Goombd Played! - The Walking Dead Episode 3: Long Road Ahead

There's much to think about now that I am just done playing through The Walking Dead's third episode, Long Road Ahead. Things that I was worried about after finishing episode two are still present, like the doubts of whether or not my choices really matter in the plot as a whole. 

Episode three throws in some tough situations for you to handle and others that are mostly out of your direct control. Regardless of how I feel the story progression is going, there's no denying that this series is one of Telltale Games best so far, and that's saying a lot.

We pick things back up with our cast of survivors a few weeks or possibly months after the events of the previous chapter. Winter is coming and with supplies dwindling, Lee and co. are forced into scavenging the surrounding town of Macon, in the hopes of having enough to last through the tough times ahead. 

From the title of this episode, though, there's not much to spoil in regards to where things move on to. And considering this is The Walking Dead, a game in a franchise known for violently changing up the outlook for characters and situations they are put in, you can expect to once again face some tough situations. 

Long Road Ahead obviously plays just like previous episodes but there's an added element of very very simple point and click gun play in small sections of the game. You basically point the cursor at the immediate area of what you want to shoot and the shot is made for you. The only real challenge is finding out the correct order you have to do so, and how quickly you do it. As a very skilled player, I managed to fail these segments a couple of times. For the regular player, though, they should be easy enough to handle and don't really take much away from the point and click, adventure game nature The Walking Dead.

Three episodes are now behind us and the collection of choices we made are neatly saved and remembered by the game. The "tailored story", as claimed by the developers, must be getting pretty complex, which makes me curious and anxious to get to see all choice permutations and their consequences once the season is over. It goes without saying that I for one cannot wait to see this game through and I have the slight feeling I am not the only one. |9

Goombd Played! - Gungnir

The saying goes that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. In Gungnir's case, Atlus' newest grid based J-RPG, being beautiful only takes it so far. 

Unlike the usual Japanese role playing game, Gungnir doesn't sport a particularly convoluted plot. Two factions are at each other's throats, one being the lower class, suffering in the slums and in poverty, while the other, the rich folks. Guess which side the heroic Esperanza guerrilla group stands and you've got yourself into Gungnir's story in a nutshell.

Similarly to INS' hugely popular RPG series Disgaea, Gungnir's combat system is entirely grid-based, with the same options of equipping characters and somewhat customizing their abilities to your taste. If you've played any tactical game released in the last fifteen years, among them greats like Tactics Ogre and the newer Joan D'Arc, you will know what to expect. While not close to being boring in this regard, Gungnir does little to set itself apart. Battles play out as you'd expect and very rarely stray out of the realm of the 'rock-paper-scissors' formula of planning out attack turns. Even on boss fights.

As I briefly touched earlier on, this game's plot is a little uninspired and boring. Unlike previous attempts at tactical RPGs that were mentioned before, there are hardly any redeeming points in this tale of the plight of poverty, and what's even worse, the little there are in attempts at development fall flat. All thanks to the limited scope of dialogue choices that very rarely go past the clichéd and tired stoic "dying for what it's right" stance, all throughout the game. There's not even a drop of the much expected animé humor thrown in and granted, that's a huge cliché in this sort of game but hey... it would've helped in this case.

On the other hand, I can't help but applaud Gungnir's visual design. At a certain point during my playthrough, I decided to pay more attention to the colorful art than anything else. Gungnir is absolutely gorgeous. Its mix of beautifuly textured polygonal environments and detailed sprite work is easily this game's most distinguinshing feature.

There is a handful of tactical RPGs out there already that do what Gungnir tries to do with much better results, not only story-wise, but in gameplay. That's not to say Gungnir is completely awful and if you manage to turn yourself off from the pinky toe level shallowness of its plot and focus on just winning battles, it works. But that's what holds it back, potential players having better options already available on the same portable system. Gungnir does little to nothing to set itself apart from the bunch and that's what kills it. |6

Goombd Played! - The Walking Dead Episode 2: Starved for Help

It's all going south as soon as 'The Walking Dead' episode 2, titled "Starved for Help" opens. We find Lee and the group three months after the events of the first episode, after having found the motel and made an improvised settlement out of it. Much expected tension is brewing from within the group in regards to leadership and everyone can agree that that should be the least of their worries: they're hungry and supplies are running dangerously low.

