Echo's Revenge: The Ultimate Game Review

What would you do if the biggest and baddest boss from your favorite video game was real and it went after you and your friends? In Echo's Revenge: The Ultimate Game, two brothers Reggie and Jeremy encounters the same dilemma as they run away from their abusive home.

The Ultimate Game is the first book of the Echo's Revenge series written by Hart Getzen that follows two brothers Reggie (Age 14) and Jeremy (Age 11) on a journey they will never forget. Both brothers are hardcore fans of the fictional game, Echo's Revenge; Reggie is considered one of the "Master Gamers" of Echo's Revenge. Life isn't just a video game, every one tells Reggie and Jeremy, but they both will find out that it just might be. Both brothers live with an abusive step-dad and an absent minded mother who is ignorant on what goes on in her household, Reggie and Jeremy finally have gotten tired of their step-dad's beatings and decides to run away to a happier life with their biological father. During their journey the brothers find out that something is kidnapping Echo's Revenge players and that they are next.

When it comes to book, I am extremely picky; the majority of my book are mainly Star Wars ones with a few that I haven't finished because they failed to hold my interest, but The Ultimate Game was able to hold my interest and led me wanting to finish the book. Since this book is a young adult book, there will be a younger demographic, which are preteens to teens, so the dialogue is going to be more appealing to younger kids which is something that is not really much for me. The dialogue for The Ultimate Game reminds me of shows and movies that are aimed for kids and families in the sense that I cannot imagine people actually talking that like, especially in a given situation. At other times though, the dialogue and actions of Reggie and Jeremy reminds me of what older teens would be saying and doing, instead of a 14 and 11 year old.

I can get over the dialogue though, the book is aimed at a younger audience than me and that is how other forms of media are it it, so it is what it is. One thing that bothered me though, what the lack of detail for certain parts. For example, we don't know what kind of game Echo's Revenge is. All we know is that it is an online game where you have an arsenal of RPGs and EMPs to take down ECHO, who is the big bad boss in Echo's Revenge. Even though it is not entirely necessary to know what the world in Echo's Revenge is like, it still would be nice. One important lack of detail though, was what Echo looked like. The best description we got of him is that he is a kidnapping evil boss that has a face of an alien reptile with green menacing eyes and razor sharp teeth that grind mechanically. He also is a machine that wears some sort of armor that is covered in scales that allows him to go invisible with the ability to shape shift into non-complex items. He also has claws and retractable arm with hydraulic fluid that spews out of it. I can kind of imagine some sort of machine at first, but once reptile was thrown in, I had a rough time imagining what ECHO looked like; everything else was pretty well detailed though, the settings and characters were easy enough to visualize.

The book is a straight forward book with an easy to read style that leaves no questions unanswered, except those that were purposely left unanswered. I'm not going to spoil anything, but this is one thing I really liked about the book - it left me wanting more. Getzen alludes nicely to what happened to the fate of one of the characters along with what we will be expecting in the sequel to The Ultimate Game, which is Echo's Revenge: The Other Side.

To me, I see two different topics in The Ultimate Game: video games and running away from your problems, and in all honesty, I preferred the latter than the former. A few of the characters that Reggie and Jeremy meet along their travels were great, each character doesn't just help the brothers get to their dad's house, they also help them by giving them advice on life. Most of the characters were great support charactesr to Reggie and Jeremy, they helped them by giving them advice that deals with things such as loyalty  their step-dad's abusiveness, having no regrets in life and so on. The advice that Reggie receives reoccurs throughout the book as he thinks back on what has happened so far in his travels.

Overall Echo's Revenge: The Ultimate Game was a pretty solid book that takes you on a journey of two brothers running from their troubled home where they find out that the main boss from their favorite video game is made real and is coming after them and their friends. There is a lack of detail in the book, but it makes it up with a great set of supporting characters and the fact that it leaves you wanting more with the sequel. If you want a book that is quick to read with a hint of mystery, then you might want to check out Echo's Revenge: The Ultimate Game today.

Echo's Revenge: The Ultimate Game - 8/10

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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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Review: Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition

Only a few years ago Minecraft became an instant hit with it's simplistic yet entirely unique gameplay and stuck the world by storm. So Mojang decided to make a full release of the game on the Xbox Live Arcade, but does it stack up to the PC version?

