ask? Well unfortunately while borrowing the MMO combat system it also took their sidequest too. In every town and every cluster of people, sidequests are there and they are all fetch quest, monster killing, rare monster hunting and item farming quests, 52 hours in and I've suffered from quest exhaustion! There are 100's of sidequest and the only advantages of doing them is for rare items and exp. This game has borrowed so much from MMO's it's essentially a Single Player Offline Japanese Role Playing Game or SPOJRPG.

To also force hours of gameplay an affinity system has been added to the game. What does this mean? Well as you complete quest the people of the town start to like you and whoever is in your party at the time will also grow more affectionate to you for helping people. Building up positive affinity with teammates opens up new dialogue scenes that give you more insight to the characters. You can also boost affinity by being successful with the tension boosting in battle.

Now the big question, is it a good game? Yes, in fact it's great. The game breaths new life into the JRPG genre with it's combat system, along with a story that doesn't fall into JRPG stereotypes and guaranteed over 100 hours of gameplay thanks to sidequests. I've had a great time playing it because of the great music and story but the quest overload can be a problem. If you own a Wii the I say go and buy it especially if you've never played a JRPG before.

Score 4/5

Review: Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3

Oh my god... I am so damn exhausted with Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 right now... by which I mean I've put in 76 hours into this game and I need sleep! Yeah I actually am a person who enjoys the Warriors series of games but does putting 76 hours into this game mean it's good? Well either check the score(for those with no time or patience) or read on to find out.

Ok the story for this game is annoying! I mean it's annoying to the point I started skipping text without reading it. Why? Because it's so damn bland. The story has all the characters in the game stuck on a world that's a spliced mix of their universes(well the Universal Century series at least[if you don't know what that is then I suggest looking it up]) and they are fighting one another to find a way home while unbeknownst to them the true reason for there gathering is hidden from them by a mysterious mobile suit. Then there's the replaying the TV series stories in condensed versions. So chances are you'll end up skipping the text portions of the story just to get back to the action.

The game plays just like every other Warriors game(except Fist of The North Star, that is slow and a little different) so it wont be too hard to jump in, plus when you start you are forced into a tutorial so even newcomers aren't left in the dark. Control are mapped to the entire controller with no button unmapped. The usual Warriors combat is used here and if you've played as many as I have you'll notice that the fighting styles each mobile suit has is the same as a previously seen character from either Dynasty Warriors or Samurai Warriors with some tweaks to remind you that it is a Gundam game, which means shooting and different charge attacks. Interestingly you'd be surprised to here that over 100 enemies appear onscreen at one time. Also the giant mobile suits return... well some of them.

The game is mission based like all Warriors games and this game has a ton of them. The missions are all the same this time with no real variation so they can get really boring, really fast... or at least for most. To try and mix it up they added strategic points to take over instead of just territories... ok it's still taking territories but now they actually do something other then spawn enemies. The strategic points are basically bases(which your teammates and enemies spawn from), catapults(launches you to a designated part of the field), repair warehouses(restores the battle gauge, will elaborate later)... and the list goes on. I just can't be bothered adding them all but they can effect the tide of battle to a minut degree. Look every mission is just "Kill boss, don't die!".

The game's mission may not have any variations but the path to get there is a little different to the other games in the Warriors series. The game forces you to deplete a 'Battle Gauge' to actually make the boss appear and to do so requires you to kill ace pilots and take fields until it's empty. The battle gauge is a strange thing though, it actually allows ace pilots to respawn after being destroyed until it's depleted... even you can respawn if the gauge isn't empty, but it depletes a lot of the gauge when you do respawn.

There's about 120 mobile suits and characters... or at least that's what the box says and most of them are Gundams this time around. Here's the catch though, you have to unlock characters to get the good mobile suits and find plans to make better versions of them that can be upgraded a certain amount of times and for everyone to use them you need to use them 5 times with the original owners. Then there's the 3 special mobile suits that require unlocking through specific missions... ugh! Yes it's tedious... it really is. Unlocking characters is also a pain since you need to complete missions to unlock the opportunity to become friends and then build a friendship with them by fighting alone side them and then complete a mission to max out the friendship... ugh!