Human drama is one of the best developed aspects of 'The Walking Dead', in both comic and TV show form, so it's no surprise that this episode of the game series revolves around it. Granted, some of the story bits turn out to be fairly predictable and clichéd, with how quickly some revelations are made and how some characters' behaviors change so suddenly.

Behavior change is one of the reasons that got me worried about the game while playing this episode. At E3, Telltale went on to mention how deeply your decisions would affect the story and events in future episodes, and Starved for Help already starts rolling out consequences about things you've said and reacted to in the premiere episode. Those particular spots seemed really out of place in my relationship to one particular character, considering how I've been treating that person since the beginning. Their change in behavior was radical and completely opposite to what I had been building by my actions and dialogue choices. This change revolved around the only time I went partially against that person's point of view in the previous episode.

I'm curious to see how far this change will go, although considering how other inconsistencies go, it might have been scripted from the beginning. Other events during this episode make it seem like your choices only affect small elements of the plot. Case in point, the E3 demo I watched which took place right at the start of the episode - someone is rescued and something happens to them a little while later. In my playthrough, I rescued someone else and later on, the same thing happened to them, in the same manner. Will that really be the measure of how deep my decisions influence the story? Or is the big shift coming in later on in the narrative?

Hopefully my worries will be destroyed as the series approaches its conclusion. Everything else about this game is absolutely brilliant and within the style of 'The Walking Dead'. We get to see some of the best action scenes and dramatic dialog seen in a Telltale adventure game in this episode. The new characters are well acted and irregardless of the shift in tone due to time constraints of a season episode, their development is realistic, despite the circumstances are little predictable. Although that might just be my inner thriller/horror movie fan talking here.

Conflicts and character development is what makes 'The Walking Dead' most unique. You won't be left starving for zombie carnage with episode 2 and by the time you're done with it, you'll have your fill of human drama. |8

Goombd Played! - Marvel Pinball Avengers Chronicles

A few years ago, I quit comics. Hero strips turned boring and I chose to follow them through the movies, which in Marvel's case, culminated with The Avengers. Surprisingly enough, that turned extremely well and Zen Studios didn't miss a beat. They've just released a new set of tables for Pinball FX 2 dubbed Avengers Chronicles, featuring Captain America's merry group of colorfully clad crusaders and a few of the bigger Marvel "sagas" like World War Hulk, Fear Itself and the always classic Infinity Gauntlet.

I tend to throw out the fact that I'm terrible at pinball games quite a lot when I talk about Pinball FX2 and in order not to sound repetitive, I'll avoid falling into my own cliché. Avengers Chronicles features some of the most gameplay varied tables since Epic Quest. Each of these backdrops has its own tricks and secrets, as well as a few variations to the pinball formula that are only physically possible due to the fact that this is videogame pinball and not the 'real' thing.

The pack starts out with the titular 'The Avengers' table, which takes place on the S.H.I.E.L.D heli carrier and spins the storyline around six different pinballs, each representing an avenger's story. This presentation take strays from what was done in previous multi character tables, giving you more control in regards to paths you want to take and is a lot more immersive, since once you lose a ball, you can just go back to it instantly, without the need to hit a special bumper or anything. Pick a ball and go.

The Avengers' table is probably the most ramp heavy out of the bunch, which can cause some confusion as to where the ball is going once it reaches a spot where numerous ramps intersect. All in all, it's a great addition to the Marvel Pinball/Pinball FX2 library, despite these issues.

Taking a slice from the actual Avengers movie, bumping directly with the post-credits sequence, The Infinity Gauntlet table features one of the most well-known Marvel storylines and villain, Thanos. This is among my favorites among this new set, thanks to how the gauntlet is implemented during gameplay: depending on which gem is activated, a different and crazier effect is applied on the ball, on the table or on both.