Right now I would have to say No, while the game still plays the same as the PC version, the 360 edition is seriously lacking the amount of content that you can only get on your computer. The Xbox 360 edition only gives you the basic item's right now like crafting items, tools and basic weapons like the sword and bow and there are even a limited amount of Mobs you see in the game too, only the spiders, zombies and creepers are present in this game (not including the ones you see in the nether).
But luckily this problem is only temporary, with several title updates players can get more tools and features, infact the next update will give Xbox 360 players Creative Mode, which gives the player unlimited resources to create gigantic and advanced constructs with ease.

Another problem is that the release of skin's for the 360 version seems redundant since PC players can mod and create their own custom skins for free. While it was nice of Mojang to give us some flair for our avatar I wouldn't buy skins since I can get my own on the PC for free. Speaking of Mod's, those who play it on the PC version can download texture mods that can make the game look really good because let's face it, even with the simplistic design Minecraft is not that pretty of a game.

If there is one thing the 360 version has over the PC's, is it's multiplayer set-up, It is much easier to join games with your friends on Xbox live since you only need a couple settings to make your game available only to your Xbox Live friends, and one of the things that makes this game fantastic is how fun thing can get with friends whether your building a gigantic castle of just goofing off.

While the 360 version doesn't compare to the PC version, it definitely has it's quirks that still keeps it midly entertaining, although I find myself only playing it with friends from now on whenever I start it up.

Total Score: C+

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The Avengers Cologne Set Review

It has been about a week since I have gotten my hands on the official Avengers Cologne Set being sold be Jads International which means I have had enough time to wear all four and have a chance to figure out which hero I like to smell like.

There are four different colognes that comes with the Avengers Cologne Set, Patriot, mark VII, Smash! and Worthy with each scent being extremely different and being way better than I thought. Each bottle holds 3.4 fluid ounces of cologne and comes in a little box with the whole thing weighing just two pounds. 

When I put on the cologne, the smells really do smell like something that Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor would most like possibly wear. Each one has their own fragrant with Patriot having green lime and white pepper are first then settling down into a smell of dry oak wood. The Patriot has a very subtle scent which is good because it seems like that if it weren't subtle then it would be very strong. It does remind me though of something an older person would wear but there is a mix of youth in it (if that makes any sense at all).

Mark VII isn't very strong, but you can smell the hint of citrus it has in it which is due to the combination of mandarin and neroli with nasturtium and jasmine. The smell reminds me of something that could be fun but yet sophisticated at the same time.

Smash! is probably my favorite scent; it originally was my least favorite but it has grown on me and honestly it's very manly smelling, its something that would be worn by the manliest of the manliest men who lives in a forest. Smash! combines yuzu, bergamot, tarragon, water lily and nutmeg which gives it the citrus smell. Past the citrus smell you smell a bit of musk which is due to the sandalwood, vetiver, dry musk and warm cedar.

Worthy is a bit more musky than Smash! but it is very earth like. The combination of bergamot, frozen ginger, wheatgrass, grapefruit, aromatic cypress, dark amber and cedarwood don't seem to work as well as the other colognes, which makes Worthy my least favorite unfortunately.

At first the colognes smell weird, but they do settle down nicely and you then start to get use to the smell of them all. At first Mark VII was my favorite, then it was Patriot, Worthy and Smash!, but after getting use to them all my favorite now is Smash! with Mark VII being second, Patriot being third and Worthy being last.

The colognes are not cheesy at all like I was kind of expecting, they actually do smell like what cologne should smell like; they are not strong, they settle nicely and the combinations of the ingredients work incredibly well.

I'm not much of a cologne person, which is due to me not liking many brands, the only cologne I wear is Adidas Moves (obviously Axe [when I was young and stupid] and Old Spice doesn't count) which is an aquatic fragrance, which is my favorite smell. After getting the Avengers Cologne Set I feel as if I want to wear more cologne, even when no one is around.

I think Jads International did a great job finding scents that most identify with the heroes they represent. When I spent the $59 on them over at Urban-Collectors, I was afraid that I wasted my money on something that would smell either mediocre or something ridiculous, but luckily that is not the case at all. They scents are something I feel comfortable wearing out during special occasions or at parties.

