Xbox 360

Batman: Arkham City Harley Quin’s Revenge Pack Story Trailer

Finally, Batman: Arkham City gets some worthy DLC in Harley Quin’s Revenge. If you’re wondering why Harley Quin wants revenge against Batman look no further to the Joker. The trailer shows Batman falling into Quin’s trap while trying to rescue a trapped cop. Next we Robin jump onto the scene with his acrobatic fighting style and weaponry. Personally I am stoked to play as Robin.

I managed to see a few new takedowns for Batman and Robin during the video.  Batman Arkham City was one of the best games to release last year let alone the best Batman game to ever be created so this DLC is welcomed. Batman: Arkham City Harley Quin’s Revenge DLC drops May 29 for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. If you want to read a really good Batman: Arkham City review I suggest you visit Video Games Source, Thanks GamerSpawn for the video.

Max Payne 3 – Early Campaign Review

***SPOILERS*** Its been nine years since the release of the last Max Payne game. The wait is finally over gamers as Max Payne 3 is amongst us, or should I say me? This particular article details my early experiences pertaining to the single player campaign of Max Payne 3. If you want my final review as well multiplayer review of Max Payne 3 check out Video Games Source regularly. Max Payne 3 is a noire style action game developed by Rockstar Studios and published by Rockstar Games for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The game released today May 15, 2012.

I have some history with Max Payne. Besides watching the Mark Wahlberg movie I have completed both games on my original Xbox. This time I am playing the game on my Playstation 3. The first thing I noticed was the long install time of Max Payne 3. I didn’t check to see the file size however I haven’t had to wait this long for a install in a long time. Upon start up you see a cutscene of Max moving into his new apartment in Sao Paulo Brazil. Voice dialog and music immediately brings me back regarding Max Payne’s noire. Max talks about a “new start” amongst other things during the opening cutscene which gives you a really good indication as to what kind of a man Max Payne is. After the cutscene your now at the main menu screen showing a animated image of Max Payne drinking and smoking a cigarette. The menus include: Story, Arcade, Multiplayer, Settings and Playstation Store. The main menu screen also has a Social Club and News area to explore with Start and R1 L1 buttons respectively.

Next I choose Settings and wrote down the default button layout for the Dual Shock 3: LS-move, Select-attachments, D-pad-pain killer, camera toggle, quick turn, L3-crouch/prone, L1-weapon wheel, L2-shoulder aim, Start-pause, RS-camera, X-sprint, vault, roll, Square-cover, Circle-reload, Triangle-interact, R3-bulletime, R1-shoot dodge and R2-fire. At first I was messing up with the controls since I haven’t played a Max Payne game since my Xbox days. As I settled in I was taking cover, using the weapon wheel and engaging bulletime like it was nobody’s business.  The controls are solid so far. I love shooting while prone full 360 degrees. Max Payne 3 doesn’t totally feel like the older Max Paynes per say, that is due to the new cover system I am thinking.

I then choose Story to get the campaign started. The Story menu tabs broke down into New, Continue, Chapter Select and Grinds (achievements/trophies). Difficulty comes in the form of Easy, Medium, Hard, Hardcore and Old School. I choose Medium just so I can run through the game and get it reviewed at a respectable date. Next up was Targeting which gave me the choices of Hard Lock, Soft Lock and Free Aim. I choose Soft Lock which locks hard in my opinion. I could imagine what Hard Lock feels like. As for the chapters I completed they were Something Rotten In The Air, Nothing But The Second Best and Just Another Day At The Office. I am currently at the beginning of Chapter 4: Anyone Can Me A Drink which is a flashback sequence telling us why Max had to leave New Jersey.

As for the story so far it revolves around the main protagonist we all know and love Max Payne. Max became a bodyguard after hooking up with a long time associate Raul Pesos (hope I spelled his name right). Max moves down to Sao Paulo Brazil and becomes a hired bodyguard for a rich business man named Rodrigo Branco. Max is more in charge of protecting his wife Fabiana more than anything. Gangs have tried to kidnap her in the first chapter and was actually successful in the second chapter. The third chapter was to negotiate her release by giving her captures 3 million dollars but things went wrong badly for Max and Raul. As for a overall synopis of the first three chapters you have shootouts with gangs in a penthouse, a nightclub and a big futball stadium (I am American btw).

