Review: Darksiders II

War, rider of the red horse, has been falsely accused of pre-emtively triggering the Apocalypse and has been imprisoned and only his brother can save him. His name is Death, the oldest and strongest of the four Horsemen, and you take control of the pale rider in this outstanding sequel, Darksiders II.

The Good
- Amazing Level Design
- Death is a really well written character
- Challenging puzzles and combat
- Environments look stunning 
- Great RPG and Loot System

The Bad
- Story feels disconnected from gameplay
- Not as long as I hoped it to be
- Horseback riding could have more to it

The Ugly
- Last Boss was disappointingly too easy
- Some enemies are really, REALLY ugly

Story
The game's story takes place during the event's of the first Darksiders, as War is imprisoned by the Charred Council, Death investigates the premature Apocalypse to prove his brother's innocence by finding a way to restore Humanity. And the key to clearing War's name is found at the well of souls. The story itself is very well written, while nothing too compelling, it feels disjointed from the gameplay as you feel like the missions are just fetch quests and dungeon crawlers rather than progress.

One thing that I enjoyed most from the story was Death. Playing as the horseman was an awesome experience, but Death was much more than just a badass; behind the cold callousness in his voice, Death has proven to be very caring, concerned about the well being of his brother War and even showing remorse for his own race that he slayed, the Nephilim. After him and his siblings were ordered to slay their own race, Death has secretly kept the souls of his fallen kin away from the council's Knowledge, hoping he could bring them back. Halfway through the game, he discovers that he can use the well of Souls to bring back his race, at the cost of losing the Human race forever and Death struggles to decide who to save. And while he hid it from other people, his body language proved that he was fighting within himself to make the right choice, which is good for a character that can't emote with a mask over his face.

While the gameplay didn't drive the story as well as it should, it was still an entertaining experience that had a satisfying ending, not as epic as the conclusion in the first game, but still was a good way to conclude Death's Story, at least until we see him again in the third Darksiders.

Story: B-

Graphics
While the character and enemy models are well detailed and animated, its the environments that truly steal the spotlight. You'll be visiting many varied worlds including the Lush open fields of the Maker's Forgelands and Samael's "Majestic" Fortress in the Shadow's Edge, home of the Demonic Legion. Each world has beautiful and detailed architecture that fit into the levels motif and will awestruck you at first sight.

Death: "Someone give me my camera!"

Aside from the gorgeous view, Death can be equipped with a variety of Armor Pieces to help suit your play-style. You can dress him up in a plethora of shrouds to give him a rouge-ish look or set him up with a set of heavy armor made completely of bone.

He has a bigger wardrobe than your girlfriend.

Graphics: A

Sound
Darksiders II has a very well composed sound track, containing a plethora of music for when you are fighting bosses, facing a challenging puzzle or just exploring a dungeon, each track matches the occasion. Sometimes when you are exploring a dungeon you'll hear the ambient noises echo through the halls, a nice touch of eeriness to add suspense.

Sound effects are fitting, realistic and very gory when you start slicing the limbs off your enemies. Voice acting is very well done, however some characters use the same actor and they use the same voice for two different characters. Death has a brilliant harsh and rasp in his voice that fits the pale rider perfectly and always has a calm yet sarcastic tone to his voice.

Sound: B

Gameplay
Darksiders 2 may be considered an adventure game, but it features so many elements of other genres, calling it just an adventure game seems insulting. The game has massive open worlds with tons of secrets in each corner, challenging puzzles and platform sections and an RPG style loot and level up system that is mixed perfectly into one thrilling experience.

Death's Skill Tree...of death.

With each new world you discover you unlock a new ability that Death can use in combat and puzzles. For example, one of the first abilities you gain is the Death Grip, a magical ability that lets Death grapple orbs to do acrobatic leaps and pull enemies towards him, leaving them on the ground for Death to finish them off.

Death can also level up to unlock and upgrade his special combat moves from defeating enemies and beating quests. The skill tree splits off into two groups; Harbinger that Focuses on physical attacks and Necromancy that focuses on summoning creatures to fight with you or boosting your resistance. The combat system is much more advanced than the first game's. Death can now choose to use different secondary items from either heavy, slower weapons like axes and maces that do massive damage or small fast weapons like claws or gauntlets that let you barrage enemies with a flurry of attacks. And if you're in a tight situation you can summon Death's Reaper form, which lets him do massive damage while being near invincible against his foes.

Baby don't fear the Reaper.

Darksiders II is also a very difficult game as well. For those who want a challenge, the game feature's tough enemies, bosses and really difficult puzzles and secrets for people who want their skills pushed to the limit. Also after beating the game the first time unlocks the Nightmare difficulty level which makes the game as hard as hard can be.

My biggest complaint about the gameplay is that Horseback riding could have had much more to it than a form of transportation, especially when he didn't feel like he was moving that fast in the first place. Even though you mostly spend most of the games exploring dungeons and cave's it would've been better if they had some levels focusing on riding despair and gave him more acrobatic move's like his master, especially when games like Legend of Zelda and Assassin's Creed had amazing horse riding gameplay. Other than this small short sight, Darksiders II has fantastic gameplay that trumps the first one.

