Even though I am a big fan of the Alien Vs. Predator universe I was not really looking forward to playing this game. I was even debating putting it in my Gamefly queue at all. Then about two week ago Rebellion posted a video of all the sweet kill moves one could pull off in the game. That video alone changed my mind. The graphics looked awesome, and it looked like it had the game play to match.  So I ended up buying the game because I had nothing else to play. It turns out that one should never buy a game based on a 30 second clip off the Internet…who knew!?

Is Aliens Vs. Predator a bad game…no. It is however a game that was full of promise, a promise that is yanked out from under you quicker then your memory of the Winter Olympics. There are a few things this game does right, and those things save the game from being a downright stinker. So what does the game get right? Lets break it down by category.

Story

Honestly I really could not tell if there was a story in this game. I played through all 3 campaigns and I really can’t even remember any of the main story points.  The story only works to move the game along. There are no memorable characters or anyone to get invested into the whole game. So the story is not something that this game got right. It’s not the worst story ever in a game, but it lacks any real emotion, appeal, or depth of character.  I know I know I know, it’s an AVP game, why does it need a good story? In truth it doesn’t, but with one it could have taken the game to a much higher level.

Game Play

Since AVP is broken into three different campaigns there are three different styles of game play. So I will break down how each one plays.

Marine – The Marine campaign plays like a standard FPS, but without good controls, weapon variety, or fun. Maybe I am spoiled, but I expect more from a game these days then what I got from this part of the campaign.  My main issue is with the controls.  The game is very jerky, the aiming is spastic and hard to control, and it just feels like crap. However you do get used to the controls, and it won’t get you killed so much, unless you play on the higher difficulty setting. But even once I got used to the controls it still bugged me through the entire Marine campaign. Maybe some would say it adds to the feeling of vulnerability when aliens are ambushing you, but there are better ways of doing this then making the controls wonky. Between all three campaigns this was my least favorite. It had some really intense and fun moments, but they were so few and far between that it just didn’t make it worth it. All you are doing is going from A to B with no real sense of getting anything done. It’s a very vanilla experience and one that could have used a lot more work.

Predator – This was by far my favorite campaign of the three. It did not have as much action as the Marine campaign, but the game play was much tighter and fun. As a Predator you are given all the iconic weapons that make the Predator such a memorable character, and that is why this is the best campaign of all three. It’s the only one that makes you feel like a true bad-ass. You have your large claws, Frisbee of death, and the awesome shoulder cannon. These weapons work well to dispatch enemies at all different ranges, but in the end all I wanted to do was sneak up on someone and rip their head off.  This is one of the parts of the game they got right. The Predator campaign was way more fun and a bit more challenging then the others. I really wish they would have dropped the other two campaigns and focused on making the game all about the Predator. All praise aside the Predator campaign does have one big issue. That being that its so damn short…literally 2 -3 hours! It goes by so quick that it really pissed me off. I want more!

Alien – You know how I said the Predator campaign was short, well guess what? I completed the Alien campaign in under an hour and a half. The entire campaign just revolves around finding vents and popping out every now and then killing people. On paper that doesn’t sound bad, but in practice it does not really lead to compelling game play. You can pretty much just run around and whack everyone to death and usually not die. If you want to be stealthier you can knock out lights and attract the Marines to your location in order to sneak up behind them to do some graphic special kills. This part is really the only fun I had with the Alien campaign.  It kind of felt like playing Splinter Cell in a way, if Sam Fisher could bite a hole in people’s head. I had more fun playing as the alien then I did as a Marine, but once you get into it, the game ends. There is also an issue with moving around as the Alien. It is very easy to get turned around and lost. Add the fact that you move very fast and you are going to die a lot because you could not navigate properly. So to wrap up, it’s short, kind of sweet, but in the end a big disappointment.

Graphics

Graphics in AVP is a mixed bag. Overall the game looks decent. It’s not going to impress you by any means, but it has its moments. One of those moment is when it comes to all the over the top special kills you can accomplish. Sneak up or stun someone and you can perform some sick looking melee finishing moves. Pulling someone’s head off, along with their spine, is my favorite. It is here where the graphics look very nice, but the rest of the games visuals are just passable. Textures are a bit muddy, and really just the art design in general is pretty lame. I know the AVP universe is not the most colorful world, but they could have done so much better. It felt like they used a total of five textures the entire game. The only other bright spot would be the character models, which while not the best I have ever seen, are pretty darn good.