One of these effects, for instance, flips the gravity, forcing you to relearn pinball in order to keep the ball in play (at least momentarily) while another gem changes flipper control, locking the ball in place. 'Gauntlet is probably the farthest from "actual" pinball you'll get out of  'Chronicles thanks to its many fantastical quirks and tricks.

 

I have only a faint idea of what World War Hulk is as a story. As a table, it's as chaotic as you'd expect something Hulk related to be. It offers a simple design in comparison to the other tables in this pack and previous DLC, which works as a plus for those weekend pinball players like myself who are looking for a lot of thrills and high scores out of their game, one that doesn't require a lot of pinpoint accuracy but isn't a pushover either.

Like previous Marvel tables, 'Hulk's features plenty of cameos that are actually meaningful to the table's story, like Dr. Strange, Wolverine and Iron Man, who lend their powers in the vain hope of stopping Dr. Banner's alter ego.

 

Possibly the least known of the storylines and an absolute surprise of the set, Fear Itself introduces probably the most impressive gameplay twist out of all the tables for any Zen Studios pinball game. Throwing your game on the line, and scooping you away from losing a ball is a different shape to the bottom of the table. Depending on the speed with which you launch the ball towards it, you can either lose it for good or keep it in play.

In fact, the entire design of this table functions this half circle shape and how easy to bend the laws of physics are in this set of tables, keeping you on edge in regards to how you control the ball. Like Infinity Gauntlet, Fear Itself twists the pinball formula around in a way that could only be portrayed in a videogame.

Zen Studios is outdoing themselves with each content pack they put out. The Avengers Chronicles might just be one of their strongest efforts yet, bending the pinball fundamentals and squeezing new life into flipping metal spheres, getting high scores and enjoying the "ding ding ding" we've grown to associate with and love about pinball. |9

Goombd Played! - The Walking Dead Episode 1: A New Day

 

The Walking Dead is a phenomenon and it's easy to see why. It incorporates the best parts of the classic zombie genre movies as well as introducing even more human drama than we're used to seeing in just about any medium. We got a very successful comic for years, a new TV show going to its third season and now an episodic game series coming in from Telltale Games. Does it capture the dread and hopelessness of the original source material?

That's a resounding yes. The first episode of the 'The Walking Dead' game, A New Day, starts off and ends with a bang, with many, many exciting and terrific moments thrown in between. If you were disappointed with the Jurassic Park series, Telltale's earlier release, you should look into The Walking Dead, since it takes the best parts of that game's mechanics and mixes them up with a bunch of little elements from other series, like Sam & Max's direct control and conversation wheels, as well as adding a timer to make decisions ever more important.

 

It all starts as Lee, the handsome guy who's in most of the promotional screenshots for the game, is being driven to a prison in the Atlanta, Georgia area by a very talkative police officer. During their conversation, the guy can't help but notice a strange commotion going on - police cars zipping by on the opposite highway lane, the patrol car radio going berserk and oh, the wandering zombie just hanging around in the middle of the road. After a violent crash, he's left to his wits to survive the zombie apocalypse, at least until he meets up with Clementine, a smart little girl who had managed to live by her own up 'til that point.

If you've seen any of the trailers, you know the story goes well beyond that, and if you haven't, you're not reading this searching for info if you can't just play the damn thing, so the spoilers will be minimal, in fact, non-existent for now on. Safe to say, chaos ensues, pressing decisions are made, which carry over throughout the entire game (and possibly the series) and it's all extremely well made.

Telltale teased repercussions for your moral decisions when I interviewed them at last year's E3. According to them, your actions would influence who lived and died, how others react to Lee and even if your companion, Clementine, liked you or not. That holds true and is taken even further right from the start. You can be honest and lay the entire truth to just about anyone you meet, or hold info back and gain their distrust. Decisions like that carry more water than you think, to the point of there being a comparison board at the end of the game, showing the percentages of other players who agreed with you. The Walking Dead is all about decisions having an effect on the overall experience, and thanks to that, you might just get an entirely different game than your friends', and part ways right from the first episode, depending on the choices you make.