My kingdom for a faster horse.

Gameplay: A-

Replay
Sadly Darksiders II is not that long of a game. It took me about 24 hours to complete while doing most of the sidequests, but the game features a new game + where you can start a new file where you can keep your current gear and skills while facing enemies on the same level as you. While it won't make the game any longer, it's fun to start over with all your cool armor and weapons and starting on Apocalyptic difficulty. As short as the game was, it's still fun enough to go back to it again and again.

Replay: C-

Darksiders II manages to enhance on every aspect from the first game and then some with it's new RPG and loot system while still keeping the feeling of a real adventure game and you'll spend lots of time solving extra puzzles and searching every nook and cranny for collectibles, If you loved the first Darksiders this sequel is a must have and if you never picked up on the series, this game is still welcoming to new players with the way it eases onto the difficulty, making it a great game for seasoned vet's and newcomers alike.

Darksiders II: B+

All who oppose him shall know "Death."

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Ezio Triogy coming to PS3

First Bioware, now Ubisoft is releasing a 3-game box set featuring everyone's favorite Italian Assassin, Ezio Auditore.

Exclusive to PS3, the Ezio Trilogy will include Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood and Revelations together in one box set including the two DLC packs for ACII. The Ezio Trilogy set will be released November 13th for only a mere $39.99, a pretty sweet deal for getting 3 whole games in one set.

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Mass Effect Trilogy Collection Coming Soon

Most developers are giving in to the trend to release the series in one whole collectors set, and Bioware is the next victim. Earlier today they have announced the Mass Effect Trilogy box set.

The best thing about this new box set is that it will be released on PC, Xbox 360 AND PS3 which mean that PlayStation owners can finally play the first Mass Effect title on their PlayStation 3 and get the full Mass Effect experience.

 The Trilogy set will come with all 3 games (DLC not included) and Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode in all one cozy collectors box on November 6th this year, no price has been listed yet.

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Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeros

At the Metal Gear 25th Anniversary celebration, Kojima Productions revealed the new installment to the Metal Gear Solid Series, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeros. The trailer shows off just how well the Fox Engine is this time around, and amazed people world wide with it's cinematic trailer.

Kojima made it clear that this is not a Metal Gear Solid 5. This is not a continuation of Metal Gear Solid 4.

“We’re not going to say that it’s Metal Gear Solid 5,” Kojima said earlier this week, “but it is a prologue.”

Rumors are out saying that Ground Zeros will be out for PS3, possibly in 2013.

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Review: Soul Calibur V

I loved Soul Calibur IV. It was fun, I loved its character creation and getting to play as Darth Vader and Starkiller (Yoda was annoying) made this game for me. So when they announced that my favorite Italian Assassin was going to make a guest appearance in the next one, this game was an instant buy for me. But how does it hold up to it's predecessor, especially since the series have been pressured to reinvent the fighting genre for quite some time.


The Good
-Some new characters are really fun
-best looking Soul Calibur game to date
-critical edges are fun and easy to use
-character creation is more advanced yet still addicting
The Bad
-most new characters aren't actually "new"
-music is boring and uninspiring
-nothing much has changed gameplay wise
-story mode is terrible
-nightmare is still broken and cheap
The Ugly
- Voice acting is absolutely atrocious
-Any bot set on normal difficulty or higher will destroy you no matter what

Story

In the last game each character had their own story mode. Albeit there was no real story, it was fun just to go around and beat up people as a different character. In this game, Namco Bandai tried to add a real story and make it more interesting. And it was a terrible idea.

The story takes place 27 years after the events of Soul Calibur 4, where the son of Sophitia, Patrokalos is searching for his long lost twin sister. However on his journey he discovers the malfested, people who became under the influence of soul edge and is sworn to serve nightmare, or something like that (they didn't explain that part at all) For most part of the story it would be told through drawings and audio instead of using those amazing graphics to make some cutscenes, which made it really boring to watch and lost interest of the story 5 minutes in.

What was even worse were the characters, Patrokalos and his sister Pyrahh were the main focal points of the story and both had the same personality, which wouldn't be a bad thing if they both weren't a stereotypical, depressed whiner like most Japanese game protagonists. Hell pretty much every character in the story was annoying and predictable except for Siegfried who actually got out of his emo phrase from the last game. It was a bold step for them to change up the story but ultimately failed from being an even remotely fun experience, luckily the story mode will only last you 30 grueling minutes.

Story: F

Graphics

A good redeeming quality about this game is it's amazing graphics. It had some amazing shading and lighting textures that really made it pop out yet still able to discern whats going on in the game.

While the last game had some really boring looking stages, this game had some really good ones. For example there is one stage that takes place in an empty wasteland, and while there wont be any extra action going on in YOUR fight, one of the settings places a whole battle field around you, filled with undead warriors and giant beasts that make it a real visual treat. Or even when the stage takes place at night there's a beautiful dead silence on the ground but the sky is filled with dark clouds and a blinding moonlight, real amazing work.