Jads International is also selling fragrances based off of Loki (Mischief), Nick Fury (Infinity Formula) and Black Widow (Black Widow). I plan to get my hands on them; if the Avengers Set smells good then I'm sure the others will be and I'm sure Infinity Formula will smell manlier then Smash!

If you do end up wanting to try out these fragrances I would suggest getting the set considering that each bottle costs $29.99 separately while you can get four of them for about $60. 

Overall I'd give the set an 8/10.

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Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 Review

I've been indifferent about Avengers vs X-Men ever since I've heard about it, just because Marvel is going crazy with their events and the fact that Fear Itself ended badly along with Avengers vs X-Men #0 being weak. After reading the first issue of Avengers vs X-Men my thoughts on the event might have to be rethought.

The Phoenix is returning and Hope is the vessel in which it will be going into, every mutant knows this, but not everyone else, not until Nova (unknown if it is Richard Rider or not at the moment) comes crashing to Earth and warns the Avengers that "it is coming". Captain America heads over to Utopia after a flare of Phoenix Force energy surfaces from Hope and demands that Scott hands her over to The Avengers. Scott thinking that the Phoenix is coming back for the rebirth of the mutant race instead of coming to destroy everything and everyone on Earth, he says no to Cap and proceeds to direct a concussive beam towards Cap which then assembles the Avengers to take Hope by force.

Brian Michael Bendis is a hit and miss for me when he writes the Avengers and it's usually easy to distinguish his work, so I was surprised that I was reading something he wrote; there was no "Bendis Speak" or anything else he's known for doing, it was straight forward writing with well done characters.

People have been wondering where does Wolverine stand and I'm liking how he is siding with the Avengers for now. The Phoenix killed Jean Grey, the girl he loved, so of course he's not going to be thrilled with the fact that it's returning and he if he is forced to needing to kill Hope in order to stop the Phoenix, then he will do it, hence why he's never had much contact with her; he doesn't want to become friends with Hope and eventually having to need to kill her.

The art is better than I thought it was going to be, I have never been too fond of John Romita Jr.'s art style; his shading technique makes people look like the have whiskers at time. Also the way he draws faces are weird, especially with face shapes and noses. Knowing that Romita was doing the art I was extremely put down, but after starting to read this issue, I was surprised as well as I was surprised with Bendis, it wasn't as bad as I thought.

All in all Avengers vs. X-Men #1 was a good start off, but it still lacks the excitement factor. The issue was too predictable; that's the problem with this event, I feel like everything is going to be easily predictable and that there isn't going to be something that's going to make me drop my jaw. I think I'm more excited for the fact that Nova is back, sure there's a chance it might not be Rider due to the fact that this Nova looks younger, but I really want to see what they do with him.

Avengers vs X-men #1 - 8/10

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Avengers Vs. X-Men #0 Review

Avengers vs X-Men #0 is a prelude to Marvel's annual big event Avengers vs X-Men so you would expect it to be incredible because it's part of the big event meaning the creative teams will put a lot of creativity behind the story, well they didn't.

This issue was broken into two stories - a Scarlet Witch one (written by Bendis) and a Hope Summers one (written by Jason Aaron).

The Scarlet Witch story obviously focuses on Scarlet Witch and her return after being Dr. Doom's fiance and being saved from the Young Avengers. The comic really didn't do her justice, Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful mutants in the world, and she gets overrun by M.O.D.O.K.'s robotic mutated animals which eventually causes her to need saving by Spider-Woman and Ms. Marvel. As much as I like Scarlet Witch, I think having her back was a big mistake; there is nothing Marvel can do with her, once a major character in the Marvel universe she's most likely going to be a background character that won't be used to her full potential. The only thing I expect Bendis to do for her is to have almost everyone hating on her; Vision is the first to do so, which caught me by surprise.

Hope now knows that the Phoenix is coming for her, she doesn't know what it wants, but she's ready for it. But first she wants to figure out who she is, and that's what her story tries to focus on. In order to find herself, she goes and looks for trouble and eventually finds the Serpent Society who she brutally  beats the crap out of. Hope's story was better than Wanda's. Aaron portrayed Hope correctly, the comic has her going solo against the Serpent Society with a knife, her skills and of course her mutant powers. Hope is also a very strong person mentally, and Aaron showed that when she tells Scott that she is prepared for the Phoenix even though she does not know what it has in store for her.

