One of the most anticipated games of the year has finally hit, and that game is Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception.

Not only is Uncharted 3 one of the most anticipated games of the year, it is also the sequel to 2009′s award winning Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. So needless to say, this game has alot to live up to, but does it?

Some sequels try and reinvent a series, others try to add more features than the previous, Uncharted 3 does the former. It takes everything from the previous two games and mashes it all into a pulse pounding conclusion to Drakes story (more on that later).  It once again features a cinematic singleplayer that will have you hooked from start to finish. However multiplayer and co-op make a return from Uncharted 2 albeit more robust this time around.

Uncharted has always been a singleplayer first, multiplayer second series and this game does not disappoint. Our hero, Nathan Drake is once again joined with Victor Sullivan and Elena Fisher but also teams up with Chloe Frazer from Uncharted 2 and, new to the Uncharted cast of protaganists, Charlie Cutter, a Jason Statham look-alike with a similar tough guy persona.

While this game is a direct sequel to Uncharted 2, it also delves into prequel territory by exploring how Drake met Sully and how their adventures began. Drakes overall goal is to uncover a secret long since hidden by Sir Francis Drake. However he isn’t the only one. A shadowy Organization led by Catherine Marlowe and her henchman Talbot are also after the secret and harry Drake every step of the way.

If you’ve played any of the previous Uncharted games you’ll know what to expect from this game. The singleplayer is largely made up of cinematic levels, with lots of climbing and puzzle solving between gun fights. There are only 22 chapters in in Uncharted 3 (As opposed to 26 in Uncharted 2) but is roughly about the same length. I clocked in at around 10 hours or so playing through on hard.

Gameplay wise Uncharted 3 is pretty similar to Uncharted 2, with a few exceptions. The melee is improved, with combos being easier to pull off. However the aiming has been tweaked, making it a bit harder to aim. The harder aiming is supposedly due to the inclusion of more recoil, but overall it just feels choppier than Uncharted 2. The climbing has also been improved, with jumps and grabbing hold of ledges being much easier.

Visually, the game is stunning. The attention to detail is noticeable in almost every level and the character models are Heavy Rain caliber. While running through a market level I couldn’t help but stop and examine some food carts and store fronts. This game also supports 3D, although I did not have the good fortune of having access to a 3DTV, it’s definitely something to check out if you do.

The soundtrack for the Uncharted series has also been great, and in addition  to the standard Uncharted theme and other various background tracks, Uncharted 3 adds in some of the local flavor by adding some middle eastern tunes to the mix. Playing this game really makes a person appreciate surround sound that much more, and if you are fortunate enough to have a surround system you’ll be glad you do.  Every chirp or rustle of leaves is music to your ears when exploring a ruined castle in the heart of a French forest.

Now before I dive into the multiplayer aspects of Uncharted 3,  there were a few quirks I had with the game. While every member of the cast is fantastic (Chloe especially, she puts the a** in fantastic), it seems like there are too many protagonists. While Drake gets the limelight throughout the entire game, the rest of our heroes get but a few chapters to make their appearance. Charlie Cutter may be the new hero introduced in Uncharted 3, but is notable absent from the second half of the game, along with Chloe. Elena on the other hand doesn’t even show her face until much later in the game. Even then, she only gets a few levels before being sent off to leave Drake to his heroics. This really took away from the importance of some of the characters, although not enough to detract from my opinion of the game.

This is the part where we starting stepping in some less than pleasant things. Naughty Dog really put much more effort into the multiplayer this time around, and it shows. There are a variety of different match types featuring everything from straight up deathmatch to capture the treasure. Getting into games was notorious in Uncharted 2 in the months following launch and this time around Naughty Dog released both a beta during the summer and one this past October as part of a Subway tie-in. All your stats are carried over from the subway beta, but not your sweet Subway gear. The betas did their job though, as finding games to join is easy and fast. The multiplayer itself is really a matter of preference, some may like it and some may not. There is a bit of imbalance in in the multiplayer, and many player are disgruntled with the fact that aiming and shooting is much less effective than bull-rushing an opponent while hip-firing and then finishing them off with a punch to the face. Take that as you will, but Naughty Dog did a commendable job making the multiplayer fun, which is of course, what matters most.