Frankly, I was already expecting to get a great game when I heard that the series' original writer, Robert Kirkman would be involved, as well as The Book of Eli's Gary Whitta, so it came as no surprise how well the dread of the comics was translated in game form. You're never sure who is going to make it through and there's never a safe moment throughout your first playthrough of this episode. Fans of the (now huge) franchise can appreciate how well the source material is treated, not just in story form, but in the presentation as well.

 

The comics' look made the transition quite well to polygonal look featured in the game. While still sporting relatively simpler character models, the texture work was made to resemble a comic book, with thick black lines thrown in, as well as a very well directed color palette. Granted, the 'The Walking Dead' comics are black and white and at a point in its development, the game was thought of having that art style as well, I have to say, I'm glad they went with the colored look. None of the characters look absurdly cartoony, in the "Telltale style" seen in previous games. We're given some great performances from the voice actors too, that are tied to very expressive animation.

Don't worry, you'll get plenty of zombies too. The ghouls look pretty good too and die just as gruesomely as you'd hope. Telltale is not pulling any punches. Deaths are bloody and gory, and characters throw expletives left and right, like anybody would in the situations they're put in. Conversations carry out in fluid manner, and diffusing potentially violent situations is not as easy as just agreeing with one side of the argument. 

This feels like Telltale's most mature title yet and it's great to see how well the series is starting out. If you're anywhere near a console or computer, you absolutely have to give 'The Walking Dead' a go. Not only is it a great piece of lore for the series as a whole, it's an exciting and tense experience in the form of a game. I'm definitely excited to see where things will go from here, something I haven't felt about an adventure game in years. |9

Goombd Played! - Sine Mora

They say that time is money. In Sine Mora's case, Grasshopper Manufacturer's newest game, time is life and money... well, money is just a way of keeping score. This time bending bullet hell shooter is a gorgeous example of how an old school game concept can evolve to the current generation of games, not only visually but in terms of gameplay.

Time is of the essence, especially when it involves saving someone you care about. In case of our main hero, he wants to save his son from dying. Sine Mora starts at a botched air strike attempt and only gets crazier from there. It's tough to follow the story considering how it's delivered, through loading screens in a wall of text, read in Russian. In fact, unless you speak the language, you won't understand a lick of any of the voice acting delivered in the game.


Thankfully, you don't need to learn any new languages in order to play this game and story aside, we have to admit we're here to shoot a lot of big things and avoid getting killed by a million of onscreen bullets. In that regard, Sine Mora is awesome. If you've played a bullet hell shooter in the past, you know what to expect here. Knowing when to attack and when to dodge is the key to success.

Mastering time, though, is another facet of Sine Mora. For some miracle of technology (or is it magic? who knows?) you're able to control time for a short spurt of seconds. With this gizmo, you can slow down everything around you when things get hairy. This mechanic is particularly useful during boss encounters, when the screen is literally baked with dots trying to kill you. Keep in mind, this power runs out and very few pick ups refill it, but it's a nice trick regardless.


Even though you have the power to control time, you're still a very vulnerable little ship fighting giant fortresses, monsters and the such. As you take hits, the on screen clock loses time and when that runs out, you're dead. In order to keep it up top, you need to destroy enemies, plain and simple. Levels are somewhat lenient with the clock, too. At every checkpoint, Sine Mora throws in a few extra seconds.

And delivering to expectations, you'll need all the seconds you can get. Sine Mora is relentless. Even if you decide to tackle the game's "easier mode", skill is still needed if you wish to reach the end. The best part about the game, though, you working towards perfecting your runs through the levels in order to get promoted. Promotions work like an in-game achievement system where certain tasks like finding a certain boss' weakpoint and killing X number of ships are rewarded with new ranks. The bigger the rank, the harder the requirements, naturally.

While the more demanding might condemn Sine Mora for being too short of an experience, there's a lot of depth to dig through if you so desire. Granted, you can finish the game in about one hour and a half, there aforementioned reasons should be more than enough to multiply that by ten or more. If you're looking for new levels and a lasting story experience, you'll be sorely disappointed, so keep that in mind if you decide to give Sine Mora a try.