The game has multiplayer up to 4 players online and you can play the majority of mission in local 2 player, but back to online multiplayer.It's co operative multiplayer... *the sounds computers around the world going back a page or closing web browser windows* so no competitive matches or pressure. There are 15 online missions and they are the same as offline missions but with up to 4 players and with lag in most matches.

Look, I'm sure you've already made your decision just by the title of the game itself but my opinion, it's not worth buying unless your a fan of Gundam and or a fan of the Warriors series. Be warned it can get boring unless you're dedicated. It's not that bad of a game... but not that good either. Seriously unless a fan of either franchise, you are wasting money. I personally like the game but I like these games and there are a fair few people who like Warriors games. But yeah even this was taxing on me. 2/5 is my score but that's not for fans, just for everyone else. If you are a fan then just go buy it if you like Gundams.

Score 2/5

Review: Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D

Ok let me save you time here if you don't like reading reviews that are long because this one may be pretty long. Perfect score, must buy, wait until more 3DS games worth owning to come out to buy a 3DS if you don't own one. Ok? Ok now lets do this. *cracks fingers*

Let me get personal to start with. I played Ocarina Of Time for the first time when it came out in 1998 and I was 13. A time in my life where this game helped me emotionally at a time where I needed it most. The touching story and hidden message of the game really effected me in a way that's indescribable. If you play/played the game around the ages of 10-18 you may get the same kind of effect. The game was almost too perfectly released when you consider how old generation NES were. The funny thing is 13 years later, the game is still as good as ever and somehow they improved on perfection.

If you haven't played Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time first off you have my deepest condolences. Second, Why haven't you? It's on Wii Virtual Console and it was re-released on Gamecube with Windwaker and at one point you could buy a Gamecube with a Zelda Collection which has the 2 NES and 2 N64 games on one disc. Anyway now is your chance on 3DS.

The story of Ocarina Of Time is about a boy who has been chosen by destiny to save the land of Hyrule from Ganondorf/Ganon and he even has to travel through time to do so. I would give out more detail but you need to experience it for yourself.

The game is a 3D action adventure dungeon crawler. You know the routine by now right? If you played a game like Dragon Age or Darksiders then you get the idea... mainly because they are trying to copy this game sure Dragon Age is a more personalised experience but it's a dungeon crawler regardless. The controls and gameplay are simple and the game does a fantastic job teaching you how to play it. Speaking of teaching they added tutorial videos you can watch via a Sheikah Stone which are located right outside Link's house in Kokiri Village and in the Temple of Time. The videos are designed to help people who are stuck in a dungeon. These are well done but even when I was 13 and this being my first Zelda game, I never had a problem solving the puzzles.

The game has 3 dungeons as a child and 5 as an adult and a few mini dungeons. The level designs of the dungeons are designed so well that the seem to fit the architecture of the outer structure of the dungeons. The world is also large and beautifully designed from the Kokiri Forest all the way to Lake Hylia. Basically it looks good, especially with the graphical upgrade they did.

Speaking of the graphics they really did a great job on the visual upgrade. The new textures make everything look more vivid and the characters more alive. One strange thing about the graphics is that without the 3D it looks a little smudged. I'm serious here, the 3D seems to also be an unintentional HD switch(does the 3DS even do HD?) and makes everything sharper. The 3D surprisingly doesn't feel out of place and actually helps make the world feel more real and you feel more immersed... as long as you don't lose the sweet spot.

Some of the new features brought to this version other then 3D are motion controls for the camera and aiming with some of the weapons. I must warn you that you can lose the sweet spot really easy with the motion controls and on top of that they will interfere with using the thumb pad for aiming so I recommend turning it off if you prefer aiming with the thumb pad.

As mention before the Sheikah stones give tutorial videos for newcomers needing help. There's also the Boss challenge mode where you can re-fight bosses with limited health and items. I don't really like this mode because it's not very challenging for me.