The gameplay is a mash-up of cover based shooting and using bulletime. You have to take pain killers to restore health and searching around for clues like celeb magazines and dropped photos fleshes out the missions. There are also golden gun collectibles in each mission that you can find. There are scenes where Max must use bulletime on moving helicopters and other times when he was  protecting Raul in the Futball stadium. The gameplay doesn’t really add nothing spectacularly new to the series but is nonetheless fun and quite visceral due to the updated visuals and sound design.

The main thing I can say about the gameplay is that its addicting so far. When you get your last kill the screen transitions into a slo-mo kill cam that really brings out the gore and hit detection system in Max Payne 3. The guns I played with range from Uzis, pistols, small machine guns, shotguns and sniper rifles (so far). Yes you can mix and match some guns for dual wielding which I have done. Every gun does have a distinct feel with Max acting accordingly in a realistic manner when using different weapons depending on size and weight.  Playing through the first couple chapters I can really appreciate Max Payne’s presentation. Its strong in my opinion like every other Rockstar game.

The atmosphere is thick but not as dark (so far). The visuals are impressive showcasing nice textures in-game as well in cutscenes. There were some clear framerate issues during some cutscenes and big shoot-out sequences but not many. Overall I would say the game runs really good despite the hiccups. The music is really good along with the voice actors so far. The world has that glow like previous Rockstar games have. So far I would say the first couple of chapters in Max Payne 3′s single player are action based and gives us little in the way of story. I know this is a methodical game and the story will heat up eventually. Overall, so far, so good gamers. Thanks for reading.

Spec Ops: The Line – Demo Review

Spec Ops: The Line is a third person shooter developed by German based developer Yager. 2K Games are the publishers of Spec Ops: The Line. The release date as of today is June 26, 2012 and will release on the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. As for the demo my short answer would be that it was good. If you want the long answer keep reading. For the record I played the demo on my Playstation 3.

Spec Ops: The Line’s title screen shows Demo and Options. The controls are default for the Dual Shock 3: LS-move/crouch, RS-look/aim, D-pad-grenade type, secondary fire, next grenade, Select-show intel, L1-aim, L2-throw grenade, Start-menus, R1-shoot, R2-command squad, Triangle-switch weapon, O-melee/vault, Y-cover/sprint/context actions, Square-reload/pick up. If you played Gears of War or Uncharted Spec Ops has a similar gameplay style. However I thought Spec Ops had a more complicated button layout which felt odd compared to Gears of War and Uncharted’s more streamlined layout. I’m not saying the controls are bad they are decent. Aiming, shooting diving into cover and vaulting over cover was pretty fluid. Giving orders to squadmates takes some getting used to.

I choose Combat Ops for my difficulty and got the demo started. The demo opens up with a flashback on-rails helicopter sequence with you manning a chaingun in third person. You take out helicopters over Dubai in extreme action movie fashion with huge explosions, dust storms and destroyed skyscrapers in the distance. Eventually you go down in your chopper and the scene transitions to present time. Now you play the role of protagonist Captain Martin Walker along with Lugo and Adams who are in search of John Conrad (the guy who went down in the chopper). Early gameplay was a tutorial that took place outside of a destroyed Dubai. You learn the basics like marking targets and giving orders to Lugo and Adams. You learn how to use the enviroment (sand) as a tactical advantage as well.

You fight against rebels in the first portion of the demo and then PMC soldiers in the second part. I really like the setting in Spec Ops: The Line. You fight in a wrecked airliner, around skyscrapers (outside and inside). Level design did seem compact often times with the AI getting in your way literally. The AI wasn’t very good in this game that much is clear.  Collectibles include Intel scattered about. There are in-game cutscenes and quite a bit of voiced dialog during missions and after missions. The story doesn’t seem engaging. I know there are two rival factions involved and they are both trying to kill off Martin Walker and his team. Dubai is in a current civil war like state.