Frankly, there's very little else to write about this game that could help you make up your mind. Sine Mora is the sort of shooter that demands your dedication and rewards you for the time you spend with it, not only with a very stylish presentation that makes it one of the prettiest Xbox Live Arcade downloads out there but with a steady degree of difficulty that keeps you on your toe level to level. If challenge is your goal when playing games, then this is one of the best ones to pick up. |9

Goombd Played! - PixelJunk SideScroller

Happy 2012, everyone! To start things out with a bang, after all we're all living in the future, where soon we'll be driving flying cars, why not go back in time, at least figuratively, and play an old school arcade shooter?

PixelJunk SideScroller was probably one of my best surprises at E3. I unassumingly walked into the Sony booth and found the game right there and boy did it hit all the right notes for me right then. Even as a limited demo, I fell to the charm and care given to SideScroller right away. Now, with the full game in hand, that feeling is just even more evident.

SideScroller plays pretty much like an old sidescrolling shooter, hence its name, bathed in a new coat of paint. Well, paint probably isn't the correct word. More like new lines. The horizontally scrolling sections have their own unique look to them, despite the simplicity of the the vector look of the presentation.

You get to use three different weapons right from the get go. As you destroy enemies, you're given power-ups that boost the currently equipped weapon, whether it is the precise and focused but limited in scope laser, the scattered and extremely destructive cannon or the standard albeit very useful machine gun. From their descriptions, you can guess which of those is my favorite.

Too bad that regardless of which weapon I grew fond of, PixelJunk SideScroller still kicked my merry ass to oblivion. It's a very tough game right from the beginning and doesn't let up even at lower difficulty settings. Shooter purists will be glad to know that there are many incentives for diving into the harder modes and newcomers will have to get better at the game if they hope to see the true ending. Takling casual mode will only take you so far! As you'd might expect, if you'e been reading this blog for a while, I fell back to casual mode a lot during my playthrough!

Even though you'll probably get yours handed to you as well, you'll be receiving it in style. SideScroller is one great looking game and the music department is just as impressive. Awesome beats indeed. Similarly to previous PixelJunk games, this is one sleek package.

Regardless of my skill, or rather, my lack there of in this game, it wouldn't be fair to call it unfairly difficult. Challenges are introduced at a quick pace and can be surpassed if you persevere. SideScroller is the sort of game that rewards yours dedication with even more challenges.

In the PixelJunk pantheon of games, SideScroller ranks high among my favorites. I'm a big fan of both Shooter entries although SideScroller's simpler form of gameplay scratches my itch rather nicely. |8

Goombd Played! - Pinball FX2 Vengeance and Virtue DLC

I haven't been making much of a secret how much I enjoy Pinball FX2. Even though I completely suck at pinball, this is one of my favorite games of 2011. So it comes as no surprise that its latest piece of DLC, dubbed Vengeance and Virtue, is such a ringer.

Following in the footsteps of previous Marvel Pinball releases, Vengeance and Virtue features Marvel Comics themed tables for you to play in Pinball FX2, each with its own unique hero motif and gameplay style. This time, we get to bump some pins with Ghost Rider, the X-Men, Thor and... Moon Knight. The first three choices are easily solid picks in the Marvel Comics pantheon of heroes, but Moon Knight? You're probably scratching your head over this just as I did, right?


Well, once you start playing, you'll start loving this table, just as I did. Moon Knight is a fairly obscure character for any casual comic reader but his table is anything but. In fact, it's probably the best one out of the bunch. Not only did it get an unique intro 'cutscene' but it also sports some of the fastest designs out of all Pinball FX2 tables. It makes for some crazy high scores and it's an easy table to pick up in terms of doing missions, too. A very varied mission selection also makes this table a blast. Midnight Man, you're absolutely insane!