They also brought Master's Quest back but I honestly don't remember it being mirrored. This mode is great for veterans, especially those who know the original game back to front and don't need a playguide to complete the game *stands proudly knowing where every heart piece and gold skulltula is*. Unfortunately you need to finish the normal game to unlock Master's Quest but is that really a bad thing?

I also have to mention because this is an important improvement, the Iron and Hover Boots are now used like every other item! Yes you and equip them like in Windwaker and Twilight Princess! Trust me this is a great improvement because it reduces the frustration of the Water Temple.

As I said the game gets a perfect score. The original game was one of the best, if not the best game ever made and then they improved on it. Whether you're a newcomer or a returning veteran, the game will not disappoint. It really is the reason to own a 3DS. I enjoyed every minute playing the game and I'm sure everyone else will too. I also played the whole game in 3D and even though I played for a 7 hour play session, my eyes were still fine

Score 5/5

Review: inFamous 2

inFamous is one of those games that is a sequel with very small amounts of change made on it's original. I found the small changes interesting but it didn't really change it very much, to the point of not really being noticeable. Also it took me 5 days to finish the game... 5 DAYS! I never take longer then 3 unless it's a JRPG or an Assassin's Creed game. The question is, is it a good game? Read on to find out in my review of inFamous 2(heh heh, that rhymes.)

The story follows on straight after the events of inFamous so if you are returning like me then you already know what happened but they brief you on the last games events. Cole Mc Grath has travelled to New Marais in the hopes of increasing his powers so he can defeat the beast who has come to destroy everything in it's path, especially since the beast drained his powers. Once there he finds out that a former member of the First Sons named Bertrand has taken over the town and a slue of swamp monsters are terrorising the inhabitants of New Marais. Now he has to choose to save or terrorise the people in his quest to defeat the beast.

The game is a mixed element game. It's a sandbox game that has a fair bit in common with Assassin's Creed and is kind of a 3rd person shooter hybrid as well. It's hard to give it a proper definition but it's a genre on it's own. The gameplay is exactly the same as the first inFamous with some extra moves but it doesn't make much difference. The melee combat has been improved with a combo ability that also has finishers when the gauge is filled but still no lock-on for the melee which makes the camera an adversary as well. You can now customise your abilities you have equipped in the to change the style of super powers to suit yourself(I went full lightning with ice rockets for mine).

The game like all sandbox games is mission based with plenty of side missions to do and also has collectibles to consume hours of your time if your either a completist or a trophy hunter. Like in the first inFamous you have to find blast shards to increase your max power gauge and they are a pain in the butt to hunt down without a map or a system of searching like I use. Also some Karma opportunities show up that also contain Blast Shards and can throw you off the hunt. These Karma missions are usually kill people missions and bomb disposal.

The game has a morality system. This effects some of the super powers you obtain during the game as well as the colour, Red is evil and Blue is good... go figure. Building Karma is pretty easy, especially evil Karma. Some of the missions in the game also effect Karma and the story so choose wisely.

There are dozens of side missions to complete in the game and some are Karma based and can get locked out after choosing one of them. I highly recommend playing 2 times for each set of Karma missions and then play a more personal experience, especially if you want the trophies. After completing these mission you will take over territory in New Marais and doing so reduces and sometimes removes the enemies from spawning in the area taken.

The enemies in the games are a bit different from the first one. If you remember it was just soldiers and trash robots, in inFamous 2 you get soldiers, ice conduit soldiers, humanoid swamp monsters and boss monsters that become regular enemies for some strange reason. What's worse is that these boss monsters have really cheap attacks and really like to corner you.

The game also has User Generated Content. It's confusing to use... seriously and no tutorial either. You can make a variety of mission types and if you can work out how to use the tools to there fullest you can make some interesting creations. I made 1 mission called Intel Confiscation so you can see... I suck at it. I'm not really good at making stuff outside of my unpublished and difficult levels in LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2... they also look like crap aesthetically.