Sound

The best-done aspect of this game by far is the sound. All the sounds we came to know and love from the movie are here. The Predator’s weird tick tick tick sound, the awesome sound of a Colonial Marine pulse rifle, and of course the shriek of the Xenomorph. The game does do a wonderful job with the sound. The music is passable, but not memorable. The voice acting is a bit hit or miss, but overall I didn’t hear anything too cheesy or overacted. So in the sound department I give them a lot of credit. I just wish they put this kind of effort into that actual game!

Overall

I really wanted this game to live up to that video I saw, but the game is so short, and so plagued with annoying issues that once I finished it I had no desire whatsoever to go back and play it again. There is enough here for the fans of the movies to enjoy, and I did find myself having some fun with the game. But the one thing that is still stuck in my head is the fact that the all three campaigns occur on the same levels. That’s right, you get to play the same levels three times over, with different game mechanics. I know it revolves around the story, but to me that is a developer being really lazy, and I have little patience for lazy design. It pains me to think how awesome this game could have been with real developers behind it, someone like Naughty Dog or Bungie. Either one of those could have made a much better game. As it stands AVP is a solid rental that will give you enough head ripping glee to last a day or two.

In case you have noticed I did not review the Multiplayer for this game, and that is because I have not played enough of it yet to warrant a fair review. So in the next few days I will add on a MP review. So the current score is strictly based on the single player game.

AVP gets 3 out of 5 Aeronauts!

The thing that bothers me the most about video games today is that most of the time the parts you want to play are in the cut scenes. Sure they look good, but damn-it I want to play the game not watch it! I am tired of putting down my controller to watch a cool action scene that I have no control over whatsoever. So why am I complaining? Because Uncharted 2 gets as close to letting you play those over the top moments as any game ever has. It blends a good story with some amazing over the top action, which you actually get to play through!

Graphics

The best way I can describe the Graphics in Uncharted 2 is to say…damn! This is an awesome looking game. The level of polish put into this is extraordinary. It doesn’t raise the bar in terms of detail, but it just does every graphic nuance right. The lighting is spot on, textures are great, character models are clean, and the art direction is top notch. I did run into a few issues here and there. In the last 2 chapters of the game whole buildings would disappear while I was climbing in them. It only happened a few times so hopefully this is not a common bug. Other then that there is not much you can criticize this game for when it comes to visuals. It’s bright and colorful with a brilliant art direction. Probably the best overall mix of visuals and art design since Bioshock.

Story

When you have a game like Uncharted you must have a good story, and for the most part it delivers. The narrative is woven into the game very nicely with cinematics that are very entertaining, and don’t wear out there welcome. Too many games have over thought out movies that drag on forever while you cry out in agony…JUST LET ME PLAY THE FREAKING GAME ALREADY! Uncharted 2’s cinematics are fun and broken up so that they never feel long or winded.

While the story is nice and moves you along briskly, there are some issues I have with it. The first 3 chapters of the game are fairly boring when compared to the rest of the game. At first you might be a little disappointed because you thought this was fast paced game. Luckily there are over 20 chapters to the game, and about 90% of them are really well paced and loads of fun. The game is not very long, I finished in about 9 hours, but I guess its not that short either. It seems about the perfect length for this type of game.

If I had to nit pick I would say that there are a few moments in the game that have plot holes, but being a video game you have to suspend disbelief a little, even though it can be hard sometimes. I also thought the ending could have been better. The game does a great job of building up the story and suspense of what is going to happen, but once you get to the end I felt like it didn’t live up to the rest of the game. It was a better ending then a lot of games I have played, but I just thought such a good game deserved a great  ending, but in reality we get a predictable ending with a fairly boring boss fight.