The demo did a really nice job at showing gameplay and in particular the guns. Some of the guns I played with during the demo included: AK-47, MHA1,Uzis, Pistol, W1300 Shotgun, M249 SAW, UMP 45 and a Sniper Rifle. You can attatch silencers on some of the guns in-game. The guns felt and performed decent. If you are wondering you have to play the second part of the demo Chapter 5 “The Edge” to get the Sniper Rifle, SAW and UMP 45. After you shoot some enemies you can perform executions with your gun or fist by pressing O when they are on the ground.  The wildest enemy is a guy with a knife who dodges bullets like a maniac and just runs at you. You can revive fallen squad-mates in-game. I did not die once so I am not sure if the AI revives you but I am pretty sure they will.

The missions included stuff like locating a distress beacon and rescuing and evacing Alpha company. The main goal initially is to rescue John Conrad. You know how these games go, the story and mission will change as the story unfolds. Spec-Ops: The Line does have a real sense of scope and scale during some repelling down skyscraper sequences. Fighting in destroyed Dubai with the sand storms and the ability to use sand as a weapon adds a small unique gameplay element to Spec Ops: The Line. As for the graphics they were ok during in-game except for the waxy faces visuals. The game has that Unreal Engine depth of field blur also. Textures up close are decent. The sound design was good. You do get a good sense of scale regarding shootouts. The music also brings out the game’s atmosphere and was presented nicely.

To sum up the demo I thought it was better than I had initially thought it might be. The demo does have a good length showcasing  many of Spec Ops: The Line’s  gameplay elements and story. The game appears to be rough around the edges from a performance perspective judging from the demo. Its still a good demo and hopefully game when it ships. Thanks for reading.

Trials Evolution – Demo Review

Trials Evolution is a Xbox Live arcade exclusive motocross physics based stunt game. Microsoft Game Studios are the publishers along with Redlynx the developers to this highly addictive over the top motocross stunt game. The full retail game goes for 1200 Microsoft Points. However for this particular article I played the free demo. If you are worried about the 1200 price point don’t be. Although I only played the demo its clear this game is primo. Its chalked full of content and options. The presentation is borderline flawless for an XBLAG.

As soon as you land on the opening title screen a gamer picture unlocks. The cool catchy background music for Trials Evolution gets you ready to play. The main menu screen incorporated Single Player, Multiplayer, Track Central, Leaderboards, Achievements, Help & Options, Unlock Full Game, Recommendations and Exit Game. Menus and navigation was no problem. The controls are via the Xbox 360 gamepad: LS/D-pad-lean forward/backward, LT-brake, Back-restart race, Start-pause, X-brake, A-gas, B-return to last checkpoint, Y-bailout and RT-gas. The default button layout is similar to the previous game however controlling your bike feels more accurate. Maybe the physics engine had a upgrade I don’t know.

As far as demos go Trials Evolution has loads of content. You can play through multiple events/types including D License Test, C License Test, Skill Game and Circus Icurus Race. There are multiple races and tracks tied to each type of event. Some tracks are more normal in design and some over the top. One event has you rolling a ball around a track like Super Monkey Ball style with traps all around. Another track had me placed in a WWII battlezone. Explosions and gunfire were going off as I achieved mad air off ramps. Trials Evolution has a strong identity regards to its imagination. One thing I can say is that this game will probably never be boring to play.

When you access the Single Player tab on the menu it breaks down to the following subtabs: Go Race, Garage and Stats. Garage breaks down into: My Rider, My Bike, Headware, Top and New Bikes. The Garage serves as your hub for keeping tracks of your customization. As you complete events and win money you can purchase a multitude of upgrades for your rider and bike. Its too bad I couldn’t access the track editor. I understand its a deep editor that can make a diverse selection of game genres. Think Litle Big Planet 2 level editor.

Trials Evolution has a great presentation judging from the demo. The gameplay is just flat out fun not to mention exciting and addicting. Even in the demo I couldn’t get enough of the explosions, music and sick stunts. The physics are wild in this game. Some of the crashes will have you laughing. Like I alluded to earlier the music was really good as well the sound design in-game. The visuals look a little better from a texture and color palette standpoint compared to the last game. Although I can’t access all of the content the demo did have good content as far as tracks and events are concerned. The full game has 2-4 player multiplayer (online and off). There are plenty of Challenges to unlock. You can download top-rated tracks. Look i’m not selling myself on this game I was sold the second I put the controller down after the demo.