So is inFamous 2 a good game... Yes, especially if you liked the first game. Not much has been changed but that can be a good thing. Sure it doesn't innovate any more then the first one but it's still a fun game with plenty of faffing about. Also if you're like me then you can play it more then once. I played the original 6 times with different choices but twice with full morality, probably do it again with this one too. inFamous 2 lives up to the quality of the first one and won't disappoint. I give it a 4/5. Looking forward to a possible 3rd game.

Review: Duke Nukem Forever

Wow, has it really been 15 years since the game was in development? OF COURSE IT'S BEEN! But the big questions are has Duke Nukem Forever reached expectations and has he aged well. In short No he didn't meet expectations for some but did for me and No he hasn't aged well because he hasn't changed and I like that. I mention that he hasn't reached expectations or aged well because the audience who knew Duke in the 90's have matured and may not like him anymore and the way the new game plays may upset old fans. Well I'm reviewing it now so I hope you haven't ran away yet.

The story of Duke Nukem Forever is what you'd expect. The Cycloids are taking away the women and Duke is out to get revenge. I know seems simple but hey it's Duke Nukem! He's back to take arse and kick names... I mean kick arse and take names. The setup this time is the Cycloids have shown up on Earth and seem to not be causing trouble until they go after Duke for revenge and take his twin hotties away from him. The president blames him for starting the fight and Duke wants revenge for kidnapping his babes.

Gameplay is like most FPS games and I highly recommend changing the settings to Duty(I think that's what it's called) so it has the same setup as Call Of Duty and it's the easiest way to play it, trust me! The game borrows from other popular shooters but it mainly borrows from Halo, Call Of Duty and believe it or not Half Life... really borrows from Half Life in the sense it tells you nothing and you got to work out everything yourself for the most part and it's puzzles. They even make a couple of references to Half Life.

As you know this is a FPS but the game has power ups in it... remember what those are? Throughout the game you'll find beer and steroids along with holo Dukes to use in the game. Beer make you take less damage(and makes you tougher apparently), steroids make you only do super powered melee attacks and the Holo Dukes create a hologram of Duke to take aggro (yes even an Army Of Two reference). There are no grenades in the game but you do get pipe bombs which remote detonate and trap mines which explode when the laser line is crossed.

The weapons are all the basics you'd expect but over the top for the most part. You have the basic handgun and shotgun but the machine gun has 3 barrels and is called "The Ripper", an RPG which looks nothing like what most of you are used too, The Devastator which is a machine gun that shoots rockets, a rail gun which is your sniper rifle... on steroids and some alien weapons which... suck, as well as a shrink gun and a freeze gun which both of them are fun to use but pale against the shotgun.

There are some vehicle sections but they don't have weapons on them and take a while to complete. As mentioned above there are some puzzles to solve but they will seem familiar if you've ever played a Half Life game.

Your health bar(Yes a health bar! Remember what they are?) can regenerate like in every other FPS and it's actually called your Ego. You can increase your max Ego by finding interactive items throughout the game and defeating the bosses... some with hilarious results. Also bosses can only be defeated using explosives or turrets... you have been warned!

The game is also fairly long, taking me over 15 hours to complete over 2 days... yeah it's the length of 2 Call Of Duties! One of the real hooks of the game is Duke's one liners... they are PRICELESS! I couldn't help but laugh my arse off throughout playing this game, his comments to picking up a turd are just hilarious! Duke makes various references to other games and there are a couple of Easter eggs in the game you have to find that also have one liners attached to them.

The game has online multiplayer matches which are the same as every other shooter but with a Duke Nukem twist and unfortunately Christopher Sabat's voice for the announcer... am I the only one sick of his and Steven Blum' voices? I didn't get much of a lag when I played but since only the PAL region has it as of me typing this so if Halo is anything to go on it's going to be bad when the rest of the world gets it.