The character models are a definite grey-area in this game. The models for the games main characters are all really nice looking and also get a unique alternate costume this time, but the character creation options are pretty much the exact same as the ones from SCIV. Also some customization options wont fit you character, meaning there's an item called the "thieves belt" that will go around your characters body like its one of Saturn's rings instead of automatically fitting onto their shape. However one good addition they added is that you can change the pattern of your characters equipment and even add decals, tattoos, makeup and scars onto your character, making them a little more personal to you.

You can make some crazy creations in this game.

Graphics: A-

Sound

The series never had anything substantial when it came to the sound department in my opinion, and sadly that still stays true to this day. None of the games music was truly outstanding or memorable at least. Even the Assassin's Creed song they remixed for the game was nowhere near as good as the original piece. Same goes for the sound effects, while they fit into the game well, nothing popped out for me, and nothing made a real impact when getting a well time counter attack.

The one thing worse than the uninspiring music is the absolutely terrible voice acting. The worst offender is the voice options for character creation. While there's a lot more to choose from, they all sound terrible and are equally as cheesy as the lines they spew. The only good acting are Ezio and Siegfried who both have the same voice actor, no surprise there. Not everyone has a bad voice in this game, but there is still no acting done in here that is certainly worth while and having really cheesy one-liners that we already haven't heard before doesn't help.

Sound: D

Gameplay

While not much has actually changed in the formula, Soul Calibur still remains unique with its use of actual weapons in its game. And luckily Namco has also brought some newcomers who are truly unique and fun to use. Ezio, Z.W.E.I., Viola and Patrokalos Alpha (a secondary move set he uses) are actually new fighters to the series and are all fresh. Ezio is definitely a treat to play as even though most of his moves are based off being used as a counter attack despite having low-priority, a lack of a decent sized move-pool and his crossbow being a little bit over-powered. Sadly some other "new" characters are nothing more than bland imitations of their mentors and don't bring anything new to the table, heck even most of the unlockable characters are nothing new (except for one) and that's pretty disappointing.

Just so...awesome

There are also a lack of any new game modes that change up the formula, you get your basic story, arcade, versus, and online. There's a new "quick-match" mode that lets you play bots of other people's creation from all around the world but even that is not very fun, mainly because when you increase the difficulty level past easy the bots will get a perfect k.o. on you many times and even on some occasions will spam the same move over and over when you're on the ground, which got really, REALLY frustrating to the point I wanted to throw my Xbox out the window.

If you've played online matches in Soul Calibur IV, the connection to the servers were really bad and most people would resort to using Kilik and spam the same move throughout the whole game, no joke. Fortunately there was no such problem playing online in this game. The game ran smoothly with no lag-spikes or input delay and everyone I played a match with use a different character and showed actual skill while fighting. A saving grace for the game since most online fighting games you will see the cheapest group of people on the planet.

Gameplay: B-

Replay

In an attempt to keep you playing, the only way to get more items for character creation is by leveling up which can only be done be playing the game. However since the game is still fun when bots aren't auto spamming and has a really good online connection for multiplayer. And even with limited items, there are tons of customization items that will keep you busy.

Replay: C+

A lackluster story, unimaginative set of game modes, boring music, lack of a decent number of new characters (clones don't count in my book) and the most broken bot system really made it hard to truly enjoy this game and left a lot to be desired. And playing pretty much the same way it has been for the last several years doesn't help either. However with it's great customization, smooth multiplayer and still being a fun game I'm sure you'll still find something to keep you playing. If you're a long-time fan or even still enjoy the games system and customization you'll definitely want to check this game out, however if you were hoping for something new to the franchise, you'll be greatly disappointed.

Final Grade: C-

I'm only here for the man in the hood.

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Skyrim's Patch 1.4 Coming to Consoles Tomorrow.

Bethesda has previously beta-tested patch 1.4 for the PC version of Skyrim (available now on steam) to test how well it runs the game and fixing constant glitches and crashing issues. Now they will be launching patch 1.4 for both PS3 and Xbox 360 tomorrow.

No longer will their hammers send you to space.

This patch promises to fix all (or at least most) gameplay issues, glitches, texturing problems and for you PS3 owners, fix the frame-rate. As much as I'm glad to see these problems go away, there are some glitches I will miss...

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Mass Effect 3 Achievements Revealed (Possible Spoilers)

The Achievement/Trophy has been released for Mass Effect 3, but I'm not going to show them.


I will not be posting them due to the fact I don't want to risk being spoiled. However, if you don't mind learning about the story you can check them out in this link for the whole achievement list.

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Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim was named 2011's Game of The Year and was loved by long-time fans and the rest of the video game community. I decided to get the game and see for myself what this cultural phenomenon is all about. Although I'm a little late to the party I can see what everyone else see's as they step into the shoes as the dragonborn and journey across the world of Skyrim.


The Good:
-Skyrim is massive
-Amazing leveling up system
-Great action sequences
-Over 100 hours of gameplay
-Things are beautiful from afar
-Amazing original score
-Can create your own story
The Bad:
-Things are ugly up close
-Using magic can be confusing and difficult at first
-Some controls are unresponsive
-lots of graphical issues
The Ugly:
-Without a doubt the buggiest game you will ever play, regardless of system.