Frank Cho was the artist behind this issue of Avengers vs. X-Men and I've honestly seen better from him; he's not bad in this issue, but I've seen better. His panels were simple and easy to read, nothing crazy was done; everything looked good until I saw Ms. Marvel's face. I don't know why, but Ms. Marvel's face looks awkward and it's just her, well not really, some of the other faces in the comic look weird. I do like how Jason Keith (this issue's color artist) did color Emma, he didn't blob Emma's face with makeup like usual colorists do.

All in all, this issue did nothing, sure it was a prologue but the prologue should set up the story even though Marvel has been setting up their event for awhile. The art was decent and could've been better; luckily Stuart Immomen will be doing the main art for the event.

Avengers vs. X-Men #0 - 7/10

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Review: Mass Effect 3

After five years of waiting the Reapers have finally arrived and humanity faces extinction. Now only you, as Commander Shepard are the last hope of the entire galaxy. This game was nothing short of being the most intense and emotional joy ride I've experienced in a long time. The game was flawless in all it's aspects. Mass Effect 3 is truly a contender for game of the year.


The Good
-Rich character and weapon customization
-Intense and fast-paced combat
-Amazing story, dialogue and character development
-Choices you made in previous games will have a big impact in this one
-Big choices will have to be made
-Multiplayer is very fun and engaging
-Beautiful graphics and brilliant original score
The Bad
-Some minor glitches
-Long loading times
-Finding resources is still not that fun
The Ugly
-The ending left us with questions and made all our choices irrelevant

Story

Mass Effect has always had a strong story element, and this game is the strongest of them all. After the events of Mass Effect 2's Arrival, Commander Shepard has been relieved of duty and grounded. However, the Alliance has been finding massive signals approaching Earth, so they go to Shepard for his advice. And he/she has only one answer, the Reapers. At that moment, gigantic 2-story tall machines rained down the sky and began to decimate everything in their path. The Reapers have finally arrived. Now the first human spectre must travel across the entire galaxy to recruit every alien race and gather whatever you can to take Earth back from the Reapers.

What made this story so great was the emotional impact it had throughout the whole game. With the reapers slowly taking the galaxy by control, I was always on the edge of my seat always expecting the worse to happen. There were so many amazing moments throughout this game, there were parts where I laughed hysterically, parts that had a load of suspense and even parts where I actually cried, and if you loved the story of Mass Effect as much as I do, chances are you will cry too.

The struggle has taken a major toll on Shepard's morale

While in the first two games your paragon and renegade levels would always effect how you would handle a situation and could open new dialogue options, this time it is different. Now Shepard has a reputation system, where talking to citizens, aiding others in need, doing side quests will give him a higher reputation, unlocking paragon and renegade dialogue options that could help you solve impossible situations. Your paragon and renegade levels now only affect your appearance. And the choices you do have to make will be massive. In the other games big choices would usually either doing something or not doing it and the difference will be minor. Now entire races and even worlds depend on your decisions, but no pressure.

My biggest problem with this game would definitely be the ending. If you haven't heard already, there is a huge controversy over the ending. I'm not going to spoil anything for you but the only thing that bugged me about it was that the ending scene of the game seem a little too farfetched, even for Mass Effect and that how the ending was set up, made all the choices from all three games worth absolutely nothing, despite the fact Casey Hudson said himself that our choices will matter in the end. Despite this big snafu the game showed an exemplary example of amazing story telling, character development and dialogue.

Story: A+

Graphics

While Mass Effect 3 still has the artistic direction of Mass Effect 2, Bioware upped the ante by giving the game a rougher, grittier look while also making some of the most beautiful environments I have ever seen in a video game. From start to finish the game gives you a plethora of unique environments each being beautiful up close and far away. When you start the game on Earth, you can see once glamorous city being decimated right in front of you and even miles away as the Reapers landed right above you. It was a terrifying sight but I was still awe struck at amazing detail of the world around me.

We're gonna need a bigger gun...

The amazing imagery spread across the entire galaxy from the massive dust storm on Mars, the tropical cliffs of Sur'Kesh, the Desert Lands of Rannoch and even seeing the ancient ruins of Tuchanka, revealing that the Krogan were a once civilized and cultured race. I wish I could go into more detail but that would take just way too long so I'll just show you. (These are all screenshots from the game not concept art.)