Duke Nukem Forever is a hard game to recommend because I feel the audience who'd get the most fun out of the game aren't in the age bracket to play the game. Seriously even though I had fun with the game I fell that 13 to 18 year olds would enjoy it more then the adults it's suppose to be targeted at. Is Duke Nukem Forever a good game? Yes. Is it a great game? Hard to say to be honest. Let me make it simpler. If you are a fan of Duke Nukem you have a 60% chance of liking it, depending on how you grew up and if you're easily blinded by nostalgia. If you're under 20 and above 12 you'll love it!(I don't encourage under 20's to buy or play the game without parental permission) I loved the game myself but I have to give it a 4/5. It's nice to finally see Duke again after so many years. I was 12 when I played Duke Nukem 3D on the PlayStation and he hasn't changed a bit.

Score 4/5

Review : The 3rd Birthday

God I am pissed off at this game for 3 reasons, the name of the game, the lack of special powers in the game and the ending! The 3rd birthday is the 3rd Parasite Eve game but under a different name that closes the door on the franchise. That's part of the reason the ending pissed me off. Anyway let's get to my review before I turn this review into a rant.

It's been a long time since we saw a Parasite Eve game and now we finally get it. The story follows Aya Brea over 10 years since the NMC incident in the second game and starts with the "Twisted" destroying New York City and creating towers called Babels. Fast forward a couple of years to Aya having amnesia and working for a government agency called the CTI(Counter Twisted Unit) and using her new ability called "Overdive" to travel back in time like in Quantum Leap into people of that time period to fight the Twisted and change the future. Throughout the game Aya also has flashback to her past of a wedding with people she can't remember and is slowly regaining her memories.

The gameplay is a huge change from the last ones. If you remember the first game it was shooting in a little area with monsters triggered by random encounters(if you're from the PAL region you may not know this since it was never released to us and we had to import to get it.) and in the second it played like Resident Evil with magic abilities. The 3rd Birthday on the other hand has you playing like most 3rd person shooters of today but you can't aim manually, you have to use the lock-on to actually hit your targets. The default controls are the best to go with since it's the least irritating but regardless of controls the camera is controlled with the D-pad and swapping weapons uses a button and the D-pad. You can also dodge attacks but depending on the weapon depends on how well you do it.

Aya's has also gained 2 new abilities since the previous games, The Overdive which the plot revolves around and the Liberation ability. Overdive allows Aya to leap between people in each mission and to a heavy damage attack to enemies while an orange triangle appears on screen. The Liberation ability is essentially a limit break ability that makes Aya untouchable by enemy attacks and inflict heavy damage to enemies with twin pistols and Overdive into enemies for massive damage.

The Twisted you fight throughout the game are really annoying too. Some of them aren't much of a hassle but there are a few with enormous amounts of health that just can't seem to die without a super powered weapon or Overdiving the damn thing consistently. There are also feats in the game that can be completed to unlock stuff and can be a pain to pull off because of the overpowered Twisted.

The game is also not very long either. I'd say roughly 8 hours depending on how you play. There is replayability to the game too for people who want to super power Aya or get every outfit and weapon in the game. This is always nice to have in games but the big question is after playing the game will you actually want to replay it, especially since the 6 episodes go by so quickly.

The 3rd Birthday isn't a bad game, just not what a Parasite Eve fan was expecting. The game plays well and the story is good until you get to the ending where a twist smacks you in the face like a metal deadbolt door. I overall enjoyed playing through the game and will be shocked if they could pull a 4th game in the series out of there behinds. I give it a 4/5. Well worth buying if you're a fan of the previous Parasite Eve games and if you're a newcomer then I'm glad to tell you the previous games don't interfere with the plot like Resident Evil games do to themselves.

Also you get a voucher for Aya's outfit on Lightning in Dissidia 012 Duodecim Final Fantasy so that's pretty cool.

Review : Dissidia 012(Duodecim) Final Fantasy

Ok before I jump on the review of this game I'll give you a short review of Dissidia 012(Duodecim) Final Fantasy: Prologus. It's a pay for demo with a 10 minute story that is irrelevant and an arcade mode. It's only worth it for the sake of having Aerith as a support character in the proper game and unlockable items to transfer to the proper game. Don't bother downloading it unless you're a super fan.

Ok now that that's out of the way onto the proper review. Oh an one other thing, I picked up Dead Space 2 but I'm not sure if I should review it since I review new games withing a fortnight of it's release. Tell me if you want a review on it. Ok now for the review.