Gameplay

To be honest I am not much of a fan when it comes to this type of game. I have hated every Tomb Raider game which I have played, and I only played a small portion of the first Uncharted. I liked the first game, but the controls were not up to snuff so I just could not continue on. Fortunately there is no such issue when it comes to Uncharted 2. Gunplay has improved quite a bit, which now makes the fight segments much more enjoyable. There are still some issues with the cover system and overall controls, but they are not deal breakers. Just be prepared to die a few times because the controls would not let you take cover.

The one thing that shocked me was how challenging this game could be at times, even when set on Normal difficulty. The A.I. in the game really tries to kick your ass. Staying in cover for too long is never a good idea since the enemy is really adept at putting grenades at your feet. They will also flank you quite effectively if you don’t keep moving and adapting. This fast paced gameplay really makes the game much better, as in the first game I found the firefights way to easy. This time around you actually feel as if you are in real danger all the time.

The second part of the gameplay dynamic in Uncharted is the platforming. Why we love to climb ledges and overhangs is something I will never understand. But we like it, and Uncharted does it with gusto. If you played Assassins Creed then Uncharted 2 will feel very familiar. The climbing and jumping feels very similar. Uncharted 2 is not quite as smooth as AC, but it has a little more weight to it, more of a feeling of peril. The only thing that bothered me about the platforming was that it felt rather easy. In previous games similar to this there were more challenging elements to the platforming. Don’t get me wrong, it was a lot of fun, but it just lacked any kind of challenge. Overall the gameplay in Uncharted 2 is great. The cover system could have used some more work, but its still better then many other games.

Multiplayer

The only part of Uncharted 2 that did not hook me was the Multiplayer. While the technical side of the MP is well done, I just never found myself having much fun playing it. The controls just did not lend themselves online play and there were no original game types that made me want to stay around and play more. I am sure that many people will like the online in this game, its definitely not bad by any means. I just personally found it to be boring. I would encourage another member of our writing team to do a full review of the Multiplayer component, as I just could not get into it enough.

Conclusion

Uncharted 2 is am amazing game no doubt. It takes a genre that I never enjoyed and nails it in almost every area. If you own a PS3 this game is a must have. Even though I found the Multiplayer to be a waste of time I still think the single player campaign is worth the price of admission alone.

Uncharted 2, Among Thieves gets 4.5 out of 5

Since Jack Thompson was disbarred, god I love saying that, he has been relatively quiet in the gaming world. But that has not stopped the round the clock hatred gamers have for the man. It seems there are quite a few Facebook groups dedicated to making Jack Thompson look like an ass. If you ask me he does a better job on his own then any of us could do.

Since he’s no longer a lawyer and probably needs the cash, he has decided to sue Facebook for not taking down all the negative material about him. Knowing Jack he probably just wants a reasonable sum for all the mental anguish…wrong! This dip wants 40 million! I know that most lawsuits start with an unreasonable sum in order to try and get a settlement, but Jack has no idea what he is up against. The U.S. Communications Decency Act clearly states that online services like Facebook have no responsibility for content created by its users. So I expect that this new lawsuit will be just as successful as all his prior ones…(giggle).

Learn More – (via Macworld)

There always seems to be a little madness surrounding a launch of a Halo game, but this time the madness seems to be more centered around the price of the game. It’s like many reviewers went into the game not to play it, but evaluate it on price. For me you can’t really put a price on an experience. For that reason all talk of this game being 60 bucks ends now, because no matter what Halo hating fanboys troll all over the web, the game is actually worth it.

Story

The Story behind this game is fairly simple, there is no big surprise ending or cliffhanger, but even though the game possesses none of these elements it still does a very good job of building the characters around you and keeping you interested. The characters are acted quite well and the story does get you deeply involved, pity the story will only last about 5-6 hours, but in that time they have managed to make levels that I think in many ways were more fun to play through then Halo 3.  Going from wondering around the city at night to intense firefights set a very specific mood never seen before in a Halo game. If I had had to fault the game for anything I would say the ending is a bit anti-climatic, but on a whole the story works quite well.