The other tables in Vengeance and Virtue are pretty good too. Thor follows the more contained and more straight forward style seen in the core Pinball FX2 tables, with steep ramps that require a lot of speed and less careful aiming. In terms of presentation, it's extremely flashy but in terms of actual pinball, it's probably the least exciting out of the new tables.

Professor Xavier's crew, the X-Men, are given their own table and it's much like the previously released Fantastic Four level. Villains show up in just about every corner to hinder your progress. For instance, Magneto uses his trademark powers to slow your ball down and Blob shields certain ramps with his... uh... glut. Out of the new tables, this is probably the most visually busy and distracting one, but it still packs a punch.

Ghost Rider's trip to a hellish carnival is easily Vengeance and Virtue's most unique table. Heck, it features a freaking shotgun that is often used during gameplay and that's a big plus in my pinball book. In terms of crazy ramps, this table has plenty to offer right out of the launcher, with a very different way of scoring a skill shot that mimics old carnival ball toss games with the ball you're putting into play. The motorcycle dare devil nature of the Ghost Rider character is also explored in the lane and ramp design, that provide fast turns and some crazy jumps.

If you've been enjoying what Zen Studios has been dealing out in terms of Pinball FX2 DLC, you'll find a lot to like in Vengeance and Virtue. They explored the darker corners of Marvel Comics and came out with some of my favorite tables. If you're new to Pinball FX2, this is one of the best DLCs so far and a great chance to start playing.

Now I want to read up on Moon Knight! Who would've thunk he'd make such a great theme for pinball? |7

Goombd Played! - Akimi Village

It's the PlayStation 3's time to start building! Akimi Village was released a while ago and if you're not familiar with the name, think of Keflings. Still not ringing a bell? NinjaBee's Xbox Live Arcade franchise started out with one of the first games to use the dreaded Xbox avatars, A Kingdom for Keflings. Last year, we got to mess around with its sequel, A World of Keflings, which carried over all of the best from the resource gathering and building world had to offer.

Akimi Village is pretty much the same type of game. After choosing your character, whether it's a boy or a girl, you're given the task of aiding a race of 'very' little people with the rebuild and cleaning of their world. There's a group of core materials you have to start out harvesting and from there, a handful of blueprints to build from. Each building carries an unique function. Some help you generate more villagers to help with the gathering of these materials, while others, for instance, help turn stored items into other types of building blocks that you'll use for different constructions.


Just like the 'Keflings games, your goal in Akimi is to build every single blueprint. There's no particular challenge to this, in the 'challenge' sense of what games have come to accustom us to watch out for. You're never put in any danger nor will you have to fight any enemies. Building and harvesting are the only goals, and even though they might seem simple and crude at first, they're not.

This is a ridiculously busy game. You won't feel like you're aimlessly playing it at any point thanks to a very well paced style of gameplay. There's always a new goal to strive for and just like 'Keflings, you're always treated to some very funny writing and an extremely colorful visual presentation.


Sadly, though, some of the gameplay improvements introduced in A World of Keflings did not carry over to Akimi. You're not given the option to move buildings that you construct nor are you able to guide workers into helping you complete blueprints on their own. The interface is also a little hard to figure out, due to small and sometimes similar looking icons that are confusing to pick out from.

Regardless of some of these issues, if you're in the hunt for an easy going game that doesn't treat you like a 6 month old toddler but isn't as complex as a military strategy simulator, Akimi Village might just suit you. It's a fun download that should take you about nine hours to get through and after you're done saving a world, you can take your gathered resources and help other players online save their own, if you so wish. |7

Goombd! Played - Fallout: New Vegas Lonesome Road DLC

Unlike the title might suggest, in Fallout New Vegas' newest piece of downloadable content, you're hardly ever alone. Lonesome Road picks up right after Old World Blues, where you discovered that you are not the only Courier in the Mojave desert. Courier Six, the first person approached with the task of delivering the Platinum Chip and who refused to do so, is hot on your trail for mysterious reasons.

It all begins after you get transmission from Six and are sent to the depths of the Divide through a conveniently placed entranced in the middle of the wasteland. Much like previous DLC, you're not allowed to take any of your party members along. The trip is hardly solitary though, since as soon as you get to the first area of the Divide, you meet an eyebot named ED-E, that much to your surprise, acts a lot like another ED-E you might have met during your journey through the Mojave.