If you are on the fence regarding Trials Evolution get off it and buy the game. You won’t be disappointed. Thanks for reading.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record – Demo Review

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is a spin-off of sorts from the game with the same name in Dead Rising 2. I was fortunate enough to play one full hour via Playstation +’s program on the Playstation 3. I’m a fan of Dead Rising 2. I even wrote a review for that game somewhere on this site. I really enjoyed it. The question now is, how does Off The Record stacks up to Dead Rising 2? Dead Rising2: Off The Record is a action game published by Capcom and developed by Capcom Vancouver for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

The title screen had menus that consisted of Start Game, Play Online and Art Gallery. When you select Start Game the tabs break down into Story Mode and Sandbox Mode. I decided to play Story Mode first to see how it differs from Dead Rising 2. The story mode in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record starts off showing the rise and failure of Frank West after the events of Willamette. Much like in the beginning of Dead Rising 2 Frank takes part in TK’s game show just as Chuck Greene did. You have to make zombies crawl into a meat grinder. Frank is dressed in a wrestling suit and the fight takes place in a wrestling ring.

The events that started after seems like a copy paste game. That being copying Frank West and putting him in Chuck Green’s place. The latter has to do with most of the cutscenes that take place early in the game. Also keep in mind I only played thirty minutes of the story so things could always change. TK is behind the plot as you take Frank behind the scenes with his camera and take photos of TK. The photo gameplay is back from Dead Rising. The game is very similar to Dead Rising 2. You need to find Zombrex and find out what TK is up to. The odd thing is that the story of Off The Record happens the exact same time as Dead Rising 2.

Just like in Dead Rising 2 you must rescue survivors and collect combo cards and use work benches to create wild weapons. There are checkpoint saves and normal restroom saves from previous Dead Risings. Time is of the essence and drop in and out co-op is available for the story campaign. I couldn’t for the life of me find a co-op partner on PSN. I played Dead Rising 2 co-op and loved it. You can take photos for money and XP. Special PP Posters nets you big money and XP.  There were big performance issues like framrates and stuttering in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. The visuals also didn’t look the best for some reason.

After putting half of my allotted hour into the story campaign I jumped into Sandbox Mode. Sandbox Mode is the reason you should buy Dead Rising 2: Off The Record in my opinion. Sandbox Mode is a open world mode with no time limits. Crazy survivors roam the city and there are special Challenges you can complete. Completing Challenges provides rewards. The first Challenge you encounter is Rooftop Massacre. The opening cutscene shows Frank being dropped on a roof and yelling “This is my Vacation”. The atmosphere is fun and wacky in Sandbox Mode. Soon after completing my first Challenge I ran into a crazed survivor named Gordon who I killed.

I was able to make a Saw Launcher and kill about 500 zombies before the game shut off. Sandbox Mode was fun and totally felt different than the story campaign. I felt free to experiment and cause chaos in Fortune City. You have no time limits or Zombrex to take. You just explore Fortune City and make crazy weapons, and oh yea, kill zombies. Dead Rising 2: Off The Record would be a deal at $10.00. As of now the price is too high in my opinion. Thanks for reading.

Ninja Gaiden 3 – Demo Review

Ninja Gaiden 3 is a hack ‘n slash action game that puts you back in the shoes of master ninja Ryu Hayabusa. Ninja Gaiden developed a cult following many gens ago for its brutal fast twitch gameplay. So how does the most recent incarnation of Ninja Gaiden fare? Judging from the demo I played today not good. I don’t even recognize Ninja Gaiden 3 to be frank. this game was developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo Koei America Corp for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The full game released March 20, 2012.

Title screen menus consisted of New Game, Load Game, Shadows of the World, Ninja Cinema, Ninja Records, Options and Playstation Store (played the PS3 demo). Everything was locked except Options in which I used to write down the default button layout. Dual Shock 3: Triangle+ Circle-ninpo, Triangle-strong attack, O-shuriken, X-jump, Square-quick attack, L1-block, L2-aim, R3-center camera, R2-shoot, LS-move and RS-camera. Controls were ok overall but seemed simplified compared to past Ninja Gaiden games. The overall game’s difficulty was also ramped down making this Ninja Gaiden not so Ninja Gaiden.