Graphics

Halo has always stayed true to its visual roots from the first game; in terms of art direction the game looks quite good. The only problem is that the Halo graphics engine is starting to show its age a bit. There are some jaggy issues here and there, and character models can also sometimes look a bit funky. The woman in this game looks down right ugly! But at the end of the day the game overall still looks very nice. No other game looks like Halo and that is a very good thing. I do hope Bungie is working on improvements for the Halo engine for the upcoming Reach game.

Sound

You can never fault a Bungie game for bad sound as they have never made a game with mediocre music, and ODST in no different. Gone are the chanting monks and in their place is a somewhat jazzy score when walking the lonely streets of New Mombasa. The music does a great job of setting the mood when you are playing as the rookie. The music while playing out the fighting sections is just as engaging, as it sounds a bit more like the music from Halo 3, which is a good thing. A certain review that I read for this game said the music sounded like a porn soundtrack. I think whoever thought that BS line up must be smoking something strong, because no one could ever be farther off base. The music and voice acting is all top notch.

Gameplay

Since you are no longer Master Chief it makes sense that the game must change how you approach a fight, and ODST does it brilliantly. I was skeptical about whether or not it would feel different then Halo 3, but it really does. Unless you play on easy you really have to think a lot more then previous Halo games. Halo 1 – 3 were all about busting into a room and kicking ass. In ODST you get to kick the same ass, but in a much more tactical manner. You really have to be careful and plan your way around certain types of enemies. This tactical feel adds a nice contrast to the Halo world that we have never seen before, and I am glad to see that Bungie took some risks with their franchise.  Even with the change in tactics the game still does feel like a Halo game, it does not deviate far enough to feel like a completely different game. Controls are still the same and the feel of weapons remains true as well. What is different is all about how you go about getting through the game, and it works surprisingly well.

Multiplayer

Since Halo 3’s multplayer has been around for two years now I obviously have no need to review that. It’s still the king of XBL, or will be until Novemeber 10^th. But we do get an addition to the Halo online experience that is worth its weight in gold. Firefight mode is awesome, to be brief and to the point. Yes it’s basically Horde mode from Gears of War 2, but Bungie didn’t just copy horde and add in Halo enemies. They incorporated a lot of cool ways to change up the experience. The inclusion of random skulls makes for rounds that can change wildly between them, and a shared lives system means you must trust your teammates quite a lot. I am kind of sad that they did not include a matchmaking function for firefight, but I did not find it too hard to get a game going. Just don’t be anti-social, ask around while playing and you will find plenty of people willing to play. Firefight is fun, intense, and a blast to play with your friends. It may be too early for me to make a decision, but I think I like it way more then Horde mode in Gears.

In conclusion Bungie took a very short amount of time and made a very solid and fun addition to the Halo campaign. Yes it is short, but firefight mode will last you a long time. It alone is a good enough reason to pick this game up. If you didn’t like Halo before ODST it’s not going to change your opinion. This game is for the Halo fans and does a good service to them.  If you love Halo then picking up ODST is a no brainer.  Don’t let all the Halo haters’ propaganda scare you away from giving ODST a try. Halo 3 ODST gets a 4 out of 5.

We still have plenty of room left for our Gears of War tournament. So please make sure and sign up right now.

The tournament will be held on June 20th & 21st of this year. To enter simply send an email with your name, location, and gamertag to lukewind@me.com. Please have GOW2 as your subject line. There are only 60 spots open for the tournament so sign-up right away.

Please read the all the rules below to make sure that you qualify. If you have any questions or concerns please just contact me through my twitter account. My twitter user name is lukewind.

Rules:
1. You must 18 or over to play.
2. Anyone displaying racist or hateful speech will be kicked out of tournament.
3. Contestants Must Reside in Continental United States or Canada.
4. You must have an XBL microphone, if I can’t hear you then it’s game over.

I am currently in the process of getting together the prizes for the tournament so I will post that info when we get closer to the tournament. I will also post how we will be scoring to decide the winners. You have nearly 2 weeks to prepare so get online and practice, but make sure to sign-up first. NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER JUNE 17th.