Finally, Uncharted 3 boasts a cooperative mode where you and up to 2 other friends can join forces in either a “survival” mode (think Gears of War horde mode), or “adventure” mode in which you are given objectives as you move through the level. Adventure mode does not differ much from survival mode so if you were expecting a co-op version of Uncharted’s singleplayerr prepare to be disappointed. A nifty feature Naughty Dog included is this little thing called splitscreen, allowing you to play with a friend in both co-op AND online multiplayer, something not many games let you do. However the splitscreen suffers from what I like to called “wasted space syndrome” in that a third of both screens are not used at all. Still, the fact that you can, in this day and age, still play couch co-op is great! However, I do need to add that whilst in splitscreen, the visual quality does take quite a hit and at times can  look more like Uncharted 1 than Uncharted 3.

Finally, the bonus features included in Uncharted 3 include a few features and concept art galleries that you unlock while playing through the singleplayer however both the option to watch any of the games beautifully animated cutscenes is no where to be found, along with the cheats and game options you could buy/unlock in Uncharted 3. This sadly means no playing as Doughnut Drake in singleplayer, though he does make an appearance in multiplayer.

Looking back, I realize this is quite the lengthy review, but I feel that a game that had such high expectations merits a full review. However, if all you read is this last paragraph, take away the fact that this may not be quite what Uncharted 2 was, but nevertheless is a game every PS3 owner should have in their library.

For a fantastic singleplayer, and more or less enjoyable multiplayer, Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception gets a respectable 4 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

I really liked last year’s DBZ game, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit 2. It felt like the franchise had finally achieved some serious attention with a game that was both deep and fun.

This year, we get Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, which feels like they took Burst Limit 2 out back and tried to killed it.

It’s not all grim. The character models look better, and there’s a different take on combat that is actually novel (but limited, more on that later)… but any good feelings are stomped by the game’s outlandish insistence on loading screen after loading screen after loading screen.

Ultimate Tenkaichi tosses another DBZ Story Mode on the fire. All the highlights you know and love, with some fresh additions… like Bardock’s fight against Freiza back when Goku was just a baby, for example. The game also includes massive boss characters, meaning you finally get to face off against Saiyans in Great Ape mode.

The structure for Story Mode, however, is a Great Bear. Encounters are selected by flying characters across a pointless overworld. Choosing a battle initiates a load, followed by a cutscene, and then another load. Finish the battle and win yourself another loading screen. The game helpfully puts a terrible minigame on the loading screen, a sure sign that the developer knows there’s a problem but has no real good idea what to do about it.

The battle controls shift to something less like a fighting game and more like constant Quick Time Events. Whether you’re in short range or long range mode (which determines if your buttons throw punches/kicks or ki blasts), you’re working up to triggering a “clash” that ends in either your or your opponent winning a QTE faceoff. Faceoffs can be chained into a sequence of pre-animated attacks that do a nice job of replicating DBZ-style battles.

Which will look neat the first time. After the fiftieth? Not as neat.

Unlike Burst Limit 2′s special attack system, Ultimate Tenkaichi makes character-specific attacks an oasis in the desert: rare and often an illusion. You need to meet certain conditions to pull off a special attack – both specific energy levels and position on the battlefield – and I felt like most battles were skating by without me ever reaching that point. Whether I was in Story Mode or Hero Mode or Tournament Mode, every battle became a race to get in the required number of attacks to initiate a clash, win the clash (which is little more than a coin flip) and then string together the big high-damage QTE hits.

Like I said, it’s a novel system, turning a fighting game into a QTE faceoff, it just needs way more options and animations… and even way more QTE challenges themselves. Holding left and hitting square will sail you through the QTEs almost every time.

I’ve often complained of the DBZ games’ pattern of ignoring the anime’s non-fighter characters, like Bulma and Master Roshi. Ultimate Tenkaichi makes a move towards opening up the playing field with all-new massive boss battles. No, it’s not Mr. Popo, but at least you get to fight something outside of the usual Toriyama musclemen.

Perhaps the single best addition is the ability to create your own Z-fighter in Hero Mode and tackle a wholly different Dragon Ball alterna-verse. Familiar characters will show up for fights, but it’s against a customizable, RPG-lite battler of your own design. There are even different voices to choose from, meaning the game bothered to have eight or so different voices run the script for the entire Hero Mode storyline.

Again, this is all great… except that you’re still stuck in the same repetitive QTE combat, chaining together similar attacks for the same net result.

In the end, it’s the constant, lengthy load screens that do more damage than anything else. DBZ fans are likely willing to sit through another tired replay of the storyline in order to experience a new combat system or see a few new characters… but nobody should have to sit on their controller for this long between bouts. Head back to Burst Limit 2, DBZ fans.