The opening cutscene shows Ryu in London on top of a building but quickly transitions to Hayabusa Village in Japan where he is contacted by special agents. They tell Ryu that a terrorist organization is hunting him and that he must go to London where the opening gameplay starts. The story seems cheesy and non-existent. The voice acting is below average as you would expect in a Ninja Gaiden game. As soon a the opening gameplay commenced I noticed mediocre visuals and no blood while fighting. I swear this isn’t Ninja Gaiden. The action is fast which was good but the feel of this game doesn’t scream Ninja Gaiden. Ninja Gaiden has always been a tough, visually good-looking game with lots of blood. Ninja Gaiden 3′s demo had none of the latter.

I choose Normal difficulty since past Ninja Gaiden Normal difficulties caused me to die a lot. Not so much with Ninja Gaiden 3 when it was all said and done. I died once during the demo and that ws because I didn’t know where to run during a sequence. Health regenerates after every battle in Ninja Gaiden 3 big or small. There are many QTEs in the demo. They ranged from crawling up walls to doing finishing moves. There is a new glide attack with a QTE finisher which got old fast in the demo. Enemies ranged from rocket totting terorist to a boss fight with a mech. Some bad-guys also had shields and wielded claws. Ryu came equipt with a sword, scythe and claws.

During the demo you can activate Ninpo which consists of a big flaming dragon that paralyzes and destroys enemies. Filling the Ninpo gauge back up was too easy. I was able to use the Ninpo three times in the demo which lasts 10 to 15 minutes tops. Much of the demo has Ryu fighting in London at night on rain soaked streets. Your being chased by a Mech with 6 legs. You finally take out the mech at the end of the demo. The bossfight was lack luster like practically all of the gameplay before it. If you take Ninja Gaiden’s name off this game and named it something else I would be cool with that.

Ninja Gaiden 3 isn’t a bad game judging from the demo, its a good game. I can say the game makes a good action game but makes a horrible Ninja Gaiden. I have no idea what Team Ninja was thinking. Did the fans call for a change? If they did they should have ignored them. I read somewhere its a different team that made this incarnation of Ninja Gaiden. If that is the case, it makes sense. Thanks for reading.

Skullgirls – Demo Review

Skullgirls is an eccentric eclectic art-deco jazz induced over the top 2D fighter featuring an all female cast. Published by Autumn Games/Konami and developed by Revenge Labs for the Playstation 3 and Xbxo 360 via downloadable arcade title. Skullgirls released April 11, 2012. The demo for Skullgirls opens up with a cutscene about a special rare artifact having to do with an all female fighting tournament. Next your shuffled to the main menu.

The main title screen of Skullgirls had some pretty good jazz music flowing in the background by Micheru Yamane. The menu tabs included Unlock Full Game, Achievements, Leaderboards, Extras, Versus, Training, Help & Options and Exit Game. The default controls were as follows (via the Xbox 360): X-LP, Y-MP, RB-HP, A-LK, B-MK, RT-HK, LB-LK+MP, RB-HP, A-LK, B-MK, RT-HK, LB-LK+MP, LT- MK+HP (shorcut). The letters LP for example means light punch. As far as the controls go they are tight and responsive enough. I still believe Street Fighter 4 has the best controls this gen but Skullgirl’s are solid. The controls are put to the test in a deep engaging tutorial system that can be played in the Skullgirl’s demo.

The Training tab houses Skullgirl’s tutorial system. In it you can train to your level of satisfaction through a bevy of training exercises. Tutorial menus include Beginner Tutorials, Immediate Techniques, Basic Chains and Advanced Techniques. Some of the exercises I completed like defending against mix-ups and advanced mix-ups really helped me understand defense and chain attacks in Skullgirls and also how to defend against them effectively. The tutorial has a training tree that unlocks accordingly by showing checkmarks. The tutorial can take a pretty long time if you decide to complete every challenge.