The Salarian home world, Sur'Kesh

A Geth base on Rannoch, the Quarian home world

Mars and it's massive dust storm

Luckily all these amazing worlds didn't sacrifice the character models. All characters and npc's are brilliantly designed as well as the weapons and, which all look very unique and can be customized to look even cooler. Another cool bonus is that most armor pieces keeps Shepard's iconic N7 stripe on his/her right arm, well played Bioware.

Dressed for Success. And killing reapers.

Graphics: A+

Sound

Mass Effect 3 has one of the best scores I've ever heard. There are pieces that truly captures an intense emotional moment and ones that still retain its futuristic sound reminiscent from the first one. In the beginning of the game when you leave Earth and witness a small boy running for his life, you hear a soft piano that fills you with grief but also with hope, and is then overpowered by a blast of brass horns that resemble the terrifying call of a reaper, a true musical masterpiece. However, the game does reuses music used in the older games for instance the Citadel still uses the same soundtrack for the presidium in Mass Effect 1, but it's still good music.

Sound effects have received a major upgrade. The guns from the previous two were way too flimsy and sounded more like laser shooters than actual rifles. Now weapons sound and feel like real guns. When using the predator pistol it had an actual punch to it and sounded like a real handgun rather than some futuristic pea-shooter.

Sometimes "pew pew pew" doesn't cut it.

Weapons weren't the only one with improved effects, Shepard and his squadmates' abilities now sound as deadly as the are in action. In the previous games you could mix biotic attacks together to cause even more damage and mayhem. Now when you mix them, for example using pull on an enemy and have Liara finish them off with warp, the explosion is massive and will blast through your speakers. And that's not just with biotics, mixing tech and combat abilities will also create amazing sounds like shattering a frozen enemy with another ability will cause a giant cryo explosion that sounds like you blew up an iceberg with a rocket launcher.

Voice acting is brilliantly well done. Mass Effect brings promises with a huge star cast and returning characters including Martin Sheen (Illusive Man), Seth Green (Joker) and newcomers like Freddie Prinze Jr. (James Vega). Everyone brings their best performance in this game, and a great time to do so to enhance the intense feeling of loss, sacrifice and suspense as the game's running theme. Except for the voice actor for the little kid, he was pretty awful.

Sound: A+

Gameplay:

One thing I've noticed about a lot of other Mass Effect fans is that they complain about how Bioware made ME2 more like Gears of War than an actual RPG. But I'm also pretty sure most of those people were the PC users who never played Gears of War like I did and just went by watching videos. First I want to point out that Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 play NOTHING like Gears, they have a cover combat system and that's all they have in common. And second, Mass Effect was and always has been called and ACTION RPG, meaning it's supposed to have action based combat gameplay while still also having character customization, player choices and open world system like an RPG. This is what my interpretation of what the Mass Effect series is about, and it's MY opinion.

Mass Effect has been a constant evolving hybrid of both action shooter and RPG. The first one lacked action and had too many items that made organizing my inventory a chore. ME2 trimmed all that fat and got rid of useless features like omni-gel and exploring boring, lifeless planets, but took away too much of its RPG elements and not to mention scanning planets was annoying. Mass Effect 3 has a perfect blend of action and RPG, with easy but well detailed skill and weapon customization.

Things can get really tense with 20 story reaper trying to blast you to pieces.

Pacing of the combat is much faster but still has a strong practical approach. Combat, tech and biotic abilities can now be chained together rather than just one and can create multiple and deadly combos. And enemies come in three groups, Cerberus, Geth and Reapers. Each group comes with a different tactic and has a variety of enemies and they can get pretty overwhelming since their a.i. system allows to adapt as the battle changes.

You can survive a Husk's attack but other enemies can instantly kill you no matter what.

The skill tree is very similar to Mass Effect 2's but adds a whole new twist. You can fully upgrade all your abilities but by the fourth level increase you get to make a choice on how you want to upgrade it. Say you're a Vanguard class and is fully upgrading your signature Charge ability, by the fourth upgrade you can either increase its damage and force or can hit an extra 2 enemies within 2 meters of impact, then you can choose whether to temporarily increase your weapon damage after a charge or power damage, then the final upgrade gives you the choice for a 25% chance charge wont cause a cool-down or have 100% of your shields restored after one (great for chaining up with the nova attack), you can mix hundreds of skills between and your squad and can even reset them if you aren't happy with your current settings (for a price of course)

A treat to my fellow Vanguards, Shockwave is finally useful now.