For a bulky, repetitive framework that wrecks some otherwise nice graphics and animation, Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi gets 2 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi was released October 2011 (NA) on PS3 and 360.
Rated T

Check out other Dragon Ball Z reviews at Test Freaks.

I have always been a skeptic for attachments that go on the top of your controller sticks.  I could never see how something like that could give anyone better control over their game.  The people at Kontrol Freek must have heard my complaints from the podcast, as they sent over one of their newer products, the Rcade Freek.  The Rcade Freek attachments look like old school joystick balls that go on top of your controller sticks, with the idea that they will give you more grip when playing games that you would normally play with a joystick.  Would the Rcade Freek stand up to the test?  Surprisingly, the answer is yes, but it will depend on the controller that you are using.

The Rcade Freek comes with two, ¾” diameter rounded joystick balls, with one being attached to each stick on your controller.  The bottom of the two attachments have little clips that snap on easily to the controller and give you more grip for those games where you are going to need to move the stick in many directions, quickly and with much force.  Looking at the controller with these two attachments sitting on top made the controller look a bit awkward, but if it works, aesthetics are small price to pay.

I decided to load up a couple of fighting titles, like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter IV to give these attachments a run for their money, and to my surprise they do work as advertised.  I definitely felt more accurate with my control Pad, and for anyone that has used a 360 gamepad, you know that the D-Pad is not to be trusted for fighting games like these.   I also tried out some arcade titles like Pac Man Championship DX and even opened up Game Room to try out an old favorite of mine, River Raid, and again, I felt that I was getting extra grip to execute quick movements on-screen.

The other thing that you don’t get from these attachments, and it is a blessing, is the dreaded D-Pad thumb.  You know that feeling where your thumb slowly starts to turn red and feel like it is forming into a blister due to putting way too much pressure on the D-Pad.  These attachments alleviate a lot of that stress from the one pressure point on your thumb.  It also helps that the sticks are very smooth, with no seams on any of the contact points, making them feel silky smooth on your thumbs.

I never had an issue with the Rcade Freek coming loose, or snapping off at any point, as they do attach very firmly to the sticks.  I did have one issue with them, and that was on the PS3 controller.  While the offset layout of the 360 controller makes these things feel like a dream, on the PS3 controller, the two stick attachments will come into contact with one another.  While it does not happen often, it could be an issue for those that are playing dual stick shooters and have to move the sticks towards one another in an extreme fashion.  Also, while the attachments are a good alternative, anyone that is serious into fighting games will still want to get a professional stick, as they are not a permanent replacement for that option.

But after several hours of play with the Rcade Freek, I felt that for the low price point, they do give players a solid alternative to the current D-Pads on the controllers.  They do seem to be better suited for a 360 gamepad, but they will work out okay on a PS3.  If you are looking to compete hardcore on the professional circuit for fighters you might be inclined to look elsewhere, but for those that are looking to get a little more advantage in their twin stick shooters, arcade titles or fighting games, you will find it in this little $10 package.  The Rcade Freek gets 4.5 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

SteelSeries, a company that when you hear the name you think of gaming gear for professionals. With their large selection of mice, keyboards, accessories, and headsets it is not easy to come out with another product that can shadow over their already amazing headsets. So SteelSeries does it again by bringing out a work of art with the Spectrum 7XB wireless headset. A great addition to your home theater system, your Xbox360, and even your PC, the Spectrum 7XB by SteelSeries has made what I call one of the best wireless headsets around.

The solid construction of the Spectrum 7XB screams pro gamer. The 7XB has a hard plastic body, the drivers swivel left and right, and the band that goes over your head is padded. The ear cups are leather padded cups that can be changed out for cloth pads, which makes it great because you have the option to change out the pads for a different audio experience. Another great feature is the retractable mic that is on a wire that can be manipulated to what ever need that suits you. The ability to store your 7XB head set would be greatly limited because of its size, but since the head set actually breaks down to 3 pieces you are able to store it in anything you want. Along the side of the right driver there are 5 powerful buttons that change your experience while listening to music, games, or movies. The buttons are; on/off, 2 for volume control, LiveMix, and ExactSND. The first 2 buttons are pretty self explanatory, but once you get into the LiveMix and the ExactSND that is when you start seeing the full potential of the Spectrum 7XB.