Well let me start with saying if anyone tells you this isn't a rehash, they are wrong... for the most part. The games story... new story I should say is centred around the 6 new main characters Laguna, Yuna, Kain, Vaan, Tifa and Lightning and their travels to stop the Manikins and fight the forces of Chaos. They also added the original story from the first Dissidia so you can see where the rehash comes in now. The story has been called bad fan fiction and preaching friendship way too much... unfortunately they are right, this mind you is from a Final Fantasy fanboy. The story mode has you traveling on an overworld map to go through gates that take you to the battle boards you may remember from the last one.

Gameplay is exactly the same as the last one with a couple of new features. It's a fighting game that plays like an action game and can be played like a RPG but is really crappy in that mode. The combat plays the same as the last one with some new additions. The new additions to the games combat are the assist character ability where you can call another character to attack your opponent and EX revenge where you can use the EX gauge when attacked to slow down time to barrage the opponent with attacks. Also the camera still doesn't play fair in closed spaces.

The game modes in this game are pretty much the same as the last one. Duel Colosseum has been replaced with Labyrinth mode which is the same only you don't keep what you collect in there. Story mode as mentioned above has a new story and all the story from the last one. Arcade mode and Quick match aka 1 on 1 are back and a new party battle mode where you choose a team of characters to fight another team in tournament or round robin style.

A new creation mode has been added so fan fiction writers can make a small quest with story to amuse themselves and share with others. This mode isn't very interesting in my opinion but I'm sure some people can get some fun out of it. Also it's a long and grueling process to make anything there.

Wireless battles are pretty much the same as the last one as well and still no online fighting. You can now play against 10 people but honestly, where are you going to find 9 other people with a copy of the game to play against outside of a convention like Comic Con or Supanova? You can still save peoples friend card to battle ghost so at least you can practice against it for your next bout with them.

One other thing, You can transfer your data from the original Dissidia Final Fantasy to this one but all it does is transfer compatible unlocked content and all the levels you obtained carry over. I recommend doing so if you don't want to spend forever unlocking content. Trust me it'll save hours of work and give you more time to try the new characters.

Pretty much Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy is a rehash covered in new content designed to distract you from this fact. What little is new isn't as big of a wow as we'd want and even though the new characters are great to use, a whole new game for them is a bad idea. Dispite all my complaints the game actually is good. Combats solid, story mode gives you plenty to do and just like the last one you can spend over 100 hours in the game and not really notice you did. Some might say that more of the same is a bad thing but not in this games case. Dissidia 012 is the Super Street Fighter IV of Final Fantasy. I'm still having fun with it at the moment. I give it a 4/5 because it's a good, fun game regardless of how much was recycled.

Score 4/5

Review : Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Well it's been like 11 years or something since the last one got released and the wait is over. Will this game meet the expectations of a fan like me? Who bloody knows right? Well let's get this review done and find out. Here's the review of Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

Let's start with the story... ... ... yeah... there are ending for each character... Oh and Something to do with Galactus and Wesker and Doc Doom wanting to using his power. Ok I admit it! There isn't really a story outside of what I could deceiver from the comic it came with on preorder. I never saw any cinematic for it either. It's a fighting game so story isn't really too important but the big question is how do you get a story out of this crossover without offending people?

As mentioned before it's a fighting game, how does it play? Well if you've ever played a MVC game before then you already have a basic idea and if you've played Tatsunoko Vs Capcom(or read my review which is still on my blog site) it's a lot like that plus a knock up button and a new move called X factor that allows you to cancel out an action or just use it to power yourself up in a hairy situation... if the other play even let's you... jerks! YOU HEARD ME! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! Ahem... anyway this game has a ridiculously high reliance on air combos and as such makes it no fun on harder difficulties then normal or when you jump online. Sure people are skilled at doing it naturally in MVC2 but Capcom in their infinite wisdom thought it was a great idea to make it a big focus in this one and has made playing online the worst online fighting game experience I've ever had! The simplified controls are also a hassle for beefier players like me who are used to dedicated kick and punch buttons but it can be overcome very quickly and the new "Simple" control setting allows even noinks(n00bs for then people who didn't even give Blade Kitten a chance... jerks!) and children a chance at taking on a moderate player... and cry as soon as an online jerk defeats them without giving them a chance to look at the screen.