Story

You're a refugee, arrested by the Imperials for crossing the borders into Skyrim, and even though you did nothing wrong you are still sentenced to death. As your head lays down on a cold slab, the executioner raises his axe and what you may think is your last moment alive, a black dragon (a species presumed to be extinct for centuries) falls from the sky attacking the entire village. This mayhem allows you to flee from your death and you begin your life anew in this brave new world.

The best part of the game's story is that you can make your own tale from your character's race, personality, alignment and even play-style. Right after the intro quest "unbound" is completed you are free to do anything you want and build your own tale. Whether you're a Nord fighting with the Empire against the Stormcloak Rebels, A Kajit Mage that joins the dark brotherhood, no two stories will be the same.

From Race, hair, personality, and skills. The skies the limit.

However that doesn't mean there's no main plot to this game. After your escape you learn across your journey that you are the Dragonborn, a rare individual born with the soul of a dragon. After discovering your new found gift to absorb a dragon's soul and utilize their powerful magic shouts (known as the Thu'um in the Dragon Language) you can journey to train and hone your new found gift and investigate the sudden reappearance of the Dragons while also trying to stop them from wreaking havoc across all of Tamriel. The Choice is yours.

Story: B+

Graphic's

Its night time, you look up at starry sky and see the beautiful Northern Lights shimmering as if you were staring into the eyes of Sovengarde itself as you also see the misty mountain top of the Throat of the World, the highest point in all of Skyrim (possibly all of Tamriel) and it is truly a sight to behold.

The you take a moment to look down at your feet and see the cobblestone path is completely pixelated and unpolished. Even with your graphic settings set to 1080p on your ultra-powerful Alienware processor, you can easily see pixels up close. Flowers, grass and other foliage looks flat and uglier than sin. Another problem is that there are always graphical bugs and issues in the game. Many time's I have come across a river or stream and a perfect square area of water texture was completely missing

Was someone sick that day for water texturing, Bethesda?

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Or should I explain how a wall in my house has some serious clipping issues with unfinished wall texture, or when I killed an NPC bandit and their dead body falls through the solid floor like a poltergeist. The list goes on and on.

Luckily for owners of the PC versions there are tons of mods already made that not only fixes these errors but also give the game a huge graphical update that makes everything more realistic and beautiful. Sadly for console owners, we're going have to wait for update 1.4 that will MAYBE fix these issues.

Graphics: C

Sound

Skyrim definitely had one of the best scores of the year, I always get excited when the main theme plays while I fight a dragon (which happens a lot) and there are a plethora of amazing songs that you'll hear from traveling on the road and each major city.

Insert epic music here

The voice acting is pretty well done. My biggest problem is that the game does use the same voice actors for major and minor NPC's which isn't a problem except they sound exactly the same. And Hearing the guard's use that stupid "arrow in the knee" comment can get annoying to the point of going on a massive killing spree.

While sound effects for actions like banging on a shield or pickpocketing money are all there and are good, but it's the ones for magic and other supernatural abilities that. are amazing. Hearing a dragon's roar from a long distance and hearing it get closer and closer really tenses you for the upcoming fight. It also gets pretty amazing from the sound of their fire breathing, it really sounds like a river of flames when he's spewing it in your face. (see image above)

Sound: A-

Gameplay

In previous Elder Scroll games you were given the option to pick a class with preset abilities and perks (usually meaning you'd be forced to pick a race that is better suited for that class) Now, you can build up your characters abilities in any way you want. If you want to be an Orc mage, you can be one that's just as effective as a high elf mage would be. How this works is that you level up an ability by actually using that ability, for example if you want to become a better archer you actually have to use your bow and arrow while playing.


When you keep leveling up you abilities you soon eventually level up yourself, giving you the choice to raise your health, magicka or stamina and giving you the choice to purchase a perk. Perks can be purchased to make you more effective in your playstyle and give you extra abilities. For example when you have high level sneak, you can purchase a perk that lets you do a silent roll while crouching, allowing you to move more effectively while in sneak.

Each ability also belongs to a certain class set: Warrior (red), Mage (blue), Thief (green) and you can build you skill trees up in any way and style you want, making it one of the most in depth progression system in any game made today.

Enemy AI is very interesting in this game. While at lower levels you can easily dispatch a random skeever or wolf with your bare fists. But you will run into a lot of enemies that can kill you in one hit even when you start at the game. Since you can travel anywhere at anytime you want you'll run into some higher level enemies while on your journey, but I believe it adds to the emotional bond that grows into you. At the start you'll easily get killed in two hits by a frost troll making you feel helpless, but as you level up and grow stronger you can easily take out that troll along with his buddy just by shouting them off a cliff (a very hilarious and satisfying kill I should mention) giving you real sense of accomplishment as a player, overcoming an obstacle you couldn't have before.

Lift off in 3...2...1...

Which leads me to my next subject, Dragons. One of the main focal and selling points of this game was the introduction of Dragons. These giant monsters will be the ultimate test of a players skills and abilities. Killing your first will be one of your fondest memories while playing this game.


And the best part of killing one will be the payoff, not only do you get a good chunk of gold and their scales and bones that can be sold for high prices and used to make armor later on in the game, but you also get to absorb its very soul. As the dragonborn, you can absorb the soul of a dragon and use it to unlock powerful magic known as shouts. Shout's are the strongest of a dragons magic and all have a unique power from, fire breath, summoning a storm and even a whisper to see the auras of your enemies (perfect for sneak attacks).