The 50mm drivers deliver a great punch for the size; along with the drivers there are 2 buttons that will make your experience a hell of a lot better. The LiveMix button will actually change the settings of your volume while playing and chatting with your teammates during a game, your teammate’s voices are perfectly mixed in with the bullets and explosions are ringing in the background, so you don’t have to keep asking what the hell they are talking about. The ExactSND is a great equalizer button that has 3 setting; Performance, Immersion, and Entertainment. Performance ups the background noise to be able to hear footsteps or gunfire and pinpoint what direction it’s coming from. If you were playing in a jungle or a wooded area of a game you would choose the Immersion setting that increases the background sound and the music. When all the gaming is done and you want to relax and listen to music or watch a movie you would choose the Entertainment setting, which brings out the bass and surround sound to what ever your watching or listening to.

The Spectrums transmitter is a powerful beast for being a little box. It can run on USB power from your XBOX 360 or your PC, regardless where your powering it from you have up to 9 meters (32ft.) of listening space, so yes you can listen to music while your in the bathroom as long as your in view of the transmitter box. The 7XB runs on wireless4Mbit/s bandwidth, which makes it pretty solid and you get no loss of your audio signal, it is able to jump frequencies 344 times per second to keep the sound fresh and crisp. One feature really blew me away was the ability to sync up to 4 Spectrum headsets to the transmitter. So when you’re playing at home with buddies and don’t want to wake the wife up your able to sync up to 4 of these bad boys and play all night.

This headset is one of the best wireless headsets I have seen on the market, hands down. The fact that it changes frequencies so rapidly and is able to hold up to 3 other headsets along with yours makes it absolutely unique. The price tag on this baby is 179.99 off the SteelSeries Website, for some it what this headset has to offer it is worth more than that. I am astounded with this headset after using it for countless hours playing my 360 and then switching it over to my PC. I give the Spectrum 7XB a 5 out of 5, because of great looks, amazing sound, high customization, and reliability that is beyond its price tag. For more information and where to buy check out SteelSeries Website.

Trying to put together a review for Catherine has been one of the most challenging things I have done in four years of writing.  It is a rare breed of game, and yet its base game mechanics are as simple as they come.  It asks compelling questions, but mixes it up with bizarre puzzle sequences that seem so out of place.  I found myself enjoying Catherine more every time I played it, and yet, in the back of my mind, I feel as if a bait and switch has been done on my expectations.  Catherine can be a lot of fun to play, and does as some great questions about love, relationships, marriage and more, but the core puzzle game and daunting difficulty will end up turning more people off then winning them over.

Catherine tells the age old story of how we as humans look towards relationships, monogamy, love and more with our main hero Vincent.  Vincent has a decent life with a good paying job, a loving girlfriend of five years and a great hangout with his friends.  Katherine, Vincent’s girlfriend wants to see them move forward, with marriage, children and more, but he is conflicted.  It is not that he is not in love with Katherine, but he likes the status quo, feeling that marriage would stifle him as a man.  Putting his love to the test, he ends up meeting up with another woman in the bar one night by the name of Catherine, and in a drunken stupor, finds himself in his own bed with this strange woman, turning his world upside down.  He is challenged with questions about his current happiness with Katherine, or the freewheeling love without long term commitment to Catherine.

Coming from the creators of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, I thought that this idea of exploring relationships in that atmosphere would be a fantastic idea, and for most of the advertising campaign, this is what we thought Catherine would be about, but while it does have some great philosophical moments about these concepts, they are more bookends for the actual game which resides as a puzzle game, where you are delved into a nightmare world each night, having to move blocks to ascend a tower, with each night corresponding to a level of the tower.

Yes, you read that correctly, Catherine is mostly about moving blocks as you try to escape a horror each evening in this nightmare world.  And while I was a bit blindsides at how integral this puzzle mechanic is to the main game, it is a surprising amount of fun, albeit challenging.  Actually, challenging is a bit light, as the later levels are devious in their cryptic nature.  Many times, you will find yourself repeating sections over and over as you find a good solution to make it to a top of a level.  Levels also introduce new block concepts that add more danger to the mix, like blocks of ice that will have you sliding off edges, or explosive blocks that will blow themselves up and weaken others around them.  It is not all bad, as you do find helpful items scattered throughout the level, like the ability to create a new block, or one that will change all the blocks in current view to standard blocks.  However, you can only carry one power up at a time, so you have to weigh out which ones to pick up and which ones you can miss.