There are both online and offline modes. Offline modes has the basic arcade mode where you fight the CPU and eventually the extremely hard to defeat Galactus. Ok off-topic for a second here. Why do fighting games always, ALWAYS have a bull crap final boss with bull crap attacks? This isn't fair for the average gamer and they always have unblockable and full screen attacks. This needs to stop. I'll take Bison over every other bull crap boss! At least you can block his attacks! There is the basic versus mode with another person(which is now one of the least used options in fighting games, thank you online gaming!), Training mode to attempt getting better at the game(and still be beaten by online jerks!) and a Mission mode which let's you try out the big combos of the game... actually completing all of them is a whole other question. Online we have Ranked Matches(filled with jerks!) Player Matches(also filled with jerks!) and lobbies which allow groups of up to 8 players join in and have 2 people play while the rest twiddle their thumbs and watch player licences bounce around of a few minutes(These don't always get filled with jerks but they can pretty easily. Seriously Beginners means beginners not jerks get easy wins room) and that gets boring.

The game is great though. The online has almost no lags for the most part and the fact that most of the characters are new is a great thing. The only complaints I have are the high reliance on air combos, online jerks and people always using the same characters even though there are 36 characters to choose from. I'll let you in on a secret about me. I always use the random characters square in every fighting game online, why you ask? 3 reasons, 1. I like to play every character regardless of how bad I suck with them 2. I like to actually see variety on screen when I play a fighter and finally 3. Because I play games for FUN! Anyone remember what that was like? You know before online gaming and extreme competitive jerks outside of an arcade?

Look it's a great game. 5/5. It has some annoyances but this is player related not game related and you'll have fun if you're a fan who actually wants to have fun and even you mum can learn to play the game thanks to the "Simple" setting. I recommend getting it and getting your friends to get it and go visit them at there place on theirs or your day of to play and take turns. Screw the online jerks and play like the old days, Grampa signing off(I'm 25)!

Score 5/5

Review : LittleBigPlanet 2

Man I can't believe they made a second one of these, also I can't believe the dimwits at Gamestop/EB Games are accepting the first one as trade in, suckers! I can tell you right now that I loved the first one and guess what? Loved the second one too! Ok on to the review!

The story of this one has an evil being destroying and taking over Craftworld called the Negativatron and it's up to your little sack person to help Larry Da Vinci and the Alliance stop the evil Negativatron before it's too late. Along the way you'll run into all sorts of strange things from characters, to stuff you ride and enemies. All the way being tutored on how to do it.

Yes the game is extremely kid friendly from the controls to the general difficulty of the game but don't let that deter you. Gameplay is exactly like the first one but you can now get 3 new tools in stages. There's a grappling hook which lets you swing off stuff and pull some things to you, a pair of gloves called a grabinator that lets you lift objects and the creatinator which shoot out whatever is configured to shoot from it, even stuff that shoots. On top of the basic 2.5D side scrolling stages there are various stages that take on forms similar to old games and once the community gets active who knows what. You can also bring your stuff from LBP into the game and feel like a chooch for downloading all the expansion packs from the first game since most of the stuff has come back.

Like the first LBP the creation tools are vast and now there are a host of new tools. I HIGHLY recommend going over the tutorials to understand how all the new stuff works, it's overwhelming trying to work it out yourself. The one tool a whole lot of people are going to use is the controllinator which lets you make an item you ride in and and can do whatever you program it to do. Bouncing pads have also been added and this could also add to the communities creativity and programmable sackbots which can do pretty much what sackboy can do. The stages you can make with all the tools is almost limitless. But if your not very creative or just can't use the tools too well you can play one of over 3 million levels created in the original and many more to come as time goes by, just wait a while and there will be thousands of games made using the level editor.