However, I do have to bring up how many bugs this game has. Some of them can be minor like your horse flying away like a rocket when you climb up a steep mountain.

Horses also don't apply to the laws of physics too...

But the worst glitches are the ones that can cause your game to crash and ones that doesn't trigger a quest dialogue option or even make a quest driven item not appear. Which means you can no longer finish that quest if you don't reload from an earlier save. I've run into a few of these glitches, and while I've managed to overcome most of them just by backtracking from an earlier save, I am no longer able to finish a quest because an item I needed to retrieve off a vampires body apparently never existed. These tend to happen a lot and could even ruin your experience if you don't have the patience.

Don't believe me? This video will show all.


Gameplay: B+

Replay

Skyrim is long, reeeally long. So long this game could last you for months, and hell, even when the main quest is done, you're not really finished with the game. There are factions to join, caves to explore, shouts to master and many more things to come. It's hard to say that this game has replay value, due to the fact you really cant finish a game like this. Which isn't a bad thing. Even after doing all the things I wanted to accomplish are all done, I'm still finding plenty more to do in the game. And with Bethesda planning on DLC later this year, This game will keep you coming back for more.

Replay: A

Despite how massive this game is, with it's deep progression system, radiant stories and never-ending gameplay, there are many shortcomings that should've kept it from being game of the year. Don't get me wrong though, this game is addicting, which can be the redeeming quality of any video game. I've known many people who put their social lives on hold just to play this game for hours on end. So if you're looking for a game that's worth your money, has no annoying kids mic spamming in your ear and is guaranteed to last you a long time, Skyrim is a great choice for you.

Final Score: B+

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New Street Fighter X Tekken Shot accidentally reveals M. Bison & Ling Xiaoyu

The Screenshot above looks nothing new about the upcoming fighter crossover, but if you look at the Character icons on the top you can see Street Fighter's M. Bison and Tekken's Ling Xiaoyu as ready to swap team-mates meaning these two will appear in the 360, PS3 and PC version of Street Fighter X Tekken. However there is a chance they wont appear in the Vita version (due to Cole McGrath appearing exclusively on the Vita) but nothing's set in stone yet.

The console versions are scheduled for release in early march (a delay may be possible), with the vita's version coming out later that month. Do think M. Bison is excited for his confirmation?

YES! YES!!!

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Sony's Smash Bros. Clone has a Name

Rumor had it that Sony was working on their own Smash Bros Styled fighting game featuring the stars of PS3 exclusives. Today the game was confirmed to be real as we are given a title and who is developing it.


The brand new game will be called Title Fight and will feature stars of PS3 exclusives including: Nathan Drake, Kratos, Sly Cooper, PaRappa, Fat Princess, Colonel Radec and many more. And Sony has teamed up with developer Super Bot to create the game. An official announcement will be made shortly.

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Review: Assassins Creed Revelations

Since 2009 I've followed the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze and grew a real attachment to him as I witnessed him grow from a bratty teen to a disciplined master assassin. Now our journey together has come to an end and it has been one hell of a ride. Not only have my questions been answered, but I know what to expect in next years Assassins Creed title. But a game can't be successful just on story alone, and while Revelations still uses the same formula as II and Brotherhood it adds a whole bunch of new game changers that keep it a fresh and most enjoyable experience. Welcome to Constantinople, the crossroads of the world.


The Good
-New gadgets and abilities are fun and keep the experience fresh
-Constantinople is beautiful and amazing to explore around
-Desmond sequences are unique
-All our questions are finally answered
-Secret locations are even funner than before
-Assassin brotherhood system is more advanced and fun
The Bad
-No horseback riding
-Den defense can get a bit repetitive
-New controls need some getting used to
The Ugly
-The poor begging woman makes her unwanted return...

Story

Three Assassins. Three different stories. As you progress through the game you learn more of Desmond's past, Ezio's present and Altairs future. The last two titles have made us ask so many questions and kept us hanging until now. All the mysteries concerning the first civilization, Subject 16's true identity, or even What happened to Altair after the events of Assassin's Creed, they're all there.
The story starts off with Desmond waking up in this limbo type area of the Animus known as the Island where fragmented data is sent. There he meets subject 16 himself, or at least the mind of 16 and helps Desmond restore his mind by separating his memories with Altair's and Ezio's. While you explore Constantinople as Ezio you will find data fragments hidden throughout the city. As you collect more you unlock key memories where you explore mazes in first person view as Desmond remembers key moments of his life.


The year is 1511, Ezio is now 50 years old and after three decades of fighting the Templars he wonders if he had a choice after all to live a normal life. Now he sets to Masayaf, where the Assassin Order was born, to learn the secrets of the brotherhood from the secret keys of Altair. However, Templars have gained control of the temple and already posses of one of the five keys. After this slight speed bump he travels East towards Constantinople to search for the remaining keys and to help the Constantine Assassins fight the Byzatine and Templars who are struggling to control the city. During his journey he meets Sofia Sartor, a Venetian bookseller who has caught the attention of our Master Assassin. With her vast knowledge of code encrypting, she aids Ezio in finding the keys, unbeknownst of what purpose they serve. While Ezio's attachment to her grows every day, he dares not tell her of his true purposes to keep her out of harms way, making him question his life even more.