Much of Lonesome Road revolves around discovering the reason why you've been brought there. You come in contact with Courier Six rather early on and he hardly gives any clue about why you're there, let alone how to find him. You do, however, run into a crap ton of active nuclear warheads, Deathclaws and irradiated mutants who must all perish in the name of Six.

This DLC goes so far as to give you a special gun that activates those warheads in order to clear the path through all the rubble in the Divide, along with a few new pieces of gear to don and fashion on your way back to the Wasteland. Red Glare is a new type of rocket launcher that has the added bonus of being upgradeable. ED-E can also receive updates if you're thorough in your exploration and can manage to find his fallen eyebot friends scattered around. The best part about upgrading the little flying hunk of metal is that it all transfers to your original ED-E party member once you travel back to the main game.


The best part of Lonesome Road that I found to be extremely rewarding, besides the smartly written story and dialogue, that are not as heavy in delivery as Old World Blues, is how your actions in Divide play a pivotal role in the main New Vegas campaign. None of the previous downloadable packs provoked consequences in the Mojave, aside from giving you exclusive pieces of gear, but depending on your choices in particular parts of your visit to the Divide, your main Mojave quest might be deeply influenced.

I'm talking extermination here - things that can create ripples in your New Vegas experience. This is an awesome part of Lonesome Road that makes it worth playing through and to put an end to a four part story that began way back in Dead Money, where I for one hardly thought they would reconnect story-wise in any way. I will go so far to suggest that you give this a go right in the middle of your main New Vegas experience in order to see how the hell these consequences play out in the story. You also run into recordings made by Six as he explored the areas covered in the previous DLCs that tie into and help carve out a personality for this enigma of a character.


If you enjoyed New Vegas, there's no reason not to give any of the four DLC packs a try. As a combined experience, New Vegas' pieces of downloadable content managed to deliver a much more solid overall story than say Fallout 3's, and that's saying a lot, considering how much I liked those back then. |8

Goombd! Played - Spelunker HD

It was weird playing Spelunker as a kid. The little guy I controlled felt like a super weak version of Super Mario. Geez, he could hardly take a fall! Thanks to that, my 6 year old patience level just gave up on the guy and I moved on to bigger and better games. 20-some odd years later, Tozai Games brought back Spelunker in somewhat glorious HD and I decided to give the explorer another chance.

I find it extremely easy to fault Spelunker HD with not trying to break out of the original game's mold, but that would be too easy and boring to do in a write-up. Instead, I gave the game a chance to challenge me and heck, it sure did. Not exactly in the traditional challenging way most games do nowadays but with how weak the main character is. There's a steep level of challenge with just keeping the poor guy alive. The smallest misstep kills him instantly as well as microscopic pebbles falling from the ceiling or... ok, let's just cut it out. He dies thanks to just about anything.

Even so, Spelunker HD still manages to bring a certain level of nostalgic charm. That's not thanks to the high definition makeover given to the original's blocky 8-bit graphics. The new looks work well in stills but they just feel weird in motion. The character animation throws me off during jumps and just frustrates me to no end.

But let's just talk about how the game actually plays. Spelunker is all about how far you can make underground at a time. Air is limited and the little spelunker is constantly harassed by ghosts, bats and even fellow explorers who want to get to the treasures before you. Thankfully, I was able to discover a way to somewhat save my progress the further I made down the levels through the nifty save state feature but that only took me so far. Lives ran out and I kept dying. That's how difficult and demanding Spelunker is. It's a fun but very punishing game if you're not careful.

Bringing friends along might improve your odds. Sadly, I was unable to try that out for long since there's practically no one playing online and none of my friends actually own the game. If you do manage to drag a few friends along, you can have up to four simultaneous spelunkers running on screen at once and I'm sure that can be very fun and chaotic. I did find myself enjoying the sole time I was able to find a soul to play with randomly online.