Weapons can now be upgraded and customized like in the first game but in a different way. Weapons have different stats and functionality. You can put on two weapons attachments that can increase it stats like damage or accuracy and can purchase an upgrade for your weapons in your armory. Another note is that each class can carry any and as many weapons they want but each weapon has a carry weight. Weapons like Assault Rifles and Sniper Rifles will weigh more and will increase the time of you abilities cool-down period, soldier classes will have a higher carry weight and can use more and stronger weapons while adepts and engineers should stick to one or two smaller weapons for full effectiveness of their skills.


A new system in ME3 is collecting war assets. By completing missions, talking to others, doing fetch quests and playing multiplayer, Shepard will gain assets to help him fight the reapers to take back Earth. However you can also lose assets as easy as you can gain it, some choices you make will have a negative effect on your military strength later on. However these assents can't be everything, you also have an effective military strength that will ultimately decide the fate of Earth. The EMS (effective military strength) is determined by the galactic readiness, which is achieved by playing multilayer. However you don't need to play multiplayer to achieve the perfect ending, but it will require a lot more exploring in the galaxy.

I was first appalled with the inclusion of multiplayer but after careful investigation and actually playing it, I must say I am extremely impressed. Mass Effect 3 uses a four player class-based co-op where you fight through 11 waves of enemies. Teamwork will be needed to survive especially as enemies get more aggressive each wave. Skill and weapon customization is just like the one in single-player except you MP character will only have 3 skills to use. During one of these waves there's a chance you will be assigned with a certain task like unlocking several terminals throughout the map or killing high valued targets, these objectives are simple but failing to do them will cause you to instantly fail the mission, and most of these will require you to stick together.

Each alien race will have certain classes (except human) that they can use and each have different skills and special abilities. The only problem is that alien races have to be unlocked by purchasing packs that you can get by earning credits from playing multiplayer, whats worse is that finding these races will appear at random. But you'll probably enjoying yourself too much to notice. (You do get a random free race to use when you start though)

Still waiting to unlock a Drell...

Gameplay: A+

Replay

Mass Effect 3 will last you a while. Breezing through the story will take about 20 hours, add an extra ten or fifteen if you are going to take the extra time doing extra missions, building relationships and helping others. And even if you imported your ME2 save, you won't hit the level cap or purchase every upgrade weapon, mod or armor on your first playthrough. And if you're like me you might have multiple save files with different Shepard with different actions, choices, personality and romances so no two stories will be the same. And mutliplayer is made that you will be enjoying it for a while and come back for even more. (Your galactic readiness lowers by one percent every time you start up the game, to make it worth coming back to). Bioware has done a good job of making sure you continue to play afterwards even after beating the game, something that has plagues the first two Mass Effects.

Replay: A+

I'm glad to say that this game gets a perfect score from me, after several of my most anticipated games utterly disappointed me, I'm happy that this one did not. It played perfectly, sounded perfectly and is a true mix of amazing big budget gameplay while having a beautiful and independent art direction. Mass Effect 3 shines in all aspects what makes a good video game. If you loved the first two games, you'll love this one. And if you never picked up the first two Mass Effect games, while this one is more welcoming to newcomers, I definitely recommend playing the first two. Mass Effect 3 is a guarantee to get 2012's game of the year, without a doubt.

Gaming perfection.

Mass Effect 3: A+

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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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Star Wars: The Old Republic Review

Star Wars: The Old Republic has been a successful game with its growing numbers of subscribed members. There is no doubt it is due to its immense and addicting gameplay, and luckily for me I am one of the 1.7 million members.

After wanting The Old Republic ever since it's announcement back in 2009, I decided to use GameStop gift cards, that I was going to use for various games, on the Collector's Edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and I don't regret a thing!

The best Collector's Edition I've ever had

The Old Republic is an MMO that is not too similar to other MMOs already out there; if you have played other MMOs, then you will be fairly comfortable with The Old Republic. The Old Republic is not simply "Kill x amount of creatures that look alike" or "Collect x amount of items that have the same texture", the missions that The Old Republic has is vast and different.