Each phase of the tower is broken up by landings where you can meet other “sheep” (everyone in this nightmare world are viewed as sheep by the person having the nightmare), and discuss their dilemmas, learn new techniques, and occasionally meet up with a merchant where you can buy power ups with the coins that you earn from completing levels.  Talking with the other sheep on these landings is very entertaining, as you get a glimpse into what other people have to fear in their nightmares, and no one nightmare is the same.  You hear about crazed mothers, cheaters, liars and more despicable acts that have lead them to this horrifying world.  When you get ready to leave the landing, you enter a confessional booth where you are asked a question that will affect your moral meter.  The meter can swing between True Love and True Freedom, but the questions are great to have to sit and answer, especially when you are sitting with a significant other.  Some of the questions I encountered asked about “Who is at fault when someone is a cheater?” or “Does Life Begin with Marriage or End?”   Better still is the fact that you get to see a pie chart of where others have answered while the next level loads, finding out if you are in the minority or majority.

While I did like the puzzle sections, even when they ran on a bit long, I was a bit disappointed that we were not given more freedom when in the real world.  Beyond the cut scenes that place you at various locations, you are normally only allowed freedom of movement at the main hangout, the Stray Sheep.  Sure, you can walk around the bar, change the song on the jukebox, drink and interact with other patrons, it seems so constrained.  I mean, I enjoyed it, but the animation is so beautiful in these interaction sequences, and I wanted to see so much more with the presentation.  It is a beautiful world, and you get to interact with so little of it most of the game.  It just seems like a missed opportunity.

The other problem that I encountered would be the unforgiving nature of the puzzle sequences.  There were nights where I spent a good 45 minutes getting past one segment of a level in the later stages of the game.  The puzzles become incredibly difficult, and a lot of my time at the end became a frustration gesture of trial and error.  I love a good challenge, but after an hour, the pure frustration you feel makes you just want to shut it down for the night.  You can undo things to a certain point, but sometimes, you error could have happened much farther down the tower, leaving you to bite the bullet and restart the section.  All of this frustration came on the normal difficulty level, and I was easily scared off trying anything higher than that, as I was already losing my patience at points on normal.

Even with the cascade of words in this review, I still find myself tripping over the idea of whether I enjoyed Catherine.  I loved the story, and I did like the challenge most of the time with the puzzle sections.  I thrilled in my genius when I finished a section that kicked my butt.  More telling is the fact that I would put the game down after becoming frustrated, and yet, I would find myself dreaming about the different ways I could move the blocks.  Catherine is a polarizing game, and I would suggest trying the demo on the consoles before picking it up, but I have to say that I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.  It is not for everyone, but if you give it a chance, Catherine might just grow on you.  Catherine gets 4 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

No bull on this headset. One of the best headsets that I have owned. SteelSeries handed me the Siberia V2 Pro Gaming headset in the Special Edition Red and it just blew me away. I currently use the Logitech X540 5.1 surround sound speaker system for my room and this headset make the X540s sound like 99 cent store speakers. The headset offers high comfort, powerful drivers, and gorgeous looks.

The look, color, and smoothness of this headset makes it look like the paint job on a Ferrari or the ruby red lips on a really hot stripper. What makes the Siberia V2 so irresistible is the fact that it has a suspension system that will make them light as a feather on your head. Long gaming sessions will make headsets a pain in the ass to have on, but with these bad boys you forget that you have them on. The microphone is retractable and has an extremely flexible cord that you can twist and bend to your hearts content. The V2 has every look of a professional headset and performance that matches the looks.

With two 50mm drivers the sound is phenomenal. The bass bumps and the sound is crisp and clear like it should be. The headset is a “closed” type of headset which means that they completely cover your ears to help with noise reduction. The drivers are incased in padded leather with sound dampening foam. I used this headset to play TDU2, CodBlops, Dirt2, and many other games, and each one of them brought out the true performance of the V2. Towards the end of the cable of the headset you have a mic mute and volume control. What is nice about the volume control is that it’s little and does not get in the way. The mic picks up my voice very clearly, especially when using it for podcasting or yelling at someone over Skype. The Siberia V2 also comes with a set of 6’ extensions for the audio and mic jacks.

The Siberia V2 headset comes in different colors, other than red you have black, blue, orange, and white. Powerful drivers, lushes looks, amazing comfort, and a reasonable price of 89.99 makes the Siberia V2 Headset in the Special Edition Red a true professional headset. For more information and where to buy check out SteelSeries Website.