At the end of Assassins Creed Altair has killen his teacher and leader Al-Mualim for using the apple of eden to control the minds of the people of Masayaf, what the Assassin Order stands against most of all. After his funeral Altair stands up to take the role as Mentor, keeper of the orders secrets and knowledge and leader.

Altair burns his body to make sure Al-Mualim is dead after seeing what the apple can do.

However an assassin named Abbas is not happy about Altairs decision. He believes that Altair is on a power trip and killed Al-Mualim to gain the role as Mentor, while he tries to convince him otherwise Abbas does not believe him. So the struggle for control of the Assassin Order immerses.

Each of the three assassins stories comes with major events and twists that the end that truly get you excited for what Ubisoft is planning next. But it was also its use of tying major historical figures with the Assassin vs. Templar element and rich character development that this series is famous for that made this possibly the best story in the series so far.

Story Grade: A+

Graphics

The Assassins Creed Series always had beautiful environments and well detailed and animated character models and that remains today. While renaissance Italy was always a sight to behold in II and Brotherhood, Constantinople was a fresh breath of air to the series. And although the city was a very closed in environment it was still full of life and very fun to move around. The only problem was this made horseback riding obsolete which will certainly sadden people but it doesn't ruin the experience.

A Kodak moment on every corner

But we don't only get to see the beauty that is Constantinople, around three quarters through the game Ezio travels to the underground city of Cappadocia. The massive cave houses thousands of people with flickering lamposts beautifully giving life to the would be dim city. The perfect example of Ubisofts ability to recapture history and bring it to life in the series.

Even the concept art doesn't do it justice

Graphics Grade: A

Sound

Revelations has a beautifully orchestrated soundtrack that fits into the world of Constantinople. Whether you're just exploring the rooftops, fighting guards or even running away from them, Ubisoft has crafted music that fits into every moment of the game while you can also hear the bustling life of the city.

The people of Constantina also have their own sound as well. Instead of just stick the old audio file from Assassins Creed, the city and its inhabitants have their own sounds and voices, a smart but expected move from Ubisoft. And all the noises of the world and your gadgets are unique. For example Ezio's hidden pistol creates a loud bang that just snaps at your ears and creates an echo that can be heard from possibly miles.

The voice acting is also brilliantly well done. The new characters have done great performances and really fit their personality. Roger Craig Smith delivers another amazing performance as Ezio Auditore. He truly created the feeling of how far he has aged from the slight rasp when he talks to making a loud grunt of pain after falling only a few feet. Altair has received a new voice actor but does an amazing job of giving him an actual Syrian accent that still seems reminiscent of his old voice from the first game.

Sound Grade: B+

Gameplay

Most game developers use the term "If it aint broke, don't fix it", however it doesn't hurt to add some new features to keep things fresh. And not only did Ubisoft did that, these new features help make the game feel like a whole new experience.

The biggest game changer is Ezio's latest weapon, the Hookblade. This weapon allows Ezio to traverse the environment and amazing speed whether you are zip-lining across buildings, scaling a massive tower or even using hanging lamps to use a long jump. But it also makes him more effective in combat. You can run towards an enemy and hold the grab button to spin on his back, toss him to the ground and continue a kill chain combo from there on. It also allows him to assassinate enemies from a far ledge, something Ezio could never do before.

Ezio ages like wine. He only gets better with age.

The control scheme has changed this time around and while it wasn't to drastic it did take a while to get accustomed to it. The biggest one is that the 'Y' button (triangle on PS3) now uses Ezio's secondary weapon while 'X' (square) is his primary. This means a new button was to be needed for Ezio's Eagle Vision. However this has also gotten a major upgrade as well. The newly titled Eagle Sense can be activated by pressing the left stick (both controllers), this allows Ezio to discern his enemies, hiding spots, his assassination targets and allies just like before. But now he can see the travel pattern of enemy guards, see where his target has been and where he/she is going or even spot out targets when they're hiding in a group.

Den Defense is a tower defense type mini-game where you command you assassin troops to defend an Assassin Den you captured from the Templars. You can summon a variety of assassins and blockades that can be upgraded to fight off swarms of Templar invaders until the last wave which is usually a mini boss. While it is simple and fun at first it doesn't really evolve much afterwards and gets old quickly, however these are optional as you can just send one of your assassin students to take care of it for you.

Desmond has his own gameplay as well and while it is simple, the setup, difficulty and art direction makes it very fun to play. During his sequences you go into first person view and travel through M.C. Escher style like mazes with only two tools: a flat platform and a slanting one. You can place them to help you go though obstacles you normally can't traverse. While it is simple the puzzles vary from multiple objectives and can get really challenging but in a good way.

I don't think were in Kansas anymore...

Sadly Altair's gameplay hasn't really changed since the first except it played more like II, and the missions were pretty bland and boring as you only stayed in Masyaf during these event's. However what kept them even mildly interesting was learning about Altairs life after the event's of the first game and his spin-offs. But the rest of the game was superb in the field of playability so it did not suffer.