Spelunker HD is a tough, challenging and extremely frustrating game that can be rewarding if you give it the patience and dedication it demands. It's extremely rewarding every time you make it to a new area further down along the earth. If you're the sort of guy who enjoys this feeling, Spelunker HD might just be your cup of tea. |7

Goombd! Played - Renegade Ops

If you are remotely interested in explosions, chaos and death, then Renegade Ops is the game for you. It gives off that G.I Joe vibe as soon you press start, with an extremely cheesy story that takes you to a few different locales around the globe. All the while, you'll be tasked with destroying just about everything around you. And you'll love it.

Renegade Ops plays a lot like your typical top down dual stick shooter and it does it brilliantly. It instantly reminded me of an old Konami arcade game called Jackal, where you control a little jeep and rescue prisoners of war. There's so much in common between both games that the first level 'Ops has you saving civilians that were captured by an enemy general.



Also, similarly to Jackal, the difficulty is way up there in this game. Even on the easiest setting, you're gonna need to be mindful of enemies and obstacles along the way. It's a good thing there are so many options to pick from in terms of weapon power-ups and character customization. There are a handful of team members to pick from, each with their own set of strengths. I mostly stuck with the artillery barrage chick, for obvious reasons. Hey, I like my girls well armed.

Anyway, if things get too hard, you can always bring a friend or three along for the ride. And if things weren't chaotic enough when playing by yourself, prepare to be bombarded in multiplayer.


Seriously, this game has some brilliant explosion effects. In fact, the entire game is beautiful to look at. Even though the story is carried out in the already cliché 'moving comic' style, it's very well drawn and thanks to a cheese ball cast of voice actors, even if you don't follow the logical minefield of a story, you'll get a chuckle or two out of their performances.

I absolutely loved this game through and through. It's just difficult enough to be rewarding but don't expect a walk in the park if you decide to tackle hardcore mode, where you'll need to be on your toes at every corner if you want any hope you making it to the end. Renegade Ops is easily one of the best downloadable shooters around, period. |10

Goombd! Played - BloodRayne Betrayal

If there was ever a time when I'd stumbled upon a game that very few others only pushed aside only for it to turn out amazingly well, this certainly would be it. BloodRayne Betrayal is an exciting reinvention of the franchise and a welcome addition to the 'Games That If You Squint Look A Lot Like Castlevania' (GTIUSLALLC, for "short"). Developer WayForward has done a great job reinventing the moribund character from the early 2000s with a quick, rewarding and absolutely gorgeous 2D action platformer.

Let's get this out of the way right up front: the thing that might turn some people off is how tough Betrayal can get at times. The platforming sections are extremely difficult at times, merciless in nature, that force you to retry until you get them perfectly. That's easily the game's weakest point, while the fighting is its strongest.


I've never been one to love combo systems in games but I easily got into this particular one. Rayne is pretty nimble and deadly, with a lot of attacks at her disposal that make use of both melee and ranged weapons. Enemies are very pattern based and thanks to the fluidity of the animation, it is very possible to see the anticipation and tells of their incoming attacks. Early on you're thrown into a fight that teaches you the very basic of fighting and that's about all you get in terms of a tutorial.

The move set you start the game with is the same you'll be enjoying the credits roll with. There is no upgrade system to speak of, outside of hidden collectibles that can either boost your maximum health or the amount of bullets you can carry. This means that although extremely flexible, the combat can get repetitive if you find a good combination to crutch on during the game. Granted, the further you progress, the tougher enemies get but there was never a point where my go-to attacks did not succeed.


That said, stages are meant to be replayed in order to attain a higher mission score and rating. These are tied to how well and quickly you dispatch enemies. A timer pops up at every encounter and the higher that is when you kill the last foe in the group is what gets tallied to the overall score, up to the incredibly difficult 'S' rank.

I'd easily recommend BloodRayne Betrayal to fans of slash 'em all games. There are some spots where the platforming difficulty bumps the frustration factor off the scale but those are few and far between. And thanks to the fun combat and beautiful presentation, they're blemishes that are easy to forgive. |8