It’s a unique idea, Dead Block. The $9.99 PSN/XBLA release takes the usual third-person zombie-killing action approach and jams it into an intriguing tower defense format. The hero characters are locked in a building and must survive waves of zombies that keep piling in through the open windows. Rather than focusing on shotguns and gore, Dead Block asks that you deal with the horde by quickly installing silly traps inside the windows and door frames. While the undead are being frozen into popsicles or whacked on the head with rolling pins, you’re kept busy by turning the rooms inside-out in search of the hidden items that will let you finish the level.

The game bears a superficial resemblance to beloved trap-oriented franchises Dungeon Keeper and Deception, although Dead Block is nowhere near as complex.

But first: the setting. Yes, this is yet another zombie game (although at least this is one that gives us something to do aside from shooting them.) Dead Block also happens to be set in the 1950s, transposing a whitebread “Leave It to Beaver” world against the slow-moving horror of rampaging ghouls. Interestingly, the playable characters sort of aren’t 1950s cliches at all. I would have expected a Grinning Omnipotent Dad, or a tough teen greaser. Instead you cycle between Jack Foster (burly construction worker), Mike Bacon (chubby boy scout) and Foxy Jones (tough traffic warden.) Is there anything specifically ’50s about that cast? This is not a complaint, just an observation.

The reason for the trio is that Dead Block revolves around three key actions: building, searching and shooting. Each character specializes in one of the three, and I’ll let you figure out which is which because it won’t take long. Each character also has a specific set of barricade only he or she can build. Only Jack can build the mighty Concrete wall that will never crumble; only Foxy can install the Bomb barrier that clears out a zombie-packed room. And only Mike can build the trap that dumps poop on enemies as they shamble through, which somehow reduces their health bar and allows them to inadvertently spread the crap infection to nearby zombies.

Even though you do not always get the option to play as all three in the same level, the general idea is to take control of the one you need, when you need to make sure his or her special skills need to be best levied. I tended to walk Jack into a room full of stuff and let his AI take over to start demolishing furniture for wood, while I built the awesome Bomb traps with Foxy.

If you absolutely must kill zombies with your bare hands, you can whack them with a frying pan or other character-specific weapon. In a one-on-one contest, you’ll probably be okay – characters self-heal over time – but if you’re surrounded it is unlikely you’ll survive. For the direst of dire situations, each character also has a unique mega-attack that automagically upgrades over the course of the game. Foxy ends up with a shotgun (sigh) that kills the twelve nearest zombies without you having to aim, while Mike is granted the ability to toss a distractingly delicious cheeseburger into the room to pull the horde’s attention away from you.

This may all sound very cool and inventive, but Dead Block seems to simply not have had enough thought put into it. The zombie traps tend to be unbalanced and one-note, never creating opportunities for the ridiculous trap combos of Dungeon Keeper or Deception. So you can more or less focus on putting Bomb traps EVERYWHERE since they are easily the most useful barricade. There is no incentive to branch out into the other types (unless you’re in one of the early levels where Foxy is not a playable character… and in that case you’ll probably just use Jack’s freeze door and do a lot of ice smashing.) You end up building the same traps and using the same strategy on every map.

Searching items is meant to invoke the B-movie suspense of the harried hero rushing through closets and drawers looking for weaponry. Dead Block creates that tension by making you click through the shoulder buttons to simulate rooting through junk, but all you find is a nut. Nuts are used to build traps, but I’ll be damned if the game ever explains how it decides what traps you earn by finding nuts. You just collect yer nuts and watch your inventory count to see what traps are made available.

Then there’s the level finisher, a supposedly triumphant display of the power of rock-and-roll. Your primary goal is to locate the three parts of the world’s cheapest Rock Band kit: a guitar, an amp, and something else that hooks up to a guitar and an amp. Once you find all three, you end the level with the worst rhythm minigame ever designed, a slow-yet-picky PaRappa pastiche set to a barely-variating series of guitar riffs. For some reason, hearing rock music stops the zombies. If I’m to believe the end-level cutscenes, it doesn’t even kill them. Just stops them. So I’m not sure why we’re bothering.

And while Dead Block deserves points for including some pleasantly genuine-sounding 1950s proto-Elvis music, it promptly loses them for making us listen to the same moany song at the end of every level. Also: the game’s final level scoreboard (where you get some nice stats on how much furniture you destroyed and how many zombies were killed) popped up on top of the credit scroll. That is just plain unpolished. The cinematics that preface each level – poorly mimicking 1950s horror movie trailers – are also no great shakes.