Gameplay Grade: A-

I do want to make a note here that I have NOT played the multiplayer so it did not effect my final grading of the overall gameplay.

Replay

While the first two barely had any replay value other than finding the hidden collectibles (flags and feathers) Brotherhood and Revelations has done some things to keep you hooked after beating the story (no pun intended). We are again given the ability to replay any mission we can and have the extra challenge of getting full synchronization if you failed to do so before. And there are hidden locations that you can return to in case you missed them.

Although multiplayer was introduced in Brotherhood, Ubisoft did much more than add a new mode and maps. Now characters are even more customizable as you can change their appearance, weapons and colors to match you're preferred taste. Abilities and Perks can be purchased and upgraded every time you level up and progress. Revelations will keep you playing for a while.

Replay Grade: C+

Ubisoft so far has been doing a very good job of releasing a yearly Assassins Creed title and keeping the original formula fresh with tons of new tweaks and upgrades. With the conclusion to the Assassins Creed trilogy only a year away, one should not play it until they have already have played Revelations. And this one a certain buy for any fan of the series who want their questions finally answered but want to have a blast while doing so.

Final Grade: A-

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Review: Saints Row the Third

Volition wanted to make the Saints Row series stand out amongst other sandbox games by being the craziest, irreverent guilty-pleasure you ever played. But the problem is that the series was already unique before that and what made the first two games amazing was ignored and pushed aside in this title, Saints Row the Third.


The Good
- Improved gameplay and controls
-Great voice acting
-Hilarious quirks throughout the game
-Some new characters are interesting
-the respect system is very well done
The Bad
-Story is messy, rushed and lacks depth
-Customization and player choice is way limited compared to its predecessors
-Endings are confusing, irrelevant and leaves questions unanswered
-some activities get repetitive and boring (mainly some returning ones)
-buying landmarks are useless and a waste of money
-weapon upgrades are very uncreative and in most cases useless
The Ugly
Most cases I would find one thing that just doesn't work out at all in the game but the worst thing about this title can't be fit into one sentence. Johnny Gat, your character's second in command and most trusted friend has made his mark into the hearts of all fans of this series for his wit, total disregard for human life, blood lust and being a total, unrelenting and fearless bad-ass. Gat truly became the face of the Saints Row series, however lead writer Drew Holmes decided it was a good idea to kill off Johnny. But it's not just him dying that angered me, it was how insignificant his death felt like. We didn't get to see his final moments, his body afterwards, or even his funeral. And they way he died. Gat took a shotgun blast to the leg, was sentenced to death and had a sword shoved through his abdomen and managed to get back on his feet stronger than ever but was killed by a little gun fire. This was a huge misstep for Volition and better plan on fixing this or Saints Row will be dead to me.

R.I.P. Johnny Gat 2006-2011

Story
Saints Row 1 and 2 had a thoroughly enjoyable story. While nothing was too complex the gang-war scene was a nice change of pace and was entertaining. Mainly because the two games had fun and enjoyable characters who you really grew a bond to and learn about them. However this seemed primarily absent in Saints Row the Third. While we got new and colorful characters like Zimos, chain smoking pimp with a voice box that made him always talk in auto tune and Oleg Kirrlov, a gigantic Russian gentleman who is as smart as he is strong, many others were boring and had no motive. Phillipe Loren, for example, was advertised to be your main antagonist throughout the game and was said to be absolutely ruthless, but showed no sense of this so called toughness and you kill him at the end of the first act. And while in the past we saw more backstory of the your enemies to make them seem more interesting and threatening, this game provided no history of them and gave us no motive to hit them where it hurts other than them killing Johnny.

What also made this story a train wreck was how linear it was. In the first two we were given the choice which gang we wanted focus on and had their own story missions making it feel more like our choice and added depth to each gang. In this one the story is all one experience and it gets boring as you don't learn much about each gang, what their specialties are and where they came from. At the end of certain missions we are given a choice on the outcome, none of them affect the outcome of the story except for the final choice which alters then ending. The ending I chose was absolutely stupid as it was nothing more than a filming of a movie called "Gangsters in Space" and the only reason I chose this one is because I did not want to let Shaundi die so it seemed like the lesser of two evils. This ending felt lazily rushed, served no purpose to the story and left some unanswered questions.

Story Grade: F

Graphics

While the first two suffered from poor visuals and awful framerate Saints Row is finally up to par with its graphics department. While they're nothing special, its cartoony look fits into the world of Steelport and feels right. Speaking of Steelport, the city can be sprawling with life and activity but sometimes is just bland. Certain areas of the city can be beautiful at night as neon lights cover the area but some spots feel like they were just copy and pasted in another part of the city. Clothing and Hair has also received their long deserved motion physics, whats even better is that they actually react to exactly how you move instead of just swaying back and forth.

Some items also have these physics...unfortunately...

Whats also interesting is the realistic looks when car crashes. In previous titles driving into a wall would, for some reason, also cause dents into the back of the car. Now bangs and dents in cars look more real truly bend where you hit it, and when you run a tank over the hood of a car, that hood gets squashed like a pancake, a nice visual treat. Saints Row the Third wont win any awards for beauty but its a step up.