I next entered a Training Room where you can fight against live AI enemies. In the demo you can only play a tag-team like match with only two playable characters to pick from being Ms. Fortune and Cerebella. The full game of Skullgirls has Valentine, Parasoul, Peacock, Pain Wheel and Felia as playable characters. Each character has their own sexy unique look  associated with them in Skullgirls. Each one has sweet moves and actions that will catch your eye. Getting back to the match, you can assign power ups called Assists to your characters for Training Room matches. Some Assists noted were: Ringlet Spike, Custom Action and Updo. My characters where Cerebella and  Ms.Fortune and same for enemies.

Stages in the demo included (some playable and some not): Medic, Tower, Maple Crest, Chass Notes, Lab 8, Lab 8 Empty, Little innsmith, Grand Cathedral (empty), Streets Of New Meridian. The in-game HUD shows Life Damage, Multiplers and Hit/Damage gauges. Going back to Tag Team gameplay its fast, brutal and fun to look at while you’re playing. One thing I noticed while playing Skullgirls was the fact that I couldn’t grab my enemies. I admit I didn’t complete all the tutorials so maybe I missed something. Either way I could not (or didn’t know how) to grab my enemies during my Training Room gameplay time.

This is a Skullgirls demo review albeit ”demo” I can still juge this game’s presentation amongst other things. The presentation is solid. It seems that Skullgirls could be a full retail game if it had more content. The visuals are striking in-game and gives Skullgirls a real vibe that exudes coolness. Visually the textures and colors pop out of the screen and when you see the game in motion it just comes to life. The sound design seems to be done really well. Micheru Yamane did a great job with the music side of things. This game is fun and wildly engaging. its really good. I can imagine how much fun the game would be if I could play online and master a few fighters.

Skullgirls demo lacks content sure but makes up for it with a solid presentation that gives me a reason to buy the full game. If your into 2D fighters such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter X Tekken check out Skullgirl’s demo on Xbox Live if you have a Xbox 360. Thanks for reading.

Battlefield 3 – Rent a Server: Console Video

Here is a good video via Gamerspawn showing the features when renting a server for Battlefield 3 on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. I actually went through and checked out the servers after the update a few days ago. You can check out pricing and info from the main title screen of Battlefield 3. Battlefield 3 now offers whats been available for the PC BF players for years. Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 gamers can know rent multiplayer servers and create their own Battlefield 3 experience. What this means is you can purchase a set package of days or months off XBL and PSN and have your own custom server to mess around on. This is perfect for guys who like making stunt or lulz type vids.

Its also for serious players who want to game with a certain clan, crowd or group. You can make special friend’s VIPs so they don’t have to wait in line for your server providing you added them. All in all this is, or was a PC type deal that console gamers can now enjoy. The video shows the player turning off the HUD and retweaking spawn times. If your a Battlefield 3 player who likes creating new and unique gameplay elements you should probably rent your own server and have fun. I have played on a few custom servers (PS3) and everyone one of them have been pretty good and diverse in gameplay. Thanks for reading.

Blades of Time – Demo Review

Blades of Time is a third person hack ‘n slash action game that features time manipulation as its main draw. Developed by Gaijin Entertainment and published by Konami for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is out now if your wondering. The Blades of Time Demo did a good job at giving me a brief synopsis of what this game is similar to. I personally think it has some God of War combat with some wild over the top action of Bayonetta. The time manipulation gameplay sorta reminds me of Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time. Its clear that Blades of Time borrows from some of the best franchises. But does it come together to create a good package regarding Blades of Time? Keep reading to find out.

For this Gamer Blog article I played through the Blades of Time demo on my Playstation 3. The default button layout is as follows: LS-move, RS-camera, D-pad-heal, last order, show compass, L1-time rewind, L2-time lock, Select-open book, Square-sword attack, X-jump, O-prepare magic/dash/shoot, Start-menu. Swinging the protagonist’s swords around during combat was no problem. Neither was the  aiming and zooming of the rifle. Dashing and locking on to Corals to traverse the map was easy. The time manipulation takes some getting used to. Rewinding and stopping time is very important when solving puzzles and defeating tough enemies. The camera did get stuck and out of focus a few times while using time manipulation during combat in Blades of Time.