However, Dead Block does a great job at modeling 1950s furniture! It is all viewed through a kooky MAD Magazine lens, but I liked seeing the bean-shaped designs and smooth chrome that define ’50s America.

While crafting a third-person action-oriented tower defense is a laudable goal, I spent the entire game wishing I was seeing the events from the usual top-down perspective, placing traps and protecting innocents from my comfortable birds-eye view. Which Bomb trap just went off? Hey, I don’t know, I’m stuck inside a bathroom two floors up.

This is indie developer Candygun Games’ first release, so we can chalk up Dead Block as a learning experience. My suggestion is to learn to avoid zombie games.

For an unfinished, poorly explained take on a decent tower defense concept, Dead Block gets 2 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

Dead Block was released July 2011 (NA) on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.
Rated T

Check out Dead Block and other PSN reviews at Test Freaks.

Large and in charge, what comes to mind when using the Cataclysm Gaming Mouse. Massively sized and overly buttoned it is the perfect multitasking tank for your WoW needs. Featuring 14 customizable keys, high dpi, and paint job like no other this is your mouse when in Azeroth.

Features

With 14 buttons at your command this mouse will have you more in tuned with your toon especially when in the middle of raids. The mouse carries 130 preset in-game button commands that come in handy for those just picking up the mouse. For those more advanced players you have 10 different profiles that can be utilized in saving custom setting. The onboard memory will save all your profiles without having to bother your probably nearly filled 1TB HDD on your computer. The mouse is ergonomically designed, so it fits in your hand the right way, all the buttons are at reach. Customization is key with this mouse, with its driver software allows you to customize in game and out of sessions. You able to change your dpi rate, scroll rate, and button setting, most of all your able to change the color that glows out of your mouse. With an outstanding 16 million different colors you’re able to customize your mouse with 4 levels of intensity this mouse will. Made to look like Deathwing the Destroyer’s armor this makes the Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse one badass mother e’fer.

Likes

The customization factor is through the roof with 14 buttons to customize, internal light changes, and other factors. This mouse has what a MMO gaming mouse should have and more. The looks are what really blew me away. The armor on the mouse is sick; with small slits down the back of the mouse the light bleeds through and pulsates giving life to the mouse in your hands. With 5K dpi this mouse keeps up with the fastest and is smooth with its use. Great performance and amazing looks win me over with the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Gaming Mouse.

Dislikes

I had a huge issue at first when it came down with the driver of the mouse. World of Warcraft (WoW) carried an interface menu for WoW license mice and to recognize them when being used, well it kind of worked. The mouse came with no driver I had to go on the website and search for the driver which was very easy, but when your box says plug and play you would think that everything would have been on the onboard memory. Once I had everything loaded the driver opened up a menu for the customization to begin. My other issue that I had that I have experienced in the past with other mice is floating. Floating is when you pick up your mouse off the pad and the courser moves by itself without you even touching the pad, it’s a small issue nothing too big. Speaking of big the last issue I had with this mouse is the size. I get it, it has 14 buttons and they need their space, but god all mighty that mouse is big, I am used to smaller mice and that’s just personal preference.

A little on the heavy side but well equipped. This mouse offers all the ability to be fast and efficient in WoW: Cataclysm. The mouse will run you about $99, but its worth every penny. When your serious about gaming and know what your looking for your find that this is a great price for an over the top mouse. For more information and where to buy it check out SteelSeries website.

Mystic Box brings us Runespell: Overture a poker based fantasy game based in medieval Europe. Runespell’s system of card collecting, trading, and battles has intrigued me with their new “hybrid” type of game, Using poker techniques and a pretty good norse based fantasy story line, the poker addict and nerd in me can’t contain himself. The story behind the game is you are the son of a monster god and sent down to medieval Europe to chase down your nemesis, that’s really the whole story, some Norse mythology mixed into the game, but nothing really to in depth. The game has not that strong of a story, unfortunately, but the gameplay will hook you. You fight up to 30 different types of monsters over the course of the game; some of the monsters that you encounter upon defeating will become your ally or your pet, each with particular enhancements or skills for your character.