That's not the only vast in the world of the Old Republic Universe, the different worlds you get to visit are amazing as well. Players get to travel to planets such as Dromund Kass, Hutta, Alderaan and many other places; on those planets are diverse life forms and creatures. When you travel to a planet, you see the creatures that actually belong there; Bormus and Colicoids will only be found on Balmorra and Vicious Vorn Tigers will only be found on Alderaan.

Cute little Bormu on the plains of Balmorra

The graphics for the worlds, creatures and everything else is extremely well done; as far as I've seen, textures are not reused over and over, characters each have different character models and animations are smooth. The graphics are not too serious looking, it's a little more cartoony, but it works, nothing looks out of place at all. The environment of planets are stunning as well, Dromund Kass is covered in a lush jungle environment and Hutta is a polluted planet with hostile creatures. Each planet is significant in it's own way and doesn't reuse anything from another planet.

Jungles of Dromund Kaas

The story behind The Old Republic is basically that there is a war between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic. You learn more about different people involved in the war on both sides during the countless amounts of missions the game has. Through the missions, you also learn some back story to other Star Wars related characters, like Revan and his story of being a Jedi and a Sith. The overall story also branches off into comics and novels, but you don't need read those in order to play the game because The Old Republic focuses on Class Missions, which are missions that are exclusive for the different classes that the game offers.

What I really like about The Old Republic that makes it different than other MMOs are the Space missions that it has. The Space missions requires you to have a ship first, but once you acquire one then you get to do battle missions or escort missions; I've only done a couple of Space missions. The missions don't just put you in a black void with little white dots representing stars, they correspond to whatever place you are nearby.

Getting ready to travel on my ship...IN SPACE!

You don't need to do just missions in the game, like most MMOs there are PvP battles. For now there are three different PvP warzones: Voidstar, Huttball and Alderaan. Voidstar puts two teams against each other as one team attempts to fight their way to a ship's data core while the other side defends the data core. Huttball is soccer style warzone, but with fire pits; each team must get the ball to the apposing team's goal in order to gain a point. The Alderaan Warzone puts the Republic and Imperial players against one another in order to gain control of turrets to bring down one another's transport ship.

When you start the game, you get to choose which side you want to be on - the Dark side or the Light Side. If you choose to help the Sith Empire with the Dark Side, you get to choose from four different classes: Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter and Imperial Agent. The Galactic Empire has Jedi Knights, Jedi Consulars, Smugglers and Troopers on their side. After selecting your class, you get to pick what species you want, but not all species are available for all classes.

After selecting your class and species, you then get to start your character customization, which is decent. I wish that the customization was more vast like everything else in the game; customization was the only problem I have come across in the game. It's not like the customization is horrible, but I was just expecting better. 

Overall, the game is amazing; it's doesn't stay away from the Star Wars franchise, there are many recognizable  creatures, planets, people and other things from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. It's different from other MMOs I have played, but the basic style of the genre is still there. The graphics are solid and so is the sound; you'll recognize some of the music and you'll have a blast with all the cantina music you will hear. I've been having a blast with The Old Republic and I have barely scratched the surface of the game even though I have been playing nonstop ever since I got it. I'm currently playing as a Powertech Bounty Hunter, and I'm only on the first chapter for his class missions; I also have seven different classes to play as.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the greatest games I have every played, unfortunately it has a subscription fee but luckily I was able to afford a 60-day time card. The only disappointing thing I have run into is the customization, it wasn't what I was expecting but it isn't bad. BioWare did an excellent job on The Old Republic, kudos to them for making an outstanding game once again.

Star Wars: The Old Republic - 9.5/10

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Review Inbound

Recently I've been playing the hell out of my recently purchased copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic which is making me short my duties for The Reading Gamers and some of my real life things. Hopefully this weekend I will put time aside for a review.

I will say, that The Old Republic is one of the most addicting games I've played; I've played other MMOs such as World of Warcraft, Rift, Perfect World, Forsaken World, Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online and Digimon Battle Online but The Old Republic is by far the best one I have played. Expect a review this Sunday of the game; if there isn't one up then that just means my addiction is still strong.

Also, if anyone is getting a Malware Detection page, please tell me. I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of what is making the page pop up, but Google isn't giving me a for sure solution; it seems like only Google Chrome is the only web browser that shows the warning. 

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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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