Have any of you ever played Heavenly Sword before? Remember Nariko? Well the protagonist in Blades of Time reminds me of her except with blonde hair. She is a gifted warrior blessed with mystical Dragon powers that she must learn to unlock the “Spirit of the Dragon”. She is fully equipt in the demo. You can use her two katanas, her rifle, time manipulation and powerful magic when you reach the altar mid-way into the demo. What I like about Blades of Time’s upgrades regarding magic is choice. You can choose between quite a few magics to use such as Freeze Mastery, Rage Saving, Fire Weapon, Critical Strike, Slide Ignition and many others. All of the magics are pretty wild when you activate them. After you choose the magic you want your transported to a tutorial section with big enemies to fight. The latter sorta reminds me of Bayonetta since its a tutorial.

Blades of Time combat is frantic and brutal. After slashing a few Locuts grunts you can perform a QTE finisher ala God of War style. Enemies are diverse and makes you use all of the protagonist’s weapons and magics. Some enemies use ranged attacks that you should use your rifle to take out from a distance. Some enemies actually hover in air over collapse bridges that you can dash to one by one and attack while in mid-air. You can also use them to get across broken bridges as well. Some enemies are big with armor and heavy shields. For these guys you have to use time manipulation to confuse and get their attention then strike. You create a few protagonist, one to fight in front of it then one in back for attacking final blow.  You do have to think and plan to beat some of the enemies in Blades of Time. You cannot run around and  swing a sword and expect to beat every enemy, it won’t work.

Early in the demo you have to stand on a contraption to lower a huge gate. This is the first section where you have to use the protagonist’s time manipulation ability. You stand on the marker and press time reverse. You then hit time lock and walk off the marker and through the open gate your other self activated. You only have so much time to use time manipulation. Presentation in Blades of Time  is laid out in a lush fantasy world featuring bright colors and imaginative art design. Lush greenery and destroyed castles along with huge brightly colored organic corals and plants showcases the visuals in the demo. The protagonist art and texture work was done well. The animations are decent but could be a little better. The enemies look brutal and range from mutants, demonic skeletons and human bad guys. There were also animals that were attacking the protagonist.

Blades of Time is one of those type of games where the review scores might not be indicative of how good it really is. I thought the demo was a good mash-up of a few action game franchises I loved. Blades of Time isn’t perfect but the combat and time manipulation gameplay really brings a breath of fresh air to the hack ‘n slash genre. I f you have PSN or Xbox Live and enjoy hack ‘n slash games you should give the Blades of Time demo a shot. Thanks for reading.

Homefront – Review

Published By: THQ, Developed By: Kaos Studios, Genre: First-Person Shooter, Release Date: March 15, 2011, Rating: M, Systems: PC, Playtstation 3, Xbox 360.

Presentation: Homefront paints a dark a dreary painting of  a crippled America under the occupation of the Greater Korean Republic. Homefront as a game and presentation is a classic rough around the edges first-person shooter. By no means is it a bad shooter as I will point out many of the game’s strengths during the review. Its just that it has that “lets copy and paste some great aspects from Call of Duty and Battlefield on our game” presentation which works for and against Homefront. Homefront’s best attribute should of been its single player story campaign. It should have been longer than 5 hours and had a richer narrative and characters. I mean this is Red Dawn basically. If you grew up during the “80′s” you know about Red Dawn. Homefront’s story was written by the same author John Millius so in hindsight I was expecting a much more captivating single player campaign then what I received.

I played Homefront through STEAM on my PC (obviously). For the most part minus the last sequence on the Golden Gate Bridge the game ran smooth for the most part. Explosions did slow down my frame rate. My PC is based around DX9, 4870 graphics card, quad core and 6 gigs of RAM. Specs: 1280 x 960 resolutions, overall quality was custom. Anti Aliasing 2x. Everything was set to High such as texture detail and shadow quality. The game did stutter during the campaign and slowed down some during big action sequences. During multiplayer when trying to connect to matches the game froze quite a bit. For the most part Homefront’s presentation is good thanks to the unique and unorthodox setting it takes place in.