I should mention you can use the PlayStation Move controller for it but I honestly don't have a clue how it plays since I don't personally own a set(But if Sony wants to give me a free set I wouldn't complain, hint, hint) and you can play online with 4 other people but be prepared for some problems like the eternal loading screen or just plain lags. You can also make a level with up to 4 people online as well but I honestly don't know how people would be able to do it and why they would.

If you loved LittleBigPlanet then this is pretty much the same with a bag of awesome mixed in and still has room to grow and flourish. Sure the story mode is short and spends most of it's time teaching you how stuff works but that's the point, it's teaching you the basics to help you make and play on future stages. The game is definitely a must buy for all regardless of age. The only limits to the game are your own personal preferences and creativity. If you've never played a previous LBP game you will not feel left out. I give it a perfect score because the game is so near perfection itself. When LittleBigPlanet 3 gets made, maybe it will hit perfection itself, especially with the help of a healthy and creative online community.

Score 5/5

Review : Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded

Ok let me get this out of the way before the review starts. If you don't already know I am a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts, to the point where I even own a Keyblade. Ok Now that you know, lets get started! Here's my first review of 2011, Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded.

It's only been 5 months since Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep was released and having a new one so shortly after the last one strikes one chord... Cash-in! But is it really a cash-in? Remember that this is a remake of a mobile phone game too.

The story of Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded starts with Jiminy Cricket looking through the journals of the previous journey and find a mysterious message in the first journal(Kingdom Hearts 1's journal) that says, "Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it." So Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy Cricket, Chip and Dale decide to see what's going on with a computer that turn the book into a datascape and find it's corrupted. So they create a digital copy of Sora out of the data in the journal and thus our journey begins on a similar path to the original game only a little different.

The game plays like Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep so if you've played that then everything will fit like a glove until you come across a few different gameplay types. During a couple of worlds you'll play a rail shooter style section, a side scroller section and my favourite(obviously) turn-based combat for the Olympus Coliseum. Now these section can be annoying, especially the rail shooter stages since they are hard to aim and control. The skills are also similarly done as in KH:BBS but there are a few different ones but the combining system returns for creating new skills but for a unique twist to the game, combining skills will also level them up improving the power of the skill.

The leveling system unfortunate follows a similar path to KH: 358/2 Days with panels making a return but instead of all the hassle of arranging them with enhancers and stuff, you just put them in a spot on the Stat Matrix and follow the paths to also gain access to abilities like Scan and Block and link 2 CPUs together to double the effect of the panels between them. In the Stat Matrix you can also access "Cheats" which are used for altering things like drop rates of items, difficulty, CP earn and HP. These can be both beneficial and detrimental but if you want to earn the trophies in the game, then you'll need to use them... and yes like KH: BBS you can earn trophies but unlike KH: BBS you need to collect 20 for the secret ending.

The game has you traveling through 7 worlds, six from Kingdom Hearts and Castle Oblivion from KH: Chain Of Memories. You will feel like you're treading old ground while playing the game but... it doesn't really wear off. Seriously we've travelled these worlds before and most of you will be sick of them. This doesn't hinder the fun too much but you may be as sick of the Wonderland theme as I am and mute it.

Essentially there is nothing really new here except it's story which isn't too bad but it doesn't feel important until you get to the end of the game. The last part sets up for the next game and it also links the event's of the previous games making everyone important up to a point, even KH: 358/2 days.

Is this game worth a buy? Yes and no. Yes if you're a die-hard Kingdom Hearts fans who needs to know the entire mythos. It's gameplay is familiar and it's story is... ok but compared to the others it's a little less thought out. If you are just in it for what's important in the series then you can skip it if you want and keep clamoring for Kingdom Hearts 3. I enjoyed playing it for the most part but I hate to say this but this game is definitely a hasty cash-in to keep people occupied until Kingdom Hearts 3D.It's also only about 25 hours if you'rer just going through story so it's mobile phone roots show. I give it a 3/5. While this is a good game, the story just doesn't have the same impact as every other entry in the series.

Score 3/5