When I heard the rumors that Microsoft was going to come out with a motion sensing controller I really though that they would just copy the Wiimote and throw in a few new features, and say look what we made!  They probably could have done that and it might have been a success, but now we know their plans are much more ambitious. Project Natal looks like something that could trump the Wii in terms of casual gaming, while at the same time it has huge potential for hardcore games as well, something yet to show itself on the Wii. That kind of potential can be a game changer if it is done right.

Just remember that time when you were showing a friend or your family how cool the Wii works, well imagine how amazing Natal could be if it pans out as well as the Wii did. They are trying to make the 360 the cool device that everyone will want. Hopefully we will see it this holiday season, do note that Natal is Portuguese for Christmas, could that be a big hint from Microsoft? Let’s hope so!

Its not like the Wii is going to disappear anytime soon, but if Microsoft pulls out some quality games for this thing when it launches, they could see a huge rise in sales and market share. Please god let the Developers use common sense and make some great Natal based games!

We all know they will not call it Natal forever, so I want to hear our readers ideas for a new name for the device, and also let us know what you think of it.

We still have plenty of room left for our Gears of War tournament. So please make sure and sign up right now.

The tournament will be held on June 20th & 21st of this year. To enter simply send an email with your name, location, and gamertag to lukewind@me.com. Please have GOW2 as your subject line. There are only 60 spots open for the tournament so sign-up right away.

Please read the all the rules below to make sure that you qualify. If you have any questions or concerns please just contact me through my twitter account. My twitter user name is lukewind.

Rules:
1. You must 18 or over to play.
2. Anyone displaying racist or hateful speech will be kicked out of tournament.
3. Contestants Must Reside in Continental United States or Canada.
4. You must have an XBL microphone, if I can’t hear you then it’s game over.

I am currently in the process of getting together the prizes for the tournament so I will post that info when we get closer to the tournament. I will also post how we will be scoring to decide the winners. You have nearly 4 weeks to prepare so get online and practice, but make sure to sign-up first. NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER JUNE 17th.

After all the fun we had with our readers during our Halo 3 tournament, I couldn’t wait to get another tournament going. We would of had one a bit sooner, but as many of you know, life can sometimes get in the way. But alas life has subsided and we are ready to see who is the best of the best in Gears of War 2. This will be an individual tournament, no teams will be allowed.

The tournament will be held on June 20th & 21st of this year. To enter simply send an email with your name, location, and gamertag to lukewind@me.com. Please have GOW2 as your subject line. There are only 60 spots open for the tournament so sign-up right away.

Please read the all the rules below to make sure that you qualify. If you have any questions or concerns please just contact me through my twitter account. My twitter user name is lukewind.

Rules:
1. You must 18 or over to play.
2. Anyone displaying racist or hateful speech will be kicked out of tournament.
3. Contestants Must Reside in Continental United States or Canada.
4. You must have an XBL microphone, if I can’t hear you then it’s game over.

I am currently in the process of getting together the prizes for the tournament so I will post that info when we get closer to the tournament. I will also post how we will be scoring to decide the winners. You have nearly 4 weeks to prepare so get online and practice, but make sure to sign-up first. NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER JUNE 17th.

After all the fun we had with our readers during our Halo 3 tournament, I couldn’t wait to get another tournament going. We would of had one a bit sooner, but as many of you know, life can sometimes get in the way. But alas life has subsided and we are ready to see who is the best of the best in Gears of War 2. This will be an individual tournament, no teams will be allowed.

The tournament will be held on June 20th & 21st of this year. To enter simply send an email with your name, location, and gamertag to lukewind@me.com. Please have GOW2 as your subject line. There are only 60 spots open for the tournament so sign-up right away.

Please read the all the rules below to make sure that you qualify. If you have any questions or concerns please just contact me through my twitter account. My twitter user name is lukewind.

Rules:
1. You must 18 or over to play.
2. Anyone displaying racist or hateful speech will be kicked out of tournament.
3. Contestants Must Reside in Continental United States or Canada.
4. You must have an XBL microphone, if I can’t hear you then it’s game over.

I am currently in the process of getting together the prizes for the tournament so I will post that info when we get closer to the tournament. I will also post how we will be scoring to decide the winners. You have nearly 4 weeks to prepare so get online and practice, but make sure to sign-up first. NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER JUNE 17th.