Story: Although the story might appear to be out there it does paint a decent picture for Homefront. In the not so distant future due to America’s crippling economy and the emergence of The Greater Korean Republic. America’s defenses were wiped out by a satalite that the Greater Korean Republic used. Immediately America was overtaken and now under KPA occupation. The game picks up in Montros Colorado. The year is 2027 and you’re Jacobs an ex-pilot who the resistance breaks out of KPA clutches in the nick of time. The Resistance is comprised of a few members who serve as AI partners throughout Homefront’s campaign. You first hook up with Rianna and Connor Morgan. You soon meet Boone (the CO) and Hopper who is a Korean American and just might be the most interesting character in the game (he’s from Oakland).

Boone would be killed by KPA forces early into the campaign which leads the rest of the team on a mission to hijack a couple of fuel tankers through Utah, Nevada and finally San Francisco where the final battle plays out. The Resistance’s goal is to meet up with U.S. Military Forces and give they’re vehicles the fuel. The story of Homefront had potential written all over it and the beginning to mid-game was captivating. The setting of America really appeared as much. You fight in White Castles and a Tiger Direct.com Discount Computer store. You see a Hooters in one chapter. There are many Full throttle Energy Drink dispensers knocked over that you can take cover behind. The mass graves scene in a baseball field really let you know the brutality of the enemy and the importance of the Resistance. Like I aluded to before, I saw a lot of potential within Homefront’s world but didn’t see it consistently throughout the campaign.

Visuals: Not that good by PC standards. However Homefront does look ok even with its washed out look. One aspect I found weird regarding Homefront’s graphics were the silver glowy glazed faces of NPCs most notably Connor and Hopper. They looked like ghosts. The gun models and settings are probably the most impressive consistant visuals this game offers. One section has Jacobs piloting a  small attack chopper to provide air support for a caravan. The explosions in that section were nice. The Golden Gate Bridge section featured Jets flying over and  tank battles. Near the end a enemy Goliath boss fight takes place on the bridge. Static and washed out with decent art imagination can describe Homefront’s look.

Sound: The orchestra score was good. It gave you that total fight for freedom vibe which is what this game is all about. The writing and voice acting should have been better especially considering the game’s setting and circumstances. Connor would say the same line in-game over and over. It got annoying. The guns had a unique sound design. Some guns had a semi-sci-fi sound emanating from them.

Gameplay: Homefront has that move up to stop spawning enemies linear gameplay much like in Call of Duty’s single player. To my surprise was how good the actual shooting and gameplay is. Homefront doesn’t try to do anything unique. If anything it seems to copy other elite first-person shooters which is fine. The Goliath is a rolling mobile vehicle of destruction. During certain sections in Homefront’s campaign you can use a targeter to take out tanks, attack choppers and enemies which Goliath will do accordingly. This might sound weird but Goliath almost appeared as a character to me. They had to sacrifice it midway through the game to knock down a wall that led to Utah.

Replayability: The single player campaign barely lasts 5 hours which is ridiculous. Luckily for me, or should I say Homefront  this game has a full-blown multiplayer to explore. Homefront features typical menus for multiplayer like Quick Match, Armory, Challenges and Practice Map. There are more but those are the important menus in my opinion. Classes are all fully realized with gadgets, perks and unique weapons. They include: Assault, SMG, Heavy, Sniper, Tactical and Explosive. Depending on which lobby you will have to unlock Tactical and Explosive. Battle Points or (BP) are Homefront’s in-game credit system that lets you unlock items and vehicles in matches. You can unlock stuff like spawn in vehicles etc. You can use Battle Points to unlock your gadgets in-game. Its a very simple system to use and understand.

The matches on PC were 32 players total. Maps I played on which were all ripped from the single-player campaighn: Farm, Cul De Sac, Angel Island, Crossroads, Green Zone and Bridge. Matchtypes included: Team Deathmatches, Battle Commander, Ground Control and Battle Commander (TDM). Battle Commander is similar to Conquest on Battlefield. The multiplayer is fun and will keep you entertained for a while. The gadgets, vehicles and unlocks do sorta remind me of Battlefield games. The quick twitch gunplay reminds me of Call of Duty which is a good thing. The problem is that everything doesn’t mesh well like Battlefield or Call of Duty. But hey, that is the price  you pay when your trying to be something your not.

Final Verdict: Homefront is your classic mixed-bag good at some things bad at others shooter. it does borrow some great ideas from other successful games within the genre. I just can’t get over the single player campaign. It was chalked full of potential unrealized.

7/10