However, during cutscenes there were significant graphical problems from your character becoming blurry and pixelated to white outline appearing around the characters, sadly this problem seemed prominent through the entire game.

Graphics Grade: C+

Sound
Music can make a game when it comes to sandbox titles, half of the songs are amazing and the other half I've never heard of and made me go "WTF is this?". People will certainly enjoy hearing your character and Pierce sing along together to Sublime's "What I got" and will feel like a true bad-ass leader when you skydive from a helicopter into a penthouse pool and start shooting all the Syndicate member, interrupting their party when Kanye West's "Power is boosting through your speakers. Previous Saints Row games never put licensed music into their missions so this was a nice and welcome addition.

Voice Acting was very well done in this game. Hulk Hogan and porn star Sasha Grey deliver great performances but no one can beat Burt Reynolds himself making a cameo in this game.

That's Mayor Burt Reynolds to you.

But they aren't the only one who can deliver. My characters British accent was very well done and uses real cockney terms to make it feel authentic.

Sound Effects are also well done. Each weapon has their own unique sound effect and sounds great when you're shooting it, detonating it or even bludgeoning someone to death with it. And every cars motor makes its own sound whether you're hearing the purr of an exotic sports car or the roaring engine of an American muscle car, each one is unique.

Sound Grade: B+

Gameplay

While Volition has improved a lot of gameplay elements, some of the best qualities of previous Saints Row titles suffered for it. The control scheme has drastically changed in this title, however it still feels natural and less arcadey. Whether you're on foot or in a vehicle the controls are nice. While fans of the old game might need a little getting used to, they're still easy to pick up.

Mission are more scripted this time around giving them a little more freedom to throw the crazy at us. While this means we don't have much room for experimentation, they're still pretty action packed. However a good chunk of missions in the main story are just tutorials of the activities.

Just another day in Steelport

While customization is still a large part of this game, it's only a fraction of how in-depth the customization was in Saints Row 2. One of the biggest changes was clothing. In SR2 we can choose multiple layers of clothing from undershirts, overshirts to coats and allowed us to pick each layer. We were also able to choose multiple piercings on each ear, eyebrow and the mouth too. With Character customization the only way to make your person look drastically from the default look is to make them as hideous as possible.

Respect used to be a currency system that allowed you to play missions and the only way to earn respect was to play activities or perform certain things around Stillwater. Now respect is a leveling up system. Respect is experience that you earn by playing missions, activities performing stunts and wreaking havok in the city. This is one of the better additions and is very well thought out. Everytime you level up you unlock certain perks and upgrades from increased ammo capacity, more health, and can even give your crew rocket launchers. However you need money to purchase these upgrade so every penny counts.

Activities return again but are different this time around. Completing each activity gives you control of an area of the city and the harder the difficulty, the more turf you get. Some activities are really fun like Insurance Fraud and Professor Genki's super ethical reality climax but some can get frustrating and repetitive like Drug Trafficking and Escort. And most of the bad ones are returning from SR2 while better ones like fight club and septic avenger were cut.

Shooting furries and mascots shouldn't be this much fun

Gameplay Grade: B

Replay

Saints Row the Third has some things to offer that will keep you playing. If you have yet to control the city there's still activities, gang operations, contracts to do. Or you can jump into co-op with a friend and help him out and there's still just going around killing everyone in your path with your over-the-top weapons, and it's even funner with a buddy. Or you guys can try the new Whored mode, an obvious parody of Gears of War 2's Horde mode where you kill waves of whores, pimps, gimps and mascots with each wave giving you a certain objective or weapons at your disposal. I have yet to try it but it seems crazy enough to give it a whirl.

The main problem is that you are no longer able to replay missions and cutscenes after you have already beaten them, why Volition did that I do not know.

Replay Grade: B-

Despite this games nice visuals and overall madness, It feels like it was only trying to masks the disappointment that was waiting for me in the back. It certainly plays better than the first two but the experience doesn't feel like I'm playing the Saints Row I love. Without Johnny, multiple clothing layers or even the option to change my sideburns to mutton-chops that doesn't counts as facial hair. People new to the series will certainly enjoy the quirks this game has to offer but older fans will be saddened by its disjointed story and unable to do the things we used to do like playing cutscenes and change what we wear under our jacket which will lead them to possibly putting back in their old copy of Saints Row 2 and pretend that Gat's still alive. The Saints feel like they've lost their way with this title but with the fourth game already on the drawing board we can still hope that Volition can fix these problems.

Overall Grade: C+

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Assassins Creed: Revalations DLC

With the new Assassins Creed: Revalations out, DLC has ALREADY been announced. Ubisoft sure is milking it.

First we have Ancestors Character Pack on December 13. This pack introduces four new multiplayer characters: the Corsair, Privateer, Brigand and the Gladiator. Each character has their own unique taunts, weapons, and of course, assassination moves. This pack will cost only $3.99 on PlayStation Network and 320 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live.
Ubisoft announced that there would yet again, another DLC pack, hopefully with more content, but has not projected any news about it.

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