What’s cool about Runespell is that Mystic Box completely has branched away from the traditional type of card games with this new method of playing. The learning curve is not so tough when it comes down to figuring out how to fight and how to win. Winning is as simple as making sure you land the bigger combos like Royal Flushes and 5-of-a-kind hands will deal certain amount of damage, a Royal Flush will spit out 50 damage which is the highest amount of damage you can inflict with normal cards, with smaller hands it can range between 1 and 15. The game can run you just a few hands to a long strenuous battle that will keep you fighting and stubborn to win. You will lose and will keep hitting the retry button like I have so many damn times. Loot drops from different enemies come in silver, new cards, runes, allies, and much more. Everything that you use does have a limit, some allies that will travel with you have unlimited uses with there powers or skills, but other cards or ruins, for example, a Fire spell card will have 1 or 2 USES and after you have exhausted those USES you have to buy more of them with a trader. You collect cards and silver that is used with the trader, buying and selling card USES are a big thing with prepping before a battle. Carefully spending your silver on certain cards with high dps or protection cards will keep you alive when dealing with boss battles.

I really liked the new genre that Runespell: Overture, a mixture that we havent really seen used to often. The rpg’esk-poker type of game is new and we can only hope to see more games like this soon. Runespell: Overture is a great game for only $10 on Steam. It has 20 achievements and with hours upon hours of gameplay. Not much of an enticing plot but will keep you on your ass for hours trying to get a Royal Flush. For more information check out Mystic Box’s website or just go buy it on Steam, like right now.

Backbreaker Vengeance seems to be one of those ideas that is fueled by a development team that needs to get more out of a cool engine that they put together, but the main event it was used for did not sell all that well.  Backbreaker was a cool idea, but its core football mechanic left a lot to be desired, but the engine fueling that action is a thing of beauty when it comes to rendering the graphically violent hits that occur on a football field.  So with that in mind, Natural Motion stripped away the game of football, and put together a collection of games that allow for the visceral impacts to occur, while adding some puzzle-like elements into the mix.  Backbreaker Vengeance ends up with a great initial impression, but fades after a sense of repetition starts to build up.

Backbreaker Vengeance breaks down into three core modes of gameplay, each focusing on a specific action in the game of football.  First is Tackle Alley, where you are set as the ballcarrier, and you have to work your way down the field dodging and juking tacklers as you work your way to the end zone.  Things start simple enough, but as you move forward, portions of the field are cordoned off in red, removing real estate that you can use to evade tacklers.  Tacklers also have to be approached in different ways, with some needing to be dodged, while others will be color coded, meaning that they can be jumped, bowled over and more, with each type painted a different color.  Tackle Alley starts off easy, but soon becomes very devious with the way routes are set up, and as more and more tacklers are thrown into the mix.  The problem is that after a while, the game becomes overly challenging and you do find yourself repeating some challenges over and over to the point of mind-numbing frustration.

Vengeance mode, however, is never as tiring, as you get to play the opposite side of the ball, as you are tasked with taking out the ballcarrier.  In this mode, you are constantly charging down the field, looking to unlock a barrel of hurt on the opposing player all with the goal of stopping the opposition from scoring.  Hits are fierce, and watching the excellent ragdoll physics makes you wonder why other football titles have not capitalized on this more realistic motion for pure football hits.  As with the Tackle Alley, new levels add more complex patterns to the field and obstacles to overcome on the way to the ballcarrier.

The last mode is probably the most questionable addition to Backbreaker Vengeance is the Supremacy mode.  This plays out with the same philosophy as Tackle Alley, but you are on the field with three other players, racing to the end zone to be first, and with the highest point total.  I really scratched my head with this mode, as the opponents always seem to have laser precise routes to the end zone target, but I never seemed to be as precise, more due to the spongy controls that my lack of gaming prowess.  It does have a neat mechanic where the lowest scoring runner starts the next round as a defender rather than a ball carrier, but Supremacy left me wondering if I could ever actually beat the computer opponents with their uncanny ability to stride to the finish line unscathed.

Backbreaker does offer up a lot of replayability with leaderboards and such, but that replay is never any good when it comes at the cost of mind numbing frustration with the higher difficulty levels.  Towards the end, I found myself repeating levels several times over, and never managing more than a bronze helmet.  Some would say that I should learn to suck at games less, but the difficulty seems too tightly wound at the later levels.

There is fun to be found for a period of time with Backbreaker Vengeance, but over time, it all seems to blur together into a haze or repetition.  The game is a lot of fun in small bite sized chunks, but never amounts to much in the way of long lasting fun.  Those that love both football and puzzles will find a lot to love here, but for the rest, Backbreaker Vengeance wears out its welcome far too soon.  Backbreaker Vengeance gets 2.5 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.